Category: Baseball

TAMPA — Anthony Volpe woke up from surgery in October to a surprise, but not an excuse.

Speaking Tuesday for the first time since going under the knife to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, the Yankees shortstop still refused to use the injury as an explanation for his poor play last season, despite the damage being worse than tests had suggested as he played through it.

“I know I could have played better,” Volpe said Tuesday after the Yankees worked out at George M. Steinbrenner Field. “I felt strong and good enough to go. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have. But you definitely learn a lot about yourself. Then when you see what ended up happening and having to get surgery, you learn a lot about the mindset and how you got to be self-aware and aware of certain things going on. If you’re going to play through it, how to perform and do the best you can.”

It remains impossible to determine just how much the ailing left shoulder impacted Volpe’s play after he initially injured it on a dive on May 3, 2025.

He said Tuesday that “it just didn’t feel like my right shoulder — my left side didn’t feel like my right.”

But the end result was his worst year in pinstripes on both sides of the ball.

The 24-year-old struggled defensively, especially during the summer months, and was far less dependable than when he won a Gold Glove as a rookie in 2023. Offensively, it was more of the same inconsistency as he hit just .212 with a .663 OPS and 19 home runs.

Now, after three full seasons in the big leagues, Volpe is still facing questions about his future, and exactly what the Yankees have in him, though he will not get a chance to show it until late April or early May after starting the season on the injured list to finish off his rehab.

“The chip I’ve had on my shoulder has been there for my whole life, my whole career,” Volpe said. “I just can’t wait to go back out there and play and feel good and perform and help the team win. At the end of the day, if I do that and I play the way I know I can play, everything will take care of itself. 

“I appreciate everything — I appreciate the accountability, I appreciate everything that comes with being the shortstop for the New York Yankees. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. That’s why I just can’t wait to get out there.”

Volpe will just have to wait a little longer for that to happen. He began his hitting progression Monday with dry swings — which will soon be followed by hitting off a tee — but otherwise is a full go defensively besides diving, which will be the last step in his recovery before he is cleared.

The rehab process has been a painstaking one, with Volpe describing the first half of it as feeling like “rock bottom” physically.

“But I really wanted to make sure the rest of my body was ready to go and ready to play 162,” Volpe said. “Probably at the turn of the new year is when I started to feel good and started to do baseball activity. That was definitely nice.”

During the first few days of spring training, Volpe has been throwing, taking ground balls with the rest of the starting infield and going through defensive and baserunning drills. Before camp is over, he will likely advance to hitting on the field and perhaps playing in Grapefruit League games

José Caballero is expected to start the season at shortstop until Volpe returns, but once he does, it will be a critical year for the homegrown player trying to prove he still has a place in the organization’s future.

“There’s been a lot of positives in the whole process, just slowing stuff down and working literally from the ground up,” Volpe said. “So to take those things and go from there has been nice.”

After an offseason full of turmoil with the Brewers’ broadcast plan, the team has a new home on Brewers.TV, an offshoot of MLB.TV, which is now owned by ESPN as part of the league’s new media agreement.

While the team has not yet announced local carrier information — you can keep track of that here — the team has announced their spring broadcast schedule, with most games available for listening via radio or MLB audio and a handful of games on Brewers TV.

I’ve also included the team’s two Spring Breakouts (prospect showcases), their exhibition against Great Britain’s World Baseball Classic team, and their two exhibitions against the Reds leading up to the regular season in late March.

Here’s the schedule, including game times and where to watch/how to listen (note: 620 WTMJ is the Brewers’ flagship radio station, though all games on WTMJ are broadcast across the Brewers Radio Network):

