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Final 2026 offseason grades for all 30 MLB teams
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David Schoenfield
Multiple Authors
Here we are, baseball fans. Spring training has started, the World Baseball Classic is just around the corner and the bright lights of the 2026 MLB regular season loom in the near future.
It has been an interesting offseason, with some impact trades, some surprising free agent signings and, of course, every team improving … right?
Well, it’s time to hand out our final 2025-26 offseason grades, so let’s find out who the big winners are.
Jump to a team:
AL East: BAL | BOS | NYY | TB | TOR
AL Central: CHW | CLE | DET | KC | MIN
AL West: ATH | HOU | LAA | SEA | TEX
NL East: ATL | MIA | NYM | PHI | WSH
NL Central: CHC | CIN | MIL | PIT | STL
NL West: ARI | COL | LAD | SD | SF
Key additions: LHP Ranger Suarez, RHP Sonny Gray, 1B Willson Contreras, RHP Johan Oviedo, 3B Caleb Durbin, INF Isiah Kiner-Falefa, INF Andruw Monasterio
Key departures: 3B Alex Bregman, RHP Lucas Giolito, RHP Hunter Dobbins, LHP Kyle Harrison, OF Jhostynxon Garcia, LHP Shane Drohan
Not everyone might feel the same, but I absolutely love this offseason from Craig Breslow and his staff. Remember, the Red Sox now operate under a budget. Breslow can’t light money on fire the way the Red Sox did during the late 2010s under Dave Dombrowski. No, they didn’t re-sign Bregman, but the trade for Durbin gives them a player who projects to just one less win in value than Bregman — a younger, faster, high-contact hitter making $30 million in salary. The trades for Gray and Contreras bring in win-now veterans who also won’t hemorrhage the long-term payroll. Suarez is a riskier bet on a five-year, $130 million deal, but he has been a consistent performer since 2021 with only his durability a concern.
Importantly, Breslow kept the young core intact, not only all the outfielders, but two top-100 pitching prospects in Payton Tolle and Connelly Early, who made their major league debuts late in 2025 and should impact the rotation at some point in 2026. The Red Sox have improved their flexibility and depth in the infield while also improving their balance against left-handed pitching. If Trevor Story‘s declining range is a problem, then maybe Marcelo Mayer becomes the regular shortstop with Story sliding over to second. If you’re worried about Kristian Campbell being blocked, he can hit his way into DH or outfield at-bats.
The Red Sox are deep and good. They might be my pick to win the AL East.
Key additions: RF Kyle Tucker, RHP Edwin Diaz, INF Miguel Rojas (re-signed), INF/OF Enrique Hernandez (re-signed), RHP Evan Phillips (re-signed)
Key departures: OF Michael Conforto, LHP Anthony Banda, RHP Kirby Yates
Let’s see, the Dodgers entered the offseason with two major holes:
1. Their left fielders hit just .229 with 19 home runs. Fine, sign Tucker to a four-year, $240 million deal that might break baseball (he’ll play right field with Teoscar Hernandez moving to left).
2. Their closer situation was a bit of a mess by the playoffs. Fine, sign Diaz for $69 million on top of the $72 million for Tanner Scott a year ago.
Finally, do you believe in good luck charms and sentimentality? Fine, bring back both World Series heroes in Rojas and Hernandez for a combined $10 million.
All that and the Dodgers payroll is still down about $1 million from 2025, according to FanGraphs. Geez, imagine if they tried a little harder to win.
Key additions: LHP Framber Valdez, RHP Justin Verlander, RHP Drew Anderson, RHP Kenley Jansen, RHP Kyle Finnegan (re-signed), 2B Gleyber Torres accepted a qualifying offer
Key departures: RHP Tommy Kahnle
The Tigers salvaged the offseason with the late signings of Valdez and Verlander, but their most important move was the one they didn’t make: trading Tarik Skubal. There has been some warranted criticism about not addressing the offense that struggled to make contact in the playoff series loss to Seattle, but I think it made sense to prioritize the pitching:
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First, the offense improved 76 runs from 2024 while being one of the youngest groups in the American League. Now, the Tigers will be adding top prospect Kevin McGonigle to the infield at some point and Max Anderson could also join the lineup. Given the youth and McGonigle, there are reasons to expect the offense to be solid again.
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The pitching/defense gave up 49 more runs than in 2024 and the rotation ranked just 22nd in innings. Adding a starter like Valdez, who has averaged 192 innings the past four seasons, is a huge get. Verlander, meanwhile, isn’t just a sentimental signing, especially after a terrific final 13 starts last season in San Francisco.
I’m less enthused about the Jansen and Finnegan moves for the bullpen, but in the end, the Tigers kept Skubal and increased payroll some $62 million.
Key additions: 1B Josh Naylor (re-signed), INF Brendan Donovan, LHP Jose A. Ferrer, DH/OF Rob Refsnyder
Key departures: DH/2B Jorge Polanco, 3B Eugenio Suarez, C Mitch Garver, C Harry Ford, RHP Jurrangelo Cijntje
There is no single blow-your-socks off move here, but the Mariners did what they had to do to remain favorites in the AL West. Bringing back Naylor on a five-year deal was the pivotal transaction, as he excelled in his two months in Seattle while becoming an instant fan favorite. First base has long been a problem for the Mariners going back two decades (save for a short stint of good play from Ty France), so Naylor provides a long-term fix there without blowing out the budget.
The early February trade for Donovan gives them a guy who can play second or third, plus a leadoff hitter who had a .353 OBP last season, including .383 against right-handers (Seattle leadoff hitters ranked 24th in the majors with a .311 OBP). Ferrer is a premium left-handed bullpen arm, and Refsynder mashes lefties. The one quibble here is that the Mariners are weak at backup catcher, so Cal Raleigh will again have to carry a big workload, playing nearly every game behind the plate or at DH. The season-ending injury to Logan Evans announced just before spring training leaves the Mariners scrambling for a sixth starter if one of the top five goes down, but maybe Kade Anderson, the No. 3 pick last year, is as polished as hoped and ready to contribute if needed. Polanco is the only significant contributor gone from the 2025 roster, so the Mariners’ World Series dreams are bigger than ever.
Key additions: RHP Freddy Peralta, 3B Bo Bichette, 1B/DH Jorge Polanco, 2B Marcus Semien, CF Luis Robert Jr., RHP Devin Williams, RHP Luke Weaver, RHP Tobias Myers
Key departures: 1B Pete Alonso, RHP Edwin Diaz, LF Brandon Nimmo, 2B Jeff McNeil, RHP Brandon Sproat, DH Starling Marte, 2B Luisangel Acuna, RHP Griffin Canning, RHP Ryne Stanek, RHP Tyler Rogers
The biggest roller coaster in the world is Falcon’s Flight, located in Saudi Arabia. That’s what this offseason felt like for Mets fans. Fan favorite Alonso? Gone. Fan favorite Diaz? Gone. Fan favorite Nimmo? Gone. It looked as if it might turn into a disastrous offseason for the Mets. Then came the flurry of post-Christmas moves, including the three-year, $126 million deal for Bichette (which could turn into a one-year deal if he opts out) and the big trade for ace-like starter Peralta.
