“Into the unknoooooown, into the unknooooooooooooooooown”
Francisco Renteria – 68 Gabriel Rincones – 49 Moises Chace – 24 Matthew Fisher – 13 Griff Burkholder – 5 Keaton Anthony – 5 Cade Obermueller – 4 Carson DeMartini – 4 Jean Cabrera – 1 Mavis Graves – 1
It’s hard to remember the last time the Phillies had signed an international prospect of this much acclaim. The ill fated Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez (RIP) signing was the closest comparison and that wasn’t really anything compared to this.
The fact that Renteria was this highly rated and that the team was able to land him should reverse some of the criticism that should be levied at the international scouting department. They haven’t landed much of consequence lately and questions should have been raised about their continued lack of production in the area they are supposed to be experts. However, if Renteria should pan out, maybe some of that criticism can be waylaid to another time.
Renteria earned comparisons from one evaluator to Konnor Griffin, the Pirates’ 2024 first-round pick who ascended to No. 1 overall prospect status in his first year of pro ball. Others see even more in the tank for Renteria’s right-handed hit tool due to his advanced offensive approach and considerable bat speed. He’s presently a contact monster, which when coupled with his excellent understanding of the strike zone and his plus-plus raw power, leads to him having one of the highest offensive upsides in the 2026 international class.
Players who command significant signing bonuses and attention on the international scene are often physically ahead of their peers, a truism that Renteria fits to a tee. Scouts think the 6-foot-3 outfielder has the actions and all-around athleticism to stick in center field long-term. An above-average runner, Renteria impacts the game on the basepaths and utilizes those wheels and his long strides to run down the ball from gap-to-gap.
With each new post, we’ll reveal who won the voting for that particular slot, then post new players for you to vote on, adding another one to the list each time until we get to our final tally of 20. Once we get to 20 top prospects, we’ll do an honorable mention post at the end. If a player gets traded to another team, we’ll just chuck him right on outta here and all the players will move up a spot. If a prospect gets acquired, we’ll ask where he should go on the list.
Probably the most important thing about this whole process – please vote. Give us a few minutes of your time, just click a button and then we can discuss other players and things in the comment section, but don’t forget – VOTE!
Spring training: when the sunlight is bright and falls upon certain players more than others. A new pitch, a new swing, or a fresh face can all capture the attention of fans and writers alike eager to emerge from the cold tyranny of a baseball-less winter.
At Blue Jays spring training in 2022, Yosver Zulueta was that sensation, the buzziest pitching prospect that spring thanks to his big fastball and mysterious origins, having missed the first part of his career with a devastating back-to-back slate of injuries: first, Tommy John and then immediately after that recovery, an ACL tear. But his big fastball captivated crowds, especially on a Blue Jays staff of underwhelming velocity; MLB.com Blue Jays reporter Keegan Matheson described clusters of fellow pitchers gathering to watch his bullpens, the deepest sign of respect for a fellow pitcher.
But spring training attention burns hot and fast. Zulueta, having missed such a significant chunk of developmental time, went to the low minors as a 24-year-old. Toronto promoted him aggressively up the minor-league ladder in 2022, jumping him from A ball clear up to Triple-A, but his command just never kept pace. He spent 2023 struck at Triple-A, never getting the call up for a Blue Jays bullpen that was one of the stronger units in baseball. A move to Cincinnati didn’t aid his command woes.
The Mariners will be the next team to try to help Zulueta (zoo-loo-etta) rein in the immense potential in his right arm. For all the talk about his big fastball, it’s the slider that has been more of a whiff-getter in the upper levels. It moves like a curveball, which Zulueta also throws, with some very late glove-side break that’s especially tough on righties.
TOR RHP Yosver Zulueta is debuting in High-A tonight. Still bumping upper-90’s easily and he just uncorked this slider. Filth. pic.twitter.com/djAzqpXfv4
With lefties, there’s a little bit of risk that slider can get right into the lefty loop zone. That puts a little more pressure on Zulueta’s sinker, which comes in around 96-97 but not always where he wants it to go.
A 9⃣7⃣ millas por hora la sinker de Yosver Zulueta para recetar ponche a Bryson Stott esta tarde 2/28.
El #cubano 🇨🇺 Zulueta tiró un entrada, con un abanicado y enfrentando al mínimo de bateadores.
If all this is giving you big time Carlos Vargas flashbacks, you’re not wrong. Vargas, also with primarily a sinker-slider arsenal, was a similarly stuff-y prospect the Mariners picked up in the Eugenio Suárez salary dump trade with Arizona, dazzling with high-velocity potential but very little sense of the strike zone. Like Zulueta, Vargas came with an option, and the Mariners banished him to work on his command in Triple-A Tacoma before giving him a longer look this season.
As Ryan pointed out in his 40 in 40 on Vargas this year, though, Vargas’s great stuff on paper has so far not translated to consistent success in the big leagues. But there is a key difference between the two. Vargas’s strikeout rate tanked in Triple-A with Arizona, and didn’t improve after a move to Seattle, even if his walk rate did calm down. Zulueta has reliably struck out 25-30% of hitters over his career. If the Mariners can successfully put him in The Machine and get him in the zone more, the upside to Zulueta is significant. And because of the delayed start to his career, Zulueta, despite being 27, still has a minor-league option.
And all of this hasn’t looked at the thing that brought Zulueta to the Blue Jays’ attention in the first place as an international free agent out of Cuba: his 98 mph four-seamer. The problem with the pitch is despite its plus velocity, it has meh characteristics: an IVB of under 10” and a horizontal break of under 13”, meaning it’s a fairly straight fastball. The sinker has less velo but more of a wrinkle in movement, which is why it’s his primary fastball, but the big four-seamer is certainly a pitch to dream on.
Zulueta will have another chance for a moment in the sun this spring. The Mariners preach being in the zone fervently, with pitch decks that present the statistics of being in advantage counts alongside testimonials from current players. How quickly Zulueta adapts to his new environment will play a key role in how much the sun shines on him this spring.