• Saturday, February 21: vs. Cleveland @ 2:10 p.m. (620 WTMJ)
• Sunday, February 22: @ White Sox @ 2:05 p.m. (Brewers TV)
• Sunday, February 22: vs. Royals @ 2:10 p.m. (94.5 ESPN Radio)
• Monday, February 23: @ Padres @ 2:10 p.m. (Brewers TV & 620 WTMJ)
• Tuesday, February 24: @ A’s @ 2:05 p.m. (MLB Brewers Audio)
• Wednesday, February 25: vs. Giants @ 2:10 p.m. (620 WTMJ)
• Thursday, February 26: @ Rangers @ 2:05 p.m. (MLB Brewers Audio)
• Friday, February 27: vs. White Sox @ 2:10 p.m. (620 WTMJ)
• Saturday, February 28: vs. Reds @ 2:10 p.m. (Brewers TV & 620 WTMJ)
• Sunday, March 1: @ Royals @ 2:05 p.m. (MLB Brewers Audio)
• Tuesday, March 3: vs. Great Britain @ 2:10 p.m. (MLB Brewers Audio)
• Wednesday, March 4: vs. Cubs @ 2:10 p.m. (Brewers TV & 620 WTMJ)
• Thursday, March 5: @ Rockies @ 2:10 p.m. (No TV or Radio)
• Friday, March 6: vs. D-backs @ 2:10 p.m. (620 WTMJ)
• Saturday, March 7: @ Angels @ 2:10 p.m. (620 WTMJ)
• Sunday, March 8: vs. Mariners @ 3:10 p.m. (620 WTMJ)
• Monday, March 9: vs. Dodgers @ 3:10 p.m. (Brewers TV & 620 WTMJ)
• Wednesday, March 11: @ Reds @ 3:05 p.m. (MLB Brewers Audio)
• Thursday, March 12: @ Guardians @ 8:05 p.m. (MLB Brewers Audio)
• Friday, March 13: vs. A’s @ 3:10 p.m. (620 WTMJ)
• Saturday, March 14: vs. Rockies @ 3:10 p.m. (94.5 ESPN Radio)
• Sunday, March 15: @ Giants @ 3:05 p.m. (94.5 ESPN Radio)
• Monday, March 16: @ Dodgers @ 3:05 p.m. (620 WTMJ)
• Wednesday, March 18: @ Mariners @ 3:10 p.m. (Brewers TV)
• Wednesday, March 18: vs. Angels @ 3:10 p.m. (620 WTMJ)
• Thursday, March 19: vs. Rangers @ 8:10 p.m. (94.5 ESPN Radio)
• Friday, March 20: @ D-backs @ 3:10 p.m. (MLB Brewers Audio)
• Friday, March 20: Spring Breakout vs. Mariners @ 4:10 p.m. (MLB Video)
• Saturday, March 21: vs. Padres @ 3:10 p.m. (Brewers TV & 620 WTMJ)
• Sunday, March 22: @ Cubs @ 2:05 p.m. (Brewers TV & ESPN Unlimited)
• Sunday, March 22: Spring Breakout @ A’s @ 3:05 p.m. (MLB Video)
• Monday, March 23: Exhibition vs. Reds @ 6:40 p.m. (94.5 ESPN Radio)
• Tuesday, March 24: Exhibition vs. Reds @ 4:10 p.m. (94.5 ESPN Radio)

Good evening, folks. I hope today was a good one for you. Here’s a random clip:

Back-to-back World Series champions puts you in rarified air.

Winning three in a row, that makes you immortal.

That’s what the Dodgers are chasing this year.

On one end is a dynasty close to ending if they come up short in the Fall Classic. On the other, with the trophy in hand and champagne spraying, is history and immortality.

However, that journey begins in Arizona where the Dodgers are spending spring training at Camelback Ranch in Phoenix.

Here is The California Post daily gallery of the Dodgers at spring training. Check back every day for updates.

When the San Francisco Giants made the unprecedented decision to hire Tony Vitello as their next manager, it was understood that there would be some hiccups along the way. There’s a learning curve for every first-time manager, and that’s doubly true for one attempting the unheard-of leap from college to the Majors with nary a day spent in professional baseball.

The sales pitch with Vitello was simple enough: his personality and people skills were so dynamic that they would propel him forward even while dealing with the requisite adjustments and bumps in the road as he blazed a trail in his new role. How he would manage a big league rotation and how he would adapt to an additional 100 games on the schedule were questions waiting to be answered; how he would present himself as a personality was not.

Which made Monday’s hiccup — his first since accepting the job — quite surprising. It didn’t come from mismanaging a bullpen, or mishandling bench deployment, or, heck, whatever the 2026 equivalent of pinch-hitting Mark Mathias for Brandon Crawford is. It came from the most surprising of places: a controlled environment, with some microphones and mild-mannered reporters in his face.

Less than one week after pitchers and catchers reported, Vitello opened his Monday media scrum not by fielding questions, but by asking one: “When did you first think I was taking this job?”

It was clear that the question was meant both rhetorically and for the group at large, though he seemed to pose it specifically to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser to ensure that someone actually answered him.

After Slusser responded with “about four days before it actually happened” — a reference to reporting from The Athletic that the Giants were “closing in on” hiring the then-Tennessee manager — Vitello had successfully created his opening. Now he could say what was on his mind. “It’s funny you say that,” he smirked, despite it being obvious that it was what Slusser would say. “Because that was not reality. At all.”

Vitello, who in fairness seemed jovial as usual while engaging in a half-monologue, half-conversation about what he deemed to be inaccurate reporting, certainly aired some grievances. While clarifying that he had not accepted the job at the time of The Athletic’s reporting (which, it should be noted, is in line with said reporting) Vitello offered up an ominous and fairly cryptic set of sentences: “Somebody tweeted it out. I don’t know who told them. I wish I did. It might have changed the course of history if I’d known who did.”

