SARASOTA, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 12: Cade Povich #37 of the Baltimore Orioles pitches live during practice at Ed Smith Stadium on February 12, 2026 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Todd Olszewski/Baltimore Orioles/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
We’re four days into the Grapefruit League season, still at the point where every team has roughly 10,000 players in camp and the regulars are getting sporadic half-days of work. That’s good, because yesterday’s 10-7 loss to the Braves was not the most sterling pitching performance for the Birds. The O’s used 10 pitchers, of whom you’d probably recognize fewer than half the names in the box score. Someone named Cohen Achen, who is so anonymous that his MLB player profile includes neither a picture nor a birthday, gave up five runs, including a grand slam by former Oriole Jorge Mateo. Journeyman reliever Enoli Paredes gave up three.
Still, the pitchers you’ve actually heard of mostly did well. Cade Povich worked two scoreless innings, and righty bullpen candidates Rico Garcia and Jose Espada tossed a perfect frame apiece. Keegan Akin wasn’t so sharp, giving up two runs in his inning of work. The important thing is that nobody got hurt and everybody’s got another month to continue working out the kinks.
The Orioles’ starting lineup was mostly full of regulars, though the majority of the offensive production came from bench players, who contributed six of the Birds’ nine hits. Jhonkensy “Big Christmas” Noel had a pair of hits, and even former first-round pick Vance Honeycutt got in on the action by hitting a home run, something he did only five times in 436 minor league PAs last year. For the first time, though, Pete Alonso started a game and did not homer. That’s it, I’m calling it: he’s a bust.
The O’s are back to work today at 1:00 PM with a visit to the Twins in Fort Myers, but for the second straight day, there will be no local TV or radio broadcast of the game. Albert Suárez will start for the Orioles, and we’ll just have to take someone else’s word as to how effective he looks today.
Based on his .655 OPS for the worst team in baseball last year, Estrada is probably not any kind of a solution to the Orioles’ infield problem. But it doesn’t hurt to stash him at Triple-A as depth.
I don’t see Povich having any real shot of cracking the Opening Day rotation, but don’t rule him out as a reliever. Not having to go multiple times through the lineup would help him a lot, and so could this delicious-sounding new pitch of his.
One thing that made the 2025 Orioles’ rotation so shoddy is that they had almost no legitimate pitching prospects at Triple-A who could provide any big league help. They’re in a much better spot this year, thanks to the trio of Trey Gibson, Levi Wells, and Nestor German.
Craig Albernaz described Cade Povich as “really good” with a “really good” tempo, Keegan Akin as “good,” and Blaze Alexander as a “good” athlete who made “really good” defensive plays. Albernaz may turn out to be a fine manager, but somebody get this man a thesaurus.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! And happy 70th birthday to the great Eddie Murray, the Orioles legend who spent 13 of his 21 MLB seasons in Baltimore. With the Birds, he was the 1977 AL Rookie of the Year, a seven-time All Star, three-time Gold Glover, two-time Silver Slugger, and 1983 World Series champion. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2003. Enjoy your day, Eddie!
Other former Orioles born on this day are catcher Chance Sisco (31), 1B/OF Chris Parmelee (38), and catcher Gustavo Molina (44).
On this date in 2014, the Orioles signed veteran DH Nelson Cruz to a one-year, $8 million deal. Cruz, despite solid career numbers, had been left untouched on the free agent market until spring training due to his 2013 suspension for involvement in the Biogenesis scandal. The O’s took a gamble and were rewarded with perhaps the best bang-for-the-buck free agent signing in franchise history, as Cruz mashed an MLB-best 40 home runs for the Orioles, leading them to the 2014 AL East title. But the O’s made the mistake of letting him leave in free agency, after which he crushed 204 homers in the next five years.
March 4, 2022: A security guard locks the gates near the main entrance at the Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, AZ. Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred implemented the lockout over stalled labor negotiations with the Major League Baseball Players Association. Usp Mlb Lockout S Bbo Usa Az
We’re back with another daily question, and today’s question is: How worried are you about a baseball lockout?
This is one of those topics where everyone seems to have a strong opinion one way or the other. Obviously, no baseball fan wants to see an absence of games, and the long-term fallout is something that is definitely under consideration (remember what the 1994-95 strike did?). But at the same time, many (including plenty of Brewer fans) think a labor stoppage and lockout are the only way for some of baseball’s biggest issues to be fixed, namely the lack of a salary cap/floor.
