Poll: Will JJ Wetherholt Break Camp With The Cardinals?
Rebuilds are never fun, and as the Cardinals plunge into one for the first time in decades there hasn’t been much for fans in St. Louis to get excited about. Trades that shipped out Willson Contreras, Sonny Gray, and Nolan Arenado were as much about clearing money off the books as they were about bringing in meaningful talent. Even the Brendan Donovan trade, which secured a strong haul of picks and prospects, is unlikely to impact the big league club in 2026. One thing fans can get excited about in the short term is top prospect JJ Wetherholt.
The No. 7 overall pick in the 2024 draft has made good on that lofty slot since entering pro ball. After a solid cup of coffee at Single-A in his draft year, Wetherholt’s performance exploded in 2025 when he slashed .306/.421/.510 across 109 games split between the Double-A and Triple-A level. That would be impressive for virtually any prospect, but it’s especially so for Wetherholt, who is just 22 years old and adds strong infield defense and impressive baserunning to his well-rounded game. That package is enough to make him a consensus top 10 prospect in the sport entering this season.
The Cardinals have made clear that they plan to give their top prospect the opportunity to make the big league roster out of camp. He just ripped his first homer of the spring this morning, taking Devin Williams deep to dead center (video courtesy of Tim Kanak). A spot in the Opening Day lineup should be much easier to come by now that Donovan has been dealt to Seattle, but Wetherholt will still have competition from other players on the roster. Nolan Gorman and Masyn Winn figure to lock down third base and shortstop, leaving second base to a competition between Wetherholt, Thomas Saggese, Jose Fermin, and Ramon Urias.
Since the Cardinals don’t expect to compete in 2026, their priority is seeing what they have with their current group of young players. Urias, 32 in June, is on a one-year deal and is more of a steady bench piece than an impact addition. From St. Louis’ perspective, it makes more sense to have Urias waiting in the wings to take over somewhere on the infield in case of an injury or a younger player struggling to perform. Looking at the other three options, Wetherholt is the highest-upside option and arguably has the highest floor.
Fermin hit quite well for the Cardinals in 30 games last year but has typically struggled on the offense over his three years in the majors. He seems best suited for a utility role. Saggese, 24 in April, hit just .258/.299/.342 in 82 games last year while playing average defense between shortstop, third base, and second base. Perhaps he could take a step forward with regular at bats and some additional big league experience, but his chances at making the roster are complicated by the fact that he was at his worst defensively (-5 OAA) when playing second base.
That would seem to leave Wetherholt with a clear path toward starting at second base for the Cardinals, but there are other considerations to keep in mind. If Wetherholt does not begin the year on the Opening Day roster, the Cardinals could squeeze and extra year of service time out of their up-and-coming superstar. Perhaps that’s enough reason for the Cardinals to go with someone like Saggese at second base for the first few weeks, especially given the fact that Wetherholt has spent just 16.6% of his defensive innings in the minors at second base. It could be argued that getting him additional reps at the keystone could be beneficial. On the other hand, Wetherholt could earn a full year of service time regardless, if he finishes top two in NL Rookie of the Year voting. Breaking camp with him also opens the Cards up to earning future draft picks via MLB’s prospect promotion incentive program.
How do MLBTR readers expect the Cardinals to handle their second base camp battle? Will Wetherholt force his way onto the big league roster? Will they instead give someone like Saggese or Fermin the first look? Or will none of the three youngsters take the job confidently enough to stop St. Louis from defaulting to the veteran presence of Urias? Have your say in the poll below:
Who will start at second base for the Cardinals on Opening Day 2026?
