Even though they almost let it slip away on Sunday, the Pittsburgh Penguins won all four games on their Western Conference road trip and mostly did so in impressive fashion. They beat the Seattle Kraken, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers by multiple goals, with all three games being rather convincing wins, and then had a 3-0 lead on the Vancouver Canucks going into the third period. They needed goalie Stuart Skinner to stand on his head a little bit to secure that win, but the bottom line is he did, they got the two points, and they remain one of the best teams in the NHL since the holiday break with an 11-2-2 record in their first 15 games since then.
What that means for the standings:
The Penguins are tied for the seventh-best points percentage (.618) in the entire NHL.
Their goal-differential is tied for the sixth-best in the NHL.
They are tied for the fourth-best points percentage (.618) in the Eastern Conference.
They are four points ahead of the New York Islanders for the second spot in the Metropolitan Division in the same number of games played.
They are on a 101-point pace for the season.
The current playoff cut-off line in the Eastern Conference is 98 points in the wild-card race and 94 points in the Metropolitan Division.
Overall, they have put themselves in a pretty good spot.
They have a chance to keep it going on this upcoming three-game home stand against the Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Ottawa Senators.
The home stand begins on Thursday night against Connor Bedard and the Blackhawks. The Penguins won the first meeting this season, 7-3, back on Dec. 28 in Chicago to kickstart this recent strong stretch of play.
While Bedard is a blossoming superstar in the NHL, the Blackhawks as a whole are still not particularly good. They enter the week having won just three of their past nine games, have the sixth-worst record in the NHL and some of the worst 5-on-5 scoring chance and possession metrics in the NHL.
They are 30th in 5-on-5 expected goal share and 28th in expected goals against per 60 minutes. That should be a winnable game.
On Saturday the Penguins host former head coach Mike Sullivan and the Rangers for a celebration of the 2016 Stanley Cup team. Several former players will be in the house, and it should be another chance to collect some points against a Rangers team that is currently, by far, the worst team in the Eastern Conference. They are even worse due to the current injuries to top defenseman Adam Fox and starting goalie Igor Shesterkin. Aside from the injuries, the Rangers simply have a lack of offensive talent that limits their scoring ability and ability to push play during 5-on-5 hockey. It is a poorly constructed team that is currently without two of the players it could least afford to be without. The Penguins and Rangers have split the first two games this season, with the Penguins getting a 3-0 win in New York in the season opener, and the Rangers getting a 6-1 win in Sullivan’s first return back to Pittsburgh as an opposing coach.
Even the Monday against the Senators is a winnable game. Ottawa is probably better than its record indicates and has been ruined by awful goaltending all season, but there is still a chance there for more points.
The two big wild cards this week for the Penguins are going to be the availability of forwards Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin.
Malkin seemed to be in pain at the end of Sunday’s game when he was bumped on the bench in celebration of the win.
Rust, meanwhile, could be facing a potential suspension for a hit to the head late in Sunday’s win against the Canucks.
Any potential absence of either player (or both) would disrupt the line chemistry the Penguins have really started to develop over the past few weeks.
Even so, given the way the Penguins are playing, and given the teams on the schedule this week, it would be a bit of a disappointment to not come out of this week with four points. That should be a realistic expectation and goal.
Another weekend, another few days of soul-searching for Liverpool and Tottenham. Liverpool had been on a 13-game unbeaten run before Saturday’s defeat to Bournemouth, but nobody could claim a string of results that included home draws with all three promoted clubs was convincing. Spurs had won just two of their 13 league games before Saturday’s away draw at Burnley, which was salvaged only thanks to an injury-time goal from Cristian Romero.
For both, European competition had offered some relief – Liverpool looked very good in a 3-0 win away to Marseille while Spurs, at least in the first half, produced probably their best performance since August in beating Borussia Dortmund 2-0 – but the sad truth is that the vast majority of European sides these days simply cannot live with the physicality of the Premier League. That’s not to say that Bournemouth or Burnley are better than Marseille or Dortmund, but it is to say that the challenge they pose a Premier League side is less.
The New York Islanders have been generous to Under backers this season, particularly when facing sturdy defensive teams.
My Islanders vs. Flyers predictions and NHL picks expect that to hold true in an important divisional battle between two teams neck-and-neck in the standings.
Islanders vs Flyers prediction
Islanders vs Flyers best bet: Under 5.5 (+105)
Ilya Sorokin has performed as well as anybody this season, leading the NHL in goals saved above expected with a mark of +23.8 through 30 appearances. He's a huge reason why the New York Islanders rank fifth in goals against per game and sit in a playoff spot.
The Islanders have played in a lot of low-scoring games (they possess an O/U record of 22-27-2), especially against other stingy sides.
The Philadelphia Flyers meet the criteria. They're one of the best shot suppression teams in the NHL and also prevent goals very effectively — at least with Dan Vladar, tonight’s projected starter, between the pipes.
Isolating games against Top-10 teams in terms of limiting shots, eight of New York’s past 12 have featured five goals or fewer. That includes five straight on the road.
The Islanders don’t have enough firepower to score consistently against good defensive teams, while almost every opponent struggles to beat Sorokin. Neither of these teams has scored more than three goals over the past five head-to-head matchups.
With Sorokin and Vladar expected between the pipes, there’s no reason to expect either team to hit its offensive ceiling in this one.
Islanders vs Flyers same-game parlay
Owen Tippett has shot the lights out of late, averaging 3.2 SOG over the past 10 while clearing this line in eight. Coming off a hat trick against the No. 1-ranked Avalanche, Tippett should have all the confidence to keep shooting in this one.
Philadelphia is great at taking away the middle of the ice and forcing teams to shoot from the perimeter. That bodes well for Tony DeAngelo, a former Flyer who's recorded multiple shots in four straight returns to Philadelphia.
The Islanders have cashed the Under in 14 of their last 20 road games for +9.75 units and a 45% ROI. Find more NHL betting trends for Islanders vs. Flyers.
How to watch Islanders vs Flyers
Location
Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, PA
Date
Friday, January 26, 2026
Puck drop
7:00 p.m. ET
TV
MSGSN, NBCS-Philadelphia
Islanders vs Flyers latest injuries
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This had the potential to be ugly, fortunately instead it was just pretty funny.
During Sunday night's game, Oklahoma City's Lu Dort rotated over to defend Toronto big man Sandro Mamukelashvili on the roll to the rim. When Mamukelashvili got the pass, he pump-faked, and Dort bought it — and ended up jumping on his shoulders.
Classy move by Mamukelashvili to make sure Dort didn't take a hard fall.
Toronto went on to hand Oklahoma City its second straight home loss 103-101, behind 23 from Immanuel Quickley (whose name keeps popping up in trade rumors as the Raptors look for another big man). Mamukelashvili had 10 points in the win.
