Federal prosecutors alleged on Thursday that former NBA player Terry Rozier arranged a $100,000 payoff to leave a game early as part of a plan shared with bettors. Prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York filed a superseding indictment hours after co-conspirator Marves Fairley pled guilty to two charges related to the NBA wagering scandal.
Fairley told the court that he paid a player — whom the government has identified as Rozier — for the information. An initial $100,000 payout Rozier was to receive was later negotiated down to $70,000.
Rozier was charged in October with conspiracy wire fraud and money laundering. The government added sports bribery and honest services wire fraud conspiracy on Thursday. According to The Athletic, Rozier’s lawyer denied the claim and said he would pursue a motion to dismiss the case.
“The new indictment confirms that our motion to dismiss was a good one — it’s just new charges and new theories trotted out in the hope that something sticks,” Rozier attorney Jim Trusty said, perThe Athletic.
Rozier pled not guilty to the wire fraud charges in December and was released on $3 million bond. Since then Fairley is the second co-conspirator to change his plea to guilty. Damon Jones, indicted on wire fraud charges in the NBA scandal and a high-stakes poker scheme, pled guilty last month.
The new indictment also spells out details of NBAPA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement and Uniform Player Agreement, highlighting violations. The new indictment reads that the agreements “required players to ‘refrain from gambling on NBA games, point shaving or other attempts to fix the score or outcome of an NBA game, or providing confidential team or league information to individuals involved in gambling.'”
Rozier, then a prolific scoring guard for the Charlotte Hornets, is accused of leaving a March 23, 2023, game early due to a lingering lower leg injury. He shared the information with a friend and gambler, Deniro Laster, who in turn shared it with other gamblers, including Fairley. Laster, Fairley, and “Co-Conspirator 1,” according to court documents, discussed via text Rozier’s plan to exit early and their own plans to use that information to place bets against his statistical performance.
Marves Fairley pleaded guilty in the NBA and NCAA game-fixing cases tied to insider betting schemes and point shaving. The scandals continue to raise serious concerns around betting integrity, player prop markets, and corruption in sports.
Fairley allegedly also shared the information with co-conspirator Shane Hennen, who in turn passed it along to a network of bettors, resulting in placement of more than $250,000 in “under” bets on Rozier for the game. In addition, two people in Rozier’s “close circle” placed $4,800 worth of bets on Rozier’s “under” totals. Not all of the bets paid, and Rozier ultimately agreed to accept $30,000 less than originally planned, according to the new indictment.
Rozier also allegedly agreed to give Laster part of the bribe.
The Hornets lost the game in question to the New Orleans Pelicans, 115-96. Rozier played 9 minutes, 34 seconds in the game and scored 5 points. During the 2022-23 season, Rozier averaged 21.1 points and 35.3 minutes of playing time per game.
In the new indictment, federal prosecutors outlined the scheme: In exchange for an approximately $100,000 bribe, ROZIER agreed with co-conspirators, including the defendant DENIRO LASTER, Marves Fairley and Co-Conspirator 1, that ROZIER would withdraw early from a to-be-determined game purportedly on the basis of his injury so that co-conspirators could bet on the information before it became public. ROZIER also agreed to give LASTER a portion of the bribe. LASTER communicated with Fairley and Co-Conspirator 1 using encrypted applications to keep them updated as the anticipated game grew closer. Meanwhile, Fairley and the defendant SHANE HENNEN lined up individuals who were poised to bet on the inside information once ROZIER identified the particular game he would withdraw from.
Two other conspirators have NBA ties
About five days after the game, Fairley and Laster traveled to Philadelphia to collect payouts from Hennen for the wagers on Rozier and other “fraudulent” bets. Prosecutors allege that Rozier set up and paid for Laster’s flight. On March 29, 2023, per the filing, “Fairley gave LASTER tens of thousands of dollars in cash as payment for the non-public information that LASTER had obtained from ROZIER and had provided to Fairley regarding ROZIER’s plan to exit prematurely from the March 23 Game.”
From Philadelphia, Laster drove to Rozier’s North Carolina home, and the two counted the money. Prosecutors also detailed information gathered and fraudulent bets made on at least six other games involving co-conspirator Eric Earnest, Jones, and others.
Though all of the defendants and co-conspirators are not named in the latest indictment, Earnest, Fairley, Jones, Timothy McCormack, Long Phi Pham, and former NBA player Jontay Porter are identified. Nine others are identified only as “co-conspirators,” including one who was an NBA player and one who played in the NBA from 1997-2014 and was “an NBA coach since at least 2021.” Three others are relatives of Laster, Hennen, or Rozier.
In addition, court documents reveal that the fraudulent wagers were placed with four sportsbooks, including two that are official sports betting partners of the NBA. The league lists DraftKings and FanDuel as its “official gaming partners.”
Rozier, who was traded to the Miami Heat on Jan. 23, 2024, was placed on unpaid leave by the NBA last October due to the gambling charges. He was waived by the Heat on April 10.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 06: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) New York Knicks president Leon Rose (C) watches his team play against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Madison Square Garden on March 06, 2020 in New York City. The Thunder defeated the Knicks 126-103. 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. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) | Getty Images
To start, here’s a breakdown of the 2026 Executive of the Year voting:
The voting panel for the 2025-26 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year Award consisted of basketball executives from NBA teams.
There are a lot of good executives here. If you look leaguewide, of the nine teams that won at least 50 games, eight of them are on this list.
Who’s missing? The Knicks, of course. Only one other team won at least 47 games and saw its executive not earn a single vote: Minnesota.
Fast forward to late May, and despite five different teams in the East having an executive on this list, none of them are in the NBA Finals, but Leon Rose is. You’d think at some point, awards like these would no longer value the regular season in such a way, but how else would we show how highly we think of Brad Stevens?
Individual awards are temporary. Banners are eternal. Even if the NBA Cup banner will never be hung, the 2025-26 Knicks will forever be represented in the rafters at Madison Square Garden, regardless of what happens next.
And it’s all thanks to Mr. Rose.
When James Dolan hired Rose to succeed Steve Mills as the Knicks’ President of Basketball Operations on March 2, 2020, the organization was in a bleak, bleak place. They were just over a year removed from trading their young All-Star on a rookie contract because of his lack of long-term belief in the organization, and had a foundation banking on several late lottery picks and 2019 No. 3 overall pick RJ Barrett to move into the future.
Rose had never worked in an NBA front office, but had decades of experience in basketball as an agent with CAA, which had many star connections. Some of the best players in the league had Rose in their inner circle in the past, so the hope among fans was that he’d leverage those connections to make the Knicks a destination after years of being spurned by elite talent.
The day he was hired, the young Knicks took down a veteran Rockets squad led by James Harden (go figure) at Madison Square Garden behind 27 by Barrett and a double-double off the bench by Mitchell Robinson. Despite how bleak this roster looked, those two were your foundation.
Nine days later, their season abruptly ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Leon Rose era was already in chaotic and uncharted waters before he had even gotten a chance to furnish his office at 34th and 7th.
With no invitation to the bubble when life got more normal, his first offseason began without much of an in-person evaluation period. Interim head coach Mike Miller was shown the door, and the search began for the team’s 13th head coach in 20 years since Jeff Van Gundy was canned in late 2001. There are a lot of directions they could’ve gone.
They interviewed, in some capacity, the likes of Ime Udoka, Jason Kidd, Kenny Atkinson, Jahmal Mosley, Will Hardy, Mike Brown (hmm, whatever happened to him), and more, offering all different types of styles. Developers, young coaches, analytical coaches, offensive coaches, defensive coaches, star target coaches, etc.
Ultimately, in a list that included plenty of faces looking for their first head coaching job, he went for a retread, hiring Tom Thibodeau to take his “dream job” after up-and-down tenures in both Chicago and Minnesota. While their last attempt at hiring a defensive coach failed miserably in David Fizdale, Thibodeau was more respected in the mediascape and showed right away just how serious Rose was about ending the cycle of mediocrity.
Thibs’ scheme required buy-in, effort, and conditioning. For a young team, it might be hard to adapt to, but he made the early-2010s Bulls and late-2010s Timberwolves grow up. Why couldn’t he do it here? It was an edict to get out of the doldrums and start building something competitive.
But going into 2020-21, the team wasn’t expected to be competitive. Rose’s first-ever draft saw the Knicks drop from 6th to 8th in the lottery and select Dayton forward Obi Toppin, who was considered the best player available. This, to date, has been Rose’s only lottery selection, so the fact that multiple talented players like Devin Vassell and Tyrese Haliburton went behind him stings, but oh well. Drafting a talented combo guard in Immanuel Quickley at No. 25 doesn’t hurt.
