Apr 12, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros third baseman Grae Kessinger (16) throws out a runner during the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
It is interesting, and potentially advantageous, that the Mets signed so many middle infielders during the offseason. As we all cross our fingers for a speedy recovery from hamate surgery for Francisco Lindor, we’ve been highlighting some of the potential players who may take some at-bats during spring training and (hopefully not) during the early days of the regular season.
Today’s spotlighted middle infielder is Grae Kessinger. A third-generation major leaguer, Kessinger was drafted in the second round by Houston in 2019. Much like Christian Arroyo, Kessinger was a top prospect who showed promise at times in the minor leagues, but he never had a slam dunk season on the farm, but his 2023 was solid, hitting .283 .397 .429 across AA and AAA. Later that season, he got his first shot in the big leagues. In 26 games for the Astros, he hit .200/.289/.325 with one home run while playing all four infield positions.
2024 saw Kessinger mostly playing in Triple-A, but he made 23 appearances for the Astros, but didn’t collect a single hit in 25 plate appearances. After the season, the Astros traded Kessinger to the Diamondbacks for minor league pitcher Matthew Linskey. However, after just 11 games for Triple-A Reno, Kessinger was designated for assignment.
While minor league releases happen all the time, it’s odd to see a relatively young (27) year old who made the majors in the prior season be released after less than a dozen games. Not that these are Babe Ruth numbers, but Kessinger collected 8 hits in 11 games, only to be released. MLB Trade Rumors was similarly surprised by the move:
It’s a bit surprising to see Kessinger released, as most DFA’d players are either traded or placed on outright waivers. An injured player can’t be placed on outright waivers, so a release is sometimes an indication that a player is hurt, though there’s been no reporting to suggest that’s the case with Kessinger. Another possibility is that he has been released to pursue an opportunity overseas, though that’s entirely speculative.
He was not signed by another club all season, either stateside or elsewhere. No official statement was ever released by either the club or Kessinger to explain his departure and lack of signing elsewhere.
Of all the potential middle infielders we’ve discussed so far, Kessinger’s story is the least conventional. While the money and minor league roster spot aren’t exactly a big deal to Steve Cohen’s budget, it’s rare to see a player who wasn’t playing organized ball of any kind for 90% of the season last year get signed at all.
But the same ‘former top prospect’ caveats that applied to Arroyo apply to Kessinger. He’s a versatile player with options remaining who isn’t terribly far removed from some moderate minor league success. As long as whatever led to his mysterious release in 2025 doesn’t pop up again, Kessinger seems likely to play a lot in Syracuse this season, maybe popping up to the majors for a cup of coffee.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 02: Carlos Narváez #75 of the Boston Red Sox walks across the field prior to game three of the American League Wild Card Series against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on October 02, 2025 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) | Getty Images
During this past week’s run of press comments from members of the Red Sox organization at Fenway South (including Sam Kennedy, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about), catcher Carlos Narváez got some glowing reviews.
Manager Alex Cora noted that Narv/Narvi/The Narv did a great job exceeding expectations in 2025, per Gabrielle Starr the Boston Herald, while being “banged up” the entire time. Red Sox Hall of Famer and current team staff member Jason Varitek commended him for his preparation and mindset in the clubhouse. Cora himself ordained him as the team’s starting backstop, a call that was all but official leading up to Spring Training.
These are all good things for a guy who was basically an afterthought when he was traded from the Yankees to Boston in December 2024. After all, he was acquired by the Sox on the same day that ace Garrett Crochet was. A little over a year later and Narváez is starting his 2026 season in the good graces of those around JetBlue Park.
That Herald article did have one other point that I feel warrants further discussion, though: the idea of a contract extension for the 27-year-old Narváez.
“The only thing I may say is I would love to be a Red Sox forever. I would like to retire with this team. We haven’t talked about it, hopefully that will come in the future.
That’s something that I’m not paying attention to right now. Of course, I would love it, but we’ve got different goals this year, and I think this year is going to be very important for us, for everybody.
We got our goal set. Like, individual things, personal things that will come in the future, and of course I’m more than happy and welcome if that happens, but as of now, our goal is to get a World Series ring this year.”
But maybe now’s the time to at least start thinking about it, even if it’s just a fun thought exercise. Hell, I’ve got nothing better to do on this holiday.
From a 30,000 foot view, Narváez was rated as the 12th-most valuable catcher in 2025 according to fWAR (2.7) out of backstops who had at least 400 plate appearances. Much of that value at the position league-wide was driven by offensive output, though, and Narv’s bang-on average OPS+ of 100 was never going to set himself apart in that department. We’ve seen some encouraging signs of power at times from Carlos from the right-hand side of the dish (something we very well might need to improve heading into the new year), but there can be some big time holes in his swing as demonstrated by his 27.7% whiff rate and 24.9% strikeout rate (both below the 30th percentile mark last season, according to Savant).
However, his Def rating on FanGraphs (which is just the combined total of his fielding runs above average and positional adjustment) of 14.2 put him as the sixth-most valuable defensive catcher in the sport. Savant’s metrics confirm those defensive skills, as his fielding run value of 12 was good for the 96th percentile across MLB in 2025. Blocks, arm talent to catch runners stealing, framing (which may not be as valuable of a skill going forward due to the introduction of the ABS challenge system, but something that will still be useful in some fashion nevertheless), pop time, you name it: Narv was in elite company.
WAR may not be able to always tell the full story of a player, but it at least gives us a good benchmark. For perspective, catchers that Narváez was within one fWAR of last season—one way or the other—include Milwaukee’s William Contreras (3.6), the Giants’ defensive wiz Patrick Bailey (3.4), rookie of the year Drake Baldwin of Atlanta (3.2), Austin Wells of the Yankees (3.0), the Cubs’ Carson Kelly (2.6), Philly’s J.T. Realmuto (2.1), and Ryan Jeffers of Minnesota (2.1).
With that in mind, we can pop over to Spotrac’s catcher contract breakdown. Three of those names I just mentioned—Contreras, Jeffers, Kelly—have average annual values between $9.4 million and $5.75 million. A fairly comparable player within Boston’s division is Alejandro Kirk of Toronto, who inked a five-year extension with the Blue Jays last year worth $58 million ($11.8 million AAV) through 2030. Kirk is excellent defender behind the plate with a career OPS just south of .750 and a career OPS+ of 108. Maybe he doesn’t get there on offense the same way Carlos would—Kirk’s 15 home runs last year was a career high after only eclipsing double-digit dongs one other time beforehand, while Narváez had 15 homers in his first full MLB season—but the similarities are there.
So if:
Narváez is the equivalent of “We have Alejandro Kirk at home,”
He’s still in his 20’s with pre-arbitration years still in play, and
Catchers of similar caliber are making somewhere around the mid-to-high seven-figure range each season…
…what sort of deal might make sense for him?
Something around the lines of five years, $45 million feels about fair to me in a vacuum right now. Red Sox Payroll on Twitter—an excellent resource, by the way—said a deal starting in 2027 worth $50 million over six years with a club option, based on pre-arb extensions for catchers elsewhere, could be worth consideration. I think that’s a fair estimation too; tack on an extra year to lower the AAV, that’s sensible.
