March 2026

There were 1,682 posts published in March 2026 (this is page 86 of 169).

The pros and cons of NBA expansion in Seattle and Las Vegas

The NBA’s board of governors next week will vote on the possibility of adding expansion teams in Seattle and Las Vegas for the 2028-29 season, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania, and there is reportedly “momentum” toward approval.

Approval, which requires a vote in favor from 23 of the league’s 30 owners, would open bidding to offers expected to reach as high as $10 billion, the recent sale price of the Los Angeles Lakers, per Charania. Final approval could come “later in the year.”

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The WNBA, NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball have all expanded into Seattle or Las Vegas, or both, in recent years. They are, after all, two of the wealthiest markets.

As soon as news dropped — first thing on a Monday, right when morning talk shows needed a jolt — I thought: On one hand, the league is deep enough to expand into 32 teams; on the other, a third of the NBA is tanking already. Pros and cons, you figure.

Hey, a good gimmick: Pros and cons of NBA expansion into Seattle and Las Vegas.

After yet another draft loaded with talent, there is more of it in the NBA than ever. Welcome Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel, among others, to a field of 450 players, all of whom can play. There are guys in the G League and elsewhere that can really play.

Last year’s Sixth Man of the Year, Payton Pritchard, would have been an All-Star in the 1980s and would have dominated the 1950s. It is just a fact of life. Athletes get bigger, stronger, faster; they train harder and smarter. There are more elite athletes than ever.

And more places to draw from. Last year’s draft alone featured players from Russia, the Bahamas, South Sudan, France, China, Lithuania, Canada, Israel, Spain, the United Kingdom, Australia, Switzerland, the Dominican Republic, Serbia, Ukraine and Italy.

The defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, as another example, added Jared McCain, who was a Rookie of the Year contender as recently as the middle of last season, to a roster that is already stacked with talent; and he is fully capable of helping them win games.

Where to put all these talents? The NBA adds 60 draftees to its pool of 450 players each year. On the way are AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and more. Why not add 64 to a field of 480, then? What is the difference? The spots will get filled, the league will persist, and 20 years from now you won’t remember which was the last team to enter the league. If the product is as good as it is now, you’ll take it.

Do we have enough superstars to field these new teams? The 15-man All-NBA roster will be a tough one to crack, but once we got past the initial round of 24 All-Stars this year, the league started to name Brandon Ingram, Alperen Şengün and De’Aaron Fox as replacements — hardly the household names who put a**es in seats from city to city, night to night.

Once you get past, say, Deni Avdija on the Portland Trail Blazers, you are kind of running out of the types of offensive engines who can power entire franchises, and even he may be a stretch. Attendance numbers may be decent, because it is still something to do on a Friday night in the city, but I am sure people are not lining up to watch Alex Sarr on the Washington Wizards or Egor Dёmin on the Brooklyn Nets.

According to Charania, Seattle and Las Vegas are both expected to “be among the NBA’s top eight revenue generators,” mostly because they are both destination cities.

People want to spend time in Las Vegas and Seattle, just like they want to spend time in Miami and the Bay Area. NBA players are no different. Think of the success the Heat and Warriors have enjoyed in recent decades. Might Vegas and Seattle soon join them as power players on anyone’s list of preferred trade or free-agent destinations?

We already have as many as 10 teams — from the Milwaukee Bucks on down the standings — who are tanking the remainder of the season for a better draft pick.

Either that, or they are the New Orleans Pelicans, who can’t get out of their own way.

Point is: There are already a lot of teams who do not treat the regular season with the respect it deserves. Do we really need to be adding more teams on top of that mix?

Is this a retirement gift for Lakers superstar LeBron James? The 41-year-old will almost certainly be part of one of the ownership groups, presumably the one in Las Vegas, where you can catch him on the sidelines of an event on multiple occasions each year.

It will be pretty cool to keep one of the all-time greats involved in the game, even after he ends his playing career, assuming he ever ends his playing career. James, who has amassed a fortune in excess of $1 billion, has earned his right to reinvest in the NBA.

Several years ago, LeBron James said he wanted to own an NBA team in Vegas. (Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)
Allen Berezovsky via Getty Images

What an investment it would be. Prices for teams have skyrocketed. Michael Jordan paid $275 million for the Charlotte Hornets in 2010 and sold his majority stake at a $3 billion valuation in 2023. Last year, two of the NBA’s signature franchises — the Lakers and Boston Celtics — respectively sold for increasing records of $7.3 and $10 billion.

And they show no sign of slowing down. The league signed an 11-year, $76 billion media rights deal, which began this season. Who is to say what franchises will fetch in 2036, as sports remain one of few live events to draw fans to arenas and viewers to devices.

Then again, Jordan was a terrible steward of the Hornets. He rarely spent on his team, and they performed like it, making the playoffs just twice — a pair of first-round exits — in more than a decade with him at the helm. It is probably no coincidence that their ascent as an organization has occurred in the immediate aftermath of Jordan’s exit.

