Category: Sports News

Xander Bogaerts brought a winning track record to the San Diego Padres, but he struggled to get comfortable in San Diego. He was asked to move from shortstop to second base and he did so. Bogaerts then moved back to shortstop and the defensive uncertainty seems to have taken a toll on his offensive production. He had a solid second half of 2025 and Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune says he is the unquestioned shortstop going forward after the Padres traded Leo De Vries to the Athletics at last year’s trade deadline.

Padres News:

• Jim Bowden of The Athletic provided seven names of players who could be traded before Opening Day. Bowden says the Padres could be trade partners with the Washington Nationals for shortstop CJ Abrams and Miami Marlins for pitcher Sandy Alcantara.

Baseball News:

• The New York Yankees acquired reliever Angel Chivilli from the Colorado Rockies in a trade for minor league first baseman T.J. Rumfield. The Rockies also made a trade with the Minnesota Twins for Edouard Julien and Pierson Ohl for minor leaguer Jace Kaminska and cash considerations.
• Cody Bellinger and the Yankees agreed to a five-year, $162.5 million contract that brought him back to New York for the 2026 season and beyond. He met the media Wednesday and said he is excited to be back in the Yankee clubhouse.

The final review of the 2025 season will be looking at each position in the Astros farm system. Next up is the relief pitchers.

BEST OF THE BUNCH

Nick Hernandez

Hernandez has been in out of the season for a few years. He had a dominant season in Triple-A posting a 2.12 ERA with 63 strikeouts over 46.2 innings. He pitched some in Houston too, totaling 10.2 innings and allowing 6 runs. He is a free agent so not sure what his future holds, but it was a solid season for him.

2025 Stats: 46 G, 2.12 ERA, 46.2 IP, 25 H, 11 ER, 22 BB, 63 K, 12.2 K/9

Alimber Santa

Santa has been in the system since 2021 and has some high potential. The Astros moved him to full time relief role in 2025 and he had the best start of his career posting a 1.26 ERA with 63 K in 57 innings for the Hooks in Double-A. He was promoted to Triple-A but struggled with a 6.92 ERA. He should be back in Triple-A in 2026 and is only 23 years old.

2025 Stats: 46 G, 2.31 ERA, 70.0 IP, 46 H, 18 ER, 39 BB, 82 K, 10.5 K/9

Ramsey David

David was drafted by the Astros in the 10th round and immediately started turning some heads with his heater reaching 99 MPH in Spring Training. He started the year in Single-A and had a 3.86 ERA with 51 K in 51.1 innings. He dominated in High-A posting a 1.40 ERA before finishing the season in Double-A. Overall, he showed plenty in his first full season to be excited about his potential in 2026.

2025 Stats: 30 G, 3.47 ERA, 85.2 IP, 61 H, 33 ER, 51 BB, 87 K, 9.1 K/9

Colby Langford

Langford had a very interesting season. On one hand, he was dominant striking out 87 over 60.2 innings and holding opponents to just a .177 batting average against. On the down side though, Langford walked 63 in 60.2 innings. Obviously he has some dominating stuff from the left side, just has to clean up the command.

2025 Stats: 42 G, 3.26 ERA, 60.2 IP, 36 H, 22 ER, 63 BB, 87 K, 12.9 K/9

THE REST OF THE PACK

Hudson Leach

Leach has some of the nastiest stuff in the system and was dominant at times in 2025, but overall finished with a 5.54 ERA. He did finish with 63 strikeouts in 39 innings, including some run in Triple-A. He should return to Double-A or Triple-A in 2026.

2025 Stats: 34 G, 5.54 ERA, 39.0 IP, 33 H, 24 ER, 24 BB, 63 K, 14.5 K/9

Amilcar Chirinos

Chirinos is another right-hander who at times was dominating. He started the year in High-A and struck out 38 over 22.2 innings, but had a 5.56 ERA. He finished the season in Double-A with a 4.30 ERA over 29.1 innings.

