We’ll see Collins in left field the majority of the time, while Thomas will move among all three spots. The Royals touted Collins’ ability to play second base when they acquired him, giving them flexibility, so it’ll be interesting to see whether he gets reps there this spring.
How the Royals split time in center field between Isbel and Thomas remains to be seen, but Isbel is the best defender to have out there. The Royals have given Caglianone a path to earn the everyday spot in right field with his performance. Although he’s also committed to playing for Team Italy this spring, he should get plenty of reps to show off his offseason work and improvement.
Blanco, Misner, Rave and Waters are competing for an Opening Day roster spot. They’ve all played center field, but the Royals acquired Misner from the Rays back in November as center field depth.
Witt said the Royals hitters welcomed the change. And catcher Salvador Perez had a question. “Yeah, a lot of the hitters are very happy, and the team’s pitchers aren’t,” Witt said. “But they’re gonna do well, no matter what. But yeah, the hitters are great.
Salvy was just like, ‘What took it so long?’ But yeah, everyone is fired up. And so it’s gonna be fun.”
“There is no doubt my best years in baseball are with two teams — the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets,” Beltrán said this week, per CBS Sports. “That’s a decision that I would love to sit down with my family, with (my wife) Jessica, with my kids and make a decision on that. I did really enjoy my time in New York. Now I work as an advisor for the Mets, so there’s a lot of weight in the New York cap.”
This round was so close, we had to conduct an internal staff poll to break the tie so we could proceed in hopes of getting a few more Votes in. It came down to two players taking big leaps on the ballot, Gage Ziehl and Alexander Albertus. It was Ziehl who prevailed, with 11 of 58 (19%) votes:
The fight for the top meant that Landon Hodge’s win just last round was displaced as the smallest share yet, as Ziehl’s 18.97% outdid Hodge’s 19.35%.
Ziehl was acquired for Austin Slater last July, thus this is the first Prospect Vote for the Yankees product.
Past No. 31s in the SSS Top Prospect Vote 2025 Eric Adler (21%) 2024 Calvin Harris (20%) 2023 Voting lasted only 24 rounds 2022 Voting lasted only 17 rounds 2021 Bennett Sousa (30%) 2020 Bennett Sousa (27%) 2019 Amado Nuñez (31%) 2018 Tyler Johnson (34%)
Newcomer Ryan Galanie had a nice run on his first ballot, earning seven votes and tying for third place. This time around, reliever Zach Franklin joins the mix.
South Side Sox Top-Voted White Sox Prospects for 2026
Alexander Albertus Third Baseman Age 21 2025 high level Arizona Complex League (Rookie) Age relative to high level +0.4 years Overall 2025 stats 8 games ▪️ 0 HR ▪️ 2 RBI ▪️ .333/.520/.444 ▪️ 3-of-3 (100.0%) SB ▪️ 6 BB ▪️ 3 K ▪️ 1.000 FLD%▪️ 0.3 WAR
What can you say further about Albertus? He seems to have great tools but an uncanny ability to stay off of the field (just eight games in a season-plus in the White Sox system). In 2025, he was assigned to Kannapolis but was … wait for it … injured. He lasted just eight games of ACL rehab before hitting the IL-60 again.
Marcelo Alcala Center Fielder Age 20 2025 high level ACL (Rookie) Age relative to high level -0.6 years Overall 2025 stats 42 games ▪️ 7 HR ▪️ 19 RBI ▪️ .233/.325/.479 ▪️ 14-of-15 (93.3%) SB ▪️ 14 BB ▪️ 63 K ▪️ .935 FLD%▪️ 1.2 WAR
Alcala is a talent to dream on. Though still raw, he flashed power that we simply do not see in the White Sox system, especially when combined with the raw speed that can swipe bases at a 90%+ rate. Defense and bat discipline are issues to be sure, but imagine what additional outfield reps, AZ batting cage time, and even some training on the bases could do.
Aldrin Batista Right-Handed Starting Pitcher Age 22 2025 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 6 2025 high level Winston-Salem (High-A) Age relative to high level -1.2 years Overall 2025 stats 2-0 ▪️ 7 games (2 starts) ▪️ 14 IP ▪️ 5.79 ERA ▪️ 17 K ▪️ 7 BB ▪️ 1.429 WHIP ▪️-1.2 WAR
Batista was our No. 6-voted player in last year’s poll and top righthander — and then disaster struck, as he started the third Dash game of the season on April 6 and then was out more than four months with a stress fracture in his right (pitching) elbow. His return in late August was iffy, with three poor relief appearances of five. But he ended the season with a scoreless (two-inning) “opener” start, which hopefully reverses the curse for 2026.
Reudis Diaz Right-handed relief pitcher Age 20 2025 high level ACL (Rookie) Age relative to high level -2.1 years Overall 2025 stats 1-1 ▪️ 1 SV▪️ 21 games (4 finishes) ▪️ 27 2/3 IP ▪️ 2.28.ERA ▪️ 18 K ▪️ 8 BB ▪️ 1.084 WHIP ▪️1.2 WAR
Who? You’re forgiven for being unfamiliar with an extremely young arm who hasn’t yet gotten out of rookie ball, but our No. 77 prospect a year ago (then a starter, repeating the DSL and killing it) made a successful adjustment Stateside. He’ll return to starting in 2026, likely getting his feet wet in Arizona and getting a promotion to Low-A in the second half of the season.
