Category: MLB

The other day, MLB Pipeline dropped their new top 100 rankings and it featured four Nationals in the top 80. Out of all the public rankings I have seen, Pipeline is the highest on the Nats prospects. They have Eli Willits at 13th, Travis Sykora at 54th, Harry Ford at 71st and Jarlin Susana at 80th.

This is very exciting for Nats fans, who are very attached to prospects these days after all the losing that has come this decade. If these guys pan out, they can lead the next generation of winning Nats baseball. After all of the losing, Nats fans deserve it.

Let’s dive into the rankings and what they have to say about each player. Former first overall pick Eli Willits is the top ranked Nats prospect. Pipeline is higher on him than most other outlets, ranking him at 13th. Willits is the highest ranked player drafted in 2025, despite being 5th on their draft rankings. A strong pro debut combined with questions about Ethan Holliday’s hit tool allowed him to move past the more famous prospect.

Willits has three 60 grade tools according to Pipeline. His hitting, running and fielding all have 60 grades, meaning they are plus tools. Players with a 60 hit tool and 60 defense at shortstop do not come around very often, and that is why Willits was taken first overall. He showed both of those skills in his pro debut, where he hit .300 and flashed the leather at shortstop.

The biggest question mark about Willits is his power. Pipeline gave his power tool a 45 grade, which is slightly below average. Due to how great the rest of his game is, that is okay. Willits has the chance to be a 15 home run guy, which is more than good enough considering the rest of his profile. I have always liked the comparison of Geraldo Perdomo when discussing Willits.

One of Pipeline’s more interesting rankings is Travis Sykora. While Baseball America and Keith Law dropped him out of their top 100 list after his Tommy John Surgery, Pipeline still has him at 54th. Personally, I would probably have him somewhere in between, on the back end of a top 100.

Sykora was one of the most dominant minor league arms in the sport before going down with injury. In his pro career, Sykora has a 2.14 ERA and 208 strikeouts in 130.1 innings. He overwhelmed lower minors hitters with his three potentially plus pitches and strong feel for pitching.

Sykora will need to throw his fastball in the zone more often when he comes back, but outside of that, he does not have many weaknesses on the mound. He fires a mid to upper 90’s heater from his unusual delivery. Sykora also has a slider and a splitter that can be plus pitches. The splitter was particularly effective in 2025 according to Pipeline. 

Unfortunately, Sykora will miss most, if not all of this season due to the surgery. If he looks as good as new when he comes back, Travis Sykora has the chance to really surge up the rankings. He has top of the rotation upside, and I cannot wait to see him pitch again.

The next player on the list is the only Nats top 100 prospect who was acquired this offseason. That would be Harry Ford, who the Nats got in the Jose A. Ferrer trade. Ford is the closest to the big leagues of all these guys, having already made his debut.

Seattle developed Ford for a number of years, but had no room for the catcher due to Cal Raleigh. That made him expendable, and the catcher needy Nats took advantage. Ford, who ranks 71st on Pipeline’s list, has average hitting ability and power, but that is amplified due to his elite plate discipline.

Ford has a real chance to be a strong offensive catcher. He has 18-20 homer power and can be a .260ish hitter. That .260 average will come with a .350+ on base percentage. In his minor league career, Ford has a .405 career OBP in 1,693 at bats, despite only having a .266 average. That ability to get on base gives him a strong offensive floor. Ford is also a great runner for his position and has a chance to steal up to 15 bags a season.

The defensive side of the game is more of a question mark. Pipeline gives his glove a 45 grade, meaning he is a slightly below average defender behind the plate. With how important defense is behind the plate, this is not ideal, but he is certainly playable as a catcher. 

Pipeline notes that he is a solid thrower, but his framing is not very good, even if it has gotten better over the years. With the challenge system coming in, that weakness could be mitigated. Ford’s leadership has been praised, which is something you like to see from a catcher. He will never be confused for Yadier Molina, but Ford should be able to stick behind the plate. 

The last National on the top 100 list is Jarlin Susana, who ranks as the 80th best prospect. Like Sykora, Susana had season ending surgery, but his recovery from lat surgery should not take as long.

Susana has some of the most electric stuff in the minor leagues. His fastball sits at 100 MPH and can get up to the 103-104 range. He also has the rare ability to hold his triple digit velocity deep into games. However, some scouts think his slider is even better than his fastball. Pipeline gives both pitches a 70 grade, which is plus-plus stuff.

After struggling with injuries and inconsistency early in the season, Susana had a crazy run in the second half before his lat injury. Unfortunately, durability has been a problem for Susana in his career. He has had a few injury scares, which comes with the territory for pitchers with his velocity.

There are also some control issues, with Pipeline giving it a below average 40 grade. However, his stuff is so insane that he still has the chance to be a front of the rotation arm. If the injuries and control move him to a relief role, he could be one of the most dominant closers in baseball. 

As long as Susana stays healthy and is anywhere near the strike zone, he will be an impactful pitcher, either as a starter or a high leverage relief arm. Hopefully we can see him on the mound early in the 2026 season. His stuff is just so ridiculous.

It is nice to see Pipeline being higher on some of the Nats prospects. Having four guys in the top 80 is a good sign. There are also other players that could rise on to the list with good seasons. Paul Toboni traded for intriguing prospects like Gavin Fien, Luis Perales and Devin Fitz-Gerald this offseason. I see all of them as having top 100 upside.

This will be something to monitor as we head into the season. Right now the Nats have four top 100 guys. While Ford should graduate, there should be plenty of other Nats prospects waiting in the wings to take his spot on the top 100 list. MLB Pipeline is a great resource for fans, and I really appreciate their lists, especially when the Nats are well represented.

It has not been a fun time to be a prospect in the San Diego Padres farm system. For most of the position players, places to play are getting harder to find with multiple MLB players signed to play those positions at the major league level for years to come. Position player prospects may not even bother unpacking because Padres president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller uses them to add other players to the MLB roster. For the prospects who do not get traded, Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball found they are left to make up one of the worst farm systems in baseball according to various prospect rankings. The best prospect among them at least on some lists, is catcher Ethan Salas who has seen his stock drop since missing all but 10 games of the 2025 season. The 2026 season is fast approaching with Spring Training just around the corner. Perhaps it will over an opportunity for some young players who might be overlooked or underrated to show their potential.

