Worldwide Sports News

Morning everyone!

Recently we’ve been hearing more and more whispers about the A’s looking to add some more certainty to the lineup. First we got the news that the front office was kicking the tires on a potential Miguel Andujar reunion, followed by a scuttled trade for future Hall of Famer Nolan Arenado. After being left at the altar by Nolan, the team was a speculative candidate to dip their toes back into the free agent pool of remaining third basemen. The two specific names mentioned in Ken Rosenthal’s report were former Mariner Eugenio Suarez and former Angel YoanMoncada. Both fit the A’s need at third base and with the season creeping closer both teams and players will soon need to make decisions.

Well you can cross one of those speculative fits off the board. Moncada yesterday evening re-upped with the Angels, agreeing to a modest one year, $4 million contract for the upcoming campaign:

BREAKING: Third baseman Yoan Moncada and the Los Angeles Angels are in agreement on a free agent contract, per sources.

— Francys Romero (@francysromeroFR) January 22, 2026

That’s a contract that the A’s easily could have outbid if they really wanted Moncada, especially after the Arenado report indicated the Athletics were prepared to take on a substantial amount of money in the scuttled deal. That can really only mean three things:

1. The A’s believe that Moncada, who has been repeatedly injured throughout his career, is simply not worth that “large” of an investment. The front office truly believes that their in-house options (Max Muncy, DarellHernaiz, Brett Harris) will perform as well or better than Moncada at a fraction of the rate.
2. There could perhaps be other negotiations going on right now that we aren’t aware of, and Moncada simply took the offer in hand. That could mean either trade talks or contract negotiations for the A’s but they waited around too long for him.
3. Moncada just didn’t want to come here, no matter what we offered and playing time be damned.

Any of those could be true, but I’d lean towards Option 2. The A’s are still looking for upgrades if the Arenado deal was indeed about to happen. Adding him wouldn’t have changed the heart of the batting order, but it certainly would have elevated the floor of the production coming out of the hot corner. Add in the positive influence a guy like him could have had on Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz, and the appeal is obvious.

Moncada never really felt like the type of player that really changes the outlook at third base though. While he could have another fine season at the plate his overall production probably won’t be the difference between the A’s and a chance at the playoffs. The most likely outcome is that he’s a solid batter when healthy, but just can’t stay healthy. If the A’s do end up running out of options for an upgrade over the guys here, then they might as well roll the dice and see if a Muncy or Hernaiz or Harris can break out. It’s not worth blocking that chance for a minimal upgrade in Moncada.

This could all be sour grapes but he was truly at the bottom of the list in terms of potential additions. The team is running out of legitimate upgrade options though and the past few days have made it much more likely our starter at third base on Opening Day is already on the roster. The trade market seems like the only path now for an upgrade at third base.

Have another great day everyone. And don’t forget to vote in today’s Round 2 of our CPL!

A’s Coverage:

• A’s 2026 Community Prospect List: Here We Go!
• A’s prospect Mason Barnett has an atypical arm angle and an old school approach
• A’s spend weekend embracing Sacramento supporters
• Former A’s great Eric Chavez says Dodgers “might be the best team ever constructed”
• A’s had deal in place for Nolan Arenado prior to D-Backs trade
• Happy 104th, Betty White!
• Polarizing Prospects: #2, Junior Perez
• A’s land 3 of MLB Pipeline’s Top 50 international prospects
• Athletics hire former Rockies GM Bill Schmidt as Special Assistant
• Party Like It’s 1981! Why A “Split Season” Is The Way To Go
• A’s excited by lefty prospect Lin, a ‘Taiwanese Snellzilla”

MLB News and Interest:

• Mets acquire starting pitcher Freddy Peralta in trade with Brewers
• Yankees, Cody Bellinger agree to five year, $162.5 million contract
• Mets trade for White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr.
• Angels re-sign third baseman Yoan Moncada
• Mets add to bullpen depth, sign Luis Garcia to one-year deal
• Is MLB parity possible without a salary cap?
• Today in baseball history

Best of X:

Three top-100’s!

