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The Kansas City Royals and their fanbase walked into 2025 expecting Jac Caglianone to announce himself loudly. After all, it was hard not to dream when he slashed .322/.389/.593 with a 160 wRC+ across Double-A and Triple-A, launching 15 home runs in just 50 games before his June call-up. That kind of production usually comes with a warning label for opposing pitchers. Instead, Caglianone’s rookie season in the majors felt more like a car stuck in neutral. A lingering hamstring injury wiped out a month of reps, and inconsistency did the rest. His final line, .157/.237/.295 with a 46 wRC+, looked more like a glove-first bench piece than the sixth overall pick of the 2024 draft. That surface-level disappointment, however, hides a much more interesting story. A rare stumble, not a red flag For the first time in his professional career, Caglianone failed outright. That matters, and not in the way critics might think. Some players sprint through the minors without ever tripping, only to hit a wall in the majors and panic. Caglianone hit that wall early, learned how hard it is, and now knows exactly where it stands. Failure can be a brutal teacher, but it’s also an honest one. Caglianone has adjusted at every level before, and there’s little reason to believe this challenge is different. The Royals didn’t draft a finished product; they drafted a hitter with elite tools and the capacity to learn how to use them against the best pitchers in the world. Tools that still scream upside Even during an ugly rookie stat line, the underlying traits never disappeared. Caglianone’s bat speed clocks in at a well-above-average 77.4 mph. His raw power is immense, the kind that doesn’t need perfect contact to leave the yard. Pair that with strong bat-to-ball skills, and you have the outline of a middle-of-the-order force. Patience will be key for Kansas City. Power hitters aren’t microwave meals; they’re slow-cooked. Given time, Caglianone’s left-handed bat can anchor an offense rather than tease it. The unluckiest hitter in baseball Caglianone didn’t just struggle—he ran headfirst into baseball’s cruelest math. Among hitters with at least 150 batted-ball events, no one was more unlucky. His .239 wOBA contrasted sharply with a .321 expected wOBA, creating a -.082 gap that led all of MLB. That’s not just bad luck; that’s cosmic-level frustration. Balls he squared up found gloves. Line drives died at the warning track. The process was often better than the results, and over time, those numbers tend to meet in the middle. The one adjustment that matters most If Caglianone is going to touch his ceiling, the path is clear: plate discipline. Knowing when to swing and when to take is one of baseball’s hardest skills, especially when pitchers are firing 100-mph fastballs that rise like elevator shafts and snapping curves that vanish at the knees. His 38.5 chase rate sat well above the league average of 28.4 percent, a sign that pitchers could bait him off the plate. At the same time, his meatball swing rate was just 64.3 percent, far below the league norm of 76.3 percent. In simple terms, he chased too many bad pitches and didn’t punish enough good ones. That’s not a death sentence. It’s a roadmap. Caglianone is young, talented, and already armed with the experience of getting punched in the mouth by major-league pitching. With even modest improvements in pitch selection, the hitter the Royals envisioned doesn’t just reappear—he announces himself loudly in 2026. View the full article

According to the transaction log on Rodolfo Castro's MLB player page, the Toronto Blue Jays released the infielder on January 9. On Tuesday, 7 News reporter Ari Alexander reported that Castro was granted his release so he could sign with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball. Castro, 26, signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays this past November. He played in the majors with the Pirates and Phillies from 2021-23. Jays Centre's Jesse Burrill wrote about Castro in a roundup of minor league signings last month: Featured image courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images. View the full article

Here at North Side Baseball, we're going to bring you a lot of deep analytical dives on Alex Bregman over the next few days, weeks and months. Matt Trueblood has already gotten in the weeds over his swing tilt and his fit in the lineup, while others have discussed him being the Cubs' top target and what it means for Matt Shaw. If you are familiar with what I enjoy, you'll know that I'm a massive proponent of the analytical side of the game, that I feel strongly that the data matters. But excuse me for a moment, because the meatbalal side of me sometimes just feels like we have to see it to believe it. To see what Bregman actually does with the bat in his hand, let's break down a plate appearance he had against the Tampa Bay Rays in September and see what Bregman is capable of bringing to the table for the Cubs lineup in a different way;. To set the stage, the season is getting late. The 84-70 Boston Red Sox are visiting division rivals, the Tampa Bay Rays. The Red Sox are in the American League Wild Card hunt, entering the day battling with teams such as Houston and Cleveland for a chance to extend their season with a playoff run. The Rays have had a somewhat disappointing season, but have Drew Rasmussen on the bump for the game. Rasmussen is in the midst of an excellent season where he will finish with an ERA below 3.00; it's a tough matchup, even if the Rays' overall record is less than sterling. The plate appearance in question is in the third inning and is the second matchup of the evening between Bregman and Rasmussen. In the top of the first, Rasmussen quickly got up 0-2 on the star third baseman, but after an at-bat-saving foul ball, the right-handed pitcher threw four balls, some of which were close takes, walking the Sox hitter. While I won't dive super deep into this matchup, I do want to point out one pitch in particular; the 0-0 cutter that Bregman watched. This is a great pitch. It's 91 mph, right on the knees. You can't do anything with this pitch. This is nearly unhittable; keep this in mind for later. Getting into the appearance I'd like to highlight, the game now sits with the Rays leading 2-1, and there is already one out in the top of the third (Trevor Story started the inning with a weak ground out to second). Bregman steps into the batters box and takes strike one again: a sweeper right down the pipe. While yoiur initial reaction may be "why would you take that, it's right down Broadway?!", it's important to note that Bregman is not good against sweepers, finishing the year with a -3 run value on the pitch (by far his worst of 2025). He has just a .200 wOBA on the pitch. Drew Rasmussen didn't surrender a home run on the sweeper in 2025, either. It doesn't matter that this is right over the plate; it's not a pitch you have to swing at, and Bregman doesn't. This is clearly a plan. Bregman is, once again, unconcerned about getting behind in the count. Now ahead in the count, Rasmussen has lots of options. With four pitches that graded out with a Stuff+ rating of at least 108, he also has deception on his side: "what will be throw"? He could go back to the sweeper, but it's not his only choice. Maybe he goes with the fastball up, or a slider/cutter off the plate. He got him to look at a perfectly placed cutter in the plate appearance before, so maybe he goes back there? The righty decides to do just that, and fires up a wicked cutter that a lesser hitter may have chased off the plate, but Bregman shows great discipline and evens the count. What could have been 0-2 or a weak ground ball to second is now an even count; Bregman is back in the at-bat. On f1-1. the Rays' pitcher gets a little wild, wasting two 96-mph fastballs, one up, and another out. Neither are particularly close; neither require much analysis. No one was going to swing at them in a 1-1 or 2-1 count. The first was well high and the second, well outside. They're just not good pitches; nor would they get many swings. Bregman's patience has earned him a 3-1 spot and the ability to remain patient and pick a pitch. Perhaps, however, Bregman gets a little too patient. Rasmussen leaves a cutter right down the pipe that Bregman probably should have crushed. Maybe he was expecting it to dive away from him a little more like the 0-0 pitch in his first plate appearance. Maybe he was just surprised he left it there. We can't know for sure. You can even see him sigh a little after the pitch; he knew that was a mistake pitch and he didn't offer. But this is also why you get ahead in the count: you can be very selective. Another reasoning; Rasmussen hasn't been the same strikeout artist in 2025 as he had been in the past. He's controlled batted balls wonderfully, but his strikeout rate sits below the league average. Bregman must not be overly concerned with striking out; he hasn't swung the bat yet all game. As the count is full, neither side is overly interested in giving in and the Red Sox hitter is going to be forced to swing the bat. Bregman knows that the season is on the line in every at-bat at this point of the year, so if you have an opportunity, you need to take it. Rasmussen is a fierce competitor and knows the teeth of the Boston lineup is behind the third baseman. An out here is his best chance of shutting down any possible momentum. Rasmussen dials up another pitch from his arsenal, this time going with a sinker around the same place at which he got Bregman to watch a cutter drop in. Bregman stays on it, and fouls it off. He doesn't have elite bat speed, but because his bat remains in the zone so long and his hands are quick, he's able to get enough of it to stay alive. Now, Rasmussen dials up another fastball, this time running it up to 96 mph. It's headed to the same area as the cutter early in the count, which was such a close one. It's a ball, but it's not so much of a ball that Bregman can leave it up to an umpire. This isn't a waste pitch; this is a pitch designed to get a swing, and he gets it. The problem, if you're Rasmussen, is that Bregman isn't going to whiff on this. He's able to get his hands out, flips the bat and fouls it off. The appearance remains alive. There is a reason Bregman's strikeout rate has been elite; he just doesn't swing and miss very often. Two straight heaters have been fouled off; one down, one away. Rasmussen isn't ready to give in yet, and throws a third consecutive fastball. However, this time, he changes the location. This is a gnarly 95-mph pitch up and in on the hands a bit. It's a strike, right on the black. This isn't a pitch you're going to get on top of, even with a flat bat path like Bregman's. But again, Bregman lives to see another pitch, getting his hands up enough to foul it straight back. He's made it clear; you're not going to get him on the four-seamer. We're eight pitches deep, and the battle continues. Thus far, Bregman has let two pitches go by in hittable spots, spit on an outside cutter, fouled off a handful of fastballs, and knows that something probably has to change on this pitch. Rasmussen's best pitch is likely his cutter, and he throws it 30 percent of the time. He loves getting the thing low and away, like he did on the previous at-bat and like he did on the 1-0 pitch this time. He goes back to it here, but he makes a mistake; he hangs it. Unlike the last time, where Bregman watched a hittable cutter go, he takes advantage of the mistake. If you pay attention to Rasmussen, you'll see him mouth something. I'll assume it's a four-letter word; he knows what happened. After eight pitches of being highly selective—of fouling off and grinding him down—Boston's slugger gets ahold of one; Bregman ties the game at 2-2. This is what a professional at-bat looks like: an at-bat with a very defined plan. Bregman knew not to attack an early pitch ill-suited to his swing. He knew where Rasmussen throws the cutter, and he didn't expand the zone until he had to. He even made up for watching a hittable cutter; he learned a lesson mid-at-bat. These kinds of at-bats are coming to Wrigley Field for the next five years. And while we can't be certain what Bregman will age into—we can't foresee injuries, and cannot predict the future—what I can say with confidence is that that kind of approach ages like fine wine. You don't forget how to plan or stay within your game just because you get a little older. Maybe you're not convinced about his bat tilt, or having Matt Shaw play as a utility man; that's okay. But watching the man work brought me a new appreciation for what he does well. Bregman never flinched and never got worried that he was down two strikes. He made up for watching a hittable pitch. He simply outworked Rasmussen in that moment, until the Rays' hurler finally made the final mistake. The more I watch how Bregman works, the more I get excited that the Cubs will have this as a main feature of their lineup from 2026 and beyond. Seeing is believing. What do you think of Bregman's plate approach? Where would you hit in him in the lineup? Sound off in the comments below; let's talk all things Alex Bregman. View the full article