If his playing career was any indication, can you imagine the passive-aggressiveness with which James will post on social media about his own team — a team that he built.

Remember: It was James who wanted his Miami Heat to draft Shabazz Napier. And it was James who wanted his Cleveland Cavaliers to sign a 32-year-old Deron Williams.

But it was also James who wanted to join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and made it happen. It was James who coordinated his partnership with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love in Cleveland, and with Anthony Davis in L.A. All yielded championships.

Then again, that was James, the player, not James, the owner. He had his own great performance to rely on when he played. It does not appear Bronny is ready to shoulder that load. Could make for an interesting general manager selection, though.

Seattle will be the SuperSonics, I presume, which is awesome, especially if they bring back their skyline uniforms. What will Las Vegas be? They have the WNBA’s Aces and NHL’s Golden Knights. Las Vegas Raiders does not have as nice a ring to it in the NFL.

They could be the Sharps, or High Rollers. Name them after the local newspaper, the Las Vegas Review. Or the Cabaret. Or just Dice. The Las Vegas Strip? I’m spitballing.

It’s fun to come up with a team name, and to laugh at the terrible ones that could live forever — like naming Toronto’s team after a character from “Jurassic Park” — until you are the one who actually must come up with a name. It’s a lot of pressure for a team.

We could get a terrible team name. We could get a great one. Either way, we win.

Can you imagine being in a conference room for the board of governors meeting?

“Should we create two teams out of thin air and sell them for a total of $20 billion?”

“That’s $667 million apiece!”

“But … but our share of $15 billion in annual revenue goes from 1/30th to 1/32nd!”

“Hmmm, that’s only $469 million every year instead of $500 million. Bummer.”

“Well, I guess my new $667 million check will help. Thanks for making up some teams!”

Meanwhile, the average customer is struggling to bring their family of four to a game. Welcome to the world of big business, Seattle SuperSonics and the Las Vegas Fear and Loathing. It is ruthless out there. Wizards and Magic and Pelicans are awaiting.

Giannis Antetokounmpo on left knee injury after awkward fall: ‘I’m not really bothered by it at all’

Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo sustained a left knee injury with just under four minutes to go in the third quarter of the Bucks’ Sunday matchup with the Indiana Pacers:

After rebounding a missed 3-pointer by Pacers center Jay Huff, Antetokounmpo brought the ball up the court himself, drove into the backtracking Huff, spun off him at the free-throw line and exploded to the basket for a two-handed dunk. When he came down, though, he landed awkwardly, with his left knee briefly buckling upon contact with the ground.

As the Pacers inbounded the ball and play headed the other way, Antetokounmpo remained seated on the baseline before slowly getting to his feet. He’d actually get another dunk seconds later, after a steal by Myles Turner and a length-of-the-court hit-ahead pass by Ryan Rollins found Antetokounmpo, who’d never crossed half-court, all by himself in the paint.

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Antetokounmpo gingerly jogged back on defense after the dunks, and drew a foul on the Bucks’ next offensive possession, getting himself back to the line for his 12th and 13th free-throw attempts of the game. Just under a minute later, he’d check out of the game; he wouldn’t check back in, finishing with 31 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists in 23 minutes in a 134-123 Bucks win.

From Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

“Yeah, I think I hyperextended my knee,” Antetokounmpo said. “I haven’t seen the clip. I want to see the clip. Doesn’t matter. That’s pretty much it.” […]

“I’ve had an injury like this before,” Antetokounmpo said. “The moment that you kind of take a step away from the game and you don’t stay loose, it’s gonna get stiff, you’re going to start feeling pain, I won’t be able to move and other things might be impacted by that, from your ankles and your calves and your hips. Your body’s not aligned, right, because you’re not running, same way you’re not stepping the right way.”

Hoping to avoid that stiffness, pain and misalignment, Antetokounmpo did try to check back in, but to no avail, as detailed by Eric Nehm of The Athletic:

As the fourth quarter got underway, the Bucks built a 13-point lead while Bucks vice president of sports medicine Luke O’Brien and physical therapist Tommy Brice started a conversation with Antetokounmpo in the tunnel that leads to the locker room near the Bucks bench. After some convincing, Antetokounmpo ultimately went to the locker room.

“I had the conversation with Luke and Tommy, and again, I don’t think anything changed,” Antetokounmpo said. “I wanted to get back in the game. They looked at me and said, ‘No, it’s not worth it.’ We were up 13, 15. They was like, ‘No, no way, it’s not worth it.’” […]

When The Athletic asked if he would be getting any imaging done on the knee to see if there was any more serious damage done on the play, the two-time NBA MVP said no.

“I’m just going to go back home, sleep, see how I feel tomorrow, try to lift some weights,” Antetokounmpo said. “And if I have a little bit of discomfort, then I’ll go from there. But as of now, I’m not really bothered by it at all.”

On one hand, Antetokounmpo has made no secret of the fact that, if he feels good enough to get onto the court, he wants to play, irrespective of the context in which the Bucks find themselves. However, that context matters a great deal when considering how “worth it” a prospective Giannis return would be.