From the moment he arrived in town last April, Ivan Demidov has been a Montreal Canadiens fan’s favourite, and his performance this season has not disappointed. He started the year on a line with fellow rookie Oliver Kapanen and Alex Newhook, which proved to be a very good line until Newhook was injured, forcing Martin St-Louis to find another combination. The rookies got a turn with Kirby Dach, but he was injured in their very first game as linemates. They then had a seven-game stint with Juraj Slafkovsky before spending a few games with Alexandre Texier. Still, ultimately, the coach reverted to the Slovak power forward, and the league has really come into its own.
After 52 games, the Russian rookie leads all NHL rookies with 43 points, 24 penalty minutes, and a plus-eight rating, and until Sunday night, his linemate Kapanen was leading all rookies in goals scored, with 16, but that changed with the Anaheim Ducks’ 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames. Ducks’ rookie Beckett Sennecke scored his first hat trick in the comeback overtime win, leapfrogging Kapanen in the rookie goal-scoring race. He now has 18 lamplighters.
That performance also allowed Sennecke to get closer to Demidov and the rookie-scoring lead, as he now has 41 points, just two behind the Canadiens’ Russian wonder. Both players have skated in 52 games and should be Matthew Schaefer’s main competition in the race for the Calder Trophy.
The fact that Demidov has the lead right now is impressive considering he only plays an average of 18.1 shifts per game compared to Sennecke’s 21.7 shifts and Schaefer’s 26.9. Of course, it means the Russian gets less ice time, skating for an average of 15 minutes and 24 seconds, while Sennecke spends an average of 17:09 on the ice, and the defenseman, 24:04. Demidov is undoubtedly making the most of the time he is given.
In the last 10 years, seven forwards have won the Calder Trophy while only three defensemen have been able to grab it. Last year, Lane Hutson won it with 66 points, while Moritz Seider claimed it in 2021-22, and Cale Makar landed it in 2019-20, both with 50 points, but Covid shortened Makar’s rookie season. Over those 10 years, the forwards who won the Trophy averaged 67 points.
As things stand, Demidov is on pace for 68 points while Sennecke is on pace for 65. Meanwhile, Schaefer is on pace for 55 points, in Calder Trophy territory for a blueliner, and his role goes beyond just putting up points for the New York Islanders. It feels like Demidov will need to really separate himself with his production if he’s to win the rookie of the year trophy for a second year running for the Canadiens.
Our CPL continues on this bright and beautiful morning and the third spot in our community’s rankings goes to another left-hander in Gage Jump. The Athletics’ second round pick last year had an amazing first season in the professional ranks, starting the year in High-A before getting promoted to Double-A, where he spent the majority of the season. Jump is much closer to the big leagues than his fellow left-hander Arnold and could legitimately become an option for the Athletics this summer if things continue on the path that they’re on right now. It shouldn’t be much longer before we see him donning the Green & Gold.
Taking Jump’s spot in the nominations list will be shortstop Edgar Montero. The young shortstop out of the Dominican Republic had a tough start to his pro career but elevated his game in his second full season. There’s lots to like in his approach at the plate as he’s able to draw walks without sacrificing much power in the batter’s box. Like other current nominees on our list he’s a bit farther away from truly impacting the big league squad but Montero has the chance to become a quality prospect given enough time. Does he rank above his fellow prospects on this list though?
The process for this public vote is explained below. Please take a moment to read this before participating:
Please only vote for one. The player with the most votes at the end of voting will win the ranked spot. The remaining four players move on to the next ballot where they are joined by a new nominee.
In the comments, below the official voting, the community will nominate players to be put onto the ballot for the next round. The format for your comment should be “Nomination: Player Name”.
If a prospect is traded, his name will be crossed out, and all other players will be moved up a space. If a prospect is acquired, a special vote will be put up to determine where that player should rank.
The voting continues! Who will take the fourth spot? The voting should get much more interesting from here on out. Here’s a quick rundown on each nominee— the scouting grades (on a 20-to-80 scale) and scouting reports come from MLB Pipeline.
Bolte is a tooled-up athlete who continues to fill out his big 6-foot-3 frame. His impressive raw power continues to show up in the Minors, though there is still a real concern over his swing-and-miss and high strikeout rate as he continues to struggle with offspeed stuff out of the zone. The A’s have worked with him to revamp his swing in order to improve his bat path and cover more of the zone, which has produced slight improvements in those areas, though there is still plenty of work to be done.
Another shining tool for Bolte is his near-elite speed, which was on display last season as he swiped 46 bags. That speed also comes in handy on defense, combining that with a strong arm that makes him a solid outfielder at all three spots. Further refining is required, but he remains an exciting talent with a very high ceiling who continues to steadily advance through the system.
While working around the injuries, Nett has continued to show stellar velocity, touching as high as 99 mph in the Minor Leagues last season. He typically sits 95-97 mph and gets swing-and-miss up in the zone thanks to ample carry. He also throws a tight 81-84 mph slider that ran a 38 percent whiff rate in ’24 and a sharper 90-92 mph cutter that can catch hitters off guard. He’ll mix in an upper-70s curveball with more vertical drop and he’s scrapped a low-80s splitter in favor of a much more effective 88 mph kick-change that really neutralizes lefties.
Nett has some effort in his delivery, and the 2025 season (pre-trade) was the first time he’d posted a walk rate below 13 percent at any Minor League stop. Combine that with the early injury concerns, and it’s easy to think he could be a reliever eventually. But his arsenal is deep enough, and his stuff is promising enough — when combined with strides taken this season — to keep landing him in a starting role in the upper Minors.
It’s not often that teenage prospects launch home runs. But Colome has a tendency to get to that jumpy pop with frequency, consistently leveraging his swing well – so well in fact, that one evaluator mentioned the most recent occasion on which he saw an international prospect continually get to their launch point in such a manner was Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Colome is a right-handed hitter with explosive hands and a solid contact rate, although he has been known to be a tad aggressive in the box as a means of getting to said power.
Something of an athletic marvel at 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds at age 16, Colome is an agile athlete who shows a lot of lateral quickness. The fluidity of his movements and strong arm led to a Manny Machado comparison being hung on him defensively. Much like the seven-time All-Star, Colome may move off short as his frame fills out, but he’s a tremendously dedicated worker and has the feet, soft hands and instincts to stick at the premium position.
A 6-foot-2 left-hander, Lin has a combination of feel for as many as five pitches and projection to his frame. Right now his fastball averages just 91 mph, but it tops out at 95, and it’s easy to see that his frame has tremendous room to add good strength, with more consistent velocity to come. It already had the makings of a quality heater, thrown from around a 5.9-feet release height and with more than 18 inches of carry to it, helping it to miss a good amount of bats. His changeup has been his best secondary offering to date, with huge whiff rates during his debut. His short curve is his go-to breaking ball thus far, though he has a harder, shorter slider. He’ll also employ a splitter for another offspeed possibility.
It’s been a small sample size so far in his first full season, but Lin looks like he has the makings of being an extreme strike-thrower, showing particularly good command of his fastball and curve. If the teenaged southpaw is able to fill out and throw harder, the A’s could have a very interesting left-handed starting pitcher prospect on their hands.
