Nick Castellanos is reportedly signing with the San Diego Padres, according to The Athletic’s Dennis Lin.

The 33-year-old Castellanos will serve as the team’s first baseman, designated hitter and play in the outfield.

Castellanos was available on the free-agent market after being released by the Philadelphia Phillies this week after four seasons with the team. The team told him not to report to spring training this week as he was not in their plans for the 2026 season.

The veteran is owed the $20 million remaining on his $100 million contract, which allows the Padres to sign him for the $780,000 major-league minimum with the Phillies picking up the difference.

The writing had been on the wall all offseason that Castellanos had already played his last game for the Phillies, including when the team signed new right fielder Adolis García. Castellanos earned All-Star honors as recently as 2023, but he was below replacement level in 2025, slashing .250/.294/.400 with the second-worst defense in right field by Baseball Savant’s Fielding Run Value.

“A lot of times when a good player has their role change with the club, it can cause some friction, and his role changed last year from where it was,” said Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski this week. “I mean you played every single day for a lot years in a row, and so sometimes that can contribute to it. Sometimes then people have debates between themselves where they’re not all on the same page. But when you put all that together, sometimes you just need to make sure that you have a change of scenery.”

In a goodbye message to Phillies fans, Castellanos posted a handwritten letter on social media on Thursday. In it, he admitted that he brought a beer into the dugout after being removed from a June game in Miami by manager Rob Thomson with friends and family in attendance. 

Castellanos said that he met with Thomson and Dombrowski afterward and the conversation ended with him apologizing.

That incident led to a one-game benching for Castellanos, who was in the midst of a streak in which he started 236 consecutive games.

Thomson said on Friday he was happy to see Castellanos admit his mistake.

“I’m proud of him because he owned up to what he did and, hey, we all make mistakes,” Thomson said. “Nick had helped us out in a lot of ways here. He’s had some big hits and big plays and helped us win a lot ballgames. So I do, I wish him all the best.”

Padres also signing pitcher Griffin Canning: Report

In addition to Castellanos, the Padres are also signing pitcher Griffin Canning, Lin reports. The deal is pending a physical exam.

Canning, 29, made 16 starts for the New York Mets last season before rupturing his left Achilles tendon. He finished with a 3.77 ERA and 7-3 record with 70 strikeouts in 76 1/3 innings. 

Prior to signing with the Mets as a free agent, Canning pitched five seasons for the Los Angeles Angels. In 99 appearances (94 starts), he compiled a 4.78 ERA with a strikeout rate of 8.4 per nine innings. Canning missed the 2022 season due to a stress fracture in his lower back.

Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves said he will do his job when it comes to being a starting pitcher and will allow umpires to do their jobs when it comes to calling balls and strikes with the the Automated Ball Strike Challenge System being instituted in MLB this season.

Every team will have two challenges to begin each game. Only batters, catchers and pitchers will be allowed to challenge ball or strike calls and they must signal their intent by tapping their heads immediately after the pitch to initiate the challenge.

The 36-year-old Sale has thrown over 30,000 pitches in his 15-year career with the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves. What he won’t do for the remainder of his time on the mound is challenge any called ball he believes is a strike.

“I will never challenge a pitch. I will never do it. I won’t do it,” Sale told reporters on Friday. “I’m not an umpire. That’s their job. I’m a starting pitcher. I’ve never called balls and strikes in my life. Plus, I’m greedy, and I know that. I think they’re all strikes.”

Sale added that catchers, like teammates Sean Murphy and Drake Baldwin, are so good at framing pitches that a lot more pitches appear to be strikes than they used to, especially ones on the corner of the plate. The nine-time All-Star and 2024 pitching Triple Crown and Cy Young Award winner said he’ll trust the umpire’s call so as to not risk a challenge that could be used later in the game during an important at-bat.

“I’ve dealt with it before, across all games in my entire career there’s been balls called strikes and strikes called balls and you just deal with it,” Sale said.

If Murphy or Baldwin disagree, however, that’s a different story.