It’s a remarkable roster shuffle. With Juan Soto now moving to left field, of the nine players who started the most games at each position in 2025, only Francisco Lindor is slated to start at the same position in 2026 — and even his Opening Day is now in jeopardy after surgery to repair his hamate bone. Will it all add up to a better Mets team? I believe so, although there is some risk here, particularly in the bullpen, where Williams and Weaver didn’t exactly lock down the late innings last year for the Yankees. Still, this Mets team will score plenty of runs while being more athletic and better on defense — much more of a David Stearns-type team.
Key additions: RHP Dylan Cease, 3B Kazuma Okamoto, RHP Tyler Rogers, RHP Cody Ponce, OF Jesus Sanchez
Key departures: SS Bo Bichette, RHP Chris Bassitt, RHP Max Scherzer, OF Joey Loperfido
Give credit to the Blue Jays for keeping the foot on the gas. Their payroll is now up about $29 million from last year and about $60 million from 2024. Their time is clearly right now, with nearly all of their key players from last year’s World Series run back — and most are in their primes. Rogers is one of the most underrated signings of the offseason while Ponce, the KBO MVP, should factor into the rotation, especially with manager John Schneider saying Shane Bieber won’t be ready for Opening Day. With the announcement Anthony Santander will sit out five to six months, the Jays remained aggressive, acquiring Sanchez right as spring training started.
But I’m hedging this grade just a bit on two accounts. First, while Cease is talented and durable and wouldn’t surprise anyone if he contended for a Cy Young Award, he’s also a player with an ERA over 4.50 in two of the past three seasons. A $210 million contract is a huge payout for an inconsistent pitcher who isn’t a guaranteed upgrade over Bassitt.
Then there’s what is essentially the Okamoto-for-Bichette swap. I think Okamoto will hit and his offensive projections are close to Bichette’s, but we know Bichette can hit at a high level. Okamoto had a Bichette-like season in Japan last year, hitting .327 and improving his contact rate, but in previous years, he had hit for a lower average with more power. It will be interesting to see if he provides the same offense that Bichette offered last season.
Key additions: 1B Pete Alonso, OF Taylor Ward, RHP Shane Baz, RHP Chris Bassitt, RHP Zach Eflin (re-signed), RHP Ryan Helsley, RHP Andrew Kittredge, IF Blaze Alexander
Key departures: RHP Tomoyuki Sugano, RHP Grayson Rodriguez
At this point, it’s clear: President of baseball operations Mike Elias is not going to pay for a premium free agent pitcher, whether that’s his own philosophy or whether he’s hamstrung by his owners (first the Angelos family, and now David Rubinstein). It’s also fair to suggest that, this offseason at least, the market for starting pitchers wasn’t strong anyway — and given what Valdez and Cease signed for, it’s hard to blame the Orioles for not paying up (assuming they were even a potential landing spot).
The Orioles did address their needs — power and the rotation — and didn’t give up any important contributors from 2025 to do it. Indeed, their value added minus value lost might prove to be as large as any team this offseason. Trading four prospects, including two first-round picks from 2025, for Baz, a pitcher coming off a 0.4-WAR season, is certainly risky — and the Rodriguez-for-Ward deal could backfire if Rodriguez gets healthy. Even with the big contract for Alonso and the late signing of Bassitt for one year and $18.5 million, the payroll is only $6 million higher than last year. You might think a 76-year-old owner who professed his “commitment to this team and to my hometown” when his purchase was finalized in August 2024 might be a little more all-in on winning. That could still happen, but imagine an extra $20 million available to improve the roster even more.
Key additions: RHP Robert Suarez, RHP Raisel Iglesias (re-signed), SS Ha-Seong Kim (re-signed), INF/OF Mauricio Dubon, OF Mike Yastrzemski, C Jonah Heim, SS Jorge Mateo
Key departures: DH Marcell Ozuna, SS Nick Allen, RHP Pierce Johnson
After years of neglecting their bench, the Braves finally went all-in this offseason, adding an excellent fourth outfielder in Yastrzemski and a top utility player in Dubon. They even threw $20 million at Kim on a one-year deal to fix shortstop and then signed Suarez in addition to Iglesias. That was $58 million just for Yaz, Kim and the two relievers, leading to a $50 million payroll increase. That’s a worthy, quality offseason.
Unfortunately, the injury bug has already hit. Kim tore a tendon in his finger in January and will probably sit out a couple of months. The Braves began spring training by announcing Spencer Schwellenbach will sit out at least two months because of bone spurs in his elbow. Sean Murphy was already set to sit out the start of the season, which necessitated the Heim signing. And while the improved bench will help, the Braves need some of the returning starters to up their performances.
Key additions: RHP Hunter Dobbins, RHP Dustin May, RHP Richard Fitts, RHP Ryne Stanek, RHP/LHP Jurrangelo Cijntje, LHP Brandon Clarke
Key departures: RHP Sonny Gray, INF Brendan Donovan, 1B Willson Contreras, 3B Nolan Arenado, RHP Miles Mikolas
Well, it’s done: The rebuild, the revamp, the step back — whatever you want to call it — is officially complete. The only players older than 30 on the 40-man roster are relievers Riley O’Brien and Stanek. The farm system has been improved, with five top-100 prospects led by infielder JJ Wetherholt, a top Rookie of the Year candidate for 2026. The payroll has been trimmed some $45 million from 2025, so that will make owner Bill DeWitt happy, although the organization will have to win back the fans with better results — eventually — on the field.
If you accept the premise of rebuilding, then Chaim Bloom did an excellent job. Improving the long-term viability of the rotation was the biggest need and Bloom did that with two separate trades with his old friends in Boston and then the Donovan deal. Dobbins and Fitts are more fourth/fifth-starter types, and Cijntje and Clarke are power arms with higher ceilings but reliever risk. They were two of the better prospects to switch teams this winter. What we don’t know: With a payroll now half of what it was just two years ago, where will the Cardinals go in the future?
Key additions: 3B Alex Bregman, LHP Shota Imanaga accepted a qualifying offer, RHP Edward Cabrera, RHP Phil Maton, LHP Hoby Milner, RHP Hunter Harvey
Key departures: RF Kyle Tucker, OF Owen Caissie, RHP Brad Keller, LHP Drew Pomeranz, RHP Andrew Kittredge, 1B Justin Turner
Swooping in to sign Bregman to a five-year deal was a bit of a surprise considering how well Matt Shaw had played in the second half, but it was an aggressive play by a front office looking to guide the Cubs to their first full-season division title since 2017. From a value standpoint, Bregman won’t quite replace what Tucker provided (or will provide for the Dodgers), but Bregman is less expensive and provides intangibles that Tucker didn’t.
