Worldwide Sports News

This is a thing SB Nation is trying for February (or at least the three weeks that are left, oops…). Each weekday, I’m going to ask our readers a question to see how everyone’s feeling about the team, and to get to know each other a little bit better. I’m even more excited tha our boy Kazuma Okamoto in the header picture.

Our staring out the window and waiting for spring comes to an end this week. With the Tigers’ signing of Framber Valdez on Wednesday, the major part of the offseason is basically over, and pitchers and catchers begin to report tomorrow. With all that, I figured it was a good time to ask some questions about the offseason. First up, which move are you most excited about? Dylan Cease is of course the big one, but personally I can’t wait to see Tyler Rogers in a Jays uniform. I love me a weird reliever, and Rogers has quietly been a top 10 or so reliever the past five seasons. The Jays bullpen was awfully thin at times last year, so adding the most durable reliever in the game who happens to boast a career ERA starting with a 2 is a very welcome security blanket. And as one of the sport’s premier ground ball merchants, he’ll enjoy playing in front of an infield that features Andres Gimenez and Ernie Clement. It feels like a perfect fit of team and player.

How about you? Which move has you the most excited for the season?

Never say never, but with the Caleb Durbin deal, it looks like the Red Sox are done tinkering in the infield. The timing of the deal is interesting because, just this morning, Alex Speier gave us this report about the Red Sox efforts to acquire All-Star Ketel Marte:

According to multiple league sources, the Sox were open to dealing a package headlined by Franklin Arias and either Payton Tolle or Connelly Early in exchange for Marte. However, when Arizona sought a package led by Marcelo Mayer and one of the pitchers, the Sox declined.

Tolle/Early and Mayer is a big haul… but Marte is a hell of a player and he’s locked up until 2031. Should Craig Breslow have pulled the trigger?

Paul Toboni’s first offseason as Nationals President of Baseball Operations has been an intriguing one. He made plenty of moves, but most of them have been with the future in mind. That is a smart strategy, but part of me wonders about the state of this team in 2026. They are not going to be good, but I worry about the possibility of bottoming out.

There are plenty of holes on this roster, and Toboni has not provided solutions, at least for 2026. We wrote about how the Nats need to make a couple more additions before the season starts. Leaving such glaring holes feels risky to me. However, Paul Toboni has been unafraid to accept risk this offseason.

The one free agent signing he has made is a good example of that. Instead of going for a proven MLB innings eater to fill the back of the rotation, Toboni took an interesting flier. He signed Foster Griffin to a one-year $5.5 million deal. Griffin had a dominant three year run in Japan, but he is 30 years old and only has 8 MLB innings under his belt. 

In 3 seasons (2023-25) with Yomiuri (@TokyoGiants):

⚾️18–10 with a 2.57 ERA in 54 starts
⚾️9.1 SO/9.0 IP
⚾️2.0 BB/9.0 IP
⚾️Central League All-Star in 2025 (6-1, 1.52 ERA 87 SO in 89.0 IP) https://t.co/UdIeCyELLS

— Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) December 22, 2025

There is some reason to believe that this could be a strong signing though. Griffin added a few new pitches in Japan and became one of the better arms in the NPB. His last few seasons in Japan compare favorably to Shota Imanaga, who has been a front of the rotation arm for the Cubs. The projection systems actually think Griffin will be solid, with Fangraphs projecting a 4.11 ERA season.

If Griffin can give you an ERA of around 4 for 150 innings, that would be a good contract. However, he is an unproven soft-tosser and the Nats are relying on him to be a solid starter in the heart of their rotation. This is a major risk, even for a rebuilding team.

Toboni’s handling of the bullpen this offseason has also been risky. Last season, the Nats had the worst bullpen ERA in all of baseball at 5.59. Despite that, Toboni traded away the Nats best reliever and has not signed a bullpen arm in free agency. He has been active on the waiver wire and is hoping for internal development.

This plan could work, and is something worth trying. A lot of the best bullpens are not the ones that have the biggest names. Relievers are very volatile assets. You can create a solid bullpen out of thin air, and that is exactly what Toboni plans to do. The Nats have some promising arms that Toboni and the coaching staff will look to develop.