The A's have 3 players on Baseball America's new 2026 Top 100 Prospects list…
#12 – SS Leo De Vries
#39 – LHP Jamie Arnold
#40 – LHP Gage Jump

— Bill Moriarity – A's Farm (@AthleticsFarm) January 21, 2026

Considering how deep shortstop is right now, #4 ain’t too bad, Leo:

Athletics top prospect Leo De Vries ranks as the #4 SS in a loaded 2026 class per @MLBPipeline

The A’s now have four top-10 position prospects in their system (De Vries, Arnold LHP, Jump LHP, Tanks 3B) #Athleticspic.twitter.com/ycEgxaYnwI

— SleeperAthletics (@SleeperAth) January 21, 2026

Amazing how far we’ve come…

I don’t think people grasp how bad of a spot the A’s were in 3 years ago after their fire sale netted very little, and how insane it is that they are on the brink of drafting their way out of that hole. That’s something that rarely happens in football, let alone baseball.

— Straight A’s (@StraightAs123) January 22, 2026

#2 prospect in the system?

Jamie Arnold vs LHH is an absolute nightmare ⚔️

Chris Sale-like Slider
Nick Lodolo-style Curve
49% whiff rate vs. LHH (Slider)@DrivelineBB#Athleticspic.twitter.com/Bri0TspQBX

— SleeperAthletics (@SleeperAth) January 22, 2026

Tough to see but more progress is being made on the new stadium:

Main concourse concrete poured ✅
Foul pole foundations set ✅
The Ballpark is starting to take shape. pic.twitter.com/xgKxnrR6rn

— Athletics (@Athletics) January 21, 2026

The Yankees teams of the 1980s were a relative wasteland in the context of the franchise’s history. They made the playoffs just twice right at the beginning of the decade before falling into an extended stretch of inconsequentiality (though they did have a tough 97-win situation in 1985 that was only good for second). However, those opening years of the decade offered a glimmer of hope with a promising crop of prospects emerging on the farm, one of whom was Brian Dayett.

Brian Kelly Dayett
Born: January 22, 1957 (New London, CT)
Died: September 7, 2025 (Winchester, TN)
Yankees Tenure: 1983-84

Dayett was born in January 1957 in New London, CT, and grew up in nearby Deep River. Despite his underwhelming size in high school, Dayett was an accomplished multi-sport athlete, but it was clear that baseball was his future. In the span of two weeks in 1975, Dayett hit for the cycle before tossing a 16-strikeout no-hitter. Following his graduation, he went to play third base for coach Norm Kaye at St. Leo University in Florida. A year later, the Yankees selected him in the 16th round of that June’s 1978 MLB Draft.

He was assigned to the Oneonta Yankees of the short-season New York-Penn League, where he batted .309 with 11 home runs and 22 stolen bases in 68 games in 1978. That year, Dayett played third, first, and even caught 26 games as the organization initially had trouble finding a spot for him defensively. He was called up to the Double-A Nashville Sounds in 1980 where he joined an exciting core of prospects that included Don Mattingly, Steve Balboni, Buck Showalter, Willie McGee, Max Winters, Otis Nixon and Rex Hudler, all playing under the management of Stump Merrill.

Willie McGee was so quick and had such a strong arm. Otis Nixon was a speedster. You knew his speed was going to get him to the big leagues. Mattingly was a self-made player who got himself stronger and a better hitter. He worked very hard everyday with a great work ethic.

In 1981, Dayett was the starting third baseman for Nashville, but found that his hitting was suffering. At the suggestion of coach Ed Napoleon, Dayett began to learn left field, and by 1982 he was a full-time left fielder for Nashville. That season, Dayett earned the Southern League MVP after tying with Balboni for the most home runs in the league with 34, and won the Southern League championship with a two-out, 13th-inning walk-off home run with Showalter on base. The following season, he was called up to Triple-A Columbus, where he again won the league’s MVP after smashing an International League-leading 35 home runs. Because of the surprising power generated from his smaller frame, Dayett earned the nickname “Bam-Bam” around this time.

That September when rosters expanded, Dayett got his first call-up to the big leagues. He made his MLB debut on September 11, 1983, pinch-hitting for Omar Moreno against the Orioles, and got a hit in his first big league AB.

