PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MARCH 09: Pitching coach Mark Prior #99 (C) talks to pitcher Emmet Sheehan #80 of the Los Angeles Dodgers (L) during the first inning of a spring training game against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Fields of Phoenix on March 09, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) | Getty Images
For the second time this spring, the Dodgers have a split squad, and in each case both games are against the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs. The home game for the Dodgers on Sunday is against the Rangers, with the away game against the Cubs in Mesa.
River Ryan gets the start against the Rangers at home, while Emmet Sheehan is on the road to start against the Cubs.
Trey Supak starts for the Rangers, with Jameson Taillon on the mound for Chicago.
Sunday split-squad info
Game 1: Dodgers vs. Rangers, Camelback Ranch
Game 2: Dodgers at Cubs, Sloan Park
Time: 1:05 p.m. PT for both
TV: vs. Rangers on SportsNet LA, at Cubs on Marquee Sports Network
Feb 23, 2026; Lakeland, Florida, USA; Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws during the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images | Mike Watters-Imagn Images
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Rhett Lowder (25), center, has a conversation with a staff member, left, and non-roster invitee Chase Burns (81) after a pitching session during spring training, Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, at the Cincinnati Reds Player Development Complex in Goodyear, Ariz. | Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Cincinnati Reds have somehow already navigated their way through 20 games of Cactus League play so far this spring, and it honestly feels as if they’ve played 37 of those 20 games at home in Goodyear.
Today, they’re in Goodyear again, too – this time playing host to the Texas Rangers.
Cincinnati will send out righty Rhett Lowder for another start as he looks to cement a spot in the team’s starting rotation to start the season. They’ll also roll out a lineup featuring the indomitable TJ Friedl who has seemingly been in the lineup everyday already. Will Benson, Nate Lowe, and JJ Bleday will join him in a lefty-heavy lineup on the day, with each of Rece Hinds and Jose Trevino also in there for some balance.
Cam Collier, Hector Rodriguez, and Carlos Jorge are among the top prospects on the bench in this one, as the travel roster relays.
The bullpen is also loaded today with several arms who project to make the team’s Opening Day roster.
Sadly, though, this game will not be televised. You’ll have to tune in to 700 WLW’s radio feed to follow it in any capacity, though that’s accessible through MLB.com if you no longer have a radio with AM access.
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - MARCH 11: Nolan Gorman #16 of the St. Louis Cardinals at bat during a spring training game against the Washington Nationals at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on March 11, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The St. Louis Cardinals are now less than two weeks from the regular season. They’ll get one game closer as they take on the Miami Marlins in Roger Dean Stadium on Saturday, March 14, 2026. According to MLB.com, Andre Pallante will start the game for the Cardinals. The starter for the Miami Marlins is to be determined. Here’s the Cardinals lineup for today.
SARASOTA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 16: Trevor Rogers #28 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches live during practice at Ed Smith Stadium on February 16, 2026 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Baltimore Orioles/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Orioles are headed a half hour down the road to Bradenton, and they’re bringing a lot of their regulars with them. Six of the players in today’s lineup are guys who will be on the Opening Day roster, and possibly seven, depending how you feel about Jeremiah Jackson’s chances. Pete Alonso, Adley Rutschman, and Taylor Ward are among the crew making the trip.
So too is Trevor Rogers, the newly anointed Opening Day starter. Rogers has pitched very well in his two Grapefruit League starts, working five scoreless innings, but he got knocked around by Team Netherlands in a WBC exhibition on March 3, giving up six runs in 2.1 innings. For whatever reason, he hasn’t pitched in a game since then.
This will be Rogers’ second-to-last exhibition start before his Opening Day assignment, though the schedule doesn’t quite line up for him to pitch on regular rest. The opener is in 12 days, so if he pitches again five days from now, he’ll have a week of rest before Opening Day. Or he’ll need extra rest after this start if he wants to be on four days’ rest for the opener. It’s probably not a big deal, just something worth keeping an eye on.
Orioles lineup:
LF Taylor Ward C Adley Rutschman 1B Pete Alonso CF Colton Cowser SS Blaze Alexander 2B Jeremiah Jackson RF Dylan Beavers DH Bryan Ramos 3B Weston Wilson
TAMPA, FL - MARCH 9: Max Fried #54 of the New York Yankees warms up in the bullpen during the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at George M. Steinbrenner Field on March 9, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
I’m still a little let down after Canada bowed out of the World Baseball Classic yesterday, but the best (and sometimes the worst!) part about baseball is there’s another game today. This time, my attention will be taken up by an exhibition contest between the Yankees and the Phillies, from the Bombers’ spring home in Tampa.
I’m dating someone who is Gen Z, and I’m so happy he has a normal name, because whatever compelled Bryse Wilson’s parents to spell his name like that makes me shudder to imagine. He’s with his fifth organization in his career, trying to crack the Phillies roster as a swingman, but hasn’t exactly raised eyebrows in spring — at least not in the good way. His 5.14 ERA so far in Grapefruit League play is higher than his career 4.82, but when the sample sizes are this small one strong outing could change things.
