The BBWAA has released the results of their vote. Carlos Beltrán and Andruw Jones made the cut and will join Jeff Kent as new members of the Hall of Fame
Chase Utley (59.1%), Andy Pettitte (48.5), Félix Hernández (46.1) and Álex Rodríguez (40.0) were the closest to line without getting over.
Not getting 5% of the vote and falling off the ballot are Ryan Braun, Edwin Encarnacion (1.4), Shin-Soo Choo, Matt Kemp, Hunter Pence, Rick Portcello, Alex Gordon, Nick Markakis, Gio Gonzales, Homie Kendrick and Daniel Murphy (the last three getting zero votes).
Manny Ramirez also drops off the ball as it was his tenth chance. He had his highest vote total, 38.8, which was still well short. He’ll be on the Contemporary Era Committee Ballot in 2028 (but by then they will be calling it different name). We would have voted him in.
Jones gets in despite spousal assault charges in 2012, when he choked and threatened to kill his wife. Beltrán gets in despite being involved in the Astros cheating scandal.
We had our own polls (though I forgot to add the poll to the Andruw Jones post, not the first mistake I’ve ever made). Dale Murphy (from the Contemporary ballot, who I think is a much better choice than Jeff Kent, we did polls for the ones on that ballot too) and Manny Ramirez. We had Delgado very close to the line.
We also had Barry Bonds and Felix Hernandez very close to the which I like. I think Bonds should be in the Hall and Felix was the top pitcher in baseball for a number of years there.
Don Mattingly, on the other hand isn’t a Hall of Famer, in my world, but I’ve been wrong before. Beltran did far worse with us than with the Writers. I don’t see him as a Hall of Famer.
And we were much smarter on Jeff Kent than the Contemporary Committee.
Here are our votes:
Whoops, I see I missed out Dustin Pedroia (must be my personal dislike), he got 29.8
On Wednesday, the Dodgers made the Kyle Tucker signing official and held a press conference to welcome the newest Dodger.
Tucker, a seemingly quiet guy, joins a team full of larger-than-life players, including the Best Player on the Planet. The outfielder is now second only to Shohei Ohtani on the Dodgers payroll and is now also ‘just one of the guys’ in a lineup full of Guys.
Manager Dave Roberts indicated on Wednesday that while final decisions have not been made, he intends to tuck Kyle into either the second or third in the batting order. He also said that Tucker will play right field, while Teoscar Hernandez will move over to play left.
The Dodgers did what they felt they had to do to shore up their outfield, their only real weakness. The Dodgers made a more appealing pitch to the biggest free agent on the market, and who wouldn’t want to join the team that just won back-to-back World Series and don’t have much in a change in personnel to run it back a third time?
“I mean, this lineup is pretty good regardless” of his place in it, Tucker said. “I’m excited to be a part of the group and just try and pick the brains of the guys in the clubhouse and see what makes them better. And you know, they might do stuff that I might not do and vice versa, and we can just kind of build each other up.”
Tucker said all the right words in his presser on Wednesday, an awe shucks take on joining a burgeoning dynasty, as Mirjam Swanson states so well in her article.
Bill Plunkett expands on this in his article, how Tucker was the perfect guy to round out the 2026 Dodgers.
“Throughout the offseason we’ve talked a lot about how high the talent bar was of this current club, and how there’d only be a few available players that we felt would be real needle-movers when it comes to bringing another championship to Los Angeles,” General Manager Brandon Gomes said. “Kyle Tucker is at the very top of that group, and one of the most complete players in all of baseball.”
Tucker joins Andy Pages as the only position player under the age of 30, but just barely at the age of 29. It’s obvious that the Dodgers are making the most of their window with this core team, and are determined to be the most recent team to win three World Series in a row.
I don’t think I quite realized how defined the top 3 in the Cardinals system would be. It makes sense, after the votes had been tallied, and I definitely knew that JJ Wetherholt was the favorite for #1 and Liam Doyle the favorite for #2. I didn’t even think about who #3 would be, but I suppose I wouldn’t be surprised by Raniel Rodriguez falling third either. But cumulatively, it is strange and certainly a first since I’ve started this that the first three votes were all about as close to unanimous selections as you can get.
I imagine that stops here. I don’t even know if I’d feel comfortable even saying anyone is a favorite. I don’t think I have a guess quite frankly. Fangraphs listed eight players in its most recent iteration of their top 100 and another player not on that list landed on Baseball America’s top 100. Which is to say that there are, in theory, five legitimate candidates to be selected as the 4th best prospect. Let the games begin.
Comparable Player Corner
Yes, I am bringing this feature back. Instead of trying to read minds or predict the future, I just allow you guys to tell me where your preferences lie. In the near future, I will have to consider adding a prospect from the 2025 draft and when I thought about it, I realized I wasn’t really sure who to add first.
Quick and dirty report – I’m not going to bother with his stats, he threw 6 total pro innings. Reliever out of college, the Cardinals are trying to convert him to starting based on his fantastic fastball. Obviously, he’s a project and it’s not super likely he’ll start, but his fastball also gives him a strong chance to be a good reliever.
Pipeline does not list current scouting, just potential which is probably for the best for a guy who has not yet made his pro debut. Mitchell was listed as a shortstop when drafted, but he was announced as a centerfielder. His potential at least suggests an all-around good player.
Yeah this really comes down to which kind of prospect do you prefer. Do you prefer the likely reliever who has a chance to be a dominant starter or do you prefer the high school prep athlete (and based on the interview I watched after he was drafted, a very smart one) who is all potential right now?
strawpoll.com/Qrgew4W8jyp
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I have a very similar structure for who I will decide to add for the next three weeks. For the next three weeks, I’m adding two players. At that point, we reach 10 people on the ballot and I think that’s enough honestly. But I’ll take advantage of adding two players. There are, to way oversimplify my process, two kinds of players I add: there’s a player who was on last year’s list, where I have a very clear frame of reference on when they might be selected; and then there’s the player who is essentially a complete unknown, where trying to guess where they’ll land will prove difficult.
So because those are the basic archetypes, for the next three weeks, I’ll be adding one of each player. For this week, a top 10 player last year who you know is kind of weird himself honestly. He improved his stock and then needed Tommy John. Where he’ll be placed is anyone’s guess despite him being the more known pick. I’m talking about Tekoah Roby, selected 10th last year. The complete unknown player was quite literally unknown at this time last year: Deniel Ortiz. Anyone with his stats needs to be put on the voting sooner rather than later.
Scouting: 30/35 Hit, 45/60 Game Power, 60/70 Raw Power, 50/40 Speed, 40/50 Fielding
Baez is one of the more unique prospects I can ever remember following. Not in terms of his ability necessarily, or the stats he puts up, or his scouting report. No, I can’t remember a player who so changed his fortune so suddenly to where the before and after look like different players. Across two levels in 2024, he struck out in 35.5% of his plate appearances. Last year, it was 20.6% across the two levels.
And that wasn’t the only thing that changed. Strikeouts was really the only negative of his game, but boy was it a negative, but his walks kind of improved (though not drastically) and his power definitely improved. Granted, it must be said, it is easier to have power in Springfield than either Peoria or Palm Beach, so you know that’s part of it. Nonetheless, he’s a brand new prospect, we hope, and he did it fairly late in his pro career (fifth season!)
