MLB Player News

It seemed like it would come down to McGriff, Don Mattingly and Dale Murphy when the nominating team picked five far more controversial players (Albert Belle, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro and Curt Schilling) for the eight-man ballot, and things set up especially well for McGriff, who had his former Blue Jays COO Paul Beeston and a bunch of contemporaries doing the voting today. As it turned out, McGriff was elected unanimously. No one else came close to the 12 votes needed from the 16 voters; Mattingly got eight, Schilling seven and Murphy six. McGriff hit 493 homers in a career that spanned from 1986 to 2004, leading the league twice in that category. He also led in OPS once. Overall, he hit .284/.377/.509 in 10,174 plate appearances.

Lockridge picked up the injury while diving back to the bag during the Cactus League game. The 28-year-old should resume throwing soon, and the hope is to get him back into games before the end of the week.

Lewis was scratched with tightness in his side Thursday, but the MRI on his oblique revealed all was good. The 26-year-old will be an everyday option as long as he can stay on the field in 2026.

White was recently diagnosed with a Grade 1 oblique strain, but he wasn’t likely to make the club anyway. The left-hander does stand a good chance of joining the Marlins at some point in 2026, and his ability to miss bats makes him worth roster consideration whenever that takes place.

McDermott will be a depth piece for Baltimore in 2026. He was hit hard in his limited time with the O’s in 2025 as seen in 15 runs in 8 2/3 innings, but the right-hander isn’t far removed from being considered one of the better pitching prospects in the Orioles’ system.

Crawford will make his spring debut, albeit as the DH instead of his usual shortstop position. The 31-year-old has battled a “minor” shoulder issue ahd should be fine by the team the regular season rolls around. It’s likely Crawford’s last year as the starting shortstop for Seattle with Colt Emerson taking over in 2027.

Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that the hope is that Lindor will be able to take batting practice Wednesday. The star shortstop underwent hamata bone surgery in the offeseason, and recently had his stitches removed. There’s a good chance Lindor will be ready for the start of the regular season, and if not, it should be a relatively short stint on the injured list to begin 2026.

McLean is scheduled to start against Italy on Monday, but the right-hander will obviously need to get healthy for that to take place. The good news for fantasy managers is that there’s no reason to think McLean won’t be ready for the start of the regular season.

Stanton is still working through his tennis elbow injury — something that is going to likely be an issue for the rest of his career — but it’s encouraging to see him in the lineup relatively early in the Grapefruit League. When healthy, Stanton still offers significant power production potential, but he’s essentially a lock to miss significant time on the injured list at this stage.

Nelson hit free agency at the conclusion of last season after being removed from Arizona’s 40-man roster. The 29-year-old southpaw bolsters Atlanta’s organizational relief depth after posting a serviceable 4.34 ERA – 4.26 xERA – 1.31 WHIP and 115/45 K/BB ratio across 116 innings over 136 appearances in the majors since 2020.