2025 Stats: 46 G, 4.85 ERA, 52.0 IP, 51 H, 28 ER, 28 BB, 65 K, 11.3 K/9

Wilmy Sanchez

Sanchez is an undersized right-hander with an electric fastball. Like some others on this list, he was dominating at times but his command bit him a lot. He finished the season with a 6.05 ERA and 51 walks in 61 innings, though he did strike out 75.

2025 Stats: 46 G, 6.05 ERA, 61.0 IP, 59 H, 41 ER, 51 BB, 75 K, 11.1 K/9

Michael Knorr

Knorr was a 3rd round pick in 2022 but hasn’t live up to the hype yet. He pitched strictly in relief in 2025 posting a 5.03 ERA over 53.2 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. He has some good stuff but just hasn’t translated to success.

2025 Stats: 20 G, 4.34 ERA, 120.2 IP, 99 H, 53 ER, 55 BB, 122 K, 9.1 K/9

2026 OUTLOOK

The back end of the bullpen is locked down with Abreu and Hader but after that, there are some holes that probably need to get filled. I’m not sure it will be from anyone on this list, but the Astros will most likely look towards some of the starters who could help in the pen. Maybe someone like Blubaugh or Ullola will get some pen time as well.

1900
Charles Comiskey received permission to relocate the Western League’s St. Paul Saints to Chicago, where they will become the White Sox of the American League.

1957
With air travel commonplace and MLB now stretching from coast to coast, the league considered drafting a plan to create a player pool to be used in the case of a plane crash. For whatever reason (likely that in the case of such a disaster a franchise would have to fold its current season and receive help from other clubs with an offseason draft) a plan never was put forth.

1964
Jim Brosnan is given permission from the White Sox to seek a deal with another team, after GM Ed Short forbids any further in-season writing (Brosnan previously had authored the classic book, The Long Season, as well as Pennant Race). Brosnan, who was acquired during the 1963 season and threw extremely well out of the pen (2.84 ERA, 15 saves and 1.1 WAR) for the pennant-chasing White Sox, would be released by the team on February 25.

Brosnan never pitched another game in the majors, his career over at age 34.

1981
Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Einhorn gained control of the Chicago White Sox for $20 million, after American League owners turned down Bill Veeck’s attempt to sell to Eddie DeBartolo.

For franchise value context, on the same day the owners approved an 80% sale of the Seattle Mariners for $10.4 million.

Reinsdorf’s original partner was William Farley, but Farley dropped out in part because the White Sox went out and signed free agents Ron LeFlore and Jim Essian. Farley didn’t approve of the team spending $3 million for them — even though Veeck got the money for the signings from DeBartolo. 

Reinsdorf originally was part of a group trying to buy the New York Mets. Einhorn originally was part of a group trying to get the San Diego Padres.

1998
The end of Ozzie Guillén’s White Sox career became official, as the 34-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore. Ozzie’s first year away from the White Sox since 1985 proved eventful, as the O’s released him a month into the season. But Guillén would catch on quickly with Atlanta and would see action in both the 1998 and 1999 postseasons with the Braves.

2002
In the moment, it was a strange trade by GM Ken Williams, as the White Sox traded stalwart outfielder Chris Singleton to Baltimore for young utilityman Willie Harris.

Singleton had an extraordinary rookie season in 1999 (4.8 WAR and 20-of-25 steals playing a superb center field, somehow garnering just sixth place in AL Rookie of the Year voting) and had bounced back nicely with a 2.2-WAR 2001 after a tough sophomore season. Harris, younger by five years, never came close to reaching even those heights in Chicago.

However, Harris will always have a special place in the hearts of White Sox fans, scoring the winning (and only) run of the 2005 World Series Game 4 clincher. Harris lead off the eighth inning of a scoreless tie with a single to left, then was grinded over to third by a Scott Podsednik sacrifice bunt and Carl Everett ground out and driving in by Jermaine Dye’s dribble single to center field. Harris was 2-for-2 in the 2005 playoffs, the only postseason of his career.