Zach Franklin Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Age 27 2025 high level Charlotte (AAA) Age relative to high level -1.3 years Overall 2025 stats (AA/AAA) 4-1▪️ 11 SV ▪️ 48 games (31 finishes) ▪️ 56 1/3 IP ▪️ 2.40 ERA ▪️ 79 K ▪️ 25 BB ▪️ 1.065 WHIP ▪️ 2.0 WAR
The clear closer of the future in the system, Franklin put up a pretty extraordinary 2.0 WAR in just 56 innings in 2025. He labored mostly in Birmingham, but is a cinch to start in Charlotte in 2026 — if not impressing enough in Cactus League play to break north with the White Sox outright.
Ryan Galanie First Baseman Age 25 2025 high level Birmingham (AA) Age relative to high level +1.3 years Overall 2025 stats (High-A/AA) 119 games ▪️ 11 HR ▪️ 94 RBI ▪️ .276/.327/.422 ▪️ 14-of-17 (82.4%) SB ▪️ 35 BB ▪️ 79 K ▪️ .995 FLD%▪️ 1.1 WAR
It’s been a slow but steady climb for this 13th-rounder in 2023. The good news here is, with the caveat that Galanie has always competed older than his level, Galanie has found some footing. While his power/slugging numbers are merely OK, he drove in 94 runs in 2025. He disappeared a bit in the playoffs for Birmingham (just four hits in six games, with five walks as well) but started every game in the march to a second consecutive Southern League title for the Barons.
Jairo Iriarte Right-Handed Relief Pitcher Age 24 2025 SSS Top Prospect Vote Ranking 19 2025 high level Charlotte (AAA) Age relative to high level -4.3 years Overall 2025 stats (Rookie/AAA) 3-3▪️ 1 SV ▪️ 37 games (5 starts, 9 finishes) ▪️ 48 IP ▪️ 7.13 ERA ▪️ 50 K ▪️ 37 BB ▪️ 1.917 WHIP ▪️ -0.8 WAR
The 2025 season was an utter disaster for Iriarte, who went from prospective South Side rotation member to lost in space. The righty, who made his brief debut in the majors in 2024, both lost the plate and misplaced his strikeout power. The Brian Bannister Pitching Lab has its work cut out here, for sure.
Javier Mogollón Shortstop Age 20 2025 high level Kannapolis (Low-A) Age relative to high level -1.4 years Overall 2025 stats 51 games ▪️ 5 HR ▪️ 19 RBI ▪️ .220/.347/.387 ▪️ 15-of-21 (71.4%) SB ▪️ 30 BB ▪️ 56 K ▪️ .971 FLD%▪️ 1.0 WAR
An ascending star just one year ago, we have to tap the breaks a bit on Mogollón after a lackluster first full season of minors ball. While still young for his level and managing to keep his head above water in a new league every season of his career, Mogollón’s undeniable hitting in Rookie ball fell off significantly with the Cannon Ballers. However, how much of that was due to battling injury is undetermined, as Mogollón was shelved for what turned out to be the season on July 2.
Yobal Rodriguez Right-Handed Starting Pitcher Age18 2025 high levelDSL White Sox (Rookie) Age relative to high level -1.5 years Overall 2025 stats0-3 ▪️ 13 games (10 starts) ▪️ 30 1/3 IP ▪️2.97 ERA ▪️ 33 K ▪️ 13 BB ▪️ 1.022 WHIP ▪️ 1.2 WAR
Rodriguez is a rare DSL pitcher, not for his relatively light innings load, but as a primary starter — and at just 17 years old (Yobal turns 18 on February 9). Inasmuch as it’s tough to project anyone out of the DSL, especially pitchers, you could hardly have hoped for more from him in his pro debut.
Tyler Schweitzer Left-Handed Starting Pitcher Age25 2025 high levelCharlotte (AAA) Age relative to high level -3.3 years Overall 2025 stats (AA/AAA) 8-2 ▪️ 27 games (10 starts) ▪️ 99 2/3 IP ▪️4.61 ERA ▪️ 81 K ▪️ 41 BB ▪️ 1.344 WHIP ▪️ 0.8 WAR
Schweitzer relieved in most of his games in 2025, but he remains a starter in our eyes given he was consistently paired with Tanner McDougal in Birmingham Barons starts. And in Birmingham, Schweitzer was divine: 1.27 ERA that included a long scoreless streak leading to a Charlotte promotion, 0.946 WHIP. However, everything the southpaw did as a Baron, he undid as a Knight (7.92 ERA, 1.740 ERA). While other gilded arms (Drew Thorpe, Grant Taylor) get to skip Charlotte entirely, Schweitzer was not so lucky. And that luck could prevent him from ever seeing the majors.
Round 24 of voting was the last of 2023 (we did not do an actual wrap for the voting, but Jordan Sprinkle ended up being our final pick), and the full archive.
Sportswriter Joon Lee recently posted a video to YouTube where he tries to shed light on why the Los Angeles Dodgers seem to have an endless stream of money with which to pay the top players in the game. The back-to-back World Series Champions made waves in MLB with the signing of free agent outfielder Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million contract. Chari Bell of Gaslamp Ball documents what Lee says is a major disparity in favor of the Dodgers that is not available to the 29 other MLB teams.
Padres News:
Randy Jones was a legendary pitcher for the Padres, but he may be most remembered for being an ambassador for San Diego. He could often be found around Petco Park meeting fans and promoting the Padres and the game of baseball. Jones died this offseason and the Padres will hold a celebration of life for him at Petco Park today for fans to pay their respects.
Padres fans watched the season come to an end for one of the dominant relievers in the San Diego bullpen when Jason Adam ruptured his quadriceps and feel on the front of the mound. Adam’s recovery and rehabilitation by all accounts have been going well and his return in 2026 will be much anticipated.