For the second time in three years, the Twins appear poised to take a player all the way through the arbitration process. Minnesota and Joe Ryan were unable to bridge a relatively small gap before the exchange of figures last Thursday, with the club submitting a $5.85 million salary and Ryan countering at $6.35 million. If neither side changes course, an arbitration panel will choose one of those two numbers, and that decision will determine Ryan’s pay for the 2026 season. While teams and players are technically allowed to keep negotiating after figures are exchanged, the Twins have historically treated that deadline as a firm stopping point for one-year deals. That appears to be the case again here, meaning the next step is a hearing—unless a multiyear agreement unexpectedly materializes. Club policy does allow for longer-term contracts after the deadline, though there has been no indication that discussions are trending in that direction. From a performance standpoint, Ryan’s case is straightforward. The 29-year-old just completed the best season of his major-league career, finishing with a 3.42 ERA while striking out 194 hitters across 171 innings. He made his first All-Star team and made 30 starts for the first time, firmly establishing himself as a top-of-the-rotation arm. That production came amid frequent trade speculation at last year’s trade deadline, which continued into the winter, though the front office has repeatedly said it does not intend to move core players right now. This is only Ryan’s second trip through arbitration eligibility. A year ago, he and the Twins avoided a hearing by agreeing to a one-year, $3-million contract, his first significant payday after never earning more than $780,000 in a season. Even at the higher of the two arbitration figures this time around, Ryan would land right around $6 million for 2026, a sizable raise but a modest payday for a pitcher of his caliber. Unless he is traded or signs an extension, Ryan will be arbitration-eligible again in 2027. He's not scheduled to reach free agency until after that season. In the short term, that gives the Twins control. In the longer view, it emphasizes the importance of how this relationship is managed now. It is impossible to ignore the optics. The difference between the two sides is $500,000, a relatively small sum in today’s game. Ryan is widely regarded as one of the better starters in the league, and metrics back that up. FanGraphs estimates that he has generated more than $90 million in on-field value in his career, while earning just over $7 million. That gap speaks to how arbitration and team control suppress salaries, but when a team chooses to fight over such a narrow margin, it invites criticism, too. The Twins do have precedent on which to stand. They have gone to hearings in the past (most notably with Kyle Gibson late in his tenure), in part to give the front office experience with the process. Minnesota’s last hearing was with Nick Gordon in 2024. Gordon filed for $1.25 million, and the Twins offered $900,000. Minnesota won, and Gordon was denied entry into the seven-figure salary club. With changes in leadership over the last year, it is fair to wonder if that institutional mindset still plays a role, even if there is no clear indication that Ryan’s case is being used as a training exercise. There is also the human element. Ryan was candid following last year’s trade deadline sell-off, acknowledging that the stretch run was mentally challenging once postseason hopes disappeared. Illness affected several of his starts, and after one outing in Toronto, he admitted that summoning motivation was sometimes difficult. “I felt like I was in shock for a couple of weeks after that, and then it kind of settled in,” Ryan said. “[My future] is so far out of my control. But it seems like the team is making good decisions from the front office and coaching staff down, to give ourselves a chance to win a couple more ballgames. … I think the team’s going to be in a really good spot going forward." That lack of control remains. If the Twins fall out of contention in 2026, Ryan could once again find himself in the thick of trade discussions, either during the season or next winter. Conversely, if Minnesota hopes to extend him or keep him beyond his remaining years of control, the way this arbitration case plays out could matter. Hearings are adversarial by design, requiring the club to argue why a player does not deserve more. Even when the disparity between bids by the parties involved is modest, that process can linger. Adding another wrinkle is a note from The Athletic's Aaron Gleeman. He shared on social media that a team source said that Ryan is not expected to make an appearance at TwinsFest. Ryan was on the preliminary list of players who were expected to attend, but his name has been removed without an explanation. For now, what comes next is straightforward. Unless there is a late pivot, the Twins and Ryan will present their cases to an arbitration panel, and one number will win. What that decision means for the relationship moving forward, and whether a dispute over $500,000 ends up costing the Twins something far more valuable down the road, remains uncertain. Should the Twins have agreed to Ryan’s salary? What’s the long-term plan with Ryan and the Twins? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

The New York Yankees wanted to use outfield prospect Dillon Lewis as the centerpiece of a trade to bolster their starting rotation, but the Brewers were never going to accede to a deal focused on Lewis in exchange for Freddy Peralta. Thus, New York circled back to the Miami Marlins Tuesday, after missing out on Edward Cabrera with a bid that had also included Lewis. This time, they got a deal done, packaging Lewis and three other prospects to acquire left-handed hurler Ryan Weathers from the Fish. Lewis held some appeal for the Brewers, but the Yankees' efforts to pump his value this winter worked better on some other teams than they did on the Milwaukee front office. The Crew also liked Brendan Jones, a speedy outfielder who served as a secondary piece in the deal and will join Miami's farm system, instead. Thus, for the Yankees to land Peralta now, the two sides would have to start almost from scratch. We can't dismiss the possibility that the Yankees will still make a play for Peralta, but it's now more remote. In theory, New York has more depth in their rotation now, but most of their penciled-in starters either will begin the season on the injured list or seem like safe bets to land there eventually. Weathers is under team control for three more seasons, which matches the term for which they control Luis Gil—the hurler the Brewers wanted as the big-league anchor in a deal for Peralta. Brian Cashman could try to build a new, higher-echelon prospect package to entice the Brewers, swapping Gil for Peralta at the cost of more farm system punch but backfilling Gil's spot with the equally talented and equally fragile Weathers. On balance, though, that's unlikely. The Yankees are at least the third team to take an active interest in Peralta this winter, only to end up solving their rotation problems with different deals. The Orioles could still be in the market for a free-agent starter, but they spent the capital they might have included in a Peralta deal in acquiring Shane Baz from the Rays, instead. The Astros not only signed Tatsuya Imai to replace the departing Framber Valdez, but traded for Mike Burrows of the Pirates. Weathers, Baz and Burrows all have multiple years of club control remaining, which made the teams acquiring them more comfortable sending significant prospect capital the other way in trades. The Cubs were certainly never going to trade for Peralta, given the competitive tension between those two teams right now, but they, too, demonstrated their preference for a longer-term solution by trading for Cabrera. Even the Red Sox, who surrendered a modest return for Sonny Gray from the Cardinals, also traded the tantalizing Jhostynxon García to the Pirates for more team control over Johan Oviedo. Suitors remain. The Diamondbacks, Giants and Padres all need rotation help if they want to contend for playoff berths in the increasingly competitive National League, and each has at least checked in with Milwaukee this offseason about Peralta. It's not clear what the team from the northwest suburbs of Atlanta could offer for Peralta—their farm system is weak—but they have some measure of interest. The Mets and Dodgers boast two of the game's deepest farm systems. The Queensmen desperately need a starter to anchor a shaky rotation, while Los Angeles is shopping for capstones for a roster hunting a threepeat. None of those six teams make as neat a fit for Peralta as others have seemed to, at various points this offseason. As has been true all along, the Brewers themselves feel little pressure to move him. The pending disruption of their local broadcast distribution (and, thus, revenue therefrom) could ratchet that pressure up slightly, but it's more likely the Brewers will simply eschew hoped-for secondary spending, if needed, than that they'll take a reduced return just to shed an $8-million obligation for 2026. With each of the trades mentioned above, the chances that the team gets the kind of offer they'll demand have dwindled. Eventually, a team will have to increase its bid, or the team will hold onto its All-Star righty. Perhaps the more intriguing notion is of the Brewers themselves putting a controllable starter in play. If the robust offers that might inspire them to trade Peralta are being reserved for pitchers who will be around through at least 2028, could Milwaukee get the juicy prospect recharge they're looking for by trading Aaron Ashby or Robert Gasser? The markets for those pitchers might not be as fevered, but they would include more teams. Every club tries to accumulate both talent and club control. Peralta only offers one of those two things. While he's more talented and more accomplished than Baz, Burrows, Cabrera, Oviedo and Weathers, he's also a rental. So far, the Brewers have insisted that if a team is to nab him, they need to pay controllable pitcher prices, to reflect both Peralta's raw on-field value and the utility of his below-market $8-million salary. Late in the winter, small-market teams get their chance to shine. The Brewers won't tiptoe silently all the way to spring training. They're unlikely to make a major financial outlay, but they will continue refining the roster. Trading Peralta could still be part of that, but the lineup of likely partners in a trade has changed as the offseason has unfolded. Each team (effectively) eliminated from consideration clarifies the market, but the Brewers hold the trump card: They can choose whether or not to transact even on the highest offer they get, so they control the market, even with fewer teams whom they can use to apply leverage to the others. View the full article

