Category: MLB

MLB | Bryan Hoch: Flame-throwing prospect Carlos Lagrange knew he’d be throwing a three-inning live batting practice session. He did not know he would be facing the greatest hitter on the planet, Aaron James Judge. Each got the better of the other, as they faced off three times. Judge demolished a 99-mph heater from Lagrange out over the left field wall. Later, Lagrange struck out Judge with 102.6-mph gas. There’s video of the two facing off over on X, so it’s not hard to find Monday’s battle of power versus power.

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner ($): Speaking of Judge, he is preparing for more than the regular season. For the first time in his career, he will represent Team USA at the upcoming World Baseball Classic. Monday, he gave some of his thoughts on the opportunity. Noting that Team USA fell short against Japan in 2023, Judge made his feelings clear that he wants a rematch with the reigning champions this time around. “They’re the reigning champs. They got a great squad coming back. I think that’s why Team USA really bulked up this year to go out there and take care of business. If (Japan) is bringing back the same crew they did three years ago, it’s gonna be a heavyweight fight…”

ESPN: One more from the Yankee Captain. Discussing the club’s offseason, Judge made it clear he was impatient for the Yanks to make some moves. “Let’s sign these guys right now and start adding more pieces because I’m seeing other teams around the league get better… They’re making trades. They’re signing big prospects or big players. And we’re sitting there for a while kind of making smaller moves.” Judge also clarified that he expressed his discontent to the front office. All that said, with the first games of the spring coming later this week, Judge is confident the Yankees are right where they need to be.

MLB Trade Rumors | Charlie Wright: Finally, there is actually news that has nothing to do with Aaron Judge. Yanquiel Fernandez, whom the Yankees claimed from the Colorado Rockies, has cleared waivers after the club designated him for assignment. That enables the Yanks to outright Fernandez, once one of the brightest prospects in the Rockies’ system, to Triple-A. A path to the Bronx in 2026 for Fernandex is unlikely barring a whole slew of worst-case scenarios. But he provides depth and who knows… maybe the 23-year-old can figure it out with a change of scenery.

Spring training is in full swing. Pitchers and catchers reported to camp last Thursday, and the rest of the squad is set to officially join them tomorrow.

At the end of last season, the Colorado Rockies looked like they were going to once again trot out a very young rotation that saw Chase Dollander and McCade Brown make their MLB debuts, and Tanner Gordon and Bradley Blalock enter their second years in MLB after debuting the previous summer.

Kyle Freeland and Germán Márquez filled out the rotation after Antonio Senzatela was relegated to the bullpen, and Ryan Feltner spent nearly the entire year on the Injured List.

However, since January, the Rockies have signed a trio of veteran starters who are now set to join the rotation alongside Freeland. Blalock was designated for assignment to make room for Michael Lorenzen, and Márquez recently signed with the San Diego Padres as a free agent. Senzatela appeared poised to remain in the bullpen at the end of last year, but manager Warren Schaeffer is giving him a chance this spring to potentially be a starter once again.

So, if the rotation is set with Freeland, Lorenzen, Tomoyuki Sugano and José Quintana, who is the fifth starter that will break camp with the Rockies? Will it be Feltner in his return from injury? Will Dollander prove himself right out of the gate? Will it be Senzatela making his case to return to the rotation? Or will it be someone else — Gordon, Brown, or someone else entirely?

Let us know your thoughts!

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It is just about time for Guardians baseball to be back! The first full squad workout is today, and Steven Vogt announced that Logan Allen and Joey Cantillo will be the starters for the first two games Saturday. Vogt also mentioned that we would see a lot of Stuart Fairchild and Travis Bazzana before they have to leave for the WBC, which is very exciting.

FanGraphs posted their new top 100 and it includes six Guardians:

26. Chase DeLauter

40. Ralphy Velazquez

42. Angel Genao

54. Travis Bazzana

82. Parker Messick

91. Khal Stephen

In the past I have not been a fan of Eric Longenhagen, but I think this is a very good list. I would have Doughty in there as well, but I mostly agree with this order. Of course all of this will change by July, but it’s still fun to see where our guys stack up amongst the rest of the prospects in the league.