Drafting Toppin clearly indicated that the conglomerate of power forwards the Knicks signed after striking out on three pitches in 2019 free agency was not part of the future vision. Taj Gibson was waived, Bobby Portis’ team option was declined, and Julius Randle was pretty clearly on the trade block as an expiring contract. The team waived Elfrid Payton, only to re-sign him a few days later.
Rose was also a big fan of wheeling and dealing. He swung multiple trades on draft night to maneuver around the board, ultimately selling the team’s second-round pick for a 2023 Pistons 2nd. He’d acquire a pair of 2nds from the Utah Jazz to eat Ed Davis’ modest contract before flipping him to the Timberwolves for filler and another 2nd. Three seconds just to ship Davis from Utah to Minnesota is good business.
On the margins entering his first season, he signed veteran role players Alec Burks, Nerlens Noel, and Austin Rivers, while eventually bringing back Gibson to continue mentoring the young Robinson in January after waiving OG Nova Knick Omari Spellman. Despite what we know now, this season was supposed to be a continuation of a rebuild that saw the team enter 2021 with another crack at a top pick.
That didn’t happen. Instead, Thibodeau’s system ignited a fire into the ragtag mix of youth and veterans that charged them to an unlikely 41-31 record and No. 4 seed. Randle took himself off the trade block with an unbelievable season, finishing eighth in MVP voting while winning Most Improved Player. Everyone on the team was a sniper. They had the third-best defensive rating in basketball. Even as COVID restrictions limited fans, the energy was palpable as they broke the eight-year playoff drought out of nowhere.
Real ones remember the first big 7th Ave celebrations were when the Knicks got to a .500 record in 2021 😭 pic.twitter.com/8n2g2CmpuU
Adjusting to the sudden reality of a potential Knicks playoff team, Rose swung a masterful midseason trade, sending certified bust Dennis Smith Jr. and a 2021 Hornets’ 2nd to the Pistons for Derrick Rose. He additionally grabbed another two seconds in a midseason trade that shipped out Rivers and Ignas Brazdeikis. D-Rose immediately stabilized a point guard position that had Elfrid Payton eating up too many minutes from Quickley in Thibs’ veteran system, and put the Knicks in a serious position.
But the reality check came hard and fast, as Trae Young became the first true Garden villain of the 21st century and the clock struck midnight on Randle’s Cinderella run. The magic ended as quickly as it began, but there was new hope surrounding the franchise.
The sudden bolt into playoff contention rewired the brains of everyone in the organization. There have been many cases of young teams overreacting to a strong season after years of misery, and it has led to negative blowbacks (the 2023 Giants still give me pain). Unfortunately for Rose, he wasn’t immune.
The flexibility the Knicks had in the 2021 offseason was mostly used to re-sign guys like D-Rose, Noel, and Burks to multi-year deals. They picked up Randle’s team option and gave him a new $120 million contract. But with the team’s offense being a major sticking point in the playoffs, Rose elected to give $72 million to Evan Fournier and, after being bought out by OKC, a one-year deal to former All-Star and New York native Kemba Walker.
In the draft, Rose continued to wheel and deal, drafting a talented quartet that included Quentin Grimes, Deuce McBride, Rokas Jokubaitis, and Jericho Sims while picking up a conditional 1st and two more future second-round picks.
Expectations were as high as they’d been in eight years ahead of the 2021-22 season. The season started brilliantly with a double-overtime win over Boston and a Christmas revenge game against the Hawks, but misery sank in over time. The offensive additions weakened the team’s defensive identity. Randle regressed, as did several veterans who were just given big extensions. D-Rose missed most of the season with an injury. The team sank to a miserable 37-45, missing the play-in and dooming the Knicks back to the lottery for the eighth time in nine years.
The first major inflection point had been reached in his tenure. Many outside voices believed the Knicks rushed a rebuild and urged them to build around their smattering of young players. Barrett took a step forward in 21-22, while guys like Grimes, Quickley, and Toppin showed promise when given time to cook. The vitriol surrounding Randle reached an all-time high as his relationship with the fans grew toxic.
At this point, he had to decide what path to take with the team. Does he tear it down and “Play the Kids”, or does he take a big swing in the offseason to patch the holes in the foundation? The Spurs and Jazz were starting to tear things down, freeing up both Dejounte Murray and Donovan Mitchell in the trade market. Murray was a strong defender with an ability to score, but the real prize was bringing the New York kid home. It would take a hefty sum, but for the first time in over a decade, there was a star that wanted to call the Mecca home.
Rose was adamant about pushing forward to return to the playoffs in 2023. He sent a sizable contingent (including Randle, for some reason) to sit courtside to watch Mitchell in his first-round series against the Dallas Mavericks. With Luka Doncic sidelined with injury, he’d have a chance to show that he’s the top dog in this series and win it by himself for the Jazz.
But Mitchell wasn’t the one they were solely there to see. Doncic’s second-in-command just so happened to be Rose’s godson, who has deep ties to the organization through his agency and his childhood. Jalen Brunson stole the show that series, scoring 41 points in Game 2 and averaging 27.8 points across a six-game series victory. With all the connections, coupled with his father being hired as an assistant, it was a match made in heaven when Brunson hit free agency on June 30.
The problem was that the Knicks had zero cap space, and Dallas would likely not be very cooperative towards a sign-and-trade. To fit his contract, they’d need to open up $30 million, which isn’t an easy task. It cost the team their lottery pick, as a complicated web of trades saw the team trade back from No. 11 to No. 13 (collecting multiple conditional firsts in the process) and then flip the pick that became All-NBA center Jalen Duren, along with Walker, to the Pistons for basically nothing. A week later, Burks and Noel met the same fate as salary dumps.
With that new cap space, Brunson was inked to a $104 million contract, the largest-ever free agent deal for a non-All-Star. That gamble was widely criticized, especially when it would seem to complicate the pursuits of Murray and Mitchell. The rest of the day was spent rewarding the homegrown Robinson with a $60 million extension, while signing his backup in analytical darling Isaiah Hartenstein for just eight million per year.
Rose didn’t match the Hawks’ offer for Murray despite a warchest of picks. When Danny Ainge asked for the moon and the stars for Mitchell, he balked at it, too. He didn’t want to give up foundational young pieces like Barrett, whom he rewarded with a $115 million extension. Twice, he stayed frugal when he had a chance to add an All-Star guard, hoping that his acquisition of Brunson and overall roster reshuffling could return the team to the playoffs.
23 games into the 2022-23 season, things weren’t changing. The Knicks were 10-13, and the sharks were circling. So much so that Rose privately started to consider a coaching change as the good graces of Thibodeau’s first year started to fade. For the first time, his job security started to feel in serious danger. What if all of these moves didn’t work out? Would Dolan emerge from his multi-year slumber to take a sledgehammer to the operations?
Thankfully, we never found out. Brunson emerged as a bona fide superstar, forming a formidable tandem with a rejuvenated Randle to revitalize the Knicks’ offense. The defensive fortitude of Robinson and the rising Grimes made the starting five solid defensively despite its natural shortcomings. With the deadline approaching once again, Rose had a decision to make.
And, once again, he made the right move in adding to the roster. Just before the deadline, he flipped the malcontent, benched Cam Reddish, and traded a first-round pick to the Portland Trail Blazers to acquire Brunson’s college roommate, Josh Hart. His addition would bring a spark on both ends of the floor, as he’d prove to be a dynamo in transition, add a new element to the team’s already gigantic rebounding advantage, and give them the hustle and glue guy they sorely lacked.
“You get regular rebounds, I get rebounds that break teams”
-Josh Hart to Mitchell Robinson
Dudes on the court balling while coming up with the coldest quotes you’ve ever heard 🤯🥶 pic.twitter.com/TAANp9ysen
That team finished 47-35, obtaining the No. 5 seed. In a twist of fate, they matched up with Mitchell’s Cavaliers in the first round and knocked them out in five games, with Brunson outdueling the New York native and Hart tormenting the Cavs with his hustle. The series win marked the first for the Knicks in a decade, but the good feelings dissipated when Brunson’s supporting cast completely failed him against Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat in the second round.
But the calculus was now significantly easier going forward. The foundation was there and stabilized, no longer relying on outlier performances from veterans on contract years and data that suggested Randle was closer to an all-star than he was to what he was in 21-22.
The 2023 offseason was rather quiet. After trading away their draft pick, the team was essentially muted in the NBA Draft for the first time in quite a while. With Randle’s contract and his performance justifying his role on the team, Rose cut bait with his only ever lottery pick, flipping Toppin for two seconds. He used the savings to sign yet another Villanova product to the mid-level exception, inking Donte DiVincenzo to a four-year contract to add perimeter shooting to a team that was very mid-range and paint-oriented with its three best players in Brunson, Randle, and Barrett.