Paul Toboni has made the worst bullpen in baseball last year even worse on paper. I took a look at some guys he could be counting on to make big steps and why he has faith https://t.co/aBrOIbnea8

— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) December 30, 2025

The bullpen battle in Spring Training is something I will be monitoring closely. I am curious to see which pitchers emerge. There are likely to be a couple arms who have added velocity or tweaked their pitch mix. The question is which ones.

Finally, the biggest move Paul Toboni made this offseason was also a risky one. Trading MacKenzie Gore was not a risky move, but the return is high variance. I actually think holding on to Gore would have been the risky option. However, the Nats decided to take a high risk package from the Texas Rangers.

Full trade, per ESPN sources:

Rangers get: LHP MacKenzie Gore

Nationals get: 3B Gavin Fien, SS Devin Fitz-Gerald, RHP Alejandro Rosario, 1B Abimelec Ortiz and and OF Yeremy Cabrera

A big return for the Nationals. Fien was the 12th pick last year. Evaluators love Fitz-Gerald.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 22, 2026

Instead of taking a deal with a true headliner, Toboni went for a quantity over quality package. Most of the players in the deal are multiple years away from the big leagues. The three main pieces in the deal are a 19 year old, a 20 year old and a pitcher who will miss two straight seasons due to injury. 

If these guys hit, Toboni will look like a genius and the Nats farm will be one of the best in baseball. However, there is also a chance that he will regret not taking a deal with more proven commodities. Even for prospects, these guys are high risk.

Overall, Toboni has made a few moves he might regret. However, he also could look very smart. Either way, these deals are also not shots in the dark. They are part of a real strategy and long term vision. He trusts himself and the coaches to develop these players and get the best out of them. 

Plenty of these moves make me nervous, but they also make me excited. Let me know which move makes you the most nervous in the comments. What is one move that you really like and what is a move you think Toboni could regret? It has been an interesting offseason, and I am excited to see it play out. 

NBC’s interest in adding Clayton Kershaw to its television team, which was first reported by The Athletic in January, officially came to fruition on Sunday, with NBC Sports announcing more of its plans for 2026 baseball coverage.

Kershaw, who retired at the end of the 2025 season after pitching 18 years for the Dodgers, joins other recently retired stars Joey Votto and Anthony Rizzo as part of the NBC Sports team in 2026, in the first season of a three-year deal with Major League Baseball.

NBC Sports has rights to Sunday Night Baseball — the Dodgers have three such games on NBC and streaming on Peacock this season — as well as Sunday leadoff games during the regular season, plus the entire wild card round.

The plan is for Kershaw, Votto, and Rizzo to be pregame analysts for the up to three days of the wild card round. Their schedule of games for the regular season hasn’t been revealed, but in a press release NBC Sports said, “Based upon schedules and availability, the three will appear on select pregame shows leading into regular-season Sunday Night Baseball games on NBC and Peacock, alongside hosts Bob Costas and Ahmed Fareed.”

The first game for NBC Sports will be at Dodger Stadium on March 26, televising the Dodgers’ opening day game against the Diamondbacks on NBC, with streaming on Peacock. 

The Mets announced their full slate of invitees not on the 40-man roster ahead of this Wednesday’s pitchers and catchers reporting date.

Among the more interesting names are top prospects Carson Benge, Ryan Clifford, A.J. Ewing and Jack Wenninger. Veterans Craig Kimbrel, Austin Barnes, and Carl Edwards Jr. are among the players hoping to extend their careers on the backend.

With the M.J. Melendez signing not yet official, the 40-Man Roster is still in a state of flux, but we can presume that the Mets will have 37 of the 40 on their roster in big league camp, with Reed Garrett, Tylor Megill, and Dedniel Núñez all out for the season after arm surgeries.

That means that the Mets will have 66 (give or take once the Melendez signing becomes official) players in camp. While the 26-man roster is fairly predictable at this point, there area few spots at the fringes that will be interesting stories this spring. Plus, this will be many fans’ first looks at some prospects who may wind up being key players for the club this year and beyond. Spring training, same as it ever was.