As is usually the case with reporting in sports, Vitello’s primary source of ire seemed to be that he wasn’t in control of his own narrative. “I did a really damn good job at keeping that away from our team, our recruiting, and it was not a distraction,” Vitello emphasized, suggesting he had taken meetings with the Giants without letting those around his college team find out. “And then all of a sudden in the middle of practice, I see our first and third base coaches freaking out. And they freaked out on me, too. And for no reason, because at that point nothing was gonna happen. And then somebody decided it that it was gonna happen, and then the whole world starts spinning real quick and I had to address the team.”

There was a lot in Vitello’s TED Talk that was understandable, but even more that was, frankly, odd. Most notable was that he performed the cardinal sin of Spring Training managers: he made himself the story.

At a time when platitudes and superlatives are as copious as bubble gum and sunflower seeds, the story this week has become Vitello. It stood in stark contrast to the last memorable time that a Giants manager eschewed questions and instead opened his Spring Training scrum with his own thoughts. That came a whole seven years ago, when a sheepish and slightly-uncomfortable Bruce Bochy announced that the upcoming season would be his final one in a Giants jersey; and while Bochy had, indeed, made himself the story on that day, he had quite clearly and openly done so to avoid being the story in the days that would follow.

That was not the case for Vitello who, four months after the offending action, opened a can of worms for seemingly no purpose at all. A point that could have been made at his introductory press conference, or during one of his many winter interviews, or, better yet, not at all, is now dominating the black and orange airwaves. At a time when we’re usually serving up best shape of his life clichés and excitedly discussing the battles for eighth reliever and fifth outfielder and second emergency starter, we’re instead not just talking about Vitello, but talking about a long-since buried story of his.

Vitello, like so many others in professional sports over the years, appeared upset at the media for an accurate report. His desire to control when his decisions are made public is very understandable, as is his ire at someone leaking the news prematurely. But those issues, of course, are not the fault of the journalists at The Athletic (national MLB reporters Ken Rosenthal and Brittany Ghiroli, and Giants beat reporter Andrew Baggarly). The implication with such a complaint (and sometimes it’s an outward statement, rather than an implication) is that the media should be working with the players and coaches, rather than in opposition to them.

It’s there where the funny irony of the story comes in. While it is, of course, not the media’s job to do PR for the Giants, it is, inadvertently, much of what we do, especially this time of year. Every article and soundbite about Bryce Eldridge’s rising stardom, and Hayden Birdsong’s attempt to bounce back, and Harrison Bader’s defensive wizardry, and the battle for the backup catcher position only serves — even when objective and journalistically sound — to excite a fanbase that is then even more likely to purchase tickets, buy merch, tune into a game, and heck, maybe even hop online in a fit of spontaneity and see what the flight prices to Scottsdale look like.

I had an article planned for today about Giants players. I suspect Baggarly, Slusser, and the other beat reporters on the scene at Papago did, as well. Instead, we all wrote about Vitello. The KNBR airwaves, offering Giants nuggets not just to diehard fans but, perhaps more critically, to casual ones, have been dominated with talk about Vitello. Many of the takes are absurd, but they’re out there nonetheless, causing damage where there would otherwise be excitement.

On Tuesday, Vitello fielded a question about the prior day’s scrum, and noted that he had not received any friendly feedback on his comments from the front office, despite the employment of the notoriously even-keeled trio of Bochy, Buster Posey, and Dusty Baker. It would certainly seem he was being honest there, as he somewhat doubled-down on his sentiments, saying that he was “just stating facts.” He thankfully offered a clarification on his cryptic comment: while “it might have changed the course of history” seemed to imply that Vitello may have chosen a different path had he known who leaked the story, he said on Tuesday that it “has no real impact on the opportunity that was presented, and it wouldn’t have changed what Buster and I would have agreed and joined to do.”

That probably ends the story. It’s not like Vitello committed a fireable offense or, despite what the online masses may have you believe, did something that should make you question his ability to be a good big league manager.

But it was an unforced error. The Giants have had a lot of those over the last half-decade, on and off the field. The hope was that Vitello would help them have fewer. For now, it remains exactly that: the hope.

PHOENIX –– In his annual start-of-the-spring address to his Dodger team on Tuesday, manager Dave Roberts delivered a simple message to the two-time defending World Series champions.

“I think for us it’s more about looking forward, focusing on ourselves and … not concerning us with outside expectations, noise, other teams,” he said. “That’s what we’ve done a pretty good job of in years past.”

Then, Roberts invited the club’s two superstar offseason additions to speak to the room and drive home that message.

As has become a common theme in these team-wide spring meetings –– which take place on the morning of the club’s first full-squad workouts, which the Dodgers had on Tuesday –– the longtime skipper wanted his returning players to hear from the new faces in the clubhouse.