After first losing All-NBA point guard Damian Lillard to a ruptured Achilles tendon, then waiving-and-stretching the remainder of Lillard’s contract to create enough salary cap space to sign Turner away from the Pacers to serve as Antetokounmpo’s new frontcourt partner, the Bucks entered the season in precarious position. On the court, the Bucks seemingly lacked a high enough level of complementary talent to support Antetokounmpo’s preferred pursuit of championship contention. Off the court, the seemingly constant rumblings that Antetokounmpo’s eyes might start to wander if he lost faith that the Bucks could compete for another NBA championship reached a fever pitch, amid reports that the Knicks and Bucks had communicated about a possible blockbuster to land Giannis in New York.

Milwaukee opened up 7-4, with Antetokounmpo playing at an MVP level and fourth-year guard Rollins opening eyes around the league by seizing the opportunity to earn a starting role in the Bucks’ backcourt. And then, the injuries started.

A groin strain in mid-November. A calf strain in early December. Another in late January, running up his missed games total to 29 — nearly half the season, to that point.

“Things I could do in the past, maybe I can’t do anymore. I’ve just got to be smarter,” Antetokounmpo recently told reporters. “I’m not old, but I’m older for sure. I’m not 24 anymore — 31, but I’m still 31. It’s not like I’m 36 or 37. When you deal with a lot of soft-tissue injuries, it’s hard. I’ve dealt with knee pain in the past; it’s totally different. If you’re not able to take care of soft-tissue injuries, they can linger. I think that’s what happened this year, and I feel like I’ve been playing the whole year with a deficit.”

By the time Antetokounmpo returned from the injured list earlier this month, the Bucks were eight games under .500, in 11th place in the East. And as excellent as he’s been when available — 27.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.4 assists in 28.9 minutes per game; career highs in field goal percentage, true shooting percentage and assist rate; top-five in the NBA in a slew of advanced metrics, including player efficiency rating, win shares per 48 minutes, box plus-minus, estimated plus-minus and regularized adjusted plus-minus — Milwaukee is just 17-19 with him in the lineup, and now sits 11 games under .500 at 28-39, 5.5 games behind the Charlotte Hornets for 10th place in the East with 15 games to go.

Public–facingpostseasonprojectionmodels give the Bucks virtually zero shot of climbing into the play-in tournament before season’s end. They do, however, currently have about a 14% shot at landing a top-four pick in the 2026 NBA Draft lottery, according to Tankathon. And while the Atlanta Hawks own the right to take whichever pick lands higher between Milwaukee and New Orleans, stemming from last June’s draft-night deal that made Derik Queen a Pelican, the possibility that the Pels’ pick lands higher could still result in the Bucks coming away from this lost season with a lottery pick — a prospect that could either slot in alongside Antetokounmpo or be used in a trade to return a more established player who might help vault the Bucks back into contention.

The big question now: whether Antetokounmpo will once again push himself to get back onto the court as soon as possible to continue plying his trade down the stretch, or the Bucks will convince him that discretion is the better part of valor in the dying days of what’s become a lost season.

“For me, every game is worth it,” Antetokounmpo told reporters Sunday. “Every time I step on the floor, I try not to take it for granted. I appreciate just being out there, especially when I’m getting my rhythm back and I’m feeling good. But again, that was the time that you gotta look back and you just gotta listen. Just gotta listen. And I listened.”

Can Pistons hold on to East lead with Isaiah Stewart sidelined by calf injury?

Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart is out with a left calf strain, and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff says there’s no timeline for when the key reserve will rejoin the East-leading Pistons.

Stewart played 20 minutes in Detroit’s 126-110 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday — his seventh game back after missing the previous seven while suspended for his role in a Feb. 9 fight between the Pistons and Charlotte Hornets — chipping in 10 points, 4 rebounds (3 offensive), 1 assist and 1 block. But Bickerstaff didn’t like the way his typically energetic backup center was moving.

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“It’s something that he’s been dealing with,” Bickerstaff said before Sunday’s 119-108 loss to the Toronto Raptors, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “It just had been kinda getting worse. He gutted it out last game and you could see he was favoring it and he was hobbling around a little bit late in his minutes.”

With All-Star center Jalen Duren manning the middle in the starting five and third-string big man Paul Reed eminently capable of stepping into a larger role, the Pistons have fared well without Stewart this season. They’ve gone 9-3 with him out of the lineup, outscoring opponents by a stellar 11.8 points per 100 possessions with him off the floor — numbers that instill confidence that the Pistons, who enter Monday’s action with a four-game lead over the Boston Celtics for first place in the East, should be able to keep a firm grasp on their spot atop the conference with Stewart sidelined.

Even so: A Detroit team that has been a bit wobblyof late — five losses in the last eight games, including defeats to the Western power Spurs and potential Eastern playoff opponents Miami, Cleveland and Toronto — could miss Stewart’s … well, you might not call it a steadying presence, exactly. But all season long, these Pistons have won largely on the strength of their defense and physicality, and Stewart’s ability to lock down the lane has played a significant part in the development of the NBA’s No. 2 defensive unit.

