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The Sixers need to keep Kelly Oubre for at least the remainder of the season

The Sixers are in an interesting spot as the trade deadline approaches. They look good enough on certain nights to be a real contender in an Eastern Conference that appears to be wide open.

While their record isn’t stellar, they’re still above .500 and the 2025-26 season has given fans a sliver of hope, both for the current season and that the future might not be super bleak. So, that leaves you with a team that’s probably not good enough to be an aggressive buyer within the next week, but certainly isn’t bad enough to be an obvious seller which leaves Daryl Morey with some decisions to make.

The most obvious decisions for Morey would be to sell off a few of Philly’s veterans who are on expiring contracts and there are three names to discuss here. Quentin Grimes, Andre Drummond and Kelly Oubre are all set to become free agents this summer. Granted, lumping the 25-year-old Grimes in with these two players in their 30s is oversimplifying things a bit. However, dating back to last offseason when the Sixers and Grimes were seemingly never close to a long-term deal, it has felt like the Houston product has had one foot out the door.

Out of these three players, Drummond is the oldest and being paid the least amount of money for the season, so you would think he is the most likely to be traded. Joel Embiid has shown signs of looking like his old self of late and Adem Bona is a youngster that is playing about as many minutes as Drummond is anyway. The team also officially signed old friend Charles Bassey to a 10-day deal Monday.

That brings us to Oubre, who is the most complicated trade candidate on the roster. While the Sixers are Oubre’s fifth team in a decade of NBA service time, the 30-year-old journeyman wing player has been a constant for Philadelphia in his three seasons with the team. He appeared in 68 games in 2023-24, 60 games last season and could still end up playing in 50-60 games this year if he stays healthy in the second half after a knee injury early in the season. His numbers have been pretty steady in all three seasons as a Sixer, and this season, his 38% three-point field goal percentage is actually up significantly from last year’s 29%.

If there’s a team out there that is more solidified as a contender than Philadelphia is, it may call Morey about Oubre, especially considering an acquiring team would gain Oubre’s Bird rights. Oubre hasn’t played for many contenders in his career, but he feels like a prototypical deadline addition for a contender. For his career, Oubre has appeared in 677 games, starting 328 of them, making for almost exactly a 50-50 split between his time as a starter and a bench player. He’s been a pretty consistent scorer regardless of the team he’s played for and a team with championship aspirations would probably love to add a 15-points-per-game guy that is shooting the ball as well as Oubre is this season.

Whether the Sixers should bite and move on from Oubre is a different conversation. Surely, there’s a price on any player and if another team exceeds the price that Morey and his staff value Oubre at, then no one can blame the Sixers for moving on. But, there’s a lot of value in Oubre remaining in Philadelphia. First off, he can help them win games in the second half, climb in the standings and cement themselves as one of the top six seeds in the East and avoid the play-in tournament. 

Secondly, a player like Oubre can certainly help bring Philly’s younger players along. Between Bona, VJ Edgecombe, Jabari Walker and Dominick Barlow, the Sixers have four rotation players in their early 20s who are still learning the ropes of life in the NBA. Oubre has been in so many different environments in his 10+ years as a professional, he could certainly help Philly’s younger players feel like they belong.

Lastly, while everyone knows about the money Philadelphia has committed to Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George for the future, there isn’t a lot of money on the books to other players in future seasons. To bring it back to Oubre in comparison to Grimes and Drummond, it feels like a no-brainer that Oubre should be the one out of these three that the Sixers are most interested in singing this summer. 

We discussed the presence of Bona making Drummond a bit more expendable. While 2025-26 has not gone according to planned for Jared McCain, one would figure the Sixers still want McCain to be a big part of their future and the departure of Grimes would make it much easier to get McCain more playing time next season. Who’s replacing Oubre if Oubre is gone either at the trade deadline or if he walks in free agency? Philly doesn’t have another plug-and-play wing like Oubre and so keeping him for the rest of the season in hopes of going on a playoff run in the spring probably makes it easier to retain Oubre moving forward.

As we said, there could be an offer for Oubre that is too good to pass up. We’re certainly not trying to make it sound like the future of the franchise hinges on if Kelly Oubre sticks around or not. But Oubre has been a consummate professional in his time as a Sixer. He’s at the point in his career where he can be both a mentor to younger players and a remain a key contributor for whatever team he’s playing for. That team should continue to be the Philadelphia 76ers.

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Game Preview #47 – Timberwolves vs. Warriors

Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Golden State Warriors
Date: January 26th, 2026
Time: 8:30 PM CST
Location: Target Center
Television Coverage: Peacock
Radio Coverage: KFAN FM, Wolves App, iHeart Radio

There are bad losses, and then there are losses that make you question whether everyone in the building is actually watching the same sport you are. Sunday afternoon against Golden State landed firmly in the second category.

This wasn’t just another mark in the loss column. This was a five-game losing streak crystallized into one ugly, disjointed, borderline alarming performance. Twenty-five turnovers. Sixty percent from the free-throw line. Zero urgency. Zero cohesion. And a team that looked less like a Western Conference contender and more like one killing time until the final buzzer.

That’s what makes this stretch so confounding. You can squint and explain away Houston — no Anthony Edwards, brutal free-throw shooting, still right there late. You can contextualize San Antonio — no Rudy Gobert, one catastrophic defensive quarter, still a furious comeback. Even Utah, as galling as it was, fits into the familiar Wolves genre of “took a bad opponent lightly and paid for it.”

But Chicago at home? Blowing multiple double-digit leads when they knew they couldn’t afford it? And then Sunday afternoon, in a game that was supposed to be about pride, response, and urgency, watching the Wolves casually hand Golden State extra possessions like they were running a giveaway promotion?

That’s where the concern stops being about execution and starts being about engagement.

Because what we’ve seen over the last 10 days isn’t just missed shots or bad breaks. It’s lazy defense. It’s stagnant offense. It’s body language that screams “we’ll figure it out later.” And in the Western Conference, later turns into the play-in faster than you think.

A week ago, Minnesota was flirting with the two seed. Today, they’re buried in seventh, staring up at a standings ladder that’s suddenly a lot steeper than it was supposed to be. The margin for error is gone. The goodwill from early January has evaporated. And if this team is serious about avoiding a first-round meat grinder, or worse, this spiral has to stop immediately.

The good news? They get the rarest gift in the NBA: an immediate do-over. Same floor. Same opponent. Just over 24 hours later.

No excuses. No schedule quirks. No mystery. Just basketball.

So if the Wolves are going to stop the bleeding, here’s exactly how it has to happen.

Keys to the Game

1. Take care of the ball.
You cannot win an NBA game turning the ball over 25 times. Sunday was a masterclass in self-sabotage: lazy passes, dribbling into traffic, unforced errors that turned neutral possessions into automatic Warriors points. Those turnovers didn’t just cost points. They killed rhythm, energy, and any chance of sustained pressure. If Minnesota coughs the ball up at anything close to that level again, the result will be the same. This has to be a game where possessions are valued, decisions are quick, and carelessness is treated like the enemy.

2. Find the intensity.
The Wolves looked like a team that didn’t want to be there on Sunday. That can’t happen again. Not at this point in the season, not with this much at stake. Golden State may be short-handed, but they’re still organized, still disciplined, and still capable of punishing teams that sleepwalk. Minnesota doesn’t need perfection. It needs effort. Sprinting back. Fighting over screens. Talking on defense. Playing like each possession matters. This team has shown it can flip that switch. The problem is it keeps choosing not to. That choice can’t exist tonight.

3. Hit your free throws and stop giving games away.
This has gone from “concerning trend” to “active crisis.” The Wolves are bleeding points at the line every single night, and it’s costing them real games against real competition. Sixty percent from the stripe is unacceptable for a team with this much shooting talent. Those are free points, and Minnesota keeps leaving them on the table. Until that changes, every close game is going to feel uphill. This has to be the night where competence returns at the line, because the math isn’t negotiable.

