Category: Baseball

Eli Morgan is a Royal. Or an Omaha Storm Chaser, on a minor-league deal, according to sources. David Robertson has retired.

*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.

• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): How Cubs’ bullpen is shaping up as camp nears. “The bullpen is where the team has turned over the most and looks different the most,” Counsell said during Cubs Convention in mid-January.
• Joe Trezza (MLB.com*): These Cubs prospects could crack the Top 100 soon. “… prospect development is all about the future…”
• Keith Law (The Athletic* {$}): Ranking all 30 MLB farm systems, from the Brewers to the Padres. “… these rankings only consider players currently in a team’s system and eligible for the rankings…”

Food For Thought:

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series. We will not wittingly publish A. I. – driven articles or clickbait, and insist on unimpeachable sources.

Miguel Rojas announced last week that he would be unable to participate in the World Baseball Classic because of issues obtaining insurance on his MLB contract.

And during the Dodgers’ annual Fanfest event on Saturday, the Venezuelan infielder didn’t hide his frustration with the situation.

“Definitely disappointed,” said Rojas, who has never before played in the WBC and is set to retire after this season. “I didn’t know that my chance to go represent my country for the first and only time, probably as a player, was gonna get blocked because of an insurance problem. Even though we know we have to be ready for the season and we have to play and be healthy for our contract, at the end of the day, we didn’t know all those restrictions were gonna be in place the way they are right now.”

Indeed, Rojas is far from the only player to encounter insurance problems related to this spring’s WBC.

Team Puerto Rico has had several key players who were forced to withdraw –– including Francisco Lindor, Carlos Correa, José Berrios and Emilio Pagan –– leading the president of its baseball federation to publicly float the idea that the country might withdraw from the triannual tournament entirely.

Venezuela has also been significantly impacted, with José Altuve and Carlos Narvaez unable to participate due to their own insurance issues.

There are several other MLB players believed to be awaiting insurance clearance, too.

“There’s a lot of things I can say about the process, and I’ve been really vocal on social media, especially the last couple days,” Rojas said. “I don’t think people understand.”

Insurance requirements have long been a complication for players interested in playing in the WBC. The policies are generally necessary for MLB participants, in order to protect their big-league teams against potential injuries incurred during the event (with insurance, teams are reimbursed for any regular-season time their players miss with WBC-related injuries).

Typically, players with chronic injury histories or recent surgeries are denied coverage. Clayton Kershaw, for example, had to withdraw from the 2023 WBC for insurance reasons.

This year, however, the growing number of players who have encountered such issues has become a source of frustration –– especially, as Rojas noted, since Latin American countries have been the ones most affected.

“I don’t see that happening with the United States, or happening with Japan,” Rojas said. “And I’m not trying to attack anybody, or attack what’s going on, or seeing what’s happening behind the scenes. But at the end of the day, it feels like it’s just happening with the players that want to represent their country from Latin America. So there’s a lot of things I would like to talk about with someone in control, with someone from MLB.”

Rojas, who has dealt with several injuries over the past couple of years (including a hernia surgery last offseason) but didn’t spend any time on the injured list in 2025, was also caught off guard by what ESPN reported is a new provision for insurance coverage in this year’s event.

Because he will turn 37 before the start of the tournament, he said he was denied coverage based on his age alone.

“It’s really hard to not have the opportunity to put my country on my chest and to represent them and help win a World Baseball Classic –– and not have the opportunity to do it because I’m 37 years old,” he said. “That’s not right. I don’t feel it’s right. Because if I can still play in the big leagues with the Dodgers, why (can I) not go play for my team in Venezuela and represent my country?”

Hello, friends.

There are now 53 days remaining until Orioles Opening Day. We’re getting there! WBC-participating pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota in just eight days, while the first Grapefruit League game for the Orioles is 19 days away. We’re in the month where fake games will be happening! That’s more fun for me than it typically is since, you know, I’m sick of all of this snow/ice lingering around.

I’m also kind of sick of all the speculating about Framber Valdez. Just sign a contract already, man! Get the best deal that’s out there right now. I don’t think anybody’s going to blink and give you more. Maybe the market has gotten really weird for him and there’s nothing even worth signing right now, I don’t know. If nobody’s even offering like 3/100, then sure, wait it out.

My suspicion is that Valdez could get that from the Orioles today, maybe he wants a few million more in AAV or maybe he wants an extra year. But it’s February 1 now, and again, some people will be in camp in eight days! It’s time to get some certainty here. I’ve been on “Valdez or bust” train for a while, so I don’t think there are even any alternatives worth considering for the O’s at this point. Zac Gallen, Lucas Giolito, Chris Bassitt, whatever, I don’t care. Unless there’s a surprise injury to a starting pitcher that we don’t know about beyond “maybe Zach Eflin isn’t going to pitch before May” then they don’t need any more back end guys.

