Both NY’s teams have top-10 second basemen, according to MLB Network.
Yankees slugger Jazz Chisholm Jr. came in at second at the position, and new MetMarcus Semien was fifth on their list heading into the 2026 season.
Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte headlined the list for the fourth time in his career.
Chisholm, an impending free agent, is coming off a spectacular campaign that resulted in him making his second All-Star appearance and securing his first Silver Slugger.
The 27-year-old racked up 4.2 WAR as he put together his first-ever 30-30 campaign.
Semien remains one of the top defenders in the game, having locked up his second career Gold Glove last season, but he’s left much to be desired offensively.
He lifted just 15 homers to go along with a .305 OBP and .669 OPS over 127 games.
After being traded to the Big Apple, though, both he and the Mets are confident that he can return to the MVP-form that he showed during the 2023 World Series campaign.
As expected, having been the top player at the position when the MLB Network ranked the top hundred players last week, Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte duly ranked first overall on MLB Now’s Top 10 Second Basemen Right Now earlier tonight. The three-time All-Star, who also ranked first overall on the Top 10 Second Basemen Right Now countdown last year, finished one spot ahead of two-time All-Star (and former Diamondback prospect!) Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the New York Yankees.
On Marte, MLB Network analyst and 17-year MLB veteran Cliff Floyd said, “He’s in his prime. …We’ll figure out every other position and get everybody else right because we have a guy at second base that’s the best in the sport.”
The complete ranking for MLB Now’s top-10 second basemen is listed below:
Top 10 Second Basemen Right Now
Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks
Jazz Chisholm Jr. New York Yankees
Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs
Brendan Donovan, St. Louis Cardinals
Marcus Semien, New York Mets
Jose Altuve, Houston Astros
Gleyber Torres, Detroit Tigers
Xavier Edwards, Miami Marlins
Brandon Lowe, Pittsburgh Pirates
Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers
Hosted by MLB Network’s Brian Kenny, the 16th season of each Top 10 Right Now ranking considers player performance over multiple seasons, offensive and defensive metrics, both advanced Statcast data and traditional numbers, and expert analysis by the MLB Network research team. Next up, tomorrow, will be left field – but I don’t expect the D-backs to trouble the listing there. We’ll be looking forward instead to the Thursday night ranking, which discusses shortstops. I feel sure Arizona should have some representation there. But as to how high, we will just have to wait and see.
So, do you think that Marte is, indeed, the best player at the position in baseball? Tell us in the comments, and explain your logic – whether your answer is yes or no!
The Royals have signed 36-year-old right-hander Héctor Neris to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training, according to New York Post reporter Jon Heyman. Neris pitched for the Braves, Angels, and Astros last year, posting a 6.75 ERA but with 35 strikeouts in 26.2 innings. He had 18 saves in 62 games with a 4.10 ERA in 2024, and was a 2.6 rWAR pitcher in 2023.
Neris has pitched in 643 career MLB games over 12 seasons, with 107 career saves. From 2021 to 2023 he posted a 3.03 ERA with 11.0 strikeouts-per-nine innings. He can still miss bats, but his walk rate spiked upwards. Neris relies heavily on a split-fingered fastball that opponents hit just .182 against. But opponents hammered his 92 mph four-seamer, batting .366 against the heater. Neris posted a 29 percent groundball rate last year, the lowest of his career.
The Royals’ bullpen will feature Carlos Estévez, Lucas Erceg, Matt Strahm, John Schreiber, Nick Mears, and Daniel Lynch IV. Two more spots will be up for grabs with Neris likely competing for a spot with Steven Cruz, James McArthur, Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek, Bailey Falter, Mason Black, Alex Lange, and Luinder Avila.
There’s no denying the impact, love, and legacy that Andrew McCutchen has left on the Pirates and the region.
The 2013 NL MVP brought winning baseball back to Pittsburgh and may one day have his No. 22 retired at PNC Park. But is it the last time McCutchen has donned the number on the diamond in the Steel City?
McCutchen remains a free agent after concluding the third season of his second stint in Pittsburgh. During the ever-popular “Ask Pirates Management” segment of PiratesFest on Saturday, General Manager Ben Cherington was noncommittal on whether the Pirates will re-sign the former face of the franchise.