A Narvaez contract extension at 1+ yr of service would be interesting to estimate. Below are a bunch of pre-arb catcher examples.
The most relevant are Basallo, Ruiz & Murphy, but none are perfect comps.
However, would either of those bids even make sense to offer at this point in time? The Red Sox front office certainly has to be considering the knee issue last season, right? Would an AAV of $8-9 million be worth eating into the arbitration years of a catcher? Do you let Narv play out 2026 and then come back to the table to negotiate a long-term deal? He’ll be closer to 30 years of age than 25 by the conclusion of this season; do you just let the arbitration years play out if he doesn’t take a step forward? If he does take a step forward on offense, are you gonna have to shell out even more money—Alejandro Kirk money, or even more given the nature of how the AAV line is always going to climb for talent—at this point next year if you want to keep him in the picture going forward?
Competitive balance taxes should never deter a franchise of this stature from making the moves they’ve got to make to stay competitive, and the contracts of Masataka Yoshida and Trevor Story will (probably) be coming off of the books over the next few years, but that’s another factor to consider when having this discussion.
At the end of the day, I guess I don’t expect an extension to be provided to Narváez in the near future. For clarity, let’s just call it the 2026 season; I don’t expect a long-term deal prior to the end of the World Series this upcoming fall. But Mr. Breslow does move in silence, so who am I to say for sure?
For now, I hope Narv is able to keep up that defensive presence while improving on offense. If he can do that, I’d be more than happy to entertain an eight-figure AAV extension for him—because that would mean he’d be a massive part of Boston’s success in 2026.
If this article is your first time hearing of Julian Fernández, I can’t blame you. The 30-year-old right-handed reliever was acquired in August off waivers from the Dodgers, and in 12.2 innings pitched with the Rochester Red Wings, he posted a 7.82 ERA and 5.47 FIP. He made his Nationals debut at the end of September in 2025, posting a 3.00 ERA and 5.80 FIP in 3 outings.
On the surface, Fernández’s Triple-A and major league numbers don’t suggest he is due for a major breakout in 2026. And yet, Fangraphs projects Fernández not only to be better in 2026, but to be one of the better rookie relievers in all of baseball, with Steamer projecting him to post a 3.72 ERA and 16 K-BB% in 59 innings.
Some other projection metrics, such as ZiPS and THE BAT, aren’t quite as high on Fernández, projecting him for an ERA in the low 4s, but the sentiment remains: Julian Fernández will be better in 2026 than his past performance dictates.
So what exactly does Fernández do so well that has the projection systems so high on him? It starts with the swing and miss stuff, as he struck out over 11 batters per 9 innings in 54 innings at Triple A in 2025. Fernández has a very intriguing pitch arsenal, throwing only 2 pitches: a fastball about 60% of the time and a changeup about 40% of the time.
The fastball is loud, sitting 97 MPH with the pitch in 2025, but gets hit around quite a bit, with a 46% hard hit rate in Triple A. The changeup, on the other hand, is lethal, with a 43% whiff rate and .162 opponents’ expected batting average on the pitch in Triple A.
Fernández also does an excellent job of limiting free passes, with a 77th percentile walk rate in Triple-A in 2025. Not many pitchers are able to combine strikeout stuff with strike-throwing ability like Fernández, and that’s why he ranked 10th in K-BB% among all Triple-A pitchers with at least 50 innings pitched.
The key culprit to Fernández’s struggles in 2025 was his unbelievably high home run numbers. In his 54 Triple-A innings in 2025, Fernández had a home run to fly ball ratio of 14.5%, including an unreal 30.8% HR/FB ratio as a National.
For reference, the average HR/FB is generally around 10.5% league wide, far below where Fernández was last season. While some of that was his tendency to give up loud contact, with a 23rd percentile barrel rate in 2025, he’s bound to see some positive regression in the home run department in 2026, which will lead to better results overall.
If I were Simon Mathews, the Nationals’ new pitching coach for 2026, my main focus for developing Julian Fernández into a plus big league reliever would be to start throwing his nasty changeup much more often, as well as looking to add a third pitch to his arsenal to keep hitters guessing.
He’s shown that he can miss bats with his stuff at Triple-A, and the addition of a new pitch, such as a sinker (which he did tinker with at the end of 2025, throwing it just 0.3% of the time overall) to help induce more groundballs could help him take him from an “if” to a sure thing in a currently shaky Nationals bullpen.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 08: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Camilo Doval #75 of the New York Yankees in action against the Toronto Blue Jays in game four of the American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium on October 08, 2025 in New York City. The Blue Jays defeated the Yankees 5-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) | Getty Images
As the Yankees approached last season’s Trade Deadline, they’d squandered an early division lead and sat in need of reinforcements. The most logical area of the roster to augment was the bullpen. Devin Williams, acquired in a preseason blockbuster to serve as the team’s closer, had been a massive disappointment, closing out July with an ERA above 5.00, and few other Yankees relievers fared much better. GM Brian Cashman acted with heartening urgency, adding not one, not two, but three relievers to the mix. Alongside David Bednar and Jake Bird, he swung a trade with the Giants to acquire their off-and-on-again closer, Camilo Doval.
Doval burst on the scene in 2021, posting an exemplary 37:9 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 27 innings for a surprising 107-win Giants club that dethroned the Dodgers as NL West champs for the only time since 2012. They fell back as a team the next year, but Doval secured San Francisco’s closer job, establishing himself as a ninth-inning stalwart before leading the NL with 39 saves in 2023. The Dominican Republic native appeared poised for a steady run as one of the game’s premier relief arms.
But, as has been proven time and again, the reliever is baseball’s most fickle creature. Doval regressed dramatically in 2024, recording a 4.88 ERA that called into question his long-term viability. While he fared better in the first half of 2025, his inconsistency—as well as the middling Giants’ inability to get back to October in an uber-competitive NL West—made him expendable at the deadline.
Doval’s Yankees debut came in a game that could not have been scripted better to shatter the hearts of the team’s fans everywhere. Riding high on the strength of their deadline additions, New York watched Bird allow four runs and Bednar allow another two to blow a comfortable lead against the lowly Marlins. New York’s third shiny new object, Doval, entered in the ninth with a two-run lead, promptly allowing three baserunners before, aided by an error from fellow newcomer José Caballero, Miami walked the game off on a dribbler.
Receiving an opportunity to enter the setup mix in a wide-open Yankees bullpen, Doval continued to flounder in his new uniform. Through his first 16 appearances with New York, the right-hander posted a 6.59 ERA. By the end of that run, he’d fallen largely into mop-up duty while an unfazed Bednar seized the closer spot and Williams settled in as setup man.
In this lower-leverage role, Doval started to turn things around. In late September, he allowed just one hit in six scoreless outings to end the season. Crucially, for a pitcher whose struggles with control had led him to give free passes in half of those first 16 appearances, Doval allowed walks in just one of those final six. He wasn’t used in the Wild Card Series but pitched reasonably well in three ALDS appearances. This included Game 2 in Toronto, where Doval entered with the Yankees down 2-0 in the fifth and tossed two perfect innings, making him one of a precious few hurlers able to keep the relentless Jays lineup at bay.
