Mike Elias made a couple of unexpected trades this offseason. One was the trade for Shane Baz, a 26-year-old starting pitcher who has shown promise but mixed results in his Major League career. The Orioles sent three young prospects, including two first-round picks, to the Rays in exchange for Baz. The Rays also received a competitive balance draft pick in the deal. It was a big haul for the Rays, but the Orioles got back a pitcher who has three years before free agency.
After an injury-shortened but successful 2024 season, Baz struggled in 2025 with a 4.87 ERA in 31 starts for the Rays. For those looking for a silver lining in that high ERA, Baz had a respectable 3.86 ERA in 15 road starts to go along with an atrocious 5.90 home ERA. The Rays played their 2025 home games at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the New York Yankees. That park is not suitable for regular Major League baseball, but the Rays were forced there after Hurricane Milton destroyed the roof on Tropicana Field.
Baz allowed 26 home runs last year, 18 of which came at Steinbrenner Field. His BABIP at home was .323 vs .283 on the road. Meanwhile, his walk rate and strikeout rate were quite similar regardless of where he pitched. After the trade, Mike Elias raved about Baz, saying, “He’s got great underlying metrics, five plus pitches. I think he’s got a great arm and he’s a great athlete, and I think he hasn’t fully tapped into his ceiling yet, so we see him as a front-end-of-the-rotation starter.”
So what do you think will happen? Will Baz rise above his poor Steinbrenner Field numbers to help the Orioles improve in 2026? Or was Mike Elias a chump to send so many prospects to to the Rays in exchange for a 4.87 ERA pitcher? Here are Baz’s projections from ZiPS and Baseball Reference:
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 27: Ezequiel Tovar #14 of the Colorado Rockies follows through on a swing against the San Diego Padres during a spring training game at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on February 27, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images) | Getty Images
One of the biggest problems for the 2025 Colorado Rockies was hitting the fastball. It was such a problem that I wrote a piece in early May — which included a photo edit I’m rather proud of — highlighting the issue for the team after just a month into the season.
That was when the Rockies ranked near the bottom in most offensive counting stats and metrics against fastballs. Most things remained the same, but they did improve to the median in terms of batting average and total hits by the end of the season. The extremes still existed as they finished with the third-highest strikeout rate (20.5%), fourth-highest whiff rate (21.6%), third-fewest home runs (82), and the fourth-fewest balls in play.
In short, the team struggled mightily against fastballs and couldn’t generate much meaningful offense against them.
Fully aware of their problems, the Rockies’ new front office and coaching staff, including new hitting coach Brett Pill, have the task of helping the team cut down on the swings-and-misses and become a more productive lineup across the board. It stands to reason that the team is working to catch up on the fastball to mitigate some of the issues they were having, and the early spring training returns are promising.
Entering Tuesday, the Rockies’ offense has shown improvement and ranks among the more productive teams in spring training with promising gains in strikeout and walk numbers.
So, how are they doing with the fastball at this point in camp?
Thankfully, Baseball Savant has provided insight via Statcast for our search today.
For this investigation, fastballs include four-seams, two-seam/sinkers, and cutters. So, unless specifically identified, the numbers will involve how the Rockies are doing against all forms of the fastball.
A simple indicator of success will always be batting average, and the Rockies aren’t doing too shabbily a few weeks into camp. Sporting a .290 AVG, the club ranks ninth in all of baseball, right in line with the Seattle Mariners (.291) and the Boston Red Sox (.292). They are still well behind the San Francisco Giants, who sit at a dazzling .364 AVG on fastballs.
What’s interesting is that the Rockies have seen far fewer fastballs than the majority of the top 10 teams in batting average. At this point in spring training, the league average of fastballs hitters have seen is 57.4%. The Rockies have seen 55%, which ranks near the bottom of baseball despite seeing the ninth-most total pitches. An influx of breaking balls early in camp is to be expected as pitchers try to dial things in and experiment with new pitches, but the work the team has been able to do against fastballs is promising.
Making contact is priority number one to cut down on whiff rate, and the Rockies are making steady progress. At 18.4%, the Rockies have the fourth-lowest whiff rate against fastballs in baseball, with a 16.7% strikeout rate, which sits just below league average.
Fastballs in General
In the brief sample size, it’s clear the Rockies are putting into practice what they are preaching about improving control of the zone and taking advantage of the fastball. While coaching certainly plays a major part in the growth, personnel also have their role.
The Rockies made it a point this offseason to bring in players with improved plate discipline and contact abilities. Willi Castro and Jake McCarthy have proven capable in their careers at making contact, particularly against the fastball. At his best in 2023, Edouard Julien was a menace against fastballs, and rookie hopeful T.J. Rumfield made a career in the minors with elite plate discipline and contact skills.
Check out this chart of players who have seen at least 50 pitches, sorted by batting average, and how the Rockies are doing individually against fastballs.
It’s promising to see young prospects like Cole Carrigg and Charlie Condon top the list, but the players who are seeing a good bit of action are finding success against fastballs. If you expand the search to include everyone, Mickey Moniak, Brenton Doyle, Kyle Karros and Willi Castro make appearances with high batting averages in the .400 range.
Additionally, limiting the whiff rate to a sub-20% for the majority of players would go a long way to improving the Rockies’ offense throughout the system. Even more important is limiting strikeouts on fastballs, especially as camp progresses and both pitchers and hitters get up to game speed for the regular season.
There will always be concerns for players like Jordan Beck, who have the possibility of a power stroke, which would mean more strikeouts, but he is an example of a player who has to dial in on fastballs and make sure he isn’t missing opportunities against them.
Four-Seam Fastballs
What about the most fundamental pitch, the four-seam fastball?
Well, the Rockies are proving quite capable against the four-seam fastball with a .321 AVG, ranking fourth in all of baseball. Their .590 SLG also ranks third in the league, and the 17.9% whiff is the second lowest. A team 14.5% strikeout rate also ranks as the third-lowest in baseball.
As a whole, 15 players are batting over .300 against four-seam fastballs, albeit in limited sample sizes. The whiff rates are elevated, but it’s worth noting that on both four-seam fastballs and fastballs in general, the team is hitting the ball hard when they do make contact. They are at a 50% hard-hit rate against both four-seam fastballs and fastballs in general, both of which rank near the top in baseball.