Are you worried about a baseball lockout? Or is that the right thing for baseball?
Weigh in in the comments, and join us throughout the month as we keep these conversations rolling into spring training. Have a question you’d like to ask in a future BCB Daily Question? Drop one in the comments and we may use it later this month.
Feb 13, 2026; Tampa, FL, USA;New York Yankees pitcher Camilo Doval (75) throws a bullpen session during spring training practices at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
After adding Devin Williams last offseason, the Yankees had to feel confident about the state of their bullpen. Williams, perhaps the best reliever in the world, was joining a group that finished sixth in ERA the year prior, and now had a fearsome duo at the backend in the form of Williams and incumbent closer Luke Weaver.
Those best-laid plans went up in smoke quickly. Williams got off to a nightmarish start en route to the worst season of his career, while Weaver struggled with injuries and inconsistency much of the year. The bullpen would prove to be the Yankees’ biggest weakness, so much so that Brian Cashman made several moves for relief pitching at the deadline, overhauling the entire relief corps as the club headed into the stretch run.
There’s been plenty more turnover in the bullpen since the end of the 2025 campaign, with Williams and Weaver gone, and several other notable names, including Ian Hamilton and Mark Leiter Jr., also heading out the door. The Yankees didn’t make any major moves to replace those arms, instead opting to take a number of low-risk fliers on players like Angel Chivilli and Cade Winquest.
With that in mind, do you see the bullpen proving to be as much of a problem in 2026 as it was in 2025? The unit finished 23rd in ERA last year, and didn’t even see any overall improvement in that figure after Cashman added David Bednar, Camilo Doval, and Jake Bird at the deadline. After opting not to sign a major reliever in free agency, it’s not hard to imagine relief pitching once again looking like the Yankees’ Achilles heel once the season starts.
Yet there remains reason for optimism. For one, despite all the doom and gloom, the cold numbers paint a rosier picture, with FanGraphs projecting the Yankee bullpen as the eighth best in the league right now. The team could see a positive regression just based on getting a full-season out of Bednar, while the other 2025 deadline additions, Doval and Bird, could hardly play worse than how they started in pinstripes (and Doval, for his part, looked very sharp by the end of 2025). We also can’t forget Fernando Cruz’s name, the right-hander proving to be one of the better under-the-radar relief finds in the league last season, or the possibility that someone like Chivilli or Winquest could prove to be the 2026 version of Cruz. And, if the team still can’t get enough out of the group as constructed, well, there’s always the option for Cashman to make another series of bullpen-reinforcing maneuvers at the trade deadline.
What do you think? Will the Yankee bullpen once again be a disaster, or are brighter times ahead in the late innings? Let us know in the comments below.
On the site today, Josh previews Aaron Judge’s season (a fourth MVP incoming?). Also, Jeff celebrates Mike Lowell as part of our Yankee Birthday series, the third baseman only playing eight games as a Yankee before being shipped away. Later, John gives us the rundown on the White Sox as part of our general MLB preview series, and Peter highlights a few adjustments to keep an eye on in spring training.
Crystal Palace fan Dan Cook says Oliver Glasner should have already been removed from his role as manager.
Speaking on the latest Monday Night Club, Cook was asked about Glasner's approach to recent disharmony and also his legacy.
"It's such an obvious thing to say he's our greatest ever manager - he is," said Cook.
"You could argue Steve Coppell is above him for longevity. It depends how you look at it.
"In terms of tangible success, it's beyond our wildest dreams. I never thought I'd see it.
"In terms of his legacy, how he'll be viewed as an individual and personality-wise, he has definitely sullied it. You want to feel like your manager wants to be your manager and he clearly doesn't."
You can watch clips of Cook discuss Glasner's current position above or his legacy below.
The next time the Chicago Cubs step into Chavez Ravine, don’t expect a warm Hollywood welcome for Pete Crow-Armstrong.
The 23-year-old All-Star, a Los Angeles native with industry bloodlines and a Little League past in Sherman Oaks, decided this week to take a shot at his hometown fans, the two-time defending World Series champion fans.
Pete Crow-Armstrong of the Chicago Cubs looks on before the game between the Chicago Bears and the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC Divisional Playoffs at Soldier Field. Getty Images
In a profile with Chicago Magazine, Crow-Armstrong drew a line in the ivy-covered dirt between Cubs fans and Dodgers fans.