It’s another week here at BCB After Dark: the coolest club for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and join us. We’ve waived the cover charge. The dress code is casual. We still have a few tables available. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.

BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.

Last week I asked you if the Cubs should sign Nico Hoerner to an extension. Normally this would be a no-brainer, but the presence of Matt Shaw complicates things. In any case, 55 percent of you thought my proposal of four years and $84 million sounded like a fair deal for Hoerner that the Cubs should make. Another 32 percent of you think my estimate was too low, but that the Cubs should pay what it takes (within reason) to sign Hoerner to an extension.

Basically, about 95 percent of you want to see Hoerner as a Cub for life. I hope Jed Hoyer is listening.

Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. The BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic is almost over, but we still have a few contests left. But you’re free to skip ahead to the Cubs stuff at the end.

I guess real New Orleans people don’t say “Laissez le bon temps roulez,“ but it’s a good phrase anyways as it’s Mardi Gras time down in Louisiana. And since New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz, we can’t let the holiday pass without a tribute.

Here we have New Orleans trumpeter Kermit Ruffins playing “Drop Me Off in New Orleans” inside of a van in 2012.

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Directed by Nicholas Meyer. Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban.
oday I have to play teacher and scold some of you who are ruining things for everyone. Once again, someone stuffed the ballot box in the BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic. So no matter what the final vote total says, I’m declaring 2001: A Space Odyssey the winner of Godzilla (Gojira) since it seems clear to me that more of you voted for it than Godzilla, even if one or more of you decided to vote for Godzilla a few dozen times.

Should this kind of ballot stuffing continue, I’m going to discontinue this feature in future winters.

So 2001 advances to the final where it will definitely take on a sequel. I know this because the two pictures we have this evening are two of the greatest sequels ever made: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan versus Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Ironically, neither one of these films were ranked by me atop their brackets, although I do remember making up the brackets and saying to myself “Man, the ‘modern’ bracket is tough if Terminator 2 comes in seeded third.“

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Directed by Nicholas Meyer. Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban.

I should point out that it was TWOK that established Star Trek’s “Magnificent Seven” of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov. Anyone familiar with the original sixties television show knows that only Shatner, Nimoy and DeForest Kelley were listed in the opening credits and Kelley only in the second and third seasons. The other four weren’t in every episode and it was TWOK that elevated the other four over characters like Nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett), Yeoman Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney) and a few other recurring characters that showed up on the original series from time to time.

Here’s what I wrote previously about Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Here’s the scene that didn’t have a dry eye in the house for. Spoiler I guess, but it’s a 43-year-old film and pretty much all of you know what happens here.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). Directed by James Cameron. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton and Robert Patrick.

Here’s what I wrote originally about T2.

Here’s the scene where the T-800 (Schwarzenegger) and John Connor (Edward Furlong) break his mom Sarah (Hamilton) out of the psychiatric prison. The T-1000 (Patrick) is hot on their heels. Schwarzenegger also gets out one of his catchphrases: “Come with me if you want to live.”

Now it’s time to vote!

The winner will take on 2001: A Space Odyssey for the tournament title on Wednesday!

Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.

Spring Training has started, which means we have a month of arguing over who should make the Opening Day roster. And since most of the roster spots are already set, most of what we discuss is who is the last guy on the bench or the final spot in the bullpen. That’s assuming there isn’t some major injury that we don’t want to think about.

Maybe the biggest discussion for Spring Training is who is going to be the fourth outfielder for the Cubs. The candidates are prospect Kevin Alcántara and three players who were added over the winter: waiver claim Justin Dean and free agent non-roster invitees Dylan Carlson and Chas McCormick.

