Seattle outfielder Randy Arozarena revealed Saturday that he has apologized to teammate Cal Raleigh, following his flagrant rant aimed at the superstar catcher earlier this month at the World Baseball Classic.
Following an altercation on the global stage, Seattle teammates have returned their focus to Opening Day.
Mariners outfielder Randy Arozarena revealed Saturday that he has apologized to teammate Cal Raleigh, following his flagrant rant aimed at the superstar catcher earlier this month at the World Baseball Classic.
In a statement released through the club, the two-time All-Star emphasized that there’s no bad blood between the “brothers and teammates.”
Randy Arozarena playing for Team Mexico during the 2026 World Baseball Classic. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
“I understand that with Opening Day a few days away, I don’t want it to be a distraction,” Arozarena said. “Cal and I have talked and I apologized for what I said after the game. Nothing in the WBC takes away from the fact that we are brothers and teammates.”
The Mariners sluggers sparked controversy at the WBC while pitted against each other during Team USA’s 5-3 group stage win over Mexico on March 9.
Raleigh, behind the dish for the U.S., spurned a handshake from Arozarena as he came up to bat, the same non-greeting that Mexico’s star outfielder received from U.S. catcher Will Smith at the 2023 WBC.
Even so, Arozarena didn’t take kindly to being slighted by his longtime teammate — with whom he’s played since 2024 and helped punch Seattle’s first ticket to the ALCS since 2001 — going off on a profanity-laced tirade in Spanish to Mexican journalist Luis Gilbert after the game.
Raleigh immediately brushed off the situation, saying the pair had already spoken and that it wasn’t a “big deal at all.”
In case there was any doubt, the reigning MLB home run king reiterated his comments on Saturday, telling reporters that he and Arozarena are both ready to put the past behind them.
Seattle Mariners teammates Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“We talked it out, and everything went great,” Raleigh said, via MLB.com. “Randy knows that I love him, and he’s a brother, and it’s in the past and none of us are carrying this forward. We’re in a good spot. We talked it out. We were both sorry, and we both got in a good place and we’re both happy to be here, too.
“It was really good walking in the door and seeing everybody. As fun as [the WBC] was, it was nice to feel back here. It feels like the family’s all back together in a way.”
Mariners skipper Dan Wilson applauded Seattle’s united clubhouse, underscoring that he wasn’t shocked by Arozarena’s apology — and that everyone’s focused on the same goal.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” Wilson said, via MLB.com. “That’s what we’ve talked about in that clubhouse. It’s just a special group. They love each other, and yeah, it’s time. I think we’re all ready to get back to Seattle and get this thing started.”
The defending AL West champs open their season at home against the Guardians on Thursday.
But even with that much punch in the lineup, the Mets couldn’t do much of anything against Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, until they started a rally in the fourth. Alcantara didn't allow a hit until a Francisco Lindor single off the first baseman's glove in the fourth inning. Juan Soto followed with a single of his own, and Bo Bichette then ripped a double into the left field corner to give the Mets their first run of the day. A Jorge Polanco sac fly to left and a Brett Baty single up the middle made it a three-run inning for the Mets.
Alcantara was pulled in fourth but came back out to pitch the fifth. In all, the righty went 4.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on five hits while striking out six without a walk.
-- David Peterson made his final start of the spring for the Mets. After a pair of scoreless innings, the tall lefty allowed a run in the third on a pair of singles and wild pitch. He got into another jam in the fourth, with runners at first and third and one out, but a pickoff at first base followed by a strikeout on the next pitch quickly ended the threat.
Peterson went 5.0 inning, allowing one earned run on five hits with four strikeouts and a walk. His ERA for the spring was 4.15.
--Carson Benge showed off another aspect of his overall game, dropping a bunt single off Alcantara and advancing to second on a throwing error. Benge went 1-for-3, and with Mike Tauchman to undergo surgery for a torn meniscus, it sure appears like Benge will be the Opening Day right fielder. He finished his spring with a .366 average.
-- Luke Weaver didn’t end his spring on a high note. The right-handed reliever entered to pitch the sixth, but his command was all over the place. Weaver recorded just one out and walked three, leaving with the bases loaded.
He’d ultimately be charged with one earned run, and he finished his spring with an ERA of 2.08.
--Lindor went 1-for-4, ending his shortened spring training with a .158 average. Bichette and Baty both ended their springs with identical .333 batting averages.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - SEPTEMBER 27: Donovan Solano #16 of the Texas Rangers covers as José Ramírez #11 of the Cleveland Guardians steals second base during the first inning at Progressive Field on September 27, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
With the 2025 Texas Rangers season having come to an end, we shall be, over the course of the offseason, taking a look at every player who appeared in a major league game for the Texas Rangers in 2025.