The high slugging is also encouraging to see and will be most beneficial come the regular season. A pitcher is most likely to throw a fastball on the first pitch of an at-bat, and if Rockies hitters can put competitive swings on on that first pitch, it could set a tone for the offense. The first pitch of the game on February 25 that Moniak blasted for a 375-foot home run is a prime example of jumping on a first-pitch fastball.
Conclusion
Jumping on fastballs, particularly early in counts, could go a long way to helping the Rockies combat a tendency to chase pitches the longer at-bats go on. Yes, it is early in spring training with small sample sizes; however, there are promising signs that the team is turning some things around. If they can continue showing improvement, especially when pitchers start using proper scouting reports leading up to the regular season, the offense could rectify the shortcomings of 2025.
This week, Evan Lang and I talk about the injuries in spring training, the first base battle, and the early impressions of the new faces brought into camp.
Jose Quintana didn’t get to throw much in games for the Rockies before heading out to anchor the rotation for Team Colombia in the WBC. He is the winningest Colombian-born pitcher in MLB history, but was forced to miss the 2023 World Baseball Classic after sustaining a rib injury in spring training. He is the team captain and will toss their first game against Puerto Rico.
EASTLAKE, OH - JUNE 26: Rayner Castillo #31 of the West Michigan Whitecaps pitching during the game between the West Michigan Whitecaps and the Lake County Captains at Classic Park on Thursday, June 26, 2025 in Eastlake, Ohio. (Photo by Grace Hoppel/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
A year ago, young right-hander Rayner Castillo was one of the fastest rising players in the system. In 2025, he spun his wheels at the High-A level, suffering from some uncharacteristic wildness and more erratic velocity. He continued to rack up ground balls, but the contact got louder and the whiffs dried up a bit. It wasn’t until late in the season when he finally put it together and started shutting teams down again. That’s just a minor setback for a 21-year-old pitcher in his first look at the High-A level, but Castillo needs to get back on horse and make progress in 2026.
Castillo was a member of the Tigers’ 2021 international free agent class out of the Dominican Republic. He was just 16 at the time, and a fairly lean, undistinguished right-hander. It took him a few years to find himself as a pitcher, but advanced strike throwing got him to the Complex League for his age 18 and 19 seasons. He finally broke into full season ball after a great Complex League showing in 2024, now 6’3” and with plenty of muscle added to him frame. The strikeouts were lacking, but Castillo was throwing a very easy 95-96 mph sinker with advanced command and getting a ton of outs on the ground. His slider flashed plus and he had the makings of a solid changeup but both were very inconsistent. Progress with his secondary pitches, especially the changeup, was the main prescription for progress in 2025.
However, we didn’t get that progress. Instead, Castillo’s easy, balanced delivery wasn’t producing quite the same velocity and he sat around 93-94 mph most of the 2025 season at High-A West Michigan. Work to tune up the movement on his slider and changeup combo led to a little more wildness than we’ve seen before from him, and he really struggled to shut down opponents with runners on base. It wasn’t until August and September that he really dialed things in and finished strong.
So, to put a positive spin on it, Castillo got a lot of experience navigating better lineups with less than his best stuff, but finished the year looking back in form. An off year is natural at his age as he stretched out to 98 2/3 innings of work. But clearly there is plenty of work ahead if he’s going to break through at the Double-A level in 2026.
Castillo’s slider is typically 83-84 mph, and in 2024 he was already showing some feel for adding depth or sweep depending on the hitter and the situation. At the same time, he would still occasionally spike one pretty badly, and we were looking for more consistency as he continued to refine the pitch. That didn’t happen until late in the 2025 season. He was less prone to completely yanking it in the dirt, but it was slower and more rounded off than sharp during the summer months, and he continued to have it back up on him at times. Most of his helium coming into the season was on the basis of his easy command of the sinker at 95-96 mph and up to 98 mph, backed by a pretty sharp slider. He lost both for long stretches in 2025, and really only in his final starts in August and September did the two pitches come back to form consistently.
Castillo’s changeup didn’t show any real signs of improvement either, and developing that third pitch was a big goal for 2025. He was throwing a circle changeup in 2024, and while he appeared to tinker with a few different variations this season, he never really got it locked in. It’s still too firm, and with the sinker diminished for much of the summer, the velocity separation was pretty poor.
So, by season’s end, we basically had the same Castillo we saw in 2024. He got back to sitting 95-96 mph with pretty easy command of the sinker. The slider got sharper and he started picking up more whiffs again. But the changeup didn’t improve much if at all. The hope is that this was just a year of growing pains. When a young pitcher makes the leap Castillo did in 2024, there’s often a period of inconsistency as they work on things and try to take the next step.
We’re going to ride with Castillo again and not drop him down in the rankings or grade for now. He won’t be 22 until June, and as long as he has the velo and the slider back this season, he should do well and advance to Double-A Erie. He’s unlikely to ever be a big-time strikeout artist, and the hard sinker and his durability and typically good strike throwing remains the foundation of his approach to hitters, but a depth starter projection is still viable. More likely, he’s a future relief option, but he’ll still have to show better command of the fastball and the slider to get there.
JUPITER, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 26: Masyn Winn #0 of the St. Louis Cardinals looks on during a spring training game against the Houston Astros at Roger Dean Stadium on February 26, 2026 in Jupiter, Florida. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images) | Getty Images
I ask you, dear VEB’r, what could the Cardinals do to surprise the average fan? They have already been surprised with an Oliver Marmol extension, under a new President of Baseball Ops. Chaim Bloom had already worked with Marmol during the Mozeliak transitional years, and you can tell there is an affinity at least between the existing coaching framework and org veteran Oliver Marmol. There was already a pattern that things could and should work out, operationally and personally. The Cardinals will probably never take a gamble again on someone with anger management issues (same for just about every team). You might not like it, but Oliver Marmol is here to stay for a little while. And now they have a $29 all you can eat inclusive ticket, which was kind of surprising given how much they charge for concessions.
But this is about how the Cardinals could surprise us on the field, not about marketing, managers, and front office stuff. Who do you think will be the outliers this year? The overachievers, the come out of nowhere success stories, and also the disappointments… Sadly enough, it could be a bad season.
If all the worst projections come true, the Cardinals could be a 68 win team. And I’m not even considering PECOTA and Vegas. This data is from my four chosen projection systems ZiPS DC, Fangraphs DC, The Bat X, and OOPSY. On the higher ceiling side of things, the Cardinals, if hitting all the best projections, could win 78 games. That could still very well be last place, but that’s a 10 game swing, and if you bet the over on the Vegas odds on the Cardinals, there’s a VERY strong chance you’ll win, in my opinion.
