Category: MLB

Cristopher Sanchez will be a member of the Phillies rotation until 2032.

Jesus Luzardo is at least under team control until 2032.

Aaron Nola will be in Philadelphia until 2030.

Zack Wheeler is only under contract for two more seasons including this one.

Andrew Painter is under control for six years.

The Phillies believe in paying for their starting rotation, especially when they believe the members of that starting rotation are worthy of higher compensation. How good they will continue to be at the end of those contracts remains to be seen, but you don’t pay players for the end of the contract. You pay them for the now and right now, the Phillies should feel secure in who they have together for the next few years.

There is a question though.

Unless there is some other nook and cranny in the ballpark that has yet to be commercialized, there is an end to the resources the team has to put into the team’s payroll. At some point, someone will say “Enough.” and not swim in the deeper waters of free agency. Yet they’ll continue to have a lot of those resources tied up in the rotation. Is that the wisest use of those resources?

On the one hand, the players that they have identified and extended are good! They’re worthy of being paid that much money because they are good pitchers. It’s not as though they are extending five Taijuan Walker-esque pitchers. Rather, they’re getting pitchers that are at, or near, the top of their vocation.

On the other hand, it’s a volatile position where perceived depth can evaporate as quickly as one thinks it can appear. Were something to happen to any of them, that’s a significant chunk of their payroll doing not a whole lot to bring back a return.

It’s definitely a good question, a good way to think about roster construction.

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

Just when it all seemed too easy, the Milwaukee Brewers shake things up. Entering the final exhibition game of the year before Opening Day on Thursday, the Brewers had 26 healthy players in camp. It seemed like the roster was set and there would be no more drama with the roster construction.

Then the Brewers made a trade.

Right before Pat Murphy’s media availability on Tuesday, the Brewers announced they had acquired RHP Jake Woodford from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for minor league pitcher K.C. Hunt and cash considerations. Outfielder Akil Baddoo was transferred to the 60-day IL to make 40-man roster space.

What Jake Woodford brings

Woodford throws five pitches, including three fastball variations: a sinker, cutter, and a traditional four-seam. He also has a sweeper and a changeup in his arsenal. Woodford has a career 5.10 ERA and his ERA was over 6.00 last year with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was in Rays camp on a minor league deal with a non-roster invite.

The 29-year-old righty is primarily sinker/sweeper against righties and four-seam/changeup against lefties.

“Happy to have him. He’s pitched in a number of different roles. He’s been a veteran in the league for a while. A guy we faced, obviously, with St. Louis. We have some history with him, and he’s an interesting arm that can play a valuable role in a number of different spots in our bullpen or potentially even at the front of games. So again, just at the point where we wanted to add some depth and he’s right-handed, and I think we’re obviously a little more skewed to the left-hand side, so we feel like he’s a really good fit for us.” Brewers PBO Matt Arnold told reporters.

The Brewers had just five right-handed relievers on their 40-man roster prior to this trade: Abner Uribe, Trevor Megill, Grant Anderson, Craig Yoho, and Easton McGee. Yoho is on the IL to start the season.

“Followed his career obviously in St. Louis. [Woodford] did a really nice job against us. He was a good player out of Tampa as an amateur. Got a big signing bonus and has been on our radar for a while,” Arnold added.

Woodford is out of minor league options, so now that he’s added to the 40-man, he must remain up with the big-league club. It remains to be seen if he’ll arrive in time for Opening Day. The Brewers have 72 hours to activate him after a trade, so they could wait until Friday to put him on the roster.

On the other side, the Brewers shipped out Hunt, who was ranked No. 48 on my Top 50 Brewers prospects list this spring. Hunt had a 4.45 ERA last year in Double-A Biloxi across 26 starts covering 121 1/3 IP. An undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State in 2023, Hunt exploded onto prospect radars in 2024 with a 2.03 ERA across three levels. He wasn’t quite able to maintain that success last year and with the sheer depth of starting pitching in the upper minors, Hunt became expendable depth.

