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It’s January which means it’s Top 100 time and Baseball America kicked us off two days ago announcing their updated pre-season Top 100.

With a lot of the top positional talent in the system under 20 years of age, it’s no surprise that the two players that land in the Top 100 are both pitchers. That said, 19 year old left handed pitcher Cam Caminiti leads the charge for the Braves coming in at No. 53 overall. Cam had a fantastic 2025 season that saw him pitch a combined 70 innings across two levels (FCL & Low-A) finishing the season on an absolute tear for Augusta – posting a 2.08 ERA, 11.98 K/9, and 4.15 BB/9. It’s been well documented here that Cam was mainly a two pitch pitcher last year, focusing on his fastball command and sweeper, occasionally throwing in a changeup. 2026 is a big season, as it is expected that the Braves fully unleash Cam and his talented arsenal.

Also coming up with a strong season, and coming in at No. 84 overall, is JR Ritchie. JR pitched across three levels last season (A+, AA, AAA) where he threw a combined 140 innings, had a 2.64 ERA, while maintaining a 9.0 K/9, and 3.47 BB/9. At 22 years of age, JR will be pushing the Braves to include him in Atlanta plans during the spring where he may be a potential addition to the rotation should he show continued strong play. If not, he is likely one of the first arms up should/when the Braves need an additional starting pitcher.

While the Braves landed just two this season, there is a chance that number increases as a number of the positional prospects showcased strong seasons last year in Low-A and A-ball.

Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our bi-weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

The idiot that said, “Harper is coming” asks:Now that Bellinger is officially back, what’s next?A) Nothing of note.B) Trade of Dominguez or Jones to clear the deck a little.C) Trade not involving those two to better the team.D) Signing another free agent.E) Some combination of these choices — please specify.

I think my answer at this point in the offseason would be E. I don’t think they’ll trade Domínguez or Jones in the next month or so, but rather hold onto them as insurance until the deadline where they can outline their needs more and perhaps have better targets to go after. Could you argue there were solid additions they could’ve made over the offseason by trading one of them earlier instead of letting other teams load up on starting pitchers? Certainly, but they played their waiting game with Cody Bellinger, and while it worked out in terms of getting a deal done without going past a fifth year it did carry an opportunity cost of needing to hold onto them in case they did walk away from Bellinger and needed to have them on hand for a spring training competition.

As for the remaining needs the team has, there’s always room for a reliever and the lineup could use another right-handed bat with a focus on their catching tandem. Both Austin Wells and J.C. Escarra hit from the lefty’s batter box, and Ben Rice hits lefty as well so his occasional forays behind the plate can’t solve that issue. Flipping Escarra for a righty might be something the Yankees explore, and I trust the Yankees brass to find effective targets from other organizations to replenish the bullpen. They could also just end up signing a random reliever, which is the only reason I’m going with E instead of outright answering C, but given how late we are in the winter I think if there were arms they thought could get mileage out of with some tweaks they would’ve gotten them already. There could be a gem hidden on another roster that becomes available for a decent price, however, and if there’s any avenue of roster building I’ll give my full faith to Brian Cashman and company on it’s this one.

Hector asks: Should the Yanks create more playing time for Dominguez by NOT carrying a traditional BUC? Instead, let Rice be the primary 1B and the BUC. When Rice catches, Belli can play 1B, and Jasson plays LF. I prefer Jasson’s good bat/bad glove to Escarra’s bad bat/good glove.

As we just talked about, there’s reason to believe they do want a traditional backup catcher in the mix but also want to add another right-handed bat into the mix. Should they fail to find that, however, I wouldn’t mind this arrangement too much — part of Bellinger’s appeal is his defensive versatility, and I like giving Rice more consistent playing time behind the plate to ensure that he can hold it down. On top of that, if Domínguez is going to be on the roster he needs to find regular playing time or else they’d honestly be wasting him at this point in his development.

The only downside is that it limit’s Aaron Boone’s ability to utilize his bench late in the game if he wanted to, because if he commits to a swap and then an injury happens at any of those relevant positions there’s suddenly not enough bodies to fill the field properly. The team has an abundance of options for the middle infield with José Caballero and Amed Rosario in the mix, and in a pinch could shift one of them there, but over the course of 162 games its safer to have insurance across the field.

OLDY MOLDY asks:Does Beltran’s entry into HOF absolve the taint of the cheating scandals?

It doesn’t surprise me that the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal was treated differently than the steroid era players in the eyes of the writers, namely because one was a case of a team-organized offense versus individuals from across the league making the choice to utilize steroids. You could argue that didn’t save the players in the Black Sox scandal, but clearly throwing games/gambling is put in a higher tier of sin than the sign-stealing operations that were prolific in the 2010s but done to excess by Houston after the league had warned clubs against continued scheming. So the penalty that Beltrán, the first big name of the Astros’ championship roster to find himself up for election into the Hall and with a more than reasonable shot at it? Opening on less than half the ballots and waiting out another year of incremental gain before shooting up to success in his third year of eligibility.

