Category: MLB

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Padres fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

San Diego Padres fans were asked how they would rate the San Diego offseason on a Padres Reacts Survey on Jan. 13. The majority of respondents – 59 percent – said the offseason for the Padres was worse than expected, followed by about as expected – 36 percent – and better than expected – five percent.

Since that poll from Gaslamp Ball, San Diego has made several additions to the roster, but none of the additions were headline deals. Instead, Padres president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller has been adding to the roster with one-year major league deals and multiple minor league deals with invites to Spring Training.

Pessimists will say Preller is dumpster diving and hoping to find someone salvageable, especially among the pitchers. Optimists will say Preller has an eye for talent and the combination of ability with the tutelage of pitching coach Ruben Niebla is bound to deliver at least one success story from the group. For the Friar Faithful who find themselves between the two groups, the wait and see approach allows them to bide their time before passing judgement.

The position player additions have been perceived in largely the same manner. Miguel Andujar was largely thought to be a good signing, but there are questions about his role on defense. The big-name addition, Nick Castellanos who was signed for the major league minimum after being released by the Philadelphia Phillies, has had a lukewarm reception due to clubhouse concerns and declining numbers. Ty France, who was recently signed to a minor league deal, is known for his defense, but has not had much success at the plate.

Perhaps the biggest move of the offseason came Monday when the Padres announced a multi-year extension for Preller to remain with the team following the 2026 season. Like the players, this move will be and has been discussed positively and negatively among the fans, but it would seem based on their comments the players are in full support of Preller and what he has accomplished to this point in San Diego.

With all that said, this week’s Padres Reacts Survey wants to know if your opinion of the offseason has changed with the various moves that have taken place since the previous poll. Results will be revealed later this week.

Observations from Yankees’ spring training on Thursday in Tampa:

Going bye, bye

Austin Wells and Giancarlo Stanton both crushed home runs off Osvaldo Bido during live batting practice, with Stanton’s blast hitting halfway up the scoreboard in left-center field.

Bido beatdown

Bido, claimed off waivers earlier this month but out of minor league options, got beat up a bit during his inning of work.

He just escaped a line drive smoked back at him by Aaron Judge , and Trent Grisham tagged a deep fly ball to the warning track.

Caught my eye

J.C. Escarra mixed in some first base work with his regular catching duties Thursday and also brought out his third-base glove.

Escarra made cameos at both corner infield spots last season, and his ability to play there in a pinch adds to his case to make the roster, giving the Yankees more flexibility off the bench even if they carry three catchers.

Friday’s schedule

The Yankees begin Grapefruit League play on the road against the Orioles in Sarasota, Fla., with top pitching prospect Elmer Rodríguez getting the start.

Observations from Mets’ spring training on Thursday in Port St. Lucie:

Midseason form

The Mets want Luis Robert Jr. to get back to the form he displayed in 2023 with the White Sox, when the center fielder hit 38 homers before his production plummeted the past two seasons.

On Thursday, he routinely crushed balls over 110 mph in both regular and live batting practice.

“It’s impressive,” Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s done it before when he’s healthy.”

Low down

Sean Manaea has been tinkering with his arm slot seemingly as long as he’s been a Met.

During live BP on Thursday, the lefty looked to be using a nearly sidearm delivery at times.

He’s coming off a rough, injury-plagued 2025 and will no doubt continue to work on his mechanics, but Mendoza is encouraged that the lefty is finally healthy.

Caught my eye

Kodai Senga didn’t seem bothered by anything in his inning of work in Thursday’s live BP, a positive sign for the right-hander who’s made just 23 starts over the past two seasons.

Senga hit the mid-90s, something Mendoza called “a really good sign.”

Friday’s schedule

The Mets will have their final workout before Saturday’s Grapefruit League opener against the Marlins at Clover Park.

