New York Yankees veteran infielder Paul DeJong doesn't plan to opt out of his minor-league deal with the team on Thursday, a source told Joel Sherman of the New York Post. DeJong's plan is to try to make the big-league squad out of spring training, and if he doesn't, he'll begin the year at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. If the 32-year-old veteran were to win a job on the Opening Day roster for next week, he'd be operating in a bench role, leaving him very little fantasy upside at this point in his career. He's going into his 10th season in the big leagues with his seventh different team. Last year in 57 games with the Washington Nationals, DeJong hit .228/.269/.373 with a .642 OPS, six home runs, 23 RBI, 18 runs scored, and four stolen bases. DeJong reached the 30-homer mark once in his career, but that was all the way back in his third year in the big leagues in 2019 with the St. Louis Cardinals.

St. Louis Cardinals right-handed reliever Matt Svanson could be involved in a closing committee in St. Louis this year, making him an intriguing candidate to speculate on for saves in deeper fantasy formats going into the 2026 campaign. Manager Oliver Marmol is already on record saying that he won't have a fixed closer going into the season, so Svanson, Riley O'Brien, JoJo Romero, and Ryne Stanek could all be options for the ninth inning. The 27-year-old Svanson was 4-0 in his major-league debut in 2025 with a 1.94 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 68 strikeouts, and 20 walks in 60 1/3 innings pitched. He was deployed in a high-leverage spot in Wednesday's 4-1 Grapefruit League debut win over the Houston Astros, too, picking up his third spring win while throwing two shutout innings with a strikeout and no walks. Svanson entered the day with a 1.50 ERA, six K's, and a walk in six spring innings. His strong performance in spring training could make him a favorite to lead St. Louis' bullpen in save chances.

The New York Yankees announced on Wednesday that left-hander Max Fried will take the hill for Opening Day next Wednesday on the road against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Fried is the easy choice for the Yankees to kick off the 2026 season with both Gerrit Cole (elbow) and Carlos Rodon (elbow) rehabbing elbow injuries. The 32-year-old veteran southpaw was excellent in his first year in the Bronx in 2025, earning his third career All-Star selection while leading the league in wins (19). Fried also had a 2.86 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and 189:51 K:BB in 195 1/3 innings over his 32 starts during the regular season. The 6-foot-4, 190-pounder is the ace of the Yankees' staff and should be treated as a low-end No. 1 fantasy starting pitcher going into his second season in pinstripes. It was only Fried's third time in nine MLB seasons that he reached 30 starts, and he has still never gone over 200 innings or 200 strikeouts. Fantasy managers should be starting him with confidence next week.

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced on Wednesday that they optioned right-hander River Ryan to Triple-A Oklahoma City. Even with left-hander Blake Snell (shoulder) not expected to be ready for the start of the 2026 regular season next week, Ryan will start the year on the farm. The 27-year-old had Tommy John surgery in August of 2024 and didn't pitch at all for the Dodgers last year. The Dodgers chose to ignore his 1.86 ERA and 0.93 WHIP with 12 strikeouts and four walks in his 9 2/3 innings in spring training in favor of giving him a softer runway in the minors to return from his right-elbow injury. The former 11th-round pick by the San Diego Padres in 2021 made his big-league debut in L.A. in 2024 and looked good, allowing just three earned runs with 18 K's and nine walks in 20 1/3 innings in four starts. L.A.'s starting rotation won't be easy to crack, but Ryan should make starts again for the Dodgers at some point in 2026.