Dennis Lin of The Athletic breaks down the numbers and makes a case for Manny Machado becoming a Hall of Famer by the time his career comes to an end. Lin notes Machado is owed $301 million over the next eight seasons, so the end is not near, which means Machado has plenty of time to continue to add to his resume.
Baseball News:
Free agent pitcher Max Scherzer says he is not going to rush his decision on where he will sign. It was also noted that Scherzer may wait until after Opening Day to choose his team.
The New York Yankees finally agreed to a new contract with Cody Bellinger, but that may not be the last free agent deal they make this offseason. The also Yankees claimed outfielder Michael Siani off waivers from the Dodgers.
The San Francisco Giants made a push to land C.J. Abrams from the Washington Nationals, but the teams were unable to reach an agreement for the talented shortstop.
Well… Jose Ramirez MAY have just guaranteed he will be a Guardian through the end of his major league career.
As you may remember, we have had our issues with Hector Gomez, baseball insider, who claimed the Guardians had multiple pitchers being investigated for gambling aside from Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz. Well… Gomez is reporting on Twitter that Jose has signed a 7/$175M deal with the Guardians taking him through 2032, his age 40 season, and making sure he will retire as a Guardian and likely holding almost every franchise record.
I don’t think Gomez would report this if he didn’t know it to be true as it would completely destroy his reputation. I also know Jose’s agent posted a photo earlier this week of him and Jose in Cleveland together. And now Zack Meisel of the Athletic is reporting the team and Ramirez are nearing a $106M extension through 2032, with $70M deferred.
I will bury the hatchet with Gomez if this is true, as it appears it is. Stinks what he did, but I will forgive him and let it go.
Also, I am done complaining about this offseason if this means I get to watch my favorite baseball player of all time play his entire career in Cleveland in front of me and my children.
Unless you missed the news on The Weather Channel, local news channels, national news channels, from Facebook, Twitter, your co-workers, your mama and your grandma; there’s a storm brewing. Anywhere from four to eighteen inches of snow is headed. The grocery stores in my part of Braves Country were at DEFCON 2 on Thursday and it’s supposed to be completely to the north of us. I can’t imagine what it’s like where it is actually going to snow.
Makes me wonder if we’ll get a snow out this year. The Braves will be either at home or in warm weather spots to start the year. So no Ozzie Albies in a balaclava this year. So will there be a MLB snow out this season? Baseball really ought to play exclusively in warm weather sites the first week anyway.
It feels like the MLB roster is all but set for the Yankees. With Cody Bellinger back in the fold, and backing up Aaron Judge, the club will more or less return the same nine or ten everyday players that we saw last season. The other major position player signing this winter was of course Trent Grisham, who picked up the qualifying offer, and I’ve seen a growing consensus that the Yankees won’t just run back the same first-stringers, but they’ll run back eseentially the same lineup with Grisham in the leadoff spot.
To his credit, Grisham did just fine for himself atop the Yankees’ order last year. A 129 wRC+ while slotted into leadoff 88 times in 2025 is nothing to sneeze at, and six times throughout the year he started the game with a home run, putting the Yanks on the board in an instant. Still, there’s something to worry about whenever a guy has such an outstanding year by his own standards, and as good as Grish was in his contract season, I think there’s a guy that makes a little more sense to pencil into the No. 1 spot.
Ben Rice also had a breakout year in 2025, a 133 wRC+ season that finally brought some life to a first base position that’s generally struggled to find thump over the last decade or so. While he may still see some time as the Yankees’ third catcher behind Austin Wells and J.C. Escarra, he’s probably best utilized as the full-time first baseman — both to maximize his offensive output, and allow him to work out some of those defensive warts we saw last year.
Rice did lead off 21 times this past season, but I think keeping him there full-time in 2026 gives the Yankees just a few more runs squeezed out, even without factoring in what I think is likely regression from Grisham. Although the center fielder reached base by about 15 points more than Rice, but we’re not talking about what has happened, we’re talking about what we can reasonably expect to happen going forward.
We already know about Rice’s extraordinary batted-ball data, how hard he makes contact, and how frequently he gets the ball in the air. He’s actually walked less in the majors than he did during his time as a prospect, sacrificing some of his patience in order to club pitches. I don’t think that’s necessarily a liability though — you need your leadoff hitter to get on base while remaining a real threat should you make a mistake, it’s not really relevant whether you walk or hit your way aboard.
That said, I think there’s a level of OBP yet to be unlocked in Rice. The key to that is the strategy of the opposing pitcher, as Aaron Judge typically hits second or third in the lineup. “Protection” is a little slippery as a concept, but last year Grisham saw more pitches in the zone hitting ahead of Judge than he did in any seasons with the Padres. Pitchers want to make you force your way aboard before they have to deal with the game’s finest hitter, so you’re likely to see an uptick in pitches in-zone. Ben Rice posts a superior xBA, xSLG, exit velo, squared-up rate, barrel percentage, and hard-hit rate than Grisham — in short, when they offer at pitches, Rice does more damage.
Grisham is slightly better at not chasing, even though Rice makes more contact overall, an edge that I think would be negated should Rice see a tick up from 52 percent of pitches in-zone that he saw in 2025 to the 54-percent mark Grisham saw as a leadoff hitter. Rice isn’t quite as good at avoiding the chase, but if he gets more pitches in the strike zone, he’ll crush them more effectively than Grisham.
In a way, we’re designing a middle-class Kyle Schwarber. War Bear was never considered the prototypical leadoff bat before slotting atop the Phillies lineup beginning in their pennant-winning 2022 and being arguably the most dangerous hitter not named Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani in recent years. Still, the Phillies trusted the gonzo contact data that Schwarber produced, and pitchers began to learn — from 2023-25 Schwarber has walked more than his career baseline, because pitchers either have to come in the zone and risk his bat, or give him easy takes out of the zone. Even though the Phillies elected to deploy Trea Turner at leadoff for much of 2025 instead of Schwarber,a similar kind of situation is the goal with Rice.