Santiago Espinal is fresh off a -1.4 bWAR season that saw him hit .243/.292/.282 overall in 328 PA with the Cincinnati Reds. Garrett Hampson, meanwhile, went just 3 for 19 in his short stint with Cincinnati last season as part of a three-franchise year where he hit .143/.250/.169 overall. Then, there’s Michael Chavis, who hasn’t had a single PA in Major League Baseball since 2023, and he hit just .242/.281/.341 with the Washington Nationals back then.
Espinal, who elected free agency after being outrighted at season’s end, was the primary utility infielder for the Reds in 2025. While Elly De La Cruz played just about every single inning at shortstop, Espinal got some time there (as well as at 2B when Matt McLain slid over to play short). So, that’s what’s gone from last season. Hampson played exactly one game at shortstop in his short stint with the Reds despite not having started a game at that position since his 2023 season with Miami, while Chavis – who spent 2025 in Japan with the Chunichi Dragons – has never played an inning of short at the big league level at any point.
That’s where the state of Cincinnati’s middle-infield depth sits right now, both in terms of what’s absent from last year and what’s been added to the fold since – a pair of 31 year olds who, truly, don’t have any business playing shortstop ever, and whose overall value defensively has never been jaw-dropping at the less important infield roles. Add in that none of them have ever really hit, and you begin to wonder what the hell the Reds are doing here.
We know the Reds want to get Elly a bit more rest in 2026, be it time off during day games or through rotating him at DH. The plan, I suppose, is to let McLain play short on those days, though that a) discounts that McLain looked like he needed plenty of days off last year and b) opens a hole at 2B that doesn’t have an obvious replacement (unless Sal Stewart suddenly becomes more capable defensively).
That sure doesn’t seem to vibe with the emphasis on defense the front office has espoused since acquiring glove-only 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes (and his long-term contract) last summer. It seems obvious, then, that there’s a pretty decent need for a glove-y guy who can add value defensively up the middle, and it’s always a boon to the roster construction when that player can also switch-hit.
And, since you know where I’m going with this, there’s Edwin Arroyo right there on the 40-man roster who literally does all of that.
He’s right there! On the roster!
He’s also fresh off a short stint with the Cangrejeros de Santurce in Puerto Rican Winter League play where he went 22 for 62 in 16 games (.355/.429/.468). That’s after he hit .284/.345/.371 on the whole with AA Chattanooga last year after losing 2024 to shoulder surgery, though he hit .296/.356/.402 from June 11th (the day he finally socked his first homer) through the end of the year – doing so with a minuscule 13.0% K-rate.
Arroyo is about as known a quantity defensively as it gets, a guy whose overall talent landed him on Top 100 prospect lists for three consecutive years before his shoulder injury and lost 2024. His glove was tabbed as the best in the 2024 edition of Arizona Fall League play by MLB Pipeline’s Sam Dykstra as he emerged from his otherwise lost year. There’s a reason why, at the time, there was question whether it was Arroyo or Noelvi Marte who was actually the prize in the deal that sent Luis Castillo to the Seattle Mariners years ago.
He lacks any time at AAA, which is likely something working against him in this Reds organization. Plenty of other teams – particularly Atlanta and Arroyo’s old club in Seattle – have made habits of promoting players to the majors directly from AA, though that’s not typically Cincinnati’s style. Still, he’s a year older right now than Elly was when he debuted and four months older than Sal – with over 250 more professional PA than Sal right now – so it’s not as if he’s too young and lacking any experience.
There’s a good argument to be made that sending him to AAA to begin 2026 is the prudent move, a move that continues to get him plenty of PA every single day as he continues to shake any and all rust off the totally lost 2024 season. I get that, and I know it’s what’s almost certain to happen. Still, we aren’t too far removed from the Reds suddenly deciding to get aggressive with Jonathan India for an Opening Day, and while everyday PA seem unlikely right now, it’s pretty clear that there’s a role available right now on the 26-man roster where Edwin profiles almost perfectly even if he never shows the world he’s any better – and, if he does, that’s another weapon the Reds have at their disposal from the first game of the season onwards.
Barring another move to cement the roster with an established utility infielder, it sure looks as if Arroyo will head to camp in Goodyear in two weeks with a chance to really show the club that he’s ready. And if he does, there’s no one more well suited than him who’ll be there to challenge for a spot on the Opening Day roster.
The people have spoken and hyper-athletic outfielder Kahlil Watson is our No. 11 Cleveland Guardians prospect. Watson earned 30.6% of the vote, beating out Daniel Espino (20.4%), George Valera (16.7%) and Jace LaViolette (13.0%). Watson returns to the prospect rankings after missing out last year and being No. 18 in 2024.
Watson originally was drafted by the Miami Marlins 16th overall in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of Wake Forest High School in North Carolina. The season he was drafted, Watson made an immediate impact, slashing a ridiculous .394/.524/.606 over 42 plate appearances spanning nine games, good for a 199 wRC+.
In 2022, he debuted at full-season Single-A as a 19-year-old and he struggled, slashing .231/.296/.395 over 83 games with a 96 wRC+. Watson notably earned a suspension after he was ejected from a game for pointing his bat at the first-base umpire like it was a gun following a check-swing called third strike. He again struggled after being promoted to High-A in 2023 before Miami decided they were done with him, trading Watson to Cleveland in the Josh Bell deal.
In 2024, Watson spent his age-21 season at Double-A Akron, where he was slightly above average, slashing .220/.305/.407 with a career-high 16 home runs as Cleveland gave up on Watson as an infielder and transitioned him to a new position in the outfield. He repeated the 2025 at Akron, and finally started to break out, slashing .247/.337/.461 with a 134 wRC+ and earning a midseason promotion to Triple-A.
Perhaps most impressively, Watson continued to be above average despite his promotion to Triple-A, actually dropping his strikeout rate and increasing his walk-rate while improving his power while slashing .255/.358/.477 and stealing 10 bases in 43 games. He’s now knocking on the door to the MLB and was added to Cleveland’s 40-man roster this past November. He has a great chance of making his MLB debut at some point this season should Chase DeLauter or George Valera falter or get hurt (knock on wood).
