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Giants To Hire Justin Meccage As Pitching Coach

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The Giants are expected to add Justin Meccage as their pitching coach, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Meccage has spent the majority of his coaching tenure in the Pirates’ organization. He was most recently a minor league coach in the Brewers’ system.

After a brief playing career, Meccage got his coaching start in the college ranks. After seven years spent between the University of Texas-Pan American and Arkansas State University from 2004 to 2010, Meccage headed to the pros. He became a minor league pitching coach for Pittsburgh in 2011. Meccage moved through multiple levels of the minors before taking over as minor league pitching coordinator in 2017.

Meccage got his first big-league gig in 2018 as assistant pitching coach for the Pirates. He transitioned to bullpen coach in 2020, a role he held through 2024. Meccage was a Triple-A pitching coach for Milwaukee this past season.

New manager Tony Vitello’s staff is slowly coming together. San Francisco added Hunter Mense as hitting coach last week. Meccage will replace pitching coach J.P. Martinez, who was hired by Atlanta to be their bullpen coach. Martinez had been on the Giants’ staff since 2021.

San Francisco ranked 10th in ERA last season. The staff will be headlined by Logan Webb and Robbie Ray, though the options beyond that tandem are uncertain. The bullpen lost closer Camilo Doval at the trade deadline, then saw replacement Randy Rodriguez go down with an injury that led to Tommy John surgery. General manager Zack Minasian said the offseason plan will involve adding pitching depth.

Photo courtesy Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images

Rangers Sign Declan Cronin To Minor League Deal

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The Rangers have signed right-hander Declan Cronin to a minor league deal with an invite to MLB Spring Training. Cronin was released by the Marlins in September. He’s set to miss the 2026 season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. Texas also added shortstop Richie Martin and right-handers Peyton Gray and Trey Supak on minor league pacts with spring invitations.

Cronin was a fixture in Miami’s bullpen in 2024, making 56 appearances. He had a middling 4.35 ERA with just over a strikeout per inning across 70 1/3 frames. Cronin hit the IL at the end of that season with a knee injury, then was sidelined to open the 2025 campaign with a hip issue. Cronin landed on the Triple-A injured list in August with an unspecified malady, likely related to the injury that led to the surgery.

The White Sox took Cronin in the 36th round of the 2019 draft. Operating almost strictly as a reliever, the righty reached Triple-A by 2022. Cronin debuted with Chicago in 2023, making nine appearances out of the bullpen. He gave up 11 earned runs in 11 innings with nearly as many walks as strikeouts. The White Sox designated Cronin for assignment at the end of the season, and he was scooped up by the Astros. He would spend less than a month with the organization, as Houston DFAed him in January, and he was grabbed by the Marlins.

The upcoming season will likely be a wash for Cronin, but he offered respectable results when healthy with Miami. Texas will take a flier on him with the hope of getting a usable bullpen option down the line.

Martin first came to the organization on a minor league deal in May. He’ll stick around after hitting .258 across 79 games at Triple-A Round Rock. Martin spent parts of 2019, 2021, and 2022 in the big leagues with Baltimore. He slashed .212/.261/.311 in 447 plate appearances as an Oriole.

The Athletics spent a first-round pick on Martin back in 2015. He delivered tepid offensive results over four minor league seasons with the club. Baltimore claimed him off waivers after the 2018 season. He made the big-league roster in 2019 and appeared in 120 games. A broken wrist cost him the entire 2020 season. Martin saw minimal MLB action in 2021 and 2022, totaling 50 appearances with the Orioles.

Texas initially added Gray on a minor league deal this past offseason. He made seven appearances with Double-A Frisco, then earned a promotion to Triple-A. Gray delivered a 3.84 ERA across 61 innings with Round Rock. The 30-year-old has strong strikeout numbers in his minor league career, but injuries have limited his volume.

Supak also joined the Texas minor league system ahead of the 2025 season and split his season between Frisco and Round Rock. The 29-year-old posted a solid 3.55 ERA in 12 starts with the Express to close his season. Supak was drafted by the Pirates in 2014. He’s spent time in the minors with the Brewers, Athletics, and Cubs.