The Caissie-for-Cabrera deal was another aggressive move, trading six years of Caissie and his power potential for three years of Cabrera, an injury-prone-but-talented starter. The Cubs needed another strikeout pitcher for the rotation, so this feels like a worthy gamble. If Cabrera and Cade Horton can both stay healthy and provide close to 60 starts, combined with the eventual return of Justin Steele, the rotation will be much better than the FanGraphs projection that ranks it 19th in the majors.
Keller and Pomeranz were both superb in 2025, so the swap to Maton and Milner is a downgrade, leaving the bullpen a little shaky and lowering the overall grade. The payroll is up about $25 million from 2025, but only up a few million from 2024. It’s an interesting year for the Cubs: Nico Hoerner, Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ, Jameson Taillon and Imanaga are all heading to free agency, so this core group that has been together for a few years now probably will be broken up after the season. That perhaps puts more urgency into 2026.
Key additions: 2B Brandon Lowe, DH Marcell Ozuna, 1B Ryan O’Hearn, LHP Mike Montgomery, OF Jake Mangum, LHP Gregory Soto, OF Jhostynxon Garcia
Key departures: RHP Mike Burrows, RHP Johan Oviedo, DH Andrew McCutchen
The Pirates hit 31 fewer home runs than any other team last season, so adding power was the offseason priority. They tried to go big — reportedly offering Kyle Schwarber a $125 million deal, and then making a run at Eugenio Suarez — but ended up settling for a couple of second-tier free agents in Ozuna and O’Hearn. Signing Ozuna probably cements a bit of an ugly split with McCutchen, who still wants to play, but Ozuna does project as an upgrade at DH. Garcia is a 23-year-old who comes from Boston and should compete for a starting job in the outfield. Is it enough to make the Pirates interesting? Maybe, although trading both Burrows and Oviedo thins the rotation depth, which means rookie Bubba Chandler will have to assume a significant role — and a number of innings — behind Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller.
Key additions: 2B Luis Arraez, RHP Tyler Mahle, RHP Adrian Houser, CF Harrison Bader, LHP Sam Hentges
Key departures: RHP Justin Verlander, 1B/DH Wilmer Flores
Individually, all of these moves make sense in addressing holes from 2025. The Giants needed more offense at second base and Arraez should provide league-average production, although with a hit on defense. Bader upgrades the defense in center field, although he is unlikely to repeat his offensive numbers. Mahle and Houser provide rotation depth, although Mahle hasn’t made more than 23 starts since 2021 and Houser’s 2025 numbers might be a fluke. In the big picture, it feels like a bunch of … well, 81-81 moves from an 81-81 team. That leaves the most fascinating move the Giants (or, arguably, any team) made all offseason — hiring University of Tennessee coach Tony Vitello, who has no professional playing or coaching experience, as the manager.
Key additions: RHP Nick Martinez, 2B/OF Gavin Lux, OF Jacob Melton, OF Cedric Mullins, OF Jake Fraley, LHP Steven Matz, 3B Ben Williamson
Key departures: 2B Brandon Lowe, RHP Shane Baz, RHP Pete Fairbanks, OF Josh Lowe, LHP Mason Montgomery, OF Christopher Morel, OF Jake Mangum
Not listed above: the prospects obtained in the Baz and two Lowe trades. Let’s just say we trust the Rays’ ability to pinpoint prospects from other teams. Their outfielders ranked last in the majors with only 29 home runs while ranking 26th in OPS, so the Rays attempted to address that, even if it’s throwing the whole kitchen sink and garbage disposal at the problem. Melton is a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder with questions about his bat. Mullins hit 17 home runs but has a .303 OBP over the past three seasons. Fraley is a useful fourth outfielder. Is it a better group? We’ll see. A better team? Let me know how many starts Shane McClanahan makes.
Key additions: DH Kyle Schwarber (re-signed), C J.T. Realmuto (re-signed), RHP Brad Keller, RF Adolis Garcia
Key departures: LHP Ranger Suarez, LHP Matt Strahm, OF Nick Castellanos, OF Harrison Bader
The Phillies did what they had to do in re-signing Schwarber and Realmuto, otherwise they would have had gaping holes at DH and catcher. Keller essentially replaces Strahm while Garcia is Castellanos with better defense. More notable is what they didn’t do: sign a pitcher to replace Suarez or get more aggressive to perhaps mix things up a bit in a lineup that hasn’t hit in the past two postseasons. The Phillies are still good, but you can’t help but wonder if they need to be a little bit different.
Key additions: OF Owen Caissie, RHP Pete Fairbanks, OF Christopher Morel
Key departures: RHP Edward Cabrera, LHP Ryan Weathers, 1B Eric Wagaman, OF Dane Myers
Though the Marlins fell only four wins short of the playoffs last year, a run differential of minus-89 suggested they might not be ready to chase a playoff berth, so Peter Bendix, president of baseball operations, instead traded two starting pitchers for slugging outfield prospect Caissie and four prospects from the Yankees. On the surface, the Marlins depleted a rotation that ranked 26th in ERA and left Sandy Alcantara and Janson Junk as the only two pitchers who threw more than 100 innings in 2025.
On the other hand, cashing in now on Cabrera and Weathers, two pitchers who have been both inconsistent and injury prone, makes sense. Caissie is a bit of a divisive prospect, but he hit 22 home runs in 99 games in Triple-A last year. If Thomas White and Robby Snelling — No. 18 and No. 47 on the top-100 prospects list — can contribute significant innings at the major league level, the rotation might be OK anyway. Both reached Triple-A in 2025 and posted big strikeout rates in the minors, so both look close to ready. If Caissie produces, maybe the Marlins can contend for a wild-card berth after all.
Key additions: OF Cody Bellinger (re-signed), OF Trent Grisham accepted a qualifying offer, 1B Paul Goldschmidt (re-signed), INF Amed Rosario (re-signed), LHP Ryan Weathers
Key departures: RHP Devin Williams, RHP Luke Weaver
General manager Brian Cashman elected to bring back the same roster as 2025, other than his two late-inning relievers. Once Grisham accepted a qualifying offer, that kind of limited Cashman’s ability to do something different, since New York really wanted to re-sign Bellinger. The Yankees were patient, eventually getting him to return on a five-year, $162.5 million contract. Bellinger might not repeat his 5.1-WAR season, but his pull approach is perfect for Yankee Stadium and his defensive versatility a plus. Though this seems to block Jasson Dominguez, it was the situation last year and he still had 429 plate appearances.
