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Today, our topic for conversation is shortstop.

Which player do you prefer get the Opening Day nod as shortstop for the Cleveland Guardians – Gabriel Arias or Brayan Rocchio? And why?

Discuss in the comments below!

On this week’s episode of Rays Your Voice, we discuss the recent press conference led by Governor Ron DeSantis, where major power players came out in support of the Rays new stadium plan on the Hillsborough College Dale Mabry campus. While funding was not discussed, Tuesday’s presser feels like a big step in the right direction for building a ballpark in Tampa.

We also discuss the three-team trade that saw the Rays acquire infielder Ben Williamson in exchange for Colton Ledbetter and a comp pick. Williamson is not the blockbuster acquisition that fans have been dreaming about this offseason (there was a better player involved in this deal headed to Seattle), but he does have the tools to carve a spot on this roster. We take a look at where he fits and what he brings to the table.

If you love what we do on Rays Your Voice, consider becoming a Patreon member for as little as $1/month. Also, if you’ve been a podcast listener from the jump, subscribe to our YouTube channel as well! We go live on YouTube for almost every single episode. Make sure to turn on our channel notifications so you can join us when we go live.

THIS IS A GUEST ROCKPILE BY CORY COHEN (@cocomajobo.bsky.social)

A lot has been written about the many ways in which the 2025 Colorado Rockies were not very good at baseball.

Most of the reasons come down to the usual suspect of poor talent that cannot easily be fixed. There is, however,  one aspect of the team’s terrible performance last year that can, theoretically, be addressed without needing to overhaul the roster: good ol’ thievery.

Last year, the Rockies did steal 87 bases, which ranked a totally forgettable 23rd in the league. The problem is, they were caught a whopping 39 times en route to that total. That comes out to an abysmal 68.5% success rate, which ranked dead last. The second worst were the Kansas City Royals — a full 4% above them. Meanwhile, the New York Mets led the league all the way with an 88.4% success rate (more on them later).

The first instinct when seeing these numbers is to assume that the team was just slow.

In fact, the ‘25 Rox were pretty darn fast. All six players who got at least 100 opportunities had a sprint speed above the league average mark of 27.0 ft/sec. As a team, they ranked third in terms of average sprint speed at 27.9 feet per second behind only the Milwaukee Brewers (28.0 ft/sec) and Philadelphia Phillies (28.1 ft./sec).

So, if they’re fast, what makes them so bad at stealing bases?

There’s a ton of factors that contribute to something as messy as this, but let’s take a look at one that’s surprisingly simple.

Here’s Tyler Freeman attempting to run on Merrill Kelly:

Now compare that with Francisco Lindor against Quinn Priester:

Before the pitch, Lindor is already in motion, but Freeman remains static. By the time of the pitcher’s first move, Freeman only has a 10.7-foot lead while Lindor has already achieved a 15.5-foot one. That’s not even getting into how Lindor’s momentum lends itself to an easier time committing to the sprint.

Granted, Lindor is pretty fast (only 1.1 ft/sec slower than Freeman), so he’s perhaps an imperfect example, but you know who isn’t? Juan Soto.

After joining Lindor’s Mets, Soto started practicing an approximation of his patented home plate shuffle at first base. He proceeded to steal 38 bases in only 42 attempts despite sporting only the 549th sprint speed in the majors. The Mets as a whole had an average lead of 13.1 feet on stolen base attempts, which was comfortably the highest in the league, to go along with being last in sprint speed. That combination of furthest lead but slowest speed led to, as mentioned above, the best stolen base success rate in the game.

The Rockies average lead of 10.6 feet, on the other hand, was down at 24th — only 0.2 feet further than the league-worst Chicago White Sox.

Baseball Savant’s clip archive is full of stolen base attempts similar to the Freeman example above. Sometimes the pure speed of someone like Doyle allowed them to get away with it. Far too often, though, nearly everyone on the team from Ezequiel Tovar, to Jordan Beck, to even Zac Veen just ran themselves into an out using this technique.