All of that is to say…baseball’s (nearly) back, baby.

The full list of both NRIs and members of the 40-Man Roster is below:

[Names in italics are non-roster invitees, underlined expected to miss the full 2026 season]

Pitchers:

Huascar Brazobán

Alex Carillo

Luis García

Reed Garrett

Joey Gerber

Justin Hagenman

Clay Holmes

Sean Manaea

Nolan McLean

Tylor Megill

A.J. Minter

Tobias Myers

Dedniel Núñez

Freddy Peralta

David Peterson

Jonathan Pintaro

Brooks Raley

Dylan Ross

Christian Scott

Kodai Senga

Jonah Tong

Austin Warren

Luke Weaver

Devin Williams

Adbert Alzolay

Mike Baumann

Nick Bundi

Daniel Duarte

Carl Edwards Jr.

Kevin Herget

Joe Jacques

Craig Kimbrel

Ryan Lambert

Nate Lavender

Anderson Severino

Robert Stock

Matt Turner

Brandon Waddell

Jack Wenninger

Catchers:

Francisco Alvarez

Hayden Senger

Luis Torrens

Austin Barnes

Kevin Parada

Chris Suero

Infielders:

Brett Baty

Bo Bichette

Vidal Bruján

Francisco Lindor

Ronny Mauricio

Jorge Polanco

Marcus Semien

Mark Vientos

Christian Arroyo

Ryan Clifford

Jackson Cluff

Grae Kessinger

Jacob Reimer

Jose Rojas

Outfielders:

Nick Morabito

Luis Robert Jr.

Juan Soto

Tyrone Taylor

Jared Young

M.J. Melendez (not yet official)

Ji Hwan Bae

Carson Benge

A.J. Ewing

Cristian Pache

Jose Ramos

Another season of Atlanta Braves minor league baseball looms on the horizon, and following the release of our top 30 prospects list last week, this week we are taking a deeper look at some of the prospects on the list and how the changes on the list came to be. One of the most important aspects when evaluating prospects is looking beyond their performances and into their pure tools, and which of those can help them project to not only perform at the minor league level but produce in the big leagues. So-called “carrying tools” — elite attributes that become the calling card for a player in their evaluations (and often career) — are highly coveted, especially with the desirable traits like fastball velocity, defense, and power. To start we’ll be looking at the best tools among Braves pitching prospects, a crop of players that is deep and has a number of guys ready to potentially contribute next season.

Best Fastball – Jhancarlos Lara / Raudy Reyes

With only four voters it’s inevitable there may be a couple of ties when things are this close, but it’s fair to say that both Jhancarlos Lara and Raudy Reyes have a strong case for the best fastball in the Braves system. The now 17 year old Reyes would have been a high profile signing for his ridiculous fastball alone, with his velocity topping out over 100 mph as an amateur. His pure velocity is the best in the system and he adds in above average carry and spin, making it a potentially devastating pitch. Concerns are normal about health for a player who throws that hard at Reyes’s age, but his large frame gives him some potential to be a starter in the future, a claim Jhancarlos Lara can no longer make given he has been moved to the bullpen full time. Still, the separator that makes this a close battle is that Reyes is still in the stage of his career where his command is at the bottom of the 20-80 scale and pushing the limits on that. He produced whiffs at a dominant rate last season but also walked 23% of batters, a number that even at his age is already concerning. Jhancarlos Lara’s velocity is only fractions of a tick behind Reyes, but he is much better at controlling his fastball even if he is still well-below-average with command. Lara averaged 98.3 mph on his fastball in Triple-A last season and at times was overwhelming with the pitch, though once he was moved back into a starting roll to finish the season he started getting hit harder. Still, he both produces high swing-and-miss rates and very poor contact quality and his fastball is ready to play at the major league level. Reyes has a higher ceiling for his fastball by a margin, though Lara’s is a safer bet to contribute to success in Atlanta.

