Worldwide Sports News

Bo Bichette headed to the Mets on a 3-year, $126 million deal and J.T. Realmuto to the Phillies yesterday on a 3-year $45 million deal as the MLB free agent market continued to move. Cody Bellinger remains the last big free agent available.

Joel Hammond, former contributor here, had a great thread explaining why it’s not particularly reasonable to think the Guardians are pocketing a bunch of revenue and, again, debunking the idea that Paul has access to the entire Dolan fortune. Yes, he still thinks the Guardians should spend more. It’s worth reading:

For the mouth breathing DOLANZ people, this is a great explainer.

In baseball, LOCAL revenue is much more a factor than in NFL. Local revenue: TV deal, tickets.

Dodgers: $320M PER YEAR in TV revenue.
Braves: $160M PER YEAR in TV revenue.

Guards get a fraction of that. https://t.co/Qo5VbSZ33V

— Joel Hammond (@joelhammond) January 16, 2026

The Athletic asked 100 people in sports whom they admire as leaders and Stephen Vogt showed up at 31st on a list of 40:

We asked over 100 people in sports which leaders they most admire.

For this list, leaders had to be an active coach, player or executive in 2025. pic.twitter.com/6QSxXfdiDf

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) January 16, 2026

Paul Hoynes pointed out that Stephen Vogt didn’t sound super confident that Steven Kwan would be a Guardian come Spring Training. It is curious to me that Vogt said “I really hope he is in left field leading off for us” rather than “I expect he will be in left field leading off for us.”

Never underestimate how little the Guardians care about fan reactions and feelings, but I shudder to think what the backlash would be if they don’t add anyone significant AND trade Kwan before the season.

Mason Horodyski of WEWS/News 5 Cleveland posted a bunch of clips of Austin Hedges, Hunter Gaddis and Stephen Vogt talking about the upcoming season on his Twitter if you’re interested in viewing more:

"He's just the rock"#Guardians Hunter Gaddis on the importance of having pitching coach Carl Willis return in 2026#GuardsBall@WEWSpic.twitter.com/HJja3rxrKc

— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) January 15, 2026

Nick Robertson, a right-handed reliever drafted by the Dodgers in 2019 and who made his major league debut with Los Angeles in 2023 before getting traded for Kiké Hernández, signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers, per Ari Alexander of 7News in Boston.

Robertson last season had a 4.30 ERA with 52 strikeouts and 30 walks in 52 1/3 innings in 43 games in Triple-A between the Astros and Royals systems. The 27-year-old right-hander pitched in the majors for the Dodgers, Red Sox, Cardinals, and Blue Jays in 2023-24.

The addition of Kyle Tucker to the Dodgers definitely bolsters the outfield production and the lineup as well. Anthony Castrovince at MLB.com looked specifically at the combo of Tucker, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Will Smith, all of whom posted at least a 140 OPS+ last season, and the rarity of such a quartet.

David Roth at Defector looked at the last few days, and how the Tucker signing spurred more action and reaction among some top-spending teams. The Mets, who were in on Tucker, pivoted to Bo Bichette, whom they plan to play at a new position. That left the Bichette-pursuing Phillies left empty-handed, and they re-signed catcher JT Realmuto.

Max Muncy’s wife Kellie gave birth to the couple’s third child on Tuesday, a daughter named Macie Grace, which was shared on Instagram:

It is Brad Fullmer’s 51st birthday.

Also, 23 years ago (2002), the Blue Jays traded Brad Fullmer to the Angels for Brian Cooper.

So it is a shared birthday/today in Jays’ history post.

About the trade:

Cooper was an RHP. He was 27 at the time. He pitched for the Angels for portions of three seasons, making 21 starts and 6 relief appearances. He reached 5-10 with a 5.33 ERA in 128 innings, 57 walks, and 58 strikeouts.

Fullmer was also 27 at the time of the trade.