2013
A damning story in the Miami New Times listed the names of several major leaguers who were customers of a PED clinic in Coral Gables, Fla., Biogenesis Laboratories. Álex Rodríguez is the headliner of shame, but three past or future White Sox are also named: Bartolo Colón, Melky Cabrera and Yasmani Grandal. All three had tested positive for PEDs within the year, legitimizing the case against Biogenesis.

Meet the Mets

Outside of some minor moves the Mets are most likely done adding this offseason.

The team has not shown any recent interest in Austin Hayes after they signed Luis Robert Jr.

Manager Carlos Mendoza dropped some hints as to how he would construct this year’s lineup on a recent podcast appearance.

The Mets signed infielder Grae Kessinger to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.

Around the National League East

The Braves could add to their starting rotation with the free agents still on the market before spring training begins.

The Marlins will predominatly face teams in the National League East in August which could affect potential playoff races.

Nick Castellanos and manager Rob Thompson have a strained relationship stemming from an incident last season and the Phillies are still expected to part ways with the outfielder.

The Nationals claimed shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng off waivers from the Mets.

Around Major League Baseball

The Yankees acquired righty Angel Chivilli from the Rockies to add depth to their bullpen.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is joining a stacked Dominican Republic team for the World Baseball Classic.

The payroll disparity between teams is the highest it has ever been with the Dodgers having a higher payroll than the lowest five teams combined last year.

Both Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa will miss the World Baseball Classic after failing to get insurance on their contracts for the tournament.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Brian Salvatore reveiwed José Azócar’s brief season with the Mets.

A.J. Ewing came in at number 6 on Steve Sypa’s prospect list.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 1989 the Game Winning RBI was retired as an official statistic which makes Keith Hernandez the all-time leader in that category.

All of Major League Baseball has been debating for a while if A), what the Dodgers are doing with their payroll is the ‘correct’ way of doing things; B), how long it would be sustainable; and C) will it finally trigger a salary cap.

For the Dodgers front office, doing it ‘correctly’ is just semantics. Whatever one thinks of how Andrew Friedman and Co have gone about things, there’s no denying that winning three World Series in six seasons is something to be envied. They employ the best player on the planet in Shohei Ohtani, who has brought them untold amounts of revenue in advertising and other areas. The winning ways, combined with their clubhouse culture, has made it a top destination for the top free agents.

On Wednesday, Jack Harris posited that the Dodgers Front Office will not be able to do what they have been for very much longer.

While the Dodgers will still have their winning culture and ability to assess talent and be an enviable destination, when the salary cap or something similar in implemented, the “Golden Age” of this iteration of Dodgers Baseball will be over. As Harris puts it, the Dodgers will go from being a team that ‘should’ win it every season to a team that ‘could’ win it all.

Harris also wonders just how long the Dodgers will have their dominance with their aging core. Kyle Tucker and Andy Pages are the only two everyday players that are under the age of 30, with Tucker not being far off, at the age of 29. Max Muncy, Freddie Freeman, and Teoscar Hernandez have contracts expiring at the end of the next two seasons. The Dodgers do have one of the top farm systems in all of the majors but had to give away their second and fourth round drafts to sign both Tucker and Edwin Diaz this offseason. But, as this organization has shown time and again, they will find a way to field the best team possible.

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The Dodgers have been doing a Dodgers Love LA Community Tour. On Tuesday, Dodgers alumni Dennis Powell and Matt Luke visited Hollydale Elementary School, hosting a Playworks Recess Takeover. They also handed out groceries and essentials to food insecure families.

On Wednesday, Steve Yeager and Billy Ashley met with emergency personnel to thank them for their services.

The tour will continue before its culmination at Dodger Fan Fest this Saturday at Dodger Stadium.

The final infield bat? Up in the air. Free agents? Available. A trade for CJ Abrams? Possible. Maybe? The Washington Nationals did just trade Mackenzie Gore so it’s possible they burn things completely to the ground. Gore, however, did cost the Texas Rangers a king’s ransom of prospects.

