Worldwide Sports News

The biggest news of the day regarding the San Diego Padres was the multi-year extension for president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller. However, that was not the only news of the day as the Padres agreed to minor league deals with first baseman Ty France and starting pitcher Walker Buehler. San Diego had a quiet offseason leading up to Spring Training, but the news came early and often starting Saturday when the Padres signed Nick Castellanos, Griffin Canning and German Marquez. Preller appears to have addressed all the needs on the San Diego roster and has created a high-level of competition for coveted roster spots that should make for an exciting Spring Training in Peoria, Ariz. Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball compared the roster at this point last season to the current roster and believes the overall quality of the team has improved, which could make for a successful 2026.

Padres News:

• Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribunebelieves the extension for Preller is a positive for the general manager and a potential new owner.

• After the announcement of the extension for Preller, Padres Chairman John Seidler and Padres CEO Erik Greupner met with the media. It was the first public comments from Seidler since the announcement of an exploration for a potential sale. He assured the media in attendance the Padres would not be moved out of San Diego and added that there is significant interest in the team from potential buyers.

• The addition of Marquez was made official Monday. In a corresponding move, the Padres moved Jhony Brito to the 60-day injured list.

Baseball News:

• Minnesota Twins pitcher Pablo Lopez ended his live batting practice session early with elbow soreness. It was reported that he was scheduled to undergo imaging to determine if there is any structural damage.

• There were multiple major league players who signed minor league deals with new teams on Monday. Outfielder Mike Tauchman and the New York Mets agreed to a minor league deal and Adam Frazier and the Los Angeles Angels agreed to a minor league deal.

• New San Francisco Giants manager Tony Vitello delivered comments about his departure from the University of Tennessee clarifying when he made his decision, how the team was informed and what needed to happen for him to take the job in San Francisco.

• Angels superstar Mike Trout met with the media and stated he is healthy, feels good and his sights set on a return to centerfield.

• Los Angeles Dodgers utility player Tommy Edman, who is recovering from an ankle surgery, is set to miss Opening Day. The injury creates a hole in the Dodgers’ lineup and could provide an opportunity for Hyeseong Kim to make the roster as a starter out of Spring Training.

Tony Clark, who led the Major League Baseball Players' Association through two collective bargaining agreements and was preparing for what is expected to be a highly contentious CBA battle in 2026-27, is resigning as executive director Feb. 17, according to a baseball official with direct knowledge of the situation.

The official spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because the resignation wasn't yet official.

Clark, who held the post since 2013, brought the credibility of a former player the position, and oversaw significant union solidarity throughout his tenure after he took over for the late Michael Weiner. 

But his reign has not been without conflict. The MLBPA remains under federal investigation due to its role in OneTeam Partners, a licensing company co-owned with the NFLPA and three other sports unions.

MLBPA UPHEAVAL: Tony Clark's poorly-timed exit leaves union without a paddle

A faction within his eight-player executive sub-committee also aimed to oust lead negotiator Bruce Meyer in 2024, an insurgency led by lawyer Harry Marino, a longtime advocate for minor league players who helped integrate them into the MLBPA.  

In December 2024, the three players who aimed to oust Meyer as lead negotiator – Jack Flaherty, Lucas Giolito and Ian Happ – were voted off the executive subcommittee.

The union announced in 2022 - when Clark earned $2.2 million - that Clark's contract had been extended through 2027. 

His resignation comes before the highly-anticipated - or dreaded - showdown between the union and MLB upon the current CBA's expiration on Dec. 1. In 2021, commissioner Rob Manfred locked the players out in the midst of the off-season transaction frenzy, freezing all business as CBA negotiations lurched on. 

The sides finally came to an accord in early March, leaving just enough time for a 162-game schedule to proceed. MLB has not missed games due to a labor dispute since the 1994 strike and subsequent impasse cancelled the World Series. 

Now, one of the central figures to the next negotiation will sit this one out. 

His successor will inherit the job at perhaps its most crucial moment in decades.

MLB lockout looms

Manfred said Feb. 12 at MLB's owners meetings that CBA negotiations typically ramp up around Opening Day, and has said he anticipates using a lockout as a measure to move the talks along come December. A simple accord is not anticipated: MLB owners have strongly signaled, publicly and privately, their desire for a salary cap, a concept that has been a non-starter for the union.

MLB remains the only major professional sports league in North America without a cap, though inequity among ownership groups - most specifically, the huge-spending Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets - has sown discord among other franchises.

Clark, 53, played 15 years in the major leagues and was active in the union at that time. He ascended the ranks in the late 2000s, when Weiner guided the union with a very steady hand. But an inoperable brain tumor claimed Weiner's life, and Clark was elected to take over.

MLB and the union executed an on-time CBA for the 2017 season, yet the following two winters saw declines in salaries and offers for veteran players, priming the union for another fight in 2021-22. Between CBAs, Clark added to his offensive attack, hiring Meyer as deputy executive director and chief negotiator.

It proved a fruitful add: Clark and Meyer seemed to claw back some gains, most notably a modest climb in the luxury tax ceiling and additive components like a pre-arbitration salary pool for high-achieving young players. Yet a moderate rift in membership was exposed when the eight-person subcommittee recommended rejecting MLB's latest offer, only to be overruled by player representatives from each individual team.

That created a divide between highest-earning players and those closer to the rank-and-file, along with a proxy war of sorts among sports agencies, leading the the 2024 attempted removal of Meyer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Tony Clark, MLBPA boss, steps down before new CBA war and lockout

Diamondbacks News

The Diamondbacks’ Next Competitive Window Depends On Ryne Nelson by Michael McDermott [Mike’s Hardball Blueprint]. {Ed. Note: Loved this analysis from Michael. I’m not great with pitcher analytics but Michael does a great job here explaining the ‘nitty gritty’ on why certain pitches should or shouldn’t work to help Nelson round out his arsenal.}

For the Diamondbacks to be a contender in 2026, they need Nelson to take the next step and develop into a frontline starter. Merrill Kelly is 37 years old, Eduardo Rodríguez is 33 with an injury history, and Brandon Pfaadt has a career ERA over 5.00. So it’s incumbent on the 29-year-old to become the type of starter Arizona envisioned when they drafted him 56^th overall in 2019.

