The Vancouver Canucks continued their rebuild on Monday as they traded Kiefer Sherwood to the San Jose Sharks. In return, Vancouver received two second-round picks as well as defenceman Cole Clayton. While Sherwood is the team leader in goals, he is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, which made this trade almost necessary, considering where the Canucks are in the standings.
After Vancouver's 11th straight loss on Monday, three players met with the media to discuss the game. During the availabilities, all were asked about Sherwood and the impact he had on the organization. First was Marcus Pettersson, who discussed how the Canucks overall record forced this type of trade.
"Yeah, it's a big loss," said Pettersson. "You know, the energy that he brings every day. That's the business we are in. When you lose games, stuff like that is going to happen. Like I said, the energy that he brought every day. His fiery play, we are going to miss and how good of a person he is, too. It's always tough to say by to teammates and friends. But like I said, that's the business you are in when you lose games.
Up next was Evander Kane, who is in the same situation as Sherwood. The 34-year-old has also been involved in trade rumours as he is also an unrestricted free agent on July 1. When asked about Sherwood, Kane spoke about not just what he brought on the ice, but he friendship they developed over the past few months.
"Woody, you know, we became kind of fast friends, especially off the ice," said Kane. "You know, really, really good guy. Brought an energy that you don't see a whole lot in the NHL, and, you know, really fun to watch and be around. So wishing him the best of luck in San Jose there. And I'm sure he'll add a lot to that group."
Jan 3, 2026; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Vancouver Canucks forward Kiefer Sherwood (44) reacts in warm up prior to a game against the Boston Bruins at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images
The third player to speak was Max Sassson. Just like Sherwood, the 25-year-old is a late bloomer, as he only made his NHL debut last season. When asked about his now former teammate, Sasson spoke about Sherwood's leadership skills, especially when it came to helping out the younger guys on the team.
"I had a long talk with him today," said Sasson, "And I'll continue to stay in touch. He's given me a lot of advice ever since day one up here. And I think, even when we were in Abbotsford, that's a guy that we talked about all the time that we can learn from and strive to be one day. That you know, maybe just because you weren't in the NHL at 21, you can still find it. He's playing his best hockey right now at 29, so yeah, we're gonna miss him. He was a great friend, but also an unbelievable leader to all of us."
In the span of a year and a half, Sherwood went from relatively unknown to becoming a fan favourite in Vancouver. He scored 36 goals and recorded 63 points in 122 games while also throwing 672 hits. Ultimately, Sherwood will be missed in the market, not just by the fan base but also in the Canucks locker room.
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Dominic Smith missed the final 15 games of the Giants’ season, and while that time didn’t wind up impacting what’ll happen to his career in 2026, it wound up being a huge pivot point for the fate of the San Francisco Giants. The postseason might’ve slipped through their fingers though moment he strained his hamstring.
Just a couple of days before he went down with that season-ending injury, I offered up this glowing profile, supposing that this steadyhanded journeyman is precisely what the Giants needed to ride the rapids of the season. Though it could be argued that he was a bit of a Hail Mary move by the front office, his impact was akin to those grizzled veteran additions Brian Sabean made and that always seemed to work out.
Dominic Smith has been a good Giant this season. Since joining the squad, he’s third in Win Probability Added, behind Matt Chapman and Willy Adames. Indeed, as a Giant, he’s 22nd in MLB in FanGraphs’ Clutch Statistic and that leads the team (keeping in mind that Chapman & Adames have had way more plate appearances to dilute that stat).
His three biggest moments of the season:
August 6 at Pittsburgh (+0.293 WPA)
This one helped the Giants get back over .500 after that winless homestand that dropped them below .500 for the first time all season.
This one netted a split with a division rival early enough in the season when anything seemed possible. It pulled them to within a game of San Diego and just 3 back of the Dodgers.
This one broke a 7-game home losing streak and wound up being only the 2nd win of a 9-game homestand. That win kicked off a 24-game stretch where the Giants went 16-8 and Smith slashed .290/.313/.435 with a pair of homers, 3 doubles, and 13 RBI, a +0.341 WPA overall. The team was just half a game out of the third Wild Card after this run.
After he went down, the Giants went 6-9 over their final stretch of games.
Smith was brought in to replace LaMonte Wade Jr. He never attained a nickname like “Late Night,” but he wound up serving a similar function. He also stepped into the clutch veteran roll that Wilmer Flores’s age/health had pushed him out of, and did it almost like a handoff, since Wilmer had seemingly carried the team for the first month of the season.
Smith gave the Giants a chance to win nearly every day and in his absence they simply couldn’t. He wasn’t a foundational talent like Devers, Adames, Chapman, and Patrick Bailey, but it turns out he was the load bearing poster of 2025. It wasn’t his fault the team couldn’t get its act together enough for that to not be the case, but credit to him for stepping up to be that guy for as long as he could. It’s the sort of story baseball gives us nearly every season, and even when things don’t go as hoped for with the team overall, it’s nice to remember the individual accomplishments like these.
College football has officially wrapped up, so it’s a great day to dive into NBA action with seven games on the board and a full slate of NBA player props.
I’ve found my three favorite NBA picks for the day, including Anthony Edwards lighting up the Jazz and Domantas Sabonis finding his form in a matchup against the Heat.
The Utah Jazz defense is bad enough as it is. Now, they’re playing the second half of a back-to-back and must try to contain Anthony Edwards.
The Minnesota Timberwolves star is putting up 29.6 points per game while shooting a ridiculous 41.8% from 3-point range. He now faces a Jazz team that’s dead last in defensive rating, and their perimeter defense is a big problem.
Utah surrenders the most 3-point attempts per game while allowing the second-highest opponent 3-point shooting percentage. Edwards has hit 4+ threes in five of his last six games, and he'll do it again tonight.
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
Where to watch: FDSN-North, KJZZ
Prop #2: Domantas Sabonis to record a double-double
Domantas Sabonis is still getting back up to speed after missing two months with a knee injury. Still, I’m betting we get a classic Sabonis performance when the Sacramento Kings host the Miami Heat.
The Heat are, of course, one of my favorite fades when it comes to rebounds. Their high pace and volume of shooting result in a lot of rebounds, and they surrender the second-most rebounds per game.
