Category: Baseball

I have been clear that the Guardians don’t have an excuse for not adding either a centerfield and/or a middle of the order hitter all off-season. Time have changed. Let’s talk about it.

For whatever reason, the Guardians did not land Willson Contreras or Brandon Lowe or Taylor Ward or Kaz Okomoto or Ryan O’Hearn (middle-of-the-order hitters) or Harrison Bader/Luis Robert, Jr./Dane Myers (centerfielders). I can’t really tell you why, except that in a couple cases, it seems to be because the team is reluctant to commit money in 2027 when they clearly expect their to be a MLB lockout initiated by MLB’s owners. I think they had to offer whatever in trades and salary necessary to land at least ONE of these players. They didn’t. It’s time to accept reality on that.

At this point in the offseason, I do not see enough of a needle mover for me to be promoting the Guardians’ sign a free agent. Austin Hays isn’t a centerfielder, Austin Slater is probably bad, Luis Arraez is not a good positional fit for his limited offensive value, Miguel Andujar and Rhys Hoskins are probably not enough of an upgrade over C.J Kayfus and David Fry, though Andujar’s case is the most persuasive to me of remaining free agents. Marcell Ozuna is someone who tried to strangle his wife whom I do not want to watch on my favorite baseball team. Eugenio Suarez is PROBABLY a DH-only and probably not enough of an upgrade over exisisting options (he also doesn’t hit LHP). I’d be varying degrees of happy if they decided to sign any of these players, but I do not believe there is any particularly compelling reason for them to do so.

Now, if the Cubs are interested in trading Nico Hoerner or the Diamondbacks revisit trading Ketel Marte, I would absolutely jump into those discussions if I were the Guardians. I understand not being in on a potential Yandy Diaz trade because he is a DH-only and the Guardians, clearly, want the DH spot to rotate between Kyle Manzardo, Chase DeLauter, David Fry and others. Given that these teams are probably planning to enter the season with each of these three options as part of their roster, it’s probably better to revisit these kind of potential trades at the trade deadline (to be clear, by the trade deadline, Ketel Marte would have to waive a no-trade clause that will vest by then). I think the Guardians WILL be aggressive in finding players, especially rentals, as needed in July to fill any roster holes if their team is competitive in the AL Central – as they should be.

The roster, as is, looks likely to be, on Opening Day:

Lineup:
Catcher: Bo Naylor, Austin Hedges and (as a 3rd catcher/pinch-hitter) David Fry
First Base: Kyle Manzardo, C.J. Kayfus and David Fry
Second Base: Gabriel Arias
Shortstop: Brayan Rocchio
Third Base: Jose Ramirez
Left Field: Steven Kwan
Center Field: Nolan Jones and Stuart Fairchild platoon
Right Field: Chase DeLauter (load management concerns for DeLauter will create reps here for David Fry and Daniel Schneemann and Stuart Fairchild)
Designated Hitter: Kyle Manzardo, David Fry, Jose Ramirez

Utility Player: Daniel Schneemann

Please hear me that I PERSONALLY would prefer the team move on from Arias now and give Juan Brito Opening Day reps, and DFA Jones to Columbus and take the risk of DeLauter as your primary centerfielder and George Valera as your strongside platoon starter in right. But, I am trying to be realistic about what WILL happen. I don’t think Arias or Jones will have a lot of rope, but I do think they both get at least another brief look to see if there’s something there.

Rotation: Whoever is healthy among Gavin Williams RHP, Tanner Bibee RHP, Joey Cantillo LHP, Slade Cecconi RHP, Parker Messick LHP and Logan Allen LHP

Bullpen: Peyton Pallette, LHP, Pedro Avila, RHP, Tim Herrin, RHP, Erik Sabrowski, LHP, Matt Festa, RHP, Shawn Armstrong, RHP, Hunter Gaddis, RHP, and Cade Smith, RHP
(Connor Brogdon and Colin Holderman also strong options, with Holderman having a minor-league option remaining. Franco Aleman and Daniel Espino should also have outside chances at making it.)

As I noted above, I think the Guardians WILL be aggressive with promoting outfielder George Valera and infielder Juan Brito, but I expect them to give players like Jones and Arias some additional time in April. I also think we could see Travis Bazzana sometime in June if he performs well in Columbus. Petey Halpin and Kahlil Watson will also be knocking on the door if the Jones/Fairchild platoon fails (as we likely almost all expect to be the case).

Is this my ideal? No. Is this roster LIKELY to win a World Series? No. But, IF the Guardians are aggressive with giving players like Kayfus and DeLauter as many reps as possible, and in promoting players like Brito, Valera and Bazzana by May/June, I see plenty of reasons to be optimistic and to back up their oft-repeated refrain of “not wanting to block young players.” If the Guardians try strict platoons with young players and drag their feet on promotions of deserving prospects, however… fans will have plenty of reasons to complain and picket Progressive Field.

I still can’t believe the Guardians didn’t find a way to make a significant upgrade either to the middle of their lineup or to centerfield. It seemed like an absolute necessity and I don’t think the gamble of not making that move (LIKELY caused by ownership concern over the impending lockout) is going to turn out well for the team. I am not looking forward to fans complaining about the Guardians having the lowest payroll in baseball and using it as a reason to not attend games. I get those feelings, but, in reality, this IS a very exciting group of young players who – IF the team is aggressive with promotions – should play a winning and thrilling brand of baseball.

The Yankees are staying in-house for another notable hire.

Mario Garza has been named the club’s new director of international scouting, a source confirmed Tuesday, replacing longtime head Donny Rowland after he was let go earlier this offseason.

Garza, 44, is entering his 16th year with the Yankees organization and has plenty of fans inside it, most recently serving as the director of baseball development while working with minor leaguers. He has also been the coordinator of baseball development, director of Latin American operations, assistant director of international player development and a manager at Single-A and the Gulf Coast League.

YES Network first reported the hire.

In his new role, Garza will be tasked with getting the Yankees international pipeline back on track after it had too often come up empty on many of its high-priced signings. The organization typically has one of the smallest international signing bonus pools because it regularly goes over the highest luxury tax threshold, and while it has had more success with lower-priced signings, it has not gotten strong enough returns on the biggest chunks of that money spent, especially of late.

After dismissing Rowland following 15 years on the job, the Yankees lost out on one of the top prospects in the current signing class, shortstop Wandy Asigen, who backed out of his agreement and instead signed with the Mets last week.

The Yankees took their time in finding Rowland’s replacement, interviewing a group of candidates that included former Astros international scouting director Oz Ocampo, before hiring from within.

Garza becomes the latest member of the Yankees player development system to be promoted this offseason, joining new first base coach Dan Fiorito and assistant hitting coach Jake Hirst.

The Yankees waiver carousel took another spin Tuesday, this time taking a shot on a former Mets minor league pitcher of the year.

The club claimed right-hander Dom Hamel off waivers from the Rangers and designated lefty Jayvien Sandridge and infielder/outfielder Marco Luciano for assignment — one of which cleared a 40-man spot for re-signing Cody Bellinger.

The 26-year-old Hamel has only appeared in one big league game, throwing an inning of relief for the Mets last September. He spent most of 2025 at Triple-A Syracuse, pitching to a 5.32 ERA in 31 games (11 starts). The former third-round pick was the Mets’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2022, which he split between Single-A and High-A.

Today ESPN and writer Kiley McDaniel – who is a former Braves scout, put out their Top 100 Prospect list for the 2026 season found here. Once again Cam Caminiti leads the way, but for the first time this year Didier Fuentes is also included, along with JR Ritchie making the third of the four big Top 100 lists.

Caminiti came in at #53, on the 50 FV tier – the eighth highest ranked prospect on that tier. McDaniel listed him as the type of prospect who is “Smooth, projectable, athletic lefty with three good pitches who could make the leap at any moment.” The most promising comment was that “Caminiti’s scouting report — 92-95, touching 97 mph with solid shape, an improving but roughly average sweepy slider, and a roughly average changeup — isn’t overwhelming at the moment, but he’s the right kind of prospect with the right markers for future growth and scouts are expecting a breakthrough in the next few years”.