Though it’s essentially the same roster that lost in the ALDS to the Blue Jays, remember all the trade deadline moves the Yankees had made: Ryan McMahon, Jose Caballero, David Bednar, Camilo Doval and Rosario. The Yankees went 34-19 over the final two months with that revamped roster — a 104-win pace. The key to that will be surviving the start of the season without Carlos Rodon and Gerrit Cole, plus a bullpen I’m not completely sold on. As with the Phillies, it’s usually a little dangerous to bring back the same roster, but the Yankees clearly project as one of the best teams in baseball once again — and, who knows, maybe this is the year Aaron Judge gets hot in the postseason.
Key additions: LHP MacKenzie Gore, LF Brandon Nimmo, C Danny Jansen, RHP Jakob Junis, RHP Chris Martin (re-signed)
Key departures: 2B Marcus Semien, RF Adolis Garcia, C Jonah Heim, RHP Tyler Mahle, RHP Merrill Kelly, LHP Patrick Corbin, RHP Shawn Armstrong, LHP Hoby Milner, RHP Jon Gray
The Rangers emphatically moved on from the 2023 World Series team, non-tendering Garcia and Heim while flipping Semien for Nimmo. Those moves were as much about performance as saving money as Garcia and Heim both posted .271 OBPs and Semien had his worst season in 2025 since joining the Rangers. In the Semien-for-Nimmo exchange, the Rangers traded three years of Semien for five years of Nimmo, saving a few million in AAV but not really improving the team, while taking on a contract that will probably be dead weight by the end of it. The Gore trade could be a big plus, trading four second-tier prospects for a high-ceiling pitcher, which Gore reached in the first half of 2025 before faltering. The Rangers lost a bunch of starts and the bullpen lost two productive arms in Armstrong and Milner, but the top three of Nathan Eovaldi, Jacob deGrom and Gore should give Texas a puncher’s chance.
Key additions: RHP Zac Gallen (re-signed), RHP Merrill Kelly, 3B Nolan Arenado, 1B Carlos Santana, RHP Michael Soroka, RHP Paul Sewald, RHP Kade Strowd
Key departures: INF Blaze Alexander, OF Jake McCarthy
The recent re-signing of Gallen helped boost the final mark a full grade. Gallen, encumbered by the qualifying offer the Diamondbacks gave him, didn’t get the multiyear deal he anticipated and went back to Arizona on a one-year deal for the qualifying offer amount — except $14 million of the $22.025 will be deferred. Gallen had his worst season in 2025 with a 4.83 ERA and 31 home runs allowed, but he did pitch 192 innings, so he’ll at least bring some stability to a rotation that needs those innings. The Diamondbacks brought back Kelly after trading him at the trade deadline and ended up keeping Ketel Marte, which is certainly a huge plus for their 2026 outlook.
But the additions of Arenado (OPS+ of 87) and Santana (OPS+ of 77) are uninspiring, two below-average veteran hitters on their last legs. They’re paying Arenado only $5 million of his $27 million salary this year and then $6 million in 2027, and Santana just $2 million, but the pair won’t help an offense that finished fourth in the National League in runs scored (and even that was with Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor in the lineup for two-thirds of the season). With Corbin Carroll suddenly in danger of missing Opening Day, the lineup is reliant on Geraldo Perdomo replicating his top-10 MVP season and Marte staying on the field. Throw in a messy bullpen situation and Arizona will need Gallen and Kelly to turn the clock back to 2023.
Key additions: RHP Brandon Woodruff accepted a qualifying offer, SS/CF Jett Williams, RHP Brandon Sproat, LHP Kyle Harrison, LHP Shane Drohan, LHP Angel Zerpa, C Gary Sanchez, INF David Hamilton
Key departures: RHP Freddy Peralta, 3B Caleb Durbin, OF Isaac Collins, LHP Jose Quintana, 1B Rhys Hoskins, RHP Nick Mears, INF Andruw Monasterio, RHP Tobias Myers
This is the most difficult team to grade. On the one hand, I hate — hate! — that dealing Peralta and Durbin makes the Brewers less likely to win a World Series in 2026. They traded away their staff ace, a guy who finished fifth in the Cy Young voting last season, and a young infielder who finished third in the Rookie of the Year voting. And though they have a bunch of infielders in the pipeline, they now have a hole at third base for 2026.
On the other hand, the Brewers acquired a lot of interesting arms in the trades, with Sproat, Harrison and Drohan all potentially factoring into the rotation in 2026. Williams has never played third base and hit .209 after a promotion to Triple-A last year, but he’s the No. 32 prospect in the game and maybe elevates his game and takes over the position. If they can get 50-to-60 starts from Woodruff and Jacob Misiorowski, and a couple of the new starters step up — and certainly the Brewers’ track record with developing pitchers is as good as any team’s — then the rotation might be fine, even without Peralta and Quintana. In the end, I’m going to split the difference and give this a C, while acknowledging this could all work out in both the short term and long term.
Key additions: OF Isaac Collins, LHP Matt Strahm, RHP Nick Mears, LHP Bailey Falter (re-signed), OF Kameron Misner, OF Lane Thomas
Key departures: OF Mike Yastrzemski, LHP Angel Zerpa, 2B Adam Frazier, RHP Michael Lorenzen, RHP Taylor Clarke
Kansas City outfielders hit a miserable .225/.285/.348 last season, which isn’t going to work if the Royals want to return to the postseason. They acquired Collins from the Brewers after he hit .263/.368/.411 and finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting, but he was a 27-year-old rookie, so there isn’t any growth potential there — more likely some regression. Still, if he can get on base at a reasonable clip, he’ll give the Royals the leadoff hitter they lacked a season ago. Thomas hasn’t been good since 2023, so it’s unclear why the Royals would give him $5.25 million coming off a season in which he hit .160. Call it a ho-hum offseason that gets a boost with the underrated Maikel Garcia signing an extension that runs through 2031.
Key additions: 3B/1B Munetaka Murakami, 2B/OF Luisangel Acuna, OF Austin Hays, LHP Anthony Kay, RHP Seranthony Dominguez, LHP Sean Newcomb, RHP Erick Fedde
Key departures: CF Luis Robert Jr., OF Mike Tauchman
I love the Murakami gamble. Look, he’s going to strike out a ton and maybe he flops because of that, but there’s also 40-homer potential, so it’s a worthwhile risk for a team that needs power, especially at just two years and $34 million. Acuna — yes, general manager Chris Getz finally realized he’s not a switch-hitter — was hyped as a prospect but looks like a bench player. Kay, a former Blue Jays pitcher, is a sleeper signing after a good season in Japan.
