One of the more beloved Spurs from last few seasons is moving on. After failing to find a favorable deal at the trade deadline, the Spurs have agreed to waive forward Jeremy Sochan at his behest. Per the Spurs’ official press release:

“The San Antonio Spurs today announced that the team has waived Jeremy Sochan. Sochan appeared in 28 of the Spurs 53 games this season, averaging 4.1 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.0 assist in 12.8 minutes.

“San Antonio drafted Sochan with the ninth overall selection in the 2022 NBA Draft. In four seasons with the Spurs, the Baylor alum averaged 10.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 25.3 minutes.

“The Spurs roster now stands at 17 players.”

After he clears the waivers, he will be free to sign with another team. The New York Knicks and Phoenix Suns were reportedly interested parties at the trade deadline, so those are just a couple of what should be many teams interested in his services to watch. Sochan has already established himself as one of the league’s premiere perimeter defenders and a strong finisher at the rim, so whether he’s considered the final piece to contending team or pillar for the future of a building one, hopefully he can find a home that has a need and the minutes for him. The move also leaves the Spurs with an open roster spot to sign another player off the waivers if they so choose.

Sochan was the 9th pick for the Spurs in the 2022 NBA Draft, making him their highest overall pick since Tim Duncan at the time. He filled a big gap at the forward position, and despite often playing out of position, including at point guard in his second season, he consistently averaged around 11 points and 6 rebounds in his first three seasons before falling out of the rotation this season.

Had he remained with the team until this offseason, they would have had the option give him his qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent, allowed him to walk as an unrestricted free agent, or tried to conduct a sign-and-trade. In agreeing to waive him, the Spurs continue to show they are a player-friendly organization by fulfilling the wishes of someone they could have gotten some value back for. (They look much better today than tonight’s opponent, as coincidentally, all the beans on the Jonathon Kuminga-Warriors saga were spilled today.)

With Sochan’s departure, along with the trades of Malaki Branham and Blake Wesley during the offseason, the three-man 2022 draft class for the Spurs is officially disbanded. While Sochan especially was a fan favorite, with his funny personality and effort and tenacity on the court, it was becoming more clear throughout the season that it was time for the two parties to move on. Good luck to Jeremy, who is the prime example of the old saying, “Once a Spur, always a Spur.”

The Washington Wizards play the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7 p.m. tonight at Rocket Arena. Watch the game on Monumental Sports Network.

MADRID (AP) — Real Sociedad won 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao in a Basque Country derby in the first leg of the semifinals of Copa del Rey on Wednesday.

Beñat Turrientes scored the winning goal from close range in the 62nd minute at San Mames Stadium. The return leg will be in March.

Sociedad, playing in its third straight Copa semifinal, is trying to reach the final for the first time since it won the competition in 2019-20 for its third title.

Athletic, playing in its sixth Copa semifinal in seven seasons, won the title in 2024 against Mallorca, and was runner-up to Barcelona in 2020-21 and to Sociedad in 2019-20.

Athletic hasn’t won in its last four matches against Sociedad after having won two in a row. It has 24 Copa trophies, behind only the 32 of Barcelona. Real Madrid is third in the list, with 20 Copa titles.

On Thursday, Atletico Madrid hosts defending champion Barcelona in the first leg of their semifinal. Barcelona has reached the Copa’s last four in four straight seasons. Atletico is in the semifinals for the third straight season, having last reached the final when it won the competition in 2019-20.

Athletic made it to the semifinals thanks to Iñaki Williams’s winner six minutes into stoppage time in a 2-1 at Valencia. Sociedad made it to the last four by winning 3-2 at Alaves.

___

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

The Cincinnati Reds officially reunited with Eugenio Suárez last week, adding the proven slugger to the lineup that the entire baseball world knew they needed. Whether or not he’ll play the position he’s played almost every day for the last ten years remains to be seen, but his bat will be in the lineup in some form or fashion most every time the Reds suit up.

The addition of Suárez wasn’t perfect, per se. Spencer Steer and Sal Stewart and Ke’Bryan Hayes and JJ Bleday will all see their paths to 700 PA impacted because of it, as this roster has beaucoup moving parts and nary a truly ‘established’ position player at one everyday spot outside of Elly De La Cruz. That’s perfectly fine, though, because a) said flexibility of the rest of the roster and b) the inevitability that some folks penciled-in now will miss some time for something.