McDaniel also noted that “a young pitcher who got into the mid-90s among the earliest in his class but chose to develop as a strike thrower with multiple average-or-better pitches rather than a velo-chasing circus act also speaks to Caminiti’s mindset and maturity. He tweaked and improved his breaking ball when he was told it was a weaker part of his scouting report during the draft process, another key marker for projecting future improvement.”

As for 2026 McDaniel mentioned this change “I thought Caminiti should add an upper-80s cutter to round out his repertoire and asked someone who would know, and it turns out we’ll be seeing that in 2026; the early data looks positive.” He closed with this note on Cam’s upside: “If he doesn’t take a big step forward, Caminiti will still be a solid back-end starter, but there’s front-line potential if everything clicks.”

Fuentes came in at #88, with the type of “Fastball-dominant starter who probably has enough off-speed to be a third/fourth starter.” Fuentes fastball velocity and movement is praised, with the concern being “his other pitches (sweepy slider, slurve, cutter, splitter used in that order) are the concern here. None of them are better than average pitches, though they’re all 45- or 50-grade offerings that play a role in getting weak contact and keeping hitters honest.”

McDaniel used a pair of very interesting comps to close out his talk on Fuentes, saying his “release profile is similar to Bryan Woo and his stuff is similar to Joe Ryan, so this somewhat unusual profile is one that sleeper prospects have used to become standout starters; Fuentes could be next.”

Ritchie was directly behind Fuentes at #89. His type is listed as “Six-pitch righty with starter traits fully back from elbow surgery and ready to join the big league rotation.” McDaniel noted that “His draft report was that of physical projection and command with average to above raw stuff, and that’s still basically the report.” He went on to talk about the upside and closed by saying “A tick more arm speed or a tick more velocity would make Ritchie a mid-rotation starter, but he’s more of a solid fourth starter as described; often the second full year after elbow surgery is when everything comes back.”

Inspiration.

The name (Loaisiga) has three consecutive vowels.  Guess what, Hawaii does too!  With that serendipity, let’s look at Jonathan Loaisiga.

Many articles talk about his past injuries.  Because he was signed to a minor league contract, my take is that in spring training either he wins a position or he doesn’t.  But please don’t misunderstand – I very much hope he takes care of himself and avoids re-injury. 

“I’m hoping I’m done with injuries.  I want to sign with someone and pitch like I can. The way I’m feeling, I’m confident it can happen next season. I’m working hard. I’m feeling good.” – Jonathan Loaisiga

What did Make Hazen say about him?

He has an opportunity to win a position in the bullpen.

“I think he’s got great stuff. We’ve always liked him from afar.” — Mike Hazen

“He’s going to go into the mix and there’s going to be opportunity in our pen. …Coming into spring training, we should be a very attractive place for players to come in and compete. We have a number of good young arms, but there are still a couple spots in our pen that are not established.” — Mike Hazen

He chose the Diamondbacks.

At least three teams (Cubs, Giants, and D-backs) made contingent offers to Loaisiga.  The offers were contingent on him pitching in the Nicaragua Winter League. 

In December/January, in the Nicaragua Winter League, he pitched in 5 games for Indios del Boer.  After that, he seriously considered two solid offers.

“Loaisiga passed on [a] one-year, $1-million major-league contract with the Minnesota Twins to accept a minor-league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks in which he’ll make around $3.8 million if he makes the club out of spring training, Nicaraguan baseball reporter Levi Luna told NJ Advance Media.” — Levi Luna

It’s impressive that Jonathan Loaisiga bet on himself; he bet that he will win a position in spring training instead of accepting a guaranteed million dollars. 

Another positive was that the Diamondbacks have warmer weather and Chase Field has a roof – perhaps helping him avoid injury.  Another positive was that he would allow less home runs at Chase Field (home run park factor of 88 compared to 102 for the Twins).

How would I choose bullpen pitchers?

With the addition of Nolan Arenado at third base, I would look for pitchers with high ground ball rates, and especially high ground ball rates to third base. 

Let’s compare four right-handed relief pitchers who are competing for a bullpen position.  My view is that these four pitchers will have roughly equivalent ERAs in 2026 (based on their xERAs last season).  A caveat is that Cristian Mena’s 3.07 xERA was better than the other three xERAs (3.56 to 3.77).  Also, they all have fastball velocities higher than 94 MPH, which a foundational requirement for success as a reliever per this AZ Snake Pit article.

The following table compares the four pitchers.  My first focus was on ground ball percentage of balls-in-play (BIPs) and ground balls to third base percentage of BIPs. Next, I considered hard-hit percentages and bases-on-balls percentages.  Data from Baseball Savant.

Although all four pitchers would have a lot of ground balls, including a lot of ground balls to third base to take advantage of Nolan Arenado’s excellent defense, when adding consideration of hard-hit percentage and walk rates, Jonathan Loaisiga has a significant chance to win a spot in the bullpen. 

Summary.

Jonathan Loaisiga has a chance to win a spot in the bullpen.

It’s impressive that Jonathan Loaisiga bet on himself; he bet that he will win a position in spring training with the Diamondbacks instead of accepting a guaranteed million dollars. 

He was compared to three other ground ball pitchers, each with roughly equivalent xERA and each with a fastball velocity greater than 94 MPH. Based on ground ball percentage (especially to third base where excellent defender Nolan Arenado will play), based on hard-hit percentage, and based on walk-rate percentage, Jonathan Loaisiga has a significant chance to win a spot in the bullpen.

The Cubs signed Tucker Barnhart to a two-year, $6.5 million contract before the 2023 season to be the backup catcher to Yan Gomes.

This was another miscalculation by Jed Hoyer, as Barnhart was released before the ‘23 season ended after batting just .202/.285/.257 and throwing out only 18.9 percent of runners trying to steal. And he had hit pretty much for the same numbers the previous year with the Tigers.

Anyway, Barnhart played in just 43 games with the Cubs — and four of those were as a garbage-time pitcher, the second-most for any Cubs position player in a single season (Eric Sogard, as you know if you’ve been following this series, had five in 2021).

Here’s a brief summary of each of Barnhart’s four pitching appearances.

May 25 vs. Mets: The Cubs trailed 10-1 going to the ninth inning and Barnhart threw a scoreless ninth, allowing two singles. The Cubs didn’t score in the bottom of the ninth and lost 10-1.

July 16 vs. Red Sox: A key error by Nico Hoerner led to a five-run Boston fifth and the Cubs trailed 11-0 after seven. They scored three in the eighth so down 11-3, Barnhart threw the ninth. He allowed a one-out single but no runs. The Cubs scored two in the bottom of the ninth and lost 11-5 when Christopher Morel struck out to end the game.

Aug. 4 vs. Braves: The Cubs were down 8-0 going to the ninth. Barnhart allowed a one-out single to Ronald Acuña Jr. but no runs, and the Cubs failed to score in the bottom of the inning, losing 8-0.

Aug. 7 vs. Mets: Just three days after his previous mound appearance, Barnhart entered a game the Cubs were losing 10-2 heading to the bottom of the eighth. He allowed three hits, including this RBI single by Pete Alonso [VIDEO].

Check out the “speed” of that pitch:

The Cubs lost that game 11-2.

Barnhart played in just one more game for the Cubs after that, Aug. 16 vs. the White Sox, before being released Aug. 20. The Cubs ate the second year of the deal so he wound up playing 31 games in 2024 for the Diamondbacks and hitting even worse (.173/.287/.210). He played in eight games for the Rangers in 2025.

He also pitched in one game for Arizona and one for Texas, in addition to one for the Tigers in 2022, compiling a 7.88 ERA and 2.375 WHIP in eight total innings, with 19 hits allowed.