16 year old Dominican Republic RHP Raudy Reyes has signed with the @Braves for $1.8 million. Has been up to 101 mph with an easy delivery. pic.twitter.com/5aPAv9M9nm

— Prospect Dugout (@prospectdugout) January 16, 2025

Best Changeup – Cam Caminiti

From first round pick to top prospect in the system, Cam Caminiti is living up to the hype in a big way early in his career. He features a well-rounded arsenal, but his changeup in particular was one of the keys to him being a top draft pick and it has been a strong offering for him early in his minor league career. Caminiti hasn’t been relying on the changeup often at the lower levels with the Braves focusing on him honing his fastball command switching over to a slider as his breaking ball of choice, but when it was deployed this season it was a weapon that wreaked havoc in Single-A and helped him to put up a dominant campaign despite some sporadic health issues. Caminiti’s changeup features all the hallmarks of a pitch that should succeed as he moves up the ladder, with good fading life, a release consistent with his fastball, and a solid separation in velocity. Many believe his athleticism will allow him to improve on his command, which was spotty at times in 2025 and gave him some issues landing his changeup consistently in the strike zone. With more repetition and a strong position in his arsenal his changeup is a pitch that will produce swing-and-miss at maturity and help round out an exciting pitch mix.

Best Slider – Jhancarlos Lara

It’s not common for a player with a 100 mph fastball to utilize anything else as his primary pitch, but Lara’s slider is so good that he used it more than his fastball in 2025 and it was outlandishly dominant. At the lower levels of the system Lara’s slider relied on being thrown hard and feeding off of the fastball, but over the past couple of seasons he has steadily refined the shape and improved the movement to where it now stands alone as a pitch that can have consistent success. He throws it in the upper 80’s and gives it a sharp two-plane tilt, and for most of 2025 he was able to throw it for strikes more often than his fastball. Thus, he settled in to utilizing his slider more than 50% of the time, and even with that high usage Triple-A hitters could not do anything with it. Lara threw 554 sliders in Gwinnett last season, and even with that sample size produced a staggering 51.4% whiff rate. His command is still not where it needs to be, yet his slider was so effective that even when he made mistakes hitters had a hard time taking advantage of it. Lara allowed only two barrels on the pitch. It’s rare to see a pitcher with two 70 grade offerings, but Lara’s slider is the best pitch in the entire system and gives him elite reliever potential.

Jhancarlos Lara Triple-A debut
1IP 0H 0R 1BB 1K

FB: 99-101
SL: 89-91 pic.twitter.com/IMOV1ufqEL

— Gaurav (@gvedak) May 13, 2025

Best Curveball – Briggs McKenzie

Despite not playing a professional game yet, McKenzie already ranks as the system’s best curveball with the potential for the pitch to be a plus offering. There is a bit of a caveat with this rating, as the Braves tend to have their pitchers throw sliders, and those that do throw curveballs (like Caminiti as an amateur) typically get pushed towards sliders. This could be the result for McKenzie as a professional, but if there is one thing McKenzie’s curveball shows it’s that he is able to spin a breaking ball. Yet even in a system with more pitchers offering curveballs, McKenzie’s would stand out. He spins the pitch as high as 3000 rpm, and his curveball has the potential to be even better if he adds power to his arsenal. Right now it sits in the upper 70’s and is a power breaker for him at just 10-15 mph below his fastball. The Braves will work to add more power and if he can add a few ticks without losing his ability to spin the pitch he could avoid the pitfalls of a player like Adam Maier and have a pitch that gets on hitters too quickly for them to adjust to the spin. Because of his high release point his curve doesn’t have a hump in it, riding straight down out of his hand with big depth and the ability to be buried below the strike zone. It has swing-and-miss potential and will be a key part of his arsenal, though it is also a point of emphasis for the beginning of the next season to see how much the Braves modify the pitch or if they switch him over to a slider.