“He’s certainly done a really good job. Obviously have to give up something to get something and you feel like just accelerating what K.C. Hunt was into what we believe is a guy who can contribute to our major league team right now was something we felt like made sense” Arnold said.

The first series of the season for the Dodgers carries a celebratory nature, as a team coming off a championship, let alone two. Here are the details of all the pregame festivities for the first two days of the season, before games against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.

Opening day

Keith Williams Jr. sings the national anthem on Thursday, his first opening day at Dodger Stadium since 2023. Magic Johnson will through out the ceremonial first pitch. Opening day always has pomp and circumstance with every player and coach introduced and lining up along the foul lines, and this year has the additional tasks of raising the championship flag at Dodger Stadium and the 2025 World Series emblem along the base of the club level down the right field line.

Pregame festivities on Thursday begin at 4:45 p.m., with a 5:30 p.m. first pitch. NBC will exclusively televise the game with Jason Benetti alongside Orel Hershiser and Luis González on the call, and Clayton Kershaw joining Bob Costas on-site for the NBC Sports pregame show.

Dodger Stadium gates for both the parking lot and stadium open at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, three hours before the first pitch.

Friday ring ceremony

Brad Paisley sings the national anthem before Friday’s game, so watch out for potential extra innings, though let’s see if this particular quirk extends beyond the World Series.

The ring ceremony begins at 6:20 p.m. before the 7:10 p.m. game, and will all be televised by SportsNet LA. Actor Anthony Anderson will narrate the ring ceremony, and the USC marching band will also be a part of the festivities.

One of baseball’s most promising youngsters has punched his ticket to the big leagues.

Top prospect Kevin McGonigle cracked Detroit’s Opening Day roster following an impressive spring showing, the team announced Tuesday.

The 21-year-old shortstop, touted in his scouting report as “arguably the best hitting prospect of the 2020s,” entered spring training as baseball’s No. 2 prospect on MLB pipeline.

He left with a locker at Comerica Park. 

McGonigle cemented his spot on the major league roster by hitting .250 with a .923 OPS, two home runs, 10 hits and eight runs across 20 exhibition games in Florida — and for good measure, he flashed the leather with several highlight-reel plays in the field. 

McGonigle would breathe rarefied air if he starts for Detroit on Opening Day against the Padres in San Diego, joining Hall of Famers Ty Cobb, Al Kaline and Alan Trammell — among a handful of other revered stars — to start the franchise’s season opener before their 22nd birthday, according to MLB.com.

He’d also be the youngest member of Detroit’s Opening Day lineup since a 21-year-old Omar Infante started the 2003 season opener at shortstop.

Detroit selected McGonigle with the 37th pick in the 2023 draft out of high school, as part of a draft haul headlined by third overall pick Max Clark, who currently sits as MLB Pipeline’s No. 10 prospect.

The lefty-swinging infielder has rocketed up the minor league ladder, starting the 2025 campaign in Low-A Lakeland before surging to Double-A Erie, where he boasted a .919 OPS and 12 homers across 46 games with the SeaWolves.

He was awarded MVP of the 2025 Arizona Fall League after recording a 1.210 OPS with five bombs in 19 games.

The Tigers will bank on McGonigle’s potential as they attempt to shore up a glaring void at shortstop; the club ranked 22nd in wRC+ (89) and 24th in fWAR (1.4) at the position in 2025.

Cleveland vs. Arizona, one last time

Martinez CF

Rocchio 2B

Manzardo 1B

Hoskins DH

Schneemann 3B

Fry C

Kayfus LF

Arias SS

Chourio RF

Messick P

Next time, it will count. Today, however? Expect a fairly laid-back game, with most of the regulars checking out after a couple of at-bats. Whether you will be able to tell the difference between that and last night’s two-hit shutout, is a valid question. But after today, we can hopefully breathe a sigh of relief at having got through spring without anything too bad in the way of injuries. There were some concerns, most notably Corbin Carroll’s broken hamate bone, but compared to some previous season, this hasn’t been too bad. The team looks basically likely to go into Opening Day with no further casualties, beyond the ones held over from last season.