Now, it’s time to determine who is number 12 in the Guardians’ loaded farm system and you now have a whopping 10 players to choose from! Your options are below:
Impressed at the complex league, then hit the ground running in a late season promotion to Single-A before running out of steam late in his age-17 season. Loaded with potential.
Daniel Espino, RHP (Age 25) 2025 (AAA): Threw 0.2 innings in one start for Columbus at the end of the season. 2025 (AFL): 4 G, 4.2 IP, 0.00 ERA, 2.14 FIP, 33.3 K%, 14.2 BB%, 1.50 WHIP
Espino has long been an object of wistful dreaming for Guardians’ prospect aficionados with his upper 90’s fastball and slider that might be even better than the heater. The question is whether he can ever be healthy enough to make the big leagues, where his path is probably now as a reliever.
One of Cleveland’s top performers in the Arizona Complex League in 2025. Undersized, but makes solid contact and doesn’t strike out often. Earned a small taste of full-season ball at the end of the year.
Venezuelan prospect who broke out in with increased velocity in 2025, putting up nearly identical numbers at both High-A Lake County and Double-A Akron. Gomez was added to Cleveland’s 40-man roster.
Acquired from Pittsburghin the Spencer Horwitz trade, Hartle was one of Cleveland’s most successful starting pitchers in its minor league system in 2025. Stands 6-foot-6, but doesn’t have a ton of velocity.
Cleveland’s first round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, the 6-foot-6 LaViolette instantly becomes one of the top power hitting prospects in the system. Strikeouts and contact have been an issue, however.
Cleveland’s 3rd round pick in 2024 out of high school, Oakie got off to a rough start in the Complex League, but then absolutely dominated when promoted to Single-A Lynchburg with a pair of 11 strikeout performances.
Absolutely dominated Double-A to begin 2025 looking well on his way to repeating his tremendous 2024 season, but then struggled after an early-season promotion to Triple-A. Remains on the 40-man roster.
One of Cleveland’s most impressive hitters in its minor league system during his stint at High-A Lake County as a 20-year-old. Rosario has a unique combination of speed and power, but will need to overcome his strikeouts.
Former top prospect returned from a torn knee and put up good enough numbers to finally make his MLB debut with Cleveland in 2025. Hit a memorable home run against the Detroit Tigers in the playoffs.
Our list so far: 1. Chase DeLauter, LHH OF 2. Travis Bazzana, LHH 2B 3. Parker Messick, LHP 4. Ralphy Velazquez, LHH 1B/RF 5. Angel Genao, SH SS 6. Braylon Doughty, RHP 7. Cooper Ingle, LHH C 8. Khal Stephen, RHP 9. Juan Brito, SH 2B/1B/RF/3B 10. Jaison Chourio, SH OF 11. Kahlil Watson, RHH OF
Like any number of baseball nerds across the globe, Amazin’ Avenue Managing Editor Chris McShane and I often play Immaculate Grid. We try to top each other’s rarity score and we, as you might expect, only allow ourselves to use Mets and former Mets. The best players to use are the ones who either logged an inning or two at an unusual position (thank you Gary Carter in right field or David Wright at shortstop) or players with cups of coffee for the Mets who you can recall at least one other stop along their journeys.
In that sense, José Azócar is a gift from the Immaculate Grid gods.
Azócar was claimed off of waivers by the Mets in September of 2024 and remained in Syracuse for the remainder of that season. After Spring Training in 2025, Azócar was outrighted to Syracuse again. When Jose Siri broke his tibia in May, Azócar was called up to the majors, appearing in 12 games for the Mets, collecting five hits and one stolen base in 20 plate appearances.
After his brief tenure, he was designated for assignment, elected free agency, and signed with the Braves. After one at-bat with Atlanta, he was DFA’d again, and the Mets snatched him up again, stashing him in Triple-A for the remainder of the season. He elected free agency after the season and signed, again, with Atlanta.
While his Mets tenure didn’t exactly light the world on fire, his tenure on the Mets, Padres, and Braves, while logging innings at all three outfield positions for New York makes him a prime Immaculate Grid answer.
In fact, as I’m writing this, there is a Mets column and a ‘Born outside US 50 States and DC’ row. Using Azócar was a clutch move, as his rarity score is 0.003%. Suck it, McShane.
As we know, Chris Antonetti is the master of non-answers and question dodging – but there was a surprising amount of information that he divulged to a crowd of primarily fans and Rubber Ducks’ employees on Friday, January 23rd. If you are more interested in a brief summary, I released a short overview of the event which you can read here. Lots to talk about so lets dive right in:
Travis Bazzana
Antonetti spoke a little bit about the former #1 overall draft pick — mostly regarding his 2025 season in the minor leagues. The Guardians POBO highlighted that Travis had a perfectly good first full season in the Minor Leagues (137 wRC+ between AA and AAA) but also acknowledged that it was perhaps not the season that Bazzana wanted for himself. The message was clear: the adversity Bazzana faced along the way has set a goal for what the second basemen needs to do in order to reach his lofty potential. Antonetti concluded by confirming that Bazzana will be starting 2026 in AAA, which was already expected.
Bullpen – Primary Area of Concern
As reflected in the Guardians offseason moves, Antonetti called bullpen depth the most crucial part of their offseason agenda. The Guardians so far in the offseason have acquired Pedro Avila (MiLB deal), Codi Heuer (MiLB deal), Shawn Armstrong (MLB Deal), Colin Holderman (MLB Deal), Peyton Pallete (Rule 5), and Connor Brogdon (MLB Deal).
As a general rule, I implicitly trust this team when it comes to bargain bin reliever signings. Shawn Armstrong was certainly not one of these signings coming off a season where he posted a 2.31 ERA in 71 games. The contract signed was for 5.5M with a mutual option for 2027.
The endeavor of acquiring bullpen pieces has seemingly been a success for the Guardians Front Office, though there is definitely questions about the left handed options out there. With only Sabrowski and Herrin on the MLB roster, and no lefty relievers currently slated to be in AAA, the lefty reliever market could definitely be an area that Guardians are still active.
