Author: rincon

We have a big change in Major League Baseball as players are just getting warmed up for the 2026 season.

Tony Clark, the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA), is expected to step down from his position, The Athletic reported on Tuesday morning.

Clark, who was involved in the union as a player, had been with the MLBPA since 2010, one season after retiring from the sport. He was previously deputy executive director and acting executive director of the union before becoming the executive director of the MLBPA in December 2013.

Clark leaving his position comes against the backdrop of the Eastern District of New York investigating the MLBPA for alleged financial improprieties, ESPN reported.

The current MLB collective bargaining agreement ends on Dec. 1, 2026, with the potential for a lockout in the sport in 2027 as debate over whether MLB should implement a salary cap rages on.

As a player, Clark, a 2001 All-Star, spent the first seven seasons of his MLB career with the Detroit Tigers (1995-2001), followed by stints with the Boston Red Sox (2002), New York Mets (2003), New York Yankees (2004), Arizona Diamondbacks (2005-09) and San Diego Padres (2008). Clark had 1,188 career hits and 251 home runs.

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New York Mets owner Steve Cohen likes the vibe in a revamped clubhouse, and says he’ll never have a captain in charge of that scene.

“As long as I’m owning the team, there will never be a team captain,” Cohen said in his first meeting with reporters at spring training Monday. “That was my decision. My view is the locker room is unique. And let the locker room sort it out, year in, year out.”

New York said goodbye to popular slugger Pete Alonso, star closer Edwin Diaz and two other Mets stalwarts before Christmas, but added free agent Bo Bichette and traded for All-Star pitcher Freddy Peralta.

The Mets are going into their third season with manager Carlos Mendoza after they missed the playoffs following a run to the 2024 NL championship series.

“I just was in that locker room and in the meeting and I sense an energy that really is exciting,” Cohen said on the day of the team’s first full-squad workout. “These are new faces, fresh faces that I think our fans are really going to enjoy watch playing. It’s different. And I think we’ll play a different type of baseball, and I think that’s great.”

The rival Yankees had Derek Jeter, known simply as the “the captain,” for all 20 of the Hall of Famer’s seasons. Becoming an owner in the same city won’t sway Cohen, whose view might also keep the Mets from having a tricky choice between two of their biggest stars, Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto.

“Just my own views on how I want a locker room to be,” Cohen said. “My view is every year the team’s different and let the team kind of figure it out in the locker room rather than having a designation. Having a captain in baseball doesn’t happen often. It’s actually unusual.”

40 years and counting

The Mets have alternated between making and missing the playoffs during Cohen’s tenure. New York made the playoffs in 2022, then missed in 2023 with an underperforming group that led to the unloading of star pitchers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer at the trade deadline.

Disappointment returned last season after the Mets lost in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2024 NLCS. New York’s most recent World Series title came in 1986.

“About not winning? Yeah, I’m annoyed,” Cohen said. “I’m absolutely annoyed. Every year that goes by, I get frustrated. I’m really committed to this team. I know how much the fans care. I know we’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of 1986, and that’s just too long.”

Looming labor situation

Asked about the big-spending Dodgers, Cohen said he had no problem with their approach, while drawing laughter from reporters by saying the billionaire hedge-fund manager could spend big, too.

Cohen also didn’t sound opposed to a salary cap, which figures to be the primary point of contention during collective bargaining talks that could jeopardize the 2027 season.

“Obviously, I’m listening to all the arguments,” Cohen said. “But I’ve always been a league-first owner. So I’m listening to all the sides and I haven’t made up my mind yet. We’ll see where it goes. Sometimes I put the league’s interests above my own interests.”

Tuckered out

Although the Mets pivoted with the signing of Bichette and the trade for Peralta, they thought they were going to land the biggest prize in free agency before four-time All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker signed with those free-spending Dodgers.

“I’m competitive,” Cohen said. “When you’re actually making a bid and you decide you want that player, you don’t want to lose, like anything else. And then you get over it, and then you move on. It’s sort of like in my business. I have a bad trading day, all right, I move on to the next day, and then the next day’s better.”

