March Madness is rolling in college basketball, but Major League Baseball has its own version of madness in March: roster finalization, anticipation and preparation for a lengthy season — and a series of predictions to go with it.
The 2026 MLB season begins with the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees playing at Oracle Park at 5:05 p.m. PT (8:05 p.m. ET) on March 25. There's lots for the Giants hopeful to be excited for ahead of the 2026 season, but die-hards might not be so optimistic.
San Francisco has a new manager in Tony Vitello, a standout college baseball coach who rose to fame during his eight-year tenure at Tennessee, where he won an NCAA Tournament championship, two SEC Tournament championships and two regular-season titles.
It is his first year ever as an MLB manager, the Giants hiring him in October 2025. With zero MLB experience, the talk is whether Vitello is the answer to the Giants' recent mediocracy, or whether his hire puts a stamp on who they've been the last five years.
They didn't make any splash signings, but the Giants front office didn't just sit on their tails and hibernate during the winter. Despite not landing Japanese pitching sensation Tatsuya Imai, losing out on the sweepstakes to the Houston Astros, the Giants still managed to land effective players.
San Francisco brought in pitcher Tyler Mahle on a one-year deal, infielder Luis Arráez on a one-year deal, and Harrison Bader, to name a few.
Still, it'll be a roller coaster to see how they fare in the NL West against the San Diego Padres or arch rival Los Angeles Dodgers, who are coming off back-to-back World Series championships.
Here are some bold predictions for the San Francisco Giants during the 2026 season.
Giants aren't as mediocre, but will still (barely) miss wild card
Giants fans can expect some life out of this new-look Giants team. The new additions will provide temporary excitement, but this team doesn't seem to have addressed its main issues: the bullpen, a closing lineup that'll make noise, and securing the outfield.
Personal drive, momentum swings, other teams being bad, are all legitimate reasons why the Giants won't be as bad as some think. But none of their offseason moves scream out NL West title, let alone World Series title ... but they can be more competitive than previous seasons.
In 2025, the team was the definition of mediocre at 81-81. They were just outside of a wild card spot.
This season, they will win more games, but others will, too, after improvements to their teams. Not sure if this is even a 90-win team, but nothing is off the table.
The Giants finish just under 90 wins at 85-77, which might not be enough for a wild card berth but it does provide more excitement this season. There will be times throughout the season where you ask yourself whether this team is a contender.
Luis Matos, Bryce Eldridge, other prospects emerge
The Giants have been investing in their prospects and one of them will emerge as a rotational guy.
Bryce Eldridge is a 6-foot-7 first baseman who showed the potential he has in spring training, bombing a three-run home run. Was it a fluke or a sign of more to come?
In 40 at-bats during the 2026 spring training, Eldridge compiled nine hits, eights runs, a homer and 6 RBIs. His OPS was .830, with a batting average of .225.
The streaming giant's latest venture into the world of sports will include the actual Giants, of San Francisco, hosting the New York Yankees in an exclusive broadcast of the first game of the 2026 MLB season.
Netflix had to cobble together its announcing lineup from scratch, but the crew does feature some very familiar names to baseball fans.
Matt Vasgersian will handle play-by-play duties with former major Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia and ex-Giants outfielder Hunter Pence offering commentary. Lauren Shehadi will report from the field.
In addition, former ESPN anchor Elle Duncan will lead the studio show, with Barry Bonds, Albert Pujols and Anthony Rizzo filling the pre- and postgame analyst chairs.
Netflix is also taking over the broadcast of the All-Star Home Run Derby, which will be contested July 13 in Philadelphia.
2026 MLB opener on Netflix
New York Yankees at San Francisco Giants
Date: March 25
Time: 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT
Location: Oracle Park, San Francisco
AccuWeather forecast: Partly cloudy with game time temperature in the mid-60s and wind gusts up to 31 mph. Chance of rain 0%.
Starting pitchers: LHP Max Fried (Yankees), RHP Logan Webb (Giants)
Joe Mazzulla won the NBA title with the Celtics in 2024. Photograph: Mark Stockwell/AP
The Boston Celtics’ head coach, Joe Mazzulla, is a very odd man. He is also a very good coach.
Take, for example, a story Celtics guard Derrick White told in an interview last November. According to White, the first sound at one Celtics practice wasn’t a whistle.
“[Mazzulla is] like, ‘Play the music!’… and next thing you know, it’s just machine guns going off … you’re in a war zone,” White said. He was laughing – but not really laughing.
The 37-year-old coach scored the sweat session with the sound of death, bullets rat-a-tat-tat over 10 straight minutes of zigzags and full-court pickups. He wanted players’ lungs burning. He wanted them to taste the vomit.
Mazzulla believes – and he believes many things – repetition under stress rewires your brain. Psychologists have spent decades studying how stimuli paired with intensity create recall that bypasses deliberation. The military industrialized it: conditioning, desensitization, immersion. The principle underneath it is simpler and more universal: the brain learns fastest when it’s overwhelmed. Adapt or die.
There’s something unsettling about it all. Basketball borrowing from the logic of war. Every coach will give platitudes about stress inoculation. Mazzulla puts sensory overload into practice. The goal is the same: strip decision-making down to instinct.
Mazzulla’s version of controlled chaos is the sound of gunfire, hence the practice session. Why? So, when weeks later, in the fourth quarter, a guard brings the ball up full court, the crowd is loud, and the game is tight, any player wearing green and white can turn into the Manchurian Candidate: synapses snapping into place to deliver the kill shot into the hoop.
A lot of this is odd. And a lot of what Mazzulla says is odd. He doesn’t really talk like other NBA coaches. His press conferences can sound more like philosophy seminars than strategy. Maybe Mazzulla’s deadpan delivery is Andy Kaufman performance art: half-jokes, half-koans, delivered with a straight face. Players have learned to stop trying to decode everything and just absorb the tone.
He has talked about wanting a wolf to guard his house, never sitting with his back to the door at restaurants in case anyone sneaks up on him and avoiding revolving doors because “if one of them gets stuck, then you’re just a sitting duck”. He wants his players to study the movements of orcas and hyenas to enhance their games.
The thing is, whether it’s because of his quirks or despite them, Mazzulla is a very effective coach. He’s already led the Celtics to one championship, and deserves the Coach of the Year award after leading the injury-riddled Celtics to the second seed in the East this season, while holding the second-best offensive rating, fourth-best defensive rating and third-best net rating.
It should be remembered that Boston were supposed to have a gap year after Jayson Tatum went out last postseason with an achilles injury. Starters Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis were both traded. Bench bigs Al Horford and Luke Kornet left in free agency, a harsh cost of survival under the new collective bargaining agreement.
Most teams would have reset. But Mazzulla got in the lab and changed the Celtics’ DNA. He kept the offense organized around spacing, timing and reads, building a system that could function until Tatum’s return. And defensively, he pared it back to the bone: just the raw, flayed nerves of constant ball pressure. This kind of scalable infrastructure helps role players reach their ceiling without your best player.
As the team changed, so did Mazzulla. It would have been easy to ask Jaylen Brown to be Tatum. Instead, he uses every player to their strength.
That’s why Ron Harper Jr, Baylor Scheierman, Hugo González and Luka Garza have been able to step in and up. Even Brown is expected to rebound, run, defend and play with the same energy and physicality the Celtics ask of everybody.
What’s behind the new philosophy? This summer, Mazzulla went to France, where he met with Guillaume Vizade, a fellow basketball oddball and the head coach of Le Mans. Two coaches from different systems tried to crack the code of creating advantages before a defense can set.
Vizade talks about the meeting like a thinktank: “Our shared ideas about arriving into offense while playing, amplifying advantages and creating chaos in opposing defenses connected very quickly during those discussions. I felt both lucky and proud to be able to present some of our methods and actions, and in return, I received even more by exchanging ideas with Joe and his disruptive approach.“
Vizade’s teams don’t just run; they vibrate. Hard-wired into a single hive mind. Like fungi. It’s how Boston play now. When the first option on offense is cut off, the offense doesn’t flinch. It reignites into a sequence of cuts and relocations that open up scoring gaps.