Here’s a breakdown of what the Diamondbacks could do to turn Nelson into a potential ace.

Diamondbacks’ Adrian Del Castillo Opening Day status in question by Alex Weiner [Arizona Sports]

Arizona Diamondbacks catcher and designated hitter Adrian Del Castillo is dealing with a left calf injury that could keep him out through Opening Day.

Manager Torey Lovullo said on Monday that Del Castillo will be out for most of spring training, and the club will reassess him closer to the start of the regular season.

“He’s doing things where he can, he’s getting on his knees and throwing but not really stressing that left calf at all,” Lovullo said.

Diamondbacks Reveal New Timeline For Injured First Baseman by Michael McDermott [Heavy]

The timeline for when Diamondbacks first baseman Tyler Locklear will return had been unclear throughout the offseason. Locklear underwent surgery on both his left shoulder and left elbow to address an injury sustained in an on-field collision in October.

Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo provided a clearer update on when the young first baseman will return to action. Lovullo told reporters, including Arizona Sports’ Alex Weiner, that Locklear is looking at mid-May to June.

Diamondbacks Pitchers Thrilled by Unexpected Reunion by Alex D’Agostino [SI]

More importantly, however, Gallen’s new locker is right where it should be: next to friend, golfing buddy and 2026 opening day starter Merrill Kelly. The D-backs’ long-time one-two punch were reunited against all odds this offseason.

Neither pitcher expected to see each other in the same clubhouse this year. But here they both are.

“That’s my locker-mate for the last seven years,” Kelly said. “That’s the guy I golf with on the road. … I think everybody’s happy to see him.”

Archie Bradley Backs Ketel Marte, “I Love” Arenado Move by Kyle Odegard [RG]

“You go through things, man,” Bradley told RG in an exclusive interview. “That’s one thing non-players kind of forget. We are people, too. Ketel has been through a lot. Lost his mom, got his house broken into. Ketel even came out and apologized about the way he handled it. We all make mistakes.

“But for me, he’s in the top five for all-time D-Backs. He’s the No. 1 second baseman in the league. 

Power hitter from both sides. I think you’re going to see an even better Ketel this year. Even more of a leader. I think that’s what I see the most from him. He’s one of the most tenured guys in that clubhouse. He got traded there in 2017, and we debuted together. I think it was just a little mishap. He’s good and has mended everything back there.”

Desert Oasis: Zac Gallen Returns to Diamondbacks on One-Year Deal by Ben Clemens [FanGraphs]

Gallen was my no. 19 free agent this winter, and I’ll just reproduce the first line of my write-up here: “After looking at Gallen’s résumé for about an hour, I came to an obvious conclusion: I’m glad I’m not a major league GM.” He had a severe case of pumpkinization in 2025. He missed fewer bats, drew fewer chases, walked more batters and struck out fewer, gave up louder contact, didn’t keep the ball on the ground, and lost a bit of velocity. It was the worst season of his career by a large margin; his 4.83 ERA might have been a caricature of his performance, but all of his advanced run prevention estimators surged to career-worst marks, too.

As a platform year, it left something to be desired. But I still think Gallen was right to turn down his QO and survey the landscape. After that didn’t work out, however, he made the obvious choice: Run it back in the same place and try again. Given that he put up a 3.20 ERA (3.22 FIP, 3.47 xFIP) from 2022 through 2024, worth a whopping 12.2 WAR (14.9 rWAR), betting on at least a little bit of bounce-back before a second trip to free agency surely felt very appealing.

Diamondbacks’ catcher Gabriel Moreno eyes productive 2026 season by José M. Romero [AZ Central]

Gabriel Moreno spent his offseason putting in work in his native Venezuela, getting himself prepared for the upcoming season. He was there in early January when the U.S. military staged a raid and captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

A new acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, assumed leadership of a shaky government already dealing with a collapsed economy, inflation, infrastructure failures and a general lack of basic human services.

“It’s hard, obviously, for the government,” Moreno said in Spanish. “But the world knows that Venezuelans want a good future for their country. I think most people are OK with things.”

Moreno hopes for a better future as well, starting with a healthy and productive 2026 season. He’s been limited by various injuries over the past two seasons, including thumb and groin injuries in 2024 and a broken finger on his right hand, the one with which he throws, that cost him two months in 2025.

Around the League

Buster Olney’s 2026 top 10 at every position: Starting pitchers by Buster Olney [ESPN]

The question is simple: Who is the best pitcher on the planet, Tarik Skubal or Paul Skenes?

But the initial responses of Major League Baseball industry evaluators suggest overwhelming brain fry.

“Oh, wow …”

“C’mon …”

“You’re asking me?”

“Are you f—ing kidding me with that?”

Judge was anxiously waiting for Yanks to ‘go out there and get the right people’ by Bryan Hoch [MLB]

As months passed and other teams in the American League East created headlines with big-ticket additions, Judge said he voiced his impatience with management, waiting for a headline-grabbing move in the Bronx.

“Early on, it was pretty tough to watch,” Judge said. “I’m like, ‘Man, we’re the New York Yankees. Let’s go out there and get the right people, the right pieces to go out there and finish this thing off.’”

2026 Top 100 Prospects by Eric Longenhagen, Brendan Gawlowski and James Fegan [FanGraphs] {Ed. Note: D-backs on the list: #35 Ryan Waldschmidt and #98 Tommy Troy}

Waldschmidt started his amateur career on the infield, but has played on the grass exclusively as a pro. His feel for the outfield has matured to the point where he projects above average in a corner. He’s played a handful of games in center, but isn’t really a fit there. No matter. The bat should carry Waldschmidt to a productive career, and he projects as a middle-of-the-order hitter. It’s a power-and-OBP-over-hit skill set, and at the low end of his range of outcomes, he may just strike out too much to be more than a part-time player. But Waldschmidt’s median outcome is as a regular, and there’s 30-homer upside if everything clicks. He should arrive in the desert early in the 2026 season, and the injury to Corbin Carroll could propel him onto the Opening Day roster.