More investment

The Mets are set to break ground on a player development complex at their spring training home in Port St. Lucie. The 55,000-square-foot facility will include locker space, a training room, therapy pools and a dining facility.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the last person to leave the Toronto dugout after the Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series last fall because the star slugger wanted that to be the moment when he moved on.

The first full workout for the Blue Jays at spring training Monday brought some clarity to that plan.

“When I left, I felt like I had faced reality, and the only thing I had left to say to myself was just thank God for the year I had, for the year the team had had,” Guerrero said through an interpreter. “Right then, I just turned the page.”

The Blue Jays lost the decisive game 5-4 in 11 innings, missing on a second consecutive chance to clinch the franchise’s third championship at home. For manager John Schneider, this spring training is no different from a year ago.

“The main message is we’re not defending anything,” Schneider said. “We’re not defending the AL East. We’re not defending the American League. We’re attacking 2026 like we did in 2025 or any year, really. You’re trying to win the division, you’re trying to win the World Series. That’s it.”

Guerrero jolted the franchise at the start of the spring last year, when he said there was no deal on a new contract and that his own deadline for getting one done had passed, raising the specter of free agency in 2026.

Instead, the sides settled on a $500 million, 14-year contract early last season, and the son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero went on to hit .292 with 23 home runs and 84 RBIs.

In the postseason, Guerrero had a 1.289 OPS while hitting .397 with eight homers in 18 games and was MVP of the American League Championship Series. He didn’t homer in any of his first three trips to the playoffs, and the Blue Jays lost all six of those games.

“Going back to the postseason last year, I think it’s really cool for everyone to be on that heightened stage and to see how they responded,” Schneider said. “I think that kind of bleeds into this year, but (Guerrero) has been a little bit more vocal than I’ve ever seen him, a little bit more loose than I’ve ever seen him and understands that he’s one of the best players in the game.”

The 26-year-old Guerrero, a five-time All-Star, is now the longest-tenured Blue Jays player.

“I don’t see myself as a leader,” Guerrero said. “I always put myself as a good teammate, and when you are a good teammate, then you become a good leader. I’m a good teammate.”

His role as the face of the franchise was cemented when Bo Bichette left the team, signing a $126 million, three-year with the New York Mets and moving from shortstop to third base.

“It’s difficult not having him around,” said Guerrero, who played with Bichette through the minor leagues. “I mean, we played 10 years together. But at the same time, I understand it’s business, and he has to take care of his family as well.”

The Blue Jays signed Japanese infielder Kazuma Okamoto to fill the void left by Bichette while adding pitchers Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce.

“I think we’re very capable,” Guerrero said. “I think it’s going to be more fun, and I’m actually more happy than last year.”

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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Aaron Judge fretted like many Yankees fans as big-name free agents kept signing elsewhere.

“It was brutal,” the New York captain said Monday after the year’s first full-squad workout. “Early on it was pretty tough to watch. I’m like: Man, we’re the New York Yankees. Let’s go out there and get the right people.”

Judge spoke at length about the lack of a World Series title last year despite winning his third AL MVP award, of homering and striking out against 22-year-old flamethrower Carlos Lagrange during the workout, about captaining the U.S. in the upcoming World Baseball Classic and last year’s elbow injury.

Judge missed 10 games between July 25 and Aug. 5 because of a flexor strain in his right elbow sustained making a throw home from right field at Toronto on July 22. He didn’t return to the outfield until Sept. 5 and he threw gingerly at 67.9 mph. Judge gained arm strength during the rest of the season but didn’t get to 100%.

“I’ve never dealt with any elbow stuff, so I was definitely concerned,” he said.

Judge wasn’t sure until after the postseason that he would avoid surgery.

“They ran all the checks again and did all the tests and they said: `You’re good to go,'” he remembered. “And I said: All right, when can we start throwing? So it was good. It was great. It was great to hear those words so that now I can go into the offseason and just prepare the way I need to be in the best shape to start the year.”