Best Cutter – Blake Burkhalter

Blake Burkhalter is likely to see big league action in 2026, and it all revolves around his ability to throw his cutter and dominate hitters. Burkhalter utilizes his fastball and cutter combination more than 2/3 of the time, a number which may grow as he moves into the bullpen, and his ability to locate the cutter on the glove side half of the plate has made it a dangerous offering. His whiffs dropped off at the end of 2026 and he seemed to have some fatigue which cut into his velocity and command down the stretch, but at his peak he was able to miss bats with the cutter and produce poor contact quality. Triple-A hitters struggled to make solid contact with his cutter, and it was his most effective pitch through that more mediocre stretch of play for him. At his best, especially in short bursts, his cutter can sit in the low 90’s, though in his starting role it was more in the high 80’s. It has a sharp glove side movement that is just enough to run it off of a hitter’s barrel, and is feel for locating the pitch just off the plate when he needs to is superb. With a future in the bullpen the pitch will play up and projects as a 65 grade offering and the best pitch in his arsenal.

Best Control – Lucas Braun

2025 was a setback for Lucas Braun, who never quite reached the heights of his 2024 campaign as his slider backed up and he didn’t produce as many whiffs as he had. He worked to add pitches to his arsenal, and one thing held true for him — he can throw anything for a strike. Braun is the pitcher in the system who is most able to work ahead in counts and keep hitters on their back foot, though at times in 2025 he wasn’t able to hit the finer edges with his fastball. Still, he makes a concerted effort to hit the strike zone and relies on a deep arsenal and the ability to move his pitches around to get outs. This was a bit of a limitation for him as he got to Triple-A and didn’t really have a pitch to get consistent swing-and-miss, and he is likely to see himself limited to a back end starting role or to being a guy who moves up and down between Triple-A and the major leagues. However, if he can get a bit finer with his fastball like he was in 2024 and get better at keeping his slider off of the edges he could slightly improve his projections and lock down a more solid role at the major league level.

Best Command – Didier Fuentes / Ian Mejia

We had another grading tie in command, and two pitchers who are in vastly different places in their careers. The Braves are doing everything they can to find a way to deploy Ian Mejia’s pitch mix, as he features an above-average slider and the ability to spot his pitches at will. These two traits have found him success at Double-A, but his poor fastball velocity has thus far just been too much to overcome. Mejia can hit the edges of the strike zone with his fastball seemingly at will, but even when he does he just doesn’t have the power or movement to miss bats. The Braves messed around with moving him to a sinker which had some positive results in the second half of 2025, and though he doesn’t have the fastball to carve out a long-term starting role in Atlanta, his command and slider could give him a long-relief/spot-start future if he can find a way to miss barrels. Didier Fuentes is slipping in the eyes of evaluators after a rough first dip into the major leagues, but at 20 years old still has all of the potential in the world. His fastball not only has plus velocity and movement but he has shown the potential to spot it at the top of the zone consistently thanks to his athleticism and his ability to repeat his delivery. His slider was a bit more hit-or-miss in the second half of the season in 2025, though at his best he can sling it across the zone and put it off of the plate to get hitters to miss. He should only get better with his command as he gets more seasoning, and with a decent ending to last season he has momentum moving into his age-21 season and plenty of time to carve out a long-term future even if he is still stuck with a two-pitch mix.

The upcoming World Baseball Classic will have 15 active players scattered across all the tournament’s rosters. But let’s go deeper than that and take a look at everyone in the tournament who has ever worn red pinstripes or spent time in the organization. There are a lot of fun names below, along with probably some you may don’t remember.

Pool A

Team Canada:

• Phillippe Aumont (RP)
• Noah Skirrow (SP)

It’s an absolute crime that Topper can’t coach this team, but alas we have some rooting interest! Yes, that is 37 year old Aumont pitching baseball professionally for the first time since 2019. If you don’t recall, Aumont was the “big get” in the now infamous Cliff Lee trade to Seattle. Aumont certainly had “stuff”, but he could never locate it and wound up with a career ERA of 6.80 in 43.2 innings across 4 seasons. Noah Skirrow never made it to the majors, but was an undrafted free agent who was in the system from 2021-2024. The 27 year old pitched last season for Lancaster in the independent Atlantic League.

