Category: MLB

Good morning! The Red Sox have a new infielder. And, uh, he’s not exactly one to get all that excited about.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa is a perfectly good backup to have on your team. He plays three positions in the infield and plays them all well — possibly better than anyone else currently on the Red Sox if you’re not yet convinced of Marcelo Mayer’s glove (though I am). He makes contact and doesn’t strike out much. He’s right-handed, which is important for this Red Sox team. He’s a perfectly cromulent backup, is what I’m saying.

But where the worry creeps in is in the possibility that he doesn’t end up being a backup on the Red Sox. Six million dollars is in no way a lot of money for the Boston Red Sox, a team that finds all kinds of ways (both benign and not so benign) to print money — but it’s a curious amount to give to a backup who is only a marginal upgrade over the backups that are currently in-house. Are the Sox envisaging something of an everday role for IKF? And even if they’re not, will he end up playing essentially every day anyway, given the injury risks on the left side of the Red Sox infield?

How do you see this infield situation shaking out this year?

Talk about that, whatever else you want, and, as always, be good to one another.

THIS IS A GUEST ROCKPILE BY ZEKE PEREZ JR

Since the departure of Charlie Blackmon, the Colorado Rockies have been without a face of the franchise. Sadly, the team also lacks a face for just about every position on the field.

Looking at the most common players by game at each position over the last decade, six different positions have had six different starters across that span. In recent history, the revolving door has continued across four of those positions (catcher, second base, left field, and right field), where the team has utilized three different starters over as many years.

Paul DePodesta has made it clear that developing a team identity is a priority for the 2026 season. Barring injuries or trades, core pieces like Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar will continue to anchor their respective positions and make life a little easier for the new president. Across the rest of the lineup, he’ll look to evaluate solutions to the perpetual thorns in the Rockies’ side, both for 2026 and beyond.

Where They’re Set

Aside from center field and shortstop (the only two positions returning the same starter for a fourth consecutive year), the Rox might be closest to crossing catcher off their list of needs.

• Things are feeling a little steadier behind the plate with Hunter Goodman taking on the role, starting 97 games as catcher last year. He made some big strides, especially offensively, pacing the team in hits, doubles, homers, batting average and RBI on his way to securing his first Silver Slugger. His 3.7 rWAR is also the highest the Rockies have seen at the position since Iannetta’s 3.1 in 2011.

Where They’re Shaky

Michael Toglia and Ryan McMahon had first base and third base, respectively, covered in recent years, albeit with varying success. With Toglia being designated for assignment this winter and McMahon traded to the Bronx last July, the Rockies will have to look elsewhere.

• Toglia was a solid power contributor in 2024 (25 HR, 2.2 rWAR) but had a fall from grace after struggling in 2025 with a negative rWAR, a .190 batting average and a top 5 finish in strikeouts. The Rockies recently claimed Troy Johnston off of waivers and could use him as a bridge while top prospect Charlie Condon grows into the role at first.

• Kyle Karros will look to pick up where he left off after the McMahon deal and get the bulk of the reps at third. In 43 games in the bigs last year, Karros had a slash line of .226/.308/.277. McMahon left big shoes to fill, and Karros will need to continue to grow into them offensively to be the long-term option.

Where They’re Desperate

Left and right field are where things devolve into a very unfunny version of “Who’s on First?”

The organization was stockpiling a surplus of outfielders across drafts, but some of these promising prospects have floundered and are no longer in the pipeline (or with the organization). Luckily, there’s a good bit of potential waiting in the wings to be explored, as Jordan Beck continues to develop, and Zac Veen (No. 7 mid-season PuRP) and Cole Carrigg (No. 6 mid-season PuRP) look to climb into the platoon.

• Right field has been tough to crack. Beyond the Kris Bryant problem, the spot has seen prospects stall and veterans dip in production. It felt like Veen might finally get the bulk of playing time in 2025, but he struggled in his time in the majors, batting just .118 over 12 games. As he tries to rebound, Mickey Moniak is set to be the frontrunner for 2026. Moniak didn’t quite live up to his ceiling last year but still had a better on-base percentage (.270) than most of the roster. The team was impressed enough to bring him back on a one-year contract. Even as other prospects climb the ranks, Moniak should command a share of the games and could flourish as a fourth outfielder in the rotation as things move on, at the very least.

What’s Ahead

The Rockies’ future obviously won’t come to fruition in the 2026 season alone. There are too many holes to fill after years of roster churn and failed prospects.

After clearing house of several early round draft picks, the new leadership has made it clear that they are looking to identify which players are worth building around.

Colorado won’t be securing its first divisional crown anytime soon, but if the Rox can leave the season with fewer positional question marks, clearer pathways for prospects and their development, and a few emerging everyday players, it will feel like the franchise’s prolonged rebuild will have a meaningful direction.

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Colorado Rockies News

Yankees claim OF Yanquiel Fernandez off waivers from Rockies | Yahoo! Sports

Continuing a trend of bringing in former Rockies, New York claimed Fernandez off waivers. The 23-year-old Fernandez will look to turn the page in a new setting after slashing .225/.265/.348 in 52 game appearances with Colorado. The Yankees designated pitcher Dom Hamel for assignment to clear space for Fernandez on the 40-man roster.

Former MLB catcher Cancel to manage Double-A Hartford | MLB.com  

Down on the farm, the Yard Goats are getting a new skipper. Former New York Mets catcher Robinson Cancel was announced as the team’s manager, taking over for Bobby Meacham (2024-2025). Cancel has been a coach within the Rockies system for almost a decade, including as manager for the High-A Spokane Indians (2023-2025) and for the Single-A Fresno Grizzlies (2021-2022).

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On Wednesday, the Detroit Tigers made the biggest addition of the Scott Harris era. After a pretty quiet offseason that drew a ton of frustration from the fanbase, they made one of the biggest moves of the offseason by signing left-handed free agent starter to a three year deal worth $115 million. Valdez will have the ability to opt out after the second year, giving him some freedom to pursue his next deal in the 2027-2028 offseason, after the next CBA is completed.

This is a huge move for the Tigers and it came right out of the blue on Wednesday evening. Valdez elevates the Tigers from a slightly above average team into a good one with a much more durable pitching staff, whose playoff odds will skyrocket after this move. The Tigers are instantly two wins better, and possibly more as the cascading effect of pushing starters into the bullpen adds up over the course of the season. Maybe more to the point, this is a move designed to make the Tigers better in October and beyond as well.