Perhaps for the sake of negotiating, Mike Elias needs to pretend he might sign one of those other guys. He has some credibility in making that claim. We know he’ll sign a mediocre-at-best starting pitcher who nobody really wants. He’s got a real track record of that and he might still do it even in this winter where he’s otherwise been fairly aggressive in getting things done. I don’t know. I’m surprised it hasn’t gotten figured out yet.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Mailbag: Is it Framber Valdez or bust for the rotation? (The Baltimore Sun)
People are wondering whether the Orioles really have any interest in non-Valdez pitchers left out there. I’m skeptical, but there’s no way to know for sure until we see who’s left after Valdez signs.

The Orioles have had a busy winter, and say it’s boosted ticket sales (The Baltimore Banner)
They can say all that they want. The final ticket numbers for 2026 will tell the tale, and that tale will probably be told more by how the team plays than by anything that has happened since October.

Rogers reflects on magical 2025 season (School of Roch)
This was also in yesterday’s Bird Droppings and I’m including it here mostly to note that there’s enough in here to indicate that you probably don’t need to worry about Trevor Rogers being in the “day 1 of spring training secret offseason injuries” news dump.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Today in 2010, former Orioles broadcaster Jon Miller was named the year’s winner of the Ford Frick Award, an honor given out annually by the Hall of Fame since 1978 for “meritorious service by baseball broadcasters.”

In 2024, the Orioles traded Joey Ortiz and DL Hall, plus a competitive balance draft pick, to the Brewers for Corbin Burnes. What an exciting couple of days that was with news of the sale of the team one day and the Burnes trade the next.

There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2012 two-gamer Joe Mahoney, 1998 outfielder Rich Becker, 1996 pitcher Kent Mercker, and 1964-76 outfielder Paul Blair.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include:

On this day in history…

In 1884, the first volume of the Oxford English Dictionary was published. Volume 1 covered A to Ant.

In 1896, Puccini’s opera La bohème had its premiere performance. This show’s story was later adapted into the long-running musical, Rent.

In 1964, the Beatles single “I Want To Hold Your Hand” reached #1 in the United States, the band’s first #1 hit here.

A random Orioles trivia question

I received a book of Orioles trivia questions for Christmas. I’ll ask a question each time it’s my turn to do Bird Droppings until I run out of questions or forget. If you are answering the question early in the day, please be considerate of others arriving later and place your response behind spoiler text in the comments. Thank you!

Which Orioles player was the first to record a 50+ home run season? As a bonus, in what year did he do it?

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on February 1. Have a safe Sunday.

Another day, another cold snap that reminds us that the hot stove is probably turned off. Talk to me again when the warm sunshine of Florida is on my screen and I’m whining about how long spring training is.

At least there is the World Baseball Classic this year.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• Ranger Suarez is in Boston, which means the rotation is going to have a whole new look in 2026. How are those options stacking up?
• It’s prospect ranking season, which means local writers have their own top ten. Here is a glance, as well an outlook for each for 2026 ($).

MLB news:

• Handsome Dave Robertson has retired from the game. His calves were memorable, his pitching as well. He should be remembered as one of the best non-closer relievers of all time.
• Luis Arraez is heading to the Giants to get base hits and “play” second base.
• This was a fascinating story that followed Edgar Quero to the Driveline hitting labs as it profiles the hitting program they are instituting.
• Austin Hays is going to the South Side of Chicago to get some regular playing time with the White Sox this year.
• Puerto Rico is considering withdrawing from the World Baseball Classic because of insurance issues with several players.

In 1970, two years before he died, Jackie Robinson spoke at his son’s high school graduation.

“In a land where we declare that we have liberty and justice for all,” Robinson said, “it seems that slogan really means liberty and justice for all as long as you do and say what some people want you to do and say.”

Those words ring uncomfortably true today.

Robinson often spoke out on civil rights, challenging both political parties. If you visit the Jackie Robinson Museum, as the Dodgers did when the museum opened in 2022, you see displays on civil rights and economic opportunity and social justice before you get to the baseball showcases.

“Jackie’s passion was civil rights and equality, and more so than baseball,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said then. “It was more of, baseball was just a vehicle for him to use his voice, which is pretty cool to see and actually pretty inspiring.”

Read more:Shohei Ohtani will not pitch for Japan in WBC: 'Just seemed like the right decision'

In these perilous times, in which “indivisible” has been replaced by “you’re with us, or you’re the enemy within,” Robinson’s team will have the opportunity to celebrate its latest World Series championship at the White House.