Photo courtesy of Jesse Johnson, Imagn Images

Rays, White Sox Complete Four-Player Trade

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The Rays and White Sox announced a four-player trade sending middle reliever Steven Wilson and swingman Yoendrys Gómez to Tampa Bay for outfielder Everson Pereira and minor league infielder Tanner Murray.

Wilson is the most established of the group. The 31-year-old righty landed in Chicago as part of the Dylan Cease trade during the 2023-24 offseason. Wilson had posted a 3.48 ERA over his first two MLB seasons with the Padres. His numbers tanked during his first year with the Sox, leading them to run him through waivers last winter. Wilson pitched his way back to the big leagues by the middle of April and turned in a quietly solid year.

Over a career-high 55 1/3 innings, Wilson pitched to a 3.42 earned run average. He punched out 21.1% of opposing hitters against a personal-low 9.1% walk rate. Wilson leans heavily on his slider and sits in the 93-94 MPH range with his fastball. He came up just shy of four years of service and is under arbitration control for the next three seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $1.5MM salary. Wilson has a full slate of options, so the Rays could send him between Tampa Bay and Triple-A Durham for the foreseeable future.

Gómez, 26, got a late-season look in the Sox’s rotation. He started nine of 12 appearances overall and turned in a 4.84 ERA through 48 1/3 innings. A former Yankees prospect, Gómez has bounced around the league on waivers. He’s out of options, which spurred the roster shuffling. Gómez sits in the 93-94 MPH range and has a deep arsenal but has never had pristine control. He’ll compete for a rotation or long relief role and will either need to break camp or again be designated for assignment.

The Sox swap Gómez for one of his former teammates coming through the Yankees’ system. Pereira, a righty-hitting outfielder, was once a notable international signee and solid prospect. The 24-year-old native of Venezuela has a career .271/.362/.519 batting line over three Triple-A seasons. Pereira’s solid power-speed combination has been undercut by strikeout concerns, though. He punched out at a 29% clip in the minors this year and struck out 28 more times in 73 big league plate appearances after the Rays acquired him from the Yankees at the deadline for José Caballero.

Pereira is also out of options. He’ll need to crack Chicago’s Opening Day roster or be designated for assignment. The Sox parting with a useful middle reliever for him suggests they’re likely to carry him in the big leagues. Pereira would slot behind Luis Robert Jr., Mike Tauchman and Andrew Benintendi as a fourth outfielder if the Sox keep all three of those players over the winter.

Murray, a 26-year-old non-roster utility player, rounds out the return. A fourth-round pick in 2020, Murray has gone unselected in the Rule 5 draft a few times. He’ll be eligible again this offseason unless the White Sox put him on the 40-man roster. He hit 18 homers but struck out at a 24.1% clip this past season with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A affiliate. He hit a below-average .241/.299/.400 across 572 plate appearances overall. The Sox figure to have him open the year with their top farm team in Charlotte.

Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase first reported that Gómez was being traded to Tampa Bay in a deal sending Pereira to Chicago. James Fegan of Sox Machine had the two-for-two swap. Respective images courtesy of Gary Vasquez and Kim Klement, Imagn Images.

Dodgers Select Ronan Kopp

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The Dodgers selected the contract of left-handed pitcher Ronan Kopp. That’s their only move for Tuesday’s Rule 5 protection deadline. L.A. had two openings on the 40-man roster and didn’t need to make a corresponding move.

Kopp, 23, is a reliever who divided the 2025 season between Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A Oklahoma City. He turned in a combined 3.43 earned run average across 57 2/3 innings. Kopp fanned a massive 36% of opposing hitters but walked almost 17% of the opponents he faced. He has a mid-90s fastball and a cutter-slider that he used almost equally in Triple-A.

It’s plus stuff with obvious command woes from the left side. Neither left nor right-handed hitters could do much damage against Kopp, but they each reached base around a .350 clip by waiting out the free passes. While he’ll need to dial in the command, the Dodgers obviously feel he’s talented enough to factor in as bullpen depth in 2026. He joins Alex Vesia, Tanner Scott, Justin Wrobleski, Jack Dreyer and Anthony Banda as lefty relievers on the 40-man roster.