Here’s your final pre-season line-up:

Lineup Update:

2B – Vargas
RF – Carroll
SS – Perdomo
3B – Arenado
1B – Smith
DH – Santana
C – McCann
LF – Thomas
CF – Lawlar
SP – Soroka

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) March 24, 2026

Ketel Marte was a late scratch from the originally posted line-up. I did momentarily worry I somehow jinxed the team with the paragraph above… But according to Alex Weiner, “Torey Lovullo said Ketel Marte was scratched due to soreness. No concern for Opening Day.” Phew. Today’s game is a Spanish language broadcast only, on La Campesina 101.9 FM and 860 AM hosted by Oscar Soria and Rodrigo Lopez, so I’ll be seeing if those Duolingo lessons paid off. After Michael Soroka, the only names listed are RHP Andrew Hoffmann and Juan Morillo, so I suspect we’ll be seeing some off-roster players working the later innings.

Rob Manfred believes Giants' Tony Vitello hire shows MLB's ‘evolution' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey made history this offseason, hiring an incredible college baseball personality with zero big league experience as San Francisco’s new manager.

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred joined KNBR’s “Murph & Markus” on Tuesday morning to give his opinion on the Tony Vitello hire.

“I think the hiring of a college coach to be a big league manager is part of a larger evolution in the relationship between college baseball and MLB,” Manfred claimed.

Vitello, on Wednesday, will become the league’s first manager without any prior professional experience, but his preparation isn’t in question.

The Giants went 19-9 in spring training, even without some key pieces due to the World Baseball Classic. It’s challenging to gauge talent from spring training for several reasons, but the culture shift since Vitello’s arrival is hard to miss.

“The college programs … many of them are high quality,” Manfred continued. “They produce players that we draft in increasing numbers every year.”

There are many ties between Vitello and players within the Giants organization, including Drew Gilbert, who played under Vitello for three seasons at the University of Tennessee.

“I don’t think that there’s anything unusual about the development of someone who’s been tremendously successful at the college level getting a major league job,” Manfred concluded.

San Francisco is set to take on the New York Yankees on Wednesday night at Oracle Park to begin the 2026 MLB season. This entire year will be full of firsts for Vitello, but those around him are confident he has what it takes to get this team out of mediocrity and back into the playoffs.

The Mets used a tremendous amount of pitchers in 2025; if you count position players, 46 pitchers tossed off the mount last year for the Mets. 29 pitchers pitched in relief for the Mets last season, and of all that pitched in at least five games, only seven are still in the organization and/or aren’t out for the entirety of 2026 with injuries: Huascar Brazobán, A.J. Minter, Brandon Waddell, Justin Hagenman, Richard Lovelady, Kevin Herget, and Brooks Raley.

Of all of those pitchers, Raley is the one that is probably easiest to project going into 2026. He’s been a very good left-handed reliever for some time now, coming back from Korea in the 2020 season, but really coming into his own in 2022 as a member of the Rays. After a trade to the Mets before the 2023 season, Raley has established himself as the Mets’ preeminent lefty when healthy. In ‘23, he appeared in 66 games with a 2.80 ERA. He got hurt in 2024 and missed most of the season, but started the year with seven scoreless innings before getting hurt.

After re-signing with the Mets while hurt, Raley returned to the big league mound in July of 2025 and was quite good: 25.2 innings of work, just seven earned runs, 25 strikeouts to six walks, no home runs, and a 2.45 ERA. The Mets very wisely picked up his option for 2026, and he returns to the Mets as their most veteran member of the relief corps.