A switch-hitting shortstop, Montero has shown the ability to impact the ball from both sides of the plate, with his natural right-handed swing more direct to the ball, though his left-handed swing is more picturesque and he obviously gets more plate appearances from that side. He has the chance to hit for average and power, with a solid approach that has allowed him to walk more than he strikes out for much of the summer.
Last year, Montero was slower and less athletic, but attention to conditioning and nutrition has helped him get leaner and stronger. An average runner, Montero has the instincts and actions to stick at shortstop for a long time, with a solid and accurate arm. If his body gets bigger as he matures — he played all of 2025 at age 18 — he could move to the hot corner, but the A’s don’t see that in his future. What they are hoping for is that he comes to instructs this year and stays in the United States as one of the better prospects to come out of their Dominican academy in some time.
* * *
Programming Note: Each CPL vote will run for around 48 hours, so don’t delay making your selections!
Boston Bruins superstar David Pastrnak has recorded four or more shots in six of his past eight games, totaling 32 on 64 attempts. His 12.0 shots and 24.01 attempts per 60 minutes during the stretch rank eighth and fifth in the league, respectively.
With the New York Rangers ranking 28th in Corsi For percentage at 5-on-5 while allowing a healthy 29.2 shots per game out of the holiday break, this checks out as a soft matchup.
Viktor Arvidsson ranks second in shots while pacing the NHL in attempts per 60 minutes across his past 10 games, recording three or more in eight of those contests.
He’s piled up a monster 39 shots and 72 attempts during the stretch, and as noted, this is a great matchup for the B's snipers.
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Jake Bloss is a 24-year-old (25 in June), right-handed pitcher. We picked him up (with Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner) from the Astros, at the trade deadlin in 2024, for Yusei Kikuchi.
Kikuchi made 10 starts for the Astros and had a 2.70 ERA with a 5-1 record, helping them get the Wild Card spot that year (they lost to the Tigers in two games). He played for the Angels last year.
Bloss was #7 on our Prospect List last year. Tom M wrote:
Bloss uses an aggressive drop and drive deliver that gets him great extension and also a flat plane to the plate. That pairs well with his fastball, a four-seamer that sits 93-95 and occasionally touches 98 with above average carry. He throws three breaking balls: a cutter in the 87mph range, a sweeping slider around 82, and a solid two plane curve at 79. His change-up is his weakest pitch, a little too firm at 90mph and with some arm side fade but fringe movement overall. None of the pitches are plus (except the fastball when it’s at the top of its range), but at least three look above average and the sheer variety helps everything play. Bloss has good feel most of the time, but he needs to find more consistency and refine his approach to cut down on his walks.
Bloss is undoubtedly advanced for a player just a season and a third into his pro career, but his advancement to Houston last year had more to do with desperation than him actually forcing the issue. He has work to do to refine his command and approach, and I don’t think it would be a surprise or a problem if he spent most or all of the season in Buffalo before making his Blue Jays debut. His upside is as #3/4 starter once he makes those refinements, and I think there’s a good chance he’ll be pencilled into that role going into 2026.
Unfortunately, for Jake, he ended up needing UCL surgery in May of last year and ended up missing the rest of the season.
Baseball America has him listed as the Jays ninth best prospect coming into spring training this year, but he likely won’t be back on the mound until mid-season and then will have to show that he is still the same pitcher as before the surgery. Between that, and the number of pitchers we have at the major league level and the ones in the minors who seem major league ready, it is tough to see a path for Bloss to pitch in the majors. But he does have a fastball that can reach 98 mph so if a spot in the pen opens up, who knows.
Stream thinks that is the most likely outcome, figuring him to pitch in 12 games of the pen, with a 7.96 ERA in 12 innings.
With the NBA’s trade deadline fast approaching, so is the Lakers’ next chance to reshape their roster in Luka Dončić‘s image.
After an offseason that did little to clarify the team’s long-term outlook, many pointed to this deadline and the upcoming summer as the transactional periods that would officially usher in the team’s new chapter. Whether by choice or necessity.
Five Lakers are currently on expiring deals and three more have player options. Among the few who can decide to spend another year in Los Angeles is Deandre Ayton.
The polarizing former No. 1 overall pick joined the team after reaching a buyout from the Portland Trail Blazers at the start of free agency. It was a decision that made sense for both parties.
For Ayton, the Lakers represented a chance for redemption after several years mired in mediocrity. He could be spoon-fed by three of the league’s best creators, play for a club with championship aspirations and be granted a spotlight to earn his next big contract in Los Angeles or elsewhere.
For the Lakers, Ayton addressed their clear need at center following Anthony Davis’ exit. Despite his baggage, Ayton remained talented, maintained off-court ties to Dončić, and most importantly, came at a bargain.
Through 44 games, the union has teetered but mostly been positive. The team sits just a half-game out of the four seed despite a deluge of injuries, with Ayton shoring up the center spot to an adequate level. And yet, little traction has ultimately been made for both sides’ ultimate goals.
Even with improved center play compared to their post-Dončić trade efforts last season, Ayton has not done enough to be seen as a long-term answer down low.
To his credit, Ayton has been one of the league’s most efficient centers on offense. He is currently posting his highest points per shot attempt of his career and is converting 66.2% of his two-point looks (85th percentile among bigs), which is even more impressive given nearly half (49%) of his shot attempts come in the midrange.
He has also benefited greatly from playing alongside Dončić. When the two have shared the floor, Ayton is shooting a tremendous 81% at the rim compared to just 69% when Dončić is on the bench.
While the raw results have been encouraging, there remains stylistic dissonance between the two that raises long-term concerns. Ayton is not the explosive vertical threat who can consistently capitalize on Dončić’s prolific lob throwing and lacks the motor to be a rim-running threat in transition. He also plays at a similar methodical pace to Dončić, which counterintuitively is not ideal for a star who thrives with a level of athletic juice around him.
On defense, Ayton has not been enough of a rim deterrent to help cover up for Dončić and the collective roster’s perimeter struggles.
Teams are currently shooting 71.5% at the rim against the Lakers this season in non-garbage time minutes. That is the second-worst mark in the league.
Although this should not rest solely on Ayton’s shoulders, individually, the positives he offers on that end have been mostly offset by the lapses and wavering effort. He is capable, but should not be expected to be the type of anchor needed to protect a future group built around Dončić and Austin Reaves.
Among the 24 centers who have defended at least 200 shots within six feet this season, Ayton ranks 13th in field-goal percentage allowed according to the league’s tracking data. Not bad, just not good enough.
Barring a dramatic uptick in production or helping lead a deep postseason run, it is looking increasingly more likely that the Lakers may prefer to find a new starting center. The issue is that it may be easier said than done.
The Lakers could be armed with up to $60 million in cap space to address the position. Some free agents the team may be interested in include: Isaiah Hartenstein, Nikola Vucevic, Mitchell Robinson, Robert Williams, Jalen Duren, Mark Williams and Walker Kessler.
While there are enticing options on that list, there are also hurdles in actually signing any. The Thunder, for example, holds a team option on Hartenstein. And Duren, Williams and Kessler are all restricted free agents, meaning their respective teams own the right to match any offer the Lakers may present.