Sabonis has a rebounding total of 8.5, but instead of taking the Over, let’s back the big man to record his first double-double since his return.
The Golden State Warriors were dealt a huge blow with Jimmy Butler tearing his ACL. The Warriors lose one of their best defenders, and they already allow opposing point guards to shoot the sixth-highest percentage from beyond the arc this season.
Immanuel Quickley has had an up-and-down season for the Toronto Raptors, but he’s averaging 17.6 points per game over his last 13 games and has topped 15.5 points 10 times over that stretch.
He'll take advantage of this matchup as the Dubs try to find their bearings without Butler.
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The Colorado Avalanche's start to the season has been nothing but historic, despite a rough couple of recent weeks. With a record of 34-5-8 for 76 points, 47 games played, they are still on pace to break the 2022-23 Boston Bruins NHL single-season wins and points record.
There, players like Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar lead the way in their respective trophy voting. Goaltending, once a major red flag for this organization, has been a significant reason for its current success. So the question begs: could this team get better?
Well, the New York Rangers General Manager, Chris Drury, sent a letter to all Rangers fans a couple of days ago regarding their current lack of performance this season and the significant changes that should be coming to the lineup, both this season and going forward.
The most significant piece of news is that star winger Artemi Panarin, a pending UFA this summer, will not be receiving a contract extension, easily jumping the line and becoming the number one trade target for many teams trying to acquire him before the Olympic roster freeze on Feb.4 or the trade deadline on March 6.
Panarin has an $11.6 million cap hit and a full no-move clause, but with recent news of how the team's future looks, he might be willing to waive it for the right team that can fit his aspirations for a Stanley Cup and could offer the best trade package Drury might like for the Rangers.
This all comes back around to the Colorado Avalanche and how their season has begun. This is a team that is the definition of “cup or bust”, the window is starting to shrink, and with the team firing on all cylinders this season, there should be no doubt they make a move to two to improve this team.
Including Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman, and how he named the Avalanche alongside the Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, and Washington Capitals as names to watch in the Panarin trade mill. While frankly, I do agree that Panarin can come in and be a major contributor to this team, I don’t see General Manager Chris MacFarland and President of Hockey Operations Joe Sakic making the cap room to fit him without taking too much from this already successful roster.
As of writing (Jan. 20), the Avalanche have $1.7 million in cap space, and that's Logan O’Connor on LTIR, Joel Kiviranta on IR, and both Devon Toews and Gabriel Landeskog out week-to-week. To bring in Panarin, who would become the second-highest-paid player on this team, you're going to need to move more than just draft picks and prospects to make this deal work.
You're looking at moving players like Samuel Girard, Valeri Nichushkin, Ross Colton, and Artturi Lehkonen, and that's if the Rangers would even want any of the listed players. Even the players listed have trade-modified trade clauses, and while I doubt the Rangers are listed on theirs, if they are, there's another wrench in your plans, and now you have to pivot to another player to make the money work.
What about picks and prospects? Drury, in the letter, stated it was more of a retool and then rebuild, but despite that, the Avalanche doesn’t have much they could offer that would be super enticing.
Much was spent on acquiring Brock Nelson and more at last season's trade deadline, and they don’t have a first-, second-, or third-round draft pick in the 2026 Draft. So, unless Drury wants picks in the coming seasons or has scouts who like some of our prospects, our package is definitely not the best for competing with others.
Then there is the extension part. As stated, the salary cap is going up significantly, but if you're looking at who the Avalanche need to extend in the coming summers, adding Panarin to this list is going to make things really tough, especially for a guy who turns 35 next season and is already making $11.5 million.
They just extended Martin Necas' next season, who carries a cap hit of $11.5 million. Cale Makar is eligible for contract extension talks this summer, and that's going to be the number one focus this summer heading into next season.
So, unless Panarin is willing to take a steep pay cut, the Avalanche are going back to the situation where a majority of their money is invested in the top guys, which could affect their bottom-six and, in turn, depth scoring.
MacFarland and Sakic need to be smart come the trade deadline. This team is set up for postseason success, but how do you improve this roster without taking away from what already makes it successful? Panarin, even at his age, is a game-changer, but given how the Avalanche's cap, draft picks, and roster construction are right now, it's too risky to go after another big fish like him.
Calvin Pickard has spent too much of this season watching. Watching from the bench. Watching from the press box. Watching Stuart Skinner, Tristan Jarry, and Connor Ingram take turns manning the crease while he sits in full gear, ready if needed, but rarely called upon.
He's done everything right. He's been professional. He's been patient. He's been the exact kind of teammate every organization wants. And his reward? He's probably heading to Bakersfield.
The Edmonton Oilers can carry three goaltenders on the roster right now, but the cap space won't work out that way indefinitely. Eventually, someone has to go down. And as much as it'll hurt fans, the team, and probably Pickard himself, all signs point to him being the one sent to the AHL.
It's not fair. But it's the reality of professional hockey.
Jarry and Ingram have both gotten solid starts during this awkward three-goalie period. They've both gotten shutouts. They've both shown they can handle the workload. Pickard, meanwhile, has spent far too many games in street clothes or warming the bench, waiting for an opportunity that isn't coming.
This will be hard for fans. Pickard is well-liked in Edmonton. He's been a steady presence for years, stepping in when needed, never complaining, always ready. He was here during the tough times and stuck around for the good ones. Fans appreciate that kind of loyalty and professionalism.
This will be even harder for the team. Pickard is loved in that dressing room. He's polite, reliable, and kind. He talks to media before and after games without hesitation. He treats everyone—teammates, coaches, reporters, arena staff—with respect. He's done his job for years, and as we've said before, Pickard—a backup goalie—was never the problem.
Economically, this decision is brutal too. Pickard is cost-controlled at $1 million per season. That's an incredibly team-friendly contract for a reliable NHL backup. Compare that to Tristan Jarry at $5.375 million per year or Connor Ingram at $1.95 million, and on paper, keeping Pickard makes financial sense.
But hockey isn't played on spreadsheets. Jarry and Ingram are younger. They're playing better right now. And together, they have the potential to form the legitimate tandem this fanbase has wanted for years—a duo where you trust either guy to start on any given night without worrying about what you're going to get.