We are, as of today, January 29, 2026, 55 days away from Opening Day. It’s a little early for countdowns, but in this weird period between building the team and heading to Spring Training, let’s go ahead and do one anyway, taking a look at the Red Sox players who have worn number 55.

55 isn’t the most popular uniform number but also isn’t the least. Just 9 players for Boston have donned it versus 61 players for number 28, the most worn number.

Let’s remember some guys.

Chris Martin

You don’t need much of a reminder about Martin. The 6’8” righty reliever wore 55 during his two-year stint in Boston in 2023-2024. A real ace of a signing, Martin put up the best season of his career in 2023. Sadly, that team wasn’t in a place to take advantage of a shutdown reliever having a career year.

Matt Strahm

Who can forget Matt Strahm and his very long hair in 2022? Sadly this was his worst full season in the majors, although a 3.83 ERA / 3.72 FIP across 44.2 innings isn’t terrible either. He was one and done, signed as a free agent. He’s been a valuable part of the Phillies bullpen over the last three seasons but found himself shipped off to Kansas City in December.

Christian Vázquez

When he first came up in 2014, Vázquez wore 55. When he returned for good from 2016-2022 the World Series hero took up number 7, currently worn by Masataka Yoshida but previously worn by luminaries like Trot Nixon and J.D. Drew.

Chris Capuano

Do you remember Chris Capuano’s Red Sox career? I had forgotten too. He actually shared 55 in 2014 with Vázquez. The lefty appeared in 28 games out of the bullpen and over 31.2 innings allowed 15 runs. He was released on July 1 that year, signed by the Colorado Rockies on the 4th, and then purchased by the Yankees on the 24th before ever pitching for the Rockies. He had some memorable seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers but not for John Farrell.

Ryan Kalish

We’re all the way back to 2010-2012 now for Ryan Kalish and if you don’t remember the hype, it was a lot. Kalish was the number one player in the farm system according to SoxPropsects back in 2011. In 2010 he was behind possible two-way player Casey Kelly and Josh Reddick/Lars Anderson, depending on if you looked in April or June. His .710 OPS over 53 games as a 22-year-old would turn out to be the high water mark of his career. After being released he would latch on to the Theo Epstein Cubs and hit .286/.444/.286 in 7 games in 2016 but presumably collect a World Series ring. He wasn’t released until December 2013 but didn’t appear in the majors for the Red Sox, losing out on a second World Series championship. That would have really made him a trivia answer.

Joey Gathright

The speedster wore 23 in his 2009 Red Sox callup and 55 for his next and final major league action in 2011. He could steal 20 bases a year (for the Rays and Royals – he stole 2 in 24 games for the Red Sox) but couldn’t hit the ball with power, owning a .303 career slugging percentage.

Jeff Bailey

Bailey was drafted by the then-Florida Marlins in 1997 before being purchased by the Montreal Expos in 2002, where he would remain for a year. Upon tasting free agency he signed with the Red Sox in November 2003. He would then spend three more years in the minors. A decade after he was drafted, and 961 minor league games later, Jeff Bailey would make his major league debut on July 6, 2007. He’d get two more games that season, 27 in 2008, and 26 in 2009. He wore 55 for all of them.

Lenny DiNardo

Former pitcher and current NESN analyst Lenny DiNardo wore 55 from 2004-2006. Claimed off waivers by the Oakland A’s from the Red Sox in February 2007, he cleared the way for 55 to open up for Jeff Bailey.

Ramiro Mendoza

A one-and-done Red Sox reliever in 2003 who never lived up to the work he did with the Yankees. His final appearance for Boston was Game 3 of the 2004 ALCS.

Todd Erdos

Boston was the last stop of his five-year career and the righty bullpen arm appeared in 10 games.

Rich Croushore

Croushore tossed 4.2 innings for the Red Sox in 2000. He was traded by the Rockies to Boston (with others) for Jeff Frye, Brian Rose, and John Wasdin. Those are sure some throwbacks.