“It was just more about what made the Dodgers attractive to them,” Roberts explained. “I think it’s powerful for our guys to hear it from the other side, from somebody who hasn’t been here.”

This year, that meant speeches from Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz, each of whom explained why they wanted to sign with the Dodgers as free agents this winter.

Roberts said Tucker talked about watching “how the Dodgers go about things” while playing against them as a member of the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros over the last eight years, calling the franchise “a destination place.”

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Díaz echoed that sentiment when he got up to talk, joking that the Dodgers always “look pretty nice on the field” and how he “heard they treat every player the same inside the clubhouse.”

“That,” the new closer added while speaking to reporters later, “was one of the things I was looking for.”

The Dodgers hope that a scene like Tuesday’s will serve as a tone-setter ahead of their three-peat pursuit this year. Simply signing big names like Tucker (the $240 million outfielder) and Diaz (the $69 million right-hander) served as a source of reinvigoration for the club this offseason. But hearing their perspectives of the team for the first time was “refreshing,” veteran third baseman and longest tenured Dodger Max Muncy said.

“Not that anyone in this room ever forgets, but (when) they talk about how good the organization is from the outside, from what they see and what they hear, just things about how the front office and the staff treats the players and the families –– (it’s a reminder that) we have it really good here,” Muncy said.

There’s another important dynamic, too.

“Then you get that little extra hunger from guys who want to go out there and win a ring,” Muncy added. “It keeps everyone else in here hungry, because you just start feeding off each other. And when it’s time to go out there and it’s go time, everyone’s ready to go.”

For these Dodgers, it won’t be “go time” for a little while still.

Unlike the past two years, the team has no early start or season-opening international trip. And while they will send five players to next month’s World Baseball Classic (including Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Will Smith, Hyeseong Kim and Díaz), they will use this spring to slowly build up many of their other veterans after a short offseason (namely, Muncy, Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts, whom Roberts said will likely not be playing in Cactus League games right away).

“It’s just about preparation,” said Betts, recounting the message he shared as one of several longtime Dodgers to talk at Tuesday’s meeting, along with Miguel Rojas and Will Smith. “Our confidence is gonna come with our preparation.”

Tuesday, however, was about setting bigger-picture expectations, too, and reminding both the club’s returning core and new star players about the opportunity in front of them.

“It’s just trying to sustain that energy, that focus every day,” Roberts said, reiterating his clubhouse message. “Put those blinders on and get to work.”

As has become a common theme in these team-wide spring meetings –– which take place on the morning of the club’s first full-squad workouts, which the Dodgers had on Tuesday –– the longtime skipper wanted his returning players to hear from the new faces in the clubhouse.

“It was just more about what made the Dodgers attractive to them,” Roberts explained. “I think it’s powerful for our guys to hear it from the other side, from somebody who hasn’t been here.”

While the Yankees have entered spring training under the impression Anthony Volpe will miss all of April recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, the young shortstop is aiming for an earlier return.

Just a day after beginning his hitting progression with dry swings, Volpe sounded optimistic about playing in April, calling the timeline "definitely" possible while also not committing to a date for his 2026 debut.

"My body’s ready to go," Volpe said on Tuesday in Tampa. "I started my hitting progression, so other than that, I mean, I'm full go. My body's ready to go defensively and running, so the hitting will be what we work through next and judging on how everything's gone so far, I'm just excited."

The partially torn labrum on Volpe's left shoulder was repaired in October, and while the issue was cleaned up successfully, his doctors were surprised to see the damage was actually worse than what imaging showed.

Volpe doesn't believe the shoulder injury -- suffered last May -- was largely responsible for his regression-filled 2025 campaign, in which he slashed a woeful .212/.272/.391 with 19 home runs and 150 strikeouts across 153 games.

He continues to make no excuses for last season's low production, and the recovery process has helped him learn how to improve communication with the club and stay honest with himself.

"I know I could've played better, I felt strong and good enough to go. If I didn't, I mean, I wouldn't have," Volpe said. "You learn a lot about the mindset and how you've got to be self-aware, aware of certain things going on. And how to, if you're going to play through, perform and do the best you can."

Volpe described the early stages of rehab as "rock bottom" physically, and he didn't start to feel over the hump in his offseason work until more baseball activities around the new year.

The next step in Volpe's progression will be tee work, followed by soft toss. He'll make sure landing on the shoulder is the last hurdle cleared, since a diving defensive play against the Rays at Yankee Stadium caused the "pop" that prompted two cortisone shots last season.

In the meantime, Volpe is trusting the training staff's plan, no matter how long utilityman Jose Caballero and others hold down the fort at shortstop. Volpe claims there's always been "a chip on his shoulder" -- apparently, doctors missed that during imaging, too.