The Reds also have a pretty big difference between the ceiling and floor, at around 8.5 games. The Pirates also are not easy to predict with an 8 game swing. The Brewers and Cubs at about 9 games difference from ceiling to floor. So maybe the Cardinals are only slightly more difficult to pin down, but the possibility is still there.
However, I am going to boldly predict the Cardinals winning even more than what the highest projection combination is saying. When I throw out all the outliers including the highest and lowest projections, this helps the Cardinals the most. They gain 4 games. The Cubs are not as affected when throwing out the outlier projections, probably because projections are more in agreement about that team as it is easier to predict with more veteran players. This illustrates how projecting a team like the Cardinals is a fool’s errand. There are too many known unknowns!
So why do I think they may be able to shatter the ceiling of 78 wins? They are no stranger to outperforming underdog projections, historically. Winn’s highest projection is from OOPSY at 3.7 WAR, I think he will crack 4 WAR. No projection I am choosing expects Herrera to crack 3 WAR, but I think he absolutely will. Is JJ Wetherholt’s rookie ceiling really 2.6 WAR? We are about to find out, starting in under a month! Is Alec Burleson’s ceiling 2.1 WAR? I think not! Or maybe it is, idk. He could certainly do better if he keeps ramping up his wRC+ like he’s done every season (89, 106, 124 over the last three seasons).
Is the Cardinals rotation worth a maximum of about 9 WAR? What if May, Fitts, Liberatore, and McGreevy are all 2+ WAR pitchers? Then it depends on if Leahy is a success story. Or maybe Pallante is more like 2024! There is a path for the rotation to exceed 10 WAR. The bullpen could rather easily outdo the projections as well. I would not write them off so easily. Sure, they will probably finish in last place, but I don’t think they will be quite as bad as some people are imagining they will be.
I predicted 85 wins in the VEB prediction poll! How could they do this? I’ll need to explain 7 games over the ceiling of 78 wins… Winn ups the ante to 5 WAR, Herrera also hits 5 WAR, and Burleson keeps improving his game every season by being a 3.5 WAR player. If those three players can perform at those levels, then the pitching staff just needs to cough up an extra 2 WAR by surpassing their ceiling of 9 by only one win. The consensus of projections predict they can do 8 WAR. This could come from difficult to predict players such as May, Fitts, or Liberatore, or it could come from the unproven bullpen. Does 85 wins mean anything other than being a successful season for a roster that could be seen as a AAAA group? Sure! I don’t think they would be first place at 85 wins, but it’s possible. The Cubs floor is actually below .500 if you imagine all the worst projections for them occurring.
Consensus projection prediction for NL Central end of season:
Cubs
Pirates
Brewers
Reds
Cardinals
Now I’d like to think about removing all outliers from the projections and seeing what would happen.
When normalizing the projections, taking out all outlier projections, this is the finish:
Cubs
Brewers
Reds
Pirates
Cardinals
Now the Pirates finish just ahead of the Cardinals, but the Brewers and Reds are not far ahead! This angle provides another look at the division, which has a lot of parity, actually. The Cubs aren’t running away with it, but still on top… but they’re only about 6 games ahead of the Cardinals win total. In this version of reality, the NL Central almost certainly does not have a wild card in 2026. Outside of Chicago, the Brewers, Reds, Pirates, and Cardinals are not all that much different. And if this version of reality happens, the Cardinals just have to get really good years out of Winn, Herrera, and Burleson, and the pitching cannot be a huge issue. Then the Cardinals could give the Cubs a run for their money.
Notes and Observations (related to the conclusion of my NL Central projections project)
Overall, looking at all NL Central teams, Fangraphs Depth Charts is the most down the middle overall, not giving outlier projections as much as the other systems
The Bat X is favorable to Cardinals pitching, Fangraphs DC is biased against it in this case
The opposite is true when it comes to Cardinals position players, Fangraphs DC has more outliers and The Bat X isn’t impressed
ZiPS likes the Reds (pitching) and Cubs (position players) moreso than any other system
OOPSY and The Bat X see the most upside to the Pirates, interesting because both incorporate statcast metrics (especially OOPSY)
OOPSY likes the upside of the Brewers position players, The Bat X sees the most upside to the Brewers starting rotation, and ZiPS likes the Brewers key depth pieces most. Confounding devil magic, probably!
Perhaps all the Cardinals needed to be better on offense was the training upgrades in the offseason, another reason for hope is that this transformation will make players like Walker, Gorman, and Scott better on offense… or maybe it’ll help the entire offense be more successful
1980
C0ntinuing on with my bonus coverage of years throughout my life, 1980 begins the all too important 1980s
John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman on December 8, 1980. I only know who one of those guys are, and not the asshole who murdered someone. I only recognize the name of both.
Time is of the essence!
Top Movie picks of 1980:
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
Airplane!
Smokey and the Bandit 2
The Blue Lagoon
You let me know what I missed there, I’m sure it’s beyond comprehension!
20 Albums from 1980
Here are my 20 picks from 1980! I tried to go back to a top 10 but failed miserably! In a good way.
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JUNE 29: Tom Fitzgerald of the New Jersey Devils attends the 2023 NHL Draft at the Bridgestone Arena on June 29, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The NHL Trade Deadline is this Friday. Two days from now.
Historically, this is one of my favorite times of the year on the NHL calendar, mainly because it’s one of the few times on the calendar that an NHL GM actually does their job and makes trades. We get to see firsthand which teams are serious about winning and competing for championships and which ones are not. We get to see which GMs know what they’re doing and which ones don’t.
I like to consider myself an ideas person. I come up with ideas on fake trades to make the Devils better and then I get to be mad online after the fact when the team doesn’t do exactly what I told them to do. During the buildup to the deadline in prior years, I would come up with trade targets from around the league, gauge whether or not they’re a fit, what the cost might be and if its something the Devils might consider doing.
I love trade deadline season.
Unfortunately in what is shaping up to be a dreadful finish to a once-promising season, it’s hard to get too excited about the trade deadline this year.
