Category: MLB

Two decades after owner Arte Moreno decided the Angels should play under the Los Angeles name, elected officials representing Anaheim are pursuing two paths toward getting their hometown back into the team name.

Assemblyman Avelino Valencia, whose district includes Angel Stadium, has introduced state legislation that could require any sale or new lease of the stadium property be conditioned upon the team reverting to the Anaheim Angels name.

Meanwhile, Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken has asked the city attorney to explore whether the Angels have violated their current lease by dropping the Anaheim name from legal documents.

Valencia’s bill — dubbed the “Home Run for Anaheim Act” — aims to mandate what the city of Anaheim could not negotiate in its ill-fated deal with Moreno in 2019: If a team owner wants to develop the parking lots around the city stadium, the team should carry the city’s name.

Read more:Angels, with longest playoff drought in MLB, turn to first-time manager Kurt Suzuki

“The Angels have been supported by the city and its residents for 60 years,” Valencia said. “I think it’s rightfully owed to the residents that, if the team wants to play in Anaheim and be in partnership with Anaheim when it comes to future developments of that stadium and surrounding property, then the name should also resemble that.”

Angels spokeswoman Marie Garvey said the team had no comment.

The Angels’ current stadium lease extends through 2032, with the team holding options to extend the lease through 2038.

The city and team had agreed on a deal in which the Angels would remain in Anaheim through 2050, with the team buying the 150-acre stadium property for $150 million, renovating or replacing the stadium, and building a ballpark village atop the parking lots.

The state objected, however. The Surplus Land Act requires public property up for sale must first be made available for affordable housing, and the city negotiated only with the Angels. The city agreed to a $96-million settlement.

The Anaheim City Council ultimately killed the deal three years later, after an FBI investigation uncovered — and former mayor Harry Sidhu acknowledged in a plea agreement — that Sidhu provided confidential information to a team consultant “so that the Angels could buy Angel Stadium on terms beneficial to the Angels” and that he “expected a $1,000,000 campaign contribution from the Angels.” The government has not alleged any wrongdoing by the Angels.

Valencia’s bill was developed in consultation with city leaders and publicly endorsed by Aitken and former Mayors Tom Daly and Tom Tait.

Under the bill, if the city can obtain an exemption from the Surplus Land Act, the team could not buy or lease Angel Stadium unless “materials refer to that team as the Anaheim Angels.”

The bill would only apply to Anaheim, and its provisions would not take effect “if the city of Anaheim is able to come to an agreement with the Major League Baseball team known as the Los Angeles Angels about their affiliation.”

Valencia said the city could make a case for an exemption because he believed the Surplus Land Act was designed for smaller properties like school sites and municipal office buildings. He said the community should have the primary say in how such land should be used, even if that might mean less housing on the Angel Stadium site.

“We definitely need more housing because it’s so dang expensive to live, but the amount of housing [in Anaheim] that has gone up in the last 10, 15 years, I think, mitigates some of that,” Valencia said.

“I think folks in Anaheim think that Anaheim is doing their fair share of developing housing. I don’t want to muddy the concept by saying Anaheim is saying, ‘We don’t need any more housing. We have been so proactive in that space. But I think people are going to be thrilled that we want to make the Angels have Anaheim back in the name.”

In 2005, after city officials declined Moreno’s request to change the team name from Anaheim Angels to Los Angeles Angels, the owner adopted the “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim” name. The city sued and lost, with a jury finding that the Angels had not violated a stadium lease requirement that the team name “include the name Anaheim therein.”

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When the city sued the Angels and asked for an injunction to stop the name change pending trial, Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Polos denied the request. He did, however, warn the Angels he would grant the injunction if the team dropped the “of Anaheim” and simply called themselves the Los Angeles Angels.

In 2006, after the city had lost its lawsuit, Polos ruled the team could market itself by whatever name it wished. By 2016, the team called itself the Los Angeles Angels. In state records, the legal entity is Angels Baseball LP.

“When it comes to official designations, and to how they’re registered, I want us to look into how Anaheim is being used by the team in any official filings,” Aitken said, “and what their requirements are to do so.”

When Aitken asked City Atty. Robert Fabela to investigate, Fabela said the matter would be discussed in closed session as a “potential litigation item.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

As the Houston Astros prepare for another season with championship expectations, two of the most important figures in the organization find themselves in uncertain territory. General manager Dana Brown and manager Joe Espada are both entering the final years of their contracts, and owner Jim Crane has offered little clarity about their futures.

In an organization where the standard is not just contention but championships, that uncertainty carries weight. Performance this season may ultimately determine whether either, or both, remain part of the Astros’ long-term vision.

High Expectations, Limited Security

Both Brown and Espada have publicly expressed a desire to remain in Houston long term. But as is often the case in professional sports, the decision isn’t theirs to make. Crane has consistently maintained that the Astros’ championship window is “always open,” a philosophy that places constant pressure on leadership to deliver results.

That pressure is magnified by the reality that neither Brown nor Espada had previously held roles of this magnitude before stepping into their current positions. With that comes an expectation of growth and inevitably, some growing pains and mistakes along the way.

Espada’s Steady Leadership

Espada’s leadership style has never been loud or overbearing, but it has been effective. Known more for his calm demeanor than fiery speeches, he has earned the respect of his clubhouse.