“Andrew has meant a ton to the team,” Cherington said, per Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. “He’s had an incredible run, in two different times with the Pirates. Certainly, his legacy is secure, and our desire — everybody at the Pirates would desire — to have him maintain a really good relationship with Andrew well into the future.”
Cherington may be referring to a connection with Pirates alumni and returning to team events in the future.
The more Cherington spoke on the topic, the more it sounded like the Pirates are moving on.
“Then we come back to our team. What is the job? The job is to build a team that gives us the best chance to be winning games when you’re in the ballpark in June and July, and that’s where I see the passion come out,” Cherington said.
Following a season with PR nightmares, spotty attendance, and frequent “Sell The Team” chants, the Pirates were the most active they’ve ever been in the Cherington era in adding to the roster.
Pittsburgh signed first baseman/DH Ryan O’Hearn to the first multi-year deal since Ivan Nova, traded for 31 home-run hitting second baseman Brandon Lowe, and acquired outfielders Jake Mangum and Jhostynxon Garcia.
Cherington said their approach has been based on winning more games this year than previous seasons and “that’s going to continue to guide our decisions.”
The Pirates, at least yet, haven’t deemed that McCutchen best puts them in position for this to come to fruition. This could be because they are chasing a bigger bat to acquire, or don’t want McCutchen back and haven’t wanted to tell him.
Cherington hasn’t been clear, but concluded: “So much respect for Andrew. That relationship is really important to us, and we’ll continue to communicate with him, directly, as the team comes together. We have more work to do.”
McCutchen was not in attendance at the annual fan fest held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center.
Cherington didn’t close the door on a reunion with McCutchen, but the more time that passes makes it more and more unlikely as we approach spring training.
Frustrated by the process, McCutchen took to Twitter to express his feelings about being absent from PiratesFest.
He pointed to how the St. Louis Cardinals had a farewell season with Adam Wainwright, Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina, the Dodgers with Clayton Kershaw, and the Tigers with Miguel Cabrera as examples of franchise icons who had one final run and were either known, or strongly implied, that it was their final year.
“I wonder, did the Cards do this Wainwright/Pujols/Yadi? Dodgers to Kershaw? Tigers to Miggy? The list goes on and on,” McCutchen said. “If this is my last year, it would have been nice to meet the fans one last time as a player. Talk to them about my appreciation for them over the years. Shake that little kid’s hand or hug the fan that’s been a fan since Clemente.”
I wonder, did the Cards do this Wainwright/Pujols/Yadi? Dodgers to Kershaw?Tigers to Miggy? The list goes on and on. If this is my last year, it would have been nice to meet the fans one last time as a player. Talk to them about my appreciation for them over the years. Shake that… https://t.co/oB8Nq1bjng
In 135 games, McCutchen hit .239 with 13 home runs and 57 RBIs for the Pirates in 2025. A 17-year MLB vet who has spent 12 in the black and gold, McCutchen is a five-time All-Star and four-time Silver Slugger winner.
McCutchen thinks the fan base deserves transparency. He believes it’s “bigger than baseball” with the relationships McCutchen has built with loyal Pittsburgh sports fans.
“You see, this is bigger than baseball!” McCutchen said. “Bigger than looking at a 40-man roster and cherry picking numbers that fit your agenda or prove why your opinion matters. The fans deserved at the very least to get that opportunity.”
McCutchen ranked second on the team in hits (114) and third in home runs and RBIs. He still lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, Maria, who welcomed the couple’s fifth child this month.
“(I don’t know) what the future holds for me at the present moment, but what I do know is (that) though I am 39, on the backend of my career, I still work everyday to be better than I was the year before,” McCutchen said. “If there wasn’t a burning desire to continue this journey, I would be home surrounded by my family, in which no one would judge or be surprised.”
While the Pirates seemingly remain unsure if McCutchen has a role on the team in 2026, McCutchen isn’t ready to hang up the bats and cleats just yet.
