Category: Baseball

For the first time since the spring training Grapefruit League slate began on February 20th, the New York Yankees will not play a baseball game today. Since we don’t have new Statcast data and game film to analyze, that makes today the perfect opportunity to kickstart what is, in my opinion, the best preseason series we do here at Pinstripe Alley: the annual Making the Team Meter.

For those new to Pinstripe Alley or who need a refresher: every year, we track the roster throughout the spring through this weekly series, helping fans keep pace with which players are most likely to break camp with the team. Here’s the key that we use:

As one can see, it’s fairly straightforward: red means that a player is almost certainly not going to make the roster, yellow tells us that a player has a shot if things break right, and green says, “We’ll see you in San Francisco for Opening Day on March 25th.”

Every spring, the pitching staff always generates the most discussion, and this year is no different. Heading into camp, the Yankees had a trio of starters already guaranteed to miss Opening Day — Gerrit Cole, Clarke Schmidt, and Carlos Rodón — while the bullpen has seen almost a complete makeover since last spring and will have several spots up for grabs. Since the start of camp, though, minor injuries may have put more spots in play, while multiple top prospects have captured a lot of attention with their performance on the mound.

Note that, within this list, I use the FanGraphs Depth Chart to decide whether to mark a pitcher as either a starter or a reliever. Because of this, several pitchers on the roster bubble — particularly prospects and non-roster invites — will be listed as starters to represent the fact that they will fill out the Scranton rotation; if they make the major league club, however, there’s a good chance they’ll work out of the bullpen. We’re also a little more lenient with the yellow ratings this early in camp because some names can truly come out of nowhere to make an impression. Call it the 2021 Lucas Luetge Principle.

The Yankees’ plan for the starting rotation has been clear for months. Max Fried will almost certainly get the ball on Opening Day, 2025 playoff phenom Cam Schlittler will get the ball behind him, and some combination of 2024 Rookie of the Year, new trade acquisition Ryan Weathers, and the second-year Will Warren will fill out the rotation behind them.

Although at the moment, I still expect that to be the case, two major wrenches have been thrown into the conversation. One, Schlittler was sidelined early in the spring due to back inflammation, and although manager Aaron Boone says that he will be ready to go Opening Day even if he’s only built up to 70-80 pitches instead of the normal 90-100 you’re looking for, until we see him pitch in a spring training game, we can’t mark him down as a certainty. And two, Elmer Rodriguez has looked electric in his two spring training starts, striking out five and walking just one in six innings of work; sure, he has a long way to go towards seizing a starting job out of camp, but as Joe Girardi said on the YES broadcast, Jordan Montgomery was able to do exactly that in 2017. How quickly Schlittler returns to the mound, and how Rodriguez looks in the World Baseball Classic, could upend our calculus on the Yankees’ rotation, and bears watching.

The bullpen, on the other hand, is much more unsettled. David Bednar will be the closer. Camilo Doval and Fernando Cruz will work the late innings in front of him. Tim Hill, Ryan Yarbrough, and Paul Blackburn will be there too (although it must be noted that any of the latter two could wind up in the rotation depending on injuries). That leaves two spots up for grabs. The early favorites are probably Jake Bird, who the Yankees acquired at last year’s Trade Deadline, Angel Chivilli (a more recent Rockies trade acquistion), and Cade Winquest, who they acquired in the Rule 5 Draft and thus must stay on the active roster all year. But at this point, it’s far too early to truly rule anybody out.

Anybody except the Yankees’ top pitching prospects, that is. Is the idea of putting Carlos Lagrange and his 103-mph fastball in the bullpen to start the year enticing? For sure. Would the Yankees much prefer to keep him working as a starter and possibly bring him up in, say, July or August, and unleash that 103-mph fastball in the starting rotation? Absolutely.

Next, let’s take a look at the catchers.

Last year was the first time in literal years that the Yankees had a true battle for the backup catcher job in spring training. This year, we once again now from the beginning of the spring who the Yankees’ main catchers are …albeit with a catch (rimshot). Austin Wells is the starter, certainly, and should he get hurt, J.C. Escarra will probably slide into the starting job. But will he be continuously rostered, or will the Yankees opt to use Ben Rice as the backup catcher to keep his bat in the lineup when they want to play Paul Goldschmidt against a tough lefty? It’s unlikely, as the Yankees have yet to give Rice any time behind the plate this spring, but it’s still early.

That being said, if Rice exclusively plays first base this week, then we can safely assume it’ll be Wells and Escarra. One can’t fully rule out a last-second trade acquisition either, like when the Yankees brought Jose Trevino aboard days before Opening Day 2022 to join Kyle Higashioka in a better tandem behind the plate than the in-house options of the moment.

Last, and certainly not least, we have the rest of the position players:

Let’s get one thing out of the way from the beginning. Yes, I love Spencer Jones’ moonshot home runs. Yes, the idea of him hitting behind/in front of Aaron Judge and giving opposing pitchers something truly scary to think about is really, really enticing. The truth is, though, he’s not making the Opening Day roster, and he may not even get the call-up to the Show this season. Jones has regularly performed well in spring training, only to strike out a ton in the minor leagues, and while there’s hope that his new Ohtani-esque batting stance may help him cut down on the K’s, we need to see it in action over a long period of time in Triple-A before we’ll even have a chance to see it in the Bronx. The contact issues simply need to improve in games that matter.

Moving on, let’s turn to the real drama: the bench. Once the Yankees re-signed Paul Goldschmidt, the bench immediately got crowded, as Amed Rosario, Oswaldo Cabrera, and Jasson Domínguez appeared to have the three non-catcher bench spots locked up; in fact, it was this jam that led to the speculation that the team could use Rice as the backup catcher, freeing up another spot. The last two weeks, however, have significantly changed this calculus.