“[Cubs fans] actually give a s***,” he said. “They aren’t just baseball fans who go to the game like Dodgers fans to take pictures and whatever. They are paying attention. They care.”
That wasn’t a slip of the tongue. This wasn’t placed on a tee for him to take a shot at Dodgers fans by the author of the article. It wasn’t a leading question. It was PCA who inserted Dodgers fans into the chat.
And in a city that has filled Dodger Stadium with more than 4 million fans — and is rocking every night from April through October — the comment lands like a brushback pitch headed for the chin.
Here’s the twist: Crow-Armstrong grew up in L.A. The son of actors Matthew John Armstrong and Ashley Crow, who are known for their roles in the show “Heroes.” And have starred in films like “Minority Report,” “Little Big League,” and “The Good Son.” (Ashley Crow played the mom in “Little Big League“).
Fans in the crowd during a Los Angeles Dodgers spring training game against the Angels. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
Crow-Armstrong attended games at Dodger Stadium. He played Little League under the Southern California sun. Yet, as he wrote in The Players’ Tribune, his father gave him two rules: never root for the Dodgers, never root for the Cardinals. Maybe that has something to do with it.
Fine. Baseball loyalties are inherited like eye color. But questioning the baseball IQ of Dodgers fans? That’s out of bounds.
This is the same fan base that lives and dies with pitch sequencing, that debates bullpen leverage over sushi in the third inning, the fans that started Fernandomania, and turned Clayton Kershaw into a folk hero.
The same fan base that will circle April 24–26 in red ink when the Cubs arrive to town.
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Crow-Armstrong’s comments will play beautifully on the North Side, where edge and defiance are currency. After his antics in the second-half of last season, his comments will endear himself to Cubs fans.
But baseball has a long memory. And Chavez Ravine? It doesn’t forget its own.
After a third-place finish for the 2025 NL MVP Award, which unanimously went to Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto has the Los Angeles Dodgers' star in mind entering Year 2 with the Mets.
Soto, 27, was a finalist after slashing .263/.396/.525 with 43 home runs and 105 RBI in 160 games for the Mets last season.
The 31-year-old Ohtani, meanwhile, is a back-to-back winner of the award since joining the Dodgers for the 2024 season.
"He's really good. He's really good," Soto said of Ohtani, who slashed .282/.392/.622 with 55 home runs and 102 RBI in 158 games at the plate and posted a 2.87 ERA in 14 starts on the mound in 2025. "I've just got to beat him. Definitely, it's not going to be easy, but I've got to find a way to beat him."
Beyond individual goals, Soto embraces his role as a member of New York's new core as works through his second spring training with the Mets.
"I feel like last year's offseason was kind of tough. I was going through a lot of ups and downs. Traveling a lot. Moving everywhere. Getting phone calls. Stopping workouts in the middle. It just wasn’t my best workouts," Soto said this past week, via SNY MLB insider Chelsea Janes. "This year, I could work a little harder and have a little more fun with it."
Soto progresses into March with an unselfish mindset in his move from right to left field on the Mets' retooled roster.
"I always work hard on defense," Soto said earlier this month. "I'm definitely going back to a place that I'm familiar with. I'm gonna feel comfortable there. I'm just going to work on my routes and work on the throws again, and I think I'll be ready to go. I think it's going to be great for the team, great for the guys who are going to play right field, guys who have been there."
TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 21: Jasson Domínguez #24 of the New York Yankees smiles before the game against the Detroit Tigers at George M. Steinbrenner Field on February 21, 2026 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Athletic | Brendan Kuty & Chris Kirschner: ($) A projection of the Yankees Opening Day roster now that spring training is underway. There aren’t too many surprises, with Jasson Domínguez starting the year at Triple-A and Cade Winquest and Jake Bird rounding out the bullpen as perhaps the most notable insights.
Kuty and Kirschner also provide some updates on two potential X factors for the Yankees. José Caballero is focusing his offseason work on increasing his bat speed, which was well below average last season. “If your bat speed increases, even if you mis(hit) a ball, you’re going to hit it a little harder than you used to,” said the shortstop, who led the AL in steals for the second straight time last year. Luis Gil, who struggled to regain his Rookie of the Year form while dealing with injuries last season, will likely get a shot in the rotation early with Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón beginning the season on the shelf. “He’s capable of big things,” says manager Aaron Boone of the 27-year-old, adding, “I’ve seen him dominate like the aces dominate, so he’s capable of that, without question.”