“But not yet,” McCutchen said. “There’s more work to do, and I’m not done, no matter what label you try to stamp on. Rip the jersey off of me. You don’t get to write my future, God does.”
There may be a role for McCutchen, but much more minimal than as the starting DH over the past three years. O’Hearn will likely DH, but McCutchen could be a valuable asset to start against lefties.
In 131 at-bats last season against left-handers, McCutchen hit .267 with a .389 slugging percentage and .742 OPS.
McCutchen’s leadership, passion for the city, and, more importantly, his still decent bat speed could make him a valuable asset as a pinch hitter late in games.
His eye for the strike zone may be an asset with the new ABS challenge system going into place.
The Pirates vastly improved their roster this offseason. The downside for many fans is that it likely came at McCutchen’s expense.
The Pirates and McCutchen could both benefit from one more year together, as long as the pieces go together for the Pirates to focus on getting back to the postseason for the first time in over a decade.
Just like at BA and MLB, four outfielders comprised the top four slots on Law’s list at The Athletic. The youngest of the group, Eduardo Quintero, earned the top spot among Dodgers here, ranked No. 9 by Law. Josue De Paula checked in at No. 20, Zyhir Hope was 36th, and Mike Sirota was 51st.
Ryan should be ready to pitch in some role this spring after hitting 100 mph during his rehab. If he were completely healthy, he might be the No. 1 pitching prospect in baseball. He has above-average to plus stuff across the board, with ride on the upper-90s four-seamer, a slider, a cutter that was new in 2024, a two-plane curveball and a changeup, with the cutter probably the worst pitch at the moment because his other stuff is so good.
The other Dodgers prospect ranked in the top 100 at The Athletic is shortstop Alex Freeland, the switch-hitter who made his major league debut in 2025 and played all over the infield in his five weeks with Los Angeles. Freeland is ranked the 87th-best prospect in baseball by Law, who said of the infielder, “He’s played shortstop, and could probably be a fringe-average big leaguer there, but he’s best suited to second or third.”
Ethan Salas plummeted 53 spots on Keith Law’s 2026 Top 100 MLB prospects list that was released by The Athletic, Monday. The 19-year-old catching prospect from Venezuela was the only San Diego Padres prospect to make the list, which is reflective of just how depleted the San Diego farm system is. Salas was the 17th ranked prospect on Law’s list last year, but a back injury caused him to miss most of the 2025 season. Law cited the injury and lack of looks as the reason for his decline, adding he is not giving up on the prospect.
Salas signed with the Padres as the top international free agent in 2023 and was projected to be the next big-name catcher based on his age (16) and defensive ability. Defense has never been a problem for Salas, although some think his value behind the plate will drop with the advent of the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System (ABS) in 2026. It has been his offensive production that has raised concerns.
Salas played at three levels of professional baseball in 2023 with the Single-A Lake Elsinore Storm, High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps and Double-A San Antonio Missions and compiled 290 plate appearances in 66 games. His ascent through the minors was aggressive and the thought at the time was the Padres wanted to challenge Salas and see how he would handle the higher level of play. He finished with a combined slash line of .248/.331/.421 with 63 hits, including 13 doubles, two triples and nine home runs for the year. Since that time, his offensive production has fallen off.
Salas spent the 2024 season in High-A Fort Wayne and made 469 plate appearances in 111 games. His final line was .206/.288/.311 with 85 hits, including 27 doubles, two triples and four home runs. The expectation was with more time at the lower level Salas would find comfort at the plate and develop offensive consistency that would allow him to continue his progression through the minors at a more realistic pace.
Despite a down offensive year in High-A, Salas started the 2025 season in San Antonio with the Double-A affiliate. He played in just 10 games and made 41 plate appearances before it was announced in May that he suffered a stress reaction in his lower back in the middle of April. Initially, Salas was expected to miss a couple months, but he did not play the remainder of the season. Salas finished with a slash line of .188/.325/.219 and recorded six hits with one double, no triples and no homeruns before the injury.