Padres News:

• The Padres announced their promotional schedule for the 2026 season, which features scarves, bobbleheads, ponchos and more to entice fans to come out to Petco Park to watch their hometown team.
• Jaff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribunecontinued his Padres roster review looking at reliever Jeremiah Estrada. The Chicago Cubs castoff has found his home in the San Diego bullpen and he has become and integral part of the best ‘pen in the game.

Baseball News:

• Free agent outfielder Harrison Bader and the San Francisco Giants reportedly agreed to a two-year contract that will bring him to the NL West.
• Framber Valdez remains the best remaining free agent pitcher and many believe he will end up with the Baltimore Orioles. Eugenio Suarez and Luis Arraez are two of the top position players left, but Suarez has not seen a ton of interest and Arraez has had essentially no interest at all. Time is running out for free agents to sign with teams if they don’t want to delay the starts to their seasons as Spring Training is just a few weeks away.
• Joe Ryan has been discussed as a possible trade candidate for several teams this offseason. He and the Minnesota Twins agreed to a contract to avoid arbitration, which could keep him in Minnesota for 2026.
• Japan named eight players to its World Baseball Classic roster and the top among those names were Shohei Ohtani and his Los Angeles Dodgers teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
• Nolan Arenado, who was recently traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks from the St. Louis Cardinals, will play for Puerto Rico in the WBC.

Diamondbacks News

D-backs’ newest 3B Nolan Arenado joins Team Puerto Rico for WBC by Wendy Lopez [Burn City Sports]

The move marks a major shift from the 2023 tournament, when Arenado played for Team USA, as he now looks to represent his heritage after previously competing for his home country. The Diamondbacks’ third baseman has Puerto Rican heritage through his mom’s side and now has the opportunity to represent his roots on baseball’s biggest international stage.

Diamondbacks Heavy Lifting Done for the Offseason by Michael McDermott [D-backs Under Review]

With a little bit of hindsight, it was pretty obvious from the onset that the Diamondbacks were handicapped financially entering the offseason. Injuries to Corbin Burnes, Justin Martinez, A.J. Puk, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. limited what they could do. The quartet combined for $53.6 million of Arizona’s 209.2 million payroll for 2026 (Cots), or 25.6%.

With injuries completely decimating the pitching staff, which will linger into 2026, D-backs GM Mike Hazen had some tough decisions to make. He chose to address the rotation and third base this offseason, at the expense of the bullpen.

MLB Admits What D-backs Fans Already Know About Ketel Marte by Alex D’Agostino [SI]

There’s no denying Marte, from a statistical standpoint, holds the advantage over the rest of MLB. He led all qualified second basemen in OPS (.893) in 2025 — a full 80 points above Jazz Chisholm in second place. 

Despite missing a decent chunk of time with an injury, and finding himself in the middle of some mid-season drama, he also managed the third-most homers (28) and fourth-most doubles (also 28), while slashing an immense .283/.376/.517 and posting a 145 wRC+ (45% above league average) per FanGraphs.

Around the League

Astros Forbid Jose Altuve From World Baseball Classic by Justin Carlucci [Heavy]

The Houston Astros have made their position clear. Jose Altuve will not represent Venezuela in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, and the decision came from the organization, not the player. According to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, the Astros requested that their 36-year-old second baseman skip the tournament to focus on spring training preparation.​​

The club hasn’t officially confirmed the news, but Altuve’s comments from Saturday’s FanFest made the situation obvious. “I signed the paper that I’m willing to go play like I did the last two WBCs,” Altuve told reporters. “Always an honor to represent my country. I played in the last one and the one before, and I’m trying to do it in this one. I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, but it seems this year is not up to me. Hopefully everything clears up, and I’ll be able to go.”​

Zac Gallen’s keys to a bounce back in 2026 by David Adler [MLB]

Zac Gallen is a workhorse starting pitcher with two top-five Cy Young finishes in the past four years who’s still just 30 years old. Sounds like a top-tier free agent.

But instead, he’s a polarizing one because of his rocky 2025 season. Gallen still pitched 192 innings and recorded 175 strikeouts for the D-backs, but his ERA spiked to 4.83, one of the highest among qualified pitchers, and he just didn’t look the same as the ace-level Gallen of 2022-23.

The Most Baseball a Baseball Town Can Be by Amanda Vogt [FanGraphs]

This is Irmo, South Carolina, the most baseball a baseball town can be. 

Irmo is so baseball that last year it sent not one, not two, not three, but four teams in different divisions to the Little League World Series — baseball teams of up to 12-, 13- and 16-year-old boys, along with a girls softball team. Little League has seven divisions, each of which holds a national tournament of top teams every year, the World Series. Do the math: One community sent clubs to more than half the national competitions.

Irmo is so baseball that championship jerseys hang in local restaurants as relics of pride with signatures of the ball players, who are treated as local celebrities.

MLB’s top 5 breakout teams for 2026 by Bradford Doolittle [ESPN]

Last year, there were three teams that beat their baseline win figure by at least 10, all in the American League: the White Sox, the Athletics and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Breaking out means different things for different teams. For the White Sox, it meant being less terrible than their record-setting 2024 collapse. For the Athletics, it meant a return to respectability, laying the foundation for a possible playoff run in 2026. For the Blue Jays, it meant falling inches shy of a World Series championship.

Giants Sign Harrison Bader by Steve Adams [MLB Trade Rumors]

The Giants have a notable upgrade to their outfield defense in place, reportedly agreeing to a two-year, $20.5MM contract with free agent outfielder Harrison Bader. The Vayner Sports client can earn an additional $500K via incentives, bringing the deal’s maximum value to $21MM.

