Category: MLB

Spring training for the Rockies this year is surprisingly full of hope on multiple levels, but for Kris Bryant, last year’s struggles continue.

Bryant has been plagued with injuries since arriving in Colorado, but the most severe has been a debilitating degenerative lower back condition. Somedays Bryant is unable to lift even simple household items, let alone swing a bat and run the bases.

“Some days it’s hard to grab the toothpaste in front of me,” he told the media on Tuesday. “It’s not like that every day, but those days it’s like you just wish you had some type of answer.”

Bryant reported to the Colorado Rockies complex in Scottsdale, Arizona today with the rest of the position players in preparation for the first full team workout of the spring. He is entering the fifth season of a seven-year, $182 million contract signed prior to the 2022 season following the departure of franchise stalwarts Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story.

The former National League Rookie of the Year, MVP, and World Series champion vowed the struggling Rockies could turn things around with his help when he first arrived. Now, after playing just 170 games to the tune of -1.6 wins above replacement, that vow has evaporated and Bryant is unsure of his own future.

Bryant has undergone multiple treatments since his diagnosis, including a spinal ablation and multiple rounds of physical therapy. However, he hasn’t performed any baseball activities since he was shut down last April and his progress has been limited.

#Rockies Kris Bryant talks about some of the issues he has had trying to recover from back issues. pic.twitter.com/Z0hvy9qdZN

— Kevin Henry (@kgh23) February 17, 2026

“Usually in the progression you start with the exercises, then you move to running,” Bryant said. “Any time my feet hit the ground, I just feel like I could probably fall over.”

While Bryant isn’t ready to give up on returning to baseball just yet, it’s difficult to foresee him back on the field when he describes the pain he experiences every day.

“There are a lot of different sensations I’m feeling,” he said. “It just feels like I’m being electrocuted in my whole body. It’s not ideal. It’s pretty miserable. Maybe this is part of old age, even though I’m not even old.”

#Rockies Kris Bryant talked to media this morning here in Scottsdale. Here he talks about pain and next steps. pic.twitter.com/CWa8H9bR5J

— Kevin Henry (@kgh23) February 17, 2026

The 34-year-old Bryant is starting the season on the 60-day injured list and will likely return home to Las Vegas later this week to continue his treatments and search for a way to alleviate his pain. However, Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer suggested he will still have a presence with the club, even if he isn’t playing.

“KB has done so much in this game, and he has gone through so many experiences; of course, he can help young players when he’s around,” Schaeffer said. “It’s to the benefit of the young players, just his willingness to talk with them about hitting in certain situations and how to handle their business on a daily basis. He’s been through it at a very high level. He’s done big things in this game. There’s no taking that away and there’s huge value in that.”

Schaeffer also made sure the media knew Bryant has the team supporting him.

“I know there are various opinions out there, but it’s really hard for him to not be able to play, to want to play, and just not be able to feel good,” he said. “It affects him at home. He wants to be a father to his kids, and he’s having a tough time even bending over. It’s just a really hard thing to go through. 

“Everybody in our clubhouse is going to support Kris Bryant.” 

Despite a clear desire to return to baseball, Bryant has also avoided—at least publicly—addressing his future in depth.

“I honestly try not to let myself get there, because when you’re going through it every single day, you just try to make it day to day,” he said. “A lot of people out there with chronic pain, you don’t want to think so far in the future because you’re just trying to get through the day. So I haven’t let myself get there.”

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We all have regrets. That includes baseball teams like the Royals, who have the moves that didn’t pan out, the moments that didn’t go their way, the pivotal decisions that could have worked out differently.

Time travel stories and alternate histories are some of my favorite genres of fiction. What if a man decides to take the subway instead of a cab, does he miss meeting the love of his life? If a butterfly flaps its wings in China, does that lead does that somehow lead to a tornado halfway across the world? Small choices can echo in ways we never anticipate.

Baseball is like that, too. A draft pick goes one slot earlier. A manager sticks with a pitcher one batter too long. A front office pulls the trigger on a trade, or decides not to. A runner is held up, or maybe he’s sent and is thrown out.

Royals history is full of “sliding door” moments. What moment in Royals history would you change? Would it be Game 7 of the 2014 World Series? Would you pull Dan Quisenberry in the 1980 World Series? Or perhaps you’d like to change a small transaction that could have allowed the team to be competitive in seasons that didn’t pan out. Re-do a draft? Pull the trigger on a trade? Keep a manager who was fired?

Go back in time and alter the course of history!

The Yankees almost always have one of the highest payrolls in the sport. Even as the Mets and Dodgers have shown them that there’s another level to spending, the Yankees routinely are big players in free agency, and some of the greatest free agent signings in history have signed on to play in the Bronx.

Some of those signings, as you’ve seen earlier in this series, were the Yankees trying to retain their own talent. A downside to the way the Yankees operate is that a lot of their stars hit free agency. Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and Robinson Cano had all hit free agency in the 25 years prior, and while the first three were all retained, Robbie Cano went to Seattle for a contract that didn’t age well.

So when Aaron Judge declined an extension offer in spring training and bet on himself, only to put up one of the greatest seasons in modern history, the Yankees were forced into winning a bidding war for an MVP superstar hitting free agency. There were some tense moments along the way, but Judge was wooed back to his chambers in the end.

Aaron Judge
Signing Date: December 7, 2022
Contract: 9 years, $360 million

We all know the story of Judge’s path to free agency, but for the sake of posterity, here’s a quick refresher. A three-sport athlete in high school, the 6-foot-7 behemoth attended Fresno State and flashed incredible raw tools that made him a first-round pick in 2013.

After being a low-level top-100 prospect in the minors, Judge was promoted to the majors on August 13, 2016, as the corresponding move to Alex Rodriguez’s retirement. He would homer in his first at-bat in a memorable moment with Tyler Austin, but otherwise struggled in his first cup of coffee in the bigs.

An offseason of uncertainty was all there would be for his career, as he snagged the starting right field spot in spring training and had one of the greatest rookie seasons in MLB history, smashing a then-rookie record 52 home runs and coming second in a controversial AL MVP race.

A few injury-plagued seasons and a healthy, solid 2021 season later, Judge was one year away from free agency. He was one of MLB’s best hitters and a very good defender in right field when healthy, but the health was still a question, as was the fact he was going to be 31 at the start of his next contract. How would his body hold up?

After almost no contract negotiations prior, things heated up prior to the 2022 season. Judge and the Yankees nearly went to a messy arbitration, but avoided it (unlike a certain team from Detroit with their star in 2025). After unsuccessful negotiations that spring, Judge shut down the possibility of an in-season extension and Brian Cashman made a bold move: going public with a contract offer.

Barring a significant change in the next few hours, Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees will not strike a contract extension before his deadline of first pitch today, sources tell ESPN. The Yankees have proposed a deal for more than $225 million, but the sides remain apart.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 8, 2022

Was a seven-year, $213 million pact a fair deal for Judge’s resume entering the 2022 season? I think you can make the case, but this was an interesting leverage ploy for the long-tenured GM, trying to get fans to side against Judge and provide a negotiating cushion if the hulking all-star faltered and came back to the table.

This ploy… did not work. Despite a slow April by his standards, Judge unlocked something new with his game, going from a perennial 40-home run, 5-6 WAR hitter to the best hitter in the world overnight. 62 home runs, 11 WAR, his long-awaiting first AL MVP award. A man who was known early in his career for striking out way too much nearly won the Triple Crown, that’s how sensational he was.

This was, objectively, a disaster for Yankees’ brass. By going public in spring, they hurt their relationship with Judge and his agent, Page Odle, and now would have to pay up for a player who had suddenly become the best free agent in a generation.