With Williams and Luke Weaver both departing in free agency, Doval would appear in line to get a crack at the setup job once again behind Bednar unless the Yankees add another top-end arm. The pressure is on, as Brian Cashman has on multiple occasions pointed to his Trade Deadline additions as a primary reason why the team didn’t add much to the bullpen this past offseason. The front office is optimistic about what they’ll get from a full season of Doval.
The big question is whether his inconsistency the past two seasons is an aberration or his early dominance has faded. ZiPS expects the latter, projecting a remarkably similar line to Doval’s last season, a performance that would land him more in the middle reliever category. Many of Doval’s peripherals remained strong last year — including a 53.6-percent ground-ball rate — but his 12.6 percent walk rate held him back from being reliably effective.
Entering 2026, expect control to be a focal point of Doval’s scouting report. If the former All-Star can keep traffic off the bases, Doval still has the stuff to be a back-end option. If not, the 28-year-old could once again cede his role and find himself in mop-up duty — and possible non-tender territory.
It’s Friday morning as I write this, and for some reason, the boys are home, the first day of a four-day weekend. Such as it is, we had a movie night last night, and it was my turn* to pick out the film. As I’m impatiently awaiting the start of baseball, in any shape or form, I chose A League of Their Own, one of the best** baseball movies.
*We choose movies in order of birth, and my wife is the oldest of the group. She picked last time and chose The Mighty Ducks, which I hadn’t watched in years. It wasn’t bad! Except the part about Gordon Bombay landing a DWI in the first few scenes, and the opening scene where the coach belittles young Gordon for hitting the post. Stupid Gordon!
**My two favorite baseball movies are A League of Their Own and Major League. I also enjoy Field of Dreams and The Sandlot, but I have a hard time picking out a fifth favorite baseball movie. Probably the Albert Brooks and Brendan Fraser vehicle, The Scout, where Fraser’s character, at the end, strikes out the fearsome slugger…Ozzie Smith???
Watching a baseball movie is just one of the ways I’m gearing up for the baseball season, in particular, watching the Royals. I’m sure I’ll watch plenty of the World Baseball Classic, which begins in early March.
While the WBC isn’t that far away, it feels like it is. Closer is the start of college baseball. My beloved, woeful Missouri Tigers, who finished last season 16-39 (3-27 in conference play), begin their season the night I’m writing this piece as they take on Mount St. Mary’s in a neutral-site game down in Florida.
A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I took our sons to their first-ever Mizzou basketball game. During one of the first-half timeouts, the baseball team came out to throw t-shirts to the crowd. The next time out, head baseball coach Kerrick Jackson took the court to address the crowd. No one booed Jackson, but no one cheered him, either. I could tell that not a lot of the fans cared that much, or knew that much, about the baseball team.
Lady Behind Me: Is the baseball team any good?
Man Behind Me: [laughs]
Still, baseball is baseball. If you love it, you love it in all its shapes and sizes, from the SEC to the minors to the Majors to a film about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAPBL, thank you very much).
My sons really enjoyed A League of Their Own. The littler one asked if we could watch it again as soon as the credits rolled. My wife didn’t recognize Madonna. The older son and I engaged in a conversation that has surrounded the movie since it was released in 1992 – did Kit Hinson knock the ball out of Dottie’s hand, or did Dottie purposefully let it go?
It also warmed my heart when Tom Hanks first entered the picture—over thirty minutes in!—and the boys recognized him from the only other movie in which they’ve seen him (excluding the Toy Story movies, of course): The ‘Burbs.
The on-field action in League, if you will, is pretty good. Sure, there’s a scene or two where the batter clearly hits the ball to the right side of the field, and Rosie O’Donnell’s Doris, playing third, makes a play to her right. Whatever. The play has me gearing up to go.
With the Royals, there’s also the draft to consider. They moved up in the lottery and landed the #6 pick in the draft, which should enable them to land a premium player. Because of that draft position, I’m keeping an eye on the college baseball season as a whole (not just Mizzou, which is probably good for my sanity) as well as how certain prep players perform this spring.
Reading Baseball America is great for that coverage, and The Athletic seems to be upping its coverage of the college game, too. I’m sure there are other, possibly better (i.e., cheaper) sites for this sort of coverage, but these are the two on which I’m leaning.
Justin Lebron is a bona fide Player of the Year candidate.
Plus he could challenge Roch Cholowsky for the top spot in the 2026 Draft 👀
He's the top player in Alabama and arguably the most important to his team’s goals in the nation.
Then we have the Royals’ own farm system, which is getting stronger. Keith Law at The Athletic is great for prospect coverage, as is Baseball America, but MLB Pipeline, which is the only free site of the group, also provides strong work. All of them are helpful for keeping an eye on Royals prospects climbing the ladder toward the Majors or determining who the front office might dangle* in a trade to upgrade the 40-man.
*I’ll have another column on this soon.
Lastly, I’m reading a bunch of baseball books, to which I’ll be devoting an entire column in the coming days. It seems that there are more books about baseball than any other sport, even football. When I’m roaming the stacks at the local library, it’s clear that baseball—at least, the history of baseball—is thriving.
All of this is to say, I can’t wait to watch some baseball. Starting with Mizzou tonight, I should be watching or listening to baseball games from now until the end of October. I’ll be at Opening Day at the K for the first time in my life. I have finally convinced my youngest join a baseball team, too.
There’s nothing better.
Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone: baseball has returned.
Peoria, Ariz. - February 13: Ethan Salas #90 of the San Diego Padres runs the bases during spring training workouts at the Peoria Sports Complex on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026 in Peoria, Ariz.. (Photo by Photo by Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images via Getty Images)
The San Diego Padres have two catchers who need to prove they belong in the organization. Luis Campusano is taking what might be his last chance to make the major league roster and stick at that level as he is out of options. If he does not make the roster he would be cut by San Diego and would have to clear waivers for him to remain in the Padres’ system. Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball feels Ethan Salas is in a similar position but is nowhere near a potential cut candidate. If Salas can return to form after returning from a lost season due to a stress reaction in his lower back, his value could increase and he could once again be regarded as one of the top prospects in baseball. If he is unable to do that, he could potentially be traded to acquire another piece to improve the current iteration of the Padres roster.
Padres News:
Padres president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller has still not received a contract extension from San Diego and there is a lot of speculation as to why. If fans find themselves thinking the lack of an extension for Preller is strange, they might be comforted to know that clubhouse leader Manny Machado feels the same way.
Fans who responded to this week’s Padres Reacts Survey were somewhat split about whether they love or hate Padres players competing in the World Baseball Classic. There are arguments to be made on both sides, but no matter where you fall on the topic the reality is the games will be played either way because it is a world stage event and the players are going to play.
With the additions of Miguel Andujar and Nick Castellanos it was evident the goal for the Padres in the offseason was to improve their offensive power numbers. Adding Andujar and Castellanos to a roster with Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Jackson Merril, Gavin Sheets, Ramon Laureano and Xander Bogaerts it’s easy to dream on drastic improvements in the areas of home runs and slugging percentage.
Machado made it known during his media session on Sunday that he believes A.J. Pre12ller has earned an extension and that the fact he does not already have one is “weird.”
Nick Castellanos reported to Padres camp on the first day of full squad workouts and is already doing and saying the right things in his new organization.
Machado was not just stumping for Preller to receive an extension, he was also talking about the Los Angeles Dodgers offseason spending and about a potential salary cap.