It is not impossible that they can shake one of these names loose from their current situations. But in reality, the Lakers and Williams are probably not a potential fit following their trade debacle, and Duren and Kessler remain too valuable to their current organizations as players — and trade pieces — to be given up for nothing.
There are also question marks hanging over the bigs that the Lakers could sign outright. Vucevic would be an excellent pick-and-pop addition, but his age and defense would be far worse than the team’s current internal options.
Robinson and Williams fit the mold of centers that Dončić historically has meshed well with and possess more defensive talent than Ayton. Both, however, have been plagued by injuries and may make a team like the Lakers nervous about offering lucrative long-term deals.
If the free-agent class proves barren, the Lakers could then ultimately look at trading for their center of the future. And if no deal transpires by the deadline, the team will be equipped with more draft capital in the offseason to put together an attractive package for a center they like. This is where their aforementioned cap space could also prove useful in terms of absorbing a larger salary player in a deal.
As is the case with any road taken, there is the risk of potential opportunity cost. For example, trading for the likes of Bam Adebayo, Jarrett Allen or Ivica Zubac will cost most of, if not all, of the Lakers’ draft assets as well as take a chunk out of their cap space.
They would all make the team better from a positional perspective, but leave them without many resources to shore up the other holes on the roster.
The Lakers could try to split the difference and target a lower tier of center with one of their picks and find help on the wing with their remaining tools. But they must weigh if a big such as Nic Claxton is that much better than Ayton, considering it may also restrict them from doing other things elsewhere. This is worth noting because the upcoming wing and forward free-agent class is woof, to say the least.
This is ultimately the dilemma Rob Pelinka and the front office will face in the upcoming weeks and in the summer.
Are they better suited to use a similar package they offered previously for Williams to shore up a key position in the starting lineup for the foreseeable future? Or would running it back with a stopgap like Ayton and then using their assets to better construct the rest of the roster be more fruitful?
LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 13: Deandre Ayton #5 and Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during the game against the Atlanta Hawks on January 13, 2026 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)
While not the popular decision, an Ayton reunion may not be the disaster that a large portion of the fanbase may view it as. At least in the short term and assuming the rest of the roster improves.
Despite his flaws, the Lakers have had a slightly positive net rating (+0.3) when Dončić and Ayton have shared the floor. And when you add Reaves to the mix, the trio have perfomed well, posting a net rating of +6.0.
Given his player’s option (only $8.1 million) Ayton also holds a large say in whether he is back. This is not a guarantee he would find himself back in the starting role or exempt him from being traded if he opts to, but considerable dominoes would need to fall for it not to happen.
It also remains to be seen how aggressive the Lakers will still be in looking for a center upgrade. Before the Ayton signing, the front office showed its hand and desperation with the botched Williams trade. Ayton’s play likely has not changed the calculation, but he may have done enough for them to focus their attention and assets elsewhere.
In an ideal world, the Lakers will employ a center who is better than Ayton by next season. A cornerstone that fit around and support Dončić and Reaves into the team’s next era.
But even with a boatload of cap space and several draft picks, finding the right big man may prove difficult for a franchise that has historically gotten them to fall into their laps.
All stats courtesy of Cleaning the Glass unless otherwise stated. You can follow Alex on Bluesky at @alexregla.bsky.social.
The Sixers are in an interesting spot as the trade deadline approaches. They look good enough on certain nights to be a real contender in an Eastern Conference that appears to be wide open.
While their record isn’t stellar, they’re still above .500 and the 2025-26 season has given fans a sliver of hope, both for the current season and that the future might not be super bleak. So, that leaves you with a team that’s probably not good enough to be an aggressive buyer within the next week, but certainly isn’t bad enough to be an obvious seller which leaves Daryl Morey with some decisions to make.
The most obvious decisions for Morey would be to sell off a few of Philly’s veterans who are on expiring contracts and there are three names to discuss here. Quentin Grimes, Andre Drummond and Kelly Oubre are all set to become free agents this summer. Granted, lumping the 25-year-old Grimes in with these two players in their 30s is oversimplifying things a bit. However, dating back to last offseason when the Sixers and Grimes were seemingly never close to a long-term deal, it has felt like the Houston product has had one foot out the door.
Out of these three players, Drummond is the oldest and being paid the least amount of money for the season, so you would think he is the most likely to be traded. Joel Embiid has shown signs of looking like his old self of late and Adem Bona is a youngster that is playing about as many minutes as Drummond is anyway. The team also officially signed old friend Charles Bassey to a 10-day deal Monday.
That brings us to Oubre, who is the most complicated trade candidate on the roster. While the Sixers are Oubre’s fifth team in a decade of NBA service time, the 30-year-old journeyman wing player has been a constant for Philadelphia in his three seasons with the team. He appeared in 68 games in 2023-24, 60 games last season and could still end up playing in 50-60 games this year if he stays healthy in the second half after a knee injury early in the season. His numbers have been pretty steady in all three seasons as a Sixer, and this season, his 38% three-point field goal percentage is actually up significantly from last year’s 29%.
If there’s a team out there that is more solidified as a contender than Philadelphia is, it may call Morey about Oubre, especially considering an acquiring team would gain Oubre’s Bird rights. Oubre hasn’t played for many contenders in his career, but he feels like a prototypical deadline addition for a contender. For his career, Oubre has appeared in 677 games, starting 328 of them, making for almost exactly a 50-50 split between his time as a starter and a bench player. He’s been a pretty consistent scorer regardless of the team he’s played for and a team with championship aspirations would probably love to add a 15-points-per-game guy that is shooting the ball as well as Oubre is this season.
Whether the Sixers should bite and move on from Oubre is a different conversation. Surely, there’s a price on any player and if another team exceeds the price that Morey and his staff value Oubre at, then no one can blame the Sixers for moving on. But, there’s a lot of value in Oubre remaining in Philadelphia. First off, he can help them win games in the second half, climb in the standings and cement themselves as one of the top six seeds in the East and avoid the play-in tournament.
Secondly, a player like Oubre can certainly help bring Philly’s younger players along. Between Bona, VJ Edgecombe, Jabari Walker and Dominick Barlow, the Sixers have four rotation players in their early 20s who are still learning the ropes of life in the NBA. Oubre has been in so many different environments in his 10+ years as a professional, he could certainly help Philly’s younger players feel like they belong.
Lastly, while everyone knows about the money Philadelphia has committed to Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George for the future, there isn’t a lot of money on the books to other players in future seasons. To bring it back to Oubre in comparison to Grimes and Drummond, it feels like a no-brainer that Oubre should be the one out of these three that the Sixers are most interested in singing this summer.
We discussed the presence of Bona making Drummond a bit more expendable. While 2025-26 has not gone according to planned for Jared McCain, one would figure the Sixers still want McCain to be a big part of their future and the departure of Grimes would make it much easier to get McCain more playing time next season. Who’s replacing Oubre if Oubre is gone either at the trade deadline or if he walks in free agency? Philly doesn’t have another plug-and-play wing like Oubre and so keeping him for the rest of the season in hopes of going on a playoff run in the spring probably makes it easier to retain Oubre moving forward.
