ARLINGTON, TEXAS - MARCH 29: Connor Wong #12 of the Boston Red Sox, Romy Gonzalez #23 of the Boston Red Sox, David Hamilton #17 of the Boston Red Sox, and Garrett Whitlock #22 of the Boston Red Sox look on during the National Anthem before a game against the Texas Rangers on March 29, 2025 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning! Yet another infield option is off the board, as the Seattle Mariners acquired All-Star Brendan Donavan in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals yesterday. Perhaps you’re still holding out hope for an Isaac Paredes deal, but it’s looking increasingly likely that the Red Sox will head into Opening Day with Marcelo Mayer at third and a second base platoon of David Hamilton and Romy Gonzalez.
Gonzalez had a career year last year, putting up 2.0 bWAR, while David Hamilton rebounded from a horrible start to post 1 bWAR. A three-win second base platoon isn’t the worst thing in the world, but it carries a lot of risk given the limited track records of both players. And let’s not forget that the left side of the infield will be manned by an unproven prospect and a 33-year-old, both of whom struggle to stay healthy. Things could get ugly in the infield rather quickly if the Sox get a few bad breaks.
Are you happy with Romy and Davy at second, or is there someone else out there you want the Sox to target?
Talk about that, whatever else you want, and, as always, be good to one another.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN - OCTOBER 08: Ben Williamson #9 of the Seattle Mariners warms up ahead of game four of the American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on October 08, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Williamson is known for his plus plus defense, but he’s struggled to translate his college and minor league hitting success to the majors. The Mariners promoted Williamson early in 2025, but sent him back to Triple A Tacoma to work on his hitting. He had a very good run in Tacoma, hitting .314 with a bit more pop. The Mariners included him on the Division Series roster, but he did not play.
Williamson attended the Mariners Fanfest in Seattle yesterday, and there he was interviewed by Kate Preusser of Lookout Landing, our sister site.
Among the most interesting things from the interview is hearing how a 25-year-old baseball hopeful manages the emotions of baseball’s ups and downs.
For Williamson, his 2025 promotion, coming just two years after he was drafted, was a big boost.
“I think that that was the biggest thing for me, is just kind of proving to myself that I belong here and I can at least compete right now.”
But if the promotion was a confidence boost, the July relegation to Triple A was harder to deal with. We see players sent down to the minors all the time and we probably don’t give it much thought, but imagine if your bosses gave you a major promotion and then a few month later said, “well, actually, we don’t think you are ready for this.” It would be devastating!
In Williamson’s words:
Yeah, when I got sent down, the first thing going through my head was like, I can’t be mad. Like, I’m going down here to work on stuff. And honestly, like, I think that was a big mistake, because part of me was really frustrated.
Clearly his first impulse was to, well, suck it up, go about the task of “working on stuff” and not admitting how much it stung.
So when stuff started not going well in triple A kind of snowballed a little bit. So I think going forward, like just being able to recognize when I’m frustrated and kind of let myself feel that, accept that it’s human to feel that, and just kind of build off of that and use it as motivation going forward.
In other words, he learned it’s a mistake to bury negative emotions, which only leads to digging a bigger hole.
Fortunately, he had support in getting to a better emotional place.
Talking to [my fiancee] helped out a lot, but … during that period, … I was a very closed book, and it took her, like, kind of like egging me on a little bit to kind of open up and kind of really explore that, that side of it. Because I was kind of confused at first while so frustrated. And I think that, like, once I figured out, okay, I was frustrated from this, but like, now I can finally move on from it, instead of kind of holding on to it.
You can imagine how hard it is to feel let down, disappointed in yourself and frustrated, and to be able to share that with someone.
Looking ahead, Williamson hopes to take some of that new-found equanimity into the 2026 season.
For me, not having expectations is kind of what’s going to let me be free. Because as soon as I start putting expectations on myself, I feel like I start putting pressure on myself, start getting in my head. Things start to speed up on me a little bit if I’m not performing to the level I want to perform at.
Although Williamson knows he has to improve his hitting to stay in the majors, on a daily basis it’s his outstanding glove that will keep him competitive.
I mean, …just knowing that the glove will help the team win, and the bats just kind of a plus, like, that’s the biggest thing for me. What I pride myself on, like, just being fundamentally sound and knowing that if a ground ball is hit to me, I’m gonna get an out, and that’s what I can bank on.
Williamson comes with a reputation for “coachability,” baseball for “he is willing to take advice and he’s proven he has a learning curve.” Kate Preusser spoke to those who have worked with him as his skills have developed, and perhaps my favorite quotation, From Pat McKenna, who coached him in college:
“He was doing okay,” says McKenna, “but it wasn’t like, oh man, this guy is going to be a dude.”
We are beyond grateful to Lookout Landing and Kate Preusser for generously sharing this interview so that Rays fans could get to know their new player.
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 01: Detail of a television during a press conference announcing the retirement of Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker at Truist Park on October 1, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Quickly piggybacking on yesterday’s news, the question is simple.
What’s your excitement level?
