CLEARWATER, FLORIDA - MARCH 05: Jesús Luzardo #44 of the Philadelphia Phillies high-fives teammates in the dugout following the third inning against the Boston Red Sox during a Grapefruit League spring training game at BayCare Ballpark on March 05, 2026 in Clearwater, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Max Scherzer seems like a cool dude. Maybe he’d like to pitch out of the bullpen? Huh, huh??
SARASOTA, FL - FEBRUARY 25: Enrique Bradfield Jr. #72 of the Baltimore Orioles leaves the field during the game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Ed Smith Stadium on Wednesday, February 25, 2026 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Michael Mooney/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
We’re just past the halfway point of the Orioles’ Grapefruit League schedule. The O’s played their 17th game yesterday — not including their exhibition against the Netherlands WBC team — and took a 7-2 loss to the Cardinals in Jupiter (the city, not the planet). Most of the Orioles’ regulars didn’t make the road trip, but Coby Mayo did, adding another hit to his already impressive spring tally. He also played an errorless third base. Granted, there was only one grounder hit in his direction — by former O’s third baseman Ramón Urías, coincidentally enough — but Mayo made the play successfully.
Meanwhile, a couple of Orioles are about to return to camp after brief stints in the World Baseball Classic. Dean Kremer pitched brilliantly for Team Israel with 4.2 scoreless innings on Sunday, but his club has been eliminated from advancing. He’ll be back with the Birds after Israel’s final game today.
So too will Enrique Bradfield Jr., whose eliminated Panama club wrapped up its pool play round yesterday. Panama’s quick exit is hardly the fault of Bradfield, who was a spark plug for the team. I attended the Panama-Canada WBC game in San Juan on Sunday and Bradfield was electrifying on the basepaths and in the outfield, twice reaching base on bunt singles — one of which was a drag bunt over the pitcher’s mound — and causing havoc with his speed. He made a couple of extremely impressive plays in center field, too, showing fantastic range to get to balls that many outfielders couldn’t touch. I’d sure be happy if Bradfield could bring that kind of energy and game-changing speed and defense to the Orioles, though he’ll need to test his mettle at Triple-A Norfolk first.
Two weeks from today, the Orioles will be finished with spring training and will be setting their sights on Opening Day. They have 14 games remaining — 12 in Florida, followed by home-and-home exhibitions against the Nationals in Baltimore and D.C. — to whittle down their camp roster to the season-opening 26-man. Considering there are currently 60 players remaining, the O’s still have plenty of decisions to make.
I’m still of the opinion that Mayo’s defense at third base is going to be a disaster, so he’s sure going to need to mash at the plate to make up for it. It could actually happen, if his spring performance is any indication.
If nothing else, the presence of a 28-year-old Orioles coach will serve as my daily reminder that I am very old.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! And happy 28th birthday to O’s catcher Maverick Handley, who made his MLB debut with 16 games last year and is currently a non-roster invite at camp. Former Orioles born on this day include outfielder Tike Redman (49) and reliever Mike Timlin (60).
On this date in 1966, the O’s traded 22-year-old outfielder Lou Piniella to Cleveland for Cam Carreon. Piniella had played only four games with the Orioles, getting one lone plate appearance, before the O’s sent him packing, and he went on to have an 18-year playing career followed by another 23 prolific seasons as a manager. Carreon, meanwhile, played just four games for the O’s after the trade.
And on this day in 2016, the Orioles signed designated hitter and former #2 overall pick Pedro Álvarez as a free agent. The slugging Álvarez had never really lived up to his lofty draft status with the Pirates, hitting a bunch of homers but contributing little else, and the same was true of his O’s career. He powered 22 dingers for the Birds in 2016 but posted just a 0.9 WAR in parts of three seasons in Baltimore.
JUPITER, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 26: Masyn Winn #0 celebrates with Bryan Torres #39 of the St. Louis Cardinals after making an out against the Houston Astros during the first inning of a spring training game at Roger Dean Stadium on February 26, 2026 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images) | Getty Images
With only a couple of weeks remaining in spring training, I think it’s time we revisit how we did with our predictions from the end of October.
If you were one of the participants who included your predictions, here is a quick link to help you find them! Like last year, this is a pass/fail exercise. No half points, I either got it or I didn’t. With that being said lets take a look!
1. The Cardinals will trade a position player for pitching depth
The Cardinals traded Willson Contreras for Hunter Dobbins, Yhoiker Fajardo, and Blake Aita in December. The presence of Dobbins in this deal as MLB-ready pushes this into the correct column for me! Fitts was acquired for Gray, so it didn’t fit the criteria. Martinez for Arenado and Cintje for Donovan also aren’t MLB-ready, so they don’t fit the criteria either.
I speculated at the time that trading Gorman made the most sense and that I would not be a fan of the Cardinals moving Donovan. If the offers weren’t there for Gorman, I understand. I still am highly skeptical that Gorman will reach his ceiling as a player, and even if he winds up having a breakout year, the Cardinals should still look to cash in on him. The Tyler O’Neill path and why playing out a volatile power over hit profile with an injury history is why you don’t invest in that long term.