The start of the 2023-24 season was uneven. There were highs, there were lows, there was a feeling of stagnation. You knew the Knicks were good, a step above what we saw the last 20 years, but you knew they were limited in terms of upward trajectory. With Quickley due for a new extension soon and the team’s ceiling being rather low, Rose made a bold move. Out went the team’s two best young players for a non-All-Star on an expiring contract.
The Knicks are trading RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley and one second-round pick to the Raptors for OG Anunoby, sources said. https://t.co/0z3pGcqd5e
OG Anunoby is one of the league’s best 3-and-D wings, so it was no surprise that he would eventually field the largest contract in franchise history that offseason, but it’s never an easy sell to fully commit to contention by shedding the best young talent on your team. Rose doubled down on this by trading Fournier’s buried contract and the diminished Quentin Grimes for Bojan Bogdanovic and OAKAAK Burks just before the trade deadline.
On the night of the OG trade, Rose made one of his niftiest moves as POBO, extending seldom-used guard Deuce McBride to a three-year, $13 million deal to replace Quickley as the team’s backup point guard. It’s fair to say that it went pretty well.
For a month, the Knicks looked like the best team in basketball. Randle, Brunson, and Anunoby fit together like a glove. The emergence of DiVincenzo as one of the best volume shooters in the league, coupled with the steadiness of Hartenstein on both ends, made the January Knicks a dominant force to be reckoned with, but that all changed when Randle went crashing to the floor on a drawn charge attempt by Jaime Jaquez Jr. on January 28.
Randle would never wear the orange and blue again. Injuries to Anunoby, Bogdanovic, Robinson, Hart, and eventually Brunson saw the team fall apart in Game 7 of a second-round series against the Pacers. An exciting season came to a close, but the Knicks felt like a legitimate player going forward in the Eastern Conference.
This momentum motivated the front office to continue adding pieces. The war chest had been slowly accumulating over the years, to the point where the Knicks had the most future picks of any top-tier team outside of the surging Thunder. With no true 1A emerging on the trade market and wonky fits being passed over yearly, Rose chose a bold move. The war chest would be unloaded… for another non-All-Star role player.
Mikal Bridges is a different flavor of 3-and-D wing. He isn’t quite as impressive a defender as Anunoby, nor as strong, but he possesses a better ability to handle the ball and was a better matchup for the league’s premier guards. He was also a Villanova graduate, further strengthening the Nova Knicks bond. Four unprotected first-round picks, along with an excess Milwaukee pick and a pick swap, is an extremely hefty price, but it was time to push the chips in.
Why? Well, the newly established second apron was quickly approaching. Anunoby was about to ink a $212 million contract. Brunson was extension-eligible. Randle was extension-eligible. While Rose’s cap expert, Brock Aller, was incredible at circumventing the aprons, the time to go all in was now. They couldn’t wait another offseason or two without risking the aprons breaking up the core.
Speaking of all in, there was one big move left to be made. Karl-Anthony Towns is a CAA client, someone that Knicks brass has been eyeing up for years as Minnesota gravitated towards No. 1 overall pick Anthony Edwards as its franchise face. The tires had long been kicked for a move, but nobody expected it to come days before training camp started in late September. For everything they meant to the franchise and fans, Randle and DiVincenzo were gone. The Big Bodega was in.
The Knicks were all in. While Brunson had taken a massive pay cut to gain flexibility, the team now had two players on $200 million contracts and another two who would be on $150 million deals to go along with two others making over $15 million per year. They built their roster to beat the defending champion Celtics, but those Celtics thrashed them four times in the regular season. The starters looked clunky all season, the offense never felt dominant, and the defense wasn’t able to be elite with two bad defenders. Going into the playoffs, there was real concern.
Then, for a while, it went away. A gritty, six-game series win over the Pistons and an unbelievable upset over the Celtics had fans dreaming of the team’s first NBA Finals trip of the 2000s. All that stood in the way was a Pacers team they knew they should’ve beat the year before. What could go wrong?
It turns out, everything. Rose built the team to conquer the Celtics, but they were not prepared for the run-and-gun Pacers, who ran them out of the gym in a six-game series that was over much earlier than it seems. While the Knicks reached their first Eastern Conference Finals in 25 years, the season felt underwhelming.
And so, we reached the second major inflection point. Serious flaws with this roster were presented, and many felt like a big change might be necessary to shake things up. There was also the case of Tom Thibodeau, to whom the franchise was indebted after helping return them to relevance. But his issues were abundant. The starters were gassed, his scheme wasn’t modern on either end of the floor, and the locker room was split on him.
It was a tough decision, but Rose and Dolan decided to fire Thibodeau just one year after giving him an extension. To replace him, the front office went on a lengthy coaching search that briefly made the team a laughing stock, but they settled on Mike Brown, an offensive coach who would maximize this team’s offensive potential.
The roster stayed mostly intact, even when the Bucks came calling after Giannis Antetokounmpo made it clear to their brass that he wanted to be a Knick. There wasn’t much the Knicks could offer, but the fact that those talks didn’t get serious implies that they weren’t willing to make the move at all costs.
New York emerged as the only team Giannis Antetokounmpo desired outside of Milwaukee in the offseason, sources told ESPN, and the Knicks and Bucks engaged in talks for a window of time.
It’s been a rocky season. The Knicks have looked unbeatable one day and hard to watch the next, but they’ve found their stride at the right time. 11 consecutive wins in the postseason for the team’s longest winning streak, regardless of time of season, in 13 years. Sweeping their way to the NBA Finals against the team led by the man you almost acquired via trade four years ago. Finally reaching the place that seemed unattainable six years ago.
The journey has been exhausting. Dealing with big market expectations has been a chore for every decision-maker for every New York franchise for decades, but the Knicks were a different beast. Rose was considered a savior for several years, but as the Knicks stagnated a tier beneath the true contenders, he traded fan favorites and future flexibility for win-now pieces.
He faced multiple serious inflection points. He had to decide whether he was going to commit to prolonged rebuild or trying to turn things around fast. When the 2021 Knicks’ bubble burst, he had to decide whether it was worth it to continue trying to win or to retool around the young guys. He had to decide whether it would be wise to spend the team’s assets on a star guard in the trade market. He had to decide whether to fire Thibodeau or retool the roster after last season’s disappointing finish.
He had to make bold moves. Signing Brunson to a nine-figure contract was widely criticized by the NBA community. He made all in move after all in move to raise the team’s ceiling high enough to compete for a championship. He fired the most accomplished head coach the franchise had seen this century after the team’s best season in 25 years.
He’s not without his mistakes. The one lottery pick he’s ever had was spent on a permanent role player. He’s traded picks that became Ajay Mitchell, Tre Johnson, and Jalen Duren. He’s passed on the likes of Herb Jones, Jalen Williams, and Tyrese Haliburton. He signed Evan Fournier to a massive contract in an overreaction to 2020-21.
But perhaps his greatest strength is his patience. It’s extremely easy to overreact to things. If he had listened to the fanbase, the team would’ve built around a core of Quickley, Toppin, Reddish, and Barrett and been doomed to 35 wins forever. He knew not to trade Randle at an all-time low in 2022. He didn’t pull the trigger on enticing stars over the years just to finally accomplish a decade-long mission goal. He gave this roster patience, not disbanding them after one year or giving up on them when things looked extremely bleak at the deadline.
Leon Rose’s vision has culminated in things beyond what any fan could’ve imagined in 2020. He’s done this with one singular inherited player still on the roster, one lottery pick, and a whole lot of creativity. Consider where he’s built this roster from:
Jalen Brunson: signed in free agency on a four-year, $104 million deal that was widely considered an overpay. Extended on a 4/156.
Mikal Bridges: acquired via trade from Brooklyn for five first-round picks, Bojan Bogdanovic, and filler salary (thanks, Brock Aller!). Extended on a 4/150.
Josh Hart: acquired via trade from Portland for Cam Reddish and the No. 23 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft (Kris Murray). Extended on a 4/80.
OG Anunoby: acquired via trade from Toronto for RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. Extended on a 5/212.
Karl-Anthony Towns: acquired via trade from Minnesota for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo.
Jose Alvarado: acquired via trade from New Orleans for Dalen Terry and two seconds.
Deuce McBride: drafted No. 36 overall in the 2021 NBA Draft. Extended on a 3/13.
Jordan Clarkson: signed in free agency on a veteran minimum in July 2025.
Landry Shamet: signed in free agency on a veteran minimum in September 2024.
Mitchell Robinson: inherited from Steve Mills.
Mo Diawara: drafted No. 51 overall in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Jeremy Sochan: signed in the buyout market in February 2026.
Tyler Kolek: drafted No. 38 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Pacome Dadiet: drafted No. 25 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft.
Ariel Hukporti: drafted No. 58 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft.
In the end, Rose has built something that has proven to be an outlier in the NBA. The Knicks weren’t built through a massive free agency haul like superteams of old. They didn’t rely on tanking for a half-decade and getting lucky in the lottery over and over again. They built their team meticulously in an innovative way, assembling a group of players who were cast off for deficiencies, imperfections, and players who were misvalued in one way or another.