Today we are looking at utility guy Donovan Solano.
Donovan Solano was just barely a Texas Ranger in 2025. Signed to a minor league deal in early September, after he had been released by the Seattle Mariners, Solano played in 10 games for Round Rock in September before their season ended.
One week later, Josh Smith went on the paternity list prior to the Rangers’ final series of the season, in Cleveland. Needing someone who could play the infield to round out the roster for the final three games, the Rangers selected Solano’s contract. To the extent there was any discussion about it at the time, it was about why the Rangers opted for him, rather than Justin Foscue, who was already on the 40 man roster.
Solano started at second base for the Rangers in Game 161, and went 0 for 3. He came into Game 162 in the bottom of the 9th, after Joc Pederson had pinch hit for starting second baseman Cody Freeman, and didn’t get a plate appearance.
Solano is currently, as I type this, a 38 year old free agent. He played for Colombia in the WBC in this year’s competition, going 1 for 10 with 7 walks and 4 strikeouts, giving him an entertaining .100/.471/.100 slash line.
Under the circumstances, it seems likely Solano’s professional career is over.
Solano has had an unusual career arc. Signed in 2005 by the St. Louis Cardinals, he never was added to their 40 man roster, and became a minor league free agent after the 2011 season. He spent a few years in a part-time role with the Marlins from 2012-14, primarily playing second base, then was released at the end of the 2015 season after a .189/.215/.244 slash line in 94 plate appearances.
Solano signed with the Yankees, but spent most of 2016 in the minors, getting just nine games in the bigs that year, and then spent all of 2017 and 2018 in AAA, with the Yankees in 2017 and the Dodgers in 2018. Solano, aged 31, was signed by the San Francisco Giants for the 2019 season, and it seemed then that he was probably done as a major leaguer, other than possibly the occasional cameo when there was a need for a short-term replacement.
Nonetheless, Solano’s 2019 was the start of an unexpected and surprising six year run as a useful major league role player. Called up by the Giants after six weeks in AAA, Solano slashed .330/.360/.456 in 228 plate appearances. He followed that up with a .326/.365/.463 slash line in 54 games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, winning the Silver Slugger Award for second base.
Solano became eligible for free agency after 2021 — another solid year with the Giants — and he signed a one year deal with Cincinnati, followed by a one year deal with Minnesota for 2023. In 2024, Solano didn’t sign until mid-April, with the San Diego Padres, but once he did, he put up a 760 OPS in 309 plate appearances.
Solano shifted to play more first base and third base after he left San Francisco, and with the Mariners in 2025, he played almost exclusively first base. His .247/.291/.337 slash line wasn’t first base production, however, and especially once the M’s acquired Josh Naylor, Solano became superfluous, resulting in his ultimately being cut loose on September 1.
Father Time catches up with us all, and it looks like it has for Solano. Still, it is worth taking a moment to appreciate the unlikely, unexpected run he had from 2019-24, from age 31-36, when he put up a 7.6 bWAR and .294/.353/.415 slash line in 546 games. Pretty remarkable for a guy who had a 0.1 bWAR and .257/.306/.331 slash line in 370 games from age 24-28, and spent most of three years stuck in AAA as a major league veteran holding on for another chance.
With Opening Day less than a week away, you almost wish Spring Training ended with this – – the Spring Breakout game against the Milwaukee Brewers. Here, we’ll see a grip of guys with a lot of promise square up against the product of what MLB.com is calling the #1 ranked farm system in all of baseball.
On that list, the A’s came in at #18. Not terribly great and a little surprising, given how much young talent the team seems to have. It’s also been a Spring Training highlighted by the performance of some of these players listed in the starting lineup
Yes, all eyes will be on Leo De Vries and starting pitcher Jamie Arnold. But me personally? I’m anxious to see how the young Breyson Guedez performs. He initially caught my eye when he took Michael King deep a week or so ago. His swing reminds me of Terrence Long and he’s only 18! So much potential there.
Sure, Tommy “Tanks” White has become the Glen Powell of the A’s farm system, though that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be giving two-way player Shotaro Morii a little love too. He’ll be starting at second base and possibly throwing a few frames? We’ll see. The A’s are carrying a lot of arms I’d like see heave, such as Gage Jump and Braden Nett. I’m curious to how they’ll roll these guys out over nine innings against the Brewers.
Fun day at the yard! This’ll be the last Spring Breakout game before tournament play kicks in next spring. Last year saw the A’s beat up on the San Diego Padres in a game that featured Nick Kurtz, Luis Morales, Max Muncy, Denzel Clarke, and Colby Thomas!
Besides Leo De Vries (because of course) who is a player you’re not only excited to see play today but also hope will be wearing the green and gold in the big ‘26?