Scouting (FG): 35/50 Hit, 35/45 Game Power, 50/50 Raw Power, 40/30 Speed, 40/55 Fielding
While we’re talking about progression as a prospect, Bernal made an interesting one from High A to AA. In High A, he had mediocre K/BB numbers and good pop lead to a 119 wRC+. In AA this past season, he had fantastic K/BB numbers but not a lot of power leading to a 103 wRC+. While it seems like he was a worse hitter, his BABIP fell from .333 to .274. That pretty much entirely explains the difference.
Which if you believe in the Baseball Prospectus stat deserved runs created+, which I am going to be incorporating into the stats now, was unlucky. Bernal’s one question is even simpler than Baez’s: do you believe in the low BABIP? A .300 BABIP and he probably has a similar hitting line to his 119 wRC+ last season.
I have also chosen to incorporate deserved run average, or DRA into the stats. I am surprised Clarke’s DRA was that high in his 3 games at Low A. I’m actually not sure how it could be that high given his 47% strikeout rate, 5.6% walk rate and super high groundball rate. So I might take that particular number with a grain of salt. His DRA in High A, however, looks very similar to his other stats at that level.
If Clarke’s pitches are scouted remotely correctly, that would suggest Clarke could be a reliever at the MLB right now. Of course, his command might prevent him from being good right now, as you can see by the 18% BB rate.
Scouting: 35/40 Hit, 40/45 Game Power, 50/50 Raw Power, 20/20 Speed, 60/70 Fielding
I think it might be lost in the shuffle that Crooks is rather young, despite kind of not seeming like it. Last year was his age 23 season. Most years, we’d be pretty excited about a 23-year-old catching prospect known for his defense who had an above average hitting line at AAA and made his MLB debut. Getting more specific tends to lower the optimism from that baseline.
But he’s kind of in the perfect farm system to get overlooked with two other big time catching prospects, both quite a bit younger than him. In front of him is a very offensive-oriented catcher who is trying to prove he can throw out runners and a very defensive-oriented catcher who honestly probably looks a lot like the version of Crooks who works out. He’s right in that middle ground.
Hence is in a weird spot. He’s within the mix of pitchers currently recovering from Tommy John surgery, except Hence did not have Tommy John. He is in theory healthy at the moment. Unless I missed a report that is. And yet, he doesn’t exactly feel like a healthy pitcher. I think his 2026 will be a big year for him. I think it’s important that he shows some sort of health. He needs to actually throw innings at a certain point. I might even say he’s likely to get moved to the bullpen if his 2026 isn’t particularly healthy either, despite being only 23 right now.
But also, go look at his numbers from the 2024 season. He was very good in AA. He’s ready for AAA, whenever he’s healthy enough to pitch there.
It might be beneficial in the long run that Mathews had the 2025 that he did, even though most – myself included – largely expected him to not only debut last season, but to make as many as 20 starts. That didn’t happen. Part of it was his fault, part of it was that nobody really got injured, and part of it was that he didn’t need to be added to the 40 man. As a consequence, we are a year later and he’s kind of in the same situation as he was a year ago – we think he’ll make a good many starts, but he’s behind some guys more likely to make the roster. In this year’s case, the guys ahead of him can be sent down, for the most part, so it’s more possible.
And when I say it might be more beneficial, he had some growing pains maybe better experienced in the minors, but also his service time clock has yet to start. Unless he makes the majors earlier than expected, the Cardinals are looking at 7 years of team control. Well, depending on the CBA of course.
Drafted in the 16th round of the 2024 draft, Ortiz did not play the rest of that year. So at this time last year, none of us knew who Ortiz was. There was no reason to pay attention to him. Now there is. Fangraphs does not have a scouting report on Ortiz, so I don’t actually have any scouting information to give you. But really, if he’s voted onto this list, it wouldn’t be for the scouting anyway.
The crazy thing about Ortiz is that he had that season at 20-years-old. It’s unusual for a late rounder to have the kind of season Ortiz had, but when it happens, it tends to be an older prospect, like Matt Carpenter in the 13th round. So the usual downside of hoping it’s not just an old guy beating on guys a few years younger is not present here. Ortiz is the young guy.
I chose Roby ahead of other players basically because he had a good 2025. Most of the other choices didn’t really have a great 2025, or at the very least, it certainly didn’t raise their stock. Now, whether the Tommy John surgery immediately puts him back to where he started at the beginning of 2025 is another matter. But when he pitched, he was great.
And here is the poll to vote on the 4th best prospect in the Cardinals’ system.
Heading into the 2025 season, right-handed reliever Yosber Sanchez was a hard-throwing relief prospect on the rise. There were even hopes that he might be ready to pitch in the Detroit Tigers bullpen by the second half of the season. Unfortunately, he too dealt with injuries and struggled some in making the jump from High-A to the Double-A level. His season ended in late August with an arm injury during an outing in which his fastball velocity dropped precipitously. As a result he’s just another example of a problem in the system in terms of developing pitchers and keeping them healthy. That has to be priority one for the new director of pitching as the Tigers continue their search for Gabe Ribas replacement.
Sanchez was originally signed as an international free agent by the Texas Rangers back in 2018. He debuted in the Dominican Summer League in 2019, but after the COVID year he struggled to develop his control and never did come stateside. The Rangers eventually released him in early 2023 and the Tigers picked him as a minor league free agent.
The power stuff was evident early on, but he continued to have serious bouts of wildness as the Tigers brought him from the DSL to Florida to pitch in the Complex League and then Single-A Lakeland late in the 2023 season. In 2024 he broke out, racking up a ton of strikeouts as he pitched in Lakeland and then moved to High-A West Michigan. He was still walking too many hitters but the misses weren’t as big and his velocity starting hitting triple digits with some regularity. Unfortunately, that progress stalled out in 2025.
The Tigers moved him up to Double-A Erie at the end of April, and while he missed a few weeks with a finger laceration in late May and early June, he looked like he was rounding into form in July and August. He was regularly going two innings for manager Andrew Graham, and while he still had stretches where he got a little wild, the stuff was generally overpowering even at the higher level. Then, on August 25 he saw his velocity collapse mid-outing and called for the trainers. He didn’t appear to be in serious pain, but something was clearly wrong with his arm. That was the last we heard about him.
Sanchez only stands 6”1” so he’s not the prototypical power pitcher, but he’s put together well and has filled out during his time with the Tigers. He has strong legs and good balance, and prior to a little dip in velocity leading up to the injury, was pretty comfortably 97 mph with a few extra ticks up his sleeve on a good night. We didn’t see as many triple digit fastballs this year after he made waves in 2024 by topping 100 mph repeatedly for a stretch of games. He just hasn’t been able to repeat his fairly high effort delivery consistently enough to push his way to the major leagues.
The stuff is already major league quality. On top of the quality velocity, he shows some ability to vary the movement between a pretty straight fourseamer and a little more twoseam action when he wants it. His delivery is pretty compact and he doesn’t have the stride or limb length for good extension, so the fastball does play down a little bit, but it’s still a plus heater even at 97 mph, which was his average most of the season.
