The former Yankees and Mets outfielder agreed to a two-year, $20.5 million deal with the Giants, The Post’s Jon Heyman confirmed.
The contract contains incentives that could make it worth $21 million.
Bader, 31, had signed one-year deals in free agency the past two offseasons, but a strong finish to the 2025 campaign powered him to a multi-year pact.
Bader posted career-bests in every major offensive category last season, which he split between the Twins and Phillies. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST
He helped the Mets’ National League East rivals down the stretch, hitting an outstanding .305/.361/.463 with five home runs and 16 RBIs in 50 games.
In 143 total games last year, the Bronxville, New York, native slashed a solid .277/.347/.449 with 17 homers and 54 RBIs (122 wRC+) – all career-highs.
There were some reports that Bader’s former Big Apple clubs could explore reunions this offseason, but the Yankees’ re-signing of Cody Bellinger and the Mets’ trade for Luis Robert Jr. made that unlikely.
Acquired from the Cardinals in exchange for Jordan Montgomery at the 2022 trade deadline, Bader appeared in 98 total games with the Yankees, hitting a below-average .237 with seven home runs and 46 RBIs.
While he enjoyed a powerful postseason in 2022, a series of injuries hampered Bader during his Bronx tenure.
“It just means so much to me to be a New York City kid, playing in the Bronx for the Yankees,” Bader told reporters after being claimed by Cincinnati, leaving the door open for a reunion down the line. “It’s just really special for a lot of reasons. There’s a lot of good moments and I’m just really excited because regardless of the situation, no one can ever take the fact that I put that uniform on, growing up in that city. It means a lot to me.”
After an underwhelming September with the Reds, Bader joined the Mets in free agency for the 2024 season, posting 12 homers and 51 RBIs alongside his trademark standout defense in the team’s run to the NLCS.
Welcome to Week in Review: a Monday feature that looks back at the week that was for the San Antonio Spurs, takes a look at the week ahead, and more. Enjoy!
Week 13: After hitting rock bottom of their post-Christmas slump with an embarrassing second-half blowout loss in Oklahoma City, the Spurs finally appeared to turn a corner, rediscovering their offensive form against a Bucks team in turmoil and overcoming plenty of drama against the Timberwolves, including a 55-point outing from Anthony Edwards, to finally beat a team that had given them trouble all season.
The Spurs swept their three-game homestand by taking care of an injured (tanking?) Jazz squad using a team effort and riding 7 threes from Victor Wembanyama. Unlike previous games, even wins, the Spurs stayed locked in and did not give away the lead, allowing the starters to rest most of the fourth quarter on the second night of a back-to-back.
Alas, just when it felt like the Spurs were their better selves again and learning how to protect a lead, they reverted back to bad habits on the road. After dominating their IH-10 rivals for 2 1/2 quarters and leading by as much as 16, they completely fell apart in the fourth. Wemby had no answers for the Rockets’ physicality, and Reed Sheppard sliced up the Spurs’ backcourt. They were outscored 29-14 in the fourth quarter, adding to their ever-growing list of games lost after leading by double-figures.
The bad taste of blowing a big lead in Houston didn’t prevent them from doing it again two nights later in Utah, but despite having to sweat it out, the Jazz only managed to tie the game a couple of times before Wemby and De’Aaron Fox did what superstars are supposed to do: take over in the fourth quarter to put a worse, shorthanded team away, ending the game on a 22-9 run.
In a complete reversion back to their slump days, complacency once again set in against an inferior opponent. After maintaining the lead for most of the first half, the Spurs allowed big runs by the Pelicans to close the second and open the third quarter. After a hockey substitution, the bench unit upped the energy, and eventually the Spurs not only came all the way back from 20 down, but took a five-point lead with four minutes remaining. Unfortunately, they couldn’t sustain that level of play and lost another game the shouldn’t have, spoiling Devin Vassell’s return from injury.
The Spurs are just 8-8 since they beat the Thunder for the third time on Christmas Day, a stretch that includes losses to the Jazz, Grizzlies and Pelicans. But they’re still in second place in the West and one of four teams (all in the Western Conference) that rank in the top 10 on both ends of the floor.
Three takeaways
1. The Spurs have scored more than 124 points per 100 possessions over their last four wins, but they still rank just 24th offensively (111.8 scored per 100) since Christmas. Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper have combined for an effective field goal percentage of just 40.4% over the 16 games, and Harrison Barnes has gone quiet, averaging just 6.2 points, down from 12.9 through the Christmas win in Oklahoma City.
2. Keldon Johnson has picked up some of the slack. His 20.2 points per 36 minutes would be the second-highest mark of his career, and he’s having his most efficient season (true shooting percentage of 65.2%) since his rookie year, when he attempted only 89 shots. He’s been the only Spur who’s played in clutch time in all 10 of their games since Christmas that have been within five points in the last five minutes.
3. The Spurs did get Devin Vassell back from a 13-game absence on Sunday, and they’ve outscored their opponents by 12.9 points per 100 possessions with Vassell, De’Aaron Fox and Victor Wembanyama on the floor together, though that sample size (137 minutes) is still pretty small.