There were several suitors. Fortunately, one of them wasn’t newly-minted Mets’ owner Steve Cohen, for whatever reason. In hindsight, maybe Cohen should’ve used his tremendous wealth to go after Judge instead of giving Justin Verlander even more AAV at the exact same time.

The most logical suitor? His hometown San Francisco Giants, who he grew up rooting for as a kid. They wanted to make a big free agent splash, and he was the logical choice. They were willing to give him the godfather offer, nine years and $360 million. It would be the biggest free agent contract in MLB history.

The second big suitor was the late Peter Seidler and the San Diego Padres, who met with Judge at December’s Winter Meetings. An official offer being given out is disputed, but several reports in the years since have suggested that Judge was presented with a deal worth over $400 million. While Seidler’s relentless desire to make his team better, regardless of market size, is admirable, Judge never seemed that interested.

There was relative silence aside from this on Judge’s free agency early on. That was until Tuesday night, when Jon Heyman shocked the baseball world… with a typo.

“Arson Judge” was quickly deleted and corrected, but the message stood. Judge was heading to San Francisco. Mass panic ensued… for about five minutes. Heyman corrected and apologized for jumping the gun. Nobody knows who leaked the information to Heyman, but for those who were online during that time, it was potentially the most panic-inducing few minutes in Internet history for Yankees fans.

The Yankees had an eight-year, $320 million offer on the table for Judge, but with better offers from the Giants and Padres on the table, he wasn’t accepting that. Impatient, and probably fearful after the Heyman news, Hal Steinbrenner called Judge from Italy, wanting to get this done right now. Using his unbridled authority, he went around Cashman and directly offered Judge the ninth year and the captaincy. For the first time since Jeter hung up the cleats in 2014, the Yankees had a captain. Judge agreed to the deal, which was announced Wednesday morning.

On a personal note, I remember exactly where I was when I got the notification. I was in a high school history class. My history teacher was also a big Yankees fan, and we had talked about the team and Judge’s free agency before and after class. After he talked about the anniversary of Pearl Harbor to start the class, I blurted out that Judge had re-signed. It was definitely bad timing, and that’s on me, but it’s something that I’ll remember as part of the frantic process for a long time.

Judge is well on his way to not only having his No. 99 retired and enshrined in Monument Park, but being a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Despite Dodger Stadium severely injuring his toe in 2023, Judge has picked up two more MVPs and logged back-to-back 10 WAR seasons in his first three seasons of the nine-year deal, while continuing to be the face of baseball’s most historic franchise.

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See more of the “50 Most Notable Yankees Free Agent Signings in 50 Years” series here.

Who will pitch in the bullpen?

The answer to that question changed after my third draft of this article.

• Part one is my first snapshot of opening day bullpen pitchers from FanGraphs.
• Part two is my latest prediction of the opening day bullpen pitchers, which is mostly the same as FanGraphs, but with differences.

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PART ONE – FIRST SNAPSHOT.

Per FanGraph’s Roster Resource, a snapshot of the opening day bullpen included:

• Ryan Thompson
• Andrew Saalfrank
• Kevin Ginkel
• Brandyn Garcia
• Andrew Hoffman
• Drey Jameson
• Taylor Clarke
• Jonathan Loáisiga

Let’s focus on those eight pitchers. 

Two team-specific ways to look at bullpen results.

At a top level, each pitcher’s team specific results from last season will provide insight into this season.

For the pitchers expected to be in the bullpen, two basic statistics are:

• limiting homers.
• maximizing strikeouts per walk. 

Data was obtained from Stathead and Baseball Reference.

As a starting point, let’s look at their 2025 pitching against the top three teams for homers and top three teams for minimizing strikeouts per walk.  For each statistic, each pitchers’ results against the other teams were excluded.

Homers per PA.  The best batters played for the Yankees, Dodgers, and Mariners.  These three teams know best how to hit homers.  The three-team average was .041 homers per PA. 

When the eight Diamondbacks’ bullpen pitchers pitched against those three teams, their combined homers per PA was .054.  My conclusion is that the bullpen was worse than average in preventing homers, when homers were a strength of the other team. 

(Strike Outs minus Walks) per PA.   The best batters played for the Blue Jays, Padres, and Royals. These three teams know best how to minimize strikeouts compared to walks.  The three-team average was .103 (K-BB)/PA. 

When the eight Diamondbacks’ bullpen pitchers pitched against those teams, their combined (K-BB)/PA was .045.  My conclusion is that the bullpen was very much worse than average in maximizing strikeouts compared to walks, when doing the opposite was a strength of the other team. 

So far, the 2025 results of anticipated bullpen pitchers are not encouraging.  But the Diamondbacks don’t often play the best teams (except in the playoffs).  In general, most games will be pitched against teams in the NL West.  The next step is to compare the bullpen pitchers’ results against other teams in the NL West.

Will the bullpen limit homers against teams in the NL West?

In general, most games will be pitched against teams in the NL West.  The next step is to compare the bullpen pitchers’ homers allowed against other teams in the NL West.

Homers per PA. In the NL West (excluding the Diamondbacks) the four-team average was batting .030 homers per PA.  When the eight Diamondbacks’ bullpen pitchers pitched against those four teams, their combined homers per PA was .030.  In the NL West, the eight bullpen pitchers were average.

Homers per PA, if Dodgers are excluded.  It is arguable that the Dodgers are a home run powerhouse, and therefore NL West results against non-Dodgers teams could be more impactful.  The next step is to compare the bullpen pitchers’ homers allowed against the other three teams in the NL West, (excluded the Dodgers). 

In the NL West (excluding the Diamondbacks and Dodgers) the three-team average was batting .027 homers per PA.  When the eight Diamondbacks’ bullpen pitchers pitched against the remaining three teams, their combined homers per PA was .019.  In the NL West excluding the Dodgers, the eight bullpen pitchers were very much better than average.

Will the bullpen limit (K-BB)/PA against teams in the NL West?

In the NL West (excluding the Diamondbacks) the four-team average was .14 (K-BB)/PA.  When the eight Diamondbacks’ bullpen pitchers pitched against those four teams, their combined (K-BB)/PA was .09.  In the NL West, the eight bullpen pitchers were worse than average in maximizing strikeouts compared to walks.

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PART TWO – LATEST PREDICTION.

My view of who will be the opening day bullpen pitchers follows.

• Ryan Thompson
• Kevin Ginkel
• Brandyn Garcia
• Taylor Clarke
• Jonathan Loáisiga
• Kade Strowd
• Paul Sewald
• Michael Soroka

The biggest assumptions are that Jameson gets optioned to AAA, Loáisiga makes the opening day roster, and Soroka gets pushed from the rotation to the bullpen. The assumptions are reasonable, but by no means certain. Let’s focus on these eight pitchers. The big question is whether they would outperform the first snapshot despite the loss of Saalfrank.

The following table compares the first snapshot pitchers to my latest predicted pitchers. The remarkable improvement is in strikeouts minus balls [(K-BB)/PA]. Circled in green is the NL West stat, which shows that the latest bullpen moves made a significant predicted impact. Data from Stathead, Baseball Reference.

To answer our overall question, unlike the earlier bullpen snapshot, my latest predicted pitchers will make a significant positive impact in games against teams in the NL West.

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Summary.

PART ONE. Based on a preliminary first snapshot of who will be the opening day bullpen pitchers, looking at limiting homers and maximizing strikeouts minus walks, two conclusions were:

• The eight bullpen pitchers as a group were worse than average in preventing homers, when homers were a strength of the other team.
• The eight bullpen pitchers as a group were worse than average in maximizing strikeouts compared to walks, when doing the opposite was a strength of the other team. 