Last season may have been his most impressive work to date. Despite a roster plagued by injuries and constant lineup challenges, Espada kept the Astros competitive deep into the season, with the team remaining in the playoff hunt down to the final stretch.

There’s a strong case to be made that Espada is the right manager to guide this team forward. Still, in a results-driven environment like Houston, belief alone isn’t enough, he will ultimately be judged on what happens next.

Dana Brown’s Balancing Act

Brown’s situation is more complex.

While both he and Espada face scrutiny, evaluating Brown comes with an added layer of uncertainty. The internal dynamics of decision-making, particularly the level of control exerted by ownership, remain largely unknown. That makes it difficult to fully assess what roster decisions are truly his.

Publicly, Brown has often said what fans want to hear, especially when it comes to retaining star players. But the organization’s track record tells a different story. Time and again, key names have departed, and the Astros have shown a reluctance to commit to long-term, high-dollar contracts in free agency.

That disconnect has not gone unnoticed.

The looming contract situations of Hunter Brown and Jeremy Peña only add to the pressure. Brown has voiced a desire to keep both players in Houston, but fans remain skeptical, especially after similar assurances were made about Kyle Tucker before he was dealt to the Chicago Cubs.

A Roster Out of Sync

Beyond contracts, there are clear questions about the roster itself.

As the Astros approach Opening Day, the imbalance is hard to ignore. The infield appears crowded with talent, while the outfield lacks proven, high-level experience. That discrepancy leaves Brown with a critical decision: address the issue through trades or acquisitions, or trust that the current roster can compensate offensively for its shortcomings.

It’s a gamble either way and one that could directly impact how his tenure is judged. There are holes to be filled and problems to be addressed and to date, nothing has been done or attempted to resolve any of the current issues.

The Crane Factor

Hovering over everything is Crane.

The Astros owner has built a winning organization, but his level of involvement in baseball decisions remains a point of speculation. How much autonomy Brown truly has is unclear, and that ambiguity complicates any evaluation of the front office.

It also raises a larger question: does Crane prefer leadership that aligns with his vision, or is he willing to bring in more established voices who might challenge it?

Former manager Dusty Baker offered a different dynamic, an experienced, confident presence capable of pushing back when necessary. Brown and Espada, while more aligned with modern baseball philosophies, don’t yet carry that same weight of experience. It may never be known how much control either man has ever had or has at this point and time. We have heard all the stories, seen the brutal signings of Montero and Abreu and have had hunches about the limitations both men have had to deal with, but we may never know for sure just what they had to deal with.

A Season That Will Define the Future

Ultimately, this season feels like a turning point.

For Espada, it’s an opportunity to prove he can lead a team with championship expectations through adversity and into October. For Brown, it’s a chance to solidify his vision for the roster and show that he can align words with action.

And for Crane, it’s a decision point: stay the course with two leaders who fit his organizational style, or pursue bigger, more established names who might offer a different path forward.

The stakes are clear. The expectations are higher than ever.

Now, the results have to follow.

Only one team has dethroned the Dodgers in the NL West over the past dozen seasons. The Giants, however, have moved on to their third manager since claiming the 2021 division title. Outside of that 107-win season, they’ve racked up four straight finishes within two games of .500.

They shook things up in a big way by bringing back beloved former catcher Buster Posey to run their baseball operations before last season. Posey took an even bigger leap this winter by hiring Tony Vitello.

The fiery former national champion at the University of Tennessee will become the first college coach ever to go straight into a major-league manager’s chair.

The question on everybody’s minds as Vitello’s first Opening Day approaches: Can it work?

Most important hitter: Rafael Devers

The Giants swung the biggest blockbuster of last season six weeks before the trade deadline, but they skidded to a 40-50 finish after acquiring Rafael Devers from the Red Sox and missed the postseason for the eighth time in nine years. Now acclimated to San Francisco — and with his first-ever Cactus League spring training out of the way — Devers will be counted on to anchor what’s shaping up to be the Giants’ most stable lineup in years. It just might carry them back to October.

Most important pitcher: Landen Roupp

Posey opted for duct tape over plastic surgery for a starting rotation that ended last season with three reliable arms, signing veteran journeymen Tyler Mahle and Adrian Houser to short-term deals. The duo looks capable enough of holding down the third and fourth rotation spots behind Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. So the fate for the fifth spot falls on the Giants’ group of young arms. Landen Roupp, 26, looks to be the most promising candidate.

Will have a bigger year than expected: Patrick Bailey

Maybe not at the plate, but behind the dish, where Patrick Bailey will increase his value even more through the introduction of the Automated Ball Strike (ABS) challenge system. The Giants’ catcher already rated as the best defender in the game for his pitch framing. There was some concern a fully automated zone could negate that skillset, but the challenge system has had quite the opposite effect. Bailey’s understanding of the strike zone made him one of the best in Cactus League play at challenging balls and strikes.

Most likely to disappoint: Luis Arraez

With Jung Hoo Lee, the Giants already possess one contact-orientated table setter ahead of Devers, Willy Adames and Matt Chapman in the heart of their order. Signing Luis Arraez, the three-time batting champ, fit squarely in that vision. Asking him to play second base is where it goes awry, particularly with a pitching staff aced by one of the majors’ top sinkerballers. Arraez was a poor second baseman when he last played the position regularly in 2023, and the Padres mostly stashed him away at first base the past two years.