Mazzulla’s COTY case also rests on how much he changed Boston defensively. Last season, the Celtics could let opponents play one-on-one, live with contested shots without fouling. This year, they pick up their opps full-court and pressure the hell out the ball.
When one defender takes a risk, another one fills the space. If someone gets beat, the next man rotates. If that pass gets made, another closeout comes behind it. That’s why Celtics corner-help blocks have become such a staple. Boston are rotating so well they’re forcing opponents to make that one extra pass. Mazzulla has done all this without a great rim protector.
The clearest example of Mazzulla’s approach came in the 2024 Finals, when Dallas kept their big men near the rim, helping off shooters on the weak side to crowd the paint. Early on, it worked. Boston drove into traffic and ended up kicking the ball out late.
Mazzulla’s adjustment was using that help against Dallas. Boston began pulling the help defender toward the ball, often using a guard like Holiday to drag the Mavericks’ big man across the floor. As soon as the help stepped over, they swung the ball to the other side before the defense could recover.
From there, the options were obvious: a layup, a post-up or an open corner three. What looked like simple ball movement was really a smart way to pick apart Dallas’s defense, turning it against itself. Mad scientist-level scheming.
Speaking to last year’s disappointing second-round playoff exit, he said: “Every season exposes yourself to yourself … third year you get a taste for what it’s like to lose.”
That’s how Mazzulla rolls. He shows his players film of orcas and hyenas, predators that never attack all at once. Instead, they circle, shift, waiting for just the right moment before closing in and snapping their prey’s neck. Boston’s offense works the same way. The ball moves from side to side until the defense finally gives up a good shot.
Other outlets have detailed that being a Celtic means embracing the Joe Mazzulla experience. We’re talking about a guy who roams the facility barefoot while delivering instructions in an icy, hyper-focused monotone. He operates the Celtics like a man who knows he’s in the Matrix and wants his team to warp the simulation to their advantage.
The league is in good hands. JB Bickerstaff is honing the blade in Detroit, Mitch Johnson fast-tracked the Spurs mutation, and Mike Brown is restoring Eden in the Garden. But Mazzulla has raced far ahead of the pack for COTY by retooling a depleted contender while staying contending. Insane.
That’s what elite coaching looks like.
That’s why Joe Mazzulla should win Coach of the Year.
PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 24: Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog (92) skates with the puck against Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon (28) during the third period in the NHL game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Colorado Avalanche on March 24, 2026, at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. (Photo by Jeanine Leech/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Here are your Pens Points for this Wednesday morning…
The Pittsburgh Penguins hosted the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena. One week after the Penguins dispatched the Avalanche on their home ice, the Colorado hockey team returned the favor, pulling away early and defeating Pittsburgh 6-2. [Recap]
The Penguins received a mixed bag of injury news before the game. Evgeni Malkin missed the Avalanche game due to an undisclosed day-to-day injury, while defender Ryan Shea was cleared to return after missing Sunday’s clash. [PensBurgh]
After leaving against the Winnipeg Jets with an injury and missing Sunday’s contest against the Carolina Hurricanes, the aforementioned Shea was eager to return to the lineup on Tuesday, saying the timing was frustrating given how well he had been playing. [Trib Live]
Penguins prospect Harrison Brunicke remains focused on making the NHL roster, despite the up-and-down nature of the nine-game trial he received at the start of the season. He is using his time in juniors to continue on the upward trajectory. [Trib Live]
Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas says he has no plans to trade Erik Karlsson this summer. [TSN]
News and notes from around the NHL…
Connor McDavid clarified recent comments he made in support of Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper, saying they were not meant as criticism of his own team; they were meant to compliment a strong opponent. [Sportsnet]
Florida Panthers head coach Paul Maurice made history on Tuesday night, joining Scotty Bowman by becoming the second coach in NHL history to coach 2,000 career regular-season games. [NHL]
Mar 24, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Sam Merrill (5) shoot a three point shot during the second half against the Orlando Magic at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images | David Dermer-Imagn Images
“I just told the team in the locker room, if we’re going to play defense like this, we’re going to have a short playoff stint,” Atkinson said. “We have a mentality that we’re just going to outscore people, and we all know, playoff time, it’s not going to be that easy offensively. … If we’re giving up 134 points, 120, we’re not going anywhere.”
That message was heard by his team, to the point that Donovan Mitchell mixed up whether or not they actually won the game.
“That’s why this loss, or this win, excuse me, feels different.”
Mitchell’s Freudian slip was understandable. You shouldn’t be able to give up 131 points to the Magic — the 18th ranked ofense — and come away with a victory.
The defense was awful. Let’s quickly run through some numbers that show this.
The Magic’s offensive rating was in the 96th percentile for an NBA game this season (137.9).
That offensive rating was the third-highest for Orlando this season.
The Magic’s free-throw rate was in the 98th percentile as they went 35-38 (92.1%) at the line.
Six Magic players finished with double-digit scoring, including Paolo Banchero, who put up 36 points on 10-19 shooting.
“It starts on the ball,” Max Strus said. “It starts with our pressure. It starts with our communication, physicality. We just let them be the aggressors tonight.”
The point of attack defense just wasn’t there. The Magic were able to get penetration into the paint on seemingly every drive, which broke Cleveland’s entire defense. This allowed for easy looks at the basket, open drive-and-kick threes, and trips to the free-throw line with the defense being out of position.
It was bad.
“Our leaders got to take ownership…ownership of defending better,” Atkinson said. “It really starts there.”
The Cavs believe that they can fix this issue, while acknowledging that these changes need to happen before the playoffs.
“A lot of it has to do with the mentality and want to,” Strus said. “That’s really defense as a whole. It’s just everybody as a whole buying into it. I think we have the right guys in the room to figure that out.”
“We’ll get there,” Mitchell said confidentially.
Talk is cheap at this point.
Jarrett Allen’s absence shouldn’t be overlooked, but not even he can clean up all the leaks that are currently in the defense. It’s up to the players who are still in the lineup to do a better job of competing on that end. Until they show that they can for a full 48 minutes, it’s difficult to believe that this will improve, at least not before the end of the regular season.
Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can buy the Donovan Mitchell and James Harden NBA Jam shirt HERE. You can also shop all of Homage’s Cavs gear HERE.
Given how bad the defense was, the Cavs needed an elite offensive performance, and they got it.
Cleveland finished in the 99th percentile for offensive rating in a game this season, and they did so because of their balanced three-level scoring and ability to get to the line.
Mitchell — looking like himself again — played a large role in that happening. He compiled 42 points on an efficient 14-22 shooting while going 3-7 from beyond the arc.
This was a much-needed showing from Mitchell, whose left eye is still bloodshot after being poked last week before their game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Mitchell said that the eye looks worse than it is and that he can see good enough out of it now. The only annoying part is the appearance, which is something his mother is constantly reminding him of by sending him pictures of how it looks on TV.
James Harden had a strong offensive showing as well. His ability to seemingly generate a quality look each possession was once again on display in combination with his own shot-creation skills. This led to him scoring 26 points on 8-16 shooting with seven assists.
Harden had another ridiculous assist. This time, it was a jumping, behind-the-back bounce pass from the restricted area to the three-point arc that had far more zip on it than seemed humanly possible.
“I better make it,” Strus said when asked about what he was thinking when he saw that pass. “That was unbelievable. He put it right in the pocket too.”
Sam Merrill is making the most of his opportunity in the starting lineup with Allen still sidelined. He had another impressive performance as he scored 19 points with most of his damage coming inside. Merrill went 4-5 on shots in the paint and got to the line for six free-throw attempts.
“He drives like his Giannis,” Mitchell joked. “I don’t know where this came from.”
Being more comfortable finishing inside has been a focus for Merrill going back to the offseason. He spoke at media day about wanting to “diversify” his game. He’s done that and made himself an indispensable part of the team as a result.