That's been the missing piece for Edmonton. For years, goaltending has been a question mark. A source of anxiety. Pickard did his part, but the Oilers need more than just "solid enough." They need a tandem that gives them a chance to win every night, regardless of who's in net.
Jarry and Ingram might be that. They're both capable starters who can handle workloads. They both bring different strengths. And if they can stay healthy and maintain their current form, the Oilers finally have the goaltending depth they've lacked.
It's not a reflection on him as a player or a person. It's just roster math. The Oilers can't keep three goalies forever. They need the cap space. They need the roster flexibility. And when you have two younger, higher-performing options, the veteran on the cheaper contract becomes expendable, no matter how much everyone likes him.
Saying goodbye to Pickard will sting. He deserves better than this. He's been nothing but reliable, nothing but a good teammate. But professional sports are ruthless, and sometimes doing everything right still isn't enough.
The Oilers will make the move when they have to. Pickard will handle it with the same class he's shown throughout his time in Edmonton. Fans will be disappointed but understand the reasoning. And the team will move forward with Jarry and Ingram as their tandem, hoping this is finally the goaltending solution they've been searching for.
It's an unfortunate reality. But it's reality nonetheless. Calvin Pickard deserves better, but sometimes the game doesn't care what you deserve.
Coming off a dramatic win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Spurs concluded their 3-game homestand by taking on the Utah Jazz. The Spurs started hot, outscoring the Jazz 34-26 in the first quarter. The Jazz cut the deficit to four at halftime, but the Spurs dominated the third quarter. They outscored the Jazz 35-23 and carried a 16-point lead into the fourth. The Spurs’ lead reached 24 at one point, and they shut down any chance at a Jazz comeback. Thanks to hot shooting and solid defense, the Spurs won 123-110.
Victor Wembanyama dropped a double-double: 33 points (7-12 3PT) and 10 rebounds to go along with two blocks, two steals, and an assist. Vic was en fuego from three and converted all six of his free throws. After draining nine combined threes against the Bucks and the Timberwolves, Vic dropped a season-high seven threes against the Jazz alone. Since shaving his head, the Spurs are 3-0, and Wemby is averaging 31.3 points per game, 9.7 rebounds, and 2 blocks on 55% field goal shooting, 59% three-point shooting, and 87% free-throw shooting. Not bad for a first-time all-star starter.
The stove is warm… Vic drains the open three in transition! Guard up Jusuf Nurkic!
Stephon Castle dropped 18 points, eight assists, two rebounds, and a block. After struggling to draw fouls in the first half, Steph’s determination to stay aggressive rewarded him with whistles, and he drained seven of 10 free throws. He also drained tough and contested mid-range jumpers. The turnovers were once again a problem, but Steph still managed to toss lobs and bounce passes for eight dimes. After covering Keyonte George, his next assignment will either be Amen Thompson or possibly even Kevin Durant.
AREA 51 ALERT! Steph crosses half court and immediately lobs to Wemby, who jams it home!
Another Steph lob! After the Fox swipe, Steph leads the 3 on 1 fastbreak by lobbing it up for a Julian Champagnie jam! Julian finished with 13 points and four rebounds!
THREE LOBS FOR STEPH! Steph finds the cutting Luke Kornet who finishes the lob! Luke filled the stat sheet with seven points, seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and a steal!
Dylan Harper dropped 15 points (6-7 FG), five assists, three rebounds, a steal, and a block. Dyl shot a career-high 85.7% from the field, and he cashed in his points from the midrange, from a three, and from slashing to the cup. These last four games from Dyl have shown what he is capable of on a nightly basis. It is a welcome sight after his cold stretch.
Spurs Ball Movement! Dyl drives in, fakes the shot, and bounces it to Luke under the basket for the slam all in one motion!
De’Aaron Fox dropped 14 points, eight assists, five rebounds, and four steals. D-Fox was efficient from the field and led the offense with either Steph or Dyl. Most of all, he was excellent defensively. He swiped a season-high four steals by pickpocketing whoever drove into the paint and interrupting the passing lanes. Thanks to the rest of the supporting cast, D-Fox attempted just 11 shots, but made six of them. It will be exciting to see if he is named an all-star reserve on February 1st.
Carter Bryant dropped a career-high 11 points (4-5 FG), three rebounds, two blocks, and a steal. In just fourteen minutes, Carter was efficient from the field and made solid defensive plays. He also finally secured a dunk and decided to add an alley-oop slam as a bonus. The rookie impressed Spurs fans and the coaching staff, and it might convince Mitch Johnson to give him more playing time as the season carries on.
FINALLY! After many missed dunks throughout the season, the Spurs’ ball movement results in Luke finding Carter open under the basket for a converted slam dunk!
Watch for the Carter dunk, stay for the Luke celebration 🤩
Harrison Barnes dropped 10 points, four assists, a rebound, and a block. HB was solid on drives to the cup and made hustle plays that most 33-year-olds usually don’t make. After a long, cold stretch of games, this homestand has been a welcoming reminder of who HB has been for this team: A solid veteran who stretches the floor.
All in all, this was a great way to close out the three-game homestand. An injured version of the Jazz team that defeated the silver and black in late December can still score with the best. However, the Spurs’ 21 stocks and sixteen threes proved to be the difference. Both rookies also finished in double figures and showed flashes of their true potential. This team faces a quick turnaround in a familiar I-10 rivalry foe, and this time the silver and black will mostly be at full strength.
Finally, here are the full game highlights.
The Spurs go on the road to battle the Houston Rockets on a SEGABABA at 7:00 P.M. (CST) on NBC/Peacock/FDSN-SW.
It’s been a couple of days now since the news hit Braves Country like a meteor falling out of the sky. Ha-Seong Kim is now set to miss all of spring training and at least a couple of months of the regular season on top of that. This is after he reportedly slipped on ice while walking around in his home country. He slipped on ice. The Braves will have to do without their starting shortstop for nearly half of the season because of a patch of ice.
Part of my coping mechanism is simply repeating what happened out loud so that it sets in. I’ve done that multiple times over the past couple of days and as you can see, I’m still doing it. It’s just wild to think about but also when you consider the injury luck that the Braves have had for two full seasons now (and hopefully this is as bad as it gets for this season in particular), it’s somehow not out of the ordinary, either. This is just another injury or unintended absence that the Braves will have to deal with, just like what they had to deal with for large portions of both the 2024 and 2025 regular seasons.