He backs up the fastball with a wipeout slider in the low-80’s that draws a ton of swings and misses when he’s spotting it well. You can find reports around that suggest he has both a curveball and a slider, but it’s essentially the same pitch with variations in his release to emphasize depth or sweep depending on how he’s trying to attack the hitter. A lesser used changeup is still just a show-me pitch though it has a lot of velocity separation, and he’s toyed with a 91 mph cutter at times to give hitters a different look. He gets a good amount of whiffs overall, and even at the Double-A level hitters really struggled to square him up.
I consdered dropping Sanchez down into the 35+ tier here, but he’s still just a little more consistent command from getting looks in the Tigers’ bullpen too. A very all or nothing proposition, like many power relief prospects. He’ll rip through several really good appearances in a row and look close to a breakthrough, and then issue a walk or two in an outing before posting a few more clean frames. Now 24 years old and due to turn 25 in May, the injury adds another big question mark just as he really needs to start putting it all together. If he’s resolved the arm trouble, he’s still got to do a lot better job correcting himself during an outing to pitch in the major leagues.
Fastball velocity is still very important, but young hitters are getting used to it earlier too and so Sanchez has got to be able to work around the zone more effectively rather than just trying to blow hitters away at the top rail. We’ll keep a 40 grade on him and see if 2026 is the year things finally come together for him. If so, he’ll move very quickly, but it was a disappointing season and it’s fair to be pretty skeptical that he’s going to make it at this point.
#Tigers 24-year-old RHRP Yosber Sanchez (6’1, 170 lbs) allowed one hit and struck out one over two scoreless frames for Erie tonight.
The Cubs Convention is over, and it’s back to the real world for us. The quartet above have had the most mentions in the trade/FA marketplace and that’s where most of the attention is being paid right now. I don’t think the Cubs are dealing either infielder and I don’t see them picking up Zac Gallen and his salary demands. Could be wrong, but probably not.
That isn’t going to stop people from speculating, nor should it.
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Today’s playlist — tons of interviews from Marquee and a few other speculative fictions.
Tom Domol (Cubs Insider*): 2026 Cubs have look, feel of true contender. “… the Cubs are just about as complete a team as they have been since that fabled squad from 10 years ago.”
Matthew Lenz (North Side Baseball*): Chicago Cubs interested in Zac Gallen, Miguel Andujar. “Bruce Levine and Jon Heyman are reporting that the Chicago Cubs are interested in Zach, Gallen (still) and Miguel Andujar, respectively.”
Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series. We will not wittingly publish A. I. – driven articles or clickbait, and insist on unimpeachable sources.
Cody Bellinger is back in pinstripes, inking a five-year, $162.5 million contract to shore up the lineup behind Aaron Judge, and hedge some of the very real downside risk the club holds while rostering Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells, and Jasson Domínguez. It’s the resolution to a very long standoff, with the Yankees holding firm on their offer for a couple months and the Mets seeming to drop out of the bidding on Tuesday night with their acquisition of Luis Robert Jr. from the White Sox.
It’s funny, then, that the Yankees seem to have re-upped with the player type that the popular media covering the team has said they’ve always needed. Bellinger’s 13.7-percent strikeout rate was the lowest of any Yankee last year — no qualifiers attached. If you stepped into the box in a Yankee uniform, you struck out more than Cody did last year. He also can capably play all three outfield positions, including arguably being a better center fielder than the incumbent Trent Grisham.
Without a single home run to left field, Bellinger is also the perfect fit for Yankee Stadium III. His underlying Statcast metrics indicate his ability to pull fly balls should have netted in a couple more long balls than he hit in 2025. One thing that I’m starting to look closer at in evaluating players is how they manage fastballs — pitchers today can do so many evil things with breaking pitchers, almost everyone seems to have multiple offerings on the cutter-slider-sweeper spectrum. Once you lose the ability to catch up with heat, you become exploitable across multiple fronts.
To his credit, Bellinger is still in the 75th percentile of run values against both four-seam fastballs and sinkers. This gives him a pretty reliable floor over the next half-decade. Being competent against hard stuff allows a hitter to be more aggressive early in counts, when you are still more likely to see fastballs and pitches in the zone, while Bellinger’s strike zone awareness and ability to make contact out of the zone, key to his low strikeout rate, hedge some of the weaknesses hitters display against the nonsense breaking stuff modern pitchers offer.
So he’s the ideal player, at least when we consider the charges levied at Yankee teams in the Aaron Judge era. They strike out too much, they can’t reliably hit once the opponent gets past the captain, they give away runs on defense that leave them behind the 8-ball over and over. Bellinger is a solution for all three critiques, and yet this signing isn’t really considered some landmark deal.
How much of this is Bellinger’s fault compared to the club overall? I’m tempted to say it has more to do with the way the roster is currently constructed:
The #Yankees' projected Opening Day lineup looks something like this now with Cody Bellinger back:
1. CF Trent Grisham* 2. RF Aaron Judge 3. LF Cody Bellinger* 4. DH Giancarlo Stanton 5. 1B Ben Rice* 6. 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr.* 7. C Austin Wells* 8. SS José Caballero 9. 3B Ryan… https://t.co/9JuFNCjkDH
There’s nothing wrong with this lineup per se, it’s just returning the same group we would have seen in like, mid-September last year, with everyone a year older to boot. It’s hard to imagine the Yankees being a better team in 2026 than they were in 2025 just because Cody Bellinger is back — but with less than three weeks before pitchers and catchers report, the time to continue improving seems to be running out.
The Royals offered Beltran a chance to develop at the highest level. Beltran lauded Brett and others for his ability to grow as a major league player.
“It was an incredible experience just to be able to be around George Brett,” Beltran said. “The influence that he was to me, just being able to learn from him and go to the (batting) cages with George and listening to him. Just listening to the way he approached the game, how hard he played the game of baseball and how much he enjoyed the game of baseball. So for me, it was a great experience.”
The Beltrán game I will always remember is Opening Day 2004. As I wrote above, the Royals had high hopes for that season. Against the White Sox that afternoon, they fell behind, trailing 7-3 going into the ninth. The Royals rallied, though and on a Mendy López pinch-hit, three-run home run (yes, a Mendy López home run), they tied the game. An Ángel Berroa single brought Beltrán to the plate.
Beltrán bashed a walkoff two-run home run. In the baseball wilderness from 1986 to 2013, I believe that was the most euphoric Kauffman Stadium ever was. It was a moment I’ll never forget.
As discussed in an article earlier this week, Collins is not particularly skilled against left-handed pitchers with a near-league-average wRC+ of 106. If he can keep this up, he will still improve the Royals’ outfield offensive production.
A deeper look into Collins’s pitch-tracking data shows that he does his most damage against breaking balls, with 6 of his 9 home runs last year coming off them. Despite his increase in power against breaking balls, he is particularly more likely to swing and miss against breaking balls from left-handed pitchers, with his whiff rate at 38% compared to his season average (and better than league average) whiff rate of 22.5%. If Collins can increase his batted ball rates against breaking balls from lefties, that could go a long way in improving his overall production.
The righthander blends now stuff with uncommon poise into a skill set that has helped him ascend to the top of the Royals’ system. If he does it again, he could have a case as the sport’s best pitching prospect.