The same can be said for the starting rotation at the moment, really. The impact of full seasons from Chase Burns and Rhett Lowder (and Brandon Williamson and Julian Aguiar) should, in theory, have every bit the boost of impact as bringing in Suárez offensively. That’s four starting options already, and that’s on top of Hunter Greene, Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, and Brady Singer – a cadre that’s the envy of every franchise in the sport right now.

The old rule of chucking the ball from the mound still holds true, regardless – you can never have too much pitching depth. Just last year, for instance, the Reds had every single one of those names within the organization as well and still needed Nick Martinez to throw 165.2 IP (and make 26 starts). They still needed to trade for Zack Littell at the deadline and hand him 10 starts. Chase Petty and Carson Spiers each started twice, and the club nutured the return of veteran Wade Miley into a trio of appearances (and a pair of starts himself).

It’s Miley, in particular, that prompted this post. This time a year ago he was a veteran familiar with the staff and the club, a guy working his way through some things – injuries, age, rust – and leaned into signing with a club where there was both familiarity and upside. He was a bargain-bin veteran, a reclamation project, a potential ‘flip’ or ‘lightning in a bottle’ candidate – he was every single catch-phrase we’ve come to learn as Reds fans, though this time he was precisely that without being someone on who they had to lean.

For years, a guy like that would’ve been brought in and been thrust into a key role as soon as physically possible, even if that was despite not being physically capable. Though things didn’t go swimmingly for Wade last year, the fact is that the Reds got him for depth, didn’t need him in any real urgency, and spent their money on a little lottery ticket that didn’t have to hit big for them to have a chance at the postseason.

That’s the one real thing I do not yet see in Reds camp this year. They haven’t brought in anyone from outside the organization who has done it before, done it well, not done it recently, but maybe, just maybe, could be tweaked in a way that would unlock their ability to do it again. It wouldn’t need to be on Opening Day, per se. It wouldn’t need to be throwing 6 innings every fifth day right away, either. Ideally, it could be in a fashion akin to Martinez last year – a guy who can be a reliever and good at it, or slide into the rotation and chomp innings when the situation comes up.

Anyone who fits that role and is still on the market right now most definitely has their flaws. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t be unsigned, nor would we be talking about them as if they were only really to be leaned upon in a break glass in case of emergency scenario – or, unless they came into camp and showed they’d figured out what had put them so down in the first place and threw their way right back into the discussion.

There is one name out there that has kept popping into my head that ticks a lot of these boxes, though.

He’s twice been an All Star, won a World Series, and twice finished in the Top 10 of Cy Young Award voting. He’s also had major elbow surgery, missed a year, and pitched to just a 5.10 ERA (5.62 FIP) with a trio of franchises in his most recent two seasons. Still just 31 years old, he also grew up a Reds fan in Reds Country, and even was part of Derek Johnson’s final recruiting class at Vanderbilt before Johnson moved to the pro ranks to coach – a class that included the likes of Carson Fulmer, Matt Olson, and Dansby Swanson, among others.

That guy is Lexington, Kentucky’s own Walker Buehler.

Now, I do not know if his camp is holding out for a guaranteed spot in some team’s starting rotation. I do not know if he and his agent have priced themselves out of what remains of Cincinnati’s budget. I do also realize those ugly stats I’ve mentioned since he had TJ and missed the 2023 season, and that his average fastball velocity in 2025 (94.1 mph) was down from the upper 96 mph territory it sat during his heyday before surgery.

I also do not know if he’s willing to wait into the season to see what teams get smashed by the injury bug and suddenly need him more than they do now.

What I do know, though, is that he’s pretty much exactly the kind of guy that would be nice to have around if, say, Williamson and Aguiar – both coming off their own Tommy John surgeries – don’t come back exactly the way they were before just yet. He’d be the kind of guy you’d like Johnson to work with and maybe, just maybe, rediscover enough form to take innings off Burns and Lowder to keep them fresh down the stretch. And while you hope he’d come in off the heap and land running the way Dan Straily did back in the day, he’d come into the team this time in a way more like Miley in that if it simply didn’t work out both sides could move on without denting the roster too badly at all.

We’ve reached the point of the offseason where some team is going to do it, and rightfully so. It sure does make a lot of sense for that club to be the Reds.

