The Cubs Convention is over, the Bears’ fine season is, too, and only the Blackhawks remain standing in the playoff hunt. But there is hope for the 2026 Cubs squad, after a couple of major and quite a few minor signings, with only a couple of roster decisions to make unless something special happens.
The Pitch Lab is going to have plenty of experimental subjects.
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The @Cubs snagged another Pro Day arm! 💪 Congrats to Trent Thornton on signing with Chicago! Thornton threw 42.1 MLB innings in 2025 before tearing his Achilles last July. The Super Supinator is ahead of schedule with this rehab and ready to contribute. 📈
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DePodesta was cagey when asked if he could confirm the move.
“That’s interesting timing while I’m on the zoom with all you folks,” he said. “No, I probably can’t comment on that. But as I said before, we’ve been in active conversations with other players, and we’re looking to continue to make additions to the team. So I’ll just leave it at that.”
The Rockies had been linked to Castro during and after the Winter Meetings as DePodesta worked to improve the moribund Rockies at the ground floor of a much-needed rebuild. These improvements would need to come from many possible directions, from improved player development to free agent signings and beyond.
DePodesta addressed this multi-faceted approach during his media availability.
“The way we’re looking at it is that every move compounds right on. So you know, we can just continue to get incrementally better. In the long run, it’ll make a significant impact. I also think there are two ways to make this team better. One is to add players that we think could help. The second is to make our existing players better.”
When it comes to players who might help, the new Rockies front office has focused on a few specific positions: the starting rotation, first and second base, and the need for a utility player. For starting pitching the Rockies have already signed the aforementioned Michael Lorenzen and are likely to sign at least one more before spring training. There has been little movement at first base since the team claimed Troy Johnson off of waivers from the Miami Marlins before DePodesta’s hiring was finalized.
For second base and utility, it would appear the Rockies have killed two birds with one stone by bringing in Willi Castro.
The 28-year-old Puerto Rican former All-Star started his career as a shortstop with the Detroit Tigers. However, he has since moved largely to a combination of second base and in the outfield. He can play all three outfield positions, as well as third base. Throughout his seven-year big league career he has logged at least 550 innings at every position but catcher and first base.
While Castro may end up the Rockies’ Opening Day second baseman—especially if Ryan Ritter or Adael Amador fail to impress this spring—his positional versatility will be a factor when it comes to day-to-day lineups.
“We’ve looked at different combinations of players and even thinking about our own players in different combinations,” DePodesta explained. “Right now we do have some players that are versatile on the infield. They they could fill in some different spots. So I think it affords us the opportunity to look at the puzzle a lot of different ways. I think it is safe to say that most of the guys we’re looking at now are primarily infielders, given where we are in the outfield, but we are looking at different spots. I think there are different ways of putting the puzzle together that could make sense, depending on who the players are.”
DePodesta also discussed the state of the outfield, where Castro spent the bulk of his playing time in 2025 with the Minnesota Twins and Chicago Cubs.
“One of the things I think I may have even talked about on my first day here and talking about Coors was the importance of both outfield defense and base running. There’s so much acreage out there defensively that you need to cover, but it also creates a real opportunity for people who are opportunistic base runners.”
Those factors are what led the Rockies to bringing in outfielder Jake McCarthy from the Arizona Diamondbacks earlier this off-season. While Castro isn’t as strong of a defender as McCarthy and lacks the same range, he is a significantly better outfield defender than Mickey Moniak and Tyler Freeman were last season. His 28.8 feet per second sprint speed puts him behind only Brenton Doyle (29.5), Ryan Ritter (29.2), and Braxton Fulford (29.1) for players currently on the roster, while his 89.9 MPH average arm strength is above the 2025 league average for all positions save right field and ranks behind only Yanquiel Fernández (97.2), Doyle (94.2) and Tyler Freeman (92.3). He has also stolen double digit bases in each of his last three seasons, with a career high of 33 with the Twins in 2023.
“You have guys who can play multiple spots in the outfield. Some guys with power, some guys who can really run. I think it’s a nice mix for [manager Warren Schaeffer] and hopefully gives us an opportunity to put together a lineup on any given day that gives us a good chance based on what we’re facing from the opposition.”
There is a potentially unfortunate downside that comes with bringing in Castro, however. While DePodesta voiced both confidence and excitement in the Rockies’ new big league coaching staff and their ability to “effectuate” getting better play out of the club’s existing players, he also noted that prospects may still need to earn their spots on the Major League roster with more experienced depth putting pressure on them.
“If you look at those five outfielders now (Brenton Doyle, Mickey Moniak, Jordan Beck, Jake McCarthy, and Tyler Freeman), four of them are in their arbitration eligible stages, and then Jordan is just behind those guys in terms of service time,” DePodesta said. “So all still young, but now all having some relatively significant experience that’s kind of a nice blend there. I think the young guys are absolutely going to have to earn their way onto the team and into the lineup with those other guys there.”
The Rockies had 13 players make their Major League debuts in 2025, most of which were largely out of necessity with the team’s organizational depth being tested. While some promise was shown, it doesn’t seem like a coincidence that Castro is able to play the same positions as the Rockies’ three most prominent position player debuts in third baseman Kyle Karros, second baseman Ryan Ritter, and corner outfielder Yanquiel Fernández.
Karros, Ritter, and Fernández will likely be given every opportunity to earn a spot on the 26-man Opening Day roster this spring. However, the Rockies may want to send the trio back into the minor league system for additional development, something the team has started investing significant resources into this off-season.
“This week has been a big week in terms of moving on some of that,” DePodesta mentioned when asked about the minor league coaching and development staff. “We’re actively interviewing for a number of different positions throughout the minor leagues, and hope to have some of those folks in place in short order. I think in an ideal world, maybe a couple of would be able to join us next week.”
While Willi Castro’s contract won’t be official until the Rockies make an announcement—and a corresponding move to clear space on the 40-man roster—its likely safe to assume that he will will suit up in purple pinstripes for the 2026 season. Once the move is made official, the role Castro will fill with the Rockies will become more and more clear the closer we get to Opening Day.
Mike Mazzeo of Sports Business Journal takes a look at the business side of the Rockies’ nascent rebuild as Dick Monfort cedes organizational power to his son Walker while he has focused on labor negotiations. With Walker at the helm, the Rockies have begun a push for innovation on both the field and in the front office with the goal of making the team more than just an afterthought in Colorado sports.
The Rockies recently acquired speedy outfielder Jake McCarthy from the Arizona Diamondbacks, adding him to an already crowded outfield group. McCarthy had a down year in 2025, ultimately losing his spot to Alek Thomas. What can the Rockies do to get McCarthy back on track in 2026?
Tonight, National Baseball Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch will step up to a podium in a live segment on MLB Network and reveal who the Baseball Writers’ Association of America elected to join Eras Committee selection Jeff Kent in the 2026 Hall of Fame class. Several former Yankees are on the ballot and under consideration, though as the latest public balloting results, only a few had a chance at realistic chance at meeting the 75-percent threshold to be inducted in July.
No one at Pinstripe Alley has an actual Hall of Fame vote (some at SB Nation do!), but every year, we play along with the exercise and submit our own ballots. I asked the staff to to consider the eligible candidates and vote for as many as 10 players, just like the BBWAA does. The former Yankees on the ballot are Alex Rodriguez, Andy Pettitte, Andruw Jones, Bobby Abreu, Edwin Encarnación, and perhaps the most likely inductee from the BBWAA this year, Carlos Beltrán, who was on 70.3 percent of 2025 BBWAA ballots. Others in the mix are returning candidates Mark Buehrle, Félix Hernández, Torii Hunter, Dustin Pedroia, Francisco Rodriguez, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Omar Vizquel, and David Wright, as well as new names Cole Hamels, Ryan Braun, Shin-Soo Choo, Gio González, Alex Gordon, Matt Kemp, Howie Kendrick, Nick Markakis, Daniel Murphy, Hunter Pence, and Rick Porcello.
Here’s how PSA voted! We have a three-man class with Beltrán, Abreu, and A-Rod, with Pettitte, Jones, Utley, and King Félix each falling one vote short.