Last month in Minneapolis, two American citizens were shot to death on American streets by agents of the American government. In this fragile moment, I asked Roberts if he would feel comfortable visiting the White House as the manager of Jackie Robinson’s team.

“For me, I stand by: I’m a baseball manager,” Roberts told me Saturday at the Dodgers’ fan festival. “That’s my job.

“I was raised — by a man who served our country for 30 years — to respect the highest office in our country. For me, it doesn’t matter who is in the office, I’m going to go to the White House. I’ve never tried to be political. ... For me, I am going to continue to try to do what tradition says and not try to make political statements, because I am not a politician.”

Neither was Robinson. In 1944 — three years before he broke baseball’s color barrier and 11 years before Rosa Parks — Robinson refused an order to move to the back of a bus. He was an Army lieutenant, prosecuted by a military court for insubordination and then acquitted.

In the wake of the killings of Renee Good and then Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, federal officials hurried to television cameras and social media accounts. None of the usual admonitions against leveraging tragedy for political purposes. No thoughts and prayers, even, just a rush to dehumanize the dead with labels such as “domestic terrorist” before any investigation.

The last words of Good, to one of those federal agents: “I’m not mad at you.” The last words of Pretti, to someone needing assistance: “Are you OK?”

Jackie Robinson: “The right of every American to first-class citizenship is the most important issue of our time.”

After the killing of Pretti last week, the BBC exhaustively checked the claims of federal authorities against video evidence from a variety of sources: “None of the videos we have analyzed show Alex Pretti holding a gun. There is no available evidence that he was an assassin who tried to murder federal agents, no available evidence he intended to massacre law enforcement, nor that it was a violent riot, no available evidence that this was an individual who arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement.”

Read more:Hernández: Dodgers visiting Trump's White House goes against everything they represent

In Minnesota, the immigration sweeps proceed unabated. The Star Tribune reported Saturday of a local detention facility so overcrowded that a woman had been locked inside a bathroom with three men.

In a suburban Minneapolis incident captured on video, an agent tells a man he must produce citizenship documentation “because of your accent.”

The Huffington Post reported that four children from an elementary school in a heavily Latino suburb of Minneapolis had been shipped to a detention facility in Texas.

This is what America voted for. The “Mass Deportation Now!” placards at campaign rallies in 2024 were held high.

Yet a judge ordered one of those children released Saturday, blasting what he called the “ill-conceived and incompetently implemented government pursuit of daily deportation quotas, apparently even if it requires traumatizing children.”

Jackie Robinson: “The most luxurious possession, the richest treasure anybody has, is his personal dignity.”

This is not something the Dodgers can dismiss as an out-of-town issue. Federal immigration agents operate in Los Angeles too.

And, since Dodger Stadium has become a must-see Japanese tourist attraction in the Shohei Ohtani era, how much might tourism drop if Japanese citizens could be forbidden from entering the United States without sharing their social media history from the preceding five years and every personal and business email address from the preceding 10 years, as federal officials have proposed?

Jackie Robinson: “To build for leadership, one must base his standing on what is right, not what is expedient.”

I asked Dodgers president Stan Kasten whether the team had decided to visit the White House.

“I don’t have any news for you on that,” he said Saturday.

To skip the trip could be uncomfortable, but the Dodgers would not have to stand on a Washington street in protest, or issue a blistering statement. All they would need to do is decline a photo opportunity.

The Dodgers are free to make their own decision, of course. They’ll be in Washington for their first road series of the season, in the first week of April. Then they’ll return to Dodger Stadium, for the annual Jackie Robinson Day festivities.

For me, going to the White House would feel more expedient than right. If the Dodgers do go, they ought to skip the tributes to Robinson’s grand courage, since they would not have been able to muster up a fraction of their own.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

What veteran Giants pitcher Robbie Ray's biggest goal is for 2026 MLB season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Giants starter Robbie Ray made his priorities clear heading into the 2026 MLB season: health first, consistency next — and if those two boxes are checked, the results should follow.

Speaking to reporters Saturday at Giants FanFest in Sacramento, Ray explained his primary focus is staying on the mound all year and giving his team a chance to win every time he takes the ball.

“I think the biggest thing is staying healthy, making all my starts,” Ray said. “Going out each time and giving my team a chance to win, keep us in ballgames. Obviously, as a starting pitcher, 200 innings is kind of a goal every year. So, if I can stay healthy, I think I can do that.”

The emphasis on durability carries extra weight for Ray, who returned from Tommy John surgery midway through the 2024 season after being acquired by the Giants in January of that year. He made seven starts following his July return before entering 2025 with a full offseason of preparation.