4. Use your size and win the physical battle.
There is no scenario where the Warriors should be outworking Minnesota on the glass. And yet, that’s exactly what happened. When effort drops, size advantages disappear. Gobert, Randle, and Reid need to reassert themselves as the foundation of this team. Finish possessions. Create second chances. Punish mismatches inside. Make Golden State feel the size difference instead of letting them play small, fast, and free. This should be one of Minnesota’s greatest strengths. It has to show up.

5. Ant and Julius have to set the tone — together.
Anthony Edwards showed up Sunday. Julius Randle did not. That imbalance can’t exist again. This team goes where those two take it, and leadership right now means more than scoring totals. It means controlling the pace, smart shot selection, and getting teammates involved. It means playing connected basketball instead of trying to rescue possessions individually. Ant doesn’t need to play hero ball. Randle doesn’t need to bully through triple teams. They need to lead — emotionally, stylistically, and competitively. If they do, the rest of the roster follows. If they don’t, nothing else matters.

This is the moment where teams decide who they are.

Minnesota can keep drifting, blaming injuries, lamenting missed opportunities, and telling themselves the season is long, or they can recognize that this stretch is defining them right now. The West isn’t waiting. The standings don’t care about intent. And every loss from here on out carries compound interest.

This second Warriors game isn’t about revenge. It’s about accountability. It’s about professionalism. It’s about proving that the team we saw in early January wasn’t a mirage.

Because if the Wolves can’t summon urgency here, at home, against a familiar rival, staring down a six-game skid, then the conversation changes. Permanently.

This has to stop.

Now.

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Yankees 2025-26 Offseason Report Card: Grading every key move

As we write this, we’re wearing a tweed sport coat with patches on the sleeves. It’s office hours here on campus and we’re calculating report cards for the winter term.

In the Yankees’ case, however, this is more a progress report than final grades, since it feels like the Yanks have left some coursework undone. Sure, they completed their major project – re-signing Cody Bellinger – and added pitching depth. But they (hopefully) have more to do, which is why we’ll withhold overall marks right now. 

It does seem like they’re just running it back, doesn’t it? That might affect their final grade. The bullpen lost Devin Williams and Luke Weaver, so it might need more strengthening. 

Still, there’s some nice roster building here for a team that won 94 games. We will be updating as the offseason continues. Here are the for-now individual grades:

Cody Bellinger re-signed

It took a while and, while it always felt inevitable, it sure would’ve been scary had Bellinger bolted the Bronx. He was, obviously, the linchpin of their entire offseason and the sides finally agreed to a reported five-year, $162.5-million deal with opt-outs after the second and third seasons and a full no-trade clause. They needed him back. And badly.

Bellinger’s ability to offer good defense at all three outfield positions, plus spell and perhaps tutor Ben Rice at first base, is part of what makes him a tremendous Yankee fit. So is his contact hitting, sweet lefty swing, and production. He looked at home last season, his first in New York, where his dad, Clay, played most of his career.

Perhaps Bellinger, 30, can take even bigger advantage of the famed short right field porch after having a season of experience at Yankee Stadium. Last year, he batted .302 with a .365 on-base and .544 slugging percentage at home and hit 18 of his 29 total home runs there. 

In 2025, Bellinger had a career-low 13.7 percent strikeout rate, 16th-best in the majors. His ability to make contact, clearly a priority for him in recent years, judging by his numbers, is a crucial skill for the Yanks. They had the sixth-worst strikeout percentage in baseball (23.5 percent) last season.

Grade: A

Trent Grisham returned on the QO

There seemed to be a bit of odd glee in the public when Grisham accepted the $22.025-million qualifying offer, as if the Yanks somehow faltered by getting back a player with power and patience who can handle center field on a reasonable one-year pact. Uh, OK.

Front offices generally believe there are no bad short-term contracts. This deal did not preclude them from re-signing Bellinger. And if you think the Yankees were going to re-sign Bellinger and then get Kyle Tucker had Grisham not returned, well, are you even listening when Hal Steinbrenner speaks publicly?

Grisham, 29, was a key cog in baseball’s best offense. He slugged 34 home runs, had a .348 on-base percentage and an .811 OPS. Only 14 players in the sport hit more home runs than Grisham. He out-homered stars such as Julio Rodríguez, George Springer, and José Ramírez. His OPS was two points lower than Bellinger’s. He doesn’t chase and offered the Yanks a solution at leadoff, which had not been easy to find.

Can he duplicate his 2025? Well, there’s the risk. He doubled his career-best in homers and he was coming off three consecutive seasons in which his average was below .200. Defensive metrics don’t love his glove, even if the eye test is more appreciative. And he is a two-time Gold Glove winner. 

Grade: B

Miami Marlins starting pitcher Ryan Weathers (35) pitches in the first inning against the Washington Nationals at loanDepot Park.
Miami Marlins starting pitcher Ryan Weathers (35) pitches in the first inning against the Washington Nationals at loanDepot Park. / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Prospects traded for Ryan Weathers

Weathers, a 26-year-old lefty who is the son of former Yankee reliever David Weathers, has massive upside, which is why he cost four prospects in a deal with the Marlins. He relies mostly on a four-seam fastball, a changeup, and a sweeper.

He averaged 96.9 mph on his heater last season in his eight starts, which means that the only lefty starter with a harder fastball, on average, was – gulp – Tarik Skubal. That’s part of the reason why MLB.com cited Weathers as a potential breakout pitcher.

For all his promise, Weathers has injury concerns, too, so there is massive risk here. He has never thrown even 100 innings in a season. Over the past two years combined, he has made only 24 starts and thrown 125 innings.

Still, the Yanks required rotation help, considering Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt are all starting the season on the IL. Weathers, if he stays healthy, could be a big answer. And he won’t be a free agent until after the 2028 season.

Grade: B-

Tim Hill’s option exercised

Hill, 36 in February, has been a reliable bullpen lefty the last two years and led the Yanks with 70 appearances in 2025. He’s worth the $3 million bill. His lefty sidearm approach helps him get ground balls at an elite rate – 64.8 percent last year, second among relievers – and he held lefty batters to a .444 OPS. Hill has been terrific in October as well, fashioning a 0.79 ERA in 13 postseason outings for the Yanks in two years.

Grade: B-plus

Amed Rosario re-signed

Rosario impressed the Yanks last year, batting .303 in 16 games as a post-deadline bench piece. He can play multiple positions, including the outfield, but his real skill for the Yanks is his ability against lefty pitching. Helping their lefty-reliant lineup might be worth the $2.5 million he’s getting. In his career, Rosario has a slash line of .298/.336/.464 against southpaws and he could sub for Ryan McMahon at third against a lefty starter.

Grade: B

Rotation depth kept

Because of the aforementioned recovering pitchers, the Yanks needed arms, so they retained Ryan Yarbrough (4.36 ERA in 19 games) and Paul Blackburn (6.23 ERA over 15 games between Mets and Yanks).

Grade: C+

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50 Most Notable Yankees Free Agent Signings: Alex Rodriguez

One of the things that have always been synonymous with the long and illustrious history of the New York Yankees have been the sheer amount of cash their biggest superstars make. Since Babe Ruth was making $52,000 in 1922, numerous players in pinstripes have had the distinction of being the highest-paid player in MLB.

When Alex Rodriguez was acquired via trade from Texas just two years into his massive $252 million contract, it was the first time since Dave Winfield in 1981 that the league’s highest-paid player played for the Evil Empire and the perennial MVP candidate was being added to a team who had won six of the last eight AL pennants and four World Series since 1996.

Rodriguez was able to opt out of his massive contract after 2007 and there was initially some doubt whether A-Rod and the Yankees would come to a reunion, but the two sides eventually came to terms on a new-record breaking contract that would have a complicated legacy in pinstripes.

