February 2026

There were 1,487 posts published in February 2026 (this is page 79 of 149).

Yankees’ Gerrit Cole throws 1st bullpen of spring training as he works back from Tommy John surgery

TAMPA, Fla. — Yankees ace Gerrit Cole threw his first bullpen of spring training on Friday, may pitch in exhibition games and is on track to return to regular-season action from May to September.

A 35-year-old right-hander, Cole had Tommy John surgery March 11 with Los Angeles Dodgers team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

“We’ve had a lot of discussions between myself, the Yankees and Dr. ElAttrache,” Cole said. “With a full Tommy John reconstruction surgery, the target’s always between 14 and 18 months so that really hasn’t changed and that’s what the research says.”

Yankees manager Aaron Boone won’t push for an early return, preferring to have Cole at optimum strength late in the season and October.

“We want to make sure we give him the proper time to make sure he is good and ready to come back, built up in a smart way,” Boone said. “Don’t want to speed things up for the sake of a couple starts at the front end that could affect the overall product.”

Cole threw his first bullpen in October following surgery. He pitched at Steinbrenner Field with a beard — the Yankees relaxed their facial hair policy last year.

“It’s been long and tedious, like most people’s experiences. As we get closer to the end, things start to gain a little momentum,” Cole said. “I just kind of am doing exactly what I’ve been told. So when I’m told to push, I push. When I’m told not to, I don’t.”

Thus far, his elbow feels better than it did two years ago.

“It feels really good,” he said. “It feels different than it has been in quite some time.”

Boone was pleased.

“Everything looks like it’s coming out free and easy — command. He just looks to be in a really good place,” Boone said. “You know that diver that dives off the high board and just goes in the water and makes like no splash? That’s Gerrit on the mound.”

Cole altered his windup, putting his hands over his head. Before he was hurt, he stopped at his chest.

“It feels good,” he said. “Just throwing on the backfields during the summer and tried it out. I’ve had little idiosyncrasies that have changed over the years from still hands to a drop or hands off of the body, close to the body. I think I generally just like the rhythm of it.”

His last official outing was in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series that Oct. 30. He pitched in two spring training games in 2025, the last on March 6.

”Some silver linings, you get more family time,” Cole said. “I miss that outlet of working hard and feeling exhausted every five days.”

Cashman address `running it back’

After re-signing Paul Goldschmidt to a $4 million, one-year contract on Thursday, the Yankees have 24 of the 26 players from last year’s Division Series roster — all but relievers Devin Williams and Luke Weaver, who left as free agents and signed with the Mets.

Left-hander Ryan Weathers, acquired from Miami, appears to be the most significant addition.

“From a macro standpoint, I think we assessed last year’s team as a really good team. I think it played very well. It ultimately fell short,” Cashman said. “In a micro standpoint, when you’re looking at individual decisions that add up to in theory ‘running it back,’ which is the term we’re hearing so much of and understandably so, I think it’s more you engage the current marketplace and it’s an acknowledgement: A, I think we had really good players that were great competitors and B, when I started trying to match up in the marketplace via trade or free agent signs, we wound up comfortable with every individual choice of whether it’s retaining, bringing back, reacquiring.”

Without a World Series title since 2009, the Yankees lost to Toronto in last year’s Division Series.

“Certainly not apologetic of the team we had last year,” Cashman said. “It was a really strong team. A lot of people, experts in the game expected — not expected but predicted could win a world championship.”

New face in camp

Right-hander Rafael Montero agreed to a minor league contract. The 35-year-old was 1-2 with a 4.48 ERA in 59 relief appearances last year for Houston, Atlanta and Detroit.

“There’s some things we really liked that he was doing last year,” Boone said. “Maybe some small adjustments we can make to help him and hopefully he can push himself into the mix.”

Kings’ Zach LaVine will reportedly undergo season-ending surgery on right hand

Sacramento Kings guard Zach LaVine will undergo a season-ending surgery on his right hand after the All-Star break, longtime NBA insider Chris Haynes reported Friday.

LaVine averaged 19.2 points per game and shot 47.9% from the field, including 39% from 3, this season, his second with Sacramento.

This story is being updated.