In theory, it doesn’t have to be very different. MLB.tv is still MLB.tv for out-of-market folks like me, though this may offer you a cheaper monthly option than A) buying all teams through MLB.tv or B) whatever FanDuel direct-to-consumer option previously existed, which of course bundled a bunch of non-Braves stuff too. It won’t have the FanDuel branding, which I guess could be a plus? Maaaybeee there’s more Braves-relevant programming eventually, though that’s clearly not the Braves’ main concern at this time given that they have about a month to get things up and running to be able to cover Spring Training.
Fans watch as the Arizona Diamondbacks play against the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium on Sunday, March 2, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
R.J. Anderson put together a top 100 prospect list for CBS Sports and you won’t have to look long or hard for Rangers prospects with Sebastian Walcott the only guy for Texas near the top of the list.
Meanwhile, over at The Athletic, Keith Law checks out the state of the Texas farm system, one that has been impacted greatly by the current World Series-winning window.
And, Evan Grant notes that Team USA wanted Jack Leiter for the World Baseball Classic, but the righty won’t be on the roster.
HOUSTON, TEXAS - AUGUST 17: Adley Rutschman #35 of the Baltimore Orioles bats in the fifth inning against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on August 17, 2025 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) | Getty Images
For the last 10 days, Maryland has been encased in a covering of frozen snow perpetuated by near constant freezing temperatures. The feeling of being imprisoned by the winter months is something most baseball fans share, as they wait for the offseason to thaw into the renewed hope that comes with spring and the start of a new season.
The feeling of being stuck in an unending cold stretch is also something all too familiar to Orioles fans. Over the last 24 months, Birdland has watched as the O’s plummeted from the top of the American League to the bottom of the AL East. Over the last season and a half, it’s seemed like the Orioles couldn’t get out of their own way as the stars that form the core of this franchise played like their feet were stuck in blocks of ice.
Despite having a solid B+ offseason up to this point, the O’s will need to shake off ongoing slumps if they want to truly have a successful 2026. Here are three cold streaks the Orioles will look to break during the upcoming season:
1. Adley Rutschman’s injury-riddled slump
For the last four seasons, the Orioles go as Adley Rutschman goes. From his debut in May of 2022 through June 2024, Rutschman was one of the best catchers in baseball. Over those first 300+ games of his career, the former No. 1 overall pick hit .274, had an OPS above .800 and provided Gold Glove caliber defense. In short, he was everything the Orioles hoped he’d be when they drafted him in 2019.
During that same time, the Orioles’ performance skyrocketed. After being baseball’s worst for the four seasons prior to Rutschman’s arrival, the O’s went 221-147 from his debut through the end of June 2024. That .601 winning percentage translates to a 97-win pace over 162 games—a mark that would have led the American League each of the last two seasons.
All of that seemed to change when Rutschman fouled a ball off his hand in the series opener against the Rangers during the last series of June 2024. The unfortunate foul ball didn’t land him on the IL, but for the rest of the season, it seemed like the Orioles’ All-Star backstop was always playing through pain. Across July, August and September, his offensive output fell off a cliff, with the backstop’s batting average dropping 100 points and his OPS more than 250 points.
After a demoralizing end to 2024 that saw the Orioles swept out of the playoffs for the second year in a row, Rutschman came into last season with a seemingly renewed sense of purpose. A noticeably slimmer and more muscular Rutschman dominated in spring training and looked set to return to his All-Star form. Then the injuries set back in. Multiple oblique injuries limited Rutschman to 90 games in 2025, while his offensive numbers continued to decline.
As the Orioles’ catcher enters his age-28 season, the Orioles need him to break out of this prolonged offensive rut if they’re to return to the playoffs. The solution may just be staying healthy, as the last time he was fully healthy for a full season, he played like the best catcher in baseball.
Rutschman should also benefit from the additions of Alonso and Taylor Ward. Over the past two seasons, there were definitely times Rutschman was trying too hard to fill the Orioles’ need for a power bat in their lineup. Overly aggressive upercut swings replaced the patient and balanced approach that propelled the former No. 1 overall pick to early-career success. With Alonso and Ward brought in specifically for their ability to rain home runs across Camden Yards, Rutschman can now return to his well-rounded approach that made him such a potent offensive force behind the dish.
2. Their ice-cold approach with RISP
The Orioles built the legacy of this franchise on the prowess of the three-run home run. But it’s still nice to score from a well-place single with a runner on second. Last year, Baltimore was easily one of the worst teams in the league with RISP. Their .234 average with runners on second/third bested only the White Sox, Rockies and Pirates—three of the four worst teams in baseball. Their 25% strikeout rate was the third-worst in MLB, with only the Rockies and Angels getting punched out more in run-scoring situations.
If the Orioles are going to make it back to October, they need to hit better with RISP. Of the 12 teams that made the playoffs last year, only the Mariners hit under .250 with runners on second/third. Last I checked, the Orioles do not have the same pitching talent as Seattle, so they shouldn’t look to follow the Mariners offensive blueprint if they want to make it back to the playoffs.
Instead, if the O’s want to reclaim the Top 10 offense they boosted in 2024 and 2023, they’ll need to hit better with second and third occupied. This is one of the areas where Alonso should be a major catalyst. The 5-time All-Star hit .309 with a 1.035 OPS last season when there were runners in scoring position. Of returning Orioles who had at least 50 PAs with RISP, only Gunnar Henderson (.342) and Jordan Westburg (.358) hit above .300 with RISP, while the other returners all hit .221 or worse. Ward was below league average last year with a .246 average with RISP, but still should help improve the Orioles’ numbers.