It wasn’t one of J.P. Ricciardi’s better trades. Fullmer was always thought of as a disappointment. Maybe because, as an LHB, he didn’t hit lefties at all. Maybe because Brad really couldn’t play defense. But I wonder why J.P. gave him away so cheaply (perhaps he was tired of paying for cleaning chewing tobacco out of the Skydome’s turf?). Cooper wasn’t much of a pitcher, nor was Brad a great prospect, but Ricciardi must have seen something in Cooper that the rest of us missed. I can’t imagine what he thought he saw. Cooper had as many walks as strikeouts when we traded for him.

The Expos picked Brad in the 2nd round of the 1993 draft. He played two-plus seasons with the Expos and had been a disappointment. He wasn’t very good with the glove at first base, and his bat didn’t show quite as well as the Expos hoped. Nevertheless, he hit .276/.326/.459 with 25 home runs in 259 games with Montreal.

In March 2000, Fullmer was part of a three-team trade between the Expos, Rangers, and Blue Jays. The Rangers sent Lee Stevens to the Expos, the Jays sent David Segui to the Rangers, and the Expos sent Fullmer to the Jays.

Stevens did a good job for the Expos, hitting .243/.334/.450 with 57 home runs in 3 seasons. Segui hit .336/.391/.519 in 93 games, and the Expos traded him to Cleveland for Ricky Ledee. Segui was always good at getting on base, but didn’t have the power you’d like to have from a first baseman.

Fullmer DHed for the Jays for two seasons, hitting .284/.333/.499 with 50 home runs and 187 RBI in 279 games. He had an excellent season in 2000, hitting 32 home runs and driving in 104 runs. If the Jays had a better team, we’d consider Fullmer one of the better DHs in team history.

The trade with the Angels didn’t go well for the Jays.

Fullmer played two seasons for the Angels and hit .294/.367/.521 with 28 home runs and 94 RBI in 193 games. He also starred in the Angels’ 2002 World Series win. He hit .294/.351/.471 in 12 playoff games. Brad also stole home in game two of the World Series as part of a double steal. Pretty crappy defense there, Giants.

Brad signed with the Rangers before the 2004 season. In late June, he hit .233/.310/.442 with 11 home runs, but a knee injury ended his career.

Fullmer played 8 seasons and hit .279/.336/.486 with 114 home runs.

Chad Beck turns 41 today.

Chad was a 43rd-round draft pick in 2004 (the draft is now only 20 rounds). Beck pitched 2.1 innings in 2011 and 15.2 innings in 2012, and that was his career. Only 1 other player picked in that round in 2004 made the majors: Chris Schwinden, who threw 29.2 innings over two seasons. Gotta love guys who beat odds that long.

Also, on January 17, 2011, 15 years ago now, the Jays signed Jon Rauch, without whom we would have never had this:

Bo’s a Met. Bo Bichette, that is.

Kyle Tucker joined the Dodgers, who offered him a cool $240 million for four years, with opt-outs after the second and third years.

More power to him. If you can get that kinda money, get right on it.

This even though I’ve hated the Dodgers from the git-go. I was raised by people who did not adore Brooklyn and were offended hugely by the way the move was done when they Greeley’d. Personally, it was Steve Garvey’s lantern jaw that I remember. It’s like the stinkin’ Cardinals… and that’s not the only parallel.

Now I look at the Dodgers much as I look at the early Cardinals, who owned the entire minor-league system (they were the principal architects of the system and maintained control until they were made to stop). They’re creating a new paradigm, for better or worse.

The Cubs have a new third baseman. You have to like his will to win, and let’s hope that rubs off.

“In October, it’s ‘Alex in Wonderland,’ and it’s a ‘Bregularly’ scheduled event, no doubt.” — Scott Boras.

Oh, and the Cubs Convention is under way. We’ll be back tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel, with more of this.

*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.

Today’s playlist. Tons of Bregman vids and a few other things.