GLENDALE, AZ - MARCH 12: Nick Lodolo #40 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches during the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Camelback Ranch on Thursday, March 12, 2026 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Julia Jacome/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Cincinnati Reds lefty starter Nick Lodolo has repeatedly dealt with blister issues on his left index finger, and left index finger blisters are pretty problematic when you are a lefty starter. On Sunday in his final start of Cactus League play before Thursday’s Opening Day in Cincinnati, Lodolo was forced to exit after facing only two batters when a blister issue popped up once again.
He started out walking Steven Kwan, decidedly not strutting his stuff. He then yielded a two-run homer to Angel Martinez before the Reds training staff was summoned to the mound. It was at that point that the decision was made to get Lodolo out of there, which is not exactly the best tune-up for the season’s start just a handful of days away.
The hope, of course, is that pulling him this early into his work will have kept the issue from getting too serious, much the same way the scenario with Brady Singer has fortunately played out. That said, the Reds had already made plans to carry six starting pitchers with Brandon Williamson, Chase Burns, and Rhett Lowder all theoretically shoehorning into just two starts a turn, so there is at least some baked-in depth should there be any issues with Lodolo a) being ready for his Game Two start or b) not being stretched out enough to go deep into his Game Two start.
Obviously, no blister is a damning issue, but it’s impossible not to notice just how often this keeps happening to Cincinnati’s stud lefty. Let’s just hope they caught this particular iteration early.
Feb 24, 2026; North Port, Florida, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez (40) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers during spring training at CoolToday Park. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
It’s a good thing that it’s still spring training and not the regular season because this was the type of performance that would’ve resulted in a very rough outing for Reynaldo López had it come in a game that counted. Instead, it’s something to think about with the regular season on the horizon as López struggled and ended up getting pulled in the fifth inning of this spring training contest.
This figured to be a stern test for López anyways with the Twins posting something that looks very similar to what their Opening Day lineup could look like laster this week. Still, I’d like to imagine that everybody associated with and rooting for the Braves would’ve preferred if López looked a lot better today.
The first three innings of this outing actually went very smoothly for Reynaldo López — he retired the side in order in the first and second innings (a double-play ball helped him get out of the second) and avoided trouble from a one-out single in the third inning. The fourth inning is when things started to get a little shaky, as López got the inning started off by walking Byron Buxton and then giving up a single to Matt Wallner. Another double play ball got López out of this situation but by now it was clear that López’s velocity was going to be sitting below 90-mph on his heater.
By the time the fifth inning had rolled around, the Twins decided that it was time to tee off. López kept a few pitches hanging enticingly in the strike zone during this frame and the Twins capitalized each time. The first resulted in a Royce Lewis double, the second was a single from Austin Martin and then the third and biggest mistake got crushed by Luke Keaschall for a three-run shot that put the Twins in front.
The 80-mph slider was the last pitch that López threw in this one as he finished with 4.2 innings under his belt, along with four earned runs on five hits and two walks. López only finished with one strikeout once he was done, which was his strikeout of Buxton all the way back in the first inning. His velocity also left something to be desired as well, as he was actually sitting at 89-mph with the four-seamer and the velocity on all of his other pitches was way down as well.
Obviously the hope is that he was trying to ease into the regular season and you could make an argument that that this was the case since his velocity was higher in his most recent start before this one. Granted, his four-seamer was still below his usual average of 95-mph back on March 17 but it still looked more lively back then than it did today. Still, it’s pretty concerning that López did struggle in both of his final two starts before the regular season. We could end up laughing about this if he bounces back once the games begin to count but it’s still not great to see when you’re coming off of a season-ending shoulder injury from the season before!
hard for me to believe this is completely meaningless data for a guy's last spring training start pic.twitter.com/ZlTfdaRlw0
As far as the bats for the Braves go, the first inning was the peak for Atlanta. The Braves scored their first two runs via some good ol’ fashioned A-B-C baseball: Brett Wisely got on with a leadoff walk, Jorge Mateo laid down a sacrifice bunt and ended up making it on base and into scoring position thanks to a throwing error and then Drake Baldwin brought them both in with a bouncer through the middle to initially put the Braves in the lead. Dominic Smith proceeded to cash in Baldwin’s run with an RBI single of his own to make it a three-run first inning.
Drake Baldwin and Dominic Smith both added hits to their tally later on and that was about as good as it got for the Braves from the first inning onwards. Taj Bradley settled down a bit once he got his second chance (he got pulled from the mess during the first inning and returned for the second frame) and the Braves just didn’t get a lot done in terms of production against the Twins and their pitching staff past the first inning.