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: After coming up through the Yankees system with the label of a “bat-first” prospect, Austin Wells has made himself into one of the top defensive catchers in the game. The primary driver of this has been his pitch framing, with his 19 framing runs at the bottom of the zone leading MLB the past two seasons. “One thing that has helped him separate is an ability to make adjustments fast,” said Tanner Swanson, the Yankees’ catching coach. “He’s capable of taking information even with minimal training.”
That propensity for continual improvement has not translated to his offense, which sputtered at times last year after a strong rookie season. “I expect a lot more out of him offensively, as does he,” said Boone of his backstop. “Being a Major League catcher, especially as a rookie and a first- and second-year player, there’s a lot of things you’re focusing on away from your hitting. I still think there’s a lot more in there offensively.” Wells agrees. “It’s just about keeping it consistent,” he said. “That’s the next level for me, and I think that’ll help me give less at-bats away.”
MLB.com | Bryan Hoch: As he gets the chance to square up against top competition in spring training camp, the Yankees remain bullish on George Lombard Jr. Per Brian Cashman, the organization’s consensus number-one prospect “could play defense in the big leagues right now, but he’s still developing on the hitting side.” The Yankees’ GM also calls the shortstop an “exciting, high-ceiling talent,” while Boone praised his “consistently great work habits.” For his part, Lombard embraces all that comes with his place atop the Yankees’ farm system. “I feel like I’m blessed to be in that situation, where I have those expectations and goals to meet,” he said. “I really just try to block that out. I acknowledge the situation that I’m in, and then just focus on my work and let those things figure themselves out.”
And while the outfielder still has more work to do from the right side to become a more viable switch-hitter, getting the reps against lefties is the most important thing for Domínguez at this point on the calendar.
“I think it’s mostly an experience-level thing where, a young man that’s missed a fair amount of time in his development coming up through the system, the biggest thing that suffers from that is the right side because you don’t face a lot of lefties,” manager Aaron Boone said before a 6-2 win over the Pirates at LECOM Park. “So I’m hoping it is something that continues to improve over time as he gets more opportunities. But it can be challenging, too.”
Jasson Domínguez is pictured during the Yankees’ Feb. 23 Grapefruit League game. Charles Wenzelberg
Domínguez struck out in both at-bats against lefties — the first against tough reliever Gregory Soto — after roping an RBI double against a righty earlier in the game.
Though the right side is Domínguez’s natural side, he struggled there last season, batting .204 with a .569 OPS in 104 plate appearances compared to .274 with a .768 OPS in 325 plate appearances from the left side.
Beyond being blocked in the outfield if everyone stays healthy, it doesn’t help Domínguez’s case to make the roster that the Yankees are already lefty-heavy in their lineup and could use a right-handed-hitting backup outfielder.
Boone will try to match Domínguez up against lefties when possible this spring, though that is easier said than done.
In the spring, teams do not always set their pitching plans until the night before a game, whereas Boone tries to make his lineups a few days in advance as he builds players’ workloads up.
Cabrera also still needs to slide, Boone said, which is how he damaged his ankle in the first place.
“I’ve noticed with my eyes, I feel like he’s getting closer to that final level of burst and the things you need,” Boone said. “So he’s full-bore baseball activities. I’ll just wait for the trainers to say when we want to start getting him in games.”
J.C. Escarra is expected to make his spring debut Tuesday against the Blue Jays after being delayed slightly as the Yankees made sure the catcher was fully in the clear from tweaking his knee in the Dominican Winter League.
“We’ve just been making sure he can get all his positions perfectly,” Boone said. “But he’s been good for a few weeks now.”
Ryan Yarbrough made his spring debut against the Pirates, tossing two innings on 44 pitches while giving up one run and striking out four.
“Everything was good,” Yarbrough said. “Cutters felt really good. Just trying to make sure to get those pitches in. Maybe execute a little better, but overall, everything was really good with how everything was moving and just build off of it.”
Surprise, AZ - February 21: Miguel Andujar #41 of the San Diego Padres runs to first base during a spring training game against the Kansas City Royals on February 21, 2026 in Surprise, AZ. (Photo by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
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Criticism of the offseason and the lack of moves made by San Diego Padres President of Baseball Operation and General Manager A.J. Preller was warranted. Preller changed the narrative of the offseason with a flurry of moves as Spring Training was getting under way. In one weekend the Padres added position players Nick Castellanos and Ty France and pitcher Griffin Canning, German Marquez and Walker Buehler. With those moves, Preller added depth to the roster and created competition in areas of need at designated hitter, first base and the starting rotation.