• Matthew Lenz (North Side Baseball*): Chicago Cubs make a trio of promotions in their Baseball Operations department. “Jordan Bastian of MLB.com shared an official communication from the Chicago Cubs, announcing three promotions within the baseball operations department.”
• Jon Greenberg (The Athletic {$}): The Cubs are back to being a big-market team focused on winning after Alex Bregman signing. “The Cubs are basically trading Tucker for Bregman.” Patrick Mooney has more{$}.

“He makes contact at an elite level, he controls the strike zone at an elite level,” Hoyer said. “And certainly, those are skills that age well.”

• Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball*): 6 suitors for Matt Shaw, and the players Cubs might target in trades with them. “Finding teams interested in Shaw hasn’t been a problem. The question is whether any of them will pay what Chicago demands.”
• Meghan Montemurro (Chicago Tribune* {$}): How star third baseman Alex Bregman landed in Chicago: ‘We knew the Cubs wanted our family to be here’. “Bregman’s life centers on two things: his family and winning games.“

“Literally the first second that free agency really opened I felt like we knew the Cubs wanted our family to be here, and we were excited about it,” Bregman, 31, said. “I thought it was trending that way, probably from the beginning of the offseason. They expressed right away that they wanted me. They made it extremely clear that they valued what I valued.”

• Paul Dietrich (Brew Crew Ball*): Should the Brewers feel pressured to keep up with the Cubs? “The Cubs signed Alex Bregman — what now?“

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 reputable sources.

Good morning Birdland,

While much of the baseball-watching public is up in arms about the contracts that Kyle Tucker (Dodgers, four years, $240 million) and Bo Bichette (Mets, three years, $126 million) received this week, we have a much more modest rumor to talk about.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is reporting that the Orioles, among a few other teams, are interested in 42-year-old righty Justin Verlander. The 20-year MLB vet and future Hall of Famer spent the 2025 season with the San Francisco Giants, where he had a 3.85 ERA over 152 innings.

Rosenthal clarifies that a deal between the Orioles and Verlander “is not close.” The O’s have their sights set on a bigger rotation upgrade, but those options are waning. Framber Valdez is the big free agent still on the market, above the likes of Zac Gallen, Lucas Giolito, and Chris Bassitt. There are some intriguing trade options, including Tarik Skubal, Freddy Peralta, and Mackenzie Gore, but they are expected to require a big prospect haul to land. Verlander would represent a Plan B.

Some will recall that this is not the first time that Verlander and the Mike Elias-led Orioles have been linked. Back in 2023, there was some speculation that the O’s could trade for the him when he was then on the Mets. At the time, he was still viewed as an ace, having posted a 1.75 ERA over 175 innings in 2022 and then looking solid again for a disappointing Mets squad halfway through ‘23. Ultimately, Verlander returned to the Astros, and the Orioles traded for Jack Flaherty instead. Both teams would be beaten by the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers in the playoffs.

Whomever signs Verlander will not be getting the peak version, obviously. His velocity and strikeout numbers are more modest than they once were. He hasn’t thrown 200 innings in a season since 2019. And you could understand Orioles fans having some trepidation here after the club suffered through the Charlie Morton experience last summer, a pitcher from the same era as Verlander.

But the Orioles rotation is in a better spot now than it was when Morton was added a year ago. Morton was expected to come in and be one of the better pitchers on a unit that lacked an ace. Verlander would slot somewhere behind Kyle Bradish and Trevor Rogers, and be counted on for innings and guidance rather than ace-level performance. The upside of the rotation would be left to the duo ahead of him, the newly acquired Shane Baz, and the potential emergence or prospect Trey Gibson.

Adding a 42-year-old pitcher is never going to be the safest move, and it would certainly be a disappointment for fans that have been hoping for a bonafide ace at the zenith of their powers. But you could also do a lot worse than a proven winner like Verlander.