Shields lasted just one start in the Arizona Complex League before earning a bump to Low-A Columbia. He thrived in the Carolina League, where he used stuff and savvy to carve hitters all summer. By season’s end, he’d earned the league’s pitcher of the year honors. He doesn’t have the kind of blow-away stuff as some of the other pitchers in the minors, but his pitchability and command should help him become a midrotation starter in a few years.
A bad trend has been cropping up among Rockies All-Stars in recent seasons. Since perennial All-Star Nolan Arenado, who earned selections 2015-19, was traded, every Rockie All-Star has performed worse in the season following their All-Star selection.
There wasn’t an All-Star Game in the COVID-shortened 2020 season, and Arenado was traded to St. Louis in February of 2021.
That’s when it went downhill for Colorado All-Stars.
While the star-studded seasons were great at the time, things got worse shortly thereafter for RHP Germán Márquez, first baseman C.J. Cron, catcher Elias Díaz, and third baseman Ryan McMahon. This is a worrisome direction for Colorado, especially for breakout 2025 All-Star Hunter Goodman.
So what makes Goodman different, and how can he snap this skid?
The good news is that there are some positive indicators that show he’s better positioned to break the downward trend than his predecessors.
But first, I have to acknowledge that the Rockies have been a struggling team that has been worse each season since 2021, culminating in a 43-119 record in 2025. It’s hard to produce at the same All-Star level on a bad team that gets even worse every year.
2021: Germán Márquez
In 2021, Germán Márquez was named an All-Star and had a remarkable season. The then 26-year-old, who was playing his fifth full MLB season, posted a 4.40 ERA, went 12-11 in 32 games with three complete games and one shutout. He registered 176 strikeouts compared to 64 walks and 21 homers, finishing the season witha 2.4 rWAR.
In 2022, he was still decent, but dropped off. In 31 starts, he posted a 4.95 ERA and went 9-13 with zero complete games or shutouts for a 1.4 rWAR. He still struck out 150 batters and only walked 63, but he also gave up 30 homers.
Things got even worse for Márquez with significant injuries (Tommy John surgery, more elbow and biceps issues) and struggles in the following seasons that limited him to five starts in 2023-24. In 2025, Márquez went 3-16 in 26 starts with a 6.70 ERA and a -1.1 rWAR. Less than a month out from spring training, the 30-year-old still remains a free agent.
But it’s hard to compare pitchers and position players, so let’s focus on the last three All-Stars: Cron, Díaz and Ryan McMahon. It’s important to look at their All-Star campaigns and follow-up seasons before we get into Goodman’s numbers.
2022: C.J. Cron
In his ninth MLB season and at age 32, Cron built off of a strong 28-homer, 92-RBI season in 2021 when he got his first invite to the Midsummer Classic in 2022. He started with a bang, posting 21 homers, 69 RBI and a slashline of .298/.350/.552 in 346 at-bats before the All-Star break to earn the team’s lone selection.
In the final series before the All-Star break, Cron was hit in the hand by a fastball. It hindered his ability to hold the bat and it showed up in his stats. In the shorter second half of the season, he plummeted, hitting only .197/.263/.341 with eight homers in 251 at-bats.
The next season, Cron got worse in almost every major offensive category, though he did drop his strikeout rate a bit. Cron battled back spasms, even landing on the IL for nearly a month and a half. He was traded to the Angels midseason in 2023 during his 10th season in the league, which ended up being his final one. Like Márquez, Cron’s post-All-Star career was derailed by injuries.
2023: Elias Díaz
In 2023, Diaz, in his seventh full MLB season and at age 32, was the solo Rockie in the All-Star Game and the first Rockies catcher to get the nod. Díaz arguably had a better season in 2021 when he hit 18 homers, drove in 44 runs and posted a 2.2 rWAR in 106. He played more (141 games) in 2023 and was named the All-Star Game MVP, hitting the go-ahead, two-run homer in the National League’s 3-2 victory.
Díaz wasn’t quite as strong in 2024, but still was putting up good numbers as the Rockies No. 1 catcher. As the season continued and with Goodman tearing it up in Triple-A Albuquerque, the Rockies released Díaz in August after five years in Colorado. Díaz was picked up by the Padres, where he played the last two seasons.
Currently, he is a free agent.
2024: Ryan McMahon
Tasked with the weight of replacing Arenado, McMahon was an outstanding defender at third base, but wasn’t nearly as impactful at the plate. Like Díaz, McMahon might have had his best season in 2021 when he hit 23 homers and posted career-highs in rWAR (4.0) and batting average .254.
In 2024, at age 29 and in his seventh full season in the Big Leagues, McMahon had a great first half, slashing .272/.350/.447 with 14 home runs and 45 RBI in 360 at-bats.
Like Cron two years before him, McMahon cooled down after the All-Star break, hitting .188/.283/.309 with six homers and 20 RBI in 207 at-bats. Last season, McMahon struck out more and dropped his batting average by 0.28 points. On July 25, McMahon was dealt to the Yankees, where his numbers continued on a slight downward trend.
Overall, the trajectories aren’t good. McMahon could still right his ship in New York, but there weren’t happy endings for Cron and Díaz.
2025: Hunter Goodman
So, let’s dive into the three reasons that make Goodman more likely to repeat his “really, really, really good season,” as manager Warren Schaeffer put it in a press conference on Dec. 8.
The first advantage is Goodman’s age. He earned his first All-Star nod at age 25, which happened to be his second full season (third overall). He hit a higher level of play sooner than the other Rockies All-Stars, which hopefully means his career is still on an upward trajectory, as opposed to hitting a short-lived peak.
Second, Cron, Diaz and McMahon all fell into horrible slumps in the second half of their All-Star seasons. McMahon finished 2024 as the third-best Rockie (2.5 rWAR), Díaz’s rough second half of 2023 landed him as the sixth-best Rockie at 1.4 rWAR, and Cron’s struggles dropped him to No. 5 at 2.1 rWAR in 2022. While they got off to great starts, they weren’t consistent enough to finish as the top Rockies. Even without the last-season downfalls, it’s likely that none would have merited Midsummer Classic invites if they played on better teams.
Goodman had ups and downs, like every player does, but no significant drop-off after the All-Star break. He was the Rockies’ best player when All-Stars were named in July and at the end of September when he finished with a team-high 3.7 rWAR. Goodman was the best catcher in the National League in homers (31), RBI (91), average (.278), slugging percentage (.520) and OPS (.843). Goodman’s steady 2025 campaign was much more impressive from start to end than Cron’s, Diaz’s or McMahon’s, and he would have been an All-Star playing on any NL team.
Finally, McMahon, Díaz and Cron didn’t finish their post-All-Star seasons with the Rockies. All three went to other teams where they didn’t even start, as opposed to being the best Colorado player — even if for a short time. All three finished with significantly fewer games and plate appearances in the season following their All-Star selection.
While anything is possible under Colorado’s new front office, the Rockies seem to be building their new core around Goodman. In his December press conference, Schaeffer talked about wanting to see the young catcher develop as a leader moving forward. He also said he believes Goodman could even increase his game appearances and plate appearances from 144 and 579 plate appearances in 2025 to be more like Seattle’s Cal Raleigh. Raleigh, who consistently plays DH when he’s not behind the plate, played in 159 games and recorded 705 at-bats in 2025.