There’s also something to the fact that the upset party in the respective cases were complete opposites. The league was the one that brought the hammer down on the players for the crime of using substances that they tacitly approved of until the Mitchell Report and congressional hearings forced them to change their tune, but the outrage over the Astros’ scheme was in large part stoked by their fellow competitors. That grudge carried over for a number of years, perhaps even still quietly harbored to this day but pushed aside as the core responsible aged and other playoff runs proved Houston a routine contender, but the league itself fumbled their investigation so badly that Beltrán was the only player that could even face punishment of any kind for it, and he was an aged vet on his last pursuit of a ring when it occurred.

It’d be reasonable to assume that the immunity the commissioner offered Houston’s active players for their testimonies will shield them here as well — the voting base has come down extremely harsher on players that faced actual suspensions and league punishment versus speculation. Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez are facing an even tougher uphill battle than Roger Clemens or Barry Bonds faced in their still-unsuccessful bids, so what would the equivalent of an acquittal do for them? It’s mainly a question for Jose Altuve’s candidacy whenever he hangs up his cleats, as he’s the member of Houston’s core most likely to make it and also the one that his teammates were most adamant didn’t contribute to the scheme. Will the denial of being a first-ballot Hall of Famer be punishment enough in the electorate’s eyes, will they come down harder because he’s a career Astro more attached to the franchise and thus the scandal, or will they gloss over it? It all remains to be seen, and Altuve’s career is far from over to make a full judgement on it now, but the litmus test for how the scandal has aged in the eyes of the Hall is very favorable.

The Cubs had played a bit better after the All-Star break in 2022, but were still far out of first place, or indeed, any contention.

They had picked up Franmil Reyes on waivers from the Guardians in early August. Just one year earlier, Reyes had a 30-homer season for Cleveland (and had hit 37 for the Padres in 2019), but his offense had trailed off badly and he was let go.

The Cubs got him and figured, “Why not take a chance?” But it didn’t really work. In 48 games for the Cubs, Reyes hit .234/.301/.389 with five home runs and departed as a free agent after the season.

But not before he took the mound for the Cubs!

The Cubs played six doubleheaders in 2022, many of them forced by rescheduling after the lockout. The last of those was Tuesday, Aug. 23 against the Cardinals at Wrigley Field. They actually won the first game 2-0, a combined five-hit shutout by Javier Assad (making his MLB debut!), Michael Rucker, Sean Newcomb, Erich Uelmen and Brandon Hughes.

But the Cardinals teed off on Adrian Sampson, Nicholas Padilla and Anderson Espinoza and led 7-3 when Steven Brault entered with the bases loaded and nobody out in the ninth. He wasn’t any better, allowing a walk, double and triple that made it 12-3.

That brought David Ross out, and Reyes took the mound. He had been the DH that day, so no other lineup changes were needed.

The first batter Reyes faced was Albert Pujols. He ran an 0-2 count on Pujols and then … hit him with this pitch [VIDEO].

This says that pitch was a “curveball” (nope, I don’t think so).

Then Reyes got Paul Goldschmidt to hit into a double play, with a run scoring [VIDEO].

A “changeup”? Nope, again.

The Cubs lost the game 13-3.

Reyes played for the Royals in 2023 and has played the last two years for NPB’s Nippon Ham Fighters. In 2025 he batted .277/.347/.515 with 32 home runs in 132 games, and he’s under contract with the Fighters for 2026.. He’s only 30. The Cubs don’t need him, but I could see a MLB team taking a chance on him in the future.

Three months after their baby’s death, Dodgers pitcher Alex Vesia and his wife, Kayla, paid tribute to the little girl with a touching social media post.

The Vesias shared a snap of them on Tuesday embracing in front of a sunset with the caption, “Sterlings mom and dad .”

View this post on Instagram

In the picture, the two had smiles on their faces.

It’s the first time Kayla has put anything on her Instagram grid since Nov. 7, when she and Alex announced they had lost their daughter on Oct. 26, just two days after the Dodgers and Blue Jays began the World Series.

Alex was left off the roster for the championship games with what the Dodgers called “a deeply personal family matter.”

In the Vesias’ announcement of Sterling’s passing, they wrote, “There are no words to describe the pain we’re going through but we hold her in our hearts and cherish every second we had with her.”

They also penned a thank you message to the Dodgers, the Blue Jays and all their fans for their support.

“Our little angel,” they added in the caption of the post that showed them holding hands with their little girl, “we love you forever & you’re with us always.”

Vesia, 29, made his MLB debut in 2020 for the Marlins and then made his Dodgers debut in 2021 following a trade from Miami.

He’s logged 270 innings pitched in his five seasons with L.A. and has helped the Dodgers win two World Series.

He and Kayla went public with their romance in 2019, and they got married in 2024. Sterling the couple’s first child.

Fox Sports unveiled the bulk of their 2026 schedule on Friday, which includes six planned exclusive Saturday games on Fox and two more games on FS1.