The big story of the day was Reynaldo López’s underwhelming performance, though. I do remember saying earlier during spring training that if Spencer Strider’s velocity was low in the latter portions of camp like it was to start out then it was perfectly fine to start worrying. Strider doesn’t appear to have that issue but López certainly does and again, the main hope is that he was simply trying not to overexert himself with the regular season around the corner. If it’s like that once things are serious, watch out.
Judge's first game back as a Yankee after almost three weeks with Team USA was this past Friday's 3-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles, in which he struck out three time in as many at-bats. Saturday's 3-1 loss at the Detroit Tigers saw Judge sit, and the day off fared well for his Sunday return.
His 1-for-2 afternoon featured a leadoff home run in the fifth inning against Aaron Nola -- Judge's first long ball since returning to New York from the WBC -- where Judge sent Nola's 2-2 pitch, an 85 mph changeup, down the left-field line and into the second deck.
Players of Judge's caliber should not miss a beat. After he returned to the tune of Friday's 0-for-3 performance, his Sunday bounce back -- a third-inning walk included -- is a welcome sign for the Yankees with three days until Opening Day.
Will Warren saved his best for last. He allowed one hit -- Kyle Schwarber's leadoff double -- in five shutout innings, retiring 15 straight Phillies while striking out six.
Warren threw 44 strikes on 62 pitches. He ends his spring with a 1.42 ERA in 25.1 IP over six starts, striking out 16 and walking three.
Ryan McMahon was a bright spot at the plate. His 2-for-3 day featured a third-inning leadoff single an RBI knock with two outs in the fourth, scoring Giancarlo Stanton and putting the Yankees up 1-0.
In the outfield, Jasson Domínguez and Amed Rosario each had a defensive lapse. Domínguez, who will start the season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, did not do himself any favors with his 0-for-2 performance after he replaced Judge's lineup spot. Domínguez's misread on a deep fly ball to left field went down as an error and was a reminder of the struggles and inconsistencies that he has faced at the position.
Rosario's right-field whiff should not be discounted, though he made the most of his mistake with an RBI single to polish off the Yankees' 6-2 lead with two outs in the eighth inning.
Who's the MVP?
Warren, who put the exclamation point on an impressive spring training and seems primed for this season.
The Yankees head to Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz., for the first of their final two spring training games against the Chicago Cubs -- 3:05 p.m. starts Monday and Tuesday -- before they open the regular season with Wednesday's 8:05 matchup at the San Francisco Giants.
Although the San Diego Padres Prospects lost a 7-5 game against the Chicago Cubs Prospects at Sloan Park in Mesa, Ariz. on Saturday, there were multiple notable and positive signs to come from the contest. With a farm system currently ranked at or near the bottom according to multiple evaluators, the Padres fielded a team filled with young players. The starting lineup had catcher Ethan Salas (19), shortstop Jorge Quintana (19), catcher Ty Harvey (20), outfielder Kale Fountain (20) as well as pitchers Kruz Schoolcraft (18) and Taiwanese righty Lan-Hong Su (18) all playing against mostly more advanced prospects for the Cubs.
The starter for the Padres, Luis Gutierrez pitched a scoreless inning and was followed by Miguel Mendez, Schoolcraft, Kannon Kemp, Kash Mayfield, Jaxon Dalena, Johan Moreno, Lan-Hong Su and Garrett Hawkins. All pitched an inning except Dalena, who allowed four runs and four hits over 0.2 innings and was replaced by Moreno for the last out.
Su, the young righty from Taiwan, had the most impressive performance. Signed in October of 2025 during the International Signing Period, Su made his Padres debut in this game. Pitching the seventh inning, Su threw four-seam fastballs between 96-98 mph and also featured a curveball and a changeup. He got two strikeouts over his 10 pitches thrown and most of his pitches were strikes. He is slated to begin the season at Low-A Lake Elsinore and will rise quickly if he pitches this well.
The left-hander Mayfield pitched the fifth inning on nine pitches with two fly-outs and a single allowed. The fastball for starter Gutierrez reached a new velocity of 97 mph during his one inning pitched.
On the position player side, Salas put on a show. Starting at catcher, he experienced the ABS system but not in a positive way. Challenging two calls behind the plate, Salas lost both challenges in the first three innings and the Padres played the rest of the game without that option.
But otherwise, it was a standout performance from the young catcher. Salas had a loud out at 108.5 mph, a single and a three-run home run that left the yard at 104.9 mph. He worked a long plate appearance for a walk, scored a run, had a stolen base after his single and threw out two runners attempting to steal second base. If he wanted to announce his return with authority, he did a good job.