Key call up: Bryce Eldridge

It’s possible that Bryce Eldridge breaks camp with the big-league club, but the Giants would be smart to give the 20-year-old first baseman some more seasoning at Triple-A. The 6-foot-7 slugger has shown he can hit the ball harder than just about anybody. He needs to prove that he can do it consistently at the highest level. Eldridge has only played 84 games above Double-A. He spent the final two weeks of last season with the big-league club. It’s only a matter of time before he’s back for good. Then, the conversation turns to where he plays.

Biggest managerial decision

Everything Tony Vitello does will be scrutinized under a microscope. That’s the reality of trying to go straight from NCAA baseball to the big leagues. Vitello’s players have been feeling out how he will manage the clubhouse throughout spring training, but even they admit, they don’t know what to expect in terms of in-game strategy until the games actually count. Even the Bay Area’s relatively friendly media will have a field day the first time he pulls the wrong lever or, worse, looks like he doesn’t belong.

Don’t be surprised if…

The Giants have not only one hitter with more than 30 home runs but multiple. Infamously, the organization went two decades without one player reaching the threshold until Willy Adames slugged his 30th on the final day of last season. The last Giant with 30 was Barry Bonds, in 2004. That almost sounds silly considering this year’s projected lineup features Devers, Adames, Chapman and Heliot Ramos, any of whom is capable of leaving the yard 30 times.

Sure to make fans grumble

There’s no appetite left for any of the poor fundamentals that seemed to snowball as the Giants faded from contention last season. Among National League clubs, only the Rockies committed more errors in the field. On the base paths, they generated less value than any other club besides Colorado by running into outs and missing opportunities to pick up an extra base. Any mistake will only be more magnified with a first-year manager in the dugout.

How their season will end: 88-74

Either in a heap of pitching problems or their first playoff berth since 2021. If their pitching depth holds up — and their rookie manager deploys it correctly — the Giants won’t catch the Dodgers, but they are well-positioned to take advantage of down years from the Padres and Diamondbacks. Logan Webb and Robbie Ray provide a powerful one-two punch in a hypothetical wild-card series, but the Giants probably lack the pitching to make a deep postseason run.

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Jeremy Pena will lead off tonight and play shortstop as the Houston Astros play their final exhibition game of the spring, hosting the Sugar Land Space Cowboys tonight at Daikin Park.

RHP Lance McCullers Jr., who was named the Astros fifth starter yesterday, will get the start for the Astros tonight opposite prospect RHP Miguel Ullola and the Space Cowboys.

ABOUT MCCULLERS: RHP Lance McCullers Jr. is set to make his fourth official start of the Spring season. He last pitched a week ago on March 17 at PIT, when he allowed one run on three hits and three walks in 4.0 innings.

He made his return to the mound in 2025 after missing the entire 2023 and 2024 seasons due to a right flexor tendon injury that required surgery. He worked around four IL stints in 2025 to go 2-5 with a 6.51 ERA (40ER/55.1IP) and 9.92 SO/9IP in 16 games (13 starts).

ABOUT ULLOLA: RHP Miguel Ullola (pronounced oo-YOH-lah) enters the 2026 season as one Houston’s top pitching prospects. I

In 2025, he spent his first full season in the Triple A rotation and went 7-6 with a 3.88 ERA in 28 appearances (23 starts). Among PCL starters with 100+ innings pitched, he ranked first in ERA (3.88), first in BAA (.183), first in strikeout percentage (26.6%), first in strikeout-per-nine (10.37), second in strikeouts (131) and fourth in WHIP.

PENA BACK: Jeremy Peña is scheduled for six innings and three at-bats tonight. The Astros have an optional workout tomorrow and can get Peña live at-bats there as well, Joe Espada said. (from Matt Kawahara/Houston Chronicle)

ABOUT THE SPACE COWBOYS: The Space Cowboys, who play in the Pacific Coast League, are entering their fifth year as the Astros Triple A affiliate. The Astros officially acquired the franchise (then known as the Sugar Land Skeeters) in April of 2021, and sold the franchise this offseason. After the 2021 season, the franchise rebranded and the Space Cowboys were born.

YESTERDAY’S ROSTER MOVE: Prior to yesterday’s game, the Astros optioned RHP Spencer Arrighetti to Triple A Sugar Land. Arrighetti will remain with the Astros through tonight’s game before beginning the season in Sugar Land. Arrighetti is slated to be the Astros’ sixth starter when they expand the rotation approximately April 10.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Tuesday, March 24 7:10 p.m. CST

Location: Daikin Park, Houston, TX

TV: Space City Home Network

Streaming: SCHN+

Radio: KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2; TUDN 102.9 FM

One more time.