Coming up: The Spurs will have a chance to avenge last week’s loss in Houston when they return to the Toyota Center on Wednesday. They’re 8-7 (5-0 at home or on a neutral court, 3-7 on the road) in games played between the top seven teams in the West.
Neither of the San Antonio Spurs’ two recent losses is all that concerning, especially since shots simply weren’t falling against Houston and New Orleans. Now, the Spurs enter a new week, starting with a rematch in Houston and a chance to get back on the right track.
The Spurs rank inside the top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating this season, joining Houston, Oklahoma City, and Minnesota.
As reported on Sunday, San Antonio has been involved in trade talks with New York surrounding former first-round pick Jeremy Sochan. However, the Spurs have been reluctant to trade Sochan to this point, and it’s much more likely they seek further frontcourt help before the deadline utilizing Kelly Olynyk’s expiring contract.
Coming up: Wed. 1/28 at Houston Rockets (27-16); Sat. 1/31 at Charlotte Hornets (18-28); Sun, 2/1 vs. Orlando Magic (23-21)
Prediction:2-1 — Maybe if I stop predicting the Spurs will go on a winning streak, they actually will. They’ll have a chance for revenge against the Rockets, although I’m not entirely convinced they’re up for the challenge. They then have a sneakily tough game against a healthy Hornets team that has been coming into its own lately, with LaMelo Ball learning how to play team ball alongside Brandon Miller and Kon Knueppel (who is exactly the type of shooter who can bury the Spurs in a hurry if they leave him open). Finally, the Spurs return home to take on an underwhelming but tough Magic team that they only barely beat at the buzzer earlier in the season.
The Chicago Blackhawks were defeated on Sunday night by the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. The Hawks allowed four unanswered goals in the third period and lost 5-1.
This loss snapped a three-game point streak for Chicago, keeping them at 50 standings points entering a new week of play.
In the loss, some line shake-ups happened throughout the game. That is not something that Jeff Blashill loves doing, but he was clearly experimenting against the Panthers. Recent Blackhawks coaches loved putting lines in the blender, but Blashill had stabilized that until Sunday.
After the game was over, Blashill admitted that he plans on getting back to steady lines by the time they play their next game.
"It’s something we’ll look at and decide: okay, what are we going with? And just stay with that."
During practice on Monday, all 15 forwards were healthy and accounted for. As a result, the lines and defense pairs looked like this:
Nazar-Bedard-Teravainen
Bertuzzi-Dickinson-Mikheyev
Greene-Moore-Burakovsky
Donato-Foligno-Slaggert
Dach-Lafferty-Lardis
Vlasic-Crevier
Kaiser-Levshunov
Grzelcyk-Murphy
Knight
Soderblom
That fifth line of Colton Dach, Sam Lafferty, and Nick Lardis appears to be the extras ahead of their next game. Will one or two of them be sent down ahead of their departure for Minnesota? We will find out soon.
With that said, you can expect some of these lines to stick once they figure out the right combos before their next game. Chicago is scheduled to have a morning skate in St. Paul on Tuesday. That may be even more revealing.
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Mercogliano adds that there’s no official announcement yet as they work out the particulars, but expect him to be held out of the lineup on Monday night against the Boston Bruins for roster management related reasons.
This mark the first trade between the Rangers and Islanders since 2010, when the Rangers acquired defenseman Jyri Niemi in exchange for a sixth-round pick.
The Rangers acquired Soucy from the Vancouver Canucks on March 6, 2025 in exchange for a third-round pick the team received in a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights for Reilly Smith.
When talking about Soucy last year, Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury emphasized that he envisions him being a part of the long-term plan for the Rangers.
“We think there's a lot of possibilities with Carson, whether it's (pairing) with Schneids or Foxy or Will (Borgen), or even having him on the right side at some point,” Drury said. “We'll see how it plays out. I'm glad we were able to get him. I was excited about the term, excited about the number.
“He's not a rental. He’s someone we could have in for the rest of the year and next year. I just like the overall game – the size, the skating, the sense, how he defends. We were able to do some homework on him the last couple weeks and we’re excited to get him with a piece we got in the Reilly Smith trade.”
Of course, Drury’s letter that was issued last week outlining the Rangers’ plan to retool the roster changes the direction of the franchise, hence Soucy’s standing with the team.
In 46 games this season, the 31-year-old defenseman has recorded three goals, five assists, and eight points, while averaging 17:13 minutes.
As reported last week with the Baseball America news, end of January means updated prospect list and just like that we saw MLB Pipeline drop their updated Top 100.
Last week we saw JR Ritchie come in at No. 84 overall, while Cam Caminiti rose all the way up to No. 53 for Baseball America. Those two were the lone representatives for the Braves once again — this time for MLB Pipeline as JR Ritchie comes in at No. 90 overall, while Cam Caminiti sits at No. 68.
Whether you believe in the rankings or not, it’s clear that Cam and JR Ritchie have set themselves apart from the rest of the Braves minor league system. It’s a system that, while currently ranked quite low amongst all teams, is starting to rebound nicely after a couple of strong drafts and adding talent like Diego Tornes and Raudy Reyes who both made a name for themselves last season. With progression from the positional prospects in the first half of the season, these lists may see an injection of Braves talent throughout.