It’s not that I lack ideas of what the Devils could or should do. Trust me, I’m going to share a bunch of ideas of what the Devils could and should do at the deadline shortly. But at the end of the day, I’m just a guy behind a keyboard with fake trade ideas. I’m not the general manager of the team. And at the end of the day, its tough to have faith in Devils management to do anything right.
I don’t exactly have confidence in Tom Fitzgerald after he needlessly gave Jacob Markstrom a 2 year contract extension earlier this year. I don’t have confidence in the GM who gave Johnathan Kovacevic five years when he already had a logjam at RHD on the NHL roster. I don’t have confidence in the GM who gave Ondrej Palat $6M for 5 years before finally paying assets a few weeks ago to dump him elsewhere. I don’t have confidence in the GM who capped out the roster to the point where he couldn’t make the Quinn Hughes trade happen when it was right there for him. I don’t have confidence in the GM who whiffed on the 7th overall pick and lacked the assets to pull off said Quinn Hughes trade. I don’t have confidence in the GM whose second hand picked head coach is failing in spectacular fashion.
I could keep going but you get the point. It’s insane to me that we’re at this point of the season, sitting through brutal loss after brutal loss, watching a boring, dreadful team that can’t score and can’t get a stop when they need one. It’s insane to me that we’re STILL trusting Fitzgerald to not somehow make things worse, because he should’ve already been relieved of his duties. He probably would’ve been by now if the Devils were a serious operation.
But he’s still here. It is what it is. So how can the Devils make the most of it with the deadline upon us?
I don’t know what Fitzgerald will do. I can only say what I would do if I was the general manager of this team. But if I were sitting in the big chair, my goals would be as follows.
Free up as much cap space for the 2026-27 season (and beyond) as possible. I don’t know what the summer will bring. I don’t know if Minnesota will look to flip Quinn Hughes if/when he says he’s not signing there. I don’t know what players from other teams might become available. But I want to be in a better position than the Devils were this year to make that type of move if the opportunity presents itself, and half the battle is having the requisite cap space to be able to make those types of moves. It’s something the Devils didn’t have for most of this season, which may or may not have hamstrung them, depending whether or not you want to believe that Tom Fitzgerald was looking to make a move the whole time and the lack of cap space wasn’t just an excuse as to why nothing was getting done.
Accumulate as much draft capital as possible. Mostly to use it in the aforementioned types of deals that I’m looking to make, but also to help rebuild a Devils farm system that has shifted somewhere between league average and below average the last couple years since Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec graduated.
Try to find interesting players to take a flier on.
Revamp a blueline that hasn’t worked.
Add speed and skill to the lineup
Of course, I’m not reinventing the wheel here with my goals or analysis. Every team that can’t win is going to try to add more speed and skill, or get younger, or shed payroll in the process. But with that out of the way, here’s a bunch of fake trades that the Devils won’t make over the next 48 hours, even though they probably should if they were ever on the table.
Devils Trade Jonas Siegenthaler & Paul Cotter to the Sabres for W Isak Rosen, a 2026 4th round pick, and a 2027 2nd round pick
The “Siegenthaler to Buffalo” fit just makes too much sense on paper.
Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff has a familiarity with Siegenthaler from their time together in New Jersey. The Sabres need to upgrade over Zach Metsa and Michael Kesselring on their third pairing if they want any hopes of doing anything once they get to the playoffs. Siegenthaler won’t help the Sabres offensively, but that’s not his game anyways and the Sabres don’t really need more offense from the backend. They need a defensively responsible defenseman with experience who can kill penalties. Add in that Siegenthaler is signed for 2 more years after this one at $3.4M AAV and its the type of deal that wouldn’t prevent Buffalo from tending to more pressing matters over the summer, like trying to re-sign Alex Tuch. As for Cotter, the Sabres are currently rolling Joshua Dunne out there on their 4th line, so he would simply be another option for Ruff on the back end of the roster.
Getting a 4th round pick would help soften the blow from trading a 3rd away when they dumped Ondrej Palat last month, and a 2nd round pick is currency with which to work with, but the wild card in this deal would be getting Rosen.
Rosen has been a popular name mentioned in the Devils blogosphere…..Alex Chauvancy and JP Gambatese both mentioned similar deals to the one I proposed on their respective Substack platforms, so it feels like I’m riding their coattails a bit. I can’t speak for them but I think I view Rosen similarly to how they do.
Rosen would theoretically add some much needed speed, shooting ability, and skating to the Devils forward group. He’s gotten a few cups of coffee with the Sabres the last few years and registered 7 points in 16 NHL games this season. He’s also been a consistent producer at the AHL level with 91 goals and 97 assists over 229 games for Rochester. Already 22 years old, the former 2021 1st round pick might be blocked at the NHL level as other young forwards like Noah Ostlund and Konsta Helenius have either already carved out an NHL role or have higher upside. Rosen really doesn’t have much left to prove at the AHL level, so it would make sense that he might be available in the right deal.
Admittedly, I don’t love that there might be concerns about Rosen’s compete level, as that might be what has held him back from graduating from the AHL in the first place. But the Devils are probably at the point where they should be more concerned with whether or not a player can score and worrying about things like ’compete level’ secondarily. Rosen might not be an NHL player, but he has the type of skillset where he’s probably worth the gamble and time investment to find out.
Assuming Siegenthaler doesn’t have Buffalo on his 10-team no-trade list, some variant of this deal could potentially be an option.
Devils Trade Dawson Mercer & Dougie Hamilton (with $3M of salary retention) to Anaheim for a 2027 2nd round pick and D Pavel Mintyukov
Anaheim appears to be another team that is poised to snap a long playoff drought. They’re also a team that has a need at RHD beyond this season as captain Radko Gudas and Jacob Trouba are both pending UFAs.
On paper, Hamilton would make a lot of sense as a top pairing RHD compliment to Jackson LaCombe. He could also slot into one of Anaheim’s power play units. Obviously, Hamilton has a 10-team trade list so he’d probably have to sign off on moving across the country on a whim. But he’d be joining a playoff race and there are worse places to live in this country than Southern California.
Mercer’s situation is well documented. He’s a former first round pick who has been an NHL regular since making the team out of camp in 2021. His development has sort of plateaued to where he’s been a guy who maybe gets you 20 goals and 35 ish points in a season, which isn’t all that great considering he gets consistent Top Six playing time, plays in all situations, and hasn’t missed an NHL game yet in his career. I don’t know that the Ducks are an ideal fit but Mercer could slot onto their third line immediately with all the injuries they’ve had and make their lineup a lot deeper.