The Hitting Group is Set
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Cleveland Guardians will not be bringing in any Major League bats for the upcoming season. The clear area of concern that we fans wanted the Guardians to address was a RHH option in the OF, and once again all signs point to another season with that as a weakness coming up.
Antonetti did not put any blame on payroll when asked about this topic, instead he attributed it to the lack of interest from free agents when it came to the playing time that they would be afforded here in Cleveland. Lane Thomas was brought up as someone that the team was interested in bringing back, but with DeLauter, Valera, and Kayfus all vying for outfield reps there was simply not an everyday role for Thomas. Lane Thomas opted to sign with the Royals for 5.25M.
Poor Eddie Rosario caught a stray from Antonetti as an example of why signing fringe free agents is not always in their best interest.
Austin Hays and Miguel Andujar still remain unsigned but Antonetti was about as definitive as you will see him, they will not be Guardians come Spring Training. There are a few players still out on the market that might make sense to join Stuart Fairchild as MiLB deals, but my hopes aren’t very high for them either.
Manzardo
Guardians young slugger Kyle Manzardo was a topic broached in the discussion. Antonetti shared that he has gained some muscle this offseason, claiming 13lbs of lean muscle added to his frame. That sounds a little generous… but sure we will take any good news we can take at this point.
ABS Challenge System
Chris Antonetti was seemingly very on board with the new ABS system being integrated to MLB games. He remarked that Guardians Pitchers will not be permitted to use those challenges claiming that Tanner Bibee would run out of challenges in the first inning. Having watched Tanner, you can see how his competitive edge might lend himself to hoping for a few too many calls. Another player mentioned in this discussion was Austin Hedges, who is going to be gaming the ABS system as much as he can behind the plate — as always Hedgey is our pitchers’ greatest ally.
Golden Batter Rule
Rob Manfred has recently started peddling a “Golden Batter” rule, which would allow a team to pick one spot per game where they can put their best hitter up at the plate. Chris Antonetti, who was part of the group that brought baseball the pitch clock and larger bases, is not enthused with that idea. I agree wholeheartedly, as most fans and people in the game do.
Cozart and Ingle – Catcher Defense
The Guardians two prevalent catching prospects were touched on briefly during the discussion. Jacob Cozart, who posted a 108 wRC+ between A+ and AA in 2025, had his defense lauded as near Austin Hedges levels. Fangraphs has Cozart rated as the Guardians #26 prospect — though Longehagen clearly doesn’t think as highly of his defense.
Cooper Ingle had the opposite said of him, the defense needs a lot of work. His bat was praised by Antonetti, coming off a 139 wRC+ season between AA and AAA, but there is certainly some doubt in the glove. This is a sentiment that has been shared by many in the Guardians organization for a little while now. With Ingle’s bat being as attractive as it is, I would not be surprised to see him start to get reps in other positions this upcoming season.
2025 Draft Comments
Antonetti was asked by a fellow attendee about last years draft, asking if first round pick Jace LaViolette was a sign of a new approach to hitting in the organization. Antonetti summarily shut this down by claiming that the organization did the same thing they always do: draft the best player available.
I call BS on this personally, LaViolette, Curley, and Schubart are not players I would have expected the team to draft when you take their draft history into account. Antonetti played it as he always does, with a non-answer keeping his cards close to his chest.
2016 Game 7
I’m not sure if this has ever been shared before and I missed it, but incase you needed another reason to dislike Rob Manfred Antonetti shared a story about that fateful game.
While the rain delay was happening Antonetti, Manfred, and Cubs GM Theo Epstein were gathered into a room where Manfred suggested postponing the game until the next day. I could not imagine how ridiculous of a decision that would be and despite how the game ended up, I am glad it was finished that night.
That’s the gist of what Guardians POBO Chris Antonetti shared at the Akron Rubber Ducks’ Hot Stove Banquet. As usual, he kept his cards close to his chest, but there was some substance to discuss and capture my attention during a dry spell of the offseason. Hopefully there was something interesting for you in this write-up!
The commentary around the Phillies making marginal changes to their club this winter has created a cloud. One that blurs the prospective rookie season of Justin Crawford.
The 22-year-old is set to be the club’s everyday center fielder in 2026. The son of former big leaguer Carl Crawford — a four-time All-Star who compiled more than 1,900 hits and 480 stolen bases across a 15-year career — Justin is one of the more intriguing young players in the organization.
His tools alone should make Philadelphia eager to see him play on a daily basis. His advanced bat-to-ball skills and elite speed add an element to the Phillies’ outfield that has been largely absent since fellow left-handed hitter Ben Revere hit .303 and stole 95 bases from 2013–15.
All offseason, the organization has voiced its confidence in Crawford.
“From everybody I’ve talked to, the makeup is really good, the intangibles are really good,” manager Rob Thomson recently told reporters. “If [Crawford] makes the club, we’re going to let him go. We’re going to let him play. And hopefully he’ll have some success — and we think he will.”
That confidence stems from yet another dominant season at the plate for the Phillies’ 2022 first-round pick. In 2025, Crawford spent the entire year at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he slashed .334/.411/.452 (.863 OPS), collected 34 extra-base hits, and swiped 46 bases.
It marked his third consecutive full professional season with at least a .310 batting average, an .800 OPS, and 40 stolen bases.
On the surface, the numbers jump off the page. But Crawford’s underlying offensive profile helps explain why the Phillies believe his game will translate.
The best way to describe Crawford in the batter’s box is safely aggressive. According to Prospect Savant — which tracks advanced metrics at Single-A and Triple-A ballparks — Crawford posted a 50.5% swing rate in 2025, while carrying an 18% swing-and-miss rate.
Those numbers tell two stories. Crawford is aggressive — his chase rate sat at 33.6% — but he still makes contact with the vast majority of pitches he swings at. If you apply those thresholds to the Major League level, Crawford would have been the first left-handed hitter since 2023 to combine a swing rate of at least 50% with a swing-and-miss rate of 18% or lower.
Since the Statcast era began in 2015, only 11 single seasons by left-handed hitters have met that same criteria.