The back end of the Boston Red Sox's bullpen is a strength anchored by right-hander Garrett Whitlock and left-hander Aroldis Chapman. Bridging the game to them with a lead, on the other hand, remains a question mark in mid-January. The Red Sox have a smattering of quality middle relievers, but not a whole lot of certainty in durability and performance. Last season, that role primarily fell to Justin Wilson and Greg Weissert. However, neither was particularly dominant -- Wilson had a 3.66 ERA in the seventh inning, Weissert a 5.94. Of the 90 relievers to get at least 45 outs in the seventh inning, those ERAs ranked tied for 49th and 80th, respectively. And while both pitchers had good 2025 seasons overall, it wasn't good enough often enough. So, how can the Red Sox address that area of the roster in 2026? Here are several internal options. 1. RHP Justin Slaten Slaten dealt with injuries and some inconsistencies on the mound in 2025. But just last winter, there was real dialogue among the Red Sox contingent that the right-hander had closer potential. Obviously, Chapman nips the opportunity to close in the bud, but the third-year reliever has the chance to be a weapon in the middle-to-late innings. With a fastball that rides into the high-90s, along with high whiff and chase rates, the framework is there for him to become one of the elite set-up guys in the game. In 2025, Slaten avoided hard contact and was tremendous at getting to two strikes. The last step for him, beyond simply staying healthy, is putting hitters away. Last year, he struck out just 25 in 34 innings. His 6.62 K/9 ranked 220th out of 244 relievers with at least 30 innings. But talent-wise, Slaten is right up there with others set-up men around the league. It's just about realizing that potential at this point; he should be the leading candidate for the seventh inning. 2. RHP Kutter Crawford Perhaps it's unfair to the right-hander to lump him here, but after a strong first half in 2024, he fell off a cliff before missing all of 2025. A lot's changed since he last pitched in an MLB game. The Red Sox have added Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray, Johan Oviedo, and Patrick Sandoval. That's without mentioning the young guys who have and have not debuted. Crawford could very well win a starting rotation spot in camp, but perhaps his calling is high-leverage relief. Even as good as he was in the first half of 2024, there were signs he wasn't as dominant as he results suggested. His secondaries improved, but his fastball deteriorated from 2023 production. As a reliever, Crawford is a career 3.35 ERA arm with a strikeout rate over 25 percent. While not elite, it's a dramatic improvement on his career 4.69 ERA as a starter. With the collection of arms vying for the rotation, he's probably the likeliest to move to the bullpen. With a starter's arsenal and perhaps an uptick in fastball velocity, Crawford has a chance to really thrive in that role. 3. LHP Patrick Sandoval Similar to Crawford, a lot's changed since the Red Sox signed Sandoval. There's been a lot of discourse about him as a trade chip, but I don't buy that the Red Sox won't give him a shot to earn his keep in Boston. Once a promising starter for the Angels, it's always felt there's more than meets the eye with the southpaw. However, it's been three seasons since he flashed a 2.91 ERA for them in 27 starts. He wouldn't be a typical mid-leverage reliever, as his changeup is his money pitch. But we've seen guys like Tommy Kahnle thrive in high leverage without an imposing fastball. Now, is he better served as a long reliever -- similar to Sean Newcomb in 2025 -- with Jovani Morán getting the first crack as a high-leverage lefty? Maybe. But there's a reason so many relievers thrive after toying with starting for a while. 4. LHP Payton Tolle On one hand, letting Tolle develop his secondaries in Triple-A makes sense for the long-term outlook of him and the team. On the other hand, there are few fastballs more lethal than the rookie's. There's precedent for the Red Sox having top pitching prospects break into the league as relievers. They did it with Tanner Houck in 2021 and Crawford between 2022 and 2023. So, there's also proof of concept; this doesn't stunt growth into the rotation. Houck was an All-Star in 2024, with Crawford also a top-20 starter in the first half that season. Tolle has the stuff to dominate out of a big-league bullpen right now. For a team posturing as a contender in 2026, that option may be more enticing than signing a veteran like Danny Coulombe or bringing back Wilson. The rookie out of TCU made five relief appearances, including the postseason, with an ERA of 2.84. He was sitting in the high-90s on his heater, even hitting triple digits with frequency. That kind of asset is tough to pass on, but they've got to do what they think is best for his development as well. 5. RHP Greg Weissert Weissert struggled in the seventh inning last year, but he's one of the more deceptive arms in the Red Sox's bullpen. Overall, the right-hander had a 2.82 ERA in 67 innings. Whenever he was needed, he was available. Perhaps at times too available, especially with inherited runners, but he's built a track record of availability. It'd do him some good to figure out how to generate more strikeouts, but he's about as dependable as they come when given a clean frame. He's the most practiced in that role; perhaps he ends up getting first dibs for set-up duty in 2026. View the full article

Another week, another arm on the move. In a special live edition of Fish Unfiltered, Miami Marlins insider Craig Mish joins Kevin Barral and Isaac Azout to discuss all angles of Tuesday's Ryan Weathers trade to the New York Yankees, plus the club's other recent transactions and remaining offseason to-do list. You can find Fish On First LIVE on the Fish On First YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you get your pods. Our audio programming also includes The Offishial Show, Fish Unfiltered, Swimming Upstream and more. In exchange for Weathers, the Marlins received Yankees prospects Dillon Lewis, Brendan Jones, Dylan Jasso and Juan Matheus. Lewis and Matheus were previously involved when these teams negotiated a potential Edward Cabrera deal earlier this month, according to Mish. Cabrera ultimately went to the Chicago Cubs instead. Only a month away from the first full-squad workout of spring training, Mish believes that the Marlins' offseason activity is almost complete. "I still think that they may add a piece or two, very specifically to the bullpen...But I think you can start to paint a picture of the 26 guys who you'll see on Opening Day." Follow Craig (@CraigMish), Isaac (@IsaacAzout), Kevin (@kevin_barral) and Fish On First (@FishOnFirst) on Twitter. Join the Marlins Discord server! Complete Miami Marlins coverage here at FishOnFirst.com. View the full article

What's the rush? Craig Mish joins Kevin Barral and Isaac Azout on Fish Unfiltered to discuss the thought process behind trading Ryan Weathers coming off an injury-shortened season. View the full article

On Tuesday morning, reports circulated that the Royals would be moving the fences in at Kauffman Stadium to generate more home runs and, thus, more offense. Jeff Passan was the first to break news on the report. Later in the morning, the Kansas City Royals confirmed the report and held a press conference in the afternoon featuring GM JJ Picollo and Vice President of Research and Development Dr. Daniel Mack. A replay of the press conference is available on the Kansas City Royals' YouTube channel, embedded below. The Royals' decision is a bit of a surprise, especially since owner John Sherman has said the Royals will move out of Kauffman Stadium when its lease expires in 2031. Furthermore, Kauffman actually profiles as a hitter's park based on Statcast Park Factors. The 101 Park Factor over the past three years is the sixth-highest in baseball, according to Baseball Savant. That said, Kauffman has been a dead zone for home runs, especially recently. The 85 Home Run factor is tied for the third-lowest mark in baseball from 2023 to 2025 (they are tied with Cleveland's Progressive Field). Only Pittsburgh's PNC Park (76) and San Francisco's Oracle Park (82) have a lower HR factor than Kauffman Stadium. However, the Royals' home park is quite spacious, which has led to higher Double (113) and Triple (183) factors, both Top-5 marks in the league. That explains the high overall Park Factor since 2023. Hence, let's see the exact changes to Kauffman, which hitters will benefit the most, and what drawbacks could come with the new dimensions? Creating a More Neutral (Not "Hitter Friendly") Ballpark is the Goal Anne Rogers, the Royals beat writer for MLB.com, went into the changes to the dimensions in her latest article. She talked about the walls being moved in and lowered in height, as illustrated in the segment below. As illustrated in her piece, the Royals will have better opportunities to hit home runs, which had dogged Royals hitters for years. The Royals actually made similar changes to Kauffman's dimensions in the 90s, moving the fences in by 10 feet. However, in 2004, the Kansas City Royals ownership decided to move it back to its original dimensions, where it's been Death Valley for home runs since. Before 2019, no Royals hitter had hit more than 40 home runs in a single season (two have hit that 40+ mark: Jorge Soler and Salvador Perez, who both hit 48 in 2019 and 2021). In addition to encouraging more runs, the new dimensions will also add additional seating. Based on the changes, Kauffman will gain 230 additional seats, providing an economic benefit to ownership. In Picollo and Mack's press conference, they both remarked that the park will remain spacious, with outfield defense prioritized. Picollo mentioned that Kyle Isbel and his glove would still be immensely valuable in center field, thus showing that the Royals won't be changing their identity anytime soon. The Royals GM said the goal of this change was not to create an "offensive" ballpark, but to make it more neutral for Royals hitters. Mack mentioned that a lot of time and research went into confirming these changes and determining whether they would be in the Royals' best interests. That included research not just into the effect of the walls, both in terms of height and distance, but also how the weather would impact the new dimensions of Kauffman. Much like Picollo echoed, Mack confirmed that they wanted to change the dimensions to make things fairer for hitters, not to punish pitchers. The Royals understand that deeper dimensions have been beneficial to pitchers, especially those who can induce weak or moderately hit fly balls. They didn't want the Royals' pitchers to lose that advantage or ability due to these new ballpark changes. Mack's "not having to play a specific way" comment is interesting. The Royals led the league in Infield Fly Ball percentage last year with an 11.9% mark. Interestingly, the data doesn't show that the Royals as a team hit more "pop-ups" at Kauffman Stadium compared to on the road. Here are their home/road splits for IFFB% and HR/FB%. Home: 9.4% IFFB% (16th); 8.0% HR/FB% (29th) Away: 14.2% IFFB% (1st); 9.5% HR/FB% (29th) The Royals had a 4.8% higher IFFB% on the road than at home and sported a 1.5% lower HR/FB rate at Kauffman. That big spike in IFFB% could signify that the Royals were trying to hit more flyballs and thus, home runs, away from the K, but that approach was counterintuitive. The Royals are hoping that focusing on the same approach at home and away will narrow the gap in home/away IFFB%, leading not only to better HR/FB% production but also to more runs overall (they ranked 26th in runs scored last year). Which Hitters Will Benefit the Most? As expected with these dimension changes, Royals fans and the fantasy baseball community came out in full force with their theories of which Royals hitters will benefit the most in 2026. Eric Cross of Rotoballer pointed out the core four Kansas City hitters: Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino, and Salvador Perez. In his tweet, he shared their spray charts and implied that they could be due for some positive regression in home runs with the ballpark changes. When looking at the spray chart last year and fitting into next year's dimensions, things look optimistic for the Royals' four primary hitters. It's easy to see that Witt, Pasquantino, Perez, and Garcia could get an extra five to seven home runs with a similar spray chart next season, at a minimum. Thus, it isn't out of the question to think that Garcia could hit 20+ HRs, Witt collect 30+ HRs, and Perez and Pasquantino touch the 40-HR mark. That kind of 20 to 30-HR increase from their four most important hitters will have a tremendous boost on the Royals' offense, which not only struggled with home runs last year (they ranked 26th) but run consistency. Furthermore, the new dimensions could also channel the power of budding hitters like Jac Caglianone. Caglianone struggled as a rookie last season. The former Florida Gator and 2024 Royals first-round pick posted a 46 wRC+ and hit seven home runs in 232 plate appearances. However, when looking at his spray chart modified to Target Field (which mirrors the new Kauffman Stadium changes), he would have hit double-digit home runs, which would have helped his overall production a season ago. A home park that is friendlier to Caglianone could help him build confidence and be that much-needed 20+ HR hitter that the Royals need in the middle of the lineup. After all, his .318 xwOBA was much better than his .239 actual wOBA, which means that there is potential for positive regression for Caglianone in 2026, even without the changes to Kauffman Stadium. However, with the new ballpark dimensions, the soon-to-be 23-year-old outfielder could surpass his 18-HR Steamer projection by a considerable margin. It's one thing for Witt, Perez, Pasquantino, and Garcia to see a boost in their home run numbers. They have proven to be productive hitters in the past, even if the home runs haven't been consistent. That said, seeing a breakout from Caglianone or someone else due to the new dimensions is a benefit more than worth the price of the ballpark changes. How Will This Affect the Pitching Staff? The Royals' pitching staff was an interesting one in terms of their batted-ball profile. They allowed the sixth-lowest HR/FB% in baseball with a 10.7% mark, and they ranked 17th in FB% allowed with a 38.3% mark. A key to their success was their ability to induce infield fly balls, as they ranked 9th with a 10.5% IFFB%. When looking at the Royals pitchers individually, the table below shows how they fared in terms of batted-ball profile, organized by IFFB%. When it comes to which pitchers to worry about with the new dimensions, the ones with high FB% and IFFB% rates are worth watching. Carlos Estevez (15.5% IFFB%), Michael Wacha (14%), Cole Ragans (12.3%), and Kris Bubic (12.3%) are the ones most likely to be affected by the fences being moved in. Their flyballs could be home runs with the new dimensions. For context, let's look at the spray chart for Estevez, with it modified to Target Field dimensions (much like Caglianone). Estevez not only had the highest IFFB% of returning pitchers, but also the highest flyball percentage at 51.6%. And yet, his HR/FB rate was only 5.2%, the fourth-lowest of Royals pitchers with 10 or more IP last year. With the new dimensions, he could be due for a sharp regression. That explains why Kansas City has been aggressive in terms of adding relievers who can generate chase, whiffs, and strikeouts like Alex Lange, Nick Mears, and Matt Strahm. Pitchers who induce higher groundball rates could be more protected from the new ballpark dimensions in 2026 and beyond. That includes Stephen Kolek (53.5%), Lucas Erceg (52.8%), Luinder Avila (50%), and even Bubic (47.2%). I think those three pitchers could be due for strong seasons, especially Erceg, who plateaued a bit in 2025 after a sensational 2024 debut with the Royals. Thus, Royals fans should feel more confident in pitchers with this groundball-inducing profile, as well as those who can generate whiffs and strikeouts. Having those three qualities will be more important than ever with the new dimensions, even if the K will still be slightly pitcher-friendly. If the Royals acquire any more relievers this offseason, it shouldn't be surprising if they profile well in those three areas mentioned above. View the full article