NJ Advance Media | Randy Miller: Spring training is officially here! As the Yankees begin their slate of exhibition games in preparation of the season, fans are always left to wonder which big names they can look forward to seeing in the lineup and which players they will miss out on. Aaron Judge is chief among these names, but don’t expect to see him in the spring opener today in Sarasota against the Orioles, as it is customary for the captain not to travel to spring away games. However, he’ll make his spring debut playing right against the Tigers tomorrow in Tampa and will DH against the Mets on Sunday. The captain is expected to appear in five of the first nine spring games as a tune-up before heading off to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic.

Giancarlo Stanton will also take things slowly before appearing in games as he deals with maintenance of the chronic pain in both elbows, as will Oswaldo Cabrera as he nears 100-percent recovery from the broken ankle suffered last year. Cam Schlittler returned to throw a pain-free live BP after sitting out the first week of camp with minor back inflammation, while top pitching prospect Elmer Rodríguez starts the spring opener later today.

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner ($): As he enters his walk year, Jazz Chisholm Jr. has set himself some lofty goals for the 2026 season: AL MVP, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, and the second player to join the 50/50 club after Shohei Ohtani became the first to achieve the feat in 2024. For what it’s worth, Jazz did go 30/30 last year and has 35 homers and 44 steals across his last 162 games. He is also focused on improving his focus and concentration on defense at second base after committing 18 errors last season. Jazz also was sure to relay that he harbored zero negative feelings about his name surfacing in trade rumors over the winter, acknowledging that it’s just a part of baseball business.

Newsday | Erik Boland: Intriguing storylines crop up every spring and Boland provides six names we should watch over the next few weeks. Judge tops the list both in camp and at the WBC. Jasson Domínguez and Spencer Jones have opportunities to impress this spring, the upcoming season a pivotal period for the pair to convince the Yankees to keep them in their long term plans. Top prospect George Lombard Jr. earned another spring invite after impressing last spring, but expect him to start the year at Double-A. Finally, there’s the pair of exciting pitching prospects in Rodríguez and Carlos Lagrange, both of whom have an opportunity to impact the major league squad this season.

MLB Trade Rumors | Anthony Franco: As Anthony Volpe recovers from his offseason shoulder surgery, the Yankees have been getting Ryan McMahon reps at shortstop, a position where he has played just three big league innings, all in 2020. However, he is still being viewed as purely an emergency backup at the position, with Trade Deadline acquisition José Caballero expected to start there to open the season. Cabrera and Amed Rosario can also play short in a pinch.

New York Post | Greg Joyce: Taking grounders at a new position isn’t the only thing McMahon is working on this offseason. The third baseman isn’t ignorant of the fact that he disappointed at the plate upon making the move from Colorado, placing among the league’s worst in strikeout rate (32.3%), whiff rate (35.2%), and in-zone contact rate (77.8%). McMahon and the Yankees hitting coaches identified his stance as a potential culprit — his 42.7-inch-wide stance the fourth-widest stance in the league, which they felt was causing the whiff issues. His defense remained as excellent as ever after moving to the Bronx, if the Yankees could just coax out a little more offensive production he’d be a pretty valuable player.

San Diego Padres manager Craig Stammen had a busy and exciting first week as the on-field manager of the Friars. After setting the tone of relaxed and straightforward media scrums, Stammen was gifted by president of baseball operations A.J. Preller with a flurry of baseball moves, creating a lot of business for the first week.

Adding three position players and three starting pitchers, Preller complicated the decisions the Padres brass have to make before camp breaks on March 23. The obvious needs going into pitchers and catchers reporting on Feb. 10 were starting pitching depth and a platoon partner for first baseman Gavin Sheets and DH candidates who can also add bench depth.

There is nothing saying that Preller is done as we head into the start of spring games at the Peoria Sports Complex on Friday. I would be surprised if there aren’t multiple additional moves made before the start of the regular season. But now there are multiple competitions taking place in the rotation and in the DH and 1B needs.

1B/DH options

Miguel Andujar has a lot of experience as a third baseman and has played some outfield. Nick Castellanos came up as a third baseman as well but spent a lot of his career playing corner outfield. Ty France is a Gold Glove first baseman from last season but has trailed off on his offense.