Alex Rodriguez
Signing Date: December 17, 2007
Contract: 10 years, $275 million

Rodriguez could’ve retired after the 2007 season and would’ve been a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Since debuting 19 days shy of his 19th birthday in 1994 for the Seattle Mariners, A-Rod had amassed 2,205 hits, 518 home runs, 1,503 RBI, 265 stolen bases, and a career .306/.389/.578 slashline through when he opted out of his contract at age 32. Every milestone, record, and distinction was absolutely attainable for him at this point.

The one thing that had alluded the three-time MVP, however, was a championship. He was an integral part of the Seattle playoff runs in 1997 and 2000 that fell short due to the Yankees, but had missed out on the 116-win Mariners after signing his mega-deal with the lowly Texas Rangers ahead of 2001. He arrived in the Bronx with the highest expectations imaginable, but his first four playoff runs had been underwhelming, to say the least.

Despite winning two MVPs and posting four elite seasons from 2004-07, Rodriguez had managed just one good postseason in 2004, where the Yanks brutally collapsed against Boston, before combining to go 3-for-29 in 2005 and 2006 before a so-so ALDS in 2007. After nearly a decade of perennially playing in the Fall Classic, the three consecutive first-round exits had frustrated the Yankee faithful, and A-Rod’s struggles in the playoffs were right in the middle of it.

So how do you think George Steinbrenner and the Yankees responded when A-Rod officially opted out of the final three years of his contract… during Game 4 of the World Series? The comedically bad timing, courtesy of (who else?) Scott Boras, pissed everyone off. MLB was pissed, the Yankees were pissed, the New York fans and media were outraged. It got to the point where the late Hank Steinbrenner said there was “no chance” the Yankees would look to re-sign Rodriguez after the stunt.

Not only was the manner in which he opted out frustrating to the Yanks, but it also hurt them financially. As part of the trade to send Rodriguez to the Bronx prior to the 2004 season, Texas had agreed to pay $21.3 million of Rodriguez’s 2008-10 salary, had he not opted out. This absolved them. It was sort of similar to the Giancarlo Stanton contract, where the hulking slugger did have an opt out (which he obviously didn’t use) that would’ve offset the $30 million that Miami is sending to New York for the final three years of the deal.

At first, it seemed Boras’ gamble was a big mistake. The Yankees stayed true to their word for a while, focusing more on retaining Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera. A-Rod’s steep price tag also priced him out of almost every team, with only moderate interest coming from teams like the Giants, Angels, and Dodgers. Eventually, though, the sides got together and agreed to a framework of a new deal in mid-November, not signing it for another month.

The new deal was the richest in baseball history and would pay Rodriguez $27.5 million a year through his age 42 season in 2017. He also had huge milestone incentives in the contract, which would be paid out if Rodriguez got to 660, 714, 755, and 762 home runs. He would only reach one of those.

A-Rod had an okay season by his standards in 2008, finishing eighth in MVP voting and leading the American League in slugging percentage, but the Yankees missed the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, heightening the frustration in the fanbase. It also didn’t help the slugger that he had to admit to using PEDs while he was in Texas in February 2009.

All the frustrations would be soothed in 2009, however. Winning often solves everything and Rodriguez finally had the iconic run that fans had been waiting for. After failing to make the All-Star Game for the first time in a decade with his worst regular season as a Yankee, Rodriguez slashed .365/.500/.808 in 15 games as he finally got the ring to complete his illustrious career.

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There wasn’t much left in the tank after that. He extended his streak of 30+ home run seasons to 13 straight in 2010 before injuries held him back in 2011. He was named an All-Star two more times and slowly accumulated his counting stats to eek closer to 3,000 hits while getting to 629 career homers through his age 36 season. There was enough gas in the tank, and plenty of cash, to get A-Rod to 700 and beyond.

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The postseason performances were rough again following the World Series victory. He slashed a grotesque .152/.250/.177 in his final 22 postseason games from 2010-15 and it re-invigorated the “playoff dropper” narrative that ate him up prior to 2009. He was a World Series champion, however, and one of the greatest to ever do it. They couldn’t take that from him… until 2013.

Rodriguez’s body was failing him as he entered his late 30s and he missed a vast majority of the 2013 season due to a second arthroscopic surgery in his hip. That would be the least of his problems that year, as the Biogenesis scandal destroyed whatever was left of his public image and established that he would never have a plaque in Cooperstown. If he wasn’t already one of baseball’s biggest villains, he was public enemy No. 1 now.

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He would become the first player in major league history to be suspended a full season due to PEDs when Bud Selig put a 162-game ban (shortened from 211) in August 2013, costing the aging superstar an entire year of his career and effectively ending his hopes of reaching the home run milestones that once seemed a certainty.

He recovered to mash 33 home runs as a newly minted designated hitter in 2015, but that was the last gasp. As he approached his 41st birthday and struggled through the 2016 season, the Yankees bit the bullet and announced Rodriguez would play his final game on August 12th, releasing him the next day to make room for a certain 6-foot-7 outfielder that you may know of.

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The Yankees would pay out the final $27 million of the contract while Rodriguez was a special advisor in the organization. He had offers to play in 2017, but elected to retire a Yankee, finishing with 696 career home runs. In his second contract, he slashed .269/.359/.486 with 178 home runs, a 123 OPS+, and made two All-Star teams.

It’s safe to say that the Yankees did not get the bang for their buck after extending Rodriguez, but it’s rare that you do when you ink a 32-year-old to a lucrative 10-year contract. The $360 million deal that Aaron Judge got after 2022 was in a similar circumstance of paying a lot of money to an MVP into their early 40s, but the current Yankees’ captain has already been worth the deal with how absurd his last three seasons have been.

The one thing that the contract did yield was a World Series. The Yankees do not win in 2009 without Rodriguez’s contributions in October, even if he was subpar in almost every other postseason. Without 2009, the Yankees would be on a 25-year title drought, the longest in franchise history. Despite the bad press he brought, the 27th World Series that he helped bring home means it isn’t one that Brian Cashman and the Steinbrenners regret.

See more of the “50 Most Notable Yankees Free Agent Signings in 50 Years” series here.

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Top 25 Mets Prospects for 2026: Ryan Clifford (8)

Ryan Clifford, a North Carolina native, attended high school at Leesville Road High School, a public school in Raleigh for his freshman and sophomore seasons. It quickly became apparent that he was a big fish in a small pond, as he posted a .526 with 4 home runs over 21 games in his freshman year, and hit .692 with 3 home runs over 4 games in his sophomore year, winning the 2020 Gatorade Player of the Year (North Carolina) Award for the COVID-shortened season in the process.

Overview

Name: Ryan Clifford
Position: 1B/OF
Born: 07/20/2003 (Age 22 season in 2026)
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 200 lbs.
Bats/Throws: L/L
Acquired: Trade (August 1, 2023: Traded by the Houston Astros with Drew Gilbert to the New York Mets for Justin Verlander)
2025 Stats: 105 G, 367 AB, .243/.355/.493, 89 H, 18 2B, 1 3B, 24 HR, 63 BB, 113 K, 4/6 SB, .278 BABIP (Double-A) / 34 G, 114 AB, .219/.359/.395, 25 H, 5 2B, 0 3B, 5 HR, 22 BB, 35 K, 3/5 SB (.263 BABIP)

With his talent undeniable, Clifford and his family made the decision to have him leave Leesville Road High School and enroll him at the Pro5 Baseball Academy, a nearby baseball development program working in conjunction with Crossroads Flex High School to give students an elite, all-inclusive, year-round baseball development program while meeting state academic benchmarks. There, Clifford would be able to get year-round training and exposure in preparation for a professional baseball career. Over the next two years, his profile would rise and his name would commonly be bandied about by scouts and evaluators for his performance at workouts and in exhibition games across the showcase circuit.