⚾️: 7:10 PM CT
🏟️: Open 🙂
📺: @SpaceCityHN
🎙️: @SportsTalk790#ChaseTheFight x @PalmBeachesFLpic.twitter.com/eydCRKVMOg

— Houston Astros (@astros) March 24, 2026

LFG 💪

🏟️: @DaikinPark
⚾️: 7:10 PM
📺: @SpaceCityHN#Ascendpic.twitter.com/0Pu98oDWUK

— Sugar Land Space Cowboys (@SLSpaceCowboys) March 24, 2026

Opening Day is tomorrow, and the San Francisco Giants still have a handful of players they need to trim from the roster before announcing the 26-player roster. But on Tuesday, a few hours before their final exhibition game of the preseason, the Giants took a step closer to finalizing things, by optioning a quartet of right-handed pitchers to AAA Sacramento: Spencer Bivens, Trevor McDonald, Tristan Beck, and Carson Seymour. In addition to those four, outfielders Drew Gilbert and Will Brennan were also optioned.

Bivens is the most surprising name on the list, and a reminder that different coaching staffs value different players. He broke camp with the team in 2025, and spent the entirety of the season on the active roster, leading many to believe that he was a lock for this year’s bullpen. It turns out that wasn’t the case.

It would seem that his role will likely go to JT Brubaker. Last year, Bivens was more good than great (4.00 ERA, 3.70 FIP, 6.8 strikeouts per nine innings, 2.8 walks per nine innings), but amassed a lot of value due to his ability to enter in any situation and eat a lot of innings. He made 54 appearances out of the bullpen, and pitched 81 innings — a mark that ranked fourth among pitchers in the Major Leagues who didn’t make any starts.

Similarly, his Spring Training was also more good than great, and seemed to reinforce his roll as a valuable piece of bullpen depth, but not a weapon. With Tony Vitello replacing Bob Melvin, it seems the valuation of Bivens has shifted a bit, though he’ll surely still play a role this year.

As for McDonald, he had a breakout camp early on, and was certainly trending towards making the roster, especially after Hayden Birdsong went down with an injury. But after three scoreless outings to start the spring — during which time he gave up just two hits in six innings — McDonald hit a wall. In his next/final three games, he gave up 10 hits — including four home runs — and nine earned runs in just 5.2 innings, culminating in a Spring Training finale in which he was unable to complete an inning. So back to the Minors he goes, where he’ll prepare to rejoin the squad, perhaps in a relief role, or perhaps as a the next man up in the rotation.

For Seymour, his optioning was a little less surprising. The power righty showed some really nice things this spring, en route to a 2.92 ERA and a 3.74 FIP, but he never felt in very strong consideration for a bullpen job, and his fate was likely sealed during Monday’s exhibition win, in which he gave up four hits and two runs in an inning of work. But like Bivens and McDonald, we can expect to see Seymour in the Majors plenty this year.

Beck’s optioning was also not surprising. He struggled a bit last year, with a 4.75 ERA and a 6.11 FIP, and didn’t look sharp during Cactus League. He was strong in an inning of work on Monday night, though, and is valuable depth who could be called upon during the season.

Seymour and Bivens both have two option years remaining, while McDonald and Beck have only one.

As for the outfielders, there’s nothing surprising there. Gilbert seemed like a favorite to land the fourth outfielder role when Spring Training began, but he was hampered by a shoulder injury, and never found his rhythm when he returned, hitting just .265/.324/.324. Brennan impressed, but it became apparent over the last week than NRI Jared Oliva had surpassed him on the depth chart. Both players will be everyday outfielders in Sacramento, and will surely provide depth at the Major League level at some point in the season. Brennan has two option years remaining, while the ever-exuberant Gilbert still has all three.

Notably, with Gilbert, Brennan, and Grant McCray optioned, the Giants have committed to not having a left-handed player off the bench. The only outfielders left in camp (save for the starters) are righties Oliva, Luis Matos, and Jerar Encarnación. It would appear that those three are fighting for two spots, which would finalize the bench. That’s assuming that both infielders left in camp — Casey Schmitt and Christian Koss — make the roster, and that Daniel Susac beats out Eric Haase for the backup catcher role.

With these six cuts, the Giants are now down to 33 players in camp, though that number is functionally 31, as Reiver Sanmartin and Sam Hentges will be added to the Injured List soon. Five other players will need to be optioned, reassigned, placed on the IL, or waived between now and Wednesday morning.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The season of Howie Rose, who is saying his goodbye at the mic, also will be the season of Davey Johnson.

The Mets will wear a memorial “Davey” patch on the sleeve of their uniforms this season, they announced Tuesday, after Johnson died in September at 82.

Johnson’s final out of the 1969 World Series clinched the Mets’ first championship, and he then guided the Mets to their next and most recent title as manager in 1986.

He is the winningest skipper in franchise history (595), owns the best winning percentage (.588) and kept a steady hand from 1984-90, when his Mets clubs averaged more than 95 wins per season.

“Davey was a bold manager who led with a quiet confidence and an unwavering belief in his team,” Mets owners Steve and Alex Cohen said in a statement. “He cared deeply for his players both on and off the field. Some of the greatest players in our team history credit him for their successes.

“In the 40th anniversary of the 1986 championship, this is a fitting tribute to the man who guided the team to that title.”

Johnson’s family will be around for Thursday’s season opener at Citi Field and take part in the ceremonial first pitch.

His widow, Susan, will escort Johnson’s stepson, Jeremiah Allen, and grandson, Kai Casebolt, to the mound.