While Triple-A numbers don’t translate cleanly to the big leagues, Crawford’s batted-ball profile offers insight into the type of hitter he projects to be.
One of the most translatable aspects of his game is his ability to use the entire field. In 2025, Crawford pulled the ball just 31.7% of the time, went up the middle 25%, and hit it to the opposite way 43.3% of the time.
For Major League context, that would have been the highest opposite-field rate of any hitter since DJ LeMahieu’s batting champion 2020 season (43.4%), and the highest by a left-handed hitter since batted-ball tracking began in 2002.
Interestingly, that 43.3% mark represented a professional low for Crawford, further underscoring how consistently he’s used the opposite field throughout his career.
If you couldn’t already tell, Crawford is a pest in the batter’s box — regardless of the matchup. In left-on-left situations this past season, he slashed .376/.411/.518. That level of composure against same-handed pitching is rare for a lefty. Since 1974 in the Majors, only six left-handed hitters have produced a single season batting .375 or higher against lefties with at least 90 plate appearances.
When Crawford puts the ball in play, it tends to find grass at an extreme rate. His .407 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) placed him among rare company. Over the past 20 years, per FanGraphs, only two left-handed hitters at the Triple-A level have posted a BABIP of .400 or higher in a single season.
The last left-handed hitter to do so in the Major Leagues? Rod Carew in 1977 — one of his seven batting-title seasons.
There is, however, a trade-off. Crawford’s game is built heavily on ground-ball contact. Last season, he posted a 59.4% ground-ball rate — a career low, but still extremely high. That figure would have led all Major League hitters in each of the past two seasons and would have been the highest by a left-handed hitter since Raimel Tapia in 2021 (67.4%).
This has long been a known part of Crawford’s profile. His swing path has been a point of focus since he entered professional baseball, and adjustments late in 2025 hinted at growth.
Over his first 383 plate appearances last season, Crawford hit just three home runs. In August, that changed. He struck out more that month (21) than in any other, walked fewer times than any (8), but hit four home runs in 113 plate appearances while slugging .553.
Justin Crawford slugs his THIRD homer in his last four games 😤
The Phillies’ No. 3 prospect tallies his seventh Triple-A jack of the season with the @IronPigs.
Unfortunately, Crawford played just three games in September after colliding with teammate Otto Kemp. The Phillies ultimately shut him down.
Still, the takeaway from Crawford’s most notable offensive concern is clear: there is a concerted effort to lift the ball more. Given how frequently he puts the ball in play, even modest gains in launch angle could unlock gap-to-gap power and elevate his overall impact.
This offseason, those swing-path adjustments have continued. Crawford has appeared taller in his stance — something that surfaced on social media — as he continues refining his approach.
Defensively, the Phillies are banking on Crawford’s speed and instincts in center field. He has logged just under 2,200 professional innings at the position, and while Citizens Bank Park presents a unique challenge, Crawford did gain experience in left field last season. Brandon Marsh’s extensive center-field experience also provides an insurance policy.
So what should Phillies fans expect in 2026?
Despite being the youngest player on the projected roster — the only one born in 2004 — Crawford will break camp as one of the most polished pure hitters the organization has debuted in years.
He’s expected to slot toward the bottom of the lineup, offering stability against both left- and right-handed pitching. If he sticks in center field full-time, it opens additional flexibility — including the potential for a platoon in left field that maximizes Brandon Marsh and Otto Kemp.
Crawford’s contact rate — a professional-high 85.3% in 2025 — also addresses a recurring postseason issue for Philadelphia. Over the past three Octobers, the Phillies’ 7–9 hitters have combined for a .176/.241/.324 slash line (.565 OPS) with a 30.8% strikeout rate, the worst among teams with at least 100 plate appearances in those spots.
Crawford’s ability to pressure defenses with speed — a 75-grade tool out of 80 according to MLB Pipeline — and contact fills a void the club has otherwise relied on Trea Turner to address.
There are still questions about his discipline. For a contact-first hitter, Crawford does strike out at a relatively high rate. But his natural feel for the barrel and his ability to put the ball in play give him a strong foundation.
A rookie line hovering around a .270–.285 average, 30–35 extra-base hits, an OPS near .730, and 25–30 stolen bases is well within reach — and would represent a strong return for the Phillies’ newest everyday outfielder.
Astros stars Carlos Correa and José Altuve will not be participating in the World Baseball Classic after both players failed to receive injury insurance on their big league contracts.
With just a couple of weeks to go until spring training, there are plenty of big names still on the board. The MLB.com staff broke down the top remaining free agents.
Davy Andrews at Fangraphs offered his thoughts on José Ramírez’s latest deal with the Guardians, projecting out the rest of his career and where he may line up for Hall of Fame consideration when all is said and done.
Herrera turned 22 a few months ago, but he has been a professional for over six years, having been signed in August 2019 out of Venezuela by the Brewers for only a $10k bonus. Due to the pandemic, Herrera didn’t throw a pitch in affiliated ball until 2021 and he didn’t come stateside until the next year. Indeed, the 6’3” right-hander was Rule 5 eligible after the 2023 season but not selected. I don’t blame teams, as Herrera truly didn’t pop up on the prospect radar until 2024. He seemed like a strong candidate to be added to the Rockies’ 40-man roster after the 2024 season, but unfortunately he underwent Tommy John surgery in October 2024 and missed the 2025 season.
Herrera began his breakout 2024 back in Low-A Carolina for the third-straight year (though he was still 1.6 years younger than league average), where he quickly showed that he was ready for a new challenge with 17 innings of 2.12 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and 14.3 K/9 rate ball over four games. A promotion to High-A Wisconsin followed, where he was 3.1 years younger than league average. In 12 games there, Herrera threw 51 innings with a 3.18 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 8.8 K/9 rate, and 3.0 BB/9 rate.
That was enough for the Rockies to acquire Herrera as part of the Nick Mears trade (along with Bradley Blalock) in July. After the trade, Herrera made six starts with Spokane, throwing 32 2⁄3 innings with a 3.31 ERA (3.41 xFIP), 1.13 WHIP, 9.1 K/9 rate, and 3.0 BB/9 rate. Those were strong results that pointed toward an upper minors placement before his arm injury scuttled those plans.