Raley works with mainly four pitches: a sweeper, a sinker, a cutter, and a change-up. He relies mostly on the sweeper, throwing it just over 40% of the time. He makes up for a lack of velocity by getting a nice amount of spin on his balls; in his last season of regular work, Raley had elite fastball spin, which led to low exit velocity, and very few hard-hit or barreled balls.

Raley is enetering his age 38 season, so he’s no young gun, but with Minter starting the year on the IL and a proven track record of success, Raley will be the Mets’ primary lefty out of the bullpen as the season starts. Whether he can maintain that role once Minter returns remains to be seen, but the combination of his consistency and stuff will ensure that he’ll get lots of usage out of the bullpen this year.

One final note on Raley: he was one of five Tampa Bay Rays to opt out of wearing Rays LGBTQIA+ Pride-themed gear for their 2022 Pride Night. Raley did not comment on his decision.

Detroit Tigers vs. Colorado Rockies

Time/Place: 3:10 p.m., Salt River Fields – Scottsdale, AZ
SB Nation Site:Purple Row
Media: TBD

For Atlanta’s last Spring Training game of 2026, the Braves had Grant Holmes on the mound and a potential Opening Day lineup preview on the hitting side.

Holmes looked pretty good to start the game, even as some bad BABIP luck and a walk caused his second inning to be cut short and brought a Tampa run home. Grant demonstrated plenty of swing and miss stuff, though did allow some loud contact on the ground. As he settled into the game, the strikeouts waned, while the walks and hard contact continued. Despite that, the Rays were held to 2 runs, both inherited and allowed by relievers, as most of that hard contact stayed on the ground, and Grant exited the game with 5.1 innings of 2 run ball with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks. Dylan Lee got a strikeout after allowing a single to finish the sixth inning. Tyler Kinley worked a clean seventh, with a strikeout and two softly-hit outs. Robert Suarez got the eighth and struck one batter out, but allowed some hard contact and suffered from some poor fielding, so only managed two outs. Raisel Iglesias got the ninth and closed out Atlanta’s 2026 Spring Training with a 1-2-3 frame, including 1 strikeout.

On the offensive side, back-to-back doubles from Acuna and Baldwin brought in Atlanta’s first run in the third, before Austin Riley just missed a home run, instead resulting in an inning-ending flyout. Mike Yastrzemski continued his massive spring with another homer in the fourth, a solo homer that gave Atlanta a 2-1 lead.

Mike Yastrzemski – Atlanta Braves (6)* pic.twitter.com/ACT14Emvl1

— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) March 24, 2026

Baldwin hit another double in the fifth, this one at over 110 MPH off the bat, as he continues to just crush the ball this spring. Jorge Mateo brought home Baldwin on another well-hit double, giving Atlanta it’s third run, as the regulars were replaced after two plate appearances, Baldwin as the notable exception. Mateo managed another well-hit single in the seventh.

That’s a wrap for Spring Training for the Braves, as we will be back on Friday for Atlanta’s Opening Night game against Kansas City.

There’s very “last day of school” vibes around today, with the final spring exhibition before Opening Day tomorrow, wrapping up this two-game set with the Cubs from Arizona. After a one-inning, 10-pitch spring debut last week, Gerrit Cole will get the ball ahead of a likely rehab assignment to try and tune up for a May or June return. His outing last week against the Red Sox saw his fastball riding upper 90s with a slider at 91 mph, but I wonder if today will be more of a focus on control and command. We know that his arm can tolerate the velo, and that’s important, but Cole’s always been a tremendous mix of velocity and command, the latter of which is usually harder to build up after a procedure like Tommy John.

Edward Cabrera meanwhile is the shiny new toy for the Cubs, acquired from the Marlins in exchange for a prospect package led by Owen Caissie over the winter. The Yankees reportedly had no interest in the toolsy right-hander, who posted a 3.53 ERA in 137.2 innings in 2025. He features one of the best curveballs and changeups in baseball, but one of the very worst fastballs around. Unlocking that fastball is the difference between Cabrera being a five-win pitcher and a three-win pitcher, and the biggest challenge for Chicago in getting the most bang for their trade buck.