For starters, barring an injury to Giancarlo Stanton or one of the outfielders, it seems likely that the Yankees will start the Martian in Triple-A Scranton so he can get everyday at bats against left-handed pitchers and regular reps in left field; reinforcing this inclination is the team’s recent decision to sign Randal Grichuk, a corner outfielder who has historically crushed southpaws, to a minor-league deal worth $2.5 million if he makes the team. Then, it was reported that Oswaldo Cabrera’s ankle hasn’t quite recovered to the point where they’re comfortable having him practice sliding, and he seems to be on track to start the season on the IL. And lastly, the organization has given Paul DeJong the number 18 — and while vets on minor-league deals don’t typically receive high numbers like prospects generally do, such a low number suggests the Yankees may be inclined to have him start the season as the starting shortstop. With Anthony Volpe out, the team doesn’t have a true backup shortstop to Caballero, as Rosario doesn’t seem like a viable option there anymore and the only other remote alternative with Cabrera injured is the standard third baseman Ryan McMahon.

Right now, FanGraphs lists the Yankees’ bench as Escarra, Goldschmidt, Rosario, and Grichuk, with the latter three serving as platoon partners of sorts with Rice, McMahon, and Trent Grisham, respectively. Brendan Kuty and Chris Kirschner of The Athletic have Escarra, Goldschmidt, Rosario, and Cabrera, seemingly believing that the utilityman will get up to speed in time — although it must be noted that their projection came before Grichuk’s addition. Both projections ignore Max Schuemann and Jorbit Vivas, a pair of infielders who may have a leg up in the roster battle because they’re already on the 40-man roster.

Personally, I think FanGraphs is likely right on the nose here; the Yankees can cover all infield positions besides shortstop with Rosario, and if McMahon takes reps at shortstop as reported, they won’t need to worry about carrying a dedicated backup to Caballero to start the season. This flexibility allows them to focus on their main need, a right-handed bat to balance out their very left-handed lineup. But it’s March 3rd, and Opening Day is March 25th — a lot always changes between now and then.

And that is where the Yankees roster stands coming into today. Do you agree with our assessments? Tune in again next week to see how things change after another week of game action.

It’s a long-standing feature of this article to point out previous iterations of this article. When I wrote my first one eight years ago (holy crap, I’m getting old), the Rockies were trending in the right direction, and the ownership got precious little credit for it. So I wrote a string of articles focused on countering the narrative that the Monforts (“Cheapfarts”) didn’t want to spend to win, preferring to turn Coors Field into the best bar in LoDo. I stand by those takes at the time. 

Since then, an altogether different narrative has emerged: The Monforts were the baseball equivalent of the golden retriever wearing a necktie sitting at a computer. Sure, they demonstrated a willingness to spend their money on the roster, but after a Super Bullpen, the Ian Desmond Experiment, and especially the Kris Bryant Experience, it cannot be said that they had any idea what they were doing. Had the failures only been with the top-level signings while everything further down the roster functioned, we might be able to find a way to extend ample credit. Unfortunately, the “draft and develop” identity of roster construction has consistently failed to identify and develop MLB-level talent. The Rockies were increasingly viewed as a team stuck in the past, unable or unwilling to change. This was not only a narrative I had evidence with which to counter, but I believe these previews played a part in reinforcing it. 

That was the main theme of last year’s article, even with looming labor unrest between players and owners after the expiration of the 2026 collective bargaining agreement. While I did and do support MLB making structural changes (I wrote an only half-joking article last October titled “Contract the Dodgers”), my point then was that those changes would have no bearing on the Rockies because the team’s struggles ran deeper. At their core, the Rockies were dinosaurs stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits, with (most of) the rest of the league having evolved with the changing conditions of the game. And the reason they were stuck in those pits was because of loyalty, inability, or a tragic mix of both. (Stop picturing Dinger in tar pits! He’s a national treasure, you monster!)

So what should it tell us when a team that could never change actually changes? Yes, they have made changes before, but this time seems different somehow. This time, something at the core seems to have changed. My colleagues will address the front office and coaching staffs in the coming days, and there is a lot of evidence of structural change in those areas beyond mere swapping of personnel. But the changes manifesting at those levels start at the top. After three 100+ loss seasons, including a puncher’s chance at the modern loss record, the Monforts seem to have finally understood that the thing to do when you hit rock bottom is stop digging—you’re more likely to find tar at the bottom of that pit than oil. 

Obviously it’s too soon to tell: the team could improve by 19 games and still lose 100 again. But for those of us still left who care about the Rockies (and if you’re reading this article after the last four seasons, that includes you—and I just have to ask, who hurt you?), we may need to consider the possibility of hope. Yes, I know: it’s the hope that kills you. But we’ve been as good as dead with regard to hope for a long time with this team. And the way this offseason played out indicates that there is certainly something different happening. It remains to be seen whether or not “different” translates into improvement, and even if it does it may be a long time before we actually see results. After all, in sports as in life, nothing is guaranteed; there are only ever a small number of things in your control.

We may as well allow ourselves a little glimmer that we could be looking at the beginning of something…not big maybe, but at least not terrible. We should allow ourselves to hope, not only for the sake of our interactions with a (previously?) moribund baseball franchise in a cow town at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, but for the sake of what it may signal about our own lives.

After all, if Rockies ownership can change, who’s to say you, me, we, or they can’t change, too?

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This year’s edition of the World Baseball Classic gets under way on what is, to us, Wednesday night with games kicking off in Tokyo. Most teams will be playing exhibitions against a major league club on Tuesday or Wednesday with their pool play beginning on Friday. The Orioles players who are on these rosters will not be back in camp until their team has been eliminated from the tournament.