Bader, 31, has been a free agent for three consecutive offseasons but now lands the multi-year deal that’s previously eluded him. He signed one-year deals with the Mets and Twins, respectively, over the past two winters. Bader turned in a career-best performance in Minnesota and was red hot for the Phillies down the stretch after joining them in a deadline swap, and the market has rewarded that strong 2025 performance.

• Matt Olson
• Michael Harris II
• Ozzie Albies
• Bryce Elder
• Austin Riley
• Drake Baldwin
• Ronald Acuña Jr.
• Chris Sale

Sigh, this is a depressing one of these to do. Everything about Spencer Strider was, in theory, so awesome, that it didn’t seem like a little thing like a year-long layoff due to elbow troubles was going to derail his career. Surely someone so diligent in being in tune with his body and mechanics could hit the ground running, right? Well, not exactly. After an uneven 2025, Strider’s outlook is uncertain, and pretty fraught.

Career-to-date, status

Drafted in the fourth round of the shortened 2020 MLB Draft, Strider pitched at five different levels (including MLB) in his first professional season. He started 2022 in the big league bullpen, but transitioned to the rotation at the end of May, and well, it seemed like the rest would be history. A hilariously dominant 2022 season could’ve earned him Rookie of the Year honors had his teammate, Michael Harris II, not taken that piece of hardware. (Strider actually had barely more fWAR than Harris, 4.9 to 4.7, though he was pitching in the bullpen while Harris was in the minors.) Strider then spent a full year in the rotation in 2023, and “hilariously dominant” still applied. His 5.5 fWAR that year was second only to Zack Wheeler’s 5.9. All in all, including his time in the bullpen, Strider put up 10.3 fWAR in 318 1/3 innings in 2022-2023, with a 79 ERA-, 59 FIP-, and 63 xFIP-. While perhaps not video game numbers, they were essentially dominant reliever numbers, but from a guy who was close to six innings a game as a starter.

Disaster struck fairly quickly after that, though. Strider looked like himself in his first start of 2024, but not so much in the second, and then missed the rest of the year with an elbow issue that let him avoid Tommy John Surgery, but not missing about a year of action anyway.

Even before his 2023 gave serious credence to the possibility of him being the best starter in the game, the Braves inked him to a $75 million, six-year extension in October 2022. It was, at the time, the highest average annual value for a player with between one and two years of service time. The extension gave Strider relatively low salaries through 2025, but bumps his pay up to $20 million for 2026 and $22 million for the two years thereafter, along with a $22 million club option for 2029 with a $5 million buyout. At the time, it was a move in line with the exuberance of the moment. In 2023, the only concern was that he might eventually get injured. In 2024, well, he got injured. What came after has basically become the antithesis of that exuberance.

Recent performance

2025 was a problem for the Braves, and with regard to Strider’s outlook even moreso than just the mess that was that calendar year for the organization. The main problem, as I’ll get into a bit below, wasn’t that Strider was rusty — it was that rather than improving, he more or less fell apart as the season went on. Maybe it’s not right to have expected rust removal or improvement with experience post-elbow procedure, but given that the proverbial ship seemingly unrighted itself after he had regained a level of decent performance, there are certainly a lot of concerns for Strider heading into 2026.

To be more specific, Strider struggled a fair bit in his first five starts back, though this was not surprising given the layoff and the fact that a hamstring injury actually forced him to take another monthlong break from active duty after his first start of the year. He then reeled off a seven-start stretch where no one would fault you for thinking that Strider was back: in 42 2/3 innings, he put together a 60 ERA-, 61 FIP-, and 66 xFIP-. Nor was this an artifact of facing weak teams, as five of those seven games came against teams that finished in the top ten in wRC+, including the top-finishing Yankees. (Even without the Rockies, the line goes to 70/74/76.) Unfortunately, and here’s the rub: he didn’t keep it going.

There was a two-homer game against the Giants, a poor-peripherals game against the Royals, and then another two-homer game against the Brewers. Whether you want to include those in the “Strider was fine/good” or “Strider was bad” column isn’t really the point, because after that, things just got awful. Strider’s final eight starts of the season featured eight homers, but leaving HR/FB concerns aside, he had a garbage-quality 124/133/125 line. I’m not going to use this projections post to talk about the specific issues he had (see his season review, among other things, for that), but the point is that Strider got worse and never really showed he could un-get worse after those dreadful seven weeks.

All in all, his 2025 involved 0.9 fWAR over 125 1/3 innings with a 105/111/102 line; the okay-ish xFIP could be offset by the fact that his xERA was much worse than his xFIP, assuming you give any weight to xERA as a measure of pitching effectiveness.

Forecasting

Same brief disclaimer: once upon a time I built a projection system to try to mirror/get at the workings of Steamer and ZiPS. I called it IWAG. You can figure out what that means, maybe. I’m bringing it back for this series of posts. Here’s Strider, for 2026.

This is probably the most fraught point estimate of this series. It makes Strider out to be an above-average starter with health issues. But… we know things are a little different. Namely, this is an average of his possible divergent outcomes, with some discounting of his availability given that he missed quite a lot of time in 2024-2025.

Steamer has Strider at around 3.4 WAR per 200 innings, with a point estimate of 161 innings and 2.7 WAR. ZiPS is at 3.2/200 and a point estimate of 2.2 WAR in about 138 innings. IWAG is more conservative on all fronts, but not really all that different (which makes sense because it was built to understand Steamer and ZiPS). So, no discrepancy, but…

Is Strider good or not? I don’t know. I’m not sure anyone knows. Maybe he’ll go back to pre-injury form. Maybe he’ll look like 2025. It’s possible he ends up somewhere in the middle, I guess, but we haven’t seen much middling performance from him at any point, so I’m not sure where that would come from. One of the two poles seems more likely at this point. And, there’s a huge competitive swing for the Braves depending on which of the two you get. I have a headache now. Who’s next on the list? Jurickson Profar? Well… that’s only somewhat less fraught. What a stretch of guys with variable performance we’ve been privy to.