All signs point to Goodman having another star-studded season in 2026, and being the Rockie who breaks the post-All-Star slump trend.
Reporter Mike Mazzio caught up with Colorado’s new president of baseball operations and heard about why he wanted to join the Rockies, how he kept an eye on baseball during his time in the NFL and what changes he sees in analytics.
The local news outlet covered which Rockies will be there, including Hall of Famers Todd Helton and Larry Walker, what RockiesFest is like and what will be available during the 13th annual event on Saturday.
Yesterday, it was announced that the San Francisco Giants will have yet another former player inducted into the Hall of Fame this season. This time, it will be Carlos Beltrán getting the honors.
Congratulations to Beltrán first and foremost. But my goodness, the hypocrisy is strong with this one.
This is the same Hall of Fame that continues to keep Barry Bonds out at all costs, ostensibly because of his ties to the steroid era. Meanwhile, we’ve seen players like David Ortiz get voted in, despite testing positive for performance enhancing drugs.
And now Beltrán has been voted in as well, despite having a central role in the trash-can banging, sign-stealing legacy of the Houston Astros’ 2017 World Series Championship.
While many would argue that Beltrán’s on-field performance outweighs the controversy, where is that same case for Bonds?
Why is it that voters can ignore the steroid usage by Ortiz and the cheating by Beltrán because of their playing legacy, but Bonds (one of the all time greatest to ever play the game) doesn’t deserve that same consideration?
Ultimately, it’s not even necessarily about Bonds (or Ortiz, or Beltrán). It’s about the hypocrisy and the inconsistency of the enforcement of their arbitrary, unwritten rules.
Either players embroiled in scandals like these aren’t eligible, and that is enforced consistently, or you don’t get to use these things as an exclusionary tactic.
But they can’t have it both ways and still expect to be respected as an institution.
DAVOS, Switzerland — Global inequality was a central theme at the World Economic Forum this week in Davos, as some of the world’s most powerful people gathered in the Swiss mountain enclave for the annual week-long discussion of global politics, money and technology.
It provided a fitting—if not also ironic—location for Todd Boehly, the co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, to defend his team’s superlative spending. The MLB team ignited baseball fans again last week after it signed Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million deal. Tucker was among the priciest free agents of the offseason, and he joined a franchise that has won the last two World Series and currently has both the sport’s highest revenue and its largest payroll.
At an event hosted by Sportico adjacent to the forum in Davos, Boehly was asked whether the current economics of baseball were fair, and what it might mean for the sport’s looming labor fight. He started his answer by referencing the free-spending Yankees teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the team’s 27 World Series titles.
“The facts are that ultimately you want really big teams that are pulling the league forward,” Boehly said in an interview.
The Dodgers have become a Rorschach test of sorts for baseball fans who are growing increasingly frustrated with the sport’s slanted economy. Some see the club’s owners as blowing the top off the sport, flexing their deep pockets to price out all but just a few other rivals. Others believe they are doing what all 29 other owners should—spending to win.
Baseball’s growing inequality has also become a central discussion in the sport’s looming labor fight. MLB’s current labor accord is up at the end of the upcoming season, and many in management have used the dominance of the sport’s elite as an argument for a salary cap. The MLB players union has unsurprisingly positioned that as an existential red line.
Boehly, who is the chairman of Eldridge Industries, said baseball was heading into what he called a “healthy” evolution. He also cited “mark-to-market” accounting, an economics principle in which assets and liabilities are re-priced as market conditions change.
“Demand for the sport continues to grow, and I think that there’s just going to have to be a little bit of teeth-gnashing about how it moves forward,” he said. “And I also think that there’s a mark-to-market that’s going to occur. And when those types of situations occur, there’s always a little bit of volatility.”
Boehly wasn’t the only person at the event to reference the Yankees, baseball’s most valuable team, in defense of the Dodgers. Former MLB star Alex Rodriguez, now the owner of the NBA’s Timberwolves and WNBA’s Lynx, threw his support behind the baseball team’s owners.
“It would be so hypocritical for me to dog the Los Angeles Dodgers when I played for the New York Yankees, and we were spending more money than anybody,” Rodriguez said in an interview.
While Boehly and Rodriguez are correct about those dominant Yankees teams of the late 1990s and early 2000s, the scale has changed slightly. In 2000, when the Yankees won their fourth World Series in five years, the team’s opening day payroll was $92.9 million. That was about 65% more than the median salary ($56.2 million) and nearly 6x the sport’s lowest payroll. The Dodgers last season opened the season at about $321 million, roughly equal with the New York Mets. That was more than double the median salary ($152 million) and nearly 5x the lowest-spending team.
The Dodgers last year became the first MLB team—and just the fourth sports team around the globe—to earn $1 billion in revenue. That number directly informs the team’s spending.
Boehly was asked what he considers to be the Dodgers’ budget. His answer: 40% of team revenue.
(Boehly’s Eldridge Industries is an investor in Penske Media Corporation, Sportico’s parent company).
There are now 63 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. We’re much closer to the assorted milestones of spring training, now less than a month away from even the first spring training game. WBC-participating pitchers and catchers report on February 9, which is only 18 days away.
Everyone’s assumed list of choices for the Orioles again assumed pursuit of a top-end starting pitcher was shortened by one last night. The New York Mets, who’ve been aggressive in the past week or so, went out and acquired starting pitcher Freddy Peralta as well as former Orioles pitching prospect Tobias Myers. The Mets sent prospects Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat to the Brewers.
That’s two top 100 prospects from yesterday’s freshly-released Baseball America top 100 list. Williams, an infield prospect was the #71 prospect on the list, with Sproat, a righty starting pitcher, at #81. There was some extra value coming back from the Brewers in here with the acquisition of Myers, a 27-year-old who’s pitched in 49 games over the past two seasons since debuting and put up a 3.15 ERA in that time. Prospect lists can’t be taken as gospel for considering alternate trades, but with that in mind, that’s pretty close to two Orioles prospects, Trey Gibson (#72) and Nate George (#86).
That’s quite a haul for a one-year rental of the headliner of Peralta. The Mets could afford to give up a pitching prospect like that because they’ve got two even higher-ranked in Jonah Tong (#44) and former Orioles draft pick Nolan McLean (#8). They should have just signed that guy instead of worrying about whatever medical concerns.
This deal simultaneously takes Peralta off the board for the Orioles or anyone else and presumably removes the Mets as a possible destination for free agent starting pitcher Framber Valdez. If so, what teams are even still on the hunt for Valdez? We have no idea what Mike Elias thinks of the dude or what kind of price point he might be comfortable with in the more aggressive mode he’s operating this offseason. All we know is nobody’s signed Valdez yet.
The Orioles need a dude. If they believe Valdez can be a dude, they’ve got to pay what it takes. I don’t know what will happen here, but it feels like at long last, this is the only possible option left to the Orioles.