Mike Flanagan of the Orioles had an 0-2 count on me. I battled back and got a hit up the middle past Cal Ripken, Jr.

He would go 6-for-29 in 11 games in that cup of coffee. Dayett was poised to break camp with the big-league squad in 1984 but suffered a hip-flexor injury at the start of the campaign. Lou Piniella was supposed to retire around that time, but he stuck around for a few months in 1984 until Dayett returned from injury. Piniella was then able to retire and became the Yankees’ hitting coach with Dayett crediting him as a mentor.

Dayett found opportunities hard to come by that season given the outfield logjam of Dave Winfield, Omar Moreno, Steve Kemp, Ken Griffey, Don Baylor and Oscar Gamble. However, he did manage to appear in 64 games and hit his first big league home run on June 22, 1984, again off of Orioles pitcher Mike Flanagan. He finished the year batting .244/.295/.402 with four home runs and 23 RBIs.

During that December’s winter meetings, Dayett and pitcher Ray Fontenot were traded to the Cubs for for Henry Cotto, Ron Hassey, Rich Bordi, and Porfi Altamirano. Injuries again hampered the start of his season, bone spurs in both ankles limiting him to a bench role for the first three months. He hit a pinch-hit grand slam off 20-game winner Tom Browning in May of 1985. He was slated to take over as the Cubs’ starting left fielder in 1987, but they then signed Andre Dawson in free agency, and Dayett was relegated to splitting time with Rafael Palmeiro, Jerry Mumphrey, Bob Dernier and Dave Martinez. All the same, he appeared in a career-high 97 games, slashing .277/.348/.452 with five home runs, three of which came off of Astros pitcher Bob Knepper.

That winter, the Cubs sold Dayett’s contract to the Nippon Ham Fighters of NPB, where he signed a four-year, $3.75 million contract. He knew the general manager of the team, Tak Kojima, from their shared time with the Yankees. Injuries cropped up again in Japan, causing Kojima to lose his job as Dayett was his second American signing to get injured.

Dayett retired from professional baseball following the 1991 season and took several management jobs in Independent baseball. Between 2002 and 2014, he served as a minor-league hitting coach in the Astros’ and Rangers’ systems, before Parkinson’s disease forced him to retire. He passed away from the disease at the age of 68 in Winchester, TN, just before the beginning of autumn last year on September 7, 2025.

Dayett was a promising minor league player whose power tantalized. However, a string of unfortunate injuries in combination with competition for playing time prevented him from ever putting together a consistent stretch of starts, and you wonder if he could have reached his full potential with some better luck.

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See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

When discussion about a Freddy Peralta trade came up during the offseason, there was one consistent message sent with any rumor: If the Brewers decide to trade Peralta, they were not just looking at prospects. They wanted MLB-ready talent that would be under team control for several years. In their trade with the Mets for Jett Williams and Brandon Sproat, they got what they wanted (even if it meant trading Tobias Myers as well). Both players are top talents who are ready to impact the major-league team immediately.

Let’s start with Williams. His natural position is shortstop, but because he was behind Francisco Lindor in the Mets organizational depth chart, he likely wasn’t going to break into the majors there. As a result, he had been splitting time between second base, shortstop, and center field in the minors. In Milwaukee, he will have a better chance to grab the shortstop job competing against Joey Ortiz. The problem is that there’s also competition behind Williams. In the Brewers’ list of MLB Pipeline prospects for 2025 (which now includes Williams), the top four prospects (Jesús Made, Luis Peña, Williams, and Cooper Pratt) all can play shortstop. Even if Williams grabs the shortstop job in 2026, he could quickly lose it as soon as Made is ready to come to the majors. Not only that, but Brice Turang has a solid grip on second base, taking a potential spot away there as well.