Darryl Strawberry and Mookie Wilson, key members of the ’86 Mets, will catch the first pitches.

Just when you thought Joey Votto had retired to a quiet beach somewhere, content to read Verne and Hiaasen and learn four new languages, he has popped back up on the radar of the Cincinnati Reds once again.

In typical Votto fashion, he did so with brilliant, understated style. According to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon, he gifted the Reds a custom made Verdin clock that was installed outside Great American Ball Park, a ‘thank you to the club for his 22 years in the organization.’

Not only is it the absolute perfect addition from a guy like Joey, but locals obviously know that the Verdin Company has been a Cincinnati stalwart dating back to 1842. Joey himself sent a message along with the clock, which the Reds relayed to the masses on Twitter.

To: Cincinnati

From: @JoeyVottopic.twitter.com/hB9WhX1PPs

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) March 24, 2026

The man deserves a statue, a spot in the team’s Hall of Fame, a number retired, and a spot in Cooperstown as a first ballot Hall of Famer. He’s truly one of the absolute gems of the sport, and we were all lucky to have been able to follow him so closely for so long.

Thanks, Joey!

Switch-hitting outfielder Wenceel Pérez entered camp this spring needing to make a strong case for an Opening Day outfield slot. He failed to do so, putting up ugly numbers all spring. Yet even in the final game of spring camp, he launched a pair of home runs, including one at 108.5 mph, illustrating why he still has a role on the 40-man roster and could prove more important to the Tigers chances this spring that it might appear at the moment.

While Matt Vierling returned from an injury plagued 2025 season and raked all through camp, and Parker Meadows caught fire in recent weeks, the 26-year-old Pérez floundered. For an established player that doesn’t matter, but with Pérez, Meadows, and Vierling all pretty evenly matched, it left him the odd man out to start the season. Even so, the Tigers are probably going to need him this season, and while his overall profile isn’t likely to change much at his age, there are still elements in his game that could use a little polish, and doing so would seriously increase his chances of helping the Tigers in 2026.

Pérez is a career .243/.304/.405 hitter across parts of two seasons and 808 total plate appearances. That’s essentially league average. Job number one is just to become a little more selective at the plate. Profiling as a contact and speed guy, Pérez has struck out just a bit too much, at a 22.2 percent rate for his career, and walked 7.8 percent of the time. Those numbers are basically league average, but because he’s not really built to hit 25 homers a year, he’s got to do a little better job just getting on base. The simplest way is to do a bit better job waiting for his pitch early in counts. He’s shown a tendency to slash at the first pitch he can reach, and as a result, he puts the ball in play a good amount, but doesn’t make as much hard contact as he should.

His 30.4 percent chase rate tells the tale of his discipline, while his better than average 9.9 percent whiff rate on swings speaks to his good hands and compact swing. He got a little free swinging last year, and while that led him to some modest power gains he’d like to retain, his game at the plate still needs to be balanced around contact, walks, and just slightly better swing decisions.

Even so, Pérez has a career 98 wRC+ compared to Parker Meadows’ 94 wRC+ mark. Pérez has matched him as a hitter, and has overall been more consistent as well, while Meadows erratic performance features wilder hot and cold stretches. Where Meadows has him is defensively, and that’s an area that hopefully Pérez will continue to get chances to work on in Toledo. Max Clark will presumably play CF most days, and Trei Cruz might fight for some of those reps, but Clark needs to work in RF some as well to improve his versatility. On those days it would be great if Pérez got the CF reps. He didn’t play there that much in the minor leagues, converting almost directly from second base in the minors to becoming a major league outfielder to get his bat and speed on the roster. While Pérez consistently grades out above average in right field, getting used to having to read the curve of the baseball off the bat in center field is a different beast. If he can get some more time out there in Triple-A, it would be good for him, and good for the Tigers should Meadows fall on his face at the plate.

That leads us to the final point, which is that Pérez should be running aggressively in Toledo, trying to improve his reads and jumps off of pitchers at the Triple-A level. He appeared in 100 games in 2025, but he only stole 8 bases. Pérez has certainly lost a step since his days as a skinny, slap-hitting prospect. Adding the muscle that makes him a 15-20 HR threat presumably came with a trade-off. Pérez and Colt Keith both grade out with the same Statcast sprint speed, just modestly better than average. However, Pérez naturally gets better jumps and has a good deal more base stealing experience. He averaged about 20 steals a year through most of his minor league career. If he can work on this and get back to being a little more of a stolen base threat, that would also add another boost to his game.

Pérez has proven better than Meadows so far, though the margins are slim, as a hitter. It’s Meadows edge as a plus center fielder and a little more of a stolen base threat that keeps Pérez in second fiddle position. Hopefully, rather than being disappointed for too long, the 26-year-old continues to work on the finer points of his game under manager Gabe Alvarez.

In the long run, Max Clark is coming to take over. His debut is likely to come in June or July as needed. Meadows himself needs to get it in gear this season or he might end permanently relegated to defensive specialist mode. Pérez’s better contact ability gives him an element Meadows lacks, even as Meadows defensive superiority keeps Pérez in Toledo for now. Both are reaching a point in their career where they need to clean things up and play a more consistent, bankable brand of ball to remain viable as full-time major league players.

