Category: Sports News

While most of the AL East spent the offseason making big trades and free agent signings, the motto in the Bronx seemed to be “Hold the Status Quo.” Last year, the Yankees finished tied with the Blue Jays at 94-68, but ended up in second after losing their season series to Toronto. After Cam Schlittler threw 8 shutout innings with 12 Ks to propel New York past the Red Sox in Game 3 of the Wild Card Series, the Yankees met their season end at the hands of the Blue Jays. In a 3-1 Division Series loss, the Yankees were outscored 34-16 as their season ended two rounds earlier than in 2024.

Despite a disappointing postseason run, the front office in New York decided this team was good enough to run back basically the same squad. The Bronx Bombers led MLB in runs per game, home runs, and team OPS as captain Aaron Judge took home his third AL MVP in the last four seasons. That’s not to say they weren’t still flawed; the Yankees’ lineup had the third most strikeouts in baseball and a bottom-10 bullpen. And yet, the Yankees come into 2026 as the least changed team in the division.

Offseason moves

The Yankees’ first priority this offseason was securing their starting outfield alongside Judge. Trent Grisham was one of four players around MLB to accept the Qualifying Offer, returning to New York on the one-year/$22.05M deal. He’ll man CF again in 2026, looking to build on a career year when he had career highs in hits (116), home runs (34) and RBI (74).

Returning alongside Grisham and Judge in the Yankees outfield is former NL MVP Cody Bellinger. After playing a series of short-term deals with the Cubs and Yankees the last three seasons, Bellinger turned in an All-Star level season last season to earn a long-term deal in the Bronx. After posting 89 runs, 160 hits, 29 home runs and 98 RBIs, the Yankees rewarded Bellinger with a five-year/$162.5M deal that will keep him in New York into his mid 30s.

The re-signings didn’t stop there, though. The Yankees also brought back Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario as depth pieces for their bench. The now 38-year-old Goldschmidt returns on a one-year/$4M deal after slashing .274/.328/.403 in 489 ABs last season. Rosario joined the Yankees at the deadline last season, but only played in 16 games due to a shoulder injury. He’ll provide depth in the middle infield and in CF for New York next season.

The Yankees also bring back LHP Ryan Yarbrough and RHP Paul Blackburn on small one-year deals to give them a pair of multi-innings relief options. Their only major outside addition was LHP Ryan Weathers, whom the Yankees traded three Top 30 prospects to the Marlins to acquire. The hard-throwing, injury-prone Weathers will be asked to fill in the rotation to begin the season, with Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón and Clarke Schmidt all expected to begin the season on the IL.

Even though the bullpen was a major pain point for the Yankees in 2025, it’s also where they suffered most of their losses this offseason. After a disastrous season in the Bronx, former All-Star closer Devin Williams left in free agency and joined the Mets. Former set-up man Luke Weaver also made the switch from the Bronx to Queens, while relievers Mark Leiter Jr. (Athletics), Ian Hamilton (Braves) and JonathanLoáisiga (Diamondbacks) also departed in free agency.

Gerrit Cole

Some of the Yankees’ willingness to stand pat in the offseason undoubtedly revolves around the pending return of their ace, Cole. The 2023 AL Cy Young winner will pitch for the Yankees today for the first time since tearing his UCL last Spring Training. Despite returning to the mound in March, it’s likely Cole won’t make a start in a regular-season game for another 2-3 months.

If he comes back fully healthy, he could give the Yankees the best rotation in the American League. With Cole, former All-Stars in Max Fried and Rodón, an emerging young talent in Schlittler and depth with Schmidt, Weathers, Will Warren and Luis Gil, New York could have a rotation that more than mitigates their bullpen concerns.

However, at 35 years old and with a history of previous elbow injuries, there’s no guarantee that Cole comes back at full strength. As the only major “addition” compared to last year’s squad, a lot is riding on Cole being a major contributor if the Yankees want to unseat Toronto and fend off improved squads in Baltimore and Boston.

Projections

• PECOTA: 88-74 (2nd in AL East)
• FanGraphs: 87-75 (1st in AL East)

Despite their lack of aggression in the offseason, most projections still have the Yankees at or near the top of the AL East. PECOTA projects them to finish second behind the Blue Jays again, but with only half a game difference between them and New York. FanGraphs has the Yankees finishing two games in front of Toronto and capturing their third AL East title in the last five years. All major sportsbooks also have the Yankees as the betting favorites to win the division at around +180 odds.