Ray followed that up with a strong 2025 campaign, earning his second career MLB All-Star selection while emerging as a key piece of the Giants’ rotation. He finished the year with 32 starts and more than 180 innings pitched, a workload that put him within striking distance of the benchmark he now firmly has in mind for 2026.

“Personally, I felt like it was a good year to build off of,” Ray said. “My first full season off surgery, being able to throw 182 innings after only throwing 30 innings the past two years for me was huge.”

Ray’s comments come with Opening Day less than two months away, when the Giants are set to host the New York Yankees on March 25 at Oracle Park.

Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast

Hello everyone and welcome to February. We’re trying out something new this month with “Today on Pinstripe Alley” in alignment with many of our fellow SB Nation sites. Instead of getting two occasionally random questions per day at the end of the Today on PSAs, we’ll be choosing one and offering our own answers before turning it over to you all for discussion. We’ll still be detailing what’s ahead on the docket at PSA, but the goal here is to really engage on something of note, so let’s see what happens!

There’s no time to waste! So what’s the strongest reason to believe this Yankees season won’t be a waste? I think there’s a number of ways to approach this. There’s the very obvious, and that’s the 6-foot-7, three-time AL MVP who patrols right field for the Yankees. Anytime you get to pencil Aaron Judge into a lineup, you feel like good things will follow.

The only time the Yanks have missed the playoffs since he broke out as a rookie in 2017 was when the Dodger Stadium outfield fence rudely interrupted another MVP-caliber campaign in 2023. They’ve been one of the last four teams standing in four of those eight seasons, and while the rest of the team wasn’t as sharp last October, Judge was en fuego, shaking off some playoff doldrums. He’ll be another year older in 2026, but it’s not as though 34 is ancient; former teammate Paul Goldschmidt didn’t win his first career MVP until his age-34 season in 2022. Judge can absolutely be as good again, or at least at a highly impressive level.

One player cannot make a team though (ask the Angels). And yet for as much as I would’ve liked to see the Yankees do more this offseason to bolster their championship odds and better safeguard them from potentially ruinous injuries, it’s still a very good ballclub. They have flaws, but ask an opposing fan if their own preferred team has any flaws; trust me, they’ll be sure to find ‘em! (Yes, even on the Dodgers.) The Yankees’ offense easily led the majors last year with 274 homers, and non-Judge players still combined for 221 bombs, which would’ve still ranked six without Judge. Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trent Grisham, Giancarlo Stanton, and Ben Rice all provided hefty support, and for as frustrating as the “run it back” approach is in some aspects, that’s not really the case for the offense. They should rake again, and for as uneasy as fans were with the non-Gerrit Cole pitching staff last year, they still recorded more strikeouts than every AL team outside of Houston — and Cole will rejoin them eventually.

Is this the rose-colored glasses view? Perhaps, but hope springs eternal. What do you think? Let us know in the comments!

Today on the site, Matt will celebrate a very familiar Yankee second baseman’s birthday as part of our ongoing series and Peter will look into pitcher Nick Martinez as a free agent addition, given the recent news of the Yankees’ possible interest in the erstwhile Reds righty. Later, John will present the weekly Social Media Spotlight.

Welcome to our new February Daily Question series. Throughout the month, we’ll be posting question articles every day in the hopes that we can start some more conversations within the Brew Crew Ball community. To begin, we’re asking, “What’s the strongest reason to believe this season won’t be a waste?”

Now, I’ll be the first to say that “rebuild year” doesn’t seem to be in the Brewers’ — specifically Matt Arnold’s — vocabulary. But it seems almost too good to be true that Milwaukee can avoid having any rebuild seasons for nearly a decade. That’s typically the stuff of high-payroll franchises like the Yankees and Dodgers.

But that’s exactly what Arnold & Co. have done. The Brewers have played virtually no “meaningless” baseball since 2017 — the only season they’ve missed the playoffs since 2018 was in 2022, when they remained in wild card contention until the last series of the season and ultimately finished just one game back of the Phillies for the last playoff spot.

They can’t keep getting away with it, can they?

With Freddy Peralta just the latest “sacrifice” in a long line of trades to reload Milwaukee’s prospect depth, can Arnold, Pat Murphy, and the Brewers work their magic once again? Is there reason to believe this is the rebuild year, or will the “bites of the apple” approach continue to work?

Weigh in in the comments, and join us throughout the month as we keep these conversations rolling into spring training.

Hello everyone! Welcome to our new Daily Question series for the month of February. With Spring Training around the corner, we want to hear from you on what 2026 holds for your Minnesota Twins. Let’s get excited for baseball!