Below is a picture of John Wasdin because Getty didn’t have one of Croushore as a Red Sox player.

Brian Shouse

8.0 innings in Boston in 1998. Signed as a free agent and released.

Carlos Reyes

In 1998, Reyes wore 55 for the Padres and Red Sox but never wore the number in any other year or on any other team.

Jeff Suppan

Suppan would wear 55 from 1995-1997 but would wear 35 for his 2003 return to Boston.

Suppan would later lose Game 3 of the 2004 World Series to the Red Sox, making a memorable base-running blunder.

Joe Hesketh

Another lefty pitcher for the list, he’d take 55 from 1990-1994.

Phil Plantier

Plantier would only spend 14 games in the majors in 1990 and when Hesketh was acquired he was in the majors and took 55 over. Plantier would wear 7 when he came back and 29 in 1991-1992.

Randy Kutcher

Possibly a fan of the number 5, Kutcher would wear 55 in 1988 before changing to 5 for 1989 and 1990. Although before he was in Boston he wore 9 and 19 with the San Fransisco Giants.

La Schelle Tarver

One-and-done for both the Red Sox and his major league career, Tarver, listed as a centerfielder and pinch runner, wore 55 for all of his 13 games.

Bob Veale

The first Red Sox player to wear 55, Veale did so from 1972-1974, the final three seasons of his career. Over 10 years with the Pittsburgh Pirates before that he wore 39. In Boston, 39 was taken by Mike Garmen when he arrived and then Tim Blackwell after Veale had settled into 55.

The Colorado Rockies haven’t exactly had a quiet off-season. They hired an entirely new front office and coaching staff as the organization begins their much needed modernization and rebuild efforts. They’ve signed two veteran free agents in Michael Lorenzen and Willi Castro to Major League deals, acquired Jake McCarthy from the Arizona Diamondbacks, brought on a full new class of young international free agents, and made a smattering of minor league deals.

However, it’s always felt like—with a crowded outfield and further roster evaluation needed—there had to be more coming.

Then, on Wednesday, the Rockies suddenly had one of their busiest days of the off-season.

The Rockies kicked off the day with a surprise by trading young right-handed reliever and former prospect Angel Chivilli to the New York Yankees in exchange for minor league first baseman TJ Rumfield.

The 25-year-old has a solid glove and turned in a strong season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, slashing .285/.378/.447 with 31 doubles, one triple, and 16 home runs. He can also draw walks regularly, doing so at a 11.9% clip compared to his 18.4% strikeout rate.

“We’re going to keep adding talent to this roster, but in no way are we not believing in the young guys we have,” DePodesta said. “I think we have a lot of really good young players that are in Double-A and Triple-A, and there’s no doubt in my mind that they’re going to earn their opportunities on this team. And once they do, they’ll have long runways with us.”

However, those long runways don’t necessarily apply to everyone. We have already seen the Rockies part ways with young players prospects this off-season. In addition to the Chivilli trade, the Rockies also dealt prospect pitcher Josh Grosz to the Arizona Diamondbacks and designated a player once believed to be the team’s catcher of the future in Drew Romo for assignment.

Later in the day, the Rockies added outfielder Yanquiel Fernández to that list by designating him for assignment. Once ranked as high as the Rockies’ no. 3 organizational prospect per MLB Pipeline, Fernández made his Major League debut in 2025. He slashed .225/.265/.348 with four home runs over 138 at-bats as both a right fielder and designated hitter. Fernández, despite having just turned 23, is now potentially out of the Rockies organization entirely after getting his first cup of coffee.

“We’re certainly at the point where we feel like every time we make a move we’re losing someone we like, or potentially losing someone we like, and that certainly was the case with Yanquiel,” DePodesta explained. “We now have a group in the big leagues that we feel pretty good about. We also have a handful of guys on the 40-man who haven’t yet gotten a lot of time in the big leagues, or even any time right now, like Sterlin Thompson. Guys that we like and guys that we think have a chance to help us.”