Fountain, 6-foot-5 and 230-pounds, played the 2025 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. He also had hamstring issues last season which limited his playing time. He was drafted in 2024 as a corner infielder but played this game in right field and is being transitioned to a corner outfielder this spring. Fountain has tremendous power potential, as he showed in the game. He launched a home run deep onto the center field berm at 109.1 mph and it traveled 455 feet. He also had a 110.3 mph single while going 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored.
Spring Training will be coming to an end this week for the players headed to Triple-A El Paso as their season begins March 27. The other minor league teams will finish their spring games and travel to their locations for early April starts.
There will be a preview coming later this week and the rosters for the respective teams should be coming out over the next week-and-a-half with El Paso this week.
Expect the Padres to continue to push their young and talented prospects with Salas starting in Double-A San Antonio. As individual players perform well, there will likely be promotions to the next level and there are several prospects who could meet that criteria.
TEMPE, ARIZONA - MARCH 15: TJ Rumfield #64 of the Colorado Rockies bats during the first inning of the spring training game against the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium on March 15, 2026 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Jeremy Chen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
On Sunday morning, the Colorado Rockies announced the following position players will break camp with the team:
Mickey Moniak (OF)
Jake McCarthy (OF)
Brenton Doyle (OF)
Jordan Beck (OF)
Kyle Karros (3B)
TJ Rumfield (1B)
Brett Sullivan (C)
Edouard Julien (INF)
Willi Castro (UTIL)
Ryan Ritter (UTIL)
Ezequiel Tovar (SS)
Hunter Goodman (C)
Additionally, the rotation is set as such:
Kyle Freeland (LHP)
Michael Lorenzen (RHP)
José Quintana (LHP)
Tomoyuki Sugano (RHP)
Ryan Feltner (RHP)
The most interesting note was that RHP Chase Dollander will begin the season with the Rockies, but he will start off in the bullpen.
On Feltner, Schaeffer had this to say:
“Looking at this spring is a part of it. When Feltner did get ahead, he was our best pitcher in camp [while] ahead. It was just a matter of getting him there, and there’s been a commitment to that. We also liked Feltner’s track record of success in the big leagues.”
Schaeffer explained the Rockies thinking in moving Dollander to the bullpen:
“We want Chase to develop at the big-league level, too, and feel like facing big-league hitters on a consistent basis is going to lead to his development better than it would in Triple-A at this point.”
That said, they don’t necessarily see Dollander in the bullpen as long-term.
“We see Chase Dollander as an eventual frontline rotation guy,” Schaeffer continued. “The path there right now – the best path for him in our minds – is to be a length guy in the bullpen. That’s where we’re going to start the season. We’re going to evaluate and move forward as we go, but we believe we’ve got something really good with Feltner as the fifth guy and Dollander in the bullpen.”
Here’s what Schaeffer had to say about the other moves:
Brett Sullivan over Braxton Fulford
“Brett Sullivan had a very, very good camp. He swings left-handed, and swung the bat well, but also just the overall game with the interactions with the pitchers plus the offensive camp led to go with Sullivan.”
He noted that Fulford had a good camp as well but felt it would be best for him to get daily at-bats in Albuquerque.
Additionally, Schaeffer said that Sullivan will not see a lot of DH at-bats as a left-hander.
“It’s really hard to roll with two catchers in the game at one time, and we’re going to do it a lot with ‘Goody’ DH-ing, so to do it the other way around doesn’t make much sense for us.”
TJ Rumfield
“The overall quality of his at-bats on a consistent regular basis showed us who he is and lined up with what he’s done in the past in Triple-A for the Yankees. But seeing it on an everyday basis was impressive. The way he controls the zone, the way he gets a swing off, the damage he can do, the walks he can take… just on a consistent basis, the quality of the at-bats. And he played well defensively, and I think just his overall game – he’s a high-level player.”
Kyle Karros
“It was obvious [that he was ready]. Then the wherewithal that we all have that he has not had a ton of minor league seasoning. That was talked to him about before camp started, and that this wasn’t a lock for him. He had to go do his thing. We were going to watch him, and it became blatantly obvious that he’s ready to play third base in the big leagues on both sides of the ball.”
Willi Castro
“Expect all year for Willi to have a different role. His role is to play a lot – you saw him play first base. There’s definitely right-handed at-bats for him at first base. It’s great that he’s a utility player that can play everywhere and switch hit. I mean, you talk about value, that’s huge for our team. And that value wouldn’t mean anything if he wasn’t willing to do everything – like, legitimately willing to do everything – for the team. He’s a super guy, a team guy, and so you’re going to see him in a lot of different places. But Kyle Karros is here to play third base the majority [of the time], so I think it’s safe to say you’ll see a lot of second base out of Castro.”