PORT ST. LUCIE, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 13: Bo Bichette #19 of the New York Mets looks on during spring training workouts at Clover Park on February 13, 2026 in Port St. Lucie, Florida. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Orioles addressed a lot of needs this offseason. They brought on Pete Alonso, one of the splashiest signings of the offseason, period. They signed a bona fide lockdown closer in Ryan Helsley. They added a corner bat in Taylor Ward. But with spring training games just days away, one question keeps nagging: Is the rotation good enough to win the division?
It’s a question worth asking, because the AL East rotations look nastier than ever. The Blue Jays, fresh off a World Series run, added Dylan Cease on a seven-year, $210 million deal to pair with Kevin Gausman and postseason revelation Trey Yesavage. The Red Sox went on a pitching spending spree, landing Ranger Suárez ($130 million over five years) and trading for Sonny Gray to slot behind Garrett Crochet. Even the Yankees, despite taking something of a “run it back” approach, will get Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón back from injury sometime this spring to join Max Fried and young flamethrower Cam Schlittler.
Meanwhile, the Orioles—well, if you read this blog regularly, you know pretty much exactly where the Orioles rotation stands. Baltimore missed out on Framber Valdez (now in Detroit) and watched Suárez and Cease land with division rivals. Instead, as has become customary, they cobbled together a rotation through trades and one-year deals: Shane Baz from Tampa Bay, veteran Chris Bassitt on a one-year, $18.5 million deal, and Zach Eflin back on a $10 million deal after August back surgery.
These weren’t, like, the splashiest moves ever, but to judge by team quotes to the press, you shouldn’t be worried. Manager Craig Albernaz says he “like[s] his guys.” Trevor Rogers says the rotation is “scary.” New signing Bassitt says he’s ready to win a World Series.
Is there cause for such optimism? It’s true that a 1-2 punch of Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers looks none too shabby: Bradish finished fourth in the 2023 Cy Young race and has a 2.44 ERA over 44 combined starts in the last three seasons. If he’s healthy, he’s deadly. Trevor Rogers was arguably the best pitcher in baseball after returning from injury last May, posting a 1.81 ERA and 0.90 WHIP over 18 starts.
Behind them, the depth behind them is intriguing (which is more than could be said of O’s back-end starters in recent years). Shane Baz has “Cy Young” upside, according to Albernaz himself. Chris Bassitt is a proven innings-eater who just pitched in the World Series. Zach Eflin was a rock after the 2024 trade deadline before his back gave out. And that’s not even counting a sixth man in Dean Kremer, who is a solid backend arm.
So let’s hear it, Camden Chatters: Can this rotation compete with the staffs in Tampa Bay, Toronto, Boston, and New York? Are you buying the upside, or do you wish the front office had landed a true ace? Sound off in the comments.
Feb 13, 2026; Glendale, AZ, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki (11) talks to manager Dave Roberts (30) during spring training camp. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images | Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images
After digesting that Ben Rortvedt will now join fellow former Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes, a non-roster invitee, in New York Mets spring training camp, here are more baseball stories to begin your week.
Roki Sasaki faced hitters, including Hyeseong Kim, on Sunday at Camelback Ranch, as he begins building toward his second year in the majors.
“Reflecting back on my last year, I felt like I just stumbled with my own responsibility in the sense that it wasn’t really about the level of Major League Baseball or the hitters,” Sasaki said. “It was just really more about things that I could’ve controlled that I didn’t. So this year, coming into the year — my goal is to be able to pitch throughout the entire season. And I think that will allow me to be able to show what I have to work on in the big league level.”
“The sliders that I threw last year weren’t good. Results-wise, it wasn’t good too,” he said. “This year, I want to focus more on the gyro-spin slider. Today I haven’t thrown the two-seamer, but that’s also in the works.”
Links
After Tommy John surgery last June, Evan Phillips could return in July or August, roughly, and talked to reporters Sunday about his timeline, which could include throwing bullpen sessions at some point during spring training.
“He’s feeling really good, throwing looks great, body looks great,” general manager Brandon Gomes said, per Sonja Chen at MLB.com. “I think it’s just being mindful and viewing him almost as like a Trade Deadline acquisition in some way, shape or form.”
Sunday around spring camps included a few players asked about Dodgers spending, including San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado and Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper.
Said Machado, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today: “I (expletive) love it. I think every team should be doing it. They’re figured out a way to do it, and the (stuff) is (expletive) great for the game honestly. I think every team has the ability to do it. So, I hope all 30 teams could learn from it.”
From Harper, per Katie Woo at The Athletic: “I love what the Dodgers do, obviously. They pay the money, they spend the money. I mean, they’re a great team. They understand how to run it. They run their team like a business, and they run it the right way. They understand where they need to put their money into.”
ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 24: Luis Rengifo #2 of the Los Angeles Angels at bat during the fifth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on September 24, 2025 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After they traded away their third base depth chart last week, it was widely expected that the Brewers would add someone to the mix in their infield. Without doing so, the Brewers would enter the season relying on a whole bunch of promising prospects who have never played a meaningful number of games above Double-A. Remember, last season when the Brewers had questions at third, they started the season with a Vinny Capra/Oliver Dunn platoon at the hot corner. It wasn’t until that ran its course that Caleb Durbin entered the picture, about three weeks into the season.
Of course, the Capra/Dunn combo failed quite miserably. But the Brewers, by signing Luis Rengifo on Friday, have signaled that this year they’re going to start with veteran options at third — some combination of Rengifo and David Hamilton, who was also acquired in the Durbin trade. Milwaukee had very little money tied up in Capra and Dunn last year, so when that project went south, they gave up on it almost immediately. The Brewers are paying Rengifo at least $3.5 million in 2026, which suggests they have a little more faith that he’ll produce at an acceptable level. Meanwhile, the Jett Williams-Brock Wilken-Cooper Pratt-Eddys Leonard group will wait for an opportunity while getting reps in the minor leagues (where their service clocks will not run, which the team is certainly conscious of).
Is the Brewers’ faith in Rengifo misplaced? He had a rough year in 2025, but was a solid player in the three years prior to that. Let’s dig in and see if we can’t see what caused his problems last season, and whether or not we should expect a rebound.
Recent season results
In 2022, Rengifo had a breakout year. He’d played in parts of three seasons with the Angels going back to 2019, but had never really hit at all, and the results were, to be generous, mixed. (The Angels, never shy about promoting prospects, called him up to the big leagues just after his 22nd birthday, after a solid year in 2018, which he split between Anaheim’s High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A levels.) But after bouncing back and forth between the minors and the big leagues in 2021 (which he could not do in 2020, when the minor league season was cancelled), Rengifo earned a steady role with the Angels in 2022, in which he played most often as the second baseman but appeared also at shortstop, third base, and briefly at both corner outfield positions.
In 127 total games that year, Rengifo hit .264/.294/.429 (a 102 OPS+) with 17 homers and 22 doubles. While his defensive metrics took a step back in 2023, Rengifo’s offensive numbers jumped up in 2023, mainly due to a more patient approach at the plate, and he posted a 112 OPS+ with a .264/.339/.444 batting line, 16 homers, and 15 doubles in 126 games. In 2024, Rengifo was having arguably his best season when he injured his wrist in July; he played only nine more games after the injury and finished the season batting .300/.347/.417 in 78 games.