3. The 10-game playoff losing streak
Despite finishing in last place in 2025, playoffs are very much the expectation for the 2026 Orioles. Fangraphs currently gives the O’s a 55% chance to play October baseball, the sixth best chance of any AL team. That number should only go up with if Baltimore can add a pitcher like Framber Valdez or Zac Gallen to further solidify its revamped rotation.
If the Orioles can make it back to the postseason, it will be the first time since 1974 that the O’s made the playoffs in three out of four seasons. However, just making the playoffs won’t be enough to placate the frustrated fan base in Birdland. The Orioles’ last playoff win game in the series clincher over Detroit in the 2014 ALDS. For context, Gunnar Henderson was in middle school, Adley Rutschman a sophomore in high school and Peter Alonso a sophomore in college the last time the Orioles won a playoff game.
Manager Craig Albernaz, his staff and these players will have a hard enough task getting the Orioles back on track and back to October. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that the most important cold streak the O’s need to break in 2026 is their losing streak in the postseason.
WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 06: J.T. Realmuto #10 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates with Bryce Harper #3 and Trea Turner #7 after hitting a three run home run against the Washington Nationals during the third inning at Nationals Park on April 06, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Harper. Schwarber. Realmuto. Turner. Wheeler.
The Phillies have some of the biggest names and best players in baseball today — at least, on paper. The five core names on this roster have been together for a few years now, and will mostly be together for the next few years as well. We’ve seen what they’re capable of in the regular season, both individually and as a team, but the past three postseason campaigns have been disappointing to say the least.
Today’s question of the day is: Have the Phillies kept this core together for too long? If so, what realistic options are even available to get them to the next level?
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - SEPTEMBER 12: Gabriel Moreno #14 of the Arizona Diamondbacks celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Minnesota Twins in the ninth inning of the game at Target Field on September 12, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Former MLB general manager Jim Bowden released his offseason grades for all 30 MLB teams for The Athletic. Bowden gave the Arizona Diamondbacks a scathing critique of their offseason, assigning them a D+ grade. He also predicts a fourth-place finish for Arizona.
“The Diamondbacks have had a rough offseason. So far, their only significant move was to bring back right-hander Merrill Kelly. They traded for Nolan Arenado, whose production has been declining, took a chance on the oft-injured Michael Soroka and added a backup catcher in James McCann. They also traded for a good bullpen arm, righty Josh Grosz, but had to part with speedy outfielder Jake McCarthy in the deal.”
The move marks a major shift from the 2023 tournament, when Arenado played for Team USA, as he now looks to represent his heritage after previously competing for his home country. The Diamondbacks’ third baseman has Puerto Rican heritage through his mom’s side and now has the opportunity to represent his roots on baseball’s biggest international stage.
It’s usually a good sign when a top prospect gets a camp invite. That typically means the organization wants to evaluate them as potential additions to the big league roster. Some prospects will have a chance to break camp on the Opening Day roster.
The most recent example is infielder Blaze Alexander, who hit .400 in Spring Training to win the backup shortstop job in 2024. I had him as the D-backs’ No. 25 prospectgoing into that season.
We’ll take a look at some candidates who could accomplish that feat in 2026. Since there are a lot of potential relievers on my prospect list, I’ve elected to break this into two pieces.
Six teams officially left their regional sports network, Main Street Sports, and joined Major League Baseball on Monday, essentially shedding their local-media contracts.
The Padres have been close. So, so close. They have been chasing the Dodgers for many years, and don’t forget that in 2022, they did in fact catch them, beating them in the NLDS. The problem is that the Padres lost to the Phillies in the NLCS and haven’t gotten that close since … while the Dodgers, well you know what the Dodgers have been doing.
The Padres should be commended for their ambition (and financial commitment) in pursuing their rivals to the north, but now their once-strong farm system has been mostly decimated by trades to fortify the big league roster, which, alas, still doesn’t look nearly as good as that of the Dodgers. (Who have a much better farm system now, too.) Bringing back Michael King is a sign that the Padres aren’t giving up yet, nor should they. But if they don’t catch the Dodgers soon, San Diego might be out of the race for a while.
Fine, the Dodgers aren’t actually projected for a clean 100 wins, but 99.6 is close enough for me. Believe it or not, this is the most wins we’ve ever projected them for. Projection systems are inherently conservative; 100-win projections are rare. This team simply looks that good. When you take the two-time defending World Series champions, lose almost no one, and add the top hitter and top reliever available in free agency, an already-rosy projection simply spikes to the moon. We think the Dodgers have a comically high 94.1% chance of winning the NL West. That’s silly.
The other teams in the West are actually locked in an interesting race for second. The Padres and Diamondbacks have made playoff noise in recent years, but we have the Giants narrowly ahead of those two this year despite a relatively quiet offseason. Their big addition will be a full season of Rafael Devers, and adding solid veterans like Harrison Bader and Luis Arraez won’t hurt. The Padres, on the other hand, lost three important contributors and added no one of note to replace them. The core group of Machado, Tatis, Merrill and Co. is still excellent, but the long-term impact of the trades the Padres made to surround that core with a good supporting cast means that there’s very little depth to go around here at the moment.