The Milwaukee Brewers announced a list of nine prospects who are invited to the team’s spring training as non-roster invitees. The group is headlined by shortstop Jesús Made, who ranks as the team’s No. 1 prospect and as a consistent top five MLB prospect across expert rankings.

Plenty has been said about Made on this site, so I’ll direct you to the latest article from Adam, our minor league reporter. The same can be said about shortstop Cooper Pratt and utilityman Jett Williams, who are also consistently in the top 100 prospects. You can read more about them here.

The other six prospects included in the non-roster invitees are 1B/3B Luke Adams (team No. 10 prospect in 2025), LHP Tate Kuehner, OF Luis Lara (team No. 14), C Ramón Rodríguez, 3B Brock Wilken (team No. 19), and C Matt Wood.

While Adams, Lara, and Wilken all rank among the team’s top prospects, Rodríguez and Wood are arguably the most interesting names of that group, as the team’s catching depth is close to zero beyond William Contreras. After Danny Jansen left for Texas in free agency and Eric Haase agreed to a minor league deal with the Giants earlier this month, it seems all but certain that the team’s backup option behind Contreras is Jeferson Quero, who is the only other catcher on the 40-man roster.

After Quero, though, Rodríguez and Wood seem to be the next two men up. Rodríguez, 27, was a 30th-round pick by the Dodgers all the way back in 2016. He’s bounced around in minor league free agency since then, appearing in the Orioles’ system for a few seasons before signing with Milwaukee in late 2023. He spent 2025 with Double-A Biloxi, hitting .359/.457/.484 with two homers, 19 RBIs, and eight runs scored across just 21 games.

Wood, who turns 25 in March, was a fourth-round pick by Milwaukee in 2022. He split the 2025 season between High-A Wisconsin and Biloxi, hitting .256/.372/.380 with seven homers, 43 RBIs, 41 runs, and 10 steals over 89 games between the two levels.

Just to quickly touch on the other players included here:

Adams, who turns 22 in April, was a 12th-round pick in 2022 and spent most of 2025 at Biloxi. In 64 games with the Shuckers, he hit .232/.409/.450 with 11 homers, 38 RBIs, 50 runs, and 10 steals.

Kuehner, who turns 25 in February, was Milwaukee’s seventh-round pick in 2023 out of Louisville. He turned in a great season at Biloxi, pitching to a 2.50 ERA with 112 strikeouts across 100 2/3 innings. He was promoted to Triple-A Nashville late in the year and didn’t have much success with the Sounds, with a 5.59 ERA and five strikeouts over 9 2/3 innings before an injury ended his season in late August.

Lara, 21, was an international signee out of Venezuela in 2022. He spent all of 2025 at Biloxi, hitting .257/.369/.343 with a pair of homers, 40 RBIs, 79 runs, and 44 steals. While he doesn’t bring a ton to the plate, he’s one of the best defensive players in Milwaukee’s system, with a 60 FV grade (on the 20-80 scale) for both his arm and his fielding.

Wilken, 23, was Milwaukee’s first-round choice in 2023 out of Wake Forest. He spent the 2025 season with Biloxi, hitting .226/.387/.489 with 18 homers, 46 RBIs, 46 runs, and a pair of steals across 79 games as he dealt with some injury troubles.

The pre-2026 prospect rankings lists continue to swoon over Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo.

In ESPN’s top 100 list published today, Kiley McDaniel ranks Basallo as MLB’s #4 prospect, behind only the consensus top three in baseball, Konnor Griffin (Pirates), Kevin McGonigle (Tigers), and Jesús Made (Brewers). ESPN’s ranking is the highest that Basallo has received among the prospect publications thus far, though he’s been a top 10 guy for all of them. MLB Pipeline and The Athletic both ranked Basallo at #8 and Baseball America #9.

Basallo is one of three Orioles prospects to appear on ESPN’s list, along with Trey Gibson (#46) and Dylan Beavers (#57).

McDaniel praises Basallo’s “huge bat speed and raw power” and writes that the youngster reminds him of “some Salvador Perez, a bit of Gary Sánchez, maybe a sprinkling of (whispers) Jim Thome.” I think any Oriole fan would be happy if Basallo’s career follows the path of Perez, who has 303 homers in 14 seasons and is still going strong for the Royals. And if Basallo hits anything like the Hall of Famer Thome, well…look out, baseball.

McDaniel is also more bullish on Basallo’s defense than some, calling his work behind the plate “acceptable.” (Yes, that qualifies as bullish.)

In terms of blocking and framing, Basallo is below average but respectable and is capable of improving a bit more. His arm is a true weapon, even though his exchange keeps his pop time from landing in plus-plus territory. In an automatic strike-calling future, this skill set could fit well.

As for the Orioles’ other prospects, ESPN joins Baseball America and MLB Pipeline in putting Beavers on its list. (The Athletic excluded him.) McDaniel touts Beavers as “likely a solid every-day right fielder in the big leagues,” predicting him for “an above-average on-base percentage” along with 15-20 home runs and stolen bases.

The biggest surprise on ESPN’s list was Gibson, the 23-year-old undrafted free agent who reached Triple-A in 2025 in his third season in the organization. McDaniel isn’t the only prospect writer who’s high on Gibson — BA also included him, at #72 — but he’s the only one to include him in his top 50 and rank him ahead of Beavers.

McDaniel calls Gibson a “supinator” — a pitcher who has a bias toward cutting the ball — and compares Gibson to current Orioles ace Kyle Bradish, former Orioles ace Corbin Burnes, and former O’s draft pick Nolan McLean, now ranked as the #13 prospect in baseball for the Mets. McDaniel is impressed by Gibson’s assortment of pitches, with a fastball that can hit 98 mph “backed up by three standout breaking balls and headlined by a plus curveball.” He pegs Gibson as a future MLB contributor in some capacity.

Gibson has massive, 7-foot extension and his higher arm slot means he works primarily with a riding four-seamer and vertical curveball versus McLean’s running two-seamer and sweeper, but the general shapes are quite similar. There’s a high floor for this type of arm — Gibson is almost a slam dunk to be a later-inning reliever if starting doesn’t work — but there’s also No. 2/No. 3 starter upside with one more tick of command refinement.

Unlike the three other publications, ESPN’s list doesn’t include High-A outfielder Nate George among the top 100 prospects.

A complete list of which Orioles are ranked on each prospect list so far, with publications such as FanGraphs and Baseball Prospectus still to come:

• Baseball America: Basallo (#9), Beavers (#21), Gibson (#72), George (#86), Luis De León (#95)
• MLB Pipeline: Basallo (#8), Beavers (#69), George (#93)
• The Athletic: Basallo (#8), Wehiwa Aloy (#73), George (#78), Ike Irish (#85), Enrique Bradfield Jr. (#97)
• ESPN: Basallo (#4), Gibson (#46), Beavers (#57)

Jose Franco has been within the Cincinnati Reds farm system since way back in 2019, and in that seven-year stretch has seen plenty. After a strong 57.1 IP debut in the Dominican Summer League in 2019, he – like every one else – lost the 2020 season, and by the time 2021 rolled around he’d been brought stateside to take on A-ball batters with the Daytona Tortugas at just 19 years of age.

It didn’t go very well.

He trudged through two seasons in the Florida State League with some tough results only to then lose the entire 2023 season to Tommy John surgery. By the time he got back on the mound in 2024, though, something began to click for the then 23 year old, and he’s been on the rise up the system rankings ever since – and now finds himself on the 40-man roster.

Last year saw him pitch to a 3.11 ERA and 1.26 WHIP across 110.0 IP split between AA Chattanooga and AAA Louisville, his fastball flirting with 100 mph with great deception as he fanned over a batter an inning. While his secondary pitches are still a work in progress, it’s that heater that has him on the cusp of the big leagues, where he already looks like he’d be a solid reliever even if those secondary pitches never round into form.