After nine years at the helm of the Minnesota Twins, Derek Falvey and the Twins agreed to mutually part ways (though, further reporting from Dan Hayes and Aaron Gleeman certainly indicates that the decision was more on Falvey’s end after disagreements on the franchise’s future with new owner Tom Pohlad). GM Jeremy Zoll, at least for the 2026 season, will run baseball operations in the meantime

While the timing is certainly suspect, there were arguments on both sides to move on after nearly a decade. Falvey modernized a baseball operations department that was stuck in 1995 under Terry Ryan and turned their longstanding coaching and development issues into a strong suit. Coaches, scouts, and front office personnel went on to prominent positions with some of the best teams in baseball like the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox, among many others.

Perhaps because of the brain drain caused by replacing those poached positions every season, the Twins had definitely plateaued over the past four or seasons. While a lot of that can be laid at the feet of the Pohlads after repeated budget cuts coming off of their elite 2023, Falvey and the Twins also were unable to develop top prospects into productive MLB hitters, with former Top 100 prospects like Royce Lewis, Alex Kirilloff, Austin Martin, Jose Miranda, Brooks Lee, and Edouard Julien unable to live up to their billing. However, Falvey should also get credit for repeatedly developing both starters and relievers above and beyond expectations.

So, was parting with Falvey the right move? And relatedly, what would you like to see Jeremy Zoll improve on as the new head man? Is there enough time for Zoll to feasibly fix the major holes this roster still has? Can he find anyone to take on Trevor Larnach and his uber-redundant role on this roster?

Yesterday in the Moose Tracks, commenter Search4honor posed this question:

For those who were here before the 2022 season. Is the way Colt Emerson is being talked about prior to spring training the same as Julio Rodríguez?

As someone who contributedsignificantlyto the way in which Julio Rodríguez was talked about as a young prospect, this is something that caught my eye. I first met Julio as a 17-year-old, anxious to practice his English in one of his first stateside interviews, outside the complex in Peoria. By the next year, Julio was interacting with fans, sitting in the stands at spring training games and surprising fans with merch from the Mariners team store. There’s something about Julio that always felt inevitable, a storm brewing from the DSL complex to a tour of small-town America, gathering steam until he arrived in Seattle in 2022 as the Rookie of the Year.

By contrast, Colt Emerson’s ascent has been quieter. While Julio had to share the prospect spotlight with Jarred Kelenic, the two of them always vying for gold vs. silver in the system rankings, it was always the two of them, a significant gap, and then everyone else. Emerson, on the other hand, might be the Mariners’ de facto top prospect at most outlets, but he shares the Mariners top ten with a raft of other Top-100 prospects. Like Cole Young before him, Emerson also suffers somewhat from the “jack of all trades, master of none” label, lacking a standout skill – like Julio’s prodigious power, or at least the kind of skill that generates breathless highlight reels on social media.

It’s understandable: Julio was in conversation for the top prospect spot in all of baseball with fellow wunderkinds Adley Rutschman, who plays the hardest position on a baseball diamond, and five-tool player Bobby Witt Jr. Emerson isn’t in those kinds of conversations nationally, especially not as a shortstop in a deep prospect class for the position. The top four prospects on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 are all shortstops: Konnor Griffin (PIT), Kevin McGonigle (DET), Jesus Madé (MIL) and Leo De Vries (Athletics). (Emerson lands at number nine, behind another two infielders, JJ Wetherholt and Sebastian Wolcott.)

The context the Mariners were in at the time also bears mentioning. When Julio was on his way up, the Mariners were deep in a stepback, and the bright but distant star of Julio twinkling on the horizon soothed many Mariners fans after another grueling loss. However, now that wave of prospects has crested and is contributing at the big-league level. Emerson, on the other hand, feels like a complementary piece rather than a rising tide that lifts all the boats – but is that a fair characterization considering Emerson’s track of minor-league success so far? Or, as JasonRyan put it: Julio had to be better than everyone; Emerson just has to supplant the M’s current underwhelming in-house infield options. But again, is that something to hold against Emerson?

Let us know what you think in the comments; we’d be especially interested in hearing from those of you who have watched Emerson play in person.

Phillies notes: Moore adds depth, Robertson retires, WBC ahead originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Like every winter, clubs stockpile minor-league deals. As the offseason drags on and free agents remain unsigned, those opportunities tend to become more creative.

Friday night brought one of those.

The Phillies agreed to a minor-league deal with free-agent utility man Dylan Moore, according to Will Sammon of The Athletic. This contract stands apart from many of Philadelphia’s recent minor-league signings.