Castellanos started the first Spring Training games and was held without a hit, but he showed promise that he could make a successful transition to first base with a couple plays on ground balls to his right, one of which required him to dive to make the stop, recover and make a good throw to Wandy Peralta who was covering first base to get the out.
The afore-mentioned moves followed the free agent addition of Miguel Andujar on a one-year $4 million deal that became official on Feb. 11. The Padres and Preller got to see the benefits of Andujar on the roster in their 7-5 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday. He launched a solo home run to left field that got San Diego on the scoreboard and gave the Padres offense life.
There were also some additions that came early in the offseason that were almost forgotten about by many of the Friar Faithful. Jose Miranda, who was signed to a minor league deal in early January, has been one of the best players in camp after four Spring Training games. Samad Taylor is another January addition who signed a minor league deal who has performed well this spring.
It is fair to question the pitching additions that have thrown for San Diego this spring. Starters Triston Mackenzie and JP Sears, who was added at the 2025 trade deadline, were roughed up in their first spring outings. They each allowed four runs and were unable to complete an inning of work. Right-handed reliever Ty Adcock also did not look particularly sharp in outing on Sunday. He allowed a run on three singles, but he faced a string of left-handed hitters, which would not be a typical time for him to be on the mound.
With all the additions/moves made by Preller, the fan perspective on the San Diego offseason has changed. A group that was largely disappointed in the lack of activity this offseason has reversed course and is more than pleased with the work that has been done to fill out the roster. With that being, said the roster could always be better and with Preller another move or moves could come before Opening Day.
GOODYEAR, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 23: Chase DeLauter #24 of the Cleveland Guardians gets ready in the batters box against the Arizona Diamondbacks during a spring training game at Goodyear Ballpark on February 23, 2026 in Goodyear, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Guardians are now 4-0 so far in Spring Training after beating the Diamondbacks today. Overall record doesn’t mean much in Spring Training, nor does player performance but I’m never going to complain about Guardians players playing well, and today was pretty eventful when you look at which players performed well.
First and foremost, the lineup today had us Guardians fans dreaming about a potential DeLauter-José 2-3 combo for the next 5+ years. It started when DeLauter roped a 101.2 mph double down the right field line on a 96 mph sinker that was way up and in on his hands. The fact he was able to hit that ball as hard as he did just goes to show how special Chase DeLauter really is. José followed that by knocking in DeLauter with a ground-rule double the very next at bat. José would later go on to hit a 3 run home run in the bottom of the 5th, which is just a great sign to see him doing this in February.
We saw some other solid performances today:
Tanner Bibee: 2.0 IP, 1H, 0R, 0BB, 1K
Jaison Chourio: 2-2, RBI, R
Bo Naylor: 2-3, double
Johnathan Rodriguez: 1-2, BB
Overall it was a very fun game for the Guardians. As a big Minor League Baseball fan, I love Spring Training, because you get to watch players from nearly every level of the organization.
The Guardians take on the Dodgers Tuesday at 3:05 PM ET. It will be Gavin Williams vs Gavin Stone, and this one WILL be televised! Yay!
They wanted someone to help replace Brandon Sproat, a top prospect who was part of the package sent to the Brewers.
Myers tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings in a 4-3 win over Toronto at TD Ballpark, walking none and striking out three.
More importantly, it was an opportunity for Myers — who is expected to pitch in a multi-inning role this season — to work on some new pitches that he’s added to his repertoire over the past year.
Tobias Myers throws a pitch during live batting practice Feb. 13. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
There was the splitter he added in the second half of last season and is still fine-tuning, as well as a slider that he and pitching coach Justin Willard added more than a week ago.
“The slider I threw a lot today,” Myers said. “They probably think it’s a curveball that’s pretty big and I want to get the [velocity] up on that.”
The splitter, Myers believes, is more effective than the changeup he threw previously.
While making sure to note the pitch is nothing like teammate Kodai Senga’s famous ghost fork, Myers did say having experienced pitchers like Senga and Clay Holmes around — pitchers also adept at moving the ball around the zone — will help his development.
The Mets have said Myers will open the season on the major league roster, whether in the rotation or the bullpen, and he could get a start in the spring, especially when Holmes and Nolan McLean head to the World Baseball Classic.