As we said, there could be an offer for Oubre that is too good to pass up. We’re certainly not trying to make it sound like the future of the franchise hinges on if Kelly Oubre sticks around or not. But Oubre has been a consummate professional in his time as a Sixer. He’s at the point in his career where he can be both a mentor to younger players and a remain a key contributor for whatever team he’s playing for. That team should continue to be the Philadelphia 76ers.
Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Golden State Warriors Date: January 26th, 2026 Time: 8:30 PM CST Location: Target Center Television Coverage: Peacock Radio Coverage: KFAN FM, Wolves App, iHeart Radio
There are bad losses, and then there are losses that make you question whether everyone in the building is actually watching the same sport you are. Sunday afternoon against Golden State landed firmly in the second category.
This wasn’t just another mark in the loss column. This was a five-game losing streak crystallized into one ugly, disjointed, borderline alarming performance. Twenty-five turnovers. Sixty percent from the free-throw line. Zero urgency. Zero cohesion. And a team that looked less like a Western Conference contender and more like one killing time until the final buzzer.
That’s what makes this stretch so confounding. You can squint and explain away Houston — no Anthony Edwards, brutal free-throw shooting, still right there late. You can contextualize San Antonio — no Rudy Gobert, one catastrophic defensive quarter, still a furious comeback. Even Utah, as galling as it was, fits into the familiar Wolves genre of “took a bad opponent lightly and paid for it.”
But Chicago at home? Blowing multiple double-digit leads when they knew they couldn’t afford it? And then Sunday afternoon, in a game that was supposed to be about pride, response, and urgency, watching the Wolves casually hand Golden State extra possessions like they were running a giveaway promotion?
That’s where the concern stops being about execution and starts being about engagement.
Because what we’ve seen over the last 10 days isn’t just missed shots or bad breaks. It’s lazy defense. It’s stagnant offense. It’s body language that screams “we’ll figure it out later.” And in the Western Conference, later turns into the play-in faster than you think.
A week ago, Minnesota was flirting with the two seed. Today, they’re buried in seventh, staring up at a standings ladder that’s suddenly a lot steeper than it was supposed to be. The margin for error is gone. The goodwill from early January has evaporated. And if this team is serious about avoiding a first-round meat grinder, or worse, this spiral has to stop immediately.
The good news? They get the rarest gift in the NBA: an immediate do-over. Same floor. Same opponent. Just over 24 hours later.
No excuses. No schedule quirks. No mystery. Just basketball.
So if the Wolves are going to stop the bleeding, here’s exactly how it has to happen.
Keys to the Game
1. Take care of the ball. You cannot win an NBA game turning the ball over 25 times. Sunday was a masterclass in self-sabotage: lazy passes, dribbling into traffic, unforced errors that turned neutral possessions into automatic Warriors points. Those turnovers didn’t just cost points. They killed rhythm, energy, and any chance of sustained pressure. If Minnesota coughs the ball up at anything close to that level again, the result will be the same. This has to be a game where possessions are valued, decisions are quick, and carelessness is treated like the enemy.
2. Find the intensity. The Wolves looked like a team that didn’t want to be there on Sunday. That can’t happen again. Not at this point in the season, not with this much at stake. Golden State may be short-handed, but they’re still organized, still disciplined, and still capable of punishing teams that sleepwalk. Minnesota doesn’t need perfection. It needs effort. Sprinting back. Fighting over screens. Talking on defense. Playing like each possession matters. This team has shown it can flip that switch. The problem is it keeps choosing not to. That choice can’t exist tonight.
3. Hit your free throws and stop giving games away. This has gone from “concerning trend” to “active crisis.” The Wolves are bleeding points at the line every single night, and it’s costing them real games against real competition. Sixty percent from the stripe is unacceptable for a team with this much shooting talent. Those are free points, and Minnesota keeps leaving them on the table. Until that changes, every close game is going to feel uphill. This has to be the night where competence returns at the line, because the math isn’t negotiable.
4. Use your size and win the physical battle. There is no scenario where the Warriors should be outworking Minnesota on the glass. And yet, that’s exactly what happened. When effort drops, size advantages disappear. Gobert, Randle, and Reid need to reassert themselves as the foundation of this team. Finish possessions. Create second chances. Punish mismatches inside. Make Golden State feel the size difference instead of letting them play small, fast, and free. This should be one of Minnesota’s greatest strengths. It has to show up.
5. Ant and Julius have to set the tone — together. Anthony Edwards showed up Sunday. Julius Randle did not. That imbalance can’t exist again. This team goes where those two take it, and leadership right now means more than scoring totals. It means controlling the pace, smart shot selection, and getting teammates involved. It means playing connected basketball instead of trying to rescue possessions individually. Ant doesn’t need to play hero ball. Randle doesn’t need to bully through triple teams. They need to lead — emotionally, stylistically, and competitively. If they do, the rest of the roster follows. If they don’t, nothing else matters.
This is the moment where teams decide who they are.
Minnesota can keep drifting, blaming injuries, lamenting missed opportunities, and telling themselves the season is long, or they can recognize that this stretch is defining them right now. The West isn’t waiting. The standings don’t care about intent. And every loss from here on out carries compound interest.
This second Warriors game isn’t about revenge. It’s about accountability. It’s about professionalism. It’s about proving that the team we saw in early January wasn’t a mirage.
Because if the Wolves can’t summon urgency here, at home, against a familiar rival, staring down a six-game skid, then the conversation changes. Permanently.
As we write this, we’re wearing a tweed sport coat with patches on the sleeves. It’s office hours here on campus and we’re calculating report cards for the winter term.
In the Yankees’ case, however, this is more a progress report than final grades, since it feels like the Yanks have left some coursework undone. Sure, they completed their major project – re-signing Cody Bellinger – and added pitching depth. But they (hopefully) have more to do, which is why we’ll withhold overall marks right now.
It does seem like they’re just running it back, doesn’t it? That might affect their final grade. The bullpen lost Devin Williams and Luke Weaver, so it might need more strengthening.
Still, there’s some nice roster building here for a team that won 94 games. We will be updating as the offseason continues. Here are the for-now individual grades:
Cody Bellinger re-signed
It took a while and, while it always felt inevitable, it sure would’ve been scary had Bellinger bolted the Bronx. He was, obviously, the linchpin of their entire offseason and the sides finally agreed to a reported five-year, $162.5-million deal with opt-outs after the second and third seasons and a full no-trade clause. They needed him back. And badly.
Bellinger’s ability to offer good defense at all three outfield positions, plus spell and perhaps tutor Ben Rice at first base, is part of what makes him a tremendous Yankee fit. So is his contact hitting, sweet lefty swing, and production. He looked at home last season, his first in New York, where his dad, Clay, played most of his career.
Perhaps Bellinger, 30, can take even bigger advantage of the famed short right field porch after having a season of experience at Yankee Stadium. Last year, he batted .302 with a .365 on-base and .544 slugging percentage at home and hit 18 of his 29 total home runs there.