Those are our ballots. Who would have made your cut for Cooperstown?
What they’ve accomplished so far: Adding Collins should help with production from the outfield, which was lacking last season. No matter the position out there, the Royals ranked near the bottom of the league in OPS. Strahm and Mears fit in the bullpen, as the team traded Angel Zerpa for Collins (and Mears) but lost oft-injured reliever Hunter Harvey to free agency.
What they still need to do: The Royals’ task hasn’t changed: attempting to find more offense to put around all-world player Bobby Witt Jr. It’s likely to come via a trade rather than any of the free agents left on the market. The team might still add to the bullpen, but there has been quite the roster churn for Kansas City so far. And remember, the Royals were active during trade season last July, so the roster will look very different on Opening Day this year as opposed to 2025.
A full season from Jac Caglianone gets him close to 30 home runs, but questions about chase and healthy contact continue to limit him some. Still, a 12% walk rate and .819 OPS would come pretty close to “as-advertised” for the 23-year-old slugger. Vinnie Pasquantino projects here to lead the team in home runs again, this time with 36. That’s four more than he finished with in 2025 and his .510 projected slugging percentage would be a career-high. Also of note, the projection sees Vinnie’s walk rate taking a step up in 2026, falling more in line with where he finished in his first two MLB seasons rather than the sub-8% numbers we saw in 2024 and 2025.
The NFL coaching carousel continues as Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott got the axe despite being an Admiral.
The Miami Dolphins hired Jeff Hafley to be their new head coach. Just don’t Google his coaching history.
The Chiefs are bringing back former Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy to be the old-new Chiefs OC.
Today’s Off Topic: I bought a bike yesterday. I’ve never been a cyclist, but a rowing coach I’m using wants cycling of some kind included as cross training. Plus my wife and kids all have bikes; I’m the one who cannot ride with them until I buy a bike. So I bought a used one for super cheap. It’s an old, 1990s Raleigh C-30. It needs a new tube thing for the rear tire, but otherwise it looks very well cared for. New seat, new tires, chain in good shape. I’ll get it tuned up and get riding here soon. The guy owned a bike trainer for indoor riding too, and he included it. I’ll ride in my basement as soon as I get the bike fixed and figure out how the trainer thing works. This is really a validation experiment – invest minimal dollars to see if I’ll commit to it. If I do, then I’ll be willing to spend a bit more for something better.
Any cyclists here? What bike brands do you like? If you’re in the KC area, where are your favorite places to ride? Trolley trail, Indian Creek trail, etc etc?
Your song of the day is The Mars Volta with Blacklight Shine
The San Francisco Giants certainly have many things to celebrate this season. As they have learned from the past decade or so, two Brandons are better than one. In addition to honoring the career and contributions of former first baseman Brandon Belt in April, Brandon Crawford will be getting his own celebration a couple of weeks later.
Eagle-eyed fans may be confused, as Crawford received his own celebration game last season. But we’ve got another reason to celebrate Crawford this year, and that’s because he will be inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame on May 14th!
Congratulations to @BayAreaSportHOF 2026 inductee, Brandon Crawford 👏 @bcraw35 will be enshrined into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame on May 14!
This is certainly worth celebrating! Crawford was a Bay Area kid, who grew up rooting for the Giants and then got to play almost his entire career with them, winning two World Series and representing the team in the All Star Game three times.
But he’s not the only Hall of Famer being honored this season. Because they’ve also got a former player going into the regular Hall of Fame! That’s right, they will be honoring the newest member of the Hall of Fame, Jeff Kent, with a celebration and ceremony where his jersey number, No. 21, will be retired on August 29th!
The first 21,000 fans in attendance will receive a National Baseball Hall of Fame replica ring, so make sure you get your tickets early and plan to get there early.
If you haven’t been to a jersey retirement ceremony, I highly recommend it! The Giants go all out, and it’s truly an electric environment to be in with your fellow Giants fans as you celebrate beloved players. I attended Barry Bonds’ ceremony, and it was one of the most fun things I’ve ever gotten to be a part of.
So congratulations to Kent and Crawford! We look forward to seeing the festivities this season!
Of all the things that went wrong for the 2025 Detroit Tigers from the All-Star break to the end of the regular season, the starting rotation felt like the biggest piece of the puzzle to many fans. Injuries to Jackson Jobe and then Reese Olson left that group vulnerable, and the front office failed utterly to find competent help behind Tarik Skubal, Jack Flaherty, and Casey Mize. Even so the club still graded out among the best rotations in the American League by year’s end, and in the postseason that backend mattered little and the struggles of the offense took center stage in their heartbreaking Game 5 ALDS loss to the Mariners. Have they done enough this offseason to keep the rotation near the top of the league?
Obviously they haven’t done a lot, but they didn’t really need that much to begin with. Jack Flaherty decided to use his option to return, again solidifying a good top three, though Skubal is obviously doing the heavy lifting for that trio and is projected for 5.9 fWAR, while Flaherty and Mize remain modestly above average with projections of 2.6 and 2.3 fWAR, respectively. Reese Olson is probably their second most effective starter, but he’s currently in the fourth position at 2.1 fWAR, as until he proves otherwise, the Tigers can’t depend on him to hold up to a full year’s work. Then the Tigers signed one of the top KBO names coming back stateside in the form of right-hander Drew Anderson, projected for 1.2 fWAR. After a really good year overseas, he’ll be in the mix competing with Troy Melton (1.2 fWAR) for the fifth spot, with Keider Montero (0.5 fWAR) and Sawyer Gipson-Long (0.5 fWAR) on the outside of that battle.
Beyond them they have relievers like Brant Hurter and Tyler Holton who can spot start, a decent Triple-A starter in Troy Watson, maybe a bit of help from Ty Madden for a spot start or two, and a pair of interesting but fringy lefty prospects in Jake Miller and Andrew Sears who may be able to chip in later on over the course of the season. Jackson Jobe isn’t really expected to return until August, so it’s hard to guess how much help he might be late in the year.
It would certainly have helped to add a top name in this free agent class like lefties Ranger Suarez or Framber Valdez. The latter is still available and has AJ Hinch ties, but as Valdez is the last man standing among really good dependable starters, competition will be fierce. I can’t imagine the Tigers would be involved anyway, but it’s even less likely that Valdez will be available 2-3 weeks down the road once the Tigers have clarity on Skubal’s 2026 salary, and perhaps a better idea of how their broadcast rights situation will play out.
The Tigers may have a small move left ahead of them, probably a cheap backend starter or bullpen arm who will simply get a chance to compete for a job in spring camp, but they’re basically done barring something unforeseen, like trading Skubal, or one of their starters getting injured before we even get to camp.
That should be enough to remain near the top of the American League, as the Tigers currently have the third ranked starting rotation, including depth pieces, in the major leagues according to Steamer projections. Signings of Valdez and other remaining free agents will alter these projections, but basically this is how it lines up with free agency winding down.
Based on Steamer’s WAR projections, the answer is quite obviously yes. I admit I prefer the ZIPS projections, but the differences aren’t usually too striking.
These assessments shouldn’t be so surprising. As bad as our recent memories of the August and September Tigers may be, and despite the natural myopia in a fanbase that leads us to think that other teams are stronger than they are, it doesn’t erase the first three and a half months of the season when the Tigers were steamrolling everyone. No doubt the Tigers rotation situation feels precarious, because if Skubal is hurt for any long period of time they’re in big trouble and at best a middle of the pack rotation. But other than maybe the Red Sox and Dodgers, that’s true of everyone at the top. The Pirates rotation without Paul Skenes is going nowhere, for example.
The American League’s best
If we break it down to just the American League, the Red Sox have the best rotation with Garrett Crochet leading the way and the signing of Ranger Suarez putting them over the top. Of course, they also have several other above average starters in Brayan Bello, Sonny Gray, and Kutter Crawford should he get return in good form from knee issues and the wrist surgery that cost him the 2025 season. It’s not exactly the 2013 Tigers rotation, but it’s very good and they have plenty of depth as well.