If they do, though, suddenly the Reds have a 260 lb righty who can beef up their rotation options in a hurry.

Franco lands on this year’s Community Prospect Rankings in spot #11, which he rightly claimed with nearly 32% of the vote on a crowded (and talented) ballot. I’d add the photo of the voting totals here, but it somehow did not save properly before I cleared out the Google Form, so it’s lost to history unless you’re willing to simply take my word for it.

There’s no doubt veteran Harrison Bader improves the Giants outfield defensively. He’s got the flair, the hair, and the hardware, not to mention eight years of consistently excellent defensive metrics, to back up his reputation as one of the best center fielders in the game.

Considering the 2025 Giants outfield defense ranked dead last in many meaningful categories, this is a good get and a necessary one. The signing is a rising tide that lifts all ships. Thanks to Bader’s range, left field will get smaller, penning Heliot Ramos in and allowing him to focus on being more consistent within his patch of grass. Jung Hoo Lee is a far better fielder than last season’s numbers suggest. In 2026, he’ll have a season’s worth of first-hand experience in his back pocket. He’ll know the dimensions of outfields better, be better acclimated to playing outdoors, be more assertive — but with Bader now as the meat in the outfield sandwich, Lee will take this progress, along with his natural athleticism and strong arm, and focus on right field. Considering Oracle’s tough dimensions in the corner, it’s a position that deserves a player’s full attention.

What feels more up in the air is what Bader can do with his bat. The 31-year old has been a defensive first player for his entire career. He’s a harbor seal: graceful in the water, incredibly awkward on land. A wide flat lawn is Bader’s happy place. When he gets his cherubic curls bouncing as he tracks a liner into the gap, everything is gravy. Give him a glove and he’s zero to hero — he looks like the cartoon version of Hercules too.

But swap leather for wood, and Bader’s grace goes out the window. Hitting for Bader is all 12 of Hercules’ labors, from the Nemean Lion to Cerberus, rolled into one frustrating task. He’s been a free swinger who doesn’t walk much. When he makes contact, it’s rarely hard-hit. His career 96 OPS+ has him a hair below average — and that’s after a bit of a lift from a 114 OPS+ in 2021 (103 G) and a 117 OPS+ in 2025 (146 G). In the intervening three years, Bader didn’t log an OPS above .657. Success with the club has been few and far between. 

Then, after years in the wilderness, bouncing from team to team, Bader set career-highs with 146 games played and 501 plate appearances logged between the Twins and Phillies. He slashed .277/ .347/ .449, his .796 OPS, another career mark at the plate. 

Some nice, productive numbers there — but there’s plenty to suggest they’re a little fluke-y. For instance, his expected stats, like .220 xBA and .374 xSLG, were not only well below his actual results and in the bottom quarter percentile compared to the rest of the league. After hitting .258 against fastballs as a Met in 2024, Bader’s average jumped to .319 against the heater — but his .252 xBA suggests there wasn’t any significant change in the quality of contact. Did he just get lucky? Was he just catching an unsustainable amount of breaks, with squirrely balls in play finding gaps and holes? Those kinds of things to happen. Bader’s .359 BABIP was the highest in his career by far and another significant jump from 2024’s .276 average. 

While there’s plenty to doubt about some of Bader’s seemingly inflated offensive numbers in 2025, there are foundational differences that might give us some hope that the improvements are viable.

Bader made some important changes to how he set up at the plate. He maintained the same distance from the plate and depth in the box but closed off his stance a bit, but shortened the distance between his feet by about ten inches and closed off his stance from 16 degrees open to 12 degrees open. This tweak simplifies his lower half as he steps into his swing. Instead of having to pull his front foot back and in at pitch release, the front foot starts further back and has a much quieter move to its position when the ball leaves the pitcher’s hand.

This fundamental adjustment in how Bader sets up at the plate could lend some credibility to the offensive numbers last year. The quality of contact did improve: His 40.3% Hard-Hit rate was a career high as was his 10.2% Barrel percentage (not including 2020). The harder contact came from a much quicker swing speed, jumping from a 71.2 MPH (38th percentile) in 2024 to a 73.5 MPH (71st percentile). Statcast points out that a “fast swing” at 75 MPH or quicker is akin to hitting a ball 95 MPH or faster. Good things happen when you pass that threshold. Fast swings mean harder hit balls in play which generally translate to higher averages and more damage.

Bader started making those quality cuts at a much higher clip than ever before, going from uncorking a  Fast Swing 20% of the time to doing it 37% of the time. Now he didn’t catapult himself into the upper-echelon of bat tracking gods like Kyle Schwarber or Aaron Judge, but those swing improvements did land him among a relatively high-tier. Bader’s 2025 bat tracking metrics would’ve put him comfortably in the top-3 of fast-swingers on the Giants line-up clustered right alongside Heliot Ramos and Matt Chapman.

The swing isn’t perfect by any means, but it’s got good bones. That being said, it’s hard to argue with history. Players don’t typically improve as hitters in the early-30s, or in San Francisco, and Bader will be both in his early-thirties and playing in San Francisco in 2026. So yeah, it’d be realistic to expect some sort of regression back to his mean offensively. The positive improvements and adjustments he made in 2025 aren’t cures to every ingrained bad-habit. You’d be right to point out that a fast swing still has to make contact with a baseball.

All those qualifications and realism aside — what happened last year happened. People change, and there’s the possibility that Bader is a better, not badder, batter than we thought.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are hoping to break their drought of over a decade of not playing in the postseason in 2026.

They certainly helped their chances with some free agency and trades this offseason. That’s why MLB.com reporter Mark Feinsand listed the Pirates as one of the winners of the offseason.

“The Pirates haven’t played into October since 2015. Early in the offseason, word was that Pittsburgh was ready to spend some money this winter, though nobody expected them to dive into the top end of the free-agent market,” Feinsand wrote.

“Still, the Pirates hadn’t signed a free agent to a multi-year deal since Ivan Nova in December 2016, and no free-agent hitter had received a multi-year contract since John Jaso a year before that. That changed this winter when the Pirates signed All-Star Ryan O’Hearn to a two-year, $29 million deal, while the Pirates also acquired two-time All-Star Brandon Lowe. The additions of O’Hearn and Lowe should help a lineup that ranked last in the NL in runs scored in 2025, while Mason Montgomery (acquired in the Lowe trade) and Gregory Soto (one year, $7.75 million free-agent deal) should help fortify the bullpen.”

The other teams listed as winners included the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Baltimore Orioles, and Chicago White Sox.

While the Pirates moves don’t guarantee much, it gives them the opportunity to be better than they were a year ago. That is enough to bring some optimism and life into the clubhouse, which could be exactly what the Pirates need in order to break this long curse of mediocre baseball.

BD community, do you feel as if the Pirates had a winning offseason? Let your voice be heard by chiming off in the comments section below.

Fourth in the series. Today we look at the Cubs’recently-acquired backup DH/First Baseman.

Tyler Austin is a 34-year-old journeyman, drafted by the Yankees in the third round of the 2010 MLB Draft. His lifetime 0.9 bWAR is inflated by his reasonable 2018-2019 seasons.

After 2019, he journeyed to NPB, where he did well for six years, and also played for the US team during the last Olympics. The Cubs seem to be banking on some transferable improvements from those experiences. Austin right now is penciled in as a backup to first baseman Michael Busch and DH Moises Ballesteros. It’s unclear if he’ll open the season on the major-league roster, given the Cubs’ needed bench improvement, but if he provides a big RH bat off the bench, he very well could break camp bound for Wrigley.

Most projections have him in that spot, and slashing something like .240/.315/.430, with 10-ish homers and 30-ish RBI in 200+ plate appearances. Austin has good power and isn’t a butcher at first, but that and DH are his only spots, and the Cubs need positional versatility. He’ll have to hit his way to Chicago.