There’s a conversation to be had about whether Merrill should stay in the starting lineup when the team is fully healthy based on how well he’s fit offensively. The Cavs are in the 99th percentile for offensive rating (127.8) when Harden, Mitchell, and Merrill share the floor. That’s good enough to outscore teams by 9.9 points per 100 possessions (90th percentile).
More importantly, Merrill has made significant strides to become a more complete basketball player. When he first joined the Cavs, defense was an issue. He spent multiple years working on that until he proved that he can more than hold his own on that end. Now we see the effort he’s put in to be a more capable three-level scorer really paying off.
That work ethic has allowed him to go from a speciality role player to someone who fits perfectly in every context.
“The growth he’s had in his game and the confidence level he’s raised has been special to watch,” Strus said. “Sam’s a hell of a basketball player and people don’t give him a lot of credit. He can do a ot more than shooting. I’m so glad he’s putting that on display for everyone.”
Week 22, at least in Yahoo! default leagues, is the semifinal week in fantasy basketball. And with more key players sidelined by injuries, managers continue to mine the waiver wire for value. Some standouts will be able to return in time to potentially affect fantasy league title races, while others may not. Let's look at some key injuries in Week 22, including a growing controversy in Milwaukee.
Johnson has missed the Hawks' last two games with left shoulder inflammation, and he was questionable for Wednesday's game against the Pistons at the time of publishing. The concern is that this is the same shoulder that sidelined Johnson for the remainder of the 2024-25 season last January. However, the questionable tag suggests the All-Star forward is close to returning. Mouhamed Gueye (one percent rostered, Yahoo!) has started the last two games, recording totals of 19 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, two steals, three blocks and five three-pointers.
After scoring 16 points on 6-of-6 shooting in a March 21 win over the Warriors, Gueye crashed back to earth two days later in a rout of the Grizzlies. The inconsistency makes it challenging to trust Gueye as a streamer if Johnson remains out. While Jonathan Kuminga (27 percent) has also been inconsistent in Johnson's absence, Zaccharie Risacher (eight percent) has reached double figures in three straight games. Over the past week, the second-year wing has provided sixth-round value in eight-cat formats, according to Basketball Monster. While also a risky play, Risacher has been better than Gueye and Kuminga with Johnson sidelined.
F/C Danny Wolf and F/C Noah Clowney, Brooklyn Nets
Clowney has missed the Nets' last three games with a sprained right wrist, and he has also been ruled out for Wednesday's game against the Warriors. While his initial absence raised Wolf's fantasy ceiling even higher than it was with Michael Porter Jr. out, the rookie 7-footer sprained his left ankle during Sunday's loss to the Kings. Ziaire Williams (five percent) has scored at least 16 points in each of Brooklyn's last three games, and the injuries make him someone worth streaming in deep leagues.
Also emerging recently have been Chaney Johnson (four percent) and Josh Minott (10 percent), with the latter being a fourth-round player over the last week. However, Minott received a DNP-CD on Sunday, a reminder that he is not guaranteed to be in the rotation. Hopefully, that won't be a concern for fantasy managers for the rest of Week 22 due to the Nets' injuries in the frontcourt.
G Jaden Ivey, Chicago Bulls
Ivey appeared to be on track for a return to action at some point this week, with the Bulls initially listing him as questionable for Monday's game against the Rockets. Unfortunately, he banged knees with a teammate during a recent practice. Ivey has been ruled out for Wednesday's game against the 76ers, and Bulls head coach Billy Donovan said on Monday that he was unsure if the guard would travel with the team for this road trip.
Jaden Ivey returned to practice but banged knees and will see doctor tonight. Previously, Donovan said Ivey would travel on 4-game trip but now that’s TBD.
Ivey's continued absence does not change the setup of the Bulls' perimeter rotation. However, it may ensure that Josh Giddey (99 percent) and Tre Jones (29 percent) don't take significant hits to their minutes. Over the last week, Giddey has played 34.2 minutes per game and Jones 27.9. Collin Sexton (19 percent) and Rob Dillingham (two percent) continue to fill out the perimeter rotation.
G Stephen Curry and G/F Moses Moody, Golden State Warriors
Wednesday's game against the Nets will be the 23rd that Curry has missed due to a right knee injury, and he reportedly has not been cleared to resume scrimmaging. There was hope over the weekend that he would be incorporated back into practices "in the coming days," so Tuesday's development is a concern.
Steph Curry will remain out tomorrow vs Nets, per source, as he tries to get cleared for a scrimmage setting.
Quick update on NBA Today including the latest on Moses Moody as Warriors assess the extent of damage to his left knee pic.twitter.com/xtpto27iLU
And with the Warriors losing Moody for the rest of the season to a torn patellar tendon, they're even more shorthanded on the perimeter. Gui Santos (32 percent), Brandin Podziemski (44 percent) and De'Anthony Melton (15 percent) have added value due to the Curry and Moody absences, and Gary Payton II (12 percent) has provided seventh-round value in eight-cat formats since the All-Star break.
G Marcus Smart, Los Angeles Lakers
Smart was held out of Monday's loss to the Pistons with a right ankle contusion, and he was listed as doubtful on the initial injury report for Wednesday's game against the Pacers. With Rui Hachimura (10 percent) also out on Monday, Jake LaRavia (four percent) moved into the starting lineup. He played 29 minutes in the defeat, finishing with seven points, one rebound, one assist and one three-pointer. Even if he remains in the starting lineup, as Hachimura is questionable for Wednesday's game, LaRavia is not worth the risk in most leagues.
G Ja Morant, C Zach Edey and F/C Brandon Clarke, Memphis Grizzlies
Morant has not appeared in a game since January 21, with the Grizzlies' guard sidelined by a sprained UCL in his left elbow. On Tuesday, the Grizzlies announced that he is done for the rest of the season, an unsurprising development. When available, Ty Jerome (33 percent) remains the best option for fantasy managers, even with his minutes being limited. Javon Small (11 percent), Cam Spencer (13 percent) and Walter Clayton Jr. (three percent) also have value, depending on who's in the starting lineup. And in Small's instance, he is closing in on his 50-game limit as a two-way contract player.
The Grizzlies also had announcements on Tuesday on the statuses of Edey and Clarke. Ruled out for the rest of the season to undergo ankle surgery, Edey underwent a procedure on his left elbow on Tuesday to address lingering discomfort. He is still expected to make a full recovery ahead of next season. Clarke has still not been cleared for high-intensity on-court workouts as he continues to recover from a strained right calf. He is also expected to make a full recovery in time for the start of next season. The Grizzlies will continue to rely on Olivier-Maxence Prosper (10 percent), GG Jackson (21 percent) and Taylor Hendricks (21 percent) in the frontcourt, with Hendricks offering the highest ceiling for those needing defensive stats.
F Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Antetokounmpo's status following a hyperextension of his left knee has been a source of controversy recently. While it would be in the Bucks' best interest to shut him down for the rest of the season, not just to ensure that the star forward is fully healthy but for the team's draft lottery odds, Giannis has reportedly refused to sit out for the rest of the season. And the NBPA got involved on Tuesday, issuing a statement claiming that Antetokounmpo is "healthy and ready to play."
While Giannis being on the floor would be good news for fantasy managers, how many minutes would he play if allowed to return? Kyle Kuzma (17 percent) and Bobby Portis (38 percent) have also been banged up recently, with both considered questionable for Wednesday's game in Portland. Ousmane Dieng (eight percent) has not offered much fantasy value since the All-Star break, but he may be worth a look in deep leagues out of necessity.
G Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Edwards has missed the Timberwolves' last four games due to right knee inflammation and was given a re-evaluation timeline of one to two weeks last week. He will not be available for Wednesday's game against the Rockets. Ayo Dosunmu (35 percent) and Bones Hyland (10 percent) have performed well in Edwards' absence. With the former listed as questionable for Wednesday's game with a sore right calf, the latter could become even more valuable to fantasy managers in the short term.
