St. Patty’s Day has come and gone (and hopefully the same thing can be said about your hangover) and Friday marked the six-month anniversary of the epic Game 5 of the Miles Wolff Cup Finals.

And so, six months (and a day) after the Kane County Cougars raised the Miles Wolff Cup for the second year in a row, let’s take a look at what others are trying to do to stop them:

Chicago Dogs

Signed: OF Aaron Altherr, Craig Corliss

The Spin: After a quiet week last week, the Chicago Dogs followed it up with a splash, signing 2025 All-Star Game MVP Aaron Altherr. The veteran of six MLB seasons was more than just a one-night stand last year, posting an .829 OPS with 20 homers, 76 RBI and 44 extra-base hits. Altherr is a difference maker in a Chicago outfield that was light on experience and joins Jaxx Groshans and Chance Sisco in the heart of the order.

Speaking of Groshans and Sisco, the Dogs added Craig Corliss to the catching mix. Corliss has 35 professional games in the Pioneer and Frontier Leagues under his belt and projects purely as a depth piece. I imagine his only chance of breaking camp on the roster is if the Dogs envision one of their catchers (probably more likely Sisco) sliding over to first base, which appears to still be unresolved.

Cleburne Railroaders

Released: INF Chase Engelhard

The Spin: After a chaotic last week (four signings and five trades), the Railroaders were much quieter this week, with only the release of Engelhard, who hasn’t played since 2024 and is a first-time pro. With that profile, he felt like a longshot to break camp with the club.

Right now, Cleburne is sitting at 28 players, so there’s not much more room to sign guys unless they are trading or cutting any more already under contract. Of course, I’m fully expecting that to happen some more in the next month.

Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks

The Spin: The RedHawks picked up Tripp Clark and traded for Jesus Lujano last week, though they still are virtually empty in the outfield after Lujano. They did nothing to address that (or anything else) this week, though I imagine finding outfielders is probably at the top of Chris Coste and Co.’s to-do list.

Gary SouthShore RailCats

Signed: RHP J.C. Flowers, INF Nick Podkul, RHP Joan Valdez

The Spin: Last week saw the RailCats bring back their best bullpen arm from last year (Nate Alexander), and now they add two more in Flowers and Valdez. Flowers has spent the last four years in the upper minors, making him one of the most experienced arms on the staff. Valdez, meanwhile was in the Gary bullpen in 2023-24 but didn’t pitch last year. If he’s in the neighborhood of his 4.19 ERA from 2024, he could be a useful middle reliever again.

Podkul is interesting in part became he’s joining his brother Frank, who signed with the RailCats all the way back before Halloween. While Frank is a career Indy baller whose only meaningful pro experience is two solid (but not great) years in the Pioneer League, Nick has played significant time in Triple-A, has hit in the upper minors, and posted a .908 OPS in 31 games in Schaumburg after being released by the White Sox last year. He is as accomplished of a bat as the RailCats have signed in years and could be a major piece in trying to get Gary over the hump. Also notable: the Podkuls are natives of Merrillville, Indiana, the next town south of Gary.

Kane County Cougars

Signed: RHP Konnor Ash, OF Armond Upshaw

The Spin: Kane County’s only action was re-upping a pair of key contributors from last year’s title team. The headliner of course is Ash, who went 10-3 with a 2.76 ERA in 19 starts, logging 124.2 innings and fanning 132 batters, while getting the final out of the Miles Wolff Cup Finals. He finished in the top-five in the league in wins, innings, strikeouts, and ERA and will undoubtedly be a preseason favorite for Pitcher of the Year.

Upshaw is back in the outfield for his fourth season with the Cougars. He posted an .814 OPS in 2024…but sub-.700 marks in both ’23 and ’25, though with strong defense and 30+ stolen bases in all three seasons. He’s not a difference maker, but is useful. If he performs like 2024, he could hit leadoff. If he’s more like last year, he’s a perfect “second leadoff” guy to stash at the bottom of the order.

Kansas City Monarchs

Signed: OF Jhailyn Ortiz, OF Marcus Smith

The Spin: Well, let’s see if the Monarchs can finally get a full season out of Ortiz. He came in late in Kansas City’s lost 2024 campaign and tallied a .935 OPS in 21 games. He initially re-signed for 2025, but instead went to Mexico and came back for 22 games late…but only logged a .635 OPS. So, with a full season, can Ortiz unlock his middle-of-the-order potential that he flashed at times in affiliated ball?