The Yankees will counter with Wilson’s old Braves teammate Max Fried, who looked in midseason form in his only previous spring outing. The nominal Yankee ace has two more starts before getting the ball for Opening Day, and the key for him is going to be health. The club has a strong, if slightly battered rotation, and Fried’s left arm is a big piece of that all working the way it should. Fiveish innings and a big smile from the dugout is all we need today.
The entire starting lineup is made up of MLB regulars today, with Trent Grisham leading off exactly as he’s expected to start the season. Ben Rice hits second and is at first base, and with Austin Wells being a hero for the Dominican Republic at the WBC, J.C. Escarra is getting plenty of spring reps behind the dish.
Feb 20, 2026; North Port FL, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Bryce Elder (55) poses for a photo during media day at CoolToday Park. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
It’s time for more Bryce Elder, folks! I know you’re amped up to see it and I’m certainly amped up to talk about it. Yep, I totally mean that with all sincerity. In all seriousness though, let’s hope that we see Elder show some improvement after his last outing was a bit of a mess. This is also a home game so the lineup should be favorable enough for Elder to be able to hae a productive outing in this one. If not, then the race for the fifth starter spot could suddenly get a lot more interesting if he trips up against this particular lineup.
Here’s where Atlanta’s lineup will be once it’s revealed.
The game will be televised and you can find it on whatever channel serves as your local affiliate for Gray TV. 103.7 FM will be carrying the game locally on the radio. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. ET. Let’s get it!
UPDATE: Whoops! For some reason I can’t tell a “1” from a “6”. It’s spring training for everybody, I guess. We’ll see you later on then.
Detroit Tigers catching coach Ryan Sienko, left, and pitching coach Chris Fetter watch practice during spring training at TigerTown in Lakeland, Fla. on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. | Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
We’re pretty excited about Lucas Elissalt. Right now he doesn’t really have the stuff of a frontline starter, but there are a lot of traits that point toward a very advanced young pitcher who repeats everything well with good command. As we keep noting in these reports, the Tigers have had a lot of success plucking undervalued college and JUCO pitchers beyond the top few rounds of the draft. In Elissalt they may have landed a real steal.
The Miami native wasn’t a very notable college name in the hotbed of competition that is the Florida baseball scene. He went to Coastal Alabama JC as a freshman, and transferred as a sophomore to one of the top JUCO baseball programs in the country at Chipola College. A good season got the Tigers’ interest, and they snapped him up in the 13th round with seemingly no one else paying attention to the young right-hander. They only had to pay him $187,500 to sign, just a little over the minimum, though there were D1 programs interested in picking him up for his junior season. As a result, Elissalt was still a week shy of his 20th birthday when he signed with the Tigers.
The traits that made Elissalt intriguing to the Tigers were his cutting fourseam shape, extension, and advanced command. The lanky 6’4” right-hander gets way down the mound, producing nearly seven feet of extension. That low angle to the strike zone helps his riding fourseamer play up, and yet he’s able to repeat well and spot a deep pitch mix that includes a kick change the Tigers taught him in 2024 during his work in Lakeland after the draft.
The reason Elissalt didn’t attract much attention on draft day is the fact that his velocity sits in the low-90’s. The Tigers bet that he had plenty of room on his frame to build muscle without sacrificing that easy delivery and great extension. His brother, Frank Elissalt, was drafted in the 2024 draft by the Cardinals in the 19th round as a college junior, and had a similar build and low 90’s fastball on draft day. He has since built himself up to throw in the mid-90’s, touching as high as 98 mph and so the hope is that Lucas, who is about a year and a half younger, will follow that example.
The Tigers sent Elissalt to Single-A Lakeland last spring to begin his pro career, and he quickly opened a lot of eyes after going fairly unnoticed on draft day. As a JUCO pick and still younger than most college pitchers in his draft, he struck out 28.8 percent of hitters faced over 65 1/3 innings for the Flying Tigers, with a walk rate of 7.5 percent. The strikeouts, advanced control, and his 2.48 ERA/3.09 FIP combination got our attention, and the Tigers promoted him to West Michigan in August after the trade deadline. He made six starts there, and though he walked a bunch of hitters for the first time in a couple of those starts, his strikeout rate held up and he didn’t allow a home run, producing very similar ERA/FIP numbers. By season’s end, he had the highest strikeout rate of any Tigers prospect who worked full-time as a starter last year.
Elissalt doesn’t pop crazy IVB numbers, sitting at 17 inches of vertical break last year, but that can be improved somewhat. It also matters less because that huge stride and his arm angle produce a lower release point and a really good attack angle to the upper parts of the strike zone. He was still generally around 92 mph, touching as high as 94 mph, and if that velocity starts to tick up, the late cutting action, ride, and extension will produce a very good major league heater.
He backs the fourseamer with a pretty good slider after ditching the harder cutter he had in college. It’s a pretty classic gyro spin slider from 83-85 mph and Elissalt took to it quickly and was pretty consistent with the break and location all year. His best pitch is an above average curveball with really good depth in the 78-79 mph range that got whiffs and stole strikes for him consistently last year. He can tilt it away on the outer edge against right-handers and showed some feel for adding depth when hunting for chase swings. Like the fastball, the breaking balls could use a touch more velocity to help them bite a bit later. The Tigers helped him develop a kick changeup post-draft and that pitch has really good deception, though it too would benefit if the fastball was firmer.