Looking at the bullpen pitching in the NL West, conclusions were:

• The eight bullpen pitchers as a group were average in preventing homers.
• Excluding the Dodgers, the eight bullpen pitchers as a group were very much better than average in preventing homers.
• The eight bullpen pitchers as a group were worse than average in maximizing strikeouts compared to walks.

PART TWO. Several changes happened; Saalfrank was injured, Sewald & Stowd were acquired, and Gallen was acquired. Based my latest prediction of who will be pitching in the bullpen, the changes in who will pitch in the bullpen made a significant positive impact on predicted strikeouts minus walks, especially for the NL West.

The outfield figures to be a position of strength for the Atlanta Braves as they head into the 2026 season. The signing of Mike Yastrzemski could end up being a bit of a coup, as Yaz can provide some solid production at any part of the outfield. As a matter of fact, Yaz figures to play a major role in the outfield this season. As mentioned in my article from Friday centered around Alex Anthopoulos talking to the media, the Braves figure that he’ll be starting in the outfield against right-handers. Yaz is a career .246/.336/.473, 120 wRC+ hitter against right-handers with numbers that aren’t particularly comparable against left-handers, so it makes sense that he’d be getting more of a look against right-handed pitchers.

Naturally, this means that Jurickson Profar won’t be an everyday starter in left field. He could still fill in those gaps with DH appearances, since that also appears to be part of the plans that both Alex Anhtopoulos and Walt Weiss have in store for him in 2026. Let’s check in (via this report from Braves beat writer Mark Bowman of MLB.com) and see how Profar, himself, feels about potentially being more of a DH going forward:

…He certainly doesn’t seem thrilled about the likelihood he will open this season as the Braves’ primary designated hitter.

Asked if he was familiar with the DH spot, Profar chuckled and said, “I don’t know, we’ll see.”

Profar was then asked, “DH isn’t your favorite spot?” This time, he grimaced, laughed and said, “Let’s see. Let’s see. Let’s see. I’m just here to help the team.”

Braves manager Wait Weiss understood and appreciated Profar’s response.

“To be honest, I don’t think any player is raising their hand, unless they’re a full-time DH, to say, ‘Yeah, I mean, that’s what I want to do,'” Weiss said. “He’s a great teammate. We’ve had this conversation. [Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos] even called him before he signed [outfielder Mike] Yastrzemski to clear it with him.”

The good news is that even if he doesn’t particularly seem thrilled about it, Profar is going to give this a shot and try to make sure that everything works out. He may not be excited about it but it still seems like the right move to make. Even though Profar certainly made his fair share of highlight-reel catches during his first half-season as a member of the Braves, those were the outlier plays in a season where he finished with -8 Outs Above Average as an outfielder — good for placing in just the eighth percentile of all outfielders in 2025. Profar has never graded out well as a defender so this feels like an ideal shift for Profar to make from playing in the outfield to transitioning into more of a DH.

With that being said, you still don’t play the game on paper and while Profar seems like a great fit for the role, it won’t work if he’s not willing to help make it work. Again, there’s no tangible signs that he’s going to be anything less than professional in this regard but it still could be one of those things that could come to mind if he has a rough patch as a DH during the upcoming season.

There’s also the idea that Yaz wouldn’t be strictly replacing Profar in the outfield as well. Yastrzemski can play the entire outfield, which means he’d be available to give Michael Harris II and Ronald Acuña Jr. a break in the outfield so that they could DH as well. It’s not like this’ll be an exclusive situation for Profar and that’ll definitely be the case once Ha-Seong Kim returns and that could allow Marucio Dubón to start branching out into the outfield (center field in particular) instead of simply focusing on being the starting shortstop. There are plenty of options out there for the Braves to best utilize their squad once they’re completely healthy — even now with Kim gone, this is still a deeper team than last season.

Still, it’ll be very interesting to see how this goes with Mike Yastrzemski and Jurickson Profar going forward. The plan for Yaz to start and bat against right-handers while Profar moves to the DH seems like an ideal one in theory but we’ll have to see how it plays out on the field. What do y’all think would be the best way to go about deploying these players once the season rolls around? Let us know!

With Cliff Lee getting past Michael Saunders, round one of the “Last Man In” free agent tournament is complete.

We’ll begin the quarterfinal round with a pair of matchups:

4. Jeff Hoffman, 2023

Jeff Hoffman became an out of nowhere success story for the Phillies, so I understand why Phillies fans liked the guy, but I’m still confused as to why there was so much angst over him leaving. I hold him most responsible for the Phillies loss in the 2024 NLDS, but I guess because the entire bullpen was so bad, that gets overlooked.

RIP Jeff Hoffman in the NL East you will always be a great in my eyes after your 2024 playoff performance pic.twitter.com/jvXNYPDAHe

— dianna (@runwildkian) January 11, 2025

He had a chance at personal redemption with the Blue Jays last season, and ended up blowing a save in game seven of the World Series.

5. Jose Contreras, 2010

On the other hand, Jose Contreras never gave up a run in four postseason appearances for the Phillies. The Phillies may have lost the 2010 NLCS to the Giants, but it’s hard to blame Contreras who pitched in three games and only allowed one baserunner.

Who should advance? Vote now!

3. Jake Arrieta, 2018

I wrote before that Arrieta wasn’t close to his Cy Young past with the Phillies, but we never should have expected him to be. He was fine as a mid-rotation starter, at least for the first year and a half of his deal. (The last year was a bit ugly.)

Maybe I just defend him, because he allowed me to use this headline which I’m still proud of.

6. Brad Miller, 2021

I’ve called Miller a “Poor Man’s Kyle Schwarber” in that they’re both bad on defense, and when they get into slumps, they’ll sometimes have long cold streaks sporadically broken up by multi-home run games. (The biggest difference being that Schwarber hits over 50 home runs in a season.)

I guess you could say Brad Miller made a "hat trick" with three home runs in less than two hours. #RingTheBell(a lot) @Phillies@PhilliesNation@DidTheSixersWinpic.twitter.com/0GcpLs3FMW

— Mark B Miller (@MarkBMiller1) July 9, 2021

Who should advance? Vote now!

When Mason Peters was selected out of Dallas Baptist in last year’s draft, the young left-hander was (perhaps fairly) overshadowed by several players capable of headlining a draft class by themselves. Kade Anderson, Nick Becker, and Luke Stevenson were all given first round grades last season, so Seattle managing to land all three was a rather remarkable feat that had fans understandably excited. This, however, did force the Mariners to save a bit of cash with their subsequent picks, and at first glance, Peters looked like little more than a lower-round guy who the M’s cut a deal with. However, upon discovering he only received a minor pay cut from his allotted slot value (saving the team roughly $67,000), it became apparent the Mariners see something in this kid. Far from merely an afterthought in a loaded 2025 draft class, Mason Peters is a name you need to know for the 2026 season.

Mason Peters (@DBU_Baseball) intriguing stuff out of the pen last night. Fastball 90-94 (2574 RPM) and jumps. 🔨 Curve 75-78 (3020 RPM) sharp/depth and lands it. Deceptive delivery/hides ball well. Jr. ‘25 Elig. pic.twitter.com/cY6oPFAY3n

— PG College Baseball (@PGCollegeBall) February 27, 2025

Kicking off Day 2 of the draft with a 5’11 college reliever looks strange on the surface, but what separates Peters as a pitcher is his excellent feel for spin. Featuring a fastball, slider, cutter, and curveball, his entire arsenal gets well above-average spin that helps his offerings play up immensely. Additionally, with a 5.6ft release height, Peters launches the ball several inches below the average MLB pitcher, yet still manages to get solid carry on his heater from the left side. The curveball and slider already look like potential plus offerings and had college hitters baffled more often than not, though some additional velocity progression would help both pitches play to their peak potential in the professional ranks.