Winners of four of their last five, the Portland Trail Blazers (23-23) look to continue their climb north in the Western Conference standings when they take the court against possibly the biggest surprise in the Eastern Conference this season, the Boston Celtics (28-17).
The season has thus far certainly exceeded expectations in Boston. Sitting atop the Atlantic Division, the Celtics are second in the Eastern Conference. Jaylen Brown is playing the best basketball of his career averaging 29.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 4.9 assists per game. As a team, the Celtics love the three-point shot. They are making 15.8 per game on 36.9% shooting. All that said, they have sputtered of late winning just five of their last ten games.
This is the first of a four-game road trip for the Blazers who currently sit four games out of a playoff spot but in ninth and thus currently in possession of a spot in the play-in. Denny Avdija has been a revelation since arriving in an offseason trade with the Wizards. The forward is averaging nine points more per game in Portland (26.0) than he did last season in Washington (16.9). His availability (back) is a question mark tonight. That is news you need before placing a wager of any kind on this game.
This is the second meeting of the season between these teams. The Blazers won in the Moda Center, 114-108, on December 28. Shaedon Sharpe poured in 26 for Portland while Jaylen Brown had 37 in the loss for Boston.
Lets take a closer look at the matchup and take into consideration lineups, injuries, and other factors affecting the line and total.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on how to catch tipoff, odds courtesy of DraftKings recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to Watch Live: Trail Blazers at Celtics
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Game Odds: Trail Blazers at Celtics
The latest odds as of Monday courtesy of DraftKings:
Moneyline: Portland Trail Blazers (+245), Boston Celtics (-305)
Spread: Celtics -7.5
Total: 224.5 points
This game opened Cavaliers -7.5 with the Total set at 224.5.
Be sure to check out DraftKings for all the latest game odds & player props for every matchup this week on the NBA schedule!
Expected Starting Lineups: Trail Blazers at Celtics
Deni Avdija (back) is listed as questionable for tonight’s game
Robert Williams III (knee) is listed as questionable for tonight’s game
Kris Murray (back) has been ruled OUT for tonight’s game
Duop Reath (foot) has been ruled OUT for tonight’s game
Scoot Henderson (hamstring) has been ruled OUT for tonight’s game
Matisse Thybulle (thumb/knee) has been ruled OUT for tonight’s game
Blake Wesley (foot) has been ruled OUT for tonight’s game
Boston Celtics
Luka Garza (knee) is questionable for tonight’s game
Josh Minott (undisclosed) is questionable for tonight’s game
Neemias Queta (illness is questionable for tonight’s game
Jayson Tatum (Achilles) has been ruled OUT for tonight’s game
Important stats, trends and insights: Trail Blazers at Celtics
The Celtics are 13-7 at home this season
The Trail Blazers are 10-12 on the road this season
The Celtics are 25-20 ATS this season
The Trail Blazers are 26-20 ATS this season
The OVER has cashed in 23 of the Trail Blazers’ 46 games this season (23-23)
The OVER has cashed in 19 of the Celtics’ 44 games this season (19-26)
Donovan Clingan has recorded a double-double in 3 of his last 4 games
Jaylen Brown has scored at least 30 points in 4 of his last 5 games
Rotoworld Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the NBA calendar based on data points like recent performance, head-to-head player matchups, trends information and projected game totals.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projections next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today’s Trail Blazers and Celtics’ game:
Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Moneyline
Spread: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Celtics -7.5
Total: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the Game Total OVER 224.5
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The Rangers are trading defenseman Carson Soucy to the Islanders.
The Islanders have gone to an unlikely source to fill the need on their blue line.
In what would be a rare trade between the Battle of New York rivals, the Blueshirts and Islanders are getting close on a deal that would send defenseman Carson Soucy to Long Island, The Post’s Mollie Walker confirmed, with Soucy sitting out the Rangers game Monday night against the Bruins for trade-related reasons.
Soucy, acquired from the Canucks last season in exchange for a third-round pick, has collected eight points in 46 games this season while averaging 17:13 of ice time. He is eligible for unrestricted free agency after the season.
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The return is not yet known, but the Rangers spent a third-round pick to acquire Soucy from Vancouver 10 months ago. The Islanders have plenty of long-term injured reserve space with Kyle Palmieri, Pierre Engvall, Alexander Romanov and, likely, Semyon Varlamov out for the season, so Soucy’s $3.25 million cap hit is of little consequence.
With the Islanders carrying 23 men on their roster, they will need to move a player in order to fit Soucy. That could either mean including a player in the return to the Rangers, adding Ryan Pulock to injured reserve or sending someone to AHL Bridgeport.
For the Islanders, the main question is whether Soucy, a left-handed defenseman, is being seen solely as a replacement for Romanov — whose role the Isles have unsuccessfully tried to fill with a series of call-ups since the Russian got hurt in mid-November — or if Ryan Pulock’s recent upper-body injury increased the urgency to add to their blue line.