For four years straight, Valdez has ranked as one of the top 15 pitchers in baseball. His durability, command, and high ground ball rates enable him to eat up innings, prevent home runs, and generally make it very difficult for teams to drop a big number on him. Not only is he rocking a clean 3.21 ERA and 3.29 FIP combination in that timespan, he’s also averaging over six innings per start, which isn’t so easy to find these days. Valdez is going to be a godsend to A.J. Hinch as he can deploy his bullpen aggressively knowing he’s got Skubal and Valdez to keep them more rested on their start days.

Season	IP	ERA	FIP	K%	BB%	HR/9	fWAR
2022	201.1	2.82	3.06	23.5	8.1	0.49	4.4
2023	198.0	3.45	3.5	24.8	7.1	0.86	4.4
2024	176.1	2.91	3.25	24.0	7.8	0.66	3.7
2025	192.0	3.66	3.37	23.3	8.5	0.70	4.0

Valdez has averaged roughly 60 percent ground balls over that four year span. Typically he keeps opponents’ line drive rates low as well, making it very tough for them to do any major damage. Beyond the batted ball table, his walk rates are average, so even when he does give up homers or extra base hits, he isn’t hurting himself much by putting people on base to be driven in either.

Valdez hasn’t been too victimized by the Crawford Boxes in Houston. It’s possible Comerica Park would have held a couple of home runs in 2025, but the difference isn’t that significant. Below is a chart of all Valdez’s fly balls allowed, with Comerica Park’s dimensions overlaid. One or two balls may heve left Comerica that Minute Maid Park held in play. So it probably balances out. Valdez only allowed 15 home runs across 31 starts in 2025 anyway.

Valdez’s strikeout rates need to hold up

If there’s a question mark with Valdez, it’s whether he can continue to strike out an above average amount of hitters. His strikeout rates have dipped a little bit each year since his peak in 2023. His command and the consistency of his sinker say that walks and homers aren’t going to be an issue and he should be able to sustain his performance into his mid-30’s in both respects. The question is whether the whiffs will hold up or whether hitters will start putting the ball in play a little more in the years ahead. He doesn’t feature the nasty slider or splitter, nor the high 90’s gas that typically leads to huge whiff rates.

Bolstering the strikeout argument is the steadiness of his whiff rates over the past four years. He’s posted whiff rates of 11.3, 11.6, 11.4, and 11.5 percent over those seasons. So there’s no sign of a falloff. More importantly, his whiffs come from the curveball and the changeup. So the moderate decline in fastball velocity since his peak isn’t really involved there too much. The curveball drew a whopping 43.7 percent whiff rate in 2025, while the changeup was at 28.7 percent, which is solid. He will mix in the odd slider as well, but while that pitch has at times been effective, he’s really relegated it to a rarely thrown fourth pitch over the last two seasons.

Valdez leads with his sinker, which he typically used 45 percent of the time. He averaged 93.7 mph with it in 2025, which is still pretty good gas for a lefty starter, but pedestrian compared to the league’s starters overall. His second most used offering is his curveball, which he threw 33 percent of the time in 2025. The 79-80 mph breaker has good depth and can add tilt to it and vary the break against hitters of either hand, but it’s his main secondary weapon against lefties. He’ll mix in the more average changeup against right-handed hitters.

His peak sinker velocity was 95.7 mph in 2023. The past two seasons that’s dipped to 94.5 mph in 2024 and 93.7 mph in 2025. That’s not an ideal trend, but again, it hasn’t impacted his underlying performance. He gives up plenty of hard contact against it, but hardly any of it is in the air and it’s not the pitch he racks up his whiffs against in the first place. The sinker only accounts for 12-14 percent of his whiffs in recent years, so as long as he’s keeping the ball on the ground with it and surpressing home runs, the whole package looks very sustainable.

The movement profiles on the sinker, curveball, and changeup have all remained steady over the past few years as well. So short of an injury or some real disaster in terms of his stuff, the results should continue to be very good.

Advantages and disadvantages in moving to Detroit

While I don’t think the change in ballparks is going to have much of an effect based on the spray charts up above, pitching in a little cold weather in the spring is probably to his advantage. Hitters hate a nasty sinkerballer in cold weather and Valdez is outstanding in terms of setting hitters up and jamming them with sinkers that numb hands and get beaten into the ground. The rare one that gets lifted may be smothered a bit by the cold weather early in the year. So, I wouldn’t expect Valdez to be better in Comerica Park, but it is a factor that could help him early on as long as he’s as comfortable throwing in colder weather as hitters are uncomfortable hitting in it.

While we’re big fans of the Tigers’ coaching staff, Houston is typically well coached on the pitching side. It’s doubtful that Chris Fetter and Robin Lund are going to squeeze much extra out of Valdez that the Astros didn’t get to. However, he will get a major upgrade in catchers going from Victor Caratini and a cast of depth catchers to Dillon Dingler and Jake Rogers. Valdez thrives by pounding the bottom edges of the zone for strikes and weak contact, and Dingler in particular got a lot better at getting low strikes over the past two years. The catching upgrade in Detroit is going to be good for Framber Valdez.

The big fly in the ointment is that the Tigers infield isn’t as good as defensively. DRS says the difference isn’t that great, but per Outs Above Average via Statcast, the Astros infield collected 38 more OAA than the Tigers did last year. There really are no signs of a defensive upgrade coming for the Tigers either. Until some of the kids arrive, they’re basically running back the same infield. Gleyber Torres played through a hernia for two months, so perhaps his defensive numbers will rebound somewhat, but they also played Zach McKinstry a lot at third base. If Colt Keith plays a lot more third base and McKinstry is at shortstop, things could look worse rather than better. The imminent arrival of Kevin McGonigle isn’t going to change that equation a whole lot unless he’s playing second base. Either way, Valdez is probably going to give up a few more hits over the course of the season than he did with the Astros infield behind him.

All around, there are advantages in pitching for the Tigers for Valdez, but most of them may be negated by worse infield play. The Tigers are really just looking for the same results for two or three years, however, and on that front things look pretty positive. He should have no trouble giving the Tigers 3.0-4.0 fWAR seasons unless a real physical breakdown occurs. Valdez keeps himself in shape and is pretty ferociously competitive and hard-working by reputation, with some chip on his shoulder, but it’s all the luck of the draw where pitcher injuries are concerned.

Putting Valdez into the Tigers rotation alongside Tarik Skubal gives them a case to have the best 1-2 punch and perhaps the best starting rotation in all of baseball. It improves their bullpen and their pitching depth for 2025 by pushing guys like Troy Melton, Drew Anderson, and Keider Montero to the pen until they’re needed to fill in a rotation spot. Valdez also offers the Tigers a good starting pitcher to keep leading the way beyond 2026 once Tarik Skubal presumably departs in free agency.