Kings’ Zach LaVine will reportedly undergo season-ending surgery on right hand

Sacramento Kings guard Zach LaVine will undergo a season-ending surgery on his right hand after the All-Star break, longtime NBA insider Chris Haynes reported Friday.

LaVine averaged 19.2 points per game and shot 47.9% from the field, including 39% from 3, this season, his second with Sacramento.

This story is being updated.

Cubs news: Cubs sign reliever Shelby Miller

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – APRIL 21: Shelby Miller #29 of the Chicago Cubs pitches the 9th inning against the New York Mets at Wrigley Field on April 21, 2021 in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs defeated the Mets 16-4. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Cubs have reportedly agreed to a two-year deal with veteran right-handed reliever Shelby Miller.Fansided’s Robert Murray was reportedly first with the news.

Miller, 35, pitched quite effectively last year with the Diamondbacks, posting a 1.98 ERA and ten saves in 37 games before he was traded to the Brewers at the trade deadline, even though he was on the injured list at the time with a right-forearm strain. He returned from the IL in early August and mostly pitched well until a game on September 1 when Miller felt a “pop” in elbow. That turned out to be a torn ulnar collateral ligament, which lead to his second Tommy John surgery. Miller is expected to miss all of 2026 and return in 2027, so this two-year deal is really a deal for 2027 for the Cubs.

Miller is an 11-year veteran who has pitched for ten teams, including the Cubs in 2021. He signed with the Cubs in Spring Training in 2021 and made three mostly-poor relief appearances until he went on the injured list with a back injury. The Cubs released him in May of that year when it was time for him to come off the injured list. Since then, Miller has bounced around with good seasons with the Dodgers in 2023 and Arizona last year and a poor season with the Tigers in 2024.

Miller began his career as starter in the Cardinals system and was traded to Atlanta as part of a package for Jason Heyward in 2014. In 2015, Atlanta dealt Miller to Arizona as part of a package for Dansby Swanson. Miller has also pitched for the Rangers and Pirates. He has not started a game since 2019.

Spring Training open tread: February 13

WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 16: Chris Sale #51 of the Atlanta Braves throws to second base during the fifth inning in game two of a split doubleheader against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 16, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) | Getty Images

It’s Friday the 13th, folks. If you aren’t into slasher flicks or the Winter Olympics, then hello! Welcome! You’re one of us! Let’s talk baseball!

Tomorrow is the day of love, so they say. And to carry that theme, here’s Chris Sale talking about how he wants to retire as an Atlanta Braves player.

Would you like to see him retire in an Atlanta uniform?

Sound off below!

Rob Thomson proud Nick Castellanos admitted bringing beer to dugout, which contributed to release

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Turns out, the Philadelphia Phillies were ale-ing last year.

Deciding their relationship ruptured when Nick Castellanos angrily brought a beer into the dugout after he was pulled from a game, the Phillies released the outfielder even though they owe him $20 million for the final season of a five-year, $100 million contract.

Draught was an issue in a season that extended the team’s title drought.

In a four-page handwritten letter posted Thursday, Castellanos admitted he broke a team rule by bringing a Presidente beer into the dugout last June “after being taken out of a close ball game in front of my friends and family.” Phillies manager Rob Thomson made the move for defense with a 3-1 eighth-inning lead during a 5-2 win at Miami on June 16.

“I’m proud of him because he owned up to what he did and, hey, we all make mistakes,” Thomson said Friday. “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.”

During a season that ended with a Division Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Castellanos hit .250 — his lowest in a non-shortened season — with 17 homers and 72 RBIs.

Any team can sign Castellanos for the $780,000 major league minimum. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski had decided Castellanos wouldn’t report to the team for spring training — the 33-year-old did not have a locker assigned and two photos of him in the corridor of player images already had been removed.

“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,” Dombrowski said. “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.”

Castellanos’ minus-12 outs above average — how many outs they gain defensively over the average fielder at their position, according to MLB Statcast — tied the New York Mets’ Juan Soto and the Los Angeles Angels’ Jo Adell for 108th and last among 110 qualified outfielders.

Castellanos was removed for Johan Rojas, who took over in center as Brandon Marsh moved from center to left and Max Kepler from left to right.

“I then sat right next to Rob and let him know that too much Slack in some areas and too tight of restrictions in others and not (conducive) to us winning,” Castellanos wrote. “Shoutout to my teammates and Howie (Phillies special assistant Howie Kendrick) for taking the beer out of my hands before I could take a sip.