The big selling points for Elissalt are his extension, smooth, easy delivery, and advanced command of a pretty deep pitch mix. He’s already got a year of pro ball under his belt and handled two A-ball levels pretty well despite being the age of most 2025 college draft picks. He shows a good understanding of how to work his fastball around the zone and set hitters up for his secondaries, and took to some minor mechanical adjustments the Tigers made with him after the draft pretty quickly, while also refining the new changeup nicely over the course of the 2025 season.
Right now, if Elissalt had a couple more ticks on his heater consistently, he’d already look like a upper level starter closing in on the big leagues. As things stand, he does need that bump in stuff to take him from a future depth starter into more of a future mid-rotation type with the potential for more. While his delivery is smoother and lower effort than his older brother, Elissalt knows he needs that velocity bump and trained for it this offseason. We’ll be looking for that to arrive, with some positive reports in camp already indicating that he’s been throwing harder this spring. The feel and adaptability he’s shown bodes well for a major league career in a starting rotation. He should start the season with the Whitecaps again, but we expect him to move to Double-A pretty quickly if things go well.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are at home today against the Baltimore Orioles looking to grab a win in Spring Training.
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Mar 10, 2026; Clearwater, Florida, USA; Fans take advantage of the shade as temperatures reach near record highs during the spring training game between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies at BayCare Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
Feb 18, 2026; Scottsdale, AZ, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher John Brebbia and infielder Nicky Lopez (7) pose for Photo Day at Salt River Fields. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
If you’ve heard much about RHP John Brebbia, it might have something to do with his beard — which has a story all its own. (More on that in a minute.)
Right now, however, the reliever is working to make the Colorado Rockies as they begin to shore up their Opening Day roster.
Last weekend, Purple Row spoke to Brebbia at spring training to get his thoughts on the rebuilding Rockies, acting as a mentor, and, of course, that beard.
Some background
Brebbia is the kind of journeyman reliever that’s seen a lot of places.
He grew up in Sharon, Massachusetts, and attended Elon University. (In case you’re intrested, he completed his degree in political science a few years ago.) The 35-year-old righty was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 2011 MLB Draft (30th round) and then embarked on his long baseball journey.
On May 28, 2017, Brebbia made his MLB debut against — and this is true — the Rockies.
Brebbia has played for a lot of teams: St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves (twice), and Detroit Tigers. Add to that, he’s had plenty of time on MiLB rosters, too.
He has the kind of arsenal the Rockies looking for. According to Baseball Savant, Brebbia has a four-pitch mix: a four-seamer (49%), a slider (43%), a changeup (7%), and a curveball (1%).
Brebbia has a career 4.04 ERA (3.80 FIP) in 378.1 IP and has accumulated 3.1 fWAR.
According to Baseball Reference, Brebbia has logged 13 games, including 43 plate appearances at Coors Field. He has a 0.93 ERA, allowing 10 hits that resulted in two runs while striking out 10.
Spending time with the Rockies
Brebbia has, admittedly, attended his share of spring training camps. So far, he’s impressed with the “good energy” he’s seen at Salt River Fields from coaches, players, and the performance department.
“It’s just a high energy,” Brebbia said. “There’s a lot of excitement, which I think is so fun. You don’t always, you don’t always get that everywhere.”
Even though he’s new to the Rockies orgnization, Brebbia is not new to some of the Rockies coaching staff since he worked with Gabe Ribas during as time with the Detroit Tigers and Matt Daniels while with the Tigers and San Francisco Giants.
“I think this staff is awesome,” he said. “I think they work well together. I think that they’re they’re all working towards the same goal. I don’t want to say they’re ‘like-minded’ because I think they all can offer different things in different ways.”
He continued, “But there’s a couple things that are philosophy/process-oriented that I think this coaching staff is really grabbing by the reins and using as the foundational driver for pitching success. And I it makes sense. It passes the gut check, it passes the brain check, it passes the computer algorithm check. So I think it’s a really good starting place.”
Brebbia was quick to point out the collaborative nature of the Rockies new coaching staff.
“I feel like the staff will offer input in roughly equal amounts throughout our pitchers meetings,” Brebbia said.
“It might not all be on the same topic. One person could be more pitch sequencing, while the other person is more biomechanical or flight-aerodynamic oriented, but I feel like everyone has an area of pitching that they like or that they’re interested in, or that they are maybe responsible for.”
Plus, the coaching staff is informed.
“I have noticed that throughout our meetings, they all provide input, and you can tell that they’ve done their research and they care about it.”
A lifelong learner
Although Brebbia is older that most of his fellow Rockies bullpen denizens, he doesn’t see himself as a mentor to younger players.
“I learned a heck of a lot more from them than the other way around,” he said, acknowledging that baseball is a fast-changing game.
“Baseball, every few years, you look at it and you’re like, ‘Whoa. Everyone’s a heck of a lot better now than they used to be,‘” Brebbia said. “So I’m doing as much as I can to absorb how the heck everyone here is throwing 1000 miles an hour, and why everyone’s got four pitches that are really good and that break right.”