Based on the performance or lack thereof by Salas, it makes sense that he would have a dramatic fall in the prospect rankings. Salas is expected to be ready for Spring Training, and a healthy season could go a long way toward him re-establishing his value and surely that is what Padres president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller is hoping for. If Padres evaluations say Salas is not going to achieve the potential he had when he signed with San Diego, Preller could use a bounce-back season from him to move Salas in a trade that would improve the big-league roster for the second half of 2026 or 2027.
He is still a teenager and Padres fans would hate to see Preller and the organization give up on the former top prospect too soon, but Salas may no longer be the untouchable farmhand destined for stardom that he once was. By the time all is said and done, he may just be another prospect who is moved in a Preller deal.
The Mets capped off a busy week last Wednesday, acquiring Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers in a deal with the Brewers.
Peralta lands David Stearns and the Mets the top of the rotation arm they’ve been searching for this offseason, but they did have to pay a pretty penny to receive him.
New York parted ways with top prospects Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat in the deal.
While the youngsters were caught off guard by the trade, they are ready for the opportunity in Milwaukee.
“After hearing great things about the Brew Crew, I couldn’t be more excited,” Sproat added.
That opportunity could come right away, as both Williams and Sproat are expected to compete for spots on the Brewers' Opening Day roster during their first spring training with the club.
Williams will see the most of his time early on at shortstop, but his role in the majors could depend on team need.
“I’m pretty comfortable at all three positions,” the 22-year-old said. “I’ve played them so much that they all come natural -- I think for me, as long as I’m playing, I don’t really care what position it is as long as I’m helping the team win.
“It’s just about showing up every day whenever they put me in. As of right now, it’s going to be shortstop, so just going into it with an open mind of wherever they put me I’ll play.”
As for Sproat, he'll fight for a spot in the Brewers' rotation, which has an opening after dealing Peralta.
While the 2023 second-round pick is still a bit inexperienced with just four big-league starts under his belt, he’s eager to build off that late season call-up from the Mets in the midst of the NL Wild Card race.
“Those first four starts it was in big situations, but it was fun,” he said. “Those helped get my feet wet. Now I know how those games are, how the environment is -- so going into camp you kind of have an idea of what it's going to be like."
The St. Louis Cardinals are preparing the way for Spring Training which is now just over two weeks away. The team announced the 27 non-roster players that will officially be a part of camp.
Here’s the share that the St. Louis Cardinals just dropped on social media today.
In case you can’t see the Cardinals share graphic on your device, here’s the list from a press release shared by the team:
Japan unveiled its 2026 World Baseball Classic roster on Monday, which included Los Angeles Dodgers stars Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, as expected.
The Dodgers were initially reluctant about Yamamoto’s participation after his full workload last season, but his strong desire prevailed. He returned to Japan immediately after the World Series last year and carefully adjusted his training with his personal trainer, Osamu Yada, building his body to be able to compete in the WBC despite a shorter-than-usual offseason. He commented, “I’ve been training diligently this offseason to build the condition to compete in the WBC.”
Japan won the 2023 World Baseball Classic with strong performances from Yamamoto (two runs allowed in 7 1/3 innings, struck out 12 of his 27 batters faced), who was then pitching for the Orix Buffaloes, and Ohtani (.435/.606/.739 in 33 plate appearances; 9 2/3 innings, two runs, 11 strikeouts, got final three outs in title game).
At the winter meetings in December, Dodgers manager talked about the push and pull of players committing to play in the World Baseball Classic, which takes players out of spring training for potentially a few weeks, and can be especially disruptive for starting pitchers building up toward the major league regular season.
“I don’t want to be dismissive of what it means to them representing their country,” Roberts said in December. “I know the organization doesn’t but I do think that the conversations need to be had, will be had, as far as what each individual is taking on and whatever role that they might be taking on and what potential costs there might be. … But you can’t debate the emotion, what a player might feel of this potential opportunity.”
Japan manager Hirozaku Ibata said at a press conference Monday that the MLB players on Japan are expected to join the team for exhibition games against the Chunichi Dragons on February 27-28. Japan begins its World Baseball Classic schedule in Pool C in Tokyo, with its first game on March 6.
Shohei Ohtani’s hardly the only one bringing home hardware in his household.