The Diamondbacks are more of a wild card than the Padres, who we know will be good, but expect to be less so than in recent years. The D-backs, on the other hand, has been pivoting all over the place. They sold at the deadline last year, then added this offseason by trading for Nolan Arenado and bringing Merrill Kelly back to replace Zac Gallen. There’s a ton of upside here – three different Snakes project for 4 WAR or more, with Gabriel Moreno not far behind at 3.9. But between some lineup holes – presumptive DH Adrian Del Castillo feels particularly risky to me, but first base isn’t great either – and a thin pitching staff, it’s easy to see how this team could fall out of the race early.
A Donovan trade has felt inevitable for quite a while. The Cardinals have been leaning harder into a rebuild this winter. They tried to kick off a reset last offseason but struggled to move their veteran players with no-trade clauses and ended up mostly standing pat. With president of baseball operations John Mozeliak ceding the reins to new president Chaim Bloom after the 2025 campaign, it became clear that the club would push harder to focus on the future.
Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras all had no-trade clauses in their contracts and seemed reluctant to approve deals in the 2024-25 offseason. As last year was winding down, they all publicly expressed a greater openness to playing for new teams in 2026. That has now come to fruition for all three. Gray and Contreras were both traded to the Red Sox, while Arenado landed with the Diamondbacks.
Donovan’s situation was slightly different. Those other three guys were all veterans making eight-figure salaries. Moving them out of St. Louis was partially about slashing the payroll and also about opening up opportunities for younger players as part of the rebuild. Donovan, on the other hand, is still in his arbitration seasons. He will make a relatively modest $5.8MM in 2026 and would be due a raise in 2027.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - JANUARY 21: Ranger Suárez #55 of the Boston Red Sox looks on during a press conference announcing his contract agreement with the Boston Red Sox on January 21, 2026 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s been three months since any action took place on the baseball field, and we’re still one month away from meaningful baseball (the world classic variety) kicking off. If you’re like me, you’ve had enough of the contract talk, trade speculation, and the word “control” and want to get back to the on-field action.
I got the itch and wanted to break down some tape, so here’s a look at the Red Sox’s newest starting pitcher, Ranger Suarez, attacking hitters from this past season.
We’ll start with Jose Altuve. He’s super aggressive at the plate, swinging at the first pitch about half the time. His power is to the pull side, with most of his damage coming against pitches up in the zone.
Suarez starts Altuve off with a curveball, and it’s a perfect one. Altuve was looking to ambush a first-pitch fastball, and winds up out in front as a result. If he were looking for a curveball, Suarez put it in a spot where it’s difficult to keep fair. Now at 0-1, Suarez can either work to the other side of the plate with a changeup or change speeds with one of his fastballs.
He goes to a cutter, and it’s in a good spot on the inside edge. It’s another pitch that’s difficult to keep fair if he does get a swing, but still gets a called strike if it doesn’t. Altuve is looking to bunt and gets a piece of it, but fouls it into the mitt. Now at 0-2, Suarez can throw whatever he wants, as long as it isn’t good to hit. Following two pitches to the inside part of the plate, I’d look for either a sinker that starts at the front hip to try to freeze Altuve, or a changeup low and away.
Before the pitch, Suarez was called for a pitch timer violation, making the count 1-2. I somehow managed to pick the at-bat with his only violation of the season, believe it or not. Anyways, it’s his first changeup of the game, and it’s non-competitive. At 2-2, he can still throw whatever he feels good about. Personally, I like doubling up on the changeup. With two outs and nobody on base, it’s a low-risk opportunity to make the adjustment and find the feel for an important pitch early in the game. Worst case, you spike another one and throw something else in a full count.
Beautiful. He goes back to the slow ball and hits his spot precisely. Altuve is looking for something hard and takes an ugly swing to end the inning. That’s a pretty low-stress at-bat for Suarez, and he didn’t throw anything harder than 87 mph. Let’s do another one.
Jumping ahead to the second inning, Cam Smith is up with one out and nobody on. Smith hit lefties well in his rookie season, but struggled with pitches inside. I’d expect Suarez to work the cutter up and in to prevent Smith from getting his arms extended and driving the baseball.
Suarez starts with a sinker on the outside edge. It’s not a great pitch to hit, but hitters often shoot the balls down the right field line. Smith fouls this one straight back, an indication that he just missed it. I’d shy away from throwing a sinker to this location again.
At 0-1, it’s a perfect cutter that starts over the middle and cuts to the inside edge. Smith gets jammed and bloops it foul to run the count to 0-2. At 0-2, a curveball down and in makes sense, as does a changeup away. Basically, anything but a fastball over the middle.
I believe David Cone calls this “X Games”. It’s a sinker that starts at the front hip and runs back to the inside edge for strike three. It looks like the cutter out of his hand — Smith likely thinks it’s running inside and is frozen for strike three. If you want to see more of how Suarez attacks righties, that game against the Astros (June 24) is a great start to watch. It’s a lineup entirely of righties, and Suarez is at his best.