Padres Sign Walker Buehler To Minor League Deal by Anthony Franco [MLB Trade Rumors]

San Diego continues to stockpile potential back-end starters. The Padres agreed to big league deals with Griffin Canning and Germán Márquez over the weekend. Buehler settles for a non-roster invitation, which seemingly puts him a little behind the other two veteran righties as camp gets underway. (Canning is coming back from an Achilles tear and is questionable for Opening Day). Buehler has been the most accomplished of that trio over the course of his career, though, so it’d hardly be a surprise if he pitches his way onto the roster.

The Friars have three locks for the Opening Day rotation: Nick Pivetta, Michael King and Joe Musgrove. First-year skipper Craig Stammen implied last week that righty Randy Vásquez has a leg up on the fourth starter role after a solid finish last year. Márquez, Canning (if healthy) and JP Sears are the top options on the 40-man roster for the fifth starter job. Matt Waldron also remains on the 40-man but is out of options and coming off a rough season in Triple-A. Buehler joins Triston McKenzieand Marco Gonzales among the non-roster invitees.

Mets Owner Draws Hard Line: No Captain Under His Watch by Alvin Garcia [Heavy]

At the club’s spring complex in Port St. Lucie, Cohen declared that he will not allow an official “C” on anyone’s jersey while he owns the franchise. “As long as I’m owning the team, there will never be a team captain,” Cohen said to reporters, including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. Cohen presented the move as a philosophical choice rather than a reactionary one. In his view, the clubhouse should define its own hierarchy organically, year by year, rather than through a front-office designation.

That stance lands differently in Queens, where captaincy has historically meant something.

The Mets have named only four captains in franchise history: Keith Hernandez, Gary Carter, John Franco, and David Wright. Each represented not just on-field excellence but cultural identity. Wright, in particular, bridged eras—from the late Shea Stadium years to Citi Field—embodying stability amid turbulent seasons.

Prior entries:

• Matt Olson
• Michael Harris II
• Ozzie Albies
• Bryce Elder
• Austin Riley
• Drake Baldwin
• Ronald Acuña Jr.
• Chris Sale
• Spencer Strider
• Jurickson Profar
• Grant Holmes

Ah, Sean Murphy. There’s a long tradition of guys being the guy to draw the most rancor debate-wise in Braves fandom, and, well, Sean Murphy bears that mantle now. No one was complaining about Murphy shortly into the 2023 season, or in the aftermath of that season, but things haven’t gone great for him since.

Murphy got hurt on Opening Day of 2024, and seemed pretty impaired after returning, something that the bat speed data easily confirms. In 2025, Murphy didn’t even wait until Opening Day, suffering a fractured rib in Spring Training. At this point, you all know how that season ended: with Murphy finally calling it quits on trying to play through a hip labrum issue that had apparently been bugging him for much of or all of his entire Braves tenure. Oy. What happens now, with playing time far less guaranteed than before given the emergence of Drake Baldwin, is murky.

Career-to-date, status

Murphy was having a quiet-yet-monstrous career when the Braves traded for him, as he had amassed 10.5 fWAR in 1,260 PAs while playing in Oakland for parts of four seasons, including a massive 5.2 fWAR/612 PA campaign immediately before the trade. He was stellar both offensively (.343 xwOBA) and defensively (basically plus two wins per season, inclusive of positional adjustment), and if anything, his value was actually tamped down relative to his inputs because he substantially underhit his xwOBA in both 2021 and 2022.

After coming to Atlanta, the Braves seemingly gave him carte blanche to do his whole “swing incredibly hard in case you hit it” shtick, and he exploded with a .393 xwOBA while continuing to play elite defense. He earned 5.0 fWAR in just 438 PAs — that’s a nearly 7 WAR/600 rate for those that don’t want to do division and multiplication themselves. Again, Murphy substantially underhit his xwOBA despite dominating on the field.

Even before that new gear of performance in a new uniform, the Braves signed Murphy to a six-year, $73 million extension. Murphy is earning $15 million annual salaries through 2028, with a no-buyout club option for the same in 2029 as well.

Anyway, 2023 was awesome, but then the aforementioned injuries hit. In addition to coming back from those, Murphy turned 31 last October, so he’s likely in the latter half of his career at this point.

Recent performance

Nothing went right for Murphy in 2024, and it seems like he was playing hurt. He also continued to underhit his xwOBA, so while the griping about his circumstances goes beyond whether or not he gets his just deserts, there’s an undercurrent of “maybe we should be discussing if Sean Murphy has a slice or whatever like we did endlessly with Marcell Ozuna” there too. Murphy was still good defensively in 2024, but not as good as in 2023 and before. His bat speed collapsed, and his offensive profile, which was built around doing damage on contact, went with it. He tallied 0.8 fWAR in 264 PAs in 2024, though if you knock the xwOBA underperformance out, that probably would’ve doubled by my very rough math.

2025 was an improvement as he rebounded defensively, and also, he finally stopped being plagued by xwOBA underperformance. Unfortunately, his xwOBA ended up largely the same as 2024, and his bat speed collapsed even further. The rest of the offensive signs were all kind of a jumble — his contact quality actually rebounded, but he started missing pitches. It’s hard to say what was an adjustment to playing hurt, what was an adjustment to new offensive instruction the team received, what was natural variation in a small sample, and so on. It’s easier to note that Murphy had a no-complaints-here .352 wOBA / .332 xwOBA through the end of July, and then basically stopped hitting at all afterwards — even though this story, too, is made more complicated by the fact that he started swinging way harder while flailing. There are mixed signals there, but fundamentally, it was Murphy’s defense keeping him productive and valuable in 2025, especially as hit bat slipped and he called it quits down the stretch.