We can also find some rotations that aren’t as good at the top, but are certainly deeper in good starters than the Tigers. The Seattle Mariners for example, have Bryan Woo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, and Luis Castillo, all of whom project to be above average starting pitchers. There’s no one who’ll knock your socks off over the course of a full season, but the first three at least are a little better than any of Olson, Flaherty, or Mize. They also have a better crop of pitching prospects than the Tigers by far right now. Right-handers Ryan Sloan and Jurrangelo Cjintje, along with 2025 first round lefty Kade Anderson, aren’t on the cusp on the major leagues yet and may not be ready in 2026, but all three are comfortably top 100 pitching prospects who will likely all start the year in Double-A. I’d be willing to bet that one of them goes off in 2026 and is at least an average major league starter by the second half.
The Blue Jays are in a similar boat after signing Dylan Cease. Cease should give them strong frontline starter production to lead the way. Trey Yesavage could be every bit as good even if the projections don’t love him due to an inability to handle a pro caliber workload. Kevin Gausman is still a quality starting pitcher though clearly not the guy he was a few years ago. Shane Bieber is a nice bounceback candidate to be an average or better starter again if he’s put Tommy John in the rearview mirror. And while the Tigers signed Drew Anderson from the KBO, the guy above him was Cody Ponce, who signed with the Blue Jays back in December. Finally, Jose Berrios and Eric Lauer are depth guys, but should be able to handle plenty of innings for them.
The Blue Jays also seem like a team who might get into the hunt for Framber Valdez or Chris Bassitt after losing out on both Kyle Tucker and Bo Bichette. Pivoting to improving their rotation a little more would have them looking like a repeat appearance in the World Series is a good possibility.
The Yankees rotation is reasonably good, but nothing to write home about as things stand. Max Fried is really good, and Carlos Rodon, Will Warren, and Cam Schittler are above average. They’re in the Mariners camp with a lot of well above average starters, though their depth isn’t very good. Warren and Schlittler are young and have a solid chance to break out further this season, and the Yankees will be hoping Garrett Cole returns to form quickly sometime in the summer months as he tries to return from last March’s Tommy John surgery, but the notion that he’ll look like Garrett Cole again before 2027 is a bet with pretty long odds.
Both the Mariners and Yankees rotations do look like they could hold up to losing their top arm better than the Tigers’ can, but that’s probably not worth worrying about. If Skubal gets hurt for more than a month, the Tigers season is presumably going right down the drain. The concern is more losing one or more of their 2-4 arms and having to replace them with a backend type.
Best of the AL Central
Within the division, the Royals look like the Tigers closest competition in terms of starting rotations. Cole Ragans gives them a very good top starter assuming the rotator cuff issue is behind him. Of course he’s been pretty injury prone in general in his career. Kris Bubic is pretty good, and Michael Wacha is an average starter with proven durability. In different ways, they’re both very comparable to Flaherty, Olson, and Mize. Meanwhile, Seth Lugo looks pretty well washed up after his 2024 resurgence, but may still have another good season left in the tank. They don’t have much in the way of depth or top shelf prospects behind that group, however.
The Guardians rotation looks quite average on paper. They don’t have a single pitcher projected to be worth more than 2.5 fWAR. However, they do have several more quality starting pitching prospects nearing the major leagues to provide reinforcements. Lefty Parker Messick should be about ready to give them average production, at least. At the top, they have Gavin Williams and Tanner Bibee, who are both 26-year-old quality mid-rotation starters. Williams certainly has the stuff to become a frontline guy this year. The Guardians starting pitching has rarely graded out that well in recent years, but they play great defense and game plan well, typically outperforming their FIP metrics by quite a bit. With right fielder Chase DeLauter and infield masher Travis Bazzana closing in on the big leagues, they may finally have some serious help for Jose Ramirez on the other side of the ball as well. No doubt they’ll be back to go toe-to-toe with the Tigers yet again, even if it’s a mediocre group on paper.
At this point I wouldn’t expect any significant moves throughout the division. Maybe the Royals smell an opportunity and pick up Bassitt or Lucas Giolito. That would get them closer to the Tigers and give them better insurance considering the lack of impact pitching prospects. Trading for pitching at this time of year is nearly impossible, at least in terms of good, established pitchers or top pitching prospects, so beyond those last few good starters available, the field is pretty well set until the trade deadline in July.
No doubt we’ll end up revisiting this topic in more depth with a focus on the AL Central in March, once rosters are closer to being finalized in the runup to Opening Day.
In terms of Steamer’s projections specifically, you can certainly take some issue with using FIP based FanGraphs projections if you like, but I continue to find fWAR better at projecting the next season’s production. Baseball-Reference’s rWAR is more useful for looking back at what did happen last season, as opposed to what a pitcher’s strikeout, walk, and home run rates say should happen in a neutral context without defense involved.
The Tigers are set for now but the front office needs to be ready to adjust
Ultimately, the Tigers don’t need to be clogging up the works with another backend starter. If they aren’t going after Valdez or Bassitt, or perhaps one of Zac Gallen or Lucas Giolito, who could do reasonably well here too, it’s just not worth it. Adding another subpar pitcher on a flier, that they can’t option or easily cut loose should things go poorly, might do more harm than good.
Assuming they aren’t doing any of those things, Scott Harris needs to be better prepared to trade prospects for young pitchers with options as needed at midseason. He tried to avoid giving up anything of note in terms of prospects when the Tigers badly needed pitching help in 2025, and it went very poorly. That can’t happen again if the Tigers find their pitching depth badly stretched for any length of time.
You can’t necessarily stockpile against every contigency that might emerge during the regular season. The best defense is to have another top pitching prospect on the cusp of the major leagues. The Tigers don’t have that, they just have some fifth starter type depth and a few decent spot start candidates. What they need to combat problems that may emerge, is the willingness to adjust make an impactful trade as the need arises.
Friends, we are exactly one month away from the 2026 Orioles playing baseball. Spring training baseball, yes, but baseball nonetheless. There will be lineups and uniforms and everything! The O’s will kick off their Grapefruit League schedule on Feb. 20 with a home game in Sarasota against the Yankees, and most of us will even be able to watch, as it’s one of the 20 games that MASN will air this spring.
That exhibition opener, of course, won’t necessarily tell us much about what we should expect from the 2026 season. Not every projected Orioles starter will be in the lineup, and probably by the fifth or sixth inning the O’s will have nothing but backups and minor leaguers on the field. That’s spring training for you. Still, it’s a warming thought — on this 20-degree day in the greater Baltimore area — that there will be actual baseball happening not too long from now.
Before we get there, though, the O’s still have some roster business to attend to. They’re continuing their stated pursuit of a top-shelf starting pitcher, which at this point is Framber Valdez or bust on the free agent market, unless the Birds have another surprise trade in them. They also need to address the whole three-right-handed-hitting-first-basemen logjam, and maybe add another reliever or two while they’re at it.
There’s more work to do. There’s more roster maneuvering in store. But baseball is on the horizon.
Nick Markakis won’t hear his named called during today’s Hall of Fame election, but Jay Jaffe offers a fine recap of the former Orioles fan favorite’s outstanding career.
If you’re planning a visit to spring training this year, Rich Dubroff’s got you covered on everything you need to know, including oodles of restaurant recommendations. I’m feeling hungry all of a sudden.
The former Oriole has found a new team, and he might even be their primary shortstop until Ha-Seong Kim returns from injury. Best of luck to Jorge in Atlanta.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! A whopping seven former Orioles have birthdays today: catcher Luis Exposito (39), outfielder David Lough (40), right-hander Matt Albers (43), infielder Ozzie Guillén (62), lefty Bill Scherrer (68), and the late outfielder Gene Stephens (b. 1933, d. 2019) and Baltimore-born righty Dave Boswell (b. 1945, d. 2012).
On this date in 1977, the Orioles traded eight-time Gold Glove center fielder Paul Blair to the Yankees. The best defensive outfielder in franchise history, Blair had spent the first 13 years of his career in Baltimore and starred on two World Series-winning O’s clubs, but was coming off the two worst offensive seasons of his career when the Orioles made the trade. As a bench player with the Yanks, Blair added two more championships to his total in 1977 and 1978.