The concerns here are relatively straightforward. Under the assumption they view him as a potential starter, the precedent for pitchers his size is not great. Very few pitchers under six feet tall can last in the rotation, let alone pitch a high volume of innings while doing it. He got some starts in college toward the back half of last season, but even then he only had one start go beyond four innings (a remarkable 6IP, 10K, no-hitter). There’s legitimate relief risk in the profile, and the spin-centric approach may or may not run into issues with opposite-handed hitters down the line. Certainly not a flawless profile, but there’s plenty to get excited about for a player that lands in the latter half of the organizational top thirty.

TEN strikeouts through six innings for Mason Peters…🤫#BestBaseballinDallaspic.twitter.com/JXWzIlfsSv

— DBU Baseball (@DBU_Baseball) May 17, 2025

If everything works out for Peters, the 93 mph heater he had last year ticks up with added weight (he was just 175 lbs last season) and he’s able to get closer to his peak of 97 mph more consistently, even if it’s just for shorter stints. A low-launch lefty with solid extension, mid-90’s heat, and big time spin is a valuable asset to invest in, and if there’s an organization that’s proven they can get the most out of those guys, it’s the Seattle Mariners. A good athlete that’s already proven he can throw strikes, the M’s are calculating that they can help get Peters up a level in the “stuff” department. Should that be the case, Peters will follow just behind his classmate Kade Anderson atop the organization’s left-handed starting pitching depth chart, potentially filling an area of relative weakness that’s gone underaddressed for years.

The Minnesota Twins' series of miserable events seemingly has no end.

Staff ace Pablo López suffered a "significant tearing to the UCL" of his right elbow, general manager Jeremy Zoll told reporters in Florida on Feb. 17. Should Lopez, as expected, opt for reconstructive surgery soon, he will miss the entire season and likely a portion of the 2027 campaign. 

It's yet another blow to a Twins club that underwent a massive teardown at the 2025 trade deadline, took the team off the market before taking on several more investors, and parted ways with longtime president of baseball operations Derek Falvey last month.

What was left: A stripped-down roster featuring a pair of elite arms - López and fellow right-handed starter Joe Ryan. At the least, the club could entertain trade offers on them at the 2026 deadline and deepen the expected rebuild.

Instead, López won't pitch at all - for the Twins or anybody - and the club will remain further in limbo.

López is entering the third year of a four-year, $73.5 million contract. He's posted a 3.68 ERA in three seasons with the Twins, and in 2023 earned an All-Star berth and finished seventh in Cy Young Award voting.

Now, he faces a significant career hurdle.

"You keep going," he told USA TODAY Sports in 2025. "If you do something, try to do it at your very best."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pablo Lopez injury update: Twins ace has torn UCL, likely out for 2026

PHOENIX — Just in case anyone had even the slightest flicker of optimism there won’t be a labor war shutting down baseball in December, that was extinguished quickly Tuesday morning with Tony Clark resigning as executive director of the Major League Baseball Players' Association.

The players still have to vote on Clark’s successor, but with less than 10 months remaining before the collective bargaining agreement expires, it would only make sense that Bruce Meyer, Clark’s right-hand man and the union’s lead negotiator since 2018, will be at least the interim successor.

“There’s just not enough time for it to be anyone else," one prominent baseball agent told USA TODAY Sports.

And Meyer, who was promoted to the union’s deputy executive director in 2022, just so happens to be Public Enemy No. 1 for MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and his executive staff.

It’s not as if Clark was golfing buddies with Manfred or grabbing drinks with team owners, but they considered him reasonable, and as a former 15-year All-Star first baseman, certainly had their respect.

Meyer is a tenacious, hard-nosed labor lawyer who MLB labor officials despise. They called him unreasonable during their last negotiations, frequently clashing, accusing him of being bad for baseball. And now MLB could be dealing directly with Meyer, who will spearhead the labor negotiations without Clark’s involvement.

“This," one club executive said, “is going to be a bloodbath."

Still, as another high-ranking agent pointed out, Meyer was going to be the lead negotiator even if Clark stayed aboard. The union’s bargaining committee remains the same, as does the union’s position on matters.

One agent was adamant in his belief that Meyer would not be the successor, and the MLBPA instead would promote another lawyer from the union office, retaining Meyer as their chief negotiator.

The agents and executive spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of upcoming negotiations.

But no matter how anyone wants to spin it, the timing of Clark’s resignation, who has been under investigation into alleged financial improprieties at the union, couldn’t be much worse.

This is the time that Clark and union officials meet with every team in spring training to disseminate information and provide some cliff notes on their upcoming labor strategy, stressing the importance of being unified.

They were going to tell everyone that they won’t even discuss a salary cap, believe that the Dodgers’ $400 million payroll is good for baseball and that the sport has never been healthier. The message they wanted players to convey to the media and fans is that the owners, and not the players, who would be responsible for shutting down the game with a lockout.

The message was scheduled to be first delivered Tuesday at the Cleveland Guardians' and Chicago White Sox's camps. The meetings were postponed Monday evening, and have yet to be re-scheduled. The union had scheduled a tour visiting every team in Arizona in February and in Florida in March.

Now, everything is up in the air as players and team union representatives scrambled searching for answers.

“We’re going to have an interim [executive director] and keep everything as stable as we can here," Los Angeles reliever Brent Suter, who’s on the subcommittee, told reporters.

What does Tony Clark's exit mean for MLBPA?

San Francisco Giants player representative Logan Webb said Tuesday that he wasn’t aware of Clark’s resignation until he saw reports, while New York Mets second baseman Marcus Semien, one of eight members of the union’s subcommittee, wasn’t informed until Tuesday morning.

Semien said he wasn’t overly surprised because of the federal investigation, telling reporters in the Mets clubhouse: “You definitely don’t want things to be a distraction going into December."

It’s now up to the union to prevent the perception that it’s in disarray at a critical time when negotiations were expected to begin in early April, while also trying to determine whether Meyer should be the natural successor.

Remember, it was two years ago in spring training that player representatives expressed their frustration during a three-hour videoconference call that advocated for Meyer’s ouster. There were 21 player representatives who wanted to replace Meyer with Harry Marino, the lawyer who led the efforts of minor league players being unionized. Clark vehemently supported Meyer, and the coup failed.

Meyer was criticized by several agents and players at the time for deferring to the interests of powerful agent Scott Boras during the negotiations, which Meyer vehemently denied in an open letter to players, saying he had never met Boras before being hired.

“From the moment I was hired, if not before, MLB began demonizing me both privately and publicly," Meyer wrote. “Among other things, one of their strategies was to spread the lie that I had been somehow hired at the behest of Scott Boras and was therefore beholden to him. This lie, which has taken many forms over the years, was a calculated (and time-honored) management strategy.’’

Meyer oversaw the negotiations during the height of the pandemic in 2020, and during the 99-day lockout that began in December 2021. The eight-player executive council voted unanimously to reject MLB’s final proposal during negotiations on a new CBA in March, 2022, that included an increase in minimum salaries, a $50 million pre-arbitration pool and anti-tanking mechanisms. Yet, the rank-and-file overruled them and accepted the proposal, allowing the season to be played without any games or paychecks missed.

Now, it will be up to the players to decide whether Meyer will become the union’s seventh executive director, replacing Clark, who was in charge since 2013 after the death of Michael Weiner.