"I just can't wait to go back out there, play, feel good, perform, and help the team win," Volpe said. "Because at the end of the day, if I do that and I play the way I can play, everything will take care of itself and I appreciate everything. I appreciate the accountability."

PORT ST. LUCIE - So the Mets are being proactive with Luis Robert Jr., drilling down on the causes for his chronic leg injuries, and intending to keep him out of games while their medical and sports performance people work to “straighten out” some of the reasons that have kept him from achieving his potential. 

It speaks to the gamble they’re taking on Robert Jr. in a trade with the Chicago White Sox for his $20 million salary, as well as the frustration of trying to keep such a high-ceiling athlete off the injured list. 

But it’s also a good thing, especially in this day and age when there is so much science and technology applied to the cause and prevention of injuries. 

All the more so in the case of the Mets.  

It wasn’t too many years ago, remember, when the Mets were heavily criticized for their handling of injuries, either for being too slow to react or for somehow making injuries worse with treatment. 

With that in mind, after listening to Carlos Mendoza announce the “progression” plan for Robert, as well as three other players, I put in a call to Jim Duquette, the SNY analyst and former Mets GM. 

He’d seen the Robert Jr. news as well, and so when he saw I was calling, he answered his phone by saying with a laugh: 

“I know why you’re calling. Jose Reyes?”

“Sorry, Jim,” I said, laughing a bit myself. “It’s the first thing I thought of.”

Duquette, after all, was the assistant GM to Steve Phillips in 2003 when the Mets became so perplexed by Reyes’ recurring hamstring injuries and an examination revealing that one leg was shorter than the other, that they deferred to track and field experts who tried to change Reyes’ running style. 

“We were going with the experts in the field of sprinting,” Duquette recalled. “But it didn’t work. Jose wasn’t comfortable with it and eventually went back to his old style. These days, they probably would have realized it was a hip issue that was causing the difference in leg length and treated it from there. 

“I mean, as an industry, baseball is light years ahead of where we were then in terms of sports medicine and science. Actually, I like what the Mets are doing. The White Sox have not been a forward-thinking organization. They’ve been old-school, where the Mets have become very forward-thinking with this stuff. I wouldn’t be surprised if they get a good result from what they’re doing. It’s smart because Robert has incredible skill when he’s right. He just hasn’t been able to stay healthy.”

Duquette, by the way, reminded me that he was gone from the Mets by the time they put Ryan Church on a cross-country flight with a concussion, another rather infamous injury of the many that seemed to become full-blown controversies over a period of several years. 

But as Duquette pointed out, this is a much different organization these days.

For that matter, as one Mets person told me, “Steve (Cohen) doesn’t just spend on players. When he took over, he invested in making every facet of the organization top-notch, and sports science and performance was a big part of that.”

That said, you can make the case that injuries are more of an issue in all sports than ever these days, though a lot of baseball people believe that’s mostly a byproduct of the modern athlete building their body to the limit and stressing it to the extreme.

And there’s probably a lot of truth to that as well. Duquette, for example, noted that what helped Reyes eventually avoid chronic hamstring injuries, and thus rack up 517 stolen bases over a 16-year career, was that “he learned how to run, and run fast, without going max effort all the time.”

More recently, the Mets’ new emphasis on injury prevention has paid off in helping keep the once-chronically injured Brandon Nimmo relatively healthy, in part by bringing him along slowly in spring training as they will now with Robert Jr.

They’re taking similar caution with Jorge Polanco, wanting him to strengthen a knee that had surgery in 2024, as well as Brett Baty, who tweaked a hamstring while working out before camp opened, and Francisco Alvarez, in hoping to avoid the various hand and wrist injuries that have plagued him the last couple of years.

But the headliner is Robert Jr., mostly because the Mets are hoping he’ll stay healthy enough to reach the potential that made him an All-Star in 2023.

“The tools are there,” Mendoza said. “He’s got a chance to do something special if he can stay healthy. When we traded for him, our trainers put their hands on him and identified some of the things, especially in the lower half, that needed to be straightened out.

“He’s going through full workouts, he’s going to be getting live at-bats, but as far as putting him in game settings when he has to full-go, whether it’s beating out a ground ball…we’re not going to put him in there out of the gate.”

Robert Jr. is on board, and why not? He believes, as he said in a media interview, that injuries are the primary reason his numbers have fallen off dramatically since his 38-home runs season in 2023, when he made the AL All-Star team.

“Health, that’s the No. 1 thing,” he said. “If I stay on the field as consistently as I can, I know things will go the way I want.”

He offered evidence of that last summer, when the Mets were interested in trading for him, only to be put off by the asking price.

Over 31 games in July and August, Robert slashed .298/.352/.456 with five home runs, 18 RBI, 24 runs scored and 11 stolen bases, resembling his 2023 form.