Links

Orioles Among Teams With Interest In Justin Verlander | MLB Trade Rumors
Here is the MLBTR writeup of the above-mentioned report from The Athletic. If Elias and the Orioles’ front office isn’t in love with the more expensive options, signing a veteran like Verlander makes a ton of sense. He would be cheaper ($15 million salary in 2025) than some of the other arms out there, and it may keep their options open for a splashy trade in-season.

Some random thoughts and more mailbag questions | Roch Kubatko
Not much in here apart from Roch reassuring us all that the Orioles are in hot pursuit of pitching upgrades. The quality of those upgrades is unclear. But no one is saying that they are out on Valdez or anyone else.

Busy week for Orioles as Framber Valdez remains unsigned | Baltimore Baseball
For a long time I thought the Orioles could land Valdez if he was willing to take a short-term, high AAV deal. But I wasn’t aware of just how high some of these AAVs were gonna go. Tucker just got $60 million AAV, and then Bichette landed $42 million AAV. Are the Orioles interested in that stratosphere of a deal? Ehhh.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!

• Rob Bell turns 49 today. He pitched in 30 games out of the Orioles bullpen in 2007, sporting a 5.94 ERA over 53 total innings.
• The late Dick Brown (b. 1935, d. 1970) was born on this day. From 1963 through ‘65, he shared catching duties on the Orioles with John Orsino. Brown’s time with the Orioles, and playing career in general, was ended by a brain tumor that eventually took his life several years later.
• It is a posthumous celebration for Jay Heard (b. 1920, d. 1999). The left-handed pitcher was the franchise’s first African-American player after their move to Baltimore. He would pitch in just two games for the 1954 squad.

This day in O’s history

January 17 has been a quiet day in Orioles history, according to Baseball Reference. Maybe that will change today. For now, here are some happenings from beyond Birdland:

1920 – The Volstead Act goes into effect in the United States, beginning Alcohol Prohibition.

1950 – The Great Brinks Robbery: More than $2 million is stolen from an armored car company’s offices in Boston by a team of 11 thieves. At the time, it was the largest robbery in United States history and went unsolved for nearly six years.

2013 – Highly-decorated former cyclist Lance Armstrong confesses to doping throughout his career during an interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The weekend is a great time to kick back and reflect. This Week in Purple is the place to catch up on the news from our team at Purple Row. You’ll find links to Rockpiles and other content below as well as a platform for community discussion in the comments.

The Colorado Rockies released their preliminary promotional schedule for the 2026 season. It’s sparse at the moment, but the Rockies have assured us that there will be more coming so stay tuned!

But in the meantime, here are the giveaways and theme dates as of Friday:

April

• Friday, April 3: Rockies Home Opener, 2026 Magnet Schedule (all fans)
• Saturday, April 4: Jersey Sweatshirt (first 15,000 fans)
• Saturday, April 18: Hello Kitty Night, Hello Kitty Backpack (special ticket required)

May

• Saturday, May 16: Military Appreciation Day, Hunter Goodman T-Shirt (first 15,000 fans)
• Sunday, May 31: Kids Day (all kids run the bases)

June

• Friday, June 5: City Connect Hat (first 15,000 fans)
• Sunday, June 7: Dinger Bobblehead (first 15,000 fans)
• Saturday, June 20: Soccer Jersey (first 15,000 fans)
• Sunday, June 21: Father’s Day Hawaiian Shirt (first 15,000 fans)

July

• Friday, July 3: Postgame Fireworks Show
• Saturday, July 4: Postgame Fireworks Show
• Friday, July 17: City Connect Mystery Player Jersey (first 15,000 fans)
• Saturday, July 18: Hot Dog Hat (first 15,000 fans)
• Friday, July 31: City Connect Floppy Hat (first 15,000 fans)

August

• Saturday, August 1: Postgame Drone Show, Colorado 150th Birthday Wearable Flag (first 15,000 fans)
• Sunday, August 2: Faith Day Postgame Concert (special ticket required)
• Saturday, August 22: Star Wars Night, Star Wars-Themed Jersey (special ticket required)

