The Los Angeles Dodgers do not expect two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to be ready for Opening Day as he works on coming back from a shoulder injury that has lingered since last season.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters Friday that the lefty has been throwing on flat ground, not the mound, and is making progress.
The New York Mets plan to put newly acquired ace Freddy Peralta on the mound against Pittsburgh on Opening Day.
New York traded two prospects to Milwaukee last month for the two-time All-Star.
"When we acquired him, it was pretty clear that he was going to be pitching at the front of our rotation," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Friday before Peralta had three strikeouts in three innings against St. Louis in a spring training game. "He earned it. I'm excited. We're all excited."
New York opens March 26 at home.
Konnor Griffin, the consensus top prospect in baseball after dominating three minor league levels in 2025, entered Pittsburgh Pirates spring training competing for the everyday shortstop job, and a potential Opening Day roster spot that would make him the first teenage position player to debut at that age since Ken Griffey Jr. in 1989.
Griffin's physical tools have drawn comparisons that go well beyond baseball. Tyler Krieger, co-owner of Maven Baseball Lab in Atlanta, witnessed Griffin jar loose a force plate anchored into a portable frame that had withstood swings from perennial All-Stars and MVP-caliber players.
"You're looking at a Ferrari," Krieger said. "You're not looking at a little Fiat."
Griffin, who turns 20 on April 24, slashed .333/.415/.527 with 21 home runs and 65 stolen bases across Single-A, High-A, and Double-A last season, earning unanimous Minor League Player of the Year recognition. He followed that performance with a two-homer game against Boston earlier this spring.
Sources told ESPN the Pirates are expected to approach Griffin with a long-term contract extension at some point this spring. The financial stakes are significant. A major league debut at 19 would make Griffin eligible for free agency at 25, putting him on a career arc similar to Alex Rodriguez and Juan Soto — the two players who received the largest contracts in baseball history after reaching the majors as teenagers.
Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes, who first met Griffin during a recruiting visit to LSU in 2022, has watched his teammate's profile grow with admiration.
"Everything screams uncommon," Skenes said. "And if you want to be uncommon, you want to do uncommon things, it starts with thinking uncommon — and he does that."
The Pirates face a familiar service-time dilemma. Keeping Griffin in the minors for at least two weeks would extend club control through 2032 rather than 2031. But Pittsburgh's postseason ambitions and the prospect promotion incentive program provide strong motivation to include him on the Opening Day roster.
Griffin said he is focused on the process rather than the decision.
"I fully trust what the front office and the coaches and everybody have done," Griffin said. "I'm just trying to treat it just like I did last spring. I know there could be a chance I make the big leagues at some point soon, and that's great, but I just want to feel ready."
New York Yankees outfield prospect Spencer Jones hit his second home run of the spring in Thursday's 7-3 Grapefruit League victory over the Atlanta Braves, a seventh-inning blast off right-hander Austin Pope that cleared George M. Steinbrenner Field and landed on Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa.
The drive registered 107 mph off the bat with a Statcast-projected distance of 401 feet. Jones, 24, has spent the offseason overhauling his swing mechanics, drawing from the approach of Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.
"He's a great reference of a really good mover with a great swing," Jones said. "He's one of those guys that I look at with some of the stuff he does, and I try to apply it in whichever way I can."
The adjustments have drawn notice from Yankees captain Aaron Judge, who praised the changes after watching Jones round the bases.
"The minute he puts that foot down with that little toe-tap, he's ready to hit," Judge said. "That quickness, that readiness, it's really going to be a game-changer for him."
Manager Aaron Boone connected the mechanical similarities between Jones and Ohtani directly.
"The way they move, he's trying to have one complete move with it," Boone said. "Obviously, the size is very similar. So hopefully he can copy that well."
Jones hit 35 home runs across Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last season and finished 2025 as the Yankees' No. 4 prospect per MLB Pipeline. He is 2-for-6 with four strikeouts and a walk this spring, still working toward his first major league at-bat.