Regardless of how the NBA Finals go, the Leon Rose era has been a resounding success. He’s completed one of the great turnarounds in NBA history, with as little ammunition as any executive in league history.
Leon Rose puts his arm around his son, Sam, and visibly breaks down in tears after the emotions set in of the Knicks going to the NBA Finals.
This is beautiful stuff. We love you, Leon. Thank you for everything you have done.
May 24, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins pinch hitter Heriberto Hernandez (13) gets doused after hitting a grand slam to end the game against the New York Mets at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images | Rhona Wise-Imagn Images
The New York Mets (22-33) welcome the Miami Marlins (26-31) to Citi Field, one week after Miami swept New York down at loanDepot Park. Miami promptly went out and lost two out of three to the Blue Jays, much like how the Mets lost two of three to the Reds following the sweep.
The Mets ended up dropping the next two games after getting swept, falling by an identical 7-2 score on Monday and 7-2 on Tuesday. Even weirder still, both games had the same score and the same time of game (2:56). They did rebound to win, mercifully, by a 4-2 score on Wednesday, which halted their five-game skid. The win was primarily aided by the Reds’ inability to bring home runners, as they stranded a small army (17 in total) on the base paths. Despite having runners on base in every single inning, the Mets held Cincinnati to two runs on the evening, and the pitching, which was essentially a bullpen game with Jonah Tong serving as the bulk arm, did just enough to secure a win.
The offense scored eight runs across the three games, which feels like an embarrassment of riches compared to the two runs they scored last weekend in Miami, but it’s hardly enough to consider the offense “back”. Meanwhile, the pitching faltered in each of the first two games, first with Nolan McLean getting knocked around for a second straight start, and then with David Peterson reverting back to his struggles after some encouraging outings earlier in the month. Speaking of Peterson, he made a mental lapse in the field which was the topic of much conversation in the booth, and with some starting to question whether apathy is setting in for a group that appears to be going nowhere fast.
Carson Benge, who struggled so mightily in April, continues to emerge as a might spot in another relatively dim month for the Mets—this is again probably an overreaction given that the team is hovering around .500 this month, but still hardly well enough to be celebrated. Benge has the second-highest wRC+ (122) and second-best fWAR (0.6) among Mets hitters this month, trailing just Juan Soto in both categories. The rookie contributed two run-scoring hits on Thursday, which ended up being the difference, as the only other runs the Mets could muster came on solo shots from the aforementioned Soto and the newly-acquired Eric Wagaman. Benge is also second on the team in runs scored this month with 16 (again, behind Soto) and third in runs batted in with 14, trailing Soto (16) and Mark Vientos (15). He leads all Mets qualified hitters this month with a .302 average.
But two of the veterans the team acquired in the offseason continue to be hugely problematic on offense. Bo Bichette, who has shown some glimpses of turning it around, is still hitting .218/.275/.317 with a 72 wRC+ and a 0.1 fWAR in May. Meanwhile, Marcus Semien, who did homer in Monday’s loss, has done little else, hitting .207/.250/.326 with a 63 wRC+ and a -0.2 fWAR for the month. For the Mets to have any shot of digging themselves out of their early-season hole, they will need much more production from these two bats, specifically Bichette, who was brought in for his offense.
The Mets got to enjoy something yesterday that they haven’t enjoyed since May 11: a day off and some extra rest. The last time the Mets had a day off, the Knicks had just wrapped up a sweep of the 76ers on the previous day and were beginning their eight days of rest before the start of the Eastern Conference Finals. In any event, the Mets played a marathon stretch that took them through a homestand against the Tigers and Yankees, back onto the road against the Nationals and Marlins, and then back home again to face the Reds. The stretch encompassed their jubilant 5-1 homestand, their demoralizing 2-5 road trip, and their uneven series loss this week. This is just the second (and final) day off of the month, but it could prove to give them a bit of a boost as they prepare for one final home series before heading back out west to take on the Mariners.
Friday, May 29: Freddy Peralta vs. Max Meyer, 7:10 PM EDT on WPIX
Peralta endured his strangest start as a Met. He allowed a season-high eight hits and matched his season-worst by allowing four earned runs and two home runs (both on Opening Day). However, he completed seven innings for the first time as a Met, struck out a season-high nine and walked just two batters after walking a season-high six in his prior outing. All that said, he still endured a loss to the Marlins, his fourth in a Mets uniform. It wouldn’t have mattered much anyway, as the offense was only able to push one run across.
Meyer had no problem handling the Mets his last time out. He hurled seven shutout innings against New York, allowing just one hit and walking three while striking out eight. He has now tossed 13 scoreless innings across his last two starts, and has earned a win in his last three starts and four of five outings in May. For the month, he has posted a 1.76 ERA and a 2.71 FIP in 30 2/3 innings. He has struck out 35 and is limiting hitters to a .168/.246/.271 slash line.
Saturday, May 30: Christian Scott vs. Tyler Phillips, 4:10 PM EDT on SNY
Scott is coming off his best start of the young season, and his best since coming back from Tommy John Surgery. The right-hander pitched into the sixth inning for the first time all year, throwing 5 2/3 innings against Miami. He held the Marlins off the board, scattering four hits while walking two and striking out five. It was his first time holding an opponent scoreless in 15 major league appearances, meaning that the 26-year-old could be turning a corner after struggling across much of the early part of this year. It’s a sorely-needed development for the Mets, who need all the help they can get on the starting pitching front.
Phillips started the year off as a reliever but has transitioned to the rotation in recent weeks. This will be just his second start of the season. His first one went well, as he limited the Mets to just two hits over 3 2/3 shutout innings. He walked two, struck out four, and tossed a season-high 59 pitches. It was his longest outing of the year, though he has gone three innings on four separate occasions in relief. It’s likely he’ll be stretched out enough to go four, and maybe a little further depending on pitch count, but he likely won’t go much further than 60-70 pitches. He has only allowed a run in five of his 16 outings this year.
Sunday, May 31: Nolan McLean vs. Janson Junk, 1:40 PM EDT on SNY
The last two starts have been a disaster for McLean. After allowing 19 runs in his first nine starts, he allowed 16 runs over his last two outings, which drove his ERA up from 2.92 to 4.40. His last time out started on a promising note, with the right-hander striking out the side in the first. However, it quickly devolved from there, and he only lasted 3 1/3 innings, the shortest outing of his major league career. He ended up being tagged for even earned runs (his season high) on five hits, with six strikeouts and two walks. He also allowed two home runs for the second consecutive start and has allowed six over his last four appearances after serving up just two in his first seven starts. For whatever little hope the Mets have of getting back into the playoff race, they will need McLean to be more like the 2025 version and less like what they’ve seen the last two times out.
Junk had a nice bounce back outing after suffering two really bad starts in a row against the Rays (5 2/3 innings, seven earned runs, ten hits, three walks, four strikeouts, two home runs) and the Braves (five innings, eight earned runs, eight hits, three strikeouts, zero walks, two home runs), both of which resulted in losses. Against the Blue Jays, he went five innings and allowed just one earned run on eight hits while striking out three and not issuing a walk. It was an encouraging outing and got the right-hander back in the win column after his recent string of losses. Surprisingly, the Mets did not see Junk at any point last year while pitching for the Marlins and in fact this will be his first regular season appearance against the Amazins.
Brewers broadcaster Jeff Levering stops by The Crawfish Boxes to preview the weekend series versus Milwaukee.
Q: Christian Yelich was slowed in May with that groin strain. Last May when he last faced the Astros, he had some nice at bats against them. What kind of season is he having this year?
A: Yelich had a resurgent season in 2025, his most games played since 2022, and arguably his most productive since 2019. With no rehab assignment, and some lingering back issues, he has been somewhat slow to come back from the groin strain. However, he did homer in back to back games in his return. His presence strengthens the lineup.
Q: Do you think the NL Central is the toughest in all of baseball?
A: It has always been a competitive division, but every team got better this offseason. Two months into the season, it is the most balanced division in the league.
Q: What does Jake Bauers bring to the club?
A: Great intangibles and a steady approach to the game (and life). Finally healthy and given an opportunity to play most days, Bauers is thriving with the opportunity. He is solid at first, can play either corner outfield spot and has power to all fields at the plate.
Q: Kyle Harrison and Jacob Misiorowski have been equally impressive collecting K’s and wins. What have been their biggest improvements leading to their success this season?
A: Miz brings the heat, up to 104MPH, but his command has taken on a new life form this year. He’s not just a thrower anymore, he’s hitting spots with all of his pitches and maintains his velocity throughout the game.
For Harrison, he’s finally getting a shot. He’s always had the stuff, but moving to the first base side of the rubber has allowed his pitches to become weapons. (He’s added) Additional depth on the slurve, and the fastball sneaks up on the league’s best hitters.