Per Sammon, Moore can earn up to $3.25 million through plate-appearance and active-roster bonuses.

Moore, 33, is a legitimate big leaguer with a track record across the diamond. While with Seattle in 2024, he earned Gold Glove honors for his work as a utility player.

Across his career — seven seasons with the Mariners before his release and a stint with Texas last year — Moore has played every defensive position except catcher. Most of his innings have come at second base and left field.

Offensively, Moore owns a career .693 OPS and is coming off a down season in which he slashed .201/.267/.374. Still, his value has consistently shown up against left-handed pitching.

Moore carries a career .400 slugging percentage and .727 OPS versus southpaws and has posted an OPS of .750 or higher in five of his seven seasons.

At his peak, Moore paired that platoon value with strong quality-of-contact metrics, posting barrel rates around 17 percentand hard-hit rates in the mid-40s. While those numbers have dipped in recent seasons, his approach has quietly improved.

Over the past two years, Moore has been among the league’s most disciplined hitters. For reference, in 2024 he ranked in the 99th percentile in chase rate (17.7%) and the 94th percentile in walk rate (12%).

The Phillies are well aware of that profile — and what it could still offer.

So where does he fit?

Moore will first need to make the club out of spring training. If not, a potential opt-out clause in his deal could give him the opportunity to go elsewhere. Those details remain to be seen.

If he performs well in camp, the signing creates flexibility. Edmundo Sosa has filled the utility role in recent seasons and continues to hit left-handed pitching well. In 2025, Sosa slashed .318/.362/.533 against lefties. Given his defensive reliability at second base, Sosa could also factor into a platoon with Bryson Stott, who has struggled in those matchups.

Moore’s differentiator is outfield experience. He has appeared in more than 250 career games across the corner outfield spots. Sosa, by comparison, has one career outfield start.

While it initially appeared Rob Thomson might deploy a left-field platoon of Brandon Marsh and Otto Kemp, Moore’s presence introduces competition, especially for Kemp, both in camp and potentially on the roster.

D-Rob officially hangs up the spikes

David Robertson’s relationship with Philadelphia spanned three separate stints. On Friday, the 40-year-old made it official, announcing his retirement.

Robertson pitched 17 seasons in the Majors with the Yankees, White Sox, Rays, Cubs, Mets, Marlins, Rangers and Phillies. Across 881 career appearances, he posted a 2.93 ERA.

With Philadelphia — in parts of 2019, 2022 and 2024 — Robertson logged a 3.59 ERA. His most memorable stretch came during the Phillies’ 2022 National League championship run, when he made eight postseason appearances, including four scoreless outings in the World Series, earning the save in Game 1 in Houston.

The Phillies signed Robertson for a third time at the end of last July. He made 20 appearances before closing out his career.

Pitchers, catchers — and the WBC

February has arrived, and baseball is close. Phillies pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater on Feb. 11. Five days later, position players join for the first full-squad workout. Spring Training games begin Feb. 16 in Dunedin against the Blue Jays.

Philadelphia will play 32 Grapefruit League games, including two Spring Breakout contests and one split-squad game day.

When camp opens — and into mid-March — nine Phillies will also be away participating in the World Baseball Classic:

• Brad Keller — USA
• Bryce Harper — USA
• Kyle Schwarber — USA
• Cristopher Sánchez — Dominican Republic
• Johan Rojas — Dominican Republic
• Aaron Nola — Italy
• Edmundo Sosa — Panama
• Taijuan Walker — Mexico
• Alan Rangel — Mexico

Seven of those players project as Opening Day roster locks. While representing one’s country is an honor, the injury risk remains real. A recent piece in The Athletic outlined how teams attempt to protect against that risk.

Insurance has become a bigger factor in the WBC since José Altuve and Edwin Díaz were hurt in 2023. Team Puerto Rico officials said this weekend eight to 10 players were initially denied coverage, including Francisco Lindor, as insurers have tightened standards and costs have risen heading into this spring.

The priority is protecting the clubs. The WBC policy is designed to reimburse a team for a player’s guaranteed salary if he gets hurt during the tournament and misses time afterward. Players typically go through entrance and exit physicals so injuries can be traced to the event instead of something preexisting.

Underwriting can also get stricter for players with recent surgeries or extended injured-list history, which is why some names get flagged late in the process. If a player isn’t approved, his MLB team can still clear him to play, but the club is taking on more financial risk.

Whether that impacts the Phillies remains to be seen, but it’s another layer they’ll be monitoring as camp opens.

Baseball player insurance concerns potentially could cause one country to drop out of the World Baseball Classic.

On Saturday, officials from Team Puerto Rico said they might withdraw the team from the tournament after learning eight of their 10 players would be denied coverage, according to The Athletic.