Ryan Ritter
“I loved his ability to come into camp and compete for a job, and add new things to it – which is not an easy thing to do at all – and be really good at it. He played left field at a high level, in my opinion, from first jumping out there and he’ll only get better. I’m really impressed with what ‘Ritt’ did. There was some really, really high competition there with him – Chad Stevens, really good player; Nicky Lopez, really good player. So for ‘Ritt’ to go win that battle was a big deal.”
Edouard Julien
“You’re going to see Eddie Julien against right-handers a lot. I like guys that get on base and he does it a lot. So there’s DH at-bats there, there’s second base, there’s some first base for him. So he’s going to be a big part of this team.”
On the general depth of the roster
“I like it. I hope that you see that. The splits are way better, versus right and versus left. Our team is going to be lined up with better matchups overall. We had to option some really good ballplayers today, and I feel for them because they all played really well. Honestly, there were a lot of position players in this camp that played well, so it made a lot of decisions difficult, but it does lend to our depth. I like our 13 guys plus I like the guys in Triple-A. I like what we’ve got. It seems to be a really good starting point for us. And they’re meshing as a team, and I’m excited to see what they’ve got.”
Closing Thoughts
In addition to setting half of the roster, the Rockies also announced the following moves:
The Colorado Rockies announced today the following transactions:
-C Braxton Fulford optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque. -INF Nicky Lopez reassigned to Minor League camp. -LHP Parker Mushinski reassigned to Minor League camp. -INF/OF Chad Stevens reassigned to Minor League camp.…
— Rockies Club Information (@RockiesClubInfo) March 22, 2026
The Rockies made some expected and unexpected moves today. Which ones were the most surprising to you?
The bullpen will be announced tomorrow. Who do you think will make it?
MIAMI, FL - MARCH 16: Michael Lorenzen #24 of Team Italy walks back to the dugout during the 2026 World Baseball Classic WBC game presented by Capital One between Team Venezuela and Team Italy at loanDepot park on Monday, March 16, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/WBCI/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Yesterday the Colorado Rockies organization took two losses. First, a 5-6 defeat for the major league squad at the hands of the Kansas City Royals despite a scoreless four inning start from Kyle Freeland, and a two double performance from Troy Johnston. Later in the day, the Rockies top prospects came together to be beaten 10-3 by their counterparts on the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Today the Sacramento Athletics will visit Salt River Fields to take on the Rockies.
On the mound for the A’s will be veteran left hander Jeffrey Springs. His career so far having been defined by injuries, Springs’ ability to take the ball 32 times and pitch 171 innings last year was a welcome accomplishment.
While his velocity is nothing to write home about, Springs features a changeup that is a genuine put-away pitch against righties (41.3% whiff rate in ‘25) and a solid slider that he uses equally against batters on both sides of the plate.
Opposing him will be Michael Lorenzen making his first start for the Rockies since an impressive run with team Italy in the WBC.
While his spring training appearances leave something to be desired, across his two appearances in the tournament he logged 7.1 innings with a 3.68 ERA. That included earning the win against a stacked team USA lineup in pool play. He’ll look to keep those strong performances going against a good A’s lineup in what will be his final start before the regular season.
VENICE, FLORIDA - MARCH 16, 2025: Jake Miller #46 of the Detroit Tigers throws a pitch during the second inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the Atlanta Braves at CoolToday Park on March 16, 2025 in Venice, Florida. (Photo by George Kubas/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
If there’s one player we’re a good deal higher on than the industry, it’s left-handed starting pitcher Jake Miller. Personally, I think Miller has a solid chance to develop into a mid-rotation caliber starting pitcher. Others will note the 2025 injuries that stalled his workload progression and see too much downside risk. More likely, he’s a good swingman who spot starts occasionally, but is still a very valuable member of the Tigers’ pitching staff in the years ahead. We’ll see how it turns out over the next few seasons.
Miller had just turned 21 when the Tigers selected him out of Valparaiso in the 2022 draft. They used their eighth round pick on the lefty, paying him the minimum bonus. That looks like another steal from the college pitching ranks. Miller was unheralded in college despite being a left-hander, in part because his fastball sat in the low-90’s. Over the past three full seasons of pro ball, he’s built that up to sit 94 mph. In the process, he’s developed above average command of a deep mix of secondary pitches, helping them all to play up and work in concert together.
The 6’2” left-hander initially weighed in at a somewhat lanky 185 pounds, but has added 15-20 pounds of good muscle over the last few years. He has a simple compact delivery, working into his motion with a rock step and a fairly high leg kick from a closed stance that gives him some deception, and then firing his quick arm through a standard three-quarters arm slot into release.