Grisham’s 2025 was a marvel, making us almost forget that he was an add-on in the Juan Soto trade. Ben Rice’s better batted-ball numbers, alongside his likelihood of seeing more pitches in the zone, make him the best candidate to start games with a bang in 2026.
A lot of people around the team’s fanbase are expecting the Phillies to have a worse season in 2026 than they had in 2025. Whether that be though lack of moves on the free agent/trade market or a natural regression to their true talent, there seems to be a bunch of things people see going wrong when peering into their own crystal ball.
However, if we had to look at the positive side of things, what is something that is most likely to bounce back from being a disappointment in 2025 this upcoming season? There are quite a few options:
Aaron Nola coming back to being a good major league starter, a league average one at worst
Bryce Harper being angry at everyone and regaining MVP status
Alec Bohm enjoying a platform season before he enters free agency after the season
These are just a few options as there could be many more, so let’s dwell on the positive today.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to be a better ballclub in 2026 after finishing last place in the NL Central standings in 2025.
The Pirates made moves to boost their offense, which should help aid a pitching staff led by Cy Young award winner Paul Skenes. Bleacher Report writer Joel Reuter conducted power rankings and placed the Pirates at No. 23.
“The Pirates have made a legitimate effort to bolster their lackluster offense this winter, adding 2025 All-Stars Brandon Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn, signing the latter to the largest free agency deal (two years, $29 million) in club history. They might still be a year or two away from legitimate contention, but a lineup that averaged a MLB-worst 3.6 runs per game in 2025 has undoubtedly improved,“ Reuter wrote.
The teams that ranked below the Pirates and the Power Rankings are the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox, Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies.
The Pirates are viewed as a team that is on the rise, but that’s because they didn’t have a high bar to begin with. They made some improvements this off-season, but that won’t be enough to gain them much more respect around the league. The Pirates will have to prove themselves on the field this season and outperform the expectations that have been placed upon them.
BD community, what do you think of the placement of the Pirates in the power rankings? Let us know your thoughts by chiming off in the comment section below.
The recent talk about Dustin Pedroia on the Hall of Fame ballot has only further increased my desire for a capable, reliable Red Sox infield. We’ve seen it before, and we could get there again.
Alex Bregman’s departure not only opened up a hole which the front office thought it had solved in 2025, but it deepened the mystery of what we have in Marcelo Mayer. Mayer will continue to be an unknown quantity until he spends more time in the majors and proves he can stay on the field for a full season. Not only is he young and untested, but he can play second and third base as well as shortstop. What position he’ll more or less settle into in 2026 has been one of the more enigmatic questions of the offseason.
One piece of circumstantial evidence—and that’s sometimes all we’ve got in the offseason, until the process completely unfolds—is that Mayer has said: “Second base, you’re doing everything backwards.” To some, this may sound like a degree of discomfort, but it also conjures up the grace and confidence of a Ginger Rogers, doing everything Fred Astaire did—but backwards (and in heels). For someone working to transition from one side of the infield to the other, I have no doubt that’s what it might feel like.
A recent post on Bluesky from Alex Speier may do more to illuminate the front office’s thinking.
If this is to be believed (and I’ve been taken in a few times over the years), this might suggest that Eugenio Suárez will not end up on the dirt for the Sox. Our own Mike Carlucci said so in our Slack chat, and others have noted this on the socials too. (Even as Suárez is considered a good overall fit for the team.)
This defense-forward thinking should also have implications for second base. It could reasonably be said that being “very mindful of defense” should preclude an in-house platoon at second of Romy González, Nick Sogard, or David Hamilton. With the possible exception of Sogard, who is also young without a lot of time in the majors, we know those players, and they’re not the answer. Romy can be successful coming off the bench. Hamilton might be best as a pinch runner.
While the rumors are going this way and that, it sounds like second base is still open. So who’s it gonna be?
On this day one year ago, the White Sox sold Ron Marinaccio, so he could live out his dream of pitching in a Taco Bell uniform. | (Photo by Vincent Mizzoni/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
1939 It was the early years of the Hall of Fame, so voting results could still tend to be pretty weird. Case in point, Eddie Collins was voted into the Hall of Fame — on his fourth try.
Collins, by his 124.4 WAR the best second baseman in baseball history, had fallen 110 votes short of election in the inaugural Hall of Fame vote (1936), 36 votes short in 1937, and 22 short in 1938 before breaking through with … 77.7% support in 1939. Collins received 213 of 274 votes, clearing the bar for election by … seven tallies.
Joining Collins in the 1939 class was George Sisler, who endured a similar wait, and Willie Keeler, whose 207 votes made him the first Hall of Fame member to be elected by just a one-vote margin.
Collins’ 67.0 WAR as a member of the White Sox places him as the fourth-best overall and third-best position player (behind Luke Appling and Frank Thomas) in team history.
1962 Due substantially to its refusal to integrate (just one Black player had ever graced the rosters over 61 seasons), the Southern Association disbanded. The Nashville Vols and current White Sox affiliate Birmingham Barons played the entire 1901-61 run of the SA. White Sox affiliate in the 1950s the Memphis Chicks, managed by both Luke Appling and Ted Lyons during the decade and seeing the star rise of Luis Aparicio, played all but the final season.
By 1964 the Southern League had formed, giving new and permanent homes to SA teams like the Barons and Chattanooga Lookouts, which still exist and thrive in that league to this day.
