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The Cubs have reportedly agreed to a two-year deal with veteran right-handed reliever Shelby Miller.Fansided’s Robert Murray was reportedly first with the news.

Miller, 35, pitched quite effectively last year with the Diamondbacks, posting a 1.98 ERA and ten saves in 37 games before he was traded to the Brewers at the trade deadline, even though he was on the injured list at the time with a right-forearm strain. He returned from the IL in early August and mostly pitched well until a game on September 1 when Miller felt a “pop” in elbow. That turned out to be a torn ulnar collateral ligament, which lead to his second Tommy John surgery. Miller is expected to miss all of 2026 and return in 2027, so this two-year deal is really a deal for 2027 for the Cubs.

Miller is an 11-year veteran who has pitched for ten teams, including the Cubs in 2021. He signed with the Cubs in Spring Training in 2021 and made three mostly-poor relief appearances until he went on the injured list with a back injury. The Cubs released him in May of that year when it was time for him to come off the injured list. Since then, Miller has bounced around with good seasons with the Dodgers in 2023 and Arizona last year and a poor season with the Tigers in 2024.

Miller began his career as starter in the Cardinals system and was traded to Atlanta as part of a package for Jason Heyward in 2014. In 2015, Atlanta dealt Miller to Arizona as part of a package for Dansby Swanson. Miller has also pitched for the Rangers and Pirates. He has not started a game since 2019.

It’s Friday the 13th, folks. If you aren’t into slasher flicks or the Winter Olympics, then hello! Welcome! You’re one of us! Let’s talk baseball!

Tomorrow is the day of love, so they say. And to carry that theme, here’s Chris Sale talking about how he wants to retire as an Atlanta Braves player.

Would you like to see him retire in an Atlanta uniform?

Sound off below!

Dylan Ray might be ahead only of Jose Fernandez, in terms of being the least well-known player on the 40-man roster. Ray was a fourth-round pick in 2022, after barely thirty collegiate innings, and it has been an up-and-down struggle since. Of the four “real” levels at which he has played, High-A ball is the only one where his ERA has been below five. To be fair, pitching in Amarillo or Reno is going to play hell with any prospect’s raw numbers, and last year, he did well in Amarillo. He posted a 3.93 ERA across his ten starts at the Double-A level, which is more than an entire run better than the Sod Poodles’ collective figure. It was also an improvement on his 5.22 in sixteen starts there during 2024.

What’s interesting – and a little odd – is, Ray has managed to reach the cusp of the major leagues without anyone particularly noticing. In terms of written material, for example, I found an interview Michael did with him for the SnakePit in October 2024, when Ray was appearing in the Arizona Fall League. Jack spoke to him last spring, after he was given the ball to start the Spring Breakout game against the Royals, and Ray addressed the perils of high-offense environments: “I’ll look back at it not from a results oriented standpoint, but more process oriented. Did I execute the pitch, throw it where I wanted it to go. The results take care of themselves at the end of the day.”

Since that? A video interview (below) from the Aces on the dreaded Ticky-Tac, just after Dylan had made his first start for Reno, after his promotion from Amarillo. That came on the heels of him being named the organization’s minor-league pitcher of the month for May. He went a perfect 5-0 across five starts with the Sod Poodles, pitching to a 2.03 ERA and holding batters to a .168 average, with a stellar K:BB ratio of 35:3 across 31 innings. Reno proved a rough awakening, as his ERA was a hair above seven across his first ten starts for the Aces. His strikeouts and walks both went in the wrong direction (38:24 in 52.2 IP).

But Dylan was able to put together a good string out outings in August, with a 3.81 ERA and 22:8 K:BB over 26 innings. That included 5.1 shutout innings in Reno against Sacramento, a game where he struck out nine, matching a career high. While he may have run out of gas down the stretch – he faced only four batters in his last start of 2025 – Ray had still done enough to convince the D-backs he needed protecting from the Rule 5 draft. They duly added him to the 40-man roster in December, when other, higher-profile names like Christian Montes De Oca, A.J. Vukovich, and Kristian Robinson were left eligible.