Korean infielder Sung-Mun Song will reportedly be tested at first base, the outfield and maybe even shortstop. The only true backup outfielder is Bryce Johnson, who has played well in limited duty and is a true centerfielder. There is only Jake Cronenworth as the current backup at shortstop until the bench is decided.

Starting pitchers

Starters Germán Márquez, Griffin Canning and Walker Buehler are all at various stages of recovering from surgery and trying to return to form. Canning and Márquez are on major league deals. They join Matt Waldron, Kyle Hart, JP Sears, Randy Vasquez, Triston McKenzie and Marco Gonzales competing for the fourth, fifth and maybe even, sixth starter spots.

It has been floated in camp that the Padres are considering slow-playing Joe Musgrove, Michael King and Griffin Canning as the season begins. If Canning and Musgrove don’t begin in the rotation, there will be more spots open and they could shift into a six-man group to space the recovering pitchers out even more.

That would complicate the tough decisions in the bullpen that already exist but everyone except Ron Marinaccio have options remaining and could start in Triple-A. Stammen even threw out Logan Gillaspie as a possible jack-of-all-trades pitcher. Spot starter, long-man and late-inning bulk pitcher were all mentioned as possible work for him. Gillaspie was scheduled to start the first game on Friday against the Seattle Mariners but was scratched because his wife went into labor according to Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Left-hander Jagger Haynes will start in his place.

WBC provides more opportunities

With multiple roster players leaving for the WBC on March 1, the other candidates will get more time to show what they can do. There will be lots of innings to go around with Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Mason Miller, Wandy Peralta, Alek Jacob, Yuki Matsui and Ron Marinaccio all leaving to play in the WBC.

Two players who won’t be participating are Jhony Brito and Tirso Ornelas. Brito was placed on the 60-day IL to add Márquez to the roster and Ornelas was designated for assignment when Canning was added. If Ornelas clears waivers he could return to the minor leagues and stay in the organization.

ABS in 2026

The Padres used the stadium field in the complex to practice using the ABS system for part of their practice on Wednesday. The team needs to figure out its plan for using the system for the 2026 season and the hitters and catchers will probably be primarily responsible for making those decisions. The general opinion is that pitchers are too emotionally involved and too far away from home plate to make good decisions about appealing ball and strike calls. Not saying we won’t ever see it, but it will likely be a rare occurrence.

If you don’t remember from last spring the basics of the system, here are the main points to remember as you follow the Cactus League games.

• The strike zone is different for each hitter, based on their height and is measured by an outside contractor.
• Each team begins the game with two challenges and if a challenge is won then the team retains it.
• If a team is out of challenges and the game goes into extra innings, they get an additional challenge each inning played.
• The pitcher, catcher and hitter are the only people on the field allowed to challenge. No input from the dugout or coaches. It must be appealed immediately so there is no chance to check with the dugout.
• No challenges allowed if a position player is pitching.

The player taps their hat or helmet to challenge, and the pitch will be shown on the video board with the result visible to everyone in the stadium and on TV. As a result of the new system, the on-screen strike zone box will not indicate a ball or strike.

All Padres games will be available either on radio, webcast, or Padres.TV. The televised games will be free on the MLB app.

The first game is Friday and the last is March 23. There are no exhibition games for the Padres after the spring schedule. They do play an exhibition against Team Great Britain on March 4 and the second annual Spring Breakout game between Padres prospects and, this year, the Cubs prospects takes place on March 21.

If you are planning on a trip to Peoria to watch practice and catch a game, the team made significant improvements to the practice complex that gives the players nicer facilities. The stadium has similar rules to Petco Park regarding security and bag policy. Players are usually relaxed and accessible to fans at the practice fields and along the seating bowl before games. Most are good about stopping and signing, for kids especially. Just remember they have work to do and can only stop when their work is done.

Players going to their WBC teams will leave on March 1 and will return when their team is eliminated from the tournament. If any Padres players are in the final, don’t expect to see them back in Arizona until after the final on March 17.

The Mets and all of Major League Baseball will have to navigate a new way to determine balls and strikes in 2026.