In 2025, Bellinger had a career-low 13.7 percent strikeout rate, 16th-best in the majors. His ability to make contact, clearly a priority for him in recent years, judging by his numbers, is a crucial skill for the Yanks. They had the sixth-worst strikeout percentage in baseball (23.5 percent) last season.
Grade: A
Trent Grisham returned on the QO
There seemed to be a bit of odd glee in the public when Grisham accepted the $22.025-million qualifying offer, as if the Yanks somehow faltered by getting back a player with power and patience who can handle center field on a reasonable one-year pact. Uh, OK.
Front offices generally believe there are no bad short-term contracts. This deal did not preclude them from re-signing Bellinger. And if you think the Yankees were going to re-sign Bellinger and then get Kyle Tucker had Grisham not returned, well, are you even listening when Hal Steinbrenner speaks publicly?
Grisham, 29, was a key cog in baseball’s best offense. He slugged 34 home runs, had a .348 on-base percentage and an .811 OPS. Only 14 players in the sport hit more home runs than Grisham. He out-homered stars such as Julio Rodríguez, George Springer, and José Ramírez. His OPS was two points lower than Bellinger’s. He doesn’t chase and offered the Yanks a solution at leadoff, which had not been easy to find.
Can he duplicate his 2025? Well, there’s the risk. He doubled his career-best in homers and he was coming off three consecutive seasons in which his average was below .200. Defensive metrics don’t love his glove, even if the eye test is more appreciative. And he is a two-time Gold Glove winner.
Grade: B
Miami Marlins starting pitcher Ryan Weathers (35) pitches in the first inning against the Washington Nationals at loanDepot Park. / Jim Rassol-Imagn Images
Prospects traded for Ryan Weathers
Weathers, a 26-year-old lefty who is the son of former Yankee reliever David Weathers, has massive upside, which is why he cost four prospects in a deal with the Marlins. He relies mostly on a four-seam fastball, a changeup, and a sweeper.
He averaged 96.9 mph on his heater last season in his eight starts, which means that the only lefty starter with a harder fastball, on average, was – gulp – Tarik Skubal. That’s part of the reason why MLB.com cited Weathers as a potential breakout pitcher.
For all his promise, Weathers has injury concerns, too, so there is massive risk here. He has never thrown even 100 innings in a season. Over the past two years combined, he has made only 24 starts and thrown 125 innings.
Still, the Yanks required rotation help, considering Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodón, and Clarke Schmidt are all starting the season on the IL. Weathers, if he stays healthy, could be a big answer. And he won’t be a free agent until after the 2028 season.
Grade: B-
Tim Hill’s option exercised
Hill, 36 in February, has been a reliable bullpen lefty the last two years and led the Yanks with 70 appearances in 2025. He’s worth the $3 million bill. His lefty sidearm approach helps him get ground balls at an elite rate – 64.8 percent last year, second among relievers – and he held lefty batters to a .444 OPS. Hill has been terrific in October as well, fashioning a 0.79 ERA in 13 postseason outings for the Yanks in two years.
Grade: B-plus
Amed Rosario re-signed
Rosario impressed the Yanks last year, batting .303 in 16 games as a post-deadline bench piece. He can play multiple positions, including the outfield, but his real skill for the Yanks is his ability against lefty pitching. Helping their lefty-reliant lineup might be worth the $2.5 million he’s getting. In his career, Rosario has a slash line of .298/.336/.464 against southpaws and he could sub for Ryan McMahon at third against a lefty starter.
Grade: B
Rotation depth kept
Because of the aforementioned recovering pitchers, the Yanks needed arms, so they retained Ryan Yarbrough (4.36 ERA in 19 games) and Paul Blackburn (6.23 ERA over 15 games between Mets and Yanks).
One of the things that have always been synonymous with the long and illustrious history of the New York Yankees have been the sheer amount of cash their biggest superstars make. Since Babe Ruth was making $52,000 in 1922, numerous players in pinstripes have had the distinction of being the highest-paid player in MLB.
When Alex Rodriguez was acquired via trade from Texas just two years into his massive $252 million contract, it was the first time since Dave Winfield in 1981 that the league’s highest-paid player played for the Evil Empire and the perennial MVP candidate was being added to a team who had won six of the last eight AL pennants and four World Series since 1996.
Rodriguez was able to opt out of his massive contract after 2007 and there was initially some doubt whether A-Rod and the Yankees would come to a reunion, but the two sides eventually came to terms on a new-record breaking contract that would have a complicated legacy in pinstripes.
Alex Rodriguez Signing Date: December 17, 2007 Contract: 10 years, $275 million
Rodriguez could’ve retired after the 2007 season and would’ve been a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Since debuting 19 days shy of his 19th birthday in 1994 for the Seattle Mariners, A-Rod had amassed 2,205 hits, 518 home runs, 1,503 RBI, 265 stolen bases, and a career .306/.389/.578 slashline through when he opted out of his contract at age 32. Every milestone, record, and distinction was absolutely attainable for him at this point.
The one thing that had alluded the three-time MVP, however, was a championship. He was an integral part of the Seattle playoff runs in 1997 and 2000 that fell short due to the Yankees, but had missed out on the 116-win Mariners after signing his mega-deal with the lowly Texas Rangers ahead of 2001. He arrived in the Bronx with the highest expectations imaginable, but his first four playoff runs had been underwhelming, to say the least.
Despite winning two MVPs and posting four elite seasons from 2004-07, Rodriguez had managed just one good postseason in 2004, where the Yanks brutally collapsed against Boston, before combining to go 3-for-29 in 2005 and 2006 before a so-so ALDS in 2007. After nearly a decade of perennially playing in the Fall Classic, the three consecutive first-round exits had frustrated the Yankee faithful, and A-Rod’s struggles in the playoffs were right in the middle of it.
So how do you think George Steinbrenner and the Yankees responded when A-Rod officially opted out of the final three years of his contract… during Game 4 of the World Series? The comedically bad timing, courtesy of (who else?) Scott Boras, pissed everyone off. MLB was pissed, the Yankees were pissed, the New York fans and media were outraged. It got to the point where the late Hank Steinbrenner said there was “no chance” the Yankees would look to re-sign Rodriguez after the stunt.
10/28/2007 – A-Rod opts out of his contract in the middle of game four of the World Series. Weeks later, he'd re-sign a 10 year deal. pic.twitter.com/pKYStdEwGV
Not only was the manner in which he opted out frustrating to the Yanks, but it also hurt them financially. As part of the trade to send Rodriguez to the Bronx prior to the 2004 season, Texas had agreed to pay $21.3 million of Rodriguez’s 2008-10 salary, had he not opted out. This absolved them. It was sort of similar to the Giancarlo Stanton contract, where the hulking slugger did have an opt out (which he obviously didn’t use) that would’ve offset the $30 million that Miami is sending to New York for the final three years of the deal.
At first, it seemed Boras’ gamble was a big mistake. The Yankees stayed true to their word for a while, focusing more on retaining Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera. A-Rod’s steep price tag also priced him out of almost every team, with only moderate interest coming from teams like the Giants, Angels, and Dodgers. Eventually, though, the sides got together and agreed to a framework of a new deal in mid-November, not signing it for another month.