The Donovan situation, I changed my tune somewhat because the context of the team has changed more than I anticipated. I didn’t expect Contreras to waive his NTC, but after Gray waived his, Contreras admitted that the writing was on the wall and was more amicable to a swap than previously indicated. If Donovan was traded for just Cintje and Peete, I would’ve been underwhelmed, and that’s the exact type of deal that the previous regime would’ve accepted. But Bloom gaining TWO additional comp picks and an additional outfield prospect out of the deal really changes the equation. The Cardinals now have a serious war chest when it comes to the draft this year, and we will talk to Joe Doyle at the end of March to get a real lay of the land for the upcoming draft in July.
I’m 1-1 so far! Nice.
2. The Cardinals will sign a veteran starter for the rotation.
Also in December, the Cardinals signed Dustin “Don’t call me Gingergaard” May. (sorry Dustin.) Thus fulfilling my expectation that they would bring in a veteran bounce-back candidate who they could flip at the deadline. I speculated that perhaps German Marquez, previously of the Colorado Rockies, would be an option, but the Cardinals shot MUCH higher than I anticipated again. This spring, May has regained body weight, which has allowed him to reach the high 90’s with his fastball once more. This is a big deal when it comes to the upside potential of the asset. The adage of Mass = Gas rings true, and the Cardinals look to be the beneficiaries of that decision very early.
With a young stable of pitchers set to highlight the rotation between Liberatore, McGreevy, Fitts, and potentially Leahy. The Cardinals’ pitchers will benefit from a veteran sounding board who has experienced his fair share of ups and downs and can speak to a multitude of challenges that the young pitchers will face. Analytically, that provides no value, but real-world context, having that support 1000% matters on a big league staff.
2-2 and I’ve matched how many I guessed correctly from a year ago!
3. This will be the 2nd offseason in a row that no player receives an extension
This one I’m tempting the baseball gods with, and if Masyn Winn, who I think would be the MOST likely candidate the Cardinals would approach about an extension, signs one between now and opening day, you’re welcome, St. Louis. But, to this point, and we’re over halfway through Spring Training, the Cardinals have not handed out an extension to any of their players, and that is a stance I expect the Cardinals to hold, for now. I remain convinced, based on the declining revenue streams between both TV and attendance, coupled with an impending CBA negotiation that could alter the financial landscape of MLB, that the Cardinals want to wait to see what the circumstances are before they decide how to distribute cash flow for future seasons.
Temporarily, I’ll call myself 3-3, and I’ll be happy about being more right than last year!
4. The Cardinals will FINALLY trade Nolan Arenado
At the end of the season, it felt like the process had truly run its course, and I think giving a new regime a stab at the chance to do what needed to be done for over a year was going to lead to a deal finally being executed. Lo and behold, that also came true, and not only that, MULTIPLE teams engaged the Cardinals seriously for Arenado, ultimately leading to a deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks and credit to Cardinals ownership in all of the veteran NTC trades, including cash to make the return more palatable.
The Cardinals received Jack Martinez in return, and while a healthy amount of this fanbase was skeptical at best that a deal would even get done, the Cardinals also managed to get a piece that could contribute in a couple of seasons. I am cautiously curious if this could wind up looking very similar to the Paul Dejong deal. I think fans would be thrilled if Martinez winds up being what Matt Svanson was a year ago for St. Louis.
4-4, and I have to be a candidate for player of the week after this performance!
5. The Cardinals will start the 2026 season with the lowest payroll in the NL Central
Let me be clear, this is a crown of thorns that Mr. DeWitt and the ownership group have the misfortune of wearing this season. Nobody is happy about this fact, not even them. They also have nobody to blame BUT themselves for the position the team is in coming into the 2026 season. Again, they deserve credit for green-lighting the pathway that included spending significant money to buy prospects for their aging core veteran players, the deserve credit for investing in tech and infrastructural resources that the Cardinals DESPERATELY needed to put themselves back amongst the modern franchises that utilize every avenue to be the best they possibly can. For those reasons, I am optimistic about the future of the St. Louis Cardinals.
According to FanGraphs, these are the opening day projected payrolls for the NL Central:
CHC: 231 Million
MIL: 129 Million
CIN: 126 Million
PIT: 105 Million
STL: 99 Million
Financial investment into the roster is not a be-all end-all, but Cardinals fans have come to expect a certain level of investment based on the precedent established by the DeWitt-led ownership group’s own actions over the previous 30 years. That’s my entire lifetime. This is a unique season that I’ve never experienced in my growing time as a St. Louis Cardinals fan. That deserves the caveat of praise, given that other franchises envied that level of stability and support. The Cardinals prioritized the wrong things after the 2020 COVID-shortened season, which set off a chain reaction to where they are. They held on too long, they put band aids over bullet holes, they stopped leaning into who they were as an organization in the name of periphery contention, drafting and developing took a back seat to throw an extra 10 million at the Lance Lynns and Kyle Gibsons of the world.
The first step in solving a problem is identifying and admitting that you have one. The Cardinals have done that and now are taking their medicine for it. 2026 likely won’t be to the level of expectation of most Cardinals fans. Most readers on this site understand that and are excited to watch other areas of the organization grow. The general Cardinals fan who likely doesn’t traffic this site often will not be happy with 2026, and the talking points that surround the team will likely reflect that.