What’s more, that lack of aggression does not actually appear to have saved the Rockies from being picked off. In ‘25, the New York Yankees (who Soto does not appear to have shuffled for at first base for in ‘24) were the only team to suffer more pickoffs than the Rockies while having a longer average lead on stolen base attempts. This is, perhaps, indicative of the runners having enough information on the pitcher to know when it’s safe to commit but the main point is that the formula isn’t as simple as: more lead distance equals more pickoffs.

What does this mean for this year’s Rockies?

Simply that their base stealing problems are solvable with the current roster. The foot speed is in place. With a few tweaks to their plan of attack and, dare I say, a little bit more confidence, they have the ability to turn at least this one weakness into a possible strength.

Come Opening Day, I know I’ll be watching first for any hints of Soto-esque shuffling.

Colorado Rockies 2026 top 20 prospects: Ethan Holliday, Charlie Condon lead the way | The Athletic ($)

Keith Law’s take on the current state of the Rockies farm system is tepid but optimistic about the combination of raw talent and a new front office. In terms of individual players, he is high on both Roldy Brito (3rd) and Jackson Cox (4th). On the flipside, Law throws some cold water on the idea of Roc Riggio as more than “an emergency call-up” long term and appears to be lower than the consensus on Cole Carrigg (17th) because he “hasn’t really made any adjustments since the Rockies took him in the second round in 2023.”

Top Five Black Players in Spokane Indians History | MiLB.com

Part of a series MiLB is running in celebration of Black History Month that looks back at standout Black baseball players for minor league clubs. This is a fascinating group of names that places former RoY/Cy Young/MVP Don Newcombe alongside Curtis “Big Rig” Terry, who only had thirteen games in the majors but absolutely raked for Spokane in 2018 en route to Northwest League MVP. Most notably for this crowd, Jay Gainer, whose only big league time came as a member of the Rockies in their inaugural season, makes the honorable mentions.

Hartford Yard Goats will play 2 games this season as the New Britain Rock Cats, the franchise’s ‘former identity’ | CT Insider ($)

The Rockies AA affiliate announced on Monday that they’ll be hosting a couple throwback games using one of their old team names on May 27th & 28th. The New Britain Rock Cats, as they will once again (briefly) be named, was far from the first identity of the club as Declan Walsh explains. With the now Yard Goats having had three team names, multiple major league affiliates, and many northeast cities as their home, it makes for a fun quick read.

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The Detroit Tigers aren’t entirely running it back for 2026, but aside from adding Kenley Jansen, Kyle Finnegan, and Drew Anderson, we’re heading toward an Opening Day roster that is little changed form the 2025 edition.

There are reasons for optimism based on the club’s run as one of the top 3 teams in baseball from August 1, 2024 through August 1, 2025. However, those last two months of the season, and really from the All-Star break untll the end of the regular season, really soured the brew and left many wondering if the first half was just an extended hot streak.

My key reason for optimism, is that the Tigers actually have some top shelf prospect talent due to pitch in over the course of the season. That was sorely lacking in 2025 until Troy Melton gave them a boost down the stretch last year.

Still though, this is a fairly young roster, particularly in terms of impact players. Riley Greene is 25 years old and was mashing at a near MVP pace in the first half last year until he fell apart after the break. Spencer Torkelson is 26 and finally put together a complete season without any extended slumps. Colt Keith is 24 and has settled into the major leagues pretty nicely as a hitter, but he hasn’t started producing the power he was expected to bring to the table. Reese Olson has two good partial seasons under his belt heading into his age 26 season. Troy Melton is 25 and will open the season as a big leaguer for the first time.

You get the point. A lot of the Tigers more talented players are in that 24-26 year-old window when good players typically hit their prime years. Some may already be there, but the potential for some breakout seasons is certainly present as well.

Who’s your guy in 2026? Who on the 40-man roster would you bet on to be the breakout player for the Tigers this year?