Your turn

Alright, I’ve given you the info. Well, some info. You may have your own info. With that, I ask you:

• Rounded to the nearest fWAR, how much will Spencer Strider produce in 2026? (If you ignore this and provide a partial fWAR, I will round it for you, and your scoring will not be based on 1 WAR around your point estimate, but 1 WAR around the rounded number.)
• How confident are you in your choice? Go with a scale from 1-5, where 3 is “I dunno, reasonably confident,” 5 is certain, and 1 is “I am participating but have no confidence in my choice and don’t want the fact that it will likely be incorrect to affect my place in any theoretical standings all that much.”

Eight weeks ago, I broke down the possible paths the Orioles might go down to have a successful offseason. One of the possibilities I laid out was some combination of Framber Valdez or Ranger Suárez and a big bat like Kyle Tucker, Kyle Schwarber or Pete Alonso. That possibility seems set to come to fruition, with reports that Baltimore is the frontrunner to sign the former Astro, Valdez.

Should the Orioles secure the 32-year-old lefty from the Dominican Republic, it would not only transform the top of the O’s rotation but also create an interesting competition for the No. 5 spot. Depending on how new manager Craig Albernaz wants to structure his rotation, you’d expect Valdez, Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers to fill in the top three spots in some order. Then, high-risk, high-reward acquisition Shane Baz will likely slide into the No. 4 spot. With four potential options to round out the rotation, filling that No. 5 spot will be one of the hardest decisions facing Alby and the new coaching staff.

Option 1: RHP Dean Kremer

2025 stats: 11-10, 4.19 ERA, 171.2 IP, 142 Ks, 1.21 WHIP

I’ve consistently thought of Kremer as a pitcher you’d be happy to have as your No. 5 starter. Too often in the past, the Orioles have been forced to have Kremer take on a more important role in the rotation. In 2023, he was the Game 3 starter in the Orioles’ playoff series against Texas. In 2024, he was third in total starts and innings pitched and probably would’ve taken the ball in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series had the O’s made it that far. Last year, Kremer was the Orioles’ most consistently available starter, leading the team in innings pitched and strikeouts while making 31 appearances.

Heading into the 2026 season, Kremer finally has a chance to fill the role he was destined for. Given the other three options’ struggles with injuries (and on-field performance) in 2025, Kremer would come into spring training with the inside track on landing the final spot in the rotation. He should be the most stretched out of all Orioles pitchers, as he starts his competitive season earlier than most, headlining Team Israel’s rotation in the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

And not only would the fifth-starter role better fit Kremer’s “consistent, but rarely spectacular” brand of baseball, but it also may help Kremer avoid the early-season struggles that have plagued him in the past. Due to some extra rest days in the first month of the season, the fifth starter often doesn’t get a full complement of starts. That’d suit Kremer just fine, who sports a 6.24 ERA in March/April and a 3.88 ERA across all other months.

Option 2: RHP Zach Eflin

2025 stats: 6-5, 5.93 ERA, 71.1 IP, 50 Ks, 1.42 WHIP

While Kremer represents the steady, dependable option for the Orioles’ fifth starter, Eflin is the higher upside option. After a nine-start cameo in 2024 that saw him pitch to a 2.60 ERA and 1.12 WHIP over 55.1 innings, Eflin came into last season as the Orioles Opening Day starter and de facto ace.

The first nine outings of his 2025 season were similarly encouraging. Eflin pitched to a 4.08 ERA, which went down to 3.02 if you removed an eight-run blow-up against the Nationals. Eflin then crumbled as he tried to gut through the effects of the back injury that ultimately ended his season. Over his final five outings of last season, Eflin put up an 11.29 ERA while allowing 37 hits and eight home runs over 18.1 innings.

The Orioles may choose to be cautious with the 10-year MLB vet, as he looks to bounce back from the fourth major back injury of his career. If the O’s slow play his build-up in the spring, he may fall behind Kremer in the early-season pecking order. However, if Eflin is fully healthy when the team leaves Sarasota in two months, he may get the nod based on his contract. Eflin is set to make $10M in 2025, compared to $5.75M for Kremer.

Option 3: LHP Cade Povich

2025 stats: 3-8, 5.21 ERA, 112.1 IP, 118 Ks, 1.50 WHIP

Povich was in a similar position last year and ended up breaking spring training as the Orioles’ No. 5 starter. What happened after that was a bit of a trainwreck for the 25-year-old southpaw. In Povich’s first 13 starts of the season, the lefty they call Slim posted a 5.15 ERA, gave up a .286 average against, and overall, struggled to string together decent outings.

Povich missed six weeks in the middle of the season with a hip injury and wasn’t much better when he came off the IL. In nine starts down the stretch, his ERA grew to 5.29, his batting average against remained in the .280s and he continued to give up home runs at an alarming rate. In fact, Povich’s 1.4 HR/9 rate would have been one of the 10 worst in all of baseball if he had enough innings to qualify.

The former Nebraska Cornhusker does have two factors in his favor: youth and strikeout upside. Povich is at least four years younger than any of the other pitchers he’s competing against, meaning Albernaz and the new staff may want to give him another opportunity to maximize his upside. The coaching staff may also want another pitcher with swing-and-miss stuff. Outside of Bradish, Povich was the only starter last year who posted a K/9 greater than nine.

Option 4: RHP Tyler Wells

2025 stats: 2-1, 2.91 ERA, 21.2 IP, 18 Ks, 0.88 WHIP

Wells is the ultimate wild card, as the Orioles could choose to use him in rotation, the bullpen or a hybrid, Albert Suárez-type role. The towering righty from Oklahoma has only pitched 27 innings over the last two seasons due to a UCL injury that required surgery, though not a full reconstruction. The fact that he moved back into the rotation last year upon his return from injury was a bit surprising, but his results justified it.

In four starts at the end of last season, Wells had two quality starts, limited opponents to a .213 batting average and only issued two walks in 21.2 innings. Home runs were a problem for him—he allowed a home run in each of his starts—but overall, he looked like pre-All-Star break, 2023 Tyler Wells again. If that’s the type of pitcher he can be over 25+ starts, he jumps to the front of the line for the Orioles fifth starter spot.

