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The Guardians seemingly do nothing each offseason, plug-and-play guys, and keep winning. They have had just one losing season since 2012, with eight playoff appearances in that time. Constancy. Sweet, sweet constancy.

The downside is they have just one pennant in that time, and have not won a championship since 1948. The team did make a major investment in All-Star third baseman José Ramírez, signing him to a seven-year, $175 million contract extension this offseason. Despite that, they’re projected to have the second-lowest payroll in baseball, par for the course for the franchise.

Cleveland Guardians

2025 record: 88-74

2026 PECOTA projection: 75-87

2026 ZIPS projection: 76-86

Manager: Stephen Vogt

Key additions: Shawn Armstrong, Rhys Hoskins

Key losses: Nic Enright, Jakob Junis, Jhonkensy Noel, Lane Thomas

Offense

The Guardians scored the third-fewest runs in baseball last year, despite an MVP-level performance by Ramírez. Steven Kwan is an All-Star-level performer as well, but he spent the entire offseason in trade rumors. The Guardians did get a breakout season from Kyle Manzardo, who terrorized Royals pitchers by hitting .382/.512/.794 with three home runs in 11 games against them. They brought over former Phillies and Brewers slugger Rhys Hoskins on a minor league deal, hoping he has something left in the tank at age 32 after suffering through a thumb injury last year.

The club is really banking on the farm system supplementing this lineup. Chase DeLauter is ranked as the #34 prospect in the game by Baseball America, but was limited to just 42 games in the minors last year due to a wrist injury. First baseman CJ Kayfus, outfielders Kahlil Watson and Ralphy Velazquez, and former #1 overall pick Travis Bazzana could also contribute this summer.

All statistics from 2025.

Pitching

Pitching has been the calling card for the Guardians in the last decade, and they finished with the fourth-best ERA in baseball. They are hurt by the loss of Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, both on non-paid disciplinary leave and facing federal indictments for their roles in a gambling scheme. Gavin Williams was one of the best pitchers in baseball after the All-Star break last year, with a 2.18 ERA that ranked third-best in the second half. Cleveland got 888 innings from their starters last year, second-most in baseball. Lefty Joey Cantillo could be poised for a breakout season, with a change-up that got a 49 percent whiff rate last year.

Even without Clase for part of the year, the Guardians had one of the best bullpens in baseball last season. Cade Smith will presumably take over closing duties after leading all relievers in fWAR last year. The only MLB free agent the team signed was Shawn Armstrong, who pitched effectively last year in Texas.

All statistics from 2025.

The Guardians are projected by most systems to be a losing team this year, but Stephen Vogt has twice won Manager of the Year by beating expectations. The Royals won just 5 of 13 games against the Guardians last year, so a better showing could help their chances in the standings. But don’t count the Guardians out, they just seem to find ways to win.

The Guardians’ pitching staff turned in quite a performance yesterday, throwing a shutout against the Milwaukee Brewers, striking out 16, and winning 1-0.

It was, admittedly, the B-team for Milwaukee as far as hitting goes, but it was still good to have Slade Cecconi be sharp for four innings, allowing two hits and one walk and striking out six, Cade Smith be dominant again striking out two, Erik Sabrowski striking out the side, and Connor Brogdon and Codi Heur striking out two, and Will Dion finishing with a scoreless ninth as well, striking out one batter.

Chase DeLauter had a walk and scored a run, Kyle Manzardo singled him home, Rhys Hoskins and Gabriel Arias had singles and Angel Martinez hit a double… that’s about all the offense did.

For those worried about Kahl Stephen, he spoke to the media yesterday, so seems like he’s ok:

For those worried about Jace LaViolette, assistant GM James Harris spoke highly of him to the media, mentioning his blazing speed:

The blue seats are almost all installed at Progressive Field and will be completed by Opening Day:

Tim Stebbins of MLB.com caught up with Travis Bazzana in his return from the World Baseball Classic.