The new deal was the richest in baseball history and would pay Rodriguez $27.5 million a year through his age 42 season in 2017. He also had huge milestone incentives in the contract, which would be paid out if Rodriguez got to 660, 714, 755, and 762 home runs. He would only reach one of those.
A-Rod had an okay season by his standards in 2008, finishing eighth in MVP voting and leading the American League in slugging percentage, but the Yankees missed the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, heightening the frustration in the fanbase. It also didn’t help the slugger that he had to admit to using PEDs while he was in Texas in February 2009.
All the frustrations would be soothed in 2009, however. Winning often solves everything and Rodriguez finally had the iconic run that fans had been waiting for. After failing to make the All-Star Game for the first time in a decade with his worst regular season as a Yankee, Rodriguez slashed .365/.500/.808 in 15 games as he finally got the ring to complete his illustrious career.
There wasn’t much left in the tank after that. He extended his streak of 30+ home run seasons to 13 straight in 2010 before injuries held him back in 2011. He was named an All-Star two more times and slowly accumulated his counting stats to eek closer to 3,000 hits while getting to 629 career homers through his age 36 season. There was enough gas in the tank, and plenty of cash, to get A-Rod to 700 and beyond.
The postseason performances were rough again following the World Series victory. He slashed a grotesque .152/.250/.177 in his final 22 postseason games from 2010-15 and it re-invigorated the “playoff dropper” narrative that ate him up prior to 2009. He was a World Series champion, however, and one of the greatest to ever do it. They couldn’t take that from him… until 2013.
Rodriguez’s body was failing him as he entered his late 30s and he missed a vast majority of the 2013 season due to a second arthroscopic surgery in his hip. That would be the least of his problems that year, as the Biogenesis scandal destroyed whatever was left of his public image and established that he would never have a plaque in Cooperstown. If he wasn’t already one of baseball’s biggest villains, he was public enemy No. 1 now.
He would become the first player in major league history to be suspended a full season due to PEDs when Bud Selig put a 162-game ban (shortened from 211) in August 2013, costing the aging superstar an entire year of his career and effectively ending his hopes of reaching the home run milestones that once seemed a certainty.
He recovered to mash 33 home runs as a newly minted designated hitter in 2015, but that was the last gasp. As he approached his 41st birthday and struggled through the 2016 season, the Yankees bit the bullet and announced Rodriguez would play his final game on August 12th, releasing him the next day to make room for a certain 6-foot-7 outfielder that you may know of.
The Yankees would pay out the final $27 million of the contract while Rodriguez was a special advisor in the organization. He had offers to play in 2017, but elected to retire a Yankee, finishing with 696 career home runs. In his second contract, he slashed .269/.359/.486 with 178 home runs, a 123 OPS+, and made two All-Star teams.
It’s safe to say that the Yankees did not get the bang for their buck after extending Rodriguez, but it’s rare that you do when you ink a 32-year-old to a lucrative 10-year contract. The $360 million deal that Aaron Judge got after 2022 was in a similar circumstance of paying a lot of money to an MVP into their early 40s, but the current Yankees’ captain has already been worth the deal with how absurd his last three seasons have been.
The one thing that the contract did yield was a World Series. The Yankees do not win in 2009 without Rodriguez’s contributions in October, even if he was subpar in almost every other postseason. Without 2009, the Yankees would be on a 25-year title drought, the longest in franchise history. Despite the bad press he brought, the 27th World Series that he helped bring home means it isn’t one that Brian Cashman and the Steinbrenners regret.
See more of the “50 Most Notable Yankees Free Agent Signings in 50 Years” series here.
Ryan Clifford, a North Carolina native, attended high school at Leesville Road High School, a public school in Raleigh for his freshman and sophomore seasons. It quickly became apparent that he was a big fish in a small pond, as he posted a .526 with 4 home runs over 21 games in his freshman year, and hit .692 with 3 home runs over 4 games in his sophomore year, winning the 2020 Gatorade Player of the Year (North Carolina) Award for the COVID-shortened season in the process.
Overview
Name: Ryan Clifford Position: 1B/OF Born: 07/20/2003 (Age 22 season in 2026) Height: 6’3” Weight: 200 lbs. Bats/Throws: L/L Acquired: Trade (August 1, 2023: Traded by the Houston Astros with Drew Gilbert to the New York Mets for Justin Verlander) 2025 Stats: 105 G, 367 AB, .243/.355/.493, 89 H, 18 2B, 1 3B, 24 HR, 63 BB, 113 K, 4/6 SB, .278 BABIP (Double-A) / 34 G, 114 AB, .219/.359/.395, 25 H, 5 2B, 0 3B, 5 HR, 22 BB, 35 K, 3/5 SB (.263 BABIP)
With his talent undeniable, Clifford and his family made the decision to have him leave Leesville Road High School and enroll him at the Pro5 Baseball Academy, a nearby baseball development program working in conjunction with Crossroads Flex High School to give students an elite, all-inclusive, year-round baseball development program while meeting state academic benchmarks. There, Clifford would be able to get year-round training and exposure in preparation for a professional baseball career. Over the next two years, his profile would rise and his name would commonly be bandied about by scouts and evaluators for his performance at workouts and in exhibition games across the showcase circuit.
Clifford was considered one of the better high school bats in the 2022 draft class, but due to a handful of circumstances, his name fell down most draft boards. A strong commitment to Vanderbilt University scared off most teams, but beyond that, Clifford’s less-impressive-than-expected numbers during his junior and senior seasons prompted many teams to pass on him. The Mets were one such team, high on Clifford and considering drafting him thanks to possessing the 11th and 14th overall selections in the 2022 MLB Draft but ultimately passing after not being able to make the financials work with the rest of the players Tommy Tanous and Mark Tramuta intended on selecting.
After not hearing his name called over the first ten rounds of the draft, Clifford was finally selected in the 11th round by the Houston Astros, the 343rd overall selection made. Astros scouting director Kriss Gross was initially unsure if the team would be able to find the financial flexibility to sign Clifford, but ultimately was able to make it work, buying him out of his commitment to Vanderbilt for a $1,256,530 signing bonus, roughly the equivalent of a second-round pick in the 2022 MLB Draft.
Clifford made his professional debut later that summer with the FCL Astros Orange, the Astros’ Florida Complex League team. Appearing in 13 games, he went 8-36 with 3 doubles, 1 home run, 2 stolen bases, and 12 walks to 16 strikeouts, a .222/.440/.389 batting line. He was promoted to the Single-A Fayette Woodpeckers and finished out the season going 11-41 with them with 2 doubles, 1 home run, and 10 walks to 15 strikeouts, a .268/.412/.390 batting line. All in all, his professional debut went well, as he hit .247/.426/.390 with 5 doubles, 2 home runs, 2 stolen bases, and 22 walks to 31 strikeouts in 25 combined games.