Unless there is an extension signed during spring or the Cardinals hand out an 8 million dollar contract in the next two weeks, I will have a clean sweep on my predictions for the offseason! Take that, HATERS! Jake knows ball.
Officially turning the page on one of the most active and course-correcting offseasons in a long time for Cardinals fans, we can simultaneously say we’re excited about the future, but the team is not where we want it to be, and those sentiments are consistently echoed by President of Baseball Ops Chaim Bloom. The Cardinals will experience ANOTHER influx of young talent over the next 6 months between trades and the draft that should have the Cardinals truly set up for the future. I, like many of you, am ready for the season to start and have baseball back on our TV’s/radios on a nightly basis.
The best story of this World Baseball Classic is not the baseball overdogs, the absurdly talented Team USA or Dominican Republic squads that mix next-level baseball talent with bloodless execution.
Nor is it – at least not yet – Shohei Ohtani, who blasted a pair of home runs as Japan quietly prevailed in its pool in Tokyo. And never mind the goofy upstarts from countries we weren’t sure played baseball – though Italy may make its biggest WBC mark yet.
No, the most remarkable group once again hails from an island of 3.2 million, a fraction of the population in the Dominican or Cuba and a miniscule slice of humanity relative to the global superpowers that count their citizens in the hundreds of millions.
For the sixth time in as many iterations of the WBC, Puerto Rico is on to the quarterfinals. That’s a claim the Dominicans can’t make, having once failed to escape group play. And it may seem ho-hum, given the island of Clemente and Beltran and many Molinas established its hardball bona fides several generations ago.
Yet the baseball-mad territory has been dealt setback after setback going on decades, be it subjugation to the Major League Baseball draft, to a series of hurricanes pounding the island to now, this strange situation involving insurance coverage and the terrible misfortune that it just so happened to befall nearly a dozen Puerto Rican ballplayers, thinning a strong yet already compromised talent pool.
Certainly, you’ve heard about the holy trinity of Puerto Rican shortstops, that Francisco Lindor was denied insurance (he’d end up fracturing a hamate bone, anyway), and the actuaries wouldn’t come near Carlos Correa’s medical charts, and that Javy Baez was sidelined for a years-ago marijuana violation that wouldn't have cost him any games in Major League Baseball.
But the insurance monster wouldn’t stop until ace Jose Berríos was knocked out, along with useful reliever Alexis Diaz and, perhaps most importantly, switch-hitting catcher Victor Caratini.
All this coming on an island that hasn't been the same ater it was ravaged for eight days in 2017 by Hurricane Maria, dealing long-term setbacks to its infrastructure while its leader tossed paper towels at the problem.
It’s been nearly a decade since Maria. Perhaps you tuned into the Super Bowl halftime show and appreciated the Puerto Rican struggle.
If not, Puerto Rico manager Yadier Molina can fill you in on the baseball end of that equation.
“Here in Puerto Rico, there are a lot of parks that haven't been repaired since Maria,” says Molina, the former St. Louis Cardinals great and youngest of the Molina catcher troika, before the team’s colossal pool play showdown against Cuba. “We need to give a little TLC to the sport. Everyone talks about education and health, but we need to talk about the sports, also.
“We need to help it, and we need to move it forward.”
Yet help or no help, the Puerto Ricans always seem to move it forward.
Minus Caratini, the Boricua once again summoned 39-year-old Martín Maldonado to put on the gear and squat behind the plate. One of the major leagues’ most respected backstops, Maldonado might have played his final MLB game, and besides, he was just a .204 career hitter, anyway.
Yet you don’t last 15 years in the major leagues without something special. And so when Puerto Rico trailed by a run, bottom of the ninth against Panama in a March 7 game that could have jeopardized its hopes, Maldonado simply rolled an opposite-field single to right field that keyed the tying rally.
An inning later, Darell Hernaiz hit a walk-off home run that generated roars in San Juan that probably endured through the team’s off day.
Against Cuba, it was Maldonado’s spot that came up in a scoreless game, second inning, bases loaded. And the .204 hitter smoked a first-pitch slider into the left field corner. Three runs scored.
Maldonado handled the five-pitcher relay with aplomb; Puerto Rico held Cuba to two hits. The 4-1 victory ensured their spot in the quarterfinals.
Logic would suggest this is where the Boricua get in over their heads. Yet history suggests otherwise: Puerto Rico advanced to the championship game in both 2013 and 2017 – as many WBC finals appearances as Team USA, and one more than the Dominicans. Sure, the Puerto Ricans haven’t yet won it all, but they’ve nonetheless punched above their weight significantly.
It’s easy to laugh off the immaculate vibes that always surround this squad. Team Rubio and all that, and court jester Kiké Hernández – another injury casualty this time around – keeping it all loose.
Yet the 20,000 fans who jam Estadio Hiram Bithorn and the many thousands more watching elsewhere create an expectation for the squad.
“We as Puerto Ricans take that very serious,” veteran catcher Christian Vazquez said before the Cuba matchup. “We see there's a lot of children looking up to us, and they're going to step into our shoes when there's another Classic, and we're going to have to keep on being a role model.
“So, it has a weight, and we do take that very seriously.”
Consider the tradition upheld. Even if the odds seem to get longer every single time.
He's tucked away on Team USA's World Baseball Classic roster amid Cy Young Award winners and All-Stars.