Quite the 1-2 punch. And both leading MLB’s youngest pitching staff.
CLEARWATER, FL - MARCH 21: Gage Wood #41 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches during the game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies at BayCare Ballpark on Saturday, March 21, 2026 in Clearwater, Florida. (Photo by Nathan Ray Seebeck/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Listen, you’re just here to see how Gage Wood did last night, so let’s get to the good stuff.
Lehigh Valley 9, Buffalo 4
Felix Reyes continued to stay hot with the Ironpigs and makes the question of why not see what he can do again at the major league level one that deserves a longer discussion. Ultimately, the answer is probably somewhere between “he’s a quad-A player” and “they’re simply not going to sit Adolis Garcia right now”. Bryse Wilson was good, throwing five shutout innings, lowering his ERA below 8 on the season. That’s not exactly the way to declare yourself “starting rotation depth” to the organization, but hey, gotta start somewhere.
Reading 5, Harrisburg 1
It was Gage Wood’s home debut for the Fightin’ Phils and he did not disappoint.
Four strikeouts tonight for Gage Wood in his home debut for Reading. He allows 3 hits and a run and didn’t walk a batter. He threw 33 of his 50 pitches for strikes pic.twitter.com/VC9YXfzo1f
You can see from Mitch Rupert’s post that he only went four innings, so clearly they’re still trying to watch his innings, for good or bad. In those four innings, he sat in 94-96 range, hitting 99 at one point.
#Phillies prospect Gage Wood ramped it to 99 mph on this pitch to get a whiff.
I mean, yeah, there was some offense tonight too, but the biggest takeaway is that even after two starts, Wood is starting to establish himself as a top pitching prospect in the game. He’ll have to start doing it over longer outings, something I’ll bet the team starts challenging him with as the season goes on, but he’s looking like the jump straight to Double-A is not a difficult one.
Jersey Shore 11, Frederick 2
Sam Highfill was the story tonight for the Blue Claws, firing five innings in which he struck out ten. Trent Farquhar was also in his bag, going two for four with three RBI in the the victory, but a larger story is Keaton Anthony continuing his minor league rehab assignment and going two for four of his own accord, racking up two RBI in the process. Anthony is likely headed for a new destination at some point in his near future. There really is nowhere for him to play at the major league level, so being used as a trade piece makes the most. If there is a team that could use some right handed pop at first base or DH, maybe he can translate minor league numbers into major league success.
Clearwater 12, Dunedin 11
Another offensive barnburner, this time, it was Robert Phelps and TJayy Walton leading the charge. Phelps had three hits, a double among them, while Walton had two hits and scored three times. Both also stole a base to chip in. One of those rare nights where all of the team’s minor league affiliates hit well and won.
Hello, and welcome to my column about positivity. Please leave all negative feelings at the door as they won’t be tolerated.
Lol, just kidding, I’m a super negative person. I’m Irish, an attorney, and a Kansas City sports fan. I never stood a chance.
But sometimes I have these terrible bouts of optimism. They’re rare, and rarer do they come to fruition, but despite my nature/nurture, these feelings hit me like a piano falling five stories and landing on top of my head.
With that in mind, I looked back through the history of baseball (mainly the Wild Card Era) to find some teams that started off oh so slowly before kicking into gear and either making some noise down the stretch or winning the whole damn thing. This is not an exhaustive list, just some teams I found interesting.
The 2019 Washington Nationals started 19-31 before finishing 74-38, which still wasn’t enough to capture the National League East, but did enable them to get into the playoffs as a Wild Card. After wins against the Brewers, Dodgers, and Cardinals, the Nationals knocked off the Astros in seven games to win the World Series. Led on offense by a 20-year-old Juan Soto and contract-year Anthony Rendon (I’m sure he did well with his next team), the Nats received excellent pitching from Stephen Strasburg, Patrick Corbin, and Mad Max Scherzer.
Go back eight years to that September, and the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals were 10.5 games back on September 5. A furious month capped by a maddening final day of the season boosted them into the playoffs where they beat the Phillies and Brewers. They trailed the Rangers 7-5 in the ninth inning of Game 6 of the World Series before storming back and winning in extras, forcing a deciding Game 7 that resulted in a St. Louis championship.
In 2009, the Colorado Rockies were 12 games under .500 on June 3 with a record of 20-32. Led by star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, Colorado finished the season 90-72 before falling in the division series.
Two years earlier, the 2007 Colorado Rockies reached the World Series only to lose to the Boston Red Sox. But on May 21st, the playoffs, let alone the World Series, looked out of reach, as a loss to the Diamondbacks dropped them to 18-27. In June, the Rockies lost eight straight. Despite all that, they swept the Phillies and Diamondbacks on their way to capturing the pennant.
On May 27, 2005, the Houston Astros, then still in the National League, were 15 games under .500 at 16-31. Yet, they finished the season 83-73-1 (yes, they finished with a tie) before taking out the Braves and Cardinals to win the pennant. But then the future Pope showed up and the fun ended.
Let’s get back to another World Series winner: the 2003 Marlins were 19-29 after a loss on May 22nd and had just fired their manager, Jeff Torberg. But under new manager Jack McKeon (who managed the Royals for two-and-a-half seasons in the 70s), the Marlins finished 72-42 before preventing the awful Cubs and equally awful Yankees from winning the pennant and World Series, respectively. Great work, Jack. Also: Moises would not have caught that ball, so says the Billy Goat.
Of course, there were major comebacks in the pre-Wild Card era, such as:
The 1989 Toronto Blue Jays, who started 12-24 before (a) firing their manager and (b) finishing 77-49 to win the American League East.
The 1974 Pittsburgh Pirates who were 14 games under .500 as late as June before reaching the pennant.
The 1973 New York Mets who were 13 games under .500 in August before winning the pennant and losing the World Series in seven games.
Sure, things look dire for the Royals right now, but if those nine teams listed above prove anything, it’s that the season is 162 games long for a reason. It helps, sure, to start off strong, and most championship caliber teams do so.
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 3: Isaiah Drake #93 of the Atlanta Braves hits a triple during the Atlanta Braves post-season workouts at Truist Park on October 3, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
There was plenty to like on the offensive end at the lower levels, with some top prospects going off for big games in wins. Isaiah Drake broke a nearly two-week long streak of no extra base hits with an impressive home run in a Rome win, a game that was also marked by another great start from Cedric De Grandpre. The GreenJackets were led by a Tate Southisene masterclass, as he reached base in every single plate appearance on the day. Then there was Ethan Bagwell, who finished up his May without allowing a single earned run.
Elieser Hernandez, SP: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 5.10 ERA
Rolddy Munoz, RP: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 0.79 ERA
The Stripers are likely going to look to forget this game rather quickly. There was little offense to speak of, and this game moved at pace due to good pitching out of the Gwinnett staff. Early it didn’t seem like it would be that rough of a game for Gwinnett. They were in good position following a walk and a hit with two out, getting an early opportunity to put up a run for Elieser Hernandez to work with. DaShawn Keirsey Jr. hit what would be one of the hardest batted balls of the game for either side on a line, but within range of the center fielder to keep Gwinnett off of the board. That early push was the closest Gwinnett would get to scoring in the game, as over the final eight innings Luke Williams was the only player who managed a hit. Williams found fortune with a bloop into right center in the third inning that he turned into a hustle double, but the next hitter struck out after a successful challenge from the Sounds to strand Williams at second. In the final inning Williams gave the Stripers just a dash of hope with a base hit, but the other three batters struck out and spoiled the day.
Elieser Hernandez kept the Stripers in this game by posting by far his best outing of the season, though it would end with a sour twist as he couldn’t get through the lineup a third time. It was a bit of a different approach for Hernandez as he largely went away from the changeup that typically makes up around 10-12% of his pitches, but the Sounds were pretty aggressive at swinging the bat in this game and were particularly swinging at breaking balls and cutters at a high rate. This helped both Hernandez and Rolddy Munoz, both of whom commanded the ball well by their standards and were able to work efficiently. Hernandez faced only one batter over the minimum through six innings of work, though the seventh inning proved insurmountable when the Sounds best hitters got a third look at Hernandez. Luis Lara broke the scoreless tie by attacking a slider in the strike zone and yanking it down the line for an RBI double, and the next hitter took a fat fastball and hit it off of the wall in left center field to chase Hernandez from the game. Munoz had one of his best games in relief despite only having the one strikeout over two innings, specifically from a location standpoint. Munoz hasn’t faced much trouble this season, but his tendency to lay his slider in the middle of the plate is a concern for him moving up levels. That was not the case at all in this game as he located his slider well and got whiffs on four of five swings, and he kept his sinker in on the hands of right handed hitters to force weak contact.