However, this is where his flexibility can help in the Brewers’ system. The Brewers’ outfield could use a boost as well. While Jackson Chourio and Sal Frelick are both locked in to starting jobs in the outfield, neither is a strong center fielder. Both can cover center well, but would benefit more from remaining in the corners. Blake Perkins and Garrett Mitchell are the current leaders to start in center. Perkins is an excellent defender but doesn’t offer much for offense. Meanwhile, Mitchell hasn’t shown that he can stay healthy for a full season yet. As for Christian Yelich, he’s basically a full-time designated hitter who might get a few corner outfield starts — and that’s not the ideal alignment. Jake Bauers will get more starts in the outfield than Yelich does. Outfield prospects for the Brewers are thinner, with their top two prospects being Braylon Payne and Luis Lara — both outside the Brewers’ top 10. If the Brewers need coverage in the outfield, Williams has a chance to earn playing time there.

Since Williams hasn’t debuted in the majors yet, a minor league start to the season is likely for him, if only for service-time manipulation. Once Williams debuts, his role will be dependent on what the Brewers need. If Ortiz is struggling at the plate, Williams could be a shortstop. If neither Perkins nor Mitchell step up in the outfield, he could spend time out there. Even in a worst-case scenario, we could see Williams take a role similar to Andruw Monasterio as a utility player for his first season. He could rotate between second, shortstop, and center field, racking up starts as other players get days off. The only concern in that scenario would be a backup for third base, since Williams has not spent any time there.

Meanwhile, Sproat will factor in to the Brewers’ rotation plans almost immediately. His service time is a little tougher to handle, since he recorded 22 days of major league service in 2025. That won’t matter much for the Brewers, though. Rotating through starters with options was a regular occurrence for them, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him on the shuttle between the majors and minors for at least part of the season. Where he starts will depend on what happens during spring training.

Following the departure of Peralta and Myers, here are the potential starters for the Brewers in 2026:

• Brandon Woodruff
• Jacob Misiorowski
• Quinn Priester
• Chad Patrick
• Logan Henderson
• Aaron Ashby
• DL Hall
• Brandon Sproat
• Robert Gasser
• Coleman Crow
• Carlos Rodriguez
• Angel Zerpa

Of those starters, only the top three are locked into starting rotation jobs in 2026. Patrick and Henderson have the early inside track for the other two but aren’t a lock yet. Ashby and Hall are wild cards who could stick to the long-relief role or get a chance to make the rotation. Sproat, Gasser, Crow, and Rodriguez all will fight for jobs, and one or more could force their way into the rotation. I also included Zerpa, who was mentioned as a potential starter when he was acquired.

Here’s one of the most interesting parts of that list. Other than Woodruff, every player on that list has at least one minor league option remaining. Misiorowski and Priester likely won’t be optioned and will be on the team. It’s likely the same with Ashby, who has established himself as a dependable reliever at a minimum. Hall, Rodriguez, and Zerpa each have just one option left. Gasser, Henderson, and Patrick each have two options. Sproat and Crow have a full three options available. If battles are close in camp, those options will play a factor. Players with one option may have a stronger chance to make the team to avoid burning that option right away. On the other side, players with a full three options have significantly more flexibility, and using the option would not hurt it in future seasons.

What that also means is the Brewers can rotate through starters with less concern during the season. Even though that’s a deep list, it may not stay that way. Coming out of camp in 2025, the Brewers’ rotation was decimated by early injuries. Ashby, Myers, and Woodruff all opened the season on the injured list. Aaron Civale joined them a few days into the season, and Nestor Cortes a few days after that. The injuries were so deep that they had to sign Jose Quintana late in camp and then trade for Priester just a week and a half into the season. In total, 18 different pitchers started at least one game for the Brewers in 2025 (including the playoffs). That number is inflated because some were openers — at least four regular relievers (Ashby, Hall, Trevor Megill, and Rob Zastryzny) made a start. Of those 18 pitchers, 10 of them made at least four starts, and that doesn’t include Cortes, who entered the season in the rotation but only made two starts before being traded. The opportunity will be there for Sproat in 2026. Whether he earns a job in camp or starts the season in the minors and comes up to provide midseason depth, he will have a chance to prove himself.

The Brewers did what they wanted in the trade of Peralta and brought in young, MLB-ready talent. Both Williams and Sproat are already ranked high in the Brewers system and ready to play in the majors. We won’t have to wait long to see what they have to offer. They will be a part of the 2026 team, even if it doesn’t happen right away.