What about lefties? Here’s Jackson Holliday on August 6th with one out and nobody on in the third inning.
Suarez starts the at-bat with a four-seam off the plate. Obviously, you want to start every matchup 0-1. For Suarez, this isn’t the end of the world, though. He throws both a four-seam and a sinker, and the four-seam just off the plate sets up the backdoor sinker later in the at-bat.
Suarez goes back to the fastball, this time hitting the outer edge to even the count. After two fastballs on the outer half, a sinker inside might get in on the hands, or a sinker away could freeze Holliday for a second called strike.
Perfect. It’s the sinker that looks just like the four-seam, but it runs inside and drops more. Holliday swings on top of it and grounds it to first base for an easy out. That’s basically the blueprint for Suarez against lefties, minus the breaking ball. Had Holliday fouled that one off, he’d likely have gone to his slider or curveball on the outer half. Here’s that sequence.
The sinker starts on the inner edge and fades off the plate, while the slider starts on the outer edge and runs away. It’s almost all East-West for Suarez against lefties as he tunnels his fastballs and uses the breaking pitches for whiffs.
So we saw a few examples of Suarez pitching well, but he’s not perfect, and it’s not hard to imagine how things go wrong. Here’s Logan O’Hoppe with one out in the second inning on July 20.
The first pitch is a sinker at the bottom of the zone for called strike one. Good start.
At 0-1, Suarez tries to go to the cutter that we saw him jam a few hitters with earlier. It’s in a decent location, but this one is 84 mph, as opposed to the ones we watched earlier at 87/88 mph. Lower velocity means it’s easier to get the bat around, and while O’Hoppe doesn’t kill it, he does drop it in for a base hit.
The next batter is Luis Rengifo.
It’s a four-seam fastball over the plate at 90 mph. Again, it’s a fine pitch if the hitter is taking, but this is roughly what most hitters are looking for to start an at-bat. Rengifo lines it up the middle, and there are two runners on.
We’ll fast forward a few hitters to Taylor Ward with the bases loaded and two runs already in. Suarez made a pitch to Mike Trout the previous at-bat that should have been called strike three, but went for ball four. With the ABS system, he’s out of the inning with one run allowed, but that didn’t exist yet, so he had to keep fighting.
The first-pitch sinker is fouled off for 0-1.
Here’s another cutter on the inside edge that’s grounded foul to make the count 0-2. At 87 mph, this one is tougher to get around and keep fair.
Suarez goes to the changeup, and it’s way off the plate for ball one. To that point, he had already missed badly with his changeup three times in the inning. While hitters are still aware of the pitch, his inability to locate it in the inning makes it less of a threat, and they can look for more pitches on the inner part of the plate as a result. A well-located changeup would work at 1-2, but Suarez doesn’t want to throw another non-competitive pitch and get closer to a full count with the bases loaded.
He tries to go inside with the fastball, but leaves it over the plate, and it’s in the gap to drive in three runs.
Suarez relies on finesse over power. His stuff is good, but he doesn’t have one pitch he can use to dominate a lineup. He needs to locate his pitches and sequence properly to get hitters out. Fortunately, he’s shown the ability to do that consistently over the past several seasons, and it’s an attack plan that should age well with his contract. If he can find some of the velocity he lost over the past two seasons, there’s that much more margin for error.
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 29: Jonah Tong #21 of the New York Mets arrives at Citi Field prior to the game between the Miami Marlins and the New York Mets on Friday, August 29, 2025 in New York, New York. (Photo by Evan Yu/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Meet the Mets
Pitchers and Catchers don’t officially report for another eight days, but Freddy Peralta, Nolan McLean, and Jonah Tong have already arrived at Port St. Lucie.
Tong talked about the Brandon Sproat trade and his goals for the upcoming season, stating “I’m just going to be where my feet are and let everything else take care of itself…I’m looking forward to having fun along the way”
Clay Holmes also arrived to Port St. Lucie ahead of the report date.
Anthony DiComo analyzed the Mets’ revamped bullpen, which no longer has Edwin Díaz but makes up for it with a ton of upside.
Joe Pantorno wondered if Framber Valdez, who remains unsigned, could fall into the Mets’ lap as the offseason reaches its final days.
There is still a chance that Francisco Lindor could suit up for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. They are currently working on a private insurer to cover Lindor, at which point they will seek approval from MLB and the Mets.
Huascar Brazobán will play for the Dominical Republic in the WBC, joining teammate Juan Soto.
We are launching a new daily article here at South Side Sox, more prominently than our items that pop up on The Feed. It falls under the category of White Sox Discussions, which you’ll see in a few weeks will also be our new branding for Game Threads.
While the White Sox have pulled off a number of heists over the years (Nellie Fox, Luke Appling, Wilbur Wood, Billy Pierce, among others), they have been on the losing end quite a bit as well. Entire novellas have been written about the acquisition, and quick dumping soon thereafter, of Nick Swisher. But there have been more than “Swish”; in fact, a bad trade doesn’t have to be one where too much is given away but what was received was such a turkey, as in the trade that brought Ron Santo to the South Side (and sent, among others, Nick’s dad Steve to the Cubs).