After 13 consecutive years of making the postseason, a run that included six American League pennants and four World Series titles, 2008 marked the first season in some time that the Yankees failed to play for keeps in October. It was still an 89-win campaign, but given their historic run, it was a disappointing way to end their tenure in that iteration of Yankee Stadium.

2009 was a new chapter for a the franchise, with a fancy new stadium to call home. Clearly, they had intentions of making some noise that year, and began that process with a historically active offseason. Many of their important moves will be covered in this series, but the first free agent domino to fall, which helped fuel the Yankees to their 27th World Series win, was veteran pitcher A.J. Burnett.

A.J. Burnett
Signing Date: December 13, 2008
Contract: Five years, $82.5 million

Allan James Burnett, born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, was drafted by the Mets in the 8th round of the 1995 draft. Prior to breaking into the big leagues, the 6-foot-4 right-hander was sent off to the Marlins, in exchange primarily for Al Leiter. A season later, Burnett would be making his Major League debut for Florida.

This began a seven-season run with the Marlins, which was largely successful for Burnett and his club. His time in South Florida was not without his highlights — in May of 2001, Burnett tossed a no-hitter against the Padres, and later that season made blooper reels with a warm-up pitch that “accidentally” hit a promotional pickup truck driving behind the plate.

The following season featured some of Burnett’s finest work on the mound, as he managed a 3.30 ERA in over 200 innings of work, while topping 200 strikeouts for the first time in his career. He missed most of the ‘03 season after undergoing Tommy John Surgery, and had to watch from the dugout as his squad went on to beat the Yankees in the World Series that year. He would return, however, posting two more solid seasons with the Fish, throwing as hard as ever post-procedure.

Burnett would test free agency for the first time following the 2005 season, and landed in Toronto, where he would continue his solid work as a hard-throwing strikeout-heavy big league starter. In 2008, the righty pitched a career-high 221.1 innings and was the AL’s premier strikeout artist, amassing 231 of them. For the 31-year-old, it was among the ideal ways to enter free agency once again.

Burnett’s strong performance in Toronto, his free agency (via opt out), and the aforementioned Yankee desire to build a contender after a disappointing ‘08 season seemed to make for a good match. Hank Steinbrenner had made the Yankees’ interest in the veteran righty clear, and the club unsurprisingly inked Burnett to a five-year deal worth over $80 million.

A.J. Burnett’s time in New York started out quite well. Across 33 starts in 2009, he topped 200 innings once again, and despite a league-leading 97 walks, the hard-throwing righty racked up just shy of 200 Ks, and managed a respectable 4.04 ERA (114 ERA+). In terms of bWAR, it was actually Burnett’s most valuable season in the Majors – not a bad way to ring in the new contract.

On top of the solid regular season, Burnett made his mark in the Yankees’ successful postseason run as well. He started five games in the playoffs, including two in each of the Championship Series against the Angels, and the World Series against the Phillies. This stretch was highlighted by his performance in Game 2 of the Fall Classic, when he pitched seven innings, allowing just one run on four hits, while striking out nine Phillies to help New York quickly even the series in wake of a bumpy Game 1.

He wasn’t the Yankees premier starter that year, as they had signed CC Sabathia later in the offseason to fill that role, but Burnett, along with Sabathia and Andy Pettitte, formed a more-than-suitable front of the rotation — one that was clearly good enough to help win them a ring.

Unfortunately, the ‘09 season would be the best of Burnett in pinstripes, as he struggled to maintain nearly the same level of success over the following seasons. He continued to go out there every fifth day, making 33 and 32 starts respectively, between 2010-11, but with much diminished performance. In 2010, over 186.2 innings, the righty sported a much less palatable 5.26 ERA (82 ERA+), with a lower strikeout rate that he hadn’t seen since his early days as a starter. He struggled in the postseason too, allowing five runs in his lone start that October.

In his age-34 season, 2011, both he and the Yankees likely hoped for a rebound on the mound. Unfortunately, the story was much the same for the veteran. His 83 ERA+ marked little improvement, as more concerns started to pile up, as he also allowed a career-high 31 home runs in his third season with the Yankees. Burnett had become more inconsistent than anything following 2009, and despite still having good stuff on the mound, the Yankees appeared to have had enough after a second straight disappointment in 2011. He at least had enough to conjure up one last bit of playoff magic in the much-memed “I Believe in A.J.” start, Game 4 of the ALDS when the Yankees’ backs were up against the wall. Burnett was the benefactor of greatdefense in center from Curtis Granderson, but he still tossed 5.2 innings of one-run ball for the win. (The Yankees were eliminated the next day.)

After shopping Burnett’s services, the Yanks eventually struck a deal with the Pirates, sending the veteran starter to Pittsburgh for the final two years of his contract. The Yankees would eat more than half of the remaining money owed to him.

Burnett would pitch the next two seasons as a member of the Pirates (and eventually finish there), and despite beginning the 2012 season with a freak injury, would play some of his best baseball as well. Between 2012-13, in nearly 400 innings of work, Burnett posted a 3.41 ERA and impressive 3.17 FIP, figures he hadn’t touched since his days with the Marlins. On top of that, the 2013 season saw him remarkably post a career-best 26.1 percent strikeout rate at the age of 36.

Burnett made a brief and unsuccessful detour to the Phillies for the 2014 season, before returning to Pittsburgh to even more success. In 2015, his final season, Burnett posted a career-low ERA, walked fewer batters than he had in a decade, and for the first time, at 38-years-old, made an All-Star team.

Although his time in New York was shorter than what he or the organization envisioned when he signed his five-year deal, it would be hard to call his contract a failure. His success was mostly contained to just one season, but when that one season is spent as a critical part of a championship team, other warts can reasonably be overlooked.

His time in pinstripes was brief, in the span of a 17-year career in the Major Leagues, a very good one at that, but A.J. Burnett did his part when it mattered for the Yankees, making his signing all the more significant.

See more of the “50 Most Notable Yankees Free Agent Signings in 50 Years” series here.

“Meet the Mets, meet the Mets, step right up and greet the Mets.” As their theme song would suggest, the Mets have done a pretty good job of introducing brand new players to fans over the years. While the Amazins’ may not have an excess of World Series rings to show for their 64-year history, they boast six Rookie of the Year winners, and are one of just three franchises with at least four ROTY-winning pitchers (along with the Yankees and Dodgers). It’s been eleven years since the Mets had multiple rookies put up at least 2.0 bWAR in the same season, but that streak seems likely to end this year. Even after trading Brandon Sproat and Jett Williams to Milwaukee, the Mets enter 2026 with top prospects once again projected to get significant time in the spotlight — especially Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, and Carson Benge. Only time will tell which of these three players might blossom into stars by the season’s end, but all three should have the opportunity to make a mark.

In light of these exciting prospects waiting in the wings, this edition of Tuesday Top Ten will take a look back at some of the most memorable rookies who have worn orange and blue. As with all editions, this ranking is completely subjective, based on a healthy mix of stats, historical significance, and personal preference. So with all that out of the way, let’s count down the greatest rookie seasons in Mets history…

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Gary Gentry (1969)

The third starter on the Miracle Mets, Gentry pitched to a respectable 3.43 ERA and earned the win in the first World Series game at Shea Stadium.

Juan Lagares (2013)

Despite holding an 80 OPS+, Juan Lagares played stellar centerfield defense and recorded 3.4 bWAR, the second-highest mark for a position player rookie in Mets history.

Noah Syndergaard (2015)

Thor’s total of 166 strikeouts ranks sixth among Mets rookies, and his mark of 26 postseason strikeouts is tied for 5th among rookies in baseball history.

Jeff McNeil (2018)

Jeff McNeil impressed in limited playing time during his first season in the majors, putting up 3.0 bWAR and recording 74 hits in just 63 games.