The San Diego Padres and catcher Luis Campusano may be in the final weeks and months of their relationship. It also could be extended into the season if Campusano can put together a solid showing in Spring Training that earns him a spot on the Padres’ roster. Freddy Fermin will handle the catching duties as the primary catcher in San Diego, but Thomas Conroy of Gaslamp Ball says president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller should look at adding another catcher to the mix to create some depth at the very least or perhaps solidify the backup role.

Padres News:

• A report from Ken Rosenthal in The Athletic earlier this week named pitchers Lucas Giolito, Nick Martinez and Justin Verlander as possible free agent targets for the Padres. Gaslamp Ball asked its readers which of the three right-handers they would add to the rotation in this week’s Padres Reacts Survey.
• Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune provides the list of player development and minor league coaching assignments that were announced by the organization, Wednesday. Sanders also set his sights on Joe Musgrove, who is returning from Tommy John surgery, for his ongoing review of the San Diego roster.
• Preller has spent the last couple seasons trading away much of his farm system. The depleted system is highlighted with the fact that catcher Ethan Salas is the only Padres prospect to make Baseball America’s top-100 list.
• Fernando Tatis Jr. was named the No. 15 player on MLB Network’s Top 100 Players Right Now list.

Baseball News:

• For the second time in as many days the New York Mets completed a headline trade. The Mets and Milwaukee Brewers agreed to a trade to send ace pitcher Freddy Peralta and pitcher Tobias Myers from Milwaukee to New York in exchange for infield/outfield prospect Jett Williams and pitching prospect Brandon Sproat. The Mets also made a free agent signing, adding reliever Luis Garcia on a one-year deal.
• Cody Bellinger and the New York Yankees finally reached common ground and the top remaining free agent position player agreed to a five-year, $162.5 million deal to bring him back to New York.
• Kyle Tucker, Bo Bichette and Ranger Suarez were introduced as new members of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Mets and Boston Red Sox, respectively, Wednesday.
• The Red Sox made a trade with the Minnesota Twins to add minor league catcher Nate Baez in exchange for infielder Tristan Gray.
• Free agent Yoan Moncado and the Los Angeles Angels agreed to a one-year deal that will bring him back to Los Angeles for the 2026 season.
• Game times for World Baseball Classic and Spring Breakout were released, Wednesday.

Prospect season continues and with it, Baseball Prospectus has published their list of the top 20 prospects in the Tampa Bay Rays system entering the 2026 season.

1. Carson Williams
2. Brody Hopkins
3. Theo Gillen
4. Ty Johnson
5. Daniel Pierce
6. Anderson Brito
7. Slater de Brun
8. T.J. Nichols
9. Michael Forret
10. Jose Urbina

There are some suprises on the list as Baseball Prospectus is much higher on Ty Johnson than other prospect sites (other than our own, which ranked Ty Johnson our No. 5 prospect last week), most notably Baseball America where he was ranked 22nd.

Some recently acquired prospects have provided some juice to the system: Slater de Brun cracks the top ten and is ranked the highest of any player the Rays acquired in the Shane Baz deal; Michael Forret, also acquired in that trade, is 9th. Anderson Brito, whom the Rays acquired on the same day in the Brandon Lowe swap, is ranked 6th.

Jose Urbina slots in at 10th after being ranked 19th by Baseball America. Sitting just outside the top ten is outfielder Jacob Melton, who is ranked 11th and highly regarded.

At the top of the list, sits Carson Williams, whom Baseball Prospectus still believes in despite his reputation for “walking a knife’s edge of offensive production.” Carson Williams had fallen from the top spot on the Rays list for several publications although he was recently considered one of the top shortstop prospects in baseball.

Picture the scene. An Orioles hitter works his way into an extended at-bat. On a 3-2 pitch, he lays off of one that’s outside the zone and starts to head to first base — only for the ump to ring him up on a called strike three. The O’s have an out instead of a baserunner. The entire complexion of the inning changes. All because of a blown call on one fateful pitch.

Does it seem like that happens to the Orioles kind of a lot? Well, you’re not imagining things. Orioles hitters have been one of the league’s biggest victims of blown ball-strike calls over the past few years. According to Statcast, since the 2023 season, 2.0% of pitches outside the strike zone have been called strikes against O’s batters, a bit above the American League average of 1.9%.