The Athletic’s Zack Mesiel offered some notes from Guardians’ camp. Everyone is very excited about Bo Naylor’s good spring.

Korea and the Dominican Republic face off at 6:30PM ET today, with the USA and Canada following at 8PM ET. The Angels and Guardians play at 4:10PM ET.

Spring Training is now in full swing and the Atlanta Braves have already made several moves to shape up what their opening day lineup is going to be.

One area that is not certain is who will shape up the back end of the rotation to start the year. Didier Fuentes is one of the arms in contention for a rotation spot, although the odds may not lead that way. Fuentes has only pitched 2.0 innings thus far this spring but will get the nod to start against the Yankees today in Northport.

In his two innings he did not give up a walk or hit. He did have a hit batsman but struck out four. Today he will face the Yankees with aspirations of proving he has what it takes to get some MLB playing time this season. He has never faced any of the players on the Yankees roster at the big league level, so it will be fun to see how he handles them.

Offseason acquisition Ryan Weathers will be pitching for the Yankees and has struggled to a 7.94 ERA in his limited sample of 5.2 innings this spring.

Today, the Braves are going with a lineup that is mix of everyday starters, potential platoon bats, and players fighting for the final spots. Ozzie Albies also rejoins the lineup after his time in the WBC.

It is safe to say that this lineup will not be the opening day lineup, but there is a legitimate chance that Kyle Farmer will make the roster to face lefties like he is today.

The Yankees are bringing a lineup similar to the Braves with some starters, but also some players that likely won’t make the Opening Day squad.

Odds are this game is not going to decide a rotation spot on its own for Fuentes, but he is one to keep an eye on along with Farmer who looks to possibly win a roster spot as a platoon bat against LHP.

Game Notes

Time: 1:05 ET

TV: Gray TV

Streaming: MLB.TV (free game of the day)

Radio: ESPN 103.7/WIFN 1340

If you watched the first inning of last night’s Spring Training game between the Astros and Nationals, you got to see the future of baseball on display. The ABS challenge system was put into overdrive, as three CB Bucknor calls were overturned in just the first inning. It was a quick and easy system that will be a genuine game changer for MLB.

There were two overturns just in the first at bat of the game. CJ Abrams successfully challenged the second pitch of the game, turning a 1-1 count into 2-0 count. When the count was full, Astros catcher Yainer Diaz returned the favor, turning a walk into a strikeout on a breaking ball that just clipped the top of the zone. There was actually a called strike in the at bat that Abrams should have challenged but did not.

In the bottom half of the inning, it was Keibert Ruiz’s turn to help out his pitcher. He challenged a ball call, which was clearly in the zone. That made three overturns on CB Bucknor calls in just the first inning. This new system is clearly going to hurt some umpire’s pride this season. They are going to have to be on their A game at all times.

Those were not the only challenges of the game though. In the bottom of the second inning, Ruiz won another challenge on a faulty Bucknor call. That made it four overturns in just two innings. After all, it is Spring Training for the umpires as well.

As the game went on, things calmed down. Bucknor was actually vindicated a couple times later in the game, with two challenges going his way. This is going to be such an interesting storyline to follow as the season gets going. Baseball Savant is going to be tracking this like a hawk, so we will see who is the best and worst at challenges. 

It will also expose some of the weaker umpires we have in the sport. I am not surprised that it was CB Bucknor behind the plate when all these calls got overturned. He does not have a strong reputation as an umpire, and the numbers bear that out. Bucknor was towards the bottom of the umpire rankings last year.

After seeing this, there are definitely going to be games where this challenge system goes viral. There were some calls that could have gotten challenged early in the game that didn’t. That would have made things even worse for Bucknor. Umpires are going to have their feet held to the fire in a way they have not before.

The players are also going to need to know when to challenge as well. You can only fail two challenges before you run out for the game, so you have to be sure if you are challenging. That is why most teams have the catcher challenge rather than the pitcher, who could be liable to make rash decisions.