His elbow is at full strength.

“Throwing to bases a couple of times already, so no worries,” he said. “Just excited to get back out there and just have the confidence, especially — that was the toughest thing for me last year, was the pitcher’s working his butt off and the guys around me were working their butt off and then the ball was hit to me and I had no shot.”

Judge, who turns 34 in April, won his third AL MVP in four years, becoming just the fourth player in major league history to hit 50 homers four times after Babe Ruth, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. He won his first AL batting title, hitting a big league-best .331 with 53 homers, 114 RBIs, an AL-high 124 walks and a major league-leading 1.144 OPS. Then in the playoffs, he went 13 for 36 with one homer, seven RBIs and a 1.273 OPS.

Judge appeared to clear the ballpark in left on a 99.3 mph from Lagrange (pronounced La-GRAN-he), then struck out on a 102.6 mph fastball from the 6-foot-7 right-hander, who ended last season at Double-A.

New York, seeking its first title since 2009, retained center fielder Trent Grisham early in the offseason but didn’t make bigger moves until late.

“Let’s sign these guys right now and start adding more pieces because I’m seeing other teams around the league get better,” Judge said. “They’re making trades. They’re signing big prospects or big players. And we’re sitting there for a while kind of making smaller moves.”

Asked whether he made his thoughts known to the Yankees, Judge flashed a toothy grin and said: “Yeah, oh, yeah.”

“It was frustrating, but I think we’re right where we need to be,” he said.

Reporting by The Associated Press

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GLENDALE, Ariz. — He has made five All-Star teams, won four MVP Awards and two World Series championships and just followed up Major League Baseball’s first ever 50-homer, 50-steal campaign by becoming the first player ever with 50 homers as a hitter and 50 strikeouts as a pitcher. 

Now, after back-to-back record-setting seasons to start his 10-year, $700 million deal with the Dodgers, what’s left for Shohei Ohtani to accomplish? 

“I think it’s fair to say he expects to be in the Cy Young conversation,” said manager Dave Roberts. 

MLB’s top pitching honor is the only major award that has eluded Ohtani during his unprecedented eight-year career.

He claims that winning his first Cy Young in 2026 is not his primary focus, but as he gears up for his first full season on the mound since undergoing his latest elbow surgery in September 2023, opportunity beckons for baseball’s unicorn. 

“If, at the end, the result is getting a Cy Young, that’s great,” Ohtani said through his interpreter after throwing a bullpen session on Friday. “Getting a Cy Young means being able to throw more innings and being able to pitch throughout the whole season, so if that’s the end result, that’s a good sign for me. What I’m more focused on is just being healthy the whole year.” 

Ohtani has gotten close to winning the award once before in his career. In 2022, he went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA and 219 strikeouts in 166 innings over 28 starts for the Angels and finished fourth in American League Cy Young voting. 

That was the only time in Ohtani’s MLB career that he has made more than 23 starts or thrown more than 132 innings, primarily due to the two major elbow reconstructions he has undergone since the end of his rookie year in 2018.

Ohtani was named the National League MVP in his first year as a Dodger in 2024 despite serving only as a designated hitter. After the season, he needed surgery on his non-throwing shoulder and did not record his first start on the mound as a Dodger until June 2025 — 22 months after his last big-league pitching appearance with the Angels. 

The Dodgers handled him carefully and built him up slowly. He made two one-inning appearances, then two two-inning appearances, then three three-inning appearances, eventually working his way up to a five-inning outing at the end of August. He ultimately threw just 47 innings over 14 regular-season starts, but he finished the year with a 2.87 ERA and a 33.2% strikeout rate, which tied a career high. Ohtani entered the 2025 postseason coming off three scoreless September outings, the last of which was his first six-inning appearance in over two years. 

“I think the thing that was most surprising from last year was his command,” Roberts said. “I’ll say that he still feels his command wasn’t up to par, but given the Tommy John and what typically command looks like the year after, it was above that.”