Forecasting

Boy, this is another toughie. You have to factor in Murphy’s health (whether for good or for ill relative to his 2024-2025 performance) but also, separately, the availability of playing time. Murphy probably shouldn’t be DHing, but he might, and how often he DHes also has meaty implications for his value due to the huge swing between his ability to rack up defensive value and the massive DH penalty to WAR.

IWAG basically thinks that Murphy will, for reasons other than season-ending hip surgery that was probably needed years ago, replicate 2025. The combination of injury-affecting-performance, persistent-ish xwOBA underperformance (look at that career .327/.345 gap in over 2,000 PAs), and the mess of signals that was his 2025 season appears to be pushing towards the system’s version of a “shrug, who knows, just stick with what happened more recently.” That’s fairly consistent with Steamer (albeit with better defense) and comes in well below ZiPS, which sees more of an offensive bounceback.

In some ways, the two humps here on the raw WAR chart are really just “Murphy is worth playing all the time” and “Murphy isn’t worth playing all the time.” It’ll be better for the team if he forces the Braves to make tough decisions about how often Drake Baldwin plays, but there’s a substantial likelihood that the combination of his availability and performance level give him useful backup levels of production and not much else.

Your turn

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

• 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.”
• Rounded to the nearest fWAR, how much will Sean Murphy produce in 2026?

The current buzz out of Sarasota has seemingly shifted from which players the Orioles may add to the roster to who may soon be heading out the door. MLB Insider Ken Rosenthal recently reported that, after further fortifying the pitching rotation with veteran Chris Bassitt, the O’s have now turned their attention to potential trades for Ryan Mountcastle and Coby Mayo.

On the surface, it’s easy to see the logic behind shipping out one or both of Mayo and Mountcastle. Their ability to coexist on the 2026 Orioles roster always seemed tenuous at best. Both are big, right-handed power bats who offer some positional flexibility, but really fit best at 1B. Getting both of them enough at-bats in Baltimore, while also planning for Samuel Basallo to play some first, was always going to be a tough thing to achieve.

And that was before the front office made the biggest move of their offseason and signed Pete Alonso. The Orioles now have 155 million reasons to justify why Alonso will be their everyday 1B going forward. Over his last four seasons with the Mets, the Polar Bear has averaged 40 HRs per season and steps into the Orioles lineup as Baltimore’s biggest run-producing threat. And sure, he’ll probably see some time at DH this season, but not enough to facilitate significant playing time at first for Mounty, Mayo and Basallo.

With the injury to Jackson Holliday, it’s currently possible to keep all three on the roster without things getting too awkward. The likely Opening Day infield will see Alonso at first, some combination of Blaze Alexander and Jordan Westburg at second and third, with Gunnar Henderson manning short. That leaves Mayo as the backup third baseman and Mountcastle in the Ryan O’Hearn, sometimes 1B/sometimes RF, position. It’s far from a perfectly balanced roster, considering the O’s will also likely carry five outfielders and only three middle infielders.

However, just because keeping Mountcastle and Mayo presents a roster construction problem, it doesn’t mean trading them before the season starts makes the most sense for this team. Mountcastle is coming off the worst season of his MLB career. A hamstring injury limited him to 89 games, and by the time he came back in early August, the Orioles’ season was already lost. Right after coming off the injured list, it looked like Mounty was back to his best self—slashing .305/.348/.463 over 21 games in August. That production completely dried up in September, though, as RMC’s average dropped to .190, his OPS dipped to .522, and he ultimately ceded a lot of his playing time to Mayo.

Trading Mountcastle now seems unlikely to return something that would actually make the Orioles better right now. As someone coming off a down season in the last year of his contract, Mounty is not exactly at the peak of his trade value. The soon-to-be 29-year-old wouldn’t command a starting pitcher better than Dean Kremer, Zach Eflin, or Chris Bassitt. It seems unlikely that he could even get the Orioles back a reliever who would significantly improve their bullpen.

Mountcastle’s biggest asset has always been his ability to mash left-handed pitching. He’s a career .282 hitter against lefties, with a .813 OPS and a 116 OPS+. That production was nowhere to be found in 2025, though. In his limited game time last year, his OPS against lefties dropped to .598 and he failed to register a homer against LHPs for the first time since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Even with Alonso, Taylor Ward and Tyler O’Neill on the roster, Mounty should still see plenty of opportunities in lineups against LHPs. If he can do damage against southpaws again, he’ll either prove himself valuable enough to stay an Oriole or valuable enough to trade at the deadline for a player that can make a difference in 2026.

With Mayo, much of his value is based on potential rather than actual production. His scouting profile and minor league production show a player with an Alonso-like ceiling. No, he’ll never come close to competing for a batting title, and he’ll always probably strike out more than you’d like, but there’s real 30+/year power in the 24-year-old’s bat as we glimpsed at the end of last season.

In his first meaningful taste of big league action, we got a tale of two Mayo’s in 2025. In 79 ABs before the All-Star break, we saw a player clearly struggling to adapt to the majors while coping with the inconsistent nature of his playing time—all of which culminated in a .203 average, .563 OPS and a 28% strikeout rate.

But as his playing time grew, so did his confidence and production. Mayo got 184 ABs after the break, and turned that opportunity into a .223 average, a .740 OPS and 10 HRs. Strikeouts were still a big problem, as his K rate grew to an alarming 34%, but the signs of a real, Major League contributor were there.

The South Florida native has plenty of things working in his favor that make him a more valuable trade chip than Mountcastle. He’s five years younger, with a higher ceiling and five additional years of team control. That alone could make him attractive to teams who are looking to build for the future, but do those teams really have players who would make the Orioles better right now?

Many have suggested the idea of trading Mayo to his hometown Marlinsto bring back pitching. However, with the recent struggles of Sandy Alcantara and the Miami unlikely to entertain a trade for Eury Pérez, it seems unlikely that Mayo would bring back a pitcher who actually makes Baltimore’s rotation better. The same could be said for teams like the Pirates or Rockies, who could certainly hold interest in Mayo but lack the pitchers to make it worth the Orioles’ while.