The 2026 Detroit Tigers now look like more of a force to be reckoned with in the American League and hopefully deep into October. They aren’t a powerhouse yet but they project like a good team and perhaps the class of the AL If they get some help from their top prospects by season’s end, and have a successful trade deadline, they may even be a problem for the mighty Los Angeles Dodgers. For now, it’s just great to see more serious commitment from ownership and the front office to try to win right now, while developing post-Skubal contingencies at the same time.

Spring training is approaching fast, and with it the storylines for the 2026 Philadelphia Phillies season are starting to form. One of the predominant ones so far is the impending influx of youth that is due to make its way to the Major League roster from the farm. It’s something the Phillies haven’t seen in quite some time, so it will no doubt be one of the biggest themes of the spring.

One of those youths to be leading the movement is Justin Crawford. It is widely expected, and the team has almost confirmed as much by their words and their actions, that Crawford will be the team’s everyday starting center fielder when camp breaks in late March. It will likely be a highly anticipated debut, as calls for Crawford’s promotion reached a fever pitch last year before the team acquired Harrison Bader in a deadline trade with the Minnesota Twins.

Recent prospect rankings all have Crawford sitting somewhere among the top 50 to 60 prospects in baseball and among the top for outfielders. He has performed well at every level in the Minor Leagues, capped off with his 2025 season at Triple-A where he hit .334 with an .863 OPS across 112 games. But as you’re no doubt aware by now, he has some flaws that include a high groundball rate and a very “work-in-progress” look in center field.

Nevertheless, Crawford figures to get plenty of chances to prove himself at the Major League level in 2026. As mentioned before, he projects to start in center field and likely bat ninth in the Phillies lineup. If he can get on base with any sort of consistency, he could be a major run scoring factor with his speed on the bases ahead of the top of the order.

FanGraphs’ ZIPS projection for Crawford in 2026 is a .286/.337/.390 batting line with 1.5 WAR. If we use that as a baseline, what are your realistic expectations for Justin Crawford in 2026? Will he outperform those projections or underperform? Will he take the starting CF job and run with it, or will he struggle out of the gate? What’s your prediction for a final batting line?

We are launching a new daily article here at South Side Sox, more prominently than our items that pop up on The Feed. It falls under the category of White Sox Discussions, which you’ll see in a few weeks will also be our new branding for Game Threads.

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Our Discussion series continues by addressing those individuals we refuse to let go of. Numbers are supposed to be the final word in baseball — the cold, hard truth of a player’s worth. But any Sox fan knows that a stat sheet can’t measure the way a player carries himself in the dugout or the way a coach stands up for his guys in a postgame presser. We all have that one name: The player whose batting average we ignore, or the manager whose questionable bullpen moves we excuse, simply because of the grit, heart, or swagger they brought to 35th and Shields. They might be “washed” to the national media or “overrated” by the analytics crowd, but in our eyes, they can do no wrong. It’s a stubborn, irrational loyalty that defines what it means to be a South Sider.

Who is that one person on the field or in the dugout you’ve always backed, even when the logic is stacked against them?

I don’t mean, Michael Soroka’s Achilles’ heel. Just, you know, in general.

The set of questions we received for February included, “What weakness will doom the team if nothing changes?” — but I twisted it around a bit. I have an answer to the former, and it’s also the answer to this question, but “doom the team” seems overly deterministic. The idea of an Achilles’ heel is a point of weakness on a totality of strength; teams overcome weaknesses all the time, if only because no team is perfect and many really good teams have flaws that end up not mattering much.

So, I guess that’s what I’ve twisted this question into: what’s going to be the weakness that drags this team down?

You could say, “Starting pitching” based solely on the Braves not making any rotation additions that required shelling out real resources. Or based on the fact that essentially all of their starters have a lot of injury uncertainty. Hell, “propensity to get everyone injured” could be the proverbial heel in and of itself. It’s up to you.

For me, I don’t know if this is still going to exist, much less be the team’s Achilles’ heel, but I’d go with “sticking with any semblance of the 2025 vis-a-vis 2019-2024 offensive approach” to the extent it transpires. I don’t know if they are going to do it, but Tim Hyers is still there, and adding the guys they added offensively doesn’t help me read a hard “no” into “are they gonna do it again?” Mike Yastrzemski and Ha-Seong Kim are neither prototypical 2019-2024 Braves hitters, nor do they look like guys that can be moved much in that direction. For Kim, you can say that there really weren’t many other choices, but Mauricio Dubon is the polar opposite of the previous offensive approach, and he was also deliberately acquired, like Yastrzemski. The team probably can’t afford another protracted Michael Harris II and Ozzie Albies offensive disaster unless it gets a really clean bill of health elsewhere, so we’ll see what happens.

Last week, Red Sox fans Damon Campagna, Lily Rose Smith and Patrick Spaulding filed a class-action lawsuit against the team in U.S. District Court, alleging that it charged illegal junk fees from at least 2022 through 2024 and used “drip pricing” to inflate the stated costs for tickets. I believe them.

To be clear, I believed them as soon as I saw the first headline about all this. As I am not a court of law, I am under no obligation to find the team innocent until proven guilty. I relish doing the opposite, in fact. I nonetheless read the criminal complaint. After doing so, I still believe them, but I am now angry.

To be clear, I am not just mad at the Red Sox, who in this writer’s opinion are obviously guilty of the charges, and who stopped the scheme before last season likely because of its obvious illegality and/or because the team was finally good enough, after a self-induced swoon, to render it unnecessary. I am also mad at myself for having paid junk fees like this over and over, having accepted it as the cost of doing business when holding bad actors accountable is at least theoretically possible. 

All of which is to say that the complaint is the extreme, uncut good stuff, and an incredible look at how the team allegedly squeezed money equally from high- and low-priced ticket buyers through what appears to be an algorithmic, inconsistently applied process. The plaintiffs claim there were two interrelated mechanisms at work: “drip-pricing,” in which a good’s full cost is slowly increased throughout the buying process, and “junk fees,” which are exactly what they sound like and include absurdities like “Per-Ticket Fees” and “Order Fees.”

These practices differ insofar as legitimate fees (like taxes) can be used in a drip pricing scheme, but that’s about it. It’s really about the marriage of the two; specifically, it’s about how the team allegedly leveraged “drip pricing” to add variably priced “Per-Ticket Fees” and a flat, usually $7 “Order Fee” to rip off buyers from the front row to the last. The Red Sox, naturally, did not comment on the suit, only saying that they team “always follows the law.” 