The Rangers are trading defenseman Carson Soucy to the Islanders. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Pulock, who has been anchored to the top pair for most of the season, sustained the issue late in Wednesday’s loss to the Kraken before missing Saturday’s 5-0 defeat to the Sabres. He didn’t travel with the Islanders to Philadelphia for a crucial match Monday night against the Flyers, though the team has continued to call him day to day.
In his absence, Scott Mayfield has played on Matthew Schaefer’s right side, but it was hard to see how the Islanders could sustain being without one-third of their Opening Night blue line for long.
Soucy figures to slot into the spot currently occupied by Adam Boqvist, on the left side of the third pair opposite Isaiah George. Boqvist, who has just one point in 19 games this season, has struggled to make a consistent impact and has been benched in favor of call-ups for much of the year.
Taking George out of the lineup and shifting Boqvist to the right side is also an option, but given how Boqvist has struggled on his off side — and that George hasn’t yet gotten an extended look, with Saturday his first game with the Isles this season after being called up — that seems unlikely.
At a minimum, Soucy figures to add some defensive stability to the third pair, which has not had much of it since Romanov went down.
For the Rangers, this looks like the first move of many after general manager Chris Drury announced in a letter to fans that his team would retool. Drury, who has not taken questions from reporters since the announcement, has already told Artemi Panarin he won’t get a contract extension, and names like Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafrenière have swirled in trade rumors.
Drury’s willingness to deal is highlighted by making a move with the Islanders, of all teams. If this trade is indeed completed, it would mark the first trade between the rivals since 2010, when the Blueshirts acquired 19-year-old defenseman Jyri Niemi from the Islanders in exchange for a sixth-round pick. The last one prior to that happened in 1972.
For now, though, everything has started with Soucy, as the Islanders, who enter play Monday in third place in the Metropolitan Division, tried to add depth ahead of a push to finish above the playoff cutline.
After a long wait in MLB free agency, Bader explained to the New York Post’s “The Show” podcast why joining the Giants made perfect sense.
“Well, first and foremost, the opportunity. There’s no doubt about it,” Bader told Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman in the episode posted Monday. “All you can do in this game is just work to set yourself up for the best opportunity possible. I’ve always wanted to play as many games, have as many at-bats as possible, be on a winning team. The Giants could not be a more perfect fit for me. So, I’m just I’m just very excited.”
Bader expressed how eager he is to join a “talented” Giants roster, specifically naming third baseman Matt Chapman, whom he came up with in the Texas League and minor leagues; shortstop Willy Adames, a familiar face from their time playing each other in the NL Central; and slugger Rafael Devers.
“I love playing with superstars. [The Giants] got a lot of really, really talented players,” Bader said. “… It’s a fresh front office, it’s obviously a fresh coaching staff. Have some SEC ties in Tony Vitello, some familiarity with, [Giants bench coach Jayce Tingler] when I was with the [Minnesota] Twins last year. So, it’s always good to be in a new place, but have familiar faces. So, opportunity, the personnel, the players, it just was a perfect fit, and I’m just really, really happy it worked out because it’s very rare in this game when things work out pretty perfectly.”
The Giants are Bader’s seventh MLB team since he made his big league debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2017. This offseason wasn’t his first foray into free agency, and that helped him stay the course this winter as he waited to find a landing spot.
He couldn’t be happier to have ended up in San Francisco, he said, which is a city he always looked forward to visiting as an opposing player.
“It’s a process,” Bader said of free agency. “I think you have to put your faith in your team behind the scenes … Everybody did a great job of kind of distracting me and keeping me on a really positive path throughout this entire process. Because listen, teams have trades to go through, they have other signings, they have a certain amount of money that they need to allocate. So, as they’re building a roster, it’s really important for us as players to just remain calm, trust your representation, trust your support system and hopefully know that with the work and the season you put up that things are ultimately going to work out.
“Keeping that faith, I think, allowed me to kind of just get through it. And I ended up in a great place, a great city, like I mentioned, a great coaching staff, a great locker room.”
William Nylander took to his personal Instagram account and apologized for flashing the middle finger during the Toronto Maple Leafs' 4-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday.
One day later, he faced reporters, including TSN's Mark Masters, to express his regret.
"I just want to apologize for my actions yesterday," Nylander said. "I was out of frustration, so I'm sorry about that."
Nylander told reporters that after he made the gesture, he received a text saying 'not a good idea'. When asked what Toronto's leading point-getter was frustrated about, he brought it back to the groin injury that will keep him out of his sixth consecutive game when the club hosts the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday.
"Just not playing. I want to be out there with the guys," he said. "Yeah, just frustrated."
Craig Berube on William Nylander:
"Made a mistake. He owned up to it. You know, things happen. People make mistakes. Players make mistakes. Coaches make mistakes. It happens ... He knows it’s wrong & he owned up to it"@TSN_Sports
Nylander previously missed six games due to the same groin issue, so it's not a surprise to see him frustrated over his inability to play, especially while the team is going through another funk, having dropped their fourth consecutive games while sitting five points out of a playoff spot through games played on Jan. 25.
But Nylander's gesture, regardless of how offended you may or may not be, certainly grabbed the attention of fans of the game and the team.