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JJ Wetherholt 71% (2,889)
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Ramon Urias 13% (537)
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Thomas Saggese 12% (494)
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Jose Fermin 4% (148)
Total votes: 4,068
The Opener: Lewis, Hoglund, Team Debuts
Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on headed into the weekend:
1. Lewis sidelined:
Twins third baseman Royce Lewis has been through the wringer over the years when it comes to injuries, and he’s now dealing with another scare. As noted by Dan Hayes of The Athletic, Lewis was scratched from yesterday’s lineup due to side tightness he suffered while running the bases prior to the game. Hayes added that the Twins view Lewis’s removal from the lineup as purely precautionary, but for a player who participated in a career-high number of games last year at just 106, any sign of returning injury woes is concerning. Lewis will be looking not only for better health in 2026, but also more effectiveness at the plate. He hit a paltry .237/.283/.388 in 403 trips to the plate for Minnesota last year. Ryan Kreidler, Kody Clemens, Tristan Gray and Eric Wagaman are all on the 40-man roster and have experience at third base, and the Twins also have veteran Gio Urshela back in camp on a minor league deal.
2. Hoglund to meet with doctors:
A’s right-hander Gunnar Hoglund is headed for testing due to a knee issue that’s been bothering him throughout camp, per Martin Gallegos of MLB.com. The former first-round pick, acquired in the Matt Chapman trade with Toronto, made his MLB debut last year. His six-start cup of coffee didn’t go especially well, but the 26-year-old entered camp hopeful of earning another look in the rotation or at least in the bullpen. Injuries have been a persistent issue for Hoglund, who missed the second half last season due to hip surgery and underwent Tommy John surgery in 2021 just prior to being drafted. More details about should be available in the coming days, but if he’s unable to pitch the A’s have a deep group of young arms to work with in the rotation that includes Jack Perkins, Braden Nett, Henry Baez, Joey Estes, and Luis Morales.
3. Offseason additions making team debuts:
As the first weeks of Spring Training continue, impact players around the league are making their first game appearances for their new ball clubs. Three such players are set to start for their clubs today: Orioles right-hander Shane Baz, who will face off against Mitch Keller of the Pirates at 1:05pm local time in Florida; Mets right-hander Freddy Peralta, who will pitch opposite Cardinals southpaw Quinn Mathews at that same time; and Cubs righty Edward Cabrera, who is scheduled to pitch opposite Guardians southpaw Logan Allen at 1:05pm local time in Arizona later in the day. All three hurlers will slot in towards the front of their new rotations.
Poll: Will Konnor Griffin Break Camp With The Pirates?
As Spring Training gets underway, many fans are watching top prospects. For the Pirates’ Konnor Griffin, however, it’s not just fans in Pittsburgh watching to see if he’ll be in the starting lineup on Opening Day; it’s the entire baseball world.
Griffin won’t celebrate his 20th birthday until the end of April. The ninth overall pick in the 2024 draft opened eyes all around the sport with his performance in his first professional season last year, slashing .333/.415/.527 in 122 games across three levels, topping out in Double-A. That was enough to make him the consensus top prospect in the sport. The Athletic’s Keith Law called Griffin “the most exciting prospect in the minors since Mike Trout” last month, while FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen described Griffin as “a franchise-altering entity whose talent rivals that of Bobby Witt Jr.”
It’s hard to get much more impressive than comparisons to Trout and Witt. Between the hype prospect evaluators of all stripes are heaping onto Griffin and his unbelievable start to his pro career, it’s understandable that he would be in the conversation to start the season with the Pirates on Opening Day, even though he’ll still be a teenager.
For now, the Pirates are saying all the right things. Every indication has been that the team will give Griffin the opportunity to earn his way onto the roster. The players currently standing in his way, Nick Gonzales and Jared Triolo, aren’t the sort of slam-dunk regulars that would normally give a club pause when it comes to pushing one of them into a bench role. That open avenue toward a roster spot is great news for Griffin, and so far he’s made the most of the opportunity he’s been handed during camp with two homers in his first ten plate appearances this spring.
There are other factors to consider as well. The most obvious is that Griffin is extremely inexperienced as a professional. He’s played only 122 professional games. Elite prospects have been getting called up more quickly since Trout made his debut 15 years ago, but even by more recent standards Griffin would be among the fastest to reach the show. Witt had 161 games in the minors before his big league debut, and Juan Soto‘s short stint in the minor leagues lasted 122 games, the exact amount Griffin logged last year.