It was something of a surprise, given he wasn’t particularly highly-ranked as a prospect in the Arizona system. A few days after the Rule 5 draft, Ray was only ranked #45 in Fangraphs’ list of our top prospects, though Prospects 1500 had him just inside the top thirty. The former’s write-up suggested he might be better off converted to a reliever. “He’s velocity sensitive — everything plays fine at the very top of his velo band, but he gets hit when he dips — and in my looks his gas has tended to tail off throughout his outing. It’s worth seeing if Ray can add velo and maybe turn his above-average slider into a plus hammer in short stints.”

The manner of that final departure – Ray left the mound with a trainer, his velocity being sharply down – does give some pause for concern. I haven’t found any indications of an injury being involved, but as the case of Andrew Saalfrank showed, we are often the last to hear about these things. Fingers crossed it was simply fatigue rather than anything more meaningful. Ray’s subsequent addition to the roster is a hopeful sign, though the situation with Rule 5 picks and the IL is a murky one. [If they aren’t active for 90 days, the roster restriction carries forward to the next year] Hopefully, we’ll see him in spring, and any concerns about his health can be put to rest.

PHOENIX — Fans lined up and raced around the back fields at the Los Angeles Dodgers spring-training complex Friday, shrieking at the sight of him.

Photographers lugged their equipment around the complex, scurrying to see where he was going to go next.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts spent his media session talking about him more than anyone.

It was Day 1 of the Dodgers spring training camp, and once again, all the buzz was about Shohei Ohtani.

When will he pitch in spring training? When is he leaving for the World Baseball Classic? Are you sure he won’t pitch in the WBC? How can he prepare to pitch while he’s with Team Japan for three weeks? Will he continue to bat leadoff on the days he starts for the Dodgers? How often will he pitch this season? Is he the opening day starter?

So many questions, so few answers.

Yep, just like ol’ times.

More: Are the Dodgers ruining baseball? Rivals refuse to criticize spending.

The difference this year is that there will be no limitations on Ohtani. He is fully healthy after undergoing two Tommy John surgeries. He had a completely normal offseason where he was able to pitch, as well as hit. And he feels as strong as he ever has in his spectacular career.

“I think it’s fair to say he expects to be in the Cy Young conversation,’’ Roberts said, “but we just want him to be healthy, make starts, and all of the numbers and statistics will take care of themselves. But man, this guy is such a disciplined worker and expects the most from himself. …

“Regardless of my expectations for him, his are going to exceed those.’’

Yes, when you’re the winner of four unanimous MVP awards − including three in a row − win two World Series championships, and are the only player to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in the same season, why not try to check off the final box on the Hall of Fame resume?

Cy Young award, anyone?

“If the end result is getting a Cy Young, that’s great,’’ Ohtani said. “Getting a Cy Young means being able to throw more innings and being able to pitch throughout the whole season. So, if that’s the end result, that’s a good sign for me. What I’m more focused on is just being healthy the whole year.’’

Today’s Question of the day comes from yesterday’s Moose Tracks via poster Tuojiangoland:

Never has the best answer ever been a more “EVERYONE!!!” answer than right here, but for the sake of conversation, let’s say the Mariners can and will only choose one Mariners starting pitcher to offer a long term contract extension. Who do you most want them to sign of the Big Three? Logan Gilbert offers the longest track record of consistently good results, but perhaps doesn’t have as high a ceiling as the other two. Or maybe we’ve seen his peak/ceiling already? (I don’t think this is true, but some might).

Then there is George Kirby with arguably the best “STUFF,” but with the most ups and downs in consistency. When he’s on, it’s scary as hell for hitters out there, but when something is off, the wheels tend to fall off pretty quickly in an outing for Kirby.

And Bryan Woo entered this convo just this past season after being a large question mark himself in his MLB career prior to 2025 with health concerns hanging over his head. Well, he went ahead and posted career numbers and was the best pitcher on the staff with 4.2 WAR. I recall we had a preseason predictions question about who would have the better season in 2025, Woo or Bryce Miller and I definitely picked wrong. I owe Bryan Woo an apology, I am now familiar with your game.