In 1994, the Orioles signed Hall of Fame closer Lee Smith to a one-year deal. The veteran right-hander already had 401 saves on his résumé, and added a league-leading 33 for the Orioles in the strike-shortened ‘94 season. Smith finished his career with 478, currently the third-most in MLB history.
And on this day last year, Anthony Santander officially parted ways with the Orioles after eight seasons, signing a five-year, $92.5 million deal with the division rival Blue Jays. The O’s, with their best 2024 power bat no longer around, struggled to hit homers in 2025, but Santander’s first year in Toronto didn’t go well for him, either. He posted a meager .565 OPS with six homers in 54 games, missing nearly four months with a shoulder injury, and was relegated to a spectator during the Jays’ near-championship run.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported Monday that the Cardinals, among other teams, were showing “significant interest” in free agent INF/OF Miguel Andujar. Chaim Bloom has stated publicly in his spots on 1120 KMOX during the “Sports On A Sunday Morning” show with Tom Ackerman that he would like to add a right-handed hitter who can handle both infield and outfield responsibilities. Andujar has seen time in his big league career at 1B, 3B, LF, and RF.
Though not particularly known for his defensive work, what Andujar does very well is crush left-handed pitching, and that would give Manager Oli Marmol an additional weapon to use in his lineup in 2026. Last season in 93 plate appearances against LHP Andjuar slashed .389/.409/.578 -> .986 OPS. He also produced a wOBA of .421 and a wRC+ of 171. Among RHH who had a minimum 90 plate appearances against LHP, Miguel Andujar ranked 5th in all of baseball with his 171 wRC+ behind Aaron Judge (225), Ivan Herrera (205), Shea Langeliers (184), and Byron Buxton (178).
For a lineup that will feature a heavy left-handed presence such as Alec Burleson, Nolan Gorman, Lars Nootbaar, JJ Wetherholt, Victor Scott II, and possibly Brendan Donovan, adding some reliable balance and punch to the lineup on days that the Cardinals face off against a tough lefty makes all the sense in the world. Among the remaining hitters on the roster, only TWO had a wRC+ above 100 last season against LHP, with a minimum of 90 plate appearances: Ivan Herrera and Nolan Gorman.
Defensively, Andujar is very limited. He has the positional versatility to stand in various positions, but his -7 oAA last season leaves a lot to be desired. However, the one defensive tool Andujar does possess is a well-above-average throwing arm, averaging over 92 MPH on his throws from the outfield. Between him and Walker, the range in the outfield would be suspect at best, but if either can play deep and keep the ball in front of them, they can accumulate assists and gun down runners trying to take extra bases.
Fangraphs projects a 1 year 5.5 million contract for Andujar. Given the amount of interest in the player, the Cardinals would probably have to raise that offer just a smidge and perhaps be willing to include performance-based incentives, and perhaps an option for 2027 to get the deal across the finish line. The opportunity for a player of Andujar’s profile exists on the current roster and should be attractive to Andujar’s camp. The only question that remains is the financial compononet and we will see in the coming days/weeks whether or not Chaim Bloom can get it across the finish line.
We’re less than 30 days out from the start of NC State’s 2026 baseball season, so now’s as good a time as any to get to know the team before they hit the diamond. The Wolfpack will be looking for their third trip to Omaha in the last six seasons, so let’s figure out how they’ll get there (keep your “on a plane” jokes at home where they belong). We’ll try and tackle this in a few parts:
Part I will look back at the 2025 season and the players who are no longer with the program.
Part II will look at the returnees from 2025’s Auburn Regional squad
Part III will look at the newcomers, both transfers and freshmen
Part IV will look at the non-conference opponents
Part V will tackle the ACC slate facing the Pack
Let’s get to it!
2025 Season Review
How did things go in 2025?
As is the case with most Wolfpack baseball seasons, the 2025 campaign was one of dramatic emotional swings. The team dominated an overmatched Fordham in the season opening series, then promptly went on a five-game skid to make folks wonder if this team was even NCAA Regional caliber. Of course, State then ran off wins in 14 of their next 15 games, including a sweep of an impressive Wright State group and a 4-1 start in ACC play, somewhat soothing anxiety among the fans.
The team then went 1-4 over their next five ACC games, with an embarrassing run-rule loss at home to USC Upstate. Things weren’t rosy anymore. With Pack fans again in “worry” mode, Elliott Avent’s group did what an Elliott Avent group does: they went on another win streak. This foray in the correct side of the win column witnessed State go 11-1 over a 12-game stretch with series wins over Virginia, Louisville, California, and Clemson – Louisville and Clemson were both ranked squads – and a win at East Carolina mixed in for good measure. Things were looking up once again.
NC State was in prime position to capture their first regular season ACC baseball title since 1986, but the team skidded down the stretch to let it out of their grasp. A 3-6 finish in the regular season, including a 2-5 mark in conference play, meant it would be yet another year before that trophy would reside yet again in Raleigh.
The Pack blew leads in each of their last two regular season games – a win in one of those would have secured that ACC crown – and then subsequently blew a lead in their lone ACC Tournament game, a loss to Clemson. State got blown out by Stetson in their Auburn Regional opener, but worked their way back with big offensive outputs in wins against Central Connecticut and Stetson to face off with the host Tigers. It wasn’t to be, though, and a 10-run loss put an end to the Wolfpack’s season.
Overall it was a good-not-great year, one that will be remembered for coming agonizingly close to capturing an ACC title, but coming up short. The team peaked in April and just couldn’t recapture that magic in June. Such is baseball.
Who’s gone from the 2025 squad?
Yes, this is the portion of our preseason series where we things get super depressing as we see just how much production is gone and we hit a sense of impending doom for the season to come. Worry not, subsequent parts in this series will help to lift spirits, so keep that in mind as we run through the list of players who are no longer with the program after being on the 2025 roster.
Jake Bechtel – SO – OF
Trey Bentley – FR – OF
Justin DeCriscio – SR – SS
Jacob Dienes – rJR – LHP
Dominic Fritton – JR – LHP
Jet Gilliam – SO – OF
Matt Heavner – JR – INF
Josh Hogue – JR – OF
Ryan Jaros – SO – 3B
Carson Kelly – SR – RHP
Aden Knowles – FR – RHP
Jaxon Lucas – SO – RHP
Trenton Lyons – SO – OF
Matt Ossenfort – SO – 1B/3B
Eli Pillsbury – JR – LHP
Andrew Shaffner – JR – RHP
Derrick Smith – rSO – RHP
Alex Sosa – SO – C
Shane Van Dam – JR – RHP
Matt Willadsen – rSR – RHP
Camden Wimbish – SO – RHP
Ryder Woodson – FR – INF
(Starters and key contributors in bold)
I was probably a little more generous than needed on those bolded names above, but it’s worth calling out guys like Derrick Smith, Shane Van Dam, and Matt Willadsen who combined for just 19.1 innings in 2025 but played larger roles earlier in their careers. You could also toss a coin as to whether or not to say that Ryan Jaros and Matt Ossenfort were key contributors. It likely should have been a both or neither scenario, but I hedged my bets and went with one to signify that was about the level of contribution.
Let’s hit the barely seen, transferred out group first. That consists of Jake Bechtel (now at UNCW), Trey Bentley (USC Upstate), Jacob Dienes (Memphis), Jet Gilliam (Utah), Aden Knowles (Towson), and Eli Pillsbury (Jacksonville State). Interestingly, Bechtel made Aaron Fitt’s “Picks to Click” over at D1 Baseball:
A physical specimen at 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, Bechtel played sparingly over his first two years at NC State, but he made a loud impression this fall at UNCW following a stellar summer in the Northwoods League. He is one of the most intriguing breakout draft prospects in the region, possessing high-end defensive instincts in center field and elite speed for his size, clocking a 6.4-second 60-yard dash.
In two years with the Pack, Bechtel managed just 22 plate appearances, slashing .100/.182/.400 with a pair of home runs. As Fitt referenced, his physical tools are impressive, and if he can carry over his success from the Northwoods League last summer (.304/.395/.545, 14 2B, 12 HR, 12.8 BB%, 22.2 K%, 28-31 SB) then he could be a player that State fans look at as a “how did we let him go?!” type.