Rengifo had season-ending wrist surgery in August of 2024, but supposedly was fully healthy when he reported to camp in 2025. But the results at the plate told a different story. He hit just .238, had an OBP of just .287, and slugged only .335 — he hit just nine homers despite a career-high 541 plate appearances.
Here’s what we can learn by glancing back at the surface-level stats on Rengifo:
He isn’t an especially patient hitter, but in 2023, he posted a perfectly acceptable 9.2% walk rate. That was back down to 5.3% in 2024 and 6.1% in the next two seasons; expect the Brewers to ask him to lean into the more patient approach he showed in 2023.
Rengifo has flashed power, but it was down in 2024, even before the wrist injury. From 2022-2025, his ISO was as follows: .166, .180, .117, and .098. (For a reference point, Brice Turang over the past three seasons has posted ISO numbers of .082, .095, and .147.)
Rengifo also stole some bases in 2024 — 24 of them in just 78 games, but he was caught seven times. Rengifo is not especially fast, according to Statcast, so I wouldn’t expect him to be a prolific base stealer with the Brewers. (He has shown solid baserunning instincts at times, but that data is kind of all over the place.)
Looking under the hood
Let’s examine some “advanced” numbers from Rengifo’s last four seasons:
The first thing to look for are the outliers. There are a couple that stand out. First: Rengifo’s .339 BABIP in 2024, which is significantly higher than the other three seasons, and explains why his batting average that year was .300, 36 points higher than the previous two seasons. Given the decrease in expected slugging, this leads me to mostly disregard Rengifo’s 2024 season; not only do we have the outlier BABIP number, but it happened in far fewer plate appearances because of the injury.
Another “outlier,” or at least a change in trend: launch angle. In 2022 and 2023, when Rengifo was hitting homers, he was elevating the ball. In 2024 and 2025, when the homers dried up, he was not. That seems to be the only major difference; while he was making a little more good contact in 2023, he didn’t have a meaningfully better hard-hit percentage in 2022 than in ’24 or ’25.
Other than those things, there are a lot of fairly similar numbers here. The launch angle explains why Rengifo’s 2025 xSLG is lower than in 2022 and 2023, and the BABIP seems to show us that his 2024 season — in which he looked like a borderline All-Star through 70 games — was fluky, and probably should’ve been more like his 2025 season.
The question here is whether Rengifo can get his launch angle back up. Otherwise, I don’t see a whole lot to tell me that he can’t be the same hitter he was in 2022 and 2023. His 2024 wrist injury does not seem to be the culprit for why his power decreased in 2024 and 2025 — that change happened prior to the injury and is explainable by the launch angle. Rengifo’s plate discipline numbers, which you can dig into on Statcast, don’t show any alarm bells — he did a slightly better job at swinging at good pitches to hit in 2022-24 than in 2025, but for the most part, there are no major changes.
What should we expect?
The Brewers value patience, so expect them to tell Rengifo to lean into that. He has shown the ability to take a walk; in 126 games in 2023, his 9.2% walk rate was 59th percentile in the league. That’s plenty good — and way better than 2022 (first percentile) and 2025 (24th percentile).
While Rengifo’s BABIP in 2025 was the worst of the previous four years, I’m not sure we should expect a meaningful bounce back here. His sprint speed, via Statcast, has been decreasing: from 2021 to 2025, he went from 77th percentile to 67th, 51st, 37th, and 38th, respectively. Speed plays a big part in BABIP, so if he’s just slower now than he used to be, that might explain the small decrease in BABIP between ’22-’23 and ’25.
The good news is that there’s nothing here that suggests that Rengifo cannot be the hitter he was when he was a solidly above-average hitter. Exit velocities and hard-hit percentage are largely the same. The big difference is just that launch angle, so expect the Brewer hitting coaches to tinker with Rengifo’s approach to try to get the ball back in the air a bit.
Rengifo’s 2022 and 2023 seasons, in which he had a 107 OPS+ over 956 plate appearances, were probably a little better than the underlying numbers say they should’ve been. His 2025 season, when he had a 73 OPS+ in 541 PA, was probably worse than the underlying numbers suggest.
He probably falls somewhere in between, and whether he’s good in 2026 will depend largely on launch angle. The projection systems listed on FanGraphs are not optimistic: none project him for more than 10 homers. The other big factor that will weigh on his success in 2026 is whether he’s more like the batter who walked 9% of the time in 2023 or the one who walked 3.3% of the time in 2022 (or 6.1% of the time in 2025).
It seems reasonable to expect that Rengifo will hit somewhere around .250-.260. But the next two numbers in his slash line could be pretty much anywhere. The tools seem to be intact, and it will be interesting to see how things play out.
Oct 8, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos (8) looks on from the dugout during game three of the NLDS of the 2025 MLB playoffs against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
Happy Monday, everyone. It has been a very interesting week for an old friend, as Nick Castellanos was released by the Phillies—for some potentially interesting reasons—and will move on to the Padres and a brand new position on the field.
We’ve got other Phillies news, as well, with Bryce Harper being as candid as even when talking about Dave Dombrowski. Harper was also joined by Manny Machado in sharing his positive feelings about the Dodgers’ bold spending strategy. Go figure that players have no qualms about teams spending big bucks on massive contracts.
Plenty of other little tidbits as we get into the first week of Spring Training, so let’s just jump right into i.
A great tidbit from Jason Kendall’s (@jasondkendall18) first spring training. 😂
I really enjoyed chatting with Kendall for my “Called Up” book. I recently revisited his interview and couldn’t resist sharing this gem. pic.twitter.com/8osXScnMJ6
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR - MAY 10: Tekoah Roby #48 of the Springfield Cardinals pitches during the game between the Springfield Cardinals and the Arkansas Travelers at Dickey-Stephens Park on Saturday, May 10, 2025 in North Little Rock, Arkansas. (Photo by Braeden Botts/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
Last year, when Tekoah Roby was voted as the 10th best prospect, he had not yet proven that his stuff would return. Had fans known that he would have the 2025 season he did, he would have been voted higher. So weirdly, these rankings do not reflect his rise and fall, so to speak, as you would maybe assume. In fact, he is arguably considered a better prospect this year with a stronger system and more high upside players in front of him, despite dropping one spot. Here is your list:
JJ Wetherholt
Liam Doyle
Rainiel Rodriguez
(or 5) Quinn Mathews
( or 4) Jurrangelo Cjintje
Joshua Baez
Leonardo Bernal
Jimmy Crooks
Brandon Clarke
Tink Hence
Tekoah Roby
Jurrangelo Cjintje I’m going to make this introduction every time because this may be the first prospect vote you’ve seen. When the Cardinals traded Brendan Donovan, we had already ranked the first 7 prospects. Cjintje was by most measures going to be somewhere in that top 7. So instead of starting over, Cjintje is facing off against the prospects, one-by-one, head-to-head, until he loses. He has already defeated Jimmy Crooks, Leonardo Bernal, and now Joshua Baez. If he defeats Quinn Mathews, he would get a crack at Rainiel Rodriguez. If he loses the vote, consider him the #5 prospect in the system. Scouting report below:
Cjintje is technically a switch pitcher, but it is very clear from the scouting and the numbers that he is a far better pitcher right-handed. From the right side, Cjintje throws mid-90s and has topped at 99 mph. He has both a cutter and a sweeper, though the sweeper is the better pitch. He also throws an upper-80s change. From his left side, he is effectively a two-pitch pitcher, throwing low 90s with a solid sweeper. Statistically, it wasn’t close. He walked more than he struck out and allowed 7 homers in 21 innings from the left side, but from the right side he had a 5.0 K/BB ratio and only allowed 3 homers in 34.1 IP.