While DePodesta had plenty of praise for Fernández and Chivilli, his new front office’s decisions would indicate that this team isn’t as high on it’s current stock of youth and prospects as the Rockies of the past—especially when it comes to position players.

This would seem to be substantiated by moves today and throughout the off-season. While DePodesta says he believes the youth will earn their spots, his focus has been on bringing in competition and creating fluidity on the roster.

“I think what we’re really trying to do is create really healthy competition on our roster,” he said. “Most of the players we have acquired do have a good amount of versatility. I think there are lots of different ways that the pieces can fit, and I think that’s really what we’re looking for.”

Willi Castro—now officially signed to the roster—can play all over the field and create competition for younger players like Kyle Karros at third base and Adael Amador at second. Both he and Jake McCarthy’s outfield versatility creates competition for the aforementioned Thompson, the beleaguered Zac Veen, and other outfield prospects. Fernández ended up being the odd man out because—despite his strong arm and power bat—he lacked the flexibility of other outfielders on the roster. With his poor speed and defense, he was anchored exclusively to right field or as a designated hitter.

New first baseman TJ Rumfield represents another potential option for the Rockies in a first base group that has surprisingly become quite crowded alongside Blaine Crim, Troy Johnston—who can also play corner outfield—, and current top prospect Charlie Condon.

The Rockies continued their busy day with another trade, acquiring French-Canadian infielder Edouard Julien and right-handed pitcher Pierson Ohl from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for right-handed pitcher Jace Kaminska and cash considerations.

Julien, 26, was once a top prospect of the Twins organization and can play both first and second base. However, the Rockies also like him for another trend we have seen in their acquisitions: getting on base and batted ball skills. More Rockies on base means more runs to be driven in.

While Julien is coming off two down years, in 2023 and throughout his minor league career he has hit well against right-handed pitching and getting on base. He has a whopping .427 career on-base percentage in the minors, while carrying a solid enough .336 Major League OBP and a 13% walk rate.

The Rockies also believe that Julien—along with Castro and McCarthy—can have bounce-back seasons after losing a step in 2025.

“I think we feel really strongly about all their capabilities. Also. I think the underlying fundamentals of their performance have stayed reasonably consistent. So we think we have a chance to build on that foundation and get them back to,or maybe even exceed, where they were.”

With all of these roster moves, the Rockies are already showing a different approach to the off-season compared to the previous front office. There may also be more moves yet to come.

“We may not be done adding. Well, we’ll see…” DePodesta said. “But we did want to make sure that we had healthy competition at a handful of these different spots and then different ways to put the puzzle together.”

Willi Castro joins Puerto Rico for his first World Baseball Classic | MLB.com

The rosters for the World Baseball Classic are taking shape, and one of the newest members of the Rockies will be a part of it. Puerto Rican super utilityman Willi Castro will suit up for his first World Baseball Classic appearance alongside Nolan Arenado for Team Puerto Rico.

Twins Trade Julien, Ohl to Rockies | Twinkie Town

Our friends over at Twinkie Town discuss the trade of Edouard Julien and Pierson Ohl from their perspective. They see Julien as a reclamation project for the Rockies and have some concerns about his defense.

Yankees trade for Rockies reliever Angel Chivilli | Pinstripe Alley

Meanwhile, our friends at Pinstripe Alley have their own thoughts about their newest team member in right-handed pitcher Angel Chivilli.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

There are a few more signing rumors out there, but we’ll wait for confirmation. The Dylan Carlson deal is done. More pitching and infield help (Gabe Klobosits, Karson Simas) may be on the way. We, um, await developments.