The Ducks could theoretically fit in Hamilton’s full AAV without salary retention, although I don’t know how much of an appetite they have for paying full price on Hamilton when Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier are among the five pending RFAs for the Ducks. So why am I open to the idea of salary retention as a Devils fan?
Simply put, I want to try to get Pavel Mintyukov to New Jersey.
Mintyukov had reportedly told the Ducks earlier this season he’d like to be moved, according to Elliotte Friedman. I don’t know if he’s still disgruntled after being a healthy scratch earlier in the year, and the Ducks seem to be giving him more consistent playing time since New Year’s. But he’s due a new contract after this year and Pat Verbeek tends to play hardball with RFAs anyways. The Ducks don’t have a shortage of prospects on the blueline either, so maybe now is the time for them to cash in on Mintyukov.
Mintyukov is the type of defenseman the Devils are lacking at the NHL level. He’s a plus skater who has offensive ability. He can break out of the defensive zone with the puck. He can join the rush. He’d be a welcome change of pace from the redundancy of the defense-first, defense-only, average at best skaters that have cluttered the Devils depth chart at the NHL level. And while he’s due a new contract, he shouldn’t break the bank. The only question would be whether or not you can convince Pat Verbeek to give up on a recent 10th overall pick for a “win now” type of move. From a value perspective, its probably a fair deal. From a “we’re trying to build something long-term” perspective, Verbeek might say “thanks but no thanks” before hanging up the phone once Mintyukov’s name comes up. Either way, this is the type of player I’m trying to get and it doesn’t really change the fact that Anaheim is a solid potential destination for Hamilton.
Devils Trade Brenden Dillon to the Red Wings for a 2026 3rd round pick and prospect Eddie Genborg
Not much to say about this one other than Detroit could use another NHL-caliber defenseman and Dillon is certainly one of those. Dillon has a full NTC for the rest of this season. Would he waive to go to a contender? Would he waive to go to Detroit? I don’t know the answers to this, but he hasn’t won a Stanley Cup so he might waive to go Cup chase.
So why am I targeting Detroit’s 2nd round draft pick from 2025 in Eddie Genborg? He’s a big body that is the right type of “hard to play against” with his physicality, but also has an ability to get to the front of the net and cause havoc. If he makes it to the NHL, he probably projects as a third line grinder type of winger. You do need those types who can play further down in your lineup.
Value-wise, this deal wouldn’t be too different than the one that sent Brian Dumoulin to the Devils at last year’s deadline. The main differences would be that Dillon has a full NTC for the rest of this season, Dillon has another year of control, the draft pick is a round lower than the one the Devils gave up, and Genborg is probably a slightly higher upside prospect than the one the Devils gave up in Herman Traff.
Devils Trade Nico Daws to the Canadiens for Patrik Laine and a 2026 3rd round pick
The logic behind this is two-fold.
First, Montreal is in the playoff hunt, but Laine’s large AAV is preventing the Habs from making moves they’d like to make elsewhere to improve the roster. And now that I freed up a bunch of cap space on the Devils end by trading away Hamilton, Dillon, Siegenthaler, and Mercer, they would theoretically have no problem taking a 20-game flier on the former #2 overall pick for the rest of this season. If the Devils like what they see, maybe they consider a short-term deal where Laine can rebuild his value around the league pumping in a bunch of goals playing on a line with Jack Hughes. If Laine stinks, barely plays, or is an issue in the room, the Devils can simply move on. I’m not saying the Devils should give Laine $6M a year on his next contract, but this is one of those situations where there’s little to no risk seeing if anything is there.
Admittedly, I’m not a big Laine fan. There’s always ‘something’ with him. He has a 10-team no-trade list. He rarely plays. He’s barely played this season. When he does play, he’s a bit of a one-trick pony. But the reason why I’d be ok taking a flier here is that his one trick that he’s good at happens to be the thing this Devils team is dreadful at. Laine can score goals.
Secondly, I think the Devils have made their bed in regards to Nico Daws and his future, or lack thereof, in New Jersey. Daws is blocked for the foreseeable future while Jacob Markstrom and Jake Allen are Devils. There’s probably a better chance of Daws taking his talents overseas this summer than there is of him signing another contract with the Devils. At least here, Daws has a chance of potentially seeing time in the NHL.
I don’t know that the Habs would be all that enthralled with Daws. But I do know they’d like an escape hatch on what’s left of Laine’s deal.
Why I Would Hold On To Certain Players
I would expect most of the comments to say something along the lines of “what about so-and-so?”. So let’s dive into some of those guys.
Chris Johnston mentioned that Nick Bjugstad is “likely to be on the move again” in his latest Trade Board. I don’t quite get that one as the Devils have lacked a competent fourth-line center for some time now, centers are in high demand, and he’s signed for next season at a reasonable cap hit of $1.75M. I also don’t quite get that one seeing as the Devils literally just traded for him a few weeks ago. Unless he’s not in their plans at all for next season or the Devils think they can do better (and I don’t trust that they can at a better price point), I’d probably just hold on to Bjugstad for now.
I understand that most Devils fans are ready to drive Johnathan Kovacevic out of town, given his dreadful play since returning, and I get that. I personally have a hard time believing someone would bail Tom Fitzgerald out of that contract, and if he does have someone willing to take him on, he should probably not let that other GM off the phone until the trade is done.
I wouldn’t be looking to move Connor Brown, Cody Glass, Simon Nemec, Arseny Gritsyuk, or Lenni Hameenaho at this time. I don’t think Luke Glendening or Colton White really have any value in the trade market. Stefan Noesen and Zack MacEwen are injured. Nobody is bailing them out on Jacob Markstrom and I don’t think a Jake Allen trade is happening either. The Devils, aren’t trading Jack or Luke Hughes, nor should they. They’re not trading Nico Hischier, nor should they. Maybe you can get a late pick for Evgeni Dadonov despite his lack of production but that’s not going to move the needle.
That would leave core-adjacent players such as Timo Meier, Brett Pesce and Jesper Bratt. I think there are conversations that could be had about shopping any of them in a so-called hockey trade, but I think with their respective trade protections and term remaining on their contracts, any of them getting dealt this week is highly unlikely.
How Would the Devils Lineup And Future Assets Look If They Approached The Deadline In This Manner?