Yet even as Nolan McLean's career is just getting started, he's lined up to take on a significant role for the Americans.
McLean, the New York Mets' 24-year-old right-hander, has made just eight career major-league starts but might end up getting the ball in the WBC championship game. Team USA manager Mark DeRosa has lined up ace Paul Skenes for the semifinal round, to get the Americans to the championship.
From there, it might be McLean's turn.
He's starting Team USA's fourth pool-play game on Tuesday against Italy, which already will be a significant task as both teams enter undefeated in pool play. So how did such a relative newbie earn such esteem so quickly?
Who is Nolan McLean?
It wasn't that long ago that McLean was harboring dreams of following in Shohei Ohtani's footsteps, not Skenes'. The Mets drafted him as a two-way player in the third round out of Oklahoma State in 2023, and he kept the bat in his hands into the 2024 season.
At least until his pitching far out-kicked his hitting.
As McLean's arm got him to Class AA, making contact became a problem: He struck out 74 times in 143 plate appearances at high A and AA. Pitching it was.
On that side of the ball, he averaged a strikeout per inning, a good thing. And in 2025, he needed just five starts to graduate from Class AA Binghamton up to AAA Syracuse - where he was even better.
As McLean stacked dominant starts at Syracuse, posting a 2.78 ERA across 16 appearances the clamor for him to buttress a Mets rotation gasping for air grew louder. He finally arrived Aug. 16 - and became perhaps the most reliable cog on a Mets team that couldn't stop a free-fall.
Lest we forget, McLean was originally a three-way player: He was a highly recruited quarterback out of Garner, North Carolina, and on Oklahoma State's football roster as a freshman. Seems like he picked the best lane.
Nolan McLean stats
Startlingly, his numbers were even better in the National League than the International League. He gave up just 34 hits in 48 innings. Posted a 2.06 ERA, a 57-16 strikeout-walk ratio and 1.04 WHIP.
Oh, and he essentially couldn't lose.
The Mets won seven of his eight starts, his lone setback a 1-0 defeat to the division champion Phillies. Not that Philly got the best of him: He also spun eight shutout innings against the Phillies at Citi Field, giving up just four hits in his third major league start.
Yes, perhaps the WBC won't faze him too much.
Nolan McLean pitch repertoire
It usually takes pitchers the better part of a decade to master a half-dozen pitches, the result of endless tinkering, exposure to a wide swath of teammates and greater self-knowledge.
Yet McLean, at 24, might already be there.
He typically pitches off a four-seam fastball that averages 95 mph and has touched 98, along with a power sinker that most often serves as his putaway pitch. Yet his sweeper and curveball play significant roles as well, and gain greater effectiveness thanks to his trusty No. 1 and his daunting sinker.
McLean also throws a cutter, though that for now remains his perpetual workshop pitch, and a changeup.
No, they're not all perfect weapons. But for a guy to confidently throw that many pitches in a major league setting at such a tender augurs well for when McLean is, say, 30 years old.
Nolan McLean salary
Yep, he's perhaps the biggest value on both the WBC and star-studded Mets squad.
McLean will make $791,500 this season, the slight raise from the major league minimum of $780,000 a nod to his late-season contribution in 2025. He also figures to be a prime candidate for additional earnings through the pre-arbitration bonus pool that was enacted in the most recent collective bargaining agreement.
And while McLean still has six full seasons via free agency, he and other younger players should keep a wary eye on CBA negotiations and any significant changes to arbitration eligibility or free agency. He received a $747,600 signing bonus after getting drafted in 2023.
TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 18: Gerrit Cole #45 and Max Fried #54 of the New York Yankees look on during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 18, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The closer we get to Opening Day, the sooner we’ll lean about the Yankees’ ultimate roster plans. Manager Aaron Boone got the obvious out of the way last night, with the confirmation that 2025 ace free-agent signing Max Fried will be the Opening Day starter.
If you had to line up the Yankees’ rotation beyond Fried right now, who would make your cut? For the purpose of this question, we want to know the specific order you’d use for the first time the Yankees need to pitch five starters in five days. Fried, Ryan Weathers, Cam Schlittler, Luis Gil, and Will Warren all figure to be in the mix, but how are you lining them up and why? Maybe you’d like to get Ryan Yarbrough in there, too. This is a no-judgment zone!
Also, as a secondary exercise, suppose that all of the Yankees’ injured starters return and all are healthy. (I cannot emphasize enough that I do not believe this will happen because the best-laid plans of healthy pitching are best forgotten. But we’re having fun here! How would you line the front five up with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt in the mix? Yes, yes, the boring-but-correct answer is that it depends on how all the pitchers look in that moment, and especially how the arms respond to their various comebacks.
For the first prompt, my gut says to go Fried/Schlittler/Weathers/Gil/Warren, and for the second, Fried/Cole/Rodón/Schlittler/Schmidt — tagging Weathers in for Schmidt since I don’t really trust that his elbow will let him make so many starts for the 2026 Yanks. Let us hope that this is a problem the Yankees are forced to handle! I’m feeling optimistic about most of these names anyway.