“That option is on the table,” said Joey Sola, Team Puerto Rico’s operations manager told The Athletic. “It obviously will depend upon if we can figure out the substitute players.”

Mets captain Francisco Lindor was one of the big-name players who had to withdraw from the tournament Friday because he was denied coverage after undergoing two surgeries on his right elbow in the past three seasons.

Fortunately for Mets fans, Lindor is expected to be ready for spring training.

The insurance concerns stem from the numerous injuries players suffered in the 2023 WBC tournament. Mets fans remember when closer Edwin Díaz, now with the Dodgers, suffered a harrowing right knee injury in that tournament that cost him the season.

Jose Altuve also broke his thumb in that year’s event, which was a months-long injury.

According to The Athletic, those injuries from the last tournament caused insurance for big leaguers to grow considerably more expensive, forcing the league’s insurer to become more stringent on which players it approves.

Astros third baseman Carlos Correa, Blue Jays right-hander José Berríos and Twins catcher Victor Caratini are among the other Puerto Rican players who were not cleared to play — though the cases of Correa, Berríos and several others are under review, Sola told the website.

Team officials fear if some of those reviews aren’t overturned, they will be unable to get enough substitutes to field a quality team.

If Puerto Rico can’t field a team it would be especially harmful because it‘s scheduled to host the first round of the WBC in San Juan from March 6-11.

Puerto Rico is in a pool that also includes Canada, Colombia, Cuba and Panama.

MLB declined comment as the statuses for many players in different countries are still to be decided. National Financial Partners, an official partner of the league that brokers insurance policy did not immediately respond to request for comment, according to The Athletic.

MLB and the Players Association, co-owners of the tournament, are lobbying the insurer to change some decisions before the rosters are due Tuesday.

They are scheduled to be announced Thursday.

The offseason may almost be over, but the Braves have widely been rumored to still be looking to add a starting pitcher and there are plenty left on the open market, as well as some presumably available via trade. The biggest fish in free agency is Framber Valdez and there has been some buzz about him and the Braves for months now. This connection was reaffirmed on Saturday by Mark Feinsand. Valdez is a good pitcher getting into his mid-30s and would cost a draft pick to sign. Perhaps his availability this late into the offseason could result in a bit more team friendly of a deal, combined with those other factors, making it a more palatable signing for this front office. If not, there are plenty of other options available.

Braves News

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand listed the Braves as a potential suitor for the top remaining free agent, Framber Valdez.

The Braves hosted some player panels, featuring the team’s Rookie of the Year winners, star pitchers, and infielders.

MLB News

The Giants signed contact savant Luis Arraez to a one year deal to play second base for the club.

The White Sox signed outfielder Austin Hays to a one year guaranteed deal with a mutual option for a second year.

Some quirks with insurance rules for players playing in the WBC are impacting which players can play and how they can be used, warranting some forward-facing scrutiny.

SNY | John Flanigan: A couple of weeks ago, the Yankees sent four prospects to the Miami Marlins to acquire exciting, yet injury-prone lefty Ryan Weathers to fortify their rotation. Weathers, who posted a 3.99 ERA in 38.1 innings last year with 37 strikeouts, still hasn’t hit his ceiling according to pitching coach Matt Blake.

“This is an exciting arm,” the pitching coach said on Yankee Hot Stove, per SNY. “It’s a kid who I’ve been following since high school when we were scouting him in the Amateur Draft, he’s done a nice job of growing into a major league version of himself. The biggest thing is just keeping him on the field. We have to do a good job of having a nice onramp for him this spring and keeping him healthy, but an electric arm with a nice arsenal — there’s definitely a ceiling for him he hasn’t touched yet.”

The 26-year-old southpaw possess a big fastball that averaged about 97 mph last year, so if Blake and the Yanks can optimize it and improve his consistency with his breaking stuff, he could have some untapped potential. The coach even discussed a plan for Weathers, involving more two-seamers “to help open the zone for his four-seam fastball and sweeper.” For more on Weathers, check out my colleague Peter’s analysis of Weathers from shortly after he was acquired.

The Athletic | Brendan Kuty ($): On Friday, Jon Heyman reported that the Yankees were interested in some free agents, including right-hander Nick Martinez and Michael Kopech, plus outfielders Austin Slater and Randal Grichuk. He also said that Paul Goldschmidt was willing to return to the organization (Jack Curry had previously noted that the Yankees had discussed a Goldy return as well).