The Devils lineup would still be bad, but in a season that’s going nowhere, that’s to be expected. We’re beyond the point where anything this season is salvageable and that’s not what I’m trying to accomplish anyways. At the very least, they’d freed up some salary, taken on a couple interesting projects, and maybe found a Top 4 LHD of the future.
Here is what your potential line combinations could look like the rest of the way.
Jesper Bratt – Jack Hughes – Patrik Laine
Arseni Gritsyuk – Nico Hischier – Timo Meier
Isak Rosen – Cody Glass – Connor Brown
Shane LaChance – Nick Bjugstad – Lenni Hameenaho
Luke Hughes – Brett Pesce
Pavel Mintyukov – Simon Nemec
Colton White – Johnathan Kovacevic
To be clear, I don’t really care a ton about how this team looks for the rest of this season. They’re going to wind up with a Top 10 draft pick. Maybe they get lucky and win the lottery and pick Top 2. The only thing I really want at this point is for key players to make it through Game 82 healthy and the Devils to undo a lot of the damage Fitzgerald has done. My goal for this deadline is to create as much salary cap flexibility for next season as possible and get as much draft capital as I could to make future trades with, and I feel we accomplished that (although I’m probably overestimating/overrating/overvaluing the return the Devils might get on some of these deals).
The Devils would have $28.65M in cap space going into next season according to PuckPedia, with that number closer to $30M if/when the Devils buy out Maxim Tsyplakov over the summer. They do have several RFA that would need to be addressed, but there’s also no doubt they’d have the ability to be in on just about anything that might pop up over the summer.
Now, do I expect any or all of this to happen?
Of course not.
Things have been relatively quiet in regards to the Devils. Dougie Hamilton’s name has been sort of publicly out there. So have the Devils defensemen. Players with term aren’t always moved at the deadline. My approach here is also on the more aggressive side of things the Devils could do. Most NHL general managers are conservative by nature and I certainly don’t expect Tom Fitzgerald, who is on a scorching hot seat, to tear it down to this extent.
I do think the Devils need to change something in the room though. They’ve already moved on from Ondrej Palat. Hamilton and Dillon are both on the wrong side of 30, so moving one or both makes some sense. Dawson Mercer’s development as a player has plateaued and while he’s still young enough to find another level, its also possible this is simply what he’s going to be as an NHL player. Paul Cotter is an average at best fourth liner.
The Devils wouldn’t fix all of their issues immediately going this route, but its far more likely they turn things around quicker if they do and then parlay their newfound assets into replacing those players than if they do the bare minimum at the deadline and call it a day.
The Montreal Canadiens kicked off their Pacific coast road trip with a game against the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday night. It was Martin St-Louis’s men’s last game before the trade deadline, and scouts from the Vancouver Canucks and the St. Louis Blues were taking in the game at the SAP Center. Don’t get too excited, though. The Blues are playing the Sharks on Friday night so that they might have been doing pre-scouting.
St-Louis had decided to go with the same lineup that had beaten the Washington Capitals 6-2 on Saturday night, meaning that Joe Veleno, Alexandre Texier, and Arber Xhekaj were healthy scratches while Jakub Dobes was starting a second game in a row.
The Canadiens’ bench boss often talks about the importance of details in the game, and in the first frame, the Habs did a good job of showcasing what should not be done. Over the Olympics break, the team worked on preventing odd-man rushes, but it didn’t show in those first twenty minutes. In one instance, Lane Hutson turned the puck over at the offensive blueline, which led to one such opportunity, but to be fair, he was put in a less-than-desirable situation by Philip Danault, who handed him the puck in close quarters when he had two Sharks nearby.
Two of the Canadiens’ top players were also guilty of big turnovers in their own zone. Cole Caufield lost the puck behind his own net, and had it not been for Jakub Dobes’ active stick, Kiefer Sherwood would have gotten the puck all on his lonesome in front of the net. A bit later, Juraj Slafkovsky attempted yet another no-look backhand pass, which of course became a turnover. The big Slovak was doing a lot of those in every zone earlier in the season, but that mistake has started to creep back up into his game lately; that’s not something St-Louis wants to see.
Double Struble
The Habs had a good start to the second frame, taking a 2-1 lead on a Danault goal, but they couldn’t keep their focus for the whole 20 minutes. Michael Misa tied up the score halfway through the period, and it’s hard not to look at Jayden Struble on that one. The third-pairing defenseman lost the puck at the Sharks’ blueline and was then unable to clear his own zone, and got his pocket picked instead right by the goal as panic was setting in in the Canadiens’ zone.
Watching that sequence, you can see why the Habs may be interested in bolstering their defence before the deadline, especially since St-Louis doesn’t seem to trust either Struble or Xhekaj, who is reportedly a Calgary Flames target right now.
The Habs also got themselves in double trouble late into the middle stanza, giving two goals in 25 seconds with less than two minutes to go. Macklin Celibrini first beat Dobes with a hard shot between the pads, and on the very next sequence, Kirby Dach played nonchalantly along the boards, couldn’t cope with Sherwood’s forecheck, and was dispossessed. Alexander Wenneberg got the puck in acres of space, picked his spot and beat Dobes.
Granted, not everyone can play a big, heavy game, but Dach has the frame necessary to protect the puck there. That was a lack of effort at the worst of times and the kind of play that makes you wonder if the forward deserves to be playing on the top line.
It’s Not Over Till It’s Over
The Canadiens went down 5-2 early in the third when Josh Anderson and Struble were sent to the box alongside Mario Ferraro, giving the Sharks a 5-on-4 power play, but they didn’t give up. It took less than two minutes for Ivan Demidov to score on the power play before Alex Newhook scored 18 seconds later and added another one to tie up the game five minutes later. With those two goals, Newhook now has four points in three games since returning from injury and 16 points in 20 games. On an 82-game season, that’s a 66-point pace.
The Canadiens made one mistake too many, though, being called for too many men with less than five minutes left in the game, and the Sharks scored the game-winner through Sherwood. Montreal did try to attack at 6-on-5 after pulling the goalie, but it was too little too late, and the Sharks added a seventh goal in an empty net. It was a fantastic game for Celibrini, and he showed what he can do with space. This is Dobes’ first regulation loss since December 9th, and hardly the start to the road trip St-Louis wanted.