Detroit opponents take just 26.3% of their field goal attempts at the rim when Stewart’s in the game, according to Cleaning the Glass — a mark that would rank second in the NBA over the course of the full season. They convert just 58.8% of those attempts in his minutes; that would be the lowest point-blank percentage in the league.

And that includes all interior tries during Stewart’s minutes. Drill down into just the ones where he himself is the closest defender, and opponents are shooting a cataclysmic 43.2% at the basket when Beef Stew contests, according to Second Spectrum — far and away the lowest mark among 233 players to guard at least 100 such up-close tries, and even stingier than last season’s 46% success rate (which ranked second in the league, behind only Chet Holmgren).

“I’m not 7-foot, I’m not 7-2, I’m not 7-3,” Stewart recently told James Herbert of CBS Sports. “The fact that I am who I am and they see me at the rim and they defer, I think it’s a respect thing. […] Not everybody’s driving in looking to score every time because of my presence and my timing on taking dunks out the air. I don’t see anybody around the league that’s an undersized center that’s able to time dunks, take dunks out the air. It does something for us. It builds momentum and it sends us heading in the right direction the other way.”

That level of interior impact, combined with Stewart’s flexibility and versatility as a switch defender on the perimeter, would make him a strong candidate for a spot on one of the two All-Defensive teams come season’s end … if he’d played enough to qualify.

While the sixth-year veteran has appeared in 55 games this season, only 49 of them “count,” under the player participation guidelines instituted before the 2023-24 season; he has played fewer than 20 minutes eight times, and the NBA only allows players to count two contests in which they played between 15 and 20 minutes toward their year-end total. As such, as Herbert noted, Stewart needed to play in every remaining Pistons game, and to play at least 20 minutes in all of them, in order to qualify for All-Defensive honors; missing Sunday’s loss to Toronto, then, eliminated him from the running.

The silver lining to that particular gray cloud: If there’s no pressing reason to keep sending Stewart back out there to preserve his eligibility, the Pistons can afford to use whatever time they need over the next month to get him right. Detroit can proceed with caution in managing an injury that has become one of the NBA’s most common and most daunting, in hopes of ensuring that Stewart — who missed the final five games of Detroit’s 2025 NBA playoffs loss to the New York Knicks with a right knee injury — can stay on the court this postseason.

“It’s something we’re going to take time with,” Bickerstaff said Sunday. “Those are things you don’t want to mess around with. I can’t give you a timeline because we’ll always try to see how he responds. The most important thing for us is that he gets well, so we’ll take our time and make sure that he’s well.”

You Can Finally Get an Apple Watch Ultra 2 for Under $500

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Apple’s flagship products rarely get substantial discounts—but if you wait for the right moment, you can grab a great deal. If you’ve been eyeing Apple’s top-of-the-line smartwatch, that moment is now: The cellular version of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 has dropped to $499 on Amazon ($799 at launch), now that it has been supplanted by the Ultra Watch 3. This is the lowest price it has yet reached, according to price tracking tools. Sizes are available in small and medium.

Apple Watch Ultra 2
[GPS + Cellular 49mm] Smartwatch with Rugged Titanium Case & Blue Ocean Band One Size.


$549.00
at Amazon
$799.00
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The Apple Watch Ultra 2 was released in September 2023, and after the Ultra 3 dropped two years later, it was inevitable that the Ultra 2 would see a price reduction. The cool thing is, you don’t need the latest model to receive the latest WatchOS features, since Apple has a good record of updating its products for many years to come. The Ultra 3 does offer a few features the Ultra 2 lacks, including 5G cellular connectivity and satellite connectivity, but the latter is still an beast of a smartwatch, and a great buy at this price.

The Ultra is the premium Apple Watch model, with the biggest case size, brightest screen (3,000 nits), deepest water resistance (100 meters), and longest battery life (about 55 hours on average depending on your use), and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 is packed with fitness-focused features. Even if you aren’t a health nut, it also has a lot of great features for casual users. (People who want a reliable sleep tracker can learn a lot about their sleep habits with the Ultra 2.) You can read more about this watch on PCMag’s “excellent” review.

If you want to spend less and still get a good device, the first-generation Apple Watch Ultra can be found for $314.94 refurbished at Amazon. The newer Apple Watch Series 11 is $399 right now.

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World Baseball Classic: Aaron Judge says tournament atmosphere is ‘bigger and better than the World Series’

New York Yankees star Aaron Judge knows a thing or two about big moments. Since his promotion to the majors in 2016, Judge has made the playoffs eight times as a member of the Yankees. He also helped the team reach the 2024 World Series, in which it fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games.

But according to Judge, none of those postseason games — including the five World Series contests — compared to the atmosphere at the World Baseball Classic on Sunday.

Following Team USA’s narrow 2-1 win over the Dominican Republic — which ended on a controversial call — Judge called the World Baseball Classic “bigger and better than the World Series.”