The Dodgers superstar’s dog was given a unique award over the weekend that no MLB owner’s pooch has ever received.
Shohei Ohtani’s famous kooikerhondje pup, was given the National League Most Valuable Dog honors at the BBWAA Awards Dinner on Saturday. Shohei Ohtani
Decoy, Ohtani’s famous kooikerhondje pup, was bestowed with National League Most Valuable Dog honors at the BBWAA Awards Dinner on Saturday.
Decoy Ohtani, dressed in a bowtie, posed next to his new award after winning it over the weekend. Shohei Ohtani
Ohtani was so proud of the achievement, he actually posed for a picture with his pet and the plaque. He later snapped a photo of the dog wearing a bowtie next to the award as well.
Ohtani, of course, didn’t leave the ceremony empty handed either.
The 31-year-old, two-way player took home the MVP prize for the fourth time in his eight-year MLB career.
Decoy has seen a large portion of Ohtani’s best baseball seasons — the only member of the 50 home run/50 stolen base club got the dog a couple years ago and has given it an up-close seat to plenty of his biggest days.
Decoy helped “throw out” the first pitch on the night the Dodgers gave away a bobblehead that featured Shohei Ohtani and the dog. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
So much so, the team ended up honoring the two with a bobblehead in 2024. Decoy “threw out” the first pitch on the night of the memento’s giveaway to fans.
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Ohtani and Decoy have already been training together for the 2026 season, though the four-legged Ohtani might need to work on his fielding a bit more if he hopes for a MVD repeat.
How much snow did you get? Hopefully it’s all cleaned up by now.
Anyways, the Bruins and Rangers will renew acquaintances tonight at Madison Square Garden, with the B’s looking continue a nice recent run of results and the Rangers simply looking for a glimmer of brightness in a very disappointing season.
David Wright took the departure of several Mets mainstays as hard as anybody.
Edwin Diaz (Dodgers) and Pete Alonso (Orioles) left in free agency, while Wright’s former teammates, Brandon Nimmo (Rangers) and Jeff McNeil (Athletics), were shipped off in trades.
The former captain and Mets Hall of Famer called the departures “tough,” but urged fans to trust team ownership in the midst of a transformative offseason.
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns. Corey Sipkin for the NY POSTFormer Mets third baseman David Wright. JASON SZENES FOR THE NEW YORK POST
“I love Edwin Diaz, I love Brandon Nimmo. I’ve gotten to know both those guys on a personal level,” Wright said during a recent interview, per SNY. “Pete [Alonso], I respect what he’s done on the field…I don’t know him very well on a personal level. It’s tough for me, and I know the business of baseball, it’s tough for me to see these guys go.
“But I look at it big picture, David Stearns has won, he’s a proven winner, give him a chance and let’s see how this plan plays out.”
Stearns, who became the Brewers’ general manager in September 2015, was the architect of several postseason squads during his Milwaukee tenure – despite the organization’s payroll constraints.
Milwaukee made the postseason five out of six seasons from 2018-23 before Stearns joined the Mets as president of baseball operations.
"It's tough for me to see these guys go.
But when I look at it big picture – David Stearns has won, he's a proven winner. Give him a chance and let's see how this plan plays out."
David Wright gives his thoughts on the Mets moving on from their longest tenured players and the… pic.twitter.com/CBOHfqsOTz
The Mets’ offseason makeover included signing superstar infielder Bo Bichette, who will man third base. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
After the Mets’ collapse in 2025, which saw the team miss the postseason, Stearns said the Mets “were not gonna run back the same group.”
New York’s new-look roster took shape last week as the signing of superstar infielder Bo Bichette became official, while the team shored up the rotation with ace Freddy Peralta and center field with former All-Star Luis Robert Jr.
New York also acquired swingman Tobias Myers in the Peralta deal, while adding depth with veterans Craig Kimbrel, Luis Garcia and Vidal Brujan.
Those moves punctuated the team’s acquisitions of ex-Yankees closers Devin Williams and Luke Weaver, first base replacement Jorge Polanco and second baseman Marcus Semien earlier this offseason.