Good morning, baseball fans!

We are less than a week away from San Francisco Giants pitchers and catchers reporting for Spring Training, which might be the best news I’ve heard in a year.

The organization has been busy over the last week, signing Harrison Bader and Luis Arráez, so it’s not an unfair assumption that there might still be moves to be made.

Earlier this offseason, the organization made statements that seemed to indicate that they were likely set with the rotation. However, the rumor mill is indicating that they might be planning a reunion with Justin Verlander for another season.

Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report in particular predicts that the team is the most likely landing spot for the 42 year old right-hander on a short-term deal.

As with any rumor, I’ll take this one with a grain of salt, but it is worth examining. Because it definitely feels like something they would do.

Personally, I wouldn’t mind it, depending on the specifics of any potential deal. While the team has already made moves to bolster the rotation over the off-season, it couldn’t hurt to have an additional arm for when someone inevitably gets taken out by the Marlins Death Fog or Coors Field.

Despite a rocky start to the 2025 season (a lot of which seemed to be truly awful luck), Verlander ended the year with a 3.85 ERA and FIP, with 137 strikeouts to 52 walks in 152 innings pitched. I’ll take another season of that, if the price is right.

Do you think the Giants should re-sign Verlander?

The history of the Yankees dates back to the start of the 20th century and a humble team known then as the New York Highlanders. Their first ever game was played on April 22, 1903, against the Washington Senators, a 3-1 loss at American League Park, one of the more well-known Griffith Stadium’s predecessors in the nation’s capital (close to Gallaudet University). And stepping into the batter’s box to take the first ever at-bat in franchise history was an outfielder known as Lefty Davis.

Alphonso DeFord “Lefty” Davis
Born: February 4, 1875 (Nashville, TN)
Died: February 4, 1919 (Collins, NY)
Yankees Tenure: 1903

Little is known about Lefty’s early life and upbringing, but Tennessee had become an epicenter of early organized baseball by the late 19th century, and the Nashville region was certainly in that mix. The Southern League, founded in 1885, was the predominant regional circuit of minor league clubs that included teams from Atlanta, Augusta, Chattanooga, Columbus, Nashville, Memphis, Birmingham, and Macon.

Davis got his start in organized baseball in 1896 at the age of 21 playing the outfield for Mobile Blackbirds of the Class-B Southern Association. In 43 games that season, Davis batted .309 in 191 at-bats and also made five relief pitching appearances to the tune of a 1.75 ERA across 36 innings. He moved up to Class-A ball the following season, batting .307 with five home runs and 12 stolen bases in 225 ABs for Detroit in the Western League. 1898 saw Davis split time between Detroit and Minneapolis Millers, and he batted .291 with two home runs and 26 stolen bases across 122 combined games. He played out his final two minor-league seasons with Minneapolis, establishing a reputation as a speedy center fielder and stolen base threat, leading to his establishment in the majors.

The Philadelphia Athletics selected Davis to their team, but before he had played a single game, he jumped to the Brooklyn Superbas as players had far more agency over where they played in the inaugural years of the NL and AL. In his debut season with Brooklyn in 1901, Davis batted just .209 in 25 games, leading to his release midseason. The Pittsburgh Pirates signed him as a free agent, and he would play out the remainder of the 1901 season with the dominant NL team of that era.

In the Steel City, Davis joined the ranks of future Hall of Famers Honus Wagner, Jack Chesbro, and Fred Clarke. He appeared in 87 games for the Pirates after making the switch, slashing .313/.415/.421 for an impressive 139 OPS+ along with two home runs and 22 stolen bases, helping Pittsburgh capture its first NL pennant. The following year, he helped the Bucs defend their NL pennant crown, though he did miss a significant portion of the season to a broken leg.