MLB would love for the union chief to be anyone but Meyer, fearing that the rancor between the two sides will only accelerate without Clark’s involvement, but they have no choice.

So buckle up, and prepare for a plethora of hostility and acrimony coming to a bargaining table near you.

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB lockout looms harder with Tony Clark MLBPA departure, new CBA

Every season has its feel-good story, and for the 2025 Yankees, that feel-good story was J.C. Escarra. With 2022 Platinum Glove winner Jose Trevino traded to the Cincinnati Reds over the winter, the Yankees entered spring training with an opening behind the plate. Despite having a disadvantage in the position battle because he, like starter Austin Wells, is a left-handed hitter, the veteran minor leaguer seized a roster spot with a strong spring training. After years languishing in the minors and in independent ball, Escarra finally made his Major League debut.

Although his numbers at the plate did not jump off the page, Escarra quickly became a favorite both in the clubhouse and with the fanbase. But now headed into his sophomore campaign, the son-to-be-31 year old will once again have to fight for playing time in what is a crowded Yankees catcher room.

2025 statistics: 40 games, 98 plate appearances, .202/.296/.333, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 79 wRC+, 11.2 BB%, 14.3 K%, 2 Defensive Runs Saved, 0 Outs Above Average, 0.1 rWAR, 0.5 fWAR

2026 ZiPS DC projections: 32 games, 130 plate appearances, .234/.313/.366, 3 HR, 14 RBI, 92 wRC+, 9.6 BB%, 17.0 K%, 0.5 fWAR

From a purely performance-based perspective, Escarra should end the spring as the Yankees’ backup catcher. While he was a bit below average blocking pitches and throwing out baserunners last season, he established himself as one of the league’s best pitch framers. Despite being behind the plate for just 1831 pitches last season, he accumulated 5 Framing Runs, good for eighth in the league — and tied with Carlos Narváez and Pedro Pagés, who each caught more than 7600 pitches last season. His 49.6 shadow strike percentage, meanwhile, topped the league. Austin Wells may have been one of the best defensive catchers in baseball last year, but when it came to pitch framing, he wasn’t even the best on his own team. Furthermore, although he’s not exactly a force with the bat, Escarra’s good plate discipline (his 11.2 walk percentage ranked in the top 20th percentile, while his 14.3 strikeout percentage was in the top 12th) ensures that he shouldn’t be a black hole at the plate. For a backup catcher, that’s more than acceptable.

Unfortunately for Escarra, he’s not simply competing for the backup catcher job, he’s competing against the opportunity cost of carrying three catchers on the active roster. Last season, Escarra rapidly lost playing time when Giancarlo Stanton returned from the injured list, as Ben Rice began to split time at first base and behind the plate in order to keep his bat in the lineup, and Escarra ultimately wound up back in Triple-A for the final two months of the season. With Rice now penciled in as the everyday first baseman, it would seem that the road would be clear for Escarra’s return to the Bronx…but then the Yankees brought back Paul Goldschmidt.

Of the Yankees four bench spots, one will be occupied by Goldschmidt, one by Amed Rosario, and very likely, one by Oswaldo Cabrera, thus leaving one spot open. Escarra is the obvious choice, allowing Rice to forego his catcher’s mitt except in the case of emergency — after all, he was less-than-stellar behind the plate anyway, and still needs to continue to develop his defense at the cold corner. Indeed, at the time of writing, the FanGraphs Depth Chart even lists Escarra as the fourth man on the projected active roster. But, might the Yankees consider it a better use of limited roster space to send Escarra down, let Rice serve as the backup catcher, and fill out the roster with a true fourth outfielder in Jasson Domínguez? Or perhaps a minor leaguer who is out of options such as Jorbit Vivas, or a veteran backup shortstop like Paul DeJong? It’s certainly possible.

Regardless of how the end-of-spring roster crunch ends up shaking out, though, Escarra has firmly put himself into the Yankees’ plans this season. Even if he starts the year with a ticket to Scranton, he’s just one injury to one of Wells, Rice, Goldschmidt, or Giancarlo Stanton away from earning a trip back to the Bronx — and it’s never bad to have that kind of depth.

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See more of the Yankees Previews series here.

The Royals will spend the next few weeks shaping the roster that they will carry to Atlanta for the season opener. One large factor in deciding who makes the team will be which players have options remaining. Options allow teams to send a player to the minors without exposing them to be claimed by another team off waivers, and teams have increasingly used this to shuttle players up and down. J.J. Picollo has talked a lot this offseason about his desire to have players with options, particularly on the pitching side, to give the club roster flexibility.

How do options work?

When a player is placed on the 40-man roster, they have three option years remaining. If they do not make the active 26-man roster or are placed on the Injured List, they are sent on “optional assignment” to the minors. Position players must remain in the minors at least 10 days, and pitchers must remain up to 15 days before being recalled, with exceptions made for (a) players serving as the “27th man” for a doubleheader; and (b) players recalled to replace an injured player.

Once a player has been optioned and has spent at least 20 total days in the minors that year, it counts as an option year. A player can be optioned up to five times per year – after that, to be sent to the minors, they must pass through outright assignment waivers where any team can claim them.

Once a player is out of options, they can still be sent to the minors, but they must first be designated for assignment and taken off the 40-man roster, exposing them to waivers. Players with more than three years of MLB service time, or players who have been outrighted before, can reject being outrighted to the minors and become free agents without termination pay. Players with at least five years of MLB service time can reject a minor league assignment at any time, and still retain their guaranteed salary.

Let’s start with the option status of players on the 40-man roster.

Out of options

• Bailey Falter
• Nick Mears
• Drew Waters

Mears seems very likely to make the team after putting up a solid 3.49 ERA in 63 games for the Brewers last year. The Royals signed Falter to a $3.6 million contract instead of non-tendering him last fall, despite a shaky track record and a bicep injury that caused him to miss the final month of the season. The Royals acquired him last summer from the Pirates for pitching depth, so if healthy, he seems likely to make the team as a long reliever that can start if needed. However, because of his salary, he might be able to clear waivers without being claimed if the Royals decide to send him to Omaha.

Drew Waters now has 684 career MLB plate appearances, and is a career .234/.300/.369 hitter. He provides nice depth as a switch-hitter with solid defense, but the 27-year-old is probably on the outside looking in for a roster spot, and could be claimed off waivers if the Royals don’t have room for him.

One option year remaining

• Mason Black
• Maikel Garcia
• Alex Lange
• Nick Loftin
• Daniel Lynch IV
• Alec Marsh
• James McArthur
• Kameron Misner

Garcia is making the team, and Lange seems like a good bet to make the team if he is healthy. Marsh will begin the year on the Injured List. Daniel Lynch IV had a very solid 3.06 ERA in 57 games last year, although his strikeout and walk numbers were very underwhelming. He seems likely to make the team, although the presence of Falter may make him redundant. McArthur is working his way back from injury and may be sent to Omaha to give him a chance to ramp up and allow the Royals to stash some more “inventory.” Nick Loftin and Kameron Misner are each competing for bench roles, and Mason Black was acquired from the Giants as a depth piece and could compete for a bullpen spot.

Two or more option years remaining

• Luinder Avila
• Ryan Bergert
• Dairon Blanco
• Jac Caglianone
• Noah Cameron
• Eric Cerantola
• Isaac Collins
• Steven Cruz
• Lucas Erceg
• Kyle Isbel
• Carter Jensen
• Stephen Kolek
• Michael Massey
• Vinnie Pasquantino
• Cole Ragans
• John Rave
• Mitch Spence
• Tyler Tolbert
• Bobby Witt Jr.