Today on the site, John and Matt lead will recap the WBC action from Monday, Sam will preview Ryan Weathers’ 2026 campaign, Peter will look across town and read the tea leaves about the 2026 Mets, and Nick will celebrate the birthday of Steve Howe, a very talented pitcher whose own demons unfortunately kept him from sticking around on this Earth for very long.
TOKYO, JAPAN - MARCH 09: Travis Bazzana #64 of Team Australia reacts after striking out in the third inning during the 2026 World Baseball Classic Pool C game between South Korea and Australia at Tokyo Dome on March 9, 2026 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Toru Hanai/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After a hot start to the tournament, unfortunately Australia has been eliminated from the World Baseball Classic after losing 7-2 to Korea. Travis Bazzana didn’t have the best tournament performance, but he came through at the end and had an RBI single to put them in position to advance before they gave up a run in the 9th inning. It would’ve been super fun to see Travis play on an even bigger stage, but at least now we’ll have him back with the team in Goodyear soon.
The Guardians beat the Royals 6-2 today, and it was quite the eventful game for some key players. Steven Kwan went 2-3 with two HRs, his first of the spring. Brayan Rocchio also hit a massive 408 foot Home Run, he has quietly had a really nice spring. Petey Halpin has also continued his awesome spring by going 1-3 with a double.
Parker Messick was absolutely awesome today! He went 4.2 innings, allowing zero earned runs on just two hits with four strikeouts and one walk. His velocity looks good as he was up to 96 today and his ERA is down to 1.93 this spring. He is going to be a massive part of the team this season.
The Guardians will take on the Giants Tuesday at 4:05 pm ET.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — There is a possibility, while unlikely, that there won’t be baseball in 2027.
Will there be a salary cap?
A salary floor?
Both?
Right now, there is not a clear picture of what’s coming in Major League Baseball — or when. The disagreement surrounds payrolls across the game.
The Phillies carry the fourth-highest luxury tax payroll in the league at just under $312 million, and it’s unclear how grandfathered money might factor into a potential salary cap structure.
So they got ahead of the chaos.
On Sunday, the Phillies and Jesús Luzardo agreed to a five-year, $135 million extension covering the 2027 through 2031 seasons. He will make $11 million this season in his third and final arbitration year.
Luzardo is just 28 and won’t turn 29 until September. Age is a central reason the Phillies felt urgency. If he goes out and posts another 32-start campaign with a sub-3.50 ERA, he could have commanded north of $30 million annually on the open market.
The collective bargaining agreement is the backdrop to everything here. The current agreement expires after 2026, and a work stoppage — lockout, strike, or otherwise — would push the next season to 2028. If that happens, Luzardo would be knocking on 30 when the next season began.
That’s exactly the age most free-agent starting pitchers, especially left-handers, hit the open market. The window to sign him at a relative discount was now, not next winter.
If a salary cap is implemented and the Phillies are up against it, they would not have been as strong a suitor. Locking him up now eliminated that risk.
There would have been significant competition for Luzardo regardless. A cap-and-floor system — the structure most likely to bridge the gap between players and owners — would have forced smaller-market teams to spend up, making him an even hotter commodity.
The foundation for this deal was laid long before Monday. When Dave Dombrowski acquired Luzardo from Miami in December 2024, trading top-five infield prospect Starlyn Caba and outfielder Emaarion Boyd, the southpaw was coming off a season-ending back injury with an ERA north of six. It was a calculated bet on talent and upside.
A healthy 2025 validated it. Luzardo made a team-leading 32 starts for the second time in his career, went 15-7 with a 3.92 ERA, threw a career-high 183 2/3 innings and struck out 216. He finished seventh in NL Cy Young voting.
His season wasn’t without turbulence. A stretch of pitch-tipping produced back-to-back disastrous starts — 20 earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. Remove those outings and he pitched to a 3.03 ERA in 30 starts.
Once the issue was identified and corrected, Luzardo closed the year with a 2.84 ERA over his final 11 starts. That version of the pitcher is what the Phillies are buying.
The Luzardo deal also further validates the decision to pass on Ranger Suárez in free agency this past winter. Suárez landed five years and $130 million with Boston, yet has never made 30 starts in a season or eclipsed 160 innings. Luzardo has cleared 175 innings twice and made 32 starts in each of those campaigns.
The Phillies chose the more durable pitcher at $5 million more total. That’s a reasonable trade-off.
The financial picture works, too. Nick Castellanos ($19.2 million) and Taijuan Walker ($18 million) come off the books after this season, freeing up roughly $37 million. The $16 million annual increase in Luzardo’s value will be easier to absorb in that context.
What has allowed the Phillies to keep investing in starting pitching year after year?
In part, one of the sharper trades and extensions in recent memory. Cristopher Sánchez was acquired from Tampa Bay in 2019 for prospect Curtis Mead, who has appeared in just 152 big-league games and hit .238.
Sánchez’s hot start to 2024 earned him a four-year, $22.5 million extension buying out his final pre-arbitration year and three arbitration seasons at just over $5 million annually, with club options for 2029 ($14 million) and 2030 ($15 million). A bargain for a Cy Young-caliber pitcher that created the room to keep spending.
Looking ahead, Wheeler’s deal expires after the 2027 season, the end of his three-year, $120 million. With Luzardo now signed through 2031, he joins Trea Turner and Bryce Harper as the three players under contract that far out.