THE LIST

10.Steve Henderson (1977)

Steve Henderson’s rookie season began in the wake of a massacre. In the final hours of June 15, 1977, the Mets did the unthinkable, trading Tom Seaver — a Met so iconic that his nickname was simply “The Franchise” — to the Cincinnati Reds. The stunning deal would soon be dubbed “The Midnight Massacre,” and is still widely regarded as the most infamous event in Mets history. In return for Seaver, the Mets received a quartet of young players, two of whom (Dan Norman and Henderson) had yet to make their major league debuts. Norman made his debut three months after the trade. Henderson made his debut the very next day.

In just 99 games, Henderson put up 2.7 bWAR, the third-most among position players on the 1977 Mets. The left fielder hit .297/.372/.480, setting a new record for Mets rookies in each sector of that slash line (min. 300 PA) throughout the team’s 16-year history up to that point. Had he played for a full season, Henderson might have been named the N.L. Rookie of the Year, but he was ultimately voted as runner-up to the Expos’ Andre Dawson. Over the course of his twelve-year MLB career, Henderson never again put up a bWAR total as high as his rookie season’s in 1977. Over the course of his four-year Mets career, Henderson put up 9.4 total bWAR, the highest among the quartet of players the Mets acquired in the Midnight Massacre.

9. Jason Isringhausen(1995)

Better known for his time with the Cardinals (or even his short stint with the A’s), right-hander Jason Isringhausen began his professional career as a 44th-round draft pick by the Mets. As a 22-year-old rookie in 1995, Isringhausen served in the role of starting pitcher. In 93.0 IP, Isringhausen posted a 2.81 ERA (that mark was good for a 144 ERA+ back at the start of the steroid era) while winning nine of his 14 starts. Despite only debuting in mid-July, Isringhausen’s performance was enough to earn him fourth place in that season’s N.L. Rookie of the Year voting, behind Hideo Nomo, Chipper Jones, and Quilvio Veras.

When the Mets traded Isringhausen to Oakland at the deadline in 1998, he had just one career save: a three-inning performance in a blowout, 10-0 victory over Montreal. When the Mets signed Isringhausen again in 2011, he had 293 saves. On August 15, 2011 at Petco Park, the 38-year-old became just the third player to record his 300th save in a Mets uniform, joining John Franco and Billy Wagner. With exactly 300 career saves, Isringhausen currently ranks 30th on the all-time saves leaderboard — the fourth-highest placement for a homegrown Met behind Jeff Reardon, Randy Myers, and Rick Aguilera.

8. Kodai Senga(2023)

As a 30-year-old who entered the majors with eleven years of professional baseball experience in Japan, Kodai Senga’s rookie season stands out from the other entries on this list. Instead of watching a top prospect deliver on high expectations or an unknown youngster rise to stardom, Mets fans in 2023 were treated to the story of a battle-tested veteran fighting to prove himself in a new league.

During a year when things came chaotically crashing down around the Mets and their postseason aspirations, Senga was a steady presence, posting a 2.98 ERA and making 29 starts (the most on the team). In just 166.1 IP, Senga struck out 202 batters, a mark which is rarely reached anymore by major league rookies. Since 2000, only four rookies have collected 200 strikeouts: Daisuke Matsuzaka in 2007, Yu Darvish in 2012, Spencer Strider in 2022, and Senga in 2023. It’s no coincidence that three of those four players came over from Japan, giving them more high-pressure experience while also ensuring a full season of rookie eligibility (most rookies are called up from the minor leagues midseason, while Japanese players debuting in MLB are typically signed before the regular season starts). Senga did not become the seventh Met to win the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award, as that honor was unanimously bestowed upon Corbin Carroll, but Senga ran away with the runner-up position, becoming the tenth (and most recent) Met to finish first or second in ROTY voting.

7. Darryl Strawberry(1983)

A rookie season which long stood as the greatest by a Mets position player, Darryl Strawberry’s 1983 was the first sign of better things ahead for a fledgling franchise. After making his debut in early May, the 21-year-old and former first-overall pick put up a 134 OPS+ over 122 games, clubbing 26 homers and stealing 19 bases. Strawberry was the first rookie in baseball history to put up those home run and stolen base totals despite missing a month of the season, and only four other players in baseball history have matched them since: Nomar Garciaparra, Chris Young, Mike Trout, and Julio Rodríguez.

Strawberry got off to a relatively slow start. At the end of June, he was hitting .180/.245/.317, with only four homers to his name. But over the next 82 games, he hit .295/.379/.609 with 22 homers. At the time, Strawberry set new franchise rookie records in home runs and RBI, both of which would hold until a certain Polar Bear broke them in 2019. Strawberry also won the N.L. Rookie of the Year, and was the only Mets position player to achieve that accolade…until 2019.

6. Jacob deGrom(2014)

If you had told ten Mets fans on May 15, 2014 that a right-handed starting pitcher making his major league debut that week against the Yankees would go on to win Rookie of the Year, all ten fans would have bought Rafael Montero jerseys. Jacob deGrom, a 26-year-old drafted in the ninth round, was an afterthought — a quiet, lanky kid from Florida without a superhero persona or a Futures Game resume — but he impressed in his debut on both sides of the ball, firing seven one-run innings and getting a hit in his first major league at-bat (the Mets’ first hit of the game). Despite the performance, he was pinned with a hard-luck loss as the team fell 1-0 to their crosstown rivals. If that isn’t foreshadowing, I don’t know what is.

After some midseason struggles, deGrom went on a tear to close out 2014, going 9-3 with a 1.90 ERA in his final twelve starts of the season. In his penultimate start on September 15, deGrom struck out the first eight Miami Marlins he faced, at the time tying a major league record for most consecutive strikeouts to open a game. By the season’s end, deGrom had tallied 140.1 IP, posting a 2.69 ERA and recording 144 strikeouts. Five and a half months after his unassuming promotion to the majors, deGrom had been named N.L. Rookie of the Year, and had become one of the key pieces in the franchise’s plans to build an elite rotation of young fireballers. 

5. Tom Seaver(1967)

Tom Seaver was terrific out of the gate. While not yet at the level of dominance he would reach in 1969, when he won the N.L. Cy Young Award (along with 25 games), Seaver made an impressive statement as a 22-year-old Rookie of the Year in 1967. In 251 IP, Seaver posted a 2.76 ERA and racked up 170 strikeouts. He also mustered a complete game in 18 of his 34 starts, marking the most for a right-handed rookie since 1948.

Seaver eventually being nicknamed “The Franchise” feels inevitable when considering that, as a rookie, he set almost every major single-season pitching record — wins, strikeouts, and complete games — up to that point in the Mets’ six-year history. By 1969, at just 24 years old, Seaver had set the Mets’ all-time record in all three categories. He still holds each of those records to this day.

4. Jon Matlack(1972)

The Mets entered 1972 with a familiar, formidable duo of Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman sitting atop the starting rotation, but it was 22-year-old rookie Jon Matlack who might have been the team’s true ace. The lefty recorded a 2.32 ERA in 244 IP, striking out 169 batters and winning 15 games. He handily won the N.L. Rookie of the Year Award, becoming the second Met to win the award (after Tom Seaver had done so five years earlier).

Of all the phenomenal rookie seasons the Mets have had throughout their history, Matlack’s is perhaps the most overlooked — as is his career more broadly. Matlack ranks 12th all-time for bWAR as a Met, above two players (Keith Hernandez and Mike Piazza) who have their numbers retired, while he only played seven years in Queens. And as stellar as his 1972 was, Matlack’s magnum opus came in 1974, when he recorded 9.1 bWAR and seven shutouts. The only Mets pitcher with more shutouts in a single season slots in at the top spot on this list…

3. Jerry Koosman (1968)

Wait a minute, Jerry Koosman wasn’t even named the N.L. Rookie of the Year in 1968. What is he doing at third place on this list, ahead of four players who actually won the award? Even for “The Year of the Pitcher,” Koosman’s rookie season stands out as one of the best in Mets history. The 25-year-old southpaw pitched to a 2.08 ERA, the third-lowest for a rookie since integration (min. 150 IP). He totaled 178 strikeouts in 263.2 IP, firing a complete game in 17 (exactly half) of his 34 starts and racking up seven shutouts, marking the second-most for a rookie since integration behind Fernando Valenzuela’s eight in 1981. He also compiled a whopping 19 wins, a mark which only two rookies (Mark Fidrych in 1976 and Tom Browning in 1985) have reached since then.