The Pirates are entering a year where they’re clearing trying to win, more than in other recent seasons. They added Ryan O’Hearn, Brandon Lowe, and Marcell Ozuna to help bolster a stagnant offense and added Gregory Soto to the bullpen as well. That quartet cost around $60MM in total, which is a notable chunk of change by the Pirates’ typical standards.
Reigning Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes is under club control for just four more seasons before he’ll reach free agency and could see his arbitration price explode by 2027 or 2028. The Pirates are acutely aware of that, and getting the most out of Griffin they possibly can while Skenes is still in town should be the team’s top priority.
Service time is another factor the Pirates will need to consider, and that cuts both ways when it comes to the Griffin decision. Holding Griffin down for even just three weeks to start the year could unlock a seventh year of team control over Griffin by ensuring he doesn’t earn a full year of MLB service in 2026. The counter to that, of course, is Skenes himself. The Pirates didn’t promote Skenes until May 2024, but he was still dominant enough once he arrived to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award and earn himself a full year of service anyway. Had they simply brought Skenes up on Opening Day, the Pirates would’ve been able to secure an extra draft pick thanks to his Rookie of the Year win.
Another wrinkle in the service time conversation is Griffin’s apparent willingness to consider an extension with Pittsburgh. If the sides were to reach a deal either this spring or in the early days of the 2026 campaign, that would negate the service time concerns. While explicitly holding a player down due to service time considerations or promoting them only if they agree to an extension is frowned upon, it has happened. The prospect promotion incentives added in the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement have somewhat lessened the frequency with which such situations occur, but they’ve also prompted some teams to wait until late August with prospects who otherwise look ready, so as to preserve their rookie status (and potential PPI gains) the following season. The Pirates didn’t call Bubba Chandler up until Aug. 22 last year. If they do agree to an extension, the Bucs would be incentivized to not finalize it until after Griffin’s debut. A player who signs a pre-debut extension is not eligible to earn a PPI pick for his team.
How do MLBTR readers think Griffin’s candidacy for a spot on the Opening Day roster will play out? Will he make the team, or start the year in the minor leagues? Or, perhaps, could his status on the MLB roster be determined by how extension talks between the sides go this spring? Have your say in the poll below:
Will Konnor Griffin break camp with the Pirates?
The Opener: Imai, Kolek, Scherzer
Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day:
1. Imai to make stateside debut:
New Astros right-hander Tatsuya Imai has pitched his entire career in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, but he’ll make his first career MLB Spring Training appearance later today. Imai is the scheduled start for the Astros’ split squad game against the Mets, which is set to begin at 1:05pm ET in the team’s West Palm Beach facility. The righty has a career 3.15 ERA in 159 starts for the Seibu Lions and in 2025 posted a dominant 1.92 ERA with a 27.8% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate. The 27-year-old flamethrower will get his first opportunity to show what he can do against big league players later today.
2. Kolek dealing with back issue:
Royals right-hander Stephen Kolek was scheduled to make his first appearance of Spring Training for the Royals yesterday, but Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports that he was scratched from his scheduled outing after experiencing tightness in the left side of his back while warming up. He’s getting his back checked out, and more information about the right-hander’s status could be available as soon as today. Kolek posted a 3.51 ERA in 19 starts between the Padres and Royals, who acquired him (and Ryan Bergert) in a deadline trade sending catcher Freddy Fermin to San Diego. That may not be enough to crack a deep Royals rotation without an injury creating room in the starting five, but Kolek should be able to compete for a job in the bullpen or head to Triple-A Omaha as the organization’s top depth arm, as long as he’s not dealing with a notable back injury.