Then he added, “if there’s anything I can offer, great, but I’m pretty useless, so we’ll see.“
Brebbia is cagey, however, about revealing what he’s working on in terms of his pitch mix.
“I might have a couple,” he said. “I might have six of them. I might have 11 of them.”
But there are definitely some changes in the mix.
“We’ll whittle it down into what will hopefully be the in season arsenal before too long. But yeah, I am working on a handful of things.”
Spilborghs: I had the pleasure last night emceeing a little event with some stakeholders with the Rockies. And we were talking with Paul de Podesta. And Paul was describing this pitching staff and this group of new thinkers, as far as the coaching staff. They brought in Alon Leichman from Miami, Gabe Ribas— I believe he came from the White Sox. You have MattBuschmann, who’s bounced around. What does that make you feel when you know you have a brand new coaching staff? Do you have a feeling, like, they’re just gonna throw stuff up, throw stuff up against the wall. Does that excite you to be a part of that?
Brebbia: I think that you can kind of have two approaches towards seeing that. I know some people are like, “Okay, give me one thing. Let me do this one thing. Let me slow down.” I’m the exact opposite. I would like to be rapid fire shot by a paintball gun with as many things as you can possibly get. And then let’s see what works and what doesn’t work.
I expect tons of failure because I want to try tons of things, and you hope you get a little bit that works out of it, at least. So when I see something like that, I get excited because I’m like, “Oh, cool.”
Baseball is so rapidly moving in — I don’t want to say a new direction. It’s not like technology is new, and the data they’re collecting is new, but it’s it’s advancing very quickly in the direction that it’s going. So I think that when you have a bunch of different thought processes, a bunch of different minds kind of getting together and firing away, I think you can get some really, really special things out of it.
Again, some people can look at it and say, ”That feels messy to me. I don’t like that.” But I think there’s a lot more people that are like, ”That’s pretty cool. Let’s see what happens.” Because if the one way doesn’t work, you have so many other options to go to. So I love being able to see it and then be a part of it.
If there’s one thing that’s been clear since DePodesta became the Rockies president of baseball operations, it’s that anything is on the table — In 2026, the Rockies intend to try a lot of things to see what works. To do that, they are going to need players who are willing to be creative and aren’t afraid to fail.
Brebbia is just the type.
Then there’s there’s the beard
Rockies fans are used to their players making the most of their facial hair — Charlie Blackmon provides an obvious point.
Brebbia, too, has his own approach that he curates during the MLB season in addition to his pitching.
“Years and years ago, 2014 was the first year I had some teammates that shaved and were just going to grow their beards at just for something to do in the middle of the season,” Brebbia said. “I thought, ‘Why the heck not? I’ll do that.’ So I clean shaved and then just let it go.”
Then the magic started.
“It ended up being a year where I was like, ‘Wow, I actually feel like I got a lot better this year.’ I did some really good things and tried to move my career forward. So I did it again the next year, and I felt the same way. And then it just kind of became, it became a thing.”
And so a Brebbian tradition was born.
“I’ll clean shave before the first game of the season spring training,” he said. “I more or less keep it however it is now, but I’ll clean shave right before the first game of the season, and then just let it ride until they tell me the season’s over.”
Look at any in-season photos of Brebbia, and you’ll have a pretty good sense of the month based on his facial hair.
The next question, then, is whether fans and Brebbia will be tracking his beard growth as a Rockie.
Teams are beginning to trim their rosters, so we’ll know soon enough.
NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 30: Romy Gonzalez #23 of the Boston Red Sox takes the field prior to Game One of the American League Wild Card Series between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, September 30, 2025 in New York, New York. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The slow drip of bad Romy Gonzalez news has reached its inevitable conclusion, as Gonzalez just underwent surgery to repair a tear in his left labrum. Believe it or not, this is not the worst case scenario. He’ll go on the 60-day IL and then likely need a lengthy rehab period, but he should be back sometime in mid-summer. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
Taking Romy’s spot on the roster will be lefty reliever Danny Coulombe, whom we told you about yesterday. It actually sounds like the Sox and Coulombe first approached each other about a deal at the beginning of the offseason, so Coulombe had a relatively stress-free winter watching his kids play soccer and jogging around his Dallas-area neighborhood in his cleats. (CJ Haddad, MLB.com)
Missing most of Spring Training meant that Coulombe missed a little bit of history, as Braiden Ward broke the record for most steals in one spring training, and then went all Ricky Henderson to celebrate. (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)
Despite making history, Braiden Ward remains a big long shot to make the opening day roster. Connelly Early, on the other hand, entered Spring Training legimately hoping to win a spot in the rotation. But while MLB’s service time rules are making that look unlikely right now, he’s trying not to let it affect him. (Christopher Smith, MLB.com)
Early’s fellow rookie fireballer, Payton Tolle, was always less likely to make the big league team out of camp. And he knows exactly why that is and what he needs to work on:
Payton Tolle acknowledges that "velo is king right now" in regards to getting to the big leagues.