Then he suffered another hamstring injury, severe enough that it ended his season. The Mets are hoping they can change all of that, and their own injury history as well.

No offense, Jim.

With Tommy Edman opening the season on the injured list, Hyeseong Kim is a prime candidate to see an uptick in playing time at second base for the Dodgers in the coming season. On Tuesday, he further solidified his case.

With teammate Yoshinobu Yamamoto throwing a live batting practice session on the backfields at Camelback Ranch, Kim took the World Series MVP on an unexpected ride. On the 16th pitch of Yamamoto’s live batting practice, Kim crushed an opposite-field home run, dazzling the hundreds of Dodgers fans gathered to watch the team ready itself for its first slate of exhibition games that begin Saturday.

Kim’s home run came after watching Yamamoto walk Teoscar Hernández, induce a groundball from Andy Pages, and strike out newcomer Kyle Tucker looking. However, Kim wasn’t finished quite yet.

Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Hyeseong Kim just CRUSHED an opposite field homer off of World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto in live BP at Dodgers Spring Training camp. pic.twitter.com/g92ernHvKt

— Jack Vita (@JackVitaShow) February 17, 2026

Yamamoto took a short break, as Shohei Ohtani threw a round of batting practice himself. After Ohtani got his work in, Yamamoto returned to the mound, with Kim waiting for him in the batter’s box.

On the fifth pitch of his second at-bat versus Yamamoto, Kim ripped a base hit to right field. Yamamoto would see eight at bats on the day, logging 30 pitches. He gave up three hits, two of which came from Kim.

Kim said he tweaked his swing last year after coming over from the KBO on a three-year, $12.5-million contract, and is continuing to progress and feel more comfortable with the adjustments he’s made.

“The swing changes we made last year, I would say I felt about 70% comfortable with,” Kim said through an interpreter on Monday. “And then, this offseason and spring training, we were able to recognize some of the other stuff that we needed to work on, so I’m working very hard to make those changes again this year.”

As a rookie, he batted .280 with a .314 on base percentage, .699 OPS, three home runs and 17 RBI across 71 games. He began the season in triple A, before earning a promotion in May. A left shoulder injury would land him on the injured list, limiting his time in his first big league season — though he was healthy enough to be on the team's postseason roster primarily as a late-inning defensive replacement, playing second base when the Dodgers closed out their Game 7 World Series victory.

Read more:'Game 7 of the World Series was unbelievable': Miguel Rojas on his unexpected stardom

Kim also mixed in 17 games in the outfield to provide depth behind Pages last season, and he knew his outfield defense would be an offseason priority.

“I was aware that I needed to work on my center field and outfield defense,” Kim said. “Even without the front office telling me, I knew that it was something I needed to work on, so I was going to work on it regardless.”

As he prepped for the coming season, Kim focused on his nutrition, upping his protein intake and adding some weight.

“I noticed that I lost a little bit of weight throughout the season and I wanted to make sure that I was gaining my weight back before the season started,” Kim said. “So, I made sure to intake my proteins and my meals so that I was able to gain two-three kilograms this offseason.”

With the news that Edman is still on the mend from offseason ankle surgery, Kim stands to benefit in terms of playing time but he says he's not getting ahead of himself.

“I’m using this time — the offseason and spring training — to just get better,” Kim said. “Whether I play more or not, it doesn’t really affect me much. I’m just trying to get better every day.”

Roberts manages expectations as he addresses team

On the Dodgers’ first day of full-squad workouts, manager Dave Roberts addressed his entire team for the first time Tuesday. Roberts opened with a speech, before players took turns talking.

“I was just kind of talking a little bit about last year and what we accomplished and how we got there, and talking about this year and expectations,” Roberts said. “And a lot of it is the same, continuing to focus on the right things, the little things, and how we go about practicing and playing. Keeping that enthusiasm and buckling up for the long season ahead and we expect to play through October. So, a lot of the same values that we believe in just reiterated.”

Once Roberts finished, his players shared some thoughts of their own. Veterans Miguel Rojas, Will Smith and Mookie Betts were among those to give a speech. Recently acquired stars Tucker and Edwin Díaz also chimed in, discussing why they each made Los Angeles their new home.

Read more:Photos: Shohei Ohtani and World Series champion Dodgers work out at spring training

“It was more just about what made the Dodgers attractive to them,” Roberts said. “I think it’s powerful for our guys to hear it from the other side, from somebody who hasn’t been here. It was a great message from each of those guys. It’s important. It’s powerful for our players to hear from each other.”

And thus, the quest for a three-peat has begun.

“I feel good,” Roberts said. “I’m excited. Our players are excited, coaches are excited. It’s good to get everyone together and start our journey for 2026. I think there’s always optimism early, like every camp. So now, it’s just trying to sustain that energy, that focus every day. Just put those blinders on and stay focused."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

The Guardians have spent the offseason not doing much; will they pull off a late-Spring Training trade as they did last year for Nolan Jones?