Here is Herrera being dominant in April 2024 in the Brewers system:
Yujanyer Herrera was flat out dominant Friday for the Mudcats 😤
4IP / 1H / 0R / 0BB / 9Ks
Only three minor league SPs have pitched to that stat line in a game this season, and Herrera led them all with a 50% CSW#ThisIsMyCrewpic.twitter.com/lNaf2HZBGS
— Brewers Player Development (@BrewersPD) April 15, 2024
The 6-foot-3 right-hander has three pitches in his arsenal that he was just starting to really learn how to use effectively when he went down. He typically throws his fastball in the 92-94 mph range and uses his hard above-average slider with bite as his go-to pitch. He misses plenty of bats with the pitch, showing the ability to backfoot lefties with it. He has a changeup, but it’s behind the other two offerings.
Because of that slider, Herrera’s strikeout rate took a nice step forward in 2024 and he uses the two-seam variation of his heater to get a lot of ground-ball outs. He threw a lot more strikes as well last year, but the Rockies will have to wait until 2026 to see if that sticks and if he can refine a third pitch so that he can stick in a rotation.
Herrera is listed at 175 pounds but is more like 250. He’s a below-average athlete who has struggled to throw strikes at various points during his career, and he still looks like he has below-average command despite his reasonable walk total from 2024. Herrera’s best pitch is his slider, a tight mid-80s hellraiser with late bite and good length for how hard it is. Still, too many of his sliders back up on him right now. He has a well-demarcated four-seam/two-seam fastball mix, but no cogent third pitch yet. Herrera’s velo keeled off at the very end of the year and he was put on the IL with elbow inflammation in September (he also had a hamstring issue last season); the Rockies left him off the 40-man roster. There’s a little too much development needed here to comfortably project Herrera as a starter, but he should be a fine sinker/slider middle reliever in time.
Herrera represents the kind of pitching prospect the system needs more of and I’m excited to see how he reacts to the challenge of Double-A once he is fully recovered from the Tommy John surgery — at least, that’s where I assume he will be. If his stuff is still there and he does well against upper minors batters, Herrera could be a rotation option for the Rockies soon and will be a no-brainer 40 man roster add this off-season. Due to the uncertainty, I couldn’t rank Herrera higher than a 35+ FV player, 25th on my list, though I love his potential to stick in the rotation and the quality of his slider.
If I were to name every championship team from Yankee history and ask you to name some players from that year, any fan worth their salt could probably get at least a couple. The lore of the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, and plenty others is large enough that their names echo through even to Yankees’ fans born decades after any of them played.
However, just a couple stars does not a team make. Every Yankee team, successful or no, had players whose names you might only know in passing. Lyn Lary might be one of those names, who was a very solid player who helped the Yankees to the 1932 World Series title.
Lynford Hobart “Lyn” Lary Born: January 28, 1906 (Armona, CA) Died: January 9, 1973 (Downey, CA) Yankee Tenure: 1929-34
Over a century before a 6-foot-7 fella from Linden would first make his mark on the Fresno State baseball team, Lary was born and raised in the Fresno area of California. His family later settled in Long Beach, where he was a multi-sport athlete in high school and planned to attend the University of Southern California. However at the last second, he instead opted to sign with a local semi-pro baseball team.
In 1925, he began his career in organized baseball when he was picked up by the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League at just 19 years old. Lary had a breakout season two years later, playing shortstop and helping the Oaks win the PCL pennant, as he finished second in league MVP voting. He had caught the eyes of several major league teams, and the Yankees decided to pick up him, as well as middle infield partner Jimmie Reese.
Over in the majors, the Yankees were come off a historically good 1927 season, so they elected to let the pair play another year with the Oaks in 1928. After another good year in the PCL in 1928, the Yankees brought Lary over for 1929. He mostly spent his first MLB season playing second fiddle to future MLB manager Leo Durocher, but Lary showed his potential, with his season grading out at a 113 OPS+ and 2.2 rWAR in only 80 games.
That led to the Yankees trading Durocher to the Reds ahead of 1930 (aided by the Babe’s annoyance with “Leo the Lip”) and letting Lary take the full-time reins at shortstop. Lary’s early career at the position wasn’t the smoothest defensively, but he showed plenty of potential at the plate. That eventually shone through with a career best year in 1931.
Appearing in every game for the Yankees in 1931, Lary hit .280/.376/.416, with 10 home runs (the only season in his career where he cracked double figures) and 107 RBI. He put up 4.9 WAR according to Baseball Reference and 4.7 according to FanGraphs.
The one thing the Yankees hadn’t managed to do in Lary’s career to that point was win the World Series, but he would help them there the following year. The 1932 Yankees are arguably the most underrated team in franchise history, as they went 107-47 and then swept the Cubs in the World Series. Hampered a bit by injuries, Lary only appeared in 91 games and put up a 86 OPS+, although he did win a ring as a member of the team, seeing time at all four infield positions and left field as well.
However, 1932 also ended up being the beginning of the end of his Yankees’ career. Yes, injuries partially limited Lary to 91 games, but so did the emergence of another young shortstop from California. Frankie Crosetti joined the Yankees in 1932, and seized the most of his opportunity, taking the full-time shortstop job from Lary, who — while solid — had never quite lived up to the potential he had shown in his PCL days.
The Yankees held on to Lary in 1933, hoping he could return to 1931 form, but his hitting stats never quite got back. After appearing in just one game at the start of the 1934 season, the Yankees decided to deal Lary to the Red Sox.
Over the rest of his career, Lary played for a variety of team and had some ups, but also some downs. He played through 1940, and performed well enough to get MVP votes in two different seasons (pacing the AL in stolen bases in 1936 with 37 for the St. Louis Browns), but never ended up living up to his full potential. A large part of what doomed him was mental mistakes. As mentioned, his fielding could be a bit sloppy, but miscues didn’t stop there. In one 1931 game, he apparently ran into the dugout instead of touching home on a game-tying, ninth inning home run from Lou Gehrig, leading to Gehrig passing him on the basepaths and instead only being credited with a triple with Lary being ruled out. Neither run scored and the Yankees lost. Lary claimed that the ball had bounced back into play after going over the fence, and he believed the ball had been caught, but that’s still a bad mistake.