It was around this time that the Highlanders were coming into existence. With the inception of the AL in 1900, there were calls to establish a pro club in New York. However, the incumbent New York Giants of the NL blocked those plans, and so instead that franchise was awarded to Baltimore and named the Orioles in 1901. In 1902, Orioles manager and part-owner John McGraw departed Baltimore to become manager of the Giants, and the short-lived Orioles folded at the end of that season.

Prior to the start of the 1903 season, the NL and AL resolved their differences and once again a proposal to create an AL team in New York was put forward. Out of the 16 major league owners, 15 voted to approve the proposal, and thus the team that started as the Baltimore Orioles was officially chartered in New York as the Highlanders. Needing to assemble a roster for the season, the Highlanders targeted that back-to-back NL pennant winning Pirates squad. Davis, Chesbro, Jesse Tannehill, Tommy Leach, Wid Conroy, and Jack O’Connor all agreed to jump to the nascent franchise, with only Leach later reneging on his commitment.

In their inaugural game as a franchise in 1903, Chesbro was on the mound as the starting pitcher and Davis was penciled in to the leadoff spot. In the bottom of the first (the home team had the choice of batting first back then) at American League Park in Washington, DC, David grounded out against future Yankee Al Orth. Both starters pitched complete games as the Senators held on to win, 3-1.

Davis would play 104 games for the Highlanders that season, his only full season with a single major-league club in his career. He slashed .237/.319/.263 with no home runs and eleven stolen bases in 372 ABs. Manager Clark Griffith was unimpressed and succeeded in dumping Davis from the team at the conclusion of the season.

Davis returned to the minor leagues, playing two seasons for Class-A Columbus, where he would bat .275 in 148 games in 1904 and .279 in 153 games in 1905. He then returned to the Minneapolis Millers in 1906, batting .333 with 47 stolen bases in 149 games. This resulted in his final opportunity in the majors — 73 games for the Cincinnati Reds in 1907, where he batted .229/.293/.297 with one home run and nine stolen bases in 266 ABs, making the final appearance of his big league career on July 16th against Philadelphia.

Davis wasn’t quite finished with baseball, however, playing for the St. Paul Saints of the American Association in 1908 and 1909, the York White Roses of the Class-D New England League in 1911, and ending with two seasons for the Class-C Winona Packers of the Northern League in 1913 and 1914 before hanging up his cleats for good. In his retirement, he settled in Upstate New York before passing away at the young age of 44 on his birthday in 1919.

Davis typified the light-hitting, transient ballplayers of the Deadball Era. His tenure with the Yankees was short-lived, and he’s definitely overshadowed by a far more Lefty who came along a few decades later. Still, Lefty Davis remains immortalized in the history books as the first batter in franchise history.

References

Lefty Davis. Baseball-Reference.

Lefty Davis. Baseball Almanac.

Tedesco, Marie. “Minor League Baseball.” Tennessee Encyclopedia. October 8, 2017.

Gordon, David J. “The Rise and Fall of the Deadball Era.” SABR. Fall 2018 Baseball Research Journal.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

Anne Rogers writes that the fastball could be key for Seth Lugo in 2026.

“I think over the past couple of years, all the breaking balls that I like to throw, it kind of gave me a reality check — we’ve got to use your fastball,” Lugo said. “We’ve got to command the fastball. Get up when I need to. So that’s been my focus.”

John Sherman says the team isn’t looking to move out of the area.

CEO and chairman John Sherman reiterated at Saturday’s Royals Rally that he has no intention of moving the Royals.

“Look, we’re not going anywhere, and that’s what we’ve said all along,” Sherman said. “Someone else will have to do that. But I think related to the other comment about wealth and those types of things, I think that’s part of what we’re dealing with in our society. And in our case, we’re looking for a public partner, right, as I said before. We’re working day and night right now to find a way to make sure this team stays here for as long as any of us are going to be around.

“And the public partner is what ties you to a community, right? That’s really why that’s important.”

Jaylon Thompson writes about why Cole Ragans turned down an invite to pitch in the World Baseball Classic.