"(He) made a mistake. He owned up to it. Things happen," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. "Players make mistakes. Coaches make mistakes. It happened. He knows it's wrong and he owned up to it."
The Leafs have scored just eight goals in their last four games (0-3-1), and having a healthy Nylander back would certainly help the club improve in that area. With 17 goals and 31 assists in 37 games, his 48 points lead the club by four over the next player (John Tavares with 44 points in 52 games).
The good news is Nylander is targeting a return for the Leafs' four-game road trip that begins Thursday and will go through Seattle, Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton before the NHL pauses for an Olympic break.
"Hopefully, (I) will be back playing sometime on the road trip, so that's where I have my mind at."
Of course, returning on the trip would also be good for Nylander's aim to represent Sweden at the Olympics in Milan. No doubt the risk of missing that tournament, or not being 100 percent, could be playing into the star's frustration.
“Sitting there, I got a text message… I was like oh, not a good idea. Not a good thing to do”
Duncan Robinson is playing arguably the best ball of his career, but is it enough?
Duncan Robinson is a nice player.
He was a cheap addition this offseason for a Detroit Pistons team that saw its 3-point shooting evaporate in free agency when Tim Hardaway Jr. left for the Denver Nuggets and, of course, Malik Beasley had the whole Malik Beasley situation arise out of nowhere.
It left the Pistons, coming off their best season in years, desperate for shooting and spacing.
Enter, Robinson.
The longtime Miami Heat sharpshooter was signed to a modest deal and he’s more than earned his keep as a starter with the Pistons. Robinson is averaging 12.1 points with 2.9 threes per game while shooting 44% from the field and 41% from downtown.
He’s opened up the floor for Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren to operate with space and they’ve both put together career years and has been a neutral defender for the second-best defense in the NBA.
There isn’t much more you could ask for from Robinson.
And there’s not much more you can expect.
This is Robinson’s ceiling. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s the reality. Detroit is on its way to a top seed in the East and a legitimate chance to win the title. This isn’t a post telling you they need to put their chips in for a Trey Murphy III or some of them for a Michael Porter Jr., though both would be worth looking at.
It’s a moment to realize that the Pistons need more shooting, and maybe another Duncan Robinson, if they want to take this regular season success into the postseason.
Teams have found ways to mitigate a stand-still shooter like Robinson in the playoffs in spurts during his career — mainly, the last two seasons with Miami. I really would worry about the Pistons scoring in a playoff series if he wasn’t giving them anything.
The Pistons shot 27% from 3 in the two games he missed this season, which is putrid, and when he has a bad game, the Pistons lose. That’s basically the pattern. It wasn’t *as* bad last year with THJ and Beasley because you had two high-level shooters. Now, it’s just Duncan.
The Pistons need Robinson to hit his 3s to be at their best. When you reach a first-to-four wins situation come April, that’s a lot of weight on your only shooter’s shoulders. It’s an unfair burden, really, because Robinson’s limitations aren’t exposed in a regular season setting as much as they will in the playoffs.
That’s true of every player and every archetype, but unless you’re an otherworldly defensive juggernaut like the Oklahoma City Thunder last season — and let me be clear, these Pistons are not that — you need shooting. They don’t have to be the run-and-gun Warriors of year’s past, but they need another guy.
They need a shooter who is a shooter, not a guy who can make shots. That’s an important point to make. Jaden Ivey is shooting the three well, rounding back into the form he showed last season. But he’s not a big off-ball threat who comes off screens and finds space to get his shot.
The Robinson-types are more than just guys who can hit threes, they’re guys who thrive without the ball in their hands and can find pockets to create spacing. Sam Hauser in Boston. AJ Green in Milwaukee. Sam Merrill in Cleveland. The Pistons, at minimum, need more guys in that mold for the games where Robinson isn’t a factor.
Just some food for thought as the trade deadline approaches. Curious what you all think!
The San Francisco Giants once again entered an offseason saying they intended to get better defensively. And, with Spring Training right around the corner, they’ve finally made good on that promise. According to a report from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, on Monday morning the Giants agreed to a two-year deal with free agent outfielder Harrison Bader. According to multiple reports, the deal will pay Bader $20.5 million.
Bader, a 31-year old who bats and throws right-handed, is widely considered one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball, and won a Gold Glove in 2021 with the St. Louis Cardinals. Last year, which he spent on the Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies, Bader finished 18th among all outfielders with seven Outs Above Average, and 22nd in Fielding Run Value.
That defense is desperately needed for a team that plans on playing Heliot Ramos and Jung Hoo Lee in the grass every day. Bader instantly makes the outfield defense significantly better.
The offense is more of a question mark, and it’s been a roller-coaster recently. Bader was comfortably below average in the batter’s box from 2022 through 2024, posting wRC+ marks of 84, 69, and 85, respectively. But he caught fire in 2025, ending the year with a slash line of .277/.347/.449 with a career-high 17 home runs, good for a .796 OPS and a 122 wRC+. If the Giants get the Bader of last year, they’re getting an All-Star; if they get the Bader of the previous years, they’re getting an excellent fourth outfielder.