According to a report from ESPN, the Toronto Blue Jays have made "a long-term offer" to Kyle Tucker, the offseason's top free agent. It's no secret that the Blue Jays are interested in Tucker, but this is the first indication that they have made him a formal offer. While no deal is imminent, and no further details have been made available, it's an exciting development nonetheless. That the Jays made an offer demonstrates the front office is still actively seeking upgrades, and ownership is willing to continue increasing payroll. Of course, Toronto isn't alone in pursuing Tucker. ESPN's Jesse Rogers and FanSided's Robert Murray both reported that the New York Mets offered Tucker a short-term deal "believed to be worth $50 million per season." The Mets and Blue Jays currently seem to be the frontrunners for Tucker's services. Featured image courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images. View the full article

Point: The Toronto Blue Jays should make a serious effort to sign Cody Bellinger, one of the top free agents left on the market. Counterpoint: Signing Bellinger would all but certainly mean giving up on Bo Bichette and Kyle Tucker, widely considered the superior players. Point: Tucker and Bichette may be the superior players, but Bellinger is a better fit for Toronto's roster. Having added Kazuma Okamoto, the Blue Jays look stronger in the infield than the outfield right now. (The graphic for Dan Szymborski's Blue Jays ZiPS projections illustrates this well). They're also much stronger from the right-hand side of the plate; their top four projected hitters, according to both ZiPS and Steamer, bat right-handed. Bringing in a lefty-batting outfielder makes a lot more sense than a righty-batting infielder. Of course, Tucker is a lefty-batting outfielder. But more specifically, he's a lefty-batting right fielder. Bellinger's best position is right field, too. Yet, unlike Tucker, he also has significant experience in center field. That means he could slide over to center in the case of an injury to Daulton Varsho. That's a much better backup plan than a Myles Straw-Nathan Lukes platoon. And considering Varsho only played 71 games last year, a good backup plan is a good idea. It might sound obvious, but it's also worth mentioning that Bellinger will come significantly cheaper than Tucker. The projections on DiamondCentric's latest top 40 free agents list have Tucker commanding a 10-year, $360 million deal and Bellinger signing for six years and $130 million. Ross Atkins might have an easier time convincing ownership to agree to the latter deal, especially given the luxury tax ramifications: every extra dollar the Blue Jays add to their CBT payroll will be taxed at a 60% rate. What's more, Tucker is attached to a qualifying offer, while Bellinger isn't. Toronto already lost its second and fifth-highest selections in the upcoming draft by signing Dylan Cease. Signing Tucker would cost the Jays their third and sixth-highest picks as well. Counterpoint: Bichette's value to this team is about so much more than his performance (and his positional fit) on the field. It's hard to replace a player who spent the first decade of his professional career endearing himself to the fanbase. As for Tucker, signing him, the consensus top free agent of the winter, would cement the Blue Jays as a superteam and their 2025-26 offseason as one of (if not the) greatest of all time. Signing Bellinger wouldn't have the same impact. Even if it is the smarter move from a roster-construction standpoint (and I'm not convinced it is), it wouldn't drum up anywhere close to the same kind of excitement in Toronto and around the sport as signing Tucker, or Bichette, for that matter. It's also worth considering that signing Bellinger right now would be buying high. He was excellent in 2025, with 29 home runs, an .813 OPS, a 125 wRC+, and 4.9 fWAR. However, his wOBA was 25 points higher than his xwOBA. Similarly, his wRC+ (weighted runs created, per FanGraphs) was 19 points higher than his DRC+ (deserved runs created, per Baseball Prospectus). Even more concerning are his home/road splits: He posted a .909 OPS and 152 wRC+ at Yankee Stadium, compared to a .715 OPS and 97 wRC+ in all other ballparks. This is all strong evidence that he won't hit nearly as well going forward, especially if he's playing most of his games outside of the Bronx. Point: Ah, but Bellinger has consistently outperformed his expected statistics throughout his career. Take a look at the table below: Cody Bellinger Career Numbers .344 wOBA .335 xwOBA 119 wRC+ 108 DRC+ .814 OPS .733 dOPS* *Deserved OPS, per Baseball Prospectus. The difference between Bellinger's wOBA and xwOBA is even more pronounced if one ignores his down years from 2020 to '22. From 2017-19 and 2023-25, Bellinger's .363 wOBA was 15 points higher than his .348 xwOBA. There were 122 players with at least 2,000 plate appearances in those years. Only 10 had a larger gap between their wOBA and xwOBA. This could be a harbinger of doom. Or it could be a sign that Bellinger's skill set enables him to reliably outperform his expected/deserved stats. When Ben Clemens ranked Bellinger fifth on FanGraphs' Top 50 Free Agents list, he described him as "something of a left-handed version of Isaac Paredes." Paredes has famously made the most of elite directional hitting to post All-Star-calibre numbers despite consistently low bat speed and hard-hit rates. As for the home-road splits, I'm not overly concerned. For one thing, Bellinger's strikeout rate at home was just 11.6%. On the road, it jumped to 16.0%. I don't think that has anything to do with Yankee Stadium. Secondly, his BABIP in away games was .255, well below his .284 career average. I expect that number to regress toward the mean going forward. On top of that, Bellinger really did just hit the ball harder in his home ballpark. In other words, he wasn't simply taking advantage of the stadium's dimensions. His hard-hit rate at home was 40.3%; on the road, it was 35.5%. While Yankee Stadium is particularly favourable to left-handed sluggers, Statcast tells us Bellinger would have hit 28 home runs last year if he'd played all his games at the Rogers Centre. That's only one fewer than his actual total of 29. Bellinger has certainly had his ups and downs, and he certainly comes with some degree of risk. At the same time, we're talking about a player who has been 19% better than league average in his career (119 wRC+) and 23% better than league average over the past three seasons (123 wRC+). We may not know exactly who Cody Bellinger is, but we've got a pretty good idea. Mike Petriello of MLB.com put it very well in his recent analysis of Bellinger: Counterpoint: Okay, so maybe Bellinger is a better hitter than I'm giving him credit for. Even so, his demands are too high. The Yankees reportedly made him an offer for a five-year contract with an average annual value above $30 million. He's holding out for a seven-year deal. That's more than a 30-year-old with an injury history and an inconsistent track record is worth. DiamondCentric predicted Bellinger would sign for six years and $130 million. FanGraphs and MLB Trade Rumors both had him signing for five years and $140 million. The Yankees offered him more than that, and he turned up his nose. If the Blue Jays swoop in and make Bellinger the kind of offer it's going to take to steal him away from the Yankees, they'll be making a mistake. Point: More than five years and more than $150 million is a lot for Bellinger. I'm with you. But "a five-year contract with an average annual value above $30 million" is essentially the deal Pete Alonso signed with the Orioles (five years, $155 million). Kyle Schwarber got five years and $150 million. If that's what those guys got, I can see why Bellinger wants more. Schwarber and Alonso are better, more consistent hitters than Bellinger. That's no debate. The thing is, Bellinger also has excellent range, a strong throwing arm, and well-above average sprint speed. According to FanGraphs and Baseball Reference, he outperformed Alonso by about a win and a half in 2025. Bellinger and Schwarber were more similar in value last season, but Schwarber is two years older and entering his mid-thirties. Given Bellinger's age and diverse skill set, I'm confident he will be the better player for longer. I'm not alone in that belief, either. FanGraphs, MLB Trade Rumors, and ESPN were just some of the many sources that ranked Bellinger ahead of Schwarber and Alonso on their offseason free agent lists. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel was particularly high on Bellinger, projecting a six-year, $165 million deal. That could be the compromise kind of offer that ultimately gets a deal done. Would the Blue Jays be making a mistake if they offered Bellinger six years and $165 million? Before I answer that, I want to throw your words back in your face. Because they wouldn't just be signing Bellinger, they'd be stealing him away from the Yankees. That means the Jays wouldn't only be adding a three-win player, but they'd be taking those wins away from their closest rival. The Yankees, after all, have been Bellinger's most ardent suitors this winter. Now, of course, the Yankees could turn around and sign Tucker or Bichette after missing out on Bellinger, making this whole point moot. But they've been crying poor (by their own standards) all winter, so GM Brian Cashman might not be able to give either of them what they're looking for. It's very possible that by signing Bellinger, the Jays could give themselves a real leg up over the Yanks. Counterpoint: Fair enough. Maybe Bellinger's demands aren't unreasonable. But it isn't true that by signing Bellinger, a projected 3.0-WAR player, the Blue Jays would be adding three wins of value to their roster. Their lineup is already good. Very good. The marginal upgrade Bellinger would provide isn't worth the money it's going to take to sign him, especially considering how far over the luxury tax the Blue Jays already are. As it stands, the Blue Jays have an everyday center fielder (Varsho) and a plethora of options for the corners, including Anthony Santander and Addison Barger, as well as Nathan Lukes, Davis Schneider, Myles Straw, and possibly Kazuma Okamoto and George Springer. Not to mention Joey Loperfido. Bellinger might be better than any of them, but he isn't better enough to justify the expense. Besides, he would take significant playing time away from one of the presumed starters, either Santander, an All-Star just two years ago, or Barger, a promising young hitter. Point: It's awfully optimistic to suggest that Bellinger would only be a marginal upgrade. If Santander bounces back and Barger breaks out, then yeah, the Blue Jays will have a bit of a logjam on the roster. But that's a champagne problem if I've ever heard one, and it would only last a year. After 2026, Springer will become a free agent, opening up the DH spot for Santander. Problem solved. On the flip side, if Santander or Barger struggles this season, then you, me, and Ross Atkins will all be thanking our lucky stars they signed Bellinger. Counterpoint: Well then, you can call me a wide-eyed optimist, because I think the Blue Jays can compete for a World Series with their roster exactly as constructed. Unless they're signing Tucker or Bichette, they don't need to spend another dime. As much fun as I had debating with myself, I'd love it if you joined in! Please share your thoughts on the Blue Jays potentially signing Cody Bellinger in the comments below. View the full article