But now his mindset is a big different. "It's maintain velocity and also be able to spin it and get it into the zone." pic.twitter.com/fdj1MbWz7w
Marcelo Mayer is also competing for a roster spot — at least, that’s what Alex Cora is saying publicly. Mayer has had an up-and-down week amidst an up-and-down spring. And while Cora is pleased that he had two hits in yesterday’s game, he still had some criticism for Mayer’s defense on an attempted double-play. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
If Mayer needs any more defensive tutelage, he can always look to shortstop Trevor Story. Story and ace Garrett Crochet are the two guys Alex Cora is looking at to be clubhouse leaders this season. (Kaley Brown, Boston.com)
*In an effort to make the nomination voting easier for everyone, I will comment, “NOMINATIONS”, and you may reply to that with your picks and upvote the player you’d like to see on the next nominee list.
Winner
New nominee
The process for this public vote is explained below. Please take a moment to read this before participating:
Please only vote for one. The player with the most votes at the end of voting will win the ranked spot. The remaining four players move on to the next ballot where they are joined by a new nominee.
In the comments, below the official voting, the community will nominate players to be put onto the ballot for the next round. The format for your comment should be “Nomination: Player Name”.
If a prospect is traded, his name will be crossed out, and all other players will be moved up a space. If a prospect is acquired, a special vote will be put up to determine where that player should rank.
Click on the link here to vote!
* * *
A’s fans top prospects, ranked:
Leo De Vries, SS
Jamie Arnold, LHP
Gage Jump, LHP
Wei-En Lin, LHP
Braden Nett, RHP
Henry Bolte, OF
Johenssy Colome, SS
Edgar Montero, SS
Steven Echavarria, RHP
Devin Taylor, OF
Mason Barnett, RHP
Tommy White, 3B
Henry Baez, RHP
Zane Taylor, RHP
Cole Miller, RHP
Gunnar Hoglund, RHP
Shotaro Morii, SS/RHP
Junior Perez, OF
Joshua Kuroda-Grauer, SS
Kade Morris, RHP
Yunior Tur, RHP
Eduarniel Nunez, RHP
A.J. Causey, RHP
Ryan Lasko, OF
XXX
The voting continues! Let’s vote for the 24th-best prospect in the Athletics’ system. Here’s a quick rundown on each nominee— the scouting grades (on a 20-to-80 scale) and scouting reports come from MLB Pipeline.
Guedez has a knack for hitting. His swing is smooth through the zone with good barrel control and impressive hand-eye coordination that allows him to get to pitches both inside and outside of the zone. He does tend to chase at a high rate, though that is not uncommon for a teenager. There isn’t much power to his game at this point, and the A’s are unsure how much will come even as he fills out his 5-foot-11 frame.
Guedez’s defense is considered average with an average arm, which likely limits him to a corner outfield spot. He was one of the more fun players to watch for the A’s player development staff down in the Dominican Republic this past summer, but with his no standout defensive attribute and underwhelming power, he will have to rely on his strong hit tool to carry him through the system.
Elliott has a quick bat that enables him to consistently hit quality fastballs for line drives all over the field. There has been some debate as to how much power he might develop, though an increase in home run totals from five in 2021 to 16 in 2022 should give some hope that he can grow into average power at the very least. He has shown some deficiencies against left-handed pitching that he’ll need to improve.
Above-average speed and solid defensive skills make Elliott an asset anywhere in the outfield, though right field was his full-time position at Michigan.
Zhuang leans heavily on his four-seam fastball that he can change speeds quite a bit with, throwing heaters that range anywhere from 86-96 mph, though it generally sits in the low-90s. His low-80s changeup has emerged as his best secondary pitch. He also brings a mid-70s curveball, low-80s slider and mixes in a low-80s splitter, providing a decent starter repertoire.
Zhuang, nicknamed ‘Z-Man’ within the organization, did a good job of staying healthy last season to silence some previous injury concerns. But while he has above-average command and enough pitches to remain a starter in the Minors, questions still remain about the effectiveness of his offspeed stuff, especially against higher competition, which could eventually lead to him switching to a bullpen role where his fastball can play up in shorter stints.
Turley falls in line with similar A’s draft picks in recent years — like Denzel Clarke and Rodney Green Jr. — as a toolsy outfielder with some concerns about his ability to make consistent contact. He’s got big power and is able to drive the ball out to all fields with great bat speed, but his strikeout rates throughout his career with the Beavers were somewhat alarming. The question over whether he can hit enough to tap into that raw power is something he’ll have to prove early in his pro career. He has a tendency to chase breaking stuff often, though he mitigates that issue somewhat with his strong ability to draw walks.
A big knock on Turley coming out of college was poor defense, but the A’s believe he is plenty athletic and speedy enough to improve and envision that happening as he grows into his 6-foot-1 frame. His body type and look in the box remind some within the organization of Mark Canha, and he’ll look to move through the system as a power-hitting corner outfielder.
Lasko is still trying to learn his craft from an offensive standpoint. He brings good plate discipline and bat speed, but pitch recognition is something he’s still working to improve. The A’s have also worked with him to rein in his high intensity during games. The power element he showed in college has also yet to show up much in pro ball.