“If my catcher has something to say about it, I’ll leave that to him,” Sale said. “I’ve dealt with both sides and I’m fine to keep dealing with it.”

INGLEWOOD, CA — With both arms outstretched as he walked away triumphantly, it was only fitting that ]

Friday night, despite the negative discourse that has surrounded All-Star weekend in recent years, was also a reminder that although much of the rookie conversations have been centered around Flagg and Kon Knueppel, Edgecombe is much more than a suitable consolation prize. From a sheer effort standpoint, it was clear the Philly guard wanted to compete at both ends of the floor, whether it was being in attack mode or being defensively engaged at the other end.

As a whole, the Rising Stars participants seemed to take the games seriously, a refreshing deviation from the norm. Spurs players Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle, members of Team Melo, were actively discussing the in-game events shortly after the final buzzer, almost as if this was a key regular-season game.

“We wanted to compete,” Team Vince’s Jaylen Wells of the Grizzlies told Yahoo Sports. “Set the tone for the weekend, and a lot of guys on the team wanted to win. And the last one is money! We get paid!”

“I hate losing,” Edgecombe added. “I really hate losing. It’s really a credit to my teammates. We all bought in.”

Heading into the break, the 76ers (30-24) find themselves in a comfortable tier in the Eastern Conference, sixth place and just 3.5 games out of the top four. However, with Paul George in the midst of a 25-game suspension for a banned substance and superstar center Joel Embiid currently out with right knee management (he’ll be re-evaluated after the break), Edgecombe’s true value will surface. It’s rare for rookies to be depended on for pivotal stretch runs like Philadelphia is about to embark on, but outside of Maxey, Edgecombe is one of the few players on the roster who can create his shot and score from all three levels, in addition to creating plays for others. 

“It feels great to win the MVP of the Rising Stars game,” Edgecombe said. “But I’m focused. My next focus is the push after the All-Star break. After the break, we’ve just got to make a push. We’re still in the hunt for that playoff spot. Just got to stay together, keep hooping and trusting each other. I feel like we’re a dangerous team if we’re healthy. I stand on that.”

Zac Gallen took a risk early in the offseason by declining the Arizona Diamondbacks’ one-year, roughly $22 million qualifying offer. That decision led to the 30-year-old sitting on the market for quite some time, but his free-agent wait is finally over.

Was it worth the wait? Well, the deal he landed is essentially the qualifying offer, with deferred money. 

Gallen reportedly agreed to a one-year, $22.025 million contract with the D-backs on Friday, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. Approximately $14 million of the money is reportedly deferred.

Zac Gallen’s red flags led to a cold free-agent market

While the longtime Diamondbacks starter has a history of success in the majors, he entered free agency at arguably the worst possible time. Gallen showed signs of decline in 2025, posting the highest ERA and lowest strikeout rate of his career in 192 innings with the Diamondbacks. 

It marked a troubling trend for Gallen, who has seen his ERA rise in three straight seasons. 

Early in his career, Gallen looked like a future superstar on the mound. He burst onto the scene in 2019, posting a 2.81 ERA with the Miami Marlins and Diamondbacks. He maintained that excellence during the COVID-19-shortened 2020 MLB season, earning-down ballot Cy Young votes. 

After some uncharacteristic struggles in 2021, Gallen bounced back to turn in his two best seasons in the majors. In 2022 and 2023, he posted a 3.04 ERA over 394 innings. He ranked fourth in ERA, sixth in starting pitcher fWAR, seventh in strikeouts and eighth in innings pitched during that period. Gallen finished fifth in Cy Young voting in 2022 and third in 2023. For the first time in his career, he also gained a few MVP votes following his strong 2023 season. 

He carried that success into the postseason, in which the Diamondbacks went on a miraculous run to the World Series. The team fell short in the end, falling to the Texas Rangers in five games. Gallen performed well in his only World Series start, allowing just one run over 6 1/3 innings in Game 1. Despite that, he was saddled with the loss. 

While the team’s World Series run was an overall positive, it came with an unfortunate side effect. Gallen tossed a total of 243 2/3 innings in 2023. That workload might have come back to bite him in 2024.