Twins Add Six Players To 40-Man Roster

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The Twins have selected the contracts of left-handers Kendry Rojas and Connor Prielipp, righties Andrew Morris and John Klein, and outfielders Gabriel Gonzalez and Hendry Mendez, the team announced. They’re all protected from next month’s Rule 5 Draft.

Rojas, who came to the Twins alongside outfielder Alan Roden in the trade sending reliever Louis Varland to Toronto, is a 22-year-old southpaw (23 next week) who climbed three minor league levels in 2025, topping out with his first taste of Triple-A work. The Cuban-born lefty breezed through High-A and Double-A before running into some trouble in his first 32 1/3 innings at the top minor league level. He yielded 26 runs in that time (7.34 ERA) and walked 14.7% of his opponents.

Those struggles came in a small sample of nine Triple-A appearances at a time when most of the opponents he was facing were much older and further along in their development. Walks haven’t been a major issue for Rojas to this point in his pro career, however, and most scouting reports project that he’ll eventually have average command with the potential for three average or better pitches. Rojas could be in line to make his MLB debut next summer, so there was no chance the Twins were going to leave him unprotected.

Prielipp, 24, was a second-round pick in 2022 and might’ve been a first-rounder had he not been coming off Tommy John surgery at the time of the draft. Elbow troubles have further plagued the Alabama product since being drafted. He underwent an internal brace procedure in 2023 and, entering the 2025 season, had all of 30 professional innings under his belt.

Prielipp looked plenty healthy this past season, however, appearing in 24 games (23 of them starts) and missing plenty of bats with an above-average ground-ball rate. He posted a 3.65 ERA, 27% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate in 61 2/3 Double-A frames before showing some fatigue late in the season with a 5.14 ERA in five Triple-A games (four starts). He’s already drawn top-100 fanfare at FanGraphs and ESPN, and he’ll likely draw further consideration for such lists in the offseason. As with Rojas, there was never a doubt he’d be added to the 40-man today.

Morris, 24, doesn’t have the same ceiling as Rojas and Prielipp but is arguably the most MLB-ready of the bunch. He started 19 games (plus two long relief outings) in Triple-A this season and worked to a 4.09 ERA with a 22.4% strikeout rate and 7% walk rate. The 2022 fourth-rounder averaged 95.5 mph on his four-seamer in Triple-A this past season — up 1.6 mph from the prior year — and draws praise for plus command and a five-pitch arsenal that includes at least average grades on his heater, slider and cutter.

A Twin Cities native, Klein was an undrafted free agent who signed with his hometown club in 2022. He pitched 106 1/3 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, logging a combined 3.98 ERA. Klein, who’ll turn 24 in April, fanned 27.6% of his opponents against an 8% walk rate. He sits 94-96 mph with his sinker and four-seamer, complementing those fastballs with a cutter, curveball and changeup.

Gonzalez came to the Twins from the Mariners as part of the 2023 Jorge Polanco trade. He was a top-100 prospect at the time who struggled in his first season with the organization but bounced back to the tune of a .329/.395/.513 batting line as a 21-year-old between Double-A and Triple-A this season. He could get an MLB look in 2026.

Mendez was one of the team’s many deadline pickups, coming over in the trade that sent Harrison Bader to Philadelphia. He hit a combined .299/.399/.439 with more walks than strikeouts (13.6% to 13.2%) in 491 turns at the plate between High-A and Double-A. He’s a bat-first, hit-over-power outfield prospect who is generally considered to rank within the top 20 of a deep Minnesota farm system.

Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com first reported that Rojas had been selected.

Cubs Select James Triantos, Pedro Ramírez, Riley Martin

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The Cubs announced that they have selected infielders James Triantos and Pedro Ramírez as well as left-hander Riley Martin. Those three are now protected from being selected in next month’s Rule 5 draft. The club’s 40-man roster count is now at 32.