Here’s the players from the Orioles organization who are on WBC rosters and the schedules for their teams:

USA

• Gunnar Henderson

The star Orioles shortstop is the lone American representative this time around. He might be playing third base rather than shortstop, with Royals infielder Bobby Witt Jr. expected to get a lot of reps at short.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in Houston, Texas

• March 3: Exhibition vs. Giants, 3pm, ESPN
• March 6: vs. Brazil (road team), 8pm, Fox
• March 7: vs. Great Britain (home team), 8pm, Fox
• March 9: vs. Mexico (home team), 8pm, Fox
• March 10: vs. Italy (home team), 9pm, FS1

Canada

• Tyler O’Neill
• Micah Ashman

The Canadian outfielder O’Neill continued his Opening Day home run streak in his home country last year. He’s looked good so far this spring. Don’t get hurt while playing for Team Canada! Ashman, a reliever, was acquired from the Tigers for Charlie Morton last July.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in San Juan, PR

• March 3: Exhibition vs. Blue Jays, 1:07, MLB Network
• March 7: vs. Colombia (home team), 11am, FS2
• March 8: vs. Panama (home team), 7pm, FS2
• March 10: vs. Puerto Rico (road team), 7pm, FS2
• March 11: vs. Cuba (road team), 3pm, FS2

Great Britain

• Ryan Long

It’s a running joke on Camden Chat that Long is a distant cousin of our writer Stacey. Long, 26, was a 17th round pick in 2021 who has mostly topped out at the Double-A level.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in Houston, Texas

• March 6: vs. Mexico (home team), 1pm, FS1
• March 7: vs. USA (road team), 8pm, Fox
• March 8: vs. Italy (road team), 1pm, tubi
• March 9: vs. Brazil (home team), 1pm, tubi

Israel

• Dean Kremer

There are a number of MLB-experienced players on the Israel roster and one of them is Kremer, who might even be the best pitcher this team has.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in Miami, Florida

• March 7: vs. Venezuela (road team), 7pm, FS2
• March 8: vs. Nicaragua (home team), 7pm, tubi
• March 9: vs. Dominican Republic (home team), 12pm, FS1
• March 10: vs. Netherlands (road team), 7pm, Fox Sports

Panama

• Enrique Bradfield Jr.

We know he’s good on defense and we know he’s fast on the bases. Can he threaten enough power to be a decent major league regular? Mostly we’ll find out at Triple-A this year, though if he gets to face some MLB-caliber pitching in the WBC, that won’t be bad for him either.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in San Juan, PR

• March 6: vs. Cuba (home team), 11am, FS2
• March 7: vs. Puerto Rico (road team), 6pm, FS1
• March 8: vs. Canada (road team), 7pm, FS2
• March 9: vs. Colombia (home team), 12pm, FS2

Puerto Rico

• Jose Espada
• Rico Garcia
• Luis Vázquez

All three of these players appeared for the Orioles last season, although none had a major role. Garcia has a spot penciled in that’s his in the bullpen. Espada could make it as well. Vázquez has an opportunity to take a utility spot given that both Jackson Holliday and Jordan Westburg are starting the season on the injured list.

Schedule and opponents

Pool play in San Juan, PR

• March 6: vs. Colombia (road team), 6pm, FS1
• March 7: vs. Panama (home team), 6pm, FS1
• March 9: vs. Cuba (road team), 7pm, FS1
• March 10: vs. Canada (home team), 7pm, tubi

Reserve players

The following players are on the Designated Pitcher Pool for their teams, meaning they are not on the active initial roster but could be added between rounds:

• Australia: Kailen Hamson
• Dominican Republic: Yaramil Hiraldo
• Mexico: Nestor German

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Spring training continues this afternoon, and I've got a pair of moneyline selections for our MLB picks.

See why I like Jameson Taillon and the Chicago Cubs, among other selections, on Monday, March 2.

Spring Training predictions for March 2

Pick #1: Cubs moneyline

Jameson Taillon hasn't had the greatest start to spring, surrendering four home runs in 3 2/3 innings of work across two starts, but that's why they play the spring games. It takes time to warm up.

The Chicago Cubs will look to rough up Cincinnati Reds righty Brady Singer, who makes his first appearance this spring. He doesn't miss a ton of bats, and if his command isn't sharp, he'll put Cincy in an early hole.

Pick #2: Marlins/Cardinals Over 7.5

I simply love it when we get spring totals below 10. I know the projected lineups are factored in, and neither the Miami Marlins nor the St. Louis Cardinals figures to be among MLB's best offenses. 

However, Adam Mazur and Andre Pallante have typically pitched to contact over their careers, and that can make things go south in a hurry. There are also some intriguing bats slated to be in the lineups, like Marlins catcher Joe Mack and first baseman Deyvison De Los Santos, and Cardinals second baseman J.J. Wetherholt.

Pick #3: Royals moneyline

I am very curious about what Grayson Rodriguez will bring to the Los Angeles Angels after being acquired from the Orioles this offseason. A former top pitching prospect, the righty missed all of 2025 with injury. Working his way back, he's bound to be shaky, as he showed by issuing three walks in 1 1/3 innings in his previous start.

His upside is through the roof, but I'll take the Kansas City Royals at plus money here, especially if Rodriguez puts the Angels in too deep of an early hole. If the total opens at 10.5 or lower, I'd be all about the Over, as well. 

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

The Cincinnati Reds swiped a league-best 190 bases as recently as the 2023 season, easily topping the 166 bases swiped by the second-best Arizona Diamondbacks. The emergence of both Elly De La Cruz and TJ Friedl atop the order prompted then-manager David Bell to put his runners on the move as often as possible, and by the end of the 2024 season they had swiped a pretty astounding 207 bases as a team.

That was only good for third-best in all of Major League Baseball as teams all around the league leaned hard into running more often, but still was emblematic of the team speed they had cobbled together during their rebuild.

Then came the managerial change to Terry Francona, as well as the quad issue for Elly and the litany of hamstring and other ailments Friedl had battled through most of 2024. By season’s end in 2025 – Francona’s first in charge with the Reds – they had swiped only 105 bases, the 19th most of any team in the game.

Tito has gone on record as saying that he’s not necessarily opposed to running, just that he’s borderline morally opposed to giving away outs on the bases. And, the more you run, the more you inevitably run into some outs.

On top of that, the major additions to the lineup over the last half-year don’t exactly scream base stealers. Eugenio Suarez certainly isn’t as he heads into turning 35 years old, and Ke’Bryan Hayes has logged 12, 11, and 10 respectively in each of his last three seasons (as he’s fought consistent back issues).

There’s still plenty of base-stealing ability there, however. Spencer Steer has shown it in the past, Matt McLain routinely gets praised for his running ability, and healthy years from Elly and Friedl will almost assuredly see their season totals higher in 2026 than they were in 2025.