Starting on Opening Day, the automatic ball and strike (ABS) challenge system will be put into effect. And while the system has been in use in the minor leagues since 2022 -- and major league players saw it up close last spring, and in the All-Star Game -- there are still some intricacies of the challenge system that will take some getting used to.

Some aspects of the new system fans have already learned, like who can challenge and when, but here's a rundown of everything to know about the biggest change to baseball since the pitch-clock.

MLB ABS Challenge System Explained

According to a release from MLB, when the system was put in place last September, 12 Hawk-Eye cameras were set up around the perimeter of each ballpark to track the location of each pitch. The pitch location will be compared to the batter's strike zone, and if any part of the ball touches any part of the strike zone, the pitch will be considered a strike. 

The home plate umpire will announce the challenge to the fans in the ballpark and a graphic showing the outcome of the challenge will be displayed on the scoreboard and broadcast. 

In 288 spring training games last year, the challenges took an average of 13.8 seconds, so it shouldn't add too much time to games. Here are some quick general rules regarding the ABS challenge system that fans will want to know:

• Each team starts with two challenges apiece
• A team only loses a challenge if an umpire's call is upheld
• Only the batter, pitcher or catcher can challenge by tapping the cap/helmet
• A challenge must be issued after a pitch (approximately two seconds), but a challenge can be made after a play concludes (such as a checked-swing appeal or a play involving a runner)
• Umpires can disavow challenges if a player's decision was aided by defenders, runners or the dugout
• Challenges are not allowed when a position player is pitching
• Any team that starts the 10th inning without challenges will get one for the inning. Will receive a challenge if it's exhausted at the start of the 11th and so on
• If a team has challenges remaining at the start of the 10th inning, they will not get an additional challenge for that inning, but will get more if they exhaust them 

Jonah Tong used an ABS challenge on a ball thrown to Juan Soto in live BP…it didn’t work 😂 pic.twitter.com/hDQSlH8Cy0

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) February 19, 2026

What is the Mets' ABS game plan in 2026?

Although manager Carlos Mendoza and most of the 2026 Mets experienced the new challenge system last spring, they will now have to implement it into their game plans throughout the season.

The Mets skipper was asked about the team's mentality and game plan towards ABS this upcoming season, and Mendoza admitted that they are still figuring it out, but sent a message to his players this spring.

"Be aggressive. Challenge as much as possible," Mendoza said. "We want to see who’s good and who’s not before we come up with guidelines and come up with a game plan."

Mets slugger Juan Soto, who is known for his elite eye at the plate and will likely be trusted to challenge, showed his skills already this spring. Going up against Jonah Tong in live BP, the young hurler threw a pitch down in the zone. Soto didn't bite, but Tong asked for a challenge. Soto was correct. 

“It’s going to be different. Last year, a lot of guys had fun with it. When it comes down to a real game and the playoffs, it’s going to be tough," Soto said of the new system. "We’re going to try and do our job, the umpires have to do their jobs. For me, it’s going to be the same. I have to try and play the game the right way. Trust with what they call and try to do damage, as always....If I need to use it, I will - if not, I'll just keep playing my game."

The Mets will get their first test of the new challenge system in regular season action when they host the Pittsburgh Pirates on March 26 at Citi Field.

PORT ST. LUCIE — The Mets used umpires during live batting practice Thursday at Clover Park and with it came their first experience with MLB’s new automated ball-strike system. 

Francisco Álvarez already had success with it, getting a ball call from Jonah Tong overturned.

Tong later lost his own challenge later in his outing.

Expect plenty more challenges from the Mets this spring, according to Carlos Mendoza.

Asked how the team would approach the new rule this spring, the manager said, “Be aggressive. Challenge as much as possible. We want to see who’s good and who’s not [at challenging].”

Their success rate during the spring will impact how the Mets deal with the ABS during the regular season.

“We want guys to be aggressive … before we start putting in guidelines and come up with a game plan,’’ Mendoza said. 

Francisco Lindor said he understands Steve Cohen’s decision to not have a captain, telling MLB.com Thursday, “I respect it.”