Nick Kurtz, whose 2025 rookie season placed him in rare historical company, says he is open to signing a long-term contract extension with the Athletics as four teammates who recently signed deals make their preferences clear daily.
Kurtz, who turns 23 on March 12, hit 36 home runs with a 1.002 OPS last season, earning every first-place vote for the American League Rookie of the Year award. The Athletics control his rights through 2030, and the club has already submitted a long-term offer, first reported by the New York Post.
"Definitely open and interested," Kurtz told reporters Tuesday. "It's just about timing."
Outfielder Lawrence Butler, one of four Athletics who have signed extensions totaling $281.5 million combined over the past 14 months, acknowledged the clubhouse push.
"We pressure him every day," Butler said, laughing. "But we do it as friends. We just want him to be on our team for a long time."
Any Kurtz extension would almost certainly surpass Tyler Soderstrom's $86 million deal as the richest in franchise history. General manager David Forst cited the club's forthcoming Las Vegas ballpark set to open in 2028 as a financial foundation that makes sustained commitments feasible.
"This would have been inconceivable three or four years ago," Forst said. "But with everything that's ahead of us, we can afford this."
Kurtz's rookie numbers align with some of baseball's most celebrated seasons at age 22 or younger, matching the home run and slugging thresholds achieved by Mel Ott, Jimmie Foxx, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Eddie Mathews, Alex Rodriguez, and Bryce Harper.
Kurtz, however, kept the historical comparisons in perspective.
"I'm 22 years old," he said. "I'm worried about what I'm doing tomorrow. I'd rather be the guy who was just OK and won a bunch of World Series."
The New York Yankees will retire CC Sabathia's No. 52 and install a Monument Park plaque in a ceremony scheduled for Sept. 26, the club announced Wednesday. The Hall of Fame left-hander becomes the 24th player or manager in franchise history to receive the honor and the first since Paul O'Neill in 2022.
Sabathia pitched 11 seasons in pinstripes after signing as a free agent ahead of the 2009 campaign, posting a 134-88 record with a 3.81 ERA across 306 starts.
His defining contribution came during New York's 2009 championship run. Sabathia posted a 1.98 ERA over 36 1/3 innings across five postseason appearances and earned AL Championship Series MVP honors.
Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, and Mariano Rivera are the other members of that 2009 World Series title team to have their numbers retired by the franchise.
Sabathia finished his career with a 251-161 record, 3.74 ERA, and 3,093 strikeouts — placing him among only four left-handers in history to surpass 3,000 punchouts, alongside Randy Johnson, Clayton Kershaw, and Steve Carlton. He won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award with Cleveland.
"CC was an incredible competitor, teammate and leader who embodied the heart and soul of our team and this city," Yankees captain Aaron Judge said when Sabathia was elected to the Hall of Fame last year.
Since retiring after the 2019 season, Sabathia has served as a special assistant to commissioner Rob Manfred. Cleveland inducted him into its own Hall of Fame and dedicated a youth baseball field in his honor in 2024.
Veteran right-hander Max Scherzer has agreed to return to the Toronto Blue Jays on a one-year, $3 million contract, a league source told The Athletic on Thursday. The deal includes $10 million in performance incentives and no-trade protection.
Incentives begin at 65 innings pitched, per the source. The agreement brings back the 41-year-old for his 19th major league season after he helped Toronto reach the 2025 World Series.
Scherzer finished the regular season with a 5.19 ERA across 17 starts but posted a 3.77 mark in three postseason outings. He started Game 7 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, surrendering just one run in 4 1/3 innings before Toronto fell short.
"I just don't see how that's the last pitch I've ever thrown," Scherzer said following the Game 7 defeat.