But what doesn’t make sense is that the White Sox failed to supplement the Murakami signing with more help on offense other than Hays. If Murakami does turn into a star, then he’s a free agent in two years. Have you added enough to win in that short window? The payroll remains under $100 million. You’d think an 89-year-old owner might have a little more urgency to win, but alas, go ahead and yell at the Dodgers.
Key additions: RHP Tatsuya Imai, RHP Mike Burrows, RHP Ryan Weiss, SS Nick Allen, OF Joey Loperfido
Key departures: LHP Framber Valdez, INF/OF Mauricio Dubon, OF Jacob Melton, C Victor Caratini, OF Jesus Sanchez
With Valdez leaving in free agency and Ronel Blanco, Brandon Walter and Hayden Wesneski all gone for most or all of the season after Tommy John surgeries, the Astros’ priority was the rotation. Imai signed for three years and $54 million — or about half of the three-year, $115 million deal that Valdez eventually signed with the Tigers. That’s right in line with the projections that see Imai as about half as valuable as Valdez. Burrows comes over from the Pirates, where he had a 3.94 ERA as a rookie in 19 starts, so that looks like a nice pickup. Weiss never reached the majors with the Diamondbacks or Royals but had a big year in Korea and could factor in the rotation as well.
All of that is fine, but the Astros didn’t address an offense that scored 30 fewer runs than the AL average. A healthy Yordan Alvarez will help, but the third base logjam with Carlos Correa and Isaac Paredes still exists — and even if Paredes turns into a sort of utility guy, it’s a poor use of resources. Maybe that trade is still to come as, after swapping Sanchez for Loperfido, general manager Dana Brown said, “We’re not done.” The Sanchez trade saves about $6 million, so the payroll sits about $15 million below the first tax threshold.
Key additions: C Harry Ford, LHP Foster Griffin, INF Gavin Fien, INF Devin Fitz-Gerald
Key departures: LHP MacKenzie Gore, LHP Jose A. Ferrer
The Nationals have a new regime: 35-year-old president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, 31-year-old general manager Anirudh Kilambi and 33-year-old manager Blake Butera. They inherit a young team that’s still rebuilding — or, perhaps more apt, rebuilding again after that last rebuild didn’t take. They made two significant trades, both of which I liked: Gore for a prospect package, including Fien, the Rangers’ first-round pick in 2025; and reliever Ferrer for a potential starting catcher in Ford. Griffin is a lottery ticket, coming off a 1.69 ERA in Japan. It’s probably the right approach to this offseason, and maybe CJ Abrams is eventually traded as well, but at some point the Nationals have to spend some money to win.
Key additions: RHP Michael King (re-signed), OF/DH Miguel Andujar, INF Sung-Mun Song, OF/DH Nick Castellanos, RHP Griffin Canning
Key departures: RHP Dylan Cease, RHP Robert Suarez, 1B Luis Arraez, DH Ryan O’Hearn
This is when all those mega-contracts are starting to limit what the Padres can do as the payroll is still up $8 million despite just the one major offseason signing in bringing back King. They’ll get Castellanos for the league minimum, with the Phillies picking up the remainder of his $20 million salary. Will he help an offense that ranked 28th in home runs in 2025? He’ll have to hit better than the .250/.294/.400 he produced for the Phillies. Castellanos and Andujar are essentially fighting for DH at-bats with Castellanos maybe getting some time as a fourth outfielder, which isn’t necessarily a good thing given his defense. He had minus-0.8 WAR with the Phillies; I’m not sure he’s going to help much. Losing Cease, Suarez, Arraez and deadline pickup O’Hearn is a blow to the Padres’ overall depth. Yes, they’ll have Mason Miller for the full season, so they can manage the loss of Suarez in the bullpen, but given the lack of power, they’re going to have to ride that bullpen again.
Key additions: 3B/DH Eugenio Suarez, RHP Emilio Pagan (re-signed), RHP Pierce Johnson, LHP Caleb Ferguson, LHP Brock Burke, OF JJ Bleday, OF Dane Myers
Key departures: RHP Nick Martinez, OF Austin Hays, 2B/OF Gavin Lux, RHP Zack Littell, LHP Taylor Rogers, LHP Brent Suter
Though the Reds will enter 2026 with the highest payroll in club history (although only a few million more than they spent more than a decade ago), this is mostly a reshuffling of the deck chairs, especially in the bullpen. There is the one-year deal for Suarez (with a mutual option for 2027), who should serve as the regular DH, where the Reds ranked 22nd in OPS (.722) and tied for 21st in home runs (21). Suarez clubbed 49 home runs between Arizona and Seattle last season, but the $15 million deal he received suggests there wasn’t much belief across the league that he can do it again.
Bleday and Myers join a crowded outfield picture but one that doesn’t project well: 24th in FanGraphs WAR in left field, 24th in center and 30th in right. Look, the Reds will be fun to watch with their rotation, and if rookie Sal Stewart and a healthy Elly De La Cruz (he played through a strained quadriceps in 2025, which helps explain his power decline in the second half) both hit for power, a return to the playoffs is possible even if this offseason didn’t improve those chances all that much.
Key additions: LHP Jose Quintana, RHP Tomoyuki Sugano, OF Willi Castro, RHP Michael Lorenzen, 2B Edouard Julien, OF Jake McCarthy, LHP Brennan Bernardino
Key departures: RHP German Marquez, INF Kyle Farmer, 1B Michael Toglia, 2B Thairo Estrada
The 2025 Rockies were one of the worst teams in modern major league history, a team that found every way imaginable to lose games, so I’m not exactly sure what they were supposed to do. The most important moves of their offseason had nothing to do with on-the-field personnel, but the hiring of Paul DePodesta as president of baseball operations and Josh Byrnes as general manager. They will have to modernize the front office and the player development system and then worry about building a competitive roster.
To that end, most of these signings and minor trades are simply to make the Rockies less of a disaster. Quintana has slowly been draining runs, with his ERA rising each year since 2022: 2.93, 3.57, 3.75, 3.96. Maybe he pitches well enough to be traded at the deadline. Sugano gave up a league-high 33 home runs in 157 innings with the Orioles last season and doesn’t strike out guys. Good luck with that. As for DePodesta, he spent the past decade with the … Cleveland Browns. Not exactly a decade of success for the Browns. Byrnes spent the past 11 years with the Dodgers. Hopefully he brings along some of the secret sauce.
Key additions: RHP Shawn Armstrong
Key departures: RHP Emmanuel Clase, RHP Luis Ortiz
How do you grade this offseason? Cleveland hasn’t added one major league hitter despite hitting .226 and scoring the fewest runs in the AL last season. Even for a team that you don’t expect to spend any money, that’s inexcusable (we’re blaming the owner here, not the front office). The only thing rescuing this offseason is the contract extension to Jose Ramirez, which the Guardians billed as a seven-year extension. That’s misleading, as he was already signed through 2028, so it’s really just an additional four years — with thanks to Ramirez again taking a hometown discount.