Bergert seems like he would make a lot of rosters, but he may be a casualty of the depth the Royals have accumulated since the team can stash him in the minors until needed. Newly acquired Mitch Spence could make the team with an impressive spring, but it seems more likely he’ll begin in Omaha and come up when a starter is needed. Stephen Kolek, Steven Cruz and Luinder Avila each has a fair shot at making the roster in the bullpen, while Eric Cerantola is a longer shot, but having options remaining could work against them. Michael Massey still has options remaining if the Royals want him to get regular reps and get his career back on track after injuries derailed his 2025 season. Tyler Tolbert and John Rave seem likely to start for Omaha, but are likely to be given chances to contribute to the Royals this summer. Dairon Blanco could be in jeopardy of being removed from the 40-man roster.

Players with more than five years of service time who can refuse assignment include catcher Salvador Perez, infielder Jonathan India, outfielder Lane Thomas, and pitchers Kris Bubic, Carlos Estévez, Seth Lugo, John Schreiber, Matt Strahm, and Michael Wacha.

Non-roster invitees

The non-roster invitees have signed minor league contracts and can be assigned to a minor league club without options or exposing them to waivers. Once their contract is purchased by the Royals and they are promoted to the active and 40-man roster, they require options to be sent back down, otherwise they are exposed to waivers.

Infielder Abraham Toro is out of options. Infielder Connor Kaiser and pitchers José Cuas, Eli Morgan, and Helcris Olivárez all have at least one option year remaining. The players with five years of service time who can refuse minor league assignment are catcher Jorge Alfaro, infielders Brandon Drury, Kevin Newman, and Josh Rojas, and pitchers John Means, Héctor Neris, and Aaron Sanchez. Some players may have opt-outs in their contracts that allow them to seek free agency if they aren’t on the MLB roster by a certain date.

Back on Friday, Alex Anthopoulos spoke with the media and I got the chance to ask him a couple of questions, which you can check out at this link. I also promised that I’d have some thoughts from Walt Weiss coming as well, since he spoke with the media right after AA got done talking. Here’s that article now, as it was a pretty good chance to hear from the new manager of the Atlanta Braves as things begin to kick off for spring training and the year beyond.

I asked Weiss about the general feeling of the clubhouse heading into the spring training and as you would expect, optimism is in the air. “Yeah, there’s a lot of excitement,” responded Weiss to my question. “I know there’s excitement everywhere a this time of year but we got a whole new coaching staff and it’s a really good staff. There’s a great combination of youth on the staff but experienced as well. They’re all very experienced even though they’re relatively young.”

Weiss went on to bring up his relationship with the General Manager and how they’ve been trying to walk the fine line between on-field experience and analytics. “I think we’ve always done a real good job here, from Alex and his team on down,” said Weiss. “[We’re always trying to] find the sweet spot between the information that’s available to us now and the tech that’s to us now and combining that with the wisdom that comes from being in uniform for a long period of time. I think the coaching staff is representative of that and it’s a great feeling.”

The new manager concluded his thoughts by continuing to talk about how excited he was about being able to lead this team heading into the upcoming season.“ I’m excited for this year and I’m excited to go to battle with this group of guys,” exclaimed Weiss. “It’s a talented group, they show up well every day, they compete well, they work well. They prepare well. So that makes my life a little easier. A lot of good vibes right now.“

The press also asked Weiss about his feelings on the state of the pitching staff — particularly when it comes to health. At the time of this presser, the Braves had only lost Spencer Schwellenbach from the rotation due to injury. Now, Hurston Waldrep is set to miss some time due to having “loose bodies” in his pitching elbow, so the injury bug has wasted absolutely no time making its presence felt in camp so far. Weiss remained upbeat — on Friday, at least.

“I think every team in the league has their fingers crossed for their pitching health,” said Weiss. “[Spencer] Strider, [Reynaldo] López, both guys are in a really good place as we sit here today. Strider looks great, López has no restrictions so they’re full steam ahead. That’s a good thing.” It’s certainly encouraging to hear that those two are progressing nicely and should hopefully be able to continue focusing on improving instead of recovering.

With that being said, Weiss has also kept his mind open when it comes to the internal options in the squad taking advantage of any chances that may arise for them to make the starting rotation. “Like I said, everyone deals with this stuff and it usually creates some kind of opportunity for somebody else,” stated Weiss. “We don’t know what injury is going to lead to an opportunity for somebody else. They might step up and do something and they weren’t even on your radar. We had that with Schwellenbach when he came to us at the big league level. He wasn’t even in camp that year. You just never know what’s going to come of these things but I’m sure everyone’s got their fingers crossed on the pitching health.”

We did get an update about how star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. felt coming into spring training. there’s good news on that front, as Acuña appears to be ready and champing at the bit to get out there and compete. “I asked Ronald that same question when I first saw him when he showed up here. I asked him how he was feeling and he said ‘Amazing,’ and he looks great,” exclaimed Weiss. “That’s really exciting. I feel like Ronald’s one of the best talents in the game and [when] we have him healthy performing like he always does when he’s healthy, that really moves the needle for us. I’m really excited about the way he showed up. He’s running around the outfield really well. He looks like Ronald.”

“I’M HEALTHY NOW.”
Ronald Acuña Jr. just crushed a BP home run that nearly hit the bottom corner of the scoreboard in left center 💣@ronaldacunajr24pic.twitter.com/rfSM4q17NF

— Justin Felder (@Justin_FOX5) February 11, 2026

We also got to hear from Weiss about how he feels like this stint will be different from the rocky road that he experienced as the manager of the Colorado Rockies from 2013 through the 2016 season. “I learned a lot in Colorado. The two situations are worlds apart,” explained Weiss. When I got that job in Colorado, I’d been coaching high school football for four years. I remember my first day of spring training looking at my bench coach and going like ‘Where do I go?’ It was a lot of learning on the fly but I learned so much in those four years. The record wasn’t very good but at the same time, I felt good about the changes we made culturally over there in those four years and I feel good about that. But yeah, a lot of lessons learned.”

“I was going into that one kind of blind,” continued Weiss. “This one is very different. I’ve been here for eight years, I know the core of this team very well, I know Alex very well and his team so this time, I could come to spring training and really hit the ground running.”

Even after a couple of rough seasons relative to expectations, the situation here in Atlanta is certainly a lot better than the one Weiss walked into in Denver. Obviously, the hope is that the new manager will be able to pick up where the old manager left off when it comes to hitting the ground running and making this a successful season for the Braves. While every team has reason to be optimistic around this time of year, the Braves are one of those teams that can realistically act upon that optimism and we’ll see if Weiss’s debut season as Braves manager will be one to remember or not.

When the Tigers signed the Cuban outfielder Roberto Campos back in 2019, he was the most expensive international free agent the club had ever inked to a deal. Early on he showed the good power potential and solid hitting ability that was projected on signing day, but his progress has been slow since breaking into A-ball back in 2022 at age 19. Campos made the leap to the Double-A last year, and he really took his lumps for much of the summer before coming on late in the year. The fact that Campos didn’t develop into a high end prospect has been a disappointment for the Tigers, but the now 22-year-old right-handed hitting outfielder still has some potential if he can take the next step in 2026.

Campos has turned himself into a solid outfielder, but his speed has dipped to average levels as he’s filled out. He’s balanced that out by maturing in his jumps and routes over the past two seasons. Though still splitting time between center and right field, the latter looks like his long-term defensive home. He doesn’t exactly have a cannon out there, but it’s above average arm strength and his throwing accuracy has improved considerably.