The roster construction beyond Wheeler’s departure will look very different, and the next CBA — which will likely span longer than the 2021 agreement — will shape how that money is distributed.
The next domino worth watching is closer Jhoan Duran, one year away from his own contract year. A work stoppage could delay those conversations or accelerate them. The Phillies may choose to act sooner rather than later.
For now, the Luzardo extension is the statement. If he continues to take the ball every five days and pitches to his ceiling, this deal could age as one of the more cost-efficient contracts on the books for a club that has never shied away from spending.
There’s a great unknown hanging over the sport heading into 2027. One thing is certain, though. Jesús Luzardo will be in red pinstripes.
TAMPA, FL - MARCH 03: New York Yankees Pitcher Max Fried (54) delivers a pitch to the plate during the spring training game between Team Panama and the New York Yankees on March 03, 2026 at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: To no one’s surprise, Max Fried will be taking the baton first for the Yankee rotation in 2026. The team officially announced that Fried will be the Opening Day starter on March 25th against the Giants, setting up their ace from the 2025 season to start things off. Fried didn’t get the honor last year because of how close to the start of the year Gerrit Cole’s injury occurred (Carlos Rodón got the ball instead), but after stepping up in place of the clubhouse leader there was no question that he’d get the nod this time around.
The Athletic | Chris Kirschner ($): Around these parts we’ve been giving rave reviews of how well Ben Rice did last year while being sure to mention that he got ridiculously unlucky at the plate at the same time, and Rice himself feels compelled to check the stats every once in a while to look at how silly his Baseball Savant page looks. The difference was a lot more difficult to swallow two years ago though, when Rice debuted and looked like a solid enough player already whose results unfortunately were terrible. Rice lays out how he battled through that frustrating rookie season and transformed his results, as well as the strides he’s looking to take this season which could push him from the fringes of stardom to a household name in the league.
NJ.com | Randy Miller: Carlos Rodón has progressed to the next stage of his rehab, facing live hitters and notching the velocity on his fastball back into the 92-94 mph range. Rodón likely isn’t going to make it into any spring training games this year, but there’s a chance that he could build up to an exhibition game just before the Yankees break camp in Arizona ahead of Opening Day. Still, while the left-hander might not be back with the major league team before May this is altogether a solid recovery for a pitcher who’s had his fair share of surgeries at this point. Here’s hoping the rest of the process stays smooth.
NY Post | Joseph Staszewski: Spencer Jones got off to a hot start in this year’s spring, but logistics were always going to get in his way before he could book a ticket to San Francisco with the rest of the big leaguers. Jones was officially optioned down to Triple-A to start the year, alongside starter Elmer Rodríguez, where he was expected to begin thanks to the Yankees boasting an outfield consisting of Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, and Trent Grisham. Jones will have plenty of eyes on him still as scouts look to see whether he can continue his prodigious power streak while toning down on the strikeouts, but whether he’ll get a shot to showcase that for the Yankees or another organization remains to be seen.
As an aside on Rodríguez, he may be ticketed for Triple-A, but in a big start for Puerto Rico against Cuba last night, he demonstrated a small sample of why the Yankees like him so much, throwing three innings of scoreless, one-hit ball (albeit while walking three).
SB Nation | Samantha Bradfield: There’s a lot of star power on the Team USA roster this year, but the locker room has been a boon for everyone involved it seems. Players have rave reviews for getting to experience these All-Star-esque rosters and pick people’s brains, and of course the Captain of the team is front and center in that experience. Judge called it a “once-in-a-lifetime experience,” with players like Clayton Kershaw, Kyle Schwarber, and Paul Goldschmidt chiming in to agree.
National Baseball Hall of Fame: Bill White was awarded the Buck O’Neil Award on Monday, honoring his “extraordinary efforts to enhance baseball’s positive impact on society.” A former World Series champion first baseman with the Cardinals, a trailblazer, and a six-time All-Star, White transferred over to the broadcasting booth following his retirement, and formed an iconic booth alongside Yankees legend Phil Rizzuto for 18 seasons. He was later named president of the National League, back when the two leagues had separate heads. White’s call of Bucky Dent’s famous home run against Boston in the 1978 AL one-game playoff is an iconic one, and one that rings through the history of the game to this day.
Observations from Yankees spring training on Monday:
Rice is cooking
Ben Rice flashed a nice glove at first base, robbing Enmanuel Valdez of a base hit with a diving catch to his right in the third inning.
Ben Rice Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Not again
Jake Bird, who struggled badly after being acquired at last year’s trade deadline from Colorado, gave up two more runs to the Pirates.
Caught my eye
Giancarlo Stanton smashed a 424-foot homer to left-center.
The shot was measured at 109 mph and was his first of the spring.
But can he open a bag of Doritos?
Tuesday’s schedule
Luis Gil gets the start against the Phillies at 1:05 p.m. in Clearwater, Fla., as the right-hander tries to regain the form he displayed as American League Rookie of the Year in 2024.
Max Fried was named the Yankees' Opening Day starter.
TAMPA — Monday was a promising day for the Yankees rotation. Max Fried earned an honor and Carlos Rodón took a step.