*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*): Reddit AMA: What does the future hold for Brown, Alcántara, Ballesteros? “Questions and responses have been lightly edited for clarity.“
• Thomas Domol (North Side Baseball*): It’s time for the Cubs to win the NL Central. “Getting back to the playoffs isn’t the goal now.“
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Big splashes checked off their list, Cubs focusing on roster depth. “So, by no means are we done with the offseason. But I do think we’ve checked some of the big boxes that we were hoping to accomplish.”
• Brian Kelder (North Side Baseball*): What is the Point of Tyler Austin? “The slugging first baseman is intriguing, but will he play often enough to justify his roster spot?”
• Steve Adams (MLB Trade Rumors*): Cubs, Dylan Carlson agree to Minor League deal. “Carlson will make $2MM if he cracks the majors…”
• Andrew Simon (MLB.com*): Here’s why you can call Ian Happ ‘Mr. Consistent’. “The left fielder has been a human metronome over the past four seasons…“

Food For Thought:

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We’re here to talk about the one thing on everybody’s minds: who is going to be the Milwaukee Brewers’ backup catcher when the 2026 season starts?

There was a bit of news on this front on Tuesday, when the Brewers—after rumors swirled for some time—signed the Chicago Cubs’ 2025 backup, Reese McGuire. The wrinkle here is that McGuire was not signed to a major league deal; he instead received a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.

McGuire, who turns 31 early in spring training, is still probably the best bet to open the season as the backup catcher, but since he is not yet on the 40-man roster and doesn’t have a guaranteed deal means that we cannot take that for granted.

Whoever the team’s backup catcher is may not have much of a role. William Contreras plays as often as any catcher in the league, and he’s one of the best at the position, so Milwaukee’s backups in recent years haven’t had a whole lot to do.

Let’s take a quick look across Milwaukee’s catching landscape to see who could be in the running here.

Reese McGuire

As mentioned, McGuire makes the most sense. Of all the catchers that we currently know will be in major league camp with the Brewers, McGuire is the only one other than Contreras who has ever played in a major league game. That seems notable.

Harrison did a good job running down McGuire’s bona fides yesterday, but a quick review: McGuire was the 14^th overall pick out of high school in 2013, and worked his way onto top-100 prospect lists within the next couple of years. But McGuire’s bat didn’t develop like some hoped, and it wasn’t exactly an “event” when he made his major-league debut with the Blue Jays late in the 2018 season.

McGuire spent most of 2019 in the minors, but he had an encouraging, brief 30-game run in the big leagues in which he hit .299/.346/.526 and clobbered five homers. That good offense turned out to be a mirage, though; after he struggled through the shortened 2020 season, McGuire settled in as a low-offense, solid-defense backstop in 2021, a season in which he played more games than any other Blue Jay catcher but eventually got a bit crowded out by the dependable Danny Jansen and the emerging Alejandro Kirk.

With both Kirk and Jansen playing well, Toronto broke up their catching trio by trading McGuire to the White Sox at the end of spring training in 2022. Chicago didn’t have as much invested in McGuire as the team that drafted him did, so after a rough season they cut bait and shipped him to Boston at the trade deadline. McGuire actually had a magical partial season with the Red Sox: in 36 games after the deadline, he hit .337/.377/.500. That magic didn’t last, though, and he spent the next two seasons playing rather poorly backing up Connor Wong.

McGuire became a free agent after the 2024 season. He signed with the Cubs in January but didn’t make the major league team out of spring training. But when Miguel Amaya strained an oblique in late May, the Cubs re-signed McGuire, and he was with them through the end of the season. In total, he played 44 games in 2025. He hit for a low average and walked only four times in 140 plate appearances (!) but did hit for power: nine homers put his slugging all the way at .444 despite a .245 OBP. That power bump was probably an outlier; through his first seven seasons, McGuire had an isolated power number of just .113, which shot up to .218 in his small sample with the Cubs.

McGuire’s profile is of a guy who features good-enough defense who can obviously run into one at the right moment, but his offensive production will likely be bad; in eight major league seasons covering just under 1,200 plate appearances, he holds an 84 OPS+ and an on-base percentage of just .293.

If McGuire doesn’t make the Brewers out of spring training, he has no minor league options yet, so he would need to be designated for assignment or traded.