Tobias Myers is pictured during the Mets’ spring training session Feb. 18. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
In the meantime, manager Carlos Mendoza has liked what he’s seen, especially the “life” on Myers’ fastball.
Nick Morabito made his presence felt in all facets of the game Monday.
The outfielder, who spent all of last season at Double-A Binghamton, had an RBI single off José Berríos and stole second.
He also made a fine running catch down the left field line on a fly ball by Daulton Varsho.
Afterward, Mendoza called Morabito “a baseball player.”
“He’s a guy that’s a pretty good defender, he has good at-bats, puts the ball in play and runs the bases,” Mendoza said. “He can win games.”
The Mets have not been shy about trying to steal bases in the early going this spring and Mendoza said to expect more of it.
“We are always gonna be aggressive, especially when the situation presents itself,” Mendoza said. “We’ve got the personnel.”
SCOTTSDALE, AZ - FEBRUARY 20: Kyle Karros #12 of the Colorado Rockies adjusts his hat before taking the field in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Salt River Fields on Friday, February 20, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Kyle Cooper)
Yesterday in the press box, we had a lively discussion about some alternate jobs for various Rockies if they weren’t Major League Baseball players.
On the Purple Row board, Doug78 mentioned yesterday that they thought, “If Karros can’t make it in the MLB, he definitely has a career being cast in a teen drama for the CW.” I personally think Chase Dollander could be a PR guy, and maybe Ryan Feltner would be a graphic designer or VFX artist.
What are your thoughts? Would Karros cut it as a television star? What other jobs would Rockies players have?
HOUSTON, TEXAS - JULY 29: Chas McCormick #20 of the Houston Astros breaks his bat during the eighth inning against the Washington Nationals at Daikin Park on July 29, 2025 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s another week here at BCB After Dark: the grooviest gathering of night owls, early risers, new parents and Cubs fans abroad. Come on in and sit with us for a while. You’re always welcome here. The show will start shortly. The hostess will seat you now. There’s no cover charge, but there is a two-drink minimum. Bring your own beverage.
BCB After Dark is the place for you to talk baseball, music, movies, or anything else you need to get off your chest, as long as it is within the rules of the site. The late-nighters are encouraged to get the party started, but everyone else is invited to join in as you wake up the next morning and into the afternoon.
Here’s the part where we listen to music and talk movies. But you’re free to skip ahead if you want. You won’t hurt my feelings.
Here’s some (rare?) video of saxophonist Hank Mobley on Danish television in 1968. Joining Mobley is an all-star backing group of Kenny Drew on piano, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (NHØP) on bass and Albert “Tootie” Heath.
You voted in the BCB Winter Science Fiction Classic final between 2001: A Space Odyssey and Terminator 2: Judgment Day and 2001: A Space Odyssey is your champion! That’s not a real surprise. It was the number-one seed coming into the tournament and it’s certainly the most-acclaimed science fiction film of all-time, coming in as the number-six film of all-time (in any genre) in the most-recent BFI Sight & Sound critics poll. The film does have its critics—Soviet director Andrei Tarkovsky (of Solaris and Stalker fame) in particular didn’t like it—but most critics and scholars see it as a film that changed the way we think about what a film can be.
As I said in my original essay on the film, 2001 is the first film to really capture the sheer awe of outer space and maybe no film since then has even approached it. It’s also a film that leaves you with a lot of questions at the end, even if director Stanley Kubrick was more than happy to explain it when asked. It came out at a time when the “New Hollywood” movement, freed from the restrictions of the Production Code, really pushed the boundaries of what film could be. And luckily, there was an audience for this kind of new expression in 1968.
So here’s the final bracket with everything filled in.
Running the Science Fiction tournament was more difficult than our previous tournaments. For one, I was willing to cover the entire 20th Century this time, whereas the Film Noir was limited to 1941 to 1959, the Western tournament was limited from 1939 to 1972 and the Hitchcock one was limited to Hitchcock’s career which went from the 1920s to 1976. Secondly, there are always some disagreements about what counts as science fiction. Genres are always difficult to nail down, but science fiction is a really broad category that has changed a lot from 1902’s A Trip to the Moon to 1999’s The Matrix. Thank goodness I didn’t include 21st Century films in the tournament or I would have gone nuts trying to figure out what counted.
I just want to thank everyone who participated and voted. I especially thank those of you who carried on the comments in the discussions. What really makes it worthwhile is the way that we share the ways we interact with the films. That’s the way I learn new things. Even those of you whom I disagreed with—heck, maybe especially those of you whom I disagreed with—taught me to look at the films in different ways.