As you’d expect, the issue is his bat. Campos has a pretty good eye for the zone, and generally swings at the right pitches. He takes his walks and has the ability to line pitches the other way, but that’s partly the result of one of the root causes of his contact issues. Not only is his swing fairly grooved, but his relatively flat path and inside out mechanics are really built to drive the ball to right center field on a line and on the ground. He’s worked on making adjustments and finding more pitches to pull, but he still struggles to be on time to create good angles on pitches down and in that he should crush. He doesn’t pop the ball up much, but most of his fly balls tend to be 350 footers to center and right center field, where it’s hard to cash in and do damage.

He didn’t actually strike out much more in 2025 despite the big jump in competition, but the quality of contact dipped during the middle of the season until he finally started to turn things around late in the year. Most of his hard hit balls were on a line or on the ground, and this has been his pattern for several years, but in 2025 at High-A he had started to make good progress in driving more balls in the air, particularly to the pull field. Better velocity and breaking stuff at the Double-A level set him back to a more defensive approach. Waiting pitchers out worked for him in West Michigan, but against better pitchers much more willing and able to attack the zone, he often got behind in counts and was trying to dig his way out of holes most of the summer.

Campos has made some minor adjustments in his pre-pitch setup, keeping his hands quieter and actively trying to get his front foot down earlier. He’s also worked to build more batspeed. This hasn’t paid enough dividends yet, and Campos still isn’t on time enough to catch many balls out front and crank them to left center and left field. After a really brutal stretch in June and July last summer, the work to adapt started to pay off, and he got back to driving the ball up the gaps. Still, without tapping into his power a lot more effectively he’s not going to get much farther. His production in August and September improved signficantly, those signs that he was settling in encouraged us not to drop him too drastically. A down year after a minor breakout the year prior isn’t unusual, but things need to break the right way for Campos pretty quickly.

He has enough chops to be a solid outfielder who hits left-handed pitching well, and that pathway to at least a bench role is still ahead of him. But while we’ve seen players like Parker Meadows and Wenceel Pérez, and more recently Izaac Pacheco, struggle repeatedly in A-ball before finally benefiting from batspeed training and trying to get shorter to the ball without sacrificing power, Campos has yet to see those dividends. He’s approaching the age where if it doesn’t start to show up soon, it just never will. Few will be betting on a major turnaround in his fortunes at this point.

For now, the saving grace for Campos is that he’s still a little young for the upper minors. There have never been any questions about his makeup, and his coaches have routinely praised him for being a team leader and setting an example in terms of work ethic as well. Hopefully that ultimately pays off. International free agents get rushed to a degree college players and even prep picks do not, and it’s worth remembering the added demands on them as they’re hurried stateside and exposed to the Rule 5 draft at much earlier ages, all while adapting to living in the States. We’ve been writing about Campos for so long it’s easy to forget he’s only 22 years old, the age of a 2025 college pick. It’s reasonable to give him another year, but a lot is going to have to go right.

Campos did get essentially late second round money, and it’s not looking like a great investment at this point. 2019 was a long time ago in terms of how the Tigers operate, and who operates them, but unfortunately the long dry spell in the international free agent market won’t be broken by Roberto Campos. Realistically, his upside now is a platoon outfield role. It would do wonders for the Tigers ability to compete long-term, at least in the AL Central, if they could finally find a really good player out of their international classes. Willy Adames and Eugenio Suarez were 15 years ago. With new leadership on the international side as longtime director Tom Moore moves to an advisory role, the Tigers really need to do better in this aspect of player acquisition.

Campos will need a big season at Erie to get him to Triple-A Toledo this summer, but that has to be the goal. If he doesn’t unlock something in the power department this year, there’s just too much swing and miss to project him developing into a part-time major league player. After a modest breakout in 2024, hopes were rekindled for Campos last year. Instead, he struggled to adapt to Double-A pitching and really needs a big season to keep hope alive beyond 2026.

*In an effort to make the nomination voting easier for everyone, I will comment, “NOMINATIONS”, and you may reply to that with your picks and upvote the player you’d like to see on the next nominee list.

Our CPL is rolling right along as we now have the top 14 prospects according to the fans. Right-hander Zane Taylor came away on top this time around as A’s fans like the potential that the 23-year-old offers. Last year’s fifth-round pick, Taylor only appeared in one professional game this past season at the Triple-A level and pitched just two innings. That said he’s been a popular sleeper pick by lots of the fanbase because he showed elite control during his college days at North Carolina. Having pitched four years there many scouts believe he will be a fast riser through the system. In spite of his lone start being at Triple-A he’s expected to begin the season in Double-A but a promotion could come quick.

Taking his spot among the nominees for the next round will be another righty in Kade Morris. A former third-round pick by the Mets, the A’s brought him into the fold in exchange for former All-Star Paul Blackburn. While Blackburn has struggled since the trade, Morris has made the acquisition look great for the A’s. He dominated Double-A this past year and earned a promotion to Triple-A for his first extended look at that level. The righty predictably ran into some growing pains against stiffer competition so the A’s will give him plenty of time to work on his craft at that level for the time being. If he progresses fast enough though who knows, we could be seeing him donning the Green & Gold as soon as this summer.

The process for this public vote is explained below. Please take a moment to read this before participating:

• Please only vote for one. The player with the most votes at the end of voting will win the ranked spot. The remaining four players move on to the next ballot where they are joined by a new nominee.
• In the comments, below the official voting, the community will nominate players to be put onto the ballot for the next round. The format for your comment should be “Nomination: Player Name”.
• If a prospect is traded, his name will be crossed out, and all other players will be moved up a space. If a prospect is acquired, a special vote will be put up to determine where that player should rank.

Click on the link here to vote!

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A’s fans top prospects, ranked:

1. Leo De Vries, SS
2. Jamie Arnold, LHP
3. Gage Jump, LHP
4. Wei-En Lin, LHP
5. Braden Nett, RHP
6. Henry Bolte, OF
7. Johenssy Colome, SS
8. Edgar Montero, SS
9. Steven Echavarria, RHP
10. Devin Taylor, OF
11. Mason Barnett, RHP
12. Tommy White, 3B
13. Henry Baez, RHP
14. Zane Taylor, RHP

The voting continues! Who will A’s fans pick as the 15th-best prospect in the system today? Here’s a quick rundown on each nominee— the scouting grades (on a 20-to-80 scale) and scouting reports come from MLB Pipeline.

Nominees on the current ballot:

Kade Morris, RHP

Expected level: Triple-A | Age: 23

2025 stats (AA/AAA): 4.38 ERA, 28 starts, 150 IP, 128 K, 48 BB, 16 HR, 4.71 FIP

MLB Pipeline grades and scouting report:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 45 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 40

Morris runs up his four-seam fastball to about 95-96 mph and also throws a sinker with good arm-side run in the 92-95 range. His mid-80s slider has developed into an above-average secondary offering. His mid-70s curveball provides a good variation of pitch speeds, though he is still working to make it a more consistent pitch, along with his improving upper-80s changeup.

Morris is athletic with his 6-foot-3 frame. His competitive drive stands out whenever he takes the mound. Discovering the right arm slot that allows for the most consistency is the next big step in his development. How that pans out as he moves through the system will likely determine his long-term role, though he profiles as a back-end starter given his overall pitch mix and solid control.

