Peter Abraham

Padres signed Alex Verdugo to a minor league contract per the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee. He had been out of baseball since last July 5 when the Braves released him.

The big return in the historically awful Mookie Betts trade has only 4.1 bWAR the last four seasons.

No, too many walks and errors.

Since I wrote this 38 minutes ago we're now only through six innings and people are steadily streaming for the exits.

From an aesthetic standpoint, Red Sox games in spring training have been a wreck. Middle of the 5th and we're closing in on two hours.

Arias will start tomorrow at SS in Dunedin. "We'll probably see him a lot this week. It'll be good for me to see him play and him to be around big leaguers and playing against big leaguers," Cora said.

I haven't seen him play in person yet beyond practices. So not for me to say.

No. As was posted, they have extra playing time with so many guys going to the WBC. Beyond that, he played 116 games last season, so scouts have had plenty of looks at him. And who would they be trading their top position player prospect for in March?

Interesting tidbit from Alex Cora's pre-game: Well-regarded 20-year-old SS prospect Franklin Arias will get some playing time in the MLB games during the WBC.

It’s a dysfunctional roster at the moment. No doubt.

Let’s go. Wake up.

Sox today: Abreu RF, Story SS, Contreras DH, Durbin 2B, Mayer 3B, Narváez C, Campbell CF, Kiner-Falefa 1B, Castro LF, and Suarez LHP.

Orioles 1:05 NESN.

Garrett Whitlock broke the news of his Team USA selection in an emotional call with his father, Larry, a Vietnam veteran - The Boston Globe The righthander pitched a perfect third inning in Saturday’s 13-8 victory against the Twins.

Red Sox Notebook: For Garrett Whitlock, joining Team USA has meaning well beyond baseball:

www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/28/s...

Max Ferguson's grand slam has the Sox up 13-8 in the 8th inning. It's all coming together.

Garrett Whitlock said Team USA manager Mark DeRosa texted the players a few days ago and told them to pack for 18 days.

"That kind of fired the guys up," Whitlock said.

Sonny Gray: “I’m historically not good in spring training. I don’t like throwing as many balls as I did … It felt like the first game of spring training. Physically I felt fine.”

There's only so many minor leaguers here who are ready to pitch in games. They don't start ST the same time the MLB team does.

Desperate straits for the Twins who trail 6-4 and are in danger of falling behind 3-0 in the Chairman's Cup race.

That has nothing to do with it. They weren't going to let Gray throw more than 31 pitches and they weren't going to quickly warm up one of the MLB relievers. Those guys are here to fill gaps if needed, not for their development necessarily.

Writers don't generally interview other writers. And he's here to see some people and enjoy the game.

Max Carlson, a minor league call-up, replaced Sonny Gray in the second inning. He retired the first batter on a pop-up.

Then:
Double
Single
Single
Walk
Walk

He's done and fellow call-up Jay Allmer is in. 4-2 Twins.

MLB experimenting with a new rule. Hitting the Hooters owl is a ground rule double.

Ready to go.

Minor league call-ups today:

RHPs: Jay Allmer, Max Carlson, Cade Feeney, Joe Vogatsky.

OFs: Isaiah Jackson, Caden Rose

INF: Mason White

Baseball > War.

Infielder Brendan Rodgers, who is in camp on a minor league contract, is waiting on results of a CT scan on his right shoulder. He was injured diving for a ball on Wednesday.

“It doesn’t look great,” Cora told reporters here this morning. “We have to make sure we go through all the steps.”

Pirates phenom Konnor Griffin already showing why he’s rated the top prospect in baseball - The Boston Globe The 19-year-old shortstop, who blasted two homers against the Red Sox at JetBlue Park last week, has the rare combination of incredible power and speed.

Sunday Baseball Notes now posted on BostonGlobe.com The Pirates could be an interesting team this season, especially if Konnor Griffin makes his debut.

Plus Isiah-Kiner Falefa on the one position he hasn't played; Alex Cora loves Caleb Durbin and much more:

www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/28/s...

Fantastic to see the Hall of Famer and Globe legend Peter Gammons at Fenway South this morning.

Aroldis Chapman is 38 today.

From Michigan to Texas, to Lowell, to the NHL, to Olympic glory, the unconventional road taken by Connor Hellebuyck - The Boston Globe He didn’t have a traditional résumé, but he had size, he had talent, and most importantly, he had drive and belief.

Excellent columm from Tara Sullivan, who dove into how Olympic star Connor Hellebuyck landed at UMass-Lowell:

www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/28/s...

Sonny Gray, Garrett Whitlock, Connelly Early, T.J. Sikkema, Vinny Nittoli and Noah Song lined up to pitch today.