So, if you can only choose one to extend, who are you choosing?

Give us your reasons in the comments.

PORT ST. LUCIE — Jonah Tong spent last spring training far removed from the spotlight as a Mets pitching prospect.

This spring is different.

Tong, in his first major league camp, is under the scrutiny of team officials any time he picks up a baseball.

And Friday was his first opportunity to face hitters.

Tong threw 36 pitches over two innings of live batting practice, the Mets’ first chance to watch the rookie on the Clover Park mound.

“I really get to appreciate not only the hitters in the box, but also building a relationship with the catchers,” Tong said. “That’s more important this time of the year as we get toward the season.”

In five starts late last season, the 22-year-old Tong pitched to a 7.71 ERA as part of a rookie threesome that also included Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat.

Tong will likely begin the season at Triple-A Syracuse to receive further reps at that level.

Last season, he was called up to the Mets after only two starts for Syracuse.

Tong dominated in 20 starts for Double-A Binghamton to emerge as one of baseball’s top pitching prospects.

“The mindset stays the same,” Tong said of his spring training this season compared to last. “I am just going out there to have a lot of fun and enjoy these people, and try to learn as much as I possibly can and everything else will just fall as it may.”

Tong said a focus this spring is the continued refinement of his offspeed pitches, including sequencing.

“I want him to enjoy,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I want him to learn as much as possible from every guy that we have in that room and I want him to go out there and be himself. We know about the fastball and the changeup and he’s working on a cutter. He’s working on his secondary pitches, whether we want to call it a slider, and I want him to go out there and to continue to develop all these pitches, compete and prepare for his year.

“He’s going to pitch for us and we’re going to need him. Learn, have fun and let the rest take care of itself.”

Last July, the A’s made one of the biggest trades of the trade deadline, sending flamethrowing closer Mason Miller to the San Diego Padres in exchange for elite shortstop prospect Leo De Vries and three minor-league pitchers. 

After trading Miller, one of the best closers in the league, many people expected the A’s bullpen to struggle the rest of the season. However, the group of Tyler Ferguson, Justin Sterner, Hogan Harris, Elvis Alvarado, Michael Kelly and Sean Newcomb combined to pitch well in a closer by committee style helping the A’s post a 34-24 record over the season’s final stretch. 

All those players are back with the exception of Newcomb, who signed with the Chicago White Sox in free agency. The A’s strengthened their bullpen this offseason by signing veteran free-agent relievers ScottBarlow and Mark Leiter Jr, two players that have experienced periods of success in their MLB careers. Yet, the club remains without a proven closer entering 2026.

Barlow, who has accumulated 59 saves over his first eight seasons, may be given the first shot as the A’s closer this season, although his tendency to suffer command lapses and walk batters may lead the A’s to consider other options. Last year, he mainly pitched in earlier innings, only tallying one save with the Cincinnati Reds. Likewise for Leiter, who saved two games for the New York Yankees this past season.

As a result, it seems that manager Mark Kotsay may once again go with a closer by committee approach determined by matchups to start the season. For instance, left-hander Harris could pitch the ninth if left-handed hitters are scheduled to hit, while Barlow or Alvarado could enter to deal with dangerous right-handed batters. It also will likely be determined by health and performance, with the A’s likely to stick with a closer if he goes multiple games without blowing leads.

Alternatively, the A’s could hand the closer reins to youngster Jack Perkins, an idea frequently brought up by this community as a way to keep him on the field, increase his effectiveness and manage his workload. Another idea is to employ Luis Medina out of the bullpen late in games once he returns from Tommy John surgery rehab. Medina is out of options and he throws hard, so probably will not clear waivers if the A’s do not have a place for him on the roster.

Who do you think should be the A’s closer this season? Is it someone currently on the team or a free agent that the A’s should sign? Or should they stick with a closer by committee rotation?  Debate and comment below.