He began the 2023 season with the Woodpeckers and got off to a hot start, hitting .337/.488/.457 in 25 games with 5 doubles, 2 home runs, 3 stolen bases, and 25 walks to 27 strikeouts. He was promoted to the High-A Ashville Tourists in mid-May and was even more impressive there, hitting .271/.356/.547 in 58 games with 11 doubles, 16 home runs, 1 stolen base, and 21 walks to 61 strikeouts.
On August 1st, the Mets traded Justin Verlander to Houston and received Clifford and Drew Gilbert in return. Clifford was assigned to the Brooklyn Cyclones and finished out the rest of the season there, hitting .188/.307/.376 in 32 games with 4 doubles, 6 home runs, 1 stolen base, and 18 walks to 51 strikeouts. All in all, with all three teams, he hit .262/.374/.480 with 20 doubles, 24 home runs, 5 stolen bases in 7 attempts, and 64 walks to 140 strikeouts.
Clifford returned to the Cyclones to start the 2024 season, and while the numbers did not exactly jump off the pages, he was solidly above-average in the 31 games he played there. The 20-year-old hit .216/.412/.304 with 6 doubles and 1 home run, his power numbers suffering but his walk rate benefitting from a weak Brooklyn Cyclones lineup that made it easy to pitch around the young slugger. When he was promoted to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in mid-May, Clifford began showing off the plus power that makes him so dangerous as a hitter and capable of carrying an entire team for days at a time. Appearing in 98 games, Clifford hit .231/.359/.457 with 21 doubles, 18 home runs, 3 stolen bases, and 63 walks to 117 strikeouts. On the whole, he hit a combined .228/.372/.432 in 129 games on the season with 27 doubles, 19 home runs, 4 stolen bases, and 95 walks to 160 strikeouts. His walk total led the Mets’ minor league system, while his home run and strikeout total both placed him in third.
The Mets had the 21-year-old remain in Binghamton to start the 2025 season, and he ended up playing the majority of the year there, suiting up for 105 games with the Rumble Ponies. Clifford hit .243/.355/.493 with 18 doubles, 1 triple, 24 home runs, 4 stolen bases in 6 attempts, and 63 walks to 113 strikeouts. In mid-August, the team promoted the slugger to Triple-A Syracuse, and he finished the season there, appearing in 34 games and hitting .219/.359/.395 with 5 doubles, 5 home runs, 3 stolen bases in 5 attempts, and 22 walks to 35 strikeouts. Overall, Clifford hit a combined .237/.356/.470 in 2025 with 23 doubles, 1 triple, 29 home runs, 7 stolen bases in 11 attempts, and drew 85 walks to 148 strikeouts. His 29 homers led the Mets minor league system, and his 85 walks led the system for a second-consecutive year.
The 6’3”, 200-pound left-hander stands tall at the plate, standing slightly open and holding his hands high with the bat head angled at 10:00. He swings with a slight kick/toe tap without much of a load or weight transfer. His left-handed stroke is smooth, efficient, and quick, producing light tower power, but it is also long and uppercutty, making him vulnerable to pitches in the upper half of the zone- though he may have made some mechanical adjustments to make himself more effective upstairs, as he hit .241/.477/.586 against pitches up in the zone in his 34 game sample size with Syracuse, where statcast data is publicly available.
Clifford boasts plus-plus raw power and is able to manifest much of that in-game, averaging a 93.6 MPH exit velocity on balls he put in play in Syracuse as per publicly available statcast data, but the swing-and-miss issues will make it difficult to fully tap into that power in-game consistently. Against fastballs, Clifford hit .410/.400/.667 with a 22% whiff rate and an average exit velocity of 96 MPH. Against breaking balls, he hit .231/.222/.577 with a 35.2% whiff rate and an average exit velocity of 90 MPH. Against off-speed pitches, he hit .214/.214/.286 with a 32.6% whiff rate and an average exit velocity of 93.9 MPH.
Clifford has an advanced approach at the plate and makes smart swing decisions, but he sometimes plays himself into poor counts by being too passive at the plate, waiting for pitchers to make mistakes instead of making contact with anything he thinks he can and letting his strength and power take over. Finding himself behind in the count, Clifford’s chase rate is virtually double in such two-strike situations, as opposed to when he is a more favorable counts.
After showing reverse platoon splits and struggling a bit against right-handed pitchers in 2024, hitting .216/.363/.415 against them as compared to the .290/.424/.449 he hit against left-handed pitchers, Clifford’s splits reversed in 2025. He hit an improved .247/.379/.497 against right-handers in 2025 but hit .204/.273/.381 against fellow left-handers.
Not much changed in Clifford’s batted ball profile. He pulled the ball at a 43.9% rate, went back up the middle at a 23.7% rate, and went to the opposite field at a 32.3% rate, all numbers comparable to his 2024 season. Likewise, his 21.3% line drive rate, 38.6% groundball rate, and 40.1% flyball rate were comparable to his 2024 season as well. The one area of noticeable improvement was the damage that was done when he hit the ball in the air. Clifford’s infield flyball rate dropped from 24.0% in 2024 to 19.4% this past season, and his HR/FB ratio increased from 15.7% in 2024 to 21.6% in 2025.
Defensively, Clifford provides little value at any of the positions that he plays. He played first base, left field, and right field in 2025, as well as DH, with the majority of his playing time coming at first base. At first, he is a sub-optimal fielder who will generally make the routine plays but will not do much more than that thanks to a lack of quick-twitch athleticism. In the outfield, he is also a net neutral fielder at best, with his above-average arm an asset, but his lack of athleticism and range a disadvantage. With more time in the outfield, his defense may improve in terms of his read of the ball off the bat, or the routes he takes may become more efficient. But with fringy speed to begin with, losing speed as he ages and matures may counter any experienced-based improvements.
2026 Mets Top 25 Prospect List
9) Will Watson 10) Jack Wenninger 11) Mitch Voit 12) Jonathan Santucci 13) Elian Peña 14) Zach Thornton 15) Nick Morabito 16) R.J. Gordon 17) Chris Suero 18) Dylan Ross 19) Ryan Lambert 20) Antonio Jimenez 21) Edward Lantigua 22) Eli Serrano III 23) Randy Guzman 24) Daiverson Gutierrez 25) Boston Baro
In this episode of the Royals Rundown Podcast, Jacob Milham and Jeremy “Hokius” Greco take stock of the Kansas City Royals while balancing baseball discussion with the reality of current events and the importance of community support. The hosts dive into the MLB Top 100 player and prospect lists, breaking down where key Royals stand, what Bobby Witt Jr.’s national recognition means for the franchise, and how injuries can reshape expectations heading into the season.
The conversation also explores the Royals’ prospect pipeline, player development trends, and potential roster moves still to come before Opening Day. Along the way, Jacob and Jeremy tackle the complicated Hall of Fame case for Carlos Beltrán, discussing how legacy, performance, and controversy intersect in Cooperstown voting. With thoughtful analysis and grounded optimism, the episode offers Royals fans perspective, context, and a clear-eyed look at what lies ahead.
David Pastrnak Over 3.5 shots on goal
Dylan Guenther Under 0.5 points