Saturday games on Fox are exclusive broadcasts, which means no local telecast for those games, no SportsNet LA broadcast for the Dodgers games. The Dodgers’ six games exclusively on Fox include facing each of their last two National League Championship Series opponents as well as a 2024 World Series rematch against the Yankees in The Bronx. All of these Saturday games starting at 4:15 p.m. PT, except for July 18 against the Yankees:

• April 25 vs. Chicago Cubs
• May 2 at St. Louis Cardinals
• May 23 at Milwaukee Brewers
• July 18 at New York Yankees (5:08 p.m. PT)
• July 25 at New York Mets
• August 15 vs. Brewers

The Dodgers also had exactly six games exclusively on Fox each season dating back to 2022, the first four years of the network’s seven-year contract with Major League Baseball that runs through 2028.

Two other Dodgers games in 2026 will be on FS1, which are non-exclusive broadcasts and available locally, offering the rare dual-broadcast option for folks in the home markets for these games. Both of the FS1 Dodgers telecasts are road games — Monday, April 6 at the Toronto Blue Jays, and Thursday, August 27 at the Atlanta Braves.

To date, the other Dodgers games known to be exclusive to national television are opening day March 26 against the Diamondbacks on NBC and Peacock, and on Jackie Robinson Day Wednesday, April 15 against the Mets on ESPN. There are also two Tuesday games in the first half of the season on TBS, with those telecasts not exclusive.

Here are all the Los Angeles Dodgers games during the 2026 season that will be available to watch on television or streaming nationally.

NBC Sports is the newcomer among Major League Baseball’s broadcast partners this season, signing a three-year deal to take over the former ESPN ‘Sunday Night Baseball’ slate as well as Sunday leadoff games on NBC, NBC Sports Network, and Peacock. ESPN will still have exclusive games this season and through 2028, but those will now be during the week.

Other national broadcasters are Fox Sports, Apple TV+, and TBS.

The Dodgers’ first game of the season will be exclusively on national television, with NBC and Peacock showing opening day, March 26 against the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers will also have three Sunday Night Baseball games on NBC/Peacock in July and August.

Six Dodgers Saturday games will be exclusively televised by Fox this season, beginning on April 25 against the Chicago Cubs. Two more games will be on FS1, though those games aren’t exclusive, which means the Dodgers’ own telecast on SportsNet LA will be available locally as well.

ESPN has already announced a little more than a handful of games this season, including the Dodgers on Jackie Robinson Day April 15 against the New York Mets at Dodger Stadium.

TBS announced its Tuesday night games through the end of June, including two Dodgers games on that first-half schedule.

Apple TV+ has not yet announced any of its exclusive Friday Night Baseball broadcasts. Typically, Apple TV+ announces the first half of its schedule before the season, then announces each successive month over the course of the season.

The Dodgers in 2025 had 17 games exclusively televised or streamed nationally, with 16 such games in 2024, and 17 exclusive national games in 2023.

Seranthony Dominguez, the long time Baltimore Orioles reliever whom the Blue Jays acquired at this past season’s trade deadline, has signed a deal with the Chicago White Sox. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the deal is for two years and $20 million.
Dominguez has been a steady performer throughout his career, with an ERA between 10 and 30% better than league average in all but one season and a 3.50 mark overall in 306.0 innings. Since missing 2020 and most of 2021 with injury, he’s managed at least 54 appearances and 50 innings in four straight seasons. His 10.5% career walk rate and very good but not elite 27.9% K rate aren’t quite high end closer material, but he has consistently limited hard contact and fits as a high quality setup man in a contender’s bullpen.

After being traded to Toronto in exchange for Juaron Watts-Brown, the Jays’ 2023 third round pick, he posted a 3.00 ERA in 24 appearances with 12 hits, 12 walks and 25 strikeouts in 21.0 innings. He also appeared in a dozen games during Toronto’s playoff run, allowing four runs over 11.1 innings. 

This winter, he entered free agency in the second tier of the relief market, behind elite closer Edwin Diaz. His contract is 10th in AAV and seventh in total value among relievers who have signed. 

The White Sox seem like an unlikely landing spot for an expensive 31 year old reliever. They project as one of the three worst teams in the league and solidly the worst in the American League. They have money to spend, though, with only four players making over a million dollars. The signing will push their payroll up from 30th in the league to 28th, ahead of the Miami Marlins and roughly tied with the Cleveland Guardians. They’ll also likely be able to flip him at either this deadline or the next, especially if they’re willing to keep some money. That’ll secure some prospect capital to continue their never ending rebuild. From Dominguez’s point of view, he lands a solid payday and a closer job, and while he isn’t going to get a chance for a ring in Chicago he might wherever they inevitably deal him.

For the Jays, this further reinforces that they’re probably done on the free agent market. The position player market is all but barren, with arguably no one left who would crack the starting lineup. Barring a shocking move for Framber Valdez, the same is true of the rotation. Dominguez coming off the board also means that there’s no remaining reliever who would move the needle. Any additions at this point will have to come from trades, if they don’t feel like they’re ready with the roster they currently have.

Best of luck to Seranthony in Chicago.