Cohen said Monday that as long as he owns the Mets, there will be no player with that title.

“There will never be a captain,’’ Cohen said.

Lindor said Thursday he understood the move.

“This is definitely a Steve, front-office type decision,’’ Lindor told the site. “I respect it. At the end of the day … being named captain or not, I’m still going to act the same. This is not something that’s going to make me somebody different. So I respect it. I’m glad he put everything to bed, so that way we can stop talking about this. And move on.”

Over the years, Lindor, Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso were considered to be options to be the franchise’s first captain since David Wright.

When Nimmo and Alonso left the Mets this past offseason, there was thought Lindor might land the role.

Instead, the shortstop, sidelined following a procedure to treat a stress reaction to the hamate bone in his left hand, won’t be Wright’s successor. 

“I’m going to focus on baseball,’’ Lindor said. “I feel like we’ve got leaders [without] captains and all that stuff. The clubhouse is the clubhouse. Let’s just play baseball and let’s focus on winning.”

Michael Tauchman will have a chance to earn playing time in right field after signing a minor league deal earlier this week.

Mendoza said the lefty-swinging Tauchman, who spent last season with the White Sox, is “gonna be part of that competition we have in right.”

With Juan Soto now in left, Carson Benge may have a chance to make the team out of spring training, while Tyrone Taylor and Brett Baty will also be vying for playing time.

As for Benge, who has just 24 games at the Triple-A level, Mendoza has been impressed by “his ability to control the strike zone.”

“One thing I’ve seen here the last few days during live at-bats is his ability to foul off tough pitches, especially when he gets behind in counts,’’ Mendoza said. “For me, that’s a really good sign. He’s able to stay in the fight.”

Well, it took a while – the first game is tomorrow – but the D-backs finally released their broadcast schedule for spring training. It does look like you will be able to follow the majority of games one way or another: we will actually be doing a thread every game, so you will have no excuse! Here’s what the team’s press release had to say.

The D-backs’ Spring Training schedule includes 26 total broadcasts, including eight free telecasts on DBACKS.TV and local television providers, 11 radio broadcasts across Arizona Sports 98.7 FM and ESPN 620 AM, three Spanish-language broadcasts on La Campesina 101.9 FM & 860 AM and Sí Se Puede app, and four dbacks.com livestreams, giving fans multiple ways to follow the action all spring long.

Fans can stream Spring Training telecasts for free on DBACKS.TV by registering with an email address. Annual subscriptions are available for $99.99 to watch the team all season. Telecasts are also available through participating local TV providers.

2026 D-BACKS SPRING TRAINING BROADCASTS

TAMPA — Let the games begin.

After four days of full-squad workouts at Steinbrenner Field, the Yankees are set to begin their Grapefruit League schedule Friday against the Orioles in Sarasota, Fla.

Elmer Rodriguez, one of the club’s top pitching prospects, will get the start while the Yankees are bringing infielders Jazz Chisholm Jr., José Caballero and Amed Rosario, plus catcher Austin Wells, all of whom will be leaving camp next weekend to play in the World Baseball Classic.

Aaron Judge, who is also leaving to captain Team USA, will make his spring debut Saturday at home against the Tigers, starting in right field, before likely serving as DH on Sunday against the Mets.

Aaron Boone has said he wants to get Judge into four or five of the Yankees’ first nine games before he heads to USA’s camp.

The 22-year-old Rodriguez, acquired from the Red Sox last offseason for catcher Carlos Narváez, will pitch for Puerto Rico in the WBC.

The right-hander broke out last season across three levels (High-A, Double-A and one start in Triple-A), posting a 2.58 ERA with 176 strikeouts in 150 innings.

“[Rodriguez has made] a big impression,” Boone said Thursday. “He’s one of those guys that I hadn’t seen really in person, but one of those few guys you get excited to come down here and see. I think he’s got a chance to be a starting pitcher in this league for a long time. That’s how he profiles to me and everything I hear about him. I’m excited to see him go [Friday]. I think he’s got a really bright future.”