Bader has, historically, been a bit of a platoon hitter. For his career, he’s hit left-handed pitching comfortably better than average (106 wRC+) and right-handed pitching comfortably below average (92 wRC+). That, too, was flipped on its head in 2025, when he demolished same-handed pitching (136 wRC+) but struggled when he had the advantage against southpaws (92 wRC+).
Anything he provides on offense is gravy, though — the Giants are bringing him in for the defense. We’ll have to wait and see what Buster Posey and Tony Vitello have to say, but for now, the expectation is that Bader will become the starting center fielder, and Lee will slide over to right field.
Arnaldo Lantigua rocketed to spot #10 after adding his name to the list of existing top prospects. Maybe that’ll be the case again with spot #11 in this year’s Community Prospect Rankings!
Per usual, here’s a link to the Google Form where you can vote, though it should be embedded at the end of the list if you’d rater read first and then vote on-page after digesting all the glorious information on these up and coming future Cincinnati Reds.
Here’s how the list has materialized so far:
Sal Stewart
Alfredo Duno
Rhett Lowder
Hector Rodriguez
Edwin Arroyo
Cam Collier
Steele Hall
Tyson Lewis
Chase Petty
Arnaldo Lantigua
A large list of talented names exists below for spot #11. Have at it with the votes!
Adolfo Sanchez, OF (19 years old)
2025 at a glance: .339/.474/.504 with 2 HR, 10 SB in 154 PA with DSL Reds (Dominican Summer League)
Pros: Left-handed hitter who profiles to have a plus hit tool and potentially plus power; arm good enough to play RF if he doesn’t stick in CF; shaved 20% off his K% year over year; plus runner
Cons: Questions whether he’s already physically matured to the point where projecting him to be much better exist
The Reds signed Sanchez for $2.7 million out of the Dominican Republic in 2024 and kept him there to ply his trade professionally in the Dominican Summer League. Things went quite poorly for him there during his age 17 season, and he subsequently stuck around there to repeat in 2025 – though this time, things went swimmingly.
He’ll undoubtedly play in the States in 2026, but the question now is just how quickly the Reds might try to move him up if he hits the ground running. At 6’3” and 200 lbs already, he’s not the kind of prospect where you say he’s X now, but when he gets bigger and stronger he’ll be Y in two years. In other words, if he looks the part now, he needs to be challenged immediately, and my hope is that he gets time with Daytona right off the bat.
He’s got a hit tool that comes with all-fields power, excellent patience at the plate, and I really do think his swing will continue to play. Still, it’s likely he ends up in a corner spot in the OF, which means the power’s going to need to continue to show up for him to project as an everyday regular – at least vs. RHP.
Leo Balcazar, SS/2B (22 years old)
2025 at a glance: .263/.339/.381 with 12 HR, 8 SB in 560 PA split between A+ Dayton Dragons (Midwest League) and AA Chattanooga Lookouts (AA Southern League); .277/.340/.340 in 103 PA with Peoria Javelinas (Arizona Fall League)
Pros: Good strike zone judgement and plate discipline (52/75 BB/K in 2025); well-rounded tools, continuing to improve off ACL surgery
Cons: Not a ton of power yet; some question whether he’ll be able to stick at SS long term
It’s easy to forget just how good of a start Balcazar had to his pro career after signing with the Reds for $100,000 out of Venezuela. He posted an .882 OPS in 2021 in Dominican Summer League play, an .886 OPS in 2022 with the Arizona Complex League Reds, and was off to a wicked start (.897 OPS) across the first 18 games of his 2023 season with Class-A Daytona before he tore his ACL.
2024 was a bit of a rough year for him, however, as the layoff and working back from the surgery clearly impacted his performance (.264/.295/.354 in 410 PA). However, 2025 saw him look a lot more like his former explosive self – both at the plate and in the field – and he clearly was healthy enough once again as he logged a combined 663 PA across all leagues.
He’s still just 21 years of age (22 in June of 2026), and if he’s shaken the rust off completely and enters this season after a normal winter, there’s a chance we see a whole lot more from him, too.
Aaron Watson, RHP (19 years old)
2025 at a glance: Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2nd round of the 2025 MLB Draft out of Trinity Christian Academy (FL); signed overslot $2.7 million bonus to forego commitment to the University of Florida
Pros: 6’5” frame; potential 60-grade slider; fastball that runs up to 96 mph from a three-quarter arm slot and already has a solid three-pitch mix with his change rotated in
Cons: Did not pitch professionally after being drafted, so he’s a complete unknown
One glimpse of Watson on the mound and you immediately think yep, I bet that guy can turn into a pretty dang good pitcher. He’s got an ideal frame to produce downhill offerings, and his fastball/slider mix is already something on which he can hang his hat.
However, command of all three of his pitches – specifically a very developmental changeup – will be what he needs to work on to begin to move quickly through the ranks. He possesses a good ‘feel’ at the moment in terms of what pitches to throw, which part of the zone to attack vs. which hitters, etc., but how well he can build in more deception with his offerings will be vital.