However, Wells’ biggest problem has always been his durability. After throwing 104.2 innings in the first half of 2023, he faded after the All-Star break. The former Rule 5 draft pick hit a wall in the second half, ultimately being demoted to Double-A midseason before being brought back as a reliever. Wells has never thrown 120+ innings in a season, and asking him to be a full-time starter may simply not be the best use of the innings the Orioles can get out of him.

Good morning.

Kennedi Landry has more on the prospect cost that the Texas Rangers shipped out to Washington to land left-hander MacKenzie Gore.

Shawn McFarland writes about Evan Carter’s health and how much the Rangers are counting on him becoming an everyday contributor.

And, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel unveiled his top 100 prospects list with Sebastian Walcott near the top and Caden Scarborough sneaking in at the bottom.

Have a nice day!

Good morning! We fans probably downplay the effect a trade has on a baseball player. Could you imagine how disrupting it would be if your employers could force you into a different job in a different city in an instant? But Payton Tolle isn’t too fazed by the trade rumors, which is just one thing he discussed during this great interview on MLB Network.

Talk about what you want, keep digging out from that snow, and be good to one another.

If it is late January on the the MLB Calendar, that means it is prospect lists galore. And for Cam Caminiti, it is further validation that he is emerging as one of the best young pitching prospects on the game. Both Keith Law and MLB Pipeline see the young southpaw as the Braves best prospect, and an arm that is moving up top 100 lists across baseball. It could really be a huge year for Caminiti, who is clearly the prize of the Braves farm.

Braves News

ESPN tabbed the Braves as being the most likely team to “bounce back” to contention in 2026. This prediction has some merit, as many projection systems still see the Braves as one of the top teams in baseball. Health and a return to normal production for many players is the key.

Jose Suarez was once again claimed by the Braves from the Orioles.

MLB News

Harrison Bader signed a two year deal with the San Francisco Giants.

Meet the Mets

Tim Britton and Will Sammon made their predictions on how the Mets’ roster will look.

Brian Murphy explained why Bo Bichette is not new to Carlos Mendoza, despite being new to the Mets’ organization.

Four Mets ended up in The Athletic’s Top 100 prospects list, including two guys in the Top 20.

Sam Dykstra picked out some Mets prospects who could end up cracking the Top 100.

Around the National League East

The Braves claimed reliever José Suarez off waivers and designated George Soriano for assignment to make room on the roster.

There could be a change to the Phillies’ lineup this year, specifically with where Bryce Harper is hitting.

Around Major League Baseball

Manny Randhawa listed the ten best games from the 2025 season.

Brian Murphy looked at 18 players who are on the rise in 2026, based on where they ranked on the list of Top 100 players.

Will Leitch ranked the 13 All-Stars on the Dodgers’ roster.

Bradford Doolittle explored five teams that could be poised for a break out in 2026.

David Adler outlined four keys to a bounce-back season for free agent starter Zac Gallen.

Many teams appear interested in free agent Lucas Giolito.

Old Friend Harrison Bader, who has played for both the Mets and Yankees, is signing with the Giants on a two-year deal.

Joe Ryan and the Twins agreed to a contract to avoid arbitration.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Lukas Vlahos graded the team’s acquisition of Luis Robert Jr.

Ryan Clifford came in at number 8 on the Amazin’ Avenue list of Mets’ prospects list.

This Date in Mets History

The Mets dealt Steven Matz to the Blue Jays for a package that featured Sean Reid-Foley, Josh Winchowski, and Yennsy Diaz on this date in 2021. On the same day, they signed Aaron Loup, who pitched in one season for New York and set a franchise record for fewest earned runs allowed (six) with at least 50 innings pitched.

Yesterday, we told you about the four Red Sox prospects who made their way into MLB Pipeline’s top-100 list: Payton Tolle, Franklin Arias, Connelly Early, and Kyson Witherspoon. Today, we have a new prospect ranking — this one from the Athletic’s Keith Law. The same four players are on it, though Law is comparatively lower on Tolle (he has him 40th compared to Pipeline’s 19, admitting that he wasn’t high on him to start last season) and comparatively higher on Arias, who he has at number 12 compared to Pipeline’s 31. (Keith Law The Athletic)

But is it risky to get too attached to any of those guys? According to a new report, the Red Sox remain interested in infielder Isaac Parades of the Astros, though no deal is particularly close. (Chandler Rome, The Athletic)

Though the fact that no deal is particularly close right now doesn’t mean that a deal can’t come together quickly, as evidenced by the Ranger Suárez signing. In this piece that dives into the pursuit of the pitcher, we learn that the Red Sox met with Suárez way back at the start of the offseason after deciding he was the best fit among this year’s class of free agent pitchers. But that was as far as things went until the Sox were forced to pivot quickly following the Alex Bregman departure. (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

Speaking of the Alex Bregman departure, it’s a little unsettling that we still have no idea who is going to play third base for the 2026 Red Sox— or second base for that matter. But Marcelo Mayer is going to be prepared either way: “I’m doing everything I can, taking reps at third and at second base, and I feel really good at both. So wherever they need me is where I’m gonna play, and I’m gonna do my best out there.” (Ian Browne, MLB.com)

As for who will play whichever position Mayer doesn’t man, can I interest you is some Dylan Moore?

Moore is 33 years old and hit .201 for two MLB teams last year, so if your answer to that question is “no,” I don’t blame you.

Dylan Cease (how come I’ve been saying his name Cleese like he’s John Cleese son?) is a 30-year-old, right-handed pitcher whom the Jays signed to a 5-year, $210 million contract. It is more than possible that the last couple of years of that contract won’t go well.

Cease has pitched seven seasons in the MLB and has a 65-58 record, 3.88 ERA in 188 starts, and a 16.7 bWAR. His best season was 2022, when he had a 2.20 ERA, went 14-8 in 32 starts, and posted a 6.4 bWAR, finishing second in Cy Young voting (he finished fourth in 2024).