In his first full season of A-ball, Miller wasn’t particularly impressive until his command really came together late in the year to finish strong. He stayed in Lakeland to start the 2024 season, but eventually moved to High-A and reached Double-A by the end of the year. He posted a combined 1.85 ERA with a 30.4 percent strikeout rate against a truly miserly 5 percent walk rate over 87 1/3 innings of work. His command of a solid fastball and a plus changeup together was just overwhelming to A-ball level hitters.
Miller is typically 93-94 mph with his fastball, hitting 95-96 at max effort. It’s a straightforward fourseam fastball with a bit of riding action and a pretty flat plane to the top of the zone, but nothing outstanding. His crossfire and quick arm accleration give him some deception, and he moves around on the rubber to get different angles depending on the pitch and hitter, shifting his foot on the rubber into his delivery. All that helps make his release point trickier to track for hitters. It’s really just a perfectly average major league fastball, but he does a lot of little things to help it play up.
Miller began the season with Erie, and put together four good starts out of the gate before going on the injured list. There weren’t any reports at the time, so we had to wait until season’s end to find out what was going on. Rumors were that back spasms were the issue, and Miller had a procedure and missed all of May, June, and July, before making a few rehab appearances in Lakeland to close out the year. His second rehab appearance saw him smoked in the back by a 105 mph comebacker and knocked out the game. Kind of a microcosm of his year than as soon as he got back on the mound, something else went wrong.
The back trouble actually turned out to be caused by hip issues. Miller was announced for the Arizona Fall League last fall to make up some innings, but further medical exams after the reguar season ended showed partial tears to both hip labrums. Miller had surgery on both hips and he’s been completing his offseason rehab work throughout camp. Reports on his progress are positive, but he might take until late April for him to get on the mound for the Toledo Mud Hens, where he was optioned back on March 6.
The best secondary pitch in Miller’s toolkit is a plus circle changeup that really falls off the table with good deception and fade away from right-handed hitters. His command of the fastball-changeup combination is his bread and butter. Miller doesn’t just throw a good ratio of strikes. He already spots the fastball consistently all around the zone, jamming right-handers and adding a bit of cut to the fourseamer to do so, and getting more twoseam looking run on it to his armside. He’s very adept at tying up hitters inside and then getting them to expand the zone chasing fastballs up and away, or by dropping the changeup off the same eye line for whiffs and plenty of weak contact. He’ll use it left-on-left, and his excellent armspeed really helps him sell it and get hitters way out in front.
Miller’s breaking stuff is a more ordinary. He throws a pretty prototypical gryo slider around 84-85 mph, and over the past year shaped his power curveball into more of a sweeper at 79-80 mph. The slider is above average at its best but can be a little too rounded rather than breaking sharply. His consistency needs to improve a bit more with that pitch, while the sweeper is easier for hitters to recognize, but has serious horizontal break and is difficult to square up. The velocity on everything was down a tick or two during his rehab work in Lakeland last summer, and that’s the only Statcast data we have to work from, but when healthy he should be right back to the numbers provided here.
The pitcher who looks most similar to Miller on the Tigers’ right now is lefty Enmanuel de Jesus. They have similar stuff, though Miller at his best has a bit of a velocity advantage, but de Jesus’ ability to spot four pitches and really work hitters over with his command is very reminiscent of Jake Miller at his best. Pitchers like this are often underrated because there is no eye-opening “stuff” data to build a projection from, just a solid, well composed mix of pitches. It would help him to develop the slider into a harder, sharper version that plays more like a cutter, but command still plays even without a true plus pitch in the mix.
Most national sites have Miller as a 40+ future value grade. I’ll go two steps higher. He’s not a high percentage guy to develop into a number three starter in a good rotation, but the likelihood that he makes it as a backend starter, is pretty high in my opinion. Of course, he may be good enough to do that and still used in a hybrid/swingman role anyway. Should he come back strong from rehab and sitting closer to 95 mph consistently, as he has for a few brief stretches in the minors, he’ll push closer to top 100 status nationally.
The Tigers know what they have here, and they added Miller to the 40-man roster last fall to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Instead of moving him to the 60-day IL this spring to open a roster spot for Enmanuel de Jesus, the Tigers moved Troy Melton onto that list instead. Reports from camp, along with that set of decisions, suggest that Miller is tracking well to get on the mound in April, but we’ll just have to see how it plays out. One way or another, a healthy Jake Miller is a weapon, and a pitcher who will probably help the Tigers out this year. He’ll just need some time in Toledo to get his timing and command all the way back after a tough 2025 season.
The Dodgers finally made a decision on the final spot for their Opening Day roster.
And their choice qualified as a mild surprise.
On Sunday morning, the team announced it had optioned infielder Hyeseong Kim to Triple-A Oklahoma City, clearing the way for fellow infielder Alex Freeland to make the team to begin the season.