So, what’s the verdict? Will the Reds steal more bases this year than they did last season? Will they once again be one of the pace-setters in the game when it comes to speed and aggression?

The Dodgers Monday made their first roster cuts of spring training, sending 11 players to the minor league side of camp at Camelback Ranch in Arizona.

The moves come two days after the Dodgers played their first of two split-squad days on the Cactus League schedule, during which they used 36 position players and 16 pitchers against the Chicago Cubs and Texas Rangers.

All of the cuts were non-roster invitees: pitchers Patrick Copen, Luke Fox, Jerming Rosario, Adam Serwinowski, Nick Frasso, and José Rodríguez; catchers Nelson Quiroz and Chuckie Robinson; infielders Keston Hiura and Matt Gorski; and outfielder Chris Newell.

Hiura played in seven games, including four starts at designated hitter. He had one hit, a home run, in 13 at-bats, plus three walks in Cactus League play.

Serwinowski was acquired from the Reds last trade deadline, and won Midwest League pitcher of the month in his first month with High-A Great Lakes. Serwinowski, who turns 22 in June, struck out four and walked one in two scoreless, hitless innings in his two appearances this spring.

Copen put together a solid season in 2025 after losing vision in his right eye the year before. He had a 3.59 ERA in 27 starts and led all Dodgers minor league pitchers with 152 strikeouts last season. Having already made 17 starts at Double-A, it’s not hard to envision a scenario in which Copen impresses in Triple-A this season and might find his way to the Dodgers should the need arise. He allowed two runs in two innings in his two games with the Dodgers this spring.

Newell was active for each of the first nine days of the Dodgers’ spring schedule, and appeared in six games, with two hits, including a home run, in his 11 at-bats.

Frasso, Rodríguez, Robinson, and Gorski hadn’t yet appeared in a Cactus League game this spring.

With these moves, the Dodgers have 65 players remaining in big league camp, including 35 pitchers and 30 position players. This excludes pitcher Evan Phillips and utility man Kiké Hernández, both of whom are on the 60-day injured list.

The Mets had their first walk-off win of the spring, beating the Houston Astros 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a Yonatan Henriquez line drive single that scored John Bay.

• Clay Holmes made his second start of spring training, going four innings and allowing one run on three hits while tallying a walk and four strikeouts.
• Jack Wenninger had a rough 1.2 innings, giving up two runs and walking five batters while getting two strikeouts.
• Bryce Conley went 1.1 scoreless innings, walking one while striking out three.
• Anderson Severino and Matt Turner each had a scoreless inning, Severino getting one strikeout and Turner getting three along with the win.
• Tyrone Taylor went 1-for-2, hitting his second home run of the spring.
• Cristian Pache went 1-for-1 with an RBI double and a walk.
• Chris Suero hit his first spring training home run, and he drew a walk to boot.
• Yonatan Henriquez was the hero of the game, going 1-for-2 with the one hit being the all-important game winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth.

The Mets next game will be on Tuesday at 1:10 PM EST, against Team Nicaragua in a pre-World Baseball Classic exhibition game. There is currently no way to either watch or listen to that game, so if you’re interested you’ll have to watch the box score.

Mookie Betts played in his first Cactus League game on Sunday, played four innings at shortstop, was 0-for-2 at the plate and scored a run against the Angels.

Betts in the first two-ish weeks of spring training got his work in on the backfields and in the batting cages, one of a few Dodgers who were slow-played this season after consecutive long postseason runs through October (and last year, one day into November).

In 2025, Betts had the worst season on offense of his Hall of Fame career, setting career lows across the board by hitting .258/.326/.406 with a 104 wRC+. His swing was out of whack at times, and his hard-hit rate fell from 39.5 percent to 35.8 percent, after six straight seasons at 41 percent or higher.

It was also his first full season at shortstop, which he was pressed into during spring training in 2024, then switched back to right field that season after returning from a broken hand. Betts also had the stomach virus that wiped him out for the Japan trip, losing 20 pounds during a short time.

Now 33 years old, Betts eyes a bounce-back season at the plate, and still occupies a premium spot in the batting order, slated to bat third between lefties Kyle Tucker and Freddie Freeman this season. The depth of the Dodgers lineup is immense, but whether the offense can potentially be the best in franchise history might depend on what they get from Betts, and whether he can recapture at least some of his previous form.

After Sunday’s game, Betts spoke with reporters about his offseason.

From Sonja Chen at MLB.com:

“Instead of just trying to fix problems,” Betts said, “I was able to go back to what I do best and really groove those patterns instead of trying to fix old patterns.”

From Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register:

“I enjoyed both to be honest. I enjoy working. And I enjoy chilling. Whichever one, I was cool with either way,” Betts said of the dichotomy between his past two offseasons.

“I’ve put in so much work that, at some point, you just gotta let it do its thing. There’s only so many ground balls you can take. I think I took enough of them last year.”

Mookie Betts 2026 projections

• ZiPS: .274/.361/.468, 23 HR, 131 wRC+
• Steamer: .273/.355/.467, 22 HR, 129 wRC+
• Marcel: .273/.354/.460, 22 HR
• THE BAT: .268/.347/.455, 22 HR, 124 wRC+
• PECOTA: .268/.347/.452, 26 HR, 124 wRC+
• OOPSY: .262/.342/.437, 22 HR, 118 wRC+

Today’s question is what do you expect from Mookie Betts on offense in 2026?

Texas Rangers lineup for March 2, 2026 against the Cleveland Guardians.

Spring training games keep rolling along. Austin Gomber is starting this one, instead of Nathan Eovaldi, as Eovaldi will be pitching in a minor league game.

The lineup:

Carter — LF

Langford — CF

Seager — SS

Pederson — DH

Burger — 1B

Smith — 2B

Haggerty — RF

Bride — 3B

Herrera — C

2:05 p.m. Central start time.

The Dodgers are going to win 130 games and blow away the NL West.

Of course they’re not going to do that. Isn’t that what was said about the Dodgers last year? They won exactly one more game than the Cubs did.

Obviously they’re the favorites to win their division again, as they have done 12 times in the last 13 years, missing out only in 2021 when they won 106 games but the Giants had that freak 107-win year. (And then LA beat the Giants in the postseason anyway.)