Team Colombia:

• Nabil Crismatt (SP)
• Jorge Alfaro (C)

The jolly Crismatt spent part of 2025 in AAA with the Phillies where he pitched fairly well to the tune of a 4.04 ERA in 100.1 innings. Never getting promoted to the majors, he wound up leaving for and finishing the season in Arizona. Jorge Alfaro was a physical specimen when he came over in the Cole Hamels trade. He was ranked significantly high in national rankings and showed promising tools both behind and at the plate. Sadly those tools never materialized, but held enough value still to help land JT Realmuto in a trade that sent Sixto Sanchez and himself to Miami. He’s bounced around the league, last playing in 14 games with Washington in 2025.

Team Cuba:

No Cubans for Phillies. Some notable Cuban players from Phillies past include Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, Jose Contreras, Tony Gonzalez and Tony Perez. Also, new addition OF Adolis Garcia hails from the Caribbean island.

Team Panama:

• Jonathan Arauz (INF)
• Johan Camargo (INF)
• Edmundo Sosa (INF)
• Ruben Tejada (INF)

Edmundo Sosa being the only active Phillie on this squad and he is always a delight to root for. Jonathan Arauz was a top prospect for the Phillies at one time, though was eventually packaged with Ken Giles to the Houston Astros for Harold Arauz (no relation), Mark Appel, Tom Eshelman, Brett Oberholtzer and Vinny “Philly” Velasquez. Arauz played in Mexico in 2025. Johan Camargo spent 2022 with the Phillies in a utility role, in which he as absolutely dreadful (.613 OPS). He also played in Mexico in 2025. Lastly, Ruben Tejada (yes, THAT guy) hasn’t played in the bigs since 2019 (wow, he also spent 2025 in Mexico). When he wasn’t rudely running into Chase Utley’s cleats and crying about it, he spent 2021 in AAA Lehigh Valley for 72 games.

Puerto Rico:

• Yacksel Rios (RP)

An international signing for the Phillies back in 2011, Rios was in the Phillies system from 2011 through 2019. He made his big-league debut with the Phillies in 2017 before getting DFA’d by the Phils in 2019. He’s spent time in the Puerto Rican Winter League and the Mets since 2024.

Pool B

Team Brazil:

• Gabriel Barbosa (RP)

A 24 year old actually hailing from Brazil, Barbosa came to the Phillies in 2025 after spending time in the Colorado and Yankees organizations. He pitched 87 innings across three levels before finally finishing in AA where he was lit up in 23.2innings.

Team Great Britain:

• Tyler Viza (SP)
• Vance Worley (SP)
• Albert Cartwright (Asst. Coach)

The now 31 year old Tyler Viza gets to take the stage for GB. Viza has been pitching professionally in China and Mexico since 2022. He was a 32 round 2013 draft pick for the Phillies and was in the org from 2013 through 2019. Vance “The Vanimal” Worley, was quite good for the Phillies from 2010 to 2012. Worley was traded with Baby Ace Trevor May to the Twins for Ben Revere in 2012 and is currently 38 years old. Albert Cartwright was a career minor leaguer who spent time in the Phillies org from 2012 to 2014.

Team Italy:

• Sam Aldegheri (SP)
• Michael Lorenzen (SP)
• Aaron Nola (SP)
• Dante Nori (OF)
• Sal Fasano (Bullpen Coach)

Sam Aldegheri is one of only a handful of players on this team actually born in Italy. He was shipped off with George Klassen in the maligned (mostly by me) Carlos Estevez trade with the Angels. Michael Lorenzen will hope to replicate his surprisingly average pitching, though I doubt he pitches a no-hitter in this tournament. Aaron Nola will get tested early as he will face the juggernaut of USA hitting, who are all quite familiar with him. Rounding out the players we have current Phillies prospect Dante Nori. He had an excellent second half to the 2025 season and his a former 1st round pick. Sal’s Pals can assemble once more for Team Italy games. Fasano had his own fanclub at CBP during the 2006 season.