Today is not really a clean comparison, in my opinion. I don’t think these pitchers are alike and I would ordinarily try to find two pitchers who were more similar. But in a weird way, sometimes when players are total opposites, it makes for a fun poll too. Today, we have a player who is relatively close to the major leagues against a player who made last year’s top 20. Pete Hansen appears in another player poll and I would like to see exactly how high you guys are on him after he won last week’s poll. In the other corner, I’m not real sure where you guys are on Chen Wei-Lin after a bit of a down year.
Pete Hansen has methodically made his way to AAA after being drafted in the 3rd round of the 2022 draft. He spent the following year in Low A, he spent 2024 in High A, and he spent 2025 in AA. He will be spending his age 25 season in AAA after posting a 3.93 ERA/3.65 FIP/3.71 xFIP with a 21.1 K% and a low walk rate. I don’t know that he has a standout pitch, but his main strength is his command.
On the flip side, hard to argue command was Chen-Wei Lin’s strength with a 17.2 BB%. Command was less of an issue in 2024 and it may have been injury-related, as he was limited to 50.1 IP last season. Pitch-wise, he may have an MLB quality fastball right now and Fangraphs think its potential is a 70 grade fastball. Even with his command issues, he still had a 3.69 FIP and 4.17 xFIP (with a 4.89 ERA) in High A, so if healthy, along with the fact that he’ll be 24, he may very well be in AA for the majority of 2026.
Folks, the day has arrived. The day I finally add newly acquired Tai Peete. In case you have the memory of a goldfish or just don’t keep that up-to-date on things, Peete was part of the return for Brendan Donovan. I have been trying to add him to the voting for a few votes, but I think this is a strong system and other players just made more sense. But finally, I think he makes the most sense to add at this point.
Scouting (FG): 30/45 Hit, 35/50 Game Power, 50/55 Raw Power, 40/40 Speed, 40/45 Fielding
Just as a quick reminder, because I don’t know if I’ve pointed this out. The age I list is the age they are considered for this upcoming season. Baez is being listed at 21 despite currently being 20 because his birthday is in 10 days. I think Baez is a good player to point this out for because it essentially means he will be 21 and in AA for the 2026 season. That’s probably the thing he has going in his favor the most honestly. He is younger than everyone in the top 10 except for Rainiel Rodriguez.
Scouting: 55/55 Hit, 35/35 Game Power, 40/40 Raw Power, 55/55 Speed, 45/45 Field
The other reason I felt the need to point this out – and I would argue this point needs to be applied to Church as well as Baez – is that when you see the age and you see the stats, you might mistakenly think they compiled those stats at their listed age. Church had his ascension last year at 24-years-old and not 25-years-old and I think that’s an important thing to know. Some of you probably already know this, I just feel like sometimes our brain can unconsciously associate their stats with the age I have listed and they are actually a year younger when they compiled those stats.
Also, while I doubt I’m as high on his defense as some of you commenters, a 45 is an absurd grade for his defense honestly.
I probably could have waited to add Fajardo. Last week, I took out Ryan Mitchell so that I could add Fajardo and Church. And while all the voting basically went to just two people, Church certainly justified his early inclusion with the results of the poll. Fajardo performed less well, but again, it’s difficult to say when two players got 67% of the vote and nobody else got 10%. To keep on the age theme, Fajardo pitched in both the complex league and Low A ball at 18-years-old, so he will presumably be pitching in High A at 19-years-old.
Franklin pitched at both Low A and High A after he got drafted mainly a way of building up his innings just a little more and perhaps also to get him more used to pitching into August. I’m not sure we should really pay attention to his stats last year even slightly, because he was effectively still in the bullpen given the 2 inning stints. He’ll throw more than 2 innings per start, but I would be surprised if it’s 5 innings per start. But yeah as far as his legitimacy as a starting pitching prospect, his first step will be remaining effective over 3-4 inning stints first.
Its times like these that I really, really wish we could have finished the top 20 earlier. I feel the recent news is totally going to affect how many votes he gets and I’m not convinced it should. I just found out Brandon Clarke is out until June and I might be breaking this news to some of you and if this was more widely known when Clarke made the #9 prospect, would he be the #9 prospect? Honestly, the timing couldn’t be worse, because we don’t actually know anything. And fans are absolutely going to assume – most of them I think – it’s the worst case scenario. Should we ignore the news because the first 11 prospects have the benefit of not having had reported to spring training yet? This is a tough one honestly.
Good news about Hjerpe: he had Tommy John surgery in April of last season. That is not a statement that is usually said, but basically it means Hjerpe’s Tommy John recovery should put him in line to throw half a season or so of innings. A very reasonable timeframe of returning in fact would have him in line to throw his career high in professional innings. That’s the bad news about Hjerpe: he hasn’t given us a lot of faith in staying healthy.
Fangraphs released the Cardinals list recently and with that came some updated scouting. If you were wondering, the pitches did not collectively change a lot. The fastball and slider were the exact same, his actual and potential both improved by 5, but his change went down 5 in both actual and potential. His command current took a bump but his potential remained at 55. Basically, they think he’s a slightly better pitcher than when he was graded on last year’s list, but his potential hasn’t moved.
Somewhat unbelievably, Fangraphs gave an updated list and yet I still have no scouting numbers for Deniel Ortiz. Whether or not you think Ortiz should be a top 20 prospect, is is objectively insane that he is not among the top 53 by Fangraphs. I have been very open that I’m more of a scouting the stat line guy than probably wise, but I feel like certainly stats alone should get you on the top 53. It’s not like he did this in the Dominican Summer League. Or when he was old for his level. Age-appropriate (young if anything), elite performance across two levels – I mean he should be above most relievers at minimum, no?
Scouting: 25/55 Hit, 20/55 Game Power, 40/60 Raw Power, 50/40 Speed, 30/40 Field
The interesting thing about Padilla has a prospect is I did not realize that his prospect ranking was quite so tied to a belief in his bat. I honestly thought it was because of a belief that he would be an above average shortstop and that his bat would be good enough – a Masyn Winn type essentially. And while that may be what other publications think, this is very clearly a bat first profile. I actually think Fangraphs is lower on his defense than other publications to be fair, nonetheless, I found that surprising when I saw the scouting.
Another trick I like to use with age: you look at the age for the upcoming season and then you look at how they performed at the most recent level. Then you decide whether or not they will be promoted from that level in the upcoming season – in some cases, even if you expect them to start at the level they were at, you can see them getting promoted quickly. In Peete’s case, it seems pretty clear, he’ll be spending his age 20 season back at High A. And he’ll probably be there all season, barring a Joshua Baez like crushing of the baseballs. Good news: you see that .187 ISO from a 19-year-old in High A.