In a perfect world, you’d hope that O’s hitters would also benefit from blown calls at an equal rate — as in, pitches in the strike zone being called balls. But that hasn’t been happening. In that same time span, only 1.6% of pitches to Orioles hitters have mistakenly been called balls, the lowest rate in the AL.

That 0.4% difference in miscalled strikes and miscalled balls might not seem like much, but it’s the most drastic difference among any AL team, and the most in the majors besides the Giants. Over the past three years, it’s a difference of 273 pitches. And it shows that the Orioles offense has been disproportionately unlucky on umpires’ ball-strike calls.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that umpires are purposely pulling one over on the Birds. Calling balls and strikes is an extremely hard job, especially on borderline pitches, and it’s impossible for umps to get every one correct. Still, the Orioles have made a point of constructing an offense filled with hitters who know the strike zone. When they’re constantly getting saddled with strikes on pitches that they know should be balls, it changes the entire complexion of an at-bat. Hitters might have to start being overly aggressive or swinging at pitches they shouldn’t be swinging at, simply because they don’t trust the umpire to call the strike zone correctly.

Nearly every O’s batter has been affected by this. Of the Orioles’ nine hitters on the 40-man roster with 2+ years of MLB service time, all nine of them have been victimized by miscalled strikes more than they’ve benefited from miscalled balls in their careers. In some cases, the difference is severe.

Player	% of pitches outside zone called strikes	% of pitches in zone called balls	Difference
Jordan Westburg	2.6	1.1	1.5
Adley Rutschman	2.6	1.6	1.0
Ryan Mountcastle	2.2	1.3	0.9
Tyler O’Neill	2.4	1.5	0.9
Colton Cowser	2.2	1.6	0.6
Leody Taveras	2.4	1.8	0.6
Pete Alonso	2.2	1.7	0.5
Gunnar Henderson	2.2	1.9	0.3
Taylor Ward	2.5	2.2	0.3

That’s an entire lineup’s worth of Orioles hitters (including those who just joined the Orioles this offseason) who have suffered miscalled strikes in 2.2% or more of their career pitches. None of them have come close to making up for it with miscalled balls. These guys, through little fault of their own, have been faced with unfavorable counts and blown calls more than the average hitter.

Now let’s get to the good news.

As you might have heard, a major change is coming to baseball this season in the form of the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS). This will allow a hitter, pitcher, or catcher to challenge a ball or strike call immediately after the pitch, using Hawk-Eye technology to confirm the exact location. Teams get two challenges per game but retain them if they are successful.

ABS could be a game changer for Orioles hitters, who will finally have a way to reverse the undeserved strike calls that have all too often been going against them. It could be a particular boon to Jordan Westburg and Adley Rutschman, the Orioles’ two biggest victims of blown calls in recent years. Westburg has managed to hit well despite all the miscalled strikes; Rutschman, not so much. If there’s anything that can snap Adley out of his 1.5-year offensive doldrums, perhaps it’s his regaining his confidence in his batting eye and knowing that he won’t be bilked out of an at-bat by a blown call. The same goes for the entire O’s offense.

That’s not to say that every miscalled pitch will be reversed. Since teams can only afford two unsuccessful challenges per game, they’ll likely be judicious about how often they use them. So you might not see a batter challenge, say, a 1-0 called strike in the first inning with nobody on base. It’s not worth the risk if you’re not 100% sure it’s wrong. But in a big situation, when the bases are loaded in the late innings and a borderline 3-2 pitch is called strike three? You’d better believe there will be a challenge.

ABS is a long-overdue addition to Major League Baseball. It’s a quick, easy way to minimize blown calls by home plate umpires that impact the game. And for the 2026 Orioles, it just may be the key to an offensive revival.

For the first time in quite some time, the Phillies are primed to have some of their top prospects play real roles on the Major League team. The Big Three of Justin Crawford, Andrew Painter, and Aidan Miller all have paths to playing on the Phillies in 2026 that are varying degrees of open. But there are some outside shots of others in the system appearing in the Majors, such as Gabriel Rincones Jr. being an option in the event of an injury to an outfielder.