3. Scherzer signing in Toronto:
Another notable free agent came off the board last night when future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer returned to the Blue Jays on a one-year, $3MM deal featuring incentives that can push the deal up to $13MM. Scherzer will hope for better health than in 2025, when he was limited to just 17 starts with a lackluster 5.19 ERA. The Blue Jays certainly seem to think he’s still capable of more even headed into his age-41 campaign, and they’re committed enough to the idea of Scherzer contributing this year that they’re willing to dedicate a 40-man roster spot to the veteran. That means a corresponding move will be necessary once the deal becomes official, though moving Anthony Santander (who is expected to miss most of the 2026 campaign) to the 60-day injured list would make that little more than a formality.
Poll: Who Will Be The Odd Man Out In The Reds’ Lineup?
The Reds were perhaps the most surprising playoff club of the 2025 season, as they managed to squeak into the third NL Wild Card spot with an 83-79 record. That return to the postseason came to an abrupt end when they were dispatched by the eventual World Champion Dodgers in the Wild Card round, but that didn’t stop them from making some upgrades to the team this winter. The return of veteran slugger Eugenio Suarez is surely the most impactful addition of the team’s offseason, but it also creates a bit of a logjam within the roster for their existing players. While Suarez is an impactful offensive addition coming off a 49-homer campaign, he’ll surely cut into the playing time of one of the club’s other regulars. That’s especially true given the addition of JJ Bleday to the club’s outfield mix, which effectively replaced the traded Gavin Lux on the roster.
While a reduction in playing time for the rest of the roster is inevitable, the Reds have enough positional flexibility on their roster that exactly how playing time will be divvied up remains an open question. With so many potential lineup configurations, who will end up getting the short end of the stick? There’s a few obvious players who won’t be losing playing time this year. Tyler Stephenson and Jose Trevino are more or less locked in as the club’s catching tandem. Shortstop Elly De La Cruz is a star and will surely be in the lineup every day as long as he’s healthy. TJ Friedl projects as the regular center fielder, and Suarez himself is sure to play everyday as long as he’s healthy.
For virtually every other player on the roster, however, it’s not impossible to imagine them getting squeezed out. Spencer Steer is perhaps the most established player among the rest of the roster, but even he doesn’t seem to be guaranteed everyday at-bats. That’s in part because he’s without a position. While he was a strong defensive first baseman for the Reds last year, his 97 wRC+ isn’t exactly the sort of impact one expects from that spot in the lineup. That could leave Steer handling any number of positions, as he’s at least passable when playing each of second base, third base, and the outfield corners in addition to first base and DH. That leaves the players at each of those positions (aside from Suarez) with a capable, if unspectacular player breathing down their necks in the hunt for playing time.
At first base, the Reds currently figure to utilize Sal Stewart. A consensus top prospect entering 2026, the rookie got an 18-game cup of coffee in the majors down the stretch last year and did everything one could’ve hoped for with the opportunity. He slashed .255/.293/.545 with five homers and a double in just 58 trips to the plate while managing to keep his strikeout rate at a reasonable 25.9%. He also succeeded when the lights were brightest, going 2-for-4 with a walk and four RBI against Los Angeles in the playoffs while the rest of the team struggled to produce. That’s enough that it should earn him a starting job, and he’s spent plenty of time at third and even second base in addition to first, offering some potential flexibility regarding where he’ll play. With that, said, if the rookie struggles at some point this year it wouldn’t be a shock to see him sent down to Triple-A, where the Reds could garner another year of team control over Stewart if he stays in the minors long enough.
While Stewart’s service time considerations could make Cincinnati a bit more willing to pull him out of the lineup than the rest of their players, that doesn’t mean the others are safe in their playing time. Ke’Bryan Hayes was the team’s most notable deadline addition last year, and his elite glove should mean that the Reds’ pitchers are consistently rooting for him to be in the lineup at third base on a regular basis. With that being said, Hayes is undoubtedly the weakest offensive player on the roster. While he flashed upside earlier in his career with the Pirates, he also hit just .235/.290/.306 (65 wRC+) last year after posting a 60 wRC+ the year prior. If Hayes can’t get his offensive production back into the 90 wRC+ range it sat in from 2021-2023, then it could be hard for the team to justify playing him regularly unless the rest of the lineup is mashing.