Team Mexico:

• Taijuan Walker (SP)
• Joey Meneses (OF)

Taijuan Walker once again playing for Team Mexico. Good luck bud. Joey Meneses got some serious MLB playing time 2022-2024 and last season spent 2025 in AAA for the Mets. Meneses had the best season of his professional career in his one season with the Phillies when he slashed .311/.360/.510 with 23 HR in 2018 with the IronPigs.

Team USA:

• Brad Keller (RP)
• Bryce Harper (1B)
• Kyle Schwarber (DH)
• Michael Young (Bench Coach)

Recent addition Brad Keller is the lone US pitching representative for the Phillies. Not a surprise given Wheeler’s road to recovery. Bryce Harper once again representing Team USA and will likely be their starting first baseman. Kyle Schwarber will occupy the DH spot after his new deal with the Phillies this offseason. Old friend Michael Young, the professional hitter old heads love, will be second in command in the dugout. Young spent 2013 as the Phillies starting third baseman.

Pool C

Team Australia:

• Mitch Neunborn (SP)
• Lachlan Wells (SP)
• Robbie Glendinning (INF)
• Curtis Mead (INF)
• Rixon Wingrove (1B)
• Chris Burke (UTL)
• Tim Kennelly (OF)

Phillies are desperate to make Australia their thing. The list above only represents a fraction of their Aussie signings in the last 10 years. Mitch Neunborn is the only active Phillie on the roster. The 28 year old SP (though perhaps a RP going forward) has been in the org since 2023. Lachlan Wells spent the 2024 season with the Phillies. Reading was Robbie Glendinning’s last stateside stop in 2023 and has since hopped round Australia and Mexico before landing in a KC independent league. Curtis Mead was famously traded away to the Rays for Cristopher Sanchez; a trade almost everyone hated at the time. Flashforward to 2026 and I can say Phillies fans are most happy for that outcome. Rixon Wingrove was a masher in the system from 2018 to 2023 before leaving to spend time in the Twins org. He spent all 2025 in the Australian league. Chris Burke was in the Phillies org in 2021. Lastly, Tim Kennelly is now 38 years old and has played for Perth in the Australian league since 2013. He was with the Phillies from 2005 to 2012.

Team Chinese-Tapei:

• Hao-Yu Lee (INF)

Speaking of Michael Lorenzen, he will get to face the guy he was traded for in Hao-Yu Lee. The Lorenzen trade didn’t wind up making a difference for the Phils (though the no-hitter was fun!) and Lee has done quite well for himself in the Detroit system. It would not be shocking if he sees time in the big leagues soon.

Team Japan:

The in-roads to Japan remain ever elusive to he organization who has had only two Japanese-born players put on red pinstripes, those being So Taguchi and Tadahito Iguchi.

Team Korea:

Much like Japan, Korea has been another tough nut to crack for the Phils. The only two Korean-born Phillies players have been Chan Ho Park and Hyun-Soo Kim.

Pool D

Team Dominican Republic:

• Seranthony Dominguez (RP)
• Gregory Soto (RP)
• Cristopher Sanchez (SP)
• Carlos Santana (INF/DH)
• Johan Rojas (OF)
• Placido Polanco (Bench Coach)

Cristopher Sanchez highlights the lone active big leaguer for the Phillies, but who is also arguably Team DR’s best starting pitcher. Seranthony Dominguez will have to hide his SteamDeck while playing FortNite, because Carlos Santana will be on Team DR once again at age 39 (he turns 40 April 9th). Santana spent an underrated season with the Phillies in 2018. The next season he would go back to Cleveland, double his bWAR, voted as an All-Star, get a Silver Slugger and finish 16th in MVP voting. (I’m not bitter) Gregory Soto is a reliever who pitched for the Phillies and I didn’t particularly liked when he did. Johan Rojas will be the cheerleader on the bench as he will have to find time in an outfield with Oneil Cruz, Julio Rodriguez, Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr.. If you needed any extra incentive to root for this squad, two-time Phillie Placido Polanco will be the First Mate on the bench.