There’s more Opening Day starters in the lineup than I figured with just over 28 hours before the season starts, with Ben Rice leading us off, Jazz Chisholm Jr. batting and playing second, while Ryan McMahon and José Caballero man the left side of the infield. This game is audio-only, so tune in to WFAN for the call.

How to watch

Location: Sloan Park — Mesa, AZ

First pitch: 3:05 pm ET

TV broadcast: N/A

Radio broadcast: WFAN 101.9 FM/660 AM

Online stream: none (audio available via MLB.tv)

For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.

Spring Finale 🙌#RepBXpic.twitter.com/kynm5P75ON

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 24, 2026

Last Spring Training game! pic.twitter.com/pvzXQPJjJh

— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) March 24, 2026

Speaking to reporters ahead of the Yankees’ final spring training game, Aaron Boone confirmed the team’s plans for their Opening Day roster. Luis Gil will be optioned to the minors, while relievers Jake Bird and Brent Headrick will take the last spots on the team. Peter wrote a little while ago about Rule 5 pick Cade Winquest also making the big club.

New York had already announced that Gil would not open the season in the rotation, leading to speculation that he would ultimately begin the year in the minors. The move makes sense; the Yankees don’t need a fifth starter until April 11th, and starting Gil with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre allows the right-hander to stay stretched out at around 80-90 pitches in the meantime. It also gives Gil a chance to further refine his release point, something he and the team appear to have been tinkering with this spring.

The Yankees will spend the extra roster spot on relief pitching, meaning the Opening Day roster includes nine relievers. The first five spots were all but spoken for: David Bednar, Camilo Doval, Fernando Cruz, Tim Hill, and Ryan Yarbrough. Paul Blackburn seemed like a good bet to make the team after returning on a major league deal over the winter, and as Peter wrote up earlier, Cade Winquest made the club, on the strength of an interesting arsenal and his Rule-5 status, if not his spring training performance. 

Bird and Headrick now both have a chance to audition for a longer stay with the club prior to Gil’s potential call-up in mid-April. The right-handed Bird was dreadful after coming over from Colorado last summer, but pitched reasonably well in spring and still has the kind of stuff that convinced the team to acquire him in the first place. Headrick gives the Yankees another lefty out of the pen, and a fairly powerful one at that, with his 94 mph fastball playing up due to his 6-foot-6 frame.

With that, the roster is all but officially set. What do you think? Is this how you would have deployed the extra roster spot with Gil sent down?

Yankees manager Aaron Boone told reporters on Tuesday that right-hander Luis Gil will begin the season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

This was an expected move, as the Yankees won't need a No. 5 starter through the first couple of turns through the rotation due to off days in the schedule. The Bombers have four scheduled off days through April 6. 

There had previously been some thought that Gil could stay in the majors and be used in piggyback situations, but the Yankees clearly want him to stay in a routine of starting games.

Boone previously announced that Max Fried, Cam Schlittler, Will Warren, and Ryan Weathers will start the team's first four games, in that order. 

The Yankees of course, will eventually see Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, and Clarke Schmidt return to the rotation, which will give them plenty of starting options. 

Gil, 27, was terrific in 2024, winning AL Rookie of the Year thanks to a 3.50 ERA and 10.1 strikeouts per nine. Last year was a different story, though, as Gil was limited to just 11 starts due to a lat strain suffered before the season.

He was up and down this spring, posting a 4.66 ERA. He had one very tough outing, allowing seven earned runs and three home runs in 3.0 innings against the Detroit Tigers on March 15.

Cade Winquest makes team

Boone also told reporters that right-handed reliever Cade Winquest has made the team, along with fellow relievers Jake Bird and Brent Headrick.