Hayes’s offensive woes also apply, at least to some extent, to Matt McLain. McLain appeared in 147 games last year after missing the entire 2024 season due to injury, and his results left a lot to be desired. He hit just .220/.300/.343 with a wRC+ of 77. While he turned in a solid 9.5% walk rate to save his overall slash line somewhat, the combination of a 28.5% strikeout rate and a .124 ISO simply isn’t going to cut it if he wants to be even an average big league hitter. McLain is a former top prospect who showed substantial upside in 2023 with a 129 wRC+ in 89 games, but his leash could wind up being somewhat short if he struggles, given that several other players on the team are capable of handling the keystone.
One such player is Noelvi Marte, who spent last season in right field but has been an infielder for most of his career. Marte had a disastrous 2024 season where he hit just .210/.248/.301 after returning from an 80-game PED suspension, but 2025 saw him take a step in the right direction as he posted a 101 wRC+ in 90 games despite losing two months to an oblique strain. Prior to that injury, Marte looked to be in the midst of a breakout, and while a brutal month of September put a damper on his overall season numbers, it’s not hard to see the 24-year-old taking another step forward this year. With that being said, a slump or two like the ones he suffered in 2024 and the second half of 2025 could conceivably leave Marte as the odd man out if the rest of the lineup is hitting.
One wild card with regards to playing time for the rest of the roster is Bleday. He’s more or less locked into the outfield corners defensively, and therefore can’t offer the sort of versatility virtually every other player here can. He’s also a questionable fit to be in the lineup against lefties, which inherently gives him a lower ceiling in terms of playing time than the rest of the roster. That might make him seem like the obvious pick to get the least playing time on the roster, but his lefty bat on a predominantly right-handed roster could prove extremely valuable. Additionally, Bleday is just one year removed from a solid season for the A’s where he posted a 120 wRC+ and 3.2 fWAR. Last year was tougher on him as he hit just .212/.294/.404, but if he can rediscover his 2024 form he could be one of the top hitters in the Reds’ entire lineup and earn a larger share of playing time than many of these players who have mostly shown league average or lower ability in recent years.
Who do you expect to ultimately draw the short end of the stick when it comes to playing time in Cincinnati this year? Will a young player like Stewart be sent down, or could someone like McLain or Marte struggle despite their former prospect pedigree? Will Hayes’s offense be too weak to justify his excellent defense, or will Bleday not hit enough to justify his middling outfield defense? Or, could the rest of the lineup work out so well that Steer finds himself in a utility role? Have your say in the poll below:
Which Reds player will get the fewest plate appearances in 2026?
The Opener: Skenes, Yankees, Offseason In Review
Here are three things worth keeping an eye on for MLBTR readers today:
1. Skenes prepares for World Baseball Classic:
Reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes is poised to make his first start of Spring Training today at 1:05pm ET. His opponent will be Braves right-hander Bryce Elder, who struggled to a 5.38 ERA in 28 starts for Atlanta last year. Any opportunity to watch one of the league’s most dominant pitchers is noteworthy, but Skenes’s spring debut is especially relevant because it will be his first and final tune-up start before joining Team USA for the World Baseball Classic next month. Skenes is expected to pitch in two WBC games for Team USA, as first reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, and additionally figures to get an extra exhibition start in when Team USA faces the Giants and Rockies ahead of the tournament’s official start.
2. Weathers to make Yankees debut:
The Yankees are running back most of their 2025 roster, as they reunited with Trent Grisham, Cody Bellinger, Amed Rosario, and Paul Goldschmidt after each reached free agency this winter. Their most notable external addition was southpaw Ryan Weathers, whom they acquired in a trade with the Marlins last month. The lefty is slated to make his Yankees debut today at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, where they’ll be facing off against the Nationals at 6:35pm ET. Weathers’ opponent will be southpaw Andrew Alvarez, who made the first five starts of his big league career with the Nationals last year and posted a solid 2.31 ERA in those outings. Spring Training is especially important for Weathers this year given that he was limited to only eight starts last year thanks to flexor and lat strains.