It was nearly one year ago when popular Russian forward prospect Nikita Grebenkin was traded from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Philadelphia Flyers. Ahead of his first game against the Maple Leafs on Monday, Grebenkin spoke to reporters, including TSN’s Mark Masters, to reflect on his time in Toronto.
He also revealed that well after the trade to Philadelphia—which saw Grebenkin and a first-round draft pick go to the Flyers in exchange for forward Scott Laughton—he had to shut down his Instagram account because of all the Leafs fans sending him messages.
“I like to speak and talk to people and I don’t like if a guy texts me [and] I [can't respond] to him, but it’s hard always; 100 messages and I don’t use this now," he explained.
Selected by the Maple Leafs at 135th overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, Grebenkin got off to a great start with the Toronto Marlies, recording 10 points in his first 13 games. During his preseason debut in September of 2024, he got into a fight with then-Ottawa Senators forward Adam Gaudette. Immediately after the scrap, Grebenkin called for noise from the crowd, and they certainly showed the love back.
Grebenkin was among the final cuts during 2024 Leafs camp, joining the veteran players for their annual late preseason trip to Muskoka. He became an instant favorite for his personality. “Off the ice, he’s a lot of fun to be around, likes to joke around. He’s not shy... He’s definitely been making a lot of friends,” Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews said of Grebenkin at the time.
Grebenkin made his NHL debut on Nov. 20, 2024, and after the game, he delivered a now-viral postgame moment. "Team spoke to me: Backcheck, forecheck, and paycheck,” he said of the advice he received. The response got a massive laugh from everyone in attendance, including himself, and the delivery of the quote became a classic that immediately endeared him to the Leafs fanbase.
On March 7, 2025, Grebenkin was traded to Philly, thus ending his tenure in Toronto. Earlier in the season, when the Leafs visited the Flyers, Grebenkin politely declined to be interviewed as he was looking to be more serious and focused on performing well with his Flyers team. It was understandable, given he wanted to ensure he made a good impression in his first full season with his new club.
SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 3: Oso Ighodaro #11 of the Phoenix Suns dunks the ball during the game against the Sacramento Kings on March 3, 2026 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, 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 Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Win the games you are supposed to win.
It sounds like common sense. It sounds like the kind of thing a coach says in a locker room while everyone nods along and ties their shoes. Yet in the NBA, especially in the Western Conference, that simple idea carries real weight. If you want to live in the top six of the standings, if you want to avoid the chaos of the Play In, you handle business when the schedule gives you a gift.
To their credit, the Phoenix Suns have done that for most of the season. With their win against the Kings on Tuesday, they are now 20-5 against team under .500.
Tuesday night brought them back to the floor after four long days off. Four days is an eternity during the NBA calendar. The opponent waiting in Sacramento happened to own the worst record in the league. The assignment was clear. Show up, play competent basketball, collect the win, get back on the plane.
And that is exactly what happened.
Sure, the Kings threw together a few runs. That tends to happen in NBA games. Basketball has rhythm, waves, little bursts of energy that arrive and disappear like desert dust storms. The Suns weathered them and kept moving.
Although if you were watching the NBC broadcast, you might have noticed something curious. The score bug read PHO.
Throwback Tuesday on NBC.
Now that took me back. For a moment it felt like I was watching a game from another timeline. PHO sitting there in the corner of the screen like it was 1998 again. The broadcast leaned into the nostalgia. I loved it. For a long stretch of Suns history the scoreboard said PHO. The PHX abbreviation arrived later, somewhere around the early 2000s when everything started getting a little sleeker and a little more digital. Basketball Reference still clings to PHO like an old road atlas that refuses to update the highways.
The real story was seeing the Suns back on the floor with Devin Booker orchestrating the whole operation again. The ball moved. The offense breathed. Possessions flowed with intention rather than sticking to one spot on the floor like gum on hot pavement.
There was stability. Calm. The kind of rhythm that arrives when the primary creator returns to the stage.
Phoenix flew to Sacramento, handled the assignment, and walked out with the win. PHO on the screen, PHX in reality, and in the end that is all you can ask for.
Bright Side Baller Season Standings
Seems like a week ago…because it almost was. But Grayson locked down his 9th Bright Side Baller after the 28-point performance against the Lakers.
Bright Side Baller Nominees
Game 61 against the Kings. Here are your nominees:
Mar 3, 2026; Newark, New Jersey, USA; New Jersey Devils center Cody Glass (12) celebrates his goal against the Florida Panthers during the second period at Prudential Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images | Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images
Here are your links for today:
Devils Links
Arseny Gritsyuk, Dougie Hamilton, Cody Glass, Dawson Mercer and Simon Nemec all scored as the Devils took a 5-1 win over the Panthers on Tuesday. [Devils NHL]
Tom Fitzgerald is still running the show this deadline, for some reason:
“On the surface, Hamilton’s 2025-26 season looks like an outright disaster, like the reality has finally caught up with the perception that has always held him back. But a closer look through all of the chaos in New Jersey shows he has the juice to contribute in a top-four capacity.” [The Athletic ($)]
Someone’s likely on the move:
Some interesting tidbits out this morning for the #NJDevils.
Elliotte Friedman reporting that NJ has several defensemen out there, not including Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, or Brett Pesce.
Chris Johnson reporting that Nick Bjugstad is a likely candidate to get moved again.
A look at potential destinations for Dougie Hamilton, Cody Glass, Jonas Siegenthaler, Dawson Mercer, Evgenii Dadonov and Paul Cotter: [New Jersey Hockey Now]
A signing:
#NEWS: We’ve signed F Matyas Melovsky to a two-year, entry-level contract.
GM’s are describing the NHL landscape as a “buyers market”. Tons of players in play. Keep an eye on the Buffalo Sabres. Sources say talks between Buffalo and St Louis involving Robert Thomas are heating up.
The Blues appear ready to move on from Jordan Binnington. 16 team no trade list is in play but feels like a move is a forgone conclusion at this stage with where @StLouisBlues heading in the near term.
“Some NHL teams told ESPN that they’re frustrated by the impact that the league’s expedited salary cap rules have had ahead of Friday’s trade deadline. The new collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and the NHLPA, which was announced in July, begins Sept. 16. The league, however, moved up a handful of new rules governing the salary cap to the 2025-26 season and only briefed its general managers about those changes last September.” [ESPN]
“‘It’s going be great for the city of Calgary.’ That, from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who landed in the Stampede City Tuesday to get a first-hand look at construction efforts at Scotia Place. Bettman toured the site Tuesday morning and in a media availability Tuesday afternoon at the Scotibank Saddledome, expressed his excitement at the progress being made on Calgary’s new hockey home, slated to open its doors in the fall of 2027.” [NHL Flames]
Feel free to discuss these and any other hockey-related stories in the comments below.