The only good news about this injury to Kim is that it happened in mid-January and that this is a position that the Braves at least did a good job in fortifying with their offseason business. Now, don’t misunderstand what I’m about to say here when it comes to Maurico Dubón (and Jorge Mateo as well after the Braves brought him in on a one-year, $1 million deal shortly after the news about Kim’s injury broke): It’s definitely not ideal to have Dubón holding down the fort at shortstop for a long stretch of time. Sure, you heard people like Alex Anthopoulos and Walt Weiss both talk about how they’d be fine with Dubón being the starting shortstop while that was still a possibility before Kim’s signing changed the depth chart around here.
With that being said, there’s a reason why agreed to pay Kim $20 million for just one season (and hopefully more, since I’d imagine that the Braves would still be interested in keeping Kim around once he recovers and hopefully rebounds) at shortstop: It’s because they absolutely needed Kim and the offense that he could potentially provide at that position. There’s no question that Dubón is going to provide solid-to-great defense for the Braves at the shortstop spot while he holds down that spot. There’s a very big question as to whether or not Dubón will hit enough to where they won’t be desperately missing Kim’s potential of plate production. Atlanta already went through nearly one full season with paltry plate performance from the shortstop spot and it was clear that they didn’t want to have to deal with another season of that.
Unfortunately, it’s looking like that might be the case. Dubón is coming off of a season where he finished in the tenth percentile of all batters when it came to Batting Run Value (-12. Negative twelve!) and his two best finishes in that category came in 2023 when he finished in the 44th percentile and then in the COVID-shortened 2020 season where he logged a 47th-percentile finish — both only gave him a Batting Run Value of 1 for the season. Jorge Mateo also isn’t going to be hitting balls off of outfield walls on a regular basis either, as he’ll be entering 2026 as a career 75 wRC+ hitter with a high-water mark of 87 wRC+ back in 2024. Nacho Alvarez Jr. also has plenty of professional experience as a shortstop and could see some time there as well but he doesn’t have the glove to keep up with Dubón or Mateo and he certainly doesn’t hit much better than those two, either.
Plain and simple, this was just about one of the worst ways for the Braves to start off their season and we’re not even to the point where pitchers and catchers have reported for camp, yet. I mentioned in earlier articles that the Ha-Seong Kim signing essentially tied together all of the other offseason moves that the Braves made in order to make it all make sense. That signing was the finishing touch on an offseason painting from Alex Anthopoulos that wasn’t quite a masterpiece but still one that anybody would love to hang in their home.
Now, their biggest offseason signing won’t be around for a significant period of time and it’s certainly going to hamstring the Braves at the plate for as long as it takes Kim to eventually return and also get going as well. There’s no telling when we’ll finally see this Braves team at full strength but I doubt that it’ll be any time before July at this rate.
So while there’s no way around Kim’s injury not being a major blow to the 2026 Braves, it’s not a death sentence, either. The pitching squad still figures to be coming into this season fully healthy and if the Braves can simply maintain a healthy rotation then that alone could help them return to Postseason relevance in this upcoming season.
Additionally, the Braves have also upgraded their bullpen over the course of this offseason, they figure to be at full strength with a much-deeper outfield than last season’s team had to offer and the infield is still full of players who are either solidly capable of playing their position or fully capable of being stars as well. The hole at shortstop is a significant one to fill but you could certainly do with worse options than Dubón and Mateo as being half-season replacements.
So while this completely absurd and equally lame injury for Ha-Seong Kim is terrible news for the Braves, it’s still not the end of the world for this squad. I can absolutely understand if anybody’s feeling nervous about the injury bug that has hounded this team for over two seasons now continuing to float around this squad but at this point, there’s nothing we can do about it except continue to hope that everybody else can stay out of harm’s way and avoid stepping on an injury mine like Kim did.
The Braves are still set up pretty nicely for 2026 — they’ll just have to find a way to stay afloat and competitive before we see the complete vision of this team on the field in action. They’re set up well to do so but it’s also totally understandable if you’re already counting the days until Ha-Seong Kim returns to the starting lineup in Atlanta. It’ll just be a lot warmer outside than it is right now once he does finally return.
It’s that time of year again! Athletics Nation’s annual Community Prospect List time, where you, the fans of our A’s, will get to vote for who is ranked among the farm system’s best and brightest prospects. This year we’ll be going as far as the top-25 in the system. starting with the top prospect and wrapping it up with the #25 spot.
The process for this public vote is explained below. Please take a moment to read this before participating:
Please only vote for one. The player with the most votes at the end of voting will win the ranked spot. The remaining four players move on to the next ballot where they are joined by a new nominee.
In the comments, below the official voting, the community will nominate players to be put onto the ballot for the next round. The format for your comment should be “Nomination: Player Name”.
If a prospect is traded, his name will be crossed out, and all other players will be moved up a space. If a prospect is acquired, a special vote will be put up to determine where that player should rank.
* * *
We will start out with five nominees vying for the top spot in our rankings. The candidates for the top prospect in the Athletics’ farm system are the cream of the crop in the organization. Shortstop Leo De Vries is widely considered one of the best prospects in the entire sport and is a potentially franchise-altering player. It took a lot to pry him away from San Diego but he could be a center piece for a future playoff contender. The same could be said for left-handed pitchers Jamie Arnold and Gage Jump, both of whom were selected by MLB Pipeline as two of the top left-handers in the entirety of the sport recently.
If you lend more weight to players who are actually on the cusp of making it to the big leagues, you may end up voting for top outfield prospect Henry Bolte, who stole 44 bags last year and offers a different aspect than what the A’s offense usually produces. He could be a backup plan in center field if Denzel Clarke’s bat isn’t quite up to snuff. Right-hander Braden Nett, who came over to the A’s organization along with De Vries, spent all of last year in Double-A and posted encouraging results. It wouldn’t be a shock of the Athletics, who have been aggressive with their prospects in recent years, see him succeed at Triple-A next year and decide to get an early look at the righty.
Here’s a quick rundown on each one — the scouting grades (on a 20-to-80 scale) and scouting reports come from MLB Pipeline(last updated early-2026).