Lary was a bit of a character off the field too. Babe Ruth had given him the nickname “Broadway,” and he tried to act accordingly, dressing snappy and driving flashy cars. Amusingly, he married actress Mary Lawlor, who had been in the play “No No Nanette” of Babe Ruth trade and “Curse of the Bambino” fame.
After his playing career, Lary returned to his native California, and passed away from heart failure in 1973.
You might only know the name Lyn Lary from looking at old Yankees’ stats, but as usual, the story goes far deeper than that.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
Morning everyone, and hope you are all doing well. For those of you dealing with the snow, I recommend a trip to California right now, where it’s still cold but at least sunny.
We got word late yesterday afternoon that MLB had set the mid-season Trade Deadline later than usual this coming season, setting it for August 3rd at 3 P.M. Pacific Coast Time:
MLB has informed teams that the trade deadline will be on Aug. 3 at 6pm ET.
That’s a whole three days later that the usual deadline date of July 31st, giving teams a few extra games to make decisions on their roster. It’s going to be a little weird when that date rolls around and there are still a few days left for trading. A reason hasn’t been officially given as to why the extension so the best we can do it speculate right now.
Maybe some GM’s made it known that they’d like the weekend to finish up and business. July 31st this year is on a Friday and the 3rd on a Monday, and apparently MLB prefers deadline day on a weekday. For what it’s worth the A’s are one of the teams that has that Monday off so the front office will be able to wheel and deal without disrupting the team too much. Deadline day always used to be on July 31st but this will be the longest extension that the league has chosen. So when August rolls around and you still hear trade rumors don’t forget that it’s been moved this year!
There’s just 15 days left until pitchers and catchers report. We have a new CPL going up this morning so get ready to vote in the next round for the next prospect! Have a good day everyone.
After I posted this article Tuesday citing a Joon Lee report on the Dodgers supposedly not paying their fair share of TV revenue sharing, my attention was called to this Los Angeles Times article by Bill Shaikin, in which Lee’s claims are, well, basically refuted:
It also revived a strange chapter in team history, with frenzied online commentary that the signing of Tucker was made possible in large part because Major League Baseball long ago rewarded the Dodgers’ owners with preferential financial treatment that continues to this day.
Is that true?
Yes and no.
This situation stems from the Dodgers’ bankruptcy under former owner Frank McCourt and the settlement and TV deal that followed:
In a settlement with McCourt — and to avoid the risk of the judge imposing a deal less favorable to the league — MLB agreed the fair-market value of a Dodgers TV deal would be based on the very Fox deal that Selig had rejected.
Why did that matter?
That value was $84 million for the first year and would increase thereafter, with the league taking its standard 34% cut and sharing that among all its teams.
But indeed, that value was not set at $84 million when all was said and done. Instead:
After negotiations, MLB and Guggenheim made a modest adjustment, setting the “fair-market value” of the Time Warner deal at about $130 million for the first year rather than $84 million. That figure is used to determine the league’s cut, which for all local TV deals has since increased from 34% to 48%.
Thus, what the Dodgers pay to MLB from this TV revenue is also increasing as the years go by, based on the increas in that “fair-market value” amount. The Dodgers’ very lucrative TV deal does go through 2039, and they are making a tremendous amount of money every year from it. That has more to do with the Dodgers’ negotiating skill and some luck, as L.A.‘s 25-year RSN deal was signed just before the RSN bubble started to burst. I’m sure you, the Cubs fan, are familiar with that because the Cubs created Marquee Sports Network just as the RSN bubble was bursting, and the Cubs aren’t getting the “wheelbarrows of cash” that President of Business Operations Crane Kenney promised. This isn’t Kenney’s fault; it’s just the way the TV marketplace has gone over the last several years.
It’s my understanding that the $130 million baseline number quoted above has increased by a small amount each year, and thus so has the revenue sharing amount the Dodgers have paid. It’s important to remember that revenue sharing of this type — from TV — is shared equally among all the MLB teams, so the Yankees (for example) get the same amount as (for example) the Brewers, unlike luxury tax payments, which are supposed to be used by lower-revenue teams for player payroll. The Dodgers paid $169 million into that pot for their 2025 payroll, which was more than the entire payrolls of 12 MLB teams for last year. Further, it doesn’t seem as if the teams receiving this money are using it for player payroll. That’s another issue entirely, one that hopefully will be dealt with in the next CBA.
MLB never gave the Dodgers a sweetheart deal. If Frank McCourt hadn’t driven the Dodgers into a court-controlled sale, this messy loophole that the Dodgers benefit from never happens. So, how much of the local media rights do the Dodgers ultimately shelter from revenue sharing over the life of the 25-year deal? It’s somewhere around $6 billion. That advantage is likely to stay with the Dodgers, even if somehow the owners were able to strongarm the players into a cap system when the latest labor deal expires on December 1st of this year.
Bottom line: It appears Joon Lee was incorrect in his report cited in Awful Announcing and that I wrote an entire article yesterday based on that. It’s not the first time I’ve been wrong and it likely won’t be the last. Hopefully, this article sets the record straight.
One of the major goals for the Kansas City Royals this offseason was to acquire an impact bat, particularly one that could play corner outfield. It seemed logical that the Royals should be able to sell from their starting pitching depth, and possibly tap into their minor league catching depth as well, to find a team that had excess outfielders but needed starting pitching.
The Boston Red Sox were an obvious fit, and there have been a lot of rumors surrounding the Red Sox and the Royals making a trade. Those rumors centered on the Royals acquiring outfielder Jarren Duran, but what the Royals would send back in return didn’t seem to align with what the Red Sox would want. Boston GM Craig Breslow was allegedly looking for Cole Ragans in return, while the Royals were offering Kris Bubic (presumably plus some minor leaguers). The rumors have been quiet for a while, and with the Red Sox’s recent signing of Ranger Suárez to a five-year, $130 million deal, it seems extremely unlikely that Boston will be looking for any more pitching. In fact, they are rumored to be interested in selling pitching themselves. Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic also reporte that the Royals no longer expect to add either Duran or Brendan Donovan.
