Rival Roundup, Vol. 78: Get Reading, Bubba!

We’re less than a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting, which means that in about 10 weeks, we’ll have real baseball to cover. Until such time, we’ll be covering something called hypothetical baseball, where the headlines feature player-team combinations that may never come to fruition, proposed storylines that bear absolutely no fruit, and rumors so sensationalized they could have been offered up by a dimly-lit Jonathan Frakes. Aren’t you excited? Then get reading, bubba! (New catchphrase.)

  • There haven’t been many strong acquisition-based rumors around the Central this offseason; by and large, transactions have been sudden and low-profile, and the gossip has largely centered on which Central stars might be off their current teams by Opening Day. This weekend, however, Jon Heyman reported that the White Sox are kicking the tires on Michael Conforto, who is coming off a very poor year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but carries with him a track record and some name recognition.
  • Remember everything that I was just saying, one bullet point ago? Well, I bring tidings on that front, too. Jon Heyman — no relation — also reported that the New York Yankees have expressed interest in a pair of Chicagoan acquisitions; one is Nico Hoerner, who bears absolutely no relevance to a linkdump about the American League Central. The other is Luis Robert, Jr., who bears grizzly-level relevance.
  • The Cleveland Guardians picked up Carter Kieboom on a minor-league deal. The former top prospect will receive a non-roster invite to spring training and could find himself working an infield/depth role for the big-league club.
  • Most of our rivals this offseason have been focused on on-field moves. The Kansas City Royals appear to have been focused on field moves. And I don’t mean their proposed migration into a stadium downtown, or elsewhere, either. No, this meandering, poorly-constructed sentence is referring specifically to a change in dimensions at Kauffman Stadium. This week, the Royals announced a plan to bring in most of their outfield by 10 feet, as well as lowering the height of the fences. The size of the outfield has historically made Kauffman a good hitters’ park in general, but has restricted home run totals as a result.
  • Royals Review takes us through some updates on Kansas City’s minor league coaching staffs for 2026.
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