Smith is a Kansas City native (from the Missouri side) who was drafted in the third round out of high school and just never clicked, hitting .196 in 347 career games. He did steal 47 bases in 2022 and has a decent eye, but also showed massive strikeout numbers and so-so power. Odd enough, the only success he showed in the last five years came last year after being terrible at both High-A and Double-A…but in 19 Triple-A games, he hit .283 with a 1.038 OPS, so there’s a glimpse at what Kansas City thinks he can do in his first dip into Indy ball.

Lake Country DockHounds

Signed: OF Dom Johnson, C Michael Quinones, RHP Sebastian Rodriguez, LHP Anthony Steele
Acquired: OF Dom Johnson (from Sussex County for PTBNL)
Traded: RHP Alec Sparks (to Gateway for PTBNL

The Spin: Lake Country has been the league’s busiest club the last two weeks, having inked seven players in that time, while also losing two. Rodriguez is the headliner of the group, as the 2024 AA Rookie Pitcher of the Year (11-4, 3.71 for Milwaukee) returns to the AA after starting last year in Mexico, then posting 66.2 IP with a 2.57 ERA in the Frontier League.

Johnson is a big trade pickup (who immediately signed, which is always good), as he slashed .340/.412/.527 with 40 extra-base hits and 23 steals in the Frontier League a season ago. Those numbers will probably come down a bit, but he’s still a top-of-the-order candidate. Quinones split last year between Sioux City and the Frontier League, hitting .339 in 46 games over his first pro season and coming in with a real shot at the starting job behind the plate.

Steele is a bullpen flyer and a first-year pro who had a solid final college season at Penn State, but was lit up in the MLB Draft League last summer. Hey, you can’t have enough left-handed pitching…

Lincoln Saltdogs

Signed: RHP Foster Pace, OF Jairo Pomares

The Spin: Lincoln has not had a good winter, but these are probably two of their best moves yet—especially with a big wild card in Pomares. A former top prospect in the Giants system out of Cuba, the 25-year-old had a huge 2021, was solid in ’22, then had ’23 completely derailed by a back injury and just never found his swing again before being released last July. He’s talented enough that if he can stay healthy and figure some things out, he could be a true high-end talent that isn’t often seen in the AA (and also a candidate to be picked up midseason).

Pace, meanwhile, is a five-year Indy ball vet, but one who had his best season with Lincoln in 2024, when he logged a 3.11 ERA in 84.0 innings. Last season he had an up-and-down season in the Atlantic League that ended in August due to injury. If he’s healthy and ready, he’s a candidate to start Opening Day for Lincoln.

Milwaukee Milkmen

The Spin: Milwaukee is in a similar boat as Cleburne, in the sense that their roster is pretty much filled out, with 29 players inked. Things have been less volatile in the land of milk and cheese than North Texas, though, with no moves for Milwaukee in the last two weeks.

Well, except for revealing their unusual nod to their hometown (Franklin, Wisconsin) on Wednesday: their Franklin Benjamins (or is it “Benjamin$?”) alternate identity.

Sioux City Explorers

Signed: OF D’Shawn Knowles

The Spin: A big piece of Sioux City’s chaos-inducing lineup from 2025 is back in Knowles, who is locked in for his third year in Siouxland. The X’s absolutely obliterated the AA’s stolen base record with 275 steals last year and Knowles contributed 53 of them while slashing .286/.388/.457. If I had to guess, right now this is the first man stepping into the box for Sioux City on Opening Day.

Sioux Falls Canaries

The Spin: The Canaries did nothing this week and currently sit at just 18 signings, second-fewest in the league (Kane County has 17 signed). After a very slow start to the offseason, things were looking concerning but have picked up considerably, but Mike Meyer is starting to run out of time and there are still boxes to check. His offense is looking to be in solid shape, but Sioux Falls needs a lot of starting pitching and I don’t know how many good options are still out there.

Fun fact: Including the playoffs, Sioux Falls played 113 games. Exactly one start from last year is currently signed. Two other starters (30 combined starts) who pitched elsewhere in 2025 are signed. Their ERAs last year: 6.82 and 7.19. There’s still some time to fix this, but right now it’s looking BAD.

Winnipeg Goldeyes

The Spin: Winnipeg was also quiet this week and have both signed (Ray-Patrick Didder) and lost to affiliated ball (Bryce Arnold) one player this month. Unlike the Canaries, who have much of their lineup intact but virtually no starters, the Goldeyes have basically their whole pitching staff complete, but still need a few more bats, both in quantity and quality. The Goldeyes still have holes in all three position groups offensively, even if you don’t factor in that they need upgrades in several spots after scoring the second-fewest runs in the league last year.