Gallen got off to a solid start the following year, posting a 3.12 ERA over his first 11 starts before sustaining a hamstring injury. The issue kept him sidelined for a month. While his first start back was encouraging, Gallen then posted a 5.02 ERA over his next 11 games. He finished the year strong, posting a 2.67 ERA in his final five games, but it still marked his worst year in the majors since 2021.

Things got even worse in 2025. Over his first 22 starts, Gallen posted a 5.20 ERA. He had the worst strikeout rate and highest home-run rate of his career. He rebounded down the stretch, posting a 3.32 ERA in his final 11 games, but that came with an even lower strikeout rate, leading to questions about his ability moving forward. 

Does re-signing Gallen move the needle for the D-backs?

Gallen’s return reinforces a D-backs rotation that could be best described as solid but is by no means spectacular.

The team was previously set to enter Opening Day with a rotation of Merrill Kelly, Ryne Nelson, Brandon Pfaadt, Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Soroka. Kelly was also a free agent this offseason and returned on a two-year, $40 million deal, while Soroka came aboard on a one-year, $7.5 million contract. It’s a veteran group with limited upside, though it’s set to get a boost when former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes returns at some point this season.

Gallen certainly presents some risk, but Arizona is more aware of the potential reward than any other team. That was apparently reason enough to bring him back, and he’ll certainly be motivated to perform better ahead of a second foray into free agency.

GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Los Angeles Dodgers are back at the beginning, preparing once again to climb the mountain that is the major-league season, sights set squarely on adding to this golden era for the franchise. 

The Friday, Feb. 13, report date for Dodgers pitchers and catchers was the latest of any team league-wide, an appropriately delayed start after the Dodgers’ championship run stretched into November. And unlike the previous two years, when the Dodgers opened the season with series in Seoul and Tokyo, the team will stay grounded on the west side of Phoenix this spring, affording a bit more wiggle room to ease into camp activities, rather than needing to arrive early and expedite the preparation process. 

“First day, good,” manager Dave Roberts said. “Getting the pitchers, catchers here, majority of the position players are here already. Guys are anxious. I think for me, we got a long camp, longer than we’ve had in recent years. So to try to get guys to start slow but intentional, methodical … is kind of the message.”

While the World Baseball Classic will add a wrinkle for a handful of Dodgers stars, the vast majority of the roster is embarking on a more normal spring training leading up to Opening Day against the D-backs on March 26 at Dodger Stadium. Granted, little is normal about even the most average day at Camelback Ranch, the spring training home of MLB’s supervillains and superheroes, a gobsmacking collection of baseballing talent that only grows each year.

A large banner touting Los Angeles’ status as “BACK-TO-BACK WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONS” now adorns the chain-link fence looming over the bullpen mounds. A full week before the Cactus League slate begins, hordes of fans swarmed the backfields Friday in hopes of catching their favorite Dodgers in action, if even in low-intensity practice settings. As each player emerged from the facility to make his way down to the fields, crowds erupted, offering expressions of adoration and appreciation for the team that has given them so much to cheer about across consecutive title runs.

The specifics of what was happening on each field seemed to matter less than the fact that it was happening at all — baseball is back, bringing a breath of fresh air after a long winter. But Friday did offer a particularly intriguing sampling of backfield activity, at least by mid-February standards: Shohei Ohtani threw a bullpen, and Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw live batting practice. 

The duo is in their third spring together, and the buzz around their presence in Glendale has grown each year as the two have achieved more and more while wearing Dodger blue. Ohtani is entering his first fully healthy spring with the Dodgers, gearing up to put his unprecedented two-way abilities on full display from the get-go in 2026. Yamamoto is only a few months removed from one of the most legendary pitching performances in World Series history, earning an almost mythical aura that now follows him in perpetuity. Perhaps more pertinently, both stars are ramping up to represent Japan in the World Baseball Classic, adding a level of urgency to their early camp activities that most of their teammates don’t feel quite yet.