3. Offseason in Review series is underway:
Every spring, MLB Trade Rumors does a series looking back at each of the league’s 30 teams and what they’ve accomplished during the offseason. Yesterday saw MLBTR kick off the 2026 edition of that series with a look at the Rockies from Anthony Franco and a look at the Marlins from Steve Adams. Whether you’re a fan of those teams or just looking for a refresher on any moves around the league you might have missed this winter, this series (and the 28 other installments yet to come) has you covered as we head into the 2026 campaign. You can vote in the poll at the end of each team’s review to grade their overall offseason performance.
Braves Extend Chris Sale
The Braves announced Tuesday that they’ve signed veteran left-hander Chris Sale to a one-year, $27MM contract extension with a $30MM club option for the 2028 season. (Atlanta is one of the few teams that publicly discloses contract terms itself.) The Wasserman client was slated to reach free agency this coming winter but will instead stick with Atlanta through at least 2027.
Sale, 37 next month, is entering his late thirties but remains as effective as ever. Atlanta acquired the southpaw prior to the 2024 season in exchange for Vaughn Grissom in a deal with the Red Sox that turned out to be a coup. Since joining the organization, Sale has pitched to an otherworldly 2.46 ERA (2.84 SIERA, 2.38 FIP), with a strikeout rate of 32.2% and a walk rate of 5.9%. Those elite rate stats earned him his first career Cy Young Award in 2024, although a ribcage fracture in 2025 has limited his overall workload in Georgia to a total of 303 1/3 innings.
Injuries were the story of Sale’s career for several years prior to his arrival in Atlanta. For the first nine years of his big league tenure, the lefty was utterly elite with seven All-Star appearances and six top-five finishes in Cy Young voting for the White Sox and Red Sox.
That portion of his career ended in emphatic fashion as Sale struck out then-Dodger Manny Machado to secure the 2018 World Series for Boston, but come 2019 Sale struggled for the first time in his career. While his peripherals remained elite, he posted a pedestrian 4.40 ERA and was limited to just 25 starts due to injuries. He’d go on to make just nine starts between 2020 and 2022 before returning to the mound for most of the 2023 season with a 4.30 ERA in 20 starts.
Sale may not be a true workhorse, but he’s been more durable in recent seasons and will now look to continue the high note he’s found in Atlanta as his career begins to wind down. Both Sale himself and president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos recently indicated to reporters (including MLB.com’s Mark Bowman) that they hoped the remainder of the 2024 Cy Young winner’s career would be spent in Atlanta, and now he’ll remain under club control until the end of his age-39 campaign. Sale told reporters (including Chad Bishop of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution) after news of the extension broke this morning that the deal came together quickly after those comments were made early in camp.
“[Anthopoulos] said what he said, I said what I said, and we just kind of looked at each other like, ‘Are we serious?'” Sale said, as relayed by Bishop. “And I called [my agent] and was like ‘Hey, call Alex, figure something out.’ You know, we made our pitch, they made their pitch, and we just kind of met in the middle. I mean, I feel like this was [done in] like, a week.”
Sale will be looking to not only put the finishing touches on a compelling Hall of Fame case but also lead the Braves back into the postseason after a rough 2025 season. He’s the undisputed ace of an Atlanta staff that looks very intimidating when at full strength but now figures to enter the season without either Spencer Schwellenbach or Hurston Waldrep. Both young righties had surgery to remove bone spurs/loose bodies from their right elbows earlier this month, and neither has a clear timetable for his return.
Instead, Sale will be joined by Spencer Strider, Grant Holmes, and Reynaldo Lopez in the rotation as things stand, with a handful of depth arms in competition for the fifth starter job. It’s a group that could clearly use an additional quality arm, but it remains to be seen if Anthopoulos will manage to add someone like that to the mix before the season begins. Whatever may happen with the rotation in 2025, however, the Braves can now move forward with the assurance that one of the game’s most elite hurlers will be staying in town for the foreseeable future.