Rafael Montero has a locker inside the clubhouse at Steinbrenner Field but has not yet reported to camp due to paperwork and visa issues, Boone said.

The reliever from the Dominican Republic signed a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp last week, but is delayed in getting to make his case to win a bullpen job.

Will Warren threw three innings of live batting practice Thursday while building his pitch count to 49.

With his fastball sitting at 93-96 mph — it averaged 93.3 mph last season — Warren at one point struck out Cody Bellinger, Giancarlo Stanton and Judge in succession.

PHOENIX –– Freddie Freeman knows he won’t win the argument. But he at least wants to put up a stubborn, symbolic fight.

Already this spring, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has signaled his intention to give Freeman more off days this coming season, hopeful that increased rest will benefit the superstar first baseman in his age-36 season.

But on Thursday, while speaking to reporters for the first time in camp, Freeman flashed a sly grin when the subject was raised.

“I’m going to prepare to play 162 games,” the nine-time All-Star and former MVP winner said with a laugh. “And then when that day comes or the night comes where they say, ‘We’re going to give you tomorrow off,’ I will fight that battle and most likely lose. But I want to play every game.”

This is nothing new for Freeman. Over his 16-year career, he has annually set a goal of playing all 162 games of the regular season (he has achieved that twice and logged 161 in another). As a future Hall of Famer who has been defined by his consistent production and presence on the field, he is still loath –– albeit, also slightly more accepting –– to even the occasional day stuck sitting on the bench.

“As I’ve gotten older, I try not to think about that,” he joked. “But they are looking out for the best interests of me. I do understand that. So if they want to give me (a day), I’ll just say yes.”

Not without at least a little lobbying first, of course.

While playing every game might no longer be in the cards for Freeman, the fact it remains his aim is illustrative of how fresh he is feeling entering this new campaign. 

The ankle injury he initially played through in the 2024 postseason, then tediously managed for most of 2025 after undergoing surgery last offseason, is finally behind him. He arrived at Camelback Ranch this month rejuvenated by a fully healthy winter training program.

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“I took four days off (after last season) and then started working out and went right back at it,” Freeman said. “I feel really good.”

So good, in fact, he has floated a new personal goal in the run-up to this year.

At the Dodgers fanfest event last month, Freeman said he would ideally like to play another four seasons in the majors, which would push his career past the 20-year threshold. And while he clarified that on Thursday as more of a soft target for now –– “If it’s three, five, four, I guess we’ll find out” –– he reiterated his confidence in being able to remain productive through his 40th birthday. 

“Father Time is going to catch up,” he said, “but we’re keeping it off a long time.” 

Four more seasons would likely give Freeman enough time to check off yet another one of his long-term objectives: becoming the 34th member of MLB’s 3,000-hit club (he is the league’s current active leader with 2,431 career knocks, needing to average 143 over the next four years to get there).

It also means he will play past the end of his current six-year, $162 million contract with the Dodgers, which expires after next season.

Freeman said Thursday he would like to finish his career with the Dodgers but is “not worried about another contract” right now.

“I think Andrew (Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations) and everyone knows that I love being here,” he said. “So whatever happens, happens.”

In the meantime, Freeman’s only focus is on translating his return to full health into a renaissance 2026 campaign.

Despite the nuisance of his ankle injury last year –– which he revealed required daily treatment and tape jobs through August –– Freeman said he was still “irked” to bat below .300, finishing the year with a .295 mark that was dragged down by a poor stretch in June and July. 

He also noted that “I didn’t like the way I played defense last year,” bemoaning how his limited mobility led to more ground balls getting by him at first base.

“That’s a big, big goal of mine, is to play better at first this year, get more balls, be able to cover more things,” he said. “So that’s going to be a key for me.”

With another laugh, Freeman then referenced his long-term future again: “If I can do that really well and play defense like I think I can play, and match the production at the plate, then maybe Andrew and Mark (Walter, the team’s owner) and all them will want me around.”

And if a couple extra off days help along the way, he’ll begrudgingly allow it –– hopeful that, at the start of his 17th big-league season, the end of his playing days are still in the somewhat distant future.