Along with USA’s Will Smith, Puerto Rico’s Edwin Díaz (reminder: he’s on the Dodgers now) and Korea’s Hyeseong Kim, Ohtani and Yamamoto are two of the five players in Dodgers camp slated to participate in the upcoming international tournament. Japan’s pool-play games will be in Tokyo, with its first official game on March 6 and five pre-tournament friendlies against NPB clubs beginning Feb. 22. Roberts said Friday that he’s unsure when exactly the duo will make the trip back to Japan. But it stands to reason it will be at least a few days before Smith and Diaz will need to depart to join their national teams, whose training will commence in early March. As such, the time spent in Arizona is especially crucial for the two Japanese stars.

[Get more L.A. news: Dodgers team feed] 

Yamamoto faced Smith and Kim for a few at-bats each in his live batting practice session Friday, coaxing some weak contact from Kim and a swing-and-miss from Smith on a running two-seam fastball that had the All-Star catcher shaking his head in disbelief. Yamamoto looked as dialed in as ever, his picturesque mechanics unfolding in perfect sequence to unleash pitches to the location of his choosing. It was an infinitely lower-stakes setting than his most recent on-mound experience, but it was Yamamoto all the same. To that end, it’s impossible to watch him now without recalling the unfathomable feats of pitching endurance he displayed in the Fall Classic. Yet Roberts isn’t worried about a lingering hangover from the right-hander’s rare workload last postseason, even as Yamamoto builds back up to participate in the WBC. 

“I just believe that he knows his limitations, and he’s prepared,” Roberts said. “So I’m not too concerned.”

Earlier Friday, it was Ohtani’s turn to take the mound, albeit not against hitters. His bullpen took place right alongside Diaz, who was making his first high-intensity tosses in his new threads. Unlike Yamamoto, Ohtani is not preparing to pitch in the World Baseball Classic — he will DH only for Team Japan — but that doesn’t lessen the hype for Ohtani’s first full season in the Dodgers’ rotation. Roberts was not shy about his expectations for what Ohtani The Pitcher is capable of now that he’s further removed from his second elbow surgery.

“I think there’s certainly a lot more in there,” the manager said. “And regardless of my expectations for him, his are going to exceed those. And I think it’s fair to say he expects to be in the Cy Young conversation. But we just want him to be healthy and make starts, and all the numbers and statistics will take care of themselves.”

Asked whether the league’s top pitching honor is indeed a personal target, Ohtani didn’t confirm his ambitions but acknowledged it could be in the cards if he’s able to stay on the mound.

“If in the end the result is getting a Cy Young, that’s great,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “Getting a Cy Young means just being able to throw more innings and pitch throughout the whole season. So if that’s the end result, that’s a good sign for me. That’s what I’m more focused on — just being healthy the whole year.”

Redirecting the focus to his durability might sound like a way to downplay his ambition, but it’s also rooted in reality. The closest Ohtani has come to winning a Cy Young was during his healthiest campaign in 2022, when he threw a career-high 166 innings. He ultimately settled for fourth that year (and second in MVP voting), but it’s a reminder that his potential as a pitcher should not be discounted whatsoever. For all the prolific power-speed exploits Ohtani has demonstrated as a hitter, entering 2026, he seems eager to seize on his currently prime physical condition and remind everyone what he’s capable of on the mound. 

“Everything he does is with purpose,” Roberts said. “So I’m really excited to see — with the full offseason to just prepare and not rehab — what he can do this year.”

After 21 seasons and 12 All-Star selections, Chris Paul called it a career on Friday. It didn’t take long for the well wishes to start flooding in.

Between his tenures with seven different teams, his leadership role with the NBPA and his famous Banana Boat friendships, few players in the history of the NBA have been connected across the league like Paul. Here’s a sample of the comments that came in on his Instagram post making the announcement:

• LeBron James: “HELLUVA CAREER CHAMP! CONGRATULATIONS 🙏🏾✊🏾”

• Dwyane Wade: “An honor to compete against you my brother. A Legendary Career”

• Klay Thompson: “Point god ! It was a pleasure being your teammate. Congrats on a legendary run my man !”