A switch-hitter, De Vries already shows an exquisite knowledge of the zone and will take his walks like he’s a player many years older. He needed just a little bit more exposure to California League arms before making the adjustment to their quality, and that speaks well to how he’ll handle higher levels, something he continued to show in the Midwest League with low strikeout and high walk rates at the time of the trade. After getting to his power more from the right side in 2024, with seven of his 11 homers coming from that side despite far fewer plate appearances, he flipped the script in 2025, with seven of his eight homers coming left-handed before he was sent to the A’s. He has more than enough bat speed from both sides of the plate where splits aren’t a major concern.
A former point guard in basketball, the Dominican Republic native is an agile runner and efficient on the basepaths. He has the range and hands to handle shortstop well, and even though he got some looks at second base in the Fall League, he’s played shortstop exclusively this season. There’s enough arm strength here to keep him on the left side of the dirt anyways. De Vries plays like a prospect hungry for challenges, which has served him well during his age-18 season.
Jump’s fastball is difficult for opposing hitters to pick up with an arm angle that creates some deception. The heater sits about 92-94 mph and can reach up to 97 with good carry up in the zone. His upper-70s curveball has significant downer break, and his low-80s slider has cutting action. His fading low-80s changeup is used far less than his other three offerings.
Listed at 6-foot, Jump lacks the size of a typical starter, though his growth since the surgery and ability to generate his stuff with arm speed helps his potential outlook as a long-term starter. The ceiling of a mid-rotation starter is there, though some scouts believe he might be better suited in a bullpen role. To start out, the A’s will develop him as a starter and look to see him maintain good health and strike-throwing ability.
A left-hander with a rangy body and a loose, whippy arm, Arnold has seen his stuff tick up since leaving Jesuit High School for Tallahassee. Coming from a lower arm slot and flat approach angle, his fastball, which was 88-92 mph in high school, now sits in the 94-95 mph range and touches 97, with a ton of life to miss bats. While his slider can be a little wide at times, the 82-85 mph sweeping breaking ball is a second plus offering that elicited a 43 percent miss rate in 2024 and ’25 combined. His changeup is his third pitch, and he doesn’t need it much, but there’s some feel for it.
Arnold has shown the ability to fill up the strike zone and limit damage while maintaining his stuff deep into outings. With the funky arm slot, his stuff has drawn some comparisons to Chris Sale, a reason why people think it shouldn’t take him too long to join a big league rotation.
Bolte is a tooled-up athlete who continues to fill out his big 6-foot-3 frame. His impressive raw power continues to show up in the Minors, though there is still a real concern over his swing-and-miss and high strikeout rate as he continues to struggle with offspeed stuff out of the zone. The A’s have worked with him to revamp his swing in order to improve his bat path and cover more of the zone, which has produced slight improvements in those areas, though there is still plenty of work to be done.
Another shining tool for Bolte is his near-elite speed, which was on display last season as he swiped 46 bags. That speed also comes in handy on defense, combining that with a strong arm that makes him a solid outfielder at all three spots. Further refining is required, but he remains an exciting talent with a very high ceiling who continues to steadily advance through the system.
While working around the injuries, Nett has continued to show stellar velocity, touching as high as 99 mph in the Minor Leagues last season. He typically sits 95-97 mph and gets swing-and-miss up in the zone thanks to ample carry. He also throws a tight 81-84 mph slider that ran a 38 percent whiff rate in ’24 and a sharper 90-92 mph cutter that can catch hitters off guard. He’ll mix in an upper-70s curveball with more vertical drop and he’s scrapped a low-80s splitter in favor of a much more effective 88 mph kick-change that really neutralizes lefties.
Nett has some effort in his delivery, and the 2025 season (pre-trade) was the first time he’d posted a walk rate below 13 percent at any Minor League stop. Combine that with the early injury concerns, and it’s easy to think he could be a reliever eventually. But his arsenal is deep enough, and his stuff is promising enough — when combined with strides taken this season — to keep landing him in a starting role in the upper Minors.
* * *
Programming Note: Each CPL vote will run for around 48 hours, so don’t delay making your selections!
The Phillies are #RunningItBack in 2026! After missing out on Bo Bichette and re-signing J.T. Realmuto – barring any unforeseen moves between now and the start of the season – Dave Dombrowski has said that the 2026 Phillies are going to look very similar to the 2025 edition of the team.
Asked about notable players still on the free-agent market, Dave Dombrowski said, "I think we're content where we are at this point." Any roster adjustments figured to be more depth related.
We knew this since his end of year presser. He told us “we were 1 or 2 plays away from beating LA” so you knew we would just run it back. The worst part is we are running it back with missing pieces & no substantial adds lol. 2026 Phillies Baseball: Gaslight ‘em til they believe! https://t.co/YmKWDFvUKH
I understand why fans aren’t enthused about bringing back most of a team that has won a total of two playoff games the past two seasons. I too was in favor of adding Bichette or another big name, because adding good players to a roster is usually a positive thing.
But can we maintain some perspective on what the Phillies are running back? This team won 96 games in 2025, which was the second-most in baseball. They had two players finish in the top five of MVP voting – and that doesn’t include the guy who has actually won the award twice. They had three pitchers finish in the top ten of Cy Young Award voting and a closer who made the All-MLB team.
Obviously, they lost in the playoffs, but the loss came at the hands of the eventual champion super team Dodgers, with their three losses coming by a combined four runs. (If Orion Kerkering knew how to field, game four might still be going on.)
That’s pretty good! And others apparently agree since the Phillies currently have the second-best World Series odds in the National League.
It would be disingenuous (and Smarty is never disingenuous) to not mention the counter arguments:
This core has failed to win the World Series the past four years.
They’ve gone backwards every season. (People say this, but it isn’t actually true. They won one more game in 2026 and the playoff result was the same. It certainly wasn’t a step forward, but they didn’t go backwards)
A lot of key players are now one year older, and it is natural to expect some decline.
They lost Ranger Suarez and we don’t know what to expect from Zack Wheeler.
Maybe this group hasn’t shown an ability to win when it counts, but they seem like a good bet to make the playoffs again. If you think the Phillies are imperfect, take a look around the rest of the league aside from the Dodgers. And sadly, even if Dombrowski nailed the offseason, the Phillies would still have an inferior roster to the Dodgers.