By the way, Larry Dolan bought the franchise in 2000 for $323 million. His son, Paul, is now the club chairman, with Forbes estimating the franchise worth at $1.55 billion. Cleveland last won the World Series in 1948. Their payroll is about $20 million less than in 2025.
Key additions: 2B Jeff McNeil, RHP Aaron Civale, RHP Mark Leiter Jr., 3B Andy Ibanez
Key departures: LHP Sean Newcomb
Well, I’m sure those blueprints of the new ballpark in Vegas are pretty to view. Meanwhile, after an impressive final three months that saw the A’s go 41-34 with a plus-56 run differential, they didn’t do anything except adding some low-value veterans. This isn’t on general manager David Forst, of course, but on owner John Fisher, although I’m sure he will point to a $16 million payroll increase as his personal sacrifice. The good news here is that left-handers Jamie Arnold, the first-round pick in 2025 out of Florida State, and Gage Jump, a second-round choice in 2024 from LSU, could both join the rotation at some point. But the bullpen will not only need someone to step up as the closer, it also lacks proven late-game leverage. A couple of significant signings there would have been a huge plus.
Key additions: OF Josh Lowe, RHP Grayson Rodriguez, RHP Kirby Yates, LHP Drew Pomeranz, LHP Brent Suter, RHP Jordan Romano, 3B Yoan Moncada (re-signed), RHP Alek Manoah
Key departures: LF Taylor Ward, LHP Tyler Anderson, RHP Kenley Jansen, RHP Kyle Hendricks, 2B Luis Rengifo
One thing about the Angels: They always do something. They’re also the franchise that prefers to play in quicksand rather than just enjoying a nice day at the beach — every move just seems to sink them a little bit deeper. The Angels have 10 non-arbitration players under contract for 2026. The ages of those 10 players range from 31 to 39. You’re not going to win with that, unless you have a superstar group of young players, which the Angels don’t have. What’s even more amusing is the list of players signed to minor league contracts: Jose Siri, Jeimer Candelario, Hunter Strickland, Trey Mancini, Nick Madrigal. There’s no harm in giving those players a look, but, as always, it just raises the question: What is the plan here?
Key additions: 1B Josh Bell, C Victor Caratini
Key departures: President of baseball operations Derek Falvey
Words you never want to hear: Tom Pohlad intends to be active in the day-to-day operations of the Twins. Pohlad took over as point man in December from his brother, after the Pohlad family decided to keep its majority interest in the franchise (bringing in new limited partners instead of selling). That eventually led to the mutual departure at the end of January of Falvey, the team’s president of baseball and business operations (i.e. the head baseball guy since 2017). The Twins have talent here, but we’re grading the offseason, not their chances of winning. Their payroll is down more than $50 million from 2024.
After days of disappointment, Mikaela Shiffrin storms to slalom lead after first run
MILAN — In her third and final opportunity to medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, American Alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin took a sizable lead in the slalom after the first of two runs Wednesday.
Shiffrin stormed down a Cortina d’Ampezzo course with nearly 600 feet of vertical drop to finish in 47.13 seconds after her first run, 0.82 of a second ahead of the rest of the field.
Skiers take two runs in slalom and the times are combined to determine medals. The second run will begin at 7:30 a.m. EST.
Lena Duerr of Germany stood in second after the first run, with Sweden’s Cornelia Oehlund third.
“It was a really good run, for me it felt really clean and really active but also a little bit on the limit,” Shiffrin told NBC after her race. “There were a couple moments where I thought I could easily be off this course right now but just keep pushing and keep fighting and in the end, I got to the finish.”
The slalom is Shiffrin’s strongest event. Of her record 108 World Cup victories in Alpine skiing, 71 have come in slalom. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Shiffrin — then 18 years old — earned the gold medal in slalom to become the youngest skier ever to win.
Yet she has struggled to replicate that dominance in the glare of the Olympics, with her last medal coming in 2018. Shiffrin also is still not yet two years removed from a November 2024 crash during a giant slalom race that left her with a puncture wound in her side and what she has described as crash-induced PTSD.
At these winter games, Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson combined to finish fourth in the team combined event and 11th in giant slalom. Three days before taking her slalom lead, Shiffrin said on Instagram that “my skiing in the first race didn’t come together the way I visualized. I fought for every hundredth and didn’t totally find the right execution. This was certainly cause for some disappointment.”
But there was no disappointment after Wednesday’s first run, which Shiffrin recapped with a smile.
“Today I felt pretty excited,” Shiffrin said. “It’s hard not to be excited for days like today. Sunny and it’s just beautiful. I had a little bit of butterflies for sure, that’s just going to be part of this day, but I feel pretty prepared to take on the nervousness and it’s just about doing my skiing.
“I’m really focused (on the) start, to the gates to the finish. What’s happening between the start and the finish and the rest of it is not important.”
Greif reported from Milan.
UNM men's basketball sweeps Air Force giving Eric Olen 20 wins in first year as Lobo head coach
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team completed a sweep of the Air Force Falcons with a 98-61 victory at The Pit on Tuesday night. The win gave head coach Eric Olen his 20th win of the season. Olen is only the fifth UNM men’s basketball coach to get 20 wins […]
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What Is Coworker Metal? – Metal Injection
You’ve heard of coworker metal – probably as an insult online, or from your dickhead friend that’s trying to make you angry – but what is it? Don’t worry, I got you.
What Is “Coworker Metal”?
In the ever-fractured world of heavy music where subgenres splinter endlessly (and sometimes very pointlessly), few slang terms are as loaded as “coworker metal.”
At its core, coworker metal is a joking (and often pejorative) label for mainstream, radio-friendly heavy metal and hard rock. It’s the kind of music you’re likely to hear blasting from a warehouse speaker, a construction site radio, your bus driver’s shitty Bluetooth, or a setup in the breakroom. It’s heavy enough to feel intense, but accessible enough to appeal to broad, casual audiences.
The Basic Definition
“Coworker metal” refers to metal or hard rock that is:
- Polished and professionally produced
- Widely played on rock radio stations
- Structured around catchy choruses and big hooks
- Accessible to listeners who don’t consider themselves “metalheads”
It’s the type of music a generic coworker might describe simply as “metal,” even if it lacks the extremity, experimentation, or underground credibility prized by more dedicated fans. Basically if you’re into the genre and your coworker isn’t buying rare death metal CDs released in 1993 off Discogs, they’re a loser.
The Usual Suspects
Certain bands frequently get labeled as coworker metal. Common examples include:
- Five Finger Death Punch
- Bad Wolves
- Avenged Sevenfold
- Disturbed
- In This Moment
- Bring Me The Horizon (particularly their later, arena-ready material)
- Rammstein
- Ice Nine Kills
These artists share certain traits: massive production, anthemic songwriting, and crossover appeal beyond niche metal circles. Importantly, many of these bands are commercially successful and technically skilled. The label isn’t about talent so much as it is about cultural positioning.
