The Baseball Buffet for 2/17/2026

The 34-year old Frazier has played 10 years in the majors with the Pirates, Royals, Mariners, Orioles, and Padres. He was an All-Star in 2021, and has primarily played 2B during his career, but has also logged 100+ games in both LF and RF, plus minimal time at 3B, SS, and CF.

In 2025 he hit .267 with 7 HR and 8 SB in 134 games for the Pirates and Royals.

Outlook: The Angels also recently re-signed utility man Chris Taylor, and it would seem both will be competing for a utility bench role for 2026, along with Vaughn Grissom and Oswald Peraza who have similar defensive versatility.

Padres GM A.J. Preller continued his recent signing spree by re-uniting the team with Ty France, who started his career with the Padres back in 2019 (they drafted him in 2015). He went on to hit .291 with 18 HR and 73 RBI for the Mariners in 2021, and then was an All-Star in 2022 batting .274 and career-highs of 20 HR and 83 RBI.

In 2025 France hit .257 with 7 HR and 52 RBI in 138 games for the Twins and Blue Jays, winning a Gold Glove Award for his defense at 1B.

Outlook: Now 31 years old, it would seem a longshot for France to make the Padres’ roster, the Gold Glove Award notwithstanding. I would have said he could be a good platoon partner for Gavin Sheets, but with Preller also adding Miguel Andujar, and even more so, Nick Castellanos to the team, there will only be so many at-bats to go around.

Buehler was the first-round draft pick (24th overall) in 2015 by the Dodgers. He was an All-Star for them in 2019 and 2021, but then needed his second Tommy John surgery during the 2022 season, and has been trying to get back to his former success ever since.

In 2025 he had a 5.45 ERA over 23 games (22 starts) for the Red Sox, before being released in late August. The Phillies picked him up two days later and he had a 0.66 ERA (1 ER in 13.2 IP) over three appearances.

Outlook: Now 31 years old, Buehler joins several offseason acquisitions in Germán Márquez, Griffin Canning, and Marco Gonzales in competing for two rotation spots (or perhaps a bullpen role). Nick Pivetta, Michael King, and Joe Musgrove presumably have the first three spots, but then those newcomers will compete this spring with Randy Vásquez, JP Sears, Triston McKenzie, and Matt Waldron for the other two.

Tauchman is 35 years old and has played eight years in the majors with the Rockies, Yankees, Giants, Cubs, and White Sox. Although a left-handed batter, he has had pretty even splits over his career, while playing all three OF positions.

In 2025 he had a .263/.356/.400 slash line with 9 HR and 17 doubles over 93 games for the White Sox.

Outlook: The Mets OF should have Juan Soto shifting to LF, Luis Robert Jr. in CF, and they are hoping that 23-year old rookie Carson Benge is ready to get the majority of the time in RF. So Tauchman is competing for a backup OF role with Tyrone Taylor, MJ Melendez, and Brett Baty, who will also see time as a backup at 1B and 3B.

OF Babe Ruth - Yankees (1929-34), Braves (1935)

SS Álex Rodríguez - Mariners (1994-2000), Rangers (2001-03)

1B Jimmie Foxx - Athletics (1931-35), Red Sox (1936-42)

2B/3B Frankie Frisch - Cardinals (1932-37)

3B/1B Harmon Killebrew - Senators/Twins (1957-74), Royals (1975)

SS Alan Trammell - Tigers (1978-96)

1B/OF Bryce Harper - Phillies (2019-25)

OF Earl Averill - Indians (1930-39), Braves (1941)

OF Dale Murphy - Braves (1976-90), Phillies (1990-92), Rockies (1993)

OF/DH Harold Baines - White Sox (1980-1989, 96-97, 2000-01) and three other clubs

OF Willie Davis - Dodgers (1961-73) and two other clubs

3B Evan Longoria - Rays (2008-17), Diamondbacks (2023)

3B Eric Chávez - Athletics (1999-2010)

2B/SS Dick McAuliffe - Tigers (1960-73), Red Sox (1974-75)

SS Édgar Renteria - Marlins (1997), Cardinals (1999-2004), Red Sox (2005)

2B/3B Phil Garner - Athletics (1973-74, 76), Pirates (1977-81), Astros (1981-87)

SS Bud Harrelson - Mets (1965-77)

1943: Joe DiMaggio joins the military. “Joe DiMaggio, drawing $43,500 from the Yankees, trades in his salary for the $50 a month as an army enlisted man. DiMaggio, in his customary quiet style, gives no notice to the club.”

1964: Luke Appling is elected to the Hall of Fame. “Former White Sox SS Luke Appling is elected into the Hall of Fame in a run-off ballot, after finishing first in the earlier regular vote. In 1953, Appling's first year of eligibility for Cooperstown, the Sox great received just two votes. He holds the single-season highest batting average for his position, hitting .388 in 1936.”

1971: Yaz signs a big contract. “Boston's Carl Yastrzemski signs what is believed to be the richest player contract in history: three years for a total of $500,000.”

15-year major league career, spanning from 1913-1928, mostly with the Yankees and Reds

Led the AL in HR with modest totals of 12 in 1916 and 9 in 1917

Later led the AL with 19 triples in 1924, had three seasons with 100+ RBI. He also had a little speed on the bases with 15+ SB three times.

Overall had 90 HR, 148 triples, 125 SB, a .281/.341/.408 slash line, and a 104 OPS+

As described at Wikipedia, "Although he is considered to be one of the best power hitters of the dead ball era, Pipp is now best remembered as the man who lost his starting role as the Yankees' first baseman to Gehrig on June 2, 1925, after experiencing a headache. This began Gehrig's streak of 2,130 consecutive games played, which stood as an MLB record for 56 years."

11-year major league career, spanning from 2004-2014, playing LF for the Marlins, Nationals, Athletics, Twins, and Royals

Hit 20+ HR five times, with career highs of 35 HR and 110 RBI in 2012 while with the Twins

Overall had 195 HR, a .253/.358/.465 slash line, and a 121 OPS+

12-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1955-1966, mostly with the Dodgers and Mets

Went 12-11 with a 3.71 ERA in his first full season in 1956, then posted an 11-5 record and 2.06 ERA in 29 games (17 starts) and 152.2 IP in 1959.

He was drafted by the Mets with the 6th pick in the 1961 expansion draft, and then did his best as one of their primary starters in their first two seasons. Unfortunately, that resulted in unattractive 10-24 and 5-22 records those two years, even though his ERA marks of 4.51 and 3.78 were only somewhat below league average.

Overall he had a 74-98 record, a 3.83 ERA, and a 104 ERA+

After he retired from pitching, he became a scout, a longtime pitching coach, and eventually a major league manager of the Padres (1978-79) and then the Giants (1985-92). He led the Giants to the NL Pennant in 1989, and overall had a 738-737 career managing record, just one game above .500.

49 - Harmon Killebrew (1964)

49 - Harmon Killebrew (1969)

48 - Harmon Killebrew (1962)

46 - Harmon Killebrew (1961)

45 - Harmon Killebrew (1963)

44 - Harmon Killebrew (1967)

42 - Brian Dozier (2016)

41 - Harmon Killebrew (1970)

41 - Nelson Cruz (2019)

39 - Harmon Killebrew (1966)

36 - Max Kepler (2019)

35 - Bob Allison (1963)

35 - Josh Willingham (2012)

35 - Byron Buxton (2025)

Players with the most to prove for each team this spring, by MLB writers, 2/16/2026

How Major League Baseball Should Change the Qualifying Offer, by Benjamin Chase at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter, 2/16/2026