Spring training invitations serve two purposes. For the team, the players invited to big-league camp serve mainly as extras for drills, or to make sure certain positions (like catcher) have bodies to handle all the pitchers. But for the players—the prospects who have a hope of one day reaching the majors—a spring training invite is a chance to open the eyes of the coaching staff and front office, possibly even with another team. The Milwaukee Brewers sent out another round of invites that popped up on the transactions page recently. Those went to six players, two of whom were in the Brewers' system last season. Those two are catcher Darrien Miller and infielder-outfielder Eduardo Garcia. Miller was a ninth-round draft choice by the Brewers in 2019 out of a California high school, and has slowly made his way up the system. The soon-to-be 25-year-old played the last two years at Double-A Biloxi, with slash lines of .212/.392/.291 and .192/.381/.329, respectively, in a combined 174 games. Garcia was an international signing in 2018, only playing his first season in the U.S. in 2021. The 23-year-old split 2025 at High-A Wisconsin and Double-A Biloxi, after getting a brief taste of Biloxi in 2024 (10 games). A versatile defender and athlete, he played 58 games at shortstop and 54 in center field between the two stops, while also getting time at third base, second base, and left field. After a slash line of .252/.341/.435 with 13 homers and 47 RBIs in 96 games at Wisconsin, Garcia had a .212/.297/.265 showing with no homers and nine RBIs in 33 games at Biloxi. He also made 22 starts at short this winter in Venezuela for the Cardenales de Lara, who posted the best regular-season record in the league. He had a .324/.395/.581 slash line with six homers and 19 RBIs in 34 games. As for the organization newcomers, right-handers Gerson Gerabito and Drew Rom had previously signed minor-league contracts. You can find more about their path to the Crew here. Shortstop Eddys Leonard signed a minor-league deal in November and just formally got his invite. Leonard, who turned 25 in November, was originally signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an international free agent in 2017 and was still a top prospect in 2022, with MLB Pipeline ranking him eighth in the system. But the Dodgers cut him loose in 2023, trading him to the Detroit Tigers after designating him for assignment. After the 2024 season, Leonard was DFA'd by the Tigers, but returned on a minor-league deal. Late in spring training, the Tigers released him. Atlanta scooped up Leonard a few days later, and he put up a .239/.304/.435 slash line with 20 homers and 61 RBIs in 126 games at Triple-A Gwinnett. Last, but not least, is outfielder Greg Jones, the only one of this group to have played in an MLB game. Originally a first-round draft pick (22nd overall) by the Tampa Bay Rays out of North Carolina-Wilimington in 2019, Jones has appeared in nine MLB games over the last two seasons: six with the Colorado Rockies in 2024 and three with the Chicago White Sox in 2025. Jones has a career minor-league slash line of .262/.346/.434 with 51 homers and 194 RBIs in 380 games across six seasons, but his calling card is his speed and defense. He has 172 steals in 197 attempts, with a career-high 46 swipes in 2024. He signed about a month ago, but the Brewers' transaction log called Saturday's move a signing as well. Both moves are on Jones's MLB.com player page. There will be more spring invites handed out, especially to some of the Crew's top prospects, as we get closer to pitchers and catchers reporting in less than a month. View the full article

Not even a week after trading Edward Cabrera to the Chicago Cubs, the Miami Marlins have dealt left-handed pitcher Ryan Weathers to the New York Yankees, according to Jack Curry of the YES Network. The return is centered around outfield prospect Dillon Lewis and includes fellow position players Brendan Jones, Dillon Jasso and Juan Matheus. Neither club has made the trade official as of early Tuesday evening. The Marlins acquired Weathers on the day of the 2023 MLB trade deadline, sending first baseman Garrett Cooper and reliever Sean Reynolds to the San Diego Padres. He pitched only 13 innings at the major league level with his new club that year, but impressed in their regular season finale was included on the National League Wild Card Series roster. Weathers made the 2024 Opening Day roster, but was bit by the injury bug, as he suffered a left index finger strain. This would be the first of three IL stints in Weathers' tenure on the Marlins. In 2024, he was threw 86 ⅔ innings, which was the most in a season with the Marlins, and posted a 3.63 ERA, 4.11 FIP, 8.31 K/9 and 2.49 BB/9 (career-low). In 2025, Weathers showed increased fastball velo during spring training, topping out at 99 mph multiple times. Unfortunately, he began the season sidelined, being placed on the injured list with a left flexor muscle strain. He wouldn't return until May 14. His final IL stint came following a start against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 7. He suffered a left lat strain, keeping him out until September, where he made three starts to wrap up the season. Weathers finished 2025 with eight starts, going 38 ⅓ innings pitched and posting a 3.99 ERA, 4.60 FIP, 8.69 K/9 and 2.82 BB/9. His fastball averaged 96.9 mph, which is the highest of his career up to this point. fk5yhk.mp4 Recently, Weathers and the Marlins settled on a $1.35M salary for 2026 to avoid arbitration. Especially early in the season, the Yankees will be relying heavily on the 26-year-old as veteran arms Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón are expected to start off on the IL. Weathers is under club control through 2028 for a total of three full seasons. Lewis comes in ranked as the Yankees eight-ranked prospect per Baseball America and 16th per MLB Pipeline. He spent the 2025 season between Low-A and High-A. He slashed .237/.321/.445/.766 with 22 home runs, 79 RBI, 26 stolen bases and a 121 wRC+ between both levels. He was one of just 12 players in the minor leagues to hit 20 doubles and 20 home runs while stealing 20 bases. Offensively, Lewis profiles more as a power-first bat with plenty of speed. "His impact potential showed up in a 90th percentile exit velocity of 107.7 mph that placed him in the same range as top prospects like Bryce Eldridge and Konnor Griffin," his Baseball America scouting report says. BA also describes Lewis as the Yankees' best defensive outfielder. In 2025, Lewis played primarily center field, spending 59 games at the position. He also played both corner outfield spots pretty evenly. Looking at the Marlins 2026 projected rotation, the one-two punch of Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez remains intact, but the rest is pretty murky. You have Max Meyer, Janson Junk, Adam Mazur and Ryan Gusto as candidates who made starts for the 2025 Marlins (Junk was the most effective of that group). Braxton Garrett is a total wild card, but his left-handedness and track record of filling up the strike zone may help his case. Then there are top prospects Robby Snelling and Thomas White. Snelling, who is knocking on the door, should have a much better chance at making the Opening Day roster following the trade. Fish On First's number three prospect in the organization threw in 136 innings between AA and AAA, posting a 2.51 ERA, 2.77 FIP, 10.99 K/9 and 2.58 BB/9. Once Snelling made it to AAA, he posted a 1.27 ERA and a 11.45 K/9. A very strong spring training may very well land him in the Opening Day rotation as the fourth or fifth starter. White, who MLB Pipeline rated as the best left-handed pitching prospect in all of baseball, posted a 2.31 ERA, 2.27 FIP, 14.55 K/9 and 5.12 BB/9 in 89 ⅔ innings pitched. White only made two starts in AAA. He still will need some time to develop, specifically to lower the high amount of walks. More news to follow... View the full article

The Chicago Cubs have not stood Pat since acquiring Edward Cabrera from the Miami Marlins and signing superstar third baseman Alex Bregman. While they haven't made significant moves, they have made a trio of moves that will improve the team's depth. First, they signed reliever Corbin Martin to a minor league deal, which we covered here. Then Ari Alexander of 7News Boston reported that they were doing the same with reliever Tyler Beede. That was capped off by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reporting that they claimed outfielder Justin Dean off of waivers from the San Francisco Giants. Neither of the latter two players made an impact at the MLB level in 2025. Beede is the bigger dart throw. Though he spent part of the season in the Minnesota Twins organization's Triple-A affiliate, Saint Paul, he also spent time in the Independent and Mexican baseball leagues. With the Twins, he made seven appearances (1 start) with an 8.00 ERA, slightly better than his 13 games pitched in 2024 for the Cleveland Guardians. Dean technically made it to the big leagues last year, playing in 18 games, though he was primarily used as a base-running specialist and defensive replacement, with just two plate appearances. In Triple-A Oklahoma City, he hit .289 with a .809 OPS, six home runs, 27 stolen bases, and a 110 wRC+ over 347 plate appearances. If he can hit well enough, he's a great 26th man off the bench in late-inning, high-leverage situations. Which of the three signings do you think has the best chance at making an impact in 2026? Let us know in the comments! View the full article