Cedric De Grandpre, SP: 5.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 4.60 ERA
It is a fine relief to see a big day from Isaiah Drake at the plate. Drake has undoubtedly had a good season, one that has made a huge impact on getting him the prospect hype that he (I think) unfairly lost following 2024, but his series in Asheville has been doing much of the heavy lifting for his numbers. It had been nearly two weeks since he had an extra base hit, but that streak ended in a big way in the third inning of this game. Drake got a slider on a 1-2 count and was sitting back on that pitch, and was able to go down and hit a low pitch well out of the yard to left field for his eighth home run of the season. Drake’s turnaround in his approach and ability to hit the ball hard on the pull side has been so impressive, and even though there is a bit of an increase in swing-and-miss this season compared to last he is still well within acceptable range while hitting the ball harder and in the air more often. He isn’t the only one in the midst of a rough patch, as John Gil only has one extra base hit since that May 10th multi-home run game in Asheville. He didn’t break that streak, but he did have a multi-hit game to go along with a couple of stolen bases. Lately Gil has had a tendency to get too long with his swing path and that’s led to more swing-and-miss than we’re used to and a lot of swinging over pitches and hitting the ball weakly. There is still a little bit of that even in this game and it’s going to be something to monitor as the season wears on, though for a young player these mechanical habits aren’t something to worry about long term. Gil adding two stolen bases brings him up to 13 in a row since his last caught stealing, dating back over a month to an April 26th stolen base. Eric Hartman hit a laser for a double in the seventh inning as his lone hit of the game, and there is definitely nothing worrying about his game. It was natural he was going to fall off a bit after that insane start, but he’s still consistently hitting the ball hard and putting up much better plate appearances than last season. He’s on one of his worst stretches of the season with three hits and only that double over his past six games, but it’s not come with any sort of concerns at the plate beyond just sample fluctuation.
There is so much positive that could be said about Cedric De Grandpre from the month of May. He’s just been terrific, and the command issues that were slowing him down in April have ironed themselves out and he has been the team’s most consistent arm. The home runs haven’t been great, but this month he has seven walks and 39 strikeouts in 27 2/3 innings, and taking away a poor opening game he has 34 strikeouts and only four walks in the past 23 2/3 innings. With his command improvements on his fastball his slider has sharpened up and become a much more effective weapon over these past weeks. Though I did say his command has been much better this month this was the worst he’s been in that category in awhile as he was pulling pitches on his glove side quite a bit this game, though it’s not nearly as bad as some of his early season outings. Most of his issues came in bursts of at bats, one of which led to both walks and the run he allowed, while for the over 4 2/3 innings he was right in line with where he has been over his prior four starts. This is far and away his most successful season as a starter in his career and he’s likely trending towards a mid-summer promotion where it will be nice to see him facing off with guys who are more appropriate to his level of age and experience.
Swing and Misses
Cedric De Grandpre – 12
Drew Christo – 4
(27-21) Augusta GreenJackets 6, (25-23) Kannapolis Cannon Ballers 5
Ethan Bagwell, SP: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1.96 ERA
Luis Arestigueta, RP: 3 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K, 6.94 ERA
The GreenJackets had no trouble on the offensive end of the spectrum, but a late bullpen blowup threatened to derail what was trending to be an easy win for them. The Kannapolis pitching staff could not throw strikes in this game, and Augusta just let them get themselves into trouble. In total they drew 11 walks in this game, and they were able to score three of those in just the first four innings as part of them scoring a total of six runs early in the game. The MVP was of course Tate Southisene, who reached base five times and notched his 35th stolen base of the season. Southisene had one of the biggest hits of the game in the second inning, coming through with a clutch two-out double that really expanding Augusta’s lead. He shot a hard ground ball the other way, driving in two runs to make it 4-0 early, and in the next three times up the Cannon Ballers didn’t give him much to hit. Luis Guanipa had a two-run double in the fourth inning that capped off the scoring, and he’s starting to turn in a lot of power at the plate even without really having any big breakout games. He’s just consistently putting up good at bats and over the past nine games he has seven extra base hits and only four strikeouts.
No shade intended towards any Augusta pitcher, but it is nice as a recapper to have a bit of a switch up in the starting rotation order so I can talk about someone different than every other week this season. Ethan Bagwell took the ball for the start today for the GreenJackets, and he continued his incredible work for the entire month of May. Bagwell did finally allow a run for the first time this month, but it was unearned, meaning he is going to finish May with a 0.00 ERA in 24 innings with some impressive peripherals to boot. This is something that has felt like a matter of time for Bagwell as the talent has oozed out of him since he joined the system but finding the consistent footing on his secondaries has been a fit further behind. He has really honed in on his sweeper and that east-west approach that he excels at, showing an ability beyond his years to move his fastball inside and out. He has plenty of run on the pitch and has gotten weaker contact this season than last to go along with the increase in whiffs. Now on to the bad side of things, I have been singing Luis Arestigueta’s praises the past few weeks but he really did not have his mechanics in this outing. Though he battled through the sixth inning despite not locating anything well it eventually fell apart for him in the seventh inning. He let up four runs before narrowly escaping with the lead still intact, and though he finished with a strong eighth it still stung to see him struggle so much after a few good looking games in a row. He had no consistency to his arm path or release point and nothing worked well for him this game, and it’s just a start he is going to have to move on from and get back in rhythm next week.
GLENDALE, AZ - MARCH 21: Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman James Tibbs III (98) reacts running the bases after hitting a home run against the Chicago White Sox in a Spring Breakout Game on March 21, 2026, at Camelback Ranch at Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Brian Spurlock/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
The Comets and Drillers won comfortably as Tulsa managed to get at least one of the games in, pushing the doubleheader to this Friday.
Player of the day
The standout player in the Dodgers’ minor league system early in the season, James Tibbs III, returned to the spotlight with one of his most impressive performances since being acquired in a trade with the Red Sox.
Tibbs III had his first multi-homer game since early April when he managed to hit three of them and now has 14, already closing in on the 20 he had across multiple levels last season.
TWO-HOMER GAME FOR JAMES TIBBS III☄️
He goes deep against Josh Hader and has driven in a career-high six runs tonight! pic.twitter.com/jem0TvTTcK
There was a mix-up in plans, with eight of the Comets’ nine hitters committed to a death by a thousand cuts approach, only to see James Tibbs III smash through the opposition for a blowout 9-2 win. Scoring at least one run in five of the game’s first six innings, the Comets were relentless, and at the heart of the scoring, you had not one but two three-run shots from Tibbs.
Tibbs’ outstanding player display was maximized by a top of the order that thrived with both Tommy Edman and Zach Ehrahrd reaching base multiple times. Moving over to the pitching side of things, River Ryan allowed just one unearned run in six terrific innings, striking out eight and walking none. It was the first time Ryan pitched into the sixth inning this season.
Double-A Tulsa
While he couldn’t limit walks as well as Ryan, Tulsa starter Adam Serwinowski also struck out eight on his way to a superb pitching performance, allowing just one run in 5.1 innings as the Drillers beat the Naturals 6-1. A double-header was supposed to be played, but the second of these games had to be pushed back a day.
Buried in the ninth spot in the lineup, Chris Newell led the action as the Drillers’ outfield combined to record five of the nine hits from the Drillers. Newell hit the game’s only home run and also stole a base, one of five successful steals from the Drillers.
Starter Jakob Wright had three reasonable to great outings in May, but on either side of it, he was absolutely blown up to start and end the month with a loss. Dayton got the Loons starter for seven runs, four of them earned, in a 12-3 loss for Great Lakes.
Center fielder Eduardo Quintero had a rather unlucky game, recording three hits and no runs or RBI. The leadoff hitter carried on his positive momentum with a couple of doubles, currently boasting a .919 OPS. Lastly, designated hitter Jose Meza hit the Loons’ only home run.
Single-A Ontario
Despite outhomering their opponents three to one and recording a late surge with a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth, the Tower Buzzers fell short of the Rawhide at home in an 8-6 loss. Interestingly, starter Tyler Gough didn’t allow a run in his 3.1 innings of work, as all of the Rawhide scoring came against Ontario’s bullpen, pouncing on Accimias Morales and Jesus Tillero.
Responsible for one of those three home runs, Chase Harlan is about as unstoppable as any other hitter in Single-A these days. The nineteen-year-old third baseman has left the yard in each of his last four games for the Tower Buzzers, accumulating five home runs during this period.
Transactions
Utility player Santiago Espinal was sent to the Comets. The Ontario Tower Buzzers activated right-handed pitcher Tyler Gough.
MESA, ARIZONA - MARCH 22, 2026: Leo De Vries #14 of the Athletics throws to first base during the third inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the Milwaukee Brewers at Hohokam Stadium on March 22, 2026 in Mesa, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Bernacchi/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
We made it through another week A’s fans! Ready for a huge weekend of A’s baseball?