That’s a debate for another day after we get a few Spring Training games in. I promise you we will revisit this topic later in Spring Training. But of the four players named, Alcántara is the one with the most promise and the one most likely to have a long career with the Cubs.

So tonight we’re going to focus on Alcántara. Whether or not you think he’ll break camp with the Cubs on Opening Day, there’s a good chance that he’ll spend some time in the majors this year. But how much? Will Alcántara be so good that he forces his way into a regular roster spot by May? Will he serve much of the season as a part-time player? Or will he, like in 2024 and 2025, just get a short cup of coffee with the major league team?

Just to refresh your memory, the Cubs acquired Kevin Alcántara at the deadline in 2021 in the trade that sent Anthony Rizzo to the Bronx. At the time, Alcántara had just turned 19 and had all of nine games in the rookie ball Gulf Coast League. Since then he’s slowly worked his way up the Cubs system until spending all of last year in Triple-A Iowa, save for that short major-league call-up in September. With Iowa, he struggled through some injuries but still hit a respectable .266/.349/.470 with 17 home runs and ten steals over 102 games.

“The Jaguar,” as Alcántara is nicknamed, is still in many ways the raw prospect the Cubs traded for in 2021. Yes, he’s made a lot of progress, but he’s still a player who gets by more on his raw athleticism than baseball skills. He has made progress in pitch selection, but he still has a ton of swing-and-miss in his game, especially against breaking pitches from right-handed pitchers. At 6’6”, he may always have trouble covering the strike zone. But his raw athleticism, power and speed mean that if he ever does put things together, he has the ceiling of an All-Star.

But it should be noted that he has become a very good defensive outfielder, both in center and right field. No, he’s not on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s level, but no one is. That makes him an ideal 4th outfielder. The problem is that turning him into a major league reserve player means he won’t be getting the regular at-bats that he needs to improve at the plate. So making Alcántara a regular fourth outfielder now might help the team win in 2026, but itcould stunt his growth as a regular right fielder for the future.

So whether or not you think Alcántara breaks camp with the Cubs at the end of March, how many major league games do you think he’ll play in 2026? I realized that I probably should have made this poll read “With the Cubs,” but I didn’t. So if you think the Cubs will trade Alcántara to the Tigers for Tarik Skubal (not happening) at the deadline, I guess you can add in the 45 games he’ll play in Detroit after the deal if you want.

Thanks for stopping by this evening. It’s always good to start the week with a friendly face. Don’t be a stranger. Please get home safely. Stay warm and dry. Recycle any cans and bottles. Tip your waitstaff. And join us again tomorrow evening for more BCB After Dark.

How did San Diego Padres President of Baseball Operations and General Manager A.J. Preller celebrate his new multi-year contract extension? By continuing to add to the 2026 roster.

Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune posted on social media that San Diego and right-hander Walker Buehler agreed to a minor-league contract, Monday. The post contained a link to his article for the U-T.

Buehler was a first-round pick of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2015 and broke into the big leagues with the club in 2017. Buehler pitched for the Dodgers until 2024 and left via free agency. He spent the 2025 season with the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies.

Buehler holds a career record of 57-29 with a 3.52 ERA. He has amassed 846 strikeouts over 839.2 innings pitched. Buehler finished the 2025 season with a combined record of 10-7 with a 4.93 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 126.0 innings pitched.

The Padres have added multiple arms since Saturday with Griffin Canning, German Marquez and now Buehler being added to the mix for a backend of the rotation. The three additions will compete with JP Sears, Kyle Hart, Matt Waldron, Marco Gonzales and Triston McKenzie throughout Spring Training for one of the final rotation spots. Randy Vasquez has been the presumed No. 4 starter for much of the offseason, but with the added competition he will have to earn it.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

TAMPA — Aaron Judge felt helpless at times late last season as he stood in right field knowing that his arm was not at full strength.

The Yankees right fielder was coming back from a flexor strain in his right elbow and, after strictly DHing for the first month off the injured list, returned to the field in September trying to do the best with what he had.

“That was the toughest thing for me last year, was the pitcher’s working his butt off and the guys around me are working their butt off and then the ball’s hit to me and I had no shot [to throw a runner out],” Judge said Monday.

But his arm began to look more like itself in October and now, four months later, Judge is feeling back to normal.

“It’s feeling great,” Judge said after the first full-squad workout of spring training. “Haven’t had any issues so far. I think we’re ready to go. I’m throwing out there confident. I’ve thrown to bases a couple times already, so no worries. Just excited to get back out there and have the confidence.”

After taking about two weeks off from throwing at the start of the offseason, Judge began his throwing program earlier than usual on the advice of the Yankees training staff.

Once he got to long tossing and could “really let it go,” he felt like he was in the clear.

“The training staff did a great job, they were really the ones pushing for, ‘Let’s have you throw all offseason,’” said Judge, who will leave camp in just under two weeks to play right field for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.

About nine months removed from breaking his ankle and suffering ligament damage on a brutal slide home in Seattle, Oswaldo Cabrera is feeling good and took live batting practice Monday.

But there are evidently still barriers for the utility player to clear in order to be ready to start the season on time, with manager Aaron Boone indicating that it depends on how he looks over the next few weeks.

“We’ll take a little time before we get him into [Grapefruit League] games, but the fact that he’s doing everything now is encouraging,” Boone said. “Hopefully, he can continue to get that last layer of maneuverability and things like that.”

Anthony Volpe was scheduled to begin his hitting progression Monday, the latest milestone in his rehab from October surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

The shortstop was set to take dry swings in the training room, Boone said, though he has been able to take ground balls and throw without issues.

Ryan McMahon was held out of the first full-squad workout because of flu-like symptoms.

The Yankees outrighted Yanquiel Fernández to Triple-A, after designating him for assignment last week, and invited the outfielder to big league camp.

TAMPA — Aaron Judge was just like many frustrated Yankees fans early in the offseason.

The only difference is he likes where they ended up.

Judge acknowledged Monday that the early part of the winter was “brutal” waiting for the Yankees to make moves while the rest of the league got better around them. They got Trent Grisham back on the qualifying offer in mid-November but then did not make another significant move until January, highlighted by finally re-signing Cody Bellinger to a long-awaited deal to essentially bring back the league’s best offense in full for 2026.

“Early on, it was pretty tough to watch,” Judge said after the first full-squad workout at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “I’m like, ‘Man, we’re the New York Yankees, let’s go out there and get the right people, get the right pieces to go out there and finish this thing off.’ We got a special group of players here, we got a good core, good young core. So it was frustrating, but I think we’re right where we need to be.”

Asked if he expressed those feelings to the front office, Judge chuckled.

“Yeah, oh yeah,” he said with a grin. “But they took care of business.”

The captain and back-to-back AL MVP, who has Hal Steinbrenner’s ear as the face of the franchise, is now hoping that taking another shot with almost the same group — 24 of the 26 players on the ALDS roster are back with the organization — will end differently than it did last October, when they were clobbered by the Blue Jays.

Running it back has come with a negative connotation for much of the fan base, but not Judge.

“I love it,” he said. “People might have their opinions on it because we didn’t win it all last year, we fell short in the division series. But we get a chance to bring a lot of those guys back, they’re impact players. You bring back a guy like Cody Bellinger, who can play all over the diamond, he can hit in the middle of the order for you, he can come up with a big base hit when he needs to. You bring back Paul Goldschmidt, who’s been an MVP and … what he brings inside that clubhouse, not only on the field, but in the clubhouse. He elevates especially the younger group we have, especially in the infield, we got a young core, and you have a young guy like that, that can help them out, he’s been there and done it. I’m excited.

“You get another year of the young guys to develop, bring back some big pieces, especially Trent Grisham, our center fielder who had a great breakout year. I’m looking forward to it. Then you get to add [Gerrit] Cole down the road a little bit with some other guys. I like our chances.”

Judge is coming off another dominant season in which he won a batting title (.331), crushed 53 home runs, posted a 1.144 OPS and claimed a second straight AL MVP. And after surviving a late-season scare with an elbow flexor strain — that he and the Yankees say is fully healed — Judge got one big monkey off his back by carrying over his regular-season success into the playoffs.

But the giant monkey still looms in that he is entering his 10th full season with the Yankees and he has still yet to win a World Series, for an organization defined by championships. Judge will turn 34 in April, and while there have been no signs of him slowing down, time eventually comes for even the greatest players, and the Yankees are at risk of wasting his prime with each October that ends without a parade.

“I think I’ll never be satisfied until we go out there and finish it, no matter the awards, MVPs, All-Stars, any of that stuff doesn’t matter,” Judge said. “What matters is putting New York back on top and putting this organization back where it belongs, being the best organization in the game.

“I don’t get paid to just play this game, I get paid to win here. So we got to go out and win.”

PORT ST. LUCIE — The Mets are adding a veteran outfielder to compete for a job in camp.

Mike Tauchman, who spent last season with the White Sox, reached agreement Monday on a minor league deal with the Mets, according to an industry source.

Tauchman, 34, appeared in 93 games last season and produced a .263/.356/.400 slash line with nine homers and 40 RBIs. Tauchman played for the Yankees from 2019-21 in a backup role.

With the Mets, he will join Carson Benge, Tyrone Taylor, Brett Baty and MJ Melendez as options to play right field. Benge, the organization’s top position prospect, will receive a long look this spring.

If the lefty-hitting Benge isn’t deemed ready, it could provide an opening for Tauchman.

Juan Soto is set in left field, with Luis Robert Jr. in center.

Carlos Mendoza’s message to the Mets before the initial full-squad workout of spring training Monday was “from the heart” instead of scripted.

“It was just embracing expectations, enjoying the meaning of putting a uniform on, what it means, what we represent and what we’re here for,” Mendoza said.

Mendoza was asked to specify the expectations of which he spoke.

“There’s always high expectations here — our goal is to be the last team standing, and we haven’t done that in the past couple of years,” said Mendoza, who is entering his third season as manager. “It’s just understanding the responsibility and embrace it. We have a real good opportunity to do something special here.”

With so many new faces in the room, the manager said there wasn’t a need to discuss the disappointment of last season, when the team failed to reach the playoffs.

How can cohesion be created with the new pieces?

“I’m the leader, but I also feel like we have a pretty good leadership group there,” Mendoza said. “It’s a group effort, just building relationships, the connections, so we can turn up the trust. That’s how you start forming that foundation and I think that’s important.”

Christian Scott hit 95 mph in two innings of live batting practice that were highlighted by his successive strikeouts of Juan Soto and Bo Bichette.

“I feel like I can get anybody out on this level when my stuff is on and I am competing in the strike zone,” said Scott, who missed last season rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.

The right-hander said he is ramping up normally to begin the season, having completed his rehab. As a depth rotation piece, he will likely begin the season at Triple-A Syracuse.

The Mets will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday for their 55,000-square foot player development complex at Clover Park.

Among the complex’s planned amenities: a 7,000-square foot weight room with a 1,500-square foot cardio mezzanine. Hot and cold plunge pools, treadmill pools and a hydrotherapy area will also be implemented.

PHOENIX – Edwin Diaz hasn’t thrown his first pitch for the Dodgers, but he has already envisioned what it would be like to be to throw the last one of a World Series.

“Of course,” Diaz said in Spanish.

The sound of the crowd. The celebration on the mound. The overwhelming emotions.

“I imagine it’s an incredible feeling,” Diaz said.

In each of the three championships the Dodgers won in the last six years, the final out was recorded by a starting pitcher.

Julio Urias in 2020.

Walker Buehler in 2024.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto last year.

As a closer for nearly his entire 10-year career, Diaz has aspired to share that distinction with them. His chances dramatically improved in December when he signed a three-year, $69-million contract with the two-time defending World Series champions.