Triantos, a second-rounder out of high school in 2021, has been one of the more promising pure hitters in the system for the past few seasons. His stock is down after a poor season with Triple-A Iowa. Triantos only managed a .259/.315/.370 slash over 480 trips to the plate. He continued to put the ball in play at a high rate but without much authoritative contact. He hit seven homers and posted well below-average exit velocities. Triantos stole 31 bases while bouncing between second base and the outfield, so perhaps he can factor in as a utility piece in 2026.

Ramírez, a 21-year-old infielder out of Venezuela, is now the superior prospect in the eyes of Baseball America. He’s the only member of this trio to crack Chicago’s top 10 prospects on their recent update of the system. He’s a switch-hitting second/third baseman who batted .280/.346/.386 while stealing 28 bags in 563 plate appearances at Double-A Tennessee this year. Ramírez is also light on power but has excellent contact skills. He’ll probably get the bump to Iowa to begin 2026.

Martin is an Illinois native who was a sixth-rounder in 2021 out of Division II Quincy University. The 6’1″ southpaw has spent the past two seasons pitching out of the bullpen in Triple-A. He fired 63 2/3 innings of 2.69 ERA ball with a near-31% strikeout rate over 47 appearances. Martin struggles with walks and dished out free passes at a 13.4% clip. He works with a 94 MPH fastball and uses a mid-80s curveball as his favored secondary pitch.

Red Sox Select David Sandlin, Shane Drohan, Tyler Uberstine

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The Red Sox announced that they have selected left-hander Shane Drohan as well right-handers David Sandlin and Tyler Uberstine to the roster. They opened 40-man spots by designating right-hander Josh Winckowski for assignment, trading left-hander Brennan Bernardino to the Rockies and trading left-hander Chris Murphy to the White Sox, moves which were previously reported. The three selections were reported by Chris Cotillo of MassLive prior to the official club announcement.

Boston already lost Drohan once in the Rule 5 Draft. The White Sox picked him back in 2023, but Drohan underwent a nerve compression procedure in his shoulder during spring training 2024 and began the season on the 60-day IL. He was hit hard when he was cleared for a rehab assignment, returned to the Red Sox, and finished the year back on the IL with shoulder troubles.

Unsurprisingly, that injury-wrecked season kept him from being selected in the 2024 Rule 5. That worked to Boston’s benefit. A healthy Drohan bounced back with 54 innings of 3.00 ERA ball. He struck out 34.5% of opponents against a 9.4% walk rate while sitting 93-95 with his four-seamer. Drohan still missed ample time on the injured list — this time due to a forearm issue — but he’s typically been productive when healthy, thanks largely to a plus changeup. He’ll turn 27 in January.

Sandlin, 25 in February, came to the Red Sox from the Royals in a 2022 swap sending righty John Schreiber to Kansas City. He reached a career-high 82 1/3 innings while pitching in Double-A this season and working to a tidy 3.61 earned run average with strong rate stats. The Sox moved him to a relief role upon bumping him to Triple-A, likely to manage his workload after pitching just 57 innings in 2024 and 66 innings in 2023. It was a struggle, as the righty was tagged for a 7.36 ERA while pushing his innings count far into uncharted territory. He wound up with an overall 4.50 ERA in 106 1/3 frames.

The 26-year-old Uberstine was Boston’s 19th-round pick in 2021. He split 2025 between Double-A and Triple-A, tossing 120 1/3 innings with a combined 3.58 ERA. Uberstine fanned 26.9% of opponents against an 8% walk rate. He’s a bit undersized at 6’1″ and 200 pounds, but he’s had success at nearly every minor league stop. Were it not for a Tommy John procedure that wiped out all of his 2023 season and most of his 2024 campaign, Uberstine may already have gotten a big league look. Now, coming off a healthy 120 innings with strong results, he figures to be in line for a call to Fenway Park at sometime in 2026.

Twins Acquire Eric Orze From Rays

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The Twins announced they’ve acquired reliever Eric Orze from the Rays for minor league pitcher Jacob Kisting. Minnesota takes a flier on the 28-year-old righty as they overhaul a bullpen that they decimated at the trade deadline.

Tampa Bay acquired Orze from the Mets last winter in the trade that sent center fielder Jose Siri to New York. They used him as an up-and-down middle innings arm. The former fifth-round pick tossed 41 2/3 innings of 3.02 ERA ball across 33 appearances. His 22.5% strikeout percentage and 10.7% walk rate weren’t as impressive, but he missed bats on a strong 13.2% of his offerings overall.

Orze has a three-pitch mix led by a mid-80s splitter. He sits in the 93-94 MPH range on his fastball and mixes in a slider as his breaking pitch. The University of New Orleans product has an ERA just under 4.00 in parts of five Triple-A seasons and still has an option year remaining. He won’t reach arbitration for three seasons in all likelihood and should have plenty of opportunity to stake a claim to a significant role in Derek Shelton’s bullpen.

Kisting, a 6’5″ right-hander, was a 14th-round pick out of Bradley University in 2024. He has worked mostly as a reliever in the low minors. The 22-year-old struck out more than a quarter of opposing hitters against a solid 7.7% walk rate, albeit as a college arm against generally younger competition. He won’t be eligible for the Rule 5 draft for two seasons.

A’s Designate JJ Bleday For Assignment

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The Athletics are designating outfielder JJ Bleday for assignment, reports Martín Gallegos of MLB.com. The A’s are adding prospects Braden Nett, Junior Perez and Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang to their 40-man roster to keep them out of the Rule 5 draft.

The A’s are moving on from their Opening Day center fielder of the past two seasons. They acquired Bleday from the Marlins over the 2022-23 offseason in a one-for-one swap sending A.J. Puk to Miami. It was a change-of-scenery deal of former top 10 picks. Both players had brief amounts of success in their new home, but neither quite clicked in the way their acquiring club had hoped. Puk was beset by injuries, while Bleday struggled defensively and was up-and-down at the plate.

Bleday struggled in 2023, batting .195 with 10 home runs over 82 games. He followed up with the best season of his career, popping 20 longballs with a .243/.324/.437 slash while appearing in 159 games. It raised some hope of a late-career breakout, but Bleday’s bat regressed despite the move from Oakland to the much more hitter-friendly Sutter Health Park.

The Vanderbilt product batted .212/.294/.404 in 344 trips to the plate this year. He connected on 14 homers and still walked at a strong 10.5% clip, but his strikeout rate jumped by seven percentage points relative to the prior season. The A’s optioned him twice, but he spent the final two months of the season on the big league roster. He popped six homers and slugged .495 in that stretch, yet he also struck out in more than 30% of his trips to the dish.

Bleday’s overall production has been right around replacement level in two of the past three seasons. The A’s haven’t done him any favors in that regard by pressing him into center field — for which he’s clearly not equipped. He’s a fringe runner who has rated as arguably the game’s worst defensive center fielder over the past couple seasons. Bleday is serviceable but still subpar in the corners despite possessing above-average arm strength.

The 28-year-old surpassed three years of service this season. He’s eligible for arbitration for the first time and projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $2.2MM salary. The A’s decided they’d rather move on, potentially turning center field to defensive stalwart Denzel Clarke. They have three days to see if they can drum up any trade interest to flip Bleday for a lottery ticket prospect. He’ll otherwise be non-tendered on Friday and become a free agent.

Nett is the highest profile of the three prospects. The 23-year-old righty came over from the Padres as part of the Mason Miller return. He spent the entire season at Double-A between the two affiliates. Nett started 24 games and combined for 105 2/3 innings of 3.75 ERA ball while striking out nearly a quarter of opponents. He walked 10.3% of batters faced and has struggled to throw strikes consistently throughout his career. Nett has a four-pitch mix that gives him a chance to start, though the command development will determine whether he sticks in the rotation or moves to relief down the line.

Perez, 24, also began his career in the San Diego system. He was traded to the A’s while he was in rookie ball for Jorge Mateo in 2020. A native of the Dominican Republic, he’s a right-handed hitting outfielder who connected on 26 homers between the top two minor league levels. There’s a lot of swing-and-miss to his game, but he has power and takes a lot of walks.

Zhuang is a 25-year-old righty from Taiwan. He signed with the A’s in 2021 and has worked as a minor league starter. He tossed 145 2/3 innings at Double-A Midland in 2025, pitching to a 4.08 ERA with solid underlying numbers. Zhuang fanned 24% of opponents while showing excellent control with a sub-6% walk percentage. Baseball America ranked him 25th in the A’s system coming into the year, crediting him with plus command and an above-average changeup but fringy breaking stuff.

Rockies Designate Michael Toglia, Ryan Rolison For Assignment

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The Rockies announced that they have acquired left-hander Brennan Bernardino from the Red Sox, a move that was previously reported. They also selected the contracts of left-hander Welinton Herrera, right-hander Gabriel Hughes and outfielder Sterlin Thompson. They began the day with a 40-man count of 38, meaning they needed two spots for those four additions. They made space by designating first baseman Michael Toglia and right-hander Ryan Rolison for assignment.

The three selections were necessary in order to project those players from the Rule 5 draft. In order to open space for them, the Rockies have knocked off two former first-round picks. Toglia, now 27, was taken 23rd overall in 2019. He has shown some power potential in the big leagues but always with massive strikeout problems. He has 42 home runs in 1,057 plate appearances but has been punched out at a 35% clip. He has a .201/.278/.389 batting line and 70 wRC+.

He exhausted his final option season in 2025, meaning he will be out of options going forward. That would make it hard for him to hang onto a roster spot, so the club has bumped him off today. The Rockies can explore some trade interest but might non-tender Toglia on Friday.

Rolison, now 28, was taken 22nd overall in 2018. He had his development thrown off by multiple factors. The pandemic wiped out the minor leagues in 2020. After that, shoulder problems held Rolison back. He missed the entire 2022 season and then hardly pitched in 2023. He finally made it to the big leagues in 2025 but posted a 7.02 earned run average in his 42 1/3 innings. He only struck out 13% of opponents and also gave out walks at a 10.4% clip.

He still has an optioning remaining and was decent in Triple-A this year. He pitched 29 2/3 innings in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League with a 3.34 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate, 7.1% walk rate and 48.8% ground ball rate. Perhaps that leads to some interest but it’s also possible he ends up non-tendered in a few days.

Herrera, 22 in April, was an international signing out of the Dominican Republic. He has been climbing the minor league ladder, working as a reliever. He split 2025 between High-A and Double-A, posting a 2.64 ERA. He struck out 36.4% of batters faced with a 9.2% walk rate. He hasn’t yet reached the Triple-A level yet but the Rockies understandably didn’t want him to get away with those kinds of numbers.

Hughes, 24, was the club’s first round pick in 2022. He was selected 10th overall and received a $4MM signing bonus. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2024 but he got back on the mound this year. He made 24 starts across three different levels, logging 105 1/3 innings with a 4.19 ERA. His 19.9% strikeout rate wasn’t strong but his 8.6% walk rate was decent and he kept the ball on the ground at a 48.5% clip.

The Rockies are rebuilding and the rotation was historically bad in 2025. 14 of Hughes’ 24 starts came at the Triple-A level, so he could force his way to the majors at any point. However, he now has three option years, so the Rockies could also keep him in the minors until they feel he is ready.

Thompson, 24, was taken 31st overall in that same 2022 draft as Hughes. That was the compensation pick the Rockies received after Trevor Story rejected a qualifying offer and signed with the Red Sox.

The young outfielder has hit his way up the minor league ladder. He spent 2025 in Triple-A, stepping to the plate 513 times. His 10.3% walk rate and 20.9% strikeout rate were both decent figures. He hit 18 home runs and slashed .296/.392/.519 for a 117 wRC+, though that was buoyed by a .353 batting average on balls in play. FanGraphs ranked him as the #9 prospect in the system coming into the year.

The Rockies currently have an outfield mix consisting of Brenton Doyle, Mickey Moniak, Jordan Beck, Zac Veen and others. Thompson can jump into that mix and push for playing time immediately, though his full slate of options also means the Rockies don’t need to rush him.

Photo courtesy of Ron Chenoy, Imagn Images

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