The Royals haven’t been idle themselves, signing Lane Thomas and trading for Isaac Collins in an effort to improve their roster. While I wouldn’t describe either as an “impact bat,” they both should be floor-raisers and help improve the literally worst outfield in baseball next season. The Royals also did not need to trade from their starting pitching depth to acquire Thomas or Collins. Thomas signed as a free agent, and Collins was traded by the Milwaukee Brewers to the Royals for Angel Zerpa.
J.J. Piccolo is now in an interesting position with the roster. He’s improved the team from the outside without spending the “currency of baseball” that it was anticipated he would need to spend to improve the roster. Simply raising the floor on an outfield that was worth -1.1 fWAR should help the team dramatically. While we can’t predict the future, it’s reasonable to project that the Royals will be better in the outfield this year. It’s also reasonable to hope that one of Carter Jensen or Jac Caglianone steps up and becomes the impact bat the Royals were looking for this offseason, but have not acquired. The team still has a lot of eggs in the “young guys step up and succeed” basket, but that may be the best option if they can’t find a pitcher-for–major league outfielder trade that makes sense.
How the offseason has played out still leaves the Royals with enviable depth at starting pitching. There are still teams looking for starting pitching and presumably will be into spring training. Inevitably, some pitchers will get hurt during spring training or at the World Baseball Classic, which could make some teams even more desperate for pitching. While it doesn’t seem like there is a perfect pitcher-for–position player swap sitting out there, some team would presumably be willing to trade for a pitcher if the price is prospects, particularly prospects that aren’t expected to help the major league team. The Royals’ farm system, as noted by Matthew LaMar, is still lacking depth. That leads to the question: If you were in charge of the Royals, would you try shopping a pitcher for prospects?
Mackenzie Gore and Freddy Peralta both commanded strong prospect packages for the Washington Nationals and the Milwaukee Brewers, showing that high-quality starting pitching – albeit with multiple years of control – is still commanding a premium on the trade market. I don’t think the Royals would ever make him available like this, but even with his injury history, I assume Cole Ragans could fetch a similar prospect package, if not better. Kris Bubic, with his injury history and just one year of control left, wouldn’t do as well, but the prospect(s) you could theoretically acquire for him might be a better quality of player than what teams were offering. Maybe there is a team that covets the years of control attached to Noah Cameron or Ryan Bergert, allowing the Royals to acquire multiple players who could help down the road.
Making a trade like this would be a very Rays- or Brewers-like move. You would be moving something from the major league roster that you expect to help this year in order to feed the prospect promotion machine and help the organization in the future. You would have to be very confident that the rest of the major league roster could pick up the slack this season—or not be overly concerned with winning this specific year—while trying to raise the floor of the organization one small move at a time.
Right now, having a projected #5 starter in Noah Cameron, with both Ryan Bergert and Stephen Kolek not expected to make the Opening Day rotation, feels like an overabundance of quality starting pitching. The Royals’ farm system is improving slowly, but “slowly” is the key word. It makes some rational sense to take from an area where the depth might not help you much this year and turn that into players who could help in the future, either on the roster or in future trades. Of course, pitcher injuries are very real, and what feels like an overabundance of pitching right now could quickly feel like not enough if Royals starters start going down at the rate they did last year. It would be a risk—one that could hurt the 2026 Royals’ chances—but it’s also the kind of transactional move I’m fairly confident other GMs would make.
I think it’s fairly unlikely that the Royals would move one of their starters strictly for prospects. I don’t think they have had enough major league success to make a move that could backfire and hurt the team this year, even if we can envision a scenario where they trade a pitcher, add prospect help, and still make the playoffs. Unless a team overwhelmed me with prospects, I wouldn’t want to make a trade like this if I were Piccolo.
The fact that I’m fairly certain the Brewers would make a move like this, however, makes me want to at least consider the idea rather than dismiss it out of hand. They have remained successful at the major league level while reloading their farm system for future years, and I would like the Royals to reach that level at some point. What do you all think? Should the Royals carry their starting pitching depth into the season, or should they trade a starter for future help?
Good morning! MLB Network is conducting its annual exercise in ranking the best players at each position. Yesterday, they tackled left field, and the top of the list is quite interesting:
Yes, the man that many Red Sox fans have been shipping out the door in imaginary trade scenarios all offseason is, according to MLB Network, the best left fielder in the game. Of course, the reason why so many fans are keen to ship him out is because of the guy that MLB has at number two on the list — not to mention a couple other guys who will end up on the center and right field lists to be published in a few days.
Is Duran really that good and does it still make sense to move him if so?
Talk about what you want, keep imagining trades that aren’t happening, and be good to one another.
The Mets are Having a Swell Offseason While there were a lot of eyebrows raised early in the winter, the Mets are shaping into a serious threat and are starting to resemble a big-money version of the Milwaukee Brewers.
2026 top MLB Prospect Rankings: Superlatives for 101-200 If even remotely accurate, this list does not bode well for the Diamondbacks, though Tommy Troy could change much of that, especially with a bit of help from Kohl Drake and Kayson Cunningham. It shouldn’t take long at all to see if pundits are sleeping on David Hagaman or have him pegged right.
Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa to Miss WBC Due to Insurance Issues Houston’s Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa were expecting to represent Venezuela and Puerto Rico respectively in the WBC. Neither player was able to land insurance for their 2026 contracts though, so both are being prohibited from participating in the event. Stuff like this is what keeps the WBC from growing in stature faster. Hopefully, this won’t become a widespread problem for the rest of the stars.
Is MLB Parity Possible Without a Salary Cap? Probably, though it seems highly unlikely as there would need to be too many things restructured. It is certainly the easiest and most straight-forward approach to finding parity of opportunity.