Of the others in that group, Gilliam was the closest to breaking out in a regular role with State in 2025 after a great freshman year at the JUCO level, but he ended up being mostly used as a late-game pinch runner and defensive sub for Josh Hogue. He should be Utah’s starting centerfielder this year. It’ll be worth keeping an eye on Bentley and Knowles as their careers progress.
Trenton Lyons (Kennesaw State) was expected to play a large role for the Pack last year, but injuries derailed almost his entire season, and he’ll be most remembered for manning the first base coach box as the season progressed. He has the tools to thrive with the Owls this year. Yes, NC State will likely have three transfers starting at center field for other programs in 2026 – and that number could hit four if Trey Bentley wins the open CF job at USC Upstate.
Matt Ossenfort (Michigan) came to Raleigh last year after spending his freshman year in a backup role with Vanderbilt. He was expected to compete with Chris McHugh for the starting first base job or at least fill in the DH role. McHugh won the first base job and ran with that, while Ossenfort struggled to hold down the DH job, hitting .240/.406/.340, 2 2B, 1 HR, 18.8 BB%, 17.2 K% over 64 plate appearances. He’s expected to be the starting first baseman for the Wolverines this spring.
Ryan Jaros (Rutgers) arrived in Raleigh after a year at Georgia Tech with the expectation of competing for the starting third base gig. Jaros hit plenty (.304/.437/.493, 4 2B, 3 HR, 17.2 BB%, 24.1 K%, 0-0 SB), but the defense (.818 FLD%) held him back from securing the everyday role, limiting his overall contribution on the season. Jaros has made the move to first base with the Scarlett Knights and that should serve him better there. The bat will play, but with McHugh back for the Pack, there wasn’t going to be playing time in the field for him in Raleigh this year.
Ryder Woodson (Mississippi State) made a couple early season starts against Wright State, then proceeded to play a backup role for the Wolfpack until the Auburn Regional. There, he busted out with five hits, including three home runs, in the first two games. That postseason showing was enough to warrant an offseason transfer to the SEC where he’s expected to be the starting shortstop for former Virginia coach Brian O’Connor’s inaugural Bulldogs squad. Woodson had just 34 PA last year with a line of .333/.412/.733, 3 2B, 3 HR, 5.9 BB%, 23.5 K%, 0-0 SB.
Camden Wimbish (Campbell) is a converted high school catcher with a big arm, but questionable control. He threw just 12.2 innings across two seasons with NC State, with 9.0 of those innings coming in 2025, posting a 1-0 record with a 16.00 ERA over 12 games, 21.6 BB% and 33.3 K%. He played in the Cape Cod League last summer where he fared better (1-1, 6.00 ERA, 12.0 IP, 7.3 BB%, 23.6 K%. The Camels program is a good fit for him and should allow him to get the consistent innings needed to continue development.
Three other players hit the portal for the Pack after last season. Matt Heavner (unknown destination for 2026) started 42 games for State last year, mostly featuring at third base. He hit .225/.307/.308, 1 2B, 3 HR, 8.6 BB%, 9.9 K%, 0-0 SB in 2025 and finishes his three-year Wolfpack career with a line of .237/.331/.339, 5 2B, 6 HR, 8.8 BB%, 13.1 K%, 0-1 SB over 102 games with 75 starts and 283 PA.
Jaxon Lucas (Liberty) tossed 40.0 IP over his two seasons with the Wolfpack, tallying a 2-0 record with a 7.43 ERA, 9.5 BB%, 22.1 K% over 26 games with 1 start. Lucas will compete for a spot in the Flames weekend rotation for 2026. Whether or not he ends up in that role or as their midweek starter or a bullpen arm, he should amass more innings for Liberty than he did for State. Consistent control and avoiding the longball (8 HR allowed with State) will be the key to his finding success.
Following a two-year run in Raleigh where he started 82 of the 87 games he appeared in, Alex Sosa (Miami) chased the money and an opportunity to head back to Florida and play for the team he rooted for growing up. Of the Wolfpack’s 14 transfers from the 2025 team, Sosa’s will likely be the most impactful. For his State career, Sosa his .268/.382/.488, 17 2B, 16 HR, 14.8 BB%, 23.0 K%, 1-1 SB. His best season came last year with a line of .291/.401/.534, 16 2B, 10 HR, 14.6 BB%, 22.1 K%, 0-0 SB. A bat-first backstop who threw out 9.1% (4-of-44) attempted base stealers with 6 PB, improvement in the defensive part of his game is what will boost Sosa’s stock the most ahead of the 2026 MLB Draft.
Justin DeCriscio transferred to NC State for the 2025 season after spending three years at San Diego. The California native his .289/.383/.500, 12 2B, 8 HR, 10.3 BB%, 9.8 K%, 2-3 SB with the Wolfpack while starting 51 games at shortstop. DeCriscio posted a .955 fielding percentage on the year, with both his glove and bat skills translating from the WCC to the ACC. His season resulted in his selection by the San Diego Padres in the 10th round of the 2025 MLB Draft where he debuted in A ball.
The ace of the 2025 Wolfpack, Dominic Fritton also ended up as the team’s highest drafted player, being selected in the 4th round by the Tampa Bay Rays. The lefty finished with a 5-6 record and 4.47 ERA over 17 starts, spanning 86.2 IP, 10.0 BB%, an 27.5 K% while earning 3rd Team All-ACC honors. The 2023 Freshman All-American recorded 107 strikeouts in 2025, the first member of the Pack9 to reach triple digit strikeouts in a season since Carlos Rodon in 2014. Fritton started 43 games among his 51 total appearances across his three seasons with the Wolfpack, posting a combined line of 11-17, 3 SV, 5.26 ERA, 222.1 IP, 10.9 BB%, 25.2 K%.
Josh Hogue played two years for the Wolfpack after transferring from Santa Fe JUCO, and the lefty hitter crushed it in the batters box for State with a career line of .322/.394/.518, 23 2B, 15 HR, 9.5 BB%, 14.8 K%, 6-9 SB, playing in 92 games with 90 starts. Those numbers would have been even more impressive if not for a leg injury that cut his 2024 season short. The Florida native was a 15th round pick of the Miami Marlins in the 2025 MLB Draft after hitting .327/.391/.562, 18 2B, 11 HR, 9.9 BB%, 14.0 K%, 4-6 SB last season for State. He debuted in A ball.
Carson Kelly spent his entire collegiate career in Raleigh, tossing 81.0 IP while compiling at 4-0 record with 2 SV, a 5.22 ERA, 14.6 BB%, and 25.5 K%. Of those career innings, 30.0 came in a fantastic freshman year of 2022. Unfortunately, control issues limited the impact Kelly was able to have over the remainder of his career, but he turned in a solid final season to the tune of 1-0, 4.03 ERA, 22.1 IP, 12.0 BB%, 27.2 K%.
A personal favorite of mine during his time with the Wolfpack, Andrew Shaffner was mini-Ohtani as the Virginia High School Class 1 Player of the Year in 2022 hitting .545 with 11 HR while going 6-0 on the mound with 3 SV and a 0.16 ERA. After yelling for two years that he needed – and deserved – more innings than he was getting on the mound, Shaffner finally received those innings in 2025 and responded with a season that garnered inclusion on the midseason NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List and eventual 15th round selection by the Cincinnati Reds. That 2025 Wolfpack campaign saw him put up a line of 4-1, 7 SV, 3.13 ERA, 37.1 IP, 4.6 BB%, 25.5 K%. For his NC State career, Shaffner posted a combined line of 4-1, 8 SV, 3.75 ERA, 69.2 IP, 7.1 BB%, 23.8 K% over 40 appearances on the mound, including 1 start. He also appeared in 17 games in the outfield for State in 2024, primarily as a late-game defensive substitute, hitting .167/.286/.167 over 7 PA.