When the Twins selected right-hander Riley Quick with the 36th overall pick last summer, it was easy to see why there was so much internal excitement. College pitchers with polish, athleticism, and a starter’s arsenal don't linger long on draft night. The question now is not whether Quick belongs in the organization’s long-term plans, but how aggressively Minnesota should move him during the 2026 season. Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll addressed that idea earlier this offseason, striking a tone that leaned toward patience but left the door open for flexibility. “Good question,” Zoll replied when asked about the possibility that the Twins would fast-track the 21-year-old right-hander out of the University of Alabama. “We had him throwing down in Fort Myers, post-draft, so we need to get him incorporated into affiliated ball and into a full season. “But we’re really excited about Riley,” Zoll went on to say. “We were really pumped that he was available at that spot. We weren’t sure he was even going to be there, but we want to let him settle in, and we’ll go from there.” President of baseball and business operations Derek Falvey echoed that sentiment, while also explaining why the development path for recent college pitchers has shifted. “I’ll add to that,” interjected Falvey. “With where the draft is now in the calendar year, especially with those college pitchers who have thrown a decent amount, it’s hard for them to ramp back up. So, that first year is kind of an introduction to pro ball. The next year is when we have to see, ‘What does the season look like?’ It’s made the track on that a little different than maybe it’s been before. We’re not going to rush any of those guys. We’re going to make sure they get a good foundation.” That foundation is essential for Quick, who has not appeared in an official game since signing. His junior season at Alabama was impressive, as he posted a 3.92 ERA, a 3.49 FIP, and a 25.9% strikeout rate while competing in the toughest conference in college baseball. On performance alone, it's easy to see the argument for moving him quickly once he is fully integrated into affiliated ball. There are clear pros to pushing Quick aggressively in 2026. He's a mature college arm with experience against high-level competition and a clean, coordinated delivery that stood out to Twins evaluators. His fastball, slider, and changeup already give him three legitimate weapons, and Minnesota has a strong track record of helping college pitchers refine or add to their pitch mix. If Quick shows early command and durability, there is little reason to let him stagnate at lower levels simply for the sake of caution. His athletic background only strengthens that case. Quick was a standout in both baseball and football at Hewitt Trussville High School in Alabama and drew attention from SEC football programs. That athleticism translates to the mound, where his repeatable mechanics and body control suggest a pitcher capable of handling challenges and adjustments quickly. “I got my first SEC offer during COVID, and I was like, this is probably what I’m going to want to do,” said Quick. “Then COVID summer happened, and baseball started getting fired back up again. I started throwing, and I was throwing really good, and I was like, ‘Okay, I think I like striking people out a little bit more.’” The cons of a fast-track approach are just as real. Quick underwent Tommy John surgery in February 2024, and while his return to form has been encouraging, the Twins have every reason to prioritize long-term health over short-term gains. A full professional season will be a new workload benchmark for him. Managing innings and ensuring recovery between appearances will matter more than his level assignment. There is also the developmental side that goes beyond results. Quick is still learning how his stuff plays against professional hitters, and how to sequence his pitches consistently in multiple trips through a lineup. Rushing that process could limit the opportunity for refinement that turns a solid prospect into a reliable major-league starter. Twins assistant general manager Sean Johnson emphasized that there is still more upside to uncover. “We had a great combine interview with him, and it kind of synced up with what we saw on the field,” said Johnson. “And he’s a pitcher, we think there’s even more to unlock with the way he uses his pitches and his arsenal. Our pitcher development guys are just so excited to have him on board.” In the end, the best path for Quick in 2026 likely lives somewhere in the middle. The Twins do not need to artificially slow him down if he proves he's ready for the next challenge, but there is also no benefit to forcing an accelerated timeline simply because the talent is obvious. Letting performance, health, and development dictate the pace allows Minnesota to balance the upside of a quick mover with the responsibility of protecting a valuable arm. If that balance is struck, Quick’s arrival will feel earned rather than rushed, which is exactly how the Twins want their next wave of pitching to emerge. Should the Twins fast-track Quick in 2026? Leave a comment and start the discussion. View the full article

When the San Diego Padres traded six minor-league players at the deadline for Ryan O'Hearn and Ramón Laureano, they did so with the 2025 season in mind. They were part of a seven-player haul in total, as the team tried to overhaul their offense first and pitching staff second. Of course, that didn't yield tremendous results, as the lineup went ice cold against the Chicago Cubs in the NL Wild Card Round, and now O'Hearn has joined the Pittsburgh Pirates on a two-year deal in free agency. Laureano, meanwhile, is sticking around for at least one more campaign after the Friars exercised their $6.5 million club option on the left fielder. Between San Diego and Baltimore at age 30 last year, Laureano had arguably the best season of his career, hitting .281/.342/.512 along with 24 home runs and seven stolen bases. His overall offensive line translated to a .364 wOBA and 138 wRC+. In 198 plate appearances for San Diego, he hit .269/.323/.489 with nine home runs and three stolen bases, with a 6.6 percent walk rate and 23.7 percent strikeout rate.; that translated to a .347 wOBA and 127 wRC+. He's never been a particularly great defensive outfielder, though his arm strength routinely ranks among the best in the league (85th percentile last year). He accrued 7 Defensive Runs Saved last season, though that comes with the caveat of -9 Outs Above Average also being attached to his work with the glove. In all, it's a quality corner outfielder profile, particularly with Jackson Merrill and Fernando Tatis Jr. locking down the rest of the grass at Petco Park. Here's the thing, though: Laureano re-broke out at 30 years old. Since 2019, he had never been more than 12% better than league average at the plate; he was 38% better in 2025. He slashed his strikeout rate to a career-low figure while maintaining his career average in generating free passes. And he did all of it without a noticeable jump in bat speed. Is this really sustainable? The most immediate improvement he made year-over-year was attacking breaking balls, especially out in front. From his debut through the end of the 2024 season, Laureano had never posted a wOBA above .300 against those offerings, despite seeing them roughly one-third of the time. Last year, though, he clobbered them to the tune of a .410 wOBA and .624 slugging percentage. It was his most productive season against any pitch type since he was smashing fastballs in his prime six years ago. He also had his best season since his rookie debut against off-speed pitches (.326 wOBA). He whiffed against both pitch types far less, making the clear and educated adjustment to prioritize anticipating non-fastballs at the plate. That did lead to an offensive downturn against heaters (.346 wOBA), but that's still above-average production. If nothing else, Laureano became a far more well-rounded hitter in 2025 who was among the best players in the sport at pulling the ball in the air, another testament to the changes he made in trying to attack slower stuff farther out in front of the plate. That's a replicable skill, even as Laureano gets deeper into this thirties. He's never been overly reliant on excellent bat speed to crush fastball, instead dictating his plate approach around them. Now, he's made the necessary adjustment to handle other pitch types with aplomb, insulating himself from the adverse effects of aging (like struggling to catch up to fastballs). That overhaul also allowed him to dramatically improve in terms of out-of-zone swing rate (dropped by 4.6% year over year) and hard-hit rate (8.3% jump). He wasn't the prize of the Padres' trade deadline haul — he arguably even wasn't the biggest name that returned to San Diego in his own trade. And yet, with the Friars focusing so many of their limited resources on pitching staff upgrades this offseason, Laureano has become one of the key figures in an offense that routinely failed to live up to expectations in 2025. Perhaps a full year of his presence will be just what the doctor ordered. View the full article

It's been a few weeks since we've had any updates on the San Francisco Giants interest of Nico Horner. A recent report suggests that interest may be getting bigger and, with the recent signing of Alex Bregman, the Chicago Cubs utility infielder is more of a movable asset. Jeff Passan of ESPN reports that "the San Francisco Giants are aggressively pursuing a second baseman" and names Hoerner as a target. Though he logged innings primarily at shortstop in 2025, Hoerner has long been a utility man and can play the Keystone. Not particularly known for his power, Oracle Park would likely sap the little bit that he has, though he is always a threat on the base path. Over seven seasons with the Cubs he has been a slightly above average hitter with a .742 OPS and a 103 wRC+. There's always the possibility that Matt Shaw could be another candidate, though there has been no indication that his name has been brought up in any trade talks with the Giants or otherwise. Do you think the Cubs should move on from one of Hoerner or Shaw? Let us know what you think in the comments! View the full article

Everything has been coming up roses for the Blue Jays this offseason, but there is one small blemish that will work its way through the arbitration process in the next month or so. The Jays came to agreements with Daulton Varsho ($10.75 million), Ernie Clement ($4.6 million) and Tyler Heineman ($1.2375 million) prior to the filing deadline, but Eric Lauer’s arbitration case remains unresolved. Like most teams, the Jays have often been cautious about hearings and aim to settle before the filing deadline. With Lauer, that approach did not work out, and the two sides will be joining up to 17 other players and their respective teams in front of an arbitration panel in February. While some of those cases could still be resolved without a hearing, that’s not likely to be the case for Toronto and Lauer. The 18 unresolved cases across MLB are up one from last season’s 17, but not the most ever. In 2023, 33 cases saw sides exchange numbers, though only 19 went to a hearing. Clubs won more than twice as many of those cases as players. Lauer’s camp filed at $5.75 million while the Blue Jays filed at $4.4 million for the 2026 season. This spread, though not enormous in absolute terms, is meaningful within the structure of arbitration proceedings. That said, this isn’t Tarik Skubal. Skubal is asking for a record $32 million in arbitration, while the Tigers have countered with $19 million. The gap between the proposals from Lauer and the Jays seems to be an issue of whether Lauer, a hybrid pitcher, is more of a starter or a long reliever. Starters and closers make the money, while journeyman middle-relievers don’t tend to cash in. For Lauer, this process is unwinding prior to his final season of club control before free agency. The decision will shape not only his 2026 compensation but will likely impact his role and future market value. For Toronto, winning this arbitration case will help keep the payroll total down within a competitive window that has recently included aggressive additions and contract extensions elsewhere on the roster. After signing a minor league deal with the Jays last season, Lauer started at Triple-A Buffalo and was then called up in late April, becoming a flexible rotation-bullpen swingman. He logged 104.2 innings across 28 appearances (15 starts), posting a 3.18 ERA, 102 strikeouts, and a 1.11 WHIP. He was a glue in the rotation and the bullpen that kept the team above water through injuries and low points during the season. His contributions extended into October, when Lauer made five postseason appearances for Toronto. He totalled 8.2 innings with a 3.12 ERA, including a high-leverage, extra-innings relief stint during the World Series that amplified his reputation in that long relief role. Playoff work is not directly calculated as part of arbitration-estimate formulas, which traditionally favor regular season counting stats, role classifications, and service-time cohorts. Still, it can shape perceived value and, therefore, organizational strategy. Lauer’s MLB arc began with the Padres, followed by a multi-year tenure with the Brewers. In 2023, he earned $5.075 million via arbitration. He then decided to rebuild his value in 2024 with a stint in Korea’s KBO with the Kia Tigers. Through the end of the 2025 season, Lauer carries a career MLB record of 45–39 with a 4.13 ERA across 148 appearances (127 starts). Players who return to MLB from playing overseas in Korea or Japan generally have their previous MLB service time reinstated, which determines their arbitration and free agent eligibility. That’s the case for Lauer. Last season, Lauer signed with the Jays for a $2.2 million base salary if he made the big league club. He ended up earning a prorated portion of that figure, $1,897,856. That was quite a drop from his last MLB salary with the Brewers. Historically, players who succeed overseas see a bump in salary after their international foray. A distant example includes Cecil Fielder, who earned $125,000 with the Jays in 1988, played one year in Japan, then returned to the majors with the Tigers for $1.5 million. More recently, former first-round pick Erick Fedde went to the KBO in 2023 after he initially struggled to a 5.86 ERA in the majors over several seasons with the Nationals. He returned to MLB in 2024 on a two-year, $15 million contract with the White Sox. After putting up a 5.86 ERA in MLB from 2020-21, Cody Ponce had a strong season in the KBO in 2025. That experience secured him a three-year, $30 million deal with the Jays. In his last season with the Pirates, Ponce’s salary was $240,317. The structure of the salary arbitration process mandates that, after the tender and exchange deadlines, the player and club submit single-year salary proposals to a three-person panel. Hearings typically occur in early February. The panel must pick either the club’s or the player’s proposal after considering evidence such as role, playing time, statistics, service time, and comparable players’ salaries. Negotiations can continue until the moment of hearing, although “file-and-trial” philosophies limit such flexibility for some clubs, including the Jays. In 2024, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Jays went to a hearing. The panel sided with Guerrero and awarded him $19.9 million. The team had offered $18.05 million. It was the first hearing for the Jays since 2019, when they appeared before a panel with Ryan Tepera. The team won that case with their offer of $1.525 million after he asked for $1.8 million. In Lauer’s case, the team will most likely argue that his 28 appearances and 15 starts define him as a hybrid pitcher whose earnings should align with those of bulk relievers rather than stable mid-rotation starters. Lauer is most likely countering by highlighting his mid-season run as a starter, where he had a sub-3.20 ERA with strong strikeout-to-walk efficiency. When called upon, Lauer was ready to contribute. Beyond next season, Toronto’s left-handed depth looms large: Brendon Little and Mason Fluharty, as well as prospects like Ricky Tiedemann, Adam Macko, Johnny King and Brandon Barriera are under control for years. That surplus could explain the Jays’ hardline stance of spending discipline after a costly offseason. Lauer’s role in 2026 will probably be less of a hybrid and focused more on long relief. That said, the question marks in the starting rotation could impact Lauer’s usage, such as Shane Bieber’s health and how José Berríos responds after a tough end to his 2025 and his first IL stint. Arbitration hearings are inherently adversarial. Teams present arguments downplaying certain aspects of a player's performance or inflating role-based constraints. For the Blue Jays, whose 2026 arbitration slate is otherwise settled and whose competitive window is open, Lauer’s ultimate number will fine-tune budget allocations but not redefine roster plans. For Lauer, the hearing (and the season ahead) will help shape his free agency trajectory and clarify the market’s view of his role. View the full article