In the playoffs, Ohtani recorded one of the greatest all-around performances in MLB history in Game 4 of the NLCS when he hit three home runs and struck out 10 batters in six scoreless innings to send the Dodgers to the World Series.

The Fall Classic was more of a struggle on the mound for Ohtani, who allowed seven runs in 8.1 innings over two starts. He admitted Friday that he “did feel the effect” of playing deep into October as a two-way player for the first time. 

“I think playing the postseason as a DH only, which I did two years ago versus what I did last year, did feel different,” Ohtani said. “In that sense, it’s an experience that I plan to hold onto.” 

This year, Ohtani is expected to be ready for a full pitching workload and be handled more normally after his first fully healthy offseason in years. He reported to camp at the beginning of the month and has already thrown three bullpen sessions, though it’s unclear at this point how the World Baseball Classic might impact his throwing progression. 

Ohtani will hit but won’t pitch for Team Japan, which begins pool play on March 6. 

“I’m sure [pitching coach] Mark [Prior] will be talking to the pitching coach over there and kind of stick to our plan, and we’ll be in lockstep,” Roberts told me. “I’m not too concerned about it. Shohei’s very well aware of what he needs to do.”

It has yet to be determined when Ohtani will depart for the WBC or whether he’ll start in a Cactus League game before he goes. He said he is planning to ramp up as much as he can now to be ready to face hitters sometime next week.

The Dodgers will likely operate with a six-man rotation once the season begins. They’re not going to rush Ohtani or put a date on his 2026 pitching debut yet, but if all goes to plan, he could be ready to take the mound on Opening Day or shortly thereafter as he prepares to write the latest chapter of an unparalleled career. 

“We just want him to be healthy and make starts,” Roberts said. “All the numbers and statistics will take care of themselves.”

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

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Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper said onSunday “it’s kind of wild to me still” that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski suggested in October the two-time NL MVP may no longer be an elite player.

Harper said he wasn’t motivated by Dombrowski’s comments. He added he didn’t understand why Dombrowski made public his review of Harper’s season and postseason.

“I don’t get motivated by that kind of stuff, for me it was kind of wild the whole situation of that happening,” Harper told reporters. “I think the big thing for me was when we first met with this organization it was, ‘Hey we’re always going to keep things in-house and we expect you to do the same thing,’ so when that didn’t happen it kind of took me for a run a little bit, so I don’t know. It’s part of it, I guess. It was kind of a wild situation.”

Harper’s .844 OPS was his lowest since 2016, and his .261 average was his worst since 2019. Harper, 33, has six seasons left on his $330 million, 13-year deal. He hit 27 homers and drove in 75 runs in the 2025 regular season and was 3 for 15 with no RBIs in the Phillies’ four-game loss to the Dodgers in the NL Division Series.

Harper’s numbers led Dombrowski to conclude it was a good season but below his MVP levels of 2015 with Washington and 2021 with the Phillies.

“Can he rise to the next level again? I don’t really know that answer,” Dombrowski said after last season. “He’s the one that will dictate that more than anything else. I don’t think he’s content with the year that he had. Again, it wasn’t a bad year. But when I think of Bryce Harper, you think elite, you think of one of the top-10 players in baseball and I don’t think it fit into that category.”

A wrist injury forced Harper to miss a month. Even so, he agreed his production didn’t meet his standards.

“Obviously, I didn’t have the year that I wanted,” Harper said. “Obviously, I don’t have a postseason I wanted. My numbers weren’t where they needed to be. I know that and I don’t need to be motivated to be great in my career or anything else. So that’s just not a motivating factor for me. For Dave to come out and say those things, it’s kind of wild to me still.”

Harper has a .280 batting average with 363 homers in 14 seasons in the majors, including seven with the Phillies. Considering the time missed with the wrist injury, his production last season was not a dramatic decline from his 2024 season, when he finished sixth in the NL MVP voting after hitting .280 with 30 homers and 87 RBIs while landing his fourth Silver Slugger award and making his eighth All-Star team.

Reporting by The Associated Press. 

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