But a couple of other teams in this division have improved, and this division might be more competitive than you might think.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Key departures: Jalen Beeks, Ildemaro Vargas, Jake McCarthy, Blaze Alexander

Key arrivals: Nolan Arenado, Merrill Kelly, Carlos Santana, Paul Sewald, Jonathan Loaisiga, Michael Soroka

Look at that “arrivals” list. Looks like a 2019 All-Star team to me.

The D-backs did bring back Zac Gallen, who was rumored for a while to be coming to the Cubs, and re-united with Merrill Kelly, who they traded to the Rangers last summer.

The Cubs had Carlos Santana for a while last September. Remember that? Now he’s expected to be at least a platoon first baseman for Arizona — and he’ll turn 40 in April and hasn’t been dominant since, yes, 2019.

Nolan Arenado seems in career decline, too.

The D-backs still do have some good younger players, including Ketel Marte, Geraldo Perdomo and Gabriel Moreno. An injury to Corbin Carroll puts the start of his season in jeopardy.

They finished 80-82 and it says here they won’t be much better than that.

At Wrigley Field: May 1-2-3

At Arizona: Aug. 24-25-26

SB Nation team site: AZ Snakepit

Colorado Rockies

Key departures: Germán Márquez, Kyle Farmer, Thairo Estrada, Sam Hilliard, Ryan Rolison, Michael Toglia, Warming Bernabel, Anthony Molina, Drew Romo, Angel Chivilli

Key arrivals: John Brebbia, Nicky Lopez, Keegan Thompson, Jake McCarthy, Michael Lorenzen, Willi Castro, Edouard Julien, Valente Bellozo, Tomoyuki Sugano, José Quintana

There is almost no chance this Rockies team could be worse than last year’s, which went 43-119, setting a franchise record. It was their third straight 100-loss season.

The Rockies actually played a bit better after starting the year 9-50. From that point until Aug. 31, they went 30-48, which is bad but not horrendous (it’s a 62-100 pace for a full season). Then they went 4-21 in September, which, yikes.

They’ve acquired a couple of decent veteran starters in Lorenzen, Sugano and Quintana and have a few decent young players in Hunter Goodman, Brenton Doyle and Ezequiel Tovar.

Like the 2025 White Sox, who improved by 20 wins over their 41-121 season in 2024, the Rockies could post a 60-win season. Which is still bad, but would be a significant step in the right direction.

At Wrigley Field: June 15-16-17

At Colorado: June 9-10-11

SB Nation team site: Purple Row

Los Angeles Dodgers

Key departures: Clayton Kershaw, Michael Conforto, Michael Kopech, Kirby Yates, Justin Dean, Tony Gonsolin, Ben Rortvedt, Esteury Ruiz, Anthony Banda

Key arrivals: Kyle Tucker, Edwin Díaz, Cole Irvin, Michael Siani, Santiago Espinal

What can be said about the Dodgers that hasn’t already been said?

Kyle Tucker will be a complementary piece in L.A., a different role than he was expected to play in Houston. So if he’s healthy, that’s a big jump for a Dodgers offense that didn’t really need it (they led the NL in runs and home runs last year anyway).

The pitching rotation is its usual 11-deep, even after the retirement of Kershaw. And Díaz will head up a very deep bullpen.

And Shohei Ohtani will do more Shohei Ohtani things and very possibly win a fourth straight MVP (and fifth overall).

The Dodgers will probably win this division again. Maybe this time the Cubs will see them in October. I suspect the Cubs would have given the Dodgers a more competitive NLCS than the Brewers did.

At Wrigley Field: Aug, 3-4-5

At Los Angeles: April 24-25-26

SB Nation team site: True Blue LA

San Diego Padres

Key departures: Luis Arráez, Dylan Cease, Nestor Cortes, Jose Iglesias, Ryan O’Hearn, Robert Suarez

Key arrivals: Triston McKenzie, Jose Miranda, Marco Gonzales, Nick Castellanos, Ty France, Germán Márquez, Walker Buehler, Griffin Canning

The Padres are trying to address the departure of Dylan Cease with quantity — look at all the FA pitchers they signed. Who knows, maybe they can resurrect Walker Buehler into what he once was with the Dodgers. Griffin Canning is a good signing, and Germán Márquez should be better outside of Coors Field.

With Robert Suarez gone, mid-season acquisition Mason Miller moves into the closer role. He was lights-out (0.77 ERA, 0.729 WHIP, struck out 54.2 percent of batters faced, 45 of 83) as a setup guy last year, so if they can get the game to him they should win a lot of close ones.

At Wrigley Field: June 29-30-July 1

At San Diego: April 27-28-29

SB Nation team site: Gaslamp Ball

San Francisco Giants

Key departures: Justin Verlander, Wilmer Flores, Joey Lucchesi, Andrew Knizner

Key arrivals: Reiver Sanmartin, Sam Hentges, Caleb Kilian, Adrian Houser, Gregory Santos, Tyler Mahle, Eric Haase, Harrison Bader, Luis Arráez, Will Brennan, Michael Fulmer

The Giants had a very strange 2025 season. On June 13 they beat the Dodgers and at 41-29, were tied with them for first place in the NL West.

Then they went on a 20-39 skid that put them at 61-68, 12 games out of first. That was followed by a five-game winning streak that included a three-game sweep of the Cubs at Oracle Park, part of a 14-4 run that put them only a game and a half out of the last wild card spot.

From there the Giants went 7-9 and finished at exactly .500… the fourth straight year they have finished within four games of. 500 (starting in 2022: 81-81, 79-83, 80-82 and 81-81).

They are hoping all the miscellaneous pitchers they picked up will help them this year. They will have outstanding outfield defense with Harrison Bader now in center field and Jung Hoo Lee moved to right. Their left side infield defense is outstanding with Matt Chapman at third base and Willy Adames at short, but the right side… yikes, Luis Arráez at second and Rafael Devers at first is kinda frightening.

Looks like another .500 season in San Francisco. These teams will meet six times in a 10-day period in June.