2003 Sometimes luck plays a part in things … sometimes a very big part.
On this date, Chicago White Sox general manager Ken Williams signed free agent pitcher Esteban Loaiza to a $500,000 contract, a massive discount from the $6.05 million he’d made in 2002 with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Loaizawas expected to round out the back end of the rotation — but he did much more than that. By season’s end he had won 21 games, started the All-Star Game in front of his hometown White Sox fans, and led the American League in strikeouts. Loaiza could have won the Cy Young, but a pair of 1-0 losses to Detroit appeared to be the difference in doing so; he ended up second in the voting.
Even better, with Loaiza’s contract jumping to $4 million in 2004, Williams flipped the starter at close to maximum value (the righthander was also a 2004 All-Star). Loaiza was swapped to the Yankees at midseason, for pitcher José Contreras … another deal that worked out as a huge White Sox advantage!
2018 Former White Sox DH and Peoria native Jim Thome was elected to the Hall of Fame on his first try, getting 89.8% of the vote. He was joined by a healthy class: Chipper Jones, Vladimir Guerrero and Trevor Hoffman, along with Alan Trammell and Jack Morris from the Veterans’ Committee.
Thome’s Hall of Fame track was stalled by injury that ran him out of Philadelphia and into the arms of the White Sox in 2006. Thome revitalized his career and boosted the 90-win Sox with a 4.9 WAR season at DH. His full White Sox career saw him put up 12.1 WAR over three-plus seasons; Thome would also hit his 500th career homer as a member of the White Sox.
2025 The White Sox sold reliever Ron Marinaccio to the Padres. The righthander was a waiver claim in September from the the New York Yankees, and never ended up pitching a single inning, majors or minors, with the White Sox. He did have a short and successful stint with the Padres in 2025, and in his first four years managed a tidy 2.1 WAR in just 125 1/3 MLB innings.
Major League Baseball announced game times for the full 2026 schedule this week, which includes a 5:30 p.m. PT start for the Dodgers on opening day against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. That game will be televised exclusively by NBC and streamed on Peacock.
NBC’s coverage on March 26 begins at 5 p.m. PT, and on Thursday the network announced that Bob Costas will return to NBC Sports to host that pregame show, as well as the pregame show for the network’s Sunday Night Baseball telecasts during the season.
“As appreciative as I am of other aspects of my career, especially HBO and the MLB Network, for 40 years, my true broadcasting home was NBC,” Costas said in a press release.
“He’s still operating within a window where modest growth is reasonable before settling into a long-term plateau,” Rodrigues wrote. “From a bat speed perspective, he profiles as a player who should age into a stable, roughly league-average range rather than fall off a cliff.”
Rob Mains at Baseball Prospectus analyzed Tucker’s $240 million Dodgers contract, noting that Tucker will actually earn more than had he simply been paid $60 million per year in salary. That’s largely because Tucker got a $64 million signing bonus and $30 million in deferred salaries, which are both taxed in a player’s state of residence, and there’s no state income tax in Florida.
“The pitcher is the only player in baseball — maybe the only athlete in all of team sports — who spends most of the game with his back to the TV camera,” Baumann wrote. “And pitchers are big dudes, by and large; even a skinny two-digit number, like 11, feels inadequate for a pitcher’s broad thorax.”
Welcome to the weekend. We can expect some winnowing around the edges, but it looks like the personnel are settled, more or less. I have some concerns about the handedness of the bench but it’ll work out. Or it won’t. Ability counts more, really. But I like balance.
Apparently I’m not alone. I understand that Dylan Carlson made a camp stop a couple of days ago.
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Darragh McDonald (MLB Trade Rumors*): Cubs, Chas McCormick agree to minor league deal. “For the Cubs, there’s no harm in bringing him aboard in a non-roster capacity for some extra outfield depth.”
Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series. We will not wittingly publish A. I. – driven articles or clickbait, and insist on unimpeachable sources.
On Wednesday, we got news many of us have expected all offseason: after eight years in Milwaukee, Freddy Peralta has been traded. I am not here to analyze that trade (Jason both reported on the trade and looked at what the return, Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams, will offer the 2026 Brewers, and we’ll have more coming). Instead, I’m here to look back and appreciate Peralta’s career as a Milwaukee Brewer.
Peralta’s career did not start in Milwaukee. He signed as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic with the Seattle Mariners way back in 2013, when he was 17 years old, and spent his first three years as a pro pitching in Seattle’s system. In December 2015, Peralta was one of three minor leaguers the Brewers acquired from the Mariners in exchange for first baseman Adam Lind, who was coming off a solid season as Milwaukee’s first baseman. Neither of the other two players acquired in that trade—Carlos Herrera and Daniel Missaki—ever made the majors.
Once he was in the Milwaukee system, Peralta started to assert himself a bit. in 2016, he started the season by going 4-1 with a 2.85 ERA in 60 innings (16 games, eight starts) at Class-A Wisconsin, where he struck out 11.6 batters per nine innings. In 2017, the 21-year-old Peralta started at High-A Carolina and earned a midseason promotion to Double-A Biloxi, where he allowed just 16 earned runs in 63 2/3 innings (a 2.26 ERA). Over the full 2017 minor league season, Peralta struck out almost 13 batters per nine innings. When he looked nearly as good after getting promoted to the offense-friendly Pacific Coast League in 2018, Peralta was on his way to the majors.