But which one will bring the most juice to the big-league club? Before discussing, make sure to check out our ongoing community prospect ratings as well as the great Matt Winkelman’s 2026 prospect list in order to read up on some of the names in the Phillies system.

Crawford seems the most likely to receive the largest opportunity to provide a spark to the Major League team. It’s essentially an open secret that the starting centerfield job is his to lose this spring, and if all goes well, Crawford will make his MLB debut on Opening Day. The Phillies are clearly high on Crawford, as they’ve reportedly kept him off the table in trade discussions numerous times and are basically handing him a starting job this spring. He still has his issues, but it’s become clear that there’s not much more for him to do at Triple-A after hitting .334 with an .863 OPS in 112 games in 2025. Crawford will likely get a decent sized leash in the Majors, as the Phillies don’t really have another viable CF option currently on the roster outside of moving
Brandon Marsh over, so he’ll have plenty of chances to contribute.

Painter, like Crawford, is a candidate to receive real playing time in the Majors, but his is a little murkier. The Phillies as of today have three healthy starting pitchers in Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo, and Aaron Nola. Zack Wheeler will return at some point in 2026, perhaps sooner than later, but his timeframe is not certain. Taijuan Walker is the sixth starter, so he will step into the rotation in the likely event Wheeler isn’t ready for Opening Day.

That leaves Painter with the opportunity to win the fifth starter’s job in the spring in a competition that isn’t a real competition. It would only resemble a competition if Wheeler were ready to go and there’s one rotation spot for Walker and Painter, and even then, the deck would be stacked in Painter’s favor. Painter’s first season pitching in two years after Tommy John surgery was a rocky one, and there’s real concerns about whether his fastball can regain the elite shape it had pre-injury. He will also have some sort of innings limit, as he only threw 118 innings last year as he worked his way back. Still, it would be a surprise if Painter is not on the Opening Day roster, as the departure of Ranger Suárez opened a hole that ideally will be filled by Painter.

Miller meanwhile has the lowest chance to make the MLB roster but nevertheless has a path. He is currently blocked now and in the future at shortstop by Trea Turner, and at third base by Alec Bohm. However, with Bohm in the last year of his team control and the possibility of an extension being almost nonexistent, Miller would be the favorite to be the starting 3B in 2027. But if there were to be a long-term injury to one of the Phillies infielders in 2026, Miller would likely be at the front of the line to earn a promotion and there’s a chance it would be permanent if he starts the year well in Triple-A.

Rincones is in a similar boat as Miller, although he would not be a full-time starter if he were to earn a call to the Majors. A lefty outfielder who hits righties well but struggles mightily against LHP, Rincones profiles as a strong side platoon corner outfielder. The Phillies already have one of those in Brandon Marsh, but if something were to happen to him, Rincones would be the first one up in Marsh’s place.

So, which Phillies prospect will have the biggest impact in 2026? Is it one of the big three of Crawford, Painter, and Miller? Or is it someone more under the radar like Rincones?

Prior entries:

• Matt Olson
• Michael Harris II
• Ozzie Albies
• Bryce Elder
• Austin Riley
• Drake Baldwin
• Ronald Acuña Jr.

Chris Sale led Braves pitchers with 3.6 fWAR in 125 2/3 innings of work last year. When the Braves acquired Sale for Vaughn Grissom, they were able to do so because it was perfectly reasonable to assume that Sale would make fewer than ten starts in 2024, given his propensity for both baseball-related and off-field injuries. The guy hurt himself biking to Chipotle in a part of Boston that isn’t very friendly to bikers; you can see why the Red Sox were perhaps eager to move on. Of course, that led to some egg on some faces, as Sale dominated in a 29-start campaign in 2024, winning the NL Cy Young Award in the process.

But then came 2025, and it was time to once again have silly injuries dampen his production — this time as a result of a dive in the ninth inning of a not-that-close game that led to some boinked ribs and Sale missing about a third of the season. Whoops.

Career-to-date, status

Sale’s career is long and storied enough that summarizing it isn’t really gonna help anyone all that much for looking to 2026.