Feb 20, 2026; Sarasota, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles first baseman Pete Alonso (25) greets shortstop Gunnar Henderson (2) before the start of the spring training game against the New York Yankees at Ed Smith Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
Good Morning Birdland,
The Orioles did play a game on Tuesday, but there are no highlights to share. The game, an exhibition against the Netherlands WBC team, was not broadcast anywhere. As far as I can tell, not even that awkward single camera angle from behind home plate—a trademark of spring games not shown on TV—was available.
All we can go on are first-person accounts and the box score. In that regard, it was not a good day for the Orioles.
Trevor Rogers started. He lasted 2.1 innings while giving up six runs on six hits, a walk, four strikeouts, and two home runs. Despite the ugly line, Rogers was encouraged by the outing, telling the media postgame that he thought he “got some good work out there.” It’s a process.
The Orioles had a rough game in the field. They made four errors, one each by Jeremiah Jackson, Bryan Ramos, Samuel Basallo, and Cobb Hightower. That sloppiness prompted Pete Alonso to call for an infield huddle in the second inning. The veteran slugger urged his teammates to “clean up” and play with more energy. The moment was praised by Rogers and manager Craig Albernaz.
Alonso had himself a fine afternoon. He went 2-for-2 with a two-run homer, just the latest impressive showing in what has been an impact spring for the newcomer.
Other performances of note included a solo homer for Jackson, two RBI for José Barrero, four shutout innings for Dean Kremer, and a two-strikeout inning for Grant Wolfram.
Team USA got its WBC preparations underway as well. They played a game against the Giants in Scottsdale, Arizona, and boy was it a walloping. Team USA prevailed 15-1, compiling 19 hits, eight walks, and 10 strikeouts. Alex Bregman and Roman Anthony both homered.
Gunnar Henderson also got into the game. Even though he did not start, the O’s star still managed to take four trips to the plate. He went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, two runs scored, and two RBI.
The Orioles will play the Astros in Grapefruit League play today at 1 pm ET. Team USA will take on the Rockies at 3:10 pm ET.
Spring training leftovers for breakfast | Roch Kubatko Quotes from all over the organization in this one. It sounds like Albernaz will be trotting out some different names at shortstop while Henderson is with Team USA. The fact that Jackson Holliday is also hurt does make this a bit tricky. They need to enter the season with a backup at the position, and right now it is not exactly clear who that would be.
Richard Rodríguez is 36 years old. He pitched in five games for the 2017 Orioles.
Nerio Rodríguez is 55 today. From 1996-98, he made 20 total appearances for the O’s, mostly as a relief option.
Jack Fisher celebrates his 87th birthday. The right-handed pitcher had a four-year stint in Baltimore from 1959 through ‘62. Over 634.1 total innings with the Orioles he had a 3.92 ERA and 1.8 bWAR.
The late Bob Johnson (b. 1936, d. 2019) was born on this day. He spent five seasons on the Orioles infield from 1963-67. During those five years he played all four infield positions, accumulated 3.1 bWAR, and an 87 OPS+.
This day in O’s history
Not much has happened in Orioles history on this date, according to Baseball Reference. So here are a few happenings from beyond Birdland:
1913 – The United States Department of Labor is formed.
1917 – Jeanette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives
1918 – A case of influenza is recorded at Camp Fusion, Kansas, considered the beginning of the worldwide Spanish flu pandemic.
1933 – Frances Perkins becomes the first female member of the United States Cabinet. She is confirmed as Secretary of Labor and sworn in the same day.
1955 – An order to protect the endangered Saimaa ringed seal is legalized.
1957 – The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90.
1966 – In an interview with the London Evening Standard, John Lennon declares that The Beatles are “more popular than Jesus now.”
2020 – Nik Wallenda becomes the first person to walk over the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua.
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 02: Johan Rojas #18 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a bunt single against the Chicago Cubs during the sixth inning at Wrigley Field on July 02, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths.
“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire.
Today in baseball history:
1884 – National League owners agree to provide two separate team benches to minimize fraternizing among opposing players during games. (2)
1907 – A judgment of $52,000 is awarded to the Baltimore club from Brooklyn. When Baltimore left the National League in 1900, Brooklyn agreed to pay $40,000 for the franchise but never did. The award includes interest. (1,2)
1943 – The woeful Philadelphia Phillies announce their new nickname – the Blue Jays. The winning entry in the contest was submitted by a Mrs. Elizabeth Crooks, and was chosen over a number of names ranging from Daisies to Stinkers. Team president Bob Carpenter says he hopes to have the farm system identified by the same blue color, with the Wilmington club called the Blue Rocks and possibly the new Bradford team as the Blue Wings. The Blue Jays will be the official team name in 1943 and 1944, but will be abandoned in 1945, though the team will still occasionally be referred to in newspaper accounts as the Blue Jays through 1949. Ms. Crooks wins a $100 war bond and a season ticket to the Blue Jays. (2)
Some of these items spread from site to site without being fact-checked, and that is why we ask for verifiable sources, in order to help correct the record.
Medvedev and Rublev both miss pre-event exhibition
Challenger event in Dubai cancelled over security alert
The Russian tennis players Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev did not arrive at Indian Wells in time to participate in Tuesday night’s southern California exhibition event after they were among those affected by travel disruptions caused by the war on Iran.
The US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran over the weekend and the conflict has led to airspace closures and widespread flight cancellations across parts of the Gulf, disrupting a key transit hub.
INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — Top-ranked tennis player Aryna Sabalenka has announced her engagement to Brazilian businessman Georgios Frangulis.
Sabalenka posted a video of the proposal on Instagram, accompanied with the words “You & me, forever” along with a ring and heart emoji.
The news quickly drew congratulations from fellow tennis players, including Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, and Amanda Anisimova, a possible opponent for Sabalenka in the quarterfinals at the forthcoming Indian Wells tournament in the Southern California desert.
The tournament that opens on Wednesday will be Sabalenka's first since she reached the final at the Australian Open, where she lost to Elena Rybakina 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on Jan 31.