The projections echo the consensus sentiment about the Yankees: despite making no major moves, they should still be one of the best teams in baseball. However, given the amount of improvement that’s gone on in Baltimore, Boston and Toronto, New York may ultimately come to regret the reluctance to make big changes.

The Mets have had a lot of turnover this offseason. Between trades and stars leaving in free agency, the team looks much different than the one that missed the playoffs just a few months ago. There are a few familiar faces left, though, who are hoping to help create and contribute to the next great Mets team.

One of them is young catcher Francisco Alvarez. 2026 will be his fourth season as the Mets’ starting catcher, and in his previous three full seasons he has been inconsistent to say the least. Some of that could be chalked up toa series of freak hand injuries. But during the second half of last season, he showed a side of himself that looked more like the top prospect that he was in 2022 and less like the inconsistent hitter he had become in 2024 and the first part of 2025.

Over the course of his career, Alvarez has hit .230/.306/.429, hitting 48 home runs and accumulating 143 RBI. He has a 105 wRC+ and 6.7 fWAR over parts of four seasons in the major leagues. He’s also been worth 8 fielding run value, putting him solidly middle of the pack as a defender in that time, 17th out of 38 qualified catchers.

Last season, Alvarez had his best offensive season, hitting .256/.339/.447 with 11 home runs and 32 RBI in 76 games. He had a 124 wRC+ and accumulated 1.8 fWAR. His defense was the worst of his career, however, being worth -6 FRV, putting him in the bottom tier of defensive catchers in the league. 

The second half of 2025 was when he really shined. After a month-long trip down to Triple-A, he came back with a vengeance. After the All-Star break, he hit .276/.360/.561, hitting eight of his eleven home runs and driving in 21 of his 32 RBI. In the second half he had a 157 wRC+, better than his season or career mark, and if it were over the course of a full season it would be his best of his career by a wide margin. 

Now, Alvarez’s main problem last season—and for most of his major league career—was that he was injury-prone. Over the course of his last two seasons, he has suffered a number of freak injuries. In 2024, he tore a ligament in his left thumb and missed nearly two months. And in 2025 he broke the hamate bone in his left hand and missed the first month of the season before with a compromised UCL in his right thumb for the last month of the season, an injury that eventually needed surgery after the season ended.

For next season, FanGraphs’ OOPSY projections expect Alvarez to have similar stats to his 2025 season. He’s projected to hit .242/.324/.447, with 20 home runs and a 117 wRC+. He’s projected to accumulate 3.0 fWAR, which is equal to his 2023 career best, and it has his defense bouncing back a bit. The defense would not be a surprise, as it’s possible his hamate injury in his catching hand might have impeded his defensive ability.

There are a lot of questions surrounding Francisco Alvarez’s 2026 season and the different possibilities. Will Alvarez be able to keep up his hitting form from the second half of 2025? Will he sustain another freak injury (or two)? Will he return to his defensive form of a couple years ago? If one or two of those go the right way, it could be a big step forward for the former top prospect.

Baseball season is back, and spring training is in full swing. With that, there has been opportunities for prospects to play with the Major League club and show what they can do. Below are some prospects that have stood out recently.

Hitter – Walker Janek

Janek was seen as the best defensive catcher in the 2024 draft, showing up a plus arm and a quick release. In 2025 the 23-year-old hit .263 with 21 doubles, 2 triples and 12 home runs over 92 games for High-A Asheville. He also added a surprising 30 stolen bases.

So far this spring he has played in seven games and is 5-for-11 with a 2 doubles, a home run, 5 runs batted in and 3 walks. He has also added four stolen bases. He has the highest OPS for anyone with more than one PA. This is a great start for Janek and sets him up well for 2026, where he should start the season in Double-A.

Hitter – Josh Wakefield

Wakefield was drafted by the Astros in the 14th round of the 2025 draft after a season at Grand Canyon University where he hit .349 in 50 games. The left-handed hitter doesn’t provide a ton of pop, but he has good bat to ball skills and solid speed that he can use offensively on the bases and defensively in the outfield.

Despite not appearing in a game last year after the draft, the Astros have given him some run this spring training. He’s appeared in nine games and is 3-for-9 (.333 BA) with a double and a run batted in. It’s a small sample, but a solid performance in his first few professional at-bats.

Pitcher – AJ Blubaugh

Blubaugh was a 7th round pick back in the 2022 draft out of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Blubaugh was up and down a bit in 2025 but when he got a chance with the Astros, he showed off posting a 1.69 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 32 innings. The 2025 season showed that Blubaugh belongs with the big league club and should get some good long looks this season.