In our post about the signing, we had a poll. 42.9% of us were ‘Kind of Happy’, 41.8% were Very Happy. Only 5.1% were Kind of or Very Unhappy. I’m slightly curious how you could be very upset, but maybe they were Yankees fans.

But then we also had a poll asking, ‘Should the Jays sign Cease if the cost is $31 million a year for five years?’ and 64.2% said no. So we are nothing if not flexible.

Last year wasn’t his best; he had an 8-12 record and a 4.55 ERA in 32 starts. Everyone is allowed a down year.

He’s been incredibly durable. He’s made 32 or 33 starts in each of the last five seasons. The season before that was COVID-shortened. And he’s thrown between 165 and 189 innings in those five seasons.

Dylan throws five pitches, but his Four Seamer (averaging 97.1 MPH last year) and Slider show up 83% percent of the time. The rest: Knuckle Curve, Sinker, Sweeper, and Change-up. I’d think that, as he ages and perhaps loses a bit on the fastball, he’ll have to start throwing one or two of those secondary pitches more often.

I’d like to think he’ll be in the 2-4 range for WAR in most of his seasons with the Jays, but I’ll hold out hope that he can have another 5+ season. Dylan threw a lot of innings in his 20s, and often, guys like that don’t age well, but ‘often’ isn’t ‘always’.

Steamer thinks he’ll make 32 starts, throw 185 innings with a 3.61 ERA and a 12-10 record and a 3.8 fWAR. I think 185 innings is a lot; he’s only been over that once in his career, and the Jays aren’t the kind of team to push a starter.

The Summer Olympics are coming to Los Angeles in 2028, and baseball will be played at Dodger Stadium. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wants to be involved, telling Dylan Hernández of the California Post that he wants to manage Team USA.

From Hernández:

“I went to school here,” the UCLA graduate said. “I manage the Dodgers.

“It’s a no-brainer.”

There’s a seemingly long time between now and the 2028 Olympics, but also a lot of logistical items to be resolved. But aside from that, there’s also the question of whether major league players would be allowed to play in the Olympics, which would require a disruption to the MLB schedule that season.

During the World Series last October, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred expressed optimism that a deal could be struck between the league’s owners and the player’s union for MLB players to be used in the Olympics, per Bill Shaikin at the Los Angeles Times:

“I am positive about it. … I think the owners have crossed the line in terms of, we’d like to do it if we can possibly make it work, but there are logistical issues that still need to be worked through.”

The schedule for the 2028 Olympics runs from July 14-30. When baseball will be played hasn’t been finalized, but Dodger Stadium will host the games, as it did in 1984 when the Summer Olympics were last in Los Angeles. Back then, baseball was only a demonstration sport in the Olympics. Baseball was an official medal sport from 1992 to 2008, and again in the 2020 Olympics, which were played in 2021.

Team USA did not qualify for the Olympics in 2024, and were led by college coaches in the 1992 and 1996 games. Since then, the team has been managed in Olympic play by former Dodgers.

In 2000, Tommy Lasorda managed Team USA to a gold medal in Sydney. Davey Johnson, who managed the Dodgers from ., helmed Team USA to a bronze medal in 2008 in Beijing., Longtime Dodgers catcher and Angels manager Mike Scioscia led the team to silver in 2021 in Tokyo, with a team that included former Dodgers Edwin Jackson and Tim Federowicz.

Warren Schaeffer is, by any standard, an energetic and positive person. He also tends to keep busy, though that has been especially true since becoming the Colorado Rockies permanent manager as he participated in hiring new staff, communicated with players and a new front office, and began planning spring training.

So, how was his offseason?

“It’s been a lot of work,” he says — but with enthusiasm, not exhaustion.

On the eve of Rockies Fest, Schaeffer answered a few questions about building a staff, communication, and changes coming to Scottsdale.

After being named the Rockies permanent manager, there was the matter of him finding his own staff.

“[It’s been] a lot of interviews,” Schaeffer said, “a whole lot of interviews to get it right — who we need to hire — because we had a lot of people to hire: new pitching coach, new assistant pitching coach, new bullpen coach, new first base coach, new hitting coach. I mean a lot.”

In addition, Schaeffer is currently focused on hiring the minor league coaching staff.

“It’s been a huge collaborative effort,” he said, “all of these hirings between the minor leagues and the major leagues, looking for that unity going up and down the chain.”

Something that can get lost in this Rockies rebuild is that team-building is happening throughout the organization. New front office and coaching stuff are meeting each other and learning to work together just as the players will next month. Prior to Rockies Fest, president of baseball operations Paul DePodesta convened a “summit” where all parts of the organization came together and began sorting out their roles and planning for the future.

“It’s been great getting to know Paul [DePodesta] and what he’s about,” Schaeffer said. “It’s been great getting to know Josh Byrnes and what he’s about and the new assistantGMs, and it’s an exciting time right now.”

It’s not just the manager; the players are enthusiastic about the changes, too.

“They’re all, almost pretty much to a man, extremely excited,” Schaeffer said.

“Players in general are always excited about the next season, and I would say specifically ours because they want to right the wrong that has been going on.”

”[R]ight the wrong that has been going on” would be those consecutive 100-loss seasons with the most recent being historically bad.

He added, “It just seems like the momentum that we’ve got going on, the players are extremely excited about that.”

Schaeffer’s calling card has always been his emphasis on communication, and that hasn’t changed heading into 2026. If anything, it’s even more important.

“I have strong relationships with the players already, and I continue to cultivate those with the new ones coming in and trying to create leaders in that area,” Schaeffer said. “And at the same time, we’re all in this together, in terms of Paul and Josh and Tommy Tanous and Ian Levin, all the new guys, and Walker [Monfort].”

Then he added, “But I love doing that because of the relationships you can build.”

Schaeffer’s plans to revamp spring training are also taking shape, and they start with “higher expectations.”

As Schaeffer puts it, “It’s one thing to talk about them, and it’s another thing to put them into action.”