With one option remaining after this year, Pérez doesn’t need some breakthrough, but if he can make some subtle improvements, he’s more likely to impress in whatever time he earns this year. Meadows’ defense will always give him that edge, but should he fail at the plate, Pérez could still prove an important player for the Tigers by filling the gap from Meadows to Clark by playing a mix of center field and right field. With an injury prone Kerry Carpenter on the roster, and Mesdows still a big question mark at the plate, odds are good that the Tigers will need them some Wenceel Pérez this year.

At this point, Pérez is too old for his underlying skills to improve much, but he has plenty to work with already. The trick is squeezing every last bit of production out of his tools. A league average switch-hitter, with some power, some stolen base ability, and the chops to play an average center field is a pretty polished profile if he can improve his routes, steal a few more bags, and show just a little more discipline at the plate. Those are small asks individually, but tougher as a group. Maybe his time in the organization runs out this year, and maybe not, but if he takes the demotion as a challenge and can make some subtle gains, there are going to be a lot of teams around the league interested in his services. Hopefully Pérez is up the challenge, because there’s still a path to a long career as a major league outfielder there for the taking.

Spring training is over! The Yankees wrapped up the exhibition portion of their season with a big win over the Cubs down in Arizona — 8-3 is your final. Let’s talk about it so we can turn our attention to the stuff that will matter in pursuit of #28.

Gerrit Cole had a power pitcher’s outing today, striking out Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch to start the game, Alex Bregman took him deep, and then sitting down Ian Happ to end the first inning. He would get two outs in the second before being replaced by Harrison Cohen (???), for a total of 26 pitches, 17 of them strikes, a crisp 65 percent strike rate.

While we don’t have video of his outing, Statcast still tracks nontelevised games. Cole was red hot in the first, sitting 96mph and getting it up to 98, before taking a little off in the second and sitting 94-95. I said in the gamethread that this phase of Cole’s rehab is built around balancing his velocity and command, and I think that’s reflected in how he approached his start today. The first inning was proof positive that his fastball can still pop, which is encouraging to see given how hard he was throwing in his first Grapefruit League game last week. The second inning was briefer — just four pitches — but the pitch plots and tick down in velocity indicates to me he was trying to locate better, and two outs off contact help show that side of his recovery seems to be going well.

The Yankees got that Bregman dinger back quickly, with Jasson Domínguez appearing eager to win back a roster spot on the big-league team. The Martian singled to lead off the second, stole a base, advanced on a groundout and came home on Ryan McMahon’s sac fly, a nice bit of Big Fundamental baseball and a hustle run that will help him get more MLB time at some point in 2026. Domínguez followed that up a couple innings later with a more traditional source of offense, as he and Randal Grichuk hit back-to-back solo shots in the fourth.

Ben Rice had given the club the lead an inning earlier, blasting his second home run of spring in a highlight that probably would have been cool to see. With just a .771 OPS Rice hasn’t had the best results in Grapefruit League play, but he’s still one of the players I’m most looking forward to watching when the games count for real.

Four-slot in the rotation Ryan Weathers also had himself a decent enough day, working five innings and allowing just a solo home run to Miguel Amaya. Weathers managed four strikeouts over that stretch, and after a bit of a rough patch in camp, he ended exhibition play on a high note and we can be reasonably optimistic that this four-man rotation to open the year will be able to hold up.

Reliable bench option Amed Rosario added on to the lead, driving in a pair of runs in the sixth on the back of two Duke Ellis stolen bases. This is the last time I’ll have to give spring training caveats for an entire year, but it does feel as though the Yankees, at the MLB level and within the org, present more threats on the bases than we’ve seen in years past. Spencer Jones also swiped a bag, his fourth of camp. Rosario himself was brought around on an RBI double off Paul DeJong’s bat.

The boys in the dugout now go their separate ways, some heading to San Francisco, some Scranton or Somerset or Tampa. The real work begins tomorrow, and we’ll have plenty of coverage ahead of Opening Day against the Giants — remember, first pitch is at 8:05pm Eastern, exclusively on Netflix.

Box Score

The Cubs’ final spring training game was a clunker, an 8-3 loss to the Yankees at Sloan Park. So this is going to be a very short game recap, as the team’s focus turns to the 2026 season opener Thursday at Wrigley Field.

The Cubs scored both of their runs on solo homers.

Alex Bregman homered in the first [VIDEO].

That was Bregman’s fourth of the spring and his second in as many days. Of course, spring stuff doesn’t usually carry over to the season, but let’s hope Bregman hits the ground running beginning Thursday.

Miguel Amaya also hit a solo blast, in the fifth [VIDEO].

Personally, I think Amaya is ready to have a breakout year, presuming he can stay healthy. That would be a huge bat to have, along with his good defense.

Edward Cabrera started this one, his final tuneup of the spring. It wasn’t a great outing, as he served up three home runs to Yankees hitters over 4.1 innings. Ben Rice took Cabrera deep twice. Hopefully this is just a one-off and Cabrera will also hit the proverbial ground running, whenever his first start is (I suspect it will be against the Angels in the season’s second series). Here’s more on Cabrera’s outing [VIDEO].

All the starting players in this game had a couple of at-bats and then left for the late afternoon flight to Chicago.