From a payroll vantage point, there doesn’t appear to be any immediate impact on the 2026 season. The contract is structured as a new deal beginning in 2027, so it doesn’t change Atlanta’s baseline cash payroll or its luxury tax payroll for the upcoming season.
Sale’s deal does tack on $27MM of luxury considerations to the 2027 budget, although the Braves already had substantial money coming off the books at season’s end. Ha-Seong Kim ($20MM), Raisel Iglesias ($16MM), Joe Jimenez ($9MM), Aaron Bummer ($9.5MM), Mauricio Dubón ($6.1MM), Jonah Heim ($1.25MM) and Jorge Mateo ($1MM) are all free agents at season’s end, and the only notable arbitration raise Atlanta faces will be Schwellenbach’s first trip through the process. As things stand, RosterResource projects a $176MM luxury payroll for Atlanta in 2027 — about $84MM shy of their current mark.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the extension and the 2027 salary.
The Opener: Suarez, Extensions, MLBTR Chat
On the heels of a big move by the Braves this morning, here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on throughout the day today:
1. Suarez to make Red Sox debut:
Boston’s top offseason addition is set to suit up for his new club for the first time today. Left-hander Ranger Suarez is the scheduled starter for the Red Sox in today’s Spring Training game against the Pirates. The 2024 All-Star will look to make a strong first impression on his new fanbase as he gears up to represent Venezuela in this year’s World Baseball Classic. His opponent today will be Pittsburgh righty Carmen Mlodzinski, who posted a solid 3.55 ERA in 99 innings of work for the Pirates last year. The two will face off at Fenway South in Fort Myers in a game scheduled for 1:05pm local time this afternoon.
2. Extension season underway:
One of the most talented impending free agents just came off the board early this morning when Chris Sale landed an extension in Atlanta. Sale joins Dodgers veteran Max Muncy (and, if you include front office executives, Padres president of baseball operations A.J. Preller) in having forgone free agency to stick with their current club this month. That also doesn’t include the offseason’s extensions for players under long-term club control like Tyler Soderstrom and Jacob Wilson of the A’s. There aren’t any players and teams known to be in the midst of extension talks at the moment, and some players like Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs have even specifically noted that talks are not underway with their club. With that being said, deals can come together quickly behind the scenes; Sale indicated earlier today that his negotiations with the Braves took just one week. Could more extensions be on the way over the coming days?
3. MLBTR Chat Today:
Spring Training is officially underway, and baseball games are being played once again. A handful of interesting free agents such as Lucas Giolito and Zack Littell remain available, but most of the heavy lifting for clubs has been done at this point in the offseason. Are you wondering where your favorite team stands headed into Spring Training, and if there are any other moves for your club to make before the season begins? MLBTR’s Steve Adams has you covered in a live chat scheduled for 1pm CT today. You can click here to ask a question in advance, follow along with the chat once it goes live, and read the transcript after it’s complete.
Cubs To Sign Michael Conforto
The Cubs reached agreement with outfielder Michael Conforto, as first reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post. It’s a minor league deal with an invite to big league camp, per ESPN’s Jesse Rogers. Conforto, who is represented by the Boras Corporation, will make $2MM if his contract is selected, per Fabian Ardaya and Patrick Mooney of The Athletic. There are also unspecified performance bonuses in the deal.
Conforto, 33 next month, is a veteran of ten MLB seasons at this point. A former top ten pick in the draft and top 100 prospect, Conforto was an All-Star in 2017 and hit .259/.358/.484 (128 wRC+) through his first six seasons in the majors. Things took a turn for the veteran from there, however. His 2021 season was only pedestrian (104 wRC+), and his 2022 campaign was lost to shoulder surgery. Since returning, he’s stayed at that roughly league average level overall. He’s hit .225/.316/.390 with a 98 wRC+ across three seasons with the Giants and Dodgers, but last year in L.A. was the worst season of his career to this point.