Castellanos said he “aired out our differences” after the game during a meeting with Thomson and Dombrowski.

“The conversation ended with me apologizing for letting my emotions get the best of me,” Castellanos wrote.

Castellanos was benched the next day for what Thomson said then was “an inappropriate comment.” Castellanos wrote the Phillies told him not to divulge details to reporters.

“I was surprised that a lot of people didn’t see what was taking place at the time,” Dombrowski said.

Thomson doesn’t regret the messy details didn’t become public at the time.

“I thought it was appropriate what we did,” he said.

Castellanos appeared in 75 of the team’s final 90 regular season games and hit .133 with three RBIs in the four-game Division Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. His production decline led to the decision as much as the beer beef.

“That wasn’t the final or determining factor, because if that was, we would have done that at that particular time,” Dombrowski said.

Philadelphia secured a replacement in December, agreeing to a one-year, $10 million contract with Adolis García.

Reporting for the new season and hoping to win Philadelphia’s first title since 2008, Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber wished Castellanos the best.

“We’ve had a lot of really good memories here over the last four years and he’s had some really big moments with us,” Schwarber said. “Hopefully wherever he goes next, he’s able to keep going out there and keep doing his thing and keep having those big moments.”

2026 Arizona Diamondbacks Roster Dark Horse: Dylan Ray

SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA – MARCH 14, 2025: Dylan Ray #44 of the Arizona Diamondbacks throws a pitch during the first inning of a spring training Spring Breakout game against the Kansas City Royals at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on March 14, 2025 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by David Durochik/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images

Dylan Ray might be ahead only of Jose Fernandez, in terms of being the least well-known player on the 40-man roster. Ray was a fourth-round pick in 2022, after barely thirty collegiate innings, and it has been an up-and-down struggle since. Of the four “real” levels at which he has played, High-A ball is the only one where his ERA has been below five. To be fair, pitching in Amarillo or Reno is going to play hell with any prospect’s raw numbers, and last year, he did well in Amarillo. He posted a 3.93 ERA across his ten starts at the Double-A level, which is more than an entire run better than the Sod Poodles’ collective figure. It was also an improvement on his 5.22 in sixteen starts there during 2024.

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What’s interesting – and a little odd – is, Ray has managed to reach the cusp of the major leagues without anyone particularly noticing. In terms of written material, for example, I found an interview Michael did with him for the SnakePit in October 2024, when Ray was appearing in the Arizona Fall League. Jack spoke to him last spring, after he was given the ball to start the Spring Breakout game against the Royals, and Ray addressed the perils of high-offense environments: “I’ll look back at it not from a results oriented standpoint, but more process oriented. Did I execute the pitch, throw it where I wanted it to go. The results take care of themselves at the end of the day.”

Since that? A video interview (below) from the Aces on the dreaded Ticky-Tac, just after Dylan had made his first start for Reno, after his promotion from Amarillo. That came on the heels of him being named the organization’s minor-league pitcher of the month for May. He went a perfect 5-0 across five starts with the Sod Poodles, pitching to a 2.03 ERA and holding batters to a .168 average, with a stellar K:BB ratio of 35:3 across 31 innings. Reno proved a rough awakening, as his ERA was a hair above seven across his first ten starts for the Aces. His strikeouts and walks both went in the wrong direction (38:24 in 52.2 IP).

But Dylan was able to put together a good string out outings in August, with a 3.81 ERA and 22:8 K:BB over 26 innings. That included 5.1 shutout innings in Reno against Sacramento, a game where he struck out nine, matching a career high. While he may have run out of gas down the stretch – he faced only four batters in his last start of 2025 – Ray had still done enough to convince the D-backs he needed protecting from the Rule 5 draft. They duly added him to the 40-man roster in December, when other, higher-profile names like Christian Montes De Oca, A.J. Vukovich, and Kristian Robinson were left eligible.