Well, on Saturday, it was revealed that the Yanks had already sent an big-league offer to Slater, a right-handed hitter who has fared well against lefties and whose potential arrival would theoretically force Jasson Domínguez out of the picture for semi-regular playing time. That being said, it isn’t known at the time whether or not the offer to Slater is still on the table (Cody Bellinger’s now-official contract could’ve change plans), and it’s also unclear when it was submitted. Slater had a .726 OPS against southpaws in 2025, encouraging New York to acquire him from the White Sox midseason, but a hamstring injury sidelined him almost immediately and he was a nonfactor in 14 games for the Yankees.

MLB.com | Theo DeRosa: Yankees reliever Camilo Doval has been added to the Dominican Republic roster for the 2026 World Baseball Classic, joining a fantastic collection of talent lead by players such as Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Julio Rodríguez, Fernando Tatis Jr., and others. Doval took part in the 2023 edition of the tournament, pitching 2.1 scoreless frames with three punchouts back then. The 6-foot-2 righty is expected to be a key cog in the Yankees’ late-inning mix come Opening Day.

The 2026 Dodgers made their first public appearance Saturday, getting raucous ovations at Dodger Stadium during the team’s annual Fanfest event.

And with most players in attendance, the afternoon provided some clarity on where the team stands two weeks before the start of spring training.

Here are eight things we learned entering the new season:

–– Tommy Edman said it’s a “possibility” that he’ll be ready for opening day after having ankle surgery this offseason. But the utilityman also cautioned that he will be ramping up at a slower pace this spring following the procedure, in which he had a ligament repaired and bone spurs removed. Edman has been out of his walking boot for the last 2 ½ weeks, and began baseball activities again in recent days. He said he has “hit every checkpoint along the way of the recovery.”

–– Blake Snell expounded on the physical issues that have caused him to slow-play his winter throwing program and put his chances of being ready for opening day in some doubt, as The California Post previously reported on last week. The left-hander said the shoulder issue that sidelined him for most of the first half last season continued to be an issue during the postseason, and that he spent much of this offseason in physical therapy. “It’s stronger (now),” Snell said. “(From) the day that I went into PT to the day I left, it’s night and day in strength and how it feels. Throwing, it feels good. I’m just going to ramp up slower. That’s all I’m doing.”

–– Roki Sasaki is the Dodgers’ only Japanese player not participating in this spring’s World Baseball Classic, and revealed Saturday that it was ultimately the Dodgers’ decision. “You always feel that you want to play on a special stage, and I wanted to do that again this time,” Sasaki said in Japanese. “But I talked to the team, and it’s the team’s decision, so I’m going to focus on getting ready for the season.” Sasaki was the only Japanese player the Dodgers could directly prevent from playing in the WBC, since he spent so much time on the 60-day injured list last season with a shoulder injury.

–– Freddie Freeman is also not participating in the WBC for Team Canada, but said it was because of a personal situation, not any health-related issues: “I wasn’t going to be able to go out there and play and be in Puerto Rico (for Canada’s group stage games), and be that far from my family. I needed to be close to California. That’s all I’ll say. But it’s personal.”

–– Coming off a career-worst season offensively in 2025, Mookie Betts said he focused on “re-wiring my body” in his offseason work this winter. “It’s more just re-wiring my mechanics, my brain, the motor patterns,” he said. Last spring, Betts felt as good as he ever had in camp. A mid-March stomach virus, however, sapped him of his strength and got his swing “out of whack,” resulting in .258 batting average and .732 OPS.

“It was kinda like a snowball effect,” he added. “Now I’ve gotten to put the training wheels on, take my time, and really stack positive days over and over. Now we’re in a really good spot.”

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–– A couple players showed up at Fanfest with noticeably different physiques. Starting pitcher River Ryan, a former top prospect who missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, said he added roughly 30 pounds of muscle during his rehab process, bulking up from 195 to 225. “I can throw a lot harder, a lot easier,” he joked. Reliever Brusdar Graterol, on the other hand, slimmed down about 15 pounds this winter after missing all of last year recovering from shoulder surgery. Both are expected to be ready for opening day.

–– Dave Roberts hasn’t decided exactly how the Dodgers’ batting order will look in the wake of Kyle Tucker’s signing, but he did drop some hints, saying Ohtani will still lead off, Betts will likely hit third, and Will Smith will hit fifth. That presumably leaves Kyle Tucker and Freeman for the Nos. 2 and 4 spots, in some order.

–– The Dodgers have ample pitching depth entering spring training, leaving a couple players with yet-to-be-determined roles. Both Justin Wrobleski and Kyle Hurt said they were unsure if they’d be used as starters or relievers this year, and were planning to build up to multiple innings in camp. Ben Casparius said he is “loosely” viewing himself as a reliever, but will also be ready to build up to longer outings if needed.