This is going to be an amazing wrinkle to this season. It is also very quick and easy. These challenges only take a few seconds, so it does not slow down the game much at all. It is also a bit of a spectacle for the fans because they show the decision up on the big screen. Having these decisions go down in playoff games is going to be really exciting.

Like the pitch clock, I think the ABS challenge system is going to be a big hit. Rob Manfred takes a lot of heat, much of it being justified, but he has made some great changes the past few years. The pitch clock was the best change the sport has seen in decades and now the ABS challenge system looks like it will also be a success. I am very excited to see how this plays out in the regular season.

Jeez, how did I get the relief pitching assignment? You know about me and relievers, right?

The thing with this series is that we’ve theoretically gone through “who the Braves have at their disposal this year” and “how those guys are gonna do.” For relievers, though? That’s the place where the mid-March answers to those questions are way less reliable than for any other position.

So, let’s do something at least a bit different. Not too different, just a bit. First, a top-down view.

The Braves’ bullpen has not exactly been an organizational strength since the Alex Anthopoulos regime took over. They rank 12th in MLB in fWAR in that span, though at least they’re eighth in WPA. Part of the reason they are ranked where they are is because, under Brian Snitker, the team honestly didn’t really care about using relievers all that much: from 2018-2025, the Braves ranked 24th in bullpen innings, and 25th in bullpen batters faced.

Recent history has been a mixed bag. The bullpen was fantastic in 2024: third in fWAR despite the third-fewest innings (somehow…). But, in 2025, it was very bleh: there were five teams who had under 1.0 fWAR from their relief corps, and the Braves had the lowest fWAR among teams that weren’t one of those sad sacks. As for the future, well, the Braves are currently projected to have baseball’s tenth-best bullpen in 2026, but bullpen projections are… not exactly something you want to take to the bank. Even so, when we talk about the vague amoeba-esque shape that we think the bullpen will take for 2026, it kind of looks like this:

High leverage

The Braves have dumped over $30 million in salary into Raisel Iglesias and Robert Suarez. Iglesias will return for his fifth-ish (he was acquired midseason in 2022) season with the team after re-upping on a one-year, $16 million agreement, while Suarez signed a three-year, $45 million deal in the offseason.

Both Iglesias and Suarez are up there in age, as they’ll be in their age-36 and age-35 seasons, respectively. That hasn’t really slowed them down yet, as Iglesias hasn’t had a season below 1.0 fWAR since 2018 (including 2020!), while Suarez put up 0.9 fWAR in 2024 and a thrilling 1.9 fWAR last season after an injury-shortened down year in 2023. That said, Iglesias is clearly declining — his xFIP-s have gone 54, 76, 76, 83, 92 from 2021 through 2025, and his early-season struggles last year basically kneecapped the Braves’ season before it really got going. Suarez was incredible last year, but he had xFIP-s in the 90s the two years before.

Both guys are projected to be good, but not elite, probably because of the age thing and the performance nits picked above. Iglesias is in that 0.5 – 1.0 WAR range, with the variance as much about assumptions about leverage as anything else. Suarez is… pretty much in the same boat.

On the one hand, having two relief guys that are similarly quite good diversifies the risk and provides a handcuff if Iglesias “decides” to get murdered by HR/FB or whatever for a long stretch again. On the other hand, the Braves have committed $31 million in salary obligations for 2026 to this. Maybe it’ll be great. Maybe it’ll just be fine.

Set-up or something

The next three guys in the presumed-but-maybe-not-actual bullpen pecking order are like, “names that will almost certainly be around pitching meaningful frames barring a trade or whatever.”

Dylan Lee has also been around since 2021 (well, mostly since 2022) and has a career 67 ERA-, 86 FIP-, and 79 xFIP-. He’s also straight-up eviscerated left-handed batters (33 percent strikeout rate, 3 percent walk rate, a 2.53 xFIP). Lee was really good in 2022 and 2024, but had homer problems in 2023 and 2025. Those homer problems curiously didn’t really ding his ERA, or even his WPA, but given the Braves’ issues with HR/FB last year, it’s just one of those things that sometimes makes you wake up in a cold sweat. (Or maybe that’s just me.)