Clifford was considered one of the better high school bats in the 2022 draft class, but due to a handful of circumstances, his name fell down most draft boards. A strong commitment to Vanderbilt University scared off most teams, but beyond that, Clifford’s less-impressive-than-expected numbers during his junior and senior seasons prompted many teams to pass on him. The Mets were one such team, high on Clifford and considering drafting him thanks to possessing the 11th and 14th overall selections in the 2022 MLB Draft but ultimately passing after not being able to make the financials work with the rest of the players Tommy Tanous and Mark Tramuta intended on selecting.

After not hearing his name called over the first ten rounds of the draft, Clifford was finally selected in the 11th round by the Houston Astros, the 343rd overall selection made. Astros scouting director Kriss Gross was initially unsure if the team would be able to find the financial flexibility to sign Clifford, but ultimately was able to make it work, buying him out of his commitment to Vanderbilt for a $1,256,530 signing bonus, roughly the equivalent of a second-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.

Clifford made his professional debut later that summer with the FCL Astros Orange, the Astros’ Florida Complex League team. Appearing in 13 games, he went 8-36 with 3 doubles, 1 home run, 2 stolen bases, and 12 walks to 16 strikeouts, a .222/.440/.389 batting line. He was promoted to the Single-A Fayette Woodpeckers and finished out the season going 11-41 with them with 2 doubles, 1 home run, and 10 walks to 15 strikeouts, a .268/.412/.390 batting line. All in all, his professional debut went well, as he hit .247/.426/.390 with 5 doubles, 2 home runs, 2 stolen bases, and 22 walks to 31 strikeouts in 25 combined games.

He began the 2023 season with the Woodpeckers and got off to a hot start, hitting .337/.488/.457 in 25 games with 5 doubles, 2 home runs, 3 stolen bases, and 25 walks to 27 strikeouts. He was promoted to the High-A Ashville Tourists in mid-May and was even more impressive there, hitting .271/.356/.547 in 58 games with 11 doubles, 16 home runs, 1 stolen base, and 21 walks to 61 strikeouts.

On August 1st, the Mets traded Justin Verlander to Houston and received Clifford and Drew Gilbert in return. Clifford was assigned to the Brooklyn Cyclones and finished out the rest of the season there, hitting .188/.307/.376 in 32 games with 4 doubles, 6 home runs, 1 stolen base, and 18 walks to 51 strikeouts. All in all, with all three teams, he hit .262/.374/.480 with 20 doubles, 24 home runs, 5 stolen bases in 7 attempts, and 64 walks to 140 strikeouts.

Clifford returned to the Cyclones to start the 2024 season, and while the numbers did not exactly jump off the pages, he was solidly above-average in the 31 games he played there. The 20-year-old hit .216/.412/.304 with 6 doubles and 1 home run, his power numbers suffering but his walk rate benefitting from a weak Brooklyn Cyclones lineup that made it easy to pitch around the young slugger. When he was promoted to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in mid-May, Clifford began showing off the plus power that makes him so dangerous as a hitter and capable of carrying an entire team for days at a time. Appearing in 98 games, Clifford hit .231/.359/.457 with 21 doubles, 18 home runs, 3 stolen bases, and 63 walks to 117 strikeouts. On the whole, he hit a combined .228/.372/.432 in 129 games on the season with 27 doubles, 19 home runs, 4 stolen bases, and 95 walks to 160 strikeouts. His walk total led the Mets’ minor league system, while his home run and strikeout total both placed him in third.

The Mets had the 21-year-old remain in Binghamton to start the 2025 season, and he ended up playing the majority of the year there, suiting up for 105 games with the Rumble Ponies. Clifford hit .243/.355/.493 with 18 doubles, 1 triple, 24 home runs, 4 stolen bases in 6 attempts, and 63 walks to 113 strikeouts. In mid-August, the team promoted the slugger to Triple-A Syracuse, and he finished the season there, appearing in 34 games and hitting .219/.359/.395 with 5 doubles, 5 home runs, 3 stolen bases in 5 attempts, and 22 walks to 35 strikeouts. Overall, Clifford hit a combined .237/.356/.470 in 2025 with 23 doubles, 1 triple, 29 home runs, 7 stolen bases in 11 attempts, and drew 85 walks to 148 strikeouts. His 29 homers led the Mets minor league system, and his 85 walks led the system for a second-consecutive year.

The 6’3”, 200-pound left-hander stands tall at the plate, standing slightly open and holding his hands high with the bat head angled at 10:00. He swings with a slight kick/toe tap without much of a load or weight transfer. His left-handed stroke is smooth, efficient, and quick, producing light tower power, but it is also long and uppercutty, making him vulnerable to pitches in the upper half of the zone- though he may have made some mechanical adjustments to make himself more effective upstairs, as he hit .241/.477/.586 against pitches up in the zone in his 34 game sample size with Syracuse, where statcast data is publicly available.

Clifford boasts plus-plus raw power and is able to manifest much of that in-game, averaging a 93.6 MPH exit velocity on balls he put in play in Syracuse as per publicly available statcast data, but the swing-and-miss issues will make it difficult to fully tap into that power in-game consistently. Against fastballs, Clifford hit .410/.400/.667 with a 22% whiff rate and an average exit velocity of 96 MPH. Against breaking balls, he hit .231/.222/.577 with a 35.2% whiff rate and an average exit velocity of 90 MPH. Against off-speed pitches, he hit .214/.214/.286 with a 32.6% whiff rate and an average exit velocity of 93.9 MPH.

Clifford has an advanced approach at the plate and makes smart swing decisions, but he sometimes plays himself into poor counts by being too passive at the plate, waiting for pitchers to make mistakes instead of making contact with anything he thinks he can and letting his strength and power take over. Finding himself behind in the count, Clifford’s chase rate is virtually double in such two-strike situations, as opposed to when he is a more favorable counts.

After showing reverse platoon splits and struggling a bit against right-handed pitchers in 2024, hitting .216/.363/.415 against them as compared to the .290/.424/.449 he hit against left-handed pitchers, Clifford’s splits reversed in 2025. He hit an improved .247/.379/.497 against right-handers in 2025 but hit .204/.273/.381 against fellow left-handers.

Not much changed in Clifford’s batted ball profile. He pulled the ball at a 43.9% rate, went back up the middle at a 23.7% rate, and went to the opposite field at a 32.3% rate, all numbers comparable to his 2024 season. Likewise, his 21.3% line drive rate, 38.6% groundball rate, and 40.1% flyball rate were comparable to his 2024 season as well. The one area of noticeable improvement was the damage that was done when he hit the ball in the air. Clifford’s infield flyball rate dropped from 24.0% in 2024 to 19.4% this past season, and his HR/FB ratio increased from 15.7% in 2024 to 21.6% in 2025.

Defensively, Clifford provides little value at any of the positions that he plays. He played first base, left field, and right field in 2025, as well as DH, with the majority of his playing time coming at first base. At first, he is a sub-optimal fielder who will generally make the routine plays but will not do much more than that thanks to a lack of quick-twitch athleticism. In the outfield, he is also a net neutral fielder at best, with his above-average arm an asset, but his lack of athleticism and range a disadvantage. With more time in the outfield, his defense may improve in terms of his read of the ball off the bat, or the routes he takes may become more efficient. But with fringy speed to begin with, losing speed as he ages and matures may counter any experienced-based improvements.