Attendance watch: 13,880 attended this afternoon’s final spring game of 2026 at Sloan Park. The Cubs again led the Cactus League in attendance, with the season total at 239,459, or 13,303 per date.

The Cubs open the 2026 season Thursday at Wrigley Field against the Washington Nationals. Matthew Boyd will take the mound for the Cubs, his third Opening Day start (also twice with the Tigers) and Cade Cavalli will go for the Nats. Game time is 1:20 p.m. CT, TV coverage is via Marquee Sports Network… and the temperature is forecast to be in the 70s!

Go Cubs. Play ball!

The Yankees socked three home runs, including a long drive by Jasson Dominguez, and GerritCole struck out three as New York scored an 8-3 win over the Chicago Cubs in Mesa, Arizona, in the final game of spring training on the eve of Opening Day.

Here are the takeaways...

- Cole got another turn in the spring as he continued his rehab from Tommy John, with May as his target return date. And the right-hander looked good to start, getting the first two batters on 97 mph heaters at the knees, first Pete Crow-Armstrong swinging and Michael Busch looking.

With two down, Alex Bregman got a 1-0 sinker at the bottom of the zone and launched it 413 feet to center for a home run. Facing a third lefty in the inning, Cole got a familiar result, with a 97 mph 3-2 fastball on the inside corner freezing Ian Happ to strike out the side.

Cody Bellinger made a nice play in the gap to give Cole an out to start the top of the second on a ball off Nico Hoerner's bat. The Yanks' ace allowed another hard-hit ball on a hanging knuckle-curveball as left fielder Dominguez ran down a sharp liner (105.2 mph off the bat) from Dansby Swanson. That was the end of the day for Cole after two pitches found the middle of the zone and were hit well, his final line: 1.2 innings allowing just the one run on the homer with three strikeouts on 26 pitches (17 strikes).

- Dominguez, who will begin the season at Triple-A, opened the top of the second by cracking a sharply hit single to left (105.2 mph). He didn’t stay at first for long, swiping second with a head-first dive and came around to score two batters later. 

In the fourth, Dominguez got a slider on the inner-half of the plate and turned on it for a 434-foot homer to right, just clobbering it 109.1 mph. He grounded into a fielder’s choice and was caught trying to steal second in the fifth. The left fielder finished 2-for-4. 

- Randal Grichuk, likely the final man on the Opening Day roster, made it back-to-back homers to start the fourth, driving a 2-1 fastball deep to center field for his first home run of spring. He went 1-for-2 with a walk in his final time up in the sixth.

- Ben Rice got the green light on a 3-0 pitch in his second at-bat and smashed the center-cut 97 mph fastball 431 feet to center field off Chicago starter Edward Cabera. The ball was just tattooed, 111.4 mph off the bat, and was a no-doubter. The first baseman finished 1-for-2.

- Bellinger, after going down swinging on three pitches in his first at-bat, singled up the middle on a sharply hit ball (106.9 mph) in the third, finishing 1-for-2.

- Ryan McMahon had a sac fly to right to score the Yanks' first run in the second. He lined out on a sharply hit ball (110.1 mph) to center his second time up, finishing 0-for-2 with a strikeout swinging on a slider in the sixth.

- J.C. Escarra ripped a two-out triple with a smashed liner (112.2 mph) off the first baseman's glove in the fourth. The catcher went 1-for-4 with a strikeout swinging. 

- Spencer Jones, who will also begin the season at Triple-A, worked a walk, stole second, and came around to score on minor league catcher Payton Henry’s single to right with one out in the fifth. The big outfielder went hitless in his next two times up.

- Amed Rosario added a two-RBI single to right, going with a pitch for a two-out single in the sixth. He went 1-for-3 with a hard-luck lineout in his first at-bat.

- Some other notable Yanks: Jazz Chisholm Jr. went 0-for-1 with a walk, Paul Goldschmidt went 0-for-2 with a strikeout swinging, and Jose Caballero went 0-for-2 with a strikeout swinging.

- Out of the bullpen: After Harrison Cohen got Moises Ballesteros looking to end the second, Ryan Weathers put two men on in the home half of the third with a one-out double and a two-out walk, but kept the Cubs off the board. The left-hander had a 1-2-3 fourth, but got tagged for the longest homer of the day, 446 feet by Miguel Amaya, on an over-the-plate slider in the fifth.

Weathers, facing Cubs minor leaguers, retired six straight after the home run with two strikeouts before a one-out single in the seventh. His final line: 5.0 innings, one run on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts on 80 pitches (57 strikes).

What's next

They count for real beginning tomorrow as the Yankees open the 2026 MLB season in San Francisco. Left-hander Max Fried gets the Opening Day start and will face off with Giants righty Logan Webb. First pitch is set for 8:05 p.m. ET.

After 32 exhibition games over the last five and a half weeks, things get real on Thursday for the Dodgers, who host the Arizona Diamondbacks on opening day at Dodger Stadium.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto starts for the second straight opening day for the Dodgers. He joins Sandy Koufax as the only Dodgers to throw the final pitch of a championship followed by the first pitch the next season.

Zac Gallen starts for the Diamondbacks.