It was something of a surprise, given he wasn’t particularly highly-ranked as a prospect in the Arizona system. A few days after the Rule 5 draft, Ray was only ranked #45 in Fangraphs’ list of our top prospects, though Prospects 1500 had him just inside the top thirty. The former’s write-up suggested he might be better off converted to a reliever. “He’s velocity sensitive — everything plays fine at the very top of his velo band, but he gets hit when he dips — and in my looks his gas has tended to tail off throughout his outing. It’s worth seeing if Ray can add velo and maybe turn his above-average slider into a plus hammer in short stints.”

The manner of that final departure – Ray left the mound with a trainer, his velocity being sharply down – does give some pause for concern. I haven’t found any indications of an injury being involved, but as the case of Andrew Saalfrank showed, we are often the last to hear about these things. Fingers crossed it was simply fatigue rather than anything more meaningful. Ray’s subsequent addition to the roster is a hopeful sign, though the situation with Rule 5 picks and the IL is a murky one. [If they aren’t active for 90 days, the roster restriction carries forward to the next year] Hopefully, we’ll see him in spring, and any concerns about his health can be put to rest.

Mike Tyson sounds the alarm on US boxing, launching a Las Vegas amateur invitational

LAS VEGAS (AP) — When Mike Tyson was developing as a young fighter in New York in 1980s, he had plenty of chances to test the skills that would one day make him the world’s best and fiercest heavyweight.

Now Tyson looks at the state of boxing in the United States and doesn’t like what he sees. The title of heavyweight champion has gone from among the most prestigious in sports to one that’s nearly anonymous.

That’s what drove the 59-year-old Hall-of-Famer to help launch the Mike Tyson Invitational on March 12–14 in his adopted hometown of Las Vegas. Tyson’s team sought out the nation’s top amateur boxers to give them this forum to go against each other with the long-range goal of elevating boxing to where it used to stand as a conversation-driving sport.

“I was watching some of the amateur fights and I was wondering, ‘We don’t have enough boxing clubs,’” Tyson said Friday. “Before, when I was fighting, we could fight at the Ohio state fair. Then I’d go to Colorado the next two weeks and fight in the national tournament. That’s what we need to be able to compete with the other countries. We need more competition.”

He is particularly concerned about boxing’s future in the Olympics. Until the International Olympic Committee announced last March that boxing would be included in the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, there was doubt whether the sport’s longtime presence in the quadrennial event would end.

Tyson’s main focus is making boxing big again in the U.S. There is the occasional major event, such as the Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford unified super middleweight title fight Sept. 13 before 70,482 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

But those attention-grabbing bouts only temporarily push back on the notion that boxing is in trouble at the grassroots level.

“Listen, boxing is dying, and that is what’s driving me,” Tyson said. “If I can be involved in any way in the uplifting and development of boxing, I’ll be happy with that.”

That would include working with UFC CEO and President Dana White, who grew up loving boxing before building his mixed-martial arts empire. Through TKO, the company at that owns the UFC and WWE, White is in a multiyear agreement with the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, and Sela, a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

The Alvarez-Crawford card was their first under this partnership. Tyson was among a number of former boxing greats and celebrities in attendance.

While the UFC is a one-man show, boxing is much more splintered with different sponsoring organizations and promoters competing against each other.

“I kind of like that organization,” Tyson said of the UFC. “It’s just one guy and we deal with everything. That might not work for boxing, but I like the idea. In the UFC, if they have one bad fight, the guy might not be in the fold. It’s for entertainment. That’s what it’s about. In (boxing), if the guy stinks up the joint, they keep using him. So that has to be the criteria. Either you make exciting fights or you’re not able to participate.”

There was no lack of excitement when Tyson was putting together his career that resulted in a 50-7 record with 44 knockouts. The self-proclaimed “baddest man on the planet” came as advertised, winning his first 19 professional bouts by knockout, 12 in the first round.

His fights became a must-watch event, and Tyson was all business entering the ring, once declaring, “Everyone has a plan until they get punched.”

“We’re all entertainers, trust me, especially fighters,” Tyson said. “If you don’t perform well, people give their opinion about you. You may not like it. My job was always to make the people happy as a fighter.”

Now he’s searching for the next Mike Tyson — or, rather, Mike Tysons — who can bring spark to the sport.

His invitational won’t be a cure-all, but it could be a start.

“I was taught as a kid, boxing is about putting asses in seats,” Tyson said. “That’s where greatness comes from.”

___

AP boxing: https://apnews.com/hub/boxing