What trade still feels like a stake in your heart?
Every good analysts has to start with an acknowledgement of limitations. As much as we might want to rely on the numbers on the back of the baseball card, each season exists in its own universe. One of the axioms I always go by is that I don’t really start worrying or getting excited until Memorial Day. Every season exists in its own universe and teams have to spend much of April and May figuring out who is going to do what. The Astros consistently start very slowly and one of the reasons is that it takes that much time to figure out what combination of guys are going to work.
Most successful teams have a core of good players and they ride them for the balance of the season. If you look historically at the greatest teams in history, they have a core group of four to six players that play consistently at an all-star level. The current iteration of the Astros do not have that. Even if we assume health, Yordan Alvarez is the only player that stands out on a roster of solid players that aren’t likely to perform at a traditional all-star level.
The good news is that they are deeper in terms of solid players than in some years. Assuming health, there aren’t any positions that project to be gaping holes, but there are very few that project to be very good. With Dana Brown and Joe Espada on the last years of their contracts, there is added pressure to get this right. Say you want about Espada (and I know every fan has their opinions), his job will not be an easy one this season. He needs to find the right combination of guys to make this work.
We will focus on a number of different positions as we move closer to spring training, but if we look at the career numbers of just those in the outfield, we see an opportunity to mix and match to create the best result. Of course, with opportunity also comes risk. It also comes with roster decisions for Dana Brown. The question will be whether younger players can serve you better on the bench or getting regular plate appearances in Sugar Land.
Below we take a basic look at slash lines (AVG/OBP/SLG) for all of the players that could potentially play in the outfield. We will include Jose Altuve in these because he will likely get some starts in left field. The task for Joe Espada and Dana Brown is to figure out how exactly to deploy who they have to the best results. For Brown, he needs to see if there is anything out there that could fill in some of those gaps.
AVG
OBP
SLG
Jose Altuve RHP
.296
.352
.451
Jose Altuve LHP
.324
.385
.508
Yordan Alvarez RHP
.286
.388
.569
Yordan Alvarez LHP
.316
.391
.580
Jake Meyers RHP
.236
.301
.353
Jake Meyers LHP
.265
.324
.421
Zach Cole RHP
.282
.317
.641
Zach Cole LHP
.125
.364
.125
Cam Smith RHP
.227
.292
.325
Cam Smith LHP
.261
.365
.452
Jesus Sanchez RHP
.253
.324
.450
Jesus Sanchez LHP
.181
.234
.289
Zach Dezenzo RHP
.262
.319
.400
Zach Dezenzo LHP
.167
.242
.233
One of the more intriguing works in the stats community is a book by former SABR president Vince Gennaro called “Diamond Dollars”. There were a few landmark nuggets in that book, but the biggest one was what he termed the “platoon advantage.” Essentially, the idea is that teams will pay a premium for a player that will hit from both sides of the plate.
For instance, Alvarez has a .900+ OPS against both righties and lefties. That kind of proficiency is expensive on the open market. Most players have one side where they are dominant and one side where they aren’t. The general premise is that if 75 percent of the pitchers in baseball are right-handed then a player that performs well against right handed players is worth 75 percent of that player that performs well from both sides. Yet, most of the time those players get a fraction of the money.
For instance, Jesus Sanchez will earn just under seven million dollars a year, but he has a career OPS against righties that is well above the league average. If you paired him with Cam Smith then the total player with an OPS approaching .800. How much would you pay for a player that would produce that level of production from both sides of the plate?
The question is how far you take the platoon advantage? There are 26 guys on a roster and 13 of them are pitchers. So you have only four bench slots and one of those will be a backup catcher. So, you need to be as strategic as possible with those remaining three bench slots. One of those decisions will be whether to carry a fifth outfielder.
When you look at the breakdown, Zach Cole performed better against right handed pitchers than against lefties. Granted, that was in a limited number of plate appearances at the big league level. However, he is a left handed hitter, so those splits would be more or less expected. He would be a natural platoon partner with Jake Meyers if given the opportunity.
This is where Dana Brown comes into play. He has to decide whether Cole is better served playing every day in Sugar Land than two or three days a week at the big league level. Players like Dezenzo offer some flexibility due to his ability to play first base. You also need to have a reserve infielder as well and that is where a player like Nick Allen comes into play.
It definitely won’t be easy for Espada and Brown in Spring Training and that is assuming there are no more moves that are made between now and then. It will take a lot of mixing and matching, but based on the career numbers above, there are opportunities to maximize production against both righties and lefties. Next time, we will take a look at the infield to see what opportunities are there.
Los Angeles, CA - January 31: Manager Dave Roberts greets players Mookie Bets, Will Smith and Max Muncy while making her way to the stage during Dodgerfest at Dodger Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA. (Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
“Projection systems are inherently conservative; 100-win projections are rare. This team simply looks that good,“ Ben Clemens wrote at FanGraphs. ”When you take the two-time defending World Series champions, lose almost no one, and add the top hitter and top reliever available in free agency, an already-rosy projection simply spikes to the moon. We think the Dodgers have a comically high 94.1% chance of winning the NL West. That’s silly.”