The San Antonio Spurs have released former lottery pick and All-Rookie team selection Jeremy Sochan, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports. 

Sochan will be a free agent, per the report.

The Spurs selected Sochan with the No. 9 pick out of Baylor in the 2022 NBA Draft. He immediately secured a starting position for San Antonio and earned second-team All-Rookie honors after averaging 11 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. 

Sochan started 73 games for the Spurs in his second season with similar production. He was a part-time starter in his third season with 23 starts in 54 games, but fell out of the rotation this season on an improved Spurs roster with more competition for playing time. 

Sochan averaged 4.1 points while playing 12.8 minutes per game in 28 of San Antonio’s 53 games prior to the news of his release. He played in 11 of San Antonio’s previous 30 games in limited action.

Sochan was believed to be on the trade block prior to last week’s NBA trade deadline. But the Spurs didn’t find a trade partner and have opted to release Sochan while providing him an opportunity to find a larger role with another team. 

After missing the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons, the Spurs are championship contenders this year with Victor Wembanyama leading the team. San Antonio enters its last game before the All-Star break Wednesday night against the Golden State Warriors at 37-16, good for second place in the Western Conference, 3.5 games behind the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Well, the Washington Nationals have made a free agent signing. It is not exactly a sexy addition, but according to Jake Mintz of Yahoo Sports the Nats have signed Miles Mikolas. The 37 year old Mikolas had been with the St. Louis Cardinals since 2018. At his peak, he was a solid mid rotation starter but now he is a true innings eater.

This is not going to be a pretty season for the Nats pitching staff, and they need bodies to soak up innings. That is exactly what Mikolas can do. Mikolas has thrown at least 155 innings every season since 2022, and has made at least 31 starts every year in that time. The results have not been amazing in that time, with a 4.51 ERA over the last four years, but he takes the ball every fifth day.

After a disastrous 2024, where Mikolas posted a 5.35 ERA, he bounced back slightly in 2025. He posted a 4.84 ERA in 31 starts last year. Mikolas is a control first starter. He has walked less than two batters per 9 innings for his career. That allows him to go deep into games and give his team a chance to win. Since 2022, he is tied for the second most starts by a pitcher.

This is obviously not a flashy addition, and I think there were more interesting innings eating options available. However, he can be a mentor for the young pitchers and take the ball every fifth day. I cannot say I am exactly excited by this news, but I understand the appeal I guess.

Maybe Simon Mathews can do something to help him out, but old dogs like this do not really learn new tricks. One potential option could be to just really trim his 4-seam fastball usage, but he does not really have a standout secondary pitch either. This really is just the epitome of an innings eater.

Mikolas actually does have some history with the Nats. Back in the 2019 playoffs, he and Juan Soto had a bit of a feud over the Soto shuffle. Mikolas was not a fan of the move, and when he got Soto out, he grabbed his crotch as retribution. So, there is that.

I am not a massive fan of this move because I do not see any real upside, but someone has to eat those innings. With Mikolas in the fold, I wonder how the rotation will look. Before his addition, the rotation consisted of Cade Cavalli, Josiah Gray, Brad Lord, Jake Irvin and Foster Griffin. It will be interesting to see which one of those five get the boot.

Lord was much more effective in a relief role last season, so that could be the plan. Gray’s spot will be dependent on how he looks this spring. He has missed a lot of time due to injury and we will have to see what his stuff looks like. In a rotation full of question marks, the Nats now have a proven commodity in Miles Mikolas.

Previous Winner

Nathan Flewelling, C
19 | L/R | 6’2” | 200
A | .229/.393/.336 (126 wRC+) 439 PA, 6 HR, 9 SB, 20.3% BB, 27.6% K
A+ | 22 PA, 4 H, 5 BB, 6 K

The 94th overall pick from 2024, Flewelling made his debut at 18 years young and caught a full season (75 C, 26 DH), plus a five game cup of coffee (3 C, 2 DH). Taking the longview, he could grow into 50-60 grade power with 50 grade defense, which makes him one to follow. His plus zone awareness at the plate offsets his lagging contact, and most importantly for the position his ability to call games and frame pitches are already plus. A strong season with the bat at High-A could vault him into Top-100 consideration.