G Miles McBride, New York Knicks
Knicks head coach Mike Brown provided a positive update on McBride following Tuesday's win over the Pelicans, revealing that the guard has progressed to scrimmaging in his recovery from sports hernia surgery. Multiple players have received opportunities to contribute with McBride sidelined.
Miles McBride has progressed to scrimmaging in his rehab from sports hernia surgery, Mike Brown says
Jose Alvarado (three percent) continues to serve as the backup point guard, with Mohamed Diawara (less than one percent) and Jordan Clarkson (three percent) logging rotation minutes on the wings. While all three have enjoyed their moments with McBride sidelined, none has been consistent enough to be much more than a streamer in deep leagues.
G Jalen Suggs and F Franz Wagner, Orlando Magic
Due to an illness, Suggs missed both games of the Magic's back-to-back to begin Week 22, sitting out games against the Pacers and Cavaliers. After struggling in his spot start against the Pacers, Jevon Carter (two percent) was more effective coming off the bench the following night. Against Cleveland, he contributed 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, one steal and three three-pointers in 27 minutes. Jamal Cain (less than one percent) started on Tuesday, finishing with 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and one three-pointer in 32 minutes. Orlando returns to action on Thursday, and there's no need to add either before an update on Suggs' availability is provided.
As for Wagner, he practiced with the Magic's G League affiliate on Monday and has since been recalled. Sidelined since the All-Star break, he's likely to be restricted in some way once he's cleared to return from his high ankle sprain. Tristan da Silva (20 percent) remains a player who should be rostered in 14-team leagues, and some 12-team formats as well, until Orlando returns to full strength on the perimeter.
C Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Embiid, who has been out since February 26 with a strained oblique muscle, is officially questionable for Wednesday's game against the Bulls. Adem Bona (three percent) has been the starting center on most nights with Embiid out, and he has offered some value in steals and blocked shots. However, Andre Drummond (10 percent)'s overall value has been higher, especially for managers seeking rebounding production.
Also of note in Philadelphia is that Paul George returns from his 25-game suspension on Wednesday, and he will not be under any restrictions. He's rostered in 75 percent of Yahoo! leagues, so shallow league managers need to ensure that George is not sitting on the waiver wire. If he is, pick him up.
G Nique Clifford, Sacramento Kings
Clifford injured his left foot during Sunday's win over the Nets and was diagnosed with a midfoot sprain. While the rookie is traveling with the team, he's out for the entirety of Week 22 before being re-evaluated. Malik Monk (25 percent) is the player for fantasy managers to target, with Devin Carter (five percent) and Daeqwon Plowden (six percent) only being worth a look in extremely deep leagues.
G Isaiah Collier and F Brice Sensabaugh, Utah Jazz
Of these two Jazz players, Collier's injury has been more serious. He has missed the last three games due to left hamstring injury management, and he's been ruled out for a fourth when the Jazz host the Wizards on Wednesday. With Keyonte George still sidelined by a strained right hamstring, EJ Harkless (11 percent) has started the last three games, and Bez Mbeng (less than one percent) the last two. The latter was signed to a second 10-day contract on Monday, ensuring his availability for the rest of Week 22. Harkless offers greater upside with George and Collier out, but neither he nor Mbeng is a must-add player.
Sensabaugh, who has scored at least 21 points in each of his last six appearances, will not play on Wednesday for rest reasons. That makes Ace Bailey (47 percent) an even more appealing option in 12-team leagues, especially with the rookie having scored at least 25 points in three consecutive games. In Monday's loss to the Raptors, Bailey went off for a season-high 37 points, shooting 7-of-10 from beyond the arc. It would be unsurprising if he managed to deliver league titles to some fortunate fantasy managers over the next few weeks.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 02: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees gestures to fans after the game between the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park on Sunday, June 2, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Finally. It’s been 168 days since the New York Yankees’ 2025 campaign ended in Division Series disappointment at the hands of the eventual AL champion Toronto Blue Jays. That was a big ol’ bummer, but it’s ancient history now. The 2026 MLB season begins tonight with the Yankees and San Francisco Giants kicking off the festivities out in San Francisco! Most of the other teams will then have their Opening Days tomorrow (or Friday in some cases).
Look, we’re pretty excited around here to see what Aaron Judge, Max Fried, and company do tonight, and we have a whole bunch of fun stuff planned for the day. So let’s just do a straightforward prompt for our Question of the Day: Who will hit the Yankees’ first two homers of the season? (Let’s keep it to just Yankees, sorry to Rafael Devers.)
Why are we phrasing the question this way? Well it honestly wouldn’t be very interesting to just ask about the first homer since the vast majority of responses would probably be “Aaron Judge, dummy.” So tell us the first two! Now, that could just be “Aaron Judge and Aaron Judge” since it’s fair to predict that the three-time MVP goes deep twice. But this at least allows for more creative responses! Judge and Jazz? Rice and Stanton? A Tuffy Rhodes-esque dark horse?
Have at it! I’m personally keeping it simple and going with Judge and Stanton. Those big boys can hit ’em out of anywhere, even San Francisco.
Jeff will begin our day on the site by previewing the full three-game Opening Day series against the Giants, checking out each pitching matchup. I’ll have our staff Yankees/MLB-wide predictions up and you can make your own! Josh will run through the Yankees’ full Opening Day roster when it’s finalized, Jake will break down the soon-to-be-revealed lineup, Sam will celebrate a former Yankee-turned-coach for our birthdays series, and Jonathan will offer a refresher on the new Yankees coaches on the block.
George Serrano cheers during the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2025 home opener against the Detroit Tigers at Dodger Stadium. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
For many fans, Major League Baseball's opening day is somewhat of an unofficial holiday. Though this year offers a different viewing experience.
Instead of turning on ESPN or a regional sports channel to catch their favorite team, there will only be one game kicking off the season, and it will be streaming exclusively on Netflix.
On Wednesday, the New York Yankees and the San Francisco Giants will face off at Oracle Park. Retired baseball stars Barry Bonds, Anthony Rizzo and Albert Pujols, led by former ESPN anchor Elle Duncan, will be in the broadcast booth.
And for one of the many Netflix touches — "Thing," the lovable detached hand from the streamer’s Addams family spinoff “Wednesday,” will be throwing the first pitch.
It's the latest example of a streaming platform finding its way into live sports programming. All of the major services, including Amazon Prime, Max, Peacock, Paramount+ and others, carry some combination of professional sports packages for their subscribers.
For Netflix, this marks the first time an MLB opening day game will be seen globally, as Netflix reaches nearly a billion viewers in more than 190 countries and in 50 languages.
For Gabe Spitzer, Netflix's vice president of sports, it's a chance for the streamer to "work together with a league to grow that audience" beyond just the die-hard sports fans. “Maybe casual fans are tuning in, or someone who's watched a baseball documentary on Netflix thinks, ‘Oh, I'll check out the Yankees Giants game because it's live.’ That's our ultimate goal,” he said.
Netflix also turned Christmas Day into an event in 2024, paying $150 million a year for the rights to stream two NFL games on the holiday. The 2025 late-afternoon game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Detroit Lions was the most-streamed NFL game in history with 27.5 million viewers, according to Nielsen.
The opening-day game is part of a larger three-year deal the league has with Netflix, which is paying $60 million annually for a package that also includes the Home Run Derby and the annual Field of Dreams game in Dyersville, Iowa. The games became available when ESPN decided to opt out of its deal (the Walt Disney Co. unit negotiated a new package that gives the network 30 games and expanded streaming rights).
The MLB events will help inform Netflix about whether to pursue a larger package when the league's larger media rights contract, which includes the World Series on Fox, comes up for renewal after the 2028 season.
The streamer is also expected to engage in talks for a larger commitment with the NFL when the league exercises its option to reopen its media rights contract after the 2029-30 season.
But for now, the Netflix sports strategy is creating large-scale live events, which Spitzer calls “meaningful water-cooler conversation” for a global audience.