2026 Mets Top 25 Prospect List

9) Will Watson
10) Jack Wenninger
11) Mitch Voit
12) Jonathan Santucci
13) Elian Peña
14) Zach Thornton
15) Nick Morabito
16) R.J. Gordon
17) Chris Suero
18) Dylan Ross
19) Ryan Lambert
20) Antonio Jimenez
21) Edward Lantigua
22) Eli Serrano III
23) Randy Guzman
24) Daiverson Gutierrez
25) Boston Baro

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Royals, Rankings & Real Life: Finding Perspective in Baseball

In this episode of the Royals Rundown Podcast, Jacob Milham and Jeremy “Hokius” Greco take stock of the Kansas City Royals while balancing baseball discussion with the reality of current events and the importance of community support. The hosts dive into the MLB Top 100 player and prospect lists, breaking down where key Royals stand, what Bobby Witt Jr.’s national recognition means for the franchise, and how injuries can reshape expectations heading into the season.

The conversation also explores the Royals’ prospect pipeline, player development trends, and potential roster moves still to come before Opening Day. Along the way, Jacob and Jeremy tackle the complicated Hall of Fame case for Carlos Beltrán, discussing how legacy, performance, and controversy intersect in Cooperstown voting. With thoughtful analysis and grounded optimism, the episode offers Royals fans perspective, context, and a clear-eyed look at what lies ahead.

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Email Jacob directly at: jm17971047@gmail.com

Need your Royals fix? Head to royalsreview.com for news, analysis, and to engage with Royals fans around the world! Follow us online:

BlueSky
– Jeremy Greco: @hokius.fromthehawkseye.com
– Jacob Milham: @jacobmilhkc.bsky.social

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– Podcast: @RoyalRundownPod

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Paul Toboni and the Washington Nationals are embarking on Project 2028

The MacKenzie Gore trade made it abundantly clear that Paul Toboni is thinking about the long game. It is not just that Toboni traded Gore that has me thinking this. The prospect package he chose is full of high upside players that are multiple years from the MLB. Four of the five pieces in the deal have no chance of making the big leagues in 2026.

This does not bother Toboni because he is thinking more about building the 2028 Nationals than the 2026 Nats. All of Toboni’s actions suggest he does not believe this team has a prayer in 2026. It may be a harsh reality to accept, but he is correct. Even with heavier spending, this team would not be able to pass the Phillies, Mets or Braves in 2026.

Instead, Toboni is trying to build a team that can compete in the NL East at the end of this decade and entering the 2030’s. There are plenty of reasons to do this. With a lockout looming, the 2027 season is in a state of limbo. The Phillies, who have won the division the last two years are an aging team with only a couple years left in their competitive window.

When 2028 hits, the Nats should be ready to strike. Young big league pieces like James Wood, Daylen Lile and Dylan Crews would be truly entering their prime at that time. The Nats would also have a ton of reinforcements making it to the MLB at that point, especially on the infield. This organization has an embarrassment of riches on the infield in A ball. You would have to imagine that some of these players will really break out.

There is no guarantee that CJ Abrams will be on the 2028 Nats, but Eli Willits should be on his way to take the shortstop job at that point. Gavin Fien, Devin Fitz-Gerald, Marconi German and others will also be charging towards their big league debuts. This has the chance to be reminiscent of those Orioles teams that seemed to have a new top 100 prospect debuting every week.

All of this sounds great on paper, but it is really frustrating for Nationals fans. We have been rebuilding for a long time now and this new guy is coming in asking for even more patience. It is tough for Nats fans and Toboni knows it. After the trade, Toboni talked about how tough it was to root for struggling Giants teams growing up and empathized with the fans. However, he made it clear that he thought these long term focused moves were what was best for the franchise.

Back when Mike Rizzo was running the show, the Nats always felt like they were building towards 2026. Now, we are back to square one. That is not Paul Toboni’s fault though. It is not his responsibility to fix Mike Rizzo’s broken rebuild. His job is to build the team in his own image, something Barry Svrluga noted on the radio.

After losing 96 games last year, it was impossible to deny the rebuild was not trending in the right direction. Toboni has pointed that out on a number of occasions. He said that while it is not impossible to turn things around in one year, it is tough and that last season was a reality check.

With that in mind, Toboni does not feel like it is in the team’s best interest to build for 2026. Based on his actions, Toboni wants to use this year to evaluate what he has on the roster and go from there. There are a ton of unproven players with upside on this roster and Toboni wants to see who emerges from the pack.

This approach is probably going to lead to a lot of losses, but it is shrewd. If you want to see winning baseball in the Nats organization next year, the MLB team is not going to be the place to look. I think the minor league teams will take a major jump next year. That is where you will see what Toboni is building towards.

He is not going to neglect the MLB team entirely though. However, the goal of 2026 is more about individual progress than competing for a playoff spot. If James Wood, Daylen Lile, Dylan Crews, Cade Cavalli and Brady House make progress in their development, but the team wins 70 games, that is a successful season, at least in my books. I have a feeling Toboni would agree with me as well.

The wins will be taking place on the development side. Toboni’s Project 2028 will be a slower burn, but one that I believe will have steady progress. It is tough to talk about the 2027 season because of all the uncertainty. Right now, we are not even sure if there will be a season at all. The CBA expires and all the signs point to an all out war in the next negotiations.

I really hope the whole season is not wiped out because that would push back some of the Nats plans. The development of the Nats minor leaguers could be harmed by this strike. Minor Leaguers not on the 40-man roster would be able to play, but I imagine things would not be normal.

With all the young talent entering the Nats organization, I really do believe that this team will be good again. If the Lerner’s open up their checkbook eventually, this team could be great.

This version of the rebuild feels different to me. The people running the show have a much better understanding of the modern game. Mike Rizzo is a Nationals legend, but it did really seem like the game passed him by at the end. Meanwhile, Toboni is a young up and comer who is on the cutting edge.

Nats fans, this year is going to suck at the MLB level, let’s not sugarcoat it. While the lineup has the potential to be solid, this pitching staff is a barren wasteland. A few of these players could surprise us, but on paper this pitching staff is really bad. 

With Luis Perales, Jarlin Susana, Travis Sykora and others in the pipeline, there will be reinforcements. However, those reinforcements are probably not coming in 2026. When this team becomes competitive again, I have a feeling they will need to make an aggressive move for pitching in the free agent market. I do not have much faith that ownership will pull the trigger, but we can cross that bridge when we get there.

For now, Nats fans will have to take victories when they get them. In this new regime, I do think we will see more prospects break out and excite us. This should be a year of progress, even if it does not come in the standings.

Paul Toboni is not too worried about the MLB standings this year. To be frank, his goal is not to win the World Series in 2026, or even make the playoffs. His goal is to create Project 2028. If his plan works out, the Nationals should be ready to make a splash by 2028. As we enter the 2030’s, the Nationals should be a young and hungry team competing for championships. We are a long way away, but for the first time in a while, I truly trust the process. 

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The Good Phight’s Community Prospect list: #6 – Dante Nori

The number six prospect, according to you, in the team’s system is another in their quest to not have a baseball drop in the outfield once it is hit the air. Unfortunately, this one may not be a starter.

Dante Nori – 74
Francisco Renteria – 47
Gabriel Rincones – 26
Matthew Fisher – 7
Moises Chace – 15
Cade Obermueller – 3

I’m still not sure what to make of Nori. There was some clear improvement on his part last year, but the profile still isn’t one that will get anyone all that excited. There is almost no power and the whole thing depends on if he can hit major league pitching. That is true of any prospect, but with Nori, his lack of being able to impact a baseball with much authority is going to be something that keeps him pegged down any prospect list.

2025 stats (w/ Clearwater, Lakewood and Reading)

577 PA, .261/.361/.372, 72 R, 4 HR, 47 RBI, 52 SB, 13.0 BB%, 14.7 K%, 109 wRC+

Baseball Prospectus scouting report ($)

It was a relatively successful first full pro campaign at first glance, as he was an above-average hitter for the bulk of the season at Low-A and matriculated up to Double-A by September (albeit in the “this might screw with another team’s model” way more than on merit; Escobar also got one of these promotions if you’re tracking who they might be preparing to flip this offseason). His stabs at the plate tend to sell out for contact, and he did post an in-zone contact rate slightly above 90 percent in the FSL, which was enough to carry a nice batting average. But he simply does not seek to do or effectuate much damage (100.5 mph EV90 and five percent pulled fly-ball rate) and he’s simply not some sort of Luis Arraez or Jacob Wilson-level bat manipulator, to where his contact ability is so good it will carry an entire offensive profile.