Blubaugh has made the most of his chances so far. The right-hander has pitched in four games and allowed 1 run over 7.2 innings while striking out 6 batters. He’s shown the high 90s fastball and based on stuff and production, it is going to be hard for the Astros to not have him on the Opening Day roster.

Pitcher – Michael Knorr

The Astros drafted Knorr in the 3rd round of the 2022 draft. Knorr spent his first three seasons at Cal State Fullerton before moving to Coastal Carolina for his senior year where he struck out 86 in 69 innings. Knorr struggled with some injuries, logging just 98 innings between 2023 and 2024. He pitched strictly in relief in 2025 posting a 5.03 ERA over 53.2 innings between Double-A and Triple-A.

Knorr has some good raw stuff and shown that this spring running his fastball up to 97 MPH. So far he has pitched in three games and allowed 1 earned run over 3.1 innings (2.70 ERA) while striking out 3 batters. A solid showing for the right-hander and while he is already 25 years old, he still has a chance to make it up as a bullpen arm.

Good day friends and happy Wednesday!

The Mariners are coming off a split-squad split yesterday, besting the Rockies by a 10-6 final while dropping a game to the Padres 9-6.

The ongoing concern in Mariners camp regards the status of J.P. Crawford, whose shoulder imaging came back clean yesterday. However, the M’s are uncertain if he’ll be ready to start the season. Should he start the year on the injured list, who would you want to see open the year as the team’s starting shortstop?

In Mariners news…

• The Mariners announced the launch of Mariners SEA Change, an initiative focused on “ensuring access to baseball and softball”; “advancing inclusion and opportunity”; and “fostering a healthy and vibrant hometown.”
• Get ready to re-live the Mariners’ magical season.

• Don’t forget to get your predictions in for the 2026 MLB season!

In the World Baseball Classic…

• Eugenio Suárez was the late-game hero, knocking in a ninth-inning go-ahead double to secure the 3-2 WBC championship win for Venezuela over the USA.
• Joshua Diemert at Pinstripe Alley discussed his uncomfortability at seeing Team USA embrace such a military-forward mindset during the WBC.
• By contrast, Michael Clair wrote about Team Venezuela’s dance routine that they drummed up for the tournament.
• Hannah Keyser at CNN got the inside scoop on how people in the Italian homeland were reacting to the success of their WBC team.
• Though Nicaragua did not advance out of the group stage in this year’s tournament, manager Dusty Baker found coaching the group to be a worthwhile experience, writes Clinton Yates at Andscape.

Around the league…

• White Sox reliever Mike Vasil will undergo Tommy John surgery, taking him out for all of the 2026 season.
• Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki is dealing with a minor ligament sprain in his knee. He may begin the season on the injured list as a result.
• Stephen Hawkins previewed the upcoming free agent class, with Randy Arozarena set to headline the position player group.

Anders’ picks…

• If there’s one thing I love almost as much as baseball, it’s March Madness. See if you can beat me (and other LL staff members) by joining the Lookout Landing ESPN bracket pool!
• For all of you gamers out there…

The Chicago White Sox may be the most known factor in the AL Central. After what seemed like a decent rivalry that ultimately extinguished, resulting in years long rebuild, the White Sox have found themselves rooted squarely in the bottom of the AL Central. The 2025 season was no different.

The White Sox finished last season with a 60-102 record under manager Will Venable. This paltry record was somehow better than the 2024 record of 41-121. Will the White Sox be able to tack on 20 more wins in 2026 and claw their way back into the AL Central conversation?

This off season saw the White Sox making a lot of moves, not necessarily amazing moves, but more than we saw from the Guardians front office. One of the big shake ups to the established White Sox roster was the trade of OF Luis Robert Jr. to the Mets for IF/OF Luisangel Acuña and RHP Truman Pauley. Some other notable moves include OF Austin Hays and RHP Erick Fedde both agreeing to a one-year contracts.

Perhaps the most noteworthy signing came from Japanese NPB player Munetaka Murakami. In the NPB Murakami put up a 211 wRC+ and hit .273/.379/.663 as an infielder.