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That could raise some eyebrows among the Yankees faithful, who haven’t seen their favorite team win a World Series since 2009. For that fan base, that’s an eternity.

Judge has done plenty in his career to put the Yankees in position to end that streak. The 33-year-old carries an absurdly strong .294/.413/.615 slash line for his career and has been one of the best players in the game.

His playoff performances, however, have been somewhat muted. Judge carries a lower .236/.346/.476 slash line across 65 playoff games. He struggled mightily during that five-game World Series vs. the Dodgers, going just 4-for-23 against Los Angeles.

If the pressure of the World Baseball Classic is affecting Judge, he’s not showing it yet. Team USA’s captain has a .261/.414/.565 slash line through six games. That’s down compared to Judge’s regular-season numbers but still strong.

And Team USA will need Judge to come through for just a few more at-bats. With Sunday’s thrilling win over the Dominican Republic, Team USA advanced to the World Baseball Classic final for the third straight time. It will face the winner of Monday’s semifinal between Venezuela and Italy.

The USA is looking for redemption after losing to Japan in the 2023 final. As Team USA’s captain, the pressure is on Judge to rally his team one more time and reclaim the title.

Why You’ll Be Glad You Bought Padded Cycling Shorts

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I’m not a real cyclist, I say to myself as I buy a cheap, basic exercise bike. I’m not that into spinning, I say to myself as I replace that bike a year later (it wore out from constant use). I’m not dressed like a silly cyclist, I say as I strap into my cycling shoes. And I climb on the bike and proceed to ride for an hour in normal, unpadded shorts. Because I’m a dumbass.

Look, sometimes I am at the forefront of smart and important hacks, like rinsing out my exercise gear in the shower or bringing back sweatbands. And sometimes it takes me forever to start following the advice that every single cyclist impresses onto beginners. And this one is: Just buy the padded shorts already.

Why cyclists wear padded shorts

The padding isn’t actually the point, but it’s a nice bonus. A cycling chamois (pronounced “shammy”) is a pad that sits against your skin to prevent chafing. Originally these were thin leather made from sheep or deer skin, and you’d rub in a cream to soften it. Eventually cycling apparel companies figured out how to make a synthetic version, which wicks moisture and provides some extra padding as well.

When you wear cycling shorts with a chamois, you’ll have a layer of wicking, friction-free material between your nether regions and the seat. You can shift positions on the saddle during the ride, and the padding will stay in the right place, because it’s attached to you, not the saddle. Padded saddles tend to aggravate pressure points because your sit bones sink in to the padding; chamois shorts don’t usually have that issue.

I bought my first pair of cycling shorts on a whim, like, “let’s see how good they actually are.” I was never a person who had much trouble with saddle soreness, but I have to admit that long rides are much more comfortable in the chamois than when I was wearing unpadded leggings or bike shorts.

The shorts prevent any kind of chafing, and the padding really does make the ride more comfortable. If you wince at the thought of a 60-minute or 90-minute endurance session on the bike, get the shorts already. And no, a padded seat is not the same thing. Padding on a bike seat can make pressure worse, but padding on shorts moves with you and stays in the right places. Try a pair and you’ll see what I mean.

How to buy your first pair of cycling shorts

When you buy your cycling shorts, they’ll be sold as either “men’s” or “women’s” models. Women’s tend to have wider padding in the back, and men’s tend to have longer padding with a groove down the center to avoid pressure on the perineum (which can cause numbness).

The next thing to pay attention to is what kind of shorts the chamois is sewn into. You can find regular Spandex-y bike shorts; “liners” that are sheer or mesh because they’re meant to be worn under regular shorts; and “bibs” which have overall-style straps to hold them up while you ride. Serious road cyclists usually wear bibs. Mountain bikers often prefer liners. If you don’t know what to get, the regular bike short style is a good all-purpose choice.

Cycling shorts to consider:

NOOYME Women’s Bike Shorts for Cycling Underwear 4D Padded Women Cycling Shorts with Pockets (Black, Small)


$32.99
at Amazon

How to wear a cycling chamois

First of all: You do not wear these with underwear. Even if you wouldn’t normally go commando in your workout attire, it’s mandatory here. Avoiding underwear seams and wedgies is half the reason you’re wearing cycling shorts.

The second point follows from the first: Wash it every time you wear it. A thorough rinse in the shower is a good-enough way to keep your chamois fresh if you don’t have time to do a full load of laundry before your next ride. (Cycling shorts tend to dry quickly.) Cyclists recommend taking off the chamois as soon as you’re done with your ride, rather than sitting around in it any longer than you have to. Pack a change of shorts if you aren’t going home right away.

If you still have chafing when you wear chamois shorts, that’s what chamois cream is for. It’s not for softening leather anymore; it’s more of a lubricant and ointment, sort of a BodyGlide/diaper cream combo.