For years, we’ve all clamored for Mike Elias & Co. to be more aggressive in using trades to make immediate improvements to the Orioles roster. And now, it seems they have the perfect opportunity with a clear surplus in one position and needs elsewhere on the roster. And yet, if finding the ideal, “win-now” trade partner for Mountcastle or Mayo was so easy, they’d be on other teams by now. Instead, their best place (for now) is still in Baltimore, where they’ll look to carve out a role in one of the AL’s most intriguing lineups.

Good morning.

Were the vibes just rancid without Austin Hedges? Evan Grant writes about Corey Seager facing the media to discuss the clubhouse culture for the Texas Rangers in recent years.

Kennedi Landry writes that Seager downplayed any bad blood between himself and departed former keystone partner Marcus Semien.

Jeff Wilson writes that Seager is eager to buy into the culture that new manager Skip Schumaker intends to instill.

Shawn McFarland writes that Schumaker has answered one of three questions regarding his outfield with Brandon Nimmo officially moving to right field.

Landry names Kumar Rocker as the Ranger with the most to prove this spring as he tries to graduate from prospect on the cusp to full-fledged big leaguer.

So far so good as Grant notes that Rocker impressed with a new devotion to a changeup during live batting practice in Surprise yesterday.

And, Jacob deGrom cracked the top ten at No. 10 on Buster Olney’s list of top starting pitchers heading into the 2026 season.

Have a nice day!

For once, the Braves were able to make it through a day without any further injury news (knock on wood that becomes the norm.) And while Monday was a slow news day overall, it was fun to see JR Ritchie and Didier Fuentes named in the top 100 prospects at Fangraphs. While it is surprising that Cam Caminiti was not on the list, these three young arms appear to be the best of Atlanta’s farm system currently. Their development will be a big story line this season.

Braves News

Austin Riley talks expectations for him with the Braves this year, a year in which Riley envisions his production to return to expected form.

MLB News

Walker Buehler and the Padres agreed to a minor-league deal.

Twins starter Pablo Lopez will have his pitching elbow looked at further after experiencing soreness.

The Padres extended GM AJ Preller to a multi year contract.

The FanGraphs Top 100 list dropped yesterday, and if you’re looking for a reason to actually pay attention to the 2026 season beyond “the weather might be nice in May,” Eric Longenhagen and friends just provided a small, 50-FV-sized dose of Vitamin C for a malnourished fan base.

In a system that has spent the last few years looking like a construction site where the foreman lost the blueprints, there finally seems to be a tangible core of talent cresting the horizon.

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While the Sox have been a “pitching-first” factory lately, the list features two bats that couldn’t be more different if they tried.

• Caleb Bonemer (No. 33, 50 FV): He is officially the standard-bearer for the South Side’s future, that is, until Roch Cholowsky comes a callin’. Landing in the Top 40, Bonemer is the “Prove It” prospect for a front office that has historically struggled with prep bats. ETA: 2029.
• Braden Montgomery (No. 100, 50 FV): The switch-hitting outfielder just barely squeezed onto the list. He’s a “boom-or-bust” archetype with massive raw power but significant swing-and-miss concerns. If he makes enough contact, he’s a 30-HR threat; if not, he’s a cautionary tale. ETA: 2027, although with a strong spring, he could get the Chase Meidroth treatment and be up by April.

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The Sox have specialized in “weird” lefties lately, and this list reflects that obsession.

• Noah Schultz (No. 36, 50 FV): He remains the highest-ranked arm in the system despite a “down” 2025, where his walk rate ballooned in Double-A. The 65-grade slider is still a nightmare for hitters, and FanGraphs is betting on the 6’10” frame eventually finding the zone. He’s the most likely “ace” outcome in the system. ETA: 2026.
• Hagen Smith (No. 65, 50 FV): The 2024 first-rounder is the ultimate enigma. His fastball can touch triple digits, and his slider is elite, but a 6.66 BB/9 last season has Chris Getz checking his blood pressure. If the command moves from “catastrophic” to “below average,” he’s a frontline starter. ETA: 2027.
• Christian Oppor (No. 95, 50 FV): A massive riser in the system, Oppor took a leap forward in 2025. He’s another southpaw with a mid-rotation ceiling who finally found a way to use his lean frame to generate consistent stuff. He’s the “sleeper” who isn’t sleeping anymore. ETA: 2027.

While technically just outside the “Top 100,” Tanner McDougal is essentially in the same tier. After a breakout in Double-A where he shaved his BB/9 to 3.89, he’s positioned himself as a potential mid-rotation stabilizer. He’s the “high-floor” counterweight to the “all-ceiling” Schultz and Smith. ETA: 2026.

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The 2026 list is a sobering reminder of where the White Sox stand. While the quantity is finally there with placing five guys in the top 100 and another at 104, it’s a group defined by volatility. There are a lot of 50-FV grades here, meaning the Sox have a bunch of “solid everyday players” in the oven, but we’re still waiting for someone to leap into the 60+ FV “Superstar” tier. Again, paging Roch Cholowsky. But for today, we hang our hats on the fact that the South Side has a core to dream on. It sure is better than starving.

What do you think, Sox fans? Does seeing five names in the Top 100 make the potential for the future feel real, or are you worried that Rebuild 2.0 will end up like 1.0?

Meet the Mets

The full squad reported to Port St. Lucie yesterday, which means the gang’s all here.

Steve Cohen spoke to the media on the first official day of spring training. He spoke about being annoyed with the team’s inconsistency in recent years and declared that, as long as he is owner, there will never be a captain on the Mets. He also talked about being a “league first” owner with respect to the salary cap and will look at both sides of the argument.

In putting an emphatic end to the team captain discourse, Peter Chawaga of Forbes also saw this as the team sending a message to Francisco Lindor, who for a while was thought to be the next captain of the Mets.

John Harper also viewed it as Cohen taking a no-nonsense approach to the 2026 season after last season’s epic collapse.