The changes to spring training will be notable.

“Spring training will look completely different scheduling-wise, where we spend our time, what we spend our time on,” he said.

He was light on specifics since he’s not yet shared the details with the players, but he did says this: “It’ll look clearly different to the players, which is what matters, with a huge focus on winning.”

Too, there will be an emphasis on sustainability.

“We want to build a sustainable winner here for the city of Denver,” he said. “We believe that that could absolutely happen, and this is the first step.”

For Schaeffer, 2025 was a year of learning, and he has two primary lessons he’s bringing into 2026.

“Number one, preparation for the win that night,” Schaeffer said, “how to prepare better, and bringing in Jeff Pickler as a bench coach, who is exceptional at that part of the game, is going to be an enormous help for me and everybody else in terms of preparation.”

Then there’s the second lesson.

“The second thing that I learned, I think big time last year, is that at the big-league level, development never stops. It can never stop,” he said.

“Through the interview process this winter and being with these [new coaches] the past four or five days and getting to talk to them over the phone, the new coaches I’m talking about, it’s clear that they’re going to get that a relentless obsession with getting the player better, which is what they want. The point is, this isn’t the final product of the players we have. They’re going to get better. And that’s a learning experience from last year. We’re not finished getting better. There’s more in the tank.”

This week on the internet

Please enjoy this snippet from Rockies Family Feud, featuring Chase Dollander:

Freeman ready to be leader for young Rockies squad | MLB.com

Freeman tells Thomas Harding about his preparation for the 2026 season. Thomas Harding spoke with Paul DePodesta about the outfielder’s role: “We still see him as an outfielder. He’s a right-handed hitter, but he complements Jake [McCarthy] and Mickey [Moniak], but we also see him as the guy who can play in the infield. He’s played second, third and some short in the big leagues. He maybe even snuck in a game or two at first base at some point along the way.”

Red Sox tabbed to trade for Rockies Gold Glove shortstop with prospect haul | Newsweek

This article is a summary of a Red Sox podcast. Here are the trade details. Interested?

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Two top government officials in Kansas City, Mayor Quinton Lucas and Interim Jackson County Executive Phil LeVota, had a closed-door meeting with MO Governor Mike Kehoe to have stadium discussions.

Lucas and LeVota also emphasized a speedy end to the protracted fight over the team between Missouri and Kansas, which has dragged on for more than 18 months. Both officials said they hope to strike a stadium deal before the end of spring training, which will finish in late March.

“I hope it’s resolved before spring training is concluded, which is kind of opening day,” Lucas said on Wednesday. “I think that what we’re all going to do is work our level best to make sure we can get there.”

That feels incredibly optimistic to me, but we’ll see.

The Effectively Wild podcast brought on fan favorites Brent Rooker and Vinnie Pasquantino to talk baseball and food.

Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about the MacKenzie Gore trade, the trajectories of the Rangers and Nationals since their respective World Series victories, and why the White Sox signed Seranthony Domínguez. Then (29:38) they bring on baseball buds Brent Rooker and Vinnie Pasquantino for a wide-ranging conversation about their scrapped podcasting plans, the Royals remodeling Kauffman Stadium, how Sutter Health Park played, the good and bad of bat-speed training, the challenge system, Brent’s sinking strikeout rate, the best breakfasts, the Pasqwich, A’s outfield defense, Nick Kurtz and Jac Caglianone, playing with Rich Hill, A’s extensions, playing 162 games, why they haven’t become 30-30 guys, arbitration, players’ pre-lockout messaging, an offseason signing deadline, Vinnie’s interactions with Shohei Ohtani, the WBC, the weather, and more.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Keep analyzes Nick Loftin’s chances for proving himself in the upcoming season.

There’s a lot to like with Loftin’s profile above. He ranked in the 90th percentile in above in O-Swing%, Whiff%, Z-Contact%, K%, and BB%. He also ranked in the 95th percentile in wOBA and 97th percentile in xwOBA. The latter demonstrates that his performance was legitimate and not just a product of “batted ball luck”. Lastly, he launched the ball well with Omaha (79th percentile) and pulled the ball in the air effectively (89th percentile). Those kinds of batted-ball skills, combined with his plate discipline, are exactly what the Royals are looking for in hitters, especially under new assistant hitting coaches Connor Dawson and Marcus Thames. 

Unfortunately, things haven’t clicked in Kansas City for Loftin yet, as they did in Omaha last season. In 67 games and 188 plate appearances with the Royals last year, Loftin posted a .279 wOBA, 73 wRC+, and 0.1 fWAR. He also hit four home runs, scored 17 runs, and collected 20 RBI.

Baseball America has their breakout prospects for the Royals ($). These are prospects outside the top 10 that they think could vault up rankings in 2026.

Freddy Contreras, RHP
BA Grade/Risk: 50/Extreme
Adjusted Grade: 30

Track Record: While fellow pitcher Kendry Chourio’s sensational breakout headlined the Royals’ 2025 international signing class, Contreras may not be as far behind his Dominican Summer League teammate as some expected. Contreras, who didn’t turn 17 until the final week of the DSL season, signed for $147,500 and then pitched to a 3.30 ERA with 37 strikeouts to 13 walks in 30 innings, earning a DSL all-star nod.

Scouting Report: Contreras is a lean righthander with a four-seamer that was in the low 90s early in the season, but averaged 95 mph and touched 98 by the end of the year. He commands it well and it projects as a plus offering. His 79 mph curveball has above-average potential with good spin and movement, and Contreras also has feel for an 87 mph changeup. Both secondaries generated plenty of whiffs in the DSL. Contreras is highly competitive and confident on the mound.

The Future: Given his youth, a return to the DSL would make sense for Contreras. However, the Royals haven’t shied away from aggressive assignments for teenage arms, so he very well could open 2026 in the Arizona Complex League with a solid fastball-curveball combination that gives him a high floor for his age.

Mike Gillespie at Kings of Kauffman writes that Drew Waters is probably on his last chance.