But you’re all still wrong about Back to the Future. It’s very so-so. Just like Huey Lewis and the News. And Repo Man and Brazil should have done better. So should have Stalker, but that’s my own fault for putting it up against Blade Runner in the first round. I also saw The Incredible Shrinking Man for the first time for this tournament, and it turns out I loved it. So that was a nice moment for me.
Welcome back to everyone who skips the music and movies.
The Cubs signed Michael Conforto to a minor-league deal today and that is just another indicator that the Cubs consider their biggest question in Spring Training to be who is going to be the fourth outfielder. The Cubs already had non-roster invitees Chas McCormick and Dylan Carlson in camp as well as prospect Kevin Alcántara and waiver claim Justin Dean. Prospect Brett Bateman is also in camp as a non-roster invitee, but he’s not considered a serious candidate to claim the 4th outfielder job, at least not out of Spring Training. Maybe in August.
So tonight, I’m going to ask you which one of the non-roster invitees is most likely to be a contributor to the Cubs this season. Not necessarily right out of Spring Training, but over the course of the season.
The model here is Mike Tauchman, whom the Cubs signed to a minor league deal with a Spring Training invitation in 2023. Tauchman didn’t make the Opening Day roster, but accepted an assignment to Triple-A Iowa and got called up to the majors in May. Of course, Tauchman was an important player on both the 2023 and 2024 Cubs.
Two pitchers in recent years were NRIs and ended up making major contributions to the team were Mark Leiter Jr. in 2021 and Brad Keller last season. It’s easier to make the roster as a reliever than as an outfielder. If anything, the other relievers are more likely to get injured than other outfielders.
So let’s quickly review the three NRIs. We’re going to bypass Dean, since he’s on the 40-man roster and is likely ticketed for Iowa. He could certainly see some time in the majors if he does well down there and there’s an injury in the majors. But he’s got options and the Cubs won’t have to make a decision on him in March. We’re not going to count Kevin Alcántara, because he’s a top prospect and in the Cubs long-term plans at the moment. They hope he’s more than a fourth outfielder. The same goes for Brett Bateman, although he’s not as well-regarded as Alcántara.
The first candidate is Dylan Carlson. Once upon a time, 2021 to be exact, Carlson was one of the top 20 prospects in baseball and was expected to be a star for the Cardinals. His rookie season of 2021 was pretty good. He hit .266 with 18 home runs and a .343 on-base percentage. Carlson finished third in Rookie-of-the-Year balloting. He didn’t set the world on fire his rookie year, but it was promising enough that you could easily predict stardom for him down the road.
That didn’t happen. Instead, Carlson suffered a series of injuries that cut into his playing time and his power. In particular, he suffered a shoulder injury after colliding with Jordan Walker in Spring Training in 2024 and he never really seemed to be himself since then. Last year with the Orioles, Carlson hit just .203/.273/.336 with six home runs over 83 games. Hamstring and oblique injures have also cost him enough speed that he’s no longer an acceptable center fielder except on an emergency basis.
On the plus side of Carlson, he’s still just 27 and if he ever got healthy, that top prospect that used to be there is probably still in there somewhere.
Al covered Conforto pretty well earlier today. Just last year, the Dodgers thought enough of Conforto to give him a $17 million, one-year deal. That was coming off a two-year, $36 million deal with the Giants. And as Al wrote, Conforto was a pretty good outfielder for the Mets from 2015 to 2021. But he missed the entire 2022 season with a shoulder injury and hasn’t really been good since, although he was solid enough for the Giants in 2024 that the Dodgers took a chance on him with that one-year deal.
The other downside on Conforto is that he turns 33 on March 1. He also hasn’t played center field since 2019.
Finally, there’s Chas McCormick, who has spent his entire career with the Astros until now. He made his major league debut with Houston in 2021 just shy of his 26th birthday. From 2021 to 2023, McCormick was an excellent fourth outfielder. He played over 100 games in all three of those seasons and hit 50 home runs in those three years combined. McCormick had a 117 OPS+ over those three seasons and was a solid defender at all three outfield positions.
Then McCormick suffered a hamstring injury early in 2024 and hasn’t been right since. He hit a poor .210/.279/.290 last season and put up almost identical numbers in 2024. McCormick also turns 31 in April, so his decline might be as much age-related as injury-related.