Aaron Bummer was, and might continue to be, kind of the weirdest part of this roster. He was great in 2024 (1.1 fWAR) but the Braves didn’t really care in terms of using him accordingly. 2025 was worse in basically every respect, but still fine-ish. The Braves also made him start games for some reason, and he missed the last five weeks of the season with shoulder inflammation. This isn’t the place to re-litigate whatever is going on between Bummer, the coaching staff, and the organization, but suffice to say, Bummer probably can be in the mix to effectively pitch meaningful innings to the extent any reliever in this section or the ones below can, though whether he ultimately is remains a question mark due to his prior bizarre usage. There’s been a fair bit of noise that the Braves might trade Bummer to free up some cash, but there’s been no indication the organization is interested in that — and if they are, it’s not clear what they might do to bulk up the depth chart in his theoretical absence (if such a thing is even needed).

And then we have Tyler Kinley, who kind of differs from Bummer and Lee in that his peripherals don’t actually suggest he’s going to be all that productive. The Braves acquired Kinley partway through the year in 2025, and then declined his club option even though he posted a 17/68/106 line (ERA-/FIP-/xFIP-) for them down the stretch. They later re-signed him for a lower dollar total ($4.25 million). In the end, Kinley is a bit of an enigma, even if he’ll probably be used as a right-handed set-up-ish option to complement the lefty-hurling Lee and Bummer. His peripherals, as noted, have been poor — even after he departed the dysfunctional Rockies’ organization. You could argue that as a fly ball pitcher, xFIP undersells Kinley, and you kind of have to in order to feel good about his prospective role in this bullpen.

In any case, projections generally have all three of these guys around the 0.5 WAR mark, with an ultimately meaningless but nonetheless noticeable rank order of Lee > Bummer > Kinley in expected effectiveness.

Bullpens have way more than five pitchers, right?

So, who else is going to be in the bullpen? Uhhhhh… probably a whole lot of guys over the course of the season.

Joel Payamps seems like a decent bet, because the Braves gave him $2.25 million for 2026 after picking him up late last season. He was awful in 2025, but good in 2024 and great in 2023.

Beyond that, your guess is as good as mine, because there aren’t really any clear slam-dunk options, but just a bunch of guys to either cycle through or give a trial run and dump shortly thereafter unless they thrive.

Some guys in the organization are out of options or added on non-guaranteed deals. Jose Suarez has big swingman energy, was an okay starter a few years ago, and has sometimes looked flat-out dominant while causing Bad Josh Tomlin (not to be confused with Relief God Josh Tomlin) flashbacks otherwise. Ian Hamilton was great in 2023, good in 2024, and replacement level in 2025 — but hasn’t really gotten much run in camp so far.

Your ride-the-Gwinnett shuttle types include Dylan Dodd (who was fine as a reliever last year) and Hayden Harris (who’s had great minor league numbers but didn’t impress in a tiny sample in the majors last year, and seems to be less favored by the organization than his video game minor league numbers would suggest). Other guys that you might see here and there include:

• Daysbel Hernandez (coming off a shoulder injury and a woeful 2025 after a very exciting short MLB stint in 2024);
• James Karinchak (impressive in camp but hasn’t been useful in the majors since 2022);
• Hunter Stratton (basically depth, but had a nice 2024);
• Rolddy Munoz (at least in theory, but nothing he’s done in the minors suggests there’s any reason to give him a bullpen spot);
• Jhancarlos Lara (like Munoz, hasn’t done anything in the high minors but maybe he figures it out one day this year); and
• Tayler Scott (run-of-the-mill replacement-level reliever).