• Tyrese Maxey: “LOVE OG!! Respect”

• Trae Young: “Set the Blueprint 🫡 Legend !”

• Bradley Beal: “Happy for you and the fam! Congrats on a great career bro! LEGEND”

• Kyle Lowry: “Amazing career my brother!! Love brother!!”

• Naomi Osaka: “❤️❤️❤️”

• Donovan Mitchell: “Point God🤞🏾🫡”

• Matt Barnes: “One of the Greatest PG’s the games ever seen. Love you bro”

• Chiney Ogwumike: “LEGEND! ✊🏿✨”

• Al Horford: “Congrats CP!!!!! 👏👏👏👏👏”

• Muggsy Bogues: “One hell of a ride young fella- You did it your way🎩👊🏾”

• Trayce Jackson-Davis: “It was an honor cp! 🙏🏾”

• Mike Conley: “👏🏾👏🏾 Congrats!!”

• Richard Jefferson: “Point God🤞🏾The best is yet to come”

• Nina Westbrook (wife of Russell Westbrook): “👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 congratulations on an incredible career!”

Lindsey Vonn even got in there from her hospital bed, writing “❤️💪🏻 legend!!!” And, of course, State Farm chimed in with “From assists on the court to assists in life – you’ve always been a good neighbor. Respect the legacy, CP3 👏”

Stephen Curry, who has been both friend and foe for Paul in their careers, released a video message praising the future Hall of Famer:

One interesting note is that of Paul’s seven teams played for, six of them posted a farewell note on X soon after the announcement: the New Orleans Pelicans, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs.

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The one holdout was the Los Angeles Clippers, where Paul arguably enjoyed the best years of his career. They ended up posting a tribute video at 9:43 p.m. PT.

It was unclear if the Clippers would even acknowledge the news during the day given how awkward the situation was. Paul reunited with the team for a farewell season only to be permanently sidelined in early December and eventually traded to the Toronto Raptors, who waived him Friday.

It was an ugly divorce, as there were reports of Paul clashing with team leadership. The Clippers announced they were sending him home in the dead of night, and that wound up being the finale of his career. 

Each week during the 2025-26 NBA season, we will take a deeper dive into some of the league’s biggest storylines in an attempt to determine whether trends are based more in fact or fiction moving forward.

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Fact or Fiction: Chris Paul is a top-five point guard in NBA history

We have convened a Hall of Fame panel, made up entirely by me, to officially determine whether Chris Paul, a.k.a. The Point God, retires as one of the five greatest point guards in history.

The 40-year-old Paul officially retired on Friday after being waived by the Toronto Raptors. Paul started the season with the Los Angeles Clippers, but was sent home from the team in December and eventually moved at the Feb. 5 trade deadline. 

On The Bill Russell Scale, which we created to rank players’ legacies across time, Paul sits fourth among point guards, trailing only Magic Johnson, Stephen Curry and Oscar Robertson. And that probably is the definitive list of players at the position who are undoubtedly superior to Paul. But even I, the creator of The Bill Russell Scale, can recognize potential flaws, since the system bends toward favoring longevity.

Only 10 other point guards cracked the Russell Scale’s top 75 — Bob Cousy, John Stockton, Russell Westbrook, Steve Nash, Gary Payton, Jason Kidd, Isiah Thomas, Walt Frazier, Tony Parker and Kyrie Irving — and that is a good list of players at the position who could stake a claim to being better than Paul.

Let us start by reaffirming Johnson, Curry and Robertson as the three greatest point guards ever.

Johnson is a five-time champion and three-time MVP who served as the NBA’s best point guard — or got the highest number of MVP votes at the position — for 10 of his 13 seasons. He is widely considered one of the 10 greatest players ever, and at 6-foot-9 he held an advantage a 6-foot Paul never could replicate.

Curry is a four-time champion. He garnered more MVP votes than any other point guard in five of his 16 seasons, winning the award twice, including unanimously in 2016. And he did it all during Paul’s career, establishing himself as undeniably the greatest shooter to ever live. He is knocking on the all-time top 10.