Los Angeles stalwart Keith Williams Jr. will sing the national anthem on Thursday, and Magic Johnson will throw the ceremonial first pitch. The opening ceremonies start at 4:45 p.m., and will include traditional opening day player introductions, plus the raising of the championship flag and 2025 World Series emblem at the stadium.

NBC will exclusively televise this game, with streaming on Peacock. Clayton Kershaw, in his new role as television studio analyst for NBC, will be on-site with Bob Costas for the NBC pregame show, which begins at 5 p.m.

Thursday game info

• Teams: Dodgers vs. Diamondbacks
• Ballpark: Dodger Stadium
• Time: 5:30 p.m.
• TV: NBC (Jason Benetti, Orel Hershiser, Luis González)
• Streaming: Peacock
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

MESA, AZ — The Chicago Cubs and outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong have agreed to a six-year, $115 million contract extension, a person with direct knowledge of the deal told USA TODAY Sports, with a press conference scheduled for later this week in Chicago.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the team has not yet announced the deal.

The contract extension begins in 2027 and takes Crow-Armstrong through the 2032 season — two years past his original free agent date. The deal includes no option years, enabling Crow-Armstrong to still hit free agency again at the age of 30. It also includes contract escalators that could make the deal worth as much as $133 million.

It’s the largest contract with no club options for a player with five or more years of control at the time of the signing, ranking among the top three contracts for a player not surrendering team control past the age of 30.

While Crow-Armstrong will still earn $894,000 in 2026, the Cubs have spent $347 million this winter, the most by any team in baseball.

“Look, young, very talented players, you want them to be in your franchise for a long time,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said Tuesday morning. “I think that’s every franchise’s goal.”

Crow-Armstrong, who turns 24 on Wednesday, is certainly the Cubs’ most electrifying player and has been a fan favorite since his arrival from the New York Mets. He became the fastest player in Cubs’ history to reach 30 home runs and steal 30 bases last season, finishing with 31 homers, 37 doubles, 35 stolen bases and 95 RBI.

“He plays with an energy that the fans really appreciate,’’ Cubs veteran Ian Happ told reporters Tuesday outside the clubhouse. “Major League Baseball is like, ‘What do the fans want? They want more stolen bases. More triples. Highlight plays.’ He is everything that the fans want and that the fans enjoy watching. He feeds into that with the energy that he plays with on the field.

“It’s been really easy coming up as a top prospect for the fans to fall in love with him. Obviously, he loves Chicago and has really embraced that part of it.”

Crow-Armstrong, who earned an All-Star berth last summer, has emerged as one of the game’s brightest young stars, and perhaps the finest defensive center fielder in the National League. He was on an MVP-pace in the first half last season, hitting .265 with 25 home runs and 27 stolen bases, but tailed off the second half, hitting just .216 with six homers and eight steals.

“Pete is an incredibly entertaining player,’’ Counsell said. “That's a kind of a gift that he has. And you know he's, he's an emotional player. That's great for fans, but as long as fans can understand you're going to get the good and the bad with that. It’s not always the hip-hip hooray stuff, and that's part of it. I love that, and I think fans love it, too. It's just who Pete is.

“He's not trying to put on an act. Players have to be themselves, and a different player it wouldn’t work for, but it’s how Pete needs to play. One of the things I really hope for Pete is that the emotion that he plays with, he harnesses it a little in some better directions at times. But it’s always evident to the fans. I think it's a great thing, and it's a wonderful thing to watch. It really is.’’

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This story has been updated with new information.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pete Crow-Armstrong contract extension for Cubs' phenomenal PCA

ESPN makes bold prediction about Giants ace Logan Webb for 2026 MLB season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Logan Webb always is in the picture for most innings pitched at the end of the year, but wins have been another story.

ESPN’s David Schoenfield weighed in on what the Giants can expect from Webb entering his eighth MLB season, all with San Francisco.

“It’s not bold to predict that Logan Webb will lead the National League in innings pitched,” Schoenfield wrote in a piece published Tuesday. “He has done that three seasons in a row.”

Logan Webb exits to an ovation 🙌

He will finish 2025 leading MLB in innings pitched and the NL in strikeouts pic.twitter.com/ZNuAc4G6RN

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 28, 2025

Webb barely had the edge on Garrett Crochet last season for innings pitched in the entire league with 207.1.

“The last pitcher to lead his league four consecutive seasons was Greg Maddux,” Schoenfield continued. “He did it five years in a row from 1991 to 1995. Before Maddux’s run, Robin Roberts was the last to do it from 1951 to 1955.”

Webb has been the ace in San Francisco for years now and has gained the respect of everyone in the clubhouse, from teammates to coaches. Schoenfield had a hot take that could age well when it’s all said and done this season.

“Let’s up the ante, though,” Schoenfield continued. “Webb also gets more run support than he’s used to and leads the NL with 18 wins — the first Giants pitcher to top the circuit since John Burkett tied with Tom Glavine in 1993 with 22 wins.”

Freddy Peralta led the NL in wins last season with 17, but Webb wasn’t too far behind. Going 15-11 last season, the run support for the Rocklin native was less than expected.

With the additions of Harrison Bader, Luis Arráez, and a full season with Rafael Devers, the Giants are expected to make a leap offensively this season.

If Webb is on the mound when the offense is clicking, 18 wins is an extremely attainable goal.

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