Faced with this reality, here is my suggestion: Just enjoy the regular season as its happening, and don’t get too hung up on what may or may not happen in the playoffs. Think back to 2021 when the team was in year ten of not even making it to the playoffs, and we had to wonder if they ever would again. As disappointing as the past Octobers have been, I will take this run over that any day.
This may sound snarky, but if you’re at the point where you consider just winning the division or making the playoffs to be a massive failure, then I suggest you not watch any games before October. When regular season wins fail to bring you joy and only cause a response of, “Who cares? It doesn’t mean anything until the playoffs,” then preserve your mental health, and don’t put yourself through 162 games of aggravation.
And who knows, maybe the playoffs will turn out differently this year. It’s easy to say, “Same roster, same results,” but as I mentioned, the oddsmakers think they have a chance. It wouldn’t be the first time that a core of Phillies players finally came through after years of failures.
If that’s going to happen, they need the trio of Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Trea Turner to do far better than they did during last year’s playoffs. The Phillies gave huge contracts to each of them expecting them to be the main pieces of a championship team, and I think they are capable of it. But they need to justify that faith (and money) in the postseason, for more than just one game. (You can only win a game once, guys.)
Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper in the NLDS:
Game 1: 1-for-11 (Dodgers win) Game 2: 1-for-10 (Dodgers win) Game 3: 7-for-13 (Phillies win) Game 4: 1-for-14 (Dodgers win) pic.twitter.com/8BAwWTzTVD
The real hope for improvement comes from the farm system. John Stolnis wrote how its well past time the Phillies’ minor league system provides positive results. Justin Crawford and Andrew Painter (and maybe even Aidan Miller) are going to get their chances this year, and maybe they can prove to be the missing pieces that will allow the Phillies to finally bring home another trophy.
Sure, this hasn’t been the offseason most of us dreamed of. Maybe #RunningItBack doesn’t provide the excitement we wanted. But at this point, there’s nothing else to do besides hope for the best and understand that there are worse places to be.
Steve Yzerman reached a historic milestone exactly 20 years ago on Tuesday, recording his 1,000th career assist as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-2 in overtime. With his assist on Mathieu Dandenault’s game-winning goal, Yzerman became just the ninth player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-assist mark, further solidifying his place among hockey’s all-time greats.
The game itself was tightly contested, with both teams trading goals and momentum throughout regulation. Yzerman’s presence on the ice was a key factor in the Red Wings’ ability to find the decisive play in overtime. His vision and passing ability allowed Dandenault to capitalize on the opportunity, giving Detroit the victory and marking a historic personal achievement for Yzerman.
This milestone adds to an already impressive career. By the end of the 2001-02 season, Yzerman had recorded 13 goals and 35 assists for 48 points in 52 games, continuing to demonstrate his skill as both a scorer and a playmaker. His career total of 1,063 assists places him among the top ten in NHL history, highlighting his consistency and longevity in the league.
Yzerman’s 1,000th assist is a reflection of his leadership and dedication to the game, as well as his ability to create scoring opportunities for teammates over more than a decade in the NHL.
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With Linus Ullmark's return now imminent, the Ottawa Senators announced on Tuesday morning that they've sent goaltender Leevi Meriläinen to the AHL's Belleville Senators.
In a corresponding move, the team recalled Hunter Shepard from Belleville. Shepard will join Ottawa on the road and is expected to back up James Reimer until Ullmark returns. Ullmark was also expected to travel with the team this week, meaning his activation could come at any time, though he remains on the non-roster list.
Meriläinen, 23, appeared in 11 straight games, finishing that stretch with a 4-5-1 record and a 3.61 goals-against average. His most recent start came Saturday in Montreal, where he allowed six goals on 19 shots in a 6-5 overtime loss to the Canadiens, a performance that appeared to reflect a goaltender with shaken confidence.
NHL Analyst Mike Johnson and THN's Steve Warne discuss the team's recent social media controversy.
It was a far cry from the version of Meriläinen that stepped in and saved the Sens season last year when Ullmark and Anton Forsberg were out of the lineup. The young Finn went 8-3-1 and posted stellar numbers: a 1.99 goals against average and .925 save percentage.
If he'd managed something between those numbers and what he actually delivered this season, the Sens would be doing just fine.
Barring an emergency, Meriläinen has probably played his last NHL game this season, and the timing of Belleville’s upcoming seven-game AHL road trip could work in his favour. Getting away from the pressure and the 613 spotlight, the extended road swing offers a chance to reset, like turning your computer off and then back on.
Overall this season, Meriläinen holds an 8-10-1 record with a 3.51 goals-against average and an .860 save percentage, including a 4-3-1 mark since the beginning of January.
But the Senators shouldn't overreact to that. They thought he was ready for this, but he wasn't. That's on the organization and their ability to evaluate NHL readiness, not the goalie.
Meriläinen is still extremely young by NHL goalie standards, and he's now felt the highs and lows of being in the show. Now he can quietly rebuild, knowing what worked and what he needs to fix.
So long as the club remains patient with him and doesn't overreact to these recent struggles as they did with Filip Gustavasson, he remains a good young goalie prospect. It will be interesting to see what they now plan to do with Merilainen, who's an arbitration-eligible RFA this summer.
In a perfect world, including 20/20 hindsight, Merilainen would have developed in Belleville and played big AHL minutes until he was 25. Ullmark would be earning his $8.25 million, providing reliable, quality goaltending for 60-65 games, and a veteran like Reimer or someone else would have been signed last summer to back him up.
Things rarely go exactly according to plan, but nothing seemed to work out with the one the Senators chose, though each decision seemed fairly sensible... at the time.
The Senators continue their three-game road trip Tuesday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets, while Belleville opens its seven-game road stretch Wednesday against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Tonight's Coast 2 Coast Tuesday NBA action tips off with a San Antonio Spurs vs Houston Rockets showdown at 8:00 PM ET, followed by a matchup between the LA Lakers vs Denver Nuggets at 10:00 PM. Live coverage begins at 7:00 PM on NBC and Peacock. See below for additional information on how to watch both games and follow all of the NBA action on NBCSN and Peacock. Peacock will feature 100 regular-season games throughout the course of the 2025-2026 season.