I would say the general – and sensible – conclusion among Guardians fans is that the team will enter the season with their roster as is, with an eye to improve as needed at the August trade deadline. However, the Guardians did surprise us by acquiring Nolan Jones for Tyler Freeman as Spring Training closed last season. Perhaps they will have an eye to something similar if the right name comes available in the next six weeks.

Conveniently, Jayson Stark of the Athletic interviewed MLB executives to ask for their guesses of which players will be traded this spring. Let’s take a look at the answers execs gave and see which players may or may not interest the Guardians:

High Interest:

Nico Hoerner, 2B/SS, Cubs – Because Hoerner can play an excellent shortstop (and the Cubs have Dansby Swanson and Matt Shaw on hand), trading for Hoerner and his career 120 wRC+ vs. LHP and then immediately attempting to extend him as your shortstop would be a fun, aggressive move that I have no hope of the Guardians making.

Alec Bohm, 1B/3B, Phillies – Bohm would just be a much surer option for 1B/DH partner with Manzardo than David Fry and can play third on Jose’s DH days. But, the Guardians seem set on going with Fry for now.

Yandy Diaz, DH, Rays – I really don’t care about Diaz being DH-only. He remains an elite bat and crushes lefties. He transforms the order immediately and there are few guys out there like that.

James Wood, OF, Nationals – Make no mistake… Wood would cost A LOT for a 23 year-old under control through 2030. But that’s a middle of the order hitter who probably DH’s and replaces Kwan in left when Kwan is traded this offseason and immediately shows us how much we will miss Kwan’s gold glove. A 112/131 wRC+ vs LHP/RHP works for me, though.

Moderate Interest:

Lars Nootbaar, OF, Cardinals – Nolan Jones x2.0 but it works this time? I don’t know…

CJ Abrams, SS, Nationals – I wouls be interested in Abrams in theory, but given his public issue with staying out all night at a casino… it seems a bit untenable given other PR issues the Guardians face.

Nick Pivetta, RHP, Padres – I would love this. Pivetta is under team control through 2028 (unless he opts out) and it’s not an expensive deal. Plus, there seems to be a need for a veteran presence like this on a young staff. But I have trouble seeing the Guardians go outside their top 6 starters.

Jaren Duran, CF, Red Sox or Wilyer Abreu, OF, Red Sox – Duran and Abreu would cost a lot and can’t hit lefties. Would I take either in centerfield here? Absolutely. Will the Guardians acquire either? No.

Jake Cronenworth, Utility, Padres – He upgrades Daniel Schneemann at the plate but may not be able to play SS. Meh.

Matt Shaw, 2B/3B, Cubs – Not sure he is better than any of our up and coming second base options. Maybe?

Low Interest:

Isaac Parades, 1B/3B, Astros – His bat becomes so much less valuable at Progressive Field. Not worth the price.

Sandy Alcantara, RHP, Marlins – I’d like to see the Guardians work with Alcantara but there are questions here and they aren’t going to take on his contract.

Mark Vientos, 1B/3B, Mets – I don’t see a great roster fit here and I am not at all sure he is better than Fry.

N/A – Division targets who aren’t being traded to Cleveland.

Tarik Skubal, LHP, Tigers

Joe Ryan, RHP, Twins

Kris Bubic, LHP, Royals

Byron Buxton, OF, Twins

Bottom line, I do not expect the Guardians to be involved in trading for any of these players. But, should they be discontent with what they see from Fry, from Brito and from Arias/Rocchio this spring – there are some options!

In addition to announcing its spring training broadcast schedule, SportsNet LA on Tuesday announced the bulk of its broadcast plans for the regular season in 2026.

With the Dodgers’ opening day battle against the Arizona Diamondbacks exclusively televised by NBC and streamed on Peacock, the first regular season game for SportsNet LA will be Friday, March 27, the second game of the season. That’s also the night of the championship ring ceremony before the game, which will be part of the SportsNet LA broadcast. For that March 27 broadcast, the pre-game Access SportsNet: Dodgers will be expanded to run for 90 minutes, beginning at 5:30 p.m. PT.

The full exclusive national broadcast schedule for the season hasn’t yet been revealed. Apple TV+ hasn’t yet announced its first half schedule, and usually unveiled each successive month during the season. There are also a few other weeknight ESPN games that haven’t yet been finalized. Last year there were 17 Dodgers games exclusively on national television, leaving 145 for SportsNet LA. In 2024, the split was 16 national games and 146 SportsNet LA contests. Expect a similar number for this season.

Joe Davis and Stephen Nelson will handle the regular season play-by-play duties on SportsNet LA. The split of games hasn’t been revealed, but Davis — who is also the lead national MLB announcer for Fox Sports — has called 87 games for SportsNet LA in each of the last three years.

