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Late Signings

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With camps now open across Florida and Arizona, several familiar faces have landed deals that will likely lead to jobs this season.  Among them are a pair of former Yankees: Gary Sanchez (above), the two-time All Star and runner up for 2016's American League Rookie of the Year, returns to Milwaukee for 2026, where he'll back up William Contreras and likely get some starts at DH. Mike Tauchman (below), after splitting the last three years between both Chicago teams, will try and join the 160 or so players who've suited up for both New York clubs.  He accepted a minor league contract with a big league camp invite with the Mets. Nick Castellanos , following an happy end to his Phillies tenure, hopes for a turnaround in San Diego, which hopes his right handed power will be a boost at 1st base and DH. Marcell Ozuna , whose big league career began in Miami, before a couple of Cardinal seasons and the past six years in Atlanta, will now call PNC Park home after signing on in wit...
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If Your Birthday is February 13th

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...you share it with Nate Eovaldi .  The Dodger farm system product has produced when he's healthy:  his 102 big league wins include a 14-3 season with the 2015 Yankees, 11-9 with the 2021 wild card Red Sox and 12-5 with the 2023 World Champion Rangers.  At age 36, he'll join fellow greybeard Jacob deGrom at the top of the Texas rotation this summer. I first saw Eovaldi in spring training with the 2013 Marlins.  Now, if you judge by WAR, he's the post productive pitcher ever born on this date. Gilberto Celestino spent a year and change (2021-'22) in the Twins outfield, but didn't hit enough to remain a regular.  The Dominican native has spent the past three years bouncing around the minors, including 2025 with the Mets Syracuse farm club.  After being overlooked despite hitting .272 for the Triple A Mets, he's moved on to Tijuana of the Mexican League for 2026.  
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If Your Birthday is February 6th...

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  ...you share it with the Bambino, the Sultan of Swat, the larger than life figure who remains as revered a player and character as when he played in the majors a century ago. George Herman Ruth , the Babe, the gold standard of sluggers... and had the Red Sox not decided his talents better suited an everyday player, he might be the most revered pitcher ever. Born into humble surroundings, to be kind; the product of a blue collar Baltimore family unable to properly raise him and who placed him in a reform school/orphanage.  Ironically, home was just a few blocks from where the city's terrific ballpark Camden Yards now stands.  Do yourself a favor, take a tour of the Babe's boyhood home next time you visit the city.  You know the numbers -- 60 homers in '27, 714 lifetime, 12-time American League home run champ.  But did you realize what a good all-around hitter he was? A lifetime .342 batter, the Babe never struck out more than 93 times in a season and led the le...
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If Your Birthday is January 30th...

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...you share it with the late  Davey Johnson , the winningest manager in Mets history (595-417 in 6-1/2 seasons), and a four-time All Star second baseman with the Orioles and Braves during the '60s and '70s.  It was 40 years ago this summer that his Mets of Doc, Daryl and Keith Hernandez steamrolled through a 108 win regular season, narrowly held off the Astros in the NLCS and battled back against the Red Sox in one of the most exciting World Series ever to give the Mets their most recent championship.  Johnson was also on the losing side when the Miracle Mets finished off their remarkable run in 1969 -- his fly ball to Cleon Jones went for the last out of that Series! Kodai Senga  had a productive first year with the Mets in 2023, winning  a dozen games.  But injuries and underwhelming performance have labeled him a question mark since.  I snapped this photo during his 2024 rehab assignment with AAA Syracuse . Nick Evans , a bench player on the 2008-...
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Bader by the Bay

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Harrison Bader is quickly becoming the moving companies' best friend.  The onetime Cardinal outfielder -- who has also called The Bronx, Cincinnati, Queens, Minnesota and Philadelphia home this decade -- is heading west after agreeing to a two-year deal with the Giants. Fresh off the best two-month stretch of his career, when he hit .305 with (for the first time) an OPS above .800, he'll bring his energy and good defense to one of the league's hardest parks to hit, Oracle in San Francisco. Rolling back through my archive, here are snaps of Bader... suiting up for the Cardinals, Mets and Phillies:  
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If Your Birthday is January 23rd...

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...you share it with Daniel Schneeman , a lefty-hitting outfielder who was a Guardians regular in 2025 -- but whose .206 average and just 41 RBI in 131 games doesn't guarantee a regular job this coming season.  The Brigham Young product looked more like a top prospect when I saw him in action for AAA Columbus in 2024, where he hit .294.  Addison Russell , who had his best year in 2016, when the Cubs erased their 108-year championship drought. But he never blossomed into stardom as teammates Anthony Rizzo, Kyle Schwarber and Kris Bryant did. And a 2019 suspension for domestic abuse soured his reputation and led to the Cubs sending him to the minors mid-season and non-tendering him that winter.  Since then, he's played in Mexico and Korea, but never received an offer to return to MLB. Rounding out today's birthday circle: Jeff Samardzija was a run-of-the-mill pitcher with the Cubs and Giants during the 2010s.  What else would you call an 80 - 104 record over parts of ...
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Wayback: Matt Harvey 2016

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Rolling it back to April 10th, 2016 : the Mets, defending their first National League pennant in 15 years, host the division rival Phillies.  Zooming in on their ace Matt Harvey , fresh off a 13-9 season and an under 3.00 ERA, expectations couldn't be higher at the young season began.  On this afternoon, Harvey didn't pitch badly -- giving up three runs over six innings -- in a 6-3 loss to their division rivals.  But the year didn't go well for Harvey, who struggled to a 4-10 record (in fact, he never again reached double digit victories).  Even though the Mets again earned a Wild Card, their post-season run ended in a single night at the hands of the Giants' Madison Bumgarner.   While Mets fans saw the charismatic and swaggering Harvey as a longterm star, he never pitched well enough to place his name alongside franchise legends such as Seaver, Koosman and Gooden.  "The Dark Knight" had very few bright days left in his Mets tenure. Mets fans  
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