And, speaking of diapers: Yes, it will feel like you’re wearing one. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of wearing a gigantic maxi pad, it’s a lot like that. But the awkwardness ends as soon as you hop on your bike; then you just feel comfortable.

Fantasy Baseball: Infield sleeper and breakout picks at Catcher and 1st Base

It’s key to any successful fantasy baseball season to correctly identify sleepers and breakouts. For more of each, check out our infield breakouts story here and our infield sleepers story here.

Expectations were high when the White Sox tabbed Vaughn with the third overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, but his progress was stalled in Chicago — and he hit a .189/.219/.314 wall on the South Side last summer. But Vaughn’s bat magically healed after a trade to Milwaukee — he gave the Brewers a .308/.375/.493 slash, with nine homers and 46 RBI in 64 games. He was a top-65 fantasy hitter over the final three months of the year.

Sometimes players need a change of scenery or a new set of guideposts, and the Brewers have been so shrewd with their under-the-radar player evaluations in recent years, I want to give them the benefit of the doubt. A decade ago, we’d regularly talk about backlining Tampa Bay — the Rays didn’t have a ton of resources but they seemed to use them smarter than anyone else. That’s how I feel about the Brewers now.

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Even if you fall short of my Milwaukee optimism, you can at least rally behind a post-hype sleeper who’s settling into his age-28 year. The timing appears right for Vaughn to take a step forward, and the cost is absurdly low.

The Reds always seem to have too many options for too few offensive slots, so it’s generally a nervous exercise to promote one of their less-established players. But Stewart got our attention during an 118-game romp through the minors last year (.309/.383/.524, with 20 homers at two levels). The Reds used him off-and-on during a September call-up, and although Stewart had 15 whiffs against just three walks, at least his connections were loud (five homers, .545 slugging).

I’d like to hear some Terry Francona confirmation on Stewart’s role and batting slot before I jump into this recco with both feet, but Stewart at least carries plenty of plausible upside entering his age-22 season.

Coming off a pair of productive seasons, Langeliers is a step away from a Cal Raleigh-esque campaign. The slugger was dominant in the second half of 2025, when he used improvements in fly ball rate and pull rate to hit .328 with 19 homers and 45 RBI in 57 games.

He boosted his year-over-year batting average by more than 50 points, thanks to a vastly improved 19.7% strikeout rate. Langeliers barrels up the ball often, is part of a rapidly improving lineup and calls home to a hitter-friendly venue.  He could produce 35-40 homers and 100 RBI.

For the deep-league crowd, I offer Vargas as a late-round breakout candidate. The 26-year-old who debuted way back in 2022 finally played a full season in 2025. The results were respectable but not impressive. Still, we saw some improvements, most notably major strides with a strikeout rate that was cut to 17.6%. Vargas has always produced many fly balls (career 50.3% rate) and respectable exit velocities but has been saddled by a lowly lifetime 7.3% HR/FB rate. That mark will finally push past 10% this year, which will give Vargas 25-homer potential.

iOS 27’s Best Feature Might Not Be a Feature at All

When Apple takes the virtual stage in June for WWDC 2026, avid fans might expect the company to announce a number of new features for updates like iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27. And while these updates will almost assuredly sport some key features and changes from the “OS 26” era, the best new feature might not be a feature at all. In fact, it might be the exact opposite.

In his Power On newsletter on Sunday, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman ran through some of Apple’s thought processes with its upcoming updates, per Gurman’s sources. It seems that following the company’s big delays and stumbles in rolling out big AI features, and its Liquid Glass design overhaul, the company is in a position to focus more on iterative updates rather than sweeping changes. As such, Gurman expects “years of gradual improvements,” starting with iOS 27, which he has said since November will be a “Snow Leopard-like” release.

For those out of the loop, Mac OS X Snow Leopard is a famous OS update in Apple world. Apple announced Snow Leopard as having zero new features, as the update was intensely focused on delivering bug fixes and stability updates to Mac OS (now macOS). Snow Leopard didn’t actually ship with zero new features—there was a new QuickTime player and a fresh version of Safari—but the emphasis was really on shipping a new OS for the Mac that felt the same as before, but just worked better.

If that’s the philosophy Apple wants to carry onto iOS 27, I’m all for it. iOS 26 hasn’t been too buggy in my experience, but I keep encountering other users who swear the update has negatively impacted their iPhones. The one complaint I keep hearing is about the keyboard, which users allege is buggy beyond belief. While there are general steps you can take to make the iOS keyboard work better for you, any software bugs affected it will require Apple’s intervention—not the end user.