Dodgers infielder Alex Freeland is slated to start the season on the big-league roster. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Now, the Dodgers’ position player group looks set, with Freeland likely to platoon at second base alongside Miguel Rojas while Tommy Edman continues recovering from an offseason ankle surgery.
However, during his time with Team South Korea in the World Baseball Classic, Kim’s swing suffered a rapid regression. He went 1 for 12 in the tournament with six strikeouts, even against largely lesser-quality pitching. And when he rejoined the Dodgers last week, manager Dave Roberts said his swing was looking “out of sync” compared with earlier in the spring.
Freeland, meanwhile, impressed Dodgers brass enough with his improved plate discipline in camp, drawing as many walks as he did strikeouts (11 each) in the Cactus League.
The Dodgers sent Hyeseong Kim to Triple-A to start the season. AP
He also punctuated his spring with a highlight, hitting a home run in Saturday’s Cactus League finale.
“I think he’s taken great at-bats,” Roberts said this week of Freeland, who hit .190 in 29 major-league games as a rookie last year. “The numbers, the surface line certainly isn’t there. But it’s still spring training.”
Sunday’s move might say more about the progress the club still wants to see Kim make, as sending him to Triple-A will provide him with regular playing time he wouldn’t have gotten if he began the season in the majors.
After signing a three-year, $12.5 million deal last offseason, Kim hit .383 in his first 37 games but then slumped to a .175 average over the second half of the year, with MLB pitchers quickly learning to exploit holes in his swing (most notably, an ability to adjust to spin below the zone).
And while Kim still finished his nine Cactus League games this spring with a .407 average, he also struck out eight times and drew only one walk, showing some of the same bad habits that derailed his rookie campaign.
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PEORIA, ARIZONA - MARCH 14: Jose Ramirez #11 of the Cleveland Guardians runs up the line on an RBI single during a Spring Training game against the San Diego Padres at Peoria Stadium on March 14, 2026 in Peoria, Arizona. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images
TAMPA — The Yankees swung a minor trade on the final day of camp as they whittled down their roster to 26.
The club is sending infielder Jorbit Vivas to the Nationals for minor league pitcher Sean Paul Liñan.
Vivas was out of options and was not going to make the team, so the Yankees were able to get a non-40-man player for him instead of potentially losing him for nothing.
Jorbit Vivas during a Yankees exhibition game on Feb. 19, 2026. Getty Images
Liñan, 21, is a right-hander who split 2025 between Single-A, High-A and Triple-A, posting a 3.03 ERA across 19 games (15 starts) with 106 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings.
He was originally signed by the Dodgers out of Colombia before being dealt to the Nationals in a package for Alex Call last summer.
Vivas was also an original Dodgers sign before being acquired by the Yankees with reliever Victor Gonzalez for Trey Sweeney ahead of the 2024 season.
Sean Paul Liñan pitches during the game between the Washington Nationals and the St. Louis Cardinals at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium on Thursday, March 19, 2026. MLB Photos via Getty Images
He appeared in 29 games for the Yankees last season but hit just .161 with a .516 OPS.
Trading Vivas opens up a spot on the Yankees’ 40-man roster.
The Yankees need at least one open spot to officially sign Randal Grichuk, who is making the club after being in camp on a minor league deal.
PHOENIX , AZ - MARCH 20: Andrew Fischer #3 of the Milwaukee Brewers bats during the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Fields of Phoenix on Friday, March 20, 2026 in Phoenix , Arizona. (Photo by Aryanna Frank/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Brewers will take on the Athletics today in the second of two Spring Breakout exhibition games. The Spring Breakout games are a way to highlight prospect talent by giving each team an opportunity to field a full lineup consisting of players from all levels of their minor league systems. Today’s lineup consists almost entirely of top-30 Brewers prospects, including the organization’s No. 1 and 2 prospects (infielders Jesús Made and Luis Peña) in the top two spots of the order. Third baseman Andrew Fischer, who smoked a 112.4-mph ground-rule double off of Mason Miller yesterday, is hitting third.
Blake Burke, who had one of the biggest second-half breakouts in the Brewers’ system, is hitting cleanup. He’s followed by Josh Adamczewski, in left field today, and 2025 sixth-round pick Daniel Dickinson. Matthew Wood, 2024 first-round pick Braylon Payne, and Josiah Ragsdale make up the bottom of the lineup. Starting on the mound today is Tyson Hardin, Milwaukee’s No. 19 prospect, who recorded a 2.72 ERA and 9 K/9 last year between High-A and Double-A.
You can watch today’s final Spring Breakout game on MLB TV and MLB Network. First pitch is slated for 3:05 p.m. CT.