Peralta’s debut came on Mother’s Day, May 13th, 2018, and it was a day to remember. On the mound at home versus the Colorado Rockies (who were good in 2018—remember, that’s the team Milwaukee played in the divisional round of the playoffs), Freddy baffled the Colorado lineup. Throwing almost exclusively his fastball, he struck out five of the first six batters he faced, didn’t allow a baserunner until an error allowed a man to reach in the third, and didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning, when David Dahl singled to center. Peralta struck out one more batter after Dahl’s single and was taken out of the game after 98 pitches and 5 2/3 innings: he allowed just the one hit, walked two, and struck outan astounding 13 batters, one more than the previous franchise record in a debut, held by Steve Woodard.
In that start, 90 of the 98 pitches that Peralta threw were fastballs, which set the tone for his whole rookie season, during which he earned the nickname Fastball Freddy. While the rest of that season didn’t go quite as well as his debut, Peralta made 14 starts and two relief appearances in the 2018 regular season and pitched to a 4.25 ERA while striking out 11 batters per nine innings, a massive total for a starting pitcher. He didn’t pitch much in that postseason, but he did throw three scoreless innings in game four of the NLCS after Gio Gonzalez was chased after just one inning; Milwaukee lost in extras.
After the encouraging start to his career, Peralta hit some bumps in 2019, when he made eight starts and 31 relief appearances and pitched to a 5.29 ERA. But he was still striking out a ton of batters—12.2 per nine innings—and the Brewers were clearly still encouraged, especially when he made arguably the best start of his career in his second start of the season on April 3rd: Peralta pitched eight shutout innings with 11 strikeouts, no walks, and just two hits allowed in a 1-0 victory. He wasn’t bad in 2020 and struck out everybody (14.4 per nine), but it was such a strange season that it was difficult to judge his progress. It turned out that Peralta was on the verge of a breakout.
In 2021, Peralta functioned as the third starter in the best top-three in baseball, behind Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff (who finished first and fifth, respectively, in NL Cy Young voting). Peralta wasn’t in the Cy Young conversation like his teammates, but he was excellent: in 144 1/3 innings, Peralta pitched to a 2.81 ERA (147 ERA+) and 3.12 FIP, struck out 12.2 batters per nine, and made his first All-Star team.
Over the next three seasons, Peralta was one of the steadiest pitchers in baseball. While he struggled to regain the form that got him on the 2021 All-Star team, Peralta was almost always healthy (he missed some time in 2022 but made 30 starts in 2023 and 32 in 2024) and turned in consecutive seasons with a 113, 112, and 113 ERA+. There was some fluctuation in his underlying metrics—his strikeouts were a little up and down, he allowed a bunch of homers in 2023 and 2024 which hadn’t previously been a problem. But he was an extremely steady presence, and he struck out 210 batters in 2023 and 200 in 2024.
For most of his career, Peralta had operated somewhat out of the spotlight behind his star teammates, but Burnes was traded after the 2023 season and Woodruff was injured that same year, so in 2024, Peralta became the de facto ace of Milwaukee’s staff. 2024 was viewed as somewhat disappointing: Peralta was by no means bad, but he had the worst FIP of his career (aside from 2019, when he was almost a rookie and pitching out of the bullpen) and it just felt like things weren’t quite coming together. Peralta had also developed a frustrating habit where it felt like he’d get ahead of every batter 0-2 and then miss badly with three straight pitches until it was a full count; whether he got the batter out or not, Peralta’s pitch counts suffered, and he rarely worked deep into games.
Things changed in 2025. As the team coalesced around Peralta, Milwaukee enjoyed a remarkable run through the summer that earned them the best record in baseball. The Brewer ace was the constant, the thing that all the young players around him knew they could rely on. In a career-high 33 starts and 176 2/3 innings, Peralta led the National League with 17 wins, finished fourth in the league with a 2.70 ERA, and finished sixth with 204 strikeouts, the third straight season in which he’d struck out at least 200 batters.
For the first time, Peralta earned Cy Young votes, as he finished fifth in National League voting for that award, and he added his second All-Star selection. But Brewer fans knew that time with Peralta was running out. Before the 2020 season, Peralta had signed what turned out to be a very team friendly extension with Milwaukee, a five-year deal that bought out his arbitration years for just $15.5 million, which included club options for the 2025 and 2026 seasons at just $8 million each. With just one of those option years remaining before free agency, the Brewers made the decision to move him for controllable assets this week.
Peralta now relinquishes his status as the third-longest-tenured Brewer, as only Christian Yelich and Brandon Woodruff had been on the major league team longer—Yelich by just over a month, since his debut came on Opening Day during the 2018 season, and Woodruff by about three months, as he’d debuted near the end of the 2017 season. Had he returned for his ninth season as a Brewer in 2026, Peralta would’ve set a major franchise record, had he stayed healthy—as is, he leaves the club third in their history in strikeouts with 1,153, 73 behind Yovani Gallardo’s record. Among Brewers with at least 500 innings pitched, Peralta is first in franchise history in hits per nine (6.7) and strikeouts per nine (11.1).
Now, the soon-to-be 30-year-old pitcher will ply his trade for a team other than the Brewers for the first time in the major leagues. It will be tough to see him pitch for the Mets, a team who has become something of a rival over the past couple of seasons, a deep-pocketed team that is desperate to become as good—and as unlikable—as the Dodgers. But there is some poetry in that move: the Mets’ president of baseball operations, David Stearns, was the brand new general manager of the Brewers in 2015 when he made the trade for Peralta, just his third trade as the boss.
Trades like this certainly bring mixed emotions, one of which could certainly be angst. Peralta, from everything we can tell as fans, is a humble, friendly, happy guy, a leader who others in the clubhouse looked up to, exactly the type of dude that it’s fun to root for. (He is one of my favorite Brewers of all time.) He’s also a very good pitcher. To lose those things is a drag. Those sad feelings are also mixed in with the excitement of the two new players, both with tantalizing potential, that the Brewers welcome into their system this week.