Derrick Smith had an interesting career for the Pack, with two barely-there seasons sandwiched around a dominant 2024 campaign where he helped NC State make it to the College World Series and spent the summer with the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. His first year in Raleigh saw him make just three appearances and log only 3.0 innings, but that 2024 season he went 3-2, 8 SV, 4.55 ERA, 29.2 IP, 8.9 BB%, 33.3 K% over 24 appearances. In one of Clint Chrysler’s finest coaching jobs, Smith continued to get innings to work through his early season struggles (14.09 ERA over his first 9 appearances) and turned into one of the best shut-down arms the remainder of the campaign. Over his last 15 appearances of 2024, Smith posted a 1.23 ERA with 7 SV. Unfortunately, injuries cost Smith almost the entirety of his 2025 season (3.0 IP), but his talents still saw him invited to play in the Cape Cod League and he was drafted in the 17th round by the Colorado Rockies.
Shane Van Dam was a two-sport athlete at D3 SUNY-Cortland, playing quarterback for the school’s football team in addition to his work as a pitcher. With his prospects far brighter on the mound, including pitching in the Cape Cod League following his freshman year at Cortland, Van Dam transferred to NC State where he was showing really solid development as the 2024 season progressed until an elbow injury ended his campaign prematurely. The subsequent Tommy John Surgery also cost him almost all of 2025, but he did return to make three appearances in May, displaying the same talent that had scouts tracking him in 2024. Van Dam ended up as a 9th round pick of the Kansas City Royals in 2025, and finished his Wolfpack career with a combined line of 4-0, 1 SV, 4.57 ERA, 45.1 IP, 11.9 BB%, 20.8 K%.
A local kid from Holly Springs who saw limited action as a true freshman in the covid-shortened season of 2020, Matt Willadsen became a workhorse for the Wolfpack from 2021-2023, tossing 252.0 IP across those three seasons despite dealing with nagging injuries throughout, combining for a 15-12 record and 4.25 ERA over 43 starts and 50 appearances, with a 9.6 BB% and 23.0 K%. Like Van Dam, Willadsen ended up having Tommy John Surgery in 2024, but his came before the season ever started, wiping out his entire campaign. While he gutted it out to get back on the mound in 2025, he wasn’t what he formally was. He theoretically could have redshirted last season and come back this year for a 6th year, but already as a graduate student, he was ready to move on to the next phase of his life. Willadsen put together many memorable performances in a State uniform, but the one that stands out the most came in 2021 when he pitched the last 2.0 innings of a win over UNC from a game that had been suspended the previous day, and then came back to start the next game and toss 7.1 innings in earning the win over the Tar Heels.
Welcome to the 2026 Baseball Hall of Fame election where there will be precious little suspense when the election results are announced Tuesday at 6 p.m. on the MLB Network.
Beltrán, after being snubbed his first three years on the ballot for being part of the 2017 Houston Astros’ cheating scandal, looks to be a lock. One of the greatest switch-hitters of all time, Beltrán has received 89.2% of nearly half of the ballots already made public according to Ryan Thibodeaux’s Hall of Fame tracker.
Andruw Jones, the 10-time Gold Glove center fielder who hit 434 homers and was one of the greatest defensive outfielders in history – saving 265.9 more runs than the average defender – could also join Beltrán. Jones, whose spectacular career plummeted at the age of 30, has garnering 83% of the early public votes entering Tuesday.
The two should be joining second baseman Jeff Kent, who was elected by the contemporary era committee in December, on center stage July 26 in Cooperstown, N.Y.
The most fascinating aspect of this election is not who’s getting in, but who’s gaining momentum, thanks to advance analytics, a new round of voters, and a heavy dose of sentimentalism.
No one’s candidacy is more baffling than starter Andy Pettitte. His chances for election looked dead two years ago. Suddenly, he's flourishing. He received just 13.5% of the vote two years ago, but in his eighth year of eligibility this year, he is now receiving 57.4% of the votes, according to Thibodaux’s tracking.
Pettitte was never the best pitcher on his own team, but was one of the steadiest in the game. He was a postseason fixture, helping lead the Yankees to five World Series championships and three pennants. He pitched in an MLB-record 44 postseason games, winning 19 of them, including eight series-clinching games. He won 256 regular season games, but also had a 3.85 ERA, which would be the highest of any pitcher elected on a BBWAA ballot.
Pettitte’s candidacy gained momentum when Yankees starter CC Sabathia was elected a year ago with eerily similar numbers, with the exception of Sabathia striking out 3,093 batters compared to Pettitte’s 2,448 total.
Still, the elephant in the room is that Pettitte was an admitted PED user, and the Baseball Writers' Association of America has made it quite clear how it views steroid users.
Barry Bonds, who hit the most homers in history and was easily the greatest player of his generation with his seven MVPs, never got close to being voted into the Hall of Fame on the BBWAA ballot. Bonds also has since been snubbed twice by his peers and executives on the contemporary era committee. He must wait six years to be included on the next contemporary era ballot, and if he again receives five or fewer votes, he’ll be permanently off the ballot.
Roger Clemens, who won 354 games and was a seven-time Cy Young winner, also is in the same Hall of Fame doghouse for his links to PEDs. He’s also ineligible to be on the ballot again for six years.
So, why in the world would Pettitte, who was outed in the Mitchell report on PEDs in baseball, and confessed to using HGH once his name surfaced, suddenly receive a huge bump of voting support.
No player in baseball history has ever admitted to PED use and been elected to the Hall of Fame.
Not one.
If Pettitte were somehow elected, how hypocritical would it be to keep Clemens, Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, and everyone else out who was linked to PEDs?
And if voters are forgiving Pettitte, who has apologized for using HGH, does that mean that Alex Rodriguez should be too? He has been profusely apologizing at every opportunity for using PEDs, receiving the longest drug suspension in baseball history.
Why are we forgiving Pettitte, because he says he used only HGH to recover for injuries? Or is it because he’s a genuinely good guy, model teammate, was popular with the media, and is the pitching coach for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic?
If Pettitte is elected one day, will we suddenly stop caring who cheated, who was clean, and simply elect whoever had the best numbers, no matter how long they played?
Please, make it make sense.
While Pettite’s candidacy has new life, we’re seeing a rise with other players, too, with second baseman Chase Utley picking up 20 new voters, and trending at 67.9%. Utley’s popularity has grow thanks in part to advanced metrics. His career WAR, according to Baseball Reference, is the 15th highest of all second basemen, and 10 of the top 14 have all been enshrined in Cooperstown. Utley was always respected as a tenacious winning player, and was integral part of the Phillies’ glorious postseason run, but he still ended up with just 1,855 hits.
If Utley gets in, how can his double-play partner, Jimmy Rollins, the former MVP and four-time Gold Glove winner be left out? If you vote for one, shouldn’t both be in? Besides, Rollins is the only shortstop in history with more than 2,400 hits, 200 homers, 400 steals and 800 extra-base hits, according to Jayson Stark of The Athletic.
And if Utley is in, shouldn’t former Boston Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia follow? Pedroia looked to be on the way to Cooperstown – winning an MVP award, four Gold Gloves and two World Series rings – but he suffered a left knee injury that all but officially ended his career after 12 full seasons. He wound up with 1,805 hits, but has picked up 19 new votes since a year ago.
If Pedroia gets in with his shortened career, do we look closer at Mets third baseman David Wright, who picked up 14 new votes? He had a sensational 10-year start of his career, but his career prematurely ended after dealing with spinal stenosis, winding up with just 1,777 hits.
There could be a trickle-down effect for the pitchers, too.
If Felix Hernandez – who is receiving 56.6% of the balloting after picking up 43 voters from a year ago – gets into Cooperstown, will pitchers with nothing-burger Hall of Fame candidacies suddenly look as appealing as prime cuts?
Hernandez was dominant from 2009-2015, winning a Cy Young award with four top-four finishes, but his career cratered when he turned 30. He ended up with 169 victories and never pitched in the postseason in his career. And the only starters voted into the Hall of Fame on the BBWAA ballot with fewer than 170 victories and 2,800 innings are Sandy Koufax and Dizzy Dean.
If Hernandez (169-136, 3.42 ERA) finds his way in, how can you keep out Cole Hamels (163-122, 3.43 ERA, along with eight postseasons)? How about Mark Buehrle (214-160, 3.81, three postseasons)?