It’s a good thing, then, that the complaint covers at least a portion of that silence up front, noting that “the team never even pretended that these fees covered anything of value to buyers independent of the tickets the buyers had already shown interest in purchasing.” It also notes that “Per-Ticket Fees” varied depending on the price of the originally chosen seat – running from $.50 for cheaper options to $8.50 for more expensive ones – and the opponent, correctly saying that “it does not cost the Red Sox more to issue a ticket to a game against the Yankees than to a game against the Brewers,” despite the costs differing. It also takes on the “Order Fees,” flatly stating that “it does not cost the Red Sox $7 to process each” transaction.

All told, the complaint alleges that if the team sold 2.5 million tickets per year with average junk fees of $4 per ticket, they’d have pocketed $6 million in the event that only 20% of inventory was “tainted” this way. Given that the team happened to *coincidentally* close down sales at its Fenway Park box office in 2022 – where one could previously bypass “Order Fees” – that number is likely far closer to 100% than 20% (my words) and “the actual damages are likely far in excess of that amount” (theirs). The complaint says the team’s actions constitute “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” under Massachusetts law.

Putting aside the legal issue, anyone charging an “Order Fee” for the convenience of buying a ticket online is theoretically acting amorally; perhaps it would be one thing for a struggling business to do it, but that doesn’t describe the Red Sox. No matter how the court rules, the team is already guilty of being shitty to its fans. Not was — is. Two tickets to this year’s April 6 game against the Brewers will run you $8.75 each in fees, which are ridiculous even if they are now stated up-front alongside the ostensible “face value” of the ticket. April 22nd against the Yankees? $11.75 each. You get the picture. The Sox have stopped hiding the fact they have extortionate pricing practices, but it doesn’t make them virtuous.

And yet, they’re happy to do business this way, because they think it’s the right way. Maybe it is. Their house, their rules, after all. I don’t expect much will change going forward, but if they lose this lawsuit – and frankly, I don’t know how they’d win it – they’ll just increase the up-front fees going forward to recoup the difference. They say you can’t predict baseball, and in most cases they’re right. This is the exception to the rule. Without legislation and enforcement, the Sox will continue to steal as much from us as they possibly can. It sucks!

We’re only days away from Orioles pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training to prepare for the 2026 season. It’s the time of year when optimism abounds and fans everywhere can hope for the best from their favorite team. The O’s are no exception, and yesterday you let us know what most excites you about the 2026 Orioles.

Still, even as hope springs eternal, we know that not everything will go according to plan this season. Look no further than the 2025 Orioles for an example of how a few glaring weaknesses can torpedo a team’s high expectations. So now we’d like to hear from you: as of today, what’s your biggest concern about the 2026 Orioles?

For me, the answer is the defense, particularly the outfield defense. Right now the O’s seem to be lined up to have below-average defenders at every outfield spot, at least when Dylan Beavers isn’t starting. Their two new additions to the lineup, Pete Alonso and Taylor Ward, are coming off of subpar defensive seasons, joining a group of holdovers who weren’t particularly stellar with the leather last year. It doesn’t necessarily mean it’ll tank the Orioles’ season, but it’s something to keep an eye on.

How about you, Camden Chatters? What are you concerned about? Do the starting pitching and/or bullpen feel a little light? Are you unconvinced that the offense will rebound from its 2025 malaise, even with Alonso and Ward on board? Let us know in the comments.

Meet the Mets

Newest Met Freddy Peralta is already in camp and said he will not pitch for the Dominican Republic in the upcoming World Baseball Classic.

Nolan McLean also reported early and is looking forward to his first big league camp.

Spring training officially starts next week and Anthony DiComo wrote an handy guide for everything fans need to know when it gets under way.

The Pirates are reportedly interested in acquiring Brett Baty or Mark Vientos but no trade involving either player is imminent.

Seven Mets prospects made Baseball Prospectus’s top 101 Prospect list.

Around the National League East

The Braves released their non-roster invitee list made up of both prospects and veterans hoping to make the team out of camp.

Jim Bowden gave the Marlins a solid grade after the moves president of baseball operations Peter Bendix made this offseason.

Despite being the reigning division champions, the Phillies will have a tough battle on their hands this season with the other teams in the divison improving over the winter.

Around Major League Baseball

The Tigers reportedly signed free agent Framber Valdez to a three-year deal worth $115 million.

Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal had his arbitration hearing and the ruling is expected shortly.

Former Tiger hero Mickey Lolich passed away at the age of 85.

The Red Sox signed infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa to a one-year, $6 million contract.

The fight over control of the Padres between the widow of late owner Peter Seidler and his brothers appears to be over but the club could still end up being sold.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Brian Salvatore previewed Christian Scott’s season.

Nolan McLean is Steve Sypa’s number one prospect in the Mets system.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 1903 the team’s first owner, Joan Payson, was born.

MLB Now always runs their Top 10 at every position before the season starts. Wednesday was Third Baseman day.

According to The Shredder, Max Muncy is #2 on their list, ahead of Manny Machado, Alex Bregman, and Bo Bichette, among others. That may come as a surprise to some fans, who complained about Muncy’s defense last season. The older Max Muncy, not to be confused with the one on the Athletics, appeared in 100 games last season, with a slash line of .243/.376/.470/.846 with 19 homers. He had a 3.6 WAR, the highest of his last four seasons.

While he has missed a lot of time due to injury over the last two seasons, he also is top three in walk rate in the Majors. In that same time frame, among all third basemen, he was 1st in OBP, walk percentage and xwOBA, fourth in slugging, second in wRC+, and seventh in WAR,

Muncy will turn 36 in August and will be a free agent at the end of the season. Ranked #2 in all of baseball is not too shabby if a bit unexpected, and hopefully it will propel him to signing another contract with the team and retiring in Dodger Blue. One thing we definitely know is that he will retire with more World Series rings than Machado.

The Shredder's #Top10RightNow at 3B!

What do you think? pic.twitter.com/GfnxZDjvj6

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 5, 2026

Eric talked about the state of the Dodgers infield yesterday.

After wildfires ripped through Pacific Palisades and Altadena last January, Governor Gavin Newsom announced in front of Dodger Stadium that there would be an initiative called LA Rises, to which philanthropists and the private sector could donate to, to help those affected recover.

Mark Walter, Chairman and controlling owner of the Dodgers, announced that he along with two of his charities, his family foundation and the Dodgers’ foundation, would donate up to $100 million. To date, only $7.8 million has been donated. LA Rises itself has only delivered $20 million to date. Bill Shaikin of the LA Times covers why that is so, and if any further money is coming to those who really need it.

