St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar (heels) still has no timeline for a return to full baseball activities, according to Jeff Jones of the Belleville News. Nootbaar has been able to hit and throw, but he's just now moving into being able to run without assistance. The 28-year-old will continue to run on an anti-gravity treadmill in camp after having surgery in early October on both of his heels to address deformities. The Cardinals are unlikely to rush Nootbaar, so the expectation is that he will not be ready to go on Opening Day in late March. Nootbaar played a career-high 135 games in 2025 and disappointed offensively, slashing .234/.325/.361 with a career-worst .686 OPS, 13 homers, 48 RBI, 68 runs, and four steals in 583 plate appearances. His batted-ball metrics have always teased more -- he had a career-best 50% hard-hit rate and 10.2% barrel rate in 2025 -- but he's rarely been healthy and has yet to put it all together. Nootbaar needs to get healthy and finally break through to jump into the top-100 outfield rankings.

MLB.com's Brian McTaggart reports that the Houston Astros' chances of trading third baseman Isaac Paredes before the start of the 2026 season are "diminishing." Paredes missed two months last year in his first season in Houston due to a serious hamstring tear, which led to the team reacquiring Carlos Correa to play third. The 27-year-old is now blocked in the infield with Jose Altuve moving back to second base, and at designated hitter (Yordan Alvarez). Paredes is moving around at multiple different positions this spring, and a utility role might be his best path to playing time, barring an injury. Despite playing in only 102 games, Paredes reached the 20-homer mark for the third time in his six MLB seasons while slashing .254/.352/.458 with an .809 OPS. His 2026 fantasy value is unsettled without a clear path to regular playing time. A trade out of town with an everyday role would be the best outcome from a fantasy perspective.

Right-hander Tobias Myers will be on the New York Mets' Opening Day roster, according to manager Carlos Mendoza. Myers will begin his first year with the Mets in the bullpen if the starting rotation is full and everyone is healthy, but the Mets will not send him to the minors simply to keep him stretched out. The 27-year-old came over from the Milwaukee Brewers in the offseason as part of the trade that involved starter Freddy Peralta. He will most likely start the year in a long-relief role and will likely operate as a swingman, as needed. Myers spent most of the 2025 campaign going back and forth between Milwaukee and Triple-A Nashville, and he started only six of his 22 appearances after making 25 starts for the Brew Crew in his rookie season. It was discouraging that his strikeout rate fell from 22.3% to 17.3% in mostly a relief role. Without a clear path to a starting role in Queens, Myers won't have any mixed-league utility.

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said on Wednesday that designated hitter Shohei Ohtani will remain in the leadoff spot this season, according to Katie Woo of The Athletic. Why mess with success? The two-way superstar won his third straight MVP award and fourth in the last five seasons while also helping the Dodgers win back-to-back World Series titles. The 2026 season will be his first full year in L.A. as a true two-way player. Ohtani led the league last year in runs (146), slugging percentage (.622), OPS (1.014), and total bases (380) in 158 regular-season games while also hitting .282 with a career-high 55 home runs, 102 RBI, and 20 stolen bases. The 31-year-old was unable to live up to his 50-50 showing from 2024, but he still was a beast as a DH for fantasy managers. He will once again set the table for the best team in baseball and will be the top player off the board in all fantasy drafts as a hitter.