With each new post, we’ll reveal who won the voting for that particular slot, then post new players for you to vote on, adding another one to the list each time until we get to our final tally of 20. Once we get to 20 top prospects, we’ll do an honorable mention post at the end. If a player gets traded to another team, we’ll just chuck him right on outta here and all the players will move up a spot. If a prospect gets acquired, we’ll ask where he should go on the list.

Probably the most important thing about this whole process – please vote. Give us a few minutes of your time, just click a button and then we can discuss other players and things in the comment section, but don’t forget – VOTE!

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Momentum Moments: Vol. 6

Volume 5 showcased resurgence, offering hope for the rest of the season. Volume 6 rips that hope out of your chest. Ineptitude, poor leadership, and crushing injury defined the past fortnight, leaving the Bucks—and their fans—reevaluating everything.

@ Nuggets 

The. Bucks. Are. In. Denver. And. Struggling. With. The. Altitude. They have to be—it’s the only possible reason they’re down double digits to a Nuggets team without Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Cam Johnson, and Christian Braun. And. Time. Is. Running. Out. Giannis senses it too, inhales like he’s about to go free diving, and gets to work. He follows up one pirouette-to-dunk with another. Then, after both sides fail to score for nearly two minutes—in which Giannis somehow doesn’t even get an attempt—he walks into a 19-foot pull-up. Cash; lead down to six. 

Four minutes later, after a flurry of baskets that don’t change the deficit, Giannis makes another middy to cut it to four. And, not long after—following a pair of split free throws by Peyton Watson—Giannis gets a steal and looks up to vacant hardwood. Forget penciling this one in, you could carve it in stone; see the finish before it happens—a windmill that rocks the rim so hard it reverberates right back to Wisconsin. But Tim Hardaway Jr. comes out of nowhere to steal it right back and, with it, the last breath of oxygen in the Bucks’ lungs. 

Win probability after Giannis’ midrange jumper: 17.9%

Win probability after Hardaway’s steal: 8.9% 

vs. Wolves

Early enough in the game for fans to still care—before this was a 30-point blowout and the Bucks still had a chance—Giannis, the greatest player in franchise history and leader of this team, sits down and complains to the officials on the offensive end of the floor after a non-call and then can’t be bothered contesting a Julius Randle three-point attempt on the other end. Randle splashes three but that’s not what’s important here. What is, is the tone the Giannis just set, especially considering he had Ryan Rollins and Kevin Porter Jr. wide-open in either corner with their hands in the air. It’s no wonder everything goes south from here and the Wolves have an 18-point lead by the end of the quarter, 33 by the final siren. As Big Ju says in Remember the Titans, “Attitude reflects leadership.” 

Win probability before the game: 41.4%

Win probability after Randle’s three: 23.3% 

@ Spurs 

Giannis is a freak to begin, getting to the line at will, dunking, even splashing a three—scoring 14 of the Bucks’ first 17 points and sending Victor Wembanyama to the bench with zero points, two personal fouls, and one very sore knee. It feels like the start of a statement game. But the Spurs machine is starting to run like the one of yesteryear and they hold a close lead halfway into the second. Then it begins. The alien invasion. First, Wemby blocks a Rollins driving layup attempt, then he makes a three on the other end. A possession later, he grabs the carom off a Giannis miss and dribbles full-court into a pull-up three—and suddenly it feels like Independence Day, the White House blowing into smithereens. By the time he’s done in the third quarter—after splashing a turnaround, fadeaway three instead of taking the foot-shorter AJ Green down low—it’s a 25-point Spurs lead. And these Bucks don’t have Russell Casse to save them from the brink of extinction. 

Win probability prior to Wemby’s block on Rollins: 25.4%

Win probability after Wemby’s pull-up three: 13.4% 

@ Hawks

According to Henry Ford, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” With the Bucks on an embarrassing three-game skid, this wasn’t going to work. Thankfully, Doc Rivers gets the message and opts to utilise Pete Nance, ostensibly giving him Gary Trent Jr.’s minutes, (who ends with a DNP-CD). It’s a move that pays off—the Bucks are down one, 16-17, when Nance first enters the game, but up 12, 90-78, when he last checks out. More specifically, Nance is active from the get-go, reminding the Bucks that to win you’ve got to do the little things—run hard in transition, pass up a good look for a great one, give the second and third efforts—and, if you do these consistently, good things will happen. In the fourth quarter, good things indeed happen for Nance. Amidst a Hawks run that started in the third quarter and got them as close as six after being down by 20, Nance pounces on an errant pass and turns it into a transition layup to give the Bucks breathing room, back up 10. A minute and a half later, he calmly knocks down a catch-and-shoot three-pointer that makes it 14. It should be enough to knock out the Hawks, and although it isn’t, the Bucks hold on. Bigger picture, it should be enough to change Nance’s season—and possibly even his career. Now that’s momentum. 

Win probability when Nance enters the game in the first quarter: 44.1%

Win probability after Nance’s three in the fourth: 97.2% 

vs. Thunder

The Bucks win a (seemingly) rare tip and get the first possession of their sure-to-be fiery NBA Rivals Week matchup against the… Oklahoma City Thunder? Yeah, the matchup must have confused the Bucks too, as they come out stunned—unable to even get the ball inside the three-point line on the first possession—and starting centre Kyle Kuzma is forced to hoist a closely-guarded three-pointer that predictably clanks off front rim. The second possession is better—the Bucks actually get it inside 23 feet—but the result is the same, another Kuzma bricked three, and then Chet Holmgren shows him how it’s done on the other end. In the blink of an eye, it’s a 21-6 lead for the Thunder, then 26-8—and Ajay Mitchell has more points (12) than the Bucks. By the end of the quarter it’s 38-18 and, somewhere, Kenny Smith is screaming: “It’s over! It’s over, ladies and gentlemen!”

Win probability prior to the game: 22.3%

Win probability after Holmgren’s three: 18.1% (and by the end of the first it’s just 3.4%)

vs. Nuggets

There’s no altitude this time; the Bucks are at home; still no Jokic, Murray, Johnson, Braun. No Watson too, and Aaron Gordon only plays 16 minutes. Oh, and the Nuggets are cold from three, finishing just 12/41 on the night. Myles Turner is actually on one too—17 points, seven boards, and six blocks. Still, the Bucks go down 23. How could this game possibly get any worse? That’s right, overplay Giannis attempting an all-but-futile comeback only for him to get injured. Then somehow get close enough to actually win—101-100—only for Kuzma to take and miss the game-winner. Franchise burying momentum right there. 

Win probability when the Bucks go down by 23: 0.2%

Win probability after Giannis exits with injury: 6.1% (but who cares?)

With Giannis out for the foreseeable future, the focus shifts from Playoffs (well, Play-In) to planning and playing for tomorrow. Who will step up and seize their moment?

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A Little Metropolitan Scoreboard Watching Until The Olympic Break

The New Jersey Devils are returning home this week from a successful west coast road trip. The final game of that swing, a 4-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken, left a bitter taste in everyone’s mouths, but aside from that, three wins against the western Canada teams went a long way toward getting the Devils right back into the thick of the playoff picture. The loss to Seattle was a real missed opportunity to put them right on the edge of a playoff spot again, but as we enter the final week of this month, New Jersey has done well to right their season after a horrific month-and-a-half stretch from the beginning of December to the middle of January.