Depth

Guys not starting could be relieving. Or perhaps guys not doing so great at starting could be pushed into relieving by promotions of other arms in their place. Unfortunately for the Braves, they kind of have a “not sure we have enough guys to start effectively” issue potentially looming given their pitchers’ tendencies to keel over at the inkling of a stiff breeze on the other side of the continent, so this is a weird category. Could Grant Holmes, Reynaldo Lopez, and/or Bryce Elder do relief stuff? Yeah, sure, probably — if they’re not starting for some reason. This also probably isn’t the year that Spencer Strider, High Leverage Reliever comes to pass, but you know people will still talk about it.

The Braves could also give essentially battlefield promotions to a bunch of prospects and pseudo-prospects — Blake Burkhalter, Cade Kuehler, Connor Thomas as pure-play relievers, or Carter Holton, Lucas Braun, Drue Hackenberg, and Brett Sears as “sorry buddy, you’re not gonna be starting anymore, but brief major league paycheck?” options. Maybe this is the year that actual meaningful prospects JR Ritchie and Didier Fuentes somehow establish themselves as elite bulk options as the Braves revolutionize how they use their pitching staff but… nah.

Jesse Chavez probably isn’t coming out of retirement, either, but you never know. (He’s coaching for the Giants anyway at this point.)

Overall

This is an expensive bullpen, and it’s not all that top heavy, nor overwhelmingly heavy at the top. While it’s true that most teams don’t have a duo like Iglesias and Suarez at the back end, all the teams with even better projected bullpens than the Braves do, generally with an even better duo (or trio). The Braves are five-ish deep in better-than-average-we-hope relievers, which is actually where their real bullpen “strength” is. But, because we’re talking about relievers, I wouldn’t really count on it. Things are gonna get weird, because that’s what relief pitching is apparently all about. Even though I hate it, and wish it were more normal. Oh well.

In a move that drew little fanfare, San Diego Padres manager Craig Stammen made a subtle change to the batting order. He moved Xander Bogaerts from the bottom of the lineup to the leadoff spot and Fernando Tatis Jr. to the middle of the order.

The Padres are seeking better run production from the lineup in 2026. The manager wants a leadoff hitter who has a high on-base percentage and can put himself in scoring position to maximize the lineup’s run-producing potential. Bogaerts fits the criteria, as he is a high-contact hitter with a career .350 OBP and stole a career-high 25 bases last season.

Leadoff hitters were once catalysts for an offense

Historically, the prototypical major league leadoff hitter was a catalyst for their team to get off to a good start in games. They reached base either by a base hit or drawing a walk because of good plate discipline.

It forced a starting pitcher to throw his entire repertoire during the course of the at-bat. Taking pitches allows their teammates to gauge how a pitcher is throwing before their initial plate appearance. Once at first base, a leadoff hitter must use their speed to put themselves in scoring position for the middle-of-the-order hitters.

Some of the best examples of this type of leadoff hitter are Rickey Henderson, Lou Brock and Ichiro Suzuki.

Speed no longer required to leadoff

However, in today’s analytical-driven sport, baseball has shifted the definition of a leadoff hitter. Managers want them to maximize their team’s first at-bats with proven hitters. Instead of a speedy table setter, the focus is now on finding a leadoff hitter with power and discipline.

The advanced metrics show Bogaerts fits the bill, as he has a consistent contact rate at 80% and an above-average career strikeout rate at 18% heading into the 2026 campaign. Stammen recognized that he averages at least four pitches before Bogaerts puts the ball in play. Having his batting acumen at the top of the lineup should jump-start the Friars’ offense. 

By all signs in Spring Training, the move to the leadoff spot should offer a resurgence for Bogaerts at the plate. The projected numbers for him are a .272 batting average with a .331 OPS this season. It demonstrates that Bogaerts can make the transition from the lower third to the top of the order. 

The Padres manager believes a consistent contact hitter is the right approach for the leadoff spot of the batting order. Bogaerts can draw walks, put the ball in play, and occasionally hit the ball out of the park. 

Stammen expects the current look of the Friars’ lineup to score runs, but it all begins at the top.