“He was asked by Team USA to pitch for them,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “And very mature decision by him to decide not to — as tempting as it was. But in his mind, he wanted to be healthy. He wanted to ramp up into the season and not be ramped up going into spring training. And I thought it was a real mature decision on his end.”

Eno Sarris at The Athletic ranks pitchers for fantasy baseball, with Ragans ranked #12.

Last year, though, it was a new affliction: a rotator cuff strain, on the heels of a groin strain. The bad news was that it limited him to just over 60 innings and kept him out of the top 100 starting pitchers on the year. The good news was that he came back and showed the same stuff that launched his career just a year before. With that wide arsenal of high-stuff pitches and good command, he’s on a short list of pitchers who could win hardware this year. Which is why you take on the injury risk.

David Lesky writes that it is harder than it seems to find an upgrade in the outfield.

I think it would be difficult for the Royals to give Hays the opportunity to play every day. He hasn’t played center field since 2023, so I don’t think that’s an option. And even when it was sort of an option, it wasn’t even then. He played 36.2 innings that year, but the last time he played more than that was 2020. We can continue to discuss where that 105 wRC+ would rank on the 2025 Royals, but it’s also 17 points lower than what Collins produced in 2025. Sure, Hays has more of a track record, but other than a 75-plate appearance sample in 2019 at 23, he hasn’t ever even come within 10 points of what Collins did last year. And he isn’t even especially good defensively anymore, at least not by the numbers.

The Data Dugout lists Jac Caglianone as a player due for a breakout season.

No player in MLB — rookie or not — posted larger gaps between actual and expected batting average, slugging percentage, and on-base average than Caglianone. It’s incredible he led the league in every one of the three. Most notably, his expected slugging ranked 10th among rookies, while his actual slugging finished fourth-worst.

Aside from his slash line, Caglianone tops all rookies in EV90, meaning the top 10% of his batted balls were hit harder than any other players. He also ranked 6th among rookies in barrel rate (12%).

Players with those numbers normally produce at a much higher rate. Caglianone has jaw dropping power in his bat, which should be on full display next year.

Jon Heyman has the breakdown on Vinnie Pasquantino’s salary and escalators.

R.J. Anderson at CBS Sports ranks the Royals’ farm system among the three worst in baseball.

Michael Coyle at Royals Keep looks at how the offense stacks up.

Caleb Moody at Kings of Kauffman looks at the promotional schedule for Omaha.

Carlos Beltrán will wear a Mets cap in the Hall of Fame.

Arizona signs Carlos Santana to a one-year, $2 million contract.

The Twins claim former Royals pitcher Jackson Kowar off waivers.

The Angels sign Jeimer Candelario to a minor league deal.

ESPN has bold predictions on MLB rookies this year.

Will Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander pitch this year?

How the Cardinals tore it down and what’s next for them.

An explanation of the insurance issue with the World Baseball Classic.

Rob Manfred supports the new Rays stadium plan at Hillsborough College.

Why its harder and more expensive to be a sports fan these days.

The Cleveland Cavaliers acquire James Harden from the Clippers.

Why do some people catch a cold worse than others?

Spain may be banning social media for kids under 16.

The Muppet Show is back.

Your song of the day is ODB with Shimmy Shimmy Ya.

Good morning. Quite a lot of news today.