Why the Term Exists
The metal community has long placed value on underground credibility. Extreme subgenres like black metal, death metal, grindcore, and avant-garde metal often define themselves in opposition to commercial appeal. “Coworker metal” emerged as a way to describe music that feels:
- Safe
- Corporate-friendly
- Designed for mass consumption
- Stripped of subcultural mystique
The implication is that this music is heavy enough to sound tough, but not challenging enough to alienate mainstream audiences. In other words, it’s metal without the barrier to entry.
The Cultural Divide
The existence of coworker metal highlights a recurring tension in heavy music, which is the idea that unless you have a deep well of knowledge about the genre you’re a “poser.”
Hardcore fans often define their identity through niche knowledge — deep cuts, obscure subgenres, and boundary-pushing artists. When metal becomes too radio-friendly, it risks losing that outsider edge that helped define the genre’s early identity. But at the same time, metal has always evolved. Bands that were once dismissed as commercial often become gateway acts for new generations of fans.
Is It an Insult?
Usually, yes — but lightly so. “Coworker metal” is more of a smirk than a serious takedown. It’s a way of poking fun at the kind of heavy music that thrives in gym playlists, retail stores, and construction job sites. The term says less about the music itself and more about tribalism within metal culture.
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WATCH: USMNT striker Folarin Balogun goes off in UCL with two goals
Monaco couldn’t have asked for a better start against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League playoffs than American striker Folarin Balogun scoring less than a minute into the first leg with a well-timed header. After the cross from Aleksandr Golovin, Balogun just had to divert the ball on target and wasted no time putting his side ahead in the match. He wasn’t done there, getting his second goal in the 18th minute of play. It wouldn’t be enough to secure victory with Monaco losing 3-2 at home, but it sets up a competitive second leg at the Parc de Princes on Wednesday, Feb. 26 (catch all the action on Paramount+).
Here’s a look at Balogun’s second goal:
These are the fourth and fifth Champions League goals for Balogun this season and his ninth and 10th for the club in all competitions as he has gained confidence leading the line. They may have been Balogun’s first goals of 2026, but they couldn’t have come at a better time, leading his side in a home leg of the knockout phase with a chance to make the round of 16.
An 18-minute brace wasn’t enough
Despite Monaco’s strong start, they then conceded three unanswered goals to end the match on a sour note ultimately losing to PSG. Three unanswered goals and a red card to Golovin, who assisted Balogun’s opener were too much to come back. After Ousmane Dembele needed to leave the pitch due to an injury, it was Desire Doue, who sparked change, scoring with his first touch of the ball, before adding another goal and an assist to his tally. But Balogun’s hot start to the match will still provide Monaco with a chance to advance in the second leg, as the deficit is only one goal, but it could’ve been worse.
Balogun with ice in his veins
Now with more Champions League goals than Ligue 1 goals, the 24-year-old is establishing himself as a big-game player for Monaco with his performances in the league phase and now the knockouts. After a strong November camp for the United States men’s national team, this is also something that USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino will love to see as the clock ticks closer to the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Just like Monaco will need as much as they can get from Balogun to make it past a tough PSG side, the USMNT will look toward the striker to advance as far as possible at the World Cup. Already performing with pressure on his shoulders, this is a good start. If he can follow this up with another brace in the second leg, who knows, Monaco could shock the world and book a place in the round of 16.
Lindsey Vonn’s Olympic crash puts concern over ski bindings’ design back in spotlight
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy — The images of Lindsey Vonn down on the snow, screaming in pain and then being airlifted off the course by helicopter after her crash at the Olympics were a stark reminder of the dangers of the downhill.
So is this: Her skis didn’t come off.
Vonn’s boots remained locked into her skis even after her pinwheeling fall at the Milan Cortina Games, pointing awkwardly in different directions as she slid to a stop in obvious agony.
It is impossible to know whether Vonn would have suffered a less serious injury – her complex tibia fracture has already required multiple surgeries – had her skis been released. But the devastating injury has put a spotlight on the importance of bindings, which hold boots to the skis and remain some of the oldest technology in the sport.
IOC Handout / Getty Images 
For her part, Vonn was steadfast in a social media post after one of her operations, saying, “The ride was worth the fall. When I close my eyes at night I don’t have regrets and the love I have for skiing remains. I am still looking forward to the moment when I can stand on the top of the mountain once more. And I will.”
Officials told The Associated Press that a binding system designed to automatically release skis when a racer like Vonn loses control is still in the drawing-board phase after years of stalled discussions.
“Unfortunately, sometimes it does take horrific accidents to shine even more of a light on what can be done,” said Sophie Goldschmidt, president and CEO of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. “It’s an area we can’t be competitive in; we’ve all got to be in it together with our different country counterparts and FIS (the International Ski and Snowboard Federation).”
Bindings haven’t significantly changed in their basic design for half a century: Once a skier steps in toe-first and then locks in by stepping down with their heel, pressure needs to be applied for the system to release the boot. Less-skilled skiers have bindings that release more easily to avoid leg injuries; the higher the skill level and the more serious the skiing, the more the bindings are cranked down to keep elite racers on their skis.
Few were surprised that Vonn’s skis did not release. The question is whether they should have.
@lindseyvonn via Instagram via REUTERS 
Safer system sought, similar to skiers’ air bags
A so-called “smart binding” system based on an algorithm and designed to automatically release when a skier loses control “would have surely” helped prevent Vonn from breaking her leg, said Peter Gerdol, the FIS women’s race director at the Olympics and on the World Cup circuit.
“That’s exactly what the system will be designed to do,” Gerdol told AP. “Her skis would have definitely popped off. … We’ve seen a lot of other cases in which the bindings don’t open and it results in knee issues, especially when the still-attached ski acts as a lever, either on the net or on the snow or on a gate or on any other obstacle. The leg becomes blocked and the knee gives out.”
Nine days before her Olympic crash, Vonn tore the ACL in her left knee in a crash in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. She ended up in the safety nets with her skis still attached.
A smart-binding system could borrow technology from the safety air bag system that became mandatory for skiers this season in the speed events.
“It’s still going to take time to develop but the idea is that the binding would be triggered by the same algorithm that prompts the air bag to inflate,” Gerdol said. “The heel piece would slide back and the athlete’s skis would pop off.”
Dainese and its sister company, D-Air Lab, spent years developing an algorithm for air bags to inflate under skiers’ racing suits after creating a similar system for motorcycle racing.
In coordination with the FIS, Dainese is sharing the air bag algorithm with top binding suppliers such as Look, Tyrolia, Salomon, Atomic and Marker in order to adapt the formula to release skis.