The streamer and the league worked together to make the Yankees-Giants game happen one day early and present it in prime time Wednesday night. As the sole game being played that day, Spitzer said it's “truly the launch of the season.”
“As we continue to grow baseball around the world and reach younger fans, Netflix is an ideal partner to help us further expand the sport’s fan base with its ubiquitous streaming service," Kenny Gersh, MLB's executive vice president of media and business, said in a statement. "They are approaching their first-ever MLB game with great energy and creative marketing. We are excited to work with them in joining MLB’s collection of elite media partners.”
Lee Berke, a sports media consultant, understands Netflix’s venture into live sports as a way to “elevate the profile of a particular game and give it a Netflix spin — making it something you would only see on Netflix.”
“Every sport is looking now for events that can be of interest to heighten fan awareness, sponsor and distributor interest during the course of a season,” said Berke, pointing out the NBA Emirates Cup — an in-season tournament sponsored by the Dubai-owned airline — and NHL’s Four Nations Cup. “Everybody's trying to come up with a variety of events, because they drive interest, they drive business and revenues. It sort of feeds on itself.”
As the sports industry continues to open itself up for these spectacle-driven games, it provides additional television opportunities for media giants such as Netflix, Berke said. In the end, Berke said, these games are overall beneficial to the industry.
To Berke, the only lingering fear is that game events could further fragment audiences, as different sports now span across several streaming platforms and networks. The upside is they have the potential to help sports leagues capture audience attention, maximize revenue and offset rising expenses.
“Let's be honest, if you're Netflix, you're looking to attract and retain subscribers. ... This is another tool in the toolbox for helping build growth and sustain subscribers,” Berke said. “The great consistent intellectual property out there that draws audiences year after year is sports, and if you find the right combination of them, it can help you drive your business.”
To aid this live sports push, Netflix recently recruited Duncan, the former anchor for ESPN "SportsCenter," to lead Netflix’s sports coverage. At ESPN, she said, it was “a very well-oiled machine that's been very successful" for decades with “a tried and true way” of doing things.
But as she transitions from a traditional TV network to a streaming service, Duncan's responsibility is different. It's no longer about serving a domestic audience of baseball superfans; she has to keep a sports-curious, global audience in mind.
“If you're watching ESPN, chances are you're a really die-hard sports fan, but Netflix is for everyone,” said Duncan. “How do we hook people who are more interested in watching 'Love is Blind' into a sports show?”
The baseball game will stream Wednesday at 5 p.m. Pacific time.
Times staff writer Stephen Battaglio contributed to this report.
A man uses the pedestrian bridge over the 110 Freeway that connects Chinatown and the area where Dodger Stadium is located. (Etienne Laurent / For The Times)
Dodgers fans generally hiss at the mention of Frank McCourt — the former owner took the team into bankruptcy, after all — but today is about tipping our cap to him.
Without him, fans would have no option to take public transit directly to Dodger Stadium. On his watch, the Dodgers helped secure government funding for the shuttle buses that provide free rides between Union Station and Dodger Stadium.
Sixteen years later, beyond the addition of a sister shuttle from the South Bay, that’s it.
The Dodgers boast the best team in the world. Shohei Ohtani is a tourist attraction. So is their historic ballpark. The Dodgers sold a record 4 million tickets last year.
In 1990, the last year Fernando Valenzuela pitched for the Dodgers, Los Angeles County unveiled a report that suggested ways to improve access to Dodger Stadium “for those who cannot or do not wish to drive.”
The options: a monorail, people mover, or light rail extension from the Chinatown Metro station; the shuttle buses that McCourt and Metro launched 20 years later; the gondola that McCourt first pitched in 2018 and continues to pursue; and a walking path.
A passenger exits the Chinatown Metro station in January. (Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
L.A. is all about the car. You will most likely drive to Dodger Stadium, and so will your children.
For decades, the Dodgers have promised to ease traffic by adding amenities that encourage fans to come early and stick around after the game. That has not materialized, and notorious congestion within and around the stadium is as much a tradition as Dodger Dogs.
What if you could walk, for real? What if you could head into the stadium along a beautifully landscaped and wide Dodgers-themed path, a blue ribbon of fans coalescing into a community, with decorations and food carts, shade and lighting, and chants of “Let’s Go Dodgers!” along the way?
You can walk now, sort of. It’s about a mile.
There's a map at the Chinatown Metro station displaying the pedestrian path toward Dodger Stadium. (Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
At one end of the Chinatown station, there is a map with a pedestrian route, in a glass case that faces away from Dodger Stadium. If you walk out of the station at the other end, or if you just start heading in the direction of Dodger Stadium, good luck finding the map.
There are Metro signs leading you back to the station from Dodger Stadium, but none leading you along the route there.
The Dodgers actually would prefer you did not take that route, or at least the last part of it. I walked it with Alissa Walker, whose Torched newsletter is the go-to place to learn how major sporting events impact the everyday lives of Angelenos.
We entered the Dodger Stadium property at an intersection with no crosswalks, where cars enter and exit the 110 freeway. We stood atop a dirt patch next to a crumbling curb.
“To go a very short distance safely with a feeling that you’re not going to die,” Walker said, “is very difficult.”
With Game 3 of the World Series underway at Dodger Stadium last October, a few folks scurried across a pedestrian bridge with LED lights and blue glow sticks.
The bridge connects Chinatown with Dodger Stadium, traversing the 110. Without this bridge, there is no walking path to Dodger Stadium.
“Our goal was, just by adding some lights, to make the really dark path at the top of the bridge at night a little bit brighter, so that it felt a little less scary,” transit advocate Jeremy Stutes said, “and to add a little bit of fun and whimsy.”
Glow sticks forming the "LA" logo of the Dodgers were placed on a pedestrian bridge over the 110 Freeway connecting Chinatown to the area where Dodger Stadium is located during the World Series and for several months after. As of last week, the glow sticks were no longer there. (Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
From the Chinatown Metro station, the bridge is three blocks up College Street and one block down Yale Street. It’s an easy walk, and for now you pass an elementary school, a church, a row of Chinese restaurants, a dirt lot where a hospital once stood, parking lots, and an auto repair facility with a Dodgers flag hung on a wall.
When I did the walk last week, the trash at the foot of the bridge included a plastic cup, socks, a piece of rotting fruit, a half-full bottle of tequila, and half of a turkey sandwich, peeking out from torn plastic wrapping that indicated the sandwich had gone bad three days earlier. On the bridge: shopping bags, a pair of flip-flops, stray clothes scattered at one end, and graffiti everywhere.
A sign painted on the sidewalk indicates the direction toward the Chinatown Metro station. (Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
That was the point those volunteers made last October: Clean up the bridge and light up the bridge — as they did for three days — and fans will walk there.
“It’s not that it’s not used,” Stutes said. “It’s not designed to be a safe space to use as an alternative to driving.”
When you cross the bridge, you can turn right or left along Stadium Way to get to a stadium entrance.
Turn right, as the map tells you to do, and you’ll encounter decaying sidewalks, with cracked and buckled concrete that turns a modest uphill walk into an obstacle course. Once you get onto the stadium grounds, the paint is fading along the pedestrian path, which offers you no protection from passing cars.
Turn left, and you’ll have to walk part of the way in the street, on an unprotected bike lane. You also could walk along the road behind the Fire Department training center, a path with no sidewalks and passing fire trucks. Either route takes longer than the one on the map, but you would enter Dodger Stadium through a pair of protected and brightly painted pedestrian paths. (That entrance, along Vin Scully Avenue, is a quarter-mile from Sunset Boulevard, where two Metro bus routes stop.)
If the primary choices for getting out of Dodger Stadium after a game are car congestion or Dodger Stadium Express shuttle bus congestion, a downhill walk to Chinatown Metro station — 12 minutes, Metro says — would be a nice option. That’s why those folks lit up the bridge over the freeway during the World Series.
“The lights were just a fun way,” transit advocate Kevin Dedicatoria said, “to show, ‘Hey, here’s a bridge so you don’t have to play, ‘Dude, where’s my car?’ or have to worry about waiting for the bus.’”