Some AL East news broke yesterday with the news that the Yankees are re-signing their own free agent, Cody Bellinger, to a five-year, $162.5 million deal that Bellinger can opt out of after two or three years, unless labor unrest wipes out the 2027 season, then he can only opt out after three or four years. This reunion felt pretty much inevitable, as my counterpart Andrew Mearns at the Yankees site Pinstripe Alley wrote in his reaction to the signing:
As soon as outfielder Cody Bellinger decided to exercise his opt-out in early November and hit free agency again this offseason, it seemed like he and the Yankees would find their way back to each other.
Orioles fans can now hope that this fails spectacularly and hilariously as soon as possible. That may not be a realistic hope because Bellinger was pretty good last year, putting up 5.1 bWAR as he hit 29 homers and OPSed .813 over 152 games. No full-season Oriole had as many home runs or an OPS so high as that, and only Gunnar Hendersong among O’s position players had a greater WAR. This year will be the age 30 season for Bellinger. Even the Chris Davis contract, miserable failure that it was, saw Davis post 3.0 bWAR in his age 30 season.
Are you ready for the evolving snow event and extreme freaking cold that are starting this weekend? It’s a good thing the Birdland Caravan is starting today, because maybe the Thursday and Friday events will be able to go off without a hitch. Saturday events, I guess that depends on when the snow is really supposed to start. Don’t put off the emergency grocery shopping until it’s too late.
Remaining questions before Orioles spring training begins (Baltimore Baseball) “Are they going to get a number one starter?” is the first question, same as it has been since the offseason began. It is only even more a question now that Peralta has been dealt and the choices are even more slim.
Today in 2006, the Orioles traded Jorge Julio and John Maine to the Mets for Kris Benson. Although they acquired two years of Benson, he only pitched one season with the team, posting a 4.82 ERA (94 ERA+) in 30 starts. Sadly, this made him that team’s effective #2 starter.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2014-17 pitcher Ubaldo Jiménez, 2004-05 pitcher Aaron Rakers, 1967-72 pitcher Dave Leonhard, and 1954-54 infielder Bobby Young.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: philosopher Francis Bacon (1561), poet Lord Byron (1788), pepper spice categorizer Wilbur Scoville (1865), DJ Jazzy Jeff (1965), actress Diane Lane (1965), and Maryland-born rapper Logic (1990).
On this day in history…
In 1901, England’s Queen Victoria died after reigning for 63 years. Her son, who took the regnant name Edward VII, became king at the age of 59.
In 1905, a revolution sparked in Russia following the massacre of hundreds who were attempting to deliver a petition to the tsar seeking better conditions for workers.
In 1973, heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier was resoundingly beaten by challenger George Foreman, being knocked down six times before the Kingston, Jamaica fight was stopped in the second round. This fight produced the famous sportscasting exclamation: “Down goes Frazier! Down goes Frazier!”
A random Orioles trivia question
I received a random book of Orioles trivia for Christmas. I’ll ask a question in this space each time I write until I run out of questions or forget. The book has multiple choice answers, which I’m ignoring because that would just be too easy. Today’s question:
The 1971 Orioles had four pitchers with 20+ win seasons. These were Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally, Jim Palmer, and which other pitcher?
**
And that’s the way it is in Birdland on January 22. Have a safe Thursday.
We’re less than 30 days out from the start of NC State’s 2026 baseball season, so now’s as good a time as any to get to know the team before they hit the diamond. The Wolfpack will be looking for their third trip to Omaha in the last six seasons, so let’s figure out how they’ll get there (keep your “on a plane” jokes at home where they belong). We’ll try and tackle this in a few parts:
Part II will look at the returnees from 2025’s Auburn Regional squad
Part III will look at the newcomers, both transfers and freshmen
Part IV will look at the non-conference opponents
Part V will tackle the ACC slate facing the Pack
Let’s get to it!
Who’s Back
If you read Part I of this series and saw the 22 players exiting the program, you might be a little apprehensive to dive into this one. Hey, I don’t blame you – that’s a reasonable reaction at a surface level. Fear not, though, there’s plenty of reason for optimism for the 2026 Wolfpack, and it starts with who’s back from last year’s team.
Heath Andrews – JR – RHP
Preston Bonn – rFR – C
Landon Carr – rJR – RHP
Cooper Consiglio – JR – LHP
Jacob Dudan – JR – RHP
Brayden Fraasman – SR – OF
Ty Head – SO – CF
Drew Lanphere – rJR – C
Truitt Manuel – rFR – RHP
Ryan Marohn – JR – LHP
Chris McHugh – JR – 1B
Kaden Morris – rFR – RHP
Anderson Nance – SO – RHP
Luke Nixon – JR – INF
Brandon Novy – SO – 1B/3B
Julien Peissel – rJR – RHP
Tristan Potts – SO – LHP
(Starters and key contributors in bold)
By a quick count, that’s four starters plus a key contributor returning to the lineup plus two-thirds of the weekend rotation and three of the top four relievers by innings pitched in 2025. That’s a solid basis to start a club with, especially in today’s current transfer portal climate. Let’s take a closer look at those coming back, starting with the players who didn’t play as crucial a role last season.
Preston Bonn was a late addition to the Wolfpack’s freshman class of 2025 and spent the year redshirting while Alex Sosa started 40 games behind the dish and Drew Lanphere accounting for the other 16 starts at catcher. With Sosa now gone, the 6’0, 187 lbs Bonn has a chance for playing time.
Landon Carr redshirted last year after notching a single appearance in February with a scoreless inning against Ohio State. The redshirt wasn’t planned, as Carr ended up needing elbow surgery to repair his UCL (internal brace, not Tommy John). The first year back from elbow surgery can be a crapshoot, so we’ll see what Carr can contribute in 2026, but his a very talented arm with experience from his time in the JUCO ranks. Pre-surgery, he featured a mid-90’s fastball complimented by a changeup and breaking ball.
Like Carr, Truitt Manuel redshirted the 2025 season after elbow surgery. Unlike Carr, Manuel’s surgery occurred in fall 2024 so he’s had more time to recover and his chances to be back to form will be higher. A super athletic righty, Manuel can pitch in the mid-90’s with a changeup and a breaking ball. He got high reviews for his work in the fall, so he’s a player to watch for this spring.
Kaden Morris is a 6’8, 220 lbs righty from Clayton who is flying under the radar after redshirting last year. He’s a former Top 300 national recruit with a low-90’s heater that plays up due to his size and delivery. Morris is a true project arm, so it will be interesting to see what he has to offer after a year a change of working with Chrysler and crew.
Like Carr and Manuel, Julien Peissel missed all of the 2025 season due to injury, but his was a torn ACL in his knee rather than an elbow injury. Unlike Carr and Manuel, Peissel has experience at the D1 level after playing his first two collegiate seasons at UNCG where the 6’1, 186 lbs righty went 6-6 with a 4.65 ERA over 129.2 IP with a 7.9 BB% and 16.3 K%. He has a low-to-mid-90’s fastball, a breaking ball, and a splitter. Peissel should be back to full strength by the start of the season and will feature into a bullpen role, or possibly the Wolfpack’s midweek starter once he works back into multiple-inning stamina.