At Wrigley Field: June 5-6-7

At San Francisco: June 12-13-14

SB Nation team site: McCovey Chronicles

Tomorrow: AL East

The Texas Rangers optioned righthanded pitchers Winston Santos to AA Frisco and Emiliano Teodo to AAA Round Rock yesterday, per the MLB.com transactions page. The team has not formally announced those moves, though I assume they will do so today.

Both Santos and Teodo are dealing with physical issues that are currently limiting him. Santos suffered a broken left hand when hit by a comebacker while throwing batting practice, while Teodo is reportedly still recovering from the back issues which limited him in 2025.

Santos, who turns 24 in April, was added to the 40 man roster after the 2024 season. He spent most of the 2025 season on the injured list, making five starts for Frisco and one start for Round Rock during the regular minor league season. He also appeared in five games in the Arizona Fall League. The expectation is that Santos will be ready to go pretty soon after the minor league season starts.

Teodo, 25, was also added to the 40 man roster the previous winter. While he was seen as a dark horse candidate to make the Rangers’ bullpen out of spring training last year, he struggled to stay healthy and throw strikes all year, ultimately throwing 30 innings over 27 games between the ACL, Frisco and Round Rock, putting up a 7.20 ERA. He also threw four innings in the Arizona Fall League.

While players who are injured normally cannot be optioned, teams are allowed to option a player who is injured if he did not appear in the major leagues the previous season, so long as the player is sent down at least 15 days prior to the start of the major league season.

EDIT — The team has officially announced these transactions. They have also announced that Nabil Crismatt, Declan Cronin, and Trevor Hauver have been officially assigned to the minor league camp, leaving 61 players in the major league camp.

It’s time for another Royals roster projection! We last did this exercise in December of last year. We’ve got double digits of spring training games played now, so the picture has become perhaps a little bit clearer. Certainly, it seems EXCEPTIONALLY unlikely any of those dream lineups I concocted at the end of the piece are going to come to fruition. Alas.

But that doesn’t mean there haven’t been any changes! So here’s the new projection with any changes from the previous projection indicated by italics.

Everyday lineup

SS Bobby Witt Jr.

RF Jac Caglianone

3B Maikel Garcia

1B Vinnie Pasquantino

C Salvador Perez

DH Carter Jensen

LF Isaac Collins

2B Jonathan India

CF Kyle Isbel

It’s the same nine guys as last time, though I did rearrange things a bit. Yes, I admit this looks a little crazy, but stick with me for a minute.

With Bobby doing some leading off in Spring Training and projected to do so for Team USA in the WBC, I think he’s finally going to come around to doing it for the Royals in the regular season. Jac Caglianone is having a monster spring — including laying off a lot of pitches up in the zone, which were something of a kryptonite for him last year — and he’s been batting second a lot. The smart money is that this is just because the Royals want him to get extra ABs before he also heads off to the WBC, but look at all the fun things we can do with R-L arrangements if he takes over as the number two hitter. For what it’s worth, if he can reach his 80th-percentile projections, he could very easily be the team’s second-best hitter and absolutely belong in that spot. Having Maikel batting behind him could help him get more pitches to hit, too.

Listen, it’s not any fun if we only say the most obvious things. So yeah, it’s a little crazy, but I think it just might work.

Bench

DH/OF Starling Marte

OF Lane Thomas

UT Michael Massey

UT Tyler Tolbert

The Royals signed Marte to a Major League deal on Saturday, so he — along with Thomas — is going to be a lock for the bench. This no longer leaves room for a third catcher, so the Royals are just going to have to live on that edge. Michael Massey takes over from Adam Frazier on the bench after a hot spring, and with Frazier choosing to join the Halos. The last spot could go to Nick Loftin instead of Tyler Tolbert, but I think the Royals will prefer the speed on the bench to Loftin’s batting eye. But also, based on how they approached the offseason, I could be very wrong on that one. Tell me I’m an idiot in the comments if you want, and then ask me again tomorrow because I could change my mind.

I don’t think Josh Rojas has a real shot to break camp with the club — especially not with the Marte signing, with how well Massey has played, and with Tolbert and Loftin already on the 40-man roster. That goes double for all other infielders trying to crack the roster.

Rotation

LHP Cole Ragans

RHP Seth Lugo

LHP Kris Bubic

RHP Michael Wacha

LHP Noah Cameron

Last time, I mostly thought Bubic wouldn’t be on the team and that, if he was, they’d consider moving him to the bullpen. But he really was one of the best starters in MLB last year, and since none of the trades materialized and Marte signed, it seems like we get to watch him pitch for KC for at least one more year. Now I just have to pray for my favorite pitcher to get a midseason contract extension, à la Seth Lugo last year.

Bullpen

CL Carlos Estévez

RHP Lucas Erceg

LHP Matt Strahm

RHP John Schreiber

RHP Nick Mears

LHP Helcris Olivárez

RHP Mason Black

LHP Bailey Falter

With Bubic no longer in the ’pen, they need another lefty. Olivárez has really impressed me this spring, especially with his heretofore unseen ability to throw strikes while regularly hitting 98 from the left side. I think that should be enough to get him a big-league job. Alex Lange drops off because he hasn’t impressed me much yet, and his major league money doesn’t kick in until he’s on the major league roster, so starting him in AAA if he doesn’t look ready is a smart move. Black also has options, but he’s looked terrific on the mound so far this spring, and I’d like to see him carry that on.

I’m still not remotely convinced that Bailey Falter will be with KC by the end of Spring Training, but I also haven’t seen anyone else stand out enough to kick him off the team if KC doesn’t find a trade partner. My best guess is that if they do deal Falter, as things stand right now, Daniel Lynch IV would get his spot as the swingman/mop-up guy. I would like to point out that Danny Coulombe is still looking for a job, though. Come on, Royals, do the fun thing and bring him in! Then we wouldn’t need Lynch or Falter, and Olivárez could become the mop-up guy!

This still leaves out talented relievers Steven Cruz, James McArthur, and Luinder Avila in the minors to start the year, but expect all of them to appear in KC at various points when the team needs to option someone or someone hits the IL. Dennis Colleran Jr. has looked pretty good, but I just can’t see him in the big leagues earlier than very late this season — and probably more like next year.