Often, ballplayers erect a bulletproof facade when talking to fans or the press. Baseball is a viciously difficult game, and admitting even a brief period of real self-doubt feels a bit like pointing to the weak point in your own armor before marching into battle. To be a successful professional athlete, you have to be an extraordinary competitor. To be a successful baseball player, you have to add some swagger to that fire. Otherwise, the inevitable failure the game heaps upon every player will block your path to victory. That made it striking when, in a brief introductory press conference via Zoom last week, Josh Bell let a group of reporters he was meeting for the first time glimpse the way he'd grappled with doubt about his ability and his future, just a few months ago. "I didn't really know what to expect going into the offseason," Bell admitted. "Had a g good stretch towards the end of the season that I was pretty pleased with, so, just talking with my agent, he said that it was a good chance that I was gonna get signed, just had to wait for some bigger names to get off the board." To an outsider looking at his full-season body of work, it might have been surprising that he'd ever worried about whether he would be signed. However, Bell had struggled throughout the first half, and for the first time in four years, he wasn't traded at the deadline in July. Instead, he was left to ride things out with the lowly Nationals. A savvy veteran, Bell knew what it meant when no contending team would surrender anything of value to add him to their mix for the stretch run. At age 33, he was in real danger of seeing his playing career draw to a close. However, as he noted, Bell finished the season strongly. He batted .257/.331/.486 in August and September. There were two related keys to his midseason turnaround: ironing out some bad habits he brought to camp, and improving his bat speed and lift with a tweak to his training and practice. "[Nationals teammate] Amed Rosario had an unbelievable camp and started off the season really strong, and I just basically ordered the same bat program that he had," Bell said. "I think he went to Driveline or something like that. He explained the drills that he was doing, and I tried virtually all of them, and I stuck with the sinker machine with the heavy bat because that's when I started seeing results, on the field. It’s just one of those things where you play with veterans and then we start talking and, you know, it definitely helped out, and helped me extend my career." There, Bell is referring to hitting against a machine calibrated to fire sinkers at the batter, as opposed to the straighter launches from a typical hitting machine or the lollipops lobbed in by your average coach. He used a weighted bat for those sessions, which he found both a boon to his bat speed when swinging with his regular bat and a good way to practice getting slightly beneath the ball and generating more hard contact in the air. He also knows how to avoid the same sluggish start he had in 2025. "I’m kind of kicking myself in the foot here. I tried golfing for the first time, last offseason," said Bell, who has been a baseball-first athlete his whole life. He's learned his lesson. "So I just won't do that anymore, I think it kind of made me lose my swing over the course of the offseason. I’ve just been hitting from both sides. I told myself I'll hang up the clubs until I hang up my jersey. Hopefully that helps." The Twins took note of Bell's late-season resurgence, and they were the first team to call this winter. However, it was really new manager Derek Shelton—who skippered the last days of Bell's tenure with the Pirates—who started the conversation. "My agency said that he came up to one of our guys and was like, ‘Hey, we want Josh,' day one of the Winter Meetings," Bell said. "So I got a call from them and they said, ‘Are you interested?’ I said, ‘For sure.’ Shelton and Bell had a good rapport during their brief stint with Pittsburgh, though it was constrained by the strangeness of the COVID season. Shelton came away with conviction about Bell's leadership qualities, though, and Bell hopes to bring that skillset to bear with Minnesota. "Yeah, for sure. I mean, I did that last year," he said. "I got to watch [CJ Abrams] and James Wood up close and tried to help when I could there. I'm definitely excited to continue that role and have that leadership in the clubhouse. It's not always easy. First, you gotta get to know people, you gotta understand where people are willing to listen or if people are kind of set in their ways. But I’ll do what I can, and hopefully help people find different routines to help them progress here in the big leagues." Speaking of players who are sometimes set in their ways, the one current Twin whom Bell noted having a relationship with is Royce Lewis, whom he met through their agency and who now lives near him. "We’re actually in the same area here in Frisco, Texas, so I think we're gonna start getting together next week and taking grounders together," Bell said. "I'll watch him throw from across the diamond and get some reads there. But yeah, I met him, shoot, maybe the first or second year after he got grafted. I know he’s had a little bit of ups and downs with his career with injuries and whatnot, but hopefully I can help him out with that just a little bit, and we'll see what he can do on the field if he can get up to 140 games." To create some early on-field chemistry between the team's presumptive starters at the corner infield spots would be great, but if Bell can help Lewis embrace the mentality Bell takes—the focus on improvement, the openness to changes, and so on—it could be even more beneficial. Bell should also be a positive influence on players with more superficially similar skills to his, like Matt Wallner and Trevor Larnach. The Twins will contend for a playoff spot in 2026 only if they're able to get more out of Wallner, Larnach, Lewis and others than they've gotten in either of the last two seasons. Bell's own hitting will matter a great deal, but his greatest impact on the team could come in the form of helping those players make sound adjustments or better respond to the input of the coaching staff. He's an unusual player, not only in how intelligent and single-minded he is, but in how free of bravado or bluster he's willing to be. If the Twins' young core learns from his example, signing Bell could be remembered as a catalytic move by the front office and its new partner in the dugout. View the full article