Mookie Betts talked about how he prepared during the offseason to rebound from the worst offensive season of his career, as chronicled by Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic. Also within the article was manager Dave Roberts hinting at some more clarity to the Dodgers lineup, hinting that he likes Betts hitting third and catcher Will Smith hitting fifth (which would mean newcomer Kyle Tucker batting second and Freddie Freeman cleanup).
“He peaked at an EV of 111.4 mph last year and his hard-hit rate was just over 50 percent, while he’s an above-average runner and can handle an outfield corner or first base,” Law wrote of Ward. “He does have a big platoon split, but he’s left-handed and should probably play as the strong side of a platoon for someone this year — like, how is this guy not a Marlin or a Rockie by now?”
The news keeps checking in on the checking in and so we continue to await with bated breath while the machinery spins. The Giants no longer need a second baseman and so the Red Sox are the only destination to hang speculation on.
Smart money says Nico Hoerner and Matt Shaw stay put but there’s always that slim chance of the experts being wrong.
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Hundreds of fans stand for the Pledge of Allegiance before the start of the Detroit Tigers’ Opening Day game against the Chicago White Sox at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, April 4, 2025. | David Rodriguez Munoz / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Sports Business Journal reported on Monday afternoon that the Detroit Tigers, along with nine other major league teams, have cut ties with Main Street Sports, the parent company of FanDuel Sports Network. Of those nine, the Atlanta Braves are currently the only club planning to start their own regional sports network (RSN).
Tom Friend of Sports Business Journal reported that the Tigers, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Angels, Miami Marlins, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Tampa Bay Rays, are all leaving FanDuel Sports Network.
All of them other than the Braves are expected to move to MLB, where games will be streamed on MLB TV or the MLB app with a subscription. The terms of such a subscription remain to be seen. Will your normal MLB TV subscription that comes with blackouts of home games simply remove the blackouts? Or will it take a specific “home team” subscription? We have questions, and Grapefruit League action is only a few weeks away.
Of course, teams have seen this coming, so hopefully most of the planning is already arranged. The Tigers, who canceled their previous contract with Main Street back on January 8, have notably hired radio and tv play-by-play announcers Dan Dickerson and Jason Benetti as team employees. That moves was in anticipation of something like this happenign, and so their status was kept separate from the regional sports networks. The broadcasts should at least sound and look basically the same in whatever format is arranged.
However, unlike most MLB clubs, the Tigers ownership also owns and operates the Detroit Red Wings, so there’s always been talk of simply putting together a Detroit sports RSN on their own and bringing the Pistons along as well if Tom Gores is on board.
For now, Friend reports that the Tigers are going to MLB media to produce their broadcasts and stream games, and like the other clubs excluding the Braves, will look for local distributors to keep games on local cable packages. So for 2026 we’re going to have to adapt to that. But beyond the Pistons’ and Red Wings’ current broadcast contracts there may be an opportunity to develop a Detroit sports network. Currently this seems like the unlikely outcome of the two long-term, so if people want it they better make their feelings known.
Meanwhile, sources said NBA and NHL teams are in a business-as-usual holding pattern, with the sense that Main Street still plans to air their games the rest of the regular season and simultaneously attempt to negotiate deals beyond this year. A resolution with those leagues is expected to play out over the next two weeks.
At the same time, sources said those NBA and NHL teams did not receive their recent February rights fee payments on Sunday, and it is unclear whether future payments will be reduced by 20% or more — or even arrive at all.
Either way, we’re unlikely to be consulted, so you might as well have your say here. Considering the number of sports fans and the prices of streaming services, I personally haven’t been able to unpack why Diamond Sports and now Main Street Sport Group, can’t get their act together, regardless of declining ad revenues. Maybe a different company could create a more viable RSN. Maybe the Detroit teams doing it together would work out. Or, maybe the simplest solution is to simply let each team handle its own broadcast, stream games themselves, and try to do better by being able to customize everything to their individual markets.
What’s your preference for sports going forward? Would you prefer to simply buy yearly broadcast subscription through the individual teams you follow on their websites/apps? Or do you follow all three teams and prefer an Ilitch/Gores fusion to create a Detroit sports RSN covering all three sports to simplify things?
Oct 7, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge (99) flips his bat after hitting a three-run home run in the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays during game three of the ALDS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
The Yankees’ outfield is loaded with star power on both sides of the ball, as any group led by Aaron Judge should be. The generational slugger won his third AL MVP award in 2025 after yet another season that had to be seen to be believed: .331/.457/.688 (a career-high in batting average), 53 home runs, 114 RBI, .357 ISO, 18.3/23.6 BB/K%. For the third time in four years, Judge posted a wRC+ over 200 (206 in 2022, 220 in 2024, 204 in 2025), meaning he was more than twice as valuable as a league-average hitter.
Before the 2025 season, the Yankees acquired Cody Bellinger from the Cubs in exchange for Cody Poteet in a salary dump move for Chicago. Bellinger has had ups and downs ever since winning the NL MVP award in 2019, but he was a reliable and productive option for the Yankees with 29 home runs and 98 RBI in 152 games. Bellinger resigned with the Yankees after a long period of negotiations, agreeing to a five-year, $162.5 million contract.