Made a judgement call in Testers and am adding Cooper Flemming from the 2025 draft. It would be helpful for folks to add votes in Testers if you have an opinion on the next candidate profile! And remember, if you don’t see who you want to vote for, put them in Others.

Candidates

Jackson Baumeister, RHP
23 | 6’4” | 224
AA | 4.62 ERA, 4.15 FIP (15 GS) 62.1 IP, 19.5% K, 9.6% BB
AFL | 6 ER (1 HR), 9.0 IP (4 G, 3 GS), 10 K, 9 BB

A shoulder injury derailed what should have been Baumeister’s coming out party, as his previously plus breaking ball was expected to carve up Double-A. After a tough start to the year and two months on the sidelines, Baumeister returned in August and salvaged the season with a brilliant finish. The tough luck continued, however, in the Arizona Fall League, where a line drive struck him in the head, but he escaped without significant injury. Currently, Baumeister has taken on a fastball/slutter profile, with a slow curve in his back pocket, and has shown teachability and pitchability over the years. The former Seminole currently thrives on his frequently used major league fastball that may be better challenged by a promotion to Triple-A.

Homer Bush Jr.
24 | R/R | 6’3” | 215
AA | .301/.375/.360 (122 wRC+) 546 PA, 0 HR, 57 SB, 8.8% BB, 17.9% K

Acquired in the 2024 Jason Adam trade, the starting center fielder at Double-A passed the test of advanced pitching, but just barely. He lacks in-game power due to a lack of use of his lower half in his swing, and he whiffed more often than you can for long term success with a low-power approach. His calling cards are Rays-grade defense and plus-speed, having notably swiped 57 bags in back-to-back seasons.

Cooper Flemming, SS
19 | L/R | 6’3” | 190

One of the best high school bats in the 2025 draft, Flemming surprisingly fell into the Rays laps in the second round. He has a too-quiet swing that lacks the load necessary to hit for power, but he’s historically compensated for that with a high contact rate that would have rated him as first round material if his defense projected to stick. The Rays were able to convince him to forgo an education at Vanderbilt by going above slot ($2.3m, Comp-A money).

Brailer Guerrero, OF
20 | L/R | 6’1” | 215
A | 249.338/.399 (119 wRC+) 222 PA, 6 HR, 9 SB, 11.3% BB, 29.3% K
AFL | 2 H, 0 HR, 2 SB, 3 BB, 16 K, 29 PA

Good news: the $3.7 million 2023 signee made the leap out of the complex league in his final teenage season. Bad News: He was injured yet again, with hamstring and knee injuries limiting him to 51 games for Charleston. The Rays tried to make up for lost time with an aggressive assignment to the AFL that resulted in only two hits in 29 plate appearances. He makes loud contact from a quick, quiet swing which he pre-loads by reaching back for even more power. He appears to make early decisions to swing, leading to a bit extra whiffs against anything off-speed, but that could easily clear up with some consistent playing time.

Trevor Harrison, RHP
20 | 6’4” | 225
A | 2.61 ERA, 3.26 FIP, 82.2 IP (17 GS), 22.4% K, 10.7% BB
A+ | 3.33 ERA, 4.26 FIP, 24.1 IP (5 GS), 23.8% K, 12.4% BB

Harrison entered the season as Baseball America’s top pitcher in the system thanks to a cleaned up delivery and high heat. He ran into some bumps in the road by running up his pitch count against batters, but he still made it over 100 innings in 22 starts. A power pitcher through and through, his hard slider flirts with cutter classification and could evolve into two distinct pitches down the road. It will be interesting to see how his change up plays as he’s challenged at higher levels, but for now he has premium stuff and the upside of a rotation anchor. (video)

OF Victor Mesa Jr.
24 | L/L | 5’11” | 195
AAA (MIA) | .301/.368/.510 (136 wRC+) 171 PA, 7 HR, 4 SB, 9.9% BB, 16.4% K
MLB (MIA) | 6 H (1 HR), 5 BB, 5 K (81 wRC+) 38 PA

This Cuban power bat already made his major league debut with Miami last year after bouncing back from a spring hamstring injury, and was dealt to the Rays in February. He profiles as a fourth outfielder but has an option remaining, so the organization may send him down for regular playing time and one last chance for something more in development. If not, he’s a center field capable on defense, which goes a long way for a platoon bat. In the running for the nicest guy in baseball.