McCourt hails from Boston, where the local subway drops Red Sox fans a few short blocks from Fenway Park. When McCourt owned the Dodgers, I asked him if he could envision a subway or light rail extension to Dodger Stadium.
He’d love it, he said then, but the Dodgers were a private business, and government should pay for public transit.
Homes line a street in Eylsian Park, where Dodger Stadium is located. (ETIENNE LAURENT/For The Times)
It was a fair point. The Dodgers pay taxes. In an era where teams regularly demand stadium and arena deals that exempt them from property tax, the Dodgers have paid $12.8 million in property taxes over the past three years, according to Los Angeles County tax collection records.
Would demand for public transit amid a car culture justify the investment? The Dodger Stadium Express indicates it could: Ridership has just about quadrupled since its inaugural season, from 122,273 in 2010 to 463,147 last year, according to Metro.
Even along the poorly maintained, poorly lit and poorly advertised pedestrian path, Metro said more than 700 riders returned to the Chinatown station on each of the three nights of World Series home games last year.
“As seen in social media videos during the 2025 postseason, the walking path continues to explode in popularity,” Metro spokesman Jose Ubaldo said.
Next steps?
“It’s astonishing to me that the Dodgers have not taken it upon themselves, as this great community partner, to fix this problem,” Walker said. “It is the city’s responsibility, but the Dodgers should be doing this, as part of what they want to represent to this community.”
The walking path includes segments along city streets, a Caltrans bridge, and Dodger Stadium property. Just who is the responsible party?
A Caltrans spokesman said the city is responsible for maintaining the bridge. A spokesman for the city’s department of street services did not provide an answer. A spokesman for the Dodgers declined to comment.
You could almost hear the sigh from city councilwoman Eunisses Hernandez, whose district includes Dodger Stadium.
“That’s what my job is: to bring people and agencies and organizations together to accomplish a goal,” Hernandez said. “We’re already in conversation with all these entities.
“We’re looking at some of the things we can enhance to make this a more walkable and accessible option for people.”
City Council member Eunisses Hernandez, center, talks with Circle outreach workers in Los Angeles. (Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
How much might those enhancements cost?
Without a look at a city-commissioned Dodger Stadium traffic mitigation study, expected to be completed this fall, Hernandez said she could not put a price tag on it.
“What I can tell you,” she said, “is that it will be less than half a billion dollars, for sure.”
By year’s end, the Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote on McCourt’s gondola project, estimated to cost $500 million and proposed as privately financed. Last November, the council voted 12-1 to urge Metro to kill the project.
Metro granted its approval, but with conditions that included a requirement to explore supplementing the gondola with other Dodger Stadium transit options, including more buses along Sunset Boulevard and a designated walkway from there to the stadium.
The walking path proposed in that 1990 study would have avoided Sunset Boulevard and the current Stadium Way routes — the ones with crumbling sidewalks, or no sidewalks at all — by using escalators and walkways to get fans up and down the hill between Lookout Drive, just off Stadium Way, and Dodger Stadium.
“Pedestrians could be directed through Chinatown,” the study read, “where numerous restaurants, shops and pedestrian amenities are provided.”
It’s hard to sell Chinatown businesses on the benefits of the gondola when fans would ride between Union Station and Dodger Stadium, soaring over Chinatown. It would be easier if a walking path led at least some of those fans through Chinatown, even if only on the way back from the game.
Even if the gondola system really can accomplish what its proponents say it can — loading 35 people into a cabin every 23 seconds — thousands of riders leaving when the game ends could mean a long line to board.
One of the entrances to Dodger Stadium on Stadium Way, the easiest access when walking from Chinatown Metro station. (Etienne Laurent/For The Times)
“Also,” the 1990 study said, “passenger waiting following a game is psychologically perceived as being three to four times longer than actual waiting time.”
From this perspective, McCourt might win a few council votes by funding a first-class walking path. The cost, I’m told, would depend on what the enhancements include: signs, lights, trees, shade canopies, sidewalk repairs, escalators, and so on. For something close to $5 million — one one-hundredth of the projected cost of gondola construction — McCourt likely could do an exceptional job.
Is there any sign of progress here? Happily, yes.
In an internal report last December, Metro said Zero Emissions Transit (ZET) — the nonprofit organization now shepherding the gondola project — is pursuing ways to link pedestrians and bicyclists to the transit system and to Dodger Stadium. Those potential improvements include sidewalk repairs and a revitalized pedestrian pathway from the Chinatown Metro station to the bridge across the 110 and then across Stadium Way, to Lookout Drive and the hill above.
“Dodger Walk is envisioned as a series of switchbacks,” the report said, “inspired by the original walking path up Lookout Mountain that existed prior to the construction of Dodger Stadium."
Whether such switchbacks would make the walk to the stadium longer or shorter than the current path remains to be determined.
In a statement, ZET said: “We embrace and include active transit solutions to increase pedestrian and bike access throughout the project area.” In particular, ZET said, it was “supportive” of a walking path to Dodger Stadium.
The Metro report cautioned the concepts “are in the early planning stage,” so L.A. might get an extravagant walking path, a utilitarian one, or none at all.
Here’s hoping McCourt gives us a path of some kind — whether the city approves the gondola or not — because a pretty walk generations can enjoy would be a prettier civic legacy than driving a team into bankruptcy.
Under current rules, the Dodgers can pay Shohei Ohtani $700 million if both parties find the sum agreeable. (Ashley Landis / Associated Press)
The Major League Baseball Players Assn. is arguably the strongest union in the United States whose members include some of the most conservative athletes in professional sports. The owners of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams, who made their wealth through the workings of free enterprise capitalism, want to limit what players can be paid. This apparent political and philosophical irony will most likely lead to a shutdown of baseball at the end of this season.
Wednesday is opening day for the 162-game major league season. The 2025 season ended Nov. 1 with an 11-inning Dodgers victory over the Toronto Blue Jays in what was one of the most mesmerizing World Series ever. Last season, the Dodgers attracted more than 4 million fans for the first time. The Dodgers weren’t alone. More than 71 million fans attended major league games — the third straight season of growth. Over the last decade, league revenue has increased 33%.
And yet, despite all this good news about the health of baseball’s finances, team owners have threatened to lock the players out — essentially an ownership strike — at the end of this season over terms of a new collective bargaining agreement soon to be negotiated with the players union.
Major League Baseball, unlike the NFL, the NBA and the NHL, does not have a hard salary cap that limits what teams can spend on players. This is the key issue for the 30 team owners and Commissioner Rob Manfred, who argues that the system is “broken.” Small-market teams can’t effectively compete, Manfred insists, with economic behemoths like the Dodgers and Yankees. But over the past 10 seasons, 14 teams have made it to the World Series, so the league is not dominated by only a few big spenders.
Major leaguers and fans have weathered five player strikes and four owner lockouts since 1972. The 1994-95 strike lasted 232 days, canceling more than 900 games, including the World Series. Unlike in the NFL, where top players like San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana crossed a picket line during the 1987 NFL Players Assn. strike, unionized baseball players have remained united. So far, no star players have been strikebreakers in baseball. Both Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers — the 2025 Cy Young Award winners for their respective leagues — also serve in players union leadership roles.
A recent report analyzing major league ballplayers' political affiliation found that among those who live in states that allow public access to voter registration records, nearly 54% of the players were Republicans compared with 8% Democrats. Why does a rightward-leaning membership retain such strong union loyalties?
For Miami Marlins pitcher Pete Fairbanks, who is also a member of the players union leadership, it comes down to recognizing that they stand on the shoulders of players who challenged the baseball establishment.
“If you look at the history of the union, we’ve had a foundation set for us,” Fairbanks said. “They fought for players’ rights and for the general betterment of the whole and it's the job of the veteran players to pass that history on to the younger players.”