Happy Anniversary to us! Six years ago, on February 4th, the Dodgers made the big move to bring Mookie Betts and David Price to the Dodgers. Mookie now has four World Series rings and will retire in Dodger Blue. Another masterclass move by Andrew Friedman.

Sources say Owen Miller has signed an MiLB agreement with the Cubs. He’s a lifetime backup with positional versatility and a .238/.287/.342 slash, with a lifetime -0.8 bWAR (0.7 fWAR) in MLB.

Marquee Sports Network hasn’t offered any new content since the Convention. It makes me wonder. Like I wonder how people post articles on the same subject the same day, from different publications. Meghan Montemurro and Maddie Lee do this often — it makes me think they’re sitting at the bar or talking on the phone and laughing about it. Some days four or five people do it.

Great analysis of Bregman, Busch, Hoerner’s swings from Matthew Trueblood.

Today we have a more old-fashioned episode, with lots of reading and a Food for Thought that’s about baseball. Enjoy.

*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.

• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Cubs spring camp is near! Here’s what you need to know. “… here are some FAQs about this year’s Spring Training.“
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): More love for Edward Cabrera, and also one potential wart. “He’s been a guy that has been a favorite of some of our pitching infrastructure guys for a long time,” Cubs President Jed Hoyer said of Cabrera.
• Jacob Zanolla (Cubs Insider*): Cubs considering another rotation addition ahead of Spring Training. “The uncertainty surrounding the current staff is too significant.“
• Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation*): Colin Rea was brilliant for the Cubs in 2025,but is it fair to assume a repeat? “… we kinda mentally bucket him as this solid, fungible, don’t-worry-about-him-he’s-just-Colin guy…“
• Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball*): Why Nick Martinez might be the best fit for Cubs’ remaining pitching needs. “… he’s arguably the game’s best old-fashioned swingman.”
• Jacob Zanolla (Cubs Insider*): Watch: MLB Network features Alex Bregman’s Club Nemesis. “This offseason, Bregman founded a performance hub for professional baseball players.”
• Jason Ross (North Side Baseball*): Ian Happ: The 2026 Chicago Cubs’ surest thing. “… Happ is probably the easiest player on the Cubs to predict. Let’s dive into the data to prove it.”
• Travis Sawchik (MLB.com*): Who’s the real PCA? Exploring what’s ahead for Cubs star. “He hit just .216 with a 72 wRC+ after the break.“
• Keith Law (The Athletic* {$}): Chicago Cubs 2026 top 20 prospects: Kevin Alcántara, Moisés Ballesteros lead the way. “… a system that doesn’t have a ton of depth and that is extremely hitter-heavy.”

Food For Thought:

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series. We will not wittingly publish A. I. – driven articles or clickbait, and insist on unimpeachable sources.

RIP Mickey Lolich.

When Freddy Peralta was traded from the Brewers, we lost not only a beloved franchise hero, but we also lost one interesting storyline from the season: had Peralta remained a Brewer and been healthy throughout the season, he would’ve passed Yovani Gallardo as the franchise’s all-time leader in strikeouts. As it stands, Peralta is instead third, with 1,153, behind Ben Sheets (1,206) and Gallardo (1,226).

With that particular race no longer relevant, I thought I’d look and see if there were any other notable franchise milestones that could be eclipsed in 2026. A disclaimer: there aren’t any major team records in danger of falling, but there are still some interesting things to keep an eye on for those who are curious about team history.

Will Christian Yelich move into fourth place in WAR among position players?

Fourth place doesn’t seem like that big of a thing, and I’d agree with that. But here’s the thing: in Milwaukee franchise history, the gap between third and fourth is huge, so we can think of this less as “fourth place” and more as “best of the rest.” Robin Yount is the clear clubhouse leader at 77.4 WAR — a record which may never be broken, considering the challenges the future Brewers would have at keeping that level of superstar for their whole career — followed by another Hall of Famer, Paul Molitor (59.9), and the 21st century representative on the list, Ryan Braun (47.2).

After that, there’s a big gap, and then things bunch up a bit. The next four gentlemen are all within 4.5 WAR of each other, and Yelich is in the middle of that group:

• Cecil Cooper, 30.7
• Don Money, 28.4
• Yelich, 27.5
• Jeff Cirillo, 26.2

So, Yelich needs 3.3 WAR to become the sole owner of fourth place on this list. That seems quite doable on the surface, but Yelich has eclipsed 3.2 WAR only once in the past six years, and his new role as a designated hitter makes it even harder; last season, when he played 150 games and had a 121 OPS+, Yelich earned 3.1 WAR. At this point, I’d say it’d be at least somewhat surprising if Yelich passed Cooper this season. With three years remaining on his contract and other teams unlikely to trade for his high salary and injury risk, Yelich likely plays enough with the Brewers to pass Cooper no matter what, but if he does get past him this season, it’s a very good sign for the club.

Yelich should also move up the leaderboards in several other notable categories: a healthy-ish and even mediocre season should see him move up to fourth in stolen bases, third in walks, and fifth in runs scored. He is just two home runs behind Ben Oglivie for seventh on the franchise list (Yelich has 174, Oglivie 176); he certainly could threaten Cooper in sixth (201) with another season like 2025. Gorman Thomas and Geoff Jenkins come next, and while it’s not inconceivable that he could catch those two in 2026, it would require a huge season: Thomas is at 208 homers, 34 ahead of Yelich, and Jenkins is at 212, 38 ahead.

How long before Brice Turang is the franchise leader in WAR by a second baseman?

The Brewers have had a bunch of good third basemen in their history. They’ve had several great first basemen. They’ve had one all-timer at shortstop. Second base? Not so much.

The franchise leader in WAR among second basemen would be Gumby, Jim Gantner. Gantner is a beloved figure in the team’s history, a guy who grew up in Fond du Lac, went to college in Oshkosh, and spent all 17 years of his major league career with the Brewers. Ganter was, we’ll say, serviceable. He was a good defensive player who could hit some singles, but he didn’t really take walks, and he didn’t really hit for any power. In 17 years, Gantner had more than 2.6 WAR in a season only once; he finished his career with 22.6 WAR via Baseball Reference, at a rate of 1.3 per season and 2.0 per 162 games.

In second place on the second base list is a personal favorite, but not someone who I exactly think of as a franchise icon: Rickie Weeks. Weeks’ career was marked by frustratingly unfulfilled potential, bad defense, eye-popping home runs, and untimely injuries. He played in parts of 11 seasons in Milwaukee and earned 12.5 WAR with the team.