In 138 games for the Dodgers, Conforto hit just .199/.3o5/.333 with a wRC+ of 83. He was well below replacement level according to both Fangraphs and Baseball Reference in terms of WAR, he posted the weakest power production (.138 ISO) of his career, and his strikeout rate jumped to 24.9% for the first time since 2018. It was a brutal season overall, and things got bad enough that Conforto wound up being left off L.A.’s playoff rosters entirely during the World Series run. After returning to free agency this offseason, Conforto found minimal interest across the league until the calendar had already flipped to 2026. As Spring Training drew near, teams like the White Sox and Astros expressed interest in Conforto’s services, but the Cubs had not been connected to him before today’s news.
On the Cubs, Conforto seems more or less blocked without an injury. Ian Happ and Seiya Suzuki are sure to be tapped to handle the outfield corners, and even if Conforto is still capable of handling center field (a position he hasn’t played since 2019) superstar Pete Crow-Armstrong is sure to get regular reps at the position. Conforto’s best hope of making the roster would be as the team’s primary DH who could rotate through the outfield corners to get Happ and Suzuki off their feet. He’ll face stiff competition from top prospect Moises Ballesteros for that top DH job, however. Ballesteros hit an excellent .298/.394/.474 in his first taste of big league action last year, and while that came in just 57 trips to the plate it was still a strong enough showing to warrant a larger look this year.
It’s certainly not impossible that Conforto could rediscover the combination of power and discipline that made him an effective big league hitter, and if he does so he could challenge Ballesteros for the DH job. That could be particularly appealing for the Cubs if they want to continue developing Ballesteros as a catcher, given that the team’s starting tandem of Carson Kelly and Miguel Amaya leaves little room for Ballesteros to get a look behind the plate in the majors at this point. Failing that, he’ll compete this spring for a bench job against the likes of Dylan Carlson and Chas McCormick. Conforto has the most success at the big league level of that trio, but also would likely be the most stretched defensively as a center fielder.
The Opener: Kelly, Pitching Market, Camp Battles
On the heels of a pair of signings, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:
1. Kelly, D-backs await MRI results:
Diamondbacks right-hander Merrill Kelly was scratched from a scheduled live batting practice over the weekend due to mid-back tightness, according to a report from Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. Kelly and manager Torey Lovullo indicated at the time that the decision was mostly precautionary, but Kelly was still sent for an MRI in order to determine the severity of the issue. Those results are expected back today, writes Steve Gilbert of MLB.com. The veteran Kelly has already been named as the team’s Opening Day starter for 2026, but an injury could end up scuttling those plans. If a trip to the injured list is needed, that could settle the question of who will join Kelly, Zac Gallen, and Ryne Nelson in the rotation; Brandon Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Michael Soroka are vying for the final two spots.
2. When will the pitching market heat up?
Both Michael Conforto and Thairo Estrada found new homes on minor league deals this morning, and first baseman Rhys Hoskins did so yesterday. A number of the top remaining positional free agents have begun coming off the board, but we haven’t seen as much action with the final few names on the pitching market. Starters like Lucas Giolito, Zack Littell and Tyler Anderson remain available, while the relief market still includes names like Michael Kopech, Danny Coulombe and Tommy Kahnle. Whether these pitchers are willing to sit out a significant portion of Spring Training in order to get the best deal possible remains to be seen, but most clubs are just one or two injuries away from feeling pressure to add depth. When will the dam break?
3. Camp battles beginning around the league:
With Spring Training games now underway, players around the league with uncertain roles are set to battle for various jobs. In many cases, that’s due to a surplus of viable options with minimal established talent. The Astros’ outfield, for example, has a number of intriguing players like Cam Smith, Joey Loperfido, and Zach Cole, but only Jake Meyers figures to be handed an everyday job coming into camp. Over in Milwaukee, manager Pat Murphy indicated the Brewers have not yet settled on roles for their high leverage relievers. That leaves 2025 closer Trevor Megill to try and fend off Abner Uribe, Jared Koenig, and any other challengers if he wants to keep his ninth-inning job for 2026. Similar situations will play out around the league, creating plenty of intrigue as fans and teams get back into the swing of another baseball season.