Tre’ Morgan, 1B/LF
23 | L/L | 6’0” | 215
AAA | .274/.398/.412 (119 wRC+) 402 PA, 8 HR, 8 SB, 15.9% BB, 19.2% K

Morgan continued to hit without power in 2025, a great discouragement for some evaluators, but his present 50-grade hit tool and feel for the zone allow a major league projection. He continued his improved, quieter two-strike approach in 2025 that built on his success retooling his swing in the AFL last year. The Rays gave Morgan 14 starts in Left Field last season, and Baseball America called the defense “playable,” but his value is tied to his plus-plus defense at First.

Aidan Smith, OF
21 | R/R | 6’2” | 190
A+ | .237/.331/.388 (114 wRC+) 459 PA, 14 HR, 41 SB, 11.5% BB, 31.2% K

Acquired in the Arozarena trade, Smith became the prince who was promised, a five tool athlete with a strong bat, good face, and a preternatural glove in center field. That promise unraveled a bit in 2025, with his strikeout rate rocketing nine percent and his power stroke faltering after facing harder velocities in High-A, causing both his hit and power grades to drop into the 40’s. It was a full transformation into a “center field” profile, but with his ceiling that’s not a compliment. He plays with a fire, but the dip in contact rate left some evaluators feeling burned.

Brayden Taylor, 2B/3B
24 | L/R | 6’0” | 180
AA | .173/.289/.286 (77 wRC+) 437 PA, 8 HR, 17 SB, 14% BB, 27.7% K
AFL | .264/.400/.472 (.384 wOBA) 65 PA, 1 HR, 5 SB, 12 BB, 19 K

Taylor entered 2025 as a top-100 prospect after demolishing High-A (154 wRC+), and left 2025 as an afterthought on prospect lists, although he was selected as an Arizona Fall League “Fall Star” in between, where he worked to keep his chase rate low and his hard hit rate high. The juice must have been worth the squeeze, as the Rays have elected to invite Taylor to major league Spring Training this year.

Jose Urbina, RHP
20 | 6’3” | 180
A | 2.05 ERA, 3.58 FIP, 92.1 IP (19 GS), 26.4% K, 8.2% BB
A+ | 2 ER (2 HR), 4.0 IP (1 GS), 5 K, 0 BB

Good pitchers grow and adjust, and Urbina has done that consistently at an age young for his level. Physically he has grown in strength, sitting at 96 with the fastball after flashing high octane in 2024, and technically he has grown, refining his dialed up slider and his two-plane curveball into complementary pitches — which lack plus command but are thrown with feel. He shouldered a starter’s workload at 19, and was awarded one additional start at High-A, where he allowed two solo shots and struck out five. Overall, the age, body, and body of work have him on the trajectory of top prospect lists in the near future.

In this edition, we look at the Cubs’ Japanese southpaw.

Shōta Imanaga, the ‘throwing philosopher’, has been with the Cubs for two interesting seasons now. It’s impossible to say whether Shōta, the crafty lefty with fool-me stuff is going to start a given game, or if his alter ego ‘Mike’ will take the ball for as long as it stays in the park.

Imanaga was an All-Star in that splendid rookie campaign, going 15-3, 2.91, allowing 1.4 HR/9, with a strikeout an inning. in 2025, Mike took the ball far too often, and the erstwhile Ace went a thoroughly disappointing 9-8, 3.73, allowed 1.9 HR/9 and struck out 7.3 men per nine-inning stint. The difference was solo homers, more or less. He threw less of them in 2025. 3.0 bWAR, 1.5 bWar, consecutive years.

Most prediction systems see him as even more average than that, with ERAs in the low 4s and win totals of 8 or 9. At that point, I can see the Cubs cutting their losses with Imanaga and just putting Jordan Wicks out there, since that’s what you get from him and he’s way cheaper. Or say Jaxon Wiggins is armed and ready. Something like that. Something Cub.

Might happen before the All-Star Game. You never know.

He’s gonna be okay but I suspect he is going to wear a different uniform next year. He’s 32 and has pitched a lot of innings. Mike is going to show up a few times. But good Shōta is very good indeed.

The stats above are kind of misleading. I remember 2025 as much worse than that. I recall Mike had really bad timing, at least. He needs to pitch in a cavern. Shōta doesn’t.