Jose Franco, RHP (25 years old)
2025 at a glance: 3.11 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 118/54 K/BB in 110.0 IP split between AA Chattanooga Lookouts (Southern League) and AAA Louisville Bats (International League)
Pros: Fastball that flirts with triple digits with ease
Cons: Secondary pitches need work, and that’s impacting his overall command (and ability to limit walks)
Franco turned 25 years old in November and earned a promotion to the 40-man roster of the Reds shortly thereafter due to his consistent performance across the upper levels of their farm system.
The Reds have a few hulks they’ve put on the mound in recent years, and Franco thoroughly qualifies. He’s listed at 6’2” and an oddly specific 257 lbs, and his size and frame allows him to tap into his excellent fastball velocity with ease. It’s the pitch he misses bats with the most, but how well he can differentiate his breaking pitches (and improve his changeup command) will determine whether or not he can a) get left-handed hitter out with aplomb and b) avoid ending up in the bullpen.
He’s been a late bloomer, in part due to injuries that cost him his entire 2023 season, and if he continues the path he’s been on since getting healthy there could be a whole lot more from him as early as 2026 for Cincinnati.
Carlos Jorge, OF (22 years old)
2025 at a glance: .251/.342/.355 with 6 HR, 40 SB in 469 PA with High-A Dayton Dragons (Midwest League)
Pros: Plus speed; former infielder moved to CF in 2023 and in 2025 looked like a natural there; plus speed; shaved 12.5% off K-rate from down 2024 season; 60-grade arm strength a weapon in CF
Cons: ISO declined for third straight year, this time precipitously; prone to extreme streakiness
If you threw out every other stop of Carlos Jorge’s pro career and just focused on the good ones, he’d already be ranked by now. The good parts of the best of his years have been quite tremendous, all told. He’s flashed great speed (40 steals in 2025), good pop for a small-ish CF (12 HR in 2023 and 2024; .483 SLG in the cavernous Florida State League in 2023), and the ability to play pretty elite CF defense (as recently as 2025).
However, he’s added some real clunkers in there, too. He hit just .220/.291/.394 with a K-rate over 31% at Dayton in 2024, and that came on the heels of hitting just .239/.277/.398 in 23 games once he reached Dayton at the end of 2023.
Maybe it’s just Dayton, where he was again in 2025 in a much better all-around year, even though his power dried up again. He’ll surely begin with AA Chattanooga of the Southern League in 2026, and at 22 (with his position in CF now settled) the former 2B might finally have a one-track shot to focus on his all around game in a new locale. After acing his move on defense, shaving off a ton of strikeouts, and bumping his walk rate back up over 11.1% (where it’s been for most of his career), perhaps 2026 will have a lot more in store for him.
Zach Maxwell, RHP (25 years old)
2025 at a glance: 4.50 ERA, 5.64 FIP, 13/4 K/BB in 10.0 IP with Cincinnati Reds; 4.17 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 59/32 K/BB in 49.2 IP with AAA Louisville Bats (International League)
Pros: Huge. Literally gigantic (6’6”, 275-ish lbs). Throws gas (100 mph+) with a devastating slider (70-grade). And he’s titanic.
Cons: Struggles with control (6.1 BB/9 across 172.1 IP in his minors career)
Maxwell, a former 6th round pick out of Georgia Tech, throws the ball up to 102 mph with his heater, and it’s clear that hitters have just about as little idea where it’s actually going to be as Maxwell himself. That’s the rub here, really, in that Big Sugar has the pure stuff to turn even the best hitters into guessers, and it comes down to whether they’ll guess wrong more often than Maxwell misses the zone in each and every PA.
If they swing, though, they’re likely going to miss, and that’s why he’s right in the mix for a spot in Cincinnati’s bullpen again in 2026 after making his debut there in 2025. He can be a bit wild if it’s effectively wild, and that’s a tightrope he’s been walking since his days back at North Paulding HS in Dallas, Georgia. When he’s locked in, though, the heater is backed up by an absolutely devastating slide piece, and that two-pitch mix – again, when he’s locked in – is good enough to be closer material. He’s just got to continue to refine his delivery.
Liberts Aponte, SS (18 years old)
2025 at a glance: .247/.368/.461 with 7 HR, 9 SB in 193 PA for DSL Rojos (Dominican Summer League)
Pros: 29/35 K/BB showed greatly improving strike zone awareness; already a plus defender at short where he projects to be excellent both with range and arm long-term
Cons: Still not viewed as a potential plus with the bat, though early returns are already better than original scouting reports; has a long way to go in terms of physically maturing
The Reds doled out $1.9 million to sign Aponte last January, and that marked the single largest contract they doled out in that particular international signing window. MLB Pipeline ranked him as the #18 player overall in that class, noting he was ‘one of the most skilled defenders in his class’ and ‘offers solid wheels’ with ‘magic in his hands’ while doling out a 65 grade on his fielding ability.
The rest, we knew, would take time, as he was just liked at 6’0” and 160 lbs, and that even felt like a slight exaggeration. To his credit, though, he mashed 7 homers as a 17 year old in DSL play while showing more power than anticipated, and if that aspect of his game grows to match what’s already known the Reds have found themselves a gem.
It will be interesting to see if the Reds push him up to Arizona Complex League play at all in 2026 or give him another year in the DSL seeing as he just turned 18 years old in November.