Fried will be the Opening Day starter, manager Aaron Boone said, for the first time in his brief Yankees tenure and fourth time in his career. Fried became the club’s ace last season once Gerrit Cole went down, but Cole’s surgery occurred mid-camp and at a point in which Fried was not lined up for the opener. That 2025 nod eventually went to Rodón.
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Fried put together an All-Star season in his first campaign in The Bronx and is the leader of the still-Cole-less group, so Boone’s acknowledgment that Fried would be on the mound March 25 in San Francisco arrived with no frills.
Fried was on the mound Monday and looking sharper than his first spring start. After struggling with his control last week against Team Panama, when he walked three in three-plus innings, Fried allowed one run on two hits and no walks in four innings in the 5-3 loss to the Pirates.
“Way better, more consistent,” Fried said from Steinbrenner Field, where he built up to 67 pitches. “Was able to execute what I wanted to do.”
Max Fried was named the Yankees’ Opening Day starter. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The afternoon was encouraging for the Yankees rotation, too, Rodón facing hitters for the first time since October elbow surgery.
Could he make his season debut next month?
“I don’t know what’s in play,” Rodón said.
“I don’t want to get ahead of myself,” Boone said, “but he’s on a pretty good time[line].”
Perhaps late April, perhaps May, but regardless there is optimism concerning Rodón, who checked off a significant box.
The lefty threw 20 pitches to minor leaguers and mixed in all of his pitches, watching his top velocity escalate from 92 mph in his bullpen sessions to 94 mph while facing actual humans.
“I wasn’t trying to throw hard, and it came out at an easy, smooth pace,” said Rodón, who Boone said was “pretty sharp” for his first live batting practice.
There will be several more live batting practice sessions, and Boone hoped that Rodón would appear in a Grapefruit League game before the regular season begins.
Rodón himself thought he would not appear in a game before his teammates leave for Arizona on March 23. He was not sure about a firm timetable but was happy with how his arm is feeling after the procedure to shave a bone spur and remove loose bodies.
“Kind of like riding a bike,” Rodón said. “… Working on a few things. Don’t put too much stock into it, it’s just the first one. But it was good, good enough. Looking forward to going again.”
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 01: Zack Littell #52 of the Cincinnati Reds prepares to pitch during Game Two of the National League Wild Card Series between the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, October 1, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Sunday morning brought news that one of the final key players left in free agency had signed. The Washington Nationals have reportedly signed starter Zack Littell to a one-year contract with a mutual option for 2027.
At the beginning of the offseason, Littell was projected to earn a two-year contract worth roughly $24 million. So why the big change? And why didn’t the San Diego Padres bother to bid against the Nationals for his services?
A journeying swingman
Throughout his career, Littell was mostly a reliever. He performed to varying degrees of success, but it was mostly inconsistent from season to season.
His best years came in 2019 and 2021 with the Minnesota Twins where he posted a 2.68 ERA and 2.92 ERA, respectively. But each of those seasons were bookended by a 6.20 ERA in 2018, 9.95 in 2020, and 5.08 in 2022.
Because of his struggles, Littell wasn’t converted to a starter until after being picked up by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2023. He started 14 games for the club and put up a solid 3.93 ERA. The Rays held onto him in 2024 before trading him at the 2025 deadline to the Cincinnati Reds.
Across 32 starts in ‘25 between Tampa Bay and Cincinnati, Littell authored a 3.81 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP, shining as a middle-of-the-rotation starter before entering free agency.
Why the hesitancy to sign?
After such a high valuation from the majority of contract projections on Littell, it’s possible that his agents were waiting out the market for a better offer that never came.
It’s unclear yet what the Nationals are paying Littell but that number will likely become public once the team announces the signing. The report of his signing remains unconfirmed.
Given that, it’s surprising the Padres didn’t swoop in to sign him. Earlier this offseason, San Diego was rumored to be checking in on Littell (though those discussions obviously did not come to fruition). Seemingly, the price wasn’t right to outbid Washington.
It will hopefully make more sense once the dollar figure of Littell’s contract is announced. But for a team still in need of reliable pitching, it’s surprising general manager A.J. Preller wasn’t in on the 30-year-old’s services.
HOUSTON — The joint was completely packed, fans roamed outside trying to get a sneak peek inside, with music blaring and the crowd ready to party into the night.
Well, a 6-foot-7 dude bigger than any bouncer, not only got past the red-white-and-green velvet ropes, but sucked the life out of the party until it was almost last call.
Simply, Aaron Judge stole the show Monday evening at Daikin Park.
The sellout crowd of 41,678 watched him hit and throw to lead USA to a 5-3 victory over Mexico, and all but guarantee the Americans a berth in the quarterfinals..
Judge’s heroics began in the third when Mexico threatened USA starter Paul Skenes for the only time in his four-inning outing. Mexico had Joey Ortiz on first base after second baseman Brice Turang’s error, and Jarren Duran hit a hard liner to right field.
While Ortiz raced towards third base, Judge snagged the ball on one hop, and threw a 92-mph laser to third baseman Alex Bregman, who tagged Ortiz for the inning-ending out.
Judge barely had time to acknowledge the cheers from his teammates when he stepped to the plate with Bryce Harper on first base. He belted a 2-and-1 slider from reliever Jesus Cruz the opposite way into the right-field seats.