But it is safe to say that Peralta will always be a hero to fans of the Milwaukee Brewers. He is, at worst, one of the ten best pitchers in franchise history, and it is exceedingly rare for players to stick with a single team for as long as Peralta did—eight years—in the modern game. Now that he’s moved on, do you know who the third-longest-tenured Brewer is, after Woodruff and Yelich? That would be Aaron Ashby, who debuted in 2021 and still hasn’t made 100 MLB appearances.
So, thank you, Freddy Peralta. You had a fastball that didn’t make sense, you were the reason that many of us Brewers fans learned what “extension” was, and you had great rapport with Sophia Minnaert (I’m having trouble tracking it down, but Minnaert traveled with Peralta to his home in the Dominican Republic for a special that aired on Brewers television a few years ago, which is worth checking out). You frustrated us, you delighted us, and you turned yourself into one of the best pitchers in team history. Good luck in the future (unless of course you’re playing the Brewers).
The 2026 international signing period opened a week ago (Jan. 15), and Detroit signed seven players. While prospects can sign any time between Jan. 15 and Dec. 15, the good ones come off the board almost immediately. Of course, even more so with prep picks in the amateur draft, these players are a real roll of the dice and often it’s not the biggest names who work out.
Sure, these guys are as young as 16 years old, but Tigers fans should know just how important the international market is. Some of the top stars in the game were international free agents, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr., José Ramírez, Julio Rodriguez and Juan Soto.
Perhaps the greatest Tiger in recent memory, Miguel Cabrera, signed at 16 years old for $1.8 million, not to mention Eugenio Suárez, Willy Adames, Fernando Rodney down to current top 100 prospect, Josue Briceño. The point is that these guys can become MLB players, even if they aren’t slam dunks like Cabrera.
So, without dragging out this preamble any longer, let’s look at what Detroit got in its 2026 haul.
We have signed the following international amateur free agents:
C Manuel Bolivar (Venezuela, pictured below) C Roman Silgado (Venezuela) IF Eduardo Tusen (Dominican Republic) SS Oscar Tineo (Venezuela) CF Douglas Olivo (Venezuela) OF Diego Orro (Venezuela) CF Randy Santana… pic.twitter.com/p9C8fqucZN
Let’s start with the three headliners: Venezuelan catcher Manuel Bolívar, Dominican outfielder Randy Santana and Venezuelan infielder Oscar Tineo. Nearly 65% of Detroit’s $7,537,100 international signing pool went to these three players. They should have about $550,000 left to spend in this signing period. After the players with the big previously arranged deals sign, the rest of the signing period is about using the remainder to hunt underrated gems and late bloomers in the class throughout the spring and summer months. This is a business at the end of the day, so money matters.
Note: All signing values sourced from Spotrac
Here’s why the Tigers spent so much on these teenagers.
C Manuel Bolívar — $2,297,500
As a 13-year-old, Manuel Bolívar made a name for himself with the Venezuelan national team at the U-15 Baseball World Cup in 2022. He posted a 1.083 OPS over four games as the youngest player on the roster and has been on Detroit’s radar since. Now 17 — and turning 18 in September — Bolívar checks in at 6-foot-3 and 190 pounds.
He shows signs of plus power, a plus arm and strong intangibles, albeit with some swing-and-miss concerns. While he’s able to pull the ball with power, advanced breaking balls could give him trouble throughout his pro career. His blocking ability is advanced for his age, which is a plus, and he’s got the arm strength for the position. Bolívar could end up transitioning to first base down the line, but he’s a pretty good bet to make it as at least a backup catcher.
Playing a premium position helped Bolívar earn the $2.3 million signing bonus, and Detroit has faith in his ability to develop behind the plate. He’ll play in the Dominican Summer League this year.
“This kid has a tremendous set of tools,” Tigers director of Latin American operations Miguel Garcia said to the Freep. “He’s got a good body for his position, catcher, and the ability to develop some power down the road, having a plus arm and good defensive skills. We like his makeup, the way that he handles himself on and off the baseball field. We’re pretty excited about Manuel Bolivar.”
Defensive shortstop Oscar Tineo earned the second-highest signing bonus from Detroit, and for good reason. He’s 6-foot-2 with good range and agility, and Garcia projects him to develop a plus arm while staying at shortstop. His tools are reminiscent of Franyerber Montilla, who has come along as one of the better shortstops in Detroit’s farm system. Maybe the speed tool isn’t as sharp, but Baseball America’s Ben Badler called Tineo “an above-average runner”.
Like Montilla, Tineo has the makings of an plus defender; however, the bat is of some concern. While he is a switch-hitter, Tineo struggles as a lefty against righties and needs to develop some pop to his swing. Montilla made the jump after going through a rough patch once arriving stateside. The Venezuela native turns 17 next month, so Detroit has some time to develop him in the DSL over the next couple of years.
CF Randy Santana — $1,097,500
The last of Detroit’s “premier” signings might have the brightest future. Randy Santana has a rocket arm, plus-power potential, good speed, and a pretty swing. This is a kid who has clocked multiple 100-mph throws from the outfield at 17 years old and comes from a proven baseball academy (Niche) from the Dominican Republic — the same academy that produced Soto and Elly De La Cruz.
There’s a world where Santana switches to the mound, but he has a ton of bat speed, albeit with a somewhat reckless approach and coming from a smaller — 5-foot-11, 180-pound — frame. The combination of speed and power could make him dangerous at the plate, particularly if he can mature as a hitter and make better swing decisions.
