MLB Player News

The deal is now official. Romano heads to Los Angeles as a potential closer alternative in case hard-throwing youngster Ben Joyce isn’t ready to roll after missing nearly all of last season with a shoulder ailment. He’ll be in the mix for high-leverage opportunities with Robert Stephenson and Drew Pomeranz at the outset of the year. The 32-year-old former Blue Jays stopper fell apart last season in his Phillies debut, posting a calamitous 8.23 ERA — 5.39 FIP — and 47/17 K/BB ratio across 42 2/3 innings over 49 appearances. He’s a worthwhile low-risk gamble for the Angels in the event that he’s able to rediscover his previously elite form. He can be left on the waiver wire in most fantasy leagues heading into next season.

Colton Cowser and Jeremiah Jackson also homered for Baltimore. The 404-foot shot off Mitchell Parker was Henderson’s first Grapefruit League homer after he went 6-for-15 with two homers for Team USA. He appears set to open the season in the leadoff spot for Baltimore. If not for his broken hamate, Jackson Holliday might have kept that assignment after finishing last season there, but getting Henderson the most at-bats on the team seems like a pretty good strategy.

Bradish got nine whiffs on his 35 breaking balls today but none on his 39 fastballs and sinkers. Everything turned out well, of course, but it was still rather discouraging to see him walk the likes of Jacob Young, Nasim Nuñez and Drew Millas before departing. Bradish will make his season debut Saturday at home against the Twins on Kyle Bradish Jersey Hoodie day.

García started at first base for the seventh time today and later moved to second, where he’s started five times. The acquisition of Jorbit Vivas adds to the likelihood that García will get most of his starts at first. In spite of his .139/.162/.222 line this spring, he’s probably going to hit third or fourth against righties, which will be nice for his fantasy value. It’s unclear how much he’ll play versus lefties, but given the Nationals’ lack of talent and their potential desire to trade García at the deadline, it might make sense to use him as a true regular initially and see what happens.

Abrams has never posted the OBPs of a traditional leadoff hitter, but it’s bizarre to see the Nationals burying the second or third best hitter in the sixth spot unless it’s simply their way to motivating him to show more plate discipline. Maybe that works out in the long run, though there’s also not much to suggest that Abrams is in the team’s long-term plans anyway. We’d still be OK drafting Abrams, since this is probably a temporary measure.

Happ’s homer was the second of the season, and it came in the third inning off Chad Patrick. The outfielder’s roundtripper came right after an Alex Bregman homer, and the two will likely be hitting near each other to open the regular season. Happ will once again be a solid — if flawed — fantasy option in 2026, because that’s what he’s been for seemingly the last 40 years.

Bregman and Ian Happ went back-to-back in the third inning off Chad Patrick. The 31-year-old has swung the bat well in his first spring training with the Cubs with a slash of .471/.550/1.000. Bregman is more of a high-floor than a high-ceiling player at this stage, but there’s still enough oompf in his bat to suggest he’s worth a starting spot in eligible formats.

All three runs scored in the fourth, an inning in which Alcantara gave up four of the five hits he allowed and was pulled with two outs. He returned for the fifth and worked a scoreless inning then in spite of a leadoff walk. Alcantara topped out at 98.4 mph today and threw 56 of his 86 pitches for strikes. He’ll get to begin the season Friday with essentially another spring start at home against the Rockies.

Peterson’s average fastball came in at 90.7 mph today, down from 91.6 mph previously this spring, 92.2 mph last year and 93.1 mph in 2024. There was never any doubt that he’d open up in the Mets rotation, and the team has picked him as one of their five starters with Sean Manaea opening up in the pen. However, Peterson’s history of being effective as a reliever might work against him if he doesn’t get off to a nice start. He’ll take his first regular-season turn Saturday against the Pirates.

Hicks is 6-for-24 with no extra-base hits. The 26-year-old had a solid .346 OBP in 390 plate appearances as a Rule 5 rookie last year, but he also slugged just .346, and his exit velocity numbers don’t suggest much more power is on the way. Also, while he’s a better catcher than Agustín Ramírez, he’s still below average defensively behind the plate. Whether it’s at catcher, first base or DH, he figures to be in the Marlins lineup most of the time against right-handers to begin the year. Most likely, though, he’s going to wind up being replaced by Joe Mack at some point.

Pauley had been limited to DH duties by forearm tightness. He’s hitting .231/.344/.346 over 31 plate appearances this spring and he’s come in at .207/.284/.358 in 216 major league plate appearances to date, but it looks like the Marlins might make him their third baseman against right-handers. There just isn’t much reason to suspect he’ll be a long-term solution there.