Two rising sophomores who emerged late in the 2025 season and figure to play more prominent roles in 2026 are Brandon Novy and Tristan Potts. Novy is a big body corner infielder with power to match his size. He hit .271/.462/.500, 2 2B, 3 HR, 24.6 BB%, 12.3 K%, 0-0 SB over 65 plate appearances across 24 games with 11 starts. Novy started the last eight games of the year during which he hit .355 with all three of his home runs coming during that stretch. More than just a masher with an ability to hit to all fields, Novy should see plenty more PAs this year, whether that’s in the field or at DH.
On a team with just four southpaws, Potts should see plenty of opportunities to make an impact as a reliever this year. After a pair of February appearances, the Waxhaw native didn’t see the mound again until April but impressed down the stretch. For the year, Potts posted a 2.35 ERA over 7.2 IP spanning 11 appearances with a 5.4 BB% and 18.9 K%. The numbers are more impressive when you consider the competition he toed the rubber against (Coastal Carolina, Richmond, Virginia, Louisville, UNCW, Miami, Stetson, CCSU).
Despite losing Dominic Fritton to the draft, the returning pieces of the pitching staff is one of the primary reasons for optimism for NC State heading into 2026. That starts with Heath Andrews and Ryan Marohn returning to their weekend rotation roles, as well as stud 2025 relievers Jacob Dudan and Anderson Nance, and what should be a bounce-back season from Cooper Consiglio.
Andrews had an up-and-down sophomore season in 2025, showing glimpses of dominance but also struggling at times with command, which often resulted in his pitching from behind in counts and ultimately getting hurt because of it (15 2B, 13 HR surrendered in 2025). Built like a strong safety, the physical righty posted a line of the season of 4-3, 6.02 ERA, 64.1 IP, 7.5 BB%, 18.0 K%. Andrews features a low-to-mid-90’s fastball that pairs with a slider that can be devastating when ahead in the count. He also has a changeup and added a cutter in the fall.
A 2025 3rd Team All-ACC selection, Marohn is more than just a crafty lefty although he’ll occasionally get tagged with that moniker because of his ability to throw four pitches for strikes. He sits in the low-90’s with his fastball but can run it up to 95, and the pitch plays up thanks to his ability to control his changeup, curveball, and slider. Marohn’s final 2025 line was 8-3, 3.38 ERA, 85.1 IP, 5.4 BB%, 26.0 K% over 14 starts, including two complete games and three outings of 10+ strikeouts. The two-year starter spent time with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team last summer and holds career marks with the Wolfpack of 12-5, 1 SV, 3.62 ERA, 144.1 IP, 7.2 BB%, 22.5 K% across 30 appearances, including 24 starts.
Getting first crack at the third spot in the weekend rotation will be Dudan, a shutdown reliever over his first two seasons with NC State who received some starting experience in the Cape Cod League last summer. The Dude went 2-2, 5 SV, 3.90 ERA, 30.0 IP, 12.7 BB%, 30.6 K% over 22 games last season, including one start. He struggled out of the gate last year with a 20.25 ERA through his first four appearances, but settled in with scoreless efforts in 14 of his last 18 outings, allowing multiple runs in just one of those appearances. Dudan has a career line at State of 6-4, 11 SV, 4.27 ERA, 78.0 IP, 14.6 BB%, 27.8 K%. The 2024 Freshman All-American and USA Baseball Collegiate National Team member is looking to change his arsenal heading into his first year as a starter, leaning less on his devastating slider and high-90’s four-seam fastball combo, and mixing in a changeup and sinker to keep hitters off-balance. Putting it all together as a starter will put him in line to be a 1st round pick in this year’s MLB Draft. The fallback is to return to his role as one of college baseball’s most dominant closers.
Nance took the mound last spring with the quiet confidence of a 6th year senior stone cold killer. On his way to All-ACC Freshman and Freshman All-American honors, Nance pitched to an 8-2 record with 1 save and a 3.50 ERA over 18 appearances (1 start) covering 54.0 IP. He posted a 4.9 BB% and 23.7 K% while getting stronger in every start, with his fastball gaining velocity as the season progressed. He was at his best in mid-April, going 14.0 IP of scoreless ball with 19 K in outings against East Carolina, California, and Clemson. Nance would seem like the more obvious choice to slide into the weekend rotation, but he’ll play the swingman role for the Pack in 2026 with his mid-90’s fastball – that can reach the upper 90’s – complimented by his breaking ball and changeup.
Consiglio burst onto the scene as a freshman in 2024, going 5-4 with a 4.97 ERA over 15 appearances, including 5 starts, and 41.2 IP with a 13.5 BB% and 21.3 K%. After spending time with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team that summer, he struggled out of the gate but appeared to right the ship come early March going 7.0 combined innings of scoreless ball with 1 BB and 9 K against UNCG and NC A&T. Unfortunately, those were the last two scoreless outings of his season as his control waned. That wasn’t a lack of control just in finding the strike zone, but missing the outer third of the plate by leaving the ball out over the heart of the plate and hitters doing damage with it. The end result was a 1-4, 10.59 ERA, 34.0 IP, 13.9 BB%, 21.1 K% line. The good news is that Consiglio had a great summer up on the Cape Cod League and followed up with an impressive fall for the Pack. He should jump right into the top lefty bullpen arm for State, eating a bunch of meaningful innings.
Getting to the lineup, and speaking of players with a bit of hype coming from their fall camp performance, Brayden Fraasman returns after posting a .279/.329/.498, 12 2B, 11 HR, 6.8 BB%, 16.2 K%, 3-5 SB campaign a year ago. The former JUCO transfer from Lincoln Trail CC in Illinois played in the MLB Draft League last summer, but went undrafted thereafter. Fraasman popped at times last year, including winning ACC Player of the Week honors in late April after torching Clemson (.692, 2 HR, 7 RBI), but he faded in May as strikeouts and a lack of walks took their toll on his effectiveness at the dish. He did finish 5-for-17 in the NCAA Regional with 2 2B and a HR, and the toolsy outfielder should have an even stronger 2026 in his second year of ACC play.
Ty Head was NC State’s highest rated player in the 2025 freshman class, and he lived up to it by earning All-ACC Freshman honors with a .274/.433/.402, 11 2B, 4 HR, 19.8 BB%, 11.5 K%, 6-6 SB effort. That’s not to say anything of his defense, which featured a slew of magnificent highlights throughout the season. After playing up in the Cape Cod League last summer and being back on campus for fall work, Head is primed for a breakout 2026 season, even if that walk rate isn’t replicated. With all his tools and ability to play all three OF positions, he’ll be a name to watch as a draft-eligible sophomore in this year’s MLB Draft.
Following three seasons in Raleigh, slowly working his way up from bullpen catcher to parttime backup catcher to fulltime backup catcher and parttime starter, Drew Lanphere hit the transfer portal in look of an opportunity to be a fulltime starter. When Alex Sosa hit the transfer portal himself, it made a ton of sense for the Wendell native to return to Raleigh for a fourth season. He’ll face competition from a pair of freshman, but neither have what Lanphere does: experience. Lanphere has played in 68 games over the last two years with the Wolfpack, posting a line of .244/.376/.331, 5 2B, 3 HR, 16.7 BB%, 17.7 K%, 0-0 SB. In 2025, he hit .217/.383/.289, 3 2B, 1 HR, 20.6 BB%, 12.1 K%, 0-0 SB. While the triple slash won’t wow you, the underlying numbers (that BB%, K%, and his .250 BABIP) are clear indicators that a breakout season could be in store. Not to mention that he’s was the best defensive catcher on the field for State last year.