Shotaro Morii, SS/RHP

Expected level: Low-A | Age: 19

2025 stats (Rookie Affiliate): 188 PA, .258/.399/.384, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 3 HR, 27 RBI, 36 BB, 47 K, 4 SB

MLB Pipeline grades and scouting report:

Scouting grades (hitter): Hit: 50 | Power: 50 | Run: 55 | Arm: 60 | Field: 50 | Overall: 40

Scouting grades (pitcher): Fastball: 55 | Slider: 40 | Curveball: 45 | Splitter: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 40

At the plate, Morii features a smooth left-handed swing with tremendous balance. His power stands out, as he clubbed 45 home runs as a high schooler. He is considered an advanced hitter with good barrel control. On the mound, his fastball has been clocked as high as 95 mph and sits around 92-93. He also brings a splitter with nasty movement, a true 12-to-6 curveball and a tighter slider with solid bite and depth, though that offering will probably require some fine-tuning. Having only been pitching with regularity for less than two years, Morii’s arm is relatively fresh as he enters the organization.

Morii’s high-octane throwing arm plays well at shortstop, but some evaluators see a possibility of moving to third base as his 6-foot-1 frame fills out. While scouts see Morii’s long-term future in the batter’s box, the A’s plan on giving him every opportunity to succeed as a two-way player, with excitement already building over his impressive physical traits and desire to become one of the next great players out of Japan.

Junior Perez, OF

Expected level: Triple-A | Age: 24

2025 stats (AA/AAA): 587 PA, .231/.348/.473, 29 doubles, 6 triples, 26 HR, 87 RBI, 87 BB, 165 K, 27 SB

Per Billy Owens, Athletics director of player personnel and assistant GM: “Perez is a live-bodied specimen with high-caliber tools. His range and athleticism stand out defensively. Offensively, he can be streaky, but he has displayed plus bat speed, patience and real power. Solid package. Development is not linear. Patience will be required to realize his significant potential.”

Gunnar Hoglund, RHP

Expected level: Triple-A/Majors | Age: 26

2025 stats (Triple-A): 2.43 ERA, 6 starts, 29 2/3 IP, 30 K, 7 BB, 3 HR, 4.17 FIP

2025 stats (Majors): 6.40 ERA, 6 starts, 32 1/3 IP, 23 K, 11 BB, 10 HR, 6.75 FIP

MLB Pipeline grades and scouting report:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 45 | Slider: 55 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 60 | Overall: 45

Though Hoglund may never get back the electric stuff he possessed earlier in his career, the A’s were encouraged to see his fastball velocity tick back up to the low-90s. He has also experimented with adding a two-seamer and cutter. His low-80s slider now features more sweeping action and works as his main secondary pitch. He has also improved his low-80s changeup, creating a solid three-pitch mix that is enhanced by a strong ability to consistently throw strikes.

Now three years removed from Tommy John, the A’s are hopeful that Hoglund can develop into a solid back-end rotation piece, especially if he can successfully develop a fourth pitch. The Florida native was regularly going deep into starts in his big league cameo (6.40 ERA with 23 strikeouts to 11 walks across 32 1/3 innings) before going down with the injury and is expected to make a full recovery before the 2026 season.

Cole Miller, RHP

Expected level: Single-A | Age: 20

2025 stats (ROK, Single-A): 1.90 ERA, 12 starts (15 appearances), 52 IP, 45 K, 11 BB, 1 HR, 3.38 FIP

MLB Pipeline grades and scouting report:

Scouting grades: Fastball: 55 | Slider: 50 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 40

The A’s were working on some mechanical adjustments with Miller prior to his injury. His electric fastball ticked up to 96 mph in high school and displayed excellent movement down in the zone. The mid-80s slider is a hard breaker and was showing signs of improvement. His low-80s changeup showed some potential as an average third pitch.

There was real excitement within the organization for Miller’s professional debut. His three-pitch mix and large 6-foot-6 frame give off the potential of a workhorse-type starting pitcher in the big leagues. The A’s also loved the competitiveness they saw from him on the mound while scouting him. After an unfortunate delay, he finally got his first opportunity to make an impression this summer.

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When the big stars arrive in camp, there is a rush to get their first on camera interview of the season out of the way. As the biggest of stars in Clearwater, whenever Bryce Harper makes his first appearance, one knows it is going to be news worthy. His interview touched on a myriad of topics like the spending of the Dodgers, the comments made this winter by Dave Dombrowski, but then it got into lineup order.

One of the things the team is going to have figure out is who is hitting fourth in the cleanup position behind Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. One would assume that those three are going to be the initial trio in any game they play this season, making the cleanup spot rather important. Harper was not very subtle with his thoughts about last year’s cleanup spot production.

“I think it’s a huge impact in the four spot,” Harper said. “I mean, I think anybody. It doesn’t matter if it’s me or (Kyle Schwarber). Because if Schwarbs is hitting there, same things are going to happen, right? So I think four spot’s a huge impact. I think the numbers in the four spot weren’t very good last year for our whole team. Whoever is in that four spot is going to have a big job to do, depending on who’s hitting three.”

There are not potshots taken at anyone in particular. These kinds of comments should be seen as a realistic look at where they are at with their roster. There is no secret that the team does not have the prototypical cleanup hitter on the roster right now that is also right handed, which makes achieving the desired balance the team is looking for difficult. While Schwarber has always felt like he is best suited for that role, it seems pretty obvious that the lineup works well with him among the first three, so maybe that is where he needs to slotted most often.

That makes it imperative the team finds a cleanup hitter that works. Rob Thomson has already talked about what he is looking for from that position in the lineup.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson says Bryce Harper came to spring training in great shape. Bryce looks great.

Rob says he is looking at a righthanded bat for the cleanup spot: Alec Bohm, JT Realmuto or Adolis Garcia 📸 Phillies pic.twitter.com/uZAyoRTjJ2

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) February 15, 2026

Using Alec Bohm there is something Thomson has done frequently in the past, citing his contact ability as a plus for the job as something that he likes. His 2025 season in the cleanup spot (.216/.262/.309) are not ones that would leap out as the best choice to hit behind the first three. It could have been something of a bad season though as his 2024 numbers (.283/.330/.440) and 2023 numbers (.253/.318/.392) were markedly better, yet still fall short of what one would expect from a hitter in that spot in the lineup.

The problem is that they may not have much of a choice. The other two options mentioned, Adolis Garcia and J.T. Realmuto, aren’t exactly shining beacons of offensive production either. Realmuto had 180 plate appearances out of the cleanup spot last year with almost this very same lineup and hit .238/.302/.381. Garcia, down with the Rangers, had 320 plate appearances out of the cleanup spot and was barely much better, hitting .224/.263/.399. From both of these options, a bright light of hope does not seem to be appearing.

The issue of which player is best suited as a cleanup hitter is going to be something the team has to be trying out in spring training. Making any kind of long term decisions during spring at bats might be a bit of fool’s errand with all of the different arms that are going to be used in opposition to the Phillies’ lineup. We don’t want to base any critical roster decisions on how well Adolis Garcia does facing arms that will eventually begin the season in Single-A levels. Yet how each one appears will be another data point that can be used in the decision making.

The real test will be convincing the clubhouse that things should be tried early and often in the beginning of the season to determine what is the best fit. If Thomson needs to try out different combinations of lineups to best figure out which one to use moving forward, there has to be real conversation with the players about that. The ultimate goal of the lineup is to score runs and if doing so in the best manner means that some players are hitting in roles they haven’t really been in for some time, so be it. Maybe the best option for a lineup is have Trea Turner-Bryce Harper-Alec Bohm-Kyle Schwarber be the first four to face the opposition, maybe it isn’t. Maybe one of these three right handed hitters that Thomson has talked about takes a step forward and produces like many believe a cleanup hitter should.

The real cleanup hitter will be determined as the season progresses. It’s possible that the player with the most plate appearances there hasn’t been identified yet. That is what the coaching staff should be figuring out this spring, not worrying about the handedness just yet.