I would also like Apple to extend those plans to its other big updates this year, as well. The first couple of versions of macOS 26 (Tahoe) received an even poorer reception online than iOS 26, from what I’ve seen. The negative reviews kept me from updating my M1 iMac until macOS 26.3, which beta testers found to be less buggy than previous versions. Indeed, my M1 Mac can handle macOS 26.3, but it’s still a bit laggy at times. While you could chalk that up to the five-year-old chip, I’d bet Apple could optimize its OSes across the board to make the experience a bit smoother for any devices that will be compatible with any of the OS 27 updates. If Apple can make macOS Tahoe run smooth on the MacBook Neo, running a binned, two-year-old iPhone chip, I imagine my iMac could run macOS 27 with some grace.

iOS 27 will have actual new features, too

Like Snow Leopard, Apple won’t actually have zero new features to ship with iOS 27. The biggest feature of all will be rolling out its new “AI Siri,” which despite being announced in 2024 for iOS 18, has encountered delay after delay. But Gurman says the other big iOS 27 “feature” will be support for Apple’s upcoming foldable iPhone, introducing things like split-screen apps for the first time on iOS. It’d be great if Apple extended this support to standard iPhones as well (especially the Max), but Gurman seems to think this will remain a foldable perk only.

Remember, this year marks Apple’s 50th anniversary, and the company likely has some big plans in store. But I think the best thing the company could do to celebrate is make sure that all of its devices are running optimized versions of their respective OSes. Happy Birthday, Apple!

2026 Fantasy Baseball: Updating you on all the notable position battles during spring training

At the outset of spring training, I covered 11 position battles that were set to play out in the coming weeks and would eventually impact fantasy baseball draft rankings. Here is an update on each battle, and as an added bonus, I’ve included details regarding the closer battles that are currently being waged across Florida and Arizona.

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Spring Update: O’Neill got off to a hot start in spring training and was slashing .636/.692/1.000 in 13 plate appearances before joining Team Canada for the World Baseball Classic. He did not make much of an impact in the global tournament. Beavers has been solid this spring, batting .241 with five extra-base hits but also logging a 1:9 BB:K ratio.

Verdict: I originally predicted that O’Neill’s contract would ensure him a fresh opportunity, and I stand by that stance. Beavers will make the team and will draw some starts against right-handers. This won’t be a straight platoon, and I expect O’Neill to play as often as Beavers.

Spring Update: So far, this feels like a race to the bottom. Check out the OPS for Malloy (.601), Melton (.593), DeLuca (.760) and Simpson (.666). Fraley (1.241) has been the best of the group, albeit over fewer opportunities.

Verdict: We are destined for a pair of platoons, with Chandler and Fraley starting against right-handers while DeLuca and Malloy (or Ryan Vilade, who is out of options) starting vs. southpaws. Melton will open 2026 in Triple-A but should be a full-time player by midseason. Simpson is the only draftable player in the group, and his value is limited to categories leagues.

Spring Update: This battle mostly revolves around the readiness of Griffin. He has had some highs (four homers) and lows (0:9 BB:K ratio, .212 average) in his 33 spring at-bats. Gonzales has appeared just six spring games, thanks to his participation for Mexico in the WBC.

Verdict: Given that he is just 19 years old and hasn’t set the Grapefruit League on fire, Griffin will likely open 2026 in Triple-A. The budding superstar likely won’t stay there for long, and smart money would be on him debuting prior to Memorial Day.

Spring Update: McKinstry has met modest expectations this spring by collecting a few singles and walks en route to an .815 OBP. But McGonigle has been the story of camp. His .444 OBP and 8:6 BB:K ratio suggest that he’s ready to grab a premium spot in a Tigers lineup that could use another impact player.

Verdict: The Tigers would be foolish to return McGonigle to the minors. He should hit lower in the lineup on Opening Day, with an eye on having him become the leadoff hitter by late April. He is undervalued at his current Yahoo ADP (206.2)

Spring Update: Although Benge has yet to hit a homer, he has impressed this spring. He leads the team in at-bats and is batting .367 with just five strikeouts. Taylor has also fared well (.292/.333/.667 slash line), although spring results are less persuasive when analyzing a veteran player. Solid spring performances by Cristian Pache (1.140 OPS), Mike Tauchman (1.101 OPS) and MJ Melendez (1.364 OPS) have further muddied the waters.

Verdict: Benge is doing everything that has been asked of him, but it won’t be enough. It’s too easy for the Mets to open the season with a combination of veterans, which would allow Benge to start his season with a couple months of full-time action in Triple-A. I expect to see Benge in June.

Spring Update: Stewart has been terrific this spring (1.100 OPS), while Bleday has also fared well (.881 OPS). Meanwhile, Steer has struggled, posting a .582 OPS while producing neither a homer nor a stolen base.

Verdict: Stewart is locked into a full-time role and should be regarded as a top-15 first baseman for 2026 drafts. The left-handed-hitting Bleday should start against righties, with Steer playing against southpaws and drawing a few additional starts at other positions. Neither of the two veterans are draftable in mixed leagues.

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Spring Update: Looking at the K:BB ratios, this seems to be an even battle so far between Oviedo (14:6), Early (9:3) and Tolle (8:1).

Verdict: All three of these hurlers have options, but Oviedo is much older and more experienced than Early and Tolle. Oviedo has pitched well enough to hold his spot over the challengers, who will open 2026 in Triple-A. Expect Early to have significant value at some point this year.