When the Mets picked up Luis Torrens from the Yankees early in the 2024 season, it wasn’t exactly the biggest news. Then in his age-28 season, the catcher had racked up 807 major league plate appearances but hadn’t cracked the Yankees’ major league roster. And up to that point, he was worth -1.7 fWAR in the time he had spent with the Padres, Mariners, and Cubs.

But everything changed once he got his opportunity to play for the Mets. In 130 plate appearances over the course of 48 games with the team that year, he was worth 0.8 fWAR thanks entirely to a major improvement in his defensive metrics. Having put up an 89 wRC+ that year, he improved a bit from his previous career mark of 79, but the turnaround was much more pronounced behind the plate than at it.

Torrens returned to the same role with the Mets last year, and he got more playing time thanks to a variety of injuries suffered by starting catcher Francisco Alvarez. In 283 plate appearances, he wound up with a 79 wRC+, but thanks to even better defensive metrics, he finished the season with 1.6 fWAR.

The Mets made a whole bunch of moves over the course of the offseason, but they didn’t really do much at catcher to give Torrens competition. Sure, Austin Barnes and Ben Rortvedt are in major league camp as catchers, as are longtime Mets minor leaguers Hayden Senger and Kevin Parada. None of them seem likely to displace Torrens, even though several of them—including Torrens—are out of options.

Projections published at FanGraphs see more of the same from Torrens as he enters his age-30 season: a below-league-average bat with good defense who can contribute about one win to the team by fWAR. It’d be a perfectly cromulent outcome for a relatively unheralded role on a good team.

Morning everyone and welcome back to Friday!

The Athletics’ Opening Day is exactly two weeks away. That means big decisions are coming all across the team soon enough. From who lines up at the hot corner (looking like Max Muncy has won that job), to the back half of the starting rotation, to the bullpen and the bench spots, manager Mark Kotsay is going to be having to make some serious choices here in the next few days.

One of the bigger decisions he will have to make is in regards to right fielder Lawrence Butler. One of the four core players the front office has already signed to an extension, Butler seemed to emerge as a difference-maker during the second half of the 2024 campaign, his first real extended look in The Show. He hit an amazing .300/.345/.553 with 13 home runs in just 61 games, which when combined with his above-average defense in right field made him look like a budding star. That was enough for the front office to make him the second extension they came to, mere months after locking down Brent Rooker.

The first season of his new deal didn’t go as the A’s or Butler had hoped though. His stats fell across the board in almost every category, all while maintaining a .304 batting average on balls-in-play so it’s not like he was getting suddenly unlucky. It’s not what the A’s had envisioned for Butler but after the season we were all informed that the 25-year-old was playing on a torn patellar tendon in his right knee. That injury had to have had some effect on his performance, right? Especially considering how he struggled much more significantly in the second half (.203/.268/.351).

The hope is that that major injury was the cause of Butler’s regression in 2025. The left-handed swinger was expected to be a crucial part of any A’s success last year and those expectations remain high in what’ll be his third full season as a big leaguer.

He’s yet to get into any spring action though and we’re really running out of time to get him ramped up. Kotsay doesn’t think so at this point, saying that Butler has been getting his at-bats in the batting cage and in games against minor leaguers. Not exactly what A’s fans would hope for but at least he’s been active and getting reps with his bat. And Butler agrees:

“I feel great at the plate,” Butler said. “I’m glad they’re letting me get all these at-bats to let me continue to work on my approach at the plate. I might not run after I hit, but I’m still getting the reps in that are needed for me to be ready for the regular season.”

Despite the serious nature of the injury it seems that he’s suffered no setbacks and is feeling ready for the upcoming grind of a six-month baseball season. The biggest and final thing for him to do is start playing in the outfield, which he has yet to do in any capacity so far this year. It sounds as though the tentative plan is to get him into some game action this coming week, but whether he plays on the grass or is merely DH’ing is unknown at this point.