“Every person, every player dreams of winning the World Series,” the former Mets fireman said. “If they give me the opportunity and I’m the last person on the mound, it would be a dream come true.”

The plans are for Diaz to have that opportunity.

The three-time All-Star will be the Dodgers’ most established ninth-inning specialist since Kenley Jansen, the franchise’s all-time saves leader.

“It’s huge,” manager Dave Roberts said.

Last year showed why. The Dodgers had two closers in Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, but neither of them pitched well. The late-inning instability forced Roberts to constantly move his relievers into different roles, with inexperienced arms occasionally forced into high-leverage situations for which they were not ready.

Injuries to the starting pitchers contributed to the relievers being overused, the Dodgers’ bullpen leading the majors in innings pitched. 

Heading into the postseason, it looked as if the relievers might cost the Dodgers another championship. Ultimately, they were saved by the unexpected emergence of Roki Sasaki as a closer, as well as the heroics of Yamamoto.

Even before the Dodgers signed Diaz, they were hopeful the bullpen results would improve. Scott and Blake Treinen have recovered from their respective injuries. Evan Phillips, Brock Stewart and Brusdar Graterol are coming back from surgeries and expected to return at some point this season.

“This year, having everybody healthy and with a good reset, adding a guy like Edwin, with the young guys coming back, it will be good,” Treinen said.

As Treinen referenced, the Dodgers have some high-throwing youngsters, including Edgardo Henriquez, Justin Wrobleski, Jack Dreyer, Will Klein and Ben Casparius. 

Left-hander Alex Vesia also returns after a season in which he pitched a career-high 68 games. The workhorse missed the World Series because of the death of his newborn daughter.

“Myself, being able to be a part of this bullpen is a plus,” Diaz said. “I came here to help this team win another championship. At the end of the day, if I do my job, we’ll be in good position.”

From Roberts’ perspective, everything starts with Diaz 

“I don’t think there’s one way to manage a ‘pen, but when you have a guy like Edwin Diaz as your closer, I do think it frees up the other guys, myself included,” Roberts said.

Because Diaz will pitch the ninth inning regardless of who’s batting for the other team, Roberts will be able to deploy the team’s other relievers more strategically based on specific matchups.

An example: The left-handed Scott can be unleashed against the portions of lineups containing the opponents’ best left-handed hitters.

“Being able to use Tanner in any inning of leverage is going to be good for him and going to be good for us,” Roberts said.

Roberts said he likes what Diaz brings to the team. 

Watching Diaz from the opposing bench, Roberts said he found him to be fearless. In three postseason games against the Dodgers in the 2024 National League Championship Series, Diaz pitched 5 ⅓ scoreless innings with six strikeouts and a save.

“Not afraid,” Roberts said. “When he’s in the game, it’s an uncomfortable at-bat for lefties and righties. Just a great competitor.”

With Roberts as manager, matchups have dictated bullpen roles, especially in the postseason. Diaz said the team could deploy him however it sees necessary.

“I think that in the postseason, there aren’t any defined roles because there could be a situation in any inning and the manager will look at how to get out of that and win the game,” Diaz said. “Sometimes, the game isn’t won in the ninth inning. Sometimes, it’s won in the sixth or seventh.”

Still, Diaz acknowledged it would be special for him to pitch the final out of the final game.

“Of course, if they give me the opportunity to close the final game of the World Series, it would be an achievement for me,” Diaz said.

He has already pictured the scene in his head. He’s now ready to live it.

Steve Cohen has never been shy about flexing both muscle and microphone. This week, the owner of the New York Mets turned his attention west, toward the gold standard of spending and winning — the Los Angeles Dodgers — and more specifically, toward their newly signed closer, Edwin Díaz.

“They’re formidable,” Cohen said, measuring his words like a trader reading a volatile market. “They have the ability to spend, but so do I by the way.”