On the plus side to McCormick, he’s still a solid defender at all three outfield positions. Unlike Carlson and Conforto, McCormick still has minor league options, so he could be sent down to Iowa to start the season. However, most of these minor league deals with an invite to Spring Training contracts have an opt-out clause where a player can leave the organization if they aren’t on the major-league (or 40-man) roster by a certain date. So there may not be as much flexibility on McCormick as it might seem initially.
Obviously none of these outfielder are without warts. If they were, they wouldn’t have signed a minor league deal. Teams would be fighting for their signature. But all three of these players were very good once and not too long ago. Which one do you think is most likely to be good again in 2025?
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Yankees right fielder Max Schuemann catches a fly out by Pittsburgh Pirates' Dominic Fletcher.
Observations from Yankees’ spring training on Monday:
Let’s review
With the help of ABS, Ryan Yarbrough went from having two runners on base to being out of a jam, just with one tap of the cap.
The lefty’s 3-2 pitch to Oneil Cruz was called Ball 4, but Yarbrough challenged it and was proven right, with the overturned call marking Strike 3 for the third out of the inning.
Yankees pitcher Ryan Yarbrough #33, pitching against the Pirates. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
Life’s a switch
Batting from the left side, Jasson Domínguez poked an RBI double to right field against right-hander Tyrone Yulie in the second inning.
But then in his first chances to face a lefty this spring his next two at-bats, Domínguez struck out from the right side both times.
Caught my eye
Max Schuemann started Monday’s game in right field, displaying some defensive versatility that could aid his case to make the Yankees Opening Day roster if Oswaldo Cabrera isn’t ready in time.
The righty bat, acquired from the A’s at the start of camp, is known as a strong defensive infielder but also has some experience in the outfield.
Yankees right fielder Max Schuemann catches a fly out by Pittsburgh Pirates’ Dominic Fletcher. AP
Tuesday’s schedule
Will Warren will make his spring debut, starting against the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Fla.
The right-hander first talked about participating in the tournament last year after Andy Pettitte, Team USA’s pitching coach, contacted him.
“He said he wanted me to be a part of the team, and I’m honored to get an opportunity to do this,” Holmes said after making his first Grapefruit League start Monday. “I think the world of Andy. Someone like him believing in me and being in my corner and wanting me to be part of the team was special and meant something.”
It’s another step in Holmes’ career.
It was just a year ago that he entered spring training dealing with questions about whether he’d be able to be successful as a starter after breaking out as a reliever with the Yankees, where he’d met Pettitte.
Clay Holmes throws a pitch during his Feb. 23 Grapefruit League start for the Mets. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Holmes ended up throwing 165 ²/₃ innings, only three fewer than team leader David Peterson.
“I knew last year a cloud followed me,” Holmes said. “ ‘How many innings can you throw?’ I never doubted myself. It’s nice to know I’m capable of it, [but] it doesn’t make it any easier this year. I just have something to build on.”
Holmes’ 2025 wasn’t totally smooth.
After putting up a 2.99 ERA over his first 17 starts, he pitched to a 4.52 ERA over his final 14 starts — excluding two September relief appearances.
Before the right-hander made his first start of the spring against Toronto at TD Ballpark, Carlos Mendoza sounded unconcerned about Holmes pitching too much.
“He’s a guy that takes very little time off from throwing,” the Mets manager said. “We’re not doing anything different.”
Holmes’ inclusion in the WBC won’t impact anything, according to Mendoza.
“It’s basically the same progression as last year,” Mendoza said. “The WBC has nothing to do with it. It’s a credit to him. He’s so meticulous about his preparation and offseason training.”
Clay Holmes throws during the Mets’ spring training session Feb. 22. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
Holmes allowed just one hit in 3 ²/₃ innings in a 4-3 win, but that hit was a two-run, 431-foot homer to dead center by Kazuma Okamoto off a curveball that Holmes left up.
Holmes joked that he might be able to use the bad pitch to his advantage next month.
“Maybe he’ll go back to his Japanese teammates and say, ‘He throws a big curveball to right-handers,’ ’’ Holmes said.
Holmes walked two and struck out three over a 57-pitch outing.
“He’s a big part of our rotation,” Mendoza said. “He was super-consistent for us last year, and it wasn’t easy making that transition. People were talking [about] innings limits and things like that, and we never put a limit on him. It’s Year 2, and he continues to be a big part of our rotation.”