Spring Update: Rocker has fared well this spring, logging an 8:1 K:BB ratio. It’s worth noting that one of his three appearances came as a reliever, while Latz, who has been less impressive (10:6) has worked exclusively as a starter.

Verdict: If Rocker continues his strong spring, the Rangers would be foolish to send him to the minors. After all, they have been waiting for him to break through for several years. Latz should head to the bullpen, where he can work as a long reliever until a rotation spot opens up.

Spring Update: Although he could still be recalled, the fact that Tong has already been optioned suggests that he is out of the mix. Here are the results from the veterans: Manaea (5:2 K:BB, 6.35 ERA), Holmes (13:3 K:BB, 2.84 ERA), Senga (7:0 K:BB, 3.18 ERA), Peterson (3:0 K:BB, 2.25 ERA).

Verdict: None of the veterans have options, which means that we are heading toward one of two conclusions – a six-man rotation or a bullpen demotion. Keep an eye on Manaea – his velocity is down this spring, which could lead to an IL stint.

Spring Update: No one has seized these jobs. Baz has been wild (4 BB in 5.1 IP), Kremer has struggled (7.71 ERA, 2:4 K:BB ratio) and Eflin has barely pitched (two innings).

Verdict: Baltimore seems destined for a six-man rotation, as their staff ace (Kyle Bradish) will have his workload managed all season. Baz is an interesting late-round flyer in standard formats, while Eflin fits the same bill in 15-team leagues. Kremer isn’t draftable.

Spring Update: The favorite for the last rotation spot, Leahy has likely pitched well enough this spring (14:4 K:BB) to hold his advantage over Fitts, who has allowed six earned runs in 9.1 innings. Dobbins, who is recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee, has yet to pitch in a spring training game but should be ready early in the season.

Verdict: Leahy has locked up this spot. He is worth a late-round pick in 15-team leagues and can be monitored from the waiver wire in 12-team formats.

Spring Update: Coming off an injury-impacted finish to 2025, Megill looks to be fine this spring. After all, he has logged an 8:1 K:BB ratio over 3.2 innings. Uribe spent much of the spring pitching in the World Baseball Classic, where he logged inconsistent results.

Verdict: Megill was the main closer for most of 2025 and is the favorite at the moment. The two relievers could end up sharing ninth-inning duties, but if a fantasy manager had their choice in the second half of a draft, Megill is the preferred option.

Spring Update: This battle ended before it started, as Uceta has been sidelined by a shoulder injury. He could return to the ninth-inning picture at some point, but he has fallen far behind Jax, who pitched well with the Rays (5:1 K:BB ratio) and was part of the World Baseball Classic.

Verdict: Jax is the heavy favorite for saves, but this is the Rays, which means that we could see 3-4 relievers with at least one save by the end of April. For now, it makes sense to project Jax for 20-25 saves.

Spring Update: O’Brien, who entered spring training as the favorite, was slowed by a minor calf injury and has walked five batters in 3.2 innings of Grapefruit League action. Meanwhile, Svanson has continued to build on his successful 2025 season by posting a 5:1 K:BB ratio across six spring frames. Veteran lefty JoJo Romero has been neither impressive nor concerning this spring (5:2 K:BB ratio).

Verdict: There is a real chance that Svanson gets the first chance and runs with the role. But the more likely scenario remains that all three relievers receive opportunities during the initial month of the season.

Spring Update: Beeter has been effective this spring (9:2 K:BB, 4.1 IP), while Henry has not allowed a run over 3.2 innings but has recorded a mediocre 4:3 K:BB ratio.

Verdict: Beeter remains the Nats reliever for managers in deeper formats to target. But given the lack of closer experience and lack of overall talent on this roster, this is a situation to avoid in head-to-head leagues.

Spring Update: Ginkel has recorded a solid 4:1 K:BB ratio, but he has also allowed hitters to tee off on him, which has led to 11 hits and a 10.38 ERA over 4.1 innings. Sewald has been steady (4:0 K:BB, 3.60 ERA).

Verdict: It’s too early to declare a winner in this battle. My gut feeling is that one of the two veterans will hold the closer’s role, rather than a committee. If I had to draft one in a deeper format, it would be Sewald.

Spring Update: Rogers has been solid, striking out seven batters while allowing two runs over 4.2 innings. Meanwhile, Topa has struggled (22.09 ERA). Sands has been acceptable (6.00 ERA, 5:2 K:BB).

Verdict: With 83 career saves and solid spring results, Rogers has emerged as the favorite for early-season save chances. Since Rogers is a lefty, Sands should be the primary option on occasions when the ninth inning matchups clearly call for a right-hander.

Spring Update: Yates has been effective this spring (4:1 K:BB ratio), and although he is the underdog in this battle, Romano has kept his name in the mix by tossing four scoreless innings. Stephenson, who has thrown just 10 innings across the past two seasons, has been limited to bullpen sessions and won’t be ready for Opening Day.

Verdict: Yates is starting to emerge as the best option. He’s the only Angels reliever to consider in standard Yahoo formats.