Drafted with the 13th overall pick in 2010, Sale made just 11 minor league appearances before dominating as a reliever for the White Sox in 2010-2011. He then had a crazy-dominant run as a starter from 2012-2018, putting up nearly 40 fWAR in seven seasons, making at least 26 starts in each year, and getting traded to the other Sox team partway through that run. 2019, the first year of a gaudy contract extension, featured somewhat diminished performance, and he hit the shelf with elbow inflammation that prematurely ended his season.

Things then got silly, as the 2020-2023 campaigns featured pneumonia, a pandemic, Tommy John Surgery, a rib stress fracture suffered while throwing batting practice, a finger fracture on a comebacker, the aforementioned wrist-bike-Chipotle incident, and a shoulder problem. Then he got traded to the Braves and issues miraculously disappeared for a season. Yay.

The Braves reworked Sale’s contract when trading for him. Owed $27.5 million in 2024 with a $20 million club option for 2025 at the time of the deal, the Braves changed the terms to a $16 million payout in 2024, a guaranteed $22 million in 2025, and a new club option for $18 million for 2026, which they exercised basically as soon as they were able to this offseason. (The Red Sox also sent cash along with Sale in the trade. For more, have fun reading Cot’s.) Basically, pending any additional extensions, Sale will hit free agency after this season.

Recent performance

Sale was still dominant in 2025, with the big dent on his value being him missing about two months with the rib injury sustained from diving to grab a comebacker. He put up 3.6 fWAR in 125 2/3 innings — that’s a 5.7 fWAR-per-200 innings pace. Sale’s line (ERA-/FIP-/xFIP-) was 57/53/66 in 2024 and 61/67/73 in 2025. So, yeah, he declined — but not by that much. And, as we noted in our player review series, if the two months he missed looked like his performance after returning (64/64/58), his 2025 could’ve looked even more like his 2024.

The question for Sale is more one of durability. He’s already shown the ability to make in-season adjustments to return to dominant performance when he starts slipping (see April 2025 compared to the months afterwards). It’s more just… he’s going to turn 37 right around Opening Day, he’s cleared 150 innings once since 2018, and that one Cy Young campaign aside, he just keeps getting hurt in weird ways.

Forecasting

Same brief disclaimer: once upon a time I built a projection system to try to mirror/get at the workings of Steamer and ZiPS. I called it IWAG. You can figure out what that means, maybe. I’m bringing it back for this series of posts. Here’s Sale, for 2026.

Not too much to say here, if you’ve read the above. There’s a big swing in Sale’s production based on health and availability, which can matter a lot. Hopefully he doesn’t have more incidents in his future, but given that the 2026 Braves are already suffering from the fallout of Ha-Seong Kim vs. a patch of ice, don’t be too optimistic here. That aside, IWAG basically sees 2026 Sale as identical to 2025 Sale on a rate basis.

If you want to chuckle, look at the chart above, then go back to the Ronald Acuña Jr. one of these, then look back at this chart. Alright, so, per IWAG, the Braves’ fortunes rest in large part on how healthy their two best players are. Cool, because they’ve never had issues with keeping guys on the field before… right?

Point is: IWAG has few qualms about Sale being anything other than a standout performer when he’s available. The question is just whether he’s available or not.

IWAG diverges from the other projection systems here. Steamer has Sale at around 4 WAR per 169 innings, more than a win below IWAG’s rate basis point estimate. ZiPS is basically in line with Steamer on a rate basis, with an even lower innings total. They probably know how to account for Sale’s advanced age better than IWAG. In any case, let’s hope Sale stays healthy and available.

Your turn

Alright, I’ve given you the info. Well, some info. You may have your own info. With that, I ask you:

• Rounded to the nearest fWAR, how much will Chris Sale produce in 2026? (If you ignore this and provide a partial fWAR, I will round it for you, and your scoring will not be based on 1 WAR around your point estimate, but 1 WAR around the rounded number.)
• How confident are you in your choice? Go with a scale from 1-5, where 3 is “I dunno, reasonably confident,” 5 is certain, and 1 is “I am participating but have no confidence in my choice and don’t want the fact that it will likely be incorrect to affect my place in any theoretical standings all that much.”