Defense is Lasko’s calling card. He’s a plus defender in the outfield with a great arm and plays center field fearlessly with high energy. His speed is evident in his range, as well as on the basepaths. He’s another talented center fielder in the A’s system who could one day provide stellar defense in the Majors, but the hit tool is something he’ll have to continue improving to become anything more than a fourth outfielder at the highest level.
* * *
Programming Note: Each CPL vote will run for around 48 hours, so don’t delay in making your vote!
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 30: A car enters the Dodger Stadium parking lots from Sunset Gate A before game one of the National League Wild Card Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds at Dodger Stadium on September 30, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Part of the discussion about the Dodgers Gondola project, which has been largely overlooked to date, concerns what will happen to the parking lots at Dodger Stadium after the project is completed, which is a large if, at this point.
As we have covered, the Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) of Dodger Stadium Section 2.1.1, commercial development of the parking lots is wholly dependent on getting mass transportation (as defined in Section 5.1.2), “as including, without limitation, a subway or a lightrail [sic]”) servicing Dodger Stadium.
How a gondola is actually a subway or light rail is a question for another day.
Five years ago, no one would have guessed that the terms ejusdem generis or statutory construction would show up at True Blue LA, but the times they are a-changin.’ Rather than discuss the operation of a gondola system, whose costs are still entirely unknown at this point, or Dodger Stadium Express, whose costs are known to the penny for the next three seasons — a topic we will cover next time, it is time to take a step back.
Everyone is focused on the impending lockout of the sport this coming December, with good reason, but if you take a step back, from the Dodgers’ perspective, the issues underlying the lockout and the Dodgers Gondola project are really the same story, just told from different perspectives.
The Dodgers are in no rush to develop the parking lots, but given the Gondola’s likely marginal impact on stadium traffic, there is no logical reason to build the bloody thing unless one were trying to unlock commercial development at Dodger Stadium.
While the shiny bright object of the pending strife is the question of a salary cap, the underlying story is the allocation of money to franchises, as sourcing has been upended by market changes. The Dodgers have largely been immune to these concerns as they are benefiting from the current system, but they have hardly broken it.
If anything, the organization perfected an imperfect model. When one looks at the landscape of baseball in this context, one should notice three prevailing trends:
The Dodgers have the largest television rights deal in the sport (and the incompetence of Frank McCourt and MLB owners is largely to blame).
Teams are mimicking the Atlanta Braves’ model of serving as commercial landlords to line their own coffers.
Life as a Media Juggernaut
Baseball finances for most teams, apart from the Dodgers, are in flux due to the demise of the regional sports network system. Unlike the NBA and the NFL, which generally rely on national media revenue, other MLB teams are more reliant on regional/local media revenue. Most MLB teams, if not all, except Atlanta, do not make their finances public, so the figures below are not definitive; one would be wise to take them with a grain of salt.
As discussed in depth elsewhere, the Dodgers have a 25-year, $8.35 billion media deal, the largest in the sport.
Maury Brown of Forbessummarized the recently revisited controversy regarding the Dodgers’ alleged sweetheart deal regarding their media rights:
During the bankruptcy sale, McCourt sought to determine what the “fair-market value” of the Dodgers’ media rights might ultimately be, which could be higher than what he had been seeking with FOX when the sale finally closed. These “special terms” determined in the court-controlled proceedings amounted to $84 million annually, with escalators. By setting that figure, it put in motion the revenue-sharing terms for a future deal: the league taking 34% and distributing it to the league’s payees.
As history shows, that projected “fair-market value” was woefully short.
Guggenheim Partners eventually purchased the Dodgers for $2.15 billion in 2012, and said that a key part of their offer was the “special terms” for the projected local media rights. In 2013, the Dodgers went 50/50 with Time Warner Cable to launch Spectrum Sportsnet LA, the new regional sports network launched for the Dodgers in 2014, is a 25-year deal valued at $8.35 billion.
At the time, Maury Brown, then of Baseball Prospectus, reported on the “special terms” in question. The special terms set the Dodgers’ annual TV rights fees from the regional network at about $84 million, plus a 4 percent annual escalator, for the life of the contract the team signed with the network.
Current baseball rules require that big-market teams share 34 percent of regional network rights fees with small-market teams. Unlike NFL franchises, which receive equal shares of league-negotiated TV rights fees, MLB teams have widely varying broadcast revenues. The 34 percent revenue-sharing requirement was intended to level the playing field.
Here, that result did not play out.
Per the Los Angeles Times’ reporting, the average annual value of the Dodgers’ deal is $334 million. Once again, Mr. Brown (this time, from Forbes):
Needless to say, the league and other owners weren’t happy with the 34% of $84 million annually that had come out of the bankruptcy proceedings, but the Dodgers pointed out that those terms were driven by court proceedings.
MLB and the Dodgers did get those figures adjusted, but even so, they come woefully short of the AAV the Dodgers are getting….In 2012, the league steadfastly claimed that “All up-front cash payments and all annual rights fees shall be subject to revenue-sharing under normal principles.” The problem is, “all” was the amount subject to the bankruptcy sale based on the then “fair-market value.”