In what turned out to be a way underrated transfer signing before the 2025 season, Chris McHugh quickly acquitted himself at the ACC level, posting a line of .365/.462/.533, 12 2B, 7 HR, 9.7 BB%, 16.9 K%, 1-3 SB on his way to 2nd Team All-ACC honors. He then went on to a successful season in the Cape Cod League, hitting .250/.347/.462, 7 2B, 5 HR, 10.7 BB%, 13.2 K%, 3-3 SB on the same Wareham team as Consiglio. The stocky righty has more power to tap into than his 2025 numbers indicated, but even without, he’s a professional hitter who is a tough out every time steps to the plate. He’s also worked some in left field this year to help provide the Wolfpack with more flexibility in the lineup. Regardless of where he’s positioned, he should again put up an All-ACC type season.
Luke Nixon, the son of Trot Nixon – gah! Sorry, it’s just a reflex at this point – returns for his third year in Raleigh already having 108 starts under his belt. In 2025, he hit .295/.386/.459, 15 2B, 5 HR, 8.3 BB%, 14.6 K%, 14-16 SB and has a career line of .270/.390/.411, 20 2B, 9 HR, 11.5 BB%, 14.9 K%, 28-34 SB over 111 career games. Nixon, too, spent last summer in the Cape Cod League, and that experience should help him in 2026. With the defensive versatility to play pretty much any position, Nixon will again be expected to man second base while also providing a top-of-the-order level bat. He’s an All-ACC caliber player.
There’s no doubting that one of the main strengths of the Pittsburgh Pirates is their starting pitching. It looks like that unit will be even stronger this season with the impending return of Jared Jones.
In 2024, Jones went 6-8 with a 4.19 ERA, 1.192 WHIP and 132 strikeouts in 121 innings and looked one of Pittsburgh’s best young pitchers. Jones then went down with elbow surgery on his right throwing arm and missed all of 2025. But he’ll be back in 2026 and is targeting a timeline of sometime between March and May.
Jones started throwing in December, did a bullpen session in January, and remains on track for the the original injury timeline of 10-12 months after having surgery in May of 2025.
“I’m feeling pretty good right now, haven’t had a pretty big hiccup yet, and I’m very grateful for that. It’s been pretty smooth. Just getting back into everything and starting to throw again and getting off the mound, everything feels great, and like how it’s coming out the hand and getting ready to pitch again is what I’m looking forward to most here.”
When healthy, the now 24-year-old Jones will join 23-year-old Paul Skenes, 23-year-old Bubb Chandler, 26-year-old Braxton Ashcraftt, and the old man of the group, 29-year-old Mitch Keller in a young and talented rotation this season. And with the Bucs making some moves to brighten up the offense, including adding Brandon Lowe, Ryan O’Hearn, and Jake Mangum, the Pirates should be offering their rotation some better run support this season.
If the Bucs get that offense and Jones can come back healthy and back into the rotation, the Bucs are strong enough on the mound that even league average run support would make a huge difference. The Pirates scored a worst-in-the-league 583 runs last season. Is adding around 100 runs to get to league average possible? That remains to be seen, but with a healthy Jones back in the fold to tighten up the rotation, the Bucs would certainly be making some noise in the division if they can get there.
Outfielder Kyle Tucker speaks during a news conference at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday. Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes is to his right. (Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)
The Dodgers made the signing of free-agent outfielder Kyle Tucker official Wednesday, capped off with an introductory news conference at Dodger Stadium.
Tucker's four-year, $240-million deal included a $64-million signing bonus, and the $60-million average annual value is the second-highest in baseball history, without factoring in deferred money, behind Shohei Ohtani’s $70 million in his 10-year deal with the Dodgers that runs through 2033.
Despite lucrative offers from the New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays, Tucker went with the two-time defending World Series champions, who made room on their 40-man roster by designating outfielder Michael Siani for assignment.
“It’s a big decision, so you still got to weigh out everything,” Tucker told reporters, “but this team and this city and the fan base kind of makes it a little bit easier to make some decisions. That is just ultimately what we wanted to do, is come here and be part of that and try to win another World Series.”
With Tucker firmly in place, here are three takeaways from Wednesday:
Where does Tucker slot in the lineup?
Manager Dave Roberts said Tucker will play right field, with Teoscar Hernández sliding back to left field, the position he held down in his first season with the team in 2024.
It was not a surprising announcement, coming on the heels of Mookie Betts establishing himself as Gold Glove finalist at shortstop and Hernández struggling in right field last season.
As far as where Tucker will bat in the lineup, Roberts indicated he'd likely bat second or third.
"I don't want you guys to hold me to it right now," Roberts said jokingly, "but second or third seems to make sense."
What about Tucker's demeanor?
Tucker was asked about his perceived casual playing style, which he acknowledged is a reputation that's lingered because of "a little bit of my demeanor."
“I try to do my best out there regardless of how I feel or what the situation is,” he told reporters.
The Dodgers said they sought out clubhouse personnel, training staff, teammates and coaches to find out about Tucker’s competitive makeup and work ethic.
“His demeanor is such that it’s not an outward exuberant personality and so I think that can be misconstrued,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman told reporters. “For us, it’s about how does he compete, how does he work? For that we got very comfortable that when he’s in the box, when he’s in the outfield, he competes as well as anybody.”
Roberts, who said he did his own vetting of Tucker with other managers and coaches, believes the 29-year-old is a potential most valuable player candidate with the ability to win another Gold Glove.
“There’s an inner fire that I’ve seen,” Roberts said.
Are the Dodgers done dealing?
After addressing their two biggest needs this offseason, the bullpen and outfield, via free agency, the Dodgers appear to be relatively set with their roster a little more than three weeks before pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Arizona.
"There's still some things we're kicking around and some conversations that have been ongoing for a little bit that we're going to continue to enhance and build up depth," Friedman told reporters.
Asked if the Dodgers still are in the market for starting pitching, Friedman said: "We are not."
That appeared to play out Wednesday night when the Mets acquired starting pitcher Freddy Peralta in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers.
The 29-year-old right-hander had been someone the Dodgers were interested in, the Athletic reported this week. Considering their rotation already projected to feature Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow and Roki Sasaki, the reported interest in Peralta was surprising.
But coming off a grueling postseason in which the starters, Yamamoto in particular, carried a heavy load, the Dodgers already were thinking about ways to navigate next season — especially with the World Baseball Classic in March.
Last month during winter meetings, Roberts hinted at a six-man rotation as a way to give starters extra rest over a long season. Among the Dodgers' four starting pitchers during the postseason — Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow and Ohtani — only Yamamoto pitched the entire season. Snell and Glasnow spent significant time on the injured list, and Ohtani didn't make his pitching debut until June.
The Dodgers have plenty of young pitchers who could step in, from ascendant minor-league prospect Jackson Ferris, to returning 2024 breakout rookies River Ryan and Gavin Stone, to the more-established Justin Wrobleski and Emmet Sheehan.