BRONX, NY - 1982: The 1982 New York Yankees pose for the team photo (First Row seated L-R) Bucky Dent, Bobby Murcer, coach Yogi Berra, Mike Ferraro, Gene Michael, Jeff Torborg, Joe Altobellie, manager Clyde King, (Second Row L-R) video operator Mike Barnett, trainer Gene Monahan, Butch Wynegar, Graig Nettles, Butch Hobson, Andre Robertson, Rick Cerone, Ron Guidry, Willie Randolph, Roy Smalley, Tommy John, batting practice pitcher Doug Melvin, trainer Mark Letendre, equipment manager Pete Sheehy, (Thrid Row L-R) Dave Collins, bullpen catcher Dom Scalla, Juan Espino, John Mayberry, Shane Rawley, Barry Foote, batting practice pitcher Mickey Scott, Dave LaRoche, Lou Pinella, (Back Row L-R) Doyle Alexander, Roger Erickson, Mike Morgan, Dave Winfield, Rudy May, Rich Gossage, Jerry Mumphrey, George Frazier, Ken Griffey, (Seated on Ground L-R) batboys: Sammy Carey, Lou Cucuzza, Rob Adamenko circa 1982 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images)
One of the most interesting pipelines in major sports, especially in baseball, is the transition from player to manager. Although the managerial ranks are always changing, there are plenty who used to play for their MLB teams, with the Yankees consistently having them on the top step of the dugout (Aaron Boone and Joe Girardi are the most recent two to fill the position after putting on pinstripes).
Barry Foote isn’t a name that may resonate with many current Yankees fans, simply for the fact that he was not a Yankee for very long, at least as a player. However, he did find an interesting career after retirement — both on and off the field.
Barry Clifton Foote Born: February 16, 1952 (Smithfield, NC) Yankees Tenure: 1981-82
Expectations were high on Foote from the jump in his professional career, as he was quite talented and the son of a minor-league pitcher as well. The Montreal Expos made the Smithfield-Selma High School catcher the third overall pick in the 1970 MLB Draft — just one spot ahead of future Royals/Cardinals standout Darrell Porter. Following a couple of seasons of development in the minors, Foote was raring to go for The Show, and in 1973, he slugged .441 with 22 doubles and 19 homers in 137 games for the Triple-A Peninsula Whips of the International League.
So Foote made his long-awaited debut behind the plate for the Expos against the Phillies on September 14, 1973. At 21 years old, he posted just one at-bat and flew out to center field in his appearance against Steve Carlton. He would go on to play five more games with the ’73 Expos, and in six at-bats, smacked four hits with one triple and an RBI.
The next season, Foote was a regular for the Expos and still an extremely highly-regarded prospect. He was even dubbed “the next Johnny Bench” by general manager Gene Mauch. He played in 125 games and slashed .262/.315/.414 with an OPS+ just slightly below average at 99. Foote was named to the Topps All-Star Rookie team at the end of the season for his work.
— National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ⚾ (@baseballhall) November 22, 2025
However, the sophomore slump for Foote was real. He went from hitting extremely well and being named the starting catcher for the Expos (after eventual Hall of Fame backstop Gary Carter was moved to the outfield in favor of him) to dropping off hard and fast. He finished his second year in the big leagues, slashing .194/.229/.295 with a paltry OPS+ of 43. And, to add insult to his already brutal season, Foote suffered torn cartilage and underwent knee surgery after the season ended.
In 1976, Foote’s numbers got better but were still supremely below average at the plate, putting the onus back on Carter to reclaim his spot, which he did, and it was soon that Foote’s career with the Expos would come to an end. Hall of Fame skipper Dick Williams took over in Montreal, declared Carter his starter, and that was essentially all she wrote.
On June 15, 1977, Foote was traded to the team he debuted against way back when, being sent to the Phillies along with southpaw Dan Warthen (a future Mets pitching coach) for Wayne Twitchell and Tim Blackwell. But Foote only played in 33 games total in 1977, with 18 of them coming as a Phillies backstop, and in 1978, following a devastating loss for the Phillies in the 1977 NLCS against the Dodgers, Foote played 39 games and was still not even a close-to-average player. There was no reason for him to dislodge incumbent All-Star Bob Boone—yes, Aaron’s dad—as the primary catcher.
Foote was then traded again to the Chicago Cubs, where he seemed to find his spark a little bit more with regular time, albeit more in year one than year two. In 1979 and 1980, he appeared in 195 games, generated 2.9 bWAR, and slashed .249/.305/.418 for an OPS+ of 90, which is still below average but far better than anything he had created the previous few seasons. He played in a career-high 132 games in 1979 after immediately being named the team’s starting catcher, and if it weren’t for a back injury, he would have played far more in 1980.
Tim Blackwell had done a nice job in Foote’s absence in 1980, and with future All-Star Jody Davis now in the mix as well for ’81, Foote was deemed expendable. The Yankees traded for Foote with Rick Cerone out with a broken thumb, and he received some playing time in 1980 when he played 40 games for New York. He even hit a home run in his first at-bat for the team, going deep off the Tigers’ Dan Schatzeder. Foote had a nice little power stretch and actually set an obscure Yankees franchise record for the homers in his first seven games with the team: five. Eric Hinske would tie that mark in 2009.
Foote mustered just one more bomb after that, though. Cerone soon returned as the main catcher, with Foote backing him up. A midseason strike made that year a little weird and the Yankees were declared first-half champions, so Foote knew that he at least would likely witness October ball, even if Cerone started. He didn’t get an at-bat in the Division Series win over Milwaukee, but in the ALCS against Oakland, he got to contribute in a pinch-hitting role. With the Yankees leading by a slim 1-0 margin in Game 3, manager Bob Lemon called on the righty Foote to pinch-hit for Oscar Gamble with Tom Underwood on the mound for the A’s. Foote got the better of his former batterymate with a clean single to right:
Foote was removed for pinch-runner Bobby Brown and the dangerous Graig Nettles cashed in the bases-loaded opportunity with a three-run double. That all but sealed the three-game sweep and an American League pennant for the Yankees. Unfortunately, Foote fanned in his lone World Series at-bat and the Yanks lost a six-game heartbreaker to the Dodgers.
That was effectively the swan song for Foote. Back spasms limited him to just 17 bad games in 1982, and at age-31 in ’83, he was released on the last day of spring training. Offered a chance to take on a new off-field role with the Yankees, Foote accepted the assignment. The former No. 3 overall pick retired with 687 career games across 10 seasons, and he never lost his strong defensive reputation.
Foote was the Yankees’ NL scout at first, but he later moved to the minor-league dugout. Foote skippered three different Baby Bomber outfits from 1984-86, starting with Class-A Fort Lauderdale (where he won a league title) and moving up to Triple-A Columbus. He later managed in the Blue Jays’ system and joined the MLB staff for former Yankees coach Jeff Torborg during his stints with the White Sox and Mets from 1990-93, primarily as a first-base coach.
Once Torborg was fired by the Mets however, Foote was out of a job. Unsure of his next possible step and unwilling to go back to the minor-league coaching grind, Foote left pro baseball behind for business pursuits, running oil and gas companies as well as a water treatment enterprise in California. He remained involved in youth sports as well, still able to connect to baseball in a less formal manner. We wish him the best on this, his 74th birthday!