Carson Benge is a big fan of Juan Soto, and it seems that the feeling and admiration is mutual.

The Mets signed outfielder Mike Tauchman to a minor league deal. Tauchman will be added to the mix of players competing for that open right field spot.

A lot of folks were impressed by Christian Scott’s session yesterday, including Carlos Mendoza, who praised his cutter, and John Harper, who believes Scott will be in the rotation at some point. It’s unlikely he’ll be ready for Opening Day.

Scott represents a reminder of the team’s rotation potential as he works his way back from an elbow injury.

The Mets have a lot of questions heading into the 2026 season, but so do their NL East foes, argues Joel Sherman.

Citi Field has been once again been nominated for best stadium food in baseball. You can vote here to crown Citi Field as the top dog of selling hot dogs (and other, more fancy, ballpark eats).

Tom Seaver’s impressive collection, including his 1969 Mets World Series Ring, is heading to auction.

Around the National League East

Ex-Mets reliever Drew Smith has signed a minor league deal with the Nationals that would pay him $1.75 million if he makes the team and includes $1.25 million in performance bonuses.

The Phillies believe they can finish the job in 2026 and are viewing this season as “World Series or bust”.

Nick Tricome argued that perhaps it is best for the Phillies and Bryce Harper to be uncomfortable.

Braves’ skipper Walt Weiss described Ronald Acuña Jr. as a “bull ready for door to open”, adding that the Braves’ star is in a good place mentally and emotionally.

Bruce Sherman, the Marlins’ principal owner, says the club’s expectation is to W-I-N.

Around Major League Baseball

Fangraphs revealed their list of top 100 prospects for the 2026 season.

Is this finally the year for one of these teams with an epic title drought? Will Leitch made the case for some clubs that could finally break through in 2026.

Spring Training is an opportunity for players to show something to their teams. The MLB.com staff picked out a player on each squad with the most to prove, including Kodai Senga for the Mets.

Buster Olney listed the top ten starting pitchers in baseball right now.

Vlad Guerrero Jr. has entered spring training happier than ever.

Mike Trout is healthy heading into 2026 and looking to return to center field.

Corey Seager, ex-teammate of current Mets second baseman Marcus Semin, downplayed the rumored issues between the two as the Rangers enter a new era.

The hard-throwing Yankees’ prospect Carlos Lagrange is being thrown right into the fire in the Bronx, as he was put in to pitch against Aaron Judge.

Judge was frustrated by the Yankees’ slow winter, saying that he was waiting for the team to go out there and find the right people. However, he now believes the team is in a good spot.

Tommy Edman of the Dodgers is dealing with an ankle injury, and it sounds like he won’t be ready for Opening Day.

Pablo López had to cut his bullpen session short due to elbow soreness.

The Padres signed AJ Preller, their president of baseball operations, to a long-term contract extension.

San Diego also signed Walker Buehler on a minor league deal.

The Angels added Adam Frazier on a minor league deal.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Brian Salvatore previewed Grae Kessinger’s 2026 season.

This Date in Mets History

Tebow Time officially came to an end, as Mets legend Tim Tebow announced his retirement from baseball on this date in 2021.

With confirmation on Monday from manager Dave Roberts that Tommy Edman will begin the season on the injured list, naturally conversation turned to what is now an open competition in Dodgers camp for playing time at second base.

Miguel Rojas will be in the mix, as will veteran Santiago Espinal, who signed a minor league deal on Monday. Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland, who each made their MLB debuts in 2025, will also vie for playing time and a potential roster spot on a team that will be without both Edman and Kiké Hernández to open the season.

Bill Plunkett at the Orange County Register has more on the second base battle, including comments from Kim on offseason adjustments:

He indicated Monday that the Dodgers have suggested some more changes.

“The swing changes we made last year, I would say I felt about 70% comfortable,” Kim said through an interpreter. “And then this offseason and spring training, we were able to recognize some of the other stuff that we needed to work on, so I’m working very hard to make those changes again this year.”

In case you were wondering, six different Dodgers started at second base last year between the regular season and postseason: Edman 74 starts, Rojas 38, Kim 32, Freeland 11, Hernández nine, and Chris Taylor once.

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Walker Buehler’s first season after the Dodgers saw him post a 4.93 ERA and 5.41 xERA in 126 innings with the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies. He was active during the National League Division Series against the Dodgers but did not pitch. Now, the veteran right-hander signed a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres, trying to crack their depleted starting rotation. Kevin Acee at the San Diego Union-Tribune has more on Buehler’s new deal.

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Monday was legendary sportscaster Jim Hill’s 50th anniversary on the airwaves in Los Angeles.

50 YEARS AGO TODAY, Jim Hill hit the airwaves in Los Angeles for the very first time! 🏈 🎤 @Patharveynews tells Jim’s story — from the NFL to interviews with all of LA’s sports stars. What’s your favorite Jim Hill memory? #Jim50@CBSLosAngelespic.twitter.com/G7gn9GDdf6

— Sports Central LA (@SportsCentralLA) February 17, 2026

“If you look at baseball right now, there’s a lot of really nice tailwinds. Attendance is up, ratings are up. There’s a lot of things going in the right direction. We’ve got a lot of good young stars and exciting young players, and that’s all going well.

“There are some challenges. The regional sports network model has been under pressure for the last few years. Certain teams felt it the most this offseason, and it’ll take a while for it to work out, but it’s certainly a challenge for the entire league.” — Tom Ricketts.

Marquee had a series of player interviews — here’s the playlist. (FYI, I will remove these periodically.) Lots more video below.

Brett Taylor had some words about the Ben Cowles DFA in his bullets, where he speculated that the reassignment bid might be about Cowles/Owen Miller more than Steele. I dunno. Miller’s 29 and has had enough cups of coffee to equal just about two MLB seasons. and the data isn’t prepossessing. But maybe. I think they’re just doing it now to avoid waiver claims, which are unlikely with everyone at full-40 this early. Miller isn’t better than Cowles, or Triantos, or Ramirez, which I think is the depth order behind Shaw.