How are we going to view Jon Lester and Adam Wainwright in the future? They each had 200 victories, and unlike Hernandez, actually led their teams to World Series championships and pennants.
So, where does it end?
Look, everyone who appears on the Hall of Fame ballot had an outstanding career, but entrance into Cooperstown is supposed to be reserved for the elite of the elite.
It shouldn’t be a popularity contest.
It shouldn’t be sympathy votes because of shortened careers.
We shouldn’t lower our standards.
Come on, if former outfielder Bobby Abreu received only 5.5% of the vote in his first year on the ballot in 2020, there’s no reason to suddenly believe he’s a Hall of Famer because his .395 career on-base percentage is illuminated by analytics. He made only two All-Star teams and never once finished in the top 10 of the MVP voting in any of his 18 years.
It’s perfectly fine to maintain lofty standards and help assure that only the best of the best receive the game’s ultimate honor.
It doesn’t mean that a player must produce 3,000 hits, a slugger has to hit 500 homers, a starter has to win 300 games or a closer obtain 600 saves. The Hall of Fame will have cobwebs waiting for new inductees if we don’t recognize that the traditional benchmarks have changed.
But we don’t have to squeeze in as many players as possible through the Hall of Fame doors while waiting for Albert Pujols, Clayton Kershaw and Miguel Cabrera to arrive.
The Hall of Fame deserves to maintain a membership confined to the greatest who ever played the game.
NY Daily News | Peter Sblendorio: The Hall of Fame class of 2026 will be revealed tonight, and efforts to track the revealed ballots thus far paint a very good picture for some former Yankees. With a little more than half of the ballot publicly revealed, Carlos Beltrán has appeared on a strong 88.9 percent of the ballot, putting him in the pole position to make the 75 percent threshold to become a Hall of Famer. Joining him currently with revealed ballots is Andruw Jones at 83.9 percent, and a number of other candidates like Chase Utley and Félix Hernandez are trending well in the mid-50s and 60s.
Andy Pettitte has seen a spike up from his recent numbers, polling at 56.7 percent as opposed to his 27.9 percent result last year, though his case comes with a major caveat considering he was involved in the steroid scandal of the 2000s having admitted to using HGH, and a lot of the voting base that chooses not to reveal their ballots have a staunch anti-steroid bloc. HGH was not a banned substance at the time though, so perhaps they’ll swing towards Pettitte as he is on his eighth year on the ballot.
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: Reminiscing is en vogue lately, as the trend of looking back on 2016 has taken over social media. The Yankees have a lot to look back on as they reflect on the journey they’ve been on over the last decade, as they saw their current captain make his debut in the wreckage of a season that finally signaled the end of the last World Series core. Now that Aaron Judge has spent a decade in the league the Yankees have gotten back to but lost in the World Series, and are still hunting for that magical moment for the new core, but the 2016 season stands firm as a turning point in the franchise.
MLB.com | Mark Feinsand: Tarik Skubal stands head and shoulders above the rest of the crowd of trade candidates remaining, but there’s still a fine field of players who could move either over the winter or when teams reconsider around the deadline. Jazz Chisholm remains on this list but with a lot of water thrown on those plans, now that Bo Bichette has signed elsewhere, and arms like Sandy Alcantara and Freddy Peralta have the spotlight alongside Nico Hoerner as the most anticipated names to watch.
NY Post | Greg Joyce: The Yankees made a depth signing on Monday, inking Seth Brown to a minor-league deal. The outfielder/first baseman had a standout 2022 with the Athletics, hitting 25 home runs with a .749 OPS, but cratered over the next three years producing only 29 more bombs and dropping to a .667 OPS. He’ll stand as insurance in case nothing else comes of the Cody Bellinger talks, but it’s fair to say that they aren’t planning around him beyond handing out a spring training invitation.
The 2026 Hall of Fame Class will be announced on Tuesday. Several former Braves on on the ballot for consideration, but the one name that likely is being followed the most is Andruw Jones. In his 9th and second to last year of initial eligibility, Jones is projected to have a very good shot at finally being inducted. While many in Braves Country have been known for years Jones deserves the honor, we will know if it happens in reality in less than 24 hours.
Braves News
Less than a day after learning of the injury to Ha-Seong Kim, the Braves signed utility player Jorge Mateo to a one-year deal. He will also be the backup shortstop to Mauricio Dubon.
It’s another week here at BCB After Dark: the hippest spot for night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. We’re open again for business. We’re so glad you decided to stop by. Come in out of the cold. We can check your coat for you. The hostess will seat you now. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Last week I asked you if, after the trade for Edward Cabrera and the signing of Alex Bregman, the Cubs were now the team to beat in the National League Central. Seventy-two percent of you agreed that the Cubs are now the favorites in the Central. Another 27 percent went with the defending champs, the Brewers. The Reds managed to eke out one percent of the vote, which was more than what the Pirates and Cardinals got.
Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. The BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic is well underway, but you’re still free to join in the fun. But you’re also free to skip that. You won’t hurt my feelings.
Tonight we’re featuring the Charles Mingus Sextet in Norway in 1964 playing the Billy Strayhorn tune made famous by Duke Ellington, “Take the ‘A’ Train.”
Mingus is the bassist, of course, and Eric Dolphy plays bass clarinet. Jake Byard is on piano, Clifford Jordan on tenor sax, Johnny Coles on trumpet and Dannie Richmond is the drummer.
You voted in the BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic between Star Wars and Alien and Alien pulled off the upset. A mild upset, to be sure, but an upset nonetheless. I did call it the “Star Wars bracket” afterall. I do wonder if Star Wars’ reputation has suffered because of the uneven quality of all the recent intellectual property spinoffs. I’ve only seen a few of them and I haven’t really considered myself a “Star Wars fan” since I was about 14 years old. But I know that there are millions out there that still revere it. But the same is true of Alien, I guess.
Tonight we have the second semifinal of the “Star Wars” bracket between the number-one seed Blade Runner and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Blade Runner (1982). Directed by Ridley Scott. Starring Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer and Sean Young.
Blade Runner is the one film that gets mentioned a lot as an alternative to 2001: A Space Odyssey when critics are naming the greatest science fiction film of all time. I guess Stalker and Metropolis might get a few mentions as well, but it’s those two that, it seems to me, get mentioned the most often. It’s not hard to see why. Both of them are science fiction films with ambition. They both are trying to transcend the genre and elevate it at the same time.
Here’s the opening scene of Blade Runner. I considered giving you the famous “tears in rain” speech as a clip, but since that’s a spoiler at the end of the film, I thought it best to avoid giving you that one for those of you who still haven’t seen it. But those of you already familiar with it can click on the link above if you want to relive it.
5. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) Directed by Nicholas Meyer. Starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban.
It’s entirely possible that I’ve seen The Wrath of Khan more than any other film. I don’t really keep track so I don’t know, but I’ve seen it a lot. If I just want a film for pure entertainment value, there’s not much better than The Wrath of Khan. There’s a saying that these kinds of films are only as good as their villain, and it doesn’t get much better than Montalban playing Khan here. But the film also takes advantage of our familiarity with the crew of the Enterprise and lets them play into their strengths as well. There’s also a video online where director Meyer explained how he made Shatner do take after take in order to tire him out and get a more subdued and world-weary Kirk. That somewhat explains the good job Shatner did here as well.
The scene where Khan reveals himself on Ceti Alpha Five.
Now it’s time to vote.
You have until Wednesday to vote. Coming up next, Brazil (1985) takes on Terminator II: Judgment Day (1991).
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and the movies.
In the time between the Cubs failing to sign NPB-import Tatsuya Imai and the Cubs trading for Edward Cabrera, there was a lot of talk about the Cubs pivoting to free agent Zac Gallen to bolster their starting rotation. There was also a lot of talk about the Cubs interest in Zac Gallen earlier as Bob Nightengale erroneously reported, as Bob is wont to do, that the Cubs had come to terms with Gallen. Nightengale may have been wrong about the signing, but other writers did confirm that the Cubs were interested in the former Diamondbacks right-hander.