Team Israel:

• Max Lazar (RP)
• Rob Kaminsky (RP)
• Garrett Stubbs (C and Vibes Coach)
• Harrison Bader (OF)

Current Phillies Stubbs and Lazar get the call, along with Rob Kaminsky who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2020. Kaminsky pitched 1 inning in the Phillies organization in 2021 for Lehigh Valley. Meanwhile “the one that got away”, Harrison Bader, will be Team Israel’s top outfielder.

Team Netherlands:

• Jaydenn Estanista (RP)
• Didi Gregorius (INF)

A 24 year old reliever from Curaco, Estanista has been with the Phillies since 2021. He reached as high as Reading last season and got an invite to the Arizona Fall League (don’t look at those stats). Our old pal Didi gets the nod for Netherlands. After a brief stop in Seattle’s AAA team, he has settled into the Mexican League the last 3 seasons.

Team Nicaragua:

• JC Ramirez (RP)
• Randall Simon (Hitting Coach)

JC Ramirez makes two of the three prospects traded for Cliff Lee (along with Aumont) playing in this tournament, which is likely the funniest stat you will read about the WBC. If you are telling me any of the current Team Canada outfielders can’t compete with Tyson Gillies out there, I’d be surprised. Randall Simon has a hitting coach is a little on the nose (actually watch out for your nose). Simon ended his big-league career with the Phillies in 2006.

Team Venezuela:

• Jose Alvarado (RP)
• Ranger Suarez (SP)

A game of “a guy I wish was still a Phillie” versus “a guy that I wish wasn’t a Phillie” for most fans. Alvarado will hopefully be getting a nice tune-up and show that last year’s PED suspension wasn’t a cause for concern and the Phillies didn’t make a mistake picking up his option. Ranger Suarez will be playing his first games not in the Phillies organization after signing a long-term contract with the Red Sox. We will miss Ranger deeply.

With the Super Bowl last night, baseball season has officially begun! Jeremy Zoll moved quickly to make his mark on the Twins after Derek Falvey left the organization. So far, Zoll has signed Matt Bowman, Eduardo Salazar, Jackson Kowar, David Bañuelos, and, just announced today, Gio Urshela. While none of them are on the 40-man roster, at least it’s something? Feel free to set your own over/unders on how many combined games these guys play with the Twins this season.

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:

• Check out The Feed, where you can add your discussions about the Twins!
• We’re starting a new segment called Daily Questions! Provide your opinion on the Twins and debate with the community!
• We had a busy night with the TwinkieTown Movie Night featuring The Rookie! We’ve got Moneyball coming up this Friday.
• Zach Koenig flashes back to 1996 in Twins history.
• Matt Monitto gives an inside look into the Twins front office’s hopes and dreams for a bullpen full of Rogers.
• We’re onto Round 15 of Zach Koenig’s Greatest Twins Moments and Performances list.

Elsewhere in Twins Territory:

• Dan Hayes at The Athletic provides the classic “now you tell us” look into the relationship between Falvey and the Twins
• Theo Tollefson at Zone Coverage suggests three right-handed relievers the Twins could still sign this offseason.
• Matthew Leach at MLB.com provides the five storylines that he’s watching at spring training.
• Bobby Nightengale at the Star Tribune found a fun connection between the Twins and the Super Bowl.

In the World of Baseball:

• The last few major dominoes fell in free agency last week:
  • Marcell Ozuna moves to Pittsburgh on a one-year, $12 million deal
  • Framber Valdez signs with Detroit for three years, $115 million.
• There were also a few trades that went down:
  • Brendon Donovan was traded to Seattle
  • Caleb Durbin was traded from Milwaukee to the Red Sox for a package that includes Kyle Harrison, who was previously acquired in the Rafael Devers trade.
• Buster Olney and Jeff Passan at ESPN reflect on the lessons they learned this offseason.
• Tarik Skubal won his arbitration case against the Tigers, setting a new record for a contract earned in arbitration at $32 million. According to Fangraphs, this means that the Tigers payroll will be at least double the Twins 2026 payroll.
• Andy McCollough at The Athletic remembers speedster Terrance Gore, who unfortunately passed away last weekend.