Winquest was a rare Rule 5 Draft pick by the Yankees from the St. Louis Cardinals this past March. In order to retain him, the Yankees had to keep him on their 26-man roster. If Winquest were to clear waivers, the Yankees would have to offer him back to the Cardinals.

Winquest was the first player selected by the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft since 2011, when they selected right-hander Brad Meyers from the Washington Nationals. Meyers spent the entire season on the IL and was later returned to Washington.

Winquest pitched to a 7.20 ERA in nine games this spring.

The Braves made a roster move on Tuesday, claiming RHP Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Yankees.

The #Braves today claimed RHP Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the New York Yankees, and placed LHP Joey Wentz on the 60-day injured list with a right knee ACL tear.

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) March 24, 2026

To make room on the roster, the Braves added LHP Joey Wentz to the 60-Day IL. This is the result of Wentz tearing his ACL a few weeks ago, which will cause him to miss all of 2026.

Bido has bounced around teams (6 total) all off-season, including being previously claimed and waived by the Braves a few months ago. While his production in 2024 was intriguing, he fell off quite a bit in 2025. The interesting note with Bido is that he is without minor league options.

With the Braves having now claimed Bido twice this offseason, it certainly seems they see something in his arsenal that could lead to untapped potential. With all the injuries that have occurred to the pitching staff, it will be worth watching to see if Atlanta makes any further moves before Opening Day.

Here we are! The last day of spring training as the Brewers will take on the Reds in their second of two exhibition games at American Family Field. Then, after an off day tomorrow, the Brewers will welcome the White Sox to open the season on Thursday afternoon.

Brandon Sproat is slated to start in this one, with Kyle Harrison also expected pitch. Sproat has made three appearances this spring, spanning nine innings with five runs allowed on 10 hits and a pair of walks while recording 10 strikeouts. His last outing came against the Rockies on March 14, when he went 4 2/3 innings and allowed two runs with three strikeouts. Harrison has made four appearances this spring (though only three officially, as the first of those came against Great Britain in an exhibition). Over 12 2/3 innings, he’s allowed 12 runs (eight earned) on 14 hits and four walks with 17 strikeouts.

Most of the regulars will once again start in the lineup, with Jackson Chourio returning to the outfield after an appearance at DH yesterday. Brice Turang bats second, followed by William Contreras and Christian Yelich (who replaces Chourio at DH). Andrew Vaughn, Jake Bauers, and Sal Frelick follow, with David Hamilton and Joey Ortiz rounding out the order. They’ll face Cincinnati right-hander Chase Burns.

In roster news, the Brewers acquired right-handed reliever Jake Woodford from the Rays, sending right-handed prospect K.C. Hunt and cash considerations back the other way. Outfielder Akil Baddoo, who suffered a quad injury earlier this month, was also placed on the 60-day IL to open the season.

Woodford, 29, is a former first-round pick by the Cardinals who has appeared in 111 MLB games (25 starts) over the last six years, with a career 5.10 ERA and 4.84 FIP over 256 innings. He spent 2025 with the D-backs, appearing in 22 games with a 6.44 ERA, 4.26 FIP, and 23 strikeouts over 36 1/3 innings. A non-roster invite by the Rays this spring, he made four appearances (two starts) with them, pitching to a 1.23 ERA with five strikeouts over 7 1/3 innings. He’ll seemingly replace Easton McGee as a depth righty in the bullpen.

We've made the following trade with the Tampa Bay Rays pic.twitter.com/4xmPPKM6MD

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) March 24, 2026

First pitch is at 4:10 p.m. As was the case yesterday, no TV tonight; catch the game on the radio.

Last one before they count

📻: ESPN Milwaukee#ThisIsMyCrewpic.twitter.com/Vri70dtSJo

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) March 24, 2026

Last one before Opening Day! pic.twitter.com/gee7GosJKn

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) March 24, 2026