It did seem like the Cubs interest in Gallen was over after the recent moves. For one, trading for Cabrera lessens the need for a starting pitcher on the Cubs. Two, the signing of Alex Bregman puts the Cubs right up against the luxury tax threshold and it is widely assumed that even if the Cubs were willing to go a little above that, they wouldn’t go enough over it sign a major free agent.
But the market for Gallen, 30, has not developed like he and his agent Scott Boras would have liked. There are a few reasons for that. The first is that Gallen, an ace in 2022 and 2023 and not much worse in 2024, had a poor season in 2025. We’ll get into that a bit later. The other reason is that Gallen turned down a qualifying offer from the Diamondbacks and teams are reluctant to give up a draft pick on top paying a lot of money for someone who isn’t elite. If you just base it on his 2025 season, Gallen isn’t an elite pitcher anymore. So it seems that Boras is pivoting to his normal tactic in such situations—have the player sign a short-term deal that would get him back on the market for a big payday while h’e still young.
Thus, Bruce Levine dropped a bit of a bombshell over the weekend when he reported that the Cubs and Boras are still talking about a deal that would bring Gallen to Chicago on a short-term deal. Such a deal would put the Cubs way over the luxury tax threshold that they’ve been reluctant to cross in recent years, but it’s also not something that ownership can’t afford, from everything we know.
So why might the Cubs bust the budget and lose a draft pick for Zac Gallen? The Cubs starting rotation currently looks like this:
Matthew Boyd
Cade Horton
Shōta Imanaga
Jameson Taillon
Edward Cabrera
There’s also Justin Steele, who will return from elbow surgery sometime this year. Let’s pencil him in for June. The Cubs top pitching prospect, Jaxon Wiggins, could also be ready for the majors around mid-season or so.
There’s also Colin Rea and Javier Assad who can join the rotation or pitch out of the bullpen.
So if the Cubs already have 5 starters, two in reserve and two who could join the team midseason, why would they want Gallen so much they’d be willing to break the budget for him?
For one, the Cubs would hope that Gallen would be an improvement over one of the five pitchers currently in the rotation. If you have a chance to improve your team, you should. Yes, Gallen had a poor year last year with an ERA of 4.83. He had a career-low strikeout percentage. But he did improve greatly by the end of the season. In the final two months of the year, Gallen made 11 starts and put up an ERA of 3.32. His strikeout rate also increased back to what it had been from 2021 to 2024, when Gallen was good. If you think that Gallen figured out whatever was wrong from March to July, then Gallen is a near-ace pitcher who can be acquired for the price of a solid middle-of-the-rotation guy and for far fewer years.
But the biggest reason to do so is to just add depth to the rotation. We all know that in the National League Division Series, through an injury to Horton and just general ineffectiveness of Imanaga, the Cubs ran out of starting pitchers. Horton has battled injuries throughout his career. So has Cabrera. Truth be told, Boyd isn’t far removed Tommy John surgery in 2023. While the Cubs hope Steele will be back sooner rather than later, there is no guarantee of that.
On top of that, Boyd, Imanaga, Taillon and Rea are all free agents after this upcoming season. The Cubs are going to have to find more pitchers for 2027 and beyond.
The big reason not to sign Gallen is, if you look at the totality of his 2025 season, that he’s a declining pitcher on who has just passed 30. I don’t think 30 is as old for a pitcher as it is for a position player, but Gallen does have a lot of innings on his arm. If you don’t think Gallen’s last two months truly represent a return to form, then you probably don’t want to sign Gallen for any price, considering the loss of a draft pick attached.
The other reason is that because Gallen rejected a qualifying offer, the Cubs would lose their second-round draft pick for signing him. The good news is that the Cubs are getting a pick after the second-round for losing Tucker. It’s better to have two draft picks than one here, but at least the Cubs would only be moving down a few picks had they just re-signed Tucker and signed no one who’d gotten an offer.
I’m going to propose that the Cubs offer Gallen a two-year deal worth $40 million, with a mutual option for a third year for another $20 million. If the Cubs decline the option, there’s a $4 million buyout. If Gallen declines it, there’s no penalty. In any case, Gallen can go back on the market in two years and if he pitches well, get one last big deal. If he doesn’t pitch well, at least he’s guaranteed $44 million.
So should the Cubs offer this deal?
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When the San Diego Padres drafted Jackson Merrill in the first round of the 2021 MLB draft there was a great story told about the scouting of Merrill by Padres general manager and president of baseball operations A.J. Preller. That story was retold when Merrill signed his contract extension in 2025. Preller, in an attempt not to give away to other scouts his intent, tried to watch Merrill from the bleachers of a football stadium next to where the baseball game was being played. He got caught and then had to try and keep his true intent secret while gracefully talking his way out of the situation.
In the deal Preller made to bring in superstar outfielder Juan Soto, Merrill was intentionally left out. He seemed to be the one “untouchable” in the San Diego system that would not be part of the package.
When Merrill came to Padres Spring Training in February of 2024 he was a shortstop. He had been a shortstop all through his professional and high school career. The Padres had a shortstop, and Xander Bogaerts had been signed to a huge multi-year deal to play that position. At the start of workouts in Peoria, Preller and the Padres staff approached Merrill about learning to play the outfield, initially left field before he eventually settled in center field. He was willing and learned the position on the fly throughout that spring. At the end of Spring Training, Manny Machado and other Padres veterans approached the Padres coaching staff and Preller to lobby on behalf of Merrill to make the opening day roster…. as the centerfielder.
The 2024 season was a massive success for Jackson Merrill, the centerfielder. He played in 156 games with a .292/.326/.500 batting line and a .826 OPS. He hit 24 homers with 90 RBI and finished the season with a 4.4 WAR, a Silver Slugger Award, an All-Star selection and a second place finish to Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes for Rookie the Year.
Preller began trying to sign Merrill to a long-term contract before his breakout rookie season. Although unsuccessful at first, he kept trying. In April of 2025, barely into the new season, the Padres announced a nine-year, $135 million contract extension for Merrill. It included a $10 million signing bonus spread out over four years with $1 million in 2025 and $3 million in 2026, 2027 and 2028 as well as escalators over time and with plate appearances and top five MVP finishes. The Padres have a team option for 2035, and Merrill can play that into a player option. All-in-all, it could be a 10-year deal for $204 million.
Although the 2025 season was frustrating and injury-filled for Merrill, there is little doubt in most corners of MLB that he will bounce back this season. Going into his age 23 season, Merrill can work to carry the momentum he built at the end of 2025 when he was finally healthy. In his final 158 plate appearances, Merrill hit nine homers and 11 doubles and had a max exit velocity of 110.4 mph. Over his last 30 games, he hit .289/.325/.623 with a .948 OPS.
With just a little bit of luck and a normal Spring Training, Merrill could be the face of this franchise by the end of this season. When MLB Network ranked their best centerfielders for 2025, Merrill ranked second by their analytic assessment and was chosen first by program host, Brian Kenney.
While fans watch the massive contracts being awarded in free agency this offseason, Padres fans need to recognize that we have a one-in-a-million player in Merrill. Carrying five tools and a desire to win as well as leadership qualities and loyalty to his teammates and the city, Merrill can evoke memories of Tony Gwynn for fans.
Gwynn turned down bigger money in free agency, despite the urging of his father, and accepted a below-market deal to stay in San Diego and be a Padre (six-year, $4.6 million contract in 1985 and three-year, $12.25 million contract in 1991). It doesn’t take much imagination to figure out that Merrill could have waited until later in his career to sign an extension and gotten significantly more. Or he could have played out his arbitration years and signed a huge free agent contract. He chose to sign early, stating his desire to play in San Diego for the rest of his career and stating how grateful he was for the faith that Preller and the Padres had in him.
Merrill is a unicorn in modern baseball. While playing for one team for an entire career is rare, there is a chance Padres fans could see that with Merrill. He will be 33 if he plays out the entire contract. There could definitely be much more for him to do after that, but let’s hope that he has great success as a Padre for many years to come and finishes here, in San Diego, as he wishes.