Koosman’s numbers surely would have been enough to earn him Rookie of the Year honors, but the lefty — often overshadowed on his own team by ace Tom Seaver — was characteristically relegated to No. 2 status by future Hall of Famer Johnny Bench, who won the award by a single vote.

2. Pete Alonso(2019)

Pete Alonso’s inaugural season comes with the most punchy accomplishment on this list: he hit more home runs than any other rookie in baseball history. No addendums. No specific timeframe. No qualifying splits. He hit 53 home runs, and that’s the most by a rookie in the 157-year history of the major leagues. It almost feels trivial to add, but Alonso also obliterated the Mets’ record books, setting the rookie mark for RBI by mid-July and the single-season mark for homers before the end of August.

On top of all that, he won the Home Run Derby, invented a new slogan in “LFGM,” and instantly propelled himself to face-of-the-franchise status in the wake of David Wright’s retirement. For a player who was openly disappointed that he didn’t get a call to The Show during the prior season, Alonso proved he belonged in every possible sense. It’s also worth noting that without the gutsy decision of another “rookie” — first-time General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen — to sacrifice a year of team control in order to have Alonso on the team’s Opening Day roster, the Polar Bear might not have set his famous single-season records (not to mention his eventual franchise home run record).

1. Dwight Gooden(1984)

Arguably the most electric start to a pitching career in major league baseball history, Dwight Gooden’s emergence was the type of fantasy you dream up when throwing baseballs in your backyard, or beginning a new create-a-player mode in a video game. In 218 IP, Gooden struck out 276 batters, setting a record which still holds for the most strikeouts by a rookie in the modern era, as well as a record which has since been broken for highest K/9 (11.8) put up by a rookie. Gooden reached a new gear as the season came down the home stretch; over his final nine starts, he went 8-1, struck out 105 batters while only walking 13, and pitched to a 1.07 ERA and 0.74 WHIP. Gooden also dazzled on the national stage by striking out the side at the 1984 All-Star Game, earning him one of the top entries on another Amazin’ Avenue ranking.

While Gooden’s dominance reached its peak during his sophomore season in 1985, his rookie season in 1984 was more than enough to spark a city-wide sensation. His starts were must-watch events, drawing energized crowds which Shea Stadium wasn’t used to seeing after seven straight years of losing baseball. While I wasn’t alive to watch Gooden pitch, the stats speak for themselves, and the stories—well, the stories still seem to speak from every corner of Citi Field today, including the literal “K Korner,” which endures in scoreboard form in left field. Oh, and as if that level of on-field excellence and off-field phenomenon weren’t enough to cement this season’s legacy, Gooden was only 19 years old. That’s two years younger than any other player on this list. Doc’s 1984 comes out on top in a crowded field of impressive Mets rookie seasons, and it would take quite a campaign to strip him of that title. Though as Mets fans are known to say, “Ya Gotta Believe,” and nothing is impossible…(We’re looking at you, Nolan McLean.)

Have a top ten list you want to see featured on this series? Comment with your category below!

Now that the 2026 Top 100 Prospect lists are out, it’s time to take a look at some of the Braves prospects who could make a push to be included on the 2027 versions of the Top 100 Prospects in the game. Of course Cam Caminiti will not make this list, as he is already a consensus Top 100 prospect in the game. We also won’t include JR Ritchie, who made the Top 100 on both Baseball America and Pipeline – only missing on Keith Law’s list among the three big lists released so far.

Didier Fuentes

Fuentes is one of the two easiest choices for this list after exploding last year, going from A-ball to the big leagues in the same season. Sure, he struggled in his brief MLB stint but it was apparent that the then-20-year-old wasn’t quite ready for the show. Fuentes will be given more time to develop this year, and isn’t likely to be forced into a role he isn’t ready for again as last year’s promotion was related to injuries. It would likely take improvement with his secondary pitches for him to move into the Top 100, whether his slider or splitter. If he could turn the slider into a second plus pitch, or make his offspeed pitch into an above-average offering to join his plus fastball and above-average strike throwing ability.

Owen Murphy

The other easy pick for this list is Murphy, who looked great in his small sample size after his return from Tommy John surgery last summer. Murphy was trending towards the Top 100 in early-2024, but going down with his elbow injury stunted that progress. Now that he’s healthy and in his second year post-TJ, the Braves will better be able to turn him loose this season. Murphy has three average or above pitches along with average command, so a full and healthy season could push him up the rankings this year.

Diego Tornes

While it may seem questionable to include a player who hasn’t played above the DSL, but Tornes is the type of prospect who could force himself up the rankings. Tornes was the top international signee by the Braves last year, has received great reports from coaches, and has five tools that grade out as average or better. He will get a chance to hit his way to full-season ball, which is likely what he will need to do to rise enough for the Top 100. With Tornes it is more likely a matter of when, and not if, he makes a Top 100.

John Gil

A quick look at his stat line shows Gil posted a .731 OPS with 25 doubles, a triple, and seven homers over 100 games with Augusta last year. What it doesn’t show you is the fact that he hit six homers with 10 doubles and the triple over his final 30 games there – which coincides with his return from injury in late-July. Gil has always had the hit tool and double-plus speed, but if this brief power spike can translate to this year he has only started to scratch the surface of his potential – even if Gil doesn’t homer once every six games this year, just some growth to make him a more well rounded hitter would go a long way.

Conor Essenburg

A bit of a sleeper pick here, as Essenburg was the Braves fifth round pick last year and has yet to make his pro debut. Still the reports from him from the summer and fall were promising for the former Illinois prep two-way star. As Essenburg focuses solely on hitting for the first time in his life, there is plenty of room for growth for the young slugger.

Briggs McKenzie

McKenzie wasn’t the Braves top pick in the 2025 MLB Draft, but he was the one who received the highest signing bonus. McKenzie will need to add more strength to hold his velocity deeper into games as well as gain more experience with his lightly used changeup, but he has all of the ingredients to push his way up the rankings this year or next.

Tate Southisene

As the Braves first round pick last year, Southisene is a candidate to push his way into the Top 100 for next season. I tend to think this is a bit aggressive, and that would likely be two years away for him as he needs to continue adding strength and adjusting to the pro game. Still he is a player with draft pedigree and has all five tools that are at least average.

Luke Sinnard

Another sleeper pick, Sinnard was the Braves third round pick in 2024 despite not appearing in a game that spring due to injury. His injury kept him out from June 2023 until April 2025, and while he missed some time with minor injury last year he did show why the Braves drafted him. Sinnard only threw 72.1 innings split between both levels of A-ball, though he did also make five starts in the Arizona Fall League after the season ended. Sinnard will be in his second season removed from Tommy John surgery, and the imposing 6’8” hurler has already shown he can miss bats with three of his pitches in the fastball, slider, and curve. If he can use this year to tighten his stuff and command, he is a player who could surprise from the Braves system.

Sure, it’s practically February, but the White Sox promised to be players in free agency.

All it took was getting Luis Robert Jr’s $20 million salary off the books for the front office to suddenly get ‘very active’ at exploring roster upgrades.

Of course, needing to dump Robert’s salary just to have operating income to acquire talent has led to a new round of criticism toward the franchise. Much of the criticism challenges the notion that aggressive teams like the Dodgers are the “downfall” of baseball when teams like the White Sox need to give away salaried players just to attempt to be competitive for the coming season.