As always, developments. We practice patience.

*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.

• Ignacio Ventura (KJZZ*): Chicago Cubs plan player housing, 4-story hotel near Sloan Park in Mesa. “The site, spanning over 3 acres, would be built on vacant land and be next to Sloan Park, the largest MLB spring training stadium.“
• Jason Ross (North Side Baseball*): Exploring the best- and worst-case scenarios for the 2026 Chicago Cubs. “Opening Day isn’t that far away.“
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs’ Tom Ricketts calls Marquee ‘maybe the smartest thing we’ve done’ amid shifting TV landscape. “The local TV broadcast landscape in Major League Baseball is a growing problem.“ Maddie Lee* has more from Tom.
• Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball*): Why the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers always seem to like the same pitchers. “It’s not a coincidence, and it adds an absurd kind of tension to their rivalry.”
• Sahadev Sharma (The Athletic {$}): After a rookie campaign in which he ‘dominated’, what can Cade Horton do in Year 2? “There (weren’t) many challenges when he was pitching. He did. He was outstanding. Now it’s: Do it again. Do it over a full season.”
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Chicago Cubs left-hander Jordan Wicks looks make an impact after an ‘extremely frustrating’ season. “I want to be in Chicago and whatever role that looks like I will conform to that role and figure it out,” Wicks said.
• Peter Chawaga (Forbes* {$}): Cubs’ Dansby Swanson addresses $177 million disappointment. “I feel like I haven’t been what I’ve wanted to be over the last few years,” Swanson said.
• Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Consistency the key for PCA after up-and-down breakout season. “With his outgoing personality and dynamic style of play, Crow-Armstrong found stardom as a focal point of the Cubs’ postseason team last year.“

Food For Thought:

Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series. We will not wittingly publish A. I. – driven articles or clickbait, and insist on unimpeachable sources.

The 2025 Colorado Rockies led in a number of categories that most MLB teams would prefer not to lead.

A case in point would be their Chase%, where the Rockies had an MLB-worst 31.7%. (The league average was 28.2%.) Learning to be more disciplined and discerning at the plate is a central challenge for the rebuilding Rockies.

Good news, everyone! There’s a plan.

Over the weekend, Rockies hitting coach Brett Pill explained how the Rockies intend to take on this challenge in the coming season; it involves using data, communication, and individualized instruction.

“Honestly, there’s no cookie-cutter-type approach to hitting,” Pill said. “You kind of take what the hitters do well and build on it, and then over time, closing up some of those weaknesses and things we can improve on.”

The approach varies depending on the issue and the player.

“You do that through stuff in the weight room and stuff with their swing and stuff with data,” Pill said. “So use every resource possible to help them have a solution for every type of pitcher and situation and thing they might encounter in the big leagues. It’s not always the best, sexiest answer.”

But it all starts with clear communication.

“Obviously, you’ve got to build relationships with each guy and know what makes them tick, what sports they played when they were younger. And so there’s a lot that goes into it.”

What about one of the first dragons the Rockies must slay, those unsightly chase rates? Pill sees a specialized, multi-pronged approach.

“Some guys, it could be an approach and what they’re looking for. Maybe they’re trying to hit every pitch the guy throws,” Pill said. “It could be mechanical. It could be how they’re moving at that certain point in time, which maybe we do stuff in the weight room for it.”

In addition to physical factors, players may need to address less-tangible issues.

“Obviously,” Pill said, “there’s an emotional part of chase, too. Sometimes you’re worried [the pitcher] might throw fastball middle-in, so you’re cheating. There’s an emotional-psychological aspect, too. Some guys sometimes get a little safe and actually swing and miss more. So some guys, you are are going to encourage, ‘Hey, let’s kind of let it go a little bit.’ Actually, (we’ve seen) a few different cases of that with different guys already, so it’s kind of cool to see. You try to get in there in different ways with different people, and hopefully on the whole general scale, it improves all that.”

Everything comes back to knowing players and providing personalized instruction.

“It’s not like a there’s a thing I can say on a whole team-wide scale that’s going to help the chase,” he said. “It’s you try to get in there in different ways with different people.”

Then there’s the matter of helping Rockies hitters learn to adjust to the challenges of elevation.

“I think most teams that come in see it as an advantage, so definitely need to keep that thought process at home: The ball does fly. It might move a little bit different,” Pill said. “So maybe the way we train before games, or how we visualize pitches we’re going to get will be a little different. The challenge seems to be when you leave there and then how balls are moving more.”

And he’s been working with some seasoned Rockies veterans.

“There’s a lot of good people here who went through it, like Charlie Blackmon, Matt Holliday — a lot of people who I’ve have already been been talking to and listening to the players, too, about it.”

He added, “Obviously (assistant hitting coach) Jordan Pacheco went through it. So I’m leaning on them a lot, to be honest. I think we’re going use it to our advantage at home, and then we’ll figure it out on the road.”

Pill especially enjoys the teaching component of coaching.

“It’s just constant teaching,” he said. “Even today in some of the live at-bats, it’s like, ‘Hey, what were you thinking on this pitch?’ How can we get ahead of that and give a feedback loop to it, constantly teaching and learning from them.”

Like the best teachers, Pill sees himself as a lifelong learner.

“I don’t want to sit here and say I’m going to teach them everything,” Pill said. “I’m going to learn from them — maybe things I learned from the players, I apply to other guys in the future. So that’s why I love it so much. It’s just constantly helping guys get better because I remember being like an up-down guy and trying to break in. I had a lot of good coaches, too, but sometimes, you wish you just someone was always there with you every step of the way.”

He also shares manager Warren Schaeffer’s commitment to connection and communication.

“You might have the best info ever,” Pill said, “but if they don’t really feel that connection and know that you want the best for them and know that you’re at home thinking about ways to get them better every night, it doesn’t really hit.”

Then there’s the matter of working with a young team.

“They’re all physically gifted,” Pill said. “It’s honestly kind of crazy to come in here, and I feel like I’m looking up at everyone, and they’re all really strong and fast, and so there’s a lot of really good athletes.”