I’ve had hours and days to think about this, and I think I’ve finally figured out how Marte fits on this roster. It took so long because, for most of my Royals fandom, they’ve filled their benches with defensive masters or speedsters. The last time I can remember them carrying someone on the bench primarily for his ability to hit was Ryan McBroom in 2021. And McBroom didn’t last the whole season. Before that, it was Dave McCarty in 2000 and 2001 (though he was bad in 2001). So Marte will break with tradition in more ways than one — being primarily a good hitter on the bench and not having an Irish/Scottish surname while doing so.

Last time we spoke about Tyrone Taylor, it seemed like he was in line to be the starting center fielder for the 2026 Mets. Now, I’m a big fan of Taylor, but that was a touch grim given his .223/.279/.319 line last season. Clearly the front office felt the same and made major additions, bringing in Luis Robert to take over lead duties in center field and bumping Brett Baty to a super-utility role (one that will likely include some time on the grass) by bringing in Bo Bichette. Taylor now slots into a much more appropriate role as a fourth or even fifth outfielder.

This all works out rather well from a roster construction perspective. Against tough righties, Benge can slide over to center with Baty in left. Against a tough lefty, you can put Taylor out in left field for a game. If and when Robert goes down for his typical 50-game injury stint, Benge slides to center and Taylor becomes a more traditional 4th outfielder. It’s a well defined role that his matchup-specific offensive profile and high-end defense are very well suited for, and it’d be very reasonable to expect a bit of an offensive bounce back.

If this upsets you for whatever reason (I can’t fathom being a Tyrone Taylor hater), fear not, since it’s likely not a long-term arrangement. Taylor will reach free agency in 2027, and the Mets have a number of upper minors position prospects (A.J. Ewing, Jacob Reimer, maybe Ryan Clifford, even Nick Morabito as a reserve option) that may factor into the outfield picture in some way. It seems likely the Mets would move on in favor of younger, cheaper, higher-upside internal options going into next season.

Taylor’s tenure might not even make it that long though. A midseason trade for a reserve outfielder is very possible, perhaps someone like Ausin Hays once the White Sox have their inevitable trade-deadline sell. There’s even a non-zero chance the Mets make such an addition prior to the start of the season, though convincing a player better than Taylor to sign for such a marginal bench role is not always straightforward.

The trade to bring in Taylor was one of the first moves made by David Stearns when he joined the Mets. Counting this upcoming season, the Mets are on track to pay less than $10M for three years of strong fourth outfielder play, a good bit below what the market typically pays for this sort of player (as an example, Lane Thomas received more than $5M this offseason). It’s been a successful tenure all around, and we can appreciate this last go round with Taylor back in the right role.

Seaver King’s first full professional season went a bit rocky in 2025, posting an 88 wRC+ in 125 games, including a 78 wRC+ at Double A. While he flashed some incredible tools, such as plus defensive ability at shortstop and elite speed, his lack of plate discipline and struggle to tap into his power limited his offensive upside.

Coupled with the fact that seemingly every player selected before and after King in the 2024 MLB Draft is now a top prospect in the sport or already a big leaguer, it’s understandable why the fanbase has had some frustrations with King’s development.

While the regular season didn’t go quite as many hoped it would for King in 2025, his performance in the Arizona Fall League was certainly worth tuning in for. In 18 games and 79 plate appearances, he hit .359 with 2 home runs and a 1.030 OPS. The sample size was small, but the underlying metrics backed up his strong performance, as he posted a 93rd percentile average exit velocity, 96th percentile hard hit rate, and 72nd percentile strikeout rate in the AFL.

King has taken the improvements he made in the AFL and, so far, applied them to Spring Training, as he is 4-8 with 4 singles and a walk so far this spring, good for a 180 wRC+. Perhaps most importantly, he has yet to strike out, a pleasing sight after he ran a 21% strikeout rate in the minors last year.

The sample is once again way, way too small to draw any meaningful conclusions from, but the fact that King has been able to perform well against upper-minor-league and big league pitching is very reassuring for his future as a big league hitter.

King will almost certainly begin his 2026 regular season campaign in Double A, playing Shortstop everyday. While he struggled at the level in his 80 games there in 2025, his strong AFL performance, coupled with the new coaching staff around him, has me more confident this time around in his ability to handle the pitching at that level. If he goes out and performs well in the first few months of 2026, he should see a promotion to Rochester, putting him on the doorstep of the big leagues. If his breakout continues there, could we see Seaver King in DC by the end of the year?

King’s big league fate this season would depend not only on his own production, but the production and future of those ahead of him already. 4 shortstops sit ahead of Seaver King in the Nationals organization currently: Sergio Alcantara, Levi Jordan, Nasim Nunez, and CJ Abrams.

The 29-year-old Alcantara and 30-year-old Jordan are more organizational depth than anything, not making them major hurdles for King if he has an offensive breakout, but Nunez could prove difficult to overtake for King, as he has the benefit of already being a big leaguer and sharing many similar skills to King, as both are speedsters with plus defense at shortstop and questions with their bats.

Then, of course, there is CJ Abrams, the Nats’ star shortstop, who is leaps and bounds better offensively than King at the moment, but lacking on the defensive side of the ball. While it’s hard to envision King outright taking the shortstop position from Abrams anytime soon, there is the potential for Abrams moving off it to open the spot for him, whether that be from Abrams moving to another position, such as second base, or Abrams being traded to another ballclub.

In a world where King has the breakout 2026 campaign fans are hoping for, and Abrams is moved at the deadline for more prospects to strengthen the farm system, I believe there is the potential for Seaver King to be playing middle infield for the Nationals in the backend of the 2026 season. Thanks to his great versatility, his path to big league playing time is increased, as he could come up and play any number of positions the Nats need him to.