Fangraphs has the projected Opening Day lineup against RHP as:

1. Chase Meidroth – RHH 2B
2. Colson Montgomery – LHH SS
3. Miguel Vargas – RHH 3B
4. Munetaka Murakami – LHH 1B
5. Austin Hays – RHH RF
6. Andrew Benintendi – LHH LF
7. Lenyn Sosa – RHH DH
8. Brooks Baldwin – SH CF
9. Edgar Quero – SH C

Projected Bench:

1. Korey Lee – RHH C
2. Luisangel Acuña – RHH INF/OF
3. Derek Hill – RHH OF
4. Everson Pereira – RHH OF

Projected Starting Rotation:

1. Shane Smith – RHP
2. Anthony Kay – LHP
3. Davis Martin – RHP
4. Sean Burke – RHP
5. Erick Fedde – RHP

The line up has some handedness issues looming. Brooks Baldwin batted .249 as a LHH making his place in the line up against RHP worthwhile, but the opposite can be expected from Quero. Quero hit .220 against RHP as a LHH, but is much stronger against lefties as a RHH, batting .357. Their projected ace is the only starting pitcher in the rotation who had a sub 4.00 ERA in 2025 (3.81). Colson Montgomery will likely see his first full season with in the big leagues, giving him a chance to expand on his 2025 season. In 2025 Montgomery posted a 129 wRC+ and a 2.7 WAR. He batted .239/.311/.529 in only 71 games (284 PA) with the club. Montgomery is positioned to be the face that ushers in a new era of White Sox baseball as prospects like Caleb Bonemer (ranked 33rd overall), Noah Schultz (ranked 36th overall), and Hagen Smith (ranked 65th overall) begin their climb to the show.

Its no secret the White Sox have it all stacked against them, but the team is shaping a new identity entering their second season under manager Will Venable. The front office is trying to make meaningful and impactful moves. This is a team that still has some life left in them. I, like most, predict that they will finish 5th barring a catastrophic implosion from the other AL Central teams. However, I do hope this team can show some scrap and muster up a more competitive record. After all this division is most fun when its a neck and neck competition top to bottom.

Morning, all!

Shawn McFarland continues his top 30 prospect countdown with number 8, Winston Santos, and number 7, David Davilillo.

The Rangers have two of the five minor league prospects listed as two way players after signing two teenagers last year that are both shortstops and right handed pitchers.

Seong-Jun Kim and Josh Owen’s development is going to be a priority of the entire organization says director of player development Josh Bonifay.

Joc Pederson has posted a sub .500 OPS this spring, but has historically his regular season performance has matched his spring numbers.

Major League Baseball’s opening day is just a week away as the spring training wanes, and the Detroit Tigers are rounding into shape ahead of the 2026 regular season schedule.

The Motor City Kitties are just 7-11 during preseason play, but the results do not mean anything until next Thursday afternoon’s matchup with the San Diego Padres out on the West Coast. Still, it is encouraging that the Olde English D has won its last three in a row and has a plus-9 run differential heading into the final week of play.

With the start of the regular season just over the horizon and a sufficient sample size of stats amassed, it is as good a time as any to start thinking about what the opening day starting lineup will look like. There are a few players who are absolute locks at their positions: Tarik Skubal will undoubtedly take the mound in the first game, while Riley Greene will no doubt be on the field to start things off.

But who else will be in the starting lineup? Additionally, where in the field will they play and at what spot will AJ Hinch place them in the batting order? These are the questions bouncing around inside the heads of many Tigers fans as they watch the spring unfold.

So that is the question for today for our loyal Bless You Boys audience. Let us know in the comments below how you think the starting lineup will shake out on March 26.

German Marquez must have taken some inspiration from Walker Buehler because the right-hander took the mound for the San Diego Padres and delivered a five inning, nine strikeout performance against the Seattle Mariners that resulted in a 9-6 win for San Diego at the Peoria Sports Complex on Tuesday. Marquez did allow three runs on three hits, but the Padres offense powered up and hit six home runs off Mariners pitching. All six home runs were hit by different players, and half of those were hit by regulars Gavin Sheets, Xander Bogaerts and Nick Castellanos. Ty France who is battling for one of the final bench spots as Spring Training enters its final week, also homered as well as Jase Bowen and Rodolfo Duran. San Diego returns to action Thursday against the Chicago White Sox at 6:10 p.m.

Padres News:

• Buehler came to Spring Training as a minor league signing with the Padres and was only guaranteed the opportunity to compete for a spot in the rotation. He has taken advantage of that opportunity and has shown to be the most consistent arm in the group vying for a rotation spot and Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball thinks he has done enough to have secured his place on the roster.

• Bradgley Rodriguez opened some eyes when he made his MLB debut in 2025 and he has continued to do so in Spring Training. Perla Paredes of Padres.com believes that his spring performance has earned him a spot in a crowded San Diego bullpen.