Just behind him is Turang, with 11.8 career WAR. With 4.7 and 5.6 WAR via Baseball Reference in his last two seasons, Turang now owns two of the top four single seasons by a second baseman in franchise history (5.6 is tied with Paul Molitor’s 1979 season for first; the other entry here is Don Money’s 5.1 WAR season in 1977), and he’s got a pretty solid argument for being the best second baseman in franchise history. Assuming he doesn’t take an unexpected step back, Turang should solidify that argument this year. I don’t expect we’ll see an 11 WAR season in which he’d pass Gantner for the franchise record, but he should put himself in a position where he could challenge that in the 2027 season.

If this is Brandon Woodruff’s last season in Milwaukee, what records will he hold?

As we start the 2026 season, Woodruff holds a handful of franchise records already, but they’re all rate stats that he could conceivably lose if he doesn’t have a good season. There are also a couple of other rate stats in which he could move up the leaderboard if he DOES have a good season, so that’s worth watching as well. Given that Woodruff will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, the expectation is that he’ll ply his trade elsewhere in 2027, though that’s not certain. If this is his last season in Milwaukee, though, here are some things to keep an eye on:

• Woodruff is first in franchise history in ERA (3.10) among pitchers with at least 500 innings pitched or 50 decisions; second place is Dan Plesac at 3.21. He’s also the franchise leader in ERA+ (136, with Corbin Burnes second at 129).
• He’s also first in WHIP, at 1.034; second place is Burnes at 1.055.
• Woodruff is also the franchise leader in K/BB ratio, at 4.584; he’s got a decent cushion here, with Burnes second at 4.223.
• It would require quite a season to move up this leaderboard, but Woodruff is third in H/9, at 7.007, which is behind both Burnes (6.877) and Peralta (6.709).
• Woodruff also ranks third behind Burnes and Peralta in K/9 (10.522, compared to 11.039 for Burnes and 11.146 for Peralta). This one seems unlikely, given that Woodruff’s strikeout stuff was off his earlier pace last season.
• A healthy season would see Woodruff move into fourth in strikeouts (he enters the season with 871), passing Jim Slaton, who is at 929. Teddy Higuera’s fourth-place mark of 1,081 is not completely out of the question, but Woodruff would need to match his career-high strikeout total (211 in 2021) to pass him.
• Assuming the Brewers are good, Woodruff should pass Brent Suter for the best win-loss percentage in franchise history (Suter is at .655, Woodruff is second at .654).

Woodruff’s standing in franchise history was solidified a long time ago, but a strong season could really make discussions about him as the best starting pitcher in the team’s history necessary. (Right now, the top four are, in some order, Woodruff, Higuera, Burnes, and Sheets.)

The Cleveland Guardians announced the full Player Development staff list today. Not much has changed, but there are some familiar faces in new roles. Nick Wittgren will be joining the Clippers as a pitching coach! Madelyn has more on the Clippers staff here.

The Cleveland Guardians 2026 Player Development staff alignment is official.

View the full list below ⬇️#GuardsBallpic.twitter.com/8VL7CTp6tj

— GuardsInsider (@GuardsInsider) February 4, 2026

Yesterday was National Girls & Women in Sports Day and the MiLB twitter highlighted some promotions within the Guards organization. Ilana Mishkin was promoted to director of player development, player support. Alyssa Nakken was promoted to director of player development, Arizona development.

A local Guardians fan, @mikbaer on Twitter, was highlighted by Topps in a video released yesterday. Mikayla is known in the hobby for collecting specifically pink Steven Kwan cards. Its not often brands turn the spotlight onto Cleveland, much less its fans so it was nice to see such a great fan given recognition.

💖 AWESOME COLLECTOR 💖
️@mikbaer has one of the most unique collections in all of trading cards. A reminder that collecting what you love is what it’s all about 👏 pic.twitter.com/JIL3MipOsO

— Topps (@Topps) February 4, 2026

Dayan Frias will be playing for Team Colombia in the World Baseball Classic!

Frias heading to the World Baseball Classic 😎🇨🇴#ClipShowpic.twitter.com/gmnoBpusim

— Columbus Clippers (@CLBClippers) February 4, 2026

After leaving Kwan off the list of Top 10 Left Fielders, MLB Network at least got one right. José Ramírez was named the #1 3B in the league by MLB Network/The Shredder. José has been on the Top 10 list every year since 2018! Just don’t bother looking at the rest of the list, they got a lot wrong outside of this one.

José Ramírez is the No. 1 third baseman on @MLBNow's #Top10RightNow. pic.twitter.com/Qq5p8RH4KG

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 5, 2026

Around the League

Miguel Andujar is signing a one-year deal with the San Diego Padres.

In awful, terrible, no good, very bad news; Framber Valdez is heading to the Tigers on a three-year contract.

I hate this, a lot. https://t.co/gH30TRG5okpic.twitter.com/7w1k08wwve

— La Mole (@FranmilsEyebrow) February 5, 2026

If you’re reading this in the future without context, probably unneeded in the present, here is some. In the time between when the vote for Jimmy Crooks went out and this current post, Brendan Donovan was traded for multiple prospects, one of whom may have been included on the top 20 list already if this trade occurred a month ago. We’re going to have a very simple feature so that this doesn’t disrupt the voting. You will vote on Jimmy Crooks versus the newest Cardinal Jurrangelo Cjintje. Before we start, an update on the current rankings:

1. JJ Wetherholt
2. Liam Doyle
3. Rainiel Rodriguez
4. Quinn Mathews
5. Joshua Baez
6. Leonardo Bernal
7. Jimmy Crooks (?)

Jurrangelo Cjintje

Cjintje is technically a switch pitcher, but it is very clear from the scouting and the numbers that he is a far better pitcher right-handed. From the right side, Cjintje throws mid-90s and has topped at 99 mph. He has both a cutter and a sweeper, though the sweeper is the better pitch. He also throws an upper-80s change. From his left side, he is effectively a two-pitch pitcher, throwing low 90s with a solid sweeper. Statistically, it wasn’t close. He walked more than he struck out and allowed 7 homers in 21 innings from the left side, but from the right side he had a 5.0 K/BB ratio and only allowed 3 homers in 34.1 IP.

Cjintje was born in the Netherlands, but raised in Curacao. He in fact played in the Little League World Series back in 2016 for Willemstead team to represent Curacao in the Caribbean region. Pitching and playing shortstop, he is believed to be the first player to throw both left and right-handed in a Little League game since 1957. He also played on the Netherlands baseball team in the U-15 Baseball World Cup in 2018. He moved to Miami at 16, was both a switch pitcher and switch hitter for his high school, didn’t sign with Brewers who drafted him in the 18th round, and committed to Mississippi State.