They were also able to re-unite with Trent Grisham, who signed the qualifying offer the Yankees extended to him at the beginning of the offseason. This came as a surprise to many fans and possibly even the organization itself, after Grisham doubled his career-high in home runs with 34 in a breakout offensive season. Many expected him to test the free-agent market, but Grisham decided the best play for this season was to return to the Bronx and make $22 million. Judge, Bellinger, and Grisham combined for 116 home runs in 2025 and all three will be returning to their starting outfield gigs next season.
This is a tough development for Jasson Dominguez, who showed flashes of offensive upside in 123 games during his first real run as an MLB hitter but is still unable to firmly lock in a role in the starting lineup. Dominguez slashed .257/.331/.388 with 10 home runs and 23 stolen bases, but struggled mightily on defense and looked like the elbow surgery he underwent in 2023 might still have been affecting his power output. Grisham and Bellinger returning means Dominguez is the odd man out with Giancarlo Stanton permanently locked into the DH role, and his name has been floated in trade rumors although returning in a bench role appears to be the most likely immediate outcome. It’s fair to say his future as a Yankee is in limbo.
With so much competition in the outfield at the big-league level, it’s unlikely that any outfielders currently in the minor leagues find their way to the Bronx this season. This leaves the organization with another question to answer about the most polarizing prospect in the minor-leagues: Spencer Jones. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound Jones was drafted out of Vanderbilt in the first round of the 2022 MLB draft and features jaw-dropping raw power alongside as much swing-and-miss risk as you could possibly imagine. Jones spent his age-24 season between Double-A and Triple-A, recording 35 home runs and 29 steals in 116 games and striking out 35.4 percent of the time between the two levels. Jones will turn 25 in May and needs to at least get a chance at the big leagues sometime soon.
If you think this sounds eerily similar to the trajectory Aaron Judge followed at the start of his career, you’re not alone. It’s why the organization is still so high on his potential despite all the red flags. However, the consensus around analysts is that Jones is a fringe top-100 prospect and not everyone thinks he’ll be able to produce at the big-league level at all. It is the definition of a high-ceiling, low-floor outcome. The Yankees will have to make a decision about him soon.
Outside of Jones, the Yankees don’t have many notable prospects in the outfield and the ones they do have are far away from being in the conversation for big-league at-bats. They signed Seth Brown, who put up two 20-homer seasons with the Athletics in 2021-22, to a minor league contract and will likely start him in Scranton. The 25-year-old Kenedy Corona, who played his first three MLB games with Houston last year before signing with the Yankees, should join him.
The outfield in Double-A Somerset should be led by Jackson Castillo and Jace Avina, both of whom were consistent contributors deep in the organization last season. Castillo put up slightly above-average numbers with High-A Hudson Valley before struggling a bit after earning a promotion to Somerset. Avina followed a similar path. He tore up High-A pitching with a 168 wRC+ and eight home runs in 52 games, but came back down to Earth in 46 games in Double-A. Both players should stay in Somerset for most, if not all of the year.
There’s a larger crop of outfielders competing for spots in High-A and Low-A, a few of whom saw their stocks rise in 2025 and cracked MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 organizational prospects list to close 2025. The prospect who could be an immediate option at these levels is Wilson Rodriguez, who made his stateside debut in 2025 and adjusted nicely to Low-A pitching. At 21 years old, they may try to see what he can do in Hudson Valley before too long. Tyler Wilson and Joe Delossantos, both mid-round picks from the 2024 MLB Draft, struggled in their small samples with the High-A club but could be due for more playing time with Hudson Valley in 2026.
Richie Bonomolo Jr, the Yankees’ seventh round pick from the most recent MLB Draft, also struggled in his first sample against professional pitching but should remain a contributor in Low-A for the time being. Also in the mix for at-bats should be a few players looking to make their stateside debuts after spending 2025 in the Complex League. Brando Mayea was one of the more promising acquisitions in the 2023 international free-agent class, and despite struggling with injuries last season he put up a 137 wRC+ in his second year in the Complex. He should be due to start the season at Low-A assuming his health is in good shape. The same goes for Gabriel Lara, who spent two seasons in the Dominican Summer League and last year in the Complex league.
The most notable name among the Yankees’ rookie-ball outfielders is Francisco Vilorio, the only other outfielder to rank among MLB Pipeline’s most recent Top 30 in the organization. Vilorio was part of the team’s 2024 IFA class and has spent the past two seasons in the DSL. He hasn’t been able to access much game power (he didn’t homer once in 2025), but his profile is based around his ability to grow into more consistent hard contact. FanGraphs is particularly bullish on Vilorio’s raw power, projecting him to develop it into a 70-grade tool. He should be bumped up to the Complex to start 2026.
The Yankees’ system is top-heavy at a lot of positions entering the 2026 season, but particularly so in the outfield. The star power in the starting lineup should be the team’s main source of offensive firepower, health-permitting, and the two names to know outside of the starters are Dominguez and Jones. How the team deploys those two, either on the field or in trades, will be a major storyline to watch moving forward. Aside from those either at or approaching the big-league level, the outfield depth in the organization won’t make too many headlines in 2026. If the team adds a new outfielder at any time soon, it will almost certainly be a player brought in from another organization.
