ESPN contributor on TV, radio, podcasts, blogs, Magazine
Charter member of FSWA Hall of Fame
Author of “The Best Philadelphia Sports Arguments”
It’s November and the fantasy baseball offseason is, pardon the pun, in full swing. Right now, most sports fans are devoting the majority of their attention to the NFL, NBA and NHL, where the games (both real and fantasy) take center stage — and understandably so.
So, perhaps you’re only hearing about the latest baseball buzz in passing, if at all. That’s perfectly fine. We’re paying attention to what’s going on and are here to let you know about the top stories of the past week. Are they something you need to file away for Draft Day or are they likely to have little impact when all is said and done?
Read on and find out whether these breaking developments are truly news or if they’re just noise.
The Orioles did their pitchers a favor entering the 2022 season when they moved the left field fences back further and higher, seeking a more balanced hitting environment. It worked, but perhaps too well. Camden Yards ceased being among the friendliest places to hit a baseball, though some wondered if the team went too far. This week, the Orioles announced the fences will be moved in — perhaps as much as 20 feet in some areas — and lowered in height.
Precise changes have not been made clear. Still, for Baltimore’s right-handed pull hitters, especially 1B Ryan Mountcastle (who has lost 11 home runs to the adjusted LF fence over the past three seasons), 3B/1B Coby Mayo and others, this should matter. Mountcastle smacked 33 homers in 2021, but he has averaged only 18 per season since then. Don’t assume he returns to hitting 30 homers and don’t make him a top-100 fantasy pick, but do consider the changes for his ilk — and Orioles pitchers — on draft day.
Organizations revised their rosters this week to protect eligible minor leaguers from the upcoming Rule 5 draft. Durbin, who hit .312/.427/.548 in the recently completed Arizona Fall League while compiling a record 29 stolen bases in 24 games, is a name fantasy managers need to know. Durbin, 24, was named the AFL’s MVP. The Yankees want to incorporate his speed and contact skills and, depending on whom the team adds (and loses) from their roster this offseason, Durbin may see considerable playing time.
Martinez became only the 14th player to accept a team’s qualifying contract offer since baseball’s new rules adjusted in 2012. The other 13 players eligible for the offer this offseason — including Juan Soto and Alex Bregman — all declined so that they could negotiate more lucrative, long-term deals. Martinez, the only player in the group not headed to free agency, will earn the average of the league’s top 125 salaries for 2025, in this case a cool $21.05 million.
It may seem incongruent with how Martinez, 34, performed in 2024, but perhaps fantasy managers should look closer at his September, where he went 4-1 with a 0.83 ERA over five starts as a precursor to a larger breakout. The Reds clearly are invested. This is a viable late-round sleeper.
ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.
NEW YORK — One day after he took live batting practice, a significant step in his return from the injured list, New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton confirmed Wednesday he could return to the team’s lineup by the end of the month.
Stanton participated in batting practice on the field at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, the first time he has seen live pitching this year after he was shut down with elbow tendinitis in both arms at the beginning of spring training. He saw 10 pitches, hitting a ground ball to shortstop and working a full-count walk in his two plate appearances against right-hander Jake Cousins.
The Yankees moved Stanton from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list last week, pushing his earliest possible return date to May 27. It was a procedural move for New York. The Yankees needed a 40-man roster spot to claim Bryan De La Cruz off waivers, and Stanton was not in line to return before the end of the month.
Stanton, 35, said he expects to go on a rehab assignment. He said he did not have a target date for starting one and didn’t know how long it would last. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Stanton likely won’t need a long rehab assignment because he doesn’t play a position on defense.
“It depends on what kind of arms I get available [for live batting practice sessions],” Stanton said, “and how I feel in those at-bats.”
Stanton, who also took batting practice on the field Wednesday, has taken rounds of injections to address the pain in his elbows and reiterated that he will have to play through pain whenever he returns.
“If I’m out there, I’m good enough to play,” Stanton said, “and there’s no levels of anything else.”