I really hate to keep beating the same drum, but I’m going to continue to be on the record as believing that the make-or-break aspect of the next would-be competitive era of White Sox baseball — the aspect that Rick Hahn and friends utterly failed at from 2017-19 — is going to be whether they can find at least a couple All-Stars or solid starters out of the scrap heap. In other words, unexpected help that picks up the slack when all of the prospects aren’t magically good at the same time the moment they hit the big leagues — a concept that Rick Hahn always seemed a little bit challenged by.

As I’ve blabbed about a million times before, the Cubs don’t win in 2016 without Jake Arrieta. In Houston José Altuve was barely a Top 100 prospect, Dallas Keuchel never came close to sniffing a prospect list, and Marwin González was a critical cog in their championship roster. The Orioles may have blown their shot, but they wouldn’t have even had one if they hadn’t gotten more than 500 extra-base hits from the previously-anonymous Anthony Santander and Cedric Mullins over a five-year stretch.

Things look more promising for the Sox this time around. When the decision was made to tear down the core that brought home the 2021 AL Central crown, nobody knew that Shane Smith was going to be in the plans as a Top 3 starter, and I can’t think of another Sox prospect who’s ever rebounded from “seems like a bust” to “possibly a superstar” like Colson Montgomery.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be identifying and breaking down five players on the Sox roster who could potentially be those unexpected building blocks — and what it means for the team if it ever comes to fruition.

Let’s get straight to the point here. I want you to look at an assortment of hand-picked stats from three young Sox players, measured from July 3-onward last year.

Player A, as you’ve probably gathered from the massive slugging number and perhaps conspicuous cutoff date, is Colson Montgomery. Player B probably isn’t hard to pin down as Kyle Teel, who’s probably second to Montgomery in terms of excitement generated for future Sox teams, and whose numbers are particularly exciting for a solid receiver behind the plate.

Player C, though? That’s Brooks Baldwin, who was called back up to the majors on July 1 last season and proceeded to hold his own with the best of the Sox young talent the rest of the way (albeit with a bit less playing time). It’s not an exaggeration to say that he came as close to matching Montgomery’s absurd second-half output as anybody else on the Sox, especially when you look at the batted-ball metrics.

Interesting! Very Interesting!

Let’s turn this into a quick deep-ish dive on what exactly happened between his initial demotion in May and final recall to Chicago in July. I found a real short answer: He figured out how to hit fastballs in the air instead of on the ground.

In fact, I wrote this entire article before I realized video existed of the kid going oppo-taco on a Spencer Strider fastball. The same Spencer Strider whose entire shtick is, hey, you can’t hit me because I consistently throw a four-seamer up in the zone faster than you can blink.

Baldwin’s bat speed isn’t elite, but it’s not unplayable either. Even when he’s struggled, he’s made solid contact, posting above-average exit velocities at every measured level. When he came back from Charlotte at the beginning of July, all of that hard contact suddenly started going places where it could do actual damage. His overall fly ball percentage jumped from 30% to 48% after that call-up!

I’m pretty embarrassed I didn’t notice it before. It didn’t take a lot more diving to locate the specific place of improvement, either.

The game is largely moving away from traditional fastballs, but pitchers are always going to have to throw them. The key for Baldwin is to avoid getting himself out on breaking stuff. There are a solid number of solid big-leaguers who make a living off of hammering fastballs. It’s plenty conceivable that Baldwin could become one of them.

The flip side is that Baldwin’s tendency to chase is still worrisome. Even after he started being awesome against heaters (I specifically love how he took his average launch angle against sinkers from a virtually flat one degree all the way up to 16, solidly in line drive territory) he still offered at pitches out of the zone at a rate near the bottom of the league. Damage against fastballs doesn’t matter if pitchers can spam breaking balls and offspeed pitches and get away with it most of the time.

Still, there’s still a much wider range of outcomes with Baldwin than many of us are giving him credit for. Defensive metrics have panned his work pretty much across the board, but he’s plenty fleet of foot, ranking in the 82nd percentile for Baseball Savant’s sprint speed metric. It also thinks he has a solid enough arm, one that will play all across the diamond even if it’s nothing special. Contrasted with someone like Lenyn Sosa, whose lack of lateral speed and overall athleticism put a hard cap on his defensive ceiling, Baldwin still has room for improvement. This is not the guy who has the tools of a negative defender.

Now, to zoom out of the nitty-gritty. Let’s assume July-August-September Baldwin is what we actually get this season. Pencil in a 120 wRC+ switch hitter who isn’t better-than-average at any position, but can give any of your regulars a breather on any given day. He’s going to walk and strike out at rates around league average, and he’s got enough speed to do some damage on the basepaths. Project it out over 500-odd trips to the plate, and you get a guy who might push 20-20 without even locking down a regular position.

In what world were the 2026 White Sox supposed to have a guy like that that we didn’t already know about?

Did I just accidentally describe peak Ben Zobrist when trying to come up with a comp for Brooks Baldwin? Maybe I did! So sue me. This is the thought experiment right here, guys. Does anyone expect every single one of the farm system’s ranked prospects to hit their ceilings any more than they did the last time? I’m sure one of these years, we’ll finally witness long-awaited glory from a rotation topped by Jon Rauch, Matt Ginter, and Dan Wright.

If the 2027 or 2028 White Sox are going to be competitive, it’s not going to be because of Teel, Edgar Quero, the Montgomerys, and Roch Cholowsky.

(Pause for dramatic effect)

That’s a lie! Of course it’s going to be because of them. A better way of putting that might be to say that if the 2027 or 2028 Sox want a shot at being 100-win juggernaut instead of a 92-win question mark or 84-win flop, it’s not going be because the top prospects clicked; it’s going to be because someone like Brooks Baldwin turned into a poor-but-not-necessarily-crazy-poor man’s Ben Zobrist, and nobody saw it coming. Nobody but us, of course.

It could just as easily be that Baldwin reverts to the 60 wRC+ hitter he was for the first 80-odd games of his big league career. It’s almost famously common knowledge by now that September stats have, broadly speaking, no real correlation with performance the following season. But hey, tell that to Lenyn Sosa in September 2024.

If Baldwin does anything in 2026 akin to how Sosa followed up on that scorching-hot September, there’s no telling how the calculus on this team’s roster might be changed seven months from now.