Translation: Don’t mistake Queens for small market humility.

Cohen made it clear that while Los Angeles may collect All-Stars like beachfront property, he believes the Mets are built for collision, not comparison. The goal, he said, is to “meet them somewhere along the way in the playoffs.” That’s not hope. That’s a forecast, and a potential warning shot across the bow to the back-to-back World Series champions. 

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But the sharper edge came when Cohen addressed Díaz’s departure. The Mets pivoted to Devin Williams after losing their All-Star closer, a move Cohen described as “really clever.” He even suggested New York’s offer to Díaz “might’ve been better,” raising eyebrows from Citi Field to Chavez Ravine.

Díaz, now wearing Dodger blue in Glendale, Arizona didn’t blink. “I was a free agent,” he said calmly. “The Dodgers did a great job recruiting me. At the end of the day, I chose to be here.”

And that’s the part that stings.

Because in today’s MLB arms race, money matters. Legacy matters more. The Dodgers sell rings. Cohen sells belief.

If October delivers Mets vs. Dodgers, it won’t just be payroll vs. payroll. It will be ego vs. ego — and one former closer standing in the middle of it all.

With their final bench spot still in a bit of flux, the Mets made another addition to their very large group of players in camp, signing veteran Mike Tauchman to a minor league deal, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic. Tauchman, despite being on a minor league contract, will have a very open opportunity to make the team with a strong camp.

Tauchman, now 35 years old, has been around, as one could easily surmise. Originally drafted by the Colorado Rockies in tenth round way back in 2013, Tauchman worked his way up with a very strong minor league career until making his Major League debut with the Rockies in 2017. He spent the 2018 season shuttled between the Rockies and Triple-A Albuquerque, never finding his footing as a regular major league player.

That changed for him prior to the 2019 season, when he was traded to the Yankees and immediately became a strong contributor for them, hitting .277/.361/.504 (128 wRC+), earning 3.0 fWAR in just 89 games.

2020 and 2021 were not as kind to Tauchman, as a shoulder injury hampered him in 2020. He hit just .242/.342/.305 (79 wRC+) in the COVID-shortened campaign. 2021 was even tougher on him, hitting .181/.284/.283 (63 wRC+) between the Yankees and Giants.

In 2022, he took his talents to South Korea, playing for the Hanwha Eagles. He was excellent in Korea, hitting .289/.366/.430, earning himself a shot in MLB again, this time with his home state Chicago Cubs. He’s spent the last three years in Chicago, two with the Cubs (2023 and 2024), and one with the White Sox (2025), before hitting free agency this winter. He was remarkably consistent in those three seasons, earning a 108, 110 and 115 wRC+ in 108, 109, and 93 games respectively. He also grades out as bang average defensively per Outs Above Average, though he is more of a corner outfielder than center fielder nowadays.

Tauchman, being a solid-but-unspectacular Major League contributor will do wonders for the Mets bench, should he make the team. Recent signing MJ Melendez still has a minor league option, so they can afford to keep both in the organization if Tauchman hits the ground running. His ability to help in right field should Carson Benge struggle, and give Carlos Mendoza another option at DH should Brett Baty be in the field, makes his roster fit easy to envision. On top of that, Luis Robert Jr. has had his fair share of injury struggles in his career, and while Tauchman is not much of a center fielder anymore, he can provide cover in right should Benge have to shift over in case of an injury.

The news that Corbin Carroll had suffered a broken hamate bone in his hand was not the way the D-backs wanted to start spring training. I guess the good news – if there is any – is that the injury happened at the beginning of the pre-season, minimizing the amount of regular season time lost. Indeed, with almost six weeks between the injury and Opening Day, he may not end up missing much time, if any at all. However, there is a common perception that even after the player returns, the injury can have a negative impact, particularly in regard to their power. According to orthopedic sports surgeon Dr Deepak Chona:

“The amount of time varies, but generally projects to six weeks after returning. Most likely, this timing correlates with the recovery of grip strength and control of the bat. This dips after surgery (1) because of the generalized trauma/swelling to the muscles of the hand and (2) because the part of the bone (called the hook of the hamate) that they cut out to treat the fracture is involved in generating grip force as well.”