The Yankees are in town and the series kicks off tonight in Sacramento. The Athletics just got swept for just the second time this season and have fallen out of first place so stacking up a couple wins against a strong Yankee team would be ideal. Definitely can’t afford another sweep and finish the homestand 0-6. The Yankees are a tough opponent though and they just welcomed back their ace in Gerritt Cole (but lost Max Fried). They have the second-best record in the American League and have won four straight entering tonight. Lucky for the A’s they’ll miss Cole in this series as well as emerging right-hander Cam Schlittler. The A’s will instead be tasked with getting to veteran Carlos Rodon tonight before facing 26-year-old starters Ryan Weathers and Will Warren on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Elsewhere, down in the minors the Athletics’ #1 prospect is dealing with a minor injury. Shortstop Leo De Vries has missed a few games in recent days with an unknown problem with a finger (unknown which one):
A's top prospect Leo De Vries has missed Midland's last 3 games due to a finger issue. He's not been placed on the IL at this point, but he flew to Arizona on Wednesday to be examined.
— Bill Moriarity – A's Farm (@AthleticsFarm) May 28, 2026
The 20-year-old shortstop is actually going to get away from the team and travel to Arizona where he will be looked at by an orthopedic hand specialist. That’s a concerning development for the young shortstop, who is off to a solid start in Midland. He’s hitting .281/.360/.401 with five home runs and 16 stolen bases. He had a strong April before going through a tougher May, which will now be cut short. Everyone will be holding their breath that De Vries hasn’t done something major to a finger and hope he can return to game action sooner rather than later. He’s still incredibly young for his level but a promotion to Triple-A has been on the radar all year. That eventual promotion will now certainly be pushed back a bit and could come a lot later than A’s fans hoped, depending on what the doctor says about that finger.
Wrapping your Friday news dump, MLB’s owners have made their first proposal to the MLBPA regarding the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement.
BREAKING: As expected, MLB proposed a hard salary cap to union officials today as part of the next CBA, sources tell ESPN. The salary floor for teams beginning in 2027 would be set at $171.2 million which includes player benefits with the ceiling at $245.3 million.
That has always been a huge sticking point for the players as they believe the owners want to keep salaries from continuing to explode. A lot of the league will point to the two-time champion Los Angeles Dodgers as the reason for a need for a salary cap and the logic works, to a degree. The players’ association would almost certainly fight tooth and nail over this, which was a huge cause of the 1994 players’ strike. They won out in that battle but the owners seem more determined than ever to get a salary cap like the NFL and NBA currently have.
If that truly is a sticking point in negotiations, then there is a very real possibility we have a lockout coming up soon. One of the proposed things the owners would be agreeing to for the salary cap would be a salary floor, forcing every team in the league to spend at least X amount on the major league team. That was something A’s have had been hoping for when the team was still in Oakland. How would the recent playoff teams the Athletics had could have done more damage in the postseason had they been supplemented with free agent additions and a sizable payroll increase?
It’s too late for Oakland now but if this is the future parameters of a deal then owner John Fisher will have to finally spend more on the team. He’s begun doing more of that since moving the team and they rank 21st in the league with a $94 million payroll but he’d have to spend close to $77 million more on the team. Add in the great young talent the A’s have accumulated and the potential salary floor would certainly help the Green & Gold go up against high-priced teams like the Yankees and Dodgers. Something to think about and monitor as these negotiations continue over the next few months.
Through 56 games in 2026, the A's sit at 27-29. Through 56 games in 2025, the A's were 23-33. They would tack on seven more losses before adding another win.
Ugh. Hard to bench a guy with that huge contract but how long can the A’s keep marching him out there? Are the offseason surgeries affecting him more than he’s letting on?
Lawerence Butler last 10 games:
.095 AVG, 2 H, 0 HR, 1 RBI
He will get out of this drought and come back HOT… just wait, mark my words! 💪💚💛 pic.twitter.com/WdIFExfKH8
BALTIMORE, MD - MAY 28: Yohendrick Piñango #24 of the Toronto Blue Jays celebrates with Brandon Valenzuela #59 after defeating the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on May 28, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Following a much-needed sweep of the Kansas City Royals, the Yankees enjoyed an off day on Thursday. They next head further west to take on the Athletics, who are very much in the American League’s playoff picture. The first place Rays were also off the schedule, though there were still games of note to take in on Thursday. So, here’s a look at went down around the Junior Circuit.
Toronto Blue Jays (28-29) 2, Baltimore Orioles (26-31) 1
In an evening AL East matchup, pitching was the name of the game, as the Blue Jays did just enough to push past the O’s in Baltimore.
Both starters, Patrick Corbin for the Jays and Chris Bassitt for Baltimore, were excellent in their respective outings. It was Toronto who got to their former teammate Bassitt first, when Andrés Giménez led off the third inning with a solo blast, his sixth homer of the season.
The solo shot would stand as the only real blemish on the veteran righty’s day on the mound. Bassitt finished his day after six innings of work, allowing just that one run on four hits and striking out a pair. Unfortunately for him and the Orioles, Patrick Corbin was just as good on the mound for Toronto.
In fact, his line was nearly identical. The left-hander worked his way through five innings of solid ball, also allowing a single run on four hits, though he tallied a few more strikeouts, racking up four on the evening. His first mistake, and Baltimore’s lone run of the game, came in the fourth, when Coby Mayo teed off on a solo homer of his own, squaring things up at one a piece.
After both starters exited the game, things remained quiet on the offensive side, as this game remained in a 1-1 gridlock into the later innings. In the top of the eighth, the Blue Jays did what they could to change that. George Springer led the frame off with a double, before being advanced by a sacrifice bunt. A pair of walks following this had the bases loaded with just one out. Kazuma Okamoto struck out for the second out, before pinch-hitter Yohendrick Piñango worked a walk to push the go-ahead run across. The bases-loaded walk in the eighth turned out to be the decisive blow, as the Jays skated past the O’s, though both clubs still have an uphill climb in the division.
In a matchup of middling AL West squads, early scoring pushed the Astros past the Rangers on Thursday. The game opened with a bang for Houston, as home runs from Jeremy Peña and Isaac Paredes had them up 3-0 before the Rangers had a chance to hit.
Josh Jung answered with a solo shot for Texas in the second, but the ‘Stros continued to lay it on in the third inning, with a double from Taylor Trammell and a Cam Smith knock putting them up 5-1. A forgettable day on the mound for Nathan Eovaldi (7 IP, 5 ER) had Houston up from end to end. The Rangers could only post a single run on the evening, as they dropped an important one at home. The AL West remains a situation to monitor, as the sub-.500 Mariners lead the division by a half-game, and four teams are within 2.5 games of first place.
May 17, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners third baseman Colt Emerson (4) celebrates after scoring a run against the San Diego Padres during the sixth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images | Steven Bisig-Imagn Images
Good morning everyone and happy Friday!
The M’s will take on the Diamondbacks today for the first in a three-game weekend set. The D-Backs have long been one of my favorite NL squads — they’re geographically close(ish) but harmless to the Mariners in the grand scheme. Though, nobody will top the Nationals for me. What is your favorite NL team?
Major League Baseball presented its first official Collective Bargaining Agreement proposal, which features both a hard salary cap and floor. Evan Drellich at The Athletic has the full report. ($)
The city of Sacramento has joined the ranks of major American cities officially vying for an MLB expansion franchise, reports Evan Drellich at The Athletic. ($) Others include Nashville, Salt Lake City, Portland, Austin, Montreal, Raleigh, and Orlando.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JUNE 21: A general aerial view of the stadium seen from a drone outside T-Mobile Park at sunset before the MLB All-Star Week photographed on June 21, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Franchise shortstop Geraldo Perdomo, who sprung to life with an elite seven-WAR season and a fourth-place MVP placement in 2025, has a mere .671 OPS. He’s on pace to produce his worst full-season OPS since 2022, when (at 22 years old) he hit just .195.
Perdomo’s hit primarily in the three-hole this season, but has only 20 RBI — a far cry from the 100-RBI production that earned him a franchise record in 2025.
So, how bad has Perdomo really been? What part of his game has remained positive this year? Let’s take a look at the numbers:
The Arizona Diamondbacks became part of one of baseball’s strangest fan stories this week after a Chase Field mix-up somehow turned into two Willy Adames home run balls for the same couple.
MLB proposed a salary-cap system Thursday, marking the league’s first foray into overhauling the sport’s economic structure in more than three decades. The long-awaited proposal would set a hard cap of $245.3 million and hard floor of $171.2 million, aiming to shrink the disparity among team payrolls by a significant amount. The league’s proposal — which also called for a 50/50 revenue split and the centralization of all television revenue — came one day after the MLBPA made a wide-ranging opening offer that called for a soft floor, new definitions of revenue sharing and pay increases for younger players.