• Kruz Schoolcraft is hard to miss on the baseball field because his typically stands head and shoulders above everyone else on the diamond. Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune said the San Diego prospect is more than just a physical presence he is athletic as well and that will benefit him as he progresses through the minor league system.

Baseball News:

• New York Yankees pitcher Garrit Cole is expected to return to the mound today. He has not pitched since Tommy John surgery last March. Shohei Ohtani is also scheduled to take the mound Wednesday for the Los Angeles Dodgers, which will be his Cactus League debut.

• Chicago Cubs outfielder Seiya Suzuki suffered a knee injury in the WBC while playing for Team Japan, but it does not appear to be serious, and he still has a chance to play on Opening Day.

WBC News:

• Venezuela took advantage of their first trip to the World Baseball Classic final and upset the US with a 3-2 win. The teams entered the ninth inning in a 2-2 tie, but Venezuela was able to scratch out a run in the top of the ninth to win their first WBC title.

Mid March is a great time of year for any number of reasons, but it isn’t necessarily a great time for analysis. A regular commenter asked how I analyze spring numbers. The simple answer is I don’t. There are any number of reasons why. The most important reason is that the sample size is just too small. I’ll sometimes quote the numbers, but they really don’t mean anything.

The second problem is that we don’t know what level of competition these guys are facing. We can get excited about a young player breaking out until we realize they are mainly squared off against other young players. Obviously, that is doubly true for veterans. Finally, when we look at veterans we have to consider that sometimes they are working on something specific that may not translate to performance. Pitchers may work on a specific pitch or hitters may try to hit the ball the opposite way.

Keeping all of this in mind, I wanted to take the opportunity to answer another question that came down the pike. Someone asked for the source for many of these numbers. An analyst is only as good as his or her tools and I need to be upfront in admitting that others have done the heavy lifting for the most part. My job is to take those numbers and use them to analyze players and performance. However, much like theologians and the Bible, we are better off when more people understand the underlying sources and their strengths and weaknesses.

Baseball-reference.com

One could call baseball-reference.com the official online baseball encyclopedia. The strength comes in the wealth of information and the ease of finding what you are looking for. It sets itself apart from Fangraphs.com by including things like rankings in certain categories on each player’s page including a section of when they led the league in certain categories or finished in the top ten. This was huge for me when I was calculating awards voting and deserved MVP points.

It should be noted that B-ref uses it’s own WAR formula we normally call BWAR. It is based primarily on their fielding metric which ties pretty closely to defensive runs saved (Fielding Bible). It does not have the wealth of fielding metrics that Fangraphs and other sources have. However, it is an absolutely terrific resource if you want quick information on players from conventional data to the more sabermetric data.

Fangraphs.com

Fangraphs.com is my favorite site and probably most trusted resource. The advantage of Fangraphs over Baseball-reference is that it includes more minor league information and that came in handy when breaking down the hitters and pitcher numbers from the past few weeks. They also include international numbers as well. Baseball-reference also has this information, but it takes a few extra clicks to get there. When I want this information in a hurry I go to Fangraphs.

Obviously, the graphs part of the name is key. They include a lot more of what I would call process data than Baseball reference. So, what exactly is process data? In short, it includes things like pitch velocity, spin rates, and exit velocity for hitters. So, if you want to know what a pitcher’s average curveball velocity or what a hitter’s chase rate, contact rate, or hard hit rate then Fangraphs is the fastest resource to get that information.

I should note that they do have access to leaderboards. Both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference have paid services that allow you to custom those leaderboards for your own research. I personally do not currently do that because the free versions give me everything I want, but people that want to go into even more detailed analysis should check those out.

Baseball Savant

Baseballsavant.com is another resource that more and more analysts are using. In particular, it includes some of the same information as Fangraphs, but uses more charts and graphics to show the information more graphically. That includes things like heat maps for hitters and tracking pitches for pitchers along with movement, velocity, and spin.

These numbers come in handy particularly when looking at individual performances early in the season. Hitters and pitchers can look great or horrible because of the numbers, but the underlying information may not match. Seeing it graphically is great for visual fans that want to see what the numbers are saying. The site also includes more underlying numbers that can explain why fielding numbers and base running numbers say what they do.

---

As I said earlier, an analyst is only as good as his or her tools. The goal of this space is not only to analyze but to educate about how analysis gets done. I may be the analytics guy around here, but I am also a teacher at heart. As such, if you have ever had a question that has had you scratching your head, this is the space for you. Feel free to jump into the comments with a particular question. As we get closer to the actual season we will start going fast and furious into the actual numbers flying at us. Until then, enjoy the last few days of spring baseball while you can.