The NHL is set to pause their season for the Winter Olympics in Italy in a couple weeks, with NHL players returning to the games for the first time in over a decade (if they can finish the rinks in time, that is). For the Devils, their last game before the break is scheduled for February 5. With that being the case, I figured now is a good time to take stock of where the Devils stand in the Metropolitan Division after their long road trip, what’s left for them until the break, and what the other teams around them in the standings have coming up until the Olympics as well. The only two teams I won’t be covering will be the Carolina Hurricanes and New York Rangers, because the Hurricanes are too far ahead of the Devils for New Jersey to have the luxury of worrying about them, and the Rangers have completely fallen apart and are essentially out of the playoff picture.

Let’s dive in:

Pittsburgh Penguins

2nd in Metropolitan, 63 points in 51 games

DateOpponentHome/Away
1/29Chicago BlackhawksHome
1/31New York RangersHome
2/2Ottawa SenatorsHome
2/3New York IslandersAway
2/5Buffalo SabresAway

Entering the season, the Penguins were expected by most to be a bottom-feeder. Instead, they are number two in the Metropolitan Division coming into the week. An Eastern Conference-leading 11 loser points makes their record look a lot better than it actually is, but in Gary Bettman’s NHL, racking up points by any means necessary is the name of the game. We all keep waiting for Pittsburgh to fade, but maybe they just won’t. This stretch before the break will be huge for them, as they not only play two in-division games, they also play a pair of Atlantic teams right in the Wild Card mix as well. For the Devils, you need to hope for the Penguins to actually finish games in regulation for a change.

New York Islanders

3rd in Metropolitan, 59 points in 51 games

DateOpponentHome/Away
1/26Philadelphia FlyersAway
1/28New York RangersHome
1/29New York RangersAway
1/31Nashville PredatorsHome
2/2Washington CapitalsAway
2/3Pittsburgh PenguinsHome
2/5New Jersey DevilsAway

The Islanders are going to be very busy until the Olympics. Whereas most teams have five or six games until the break, New York will fit seven into their schedule before the pause. This could be a season-defining stretch, with six of these seven contests being Metropolitan Division showdowns. This is another team that was expected to have a down year, but thanks in large part to falling backwards into Matthew Schaefer, they just refuse to fade. The ask from a Devils standpoint will be simple: For the love of god, keep the three-point games to a minimum.

Philadelphia Flyers

4th in Metropolitan, 57 points in 50 games

DateOpponentHome/Away
1/26New York IslandersHome
1/28Columbus Blue JacketsAway
1/29Boston BruinsAway
1/31Los Angeles KingsHome
2/3Washington CapitalsHome
2/5Ottawa SenatorsHome

Yet another team that wasn’t expected to be great this season that just keeps finding ways to stick around. Are you seeing a theme here? The Flyers’ secret weapon is the fact that they’ve played the fewest amount of games of anyone we’ll be discussing today, which is always an advantage in a points-accumulation system. Philadelphia has three in-division games, one other Eastern Conference game, and then two games against Western Conference foes, so it’s a pretty even mix.

Washington Capitals

5th in Metropolitan, 57 points in 53 games

DateOpponentHome/Away
1/27Seattle KrakenAway
1/29Detroit Red WingsAway
1/31Carolina HurricanesHome
2/2New York IslandersHome
2/3Philadelphia FlyersAway
2/5Nashville PredatorsHome

The Capitals have the same amount of points as the Flyers, but in three more games played, which makes a huge difference. Washington was looking pretty good for the first couple months of the season, but they’ve been sliding in a big way since mid-December, hence their precarious spot in the standings. Three in-division games for them until the break, including a date with the top dog Carolina Hurricanes.

New Jersey Devils

6th in Metropolitan, 56 points in 52 games

DateOpponentHome/Away
1/27Winnipeg JetsHome
1/29Nashville PredatorsHome
1/31Ottawa SenatorsAway
2/3Columbus Blue JacketsHome
2/5New York IslandersHome

The Devils get four home games until the break, with the final two contests sticking out as extra important. Two division games, one against a team behind the Devils and one against a team ahead of them, will go a long way toward New Jersey either being in good position entering the pause, or terrible shape. New Jersey really, really, REALLY needs to figure out how to get results against Metro teams, as they will enter those games with a dismal 4-9-2 record against in-division foes thus far. To make matters worse, only two of those wins have come in regulation (both against Columbus). That means that in 15 total games, New Jersey has held Metropolitan opponents without a point in two of them. Two of 15. Unacceptable. If the Devils want to make a true push for the playoffs, they absolutely NEED two wins against the Blue Jackets and Islanders, with at least one of them coming in regulation.

Columbus Blue Jackets

7th in Metropolitan, 55 points in 51 games

DateOpponentHome/Away
1/26Los Angeles KingsHome
1/28Philadelphia FlyersHome
1/30Chicago BlackhawksAway
1/31St. Louis BluesAway
2/3New Jersey DevilsAway
2/4Chicago BlackhawksHome

The only Metropolitan team (aside from the Rangers) that New Jersey has more points than, and the only Metro squad that the Devils have a regulation win against. Unlike a lot of these teams that are outperforming mediocre to bad preseason projections, the Blue Jackets are the opposite. They made a shocking playoff push last season only to fall just short, which raised expectations. They’ve disappointed relative to those expectations, to the point where they fired their head coach a couple weeks ago. As far as their schedule until the break goes, It’s an even mix of Western Conference teams and Metropolitan opponents. The Devils are in there, and maybe New Jersey can keep their success against Columbus going on February 3 with another regulation win.

New Jersey has 10 points up for grabs between now and when they break for the Olympics. In my opinion, they need seven of those 10 points at a bare minimum, with at least three of them coming against the Islanders and Blue Jackets. Considering how beatable every one of the teams on their schedule is, I really don’t think this is too much to ask.

As stated up top, after a nightmare stretch from December to January, the Devils have resurrected their season a bit. They’re only three points out of a playoff spot entering the week, though the third-place Islanders have a game in hand. Then again, the tables will turn and New Jersey will be the one with a game in hand by the time we reach the break. But of course, there are the Flyers and Capitals in between New Jersey and the third-place Isles, and you can’t count on all of those teams losing every night. The fact of the matter is, the Devils need to take care of their own business, and they need some help on the out of town scoreboard. That is the position their play up to this point has put them in.

What do you think of the Devils’ schedule until the Olympics? What amount of points do you consider to be the bare minimum that they need between now and then? Which Metropolitan Division team are you most worried about? What about the Metro team that you think is most likely to fade? As always, thanks for reading!

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Best NBA Player Props Today for January 26: Sharpe Shooter

A Sunday winter wonderland means we get all day basketball to bet on. So, I’ve dug through the odds and found my three favorite NBA player props.

They include a Hawks big man flying on the boards against the Pacers, and a Trail Blazers sharpshooter lighting up the Celtics.

Those and more NBA picks for Monday, January 26 below.

Best NBA player props today

PlayerPickbet365
Hornets Onyeka OkongwuOver 8.5 rebounds <<+110>>
Hornets Matas Buzelis Over 2.5 assists<<+150>>
Hornets Shaedon SharpeOver 2.5 threes<<+135>>
MORE NBA FREE PICKS

Prop #1: Onyeka Okongwu Over 8.5 rebounds

+110 at bet365

This is a pretty straightforward bet: The Indiana Pacers are one of the worst rebounding teams in the NBA, so we’re fading them on the glass in tonight’s game against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Hawks’ big man, Onyeka Okongwu, averages 7.9 rebounds per game this season, but that’s up to 8.9 over his last 14 games. Now, he faces an Indiana team that has the third-worst rebounding rate and surrenders the third-most rebounds per game.

Okongwu has topped 8.5 boards eight times over this 14-game stretch, making the plus money on the Over too good to pass up.

  • Time: 1:30 p.m. ET
  • Where to watch: FDSN Indiana, FDSN SE-ATL

Prop #2: Matas Buzelis Over 2.5 assists

+150 at bet365

The Los Angeles Lakers' defense will eventually be their downfall, but it’s also something we can fade on a nightly basis.