Judge started his home run trot, pointed and gestured towards the USA bench, circling the bases. The blast kick-started the USA offense, and by the time the inning ended, the Americans had a 5-0 lead after 21-year-old Roman Anthony’s three-run homer, the youngest player to homer for USA in the WBC.
It turned out that USA would need every bit of that offensive outburst with Mexico refusing to go away. Duran of the Boston Red Sox hit two home runs to provide late-game drama. They threatened again in the ninth on Joey Maneses’ leadoff single, but Garrett Whitlock closed out the game with three consecutive strikeouts.
The Air Force Academy duo of Skenes and Griffin Jax kept Mexico’s offense in check during their two stints, delighting the Air Force baseball team, who was invited to stay an extra day in Texas after playing Baylor over the weekend. Skenes and Griffin gave them a night to remember.
Skenes, who spent two years at the academy before transferring to LSU, gave up just one hit in four shutout innings, striking out seven batters. The former cadet was so fired up that he threw 21 pitches registering at least 97-mph on the radar gun the first two innings. And Jax, the first Air Force Academy graduate to reach the major leagues, shut down Mexico’s last rally in the eighth by coming in and inducing Alejandro Kirk into an inning-ending double play.
“I had special conversations with both of them," USA manager Mark DeRosa said. “Obviously, their process is a little bit different than the rest of the guys in the room, living that military background and going to school and attending Air Force.
“I know every guy in that room is proud to represent the United States of America. But the conversations with them were a little bit different, as far as wanting to represent every serviceman and woman who protects our freedom on a nightly basis. They're thinking is a little bit different."
And if it wasn’t the AFA duo shutting down Mexico, there was USA shortstop Bobby Witt to snuff it out, making two you-got-to-see-it-to-believe-it plays with throws from his knees.
Judge was so euphoric that when Witt came into the dugout after throwing out Nick Gonzales in the fifth inning, he got into his face, and yelled, “Are you kidding me?"
Team USA now sits atop Pool B with a 3-0 record, and can clinch the top seed with a victory Tuesday night over Italy. They will then have two full days off before they would play again at Daikin Field against Puerto Rico, Cuba or Canada.
And plenty of time for everyone to continue to extol the greatness of Judge, who has put this USA team on his back this tournament, with his teammates trying to hang around him as much as possible.
“Obviously, one of the best players to have played this game," USA third baseman Alex Bregman said. “And I feel like he's super knowledgeable about the swing, about the game of baseball in general. So definitely not taking this opportunity for granted, and trying to pick his brain as much as I possibly can about hitting or anything to do with the game of baseball.
MIAMI, FLORIDA - MARCH 09: Ronald Acuña Jr. #21 of the Venezuela singles during the fifth inning against Nicaragua at loanDepot park on March 09, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The star outfielder for the Atlanta Braves continued to do his home country proud in the World Baseball Classic. Ronald Acuña Jr. delivered another good performance for Venezuela as his performance essentially pushed them over the top in a win that primes them for a massive clash against the Dominican Republic on Wednesday.
As usual, Acuña led off for Venezuela in this one and as usual (when he’s healthy and feeling confident), he wreaked havoc upon the basepaths once he did reach. He got on with a walk, stole second base and then made it to third base on the play after catcher Ronald Rivera sent a wayward throw into the outfield. Jackson Chourio brought Acuña home on a sacrifice fly and that put a capper on a tone-setter of a trip around the basepaths for Acuña to start things off.
Acuña returned to the dish in the third inning and by that point, Nicaragua starter Danilo Bermudez had sat down eight Venezuela batters in a row. He was unable to make it nine because he served up a hanger in the middle of the zone for Acuña and the leadoff man for Venezuela and the Braves made no mistake with it. He crushed into the seats in right-center (a familiar sight for baseball fans in Miami) for a solo shot that put some breathing room in between Venezuela and Nicaragua. Venezuela had two baserunners and two runs at that point and both were thanks to Ronald Acuña Jr.
He wasn’t done there, either. Once the fifth inning rolled around, Acuña actually came to the plate with runners on base and two outs on the board. Duque Hebbert tried to fool him with a changeup but instead, Acuña smacked it into left-center field for another RBI in order to make it 3-0 Venezuela. For the kids keeping track at home, every run that Venezuela had scored at that point had Acuña involved with it in some way, shape or form. It’s the type of performance that us fans here in Braves Country are used to seeing and now he was doing it for his home country on the world stage.
Acuña added another single in seventh inning to make it a 3-for-3 day at the plate with a walk, a stolen base, two runs scored, two RBI and a home run as well. Again, baseball fans in Miami are very likely used to seeing this type of performance from Acuña and hopefully we’ll be seeing more of that once the Braves make it down there to South Florida for a regular season contest.
Acuña’s performance helped power Venezuela to a comfortable win over Nicaragua. They didn’t need to win the game since earlier results had ensured that they’d be leaving the group but now they’ve ensured that their matchup against the Dominican Republic on Wednesday will be a showdown to decide who wins Pool D. The building formerly known as Marlins Park is going to be packed to the rafters for that one and it’ll be very exciting to see how Acuña and the rest of this Venezuela squad fares against one of the real tournament favorites with quarterfinal seeding on the line.
It’ll all get started at 8:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday night on Fox Sports 1, in case you’re interested in tuning in to see these two mammoths clash.
