Henry Bolte recently took the world of minor league baseball by going 12-for-12. He had five extra-base hits in Friday’s game before posting another 5-for-5 game the next day. That performance has contributed to a .348/.418/.658 slash line and 1.076 OPS in 37 games with the Athletics’ Triple-A team.

According to sources told by Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline, the A’s are going to call up Bolte and give him a chance to remain with the big league club. The Athletics already have some of the best young hitters in the game in Nick Kurtz, Shea Langeliers and Jacob Wilson. Adding Bolt to that crop could put them in legitimate contention.

A are competing..?

It’s hard to believe, but yes, athletics is in controversy right now. They have managed to make it to the top of the struggling American League West division. The club has a respectable record of 21–19, which puts them two games ahead of the second-place Texas Rangers. If the season ended today, they would actually receive a bye into the postseason, which would be the second-best record to the AL division leaders.

That’s mostly due to that young offensive core. The A’s are in the top ten of MLB teams in nearly every offensive category, including batting average (.249), on-base percentage (.326), slugging percentage (.400) and OPS (.726). This has helped cover the lack of viable pitching on the Athletics roster. The pitching staff has a combined 4.42 ERA on the year (21st in MLB).

Kurtz and Langeliers titled that group. Despite getting off to a slow start in his sophomore campaign, Kurtz has heated up since then. The 2025 AL Rookie of the Year has a ridiculous .841 OPS with a .414 OBP. To put that number in perspective, Barry Bonds’ career OBP is .444. Langeliers ultimately seemed to be successful, posting a .336 batting average with 11 home runs. The backstop has an OPS over 1,000 for the first time in his career.

Bolte’s spot on the roster

The outfield is mostly set up for the Athletics, with Lawrence Butler, Denzel Clark and Tyler Soderstrom making up the starting group. But that group has been seriously lacking in aggression and has posted a combined .191 batting average. Carlos Cortes and Jack Gelof have stepped up in their place. Cortes has an incredible .355/.408/.570 slash line with a .978 OPS.

With that in mind, Bolte has plenty of opportunities to get reps despite a crowded outfield. But if he struggles early, the A’s can always send him back to Triple-A. Bolte is only 22 and has plenty of time to develop. But if he can contribute at the big league level, it could go a long way in helping the club win its first division title since 2013 (not including the shortened 2020 campaign).

In a new interview, Athletics All-Star Brent Rucker fueled rumors that a salary cap for players will be a non-starter in the new collective bargaining agreement.

Right now, MLB players are preparing for the 2026 MLB season in either Florida or Arizona. While goals and aspirations for the new season are at the forefront of their minds, there is something dark looming in the distance. Negotiations over the next CBA between the league and the MLB Players Association.

Due to the out-of-control spending by the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and other big-market teams over the past few years, the buzz around the sport is that many owners are willing to finally bring a hard salary cap to MLB. It’s similar to some other major leagues like the NFL, NHL and NBA or something similar.

However, it still has to make its way to MLB as the MLBPA has proven time and again that they are the strongest players union in the game. Whenever the owners push for a major change, the players push back even harder, and they have yet to break even.

Brent Rucker on hard cap: We will not tolerate it being implemented

And when it comes to the hard cap, the Athletics’ two-time All-Star Brent Rucker is the latest MLB star to make it clear that the idea is a complete non-starter for players.

“The salary cap is designed to suppress wages so owners can make more money. That’s enough. That’s the goal behind them. They’re not trying to accomplish anything else. It’s not good for the players, it’s not good for the league, it’s not good for competitive balance or equity.”

“We will not tolerate it being implemented into our game,” Rucker said when asked about the hard cap during an event on Wednesday. foul zone podcast.

It certainly seems like both sides are ready to take a deeper look at the hard cap issue. If they’re both adamant, it looks like there’ll be another work stoppage like 1994 – coming early next year.

After earning a journalism degree in 2017, Jason Burgos worked as a contributor to several sites, including MMA Sacca… More about Jason Burgos

Newcastle United star Sandro Tonali should consider changing his career to athletics as he only runs.

That’s according to Antonio Cassano, who is clearly not a fan of the Newcastle midfielder. He is speaking about a 25 year old man Comments broadcast by Calciomercato.

The former Italian striker turned mouthpiece tells Il Messaggero about the Italian national team.

The Blues are currently struggling to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup through the European play-offs. They have missed the last two tournaments in 2018 and 2022 and will now face a crucial play-off to avoid making a third.

World Cup in danger

This came after they finished second behind Norway in Group I and failed to achieve automatic qualification. They will host Northern Ireland in a single-leg play-off semi-final in March. If they defeated them, they would have to invade Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina later that month.

It’s a dire situation for a team that is tied with Germany for the second most successful nation in World Cup history.

This led to significant and increasing criticism from fans, media and former players. Cassano is one of those people who is not cautious in sharing such opinions. And now their attention appears to be turning to Newcastle’s star man.

“It’s bad, but I’m confident that Gattuso will steer the ship in the right direction with his ideas and we’ll reach the World Cup,” he said.

“The only champion is Donnarumma. Pio Esposito? He is twenty years old and we consider him a novice: Totti and I made our debut at seventeen.

“She should do athletics”

“Tonali plays in the Premier League and never gets it. He runs and runs… He should do athletics. He and Barela are poor. Barela used to run, but he doesn’t run anymore. We need quality. I like Vergara.”

The question is, does anyone listen? It would be surprising if Premier League star Tonali cares what Cassano thinks at this point.

Sport Witness has covered him extensively over the past few months. In fact, A report earlier this month His agent has dismissed transfer rumors as Tonali wants to focus on helping Italy win the World Cup.

Instead of Cassano criticizing players like Tonali, perhaps Italy needs a similar mentality.