The Lakers rank 25th in both defensive rating and opponent assists per possession, while the Chicago Bulls are among the best teams in the NBA at passing the rock.

That has me targeting Matas Buzelis. He’s averaging 2.0 assists per game, but that’s up to 4.0 over his last five games — dishing out three or more dimes in all five.

  • Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
  • Where to watch: Spectrum SportsNet, CHSN

Prop #3: Shaedon Sharpe Over 2.5 threes

+135 at bet365

The Portland Trail Blazers are playing some great basketball. Their 9-3 record in January is the second-best in the NBA, and Shaedon Sharpe has been a big part of that. 

Sharpe is averaging 22 points per game this month and has been on fire from downtown, shooting 40.6% over his last four games.

Tonight, he takes on the Boston Celtics, who are allowing the sixth-most made threes per game. Sharpe has hit three or more in three of his last four, so it’s a great bet to back the Over at this price.

  • Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
  • Where to watch: Peacock

These props are available now at bet365, one of our best betting sites.

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2 Yankees named to The Athletic's Top 100 prospects list for 2026

Keith Law of The Athletic published his Top 100 prospects list for the 2026 season, and a pair ofYankees made the cut.

-- SS George Lombard Jr., No. 24

-- RHP Carlos Lagrange, No. 88

Here’s Law on Lombard:

If he’d spent half the year in High A instead of four weeks, his year would probably look more promising on the surface, and since he won’t turn 21 until June he has time to return to Double A and show he can handle the pitching there. He’s at least a future everyday shortstop and still has upside beyond that because of the potential for a plus hit tool.

And on Lagrange:

The Dellin Betances comps are inevitable here, but Lagrange moves better on the mound and has more weapons already. He should stick as a starter, and could end up in the top two spots in a rotation depending on how far his control improves.

Lombard was ranked No. 46 by Baseball America and No. 32 by MLB Pipeline. He still has some refining to do, as he struggled during his brief taste of Double-A. The former first-round pick hit .215 with 124 strikeouts in 108 games.

Lagrange, a big-bodied starter at 6-foot-7, pitched to a 3.22 ERA for Double-A Somerset in 2025, appearing in 15 games. There’s a chance he begins 2026 at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and he could potentially make an impact in the majors this season. 

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Bruins vs Rangers Prediction, Picks & Same-Game Parlay for Tonight’s NHL Game

Elias Lindholm is enjoying a big bounce-back campaign, producing at his highest per game pace since the 2021-22 campaign with Calgary.

My Bruins vs. Rangers predictions expect Lindholm to make some hay offensively in a very advantageous matchup.

Let’s take a closer look at my NHL picks for Monday, January 26.

Bruins vs Rangers prediction

Bruins vs Rangers best bet: Elias Lindholm Over 0.5 points (-135)

The New York Rangers are playing without Adam Fox and Igor Shesterkin, who have both won awards for being the best at their respective positions. It shows.

The Rangers have allowed a league-leading 46 goals over their past 10 games. It’s not just a matter of a couple blowup spots, either. New York has conceded at least three times in nine of those games, and four or more on seven different occasions.

It’s difficult to envision the bleeding stopping against the Boston Bruins, who rank third in goals spanning the last 10 games.

Elias Lindholm has been one of the guys at the forefront of that success, producing nine points and putting up three multi-point performances.

He has been consistent for the Bruins, especially against weaker defensive sides.

Excluding Top-16 teams in limiting goals, which the Rangers are not, Lindholm has averaged 1.1 points per game and hit the scoresheet in 70% of his appearances.

Riding shotgun with David Pastrnak, who has averaged 1.7 points per game against Bottom-16 teams in goals against, Lindholm has a strong chance of making his mark in this one.

Bruins vs Rangers same-game parlay

Pastrnak has scored in 34% of his games this season. That number jumps to 46% against Bottom-16 defensive teams.

He has found the back of the net in only two of his last nine, and this is the perfect matchup to get going again.

Alexis Lafreniere continues to skate on a line with Artemi Panarin, which is a good place to be. Lafreniere has averaged 2.4 shots per game on Panarin’s line this season and recorded multiple shots in seven of the past nine.

Bruins vs Rangers SGP

  • Elias Lindholm Over 0.5 points
  • David Pastrnak anytime goal
  • Alexis Lafreniere Over 1.5 shots on goal

Bruins vs Rangers odds

  • Moneyline: Boston -110 | New York -110
  • Puck line: Boston -1.5 (+210) | New York +1.5 (-260)
  • Over/Under: Over 6.5 (-105) | Under 6.5 (-115)

Bruins vs Rangers trend

Elias Lindholm has points in five straight games against New York, including two multi-point efforts this season. Find more NHL betting trends for Bruins vs. Rangers.

How to watch Bruins vs Rangers

LocationMadison Square Garden, New York, NY
DateFriday, January 26, 2026
Puck drop7:00 p.m. ET
TVNESN, MSG

Bruins vs Rangers latest injuries

Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.

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Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns speaks out after fatal shootings by federal agents in Minnesota: 'We must call for accountability'

Knicks star Karl-Anthony Townsreacted on Sunday night following the recent fatal shootings of United States citizens by federal agents in Minnesota.

Renee Nicole Good, 37, was shot and killed by an ICE agent on Jan. 7.

Alex Pretti, 37, was shot and killed by multiple CBP agents on Jan. 24.

Good and Pretti were both protesting the presence of immigration officers in Minnesota. 

"What is happening in the Twin Cities and the Great North Star State is heartbreaking to witness," Towns wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "These events have cost lives and shaken families -- and we must call for accountability, transparency, and protections for all people. This moment demands that we reflect honestly on what our values truly are. My thoughts, prayers, and deepest condolences are with the families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

"I stand with the people of Minnesota."

Towns spent the first nine seasons of his NBA career playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

His reaction came shortly after the NBA Players Association and its executive committee issued a statement following the shooting of Pretti.

The statement read:

"Following the news of yet another fatal shooting in Minneapolis, a city that has been on the forefront of the fight against injustice, NBA players can no longer remain silent.

"Now more than ever, we must defend the right to freedom of speech and stand in solidarity with the people in Minnesota protesting and risking their lives to demand justice.

"The fraternity of NBA players, like the United States itself, is a community enriched by its global citizens, and we refuse to let the flames of division threaten the civil liberties that are meant to protect us all.

"The NBPA and its members extend our deepest condolences to the families of Alex Pretti and Renee Good, just as our thoughts remain focused on the safety and well-being of all members of our community."

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Arnaldo Lantigua is the #10 prospect in the Cincinnati Reds system!

There is latent hope in just about every baseball prospect. Prospect, by definition, implies a good bit of promise and a lot of expectation with variability.

With Arnaldo Lantigua, though, there’s an added bit of prospect pressure. Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers, he was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds for an amount of international bonus pool cash that was directly used by the Trolleys to sign Roki Sasaki out of Japan, meaning the Reds – with Lantigua now in-tow – directly financed their rivals adding a potential star.

Lantigua, to his credit, has hit the ground running since joining the Reds organization despite the otherwise outsized expectations. In Arizona Complex League play in 2025 he swatted 10 homers in just 49 games – a mark that tied him with Dario Reynoso from the Giants organization for most in the league – and he slugged .445 with a .763 OPS in 129 PA after being promoted to Class-A Daytona in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League.

For reference, the likes of Tyson Lewis (.417 SLG) and Sammy Stafura (.410) were his teammates in Daytona, and Arnaldo just turned 20 years old in December.

There’s a whole lot of power in Lantigua’s bat, and there’s a whole lot to like about his power potential. That makes for quite the intriguing prospect, one you collectively ranked 10th in this year’s Community Prospect Rankings over the weekend!