Jeferson Quero

The only non-Contreras catcher on the 40-man right now is former mega-prospect Jeferson Quero, who finished last season at Triple-A Nashville. You’re all familiar with the Quero story, so I won’t spend much time on it: Quero ranked in the top 40 of all three major prospect rankings heading into the 2024 season, but he suffered a torn labrum in the very first game of the 2024 season, which cost him the whole year.

Crucially, it may also have cost him the weapon that set him apart as a catching prospect: his throwing arm. Quero was one of the best players in all of professional baseball at catching base stealers in 2023, but the early returns after Quero returned from his long injury journey last June were, at best, discouraging. At worst, it showed that the tool that was always the first thing mentioned in Quero scouting reports is no longer something that is going to help him.

There’s certainly a chance that with more time elapsed since the injury, Quero recovers some of his arm strength in 2026. And it’s not like that was the only thing that people liked about him; scouting reports laud his receiving and his work with pitchers, and he projects as a capable, if not good, hitter.

Still, Quero is unlikely to start the season as the team’s backup catcher even if the Brewers think he is ready, because that’s not how the Brewers act with their top prospects. Keeping him in the minor leagues for a month or two delays his service clock, which is something that Milwaukee has done with its other big prospects in recent years.

If I were guessing who finishes the season as the Brewers’ backup catcher, I might choose Quero, but I doubt we’ll see him on Opening Day.

Ramón Rodríguez or Matt Wood

Rodríguez and Wood are notable because they were on a list of Brewer minor leaguers invited to major-league camp recently. Wood, who turns 25 on the same day that McGuire turns 31, was a fourth-round pick in 2022 and has worked his way up to Double-A Biloxi, where he performed well at the plate in 2025.

Rodríguez was drafted by the Dodgers way back in 2016, and caught on with the Brewers as a minor league free agent in 2024. He played just 21 games in 2025, but he raked for the Shuckers in those 21 games, in which he hit .359/.457/.484. Rodríguez is a career .262/.335/.380 hitter in nine minor league seasons and reached Triple A when he was in Baltimore’s system but has never made the majors.

Neither Rodríguez or Wood likely factors into Milwaukee’s plans at the major league level, at least for now. But they’ll be working with the pitching staff during spring training, and one of them will likely start the season at Triple-A Nashville.

Any others?

Last season, Jorge Alfaro played 82 games with Triple-A Nashville, and Eric Haase played 19 after accepting an assignment there after the Brewers acquired Jansen at the trade deadline. Nick Kahle was another player who got some time behind the plate at the highest level of the Brewers’ minor league system.

Alfaro is gone: he signed a minor league deal with the Royals earlier this month. Haase, likewise, reportedly agreed to a minor league contract with San Francisco a couple of weeks ago. Kahle, as far as I can tell, is not under contract. Another player hypothetically in the mix is another guy with an early-May birthday, Darrien Miller, who is still in the Brewers’ system; he was a ninth-round draft pick in 2019 and has played the entirety of his last two seasons at Double-A Biloxi. But his progress has stalled; at the plate, Miller can take a walk but he can’t do much else—he hit .192/.381/.329 last season and hasn’t hit above .228 in a full-season league since graduating from Low-A in 2021.

The likely outcome

The names have changed, but I have long held the belief that Quero is going to be in Milwaukee as soon as the team is sure they’ve delayed his clock. I thought at first that the logical “first backup” was Eric Haase, who has served in that role before and knows Milwaukee’s pitchers, but McGuire makes a lot of sense here too. My official prediction is that, assuming health all around, McGuire makes the Brewers out of spring training, and is designated for assignment (or traded, or both) sometime in May or June when Quero makes his major league debut.

A few things could change that prediction, though: someone could get hurt; McGuire could continue hitting bombs like he did last year and prove himself a worthy, solid offensive option; or Quero could struggle in the minors.

If Contreras gets hurt, the Brewers likely call up Quero and make him the everyday catcher, though he’d likely split time with McGuire. If Quero or McGuire gets hurt, then the other is the backup. If Quero struggles, he likely just stays in the minors and McGuire continues as the backup. Hopefully everyone stays healthy and productive, and things work out for everyone.