The goal is to keep him in center field, which he has the speed for, but a transition to right field down the line wouldn’t be surprising. Santana can also affect the game on the base path as a plus runner, too. In a farm full of left-handed hitting talent, Santana pairs nicely with last year’s top international signing, Cris Rodriguez, as a right-handed slugger. It’s hard to argue with taking a young player with a lot of atheticism and an outsized toolkit. Santana has huge upside and doesn’t need to become a great pure hitter to grow into an impactful major leaguer someday.
If Santana doesn’t work out in center field, Douglas Olivo probably will. The 6-foot-3, 175-pound Venezuelan moves around the outfield with ease and reads the ball off the bat fairly well. A left-hander who can switch hit, Olivo’s better at hitting for average than power. Still, he has the frame to add plenty of weight, which could lead to more pop down the line.
“He covers a lot of ground,” Garcia said. “As we all know, it takes a lot to play center field in Comerica Park, and we all strongly believe that every time we project a kid to play center field, that’s what we think about.”
Olivo’s signing bonus is in question. While Spotrac lists him just under $800,000, Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press reported a $900,000 signing bonus. Either way, it’s a considerable chunk compared to everyone below him on this list.
IF Eduardo Tusen — $312,500
The final signee who reeled in a deal above $300,000 — which is an arbitrary cutoff point but suggests that he’s in the top-200 range of international prospects — is Eduardo Tusen out of the Dominican Republic. A middle infielder for now, Tusen’s arm strength leads to a natural third base projection. He’s a switch hitter with good bat speed from both sides of the plate, but he looks more natural in the right-handed batter’s box. He’s 16 going on 17 and checks in at 5-foot-11 and 194 pounds.
Eduardo Tusen (Intl.) • Switch hitting IF. Relaxed, early leg kick from both sides of the plate, swing/actions are there. 14y/o good Intl follow w/added strength, eligible to ✏️ 1/15/26 @MiamiMiracles@PSBaseballincpic.twitter.com/fydIHtGvoi
The rest of Detroit’s international signees are getting $275,00 or less, so we’ll do this by position. Less is known about these guys and the money says it’s more of a crap shoot than anything else.
Pitchers
Signed: RHP Yeuri Ramirez (Dominican Republic), $240,000; RHP Alexander Padilla (Dominican Republic), $160,000; RHP Jesus Miranda (Colombia), $35,500
Yeuri Ramirez is the most interesting name here. He signed with Milwaukee in the 2025 cycle, but an alleged age falsification issue voided the $300,000 deal. He ends up with the Tigers this year and is already 18 years old. Does he need to spend a year in the DSL? Probably not, but Detroit might opt to keep him overseas for a year. Ramirez has run his fastball up to 94-95 mph and is quite polished. He likes to play with timings and has some feel for his secondary stuff.
RHP Yeuri Ramirez is probably the most projectable pitcher in the class. He’s extremely skinny, but already up to 94 MPH with what BA says is good feel for a changeup and breaking ball.
He appears to pitch with a lot of emotion, and likes to mess with the timing of hitters. pic.twitter.com/56EISPM9iI
There’s not much out there on Padilla or Miranda. The latter looks raw in the videos below but has been clocked in the upper-80s while showing some feel for the breaking stuff. Refining his motion could be the ticket to success.
Venezuelan pitcher Jesús Miranda of the Detroit Tigers 2026 IFA Class.
Miranda comes from the same academy (B.V.C Academy) as their 2026 IFA catcher Román Silgado, and one of their top prospects of the 2027 IFA class, shortstop Sebastián Cervantes. pic.twitter.com/ZtMx6vtSPy
Signed: Roman Silgado (Venezuela), $65,000; Yojan Coronel (Venezuela), $40,000
Two more catchers signed with Detroit, albeit for not a ton of money. Silgado shows some decent hand speed as righty and there’s some plus-power potential if he can make solid contact consistently.
Signed: Steve Gutierrez (Venezuela), $70,000; Edwinyer Martinez (Venezuela), N/A
Two more infielders that don’t have much film. Gutierrez and Martinez are both shortstops for now. Martinez has a smaller build at 5-foot-9, 179 pounds, so moving to second might be in his future.
Signed: Santiago Ventura (Venezuela), $275,000; Diego Orro (Venezuela), $100,000
Ventura stands out as a plus runner with some feel in center field, according to Baseball America. He’s more of a defender than a hitter, but he can find a gap or two. He‘s 6-foot, 175 pounds.
Orro is a left-handed hitter who stands at 5-foot-11, 165 pounds. There’s some film on his swing linked below.
Rockies Fest is here, which is the unofficial kick off to the 2026 Rockies season. Numerous players, prospects, coaches and alumni will be attendance, and many of them will depart for Scottsdale after the festival is over. Pitchers and catchers report in just about three weeks on February 12; everyone else reports on February 17; and the first game will take place on February 20.
Rockies Fest is tomorrow… it's also inside!
Gates open at 10 a.m. (8:30 a.m. for plan holders).
Notably absent, though, are Ezequiel Tovar, Brenton Doyle, Zac Veen and Adael Amador. Tovar might be held up in Venezuela, but the absence of the other three is notable. However, new faces such as Michael Lorenzen and Jake McCarthy are already on the roster for the day.
A few of our Purple Row staff will also be in attendance, and will have some takeaways in the coming weeks. But in the meantime, this will serve as a place to discuss the day’s festivities.
But before things kick off, here’s what our writers had to say this week:
Will you be attending Rockies Fest? What are you most looking forward to? Which panels are most intriguing? Will you be playing “Rockies Family Feud” with some players? Let us know in the comments!