Marvin Miller, a former Steelworkers Union leader, revolutionized the players’ union and baseball when he led the association from 1966 to 1982. He told the New York Times in 1999 that he was “irked” that many players did not know that it was the union that made their enormous salaries and benefits, arbitration and free agency possible. “When you don’t know your history, you tend to relive it,” Miller said.
Miller, who died in 2012, was a labor history buff who realized that highly skilled workers often developed elaborate ethical codes that promoted solidarity with other employees.
Bruce Meyer, the current executive director of the players association, puts the union’s fractious history with the owners at the center of his communications with players. He spent weeks talking with union members during spring training in Florida and Arizona, emphasizing the importance of unity in the ranks. “The bottom line is that our players have always been of the view that they are fighting not just for themselves but for their teammates and for the players that come after them,” Meyer said.
Manfred’s strategy as commissioner of Major League Baseball has been to talk directly with the players himself, especially the lower-earning younger players who he claims are being shortchanged. He argues that “10% of our players make 72% of the money,” numbers that Meyer disputes.
The commissioner is essentially telling players that their union has engaged in malpractice, losing touch with its own members while the economics of baseball changed around them. Meyer regards Manfred’s attempt to divide players as “standard management-labor tactics.”
Top agent Scott Boras said that, unlike in the NFL, baseball’s open salary system works for players because “your talent allows you to earn what you can earn without taking money from anybody else’s pocket."
Paradoxically, the union has embraced the principles of Adam Smith: Let the free market work. No one forced the Dodgers to pay Shohei Ohtani $700 million. Good for Ohtani, great for Dodger fans. And this year, the Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo will be a field sponsor at Dodger Stadium. The owners, who embrace team revenue sharing and luxury taxes and demand restrictions on salary competition, sound like socialists.
When labor-management disputes interrupt baseball, many fans undoubtedly feel like they are victims of a squabble between “millionaires and billionaires.” Ryan Long, a 26-year-old minor league pitcher in the Baltimore Orioles system and a union leader, thinks the players association should try to understand how regular working people feel about a potential lockout. “Whether it’s people selling hot dogs at stadiums or cleaning rooms at local hotels, the union should help in whatever way it can for other workers who may be hurt if baseball shuts down,” he said.
In late February at the Yankees spring training field in Tampa, I spoke with season ticket holder Richard Barnitt, who wore a shirt designed like a baseball, looking like he could be scuffed up and pitched. “There has to be some kind of cap because the Dodgers and the New York Mets had unlimited money,” he said. Another fan, Carlos Rodriquez, an airplane mechanic living in Tampa, disagreed. “I don’t think a salary cap would be fair to the players,” he said. “The players association does magical work for those guys.”
If locked out, the players are going to want support from fans, to whom a salary cap might sound reasonable. Owners will do what owners do: maximize profits and franchise values. The players union should find ways to show the fans they are not forgotten.
During a previous owners lockout, the association created a million-dollar fund to help pay the bills of stadium concession workers who were thrown out of work. They can do the same again, letting fans know that they understand that most Americans struggle paycheck to paycheck. And maybe Ohtani can chip in a couple hundred bucks — like former Dodger Mike Piazza did decades ago — for each home run.
Kelly Candaele produced the documentary “A League of Their Own,” about his mother’s years playing in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
CLEARWATER, FL - MARCH 20: Pittsburgh Pirates Infielder Konnor Griffin (75) reacts to a hit ball during MLB Prospects game between the Detroit Tigersx and the Pittsburgh Pirates on March 20, 2026 at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Pirates fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have a potential generational hitting prospect in Konnor Griffin. The 19-year-old made headlines this spring for his prodigious power, but he also hit just .171 overall. As a result, he was optioned to Triple A even though the team is already starting extensions talk, reportedly.
Did the Bucs make the right decision for their budding star?
Cast your vote, tell us in the comments, and we’ll be back soon with the results.
SACRAMENTO, CA - DECEMBER 3: Steven Adams #12 and Fred VanVleet #5 of the Houston Rockets look on during the game against the Sacramento Kings in the NBA Cup on December 3, 2024 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Rockets fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
This week’s question is asking you to decide what player loss hurt the Rockets the most. The team has generally underachieved since Kevin Durant came to H-town, and there are multiple reasons why. Here are a few of them:
The first is the loss of Dillion Brooks, which had a much bigger effect on Houston’s defensive identity than expected. Houston lost perhaps it’s toughest wing defender and best tone-setter for the stifling defensive squad they were last year.
The loss of Fred VanVleet. The Rockets lost their floor general and the man who runs the offense, leaving them disjointed at important times.
The loss of Steve Adams. The Rockets became an offensive rebounding team this season, and when Adams went down, they lost their best rebounder and interior defender, with no one left capable of filling that role full-time. Cint Capela’s minutes are limited.
All three losses affected the team this year. Which one the most? You tell us.
Dunks are always worth two points, or at most three if you’re fouled, complete the dunk and add the free throw.
The math is different for Coen Carr and Michigan State.
“Like, his dunks are worth 10 points because they bring so much to the entire team,” Spartans guard Trey Fort said.
Or “more than two, at least,” said freshman forward Jordan Scott.
Their math is iffy, but this much is certain: Carr, a 6-foot-6 junior and first-year starter, brings a certain explosiveness that triggers the Spartans’ momentum, giving Michigan State a puncher’s chance of surviving and advancing through a loaded East region.
He had one of the best games of his career in the second round against No. 6 Louisville, posting 21 points and 10 rebounds to pace the 77-69 win and send the Spartans back to the Sweet 16 for the 17th time under Tom Izzo.
“Coen Carr played like the player we've all been waiting for," Izzo said. “Coen was like an ever-ready bunny, he just kept going and going and going."
As proved over the first weekend of tournament play, an active and aggressive Carr could give the Spartans the jolt they need to make the program’s ninth Final Four under Izzo.
“Just to be in March Madness, one of the greatest stages on earth, and to have a game like this, I just credit it to my coaches, my teammates, just for always believing in me,” Carr after the Louisville win. “They want me to go out there and be aggressive, and that's what I tried to focus on.”
Carr begins to thrive in Michigan State’s culture
Given the team’s depth of options, it may be a stretch to say the Spartans go only as far as Carr takes them. Michigan State’s transition game runs through point guard Jeremy Fears Jr., who averages 15.3 points and an NCAA-best 9.4 assists per game, and the halfcourt offense can often focus on the two-man game between Fears and forward Jaxon Kohler (12.6 points and 8.9 rebounds per game).
Still, Carr fits snugly into the Spartans’ scheme on both ends of the court as a high-flying human highlight reel who has harnessed his hops to become a far more complete player in his junior season.
After averaging 3.1 points in limited action as a freshman, he posted 8.1 points and 3.6 rebounds as a sophomore, when his playing time climbed to 20.1 minutes per game.
“For some guys, it takes a little bit of an adjustment period,” said MSU assistant coach Saddi Washington, who tutors the Spartans’ big men. “We’re just proud of him for sticking to it. That’s what it’s all about. We’re all trying to put these guys in position to be help us and ultimately help themselves.”
As a junior, Carr has started all 34 games while averaging 12.0 points and 5.5 rebounds. He’s also become a more complete defender, using his athleticism to race around the perimeter, defend the paint and pound the glass, helping MSU rank fourth nationally in average rebounding margin.
“Coen showed himself,” Fears said after the Louisville win. “He's been putting in time on his free throws, his shooting. His defense was something that me and him talked about. Like, in order for our team and us to take another step, that we needed to take our defense to another level.”
His slow progression across three seasons makes Carr a bit of a throwback: Once a top-tier recruit out of Greenville, South Carolina, he stayed the course at MSU instead of following a national trend that often sees potential impact players hop, skip and jump across multiple programs in search of increased minutes.
“Just got to realize that there is a process to everything, and some guys it takes a little longer, and some guys a little shorter,” Izzo said.
That Carr stayed the course is a testament to the program’s culture built across Izzo’s 30-plus years in charge, said Washington.