The Lakers are coming off a 110-93 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night. Luka Doncic finished with 25 points and 7 assists, while LeBron James had 24 points and 7 assists. The duo has carried the team in the absence of Austin Reaves, who has missed 15 of the team's last 17 games with a calf injury.
Doncic, who is in his first full season with the Lakers, leads the league in scoring with an average of 33.3 points per game.
The Denver Nuggets fell 110-87 to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, snapping the team's four-game win streak. Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 16 points in the loss. The veteran guard has remained a key contributor for the Nuggets, who have been without three-time MVP Nikola Jokic since he suffered a hyperextended knee and bone bruise on December 29.
Murray is on pace to average career highs in scoring (25.9 ppg), assists (7.3
apg), rebounds (4.4 rpg), field-goal percentage (49.0%), and three-point percentage (44.7%) this season.
Peacock NBA Monday will stream up to three Monday night games each week throughout the regular season. Coast 2 Coast Tuesday presents doubleheaders on Tuesday nights throughout the regular season on NBC and Peacock. On most Tuesdays, an 8 p.m. ET game will be on NBC stations in the Eastern and Central time zones, and an 8 p.m. PT game on NBC stations in the Pacific and often Mountain time zones.
Check local listings each week. Both games will stream live nationwide on Peacock. NBC Sports will launch Sunday Night Basketball across NBC and Peacock on Feb. 1, 2026. For a full schedule of the NBA on NBC and Peacock, click here.
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NBA on NBC 2025-26 Schedule
Click here to see the full list of NBA games that will air on NBC and Peacock this season.
The Mavericks were 3-1 this past week and moved to 12th place in the West, but are just two games back of 10th. They lost to Denver (118-109) before beating Utah twice (144-122, 138-120) and then traveled to New York, where they dismantled the Knicks (114-97). Max Christie led the team in scoring this with 24 points per game. P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford played in just one of the four games due to ankle injuries and personal reasons. Cooper Flagg missed two games with an ankle sprain as well, while Max Christie missed two with an illness. Kyrie Irving (knee) and Anthony Davis (finger) remain out.
Grade: A-
The Mavericks had a good week! They lost to a Denver team that got its key pieces (other than Nikola Jokic) back recently, but ran the table after that. Both wins against Utah came in bizarre blowouts, where the Jazz looked like they didn’t care about hiding their attempt to tank. Then, with whiffs of January 25th, 2010, Dallas blew the Knicks out of the water in one of the most shocking wins in recent memory. It was a double-digit spread in the Knicks’ favor, but the game was over by halftime. Max Christie hit six threes in the first half, leading the Mavericks to 75 points and a 28-point halftime lead. It was never close, and the Knicks looked helpless against a Dallas team that had Dwight Powell and Moussa Cisse as its only two available centers.
Naji Marshall continues to be incredible. He averaged 20.3 points and 4.3 assists this week and did not cool off, shooting 54.2 percent from the field. Brandon Williams played marvelously, scoring 16.5 points a night in electrifying fashion. A lot of guys, including Dwight Powell, stepped up with regular starters out of the lineup. With games against the Warriors, Lakers, and Bucks this upcoming week, it was good to gain momentum before the schedule toughens up.
Straight A’s: Jason Kidd
As much as Jason Kidd frustrates fans to no end with his experimental style, the one thing you cannot take away from him is his ability to get guys to play hard. The Mavericks started four different starting lineups in as many games and won their last three by an average of 19 points. Caleb Martin, who averaged less than three points in 47 games for Dallas before this week, looked serviceable in a starting role and even scored 14 points against Utah. The 144 points last Thursday against the Jazz were the 10th most points in franchise history, and they did it with no Cooper Flagg and 10 different guys playing 20-plus minutes. Hell, they signed Jeremiah Robinson-Earl the day of that game, and got 55 solid minutes from him in three subsequent appearances. Dallas’ goal of pairing Flagg with a top-five pick in this upcoming draft is in jeopardy, simply because this team will not lie down while Kidd is at the helm.
Currently Failing: Jaden Hardy
Unfortunately, it is so over for Jaden Hardy. In three blowout wins this week against Utah and New York, games in which the Mavericks won by 22, 18, and 17 points, Hardy was a team-worst minus-13 and shot 37.9 percent from the floor. He has not played much this season, but with opportunity presenting itself via the injury bug, he completely dropped the ball. Hardy was given the starting nod in chapter one of the series against Utah, and the fact that he did not start the second installment while playing just 17 minutes total in that game should tell you everything you need to know. The following two-minute appearance against the Knicks seems to signal that Kidd is done with the fourth-year guard. I don’t blame him; I have had enough of watching him.
Extra Credit: Klay Thompson
Klay Thompson shooting the ball is a beautiful thing. The beauty increases tenfold when the shots go in, and did they ever this week. Thompson hit 18 of his 38 threes (47.4 percent) and 25 of his 50 shots (50 percent). He went nuclear in the first half of the Saturday matinee against the Jazz, scoring all 23 of his points in just 14 minutes. At times, Thompson plays like he is on his way out of the league. But he still has stretches of greatness in him, and it is a magical thing to witness when it happens.
The All-Star break is creeping up, with the league’s best and brightest set to descend on Southern California and the Intuit Dome on February 15. As for the format, your guess is as good as mine. Something involving USA versus the World, or some other experimental twist the league cooked up in a boardroom. The details are still fuzzy for me, which somehow feels very on brand for the event at this point.
What was not surprising at all was the list of starters. Devin Booker was not on it. When the league made things official yesterday, his name was nowhere to be found.
Devin Booker finish in 2026 NBA West All-Star starter vote (50% fans, 25% current players, 25% media).
9th players, 12th media, 16th fans.
Top 5 West starters. NBA head coaches pick reserves.
NBC/Peacock announce reserves Feb. 1 at 4 p.m. MT before Sunday Night Basketball… pic.twitter.com/F49IR7mp0J
Booker is not the type of player who racks up a massive fan vote by bouncing from franchise to franchise. You can be annoyed that he pulled in only 418,652 fan votes, sure. If everyone in the greater Phoenix area, roughly 5.19 million people, clicked his name one time, he would have walked in as a starter. That is not how this works, and I am fine with that.