Since the inception of the World Baseball Classic in 2006, there have been a plethora of Miami Marlins players who have participated, including a few you may not have known about. As the sixth edition of the WBC inches closer and closer, Fish On First has created this all-time list of players who were part of the Marlins organization when the tournament took place. This list will be updated again following the 2026 tournament, which is being hosted at Miami's own loanDepot park. Marlins Players in the World Baseball Classic Year Name Country 2006 Alfredo Amézaga Mexico 2006 Miguel Cabrera Venezuela 2009 Alfredo Amézaga Mexico 2009 Luis Ayala Mexico 2009 Jorge Cantú Mexico 2009 Dave Davidson Canada 2009 Andy González Puerto Rico 2009 Chris Leroux Canada 2009 Hanley Ramírez Dominican Republic 2009 Rick van den Hurk Netherlands 2013 Henderson Álvarez Venezuela 2013 Steve Cishek United States 2013 Giancarlo Stanton United States 2017 Tayron Guerrero Colombia 2017 Martín Prado Venezuela 2017 Giancarlo Stanton* United States 2017 Edinson Vólquez Dominican Republic 2017 Christian Yelich* United States 2023 Sandy Alcantara Dominican Republic 2023 Luis Arraez Venezuela 2023 Johnny Cueto Dominican Republic 2023 Enmanuel De Jesus Venezuela 2023 Jesús Luzardo Venezuela 2023 Anthony Maldonado Puerto Rico 2023 Jean Segura Dominican Republic *Won championship 2006 Miguel Cabrera (Venezuela)—Cabrera participated in all versions of the World Baseball Classic through the end of his Hall of Fame-caliber playing career, but only the 2006 one as a member of the Florida Marlins. In six games, he slashed .211/.400/.579/.979 with two home runs and five RBI. The 2006 season would be arguably his best as a Marlin, posting a .998 OPS in 158 games played. Alfredo Amézaga (Mexico)—Also part of the inaugural World Baseball Classic, Amézaga slashed .250/.400/.250/.650 with one hit, two stolen bases and one hit by pitch. 2009 Hanley Ramírez (Dominican Republic)—Ramírez is one of the most electric players Marlins fans have ever seen. Representing the Dominican Republic, in three games, he went 2-for-9 with one RBI and two walks. Luis Ayala, Jorge Cantú and Alfredo Amézaga (Mexico)—After participating as a member of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2006, Jorge Cantú was a member of the Florida Marlins in 2009. In six games, he slashed .360/.407/.800/1.207 with two home runs, six RBI and overall, went 9-for-25 in that stretch. Amézaga appeared in just one game, where he went 2-for-5 with one home run and two runs scored. In four appearances, Ayala surrendered four runs off seven hits (two home runs). He did strike out two in 3 ⅓ innings of work. Rick van den Hurk (Netherlands)—van den Hurk spent almost a decade in the Marlins organization. Towards the end of his tenure, in 2009, he represented the Netherlands, where in two starts, he went 5 ⅓ innings pitched, allowing one earned run off of seven hits (one home run), five walks and struck out four. Dave Davidson and Chris Leroux (Canada)—In his lone appearance for Canada in 2009, Davidson went one inning, allowing one hit, one walk and struck out one. He went on to make one appearance for the Marlins during the regular season. As for Leroux, he was in the '06, '09 and '13 tournaments, making a total of four appearances. He was only a member of the Marlins in 2009 where in two appearances, he went 1 ⅓ innings, allowing one hit, one walk and struck out one. During the MLB regular season, he made five appearances posting a 10.80 ERA. Andy González (Puerto Rico)—In four games, González went 1-for-4 with a run scored. With the Marlins in 2009, he only played in 14 games posting a .333 OPS. González returned to the WBC in 2013, but he was under contract with the Chicago White Sox by then. 2013 Giancarlo Stanton and Steve Cishek (United States)—This would be Stanton's first of two World Baseball Classic's as a member of the Miami Marlins. In the 2013 installment, he played in five games slashing .235/.381/.235/.616 with one RBI and four walks. This would mark the one time Cishek participated in the WBC, but he made four appearances (2.1 IP) for the United States, posting a 3.86 ERA, allowing one run on no hits, walking two and striking out two. He was an excellent closer for the 2013 Marlins, throwing 69 ⅔ innings pitched, which still stands as a career-high. He led Major League Baseball with 62 games finished. Henderson Álvarez (Venezuela)—Álvarez only made one appearance, but in three innings of work, he allowed three runs off of five hits, walking one, hitting one and not generating a strikeout. Later that year, Álvarez went on to finish the 2013 season with a 3.59 ERA, 3.18 FIP, 5.0 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 in 102 ⅔ innings pitched. His season was cut short due to injury, only making 17 starts. 2017 Giancarlo Stanton and Christian Yelich (United States)—In his second go-around in the WBC, Stanton slashed .227/.320/.455/.775 with one home run and four RBI. Stanton's home run came against the Dominican Republic. In his lone WBC appearance, Yelich played in eight games, slashing .310/.375/.448/.823 with three RBI. Yelich went on to have a great 2017 season with 18 home runs and a 120 OPS+. The United States won the tournament for the first time, defeating Puerto Rico, 8-0. During the ensuing offseason, the Marlins traded Stanton and Yelich to the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers, respectively. Martín Prado (Venezuela)—Prado played in the 2013 World Baseball Classic, but not as a member of the Marlins. In 2017, he played in five games, slashing .368/.429/.526/.955 with five RBI. Edinson Vólquez (Dominican Republic)—Vólquez had just signed with the Marlins that offseason leading up to the WBC, but he was a vet on that DR squad, having participated in 2009 and 2013 tournaments. In 2017, Vólquez started two games, going eight innings, allowing three runs (one earned) off of 10 hits. He also struck out eight. On June 3 of that year, Vólquez became the sixth Marlins pitcher in franchise history to throw a no-hitter, which came against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Tayron Guerrero (Colombia)—Guerrero was acquired by the Marlins at the 2016 MLB trade deadline in the infamous Andrew Cashner trade with the San Diego Padres. In his lone appearance of the WBC, Guerrero went one inning, allowing one hit and struck out two. 2023 Sandy Alcantara, Johnny Cueto and Jean Segura (Dominican Republic)—The National League's reigning Cy Young Award winner, Alcantara made the first start of the WBC for the Dominican Republic, where he allowed three runs off of five hits in 3 ⅔ innings pitched. He struck out two against Venezuela. Cueto, who had just signed with the Marlins in that offseason, made one start, going 4 ⅔ shutout innings, allowing three hits and striking out five against Puerto Rico. Just like Cueto, Segura was a new Marlins free agent signing and was set to play third base for the team. In two games, he went 4-for-11 with three RBI. Segura flopped during the regular season, though. The Marlins dumped him at the 2023 trade deadline and he announced his retirement in 2025. Luis Arraez, Jesús Luzardo and Enmanuel De Jesus (Venezuela)—Arraez was just traded to the Marlins in exchange for Venezuelan teammate Pablo Lopez that offseason. In five games in his new ballpark, he gave Marlins fans a lot of hope, going 4-for-17 with two home runs, four RBI and scored four runs. Both of his home runs came against the United States. This went on to be Luzardo's best season as a member of the Marlins, but before that, he made one start for Venezuela, where he went four shutout innings, allowing four hits and struck out five. De Jesus had signed a minor league deal. He made one WBC appearance, which came against Israel, where in 3 ⅔ innings of work, he allowed one run on four hits, walked one and struck out five. MzU4N1ZfV0ZRVkV3dEdEUT09X0ExUUNVQVVEWGxRQUNGcFhYZ0FBVWdRREFGZ0hBbGNBQUZkUVUxVU1DQUpVQWdzQw==.mp4 Anthony Maldonado (Puerto Rico)—Maldonado—at the time a prospect in the Marlins system—made just one appearance where he struck out two against Nicaragua. 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Displaced at third base by Alex Bregman, will Matt Shaw still have a long-term place on the Chicago Cubs? Or does his future lie with another squad? View the full article

The Red Sox have a Masataka Yoshida-sized elephant in their lineup. As currently constructed, the team has five outfielders on the major-league roster: Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Wilyer Abreu, Jarren Duran, and Yoshida. That doesn’t count bench options Nick Sogard and Nate Eaton, either. We can pencil in some combination of Anthony, Rafaela, Abreu, and Duran into the starting outfield spots on a game-by-game basis, but that leaves Yoshida as the primary DH option as we get closer to the start of spring training. It’s a role he’s familiar with after he was finally taken off the injured list in 2025, but it’s not a role he thrived in. Yoshida appeared in 55 games last season and slashed .266/.307/.388 with four home runs, 26 RBIs, an 88 wRC+, and a -0.1 fWAR. When he was signed before the 2023 season, we were pitched on one of the better power hitters in the NPB and told that once he settled into the style of American baseball, his power would follow. So far, though, it has yet to materialize in any meaningful way. He can put the bat to the ball, but that’s not what you want from your primary DH. If there was a right-handed hitter who could platoon in the DH role with him then you could start to make a case for keeping Yoshida around, but that'd be a questionable use of roster space and resources. The Red Sox are going to have to figure out the Yoshida problem sooner rather than later. The problem at DH will only get worse if Triston Casas is healthy and playing well early in the season. There are question marks all over Casas, and rightfully so, but he has the biggest potential to bring 30+ home run power to this lineup as soon as this season. Maybe he'll start the year with Triple-A Worcester, but if he plays well, he'll be on the first bus back to Boston. They’ve traded for Willson Contreras to be the solution at first base this season, which should pencil Casas in as the primary DH when he returns to the lineup. He could be a passable first baseman in the future, but his path to playing time, and likely his path to success here in Boston, will come at the DH spot in the lineup in 2026. Having Yoshida around makes it all the more difficult to figure that out. It's telling that Craig Breslow has made two trades with the person who signed Yoshida to a deal in Boston, Chaim Bloom and the Cardinals, and instead of taking even part of Yoshida’s contract back in a trade, they’ve opted to send money to the Red Sox instead. There is no actual market for Yoshida in professional baseball right now, unless the Red Sox move him in a pure salary dump by attaching a decent prospect to him. That’s possible, but the organization has fewer of those high ranked prospects after the trades with the Cardinals (and Pirates) earlier in the offseason. What will likely happen is that the Red Sox are going to pay Masataka Yoshida $18 million over the next two seasons to sit on the bench. In 2026, don’t be surprised if Yoshida plays once per week, and perhaps less if the quartet of starting outfielders are all hot at the same time. Breslow has said that he’d like to rotate players through the DH spot in the lineup and having four starting-caliber outfielders allows for Alex Cora to do just that on a matchup specific basis. Yoshida is a popular guy in the clubhouse and with the fans, but he’s a roadblock to the team being able to operate at full capacity. View the full article

The Chicago Cubs stole Alex Bregman from the Boston Red Sox, which could lead to a bidding war for Bo Bichette. Can the Toronto Blue Jays take advantage by turning their full attention to Kyle Tucker? View the full article

In an exclusive interview with Talk Sox, MassLive’s Chris Cotillo talks about the current state of the Red Sox's free agency and some potential targets the team could pivot to. They also take a look at Bregman’s departure and how the Red Sox could potentially pivot from the shocking loss of their All-Star third baseman. View the full article

This multi-part series talks about how the Brewers got to their (so far) one and only World Series, and offers a chronological timeline of the 1982 campaign—including player profiles, game recaps, and other events that affected the season. Part 1 Part 2 Spring Training Disaster struck in mid-March when ace closer Rollie Fingers was injured while wrestling with fellow pitcher Randy Lerch on a wet field in Sun City, Arizona. Fingers suffered a slight separation of his left (non-throwing) shoulder, but was expected to be healthy for the start of the season. “We were just messing around,” Fingers said, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. “That was the kid in me coming out.” Before spring training, backup catcher Charlie Moore voiced his displeasure over the lack of playing time behind Ted Simmons. General manager Harry Dalton and the Brewers management offered him a compromise: they would give Moore the right fielder’s job. The new right fielder worked hard during the spring with outfield instructor Sam Suplizio, learning how to play the new position. “You get to that point in your career when you are satisfied to play anywhere,” Moore said. “I know I’m not going to catch unless something happens to Simmons.” While the Brewers were finishing their spring camp in Arizona, Milwaukee was hit by a pair of storms that dumped a foot of snow two days before the home opener against Cleveland on April 6. Milwaukee finished Cactus League action with a record of 9-13-1. Snowy Days The opening series, which was scheduled for Tues., Apr. 6 and Thurs., Apr. 8, was canceled. The Brewers headed to the Astrodome in Houston for two days of workouts before traveling to Toronto for the season opener on April 9. “Having snow blowing all over the seats and piling up in the parking lot is no way to entertain 50,000 people,” Dalton told The Capitol Times. Moore needn't have worried about whether he'd ever don the tools of ignorance again. Simmons suffered a pulled calf muscle during the last days of spring training and missed the first two games of the regular season. Moore took over behind the plate, batting second, and went 2-for-6 with four runs scored and an RBI. The Brewers scored six runs in the first inning against the Blue Jays on the way to a 15-4 rout on a 40-degree day in Toronto. Simmons missed the first three games but returned with a bang, stroking three hits in five trips (including a double and an RBI) in a 9-8 win in 10 innings at Cleveland, as the Brewers improved to 3-1. Team Streak The 1987 team was known as ‘Team Streak,’ but they had nothing on the early-season Brewers of 1982. After winning three of their first four contests, the Brewers promptly lost five straight games to drop to 3-6, falling from first to sixth in the AL East. Fingers struggled in the early going, allowing 11 hits, four walks, three stolen bases and a wild pitch in his first three appearances. He allowed the only runner he inherited to score, and in the two games in which he entered with the game tied, he took the loss. After waiting 10 days for their home opener, the team was swept by the Texas Rangers in a three-game series at County Stadium, including a disappointing 4-1 loss in which the Rangers scored three runs in the 10th before an Opening Day crowd of 49,887. The Brewers then won five in a row, however, with Fingers earning three saves in that stretch. Milwaukee won one of their final three games in April to finish the month with a mark of 9-8, good for third place in the AL East, 2 ½ games behind Boston with Detroit in second place. First baseman Cecil Cooper led the team in that first month, hitting .394/.421/.549. Eventual 1982 MVP Robin Yount was right behind him, with a batting line of .375/.409/.575. However, the team that would become ‘Harvey’s Wallbangers’ got off to a slow start with their power numbers, hitting only 13 home runs in the first month. Ben Oglivie led the team with five. Coming next, part 3: Sluggish May and the Demise of Buck. View the full article