By allowing Frank McCourt into the club of MLB owners, MLB set in motion a series of events that led to the Dodgers gaining access to wealth beyond the dreams of avarice, something one could not have imagined while the organization was in the throes of bankruptcy.
After negotiations, MLB and Guggenheim made a modest adjustment, setting the “fair-market value” of the Time Warner deal at about $130 million for the first year rather than $84 million. That figure is used to determine the league’s cut, which for all local TV deals has since increased from 34% to 48%.
Ultimately, under this arrangement, Mr. Brown estimated that the Dodgers would retain an additional $2 billion that they would otherwise have shared with the league over the life of the deal. Needless to say, this figure is a source of agita in some corners of the league, given the financial might the Dodgers have finally unleashed during the past couple of seasons.
The rest of MLB plays at being commercial landlords
To compensate, the other teams in the league have had to adjust.
In that adjustment, certain realities have started to become painfully clear. Extra money has to come from somewhere. Where the Dodgers have largely risen above the difficulties with media rights, an aspect where the team is stagnant is the development of an alternative revenue stream, namely, commercial landlord income from team-owned land in the direct vicinity of the ballpark.
After all, if local/regional funds are in flux, most teams have scrambled to replace or address this instability by mimicking the Atlanta Braves and their Battery neighborhood. The gist is that the team owns the land around Truist Park and collects rent from its tenants as a year-round source of income.
Accordingly, the question at Dodger Stadium feels like it has shifted from “if the parking lots will be developed” to “when and how the parking lots will be developed,” because the economics of baseball have permanently changed under the system described above. The Dodgers are in no rush to develop the parking lots, but given the Gondola’s likely marginal impact on stadium traffic, there is no logical reason to build the bloody thing unless one were trying to unlock commercial development at Dodger Stadium.
For those who have never been to Atlanta when the Dodgers are around (which is fair because of both distance and objective racism), one might wonder what is around the ballpark: generally, restaurants, venues, and stores with operating hours one might expect in Fresno, California, i.e., things close earlier than one might think, especially on Sunday. The Braves also acquired a nearby six-building office complex, called Pennant Park, in 2025.
As the Braves are owned by a publicly traded company, the franchise is an anomaly in MLB: its books are open, even after being spun off from Liberty Media. On February 25, the team issued a press release regarding its legally mandated filing with the government.
Highlights include:
Total revenue grew to $732 million in 2025, up 11% from the prior year.
Baseball revenue increased 7% from the prior year to $635 million.
Mixed-Use Development revenue grew 45% from the prior year to $97 million.
Total Adjusted OIBDA(1) grew to $108 million in 2025, up 172% from the prior year.
Baseball Adjusted OIBDA grew to $51 million in 2025, an increase of over $44 million from the prior year.
Mixed-Use Development Adjusted OIBDA grew 51% from the prior year to $69 million.
Operating income (loss) improved by $26 million to $(14) million, down from $(40) million in the prior year.
What MLB owners are counting on is for most to come up with the following conclusion to these numbers: “Oh no — Atlanta lost just under $30 million last year?!?”
You look at those [negative] numbers and you think, “Geez, a company that has over two-thirds of a billion dollars in revenues loses tens of millions of dollars per year. Baseball must be a money-losing business. No wonder the owners need payroll relief.”
The numbers reported by the Braves are real. They’re not making them up. In fact, they are reviewed by the company’s independent audit firm, KPMG LLC. (See their letter on page III-12.) So why does Forbes, in its annual review of baseball finances, and people like me insist that the industry’s in what the Brits would call rude health?
I am sorry to tell you that I’m going to have to explain accounting. If that’s asking too much—I understand—suffice it to say “Yes, of course, it’s profitable”…
[emphasis added.]
Mr. Mains then describes generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP, pronounced “gap”) for the uninitiated, which standardize the reporting of operating income and net earnings.
Once again, Mr. Mains:
The Braves own, in addition to the ballclub, The Battery, a real estate development adjacent to the ballpark. Real estate entails a lot of depreciation. The roof, the [heating, ventilation, and air conditioning], the furniture, all of it has a limited lifespan. So it generates substantial depreciation charges. But the Braves don’t have to write a check for that. It doesn’t affect their cash flow…
Depreciation and amortization are legitimate charges. They’re supported by GAAP. But they don’t mean the Braves losing money in way most people think of it, i.e., running down their cash balance.
Yes, GAAP says [the Atlanta Braves] are in the red. But Forbes doesn’t. I don’t. Even the Braves themselves don’t. Every quarter, in addition the GAAP amounts, they report “Adjusted OIBDA,” which they define as operating income before various noncash and nonoperating charges that GAAP includes in net income, including depreciation and amortization. They even helpfully include a table showing the difference between Operating income (GAAP) and OIBDA (non-GAAP).
…Which numbers are correct, the GAAP losses or the non-GAAP gains? I had a career as a financial analyst, using the financial statements of companies to develop valuations of the stocks they issued in order to recommend them to investors….I generally used non-GAAP measures to derive valuations. They paint a clearer picture. Look, if the Braves were losing $30 million a year, they wouldn’t be able to borrow money, and they’d be running out of cash.
[emphasis added.]