Thumb problems that hampered Scherzer for three prior seasons limited him to the injured list for much of the first half of 2025. After returning in late June, he threw at least five innings in 10 of his first 11 starts, recording a 3.34 ERA across six August outings before a difficult September inflated his full-season numbers.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner has accumulated 221 career victories and two World Series titles. While his durability has declined from his peak years, Scherzer remains a commanding clubhouse presence and a reliable arm in high-stakes situations for a contending roster.
Konnor Griffin arrived at spring training as the consensus No. 1 prospect in baseball. On Tuesday, the 19-year-old shortstop delivered on that billing, blasting two home runs in the Pittsburgh Pirates' 16-7 Grapefruit League victory over the Boston Red Sox.
Griffin entered the game without a hit this spring. He left it with four RBIs and two swings that showcased why the Pirates view him as a foundational piece.
The first came off Boston newcomer Ranger Suarez in the second inning, a two-run shot that traveled 375 feet over the left-field wall. Suarez signed a five-year, $130 million deal with the Red Sox in January following back-to-back strong seasons in Philadelphia. Two innings later, Griffin turned on a two-strike pitch from Seth Martinez and drove it 440 feet.
"Got some good swings off, so kind of smoked them," Griffin told reporters.
Suarez, who was an All-Star in 2024, acknowledged the moment with measured admiration. "When you're the top prospect in the game, people expect that from you," Suarez said through an interpreter. "He did that today, and I wasn't surprised."
Griffin, who is 6-foot-4 and moved rapidly through Pittsburgh's minor league system last season, said he focused on approach rather than reputation.
"I stepped in the box and I was ready to compete," Griffin said. "I wasn't worrying about who was on the mound."
Manager Don Kelly urged patience with the teenager.
"We have to keep in mind that he's 19. It's about continuing to push him, allowing him to be himself and playing free."
A big league debut timeline remains fluid. The left side of Pittsburgh's infield lacks a settled answer, with Jared Triolo and Nick Gonzales both in the mix but neither projecting the offensive ceiling Griffin carries.
The Florida cabinet and Governor Ron DeSantis approved Tuesday a transfer of 22 acres of state-owned land in Tampa to Hillsborough College, clearing a critical hurdle for the Tampa Bay Rays' proposed new ballpark and mixed-use entertainment district.
The land sits adjacent to the New York Yankees' spring training facility and across a highway from Raymond James Stadium. Last month, Rays ownership signed a memorandum of understanding with the college to build the stadium on campus and renovate several existing college buildings.
The state retains the right to reclaim the land if the stadium's key components are not in place within five years of the transfer.
"This is undoubtedly a big moment for Tampa Bay, and the Rays are fully in this moment to bring this vision to life, and serve our region for generations to come," Rays CEO Ken Babby said in a statement.
The Rays have committed to funding a minimum of 50 percent of the new ballpark's cost. The remainder would need to come from the city of Tampa and Hillsborough County. DeSantis confirmed the state will not contribute direct funding. The club hopes to complete construction within three years.
The development follows the collapse of a $1.3 billion redevelopment plan near Tropicana Field last year, which had raised serious questions about the franchise's long-term future in the Tampa Bay area. The team was purchased last September by Patrick Zalupski's ownership group.
The Rays have played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg since 1998, with the exception of 2025 when hurricane damage forced the club to play home games at Steinbrenner Field. The team returns to the Trop this season under a lease running through at least 2028.
Texas Rangers shortstop Sebastian Walcott, ranked the fifth-best prospect in baseball by ESPN, underwent elbow surgery Monday and is expected to miss five to six months, the team announced.
The 19-year-old had an internal brace placed on his right elbow, a procedure considered less invasive than full elbow reconstruction. The Rangers left open the possibility of Walcott returning at some point during the 2026 season.
Walcott had been a non-roster invitee to spring training before reporting elbow discomfort that prompted the procedure.
Last season at Double-A Frisco, Walcott hit .255 with 13 home runs, 59 RBIs and 32 stolen bases, showcasing the combination of power and speed that earned him his lofty prospect ranking.
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