Robertson finished top-five in MVP voting for eight straight seasons and won the award in 1964, when Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points and Bill Russell was en route to his sixth of eight straight titles, and he was the second-best player (to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) on the 1971 champion Milwaukee Bucks.

Paul could match neither feat. He never finished higher than second in the MVP race, which he did in 2008, losing to Kobe Bryant, though he placed top five on five occasions over a 14-year stretch. He collected more MVP votes than any other point guard in five of his 21 seasons (2008-09, 2012-13, 2021).

Every one of those 10 other point guards but Stockton can make a claim that Paul cannot, either winning an MVP or a title, and Stockton owns the NBA’s all-time records for assists and steals — by a wide margin.

Paul is second to Stockton on both lists.

Having a championship ring or an MVP trophy alone does not make someone better than Paul. Russell Westbrook, for example, won the 2017 MVP award, even if some folks do not consider him worthy (I am not one of them). If you needed to win a title, though, and had to pick between Paul and Westbrook to get you there, there are few — if any — executives in the league who would choose Westbrook over Paul.

(Exhibit A: The Houston Rockets from 2017-20.)

While Irving won as the second-best player (to LeBron James) on the 2016 champion Cleveland Cavaliers, he has never achieved the heights as a player that Paul did. Not once has Irving received an MVP vote, let alone ranked as the league’s best point guard, in any of his 14 seasons. Something similar could be said of Tony Parker, who never made an All-NBA First Team, as his San Antonio Spurs won four championships.

Paul earned four All-NBA First Team selections, as did Frazier, who won championships as the league’s best point guard for the New York Knicks in 1970 and 1973. Frazier peaked over a seven-year stretch. Paul’s prime lasted twice as long, and his longevity has to count for something. That argument is close.

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It is closer still to Stockton, Nash, Payton and Kidd. Stockton recorded 3,254 more assists and 537 more steals in his career than Paul, though he never finished higher than seventh in any MVP voting. Nash won back-to-back MVPs in the mid-2000s, but he never made an All-Defensive roster. Paul, on the other hand, made nine All-Defensive teams, as did Payton and Kidd, who each won a championship later in his career.

We could easily imagine Paul winning a title as a bit player on the right team. He just never found it. And we could make the case that Paul’s path to the 2021 NBA Finals as the second-best player on the Phoenix Suns was every bit as impressive as anything Payton and Kidd accomplished, including Payton’s trip to the 1996 NBA Finals and Kidd’s back-to-back Finals appearances.

But we are not here to debate whether Paul belongs among the 10 best point guards ever. The question posed was whether he is one of the best five, and I think there are two others definitely ahead of him.

Cousy won the league’s 1957 MVP honor during a span when he was the NBA’s best point guard for more than a decade. He was also the second-best player (to Russell) on six championship teams. Sure, you can make the argument that Paul would have dominated in the 1950s, but you could also say that — with the benefit of modern-day training — Cousy may have been every bit as good. What we cannot really debate is whether Paul would have been Paul if not for Cousy, for he revolutionized the position as we know it. 

Thomas was the best player on back-to-back championship teams in 1989 and 1990, at a time when Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan were plying their trade. Might Paul have steered those stout Detroit Pistons defenses to titles in that era? Maybe, but getting the job done must count for something.

So, too, must Paul’s failures in big moments. His collapse as a member of the Clippers against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals remains a stain on his legacy. He was also on the floor for multiple other collapses, including Game 6 of the 2015 conference semifinals.

Injuries marred several other opportunities in the playoffs, including 2017 and 2018, but that is part of the game. Just ask Thomas, who tore his Achilles and retired at age 32 — but not after he accomplished something that Paul simply cannot touch, back-to-back titles as his team’s best player in a stacked era.

So, there you have it, folks — a pretty clear top five: Johnson, Curry, Robertson, Cousy and Thomas.

Paul just as clearly belongs in the top 10, along with Stockton, Nash, Payton and Kidd. Then, we must figure where Frazier belongs, and whom he replaces in the top 10, but that is a debate for a different day.

Determination: Fiction. Paul is more comfortably in the top 10 than he is any top five.