“I think the culture of the program has a big deal to helping guys stay around. Because that’s part of the secret sauce of Michigan State.”
Big plays, dunks boost Michigan State’s Final Four odds
What Carr brings to the table is infectious energy.
“It’s critical for him, it’s critical for our team,” Washington said. “It has a rippling effect for our opponents, our fans. It’s just so explosive when it happens. And we’re able to build off of those moments, because normally it comes after a big defensive stop, and then we’re blitzing and breaking on the other end.”
There’s a reason teammates joke that his dunks count for more than just the standard two points: MSU feeds off the momentum shifts that Carr can create in a flash — making a block on one end of the court, racing into transition and then throwing down an electrifying, rim-shaking slam.
“For me, I would say the energy it brings to everybody, the crowd, the little kids, the band section, the coaches, the bench, just everybody,” Carr said. “It's for me, but also it's for everybody else. I like to see the gym have energy, and that's what I try to bring every time.”
These moments have become “routine,” Scott said. “He’s got these crazy dunks. I don’t think people understand just how crazy some of the stuff he’s doing is. Like, even the top athletes in the world aren’t doing what he’s doing.”
His explosiveness sparked two key sequences in the second half against the Cardinals. After Louisville made it 38-33 a minute into the half, Carr scored on an alley-oop from Fears, made a steal on the other end and then added another dunk on an assist from Fears, pushing the Spartans in front 42-33 less than a minute later.
“The runs that Coen can create when he’s playing well, especially offensively, feels more than two or four or six points, or whatever he’s putting up,” said center Carson Cooper.
With about eight minutes to play and the lead down to 55-50, Carr was fouled while drilling a short jumper and added the free throw. On the Cardinals’ ensuing drive down the court, Carr blocked a shot and corralled the defensive rebound, leading to a pair of Kohler free throws off a Louisville flagrant foul. Carr then missed a jumper and gathered the offensive rebound, leading to a Kohler 3-pointer than put MSU in front 63-50 with 6:30 remaining.
“When you talk about energy, it’s like a hurricane,” Washington said. “Sometimes, it’s comes out of nowhere. Sometimes, it comes with great anticipation, because 15,000 people can kind of see it evolving as it happens.”
This impact will have to continue if MSU hopes to steer through a star-studded East region, beginning with Friday’s matchup against No. 2 Connecticut. With a win, the Spartans would take on the winner of No. 1 Duke and No. 5 St. John’s in the Elite Eight.
Given his recent tournament production, Carr’s ability to flip the script and spark game-changing runs makes him perhaps the biggest wild card and potential influencer of any player left in the field.
“Just seeing him doing what he does, it brings everybody with him,” Fort said. “It motivates everybody. His energy kind of fuels the entire team.”
Still, in a season where one game can make a significant impact even amid the backdrop of 161 others, USA TODAY Sports' power rankings moved a bit on its axis as the game's Opening Day(s) bear down March 25-27.
Kyle Tucker is still very rich, Paul Skenes still very good and Tony Vitello still untested beyond the rigors, such as they are, of the Cactus League. With that said, a look at updated power rankings as this six-month crucible gets underway:
Part of the return for Danny Jansen, the 2022 Red Sox second round pick got off to a tough start in the Jays organization, posting a .581 OPS in Vancouver after the trade. He bounced back last year, though, trimming his strikeouts and showing some pop on his way to a .273/.359/.427 line that was 19% better than the Northwest League average.
Coffey has MLB average raw power right now, and probably has room on his 6’1”, 190lb frame for another half grade of growth. His swing does a good job of using that power, producing a lot of line drive and low fly contact, leading to the hope that he can produce above average game power. His contact ability is fringy, and he especially struggles with breaking balls. That may prove to be a major Achilles’ heel as he continues to move up the levels and begins to face pitchers who can regularly throw quality sliders and curves for strikes.
Coffey mostly played third this year, and he profiles as an above average defender there with the plus arm to go with. He can also play second and while he’s not a true shortstop he can fill in there in an emergency. In the best case scenario, Coffey proves himself able to adapt to spin and becomes a low average high slug regular at third. More likely, he’s a power over hit utility infielder who needs to be sheltered from righties with good breaking balls.
23. Tim Piasentin, RHP, Age 19 (DOB: 3/25/2007, Happy Birthday Tim!), Grade 35+/40, 2025: High School
Piasentin is a local boy for me, having been drafted in the fifth round last year out of Foothills Composite High School in Okotoks, Alberta. He was the consensus top Canadian prospect in the 2025 draft, and it took three quarters of a million dollars to buy him out of a commitment to the University of Miami.
Power is what got him taken that high. Piasentin is a well built 6’3” and 205lbs, and he produces 70 grade bat speed that leads to light tower flies in batting practice. He has some feel to hit, but his contact ability is fringy and he profiles as a three true outcomes type hitter. He’s a below average runner and may not stick at third base long term due to his size and just ok athleticism, but his plus arm would be an asset in right field if he had to move.
It’s a prototypical slugger package, with the potential to be a middle of the order hitter if everything comes together. That’s a long ways away with a lot of questions to answer between now and then, though, as he’ll being his pro career this spring at the complex level.
22. Austin Cates, RHP, Age 22 (DOB: 5/20/2003), Grade 35+/40, 2025: NR
A seventh round pick out of UNLV in 2024, Cates hasn’t drawn a lot of heat yet, but he’s produced big results so far in his pro career. In 25 appearances between A and A+ last season, he struck out 113 against 33 walks in 109.2 innings, with a 3.12 ERA and peripherals that back it up.
Cates pitches with a short stride and a high release, allowing him to create big backspin on his fastball. It sits just 90-93 with the odd 95, but the spin induces near elite vertical carry and big arm side run for a four seamer. I think it can play above average, especially if he adds another tick of velocity after already adding a couple MPH since college. His main secondary is a splitter with similar arm side movement but 14 inches of vertical drop, and he can locate it down or just out of the zone for both called and swinging strikes. His slider is a clear third pitch, but it’s been effective because of its contrast to his other two offerings. He commands everything to an above average level, living in the zone while avoiding the heart of the plate.
If all that sounds a little like Trey Yesavage, well, no, because Trey throws 98. But you can see the outlines of a poor man’s version of the same general skill set here. Where Yesavage is a potential ace, Cates profiles more as a #5 barring an unexpected leap in his stuff. That’s still a very valuable outcome, though, and Cates has so far passed the tests that have been set for him.
21. Adrian Pinto, Age 23 (DOB: 9/22/2002), Grade 35+/40, 2025: 13th
Pinto has been a prospect crush of mine for going on four years now, since he was acquired as part of the Randal Grichuck trade with the Rockies. At just 5’6” and listed at 156lbs (though he’s surely somewhat heavier than that now), Pinto somehow generates slightly above average raw exit velocities with his long-ish, whippy swing. It’s a full body effort, but he’s a superior athlete with great hands and he manages to corral it enough to still make average rates of contact. His approach is aggressive, but he has an idea of the zone and has at times run high walk rates while always limiting his strikeouts. Over the past two seasons he’s learned to get the ball off the ground a little more and the whole package has come together to produce extremely loud results. Mostly at Vancouver, he’s put up a .310/.376/.588 line that was 64% better than the Northwest League Average across 197PA.
Aaaaaand, there’s the reason he’s down here at 21. Pinto has manage to appear in just 45 games over the past two years, 35 the year before that, then 47 before that. The injuries have been diverse, including ribs, hamstrings, and quads among others, but the overall conclusion seems to be simple: he’s small and he plays extremely fast and hard, and that takes a toll. He’s the kind of athlete whose body can do things it can’t sustain, and so he ends up on the IL.
At 23, the clock is ticking on Pinto’s career. He has the twitch and hands to be an above average defender at second base, and his above average speed looks like it could translate to centre field as well. That gives him multiple ways to get into an MLB lineup at premium positions, where he has the potential to be an above average producer. He needs to stay on the field to make any of that a concern, though.
Cole Huff