Hopefully he can log some time in right field before camp is over, because Butler’s needed out there with our guys. With Rooker’s presence taking up the DH spot there isn’t a chance to exclusively put Butler’s bat in the batting order during the first few weeks of the season if he’s not ready for defensive duties. That could mean a season-opening IL stint for Butler, where he can continue to build strength in his knee and get some action reps in the outfield down in Triple-A with the Aviators.

Where would that leave the big league club for the first few weeks of the season? Firstl looking at players currently on the 40-man roster, former top prospect Colby Thomas seems like he would be the logical bet to get some at-bats in right field but the right-hander is just 4-for-28 this spring with seven punchouts, and he also struggled last year in his first taste of big league pitching. Carlos Cortes could be an option, and he’s a switch-hitter, but he’s just 3-for-9 this spring and has been with Team Puerto Rico for the past week-plus and is just 3-for-13 playing for his national team. If the plan is a platoon in right field while Butler’s on the shelf then Cortes would likely be in the lineup for Opening Day considering the Blue Jays will be sending right-hander Dylan Cease to the mound.

Jeff McNeil was always expected to get some outfield work this year and has played 124 games there in his career, but the A’s brought him aboard to play second base. The A’s could, but almost certainly won’t, send Rooker out to the grass, though he made 20 starts in right field last year. Andy Ibanez is the only other player on the 40-man roster to have played right field in the big leagues, and that was just seven starts back in 2023.

If the A’s were feeling a bit bold, however, they could turn to their minor league system, where top prospect Henry Bolte is itching for his chance. The 22-year-old outfielder has been having an amazing camp, opening the eyes of both the watching fans and the coaching staff. The right-handed hitter wouldn’t be a perfect one-for-one replacement for Butler, as the lefty-swinging Butler has more pop but Bolte has more speed. Which isn’t how the A’s offense plans to operate this year but it could be a change of pace for opposing pitchers to deal with him on the basepaths. He has only played 34 games at Triple-A however so some more seasoning in Las Vegas already seemed in order (though he tore the cover off the ball in that short sample with the Aviators).

How do you guys think the right field situation is going to play out? Is Butler really going to beat expectations and be in the lineup Opening Day in Toronto? Or will the A’s turn to a Plan B that sees the A’s just try to get by while waiting for his return? Or do the A’s get aggressive with one of their top prospects who has been hitting the ball fantastically all spring? Comment and debate below!

And of course, have a good weekend guys.

A’s Coverage:

• March Reminder: Opening Day Rosters Matter More To The Fans
• A’s Lose To Texas 7-6 in Spring Training Matchup
• Can Muncy’s glove catch up to his bat at third base?
• A’s Slug Their Way To Fifth Straight Cactus League Victory
• What Have We Learned So Far In Spring Training?
• Jacob Wilson Has a Message For A’s Fans in the Bay Area
• Athletics Community Prospect List: Yunior Tur
• Darell Hernaiz’s walk-off HR lifts Puerto Rico to WBC win
• Still Need To Put The “Fun” In Fundamentals
• A’s prospect Jump gets off to hot start in first Vegas appearance
• Young, talented Athletics need veterans to show the way
• Athletics coaching staff enthusiastic about Bolte’s pathway to Majors
• Medina eager to get back on track after nearly 2-year absence
• Could 2026 be the final year of A’s baseball in Sacramento?
• A’s Home Opener in Sacramento Not Sold Out

MLB News and Interest:

• Everything you need to know about the World Baseball Classic Quarterfinals
• Astros closer Josh Hader to begin season on 15-day IL
• Brewers starter Quinn Priester to begin season on IL
• Cubs tab Matthew Boyd to start Opening Day vs. Nationals
• White Sox catcher Kyle Teel to miss 4-6 weeks with hamstring strain
• Latest on Angels’ rotation plans
• Aaron Judge baseball card fetches modern record of $5.2 million
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

How long until Bolte is a factor at the big league level? Opening Day?

With another long ball yesterday afternoon:

If you’ve been watching any Athletics spring games this year, you already knew that:

In case you missed yesterday’s game:

Ha ha ha: