Spencer Jones is not making the New York Yankees’ Opening Day roster this season. The franchise optioned its number 6 prospect to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Following the announcement, a Yankees veteran has called out the Yankees for their questionable attitude toward Jones.
The news of Jones’ reassignment to the minor leagues came on Monday, March 9. However, despite being optioned to Triple-A, Jones was in the lineup against the Philadelphia Phillies in the Grapefruit League.
Ex-Yankees Clint Frazier on Life After The Show podcast pointed out, “Now, the fact that Spencer is going to be optioned and then coming back over to play in the major league games for his fair share of games, to me, sounds like they are avoiding a meal money situation.”
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The former Yankee revealed that there is no fixed paycheck, but rather a fixed day (usually Thursday or Friday) on which players receive a particular amount of cash every week. But if they get optioned before payday, they will not get paid despite playing the whole week. However, Jones got optioned on Monday, so that is likely not the case with him.
The Yankees’ skipper, Aaron Boone, had dubbed the decision to option Jones to Triple-A as a transactional move. However, Frazier wasn’t buying it. “Whenever I read transactional move, my mind just goes to they’re trying to avoid something, you know,” he said. “Trying to avoid either him being on the IL or paying a meal money. I don’t think it’s the meal money, but I love to think that they like to save a couple thousand dollars at the end of the day.”
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He speculated that the club and maybe Brian Cashman are trying to save some money. Frazier also said that by moving him, they also avoid the risk of paying him an MLB standard salary in case he landed on the injury list.
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“Or what they are trying to do is avoid the fact that if Spencer Jones gets hurt in the game and he is on the 40-man roster, then he could be put on the major league injured list. And be paid money for a major league salary if he got hurt,” Frazier remarked.
However, Jones is not the only player to have been reassigned to the minor leagues. The Yankees have also optioned Elmer Rodriguez to Triple-A. Rodriguez is currently representing Puerto Rico in the WBC.
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Jones has emerged as an impressive power-hitter last season after recording 35 homers and a .274 batting average in the minor leagues, igniting hopes of an MLB debut.
But after the re-signing of Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham, the Yankees’ outfield is full. With Randal Grichuk and Jasson Dominguez, there is not much space for depth pieces either. So, Jones’ MLB debut is delayed even more. It ultimately raises questions about what Cashman wants to do with Jones in the future and whether he will get his chance of debuting in the big leagues with the Bronx.
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Meanwhile, Jones revealed his feelings after being optioned to Triple-A.
Spencer Jones reacts to being optioned to Triple-A
Spencer Jones’ wait for a major league debut continues after the Yankees optioned him to Triple-A during Spring Training. MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reported that Jones feels that he can compete and is ready to contribute to the Yankees’ win.
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“The biggest thing that I’ve gotten out of this year is the feeling that I belong and I can compete, and I can do whatever to help the team win,” said Jones via Hoch on X.
One of the primary reasons behind Jones being optioned to Triple-A is his strikeout rate. He struck out 179 times in 2025 and 200 times in 2024. As ESPN’s Jorge Castillo pointed out, “His 35.4% strikeout rate last season would’ve ranked highest in the majors.”
Jones needs to improve his contact rate while maintaining his power. “You never want to hear it, but it is what it is,” said Jones after getting the minor league news, “I’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’ve got a whole, long season ahead of us. Opportunities are available, and it’s just about taking advantage of them.”
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Manager Aaron Boone also had words of encouragement for Jones, reported MLB.com.
“The reality is, he’s coming off a really strong season. I feel like he continues to make really solid adjustments. He came in here and has represented really well. You see the signs of him continuing to get better,” acknowledged Boone.
But for now, because of a packed outfield featuring Bellinger, Judge, and Dominguez, Jones will need to wait for his MLB debut.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox rookie Connelly Early is competing with righty Johan Oviedo for the fifth rotation spot.
Early, a 23-year-old lefty, has made a strong case. He has allowed three earned runs in 12 innings (2.25 ERA) across four outings (three starts) in Grapefruit League action. Opponents are batting .222 against him.
But his performance during spring training might not be the only factor that determines whether he wins the job. MLB service time rules could influence the decision.
If Early spends 35 days in the minor leagues this season, the Red Sox would receive an extra year of control. He would hit free agency after the 2032 season, not after 2031. As a result, the Red Sox have some incentive to send Early to the minors to begin the 2026 season. The team faces a similar calculation with fellow rookie Payton Tolle, who must spend 45 days in the minors for Boston to gain that extra year.
The Red Sox have been able to lock up several young players, including Roman Anthony, Brayan Bello, Kristian Campbell and Ceddanne Rafaela, to long-term extensions. But they have not approached Early about a contract extension to this point, according to an industry source.
Early said the service time factor isn’t on his mind.
“No, I don’t think about that,” he said. “I just go out there and throw the ball and we’ll see what happens at the end of spring training. But just going out there throwing the ball, trying to compete for your spot.”
The lefty pitched 3 ⅔ innings, allowing two runs (one earned), five hits (two doubles) and one walk while striking out one in an 8-5 loss to the Twins at Hammond Stadium on Thursday.
“I feel like I’m doing a solid job (this spring). Today, not a good enough job,” Early said. “But obviously with how the wind was, I want to keep the ball on the ground a little bit more. Didn’t do a great job of that, but still good enough with the pitch count. Shapes were really solid, so gotta look at the positives and just get back at it next week.”
Early topped out at 96.4 mph and averaged 94.9 mph with his 19 four-seam fastballs. He also mixed in 14 sliders, 12 curveballs, nine changeups, four sweepers and four sinkers, per Baseball Savant.
“If the velocity holds, that’s great, but I’d like a little bit more swing and miss in there and keep the ball on the ground a little bit more,” Early said.
The Red Sox promoted Early last Sept. 9 to make his major league debut. He posted a 2.33 ERA in four regular season starts, then started Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Early put on size this offseason and his velocity has ticked up. He has averaged 95.1 mph with his heater this spring, up from his average 94.0 mph last year. His fastball has a 96.0 mph perceived velocity.
“We saw this last year; the only thing now is that he’s stronger,” manager Alex Cora said. “I challenged him right after the season — him and Tolle. Basically similar to what we did the previous years. They got to become monsters. They got to be big and strong. It’s 162 (game season), 30 starts, if they’re here or whatever they’re at. So the more physical, the better. He did an outstanding job in the offseason, checking all the boxes. It was a good offseason for him and now he’s performing at this level.”

The 2026 Major League Baseball regular season is right around the corner with Opening Day approaching in just two weeks, as of writing.
The season will begin for the St. Louis Cardinals on March 26 against the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s arguably going to be a fun season, no matter what the standings look like. When you have a team this young with players who have sky-high potential, like JJ Wetherholt, Masyn Winn and even Jordan Walker, it’s going to be fun to see if this team can put it together. The speed at which the young guys on the roster take a step forward will determine how long this reset period lasts.
St. Louis did the right thing this past offseason and really ripped the Band-Aid by trading veterans to the point that it has to see what it has with the young guys on the roster. There really isn’t a way around that. Over the course of the season, the Cardinals will have an opportunity to add even more talent when the MLB Draft rolls around in July. The Cardinals have the No. 13 pick in the first round to kick things off. The Cardinals also landed two picks in the Brendan Donovan trade, which only will give the club more ammo.
It’s a bit early to be thinking about the draft, but with a prospect-filled season coming, it’s okay. Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo dropped his first mock draft of the year and had St. Louis slotted to select LSU outfielder Derek Curiel at No. 13.
The Cardinals have the No. 13 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft

At this point, Aaron Judge has stopped chasing records because records are now going after him. We already know how good Judge is on the field, but now, we are also witnessing his impact off the field.
It was recently reported by TOPPS, saying, “Aaron Judge has just set a new record for most expensive modern baseball card ever.”
Aaron Judge’s 2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Pick Superfractor one‑of‑one autographed card sold for $5.2 million. It set a new modern baseball card record in a private sale through Fanatics Collect.
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The sale beat the previous record of $3.936 million, set by a Mike Trout card in 2020. This Judge card adds historical value, as it was printed four years before his official rookie card. The buyer and seller have not yet revealed their identities.
Judge’s card now ranks among the top 10 highest‑paid sports cards ever, tied with a Mickey Mantle and a LeBron James card at $5.2 million on the all‑time list. That list also includes the NBA’s $12.9 million Jordan/Bryant card and Mantle’s $12.6 million Topps.
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Before this, Judge’s most expensive sale was $324,000 in 2022 for the same card. Shohei Ohtani’s ultra‑rare 2025 Topps Chrome Gold Logoman autographed card sold for $3 million.
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Paul Skenes’ rookie patch card sold for about $1.1 million, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 2016 Bowman Chrome Red Refractor Autograph sold for $552K. These numbers show Judge now stands above many star players in card value, including Trout, Ohtani, and Skenes.
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The ‘Gold Logoman’ cards are worth so much because they use real gold MLB logo patches worn by stars like Judge and Ohtani. MLB verifies these patches and links them to specific games.
The Ohtani Gold Logoman 1/1 shows a patch worn when he hit his seventh home run on April 29, 2025, versus the Marlins. That game‑verified history makes the patch tangible proof that collectors care about. Bidding for a dual Gold Logoman Judge/Ohtani card has already crossed $1.2 million.
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The meteoric rise in value from $324,000 to $5.2 million captures a rare emotional moment for fans and collectors alike. As one family saw with Ohtani’s Gold Logoman card, pulling a 1/1 can change lives overnight.
Judge’s record now sits among legends like Jordan, Mantle, and Ruth on the all‑time sales list. This modern market peak shows how deep collector passion has grown over the last few years.
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Aaron Judge backed after Team USA almost failed to qualify
Even though Aaron Judge’s cards are making huge numbers, it’s his performance on the field that has everyone talking. Team USA’s loss to Italy in the 2026 World Baseball Classic hit like a gut punch for fans, mainly because the rally fizzled and Judge struck out to end the game.
With the score 8‑6 and a runner on base in the ninth, Weissert struck out Judge to seal the USA’s fate. While the final strikeout felt like a massive blow, the damage had already been done at the start. Italy had built an early 8‑0 lead with home runs by Kyle Teel and Jac Caglianone.
The final strikeout against Italy should not overshadow the fact that Judge has been one of Team USA’s best hitters in the tournament. Over four games in this WBC, Aaron Judge averaged .250 with 2 home runs and a 1.054 OPS.
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Judge hit a two‑run home run in the 5‑3 win over Mexico that kept the U.S. in a strong position. He also drew 5 walks in limited at‑bats, showing good patience at the plate. These facts show Judge did more good than harm, and his strikeout should not be the entire story.
The real problem was starters like Nolan McLean crumbling under pressure. While stars like Bryce Harper and Cal Raleigh were on the bench for most of the game, it led to Judge mostly doing the heavy lifting.
Taken together, these moments and Aaron Judge’s strong overall stats suggest that placing all the blame on him ignores the many parts of this loss that really cost Team USA.

Spring Training games don’t count for much.
Many of the players won’t make the Opening Day roster. Several games are only available on the radio. Major League Baseball’s Modern Era began in 1901, and the league only began tracking spring training stats in 2006.
Which is what makes it the perfect time to, as Gen Z’ers say, do something for the plot.
Like outfielder Braiden Ward, who’s been zipping around the Grapefruit League base paths like the Looney Tunes’ Road Runner.
In Thursday’s 8-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins, the Red Sox non-roster invitee stole his 17th base, a new spring training record. And to celebrate, he pulled the third base out of the dirt and held it aloft, Rickey Henderson-style.
Ward told reporters the Henderson tribute started off as a joke by teammate Marcelo Mayer, but the idea grew legs when manager Alex Cora didn’t nix it.
“I wasn’t going to do that in general but they were all egging me on, egging me on,” Ward told. “And then AC didn’t say no. … And then (Trevor) Story was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ And then everyone was like, ‘You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to do it.’ ”
Henderson, who passed away last year, became MLB’s stolen base king in 1991, just 14 years into his 25-year Hall of Fame career. Nicknamed “Man of Steal,” he swiped 1,406 bags in all, including eight with the 2002 Red Sox during his penultimate season.
Much like Cy Young’s 749 complete games, Henderson’s record is unlikely to be broken. The game is too different now. The league’s active leader in career stolen bases is 36-year-old Starling Marte, who has 361 steals in 14 seasons and is one of just three active players to reach 300.
The Red Sox all-time leader is Harry Hooper, who stole exactly 300 bases in a 12-year Boston tenure that spanned the 1909-20 seasons. Hooper, Tris Speaker (1907-15) and Jacoby Ellsbury (2007-13) are the only players to steal more than 168 bases in a Red Sox uniform.
The Colorado Rockies selected Ward in the 16th round of the 2021 draft. He reached Triple-A last season, and has stolen 211 bases in 414 career minor league games. He’s 17 for 18 in stolen base attempts in his first Red Sox camp.
“I had no idea what the record was until someone had mentioned it on Twitter when I had 12,” Ward said. “And then I was like, ‘Wait, 16’s doable. 17’s doable at the rate I was going.’ AC was just like, ‘Go out there and run. Do your thing.’ ”
“He’s a good base runner,” Cora told reporters. “It’s not like he’s out there just running for the hell of it.”
Indeed, Ward is trying to crack a Red Sox roster overcrowded with All-Star and Gold Glove outfielders.
“I’m trying to impress him, impress the team, find a role on this team,” Ward said of Cora. “And so I’m just trying to do what I can do, and so hopefully we can get to 20, 25 and just keep going.”
The chances of Ward, who turned 27 on Jan. 18 and has yet to make his major league debut, coming close to Henderson’s career total are hair-thin, at best.
But that’s not what spring training is about.
“How often do you get to do something like that?” Ward said. “It’s for the boys, you know what I mean? It was something for us and for us to celebrate a little bit during spring training. Spring training’s supposed to be fun and laidback.”
Red Sox game notes
Connelly Early allowed one earned run and one unearned run on five hits, walked one and struck out one in his 3 2/3-inning start. He threw 62 pitches, 41 for strikes.
The Red Sox were out-hit 12-11, went 4 for 16 with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base. Trevor Story and newcomer Caleb Durbin contributed multiple hits and a triple apiece. Story also doubled and scored a run in his 3 for 4 day.
The game featured four ABS challenges, but only Connor Wong proved successful.
Red Sox minor leaguer Noah Song allowed two hits and struck out one in his inning of work on Thursday, but has yet to allow a run through five spring training appearances totaling six frames.

The Miami Marlins third ranked prospect has put on a show during the World Baseball Classic. Owen Caissie, whom the Marlins received during the Edward Cabrera trade this offseason from the Cubs, is playing for Team Canada.
Through four games of pool play, Caissie has looked the part of a future MLB star. The primary corner outfielder is batting .500 with a homer, three doubles, five RBI, and a 1.458 OPS.
That four-game stretch is better than virtually every All-Star on Team USA’s roster, and Canada, for that matter. Caissie is proving why he should start the 2026 season on the Marlins active roster, and he’s making a good point.
Owen Cassie Is Giving the Miami Marlins Every Reason To Believe He’s Ready for the MLB
In his lone stint in the majors with the Cubs last season, Cassie struggled. He picked up just five hits and struck out 11 times over a dozen games. While the big leagues weren’t too kind to him, he’s coming off one of his best minor league seasons yet.
Over 99 games at Triple-A Iowa, Caissie hit 22 homers, drove in 55 runs, and boasted a slash line of .286/.386/.551. He’s posted back-to-back full, strong seasons at Triple-A and has proven he’s ready for the MLB.
Even former MLB starter Jake Peavy noticed on MLB Network.

The Washington Nationals have the 11th overall pick in the 2026 draft, and it will be a huge first year for Paul Toboni and his front office when it comes to adding even more talent to this pipeline.
Because this will be the first draft he’s run since becoming the president of baseball operations for the Nationals, it’s unclear what positions he’s going to target and if he’ll go with a collegiate or high school player. However, there is one name that continues to pop up in mock drafts when it comes to who Washington might take at No. 11.
Liam Peterson, the flamethrowing right-handed pitcher out of the University of Florida, has previously been linked to the Nationals. And in version 3.0 of Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report’s mock draft, he has them selecting the collegiate arm.
Upside of Liam Peterson Could Be Too Good for Natioanls to Pass Up

The Boston Red Sox are making a notable addition on Thursday night by adding southpaw reliever Danny Coulombe to a one-year MLB contract, according to Ken Rosenthal. Coulombe, an 11-year MLB veteran, posted a 2.30 ERA last season with the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers.
A potentially underrated signing here for the Red Sox, who are quietly having one of the more active offseasons in the league. With just two weeks left until Opening Day, Boston adds another leverage southpaw, which had been an item of need, to their roster.
More MLB on Heavy: Yankees Get Strong Take on $70 Million Infielder’s Contract Situation
Boston to Sign Danny Coulombe in Free Agency
The financials of the deal have yet to be announced, but this story will be updated when those reports come in.
Danny Coulombe is a 36-year-old lefty reliever with 11 years of MLB experience. He had an exceptionally strong first half of the season in 2025, which led to the Twins dealing him in their firesale effort. However, Coulombe was much less effective down the stretch of the season in 12 innings with the Rangers.
He pitched to a 2.30 ERA over 43 innings last season. Over the last three seasons, although some not a complete body of work, Danny Coulombe has posted an ERA of sub 3.00.
More to come…

The Los Angeles Dodgers, like every other MLB team, are gearing towards a long season. Considering the Dodgers won the World Series last year, and Blake Snell gave heroic performances all the way to the Fall Classic, there is a bit of a rest, ‘hangover’ process that many pitchers endure after winning a title. Snell has notably been dealing with a shoulder injury, and it will likely land him on the Injured List to start the 2026 season.
According to multiple reports, Dodgers’ ace southpaw Blake Snell is dealing with a ‘cranky’ shoulder and is about six weeks away from being ready to pitch.
More MLB on Heavy: Red Sox Sign Danny Coulombe to One-Year Deal in MLB Free Agency
Blake Snell Set to Miss Beginning of Dodgers Season
If you know and understand Blake Snell’s trajectory as a starter in the regular season, this injury news should come as no surprise. Snell threw his first BP today in Dodgers’ spring camp, but it was then reported after that he will be sidelined to start the season.
Last season, the first year of a five-year, $137 million deal, Snell got injured just a handful of starts into the season and came back in August ready to roll. Snell posted a 2.35 ERA over 61.1 innings and 11 starts in 2025, and had one of the more dominant postseasons in recent memory.
Snell did not give up a run in either the NLDS or NLCS en route to Los Angeles’s back-to-back World Series victory. The two-time CY Young’s timeline shouldn’t be a concern for the Dodgers, but they will need some fill-in options to be productive in Snell’s absence.
More MLB on Heavy: Yankees Get Strong Take on $70 Million Infielder’s Contract Situation
Will Blake Snell’s Injury Impact the Dodgers?
This injury isn’t likely to hurt the Dodgers too much in the long run, as they have names like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, and Emmett Sheehan to pick up Snell’s slack in the rotation.
And as noted, Snell only made two starts at the beginning of last season before missing four to five months with a shoulder bug, and then he returned dominant as ever. The Dodgers shouldn’t be worried about this slight Snell inconvenience.
It will be interesting to see though if LA makes another small signing for another veteran starter that could make a handful of starts.
This isn’t uncommon with Blake Snell, either. He’s had plenty of years where he hasn’t been fully healthy to either start a season or endure some sort of injury that sidelines him during the year. Los Angeles didn’t sign him to make 30 starts; they started him to pitch in October.

PHOENIX –– Kiké Hernández has been to the MLB postseason 10 times, played in 103 playoff games and taken part in five World Series.
But what he experienced last week, while cheering on Team Puerto Rico from the dugout during two group stage games on his native island in the World Baseball Classic, might have rivaled anything he’s ever felt in his baseball career.
“Getting the W and having a stadium of 18,000 people singing a pretty significant song for our island all together, it’s a moment that I’ll never forget,” he said. “I’m still bummed that I don’t get to be a part of it, but I still support my people. I’m still hoping that they can win.”
Hernández is not participating in this year’s WBC, of course, as he continues to recover from an offseason elbow surgery that will sideline him for the first couple months of the season.
However, he got permission from the Dodgers to leave spring training last week to join Team Puerto Rico for the first two group stage games it hosted at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in the island’s capital of San Juan.
That meant, when Darell Hernáiz hit his epic walk-off home run in Puerto Rico’s extra-inning, come-from-behind win over Panama last Saturday, Hernández was there in the home plate celebration, pouring out of the dugout alongside his Puerto Rican teammates (including new Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz) in what instantly became one of the defining moments of WBC history.
“It’s not a walk-off homer in the World Series or anything like that,” he said. “But it’s still up there as one of those really cool moments that I’ll always remember.”
Afterward, Hernández also made headlines with postgame comments that went viral on social media, when he said in Spanish: “I’ve played in five World Series, and I don’t know if it’s because of what’s across my chest, but the Classic feels above that.”
On Thursday, Hernández expounded on that message, clarifying that the WBC often “feels bigger” than the World Series –– even if there is no apples-to-apples comparison for an MLB title.
“You don’t always choose who you play for (in MLB). Sometimes that’s not in your control,” he said. “But when you’re representing your country and playing along with your homies, sometimes you’re playing along with people that you grew up with. People back home are rooting for you.
“For us, coming from a little island, the things we can do for our island while the tournament is going on, it becomes a lot bigger than baseball, to where it not always feels that way when you’re playing for an organization in Major League Baseball.”
Hernández will rejoin Team Puerto Rico in Houston this weekend for its quarterfinal game Saturday against Team Italy –– joking that he texted Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman for permission immediately after last week’s walk-off win.
“He knows how much these games mean to me,” said Hernández, who still had his hair dyed white as part of Team Puerto Rico tradition. “It might have been an emotional text, but he was like, ‘After watching that game, it’s a pretty easy yes.’”
When asked if he would stay with Team Puerto Rico if it advances to the semifinal in Miami after that, Hernández then cracked a sly grin.
“I haven’t had that conversation yet with Andrew,” he said. “I only asked permission to go to Houston. So if we win again in Houston, he might get another text message asking if I can go along for the ride. But I haven’t decided that yet. We’re going to go one day at a time.”
Hernández’s rehab will factor into that equation. He said his progress is “starting to move along really rapidly” and that he has been able to take swings in the batting cage off a tee and against flipped balls from coaches.
Still, he wants to be there for as much of Puerto Rico’s WBC run as possible –– embracing his role as part cheerleader, part de facto coach on a team that has already surpassed expectations by reaching the knockout round despite missing most of its best MLB players because of insurance issues or injuries.
“I accepted the fact and came to peace with the fact that I couldn’t play,” he said. “Then you show up, you wear the uniform, you go out there for the anthem and you look around you can’t do it. It was really cool, but it was also really hard.
“I had to do a good job of hiding (that disappointment) and be there for the other guys that were there with less experience. It was tough being there (and not playing), but I’ll be there again in Houston, cheering them against Italy and providing whatever it is I need to provide as far as guidance or cheerleading. Whatever it is, I’ll be there. I’m all for it.”

Spencer Jones is not making the New York Yankees’ Opening Day roster this season. The franchise optioned its number 6 prospect to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Following the announcement, a Yankees veteran has called out the Yankees for their questionable attitude toward Jones.
The news of Jones’ reassignment to the minor leagues came on Monday, March 9. However, despite being optioned to Triple-A, Jones was in the lineup against the Philadelphia Phillies in the Grapefruit League.
Ex-Yankees Clint Frazier on Life After The Show podcast pointed out, “Now, the fact that Spencer is going to be optioned and then coming back over to play in the major league games for his fair share of games, to me, sounds like they are avoiding a meal money situation.”
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The former Yankee revealed that there is no fixed paycheck, but rather a fixed day (usually Thursday or Friday) on which players receive a particular amount of cash every week. But if they get optioned before payday, they will not get paid despite playing the whole week. However, Jones got optioned on Monday, so that is likely not the case with him.
The Yankees’ skipper, Aaron Boone, had dubbed the decision to option Jones to Triple-A as a transactional move. However, Frazier wasn’t buying it. “Whenever I read transactional move, my mind just goes to they’re trying to avoid something, you know,” he said. “Trying to avoid either him being on the IL or paying a meal money. I don’t think it’s the meal money, but I love to think that they like to save a couple thousand dollars at the end of the day.”
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He speculated that the club and maybe Brian Cashman are trying to save some money. Frazier also said that by moving him, they also avoid the risk of paying him an MLB standard salary in case he landed on the injury list.
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“Or what they are trying to do is avoid the fact that if Spencer Jones gets hurt in the game and he is on the 40-man roster, then he could be put on the major league injured list. And be paid money for a major league salary if he got hurt,” Frazier remarked.
However, Jones is not the only player to have been reassigned to the minor leagues. The Yankees have also optioned Elmer Rodriguez to Triple-A. Rodriguez is currently representing Puerto Rico in the WBC.
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Jones has emerged as an impressive power-hitter last season after recording 35 homers and a .274 batting average in the minor leagues, igniting hopes of an MLB debut.
But after the re-signing of Cody Bellinger and Trent Grisham, the Yankees’ outfield is full. With Randal Grichuk and Jasson Dominguez, there is not much space for depth pieces either. So, Jones’ MLB debut is delayed even more. It ultimately raises questions about what Cashman wants to do with Jones in the future and whether he will get his chance of debuting in the big leagues with the Bronx.
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Meanwhile, Jones revealed his feelings after being optioned to Triple-A.
Spencer Jones reacts to being optioned to Triple-A
Spencer Jones’ wait for a major league debut continues after the Yankees optioned him to Triple-A during Spring Training. MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch reported that Jones feels that he can compete and is ready to contribute to the Yankees’ win.
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“The biggest thing that I’ve gotten out of this year is the feeling that I belong and I can compete, and I can do whatever to help the team win,” said Jones via Hoch on X.
One of the primary reasons behind Jones being optioned to Triple-A is his strikeout rate. He struck out 179 times in 2025 and 200 times in 2024. As ESPN’s Jorge Castillo pointed out, “His 35.4% strikeout rate last season would’ve ranked highest in the majors.”
Jones needs to improve his contact rate while maintaining his power. “You never want to hear it, but it is what it is,” said Jones after getting the minor league news, “I’ve got a lot of work to do, and we’ve got a whole, long season ahead of us. Opportunities are available, and it’s just about taking advantage of them.”
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Manager Aaron Boone also had words of encouragement for Jones, reported MLB.com.
“The reality is, he’s coming off a really strong season. I feel like he continues to make really solid adjustments. He came in here and has represented really well. You see the signs of him continuing to get better,” acknowledged Boone.
But for now, because of a packed outfield featuring Bellinger, Judge, and Dominguez, Jones will need to wait for his MLB debut.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox rookie Connelly Early is competing with righty Johan Oviedo for the fifth rotation spot.
Early, a 23-year-old lefty, has made a strong case. He has allowed three earned runs in 12 innings (2.25 ERA) across four outings (three starts) in Grapefruit League action. Opponents are batting .222 against him.
But his performance during spring training might not be the only factor that determines whether he wins the job. MLB service time rules could influence the decision.
If Early spends 35 days in the minor leagues this season, the Red Sox would receive an extra year of control. He would hit free agency after the 2032 season, not after 2031. As a result, the Red Sox have some incentive to send Early to the minors to begin the 2026 season. The team faces a similar calculation with fellow rookie Payton Tolle, who must spend 45 days in the minors for Boston to gain that extra year.
The Red Sox have been able to lock up several young players, including Roman Anthony, Brayan Bello, Kristian Campbell and Ceddanne Rafaela, to long-term extensions. But they have not approached Early about a contract extension to this point, according to an industry source.
Early said the service time factor isn’t on his mind.
“No, I don’t think about that,” he said. “I just go out there and throw the ball and we’ll see what happens at the end of spring training. But just going out there throwing the ball, trying to compete for your spot.”
The lefty pitched 3 ⅔ innings, allowing two runs (one earned), five hits (two doubles) and one walk while striking out one in an 8-5 loss to the Twins at Hammond Stadium on Thursday.
“I feel like I’m doing a solid job (this spring). Today, not a good enough job,” Early said. “But obviously with how the wind was, I want to keep the ball on the ground a little bit more. Didn’t do a great job of that, but still good enough with the pitch count. Shapes were really solid, so gotta look at the positives and just get back at it next week.”
Early topped out at 96.4 mph and averaged 94.9 mph with his 19 four-seam fastballs. He also mixed in 14 sliders, 12 curveballs, nine changeups, four sweepers and four sinkers, per Baseball Savant.
“If the velocity holds, that’s great, but I’d like a little bit more swing and miss in there and keep the ball on the ground a little bit more,” Early said.
The Red Sox promoted Early last Sept. 9 to make his major league debut. He posted a 2.33 ERA in four regular season starts, then started Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
Early put on size this offseason and his velocity has ticked up. He has averaged 95.1 mph with his heater this spring, up from his average 94.0 mph last year. His fastball has a 96.0 mph perceived velocity.
“We saw this last year; the only thing now is that he’s stronger,” manager Alex Cora said. “I challenged him right after the season — him and Tolle. Basically similar to what we did the previous years. They got to become monsters. They got to be big and strong. It’s 162 (game season), 30 starts, if they’re here or whatever they’re at. So the more physical, the better. He did an outstanding job in the offseason, checking all the boxes. It was a good offseason for him and now he’s performing at this level.”

The 2026 Major League Baseball regular season is right around the corner with Opening Day approaching in just two weeks, as of writing.
The season will begin for the St. Louis Cardinals on March 26 against the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s arguably going to be a fun season, no matter what the standings look like. When you have a team this young with players who have sky-high potential, like JJ Wetherholt, Masyn Winn and even Jordan Walker, it’s going to be fun to see if this team can put it together. The speed at which the young guys on the roster take a step forward will determine how long this reset period lasts.
St. Louis did the right thing this past offseason and really ripped the Band-Aid by trading veterans to the point that it has to see what it has with the young guys on the roster. There really isn’t a way around that. Over the course of the season, the Cardinals will have an opportunity to add even more talent when the MLB Draft rolls around in July. The Cardinals have the No. 13 pick in the first round to kick things off. The Cardinals also landed two picks in the Brendan Donovan trade, which only will give the club more ammo.
It’s a bit early to be thinking about the draft, but with a prospect-filled season coming, it’s okay. Baseball America’s Carlos Collazo dropped his first mock draft of the year and had St. Louis slotted to select LSU outfielder Derek Curiel at No. 13.
The Cardinals have the No. 13 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft

At this point, Aaron Judge has stopped chasing records because records are now going after him. We already know how good Judge is on the field, but now, we are also witnessing his impact off the field.
It was recently reported by TOPPS, saying, “Aaron Judge has just set a new record for most expensive modern baseball card ever.”
Aaron Judge’s 2013 Bowman Chrome Draft Pick Superfractor one‑of‑one autographed card sold for $5.2 million. It set a new modern baseball card record in a private sale through Fanatics Collect.
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The sale beat the previous record of $3.936 million, set by a Mike Trout card in 2020. This Judge card adds historical value, as it was printed four years before his official rookie card. The buyer and seller have not yet revealed their identities.
Judge’s card now ranks among the top 10 highest‑paid sports cards ever, tied with a Mickey Mantle and a LeBron James card at $5.2 million on the all‑time list. That list also includes the NBA’s $12.9 million Jordan/Bryant card and Mantle’s $12.6 million Topps.
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Before this, Judge’s most expensive sale was $324,000 in 2022 for the same card. Shohei Ohtani’s ultra‑rare 2025 Topps Chrome Gold Logoman autographed card sold for $3 million.
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Paul Skenes’ rookie patch card sold for about $1.1 million, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 2016 Bowman Chrome Red Refractor Autograph sold for $552K. These numbers show Judge now stands above many star players in card value, including Trout, Ohtani, and Skenes.
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The ‘Gold Logoman’ cards are worth so much because they use real gold MLB logo patches worn by stars like Judge and Ohtani. MLB verifies these patches and links them to specific games.
The Ohtani Gold Logoman 1/1 shows a patch worn when he hit his seventh home run on April 29, 2025, versus the Marlins. That game‑verified history makes the patch tangible proof that collectors care about. Bidding for a dual Gold Logoman Judge/Ohtani card has already crossed $1.2 million.
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The meteoric rise in value from $324,000 to $5.2 million captures a rare emotional moment for fans and collectors alike. As one family saw with Ohtani’s Gold Logoman card, pulling a 1/1 can change lives overnight.
Judge’s record now sits among legends like Jordan, Mantle, and Ruth on the all‑time sales list. This modern market peak shows how deep collector passion has grown over the last few years.
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Aaron Judge backed after Team USA almost failed to qualify
Even though Aaron Judge’s cards are making huge numbers, it’s his performance on the field that has everyone talking. Team USA’s loss to Italy in the 2026 World Baseball Classic hit like a gut punch for fans, mainly because the rally fizzled and Judge struck out to end the game.
With the score 8‑6 and a runner on base in the ninth, Weissert struck out Judge to seal the USA’s fate. While the final strikeout felt like a massive blow, the damage had already been done at the start. Italy had built an early 8‑0 lead with home runs by Kyle Teel and Jac Caglianone.
The final strikeout against Italy should not overshadow the fact that Judge has been one of Team USA’s best hitters in the tournament. Over four games in this WBC, Aaron Judge averaged .250 with 2 home runs and a 1.054 OPS.
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Judge hit a two‑run home run in the 5‑3 win over Mexico that kept the U.S. in a strong position. He also drew 5 walks in limited at‑bats, showing good patience at the plate. These facts show Judge did more good than harm, and his strikeout should not be the entire story.
The real problem was starters like Nolan McLean crumbling under pressure. While stars like Bryce Harper and Cal Raleigh were on the bench for most of the game, it led to Judge mostly doing the heavy lifting.
Taken together, these moments and Aaron Judge’s strong overall stats suggest that placing all the blame on him ignores the many parts of this loss that really cost Team USA.

Spring Training games don’t count for much.
Many of the players won’t make the Opening Day roster. Several games are only available on the radio. Major League Baseball’s Modern Era began in 1901, and the league only began tracking spring training stats in 2006.
Which is what makes it the perfect time to, as Gen Z’ers say, do something for the plot.
Like outfielder Braiden Ward, who’s been zipping around the Grapefruit League base paths like the Looney Tunes’ Road Runner.
In Thursday’s 8-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins, the Red Sox non-roster invitee stole his 17th base, a new spring training record. And to celebrate, he pulled the third base out of the dirt and held it aloft, Rickey Henderson-style.
Ward told reporters the Henderson tribute started off as a joke by teammate Marcelo Mayer, but the idea grew legs when manager Alex Cora didn’t nix it.
“I wasn’t going to do that in general but they were all egging me on, egging me on,” Ward told. “And then AC didn’t say no. … And then (Trevor) Story was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ And then everyone was like, ‘You’ve got to do it. You’ve got to do it.’ ”
Henderson, who passed away last year, became MLB’s stolen base king in 1991, just 14 years into his 25-year Hall of Fame career. Nicknamed “Man of Steal,” he swiped 1,406 bags in all, including eight with the 2002 Red Sox during his penultimate season.
Much like Cy Young’s 749 complete games, Henderson’s record is unlikely to be broken. The game is too different now. The league’s active leader in career stolen bases is 36-year-old Starling Marte, who has 361 steals in 14 seasons and is one of just three active players to reach 300.
The Red Sox all-time leader is Harry Hooper, who stole exactly 300 bases in a 12-year Boston tenure that spanned the 1909-20 seasons. Hooper, Tris Speaker (1907-15) and Jacoby Ellsbury (2007-13) are the only players to steal more than 168 bases in a Red Sox uniform.
The Colorado Rockies selected Ward in the 16th round of the 2021 draft. He reached Triple-A last season, and has stolen 211 bases in 414 career minor league games. He’s 17 for 18 in stolen base attempts in his first Red Sox camp.
“I had no idea what the record was until someone had mentioned it on Twitter when I had 12,” Ward said. “And then I was like, ‘Wait, 16’s doable. 17’s doable at the rate I was going.’ AC was just like, ‘Go out there and run. Do your thing.’ ”
“He’s a good base runner,” Cora told reporters. “It’s not like he’s out there just running for the hell of it.”
Indeed, Ward is trying to crack a Red Sox roster overcrowded with All-Star and Gold Glove outfielders.
“I’m trying to impress him, impress the team, find a role on this team,” Ward said of Cora. “And so I’m just trying to do what I can do, and so hopefully we can get to 20, 25 and just keep going.”
The chances of Ward, who turned 27 on Jan. 18 and has yet to make his major league debut, coming close to Henderson’s career total are hair-thin, at best.
But that’s not what spring training is about.
“How often do you get to do something like that?” Ward said. “It’s for the boys, you know what I mean? It was something for us and for us to celebrate a little bit during spring training. Spring training’s supposed to be fun and laidback.”
Red Sox game notes
Connelly Early allowed one earned run and one unearned run on five hits, walked one and struck out one in his 3 2/3-inning start. He threw 62 pitches, 41 for strikes.
The Red Sox were out-hit 12-11, went 4 for 16 with runners in scoring position, and left eight men on base. Trevor Story and newcomer Caleb Durbin contributed multiple hits and a triple apiece. Story also doubled and scored a run in his 3 for 4 day.
The game featured four ABS challenges, but only Connor Wong proved successful.
Red Sox minor leaguer Noah Song allowed two hits and struck out one in his inning of work on Thursday, but has yet to allow a run through five spring training appearances totaling six frames.

The Miami Marlins third ranked prospect has put on a show during the World Baseball Classic. Owen Caissie, whom the Marlins received during the Edward Cabrera trade this offseason from the Cubs, is playing for Team Canada.
Through four games of pool play, Caissie has looked the part of a future MLB star. The primary corner outfielder is batting .500 with a homer, three doubles, five RBI, and a 1.458 OPS.
That four-game stretch is better than virtually every All-Star on Team USA’s roster, and Canada, for that matter. Caissie is proving why he should start the 2026 season on the Marlins active roster, and he’s making a good point.
Owen Cassie Is Giving the Miami Marlins Every Reason To Believe He’s Ready for the MLB
In his lone stint in the majors with the Cubs last season, Cassie struggled. He picked up just five hits and struck out 11 times over a dozen games. While the big leagues weren’t too kind to him, he’s coming off one of his best minor league seasons yet.
Over 99 games at Triple-A Iowa, Caissie hit 22 homers, drove in 55 runs, and boasted a slash line of .286/.386/.551. He’s posted back-to-back full, strong seasons at Triple-A and has proven he’s ready for the MLB.
Even former MLB starter Jake Peavy noticed on MLB Network.

The Washington Nationals have the 11th overall pick in the 2026 draft, and it will be a huge first year for Paul Toboni and his front office when it comes to adding even more talent to this pipeline.
Because this will be the first draft he’s run since becoming the president of baseball operations for the Nationals, it’s unclear what positions he’s going to target and if he’ll go with a collegiate or high school player. However, there is one name that continues to pop up in mock drafts when it comes to who Washington might take at No. 11.
Liam Peterson, the flamethrowing right-handed pitcher out of the University of Florida, has previously been linked to the Nationals. And in version 3.0 of Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report’s mock draft, he has them selecting the collegiate arm.
Upside of Liam Peterson Could Be Too Good for Natioanls to Pass Up

The Boston Red Sox are making a notable addition on Thursday night by adding southpaw reliever Danny Coulombe to a one-year MLB contract, according to Ken Rosenthal. Coulombe, an 11-year MLB veteran, posted a 2.30 ERA last season with the Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers.
A potentially underrated signing here for the Red Sox, who are quietly having one of the more active offseasons in the league. With just two weeks left until Opening Day, Boston adds another leverage southpaw, which had been an item of need, to their roster.
More MLB on Heavy: Yankees Get Strong Take on $70 Million Infielder’s Contract Situation
Boston to Sign Danny Coulombe in Free Agency
The financials of the deal have yet to be announced, but this story will be updated when those reports come in.
Danny Coulombe is a 36-year-old lefty reliever with 11 years of MLB experience. He had an exceptionally strong first half of the season in 2025, which led to the Twins dealing him in their firesale effort. However, Coulombe was much less effective down the stretch of the season in 12 innings with the Rangers.
He pitched to a 2.30 ERA over 43 innings last season. Over the last three seasons, although some not a complete body of work, Danny Coulombe has posted an ERA of sub 3.00.
More to come…

The Los Angeles Dodgers, like every other MLB team, are gearing towards a long season. Considering the Dodgers won the World Series last year, and Blake Snell gave heroic performances all the way to the Fall Classic, there is a bit of a rest, ‘hangover’ process that many pitchers endure after winning a title. Snell has notably been dealing with a shoulder injury, and it will likely land him on the Injured List to start the 2026 season.
According to multiple reports, Dodgers’ ace southpaw Blake Snell is dealing with a ‘cranky’ shoulder and is about six weeks away from being ready to pitch.
More MLB on Heavy: Red Sox Sign Danny Coulombe to One-Year Deal in MLB Free Agency
Blake Snell Set to Miss Beginning of Dodgers Season
If you know and understand Blake Snell’s trajectory as a starter in the regular season, this injury news should come as no surprise. Snell threw his first BP today in Dodgers’ spring camp, but it was then reported after that he will be sidelined to start the season.
Last season, the first year of a five-year, $137 million deal, Snell got injured just a handful of starts into the season and came back in August ready to roll. Snell posted a 2.35 ERA over 61.1 innings and 11 starts in 2025, and had one of the more dominant postseasons in recent memory.
Snell did not give up a run in either the NLDS or NLCS en route to Los Angeles’s back-to-back World Series victory. The two-time CY Young’s timeline shouldn’t be a concern for the Dodgers, but they will need some fill-in options to be productive in Snell’s absence.
More MLB on Heavy: Yankees Get Strong Take on $70 Million Infielder’s Contract Situation
Will Blake Snell’s Injury Impact the Dodgers?
This injury isn’t likely to hurt the Dodgers too much in the long run, as they have names like Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, and Emmett Sheehan to pick up Snell’s slack in the rotation.
And as noted, Snell only made two starts at the beginning of last season before missing four to five months with a shoulder bug, and then he returned dominant as ever. The Dodgers shouldn’t be worried about this slight Snell inconvenience.
It will be interesting to see though if LA makes another small signing for another veteran starter that could make a handful of starts.
This isn’t uncommon with Blake Snell, either. He’s had plenty of years where he hasn’t been fully healthy to either start a season or endure some sort of injury that sidelines him during the year. Los Angeles didn’t sign him to make 30 starts; they started him to pitch in October.

PHOENIX –– Kiké Hernández has been to the MLB postseason 10 times, played in 103 playoff games and taken part in five World Series.
But what he experienced last week, while cheering on Team Puerto Rico from the dugout during two group stage games on his native island in the World Baseball Classic, might have rivaled anything he’s ever felt in his baseball career.
“Getting the W and having a stadium of 18,000 people singing a pretty significant song for our island all together, it’s a moment that I’ll never forget,” he said. “I’m still bummed that I don’t get to be a part of it, but I still support my people. I’m still hoping that they can win.”
Hernández is not participating in this year’s WBC, of course, as he continues to recover from an offseason elbow surgery that will sideline him for the first couple months of the season.
However, he got permission from the Dodgers to leave spring training last week to join Team Puerto Rico for the first two group stage games it hosted at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in the island’s capital of San Juan.
That meant, when Darell Hernáiz hit his epic walk-off home run in Puerto Rico’s extra-inning, come-from-behind win over Panama last Saturday, Hernández was there in the home plate celebration, pouring out of the dugout alongside his Puerto Rican teammates (including new Dodgers closer Edwin Díaz) in what instantly became one of the defining moments of WBC history.
“It’s not a walk-off homer in the World Series or anything like that,” he said. “But it’s still up there as one of those really cool moments that I’ll always remember.”
Afterward, Hernández also made headlines with postgame comments that went viral on social media, when he said in Spanish: “I’ve played in five World Series, and I don’t know if it’s because of what’s across my chest, but the Classic feels above that.”
On Thursday, Hernández expounded on that message, clarifying that the WBC often “feels bigger” than the World Series –– even if there is no apples-to-apples comparison for an MLB title.
“You don’t always choose who you play for (in MLB). Sometimes that’s not in your control,” he said. “But when you’re representing your country and playing along with your homies, sometimes you’re playing along with people that you grew up with. People back home are rooting for you.
“For us, coming from a little island, the things we can do for our island while the tournament is going on, it becomes a lot bigger than baseball, to where it not always feels that way when you’re playing for an organization in Major League Baseball.”
Hernández will rejoin Team Puerto Rico in Houston this weekend for its quarterfinal game Saturday against Team Italy –– joking that he texted Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman for permission immediately after last week’s walk-off win.
“He knows how much these games mean to me,” said Hernández, who still had his hair dyed white as part of Team Puerto Rico tradition. “It might have been an emotional text, but he was like, ‘After watching that game, it’s a pretty easy yes.’”
When asked if he would stay with Team Puerto Rico if it advances to the semifinal in Miami after that, Hernández then cracked a sly grin.
“I haven’t had that conversation yet with Andrew,” he said. “I only asked permission to go to Houston. So if we win again in Houston, he might get another text message asking if I can go along for the ride. But I haven’t decided that yet. We’re going to go one day at a time.”
Hernández’s rehab will factor into that equation. He said his progress is “starting to move along really rapidly” and that he has been able to take swings in the batting cage off a tee and against flipped balls from coaches.
Still, he wants to be there for as much of Puerto Rico’s WBC run as possible –– embracing his role as part cheerleader, part de facto coach on a team that has already surpassed expectations by reaching the knockout round despite missing most of its best MLB players because of insurance issues or injuries.
“I accepted the fact and came to peace with the fact that I couldn’t play,” he said. “Then you show up, you wear the uniform, you go out there for the anthem and you look around you can’t do it. It was really cool, but it was also really hard.
“I had to do a good job of hiding (that disappointment) and be there for the other guys that were there with less experience. It was tough being there (and not playing), but I’ll be there again in Houston, cheering them against Italy and providing whatever it is I need to provide as far as guidance or cheerleading. Whatever it is, I’ll be there. I’m all for it.”

Team Italy and Team USA will face each other in a high-stakes match on March 11. This match has put Aaron Nola, who is starting for the first time in the WBC 2026, in an interesting position. His contribution while playing for Italy will be important for his team and for the USA. After losing to the Italians, they now depend on Mexico losing to Nola and Italy to try and make it to the quarterfinals.
Before the high-stakes match that decides whether Team USA will advance into the quarterfinals or not, here’s everything to know about Aaron Nola.
Who is Aaron Nola?
Aaron Michael Nola is a right-handed starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was born on June 4, 1993, in Baton Rouge, LA. The Toronto Blue Jays first drafted him in the 22 round of the 2011 MLB June Amateur Draft from Catholic HS. Then the Philadelphia Phillies drafted him in the 1 round of the 2014 MLB June Amateur Draft from Louisiana State University.
Nola made a historic MLB debut in 2015. He became the first Phillies pitcher since Pat Combs in 1989 to make a major league debut the very next season after being drafted. Since then, he has remained with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Who Is Aaron Nola’s Wife?
Aaron Nola married his high-school sweetheart, Hunter Jayde Harrington, on Dec. 31, 2022, at Barnsley Gardens Resort and Spa in Georgia. They got engaged in December 2021 during their trip to Yonah Mountain, Georgia.
Though little is known about Hunter’s current professional status, she was on the track and field team at the Pickеns County High School.
The couple welcomed their daughter, Scottie Brooks, on March 16, 2024. On November 30, 2025, they also announced that they are expecting another child in 2026.
Who are Aaron Nola’s Parents & Siblings?
Aaron Nola was born to A.J and Stacie Nola. His father was the Little League Coach until high school for Aaron and his older brother, Austin Nola.
The brothers also made history in 2022. They became the first sibling duo to face off as pitcher and batter in MLB postseason history during Game 2 of the 2022 NLCS.
Austin Nola, after playing for the Colorado Rockies in 2025, transitioned to coaching and currently serves as the bullpen coach for the Seattle Mariners.
What is Aaron Nola’s Ethnicity & Nationality?
Aaron Nola is an American national, being a native of Baton Rouge. He is of Italian descent from his paternal side and follows Christianity.
Nola’s great-grandparents originally belonged to Sicily, Italy, before they emigrated to the United States. His Italian heritage makes him eligible to play for the country in the WBC.
What is Aaron Nola’s Net Worth?
As of 2025, Aaron Nola’s wealth is estimated at somewhere between $20 million and $56 million. Some of his earnings, outside of his MLB contract, come from endorsements. Yuengling Brewery and Skechers are some of the brands that add to his net worth. However, his earnings from the endorsements are not publicly disclosed.
What is Aaron Nola’s MLB Contract & Salary?
Nola is signed through the 2030 season under a 7-year, $172 million, no-trade contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, agreed on November 2023.
As per Spotrac, he earned a base salary of $24,571,428 with a luxury tax of $24,571,429 in 2025. The cumulative cash he earned totaled to $73,714,284.
He had earned a career total of $105,999,209 as per Spotrac.
A breakdown of his year-by-year salary can be seen below:
What Are Aaron Nola’s MLB Career Highlights?
Aaron Nola has been with the Phillies since he made his MLB debut in 2015. At 32-years-old, he is the longest-tenured Phillie and has pitched in 285 games with a 109-89 record. He has posted a career ERA of 3.83 across 1715.2 innings pitched with 1876 strikeouts.
Nola had his career-best season in 2018, when he went 17-6 with a 2.37 ERA, 224 strikeouts in 212 1/3 innings. He also became an NL All-Star that year and finished third in the Cy Young voting. He is also a two-time NL Shutouts Leader in 2022 and 2024.
During the Phillies’ 2023 postseason run, Nola anchored the rotation across his four starts. He posted a 3–1 record with a 2.35 ERA, 23 strikeouts in 23 innings, and allowed only six earned runs.
Nola has thrown seven scoreless innings against the Miami Marlins in the Wild Card series. Against the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, he struck out nine, helping the Phillies progress. Nola pitched six scoreless innings and seven strikeouts against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS Game 2.
Nola has logged 200 strikeouts in five seasons, which include 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023. His start against Mexico, after an injury-filled 2025 season, might be a career-defining moment. And this moment holds the future of two countries in the balance.

Blue Jays: Juan Sanchez, 3B/SS (No. 7)
Toronto’s praise of the 18-year-old infielder has been consistent since his signing in January 2025, and he certainly helped fuel that fire with his 1.004 OPS in the Dominican Summer League last season. Now that he’s stateside, Sanchez will continue to show a promising mix of discipline and power and not only reach the Florida State League in his age-18 season but jump into the Top 100, giving Toronto three infielders in that group alongside Arjun Nimmala and JoJo Parker.
Orioles: Samuel Basallo, C/1B (No. 1/MLB No. 8)
It really doesn’t matter where he’s playing — it’s looking like DH mostly, but there should be some rotating in at first and behind the plate — we know Basallo is going to hit. We were happy the abdominal discomfort that forced him out for a few days this spring wasn’t anything serious and he has time to get in sync for the year. The power is very real, and after he finished the 2025 season in the Minors with 151 wRC+ and a .319 ISO (that led all Minor League hitters with 300 or more plate appearances), we’re so confident his bat will play in the big leagues that we’re predicting he’ll win American League Rookie of the Year honors.
Rays: Jacob Melton, OF (No. 4)
Tampa Bay sought out Melton in trades as it looked to address its center-field options because of his intriguing plus raw power, plus speed and great defense. The left-handed slugger was even showing solid gains with his approach at Triple-A, when healthy before the deal, and those could point to better MLB numbers than he’s shown in his previous stint with Houston. Melton will eventually win the center-field job full time and earn a spot on AL Rookie of the Year ballots by the end of the summer.
Yankees: Dax Kilby, SS (No. 4/MLB No. 94)
The 2025 Draft was loaded with high school shortstops, and Kilby was somewhat overshadowed as the 14th selected — though he went 39th overall. He started to make a name for himself by heading straight to Single-A and batting .353 with 16 steals and more walks (13) than strikeouts (11) in 18 games. He’ll continue to increase his stock by outhitting all his fellow 2025 prep shortstops, thriving at High-A at the end of his first full pro season and ranking as the Yankees’ best prospect by year’s end.
Guardians: Ralphy Velazquez, 1B/OF (No. 4/MLB No. 89)
The 23rd overall pick in the 2023 Draft, Velazquez scuffled in his first full pro season before leading the High-A Midwest League with 17 homers in 94 games and then posting a .994 OPS at Double-A last year. He’ll continue his upward trajectory, establishing himself as the best first-base prospect in baseball before debuting in Cleveland late in the summer.
Royals: Kendry Chourio, RHP (No. 3)
Chourio exploded onto the scene in 2025 with 63 strikeouts and only five walks across 51⅓ innings while climbing from the DSL to Single-A Columbia. His mid-90s fastball and upper-70s curveball both receive strong reviews, but it’s the ability to command the ball that has Kansas City officials so excited about his future. It’ll also help him rank among the Minors’ top five in K-BB% (min. 70 IP) in just his age-18 season.
Tigers: Bryce Rainer, SS (No. 3/MLB No. 35)
Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark give the Tigers two high-ceiling prospects in the overall top 10 ranks, and there are some across the industry who believe Rainer is just as, if not more, talented overall. The No. 11 pick in the 2024 Draft has plus power potential and is an above-average athlete at shortstop, when he isn’t sidelined by the right shoulder that limited him to only 35 Single-A games in 2025. Once he returns to regular playing time in ‘26, Rainer will become a top-10 overall prospect by the midseason update.
Twins: Dasan Hill, LHP (No. 6)
The Twins went over slot in 2024 to sign Hill, the No. 69 pick in the Draft for $2 million, and they were thrilled with the strides the super-projectable high school lefty made in his first full season. He struck out better than 12 per nine (31.1 K percentage) and held hitters to a .196 average over his 62 innings. Now the gloves can come off a little bit and he’s clearly gaining strength, with early reports this spring of him touching triple digits. He’s a huge breakout candidate, one who will jump onto the Top 100 and be considered one of the top five lefty pitching prospects by the end of the season.
White Sox: Roch Cholowsky, SS (Draft No. 1)
Not only will Cholowsky go No. 1 in the 2026 Draft, he’ll rank as the No. 3 overall prospect on the Top 100 Prospects list following his pro debut, trailing only fellow shortstops Jesús Made (Brewers) and Leo De Vries (Athletics). The best all-around college shortstop since Troy Tulowitzki, Cholowsky has launched nine homers in his first 16 games for UCLA this season. He’ll get a cup of coffee at Double-A this summer, setting him on course to reach Chicago at some point in 2027.
Angels: Tyler Bremner, RHP (No. 1/MLB No. 81)
He might have surprised many when he was taken No. 2 overall in last year’s Draft, but when we worked on our Top 100 in January, we got a lot of feedback that a lot of teams with high picks liked him a lot. And why not? He’s got great stuff and a good feel for the zone. In breaking the Santa Barbara career strikeout record in 2025, the right-hander finished with a 35.8 strikeout percentage while walking just 6.1 percent. That 29.7 K/BB% would have placed him behind only Jonah Tong in the Minors last year and we think he’s going to do it again, but this time he’ll lead all Minor League pitchers in K/BB%.
Astros: Kenny Alvarez, OF (No. 1)
For the third time in the past five years, the Astros don’t have a single representative on MLB Pipeline’s preseason Top 100 Prospects list. But they’ll have three Top 100 Prospects by the end of the year, the most since they had six on our preseason 2019 rankings. That trio will be Alvarez (the best hitter in the system), shortstop Xavier Neyens (their best power prospect) and outfielder Ethan Frey (their best combination of both tools). All three signed last year, Alvarez as one of the most polished position players in the 2025 international class and Neyens and Frey as Houston’s top two Draft picks.
A’s: Jamie Arnold, LHP (No. 2/MLB No. 41)
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but the A’s like to move guys through their system quickly. Now, not everyone can move with Nick Kurtz level speed, and it would probably be unfair to expect a pitcher to be up in late April, like Kurtz was last year en route to his Rookie of the Year campaign. But Arnold, the A’s first-rounder last year, has advanced stuff, a slider than can probably get big leaguers out now and a fantastic competitive streak. We can easily see him starting at an advanced level — Double-A, maybe? — and then finish the year with meaningful innings in the big leagues, including in the postseason as the A’s earn a Wild Card spot.
Mariners: Lazaro Montes, OF (No. 4/MLB No. 43)
There are few prospects with more raw power than Montes, and he carries a career .518 slugging percentage and a .245 ISO into the 2026 season. Yes, there’s swing-and-miss to worry about with a 29 percent K rate last year, but he also draws walks. He has established a pattern of earning an in-season promotion, struggling initially at the new level then conquering it the following year. Look for him to do that back at Double-A this year, earning a boost to Triple-A and upping his season home run total to 40 after hitting 21 in 2024 and 32 a year ago.
Rangers: Caden Scarborough, RHP (No. 2)
An unheralded sixth-round pick in 2023, Scarborough worked just 10 1/3 innings in his first two pro seasons while dealing with a strained lat, then dominated at two Class A levels last year. He’ll continue his ascension in 2026, ranking among the Minor League leaders in strikeouts and K/BB ratio and blossoming into the third-best righty pitching prospect in the game, behind only Seth Hernandez (Pirates) and Ryan Sloan (Mariners).
Braves: JR Ritchie, RHP (No. 2/MLB No. 90)
A lot went right for Ritchie in 2025, the season we got to see the real right-hander another year removed from his Tommy John surgery two years earlier. He amassed 140 total innings, starting the year at High-A Rome and finishing it with 11 Triple-A starts, and the 2025 Futures Game starter’s stuff ticked up along with his bat-missing ability. He recently made his first Grapefruit League start, a sign of things to come. We’re actually a little surprised his name hasn’t come up more as possible rotation pieces right out of the gate given the question marks around starting pitching in Atlanta, but he’ll get there soon and make at least 15 starts in the big leagues this season.
Marlins: Owen Caissie, OF (No. 3/MLB No. 42)
In the trade that sent Edward Cabrera to the Cubs in January, Caissie was the key pickup for the Marlins. One of the game’s top power prospects, he totaled 41 home runs during the past two seasons as one of the youngest players at Triple-A and hit his first big league long ball last August. He’ll keep the pop coming this year, when he breaks Dan Uggla’s franchise record for home runs by a rookie with 28.
Mets: Nolan McLean, RHP (No. 1/MLB No. 6)
The National League Rookie of the Year race promises to be loaded, but there’s only one pitcher in the competition with elite spin rates, a six-pitch arsenal and significant Major League success already. That’s McLean, the top pitching prospect in baseball entering 2026, and he’ll exit it as the fifth Mets pitcher to win Rookie of the Year honors, joining Jacob deGrom, Dwight Gooden, Jon Matlack and Tom Seaver on that illustrious list.
Nationals: Eli Willits, SS (No. 1/MLB No. 13)
Call it the Konnor Griffin track or the Jesús Made route. Whichever way you name it, there is a recent history of talented shortstops climbing quickly in their first full seasons stateside and touching the upper Minors way ahead of schedule. Willits — a potential plus hitter from both sides who draws raves for his speed and defense — could very well fall in line as an advanced talent compared to many of his peers. We’ll say last year’s No. 1 overall pick reaches Double-A for at least one week before his age-18 season comes to an end.
Phillies: Dante Nori, OF (No. 7)
We know Nori has a tremendous approach at the plate (13.0 percent BB rate vs. 14.7 percent K rate in 2025), we know he can run (52 steals) and we know he can really play center field. What we’ve been unsure of is the impact at the plate after he slugged .372 last year, though he’s well aware of the need for improvement on that side of the game. We’re not extrapolating too much from his 5-for-10 showing with two homers and a double for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic, but it doesn’t hurt. With Andrew Painter and Justin Crawford making the Opening Day roster and Aidan Miller soon to follow, there’s a good chance the top three prospects in the system will graduate, leaving it wide open for a new No. 1. We think it will be Nori who will ascend to the top spot on the Phillies’ Top 30 while splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A.
Brewers: Jesús Made, SS/2B (No. 1/MLB No. 3)
Let’s get it out of the way. Made will be the No. 1 overall prospect by the fall. That isn’t a hot take for someone two spots away right now (with two probable 2026 graduates ahead of him), but Made will earn it as a switch-hitter who can hit for average and power and steal plenty of bags. If you want a hotter take, Made will get more Triple-A playing time than Jackson Chourio did in his age-19 season (six games) and put himself in strong position for an early 2027 debut.
Cardinals: Rainiel Rodriguez, C (No. 3/MLB No. 37)
The owner of a .596 slugging percentage through his first two Minor League seasons, Rodriguez has turned himself into one of the most prominent power-hitting prospects in the game very quickly. He clobbered 20 homers in only 84 games in 2025, and you can bet he’s eager for an encore. In 2026, Rodriguez will lead all Minor League catchers in homers, finishing with at least 28 (which would have led the category last season).
Cubs: Ethan Conrad, OF (No. 3)
Conrad probably wouldn’t have lasted 16 picks into the 2025 Draft if he hadn’t dislocated his left (throwing) shoulder diving for a ball a month into his junior season at Wake Forest. When he makes his pro debut this year, he’ll make an immediate impact by giving the Cubs a 20-homer, 20-stolen base Minor Leaguer for the fifth straight season. He’ll follow in the footsteps of B.J. Murray (2025), Matt Shaw (2024), Pete Crow-Armstrong (2023), Alexander Canario and Jake Slaughter (both 2022).
Pirates: Konnor Griffin, SS (No. 1/MLB No. 1)
While it’s been fun seeing all the buzz surrounding Griffin, the top prospect in the game, this spring, fans ain’t seen nothing yet from the 19-year-old phenom. Sure, he’s hit three homers this spring and shown off all five of his outstanding tools in glimpses. After a first full season in which he hit 21 homers and stole 65 bases while reaching Double-A as a teenager, predicting that he’ll go 20/20 in 2026 isn’t exactly a big reach, but we’re putting a marker down now to say he’s going to do it in the big leagues.
Reds: Sal Stewart, INF (No. 1/MLB No. 22)
After Stewart came up to the big leagues last year, posted an OPS of .839 over 18 games while leading the Reds with five homers in September, we figured it was a slam dunk he’d be on the Opening Day roster. The signing of Eugenio Suárez made things a little crowded for a minute, but Stewart has cemented things by hitting .308/.400/577 over his first 10 Cactus League games, and he’ll be the Reds’ first baseman. This guy hits wherever he goes and it’s not going to stop, with him contending for the NL batting title in 2026.
D-backs: Kayson Cunningham, SS (No. 2)
The Arizona system only claims one Top 100 prospect now in outfielder Ryan Waldschmidt (No. 59), who seems likely to graduate this summer. No matter, this is a deeper system than him alone, and the organization will finish the season with at least three Top 100 prospects with Kayson Cunningham, Slade Caldwell, Demetrio Crisantes and JD Dix all prime candidates. In other words, the D-backs’ love of players with strong hit tools will pay off.
Dodgers: Kendall George, OF (No. 14)
After pilfering 72 bases in his final 53 games last season to lead the Minor Leagues with 100 swipes, George will clear the century mark at a more leisurely pace in 2026 and finish with 108 steals. The 2023 supplemental first-rounder may be the fastest player in the Minors and will become the first player at that level to reach 100 steals in consecutive seasons since Billy Hamilton in 2011-12.
Giants: Josuar Gonzalez, SS (No. 2/MLB No. 44)
Though the Giants currently have two Top 100 prospects and first baseman Bryce Eldridge will graduate to the Majors this year, they’ll lead all of baseball with seven Top 100 dudes at the conclusion of the season. Besides incumbent Gonzalez, candidates to join him include fellow shortstops Luis Hernández, Jhonny Level and Gavin Kilen; outfielders Dakota Jordan and Bo Davidson; left-hander Jacob Bresnahan; and the No. 4 overall choice in the 2026 Draft.
Padres: Ethan Salas, C (No. 2)
Salas’ struggles both at the plate and with his health (primarily a stress reaction in his back last year) have been widely told at this point, but the Padres believe the 19-year-old backstop can still be at least a special defender in the Majors. By getting healthy and picking up the at-bats needed for an offensive turnaround, Salas will post an OPS above .750 in his return to Double-A and push his way back onto the Top 100.
Rockies: Charlie Condon, 1B (No. 2/MLB No. 70)
Things have not exactly gone according to plan since Condon was the No. 3 pick in the 2024 Draft after putting up otherworldy numbers en route to winning the Golden Spikes Award at Georgia. Injuries have played a huge part with a hand issue hampering him during his pro debut and then a broken wrist suffered last spring shelving him early, and sapping him of strength for much of the season. He hit well in the Arizona Fall League last year but without power, and he has a career 26.9 percent K rate in his Minor League career. We think he’s turning the page now, though, and he’s going to use his outstanding Cactus League showing (.400/.448/800 with three homers over 29 plate appearances) as a springboard into the 2026 season, hitting at least 30 homers at the upper levels this season.

MLB is facing the lockout challenge, and as the current CBA is set to end by December 2026, time is ticking. According to former Blue Jays pitcher Chris Bassitt, MLB and the players’ union are on the verge of making a ‘criminal’ mistake that could derail the sport’s momentum. His proposed solution is simple, but one the league has historically failed to execute.
“For years, we’ve fought to get growth in our game, and for years we’ve fought to have the fans love this sport and do everything we possibly can. And then for this to possibly get in the way would be insane. It would be criminal.” Bassitt responded as Foul Territory’s A. J. Pierzynski said, “Let’s start negotiating for real right now. Why? Why don’t they?”
The upcoming CBA negotiations are projected to be dominated by a few disagreements, like the salary cap. So, getting the discussions underway well ahead of the deadline could make all the difference.
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Chris Bassitt believes negotiations should start sooner rather than later, as he believes that dragging things out only increases the risk of a lockout. He even compared it to how teams often wait until the last possible moment to make arbitration offers to players. And with baseball currently growing at a strong pace (+27% rise in 2025 playoff viewership), starting the negotiations now might be the best way to make sure a lockout doesn’t interrupt that momentum.
“I mean, that’s literally the thing that would piss me off,” Bassitt said when talking about the possibility of delayed negotiations behind the scenes. In his view, putting off the talks until the deadline gets close would almost guarantee trouble, and that’s why he called it “criminal.”
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Pierzynski also agrees because one of the biggest sticking points in the next CBA negotiations would be the idea of a salary cap. Interestingly, Pierzynski sees this less as a direct fight between players and owners and more as an issue among the franchises themselves.
Reportedly, big-market teams like the Dodgers and Yankees invest big in players and end up paying luxury tax penalties. For instance, the Dodgers have paid $169.4 million in MLB luxury tax for the 2025 season. Small-market teams like the Pirates and Marlins receive this payment, along with the TV rights revenue share, to maintain competitive equality. However, they are mostly accused of not spending enough on the players.
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Hence, as per Pierzynski, the salary cap is more of a fight between the franchises to stop the free flow of revenue.
Still, whether that actually becomes part of the next deal will ultimately depend on how MLB owners and the MLBPA manage to find common ground during the negotiations, and that’s rarely a quick or easy process. Therefore, as Bassitt stated, begin negotiations now to prevent a last-minute lockout.
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Chris Bassitt is not buying the concept of the salary cap
Even though the idea of a salary cap keeps getting pushed as a solution, Chris Bassitt isn’t convinced, and his opinion matters. That’s largely because he’s part of the subcommittee for the MLBPA. So what he says often reflects how the union is thinking.
Now, Bassitt has been pretty clear about where he stands. In his view, bringing in a salary cap “doesn’t fix anything.” Reports suggest that MLB owners are likely to push hard for one when the current CBA expires in December, hoping it will slow down the massive spending and free flow of money across the league.
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However, as per Bassitt, MLB still enjoys one of the best competitive equities compared to some other leagues, despite teams like the Dodgers and Mets being miles ahead in spending.
So, we are all certain that the upcoming CBA negotiations will witness some bad blood between the owners and the MLBPA regarding the salary cap. No matter whether the negotiations are set to begin now or later, tensions are inevitable. Still, starting the negotiations early would help both parties to buy out some time before the 2027 season starts.

MIAMI — The Dominican Republic and Venezuela both brought out a legendary pitcher from their country to kick off their matchup at the World Baseball Classic on Wednesday.
First, Juan Marichal — MLB’s first Dominican-born Hall of Famer — threw out the ceremonial first pitch at loanDepot park.
Then Venezuelan Cy Young Award winner Félix Hernández delivered the game ball to the mound before his countrymen took the field for the top of the first inning.
Wednesday’s game between the D.R. and Venezuela, who have met many times at the World Baseball Classic over the years, will determine who wins Pool D of the 2026 Classic.
The 88-year-old Marichal still has his iconic windup, and the energy to match the young Dominican superstars on the 2026 WBC team. The Giants legend was recently captured dancing in the D.R. clubhouse after the team’s win over Israel on Monday to clinch a spot in the WBC quarterfinals.
King Félix is one of the greatest Venezuelan pitchers in MLB history, along with current Team Venezuela pitching coach Johan Santana. Hernández has the most wins (169) and strikeouts (2,524) of any Venezuelan-born pitcher, along with his 2010 Cy Young Award with the Mariners and six All-Star selections.

Major League Baseball has implemented an Automated Ball-Strike (ABS) Challenge System in 2026, allowing players to challenge balls and strikes calls for the first time in the sport’s history.
The ABS Challenge System has been tested in the minor league since 2022, and is finally making its way to the MLB regular season. Major Leaguers had the opportunity to try it out during last year’s spring training, and again this season ahead of Opening Day.
Only three players — the pitcher, catcher and batter — are allowed to challenge a call, and it must come immediately after the pitch without any assistance from the dugout. Each team gets two challenges, but a successful challenge is retained. Thus, players need to be sure about their challenge to not risk hurting their team later in the game.
Players have had mixed reviews regarding the change this spring. San Diego Padres superstar Manny Machado is among those that don’t seem to be in favor of it.
“I don’t like it,

Fernando Tatis Jr. has managed to produce the bat flip of the year … even before the start of the MLB season.
The San Diego Padres star Tatis was suited up for his native Dominican Republic during Wednesday’s World Baseball Classic game against Venezuela in Pool D play. In the fourth inning at loanDepot Park in Miami, Fla., Tatis came up to bat with runners on the corners and two outs.
Tatis tattooed a 1-1 offering from Venezuela’s Antonio Senzatela into the left-field seats for a three-run home run to give the Dominican Republic a commanding 7-3 lead. But perhaps even better than the dinger was the bat flip that Tatis uncorked.
In the same motion after launching the pitch from Senzatela, Tatis helicoptered his bat down the third-base line. The bat then landed on the dirt with a dramatic thud as the local crowd in Miami roared in approval.
Here is the video.

Details have started to emerge about Netflix’s plans for MLB Opening Night, and the streaming giant apparently wants to make a splash with its baseball debut.
Literally.
Netflix reportedly plans to station 73 red kayaks in McCovey Cove behind Oracle Park’s right field wall for the March 25 game between the Giants and Yankees that marks the official start of MLB’s regular season.
The plan, first reported by the San Francisco Standard, is an homage to Barry Bonds’ single-season home run record the Giants legendary slugger set during the 2001 season.
Nine of Bonds’ 73 bombs that season reached the San Francisco Bay — and 35 of the 108 ever hit by a Giant, despite only playing seven seasons in a ballpark that celebrated its 25th birthday last year.
Bonds, who rarely grants interviews, has been rumored to be targeted by Netflix to appear as an analyst on the broadcast. His name was not among the seven members of the broadcast team revealed on Wednesday, but the announcement did tease an eighth, yet-to-be-named “special guest.”
Matt Vasgersian, recently named the voice of the weekly Sunday morning game on Peacock/NBC, will provide play-by-play with popular former players from each side serving as color analysts.
Hunter Pence will provide the Giants’ perspective, while CC Sabathia will represent the Yankees. Pence, a folk hero from the Giants’ World Series dynasty, still lives in San Francisco and has done commentary for NBC Sports Bay Area, as well as Apple TV. Sabathia went in to the Hall of Fame wearing a Yankees cap, but he was born and raised in Vallejo, about 30 miles northeast of Oracle Park.
The broadcast will also feature a live set on site hosted by Elle Duncan with another Hall of Famer, Albert Pujols, commentating with Anthony Rizzo, the former Yankees and Cubs first baseman. Lauren Shehadi will report from the field and the teams’ dugouts, and comedian Bert Kreischer will reprise his role from Netflix’s NFL broadcast.
The streamer made football its first foray into the major American sports market when it aired its first Christmas Day game in 2024. With its global audience, Netflix has recently been speculated as a natural landing spot for the NFL’s increased slate of international games.
Netflix’s baseball strategy appears to follow its football footprint, targeting high-profile keystone events.
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In addition to Opening Night, Netflix acquired the rights through 2028 to air the Home Run Derby and one “special event” per season, beginning this year with the Field of Dreams game set for Aug. 13.
The Bay Area-based company appears to be going above and beyond the typical broadcast.
According to the Standard, Netflix will also host a “pop-up bullpen,” where fans can test their arms. The kayaks, branded in Netflix red, will reportedly be available for use by fans.
McCovey Cove, one of the sport’s iconic attractions, figures to be on center stage.
Whether Netflix gets its wish and truly makes a splash remains to be seen. The water sits about 20 feet behind a 25-foot brick wall in right field, and San Francisco’s marine layer only adds another obstacle.

Eight teams — two from each pool — are still alive in their pursuit of a WBC title as the event takes on a tournament-style, single-elimination format. The quarterfinals begin with a two-game slate on Friday, with two more games to follow on Saturday.
Right now, two of those matchups are set. Team USA will take on Canada on Friday night (8 p.m. ET, FOX), while Italy battles Puerto Rico on Saturday (3 p.m. ET, FS1).
The other two quarterfinal matchups will be finalized later on Wednesday night, contingent on the result of the Pool D game between Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.
How they got here: Canada clinched the top spot in Pool A with a 7-2 win over Cuba on Wednesday, finishing pool play with a 3-1 record. That was tied with Puerto Rico for first place in Pool A, but Canada’s win over Puerto Rico on Tuesday gave the Canadians the head-to-head tiebreaker. Canada began pool play with a win over Colombia on Saturday before suffering a one-run loss to Panama on Sunday, its lone blemish in the tournament thus far.
The U.S. tore through pool play with three wins in as many games before a surprising loss to Italy on Tuesday. Team USA out-scored its first three opponents by a total of 20 runs, but faced potential elimination before Italy’s win over Mexico on Wednesday pushed the Americans through to the quarterfinals.
What’s at stake: This is the first time that Canada has qualified for the WBC quarterfinals, and the national team will look to keep this magical ride going with another monumental victory. On the other hand, the Americans are still alive in their quest for a third-consecutive championship game appearance. The winner of this game will advance to the semifinals to play the winner of Venezuela/Dominican Republic vs. Korea on Sunday.
Matchup history: It’s been 20 years since Canada’s lone win over the U.S. in a WBC contest, an 8-6 game that came as part of Pool B play back in the inaugural Classic in 2006. The U.S. beat Canada in pool play in each of the next four tournaments, with 2026 marking the first WBC in which the two North American neighbors fell into separate pools. Most recently, in 2023, the U.S. drubbed Canada 12-1 in a game that ended in seven innings because of the run rule.
How they got here: Puerto Rico finished as the runner-up in Pool A with a 3-1 record in pool play, losing out to Canada on a head-to-head tiebreaker. Tuesday’s 3-2 loss to the Canadians was Team Rubio’s only defeat, as Puerto Rico won its three other games in pool play, including a dramatic 10-inning victory over Panama in walk-off fashion.
Italy’s stunning 8-6 win over the U.S. highlighted a 4-0 record in Pool B play, booking Italy a trip to the quarterfinals for the second straight WBC. On Wednesday, Italy closed out pool play with a historic 9-1 win over Mexico, headlined by a three-homer game from first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino — the first three-homer game in Classic history.
What’s at stake: Puerto Rico will look to improve on its 2023 WBC run, which ended with a crushing loss to Mexico in the quarterfinals. Puerto Rico is hoping that this trip to the quarterfinals results in another trip to the title game, as it did in 2013 and 2017.
Meanwhile, this is the third time that Italy has advanced past pool play. It’s still looking to win a game in the quarterfinals. The winner of this quarterfinal showdown will advance to the semifinals to play the winner of Japan vs. Dominican Republic/Venezuela on Monday.
Matchup history: Puerto Rico and Italy faced off in WBC play in both 2013 and 2017, with Puerto Rico coming out on top both times. In the first matchup between the two countries, Puerto Rico’s 4-3 win in a second-round elimination contest set the stage for an improbable run to the championship game. The two were both part of Pool D in the 2017 Classic, with Puerto Rico beating Italy 9-3 en route to finishing in first place in pool play.

For months, the play had been argued, analyzed and debated in baseball’s collective memory.
Frame by frame. A lifted spike. A desperate slide.
Blue Jays fans stare at the replay the way gamblers stare at dice still rolling across the felt, convinced that somehow the outcome might change if they watch long enough.
Baseball fans argue that Isiah Kiner-Falefa should have taken a bigger lead. Their anger and ire directed at him until he revealed it was the third base coach who drew a line in the dirt and told him how big of a lead to take.
Millions watched from home believing that the outcome of the 2025 World Series was determined by inches.
Now MLB has delivered the final verdict — and it’s not even close.
According to a recently released MLB report provided to The Associated Press, the infamous Game 7 play at the plate between the Dodgers and Blue Jays wasn’t decided by inches, a sliding foot or the controversial moment when Dodgers catcher Will Smith briefly lifted his spike off home plate.
Kiner-Falefa was already dead in the water.
“After reviewing all relevant angles, the replay official definitively determined the catcher’s foot was touching the plate when the ball contacted the interior of his mitt,” MLB wrote in the report.
Translation: The out happened the instant Miguel Rojas’ throw smacked Smith’s glove.
Three feet before Kiner-Falefa ever arrived.
The play itself unfolded like chaos wrapped in tension. Bases loaded. One out. Bottom of the ninth in a 4-4 Game 7. Blue Jays third base coach Carlos Febles had drawn a conservative line in the dirt, telling Kiner-Falefa not to stray too far from third while Yoshinobu Yamamoto battled Daulton Varsho at the plate.
Varsho chopped a grounder. Rojas briefly stumbled at second before firing home. Smith caught it. The plate umpire barked the call: out.
“I just cared that he was out,” Smith said later.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider admitted the moment may haunt him forever.
“I’ll think about it until the day I leave this earth,” Schneider said.
But the numbers don’t lie. The replay doesn’t, either.
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The Blue Jays didn’t lose the World Series by inches.
They lost it by 3 feet.
And hours later, Smith crushed the exclamation point — a towering home run in the 11th inning that helped seal the Dodgers’ second straight championship, while the most argued play in baseball history quietly slipped from controversy into cold, hard fact.
The California Post recently asked Smith if he had gone back to watch the play.
“I honestly haven’t rewatched it,” said Smith, who admitted he’s afraid the outcome might change if he did.
Now he doesn’t have to worry about that.

Marking your age by how it compares to MLB players is a risky proposition; I’m still reeling from the fact that Placido Polanco — a former big leaguer who was born on Oct. 10, 1975, the same day as me — has been retired since 2013. But life moves on, inexorably, regardless.
The good news for wretches like us is that there still are some old guys hanging around. Now that the season is upon us, we take our annual look at the 10 oldest players in MLB. To qualify for this list, players simply must be in a Major League camp, even if they’re currently injured. (And we old people know how it is to always feel injured.)
Not included on this list are some players who recently concluded their careers or who remain free agents in need of a team. That group includes the likes of Justin Turner, Wade Miley, Yuli Gurriel, Adam Ottavino, and, of course, Rich Hill, who at age 46, says he’s not searching for a team but is also not officially retired … which means there’s still a chance!
Verlander hasn’t done that since August 2017; he has won two World Series rings and two Cy Young Awards since then. He won’t be expected to win any more of the latter this time around, but that won’t be necessary with Tarik Skubal and Framber Valdez alongside him in the rotation.
Verlander is second all-time in Tigers history in strikeouts, seventh in wins, eighth in innings pitched and ninth in bWAR (second among pitchers). It will be very, very cool to see him get to add to those numbers … and maybe even have a chance to get one of those rings for his original team, which would be its first in 42 years.
Scherzer actually had a pretty rough 2025, putting up a 5.19 ERA in 17 starts for the Jays, but no one remembers that now because he was so vital during their run to the World Series. Obviously, the Jays, wanting to get back there and win it this time, weren’t too concerned about the regular-season results.
First off, can we talk about how wild it is that there are no 40-year-old position players in baseball anymore? That’s sort of a shame: Some of our favorite memories are from graybeard dudes launching baseballs deep into the night like they’re beer-league softballs.
Santana had the worst offensive season of his career in 2025, putting up a career-low .308 OBP, nearing 50 points below his career average of .352. If he puts that up again in 2026, he is unlikely to be back in 2027. But the Diamondbacks signed him, hoping there’s still some oomph in that bat — he’s 15 homers away from 350 for his career.
Martin was, as always, effective last year. He put up a 2.98 ERA in 49 games for the Rangers, who happily brought him back on a one-year, $4 million deal. Is there any reason to think he can’t keep doing this for another decade? He should have plenty of bullets left: He has never once, in his 10 big league seasons, thrown more than 56 innings.
Darvish gets an asterisk on this list because he will miss the 2026 season after undergoing right elbow surgery in November. He did push back on reports that he was retiring and voiding his contract, so he remains on this list for now, although “for now” seems like the key phrase there. If Darvish doesn’t void the contract or retire, remember that he still has two more years on the six-year contract the Padres signed him to before the 2023 season.
We actually waited to update this list from last year until we know Cutch was going to be back: We put it together as soon as he signed his Minor League contract with the Rangers. It’s still a little bit of a shame he won’t play with the Pirates this year, but there remains life in that bat, with a .700 OPS last year. He will get playing time against lefties, and we’re grateful: We are not ready to say goodbye to him yet.
It just wouldn’t be a list of old baseball players if it didn’t have at least one Met on it. García has appeared in 603 career games in relief but has only 17 saves, which is the sort of odd achievement that tends to be a commonality among players who stick around a long time. It’s as if the best way to last as a reliever is not to have everybody staring at you at the end of every game.
Thielbar made his debut in 2013 and pitched three seasons with the Twins before bouncing around the Minors and independent leagues for five years. He finally returned during the COVID season in 2020. He hasn’t left since, and 2025 was the best year of his career, with a 2.64 ERA in 67 appearances for the Cubs. He does not have any career at-bats, but if he ever got one, he’d be one of the few right-handed-batting left-handed throwers in MLB history.
Carrasco is barely hanging on, a part of Braves camp as a non-roster invitee, though considering all the injuries that team is dealing with, opportunities keep presenting themselves for Carrasco, and any other pitcher in the Braves camp. He had a rough 2025 for both the Braves and the Yankees, with a 7.09 ERA in 11 games, nine of them starts, and it has now been a decade since he was receiving Cy Young votes. But considering what Carrasco has dealt with on and off the field, seeing him still hanging around the big leagues is undeniably inspiring.
It was 2019 when Yates had a league-leading 41 saves and finished ninth in Cy Young voting, but he’s never been better than he was in 2024. At the age of 37, he had 33 saves and a 1.17 ERA for the Rangers.

Team Italy and Team USA will face each other in a high-stakes match on March 11. This match has put Aaron Nola, who is starting for the first time in the WBC 2026, in an interesting position. His contribution while playing for Italy will be important for his team and for the USA. After losing to the Italians, they now depend on Mexico losing to Nola and Italy to try and make it to the quarterfinals.
Before the high-stakes match that decides whether Team USA will advance into the quarterfinals or not, here’s everything to know about Aaron Nola.
Who is Aaron Nola?
Aaron Michael Nola is a right-handed starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. He was born on June 4, 1993, in Baton Rouge, LA. The Toronto Blue Jays first drafted him in the 22 round of the 2011 MLB June Amateur Draft from Catholic HS. Then the Philadelphia Phillies drafted him in the 1 round of the 2014 MLB June Amateur Draft from Louisiana State University.
Nola made a historic MLB debut in 2015. He became the first Phillies pitcher since Pat Combs in 1989 to make a major league debut the very next season after being drafted. Since then, he has remained with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Who Is Aaron Nola’s Wife?
Aaron Nola married his high-school sweetheart, Hunter Jayde Harrington, on Dec. 31, 2022, at Barnsley Gardens Resort and Spa in Georgia. They got engaged in December 2021 during their trip to Yonah Mountain, Georgia.
Though little is known about Hunter’s current professional status, she was on the track and field team at the Pickеns County High School.
The couple welcomed their daughter, Scottie Brooks, on March 16, 2024. On November 30, 2025, they also announced that they are expecting another child in 2026.
Who are Aaron Nola’s Parents & Siblings?
Aaron Nola was born to A.J and Stacie Nola. His father was the Little League Coach until high school for Aaron and his older brother, Austin Nola.
The brothers also made history in 2022. They became the first sibling duo to face off as pitcher and batter in MLB postseason history during Game 2 of the 2022 NLCS.
Austin Nola, after playing for the Colorado Rockies in 2025, transitioned to coaching and currently serves as the bullpen coach for the Seattle Mariners.
What is Aaron Nola’s Ethnicity & Nationality?
Aaron Nola is an American national, being a native of Baton Rouge. He is of Italian descent from his paternal side and follows Christianity.
Nola’s great-grandparents originally belonged to Sicily, Italy, before they emigrated to the United States. His Italian heritage makes him eligible to play for the country in the WBC.
What is Aaron Nola’s Net Worth?
As of 2025, Aaron Nola’s wealth is estimated at somewhere between $20 million and $56 million. Some of his earnings, outside of his MLB contract, come from endorsements. Yuengling Brewery and Skechers are some of the brands that add to his net worth. However, his earnings from the endorsements are not publicly disclosed.
What is Aaron Nola’s MLB Contract & Salary?
Nola is signed through the 2030 season under a 7-year, $172 million, no-trade contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, agreed on November 2023.
As per Spotrac, he earned a base salary of $24,571,428 with a luxury tax of $24,571,429 in 2025. The cumulative cash he earned totaled to $73,714,284.
He had earned a career total of $105,999,209 as per Spotrac.
A breakdown of his year-by-year salary can be seen below:
What Are Aaron Nola’s MLB Career Highlights?
Aaron Nola has been with the Phillies since he made his MLB debut in 2015. At 32-years-old, he is the longest-tenured Phillie and has pitched in 285 games with a 109-89 record. He has posted a career ERA of 3.83 across 1715.2 innings pitched with 1876 strikeouts.
Nola had his career-best season in 2018, when he went 17-6 with a 2.37 ERA, 224 strikeouts in 212 1/3 innings. He also became an NL All-Star that year and finished third in the Cy Young voting. He is also a two-time NL Shutouts Leader in 2022 and 2024.
During the Phillies’ 2023 postseason run, Nola anchored the rotation across his four starts. He posted a 3–1 record with a 2.35 ERA, 23 strikeouts in 23 innings, and allowed only six earned runs.
Nola has thrown seven scoreless innings against the Miami Marlins in the Wild Card series. Against the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, he struck out nine, helping the Phillies progress. Nola pitched six scoreless innings and seven strikeouts against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS Game 2.
Nola has logged 200 strikeouts in five seasons, which include 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023. His start against Mexico, after an injury-filled 2025 season, might be a career-defining moment. And this moment holds the future of two countries in the balance.