He made Second-Team All-American as a sophomore and was named to the All-South Region first team by the ABCA. He didn’t pitch left-handed for the last month of the season to improve his consistency. With more reps, and because as an infielder he threw right-handed, he both threw harder and had better command from the right side. The Mariners selected him 15th overall in the 2024 draft. Despite being considered kind of raw for a college pitcher, he was sent to High A and finished the year in AA. That is probably where he’ll begin the 2026 season, not because he pitched poorly, but because it was only 7 starts.

High A: 19 G (16 GS), 74.2 IP, 26.4 K% 11.1 BB%, 44.8 GB%, .234 BABIP, 4.58 ERA/5.51 FIP/4.33 xFIP

AA: 7 GS, 33.2 IP, 25.5 K%, 11 BB%, 48.3 GB%, .299 BABIP, 2.67 ERA/3.42 FIP/4.01 xFIP

Scouting (FG): 55/60 Fastball, 50/60 Slider, 50/60 Change, 30/40 Command

VOTE HERE

Comparable Player Poll

Here’s a fun one. The results of this are going to tell us a lot I think, which are my favorite kind of polls in this section. We have two outfielders, both of whom made the top 20 last year. One of them had a positive year, although I’m not sure how much he raised his stock as a prospect, especially since he’s now in a better system. The other outfielder’s stock is undeniably down, the extent of which – as judged by this crowd – should be revealed in the poll.

Last year’s #7 prospect Chase Davis’s year would probably not be that looked down upon if he were not a 1st round pick. It looked like he would explode this year, but then he had a slightly above average offensive season with the bat. It came with an elevated K rate and no power, but he still managed a 105 wRC+. He was also just 23-years-old. He does play CF, so he could very well be a defense-driven prospect, but unfortunately we don’t know a lot about his defense as hard as it is to judge in the minors.

Meanwhile Travis Honeyman, constantly stepping on rakes and being unable to play, had his first semi-heathy season last year. Perhaps in a bid for maintaining his health, he was left in Low A much too long, just being way too good for the competition. He finished the year in High A and while he did have a 113 wRC+, if you’re worried about Davis’ power, Honeyman hit 1 homer in 228 PAs. In his defense, he got drafted in 2023 and played in 20 total games until the 2025 season.

Both are 24. If Davis repeats, they will both probably be in AA, although I imagine Davis will be promoted quicker at the first sign of good performance. Both were drafted in 2023, about 70 picks apart. Both had little power despite power potential, both played some CF but I couldn’t tell you how good they are there and both stand a good chance of being teammates.

VOTE HERE

New Add

To give you a peek behind the curtain, I ran Tanner Franklin against two fellow possible additions throughout this feature. In his first, in a very close race, he lost to Ryan Mitchell. Last week, he got more votes than Yhoiker Fajardo. So Ryan Mitchell goes on this vote, Franklin goes on the next, and I’ll be honest, I don’t know when I’ll add Fajardo. You guys very clearly thought Franklin was a better prospect (the vote wasn’t close), so he’ll be added when it looks like Franklin looks like a legitimate candidate.

I was going to add Tai Peete, but there’s just about zero percent chance you guys think he’s a top 10 prospect in the system, and my plan was already in motion on who I would have added before the trade got in the way. He had a 79 wRC+ and a lot of strikeouts. I feel like I know the voting habits well enough to know that he just wouldn’t be picked. He’ll be there soon enough.

Jesus Baez, IF – 21

Stats (High A): 416 PAs, .244/.327/.397, 10.3 BB%, 18.5 K%, .153 ISO, .270 BABIP, 116 wRC+, 121 DRC+

Scouting (FG): 30/45 Hit, 35/50 Game Power, 50/55 Raw Power, 40/40 Speed, 40/45 Fielding

Baez is an interesting prospect, because some parts of him feel contradictory. Read a scouting report, and you’ll likely read about his bad approach at the plate. Statistically, you’d have no idea he had a bad approach at the plate. He walks plenty and doesn’t strike out a lot. He’s fairly mistake-prone, but that could also just be a function of the fact that he has played professional baseball without being able to legally drink.

Brandon Clarke, 23 – LHP

Stats (Low A): 3 GS, 9.2 IP, 47.2 K%, 5.6 BB%, 68.8 GB%, .125 BABIP, 0.93 ERA/0.98 FIP/1.32 xFIP/3.66 DRA

High A: 11 GS, 28.1 IP, 31.2 K%, 18.1 BB%, 62.5 GB%, .254 BABIP, 5.08 ERA/4.17 FIP/4.74 xFIP/4.75 DRA

Scouting: 60/60 Fastball, 70/80 Slider, 40/50 Change, 30/40 Command

The old trend of a Cardinals pitching prospect was a bad fastball, good secondaries, limited upside. Probably the ideal version of this is Michael McGreevy. When we start thinking of a stereotypical Cardinals pitching prospect now though, it should probably be someone like Clarke. Didn’t throw many innings, huge injury concern, big upside. The Cardinals seem to grow these guys on trees lately, as you’ll see by later players to vote for. His injuries last year were entirely blister-related, which is weird but are also less concerning injuries than the rest of his group has had recently.

Tink Hence, 23 – RHP

Stats (Three levels): 8 G, 21.1 IP, 27.9 K%, 15.1 BB%, 45.8 GB%, .255 BABIP, 2.95 ERA/3.80 FIP/4.18 xFIP, 4.56 DRA

Scouting: 45/45 Fast, 50/55 Slider, 60/70 Change, 45/55 Command

And here we have another example. Hence is probably a little more unique because of his relatively slight frame – even when he wasn’t getting injured, there was reliever risk. But just because Hence has been around for a while doesn’t mean he’s old yet – he’s the same age as Clarke. And Hence has already had a fantastic season at AA – if he’s healthy for most of this season, I have no doubt most of it will be in AAA. He might start the year in AA just for proof of concept, but he pitched far too good in 2024 to not think he’s ready for AAA. Unless his stuff has diminished because of the injuries.