“We’re confident in this group,” Stearns told reporters last week during a Zoom call. “We think this group is gonna fit well together.”
Few players understand Mets fans’ attachment to homegrown stars better than Wright, 43, who spent his entire 14-year career in Queens and became the face of the franchise.
Given that familiarity with the business side, Wright urged fans to think long-term as Stearns and company build for 2026.
“I understand it because it’s a good thing that New York and that Mets fans have the attachment with their players that they do,” Wright said. “With that being said, I think we should give David [Stearns], the front office and ownership a chance to do what the grand plan, the scheme is this offseason.
“It’s easy to jump to conclusions. It’s easy to get the pitchforks out. Let’s see what happens, let the plan play out before judging over a couple of moves.”
Not even two weeks ago, the Braves ended up seeing lefty pitcher José Suarez get claimed off waivers by the Orioles after Atlanta had designated him for assignment. As fate would have it, Suarez’s time with the Orioles ended up being extremely short after the Orioles decided to DFA him last week after they claimed Weston Wilson off waivers from the Phillies.
It’s apparent now that the Braves were hoping for Suarez to clear waivers after they DFA’d him because now he’s back with the Braves after they claimed him off waivers from the Orioles. The team announced the news first, themselves.
The #Braves today claimed LHP José Suarez off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles and designated RHP George Soriano for assignment.
George Soriano got DFA’d as a result. Soriano’s time with the Braves was just as short-lived as Suarez’s time with the Orioles was — Soriano was DFA’d by Baltimore on January 9 while Suarez was claimed by the Orioles on January 15. Now, Suarez is back with the Braves and Soriano is right back in the weird waters that are winter waivers.
At this point now, the big question is whether or not the Braves will try to DFA Suarez again in order to try to get him into their minor league system via that path. He’s out of options so if that’s what they want to do with him then that’s the only way. I think they’d be successful this time around but also wouldn’t be just so goofy if the Orioles picked him up again? Now granted, we’re talking about people’s lives being uprooted at the drop of a dime so I’m rooting for the Braves to get him in their farm system if they choose to DFA him again. If not, then we’ve just got another wacky baseball tale concerning two fringe players.
Suarez made seven big league appearances and pitched 19.1 innings for the Braves last season, where he produced an ERA of 1.86 and a FIP of 3.70 while also putting up solid numbers for Atlanta’s Triple-A affiliate during the 2025 season as well.
Keith Law has released his updated Top 100 Prospects List on The Athletic, in an article found here. The only Atlanta Braves farmhand to make the list was Cam Caminiti, coming in at No. 35. This means prospects such as JR Ritchie, Didier Fuentes, and Owen Murphy came up shy of cracking the Top 100 for Law.
In the writeup Caminiti, who will be in his age-19 season in 2026, is said to have “continued to show premium stuff in his pro debut while throwing strikes and limiting hard contact in Low A.” It went on to talk about how he “sits 92-95 already from a low three-quarters slot with a plus changeup that hitters whiffed on half the time they swung at it.” As for his breaking ball, it is “now more of a sweeper, missing some bats in the zone but not generating a lot of chase: it grades out as a 55 or 60 on paper, and I’ve had scouts come in anywhere from average to plus, but right now it plays more average with hitters.”
Law adds notes about how his “low slot helps the sweeper play up against lefties, and he comes slightly across his body due to where he lands on the mound, which helps everything look better against lefties.” Then mentioned his splits, where lefties hit just .184/.283/.207 versus the .251/.328/.371 against right-handers. Law then mentioned his athleticism and former two-way background and said “getting him a little more online to the plate would improve his results against righties while also letting that athleticism show more in the delivery and the command.”
Law finishes off mentioning that Caminiti “passed the biggest test for high school pitchers surviving the first year of pro ball without injury, and if that continues he’ll be one of the top lefties in the minors by next spring.”
Three years ago, a landlord/tenant dispute between the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Chicago White Sox, and the City of Glendale, Arizona, made national headlines. To wit: MLB established guidelines requiring facilities to have both male and female locker rooms, and the White Sox and Dodgers, tenants of the Camelback Ranch spring training facility, got into a dispute with their landlord, the City of Glendale, over who would pay for it. Sabers were rattled as the landlord/tenant dispute became quite public.