“There comes a point where it’s time,” he said. “But obviously I’m not there yet. I love it. I’m still playing pretty good. So as long as I can keep playing pretty good, and they want me out there every day, I’ll keep going.”

Soon, any Mets fan will be able to recreate the legendary Bobby Valentine disguise in Queens.

The Mets announced Thursday as part of their promotional schedule that May 29 will be Bobby Valentine Disguise Night at Citi Field, a nod to when the former manager was ejected from a game during the 1999 season and slyly returned to the dugout wearing a fake mustache and glasses.

The first 15,000 fans will receive a set of glasses and mustaches similar to what Valentine wore.

“I love it!” Valentine said in a text to The Associated Press about the upcoming promotion. “I’ll be there.

“Can’t wait.”

Valentine managed the Mets from 1996-2002, holding a 536-467 record, the team to a World Series appearance in 2000.

The dugout disguise is perhaps one of the skipper’s most memorable moments in Queens, with Valentine even playing into the schtick multiple times in recent years.

PROMOS!!!

Tickets for March-June Gate Giveaways https://t.co/xkjIQbiM7cpic.twitter.com/B4FgUQiIUZ

— New York Mets (@Mets) February 19, 2026

During the Mets’ Old-Timers’ Day in 2022, Valentine, 75, was wearing a fake mustache while being introduced.

During a 2024 game against the Angels, Valentine did a mid-game interview in Los Angeles’ booth while donning the disguise.

Valentine was tossed from a game against the Blue Jays on June 9, 1999, in the 12th inning, but returned to the dugout wearing the disguise until the Mets finally got the win after 14 innings.

He was then suspended for two games and issued a $5,000 fine.

The promotion comes as Valentine is expected to be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame during the 2026 season, alongside former players Carlos Beltran and Lee Mazzilli.

Valentine spoke to The Post in December about his induction, saying the ceremony is going to be special.

“When I was a manager, I was all-in, so there might’ve been a day or two where I thought that I would always be considered a Met because there was nothing else that I was thinking of in my life,” Valentine told The Post’s Mike Puma of his Mets legacy. “I wore the blue and orange, but then we separated for a while.

“So I didn’t know if there would be a continuance, and May 30 will be as special a day as I’ve ever had.”

Valentine also admitted that even he believes his getup is what he is most remembered for during his Mets tenure.

“As crazy as our world is, I think the thing [fans] think about the most is I wore a fake mustache and went back in the dugout after I got ejected,” he added.

“That’s the thing that’s allowed me to be generational and allowed me to have someone who’s 12 years old recognize the name and face that was disguised.”

Pat Murphy isn’t leaving Milwaukee any time soon. 

The Brewers manager got a new contract from the franchise, The Post’s Jon Heyman confirmed Thursday.

Murphy is restructuring his 2026 pact and adding two more years to his deal, keeping him with the team through the 2028 season, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. The new deal also includes a club option for 2029. 

Murphy has been the Brewers’ manager since 2024 after previous skipper Craig Counsell signed a five-year, $40 million deal to take the same job with the division rival Cubs.

Murphy had served as a bench coach for Milwaukee since 2015 before being promoted to manager. 

Things couldn’t have gone much better for the Brewers since Murphy took over. In his first season, Milwaukee went 93-69 and won the National League Central division crown. 

Murphy won the NL Manager of the Year award for leading a somewhat surprising Brewers team to the postseason. 

Last season, Murphy made it back-to-back, winning the award and division once again with 97 regular-season wins. 

The Brewers have fallen short in both postseason appearances, though, losing in the wild-card round to the Mets in 2024 and getting swept by the eventual-champion Dodgers in the NLCS last October.

They have undergone some big changes to their roster this season, having dealt ace Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers to the Mets in exchange for Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat.

Infielder Caleb Durbin was also traded to the Red Sox as part of a six-player swap.

That’s nothing new for Milwaukee, though.

The Brewers have weathered several high-profile star departures in recent years, including Willy Adames, Corbin Burnes and Devin Williams, while maintaining a winning team on the field.