Jacob Milham also at Kings of Kauffman writes about three players whose chase rate may make it tough for them to fit in the team’s no-chase hitting philosophy.

The Royals apparently have a new sports betting partner, if you’re into that sort of thing.

MLB The Show ‘26 will not have a new cover athlete. Will they just put a baseball hat? A picture of home plate? Pasquatch? I guess we’ll find out!

Apparently, the Dodgers have unusually favorable (to them) terms in their current revenue-sharing agreement.

Yasiel Puig is on trial for federal gambling charges ($).

Sam Darnold is going to be in a Super Bowl. Kind of a wild statement given his career arc.

Shedeur Sanders will participate in the Pro Bowl games because the NFL’s first through like 12th option was either injured or declined.

Some insight into how they make fake snow for the Winter Olympics.

Off Topic: My career is in data engineering, and thus AI is a whole big thing since the tools are getting pretty good at writing code. I know there are tons of stories of people using AI to generate slop code that they have to spend more time fixing later. But there are plenty of stories in my company of this…not happening at all. I’ve been using GenAI for code for quite some time and have found it useful. Anyone else code? What are your experiences?

Song of the Day is NOFX with Seeing Double at the Triple Rock.

National prospect list season continued on Monday as Keith Law, prospect writer for The Athletic, dropped his new top 100 list. At this point you won’t be surprised to find three highly ranked Detroit Tigers prospects in his top 30. Max Clark continues to grade almost unanimously as the best all around outfield prospect in baseball, while Kevin McGonigle remains behind the Pirates’ Konnor Griffin as the second ranked prospect in baseball with the best hit tool of any player in the minor leagues.

Law’s intro does have some interesting points, namely that the top 100 at this point is very hitter heavy. There just aren’t many obvious, dominant pitching prospects who have already proven their ability to handle the workload around the game. He mainly cites injury as the cause, noting that as a result of the ever higher rates of injury that teams are pushing their pitching prospects along more and more carefully, focused more on stuff and control rather than on stretching them out, trying to save their workload until they reach the major leagues. In any case, this is reflected in the fact that there are a lot of talented pitching prospects with 45/45+ grades, but they just aren’t as proven enough to really draw certain top 100 level grades, and the demands and more limited workloads make it harder to gauge who might actually emerge to put up 3+ WAR seasons in the bigs.

The Tigers’ Troy Melton is a pretty good example of this. He’s super talented, but the lack of a good third pitch led most to keep him in those 45 tiers entering 2025, including us. Based on his production and outlook, that still seems like an accurate grade. But he’s clearly improved and has the potential to be a 3-4 level starter or possibily more if he commands his splitter more effectively in the coming years. We just don’t know how long it may be until he gets a chance to prove he can do it in a full-time starting role and those usage concerns nowadays make it trickier to forecast future value for pitchers unless the player is already an established stud starter in the upper levels prior to the next season.

None of that pitching development strategy really seems to be working out, however. The Tigers are uber cautious with workload, both in terms of overall innings, length of outings, and frequency of outings, rarely giving a starting pitching prospect two starts in a week’s time, and so far it isn’t doing them a bit of good.

Law has RHP Bubba Chandler of the Pirates as the top pitching prospect in baseball in the 14th spot, with the Mets RHP Nolan McLean behind him at 15. RHP Ryan Sloan of the Mariners is ranked 21st, with RHP Andrew Painter of the Phillies at 22. All together Law has just 12 pitchers in the top 50.

You can find the top 100 list with commentary here at The Athletic.

#2 Kevin McGonigle

Law says: He’s an elite hitter for hard contact, pairing that with outstanding swing decisions, so the result is that he hits the ball in the air and pulls it a ton, getting to surprising power for a guy with more of a medium build and frame.

#5 Max Clark

Law says: Clark has excellent bat speed and a very advanced eye at the plate, which combined to produce just an 18 percent whiff rate on the season, along with an 18 percent chase rate that dropped to 10 percent on pitches well out of the zone.

His MLB ceiling is as a plus defender with high OBPs and 18-22 homers a year, which is going to at least make him an All-Star and a big fan favorite.

#17 Bryce Rainer

Law says: When he played, he showed a bit of everything, with power (peaking at 111.6 mph EV, with a hard-hit rate over 52 percent), patience, plus defense and, at least before the injury, a plus-plus arm. He had no trouble with better velocity, hitting .333/.440/.476 last year off 94-plus mph in a sample of 80 pitches. 

#59 Josue Briceño

Law says: (at the Double-A level) He did still maintain his feel for the strike zone and continued to make plenty of contact in the zone (85 percent), so there’s reason to believe he’ll resume mashing with more reps at the level. It’s plus power already, even to the opposite field, as he understands how to hit the ball where it’s pitched…

#91 Max Anderson

Law says:  He focused over the offseason on trying to change how he was making contact from getting on top of the ball to hitting it on the bottom half, and took off from the start of last season, with a .306/.358/.499 line in Double A in 90 games, then a .267/.327/.422 line in Triple A where he still had a 46 percent hard-hit rate. His production is almost entirely in his hit tool; he has average power, below-average patience and below-average speed, so he has to continue to post high contact rates given his lack of a current defensive position.

Summary

Overall the only thing in terms of the Tigers that hasn’t already been covered extensively is Max Anderson making the list. Law cites the defensive concerns we’ve brought up repeatedly the past two seasons, but is more optimistic that he’ll hit enough to make it as an everyday player. I continue to think his pitch selection and overall discipline is going to have to improve quite a bit, as major league pitchers aren’t going to have that much trouble getting the current version of Anderson swinging at pitchers’ pitches and getting him out on the ground.

Anderson does have good hands and makes plenty of contact. There’s just a lot of pressure on the bat to hit for power due to his lack of defensive utility, mostly because of his mediocre range. His fairly strong and accurate arm helps make up for it and will allow him to play back against hitters without the footspeed to beat out choppers and slower rollers hit his way. It’s nice to see some optimism for Anderson, and hopefully Law ends up being in the right on this one.