I do not ever expect him to be voted in as a starter. Not in a conference loaded with former MVPs and international stars who carry the weight of entire countries behind them. We have seen this movie before. The Yao Ming years taught us that lesson loud and clear. If you are an international player, the fan vote is going to lean your way.
To the league’s credit, they have tried to balance the popularity contest. Starters are now decided by 50% fan vote, 25% player vote, and 25% media vote. It helps. It does not change the reality. Booker has never been about the pageantry. He has always been about the work.
And that is where this conversation gets interesting.
Booker finished 16th in fan voting in the West, but 9th in player vote and 12th with the media. That tells you a lot. For one, this is a brutal field. The Western Conference is stacked, and sorting through fringe All-Stars is not an easy job for anyone. Devin Booker lives right in that space this season.
I still believe he should represent the Suns. The All-Star Game is not only about raw numbers. It is about stories. About freezing a season in time and remembering what mattered when you look back years later. And the Suns are one of the best stories in the league. Full stop.
That said, this is not a classic Devin Booker statistical year. We have covered that ground. His value shows up in the margins, in how he impacts winning beyond the box score. But when you stack that against other fringe cases, like Jamal Murray doing what he is doing in Denver, especially without Jokic, it becomes a real debate. Not disrespectful. Not dismissive. Just complicated.
The player vote is the part that really jumps out to me. It is the reminder that your favorite player’s favorite player is Devin Booker. He is a hooper’s hooper. The guys who actually play this game respect what he does and how he goes about it. That is why he landed 9th in the Western Conference among players.
Now we wait for the rest of the picture. The All-Star reserves will be revealed at 4 p.m. Arizona time on February 1, with the remainder of the roster announced on NBC and Peacock. That is when we find out whether Booker gets his spot.
And for anyone keeping score at home, Dillon Brooks finished 21st in the player vote and 24th in the fan vote.
If you watched the Kansas City Royals last year, you knew that second base was a problem. Sure, the outfield–held together last year by duck tape, Elmer’s glue, and some gumption–was the biggest problem, but the free agent class of outfielders was rather thin. Acquiring an impact player who played the infield would be easier.
Kansas City was of course connected to (and ended up acquiring) several outfielders, but they were also reported to have been interested in infielders such as CJ Abrams and Brendan Donovan. The pie in the sky perfect fit for the Royals, though, was Bo Bichette. Bichette had hit free agency and had alerted teams that he was comfortable moving to second base. He would cost a lot of money, but a combination of injury history and a lower ceiling limited the average annual value (AAV) that he’d command to some extent.
Or so we all thought, because Bichette signed three years and $126 million, a whopping $42 million a year, from the New York Mets.
This happened just days after the Los Angeles Dodgers punched the hornet’s nest again by signing Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million contract. There’s some deferred money because of course there is, but it comes out to a present-day AAV of an eye-watering $57.1 million. That’s not all, folks, because the Dodgers’ luxury tax situation means that they’ll end up paying–sit down if you’re not already–$119.9 million annually for the privilege of having Tucker roam the outfield.
While the Tucker deal is absurd, there’s usually one of those every year. Last year it was Juan Soto. The year before that it was Shohei Ohtani. The year before that it was Aaron Judge. Small market teams simply cannot devote the average of $40 million a year (or more!) it takes to secure the biggest names on the market.
The Bichette types, on the other hand, have been a theoretically obtainable asset, because small market teams can pay $25-$30 million a year for a difference maker. We don’t even have to look to other teams; the traditionally stingy Royals did so to extend Bobby Witt Jr. And at the start of free agency, Bichette was projected to be in that $25-$30 million a year range over six to eight or so seasons. The Phillies ended up offering seven years and $200 million, which Bichette declined. But at $42 million AAV? No matter if it’s for fewer years, that functionally places guys like Bichette outside the possibility for 80% of the league.
Nobody should fault Tucker or Bichette for taking those deals. They’re interesting deals where both players can have their cake and eat it too, because both players will have the ability to test free agency again after their age-30 seasons.
Likewise, nobody should fault the Dodgers or the Mets for doing what they did either, and for the spending sprees that they have done. In fact, more teams should be more like them. The biggest reason why the Dodgers can spend so much money is that they pull in gigantic amounts of revenue. As far as the Mets, well, Steve Cohen is the richest owner in Major League Baseball by a substantial amount, and they also happen to play in, you know, New York City. Both teams spend because they have the money, in other words.
I think you can absolutely blame teams for not spending to their best ability. Some owners are notoriously cheap (cough Pittsburgh cough) and cry poor all the time, hoping that we trust them even though they refuse to open their books. But this doesn’t solve the core problem at hand: that some teams make orders of magnitude more than other teams, and even more equity between the teams does not mean full equity.
To an extent, baseball has always been somewhat like this. But I think this is all building to a head. The Dodgers’ continued dominance has brought out the flaws of a system that does not distribute wealth. Baseball relies on so many players and, unlike football or basketball or hockey, you cannot build an entire team around a star player at a key position. What should be happening is that the turnaround time for down-on-their-luck teams should be short, and that anybody can win the championship.
That is not the case. MLB has become a pay-to-play league; over the last decade of the World Series, the median participant–median, mind you–had the fifth-highest payroll of their season. A full 80% of participants ranked in the top 10 of payroll. Nobody in the bottom third of MLB payroll has won a World Series since the Florida Marlins in 2003.
Yes, an unremarkable squad can go on a cheeky little run and maybe play in a league championship series. Yes, small market or cheap teams can knock off large market, big-pocketed teams in the postseason. Yes, you can make the playoffs on a shoestring budget.
But I don’t think it’s very interesting that teams with lots of money are the ones snapping up all the best free agents and are the ones duking it out to hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy. I think it’s stunting the growth of the league when there are only so many landing spots for the big players. And if players like Bichette and Tucker are going to take shorter deals to take them even further from the realm of possibility for even middle class teams, well, it sure seems that we’re tumbling forward into a work stoppage that, while unfortunate, might just need to happen to land on a solution that’s not the status quo.
Anthony Edwards
Domantas Sabonis
Immanuel Quickley
Raphielle Johnson
Kurt Helin