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 13: Chase Dollander #32 of the Colorado Rockies delivers a pitch during a spring training bullpen at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on February 13, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Kyle Cooper/Colorado Rockies/Getty Images)
Scottsdale, Ariz. – Chase Dollander was drafted ninth overall in the 2023 MLB Draft and skyrocketed through the Colorado Rockies’ minor league system, finally making his MLB debut on April 6 last year against the Athletics.
Dollander had an up-and-down season, but he ended on a strong note when he went head-to-head against Tyler Glasnow in September before ultimately straining his patellar tendon during the game and finishing the year on the IL.
But Dollander is ready to take on 2026 with a new approach and a coaching staff.
“I’ve got to throw strikes,” Dollander said of his biggest 2025 takeaway.
“I’ve got to get in the zone early, which is something we’ve really honed in on. Especially with this new staff, they’ve been really big about just throwing strike one. You put a hitter in a defensive mode, and it’s not good for them. So that’s been a huge focus of mine this offseason – command, making sure I’m getting strike one, and going from there.”
That was something that Warren Schaeffer echoed, as well.
“I think the main thing is getting in the strike zone early in the count,” Schaeffer said. “That’s something he did not do very well last year with any of his pitches, specifically at Coors Field.”
Dollander spent his offseason making adjustments to ensure he could command the ball, both physically and philosophically.
“[I’ve made] a couple of mechanical adjustments,” he said, “being more direct to the plate, making sure my energy and everything like that goes towards the plate rather than away from it, which I think just in its own right has helped a lot of other things as well. So it’s been cool to kind of see the changes and stuff like that.”
And now that he’s gotten to work with the new coaching staff, he’s impressed.
“I like a lot of them so far,” he said, grinning.
“It’s a big change from what we had last year, and I think all of us are very excited. Some are more outspoken than others, but it’s definitely a change. It’s just exciting!”
In addition to a new coaching staff, the Rockies rotation is also shaping up to be dramatically different from 2025. Just in the last week, they added veterans José Quintana and Tomoyuki Sugano after bringing on Michael Lorenzen in January.
And Dollander is taking full advantage of the new brainpower.
“I’ve been talking to Lorenzen a lot, picking his brain and getting to know him as a person rather than the player, as well,” he said.
“I haven’t gotten to talk to Sugano all that much, and Quintana the same thing, but I’m looking forward to getting to know those guys and really talking to them and picking their brains. Obviously, all three of them have a lot of experience – along with [Kyle] Freeland – so I feel like there’s a lot to learn, and I have the right guys around me to do it, so I’m going to do it.”
Dollander said his head is hurting a little bit from all of the information being thrown at him, but “in a great way!”
“I’d rather have too much information than not enough,” he said. “I think they’re really good at just making sure that we’re all understanding and making sure we’re all on the same page. I think it’s going to be great.”
Schaeffer also praised the new veterans and what they can bring to a young pitcher like Dollander.
“I think just that attitude and being around new people and being around a lot more veterans – not just Kyle Freeland and [Antonio] Senzatela, but now it’s Michael Lorenzen and Sugano and Quintana. These are all guys that can help him with getting in the zone. His stuff is nasty – if he gets the ball over the plate, he’s going to be really good for a long time.”
And, of course, Dollander is working on a new pitch.
“The other day, we were playing around with a sweeper,” he said. “Obviously, the sinker got added last year. That has taken off in its own right. And then it’s just refining everything else, making sure that the slider stays hard with more of a downward action rather than side-to-side.
“I feel like my stuff is good enough,” he continued. “If I throw strikes, it’ll be a tough time for hitters. So that’s been my focus: Just command the zone.”
Looking ahead to 2026, Dollander is looking the most forward to working with the staff and veteran pitchers.
“[I’m most looking forward to] picking their brains more, especially as games go on, like, ‘Hey man, what did you see here? What would you throw in this situation?’ That kind of stuff,” he said.
“I think that’s when I’ll start to really learn a lot. It’s hard now just because we’re all doing different things – we’re all throwing live (batting practices) at these different times and stuff like that – but once games start, I’m in learning mode.”
To say Brenton Doyle had a difficult 2025 is underscoring things. Between personal tragedy and professional challenges, it was a rough one. But Doyle is looking to bounce back in 2026, hopefully to reclaim himself at the plate and in the field (and perhaps at the MLB Honors once again).
The Rockies have always struggled to attract free agent pitchers, but something changed this year and they’ve had an influx of pitchers eager to sign with them. Sam Blum spoke with them, as well as the new pitching coaches and PBO Paul DePodesta, to see what the difference is in 2026 compared to years past.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JULY 15: Kris Bubic #50 of the Kansas City Royals pitches during the sixth inning of the MLB All-Star Game at Truist Park on July 15, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Gene Wang - Capture At Media/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Bubic faced several hitters during the live batting practice. He showcased his pitching arsenal and had a few minor self-critiques. Overall, he felt his fastball command was there and that his changeup could’ve been a little sharper. Yet, the gravity of his performance was noticeable. He didn’t miss a beat, and that bodes well for the Royals as they enter Cactus League play on Friday.
“Getting back out there is step No. 1,” Bubic said. “Just hearing the feedback, too, right away has been great. You know, just seeing a hitter in the box is great as well. It’s great to always have the support of my teammates. They saw me quite a bit last year and was with me too when I was doing the rehab towards the end of the year. But I’m excited and I know they are excited. Obviously, we just want to keep it going.”
“It was amazing,” Perez said. “I don’t remember the last time I played. Last December, I played 22 games and Jose Alguacil was the manager. I played for Caracas, my mom’s team, so she was super excited. You know, I think it’s going to help me. It’s kind of different to face some pitchers and not wait for a month to face pitchers here in live BP (batting practice) in spring training.”
Now, Kudrna is ready to seize his opportunity this spring.
“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “You know, now being here, I look at it as a big opportunity to learn. You’ve got guys that have been there and done that. They have illustrious careers, and you don’t stay in this game that long unless you’re doing the right things.”
“I don’t think pitchers should challenge any call,” Sweeney said. “Let the guy behind the plate … who has the feel for it. I’m sure we are going to see it over there right away. …
“It’s a process that we are trying to understand. And talking with R&D (research and development) and the guys in the minor leagues that have used it before, it’s, OK, when do we use our challenges and who calls them?”
The two to really watch are Avila and Falter. The Royals still believe in Avila as a starter, but there are enough voices on the Major League side saying he could make an impact as a reliever right now. The stuff ticked up when he got a chance in the ‘pen last year, and his curveball was devastating. Falter is out of options, so the Royals need to decide how and where he fits. He had a rough time last year when he was moved to the ‘pen, ultimately ending the season on the IL, but Falter could be another lefty out there.
The most important thing Caglianone worked on this offseason was swing decisions. He felt he got himself out “a lot more than the pitchers did,” he said. Whether that was because he was seeing the best stuff he’s ever seen in his life at the Major League level or because of the subconscious pressure he put on himself — or very likely both — Caglianone wanted to be more prepared for what he was going to face in 2026.
“One of the biggest things I took away from last year was these guys are really good at throwing strike-to-ball pitches,” Caglianone said. “Out of the hand, it looks really good, and it ends up being a 58-foot curveball.”