• The Mariners landed the white whale they’ve been after all season as the Cardinals traded infielder/outfielder Brendan Donovan to the Mariners as part of a three-team deal with the Rays. The Cardinals got three prospects and a draft pick for Donovan, the best of which is pitcher Jurrangelo Cijntje. Cijntje was announced as a right-handed pitcher, which is a bummer for those of us who hoped he would remain a switch-pitcher. The Cardinals hate fun. And amphibians.
• Ken Rosenthal has the story of the Mariners front office trying to complete the deal while being honored at the state capital in Olympia. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Ben Clemens breaks down what all three teams got in the deal.
• Jordan Schusterman offers his take on the three-way swap.
• R.J. Anderson hands out grades to all three teams.
• Andy McCullough and Sam Blum also chime in with their grades for the M’s, Rays and Cards. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Andrew Simon has all the notable three-way deals this century. Plus a four-way deal that the Cubs were in a while ago.
• Former Cub Carlos Santana signed a one-year, $2 million deal with the Diamondbacks.
• The Athletics signed young shortstop Jacob Wilson to a seven-year, $70 million extension.
• Davy Andrews breaks down the deal and how the A’s are trying to lock up a foundation of a good team before they head to . . .are we still saying Las Vegas? Sure. Las Vegas.
• Martin Gallegos also looks at the loosening of the pursestrings by the A’s ahead of their move to Nevada.
• Ben Clemens examines the Reds’ one-year deal with free agent Eugenio Suárez.
• Jay Jaffe evaluates the Giants deal with infielder Luis Arraez.
• Dayn Perry looks at how new team president Chaim Bloom is tearing down the Cardinals to rebuild it in what he hopes will be a new and better team. The Cardinals have never really gone into rebuilding mode before, having just three losing seasons this century—two of which came over the past three seasons.
• Jay Jaffe has some useful role players who are still free agents. They’re probably almost free to a good home by now.
• The Dodgers claimed outfielder Mike Siani off of waivers and designated infielder Andy Ibanez for assignment. That’s notable because the Dodgers DFA’d Siani a month ago and also signed Ibanez to a $1.2 million major league deal a month ago.
• David Schoenfield asks if the Dodgers make the National League stronger than the American?
• Dan Szymborski has a fun exercise. How many of MLB’s worst teams to you have to combine to get a team that could beat the Dodgers in a seven-game series?
• Former Marlins outfielder Avisaíl García has announced his retirement.
• David Adler looks at teams that trending up and down in the most-recent forecasts.
• Will Leitch has six teams with a lot on the line in 2026.
• Thomas Harrington has seven players who will need to step up and replace others who have left. Moisés Ballesteros is on the list.
• Ken Rosenthal recounts and laments how relations between the Pirates and Andrew McCutchen have deteriorated. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• Brian Murphy has three Yankees whom he thinks will exceed expectations in 2026.
• Anthony DiComo takes a look at the Mets starting rotation as it stands now.
• Orioles starter Kyle Bradish won his arbitration hearing. He’ll make $3.55 million in 2026.
• Later today, the Tigers and Tarik Skubal will have their arbitration hearing. (The Athletic free reg. req.) Cody Stavenhagen has what you need to know.
• R.J. Anderson offers his Top 100 prospects. Only Ballesteros made it for the Cubs.
• The Hall of Fame announced that Carlos Beltrán will wear a Mets cap on his plaque. He’s only the third player to go in as a Met after Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza.
• Florida governor Ron DeSantis and commissioner Rob Manfred held a press conference in support of a new stadium for the Rays in Tampa. The Rays want half the stadium paid for by the taxpayers.
• Jake Mintz explains why insurance issues have been costing World Baseball Classic rosters several big stars.
• Francys Romero and Sarah Langs look at some amazing WBC records.
• Manny Soloway wonders why you can easily watch international soccer in the US but you can’t watch international baseball?
• Alden Gonzalez has a great inside look at Driveline Baseball’s hitting lab.
• With the signing of Munetaka Murakami, the White Sox are upgrading the toilets in their clubhouse with bidets.
• And finally in honor of Monday’s 150th anniversary of the founding of the National League, official baseball historian John Thorn re-published this look at a new discovery of some founding documents of the league as well as the general story of how the National Association gave way to the National League.

This post is part of a series of daily questions that we’ll ask the community here at Amazin’ Avenue throughout the month of February. We hope you find the questions engaging and that our prompts can spark some fun conversations in the comments. We’ll see you there and plan to have staff chiming in, too.

Do the Mets need to sign more relievers before the 2026 season begins?