Moreover, if Atlanta were losing that much money per year, Atlanta would not be able to extend Chris Sale for $27 million/year or make any other major additions, which is a discussion for our eastern colleagues at our sister site, Battery Power. They reported on the financial health of the Braves and concurred with Mr. Mains:
The Braves are a baseball club and also practically a real estate investment trust. Don’t make me tap the sign. It’s boring, but mixed-use development is where they profit the most. And to be honest, they could double their hotels, shops, restaurants, and parking outside the ballpark and still have room to grow.
Event hosting on the Braves’ properties is strong. They said there were 380 total events and concerts in 2025. And of these 147 were held at the Coca-Cola Roxy, 144 on the common areas, and 95 Truist Park events…
…The Braves paid off 21 million dollars in debt this last quarter. Their long term debt is up slightly more than 10 million dollars. Pennant Park cost the Braves 93 million. If you assume the Braves debt obligations are 21 million in a three-month period (as is the case with fixed payments), they have made 84 million dollars in debt payment this year. They did this without touching their revolving debt (kind of like a line of credit) and actually pay it down by 25 million.
So they effectively made almost one Pennant Park-sized property worth of debt payments this year. They appear to have the head room for more purchases. Another way to look at it is that in seven or so years, they can be debt-free. With zero debt payments, they could have pay 84 million dollars worth of players.
The revenue stream from commercial property is the way of the future. Look at every other franchise in MLB, and you will see teams either buying up or developing commercial real estate (hello, San Francisco), trying to relocate to build commercial real estate (hello, Kansas City, to varying success), or building new stadiums (hello, Tampa Bay), even in the face of incompetent ownership (hello, Las Vegas). Even the Cubs are trying to control the rooftops overlooking Wrigley Field.
Moreover, it would not be a difficult leap to imagine that ownership groups would not wish to share this revenue stream with players, even in the unlikely event of a salary cap being imposed/agreed to. If one were looking for a future potential third rail in labor negotiations, splitting the revenues from commercial real estate is an obvious candidate.
The Dodgers do not have this problem — yet.
The Dodgers currently have a literal sea of undeveloped parking lots and are riding high on the figurative hog of the current media deal. However, the Dodgers are not the type of organization to just sit still while the rest of the league rushes to become commercial real estate landlords.
One can be forgiven for forgetting the dark times of previous ownership.
Frank McCourt commissioned the Next 50 plan to modernize Dodger Stadium during his ownership, which clearly did not happen. For those who have forgotten, the original plans, which are still accessible, state the following:
The Dodger Stadium “Next 50” plan features Dodger Way, a ceremonial new “front door” and urban plaza surrounded by an administrative office building for the Dodgers organization; the Dodger Experience an interactive museum showcasing the history of the Dodgers and baseball in Los Angeles; a 20,000 square foot flagship Dodger Store; and the Dodger Cafe. Connecting all the elements of the project is The Green Necklace – a ring of gardens, open plazas, and amenities around the stadium, which moves the fan experience outside the walls of the stadium so they have activities which can extend their time at the ballpark beyond the game. The Top of Park plaza located at the highest elevation on site will feature breathtaking 360 degree views spanning the Downtown skyline and Santa Monica Bay, the Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains, and the Dodger Stadium diamond. Other features within the Green Necklace are two, 8-level, 900-car parking structures and a series of food service /retail concession clusters.
While the Guggenheim Group has upgraded Dodger Stadium during its ownership tenure, most notably by finally giving the stadium a badly-needed front door with the addition and renovation of Centerfield Plaza, it has never formally or publicly abandoned Next 50.
As we have established, the Next 50 plan cannot be implemented until the CCR requirements are met, which is not possible until the Gondola is completed. And as we have covered these last few years exhaustively, the Gondola Project is far from a sure thing. Still, it would be heartening if stakeholders were having conversations about the effect that any development would have on Dodger Stadium’s neighbors rather than regurgitating the same arguments about the Gondola itself.
SURPRISE, Ariz. — Left-handed reliever Jalen Beeks has joined the Texas Rangers on a one-year deal worth $1.6 million.
The 32-year-old Beeks went 5-3 with one save and a 3.77 ERA in 61 appearances for the Arizona Diamondbacks last season. He struck out 47 over 57 1/3 innings.
He also was equally effective against left-handed and right-handed hitters. He allowed a .624 OPS against right-handers and a .611 OPS to lefties.
Beeks can earn $1 million in performance bonuses for games pitched: $75,000 each for 10 and 15, $100,000 for 20, and $125,000 apiece for 25, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 65.
Beeks owns a 28-18 record, 4.31 ERA and 16 saves in 263 career appearances with the Boston Red Sox (2018), Tampa Bay Rays (2019-20, 2022-23), Colorado Rockies (2024), Pittsburgh Pirates (2024) and Arizona (2025).
The Rangers made room for Beeks on their 40-man roster by designating right-handed pitcher Alexis Díaz for assignment.
Díaz, 29, was 1-0 with an 8.15 ERA in 18 combined appearances with the Cincinnati Reds, Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves last season. He made an All-Star team with Cincinnati in 2023.
In three Cactus League appearances with the Rangers, Díaz allowed eight earned runs over 1 2/3 innings.