The most relevant passages from that essay lay out what a slam dunk this case would have been had it escalated further:
There is an old saying in law: if you don’t have the facts [on your side], argue the law; if you don’t have the law [on your side], argue the facts; if you don’t have either, just pound the table and yell really loudly. This adage applies to the City’s position.
When this story broke, I thought that it was quite telling that the City Manager of Glendale was not arguing the terms of the contract. Moreover, the City Manager was attempting to make a moral argument in order to get the City out of its obligations as to the facility….
…But Michael, you say, the White Sox and Dodgers are only paying a dollar a year to lease this facility from the City of Glendale — how on earth is this contract fair? Shouldn’t the White Sox and Dodgers have to pay for these locker rooms out of moral fairness?
That statement is not how contracts work.…
While the White Sox and Dodgers may be the bad guys in the court of public opinion, the City of Glendale dug its own hole for this mess. Digging up is not a solution, either.
Time marched on, and like with most things from the 2023 season, the vast majority of people moved on. I did not receive a follow-up comment after several attempts with the Dodgers and Camelback Ranch, which went unanswered in 2023 and 2024. These setbacks are now moot as I can finally report on what happened next.
The locker room was completed in time for the start of Spring Training 2024.
At the same meeting, the City of Glendale approved a $75,000 contract with Beacon Sports Capital Partners to serve as a consultant for 12 months to provide advice and support in the operation of Camelback Ranch.
Specifically, Beacon Sports was to review the financial statements of Camelback Ranch (the facility), determine the level of annual usage of the facility, identify any aspects of the facility not up to MLB standards, how much it will take to bring the facility into compliance, prepare an estimate to the life cycle of the facility and related equipment with the intent to project any future obligations of the City of Glendale, prepare an assessment of current and planned real estate development of the facility, and prepare a valuation methodology of the facility.
Subsequently, upon review of the minutes and agendas of the Glendale City Council from 2024 to 2026, nothing unusual stood out in the facility’s operation, aside from the April 16, 2024, discussion of difficulties with the construction of a parking garage that the city expected to generate revenue from upon completion.
In the interim, the Dodgers, through the Canopy Team firm, completed construction of the Dodgers Performance Lab in 2024, consisting of 12,000 square feet of large-market, baseball precision flex, which certainly did not hurt during the title campaigns:
Completed in 2024, the Dodgers Performance Lab added 12,000 square foot indoor lab and outdoor agility space, comprised of two instrumented batting/pitching lanes as well as complimentary office/conference/work spaces, storage areas, and technology infrastructure. Initial siting and design was a careful balance struck with players, staff, and executive leadership while construction was planned/sequenced in order to only take nine months to complete and minimize disruption to the team’s occupancy.
The design and programming of the lab is intentionally flexible as the primary occupant besides players is the Dodgers Performance Science department, who are responsible for remaining on the cutting edge in both equipment and training methods. The enabling work in the building’s design is complicated on the design side in order to remain simple and flexible into the future in operation.
Have chair will travel
In early April 2025, lifelong Dodgers fan Yolanda Garcia filed suit in federal court for alleged injuries sustained during a March 2024 Spring Training game at Camelback Ranch.
While walking to the Dodgers’ gift shop, some stacked folding chairs on a dolly allegedly fell on Garcia, causing a laceration and eventual knee replacement surgery months later. Garcia alleged that the Director of Facility Operations publicly reprimanded the staff about the incident immediately afterwards.
Initially, Garcia filed suit in Arizona federal court against the Dodgers, the White Sox, the City of Glendale, the City of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Camelback Spring Training LLC, and other unknown entities, as is common practice. The case is ongoing, and the only defendant remaining is Camelback Spring Training LLC.
Premise liability cases are often fairly straightforward, and the facts that the case is in federal court under diversity jurisdiction (citizens of two different states with a dispute valued at more than $75,000 — a knee replacement would certainly do it) and that the case is still ongoing are unsurprising. True Blue LA will continue to monitor this lawsuit and provide updates as they become available.