It is hard to avoid getting frustrated with the team’s frugal ways, considering roster upgrades still could have been made even with Robert’s bloated salary included in the payroll. The club had $87 million committed to the roster per FanGraphs’ RosterResource before Robert was traded to the New York Mets.

However, we must stop getting upset over or surprised by owner Jerry Reinsdorf’s failure to reallocate revenue into player payroll. It is what it is. The hope is that this current group of talented young players, along with the promising prospects on the way, will allow the franchise to succeed despite the frugal owner.

It has happened before (although the owner eventually finds a way to ruin everything).

At least, Getz immediately reinvested Robert’s salary by signing reliever Seranthony Domínguez to a two-year, $20 million contract. He is going to be counted on to be the team’s closer, even though he has sporadic experience in that area. At the very least, he is a solid, high-leverage reliever. The bullpen desperately needed an upgrade in that area.

This club could still use a veteran outfielder to provide some cover in case Luisangel Acuña or Brooks Baldwin fail to take off with the runway they will be given. A left-handed bat off the bench would be nice to have. Another starting pitcher would be a welcome addition. That would allow the recently-signed veteran Sean Newcomb to be moved to the bullpen, where he has been more effective.

If another innings-eater is not added, then adding another high-leverage left-handed reliever must be a priority. I am not sure I trust Tyler Gilbert or Brandon Eisert to get outs in tight situations, considering they were not very good at it in 2025.

The prevalent thinking is that the White Sox should not shun the idea of acquiring any talent because of the team’s three-straight 100-loss seasons.

That was true when it came to last offseason. The club was coming off the worst season in the 162-game era. When you only win 41 games, any player available was better than what the team had.

Things changed last season when a young, talented core of players emerged in the process of losing “only” 102 games. The franchise now has young talent. It just needs that core to continue to ascend while mixing in additional prospects who are showing promise in the minors. While those prospects are still marinating, effective veterans to bridge the gap must be added (although it seems like the general manager prefers discarded talent that was once highly thought of).

I am actually fine with Getz sticking to his plan of finding former highly-regarded prospects who have not panned out yet due to a lack of consistent playing time. It cannot hurt to search for the next Brent Rooker.

If one does not exist, then Getz should be pursuing veterans where there is a good chance of still squeezing out the last good ounces of baseball those players have left.

Getz must also avoid upsetting a clubhouse that is building tremendous chemistry.

All that considered, there are three moves he must avoid making before Spring Training kicks off.

Do not trade for Nick Castellanos
There is no official rumor linking the White Sox to Castellanos. Two brothers in the White Sox content world have floated the idea. It was based on USA Today’s Bob Nightengale’s suggestion that the Philadelphia Phillies would have to dump Castellanos’ salary to sign Bo Bichette.

The Phillies will likely still try to trade Castellanos, even after failing to acquire Bichette. They added Adolis García in the offseason. The relationship between Castellanos and the organization is strained. Castellanos was benched for a game because of a tirade he had toward manager Rob Thomson over getting pulled for defensive purposes. The relationship continued to deteriorate from there.

The logic behind the White Sox adding Castellanos is that they have the payroll flexibility, so long as the Phillies eat a significant chunk of his $20 million salary. Chicago could use a veteran corner outfielder, and the cost to acquire him will likely be a lowly-regarded prospect.

However, the White Sox must avoid considering adding the combustible and declining veteran. Nightengale pointed out that any team that acquires him must be ready to play him every day, or there will be problems: “If you bring Castellanos in, you’d better play him every day, or he is going to be upset and could cause you a disturbance in the clubhouse, which is what would happen in Philadelphia.”

Castellanos’ production decline no longer makes him an everyday player, at least not in the field. He is terrible defensively, with a career -90 defensive runs saved in right and -77 outs above average per FanGraphs. The White Sox already have one terrible defensive corner outfielder in Andrew Benintendi. They should not be adding another.

The Pale Hose also must keep the DH spot as flexible as possible to make sure young players such as Kyle Teel, Edgar Quero, and Lenyn Sosa get regular at-bats.

That means no regular playing time for Castellanos, and opens up a clubhouse cancer to wreak havoc. This young, impressionable roster cannot afford to be exposed to Castellanos’ temper tantrums over a lack of playing time. They need a solid, steady veteran to show the kids how to go about the business, not someone who pouts when he is asked to take a reduced role.

Speaking of younger players, Baldwin provided very similar production last season:

I would rather give Baldwin a runway to see if he can reach the Ben Zobrist ceiling that the front office believes he has, rather than seeing if Castellanos bounces back.

Signing Michael Conforto over Harrison Bader
It appears the plan for the outfield is to give Acuña a runway to prove he can still live up to his highly-regarded prospect status in center field. The Mets at least made sure he got some reps there in the minors, so here is hoping the conversion to the outfield goes better than it did for Andrew Vaughn or Gavin Sheets.

Baldwin appears slated to be the starting right fielder, with Everson Pereira in reserve. Then you’ve still got Benintendi’s atrocious defense in left.

If Derek Hill or Jarred Kelenic make the roster out of Spring Training, they can at least replace Benintendi late in the game for defensive purposes. That will still leave Baldwin or Acuña needing to play late as they still adjust to tracking fly balls.

That makes me incredibly uncomfortable, along with only having Benintendi as the only true veteran.

That is why adding another proven veteran to the outfield is a must. Signing Harrison Bader to a short-term contract would have been the ideal solution. It would have lessened the sting of losing Robert’s elite defense. He would still provide that glove to rob some doubles and singles as LRJ did. Also, Bader would have provided a huge upgrade over “Louie” Robert at the plate against right-handed pitching.

The problem with adding Bader is that he could get in the way of the front office wanting to give Acuña that runway it so desperately wants to provide. And cost — Bader signed virtually the same deal as Domínguez, getting two years and $20.5 million from the Giants on Monday — would have been another issue.

Now, the White Sox reportedly are interested in signing Michael Conforto. That rumor came out when Getz was working with a tighter budget, but knowing the White Sox it still could be true with a few more dollars to work with; never underestimate this organization’s ability to save money and bet on a veteran having a “bounce-back” season.

Rolling the dice on a proven veteran like Conforto producing better numbers than a .199/.305/.333 slash line in 2025 could make sense. Getz has a bit more cash to work with and should have used that money on Bader, who can play better defense in center and right while still having some good baseball left in him. Even with both players to choose from, it would not be a shock if Getz went with Conforto.

Bringing back Mike Clevinger as an organizational depth pitcher
Signing Mike Clevinger when no other big-league club will has become an annual tradition on the South Side, one that has become a terrible look for the Pale Hose.

First, you got his off-the-field issues with past domestic violence allegations. This organization already has enough public relations problems. Continuing to bring back this shady character only exacerbates them.

The other reason it becomes an annual embarrassment is that 29 other big-league teams won’t touch him with a minor-league deal and non-roster invite to camp. He has been available on the open market four times since the White Sox brought him to 35th and Shields. All four times, no other team showed interest.

He was placed on waivers after the trade deadline in 2023, when he was pitching well. No contender claimed him despite the pitcher being on the way to a 3.2 bWAR season. No team signed him the following offseason despite the impressive metrics. Unlike the White Sox, the rest of the league saw him for what he is — injury-prone, and a public relations nightmare.

That did not stop the organization from bringing Clevinger back in 2024, where he could not throw strikes and suffered a season-ending injury. Once again, no team touched him in the offseason except the White Sox, who thought he could be the team’s closer in 2025.

They were asking a guy coming off a major surgery to throw harder, and it went as badly as expected. Yet, the organization kept him at Triple-A after designating him for assignment.

Hopefully, that was his last run with the club. The team has to get out of the Clevinger business because the business has been bad for years now.

Twenty-nine other teams will not touch him. Hopefully, the White Sox finally become No. 30.