Orel Hershiser is back as the lead television analyst, in his 11th season calling Dodgers games. Eric Karros and Jessica Mendoza will also continue to call games on SportsNet LA.

Of news this year is the return of Dontrelle Willis to the booth as a game analyst for SportsNet LA, which he did from 2022-23 as well. Willis, who also works nationally as a Fox Sports studio analyst and Apple TV+ game analyst, was hired by the Dodgers to broadcast in 2022 and has been a studio analyst in each of his first four seasons, and will do the same in addition to calling some games as well in 2026. Three years ago, Willis called 12 games for SportsNet LA.

Other studio analysts for SportsNet LA this season are all returning faces — Nomar Garciaparra, Adrián González, Jerry Hairston Jr., Orel Hershiser, and James Loney — along with host John Hartung.

Game reporter Kirsten Watson is back for her sixth season on SportsNet LA, which also includes studio programming. David Vassegh will occasionally fill in as field reporter for some television broadcasts, as he has in years past, cast or not.

Opinion: Stop Trying to Trade Isaac Paredes. The Astros Need Him.

There, I said it.

I don’t want the Houston Astros to trade Isaac Paredes.

And every time I hear another expert, another national analyst, or even another Astros fan casually toss his name into trade proposals like he’s some expendable spare part, it makes less and less sense to me.

If this franchise is serious about extending its Golden Era and not just surviving it, then Paredes should be part of the foundation, not trade bait.

Isaac Paredes Is Not the Problem

Let’s start with the obvious.

Paredes was one of this team’s best offensive players a year ago. That’s not narrative, that’s production.

Yes, he missed time down the stretch with a hamstring injury. And yes, recency bias is real. But when you zoom out and actually look at what he did in just 102 games, the numbers tell a very different story.

He hit .254 with 20 home runs, 53 RBIs, and an .810 OPS.

Now compare that to the farewell tour numbers from Alex Bregman in his final season in Houston:

.260 average.
18 home runs.
62 RBIs.
.821 OPS.
145 games played.

Paredes produced nearly identical power numbers in 43 fewer games.

Who’s to say that over a full 145-game season he doesn’t surpass that line?

A year ago, fans were outraged over losing Bregman. How could you replace a cornerstone third baseman who had been part of the entire championship core?

Well, the Astros replaced him. And they did it without missing much offensively.

But now we’re acting like that replacement is disposable?

The Strike Zone Matters

One thing that gets overlooked in the trade chatter: Paredes has one of the best eyes for the strike zone on this roster.

On a team that has occasionally chased too much and gone cold in October because of it, that matters.

Plate discipline translates. It travels. It holds up under pressure.

That’s not something you just “throw into a Pirates deal” because you’re chasing roster balance.

And speaking of those trade proposals involving Pittsburgh — unless the Astros are getting a return that clearly makes them better both now and in the future, why are we even entertaining the idea?

You don’t move one of your best assets just because you can.

Team Control and Long-Term Value

There’s another key factor: control.

Paredes isn’t a one-year rental. He’s under team control for the next two seasons. In an era where payroll flexibility matters and extensions for stars aren’t automatic, that’s a competitive advantage.

You build around cost-controlled production. You don’t shop it out of convenience or an assumed necessity.

Fix the Logjam Without Breaking the Offense

Yes, the Astros have an infield surplus. Yes, roster construction is tricky.

Yordan Alvarez wants to play more outfield. And the numbers do suggest he’s more engaged offensively when he’s not locked into the DH role. That’s fair.

But instead of bending over backward trying to reposition everyone else, here’s a thought:

Play Paredes at second base.
Let Jose Altuve transition into more of a designated hitter role.

Load the lineup. Prioritize offense. Adjust defensively as needed.

If the Astros are still chasing another left-handed outfield bat and a left-handed starter and they probably should be, there are ways to address those needs without subtracting one of your most consistent right-handed power bats.

This offense has carried this organization for nearly a decade. Weakening it to patch another area or two feels like robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Don’t Trade Good Just to Chase “Better”

General manager Dana Brown has work to do. No one disputes that. The roster isn’t perfect. It needs pitching depth and bats in the outfield. It could use balance.

But urgency should not create recklessness.

The only scenario where trading Paredes makes sense is if the offer coming back is overwhelming, the kind that clearly improves the team today and fortifies it tomorrow.

Short of that? Hold him.

Sometimes the smartest move isn’t the splashy one. It’s recognizing the value already in your clubhouse.

Spring training is here. Opening Day is coming. There’s still time to shape this roster.

But if the Astros are serious about contending, not just competing, they should stop dangling Isaac Paredes and start building with him.

Maybe I’m in the minority.

But that’s my column. What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below.