Is there statistical data to back up a drop in power? To see if there is, I used Fangraph’s Injury Report tool to find the occurrences of broken hamates in the majors over the last five years. There were seventeen, including some to names you might recognize – backup catcher James McCann suffered the same injury, while on the Mets in 2022. Three of those took place in September, and the players concerned didn’t return that year. So I excluded those from the sample, because they will have been well past the period of weakness described by Dr. Chona, by the start of the following campaign.

Firstly, the average date between the event and the player coming off the Injured List was 61 days. That’s a little longer than expected, but is skewed by two players who each spent more than a hundred days on the IL. Half the fourteen players returned in seven weeks or less – which fits in with the 6-8 week time-frame often reported – the quickest being Emmanuel Rivera’s 36 days. So there is a chance that Carroll could indeed be back on the active roster in time for Opening Day, though it is more likely he will miss some time. But what might his performance be like when he comes back?

To look at that, I took the final thirty games for each player (which may be partly or all from the previous season), and compared their numbers there, against the first thirty games after their reactivation (or up until the end of the year). Angel Martinez and Emmanuel Rivera had made zero and two major-league appearances respectively before suffering their fractures. On the other hand, Rafael Marchán did not appear in the majors at all in 2023 after coming off the IL, and Mike Trout played only one game post his injury. So I skipped all four of their numbers entirely, even though this does reduce our sample-size to ten.

I then took the quick and dirty approach of simply averaging the triple-slash lines plus OPS. To be entirely accurate, I should have weighted these by PAs, but life’s too short, and this isn’t a doctoral thesis, so I’m happy with a “good enough” approach. Again, I do caution that this is a very small sample, and every individual case is going to be different. Past performance is no guarantee of future production, and please consult with your financial advisor before making any decisions based on these numbers. But the results we have, are as listed in the table below:

Before hamate: .192/.268/.328 = .596 OPS
After hamate: .217/.293/.358 = .651 OPS

Hence the disclaimer above. Because otherwise, I’m sure there would be a rush of players running off to get their hamate bones removed, in order to boost their batting average by 25 points. Hey, Tommy John surgery makes you throw harder, doesn’t it? But if we look in particular at the isolated power metric of ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average), it hardly changes: .136 before, and just five clicks higher afterward, at .141. With a sample size of less than three hundred games on each side, that doesn’t seem statistically significant. While Dr. Chona’s logic makes sense, over the past five years it doesn’t appear that hamate injuries have led to a decline in power post-procedure.

It is possible that this is a relatively recent phenomena, resulting from improvement in care after the operation and rehabilitation processes. We’ve seen this in regard to Tommy John, which was once seen as the kiss of death to a pitcher’s career, but is now “super easy, barely an inconvenience.” Ok, I exaggerate, but it does take time for broader perceptions to catch up with advances in medical technology and procedure. It is possible that, previously, hamate surgery did have an impact on player power, but that no longer seems – at least, necessarily – to be the case. Which is good news for Corbin Carroll and the Diamondbacks.

Observations from Yankees’ spring training on Monday:

Dom’ bomb

Jasson Domínguez, who has plenty at stake this spring as he tries to make a case to avoid going to Triple-A, homered off non-roster invitee Dylan Coleman in live batting practice.

Sick time

Ryan McMahon was in the clubhouse Monday morning and attended the team meeting before the Yankees held him out of workouts as he dealt with flu-like symptoms.

Caught my eye

Andy Pettitte arrived at camp and spent time chatting with Cam Schlittler on a back field.

In his role as a special adviser for the Yankees, Pettitte has been a valuable resource for Schlittler during his emergence as a key rotation piece.

Tomorrow’s schedule

The Yankees will hold their second full-squad workout.