Prior to joining the Rockies, Pill was a hitting coach in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor-league system.

Third baseman (and long-time denizen of the Dodgers clubhouse) Kyle Karros is happy to see Pill on the Rockies coaching staff.

“I’ve done a lot of work with [Pill], our hitting coach,” Karros said. “He’s obviously one of those guys who came over from the Dodgers, and we’ve been seeing eye-to-eye a ton. I’m hitting the ball harder than I’ve ever hit it. Things are going really well offensively for me so far. So I really like what we’re doing.”

Some of what he learned from the Dodgers, Pill’s bringing with him to Colorado.

“They obviously do some really good things on the game-planning side, preparing for pitchers, obviously really good there. So [we’ll] use some of that stuff here, in addition to what they’ve already been doing.”

Then he added, “But the main thing over there, as far as with player development, was being extremely curious and creative and, again, not just going by the standard stuff. So that’s what I hope to bring here and inspire people to do, too, is just be obsessive with trying to get people better, use every avenue possible, and just never stop grinding.”

In moving the Rockies, Pill will continue working with former Dodger and current general manager Josh Byrnes, who, as Pills puts is, “is invested in hitting and knows his stuff.”

“When I heard he wanted to bring me along over here,” Pill said, “it was definitely hard to pass up because he’s great. He remembers everything he’s ever seen on a baseball field. I pick his brain all the time.”

Schaeffer is positive about what Pill brings to the Rockies.

“He’s fantastic,” Schaeffer said. “He has a really, really solid background. He has just been fantastic so far in there in terms of his preparation and what he’s working with the guys on.”

Plus, for Schaeffer, Pill’s outside perspective plus Pacheco’s inside knowledge give the Rockies a powerful combination.

“It’s important to have a balance. (Getting) outside ideas from from Pill is going to be a huge, huge factor, in terms of everything, actually — in terms of how you teach hitting, in terms of culture, the whole thing.”

He concluded, “It’s going to be a good combo.”

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This week on the internet

That is all.

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Which teams improved the most this winter? | MLB.com

Mike Petriello gets it (and what’s a reasonable expectation for a rebuilding team).

Offseason grades for all 30 MLB teams | The Ringer

Anthony Dabbundo, not so much.

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Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Quinton Lucas gave a State of the City address and noted his desire to keep the Royals in KCMO. John Sherman had some comments.

Word got back to Royals owner John Sherman. On Monday, Sherman addressed Lucas’ speech and offered his takeaway. “I appreciate him wanting to do that,” Sherman said. “And I appreciate that he is working very hard at that. I appreciate the work he is doing. You know, we’re not settled yet anywhere, but I would tell you, I don’t think we are that far away.”

Anne Rogers also covered Sherman’s comments.

“I’ve got a great sense of urgency on this. Time is not our friend. When the Chiefs made their announcement [to move to Kansas] in December, there was a whole new wave of enthusiasm on the Missouri side. And I don’t mean they weren’t working hard, but from the governor on down, there’s a lot of effort being put forth. We’re still evaluating Kansas, and we’re still evaluating multiple locations in Missouri, but I do appreciate the effort that’s being put forth, not only by the mayor but by the governor.”

Anne wrote about the vibes going into Spring Training as a player-led meeting took place.

“We’ve always kind of talked about it, but we’ve never really had our own kind of philosophy,” shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. said. “We just believe if everyone abides by that and comes together to do that, then I think we have the right team, players, staff, to go a long way.”

Instead of an explanation from the front office or staff, this year it was a group of players delivering the message – something they’ve wanted to do for a few years now, Witt said.

“The 2014-15 teams, they had an identity,” Witt said. “What’s our identity? What’s it going to be? We can do this because I think the team we have is special. Everyone believes it, and it’s going to go a long way.”

Jaylon Thompson talks to Bobby Witt Jr about playing in the upcoming World Baseball Classic against some of his own teammates.

“It’s always fun getting to face up against those guys,” Witt said. “You saw it whenever Kobe (Bryant) was doing it with Team USA — he (plowed through) a screen through Paul Gasol or whoever it was. When you are out there, you’re trying to win. That’s what my mantra is. They’re teammates now, and when that comes, we’re still teammates. “But for me, I always want to win.”

Preston Farr writes about the Royals’ signing of John Means to a two-year minor league deal.

After 2021, the health deteriorated for Means. He underwent Tommy John Surgery in April 2022. He worked his way back, reaching the big leagues briefly in 2023 before undergoing a second Tommy John Surgery in June 2024. That would spell the end of his time in Baltimore, signing a two-year contract with Cleveland before 2025. Means worked his way back, making seven minor league starts for the Guardians a season ago. Then, in December, while training, Means ruptured his Achilles just weeks after he saw his $6 million 2026 club option declined.

For the Royals, that means Means (well, that felt weird to type) will miss all of 2026 and hope to contribute in 2027. By that point, he will be in his age-33 season and two full seasons removed from any MLB action. It will be five seasons since he had any lengthy MLB time under his belt, making him a worthwhile dart throw, but hardly someone that fans should be locking in their memory bank as a key piece of the team’s 2027 plans.

Over at Royals Keep, Kevin O’Brien explores Royals catcher framing metrics.

Jacob Milham writes about the AL Central race.

AJ Preller will keep slinging trades as the guy in charge of the Padres for longer, as he signed an extension.

The Mets signed Mike Tauchman.

Walker Buehler goes to the Padres on a minor league deal.

Mike Trout wants to return to center field.

Twins pitcher Pablo López experienced soreness in his elbow and will get an MRI.

The Miami Dolphins released former Kansas City Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill on Monday.

As expected, the US women’s hockey team will face Canada for the gold medal.

Off Topic: My kid fell into the creek playing at the park yesterday. Small creek, so he’s fine, no issues, just got wet. Every kid’s gotta get wet in the creek at some point.

Your song of the day is Above & Beyond with On My Way To Heaven