Releasing skis is potentially more dangerous than inflating an air bag. Elite skiers are sometimes capable of spectacular recoveries after flying into the air and they also can often use their skis to brake before slamming into safety fences.
“It’s a very complicated project,” said Marco Pastore, a Dainese representative on the circuit for the air bag system. “If you release a binding, you’ve got to be absolutely sure you do it at the right moment. For the air bag you can look at the rotations and the entire body position. But with the bindings you’ve got to examine how the feet move, what the trajectory of the skis is – plus a series of other variables.”
Cost is an issue
While the FIS wants to coordinate the project, issues remain over who will pay for it.
“These are very costly projects and to be honest Dainese has not made much” from the air bags, Pastore said. “Right now it’s costing us money. Everyone wants these great things but at the end of the day someone has to pay for it.”
Sasha Rearick, the head coach of the U.S. men’s ski team from 2008-18, recalls bindings discussions when he was in charge of the World Cup coaches’ work group nearly a decade ago.
“The problem is that Dainese is the one who’s putting the money and all the investments,” Rearick said. “So if they’re sharing it with the binding companies, the binding companies now need to invest heavy, and it probably costs (a lot).”
Markus Waldner, the men’s World Cup and Olympics race director, said earlier this season that FIS is “working with bio-mechanists and manufacturers to refine boot and binding standards to reduce the likelihood of catastrophic edge catches at high speed.”
Still, Gerdol suggested the project could be anywhere from two to six years away from being implemented.
Bindings’ applications differ
To avoid skis popping off, ski technicians crank up racers’ bindings so they are virtually locked in.
Leo Mussi, the ski technician for American downhillers Bryce Bennett and Sam Morse, said he sets his racers’ bindings at up 440 pounds of pressure – more than double what a store-bought binding is even capable of.
Austrian racer Marco Schwarz suffered a serious knee injury in a December 2023 crash during the Bormio downhill. His skis didn’t release as he slid into the safety netting.
“It’s tough to say,” he said of whether the skis popping off would’ve saved him from injury, and he isn’t sure about changing things.
“The best way is to keep it simple,” Schwarz said. “I don’t want to push too much into more technology.”
Nina O’Brien, an American who had to endure four surgeries after a gruesome compound fracture at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, said she didn’t fault any equipment issues for her crash and credited her technician.
“Regardless if I’ve worn the skis that morning, clicked out and gotten a coffee,” O’Brien said, “when I step back in, he checks them to make sure they’re perfect.”
The air bag system was first tested on the World Cup circuit back in 2013 and only this season became mandatory for the speed events of downhill and super-G. In between, some skiers said the bags hindered their aerodynamics, were uncomfortable to wear or could actually cause injuries.
Safety issues became more of a pressing issue recently when Italian skier Matteo Franzoso died following a crash in preseason training in Chile.
“Unfortunately, it always takes something serious to happen for people to say, ‘No. Now we need to do something,'” Pastore said.
This is also the first season in which a cut-resistant undergarment is required for all events on the World Cup and at the Olympics.
There is plenty of room for safety advancements. While the smart-bindings system is being developed, Rearick – now the director of Apex 2100, an international ski academy in Tignes, France – suggested addressing the racing suits.
“Make one suit of material for everybody that’s a little bit warmer, that’s a little bit slower, that’s cut-proof,” Rearick said. “That will make the sport a lot safer for everybody.”
Another New Mexico politician found in Epstein files
Another prominent New Mexico politician has been named in the Epstein files, which have been partially released in redacted form by the U.S. Department of Justice. Deb Haaland, a former congresswoman and current gubernatorial candidate, was named in documents related to a flight coordinated by Jeffrey Epstein, according to a flight manifest downloaded by Target 7 directly from the Department of Justice’s website. The manifest shows Haaland took a flight from Santa Fe Municipal Airport (now Santa Fe Regional Airport) to Washington Dulles in 2014 with former NM Attorney General and then-gubernatorial candidate Gary King while she was running for lieutenant governor.The flight was coordinated by King and Epstein, with the client listed as JEGE LLC, a company owned by Epstein. Emails found by Target 7 reveal King requested Epstein’s private plane for a flight to a breakfast in Washington, D.C., and Epstein was reminded on September 9th of 2024, the day of the flight, that King was taking the chartered jet.On the same day of the flight, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that King promised to repay more than $30,000 in campaign funds received from Epstein, with King saying he was unaware the funds came from companies owned by him. A spokesperson for Haaland’s campaign told Target 7 Tuesday, “Jeffrey Epstein is a despicable predator who committed heinous crimes and Deb strongly supports a full investigation into the crimes committed both in New Mexico and abroad. Deb never had any interaction with him and the way in which the plane was chartered was never communicated to her.” The campaign added that King paid for the flight. King also did not choose Haaland as his running mate, as lieutenant governor candidates run separately from gubernatorial candidates in New Mexico party primaries.Gary King’s father, former NM Governor Bruce King, sold private land to Epstein that was used to build Zorro Ranch in rural Santa Fe County. Efforts to reach Gary King for comment by both phone and email have been unsuccessful.
SANTA FE, N.M. —
Another prominent New Mexico politician has been named in the Epstein files, which have been partially released in redacted form by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Deb Haaland, a former congresswoman and current gubernatorial candidate, was named in documents related to a flight coordinated by Jeffrey Epstein, according to a flight manifest downloaded by Target 7 directly from the Department of Justice’s website.
The manifest shows Haaland took a flight from Santa Fe Municipal Airport (now Santa Fe Regional Airport) to Washington Dulles in 2014 with former NM Attorney General and then-gubernatorial candidate Gary King while she was running for lieutenant governor.
The flight was coordinated by King and Epstein, with the client listed as JEGE LLC, a company owned by Epstein. Emails found by Target 7 reveal King requested Epstein’s private plane for a flight to a breakfast in Washington, D.C., and Epstein was reminded on September 9th of 2024, the day of the flight, that King was taking the chartered jet.
On the same day of the flight, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that King promised to repay more than $30,000 in campaign funds received from Epstein, with King saying he was unaware the funds came from companies owned by him.
A spokesperson for Haaland’s campaign told Target 7 Tuesday, “Jeffrey Epstein is a despicable predator who committed heinous crimes and Deb strongly supports a full investigation into the crimes committed both in New Mexico and abroad. Deb never had any interaction with him and the way in which the plane was chartered was never communicated to her.” The campaign added that King paid for the flight.
King also did not choose Haaland as his running mate, as lieutenant governor candidates run separately from gubernatorial candidates in New Mexico party primaries.
Gary King’s father, former NM Governor Bruce King, sold private land to Epstein that was used to build Zorro Ranch in rural Santa Fe County.
Efforts to reach Gary King for comment by both phone and email have been unsuccessful.