September

• Friday, September 18: Fan Appreciation Fireworks
• Sunday, September 20: Los Rockies Day

Additionally, here’s what our writers were up to this week:

To Read (Rockpiles)

• Monday: What Michael Lorenzen could mean for the Rockies | Evan Lang
• Tuesday: Is Troy Johnston (part of) the Rockies’ answer at first base? | Renee Dechert
• Wednesday: Should the Rockies revisit their 2012 piggyback plan? | Skyler Timmins
• Thursday: What Chase Dollander could learn from former Rockies’ pitchers | Sam Bradfield
• Friday: Schaeffer wants more first-pitch strikes. How do the Rockies measure up? | Joelle Milholm

To Read (PuRPs)

Full Stream

• Single-Ballot Players
• Numbers 46-41
• Numbers 40-36
• Numbers 35 to 31 (HMs)
• No. 30, Oscar Pujols

To Read (Other)

• Purple Row Community: We’re hiring! Be part of the Purple Row team! | Sam Bradfield
• NL West News: Nolan Arenado agrees to a trade with the Diamondbacks | Renee Dechert
• Roster News: Rockies 2026 international prospects signing tracker | Sam Bradfield & Evan Lang
• Roster News: Rockies officially sign RHP Michael Lorenzen | Evan Lang
• Roster News: Rockies sign Willi Castro | Evan Lang
• Player Feature: Michael Lorenzen is ready to be a problem solver at Coors Field | Sam Bradfield

Weekend Discussion Topics

Which giveaways are you most looking forward to? What’s a giveaway you’d like to see the Rockies do? Let us know in the comments!

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

Meet the Mets

Less than twenty-four hours after missing out on Kyle Tucker, the Mets made quite the pivot, agreeing to a three-year, $126 million deal with Bo Bichette.

The Athletic provided the details for how the shift to Bichette came about for the Mets.

Bichette will predominantly play third base for the Mets, which could allow Brett Baty to transition to a utility role or be used as trade bait.

There are a lot of reasons to like what Bichette will be bringing to the table in New York.

What additional moves could the Mets make following the Bichette signing?

There are still a number of questions facing the Mets from here, including where they turn to for rotation help.

As is the case with Jorge Polanco, David Stearns is betting on Bichette’s ability to transition to a new position.

While Bichette satisfied the desire for a big bat addition, the Mets remain interested in Cody Bellinger.

The Mets are one of the teams showing interest in Griffin Canning this offseason.

It’s not quite as exciting as Bichette, but the Mets also claimed infielder Tsung-Che Cheng off waivers from the Rays yesterday.

Around the National League East

Much like the Mets, the Phillies had to pivot when their top target spurned them for another team, and they did so by bringing back J.T. Realmuto on a three-year, $45 million deal.

The Phillies tried and failed to get Bichette and there may not be many other potential moves for them to make.

Battery Power contemplated what the Braves can expect from Austin Riley in 2026.

The Marlins added bullpen depth by claiming right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Athletics.

Federal Baseball argued that teams like the Nationals not spending money is as big of a problem for Major League Baseball as the Dodgers.

ESPN examined the state of the National League East following the most recent signings.

Around Major League Baseball

Realmuto was not the only catcher who came off the market yesterday, as the Twins inked Victor Caratini to a two-year, $14 million deal.

The Kyle Tucker signing has a huge impact on both the Dodgers and the rest of the league.

While many will continue to call for a salary cap, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal argues that other fixes are needed.

The White Sox may have interest in former Met Michael Conforto.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Linda Surovich examined the state of the Mets’ lineup with Bo in tow.

Brian Salvatore and Chris McShane tried to make sense of the moves the Mets have made in the latest episode of Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World Series.

Zach Thornton came in at fourteenth on Amazin’ Avenue’s list of top Mets prospects heading into 2026.

This Date in Mets History

The Mets signed A.J. Minter one year ago.