A day before Major League Baseball is expected to make a salary cap proposal, the union outlined its initial economic proposals during a bargaining session at the players’ association office in Manhattan. It included what it called a “competitive integrity tax” that would penalize teams dropping below a payroll floor and called for the luxury tax threshold to rise to $300 million next year.
We just got past the two-month mark of the 2026 MLB season, which means there are still four long months to go. Needless to say, so many things can change over the large sample that is yet to come. In looking at the top-shelf pitching on the National League side, however, I couldn’t help but want to run through the race for the Cy Young award right now.
I count at least six pitchers with a very strong case and this doesn’t even include last season’s winner in Paul Skenes. I fully expect him to be in the mix by the time we get to September, but his case thus far in 2026 just doesn’t measure up to our top six.
TORONTO, CANADA - APRIL 29: Brayan Bello #66 of the Boston Red Sox is taken out of the game in a break in play against the Toronto Blue Jays in their MLB game at Rogers Centre on April 29, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Brayan Bello Experience is turning into a complicated one in Boston on numerous levels. In the short-term, it’s unclear whether he should start or enter the game behind an “Opener.” In the season-long term, it’s unclear if he should be in the starting rotation or the bullpen. In the long, long term, it’s unclear if his extension through 2029 will be a bargain or a burden.
The word “Opener” gives me the shakes and it’s just one example in a long list of things that the Rays did very well, out of necessity, and the rest of the league copied poorly. It can’t be denied that Bello’s three games as the “bulk” reliever have been astronomically better than his seven starts.
That being said, Jovani Moran’s splits are an inverse relationship to Bello’s. In a fairly hot take, I don’t think Jovani Moran should start any more games this season.
Whether it’s Bello or an Opener, the starting pitcher has stunk on ice in each of the ten Bello games this season. This isn’t working, whatever it is.
As Garrett Crochet faces live hitters for the second time this week, a rehab stint seems imminent. It’s unfathomable for any of Crochet, Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez, Payton Tolle, or Connelly Early to be removed from this rotation (at least not until Sonny Gray is traded at the deadline). It’s also hard envisioning Brayan Bello transitioning into the Greg Weissert role and faring much better. Bello has two minor league options left, but what would that do for his confidence?
When Bello debuted in 2022, out of necessity due to nine starting pitchers being on the IL, he was due to become a free agent after the 2027 season. The Red Sox bought out his arbitration years, and signed him to a six-year, $55M extension running from 2024 through 2029. Bello had been solid in 2023, with a 4.24 ERA in 157 innings, with a 13.0 K-BB% when the team offered the extension. Since that date, Bello’s ERA has stayed at an identical 4.24 ERA, but his K-BB% is down to 10.3%. His velocity has decreased, the barrels allowed are way up, and he disappointed in his playoff start last October.
What would you do with Brayan Bello … Should he be following an Opener, and if so, whom? When Crochet returns, what should Bello’s role be? Do you anticipate him being in this Red Sox rotation for three more years after this one?
Enjoy the weekend, and be good to each other in the comments.
The home run grind rolls into a great Friday slate, and the +EV dingers and MLB player props are plentiful today.
It's never a bad idea to look for home runs in Cincinnati, but the pitching matchup is making it even better today, and getting the No. 2 HR/FB hitter in baseball at a price north of +500 is also making the card.
These are my favorite home run props for Friday, May 29.
UPDATE: Added another HR pick + parlay.
Best MLB home run props today
Player to hit a HR
Odds
Mike Yastrzemski
+577
Bryce Harper
+527
Aaron Judge
+246
💲Today's HR parlay
+13630
Home run pick: Mike Yastrzemski(+577)
Great American Ball Park is always a strong place to target home runs, and Mike Yastrzemski is one of the better +EV dinger looks on the board today with a fair price around +480, per the projections at Covers powered by THE BAT.
He’s in strong form right now with the team’s third-best slugging percentage and wOBA over the last 30 days, while also getting the ball in the air consistently with a 52% fly-ball rate that ranks second on the team this month.
He’ll face Chris Paddack, who has been crushed at GABP this year with a 12.67 ERA and a 2.2 HR/9. His 35% groundball rate does him no favors in this park, and his Bottom-10 xFIP among MLB starters over the last 30 days suggests the struggles are very real.
Pitcher/hitter history is usually secondary, but it’s still worth noting that Yastrzemski has had success against Paddack with three home runs across 25 plate appearances.
Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
Where to watch: Reds.TV, BravesVision
Home run pick: Bryce Harper (+527)
Dodger Stadium grades out as a Top-5 park for home runs today, per Ballpark Pal, with 9-mph winds blowing out to right-center field.
That’s good news for a Bryce Harper bomb priced north of +500, with a buy point at +480 or better. Harper has already launched seven home runs this month and owns an absurd 31.8% HR/FB rate over the last 30 days, which ranks second in baseball behind only teammate Kyle Schwarber at 37.5%.
Harper’s fly-ball rate hasn’t been elite lately, but if he gets one in the air against Justin Wrobleski, it could quickly turn into four bases. Wrobleski is a fly-ball pitcher with reverse splits who has been vulnerable to left-handed hitters. There's often value in targeting reverse-split arms because the market tends to overprice the lefty vs. lefty matchup.
Time: 10:15 p.m. ET
Where to watch: Apple TV
Home run pick: Aaron Judge (+246)
When you’re cold, it’s never a bad idea to take the most probable home run on the slate today at a projection of 0.39 HR from New York’s Aaron Judge. With an implied 0.33 HR from the +246 price, it grades out as a +EV spot for a Judge homer.
This is also the second-best home run park on the slate, per Ballpark Pal, and the matchup is favorable for the right-handed slugger, who ranks as THE BAT’s No. 1 hitter in baseball. Luis Severino has struggled significantly at Sutter Health Park, where his ERA is roughly two runs higher than his season average and was three runs higher there last year.
His 2.2 HR/9 at home is among the worst marks in baseball, and he has already allowed multiple home runs in three of his four home starts this season. Judge also has history in the matchup, going 4-for-8 with a home run and four RBI across eight at-bats against Severino.
Time: 9:40 p.m. ET
Where to watch: YES, NBCS-California
Josh Inglis' 2026 Transparency Record
HR picks: 13-100, -32.94 units
Today’s HR parlay
Mike Yastrzemski
Bet Now +13630
Bryce Harper
Aaron Judge
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
The Columbus Clippers offense blasted off for 10 runs on 17 hits as every player in the lineup had at least one hit with five players have multi-hit games and all but two reaching base safely at least twice.
Leading the charge was Nolan Jones, who went 4-for-5 with a double. Jones has quietly raised his Triple-A batting average to .269 and his OPS is up to .802.
Angel Genao had a three-hit game, going 3-for-4 with a double and a walk.
Cooper Ingle had the big hit of the day, going 2-for-6 with a three-run home run.
C.J. Kayfus went 2-for-5 with a double and three runs scored, Milan Tolentino went 2-for-5 with two stolen bases, Juan Brito went 1-for-2 with two walks and a steal and Bo Naylor returned to Columbus by going 1-for-4 with a walk.
Starting pitcher Austin Peterson was decent, allowing three runs on five hits with seven strikeouts and three walks in 4.0 innings. Knuckleballer Trenton Denholm was sensational in long relief, tossing 5.0 shutout one-hit frames with four strikeouts and three walks to earn the win.
Lake County took advantage of eight walks to score four runs despite getting just four hits. Jace LaViolette reached base safely twice with a walk, a single and a stolen base.
Nolan Schubart walked twice and both Maick Collado and Esteban Gonzalez went 1-for-3 with a walk. Gonzalez also stole a base.
Starting pitcher Jackson Humphries was superb, tossing 4.0 shutout innings of two-hit ball with seven strikeouts and no walks.
Michael Kennedy also had one of his better outings of the season, finishing off the game with 5.0 innings of long relief, allowing two runs on four hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
Top Guardians outfield prospect Robert Arias was in the middle of a breakout season, slashing .294/.400/.865 through 44 games in his age-19 campaign at Single-A Hill City.
Unfortunately, after a leadoff single on Thursday, Arias was injured sliding into second base when I think he caught a spike and his foot rolled underneath his body and he was removed from the game in an air cast. I wish him the best and hope for a swift recovery.
Jose Pirela went 2-for-4 and Anthony Martinez doubled, but otherwise, the offense was pretty non-existent.
Starting pitcher Joey Oakie absolutely dominated opposing hitters, allowing one run on two hits with eight strikeouts and two walks in 4.2 innings.
Ryan Prager was sensational out of the bullpen, striking out all six of his outs in 2.0 scoreless innings, but Miguel Flores allowed two runs in his 3.0 innings of long relief to take the loss.
Mike Yastrzemski
Bryce Harper 
Aaron Judge