The 29-19 Toronto Raptors are currently the 3rd-best team in a wide-open Eastern Conference, but things aren’t the same over the in the West. It’s pretty obvious that the Western Conference poses the biggest threat to take home this season’s NBA Championship, but who makes it from the Eastern Conference is up in the air. After a plethora of injuries have left the East in a wonky position, the Raptors have capitalized. Yet, that wasn’t the performance expected when Toronto went on its yearly winter West Coast road trip.
Despite the tough competition, the Raptors went 4-1 on their five-game road trip, losing only to the LA Lakers, and then went on a four-game winning streak, defeating the Warriors, Kings, Trail Blazers, and defending champion Thunder. It was a statement performance, done while the Raptors have been struggling with injury, and more proof that this team has something going for them.
They are on the precipice of winning more games before the All-Star Break than they did all season last year (they need one more win), and are six games behind the top spot in the East. The Knicks, who are coming to town on Wednesday, are on their heels.
In terms of individual performances, Scottie Barnes is having an all-time career season. He is widely believed to be a top contender for a reserve All-Star spot, which should be announced soon. He is also looking like a shoo-in for First Team All-Defence, and has a believable campaign for Defensive Player of the Year. Brandon Ingram could very well join him at the All-Star game in Los Angeles, if not as a reserve than as an injury replacement. Immanuel Quickley shut the haters up in his West Coast trip performance, averaging 25.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 2.0 steals while shooting better than 60% from both the field and three-point range in that stretch, per the NBA.
RAPTORS ROLLING: The Toronto Raptors defeated the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder 103-101 last night, completing a 4-1 road trip against Western Conference teams and improving to 16-9 on the road this season. During Toronto’s four-game winning streak, guard Immanuel Quickley is… pic.twitter.com/A2mf7Zr8Vf
It’s an interesting time to be putting up these numbers as a team. The Feb. 5 trade deadline is just over a week away now, and the Raptors have been connected to several trade rumours. It’s always good to take these Raptors rumours with several grains of salt, though. The franchise is notorious for not leaking information out, and these whispers are likely coming from other teams that are engaging in talks with Toronto. You never really know what the Raptors are thinking until they actually do something.
Yet, there are several things the Raptors could do before next Thursday, and this road trip may have shaken those plans up a bit. Quickley, likely feeling the heat, definitely proved something during these past few games — whether that his trade value is high or that he is an asset to this current team. As someone who has been heavily involved in these talks, it will be interesting to see if this changes anything regarding his future.
The other big question mark is Poeltl. He left the Raptors’ road trip early to return to Toronto and receive some more treatment on his nagging back issues. Not only has this left the Raptors without a true centre (something that didn’t seem to hinder them too much during their road trip), but it’s also made the idea of trading him harder. Not only does he have a massive contract to move (he is signed until 2030), but this mysterious and ongoing back injury would make anyone wary of committing to that kind of deal.
The question then leads to, do the Raptors move other players then, in order to get a backup big to replace Poeltl? Do you move on from hometown hero RJ Barrett, whose trade value has definitely risen in his time with the team, to get a decent (and taller) player back? Do you move on from Quickley and task someone with Barnes with ball handling duties in order to build a bigger lineup (vision 6’9 reboot)? Or, do you trust in the incredible chemistry this team has built, ride out the rest of the season without a 7-footer (potentially), and regroup in the summer?
Bobby Webster has about a week and a few more games to watch before he really needs to make a decision on this, but this last week could have the potential to change the course of the Raptors’ season.
England will kick off their Six Nations training camp in Spain this week without their captain, Maro Itoje, who has travelled to Nigeria for his mother’s funeral. Itoje was conspicuously absent from the official Six Nations championship launch in Edinburgh on Monday and is not expected to join up with his squad until Wednesday evening.
With the tournament commencing on Thursday week every team is scrambling to be ready for their opening games but Steve Borthwick, England’s head coach, has given the Saracens lock permission to miss the start of this week’s training block in Girona. “He is in Nigeria for the funeral of his mother and we are all deeply saddened for him,” said Borthwick, whose side open their campaign at home to Wales on Saturday week.
It will be made up March 9, and tickets purchased for the Jan. 26 game will remain valid. A large winter storm that covered Central Ohio and its roads with snow was cited for the decision. The Blue Jackets held a morning skate at Nationwide Arena, as usual, but the decision to postpone the game was made after it concluded.
The Kings' last game was a 5-4 shootout win Jan. 24 at the St. Louis Blues, but they made it to Columbus in plenty of time to face the Blue Jackets.
In fact, the Kings turned what would have been a morning skate into a full practice after the decision was made to postpone the game.
The start time for the March 9 makeup game hasn't been determined yet, but playing on that date now gives both teams an extra set of back-to-back games to play. The Blue Jackets will host the Kings and then fly to Florida after the game to conclude their new back-to-back March 10 at the Tampa Bay Lightning, while the Kings will fly to Boston for a back-to-back finale against the Bruins.
The Blue Jackets will now play four games in six days, including the last three on the road, while the Kings have a five-game road trip, rather than four.