Stanton’s elbow troubles go back to last season; he played through the World Series with the pain, slugging seven home runs in 14 postseason games. But he said he stopped swinging a bat entirely in January because of severe pain in the elbows and didn’t start taking swings again until March. At one point, Stanton said, season-ending surgery was possible, but that was tabled.
“I know when G’s in there, he’s ready to go,” Boone said. “He’s not going to be in there if he doesn’t feel like he can be really productive, so I know when that time comes, when he’s ready to do that, we should be in a good spot.
“And hopefully we’ve done some things, the latter part of the winter and into the spring, that will set him up to be able to physically do it and withstand it. But also understanding he’ll probably deal with some things.”
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Max Scherzer took what the Toronto Blue Jays hope is a significant step Wednesday in his return from a right thumb injury when he threw to hitters for the first time since going on the injured list in March.
“I thought his stuff was really good,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said before Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Angels. “Afterward, he said he felt good, so that’s a really good step in the right direction.”
Scherzer, a three-time Cy Young Award winner who signed a one-year, $15.5 million deal with Toronto in February, threw 20 pitches. Barring a setback, Schneider said he would repeat the workout but with more pitches over the weekend.
“It felt good,” Scherzer, 40, said. “I’ve gotten all the inflammation out, so I can finally grip the ball again and not blow out my shoulder. But I’m not celebrating this until I’m back starting in a major league game.”
He went 2-4 with a 3.95 ERA in nine starts for Texas last season, starting the year on the injured list while recovering from lower back surgery. He said Tuesday that his problematic right thumb, which also affected his 2022 and 2023 seasons, was just as big of an issue in 2024.
“This is what knocked me out in 2023, and [I had it] all of last year,” Scherzer said. “It wasn’t so much the back injury, it was this thumb injury giving me all the fits in the world. I thought I addressed it. I thought I had done all the grip-strength work, but I came into spring training, and it popped back out.”
Scherzer left his debut start with the Blue Jays against Baltimore on March 29 after three innings because of soreness in his right lat muscle. He said after the game that his thumb issue was to blame for that soreness.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A Maryland board approved a $14.3 million contract on Wednesday to begin the demolition and rebuilding of Baltimore’s storied but antiquated Pimlico Race Course, home to the second jewel of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes.
The vote by the three-member Board of Public Works, which includes Gov. Wes Moore, was made 10 days before the 150th Preakness Stakes, which is scheduled for May 17. It will be the last time the annual horse race will be held with the existing structures in place before the track is rebuilt on the same site. The demolition will begin shortly after this year’s race.
“There cannot be a better time to announce the beginning of a transformation that will allow Pimlico to become a year-round hub for economic activity within the Park Heights community,” Moore said of the Baltimore neighborhood and longtime home of the race.
Under the plan, the Preakness will take place in Laurel Park, located just southwest of Baltimore, in 2026 while the new facility is built, before returning to Pimlico in time for the 2027 race.
Craig Thompson, the chair of the Maryland Stadium Authority which is overseeing the design of the new track, said the plan is to make Pimlico the home of Maryland thoroughbred racing. The track will go from hosting about 15 races a year to well over 100, Thompson said.
“This is more than just about a racetrack, as historic and important as it is,” Thompson said. “This is about bringing hundreds of millions of dollars in state investments to Park Heights.”
Thompson also shared a preview of the design plans. They include a new clubhouse with architecture inspired by the Rawlings Conservatory in Baltimore’s Druid Hill park and the original Pimlico Clubhouse, which included a colonnade and rooftop balconies, Thompson said.
Last year, the board approved a deal to transfer ownership of Pimlico from The Stronach Group to the State of Maryland in order to ensure the Preakness remains in Baltimore.
The state has been wrestling with what to do to restore the old racetrack for decades. Aptly nicknamed Old Hilltop, the track opened in 1870. It’s where Man o’ War, Seabiscuit, Secretariat and many others pranced to the winner’s circle.
But its age has long been a concern. In 2019, the Maryland Jockey Club closed off nearly 7,000 grandstand seats, citing the “safety and security of all guests and employees.”
The horse racing industry and other equine industries have been a cornerstone of Maryland agriculture, as well as an integral part of preserving green space.