Ixan Henderson, 24 – LHP

Stats (AA): 25 GS, 132 IP, 25.2 K%, 9.6 BB%, 37.1 GB%, .278 BABIP, 2.59 ERA/3.16 FIP/4.00 xFIP/4.51 DRA

Scouting: 50/60 Fastball, 45/50 Slider, 30/40 Change, 40/45 Cutter, 40/50 Command

Shoutout to Teddy Rugby, who pointed out that Jimmy Crooks’ “problem” as a prospect is that he’s boring. With prospects, it’s all about upside and loud tools. A good to great defensive catcher with a good enough bat is just not exciting. I’m making this comparison, because I think Henderson might be the pitching equivalent. It might be hard to vote for a Henderson when you see the big stuff of a Clarke or Hence or

Cooper Hjerpe, 25 – LHP

Didn’t pitch

Scouting: 55/55 Fastball, 55/60 Slider, 50/50 Change, 45/50 Cutter, 45/50 Command

Seriously, we very quickly went from having a very boring stereotypical Cardinals pitching prospect to having a top 20 list littered with high variance, high risk pitching prospects. I think one could even argue Liam Doyle fits this a little: he’d be higher in the top 100 if he weren’t considered a little bit risky. If Clarke had the least concerning injuries, Hjerpe might be on the exact opposite side. Yes, I know he’s not the only who had Tommy John, however he is the only one who has maxed out at 41 innings.

Brycen Mautz, 24 – LHP

Stats (AA): 25 GS, 114.2 IP, 28.6 K%, 7.1 BB%. 41.2 GB%, .286 BABIP, 2.98 ERA/3.58 FIP/3.20 xFIP/4.54 DRA

Scouting: 45/45 Fastball, 55/55 Slider, 40/45 Curve, 35/40 Change, 45/55 Command

2026 will prove to be an important year for Mautz. I feel like we’ve seen a few of the underwhelming scouting starters who nonetheless manage to pitch well reach AAA and just hit a roadblock. I will say that usually that type of pitcher doesn’t strike out 28.6% of batters in AA however. That gives me more hope that he either has better stuff than what the scouting says or that he’s better at utilizing and knowing his stuff than pitchers in the past. Either way, it’s hard to argue with his results.

Ryan Mitchell, 19 – OF

I do not have stats to share with you – I’m sure I can find high school stats, but they aren’t a lot of use on this kind of list. It doesn’t appear Fangraphs has given him scouting grades, I can’t find MLB Pipeline (and I don’t like how they give grades anyway, too high generally). I have access to Baseball Prospectus’ top 20, and while they don’t give Mitchell a scouting grade, I thought just sharing their blurb would suffice:

“Mitchell, a toolsy overslot second-rounder, didn’t play after the draft. For much of his high school career, he would rotate so early that he was more or less standing up when making contact, but his swing became one of the most fun to watch in the class. He dips down a bit and explodes from the lower half. There is some risk he won’t be able to get around against higher velocity fastballs, but his contact rates on the circuit were adequate, and there’s enough athleticism, present bat speed, and physical projection to expect some power. Defensively, he has good actions but could be forced to second base in pro ball. There aren’t any elite tools here, but he presents a pretty well-rounded infield profile and had an arrow up coming into the draft.”

(The Cardinals announced him as an outfielder, in the interview after the draft, he more or less seemed to confirm he’ll be an outfielder)

Deniel Ortiz, 21 – 1B/3B

Stats (Low A): 320 PAs, .285/.406/.446, 15.3 BB%, 27.5 K%, .162 ISO, .386 BABIP, 145 wRC+, 119 DRC+

High A: 130 PAs, .336/.438/.500, 13.8 BB%, 22.3 K%, .164 ISO, .436 BABIP, 168 wRC+, 97 DRC+

Necessary disclaimer: no available scouting report for Ortiz that I can find. I’m sure that will change soon. But we’re making the list now, and stats is what we have to judge. And what good stats he had. He might be young enough to repeat High A to start the season, so I’ll actually be curious where he’s placed. He clearly hit well enough to start the year in AA. He also had over a .400 BABIP and it wasn’t that many PAs. The surest sign of a prospect to watch for is when they are aggressive with promotions. Both Lars Nootbaar and Alec Burleson advanced through the system very fast. I almost wish this list were made knowing whether or not he was placed in AA, because I think that would impact where I would place him.

Yairo Padilla, 19 – SS

Stats (CPX): 38 G, 148 PAs, .283/.396/.367, 12.2 BB%, 14.2 K%, .083 ISO, .340 BABIP, 119 wRC+

Scouting: 25/55 Hit, 20/55 Game Power, 40/60 Raw Power, 50/40 Speed, 30/40 Field

Padilla is taking a more conventional progression as a prospect, at least so far, and the fact that he was in the same class as Rainiel Rodriguez is doing him no favors in that respect. Just about anybody would pale in comparison to Rodriguez as a prospect at this point. A more conventional progression means time, which means Padilla might be on this top 20 for quite a few years. That said, I trust that 40 fielding grade about as much as I trust Lumon Industries. (Context clues can probably tell even non-Severance watchers what I mean by that)

Tekoah Roby, 24 – RHP

Stats (AA): 10 GS, 47 IP, 31.1 K%, 6 BB%, 42.9 GB%, .273 BABIP, 2.49 ERA/2.90 FIP/2.73 xFIP/4.56 DRA

AAA: 6 GS, 31.1 IP, 22.6 K%, 6 BB%, 44.7 GB%, .319 BABIP, 4.02 ERA/4.01 FIP/4.04 xFIP/4.50 DRA

Roby in my opinion was essentially where Hence will be in this upcoming season. Which is both good and bad. We weren’t sure if Roby’s stuff had diminished because his stuff was worse when he did pitch in 2024, but he also barely pitched and likely pitched injured. And then he came to spring and everything returned. And his results matched his stuff in the minors. And then he needed Tommy John. Aside from that last part, I hope Hence looks like Roby next year too.

VOTE HERE

The Detroit Tigers family lost a legend on Wednesday with the death of 1968 World Series hero Mickey Lolich, who passed away at the age of 85.

The departure of the all-time great leaves the fanbase in remembrance of a brilliant career that saw the southpaw throw 3,638 1/3 MLB innings, striking out 2,832 hitters — good enough for fifth all-time in strikeouts among lefties. To many of those who witnessed those late-60s and early-70s teams, Lolich was an all-time favorite.

Which leads to today’s Tigers Topic discussion: Who is your all-time favorite member of the Motor City Kitties? They do not necessarily need to be someone from your lifetime; for instance, mine is Hank Greenberg, for what he did on and off the field.

But I also had Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker, who ushered me into Tiger fandom, as well as Cecil Fielder and the excitement he brought to the D in the early 90s. And I certainly cannot forget Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander, both of whom are sure-fire Hall of Famers and had the Tigers on the cusp of World Series rings.

So enough about me, who is your all-time favorite? Let us know in the comments below.