Padres 3B coach Matt Williams has colon cancer

Mike Shildt, the former St. Louis Cardinals manager who is a senior adviser with the Padres, will fill in as third base coach beginning Thursday, when the most eagerly anticipated season in franchise history begins with a home game against the Colorado Rockies.

Williams, a five-time All-Star in a 17-year career spent mostly with the San Francisco Giants, said he was diagnosed about three weeks ago.

“I don’t have any symptoms, I don’t have any issues, but at this point it’s important that we get it out of there,” Williams said Wednesday.

Williams, 57, said initial scans show that the cancer hasn’t spread. “That’s a good thing, so we’ll see how it goes from here. … I’ll do what I can and fight as hard as I can to get back as quickly as possible.”

Williams played 10 seasons with San Francisco, one with Cleveland and six with Arizona, including 2001 when the Diamondbacks won the World Series. He won four Gold Glove Awards and four Silver Slugger Awards.

Williams managed the Washington Nationals for two seasons and was the NL Manager of the Year in 2014. He was manager Bob Melvin’s third base coach in Oakland in 2018-19 and joined Melvin’s Padres staff last season.

“I’ve been with Matt on five different teams, I’ve known him for over 35 years and he might be the toughest guy I’ve ever come across in baseball,” Melvin said. “I know in particular he’s going to give this the fiercest effort of his life and he’s going to beat it. Our players have been fully supportive of him. It’s hard being so close to somebody and knowing he has to deal with it but I know he is and I know he’s going to beat it.”

The Milwaukee Brewers have operated the last handful of seasons under the philosophy that they want to contend for as long as possible rather than going all-in during a particular season.

But a look at their roster indicates that championship window might not stay open much longer.

The Brewers’ best two starting pitchers and their top returning position player all could become free agents at the end of the 2024 season. Craig Counsell, the NL’s longest-tenured manager, has a contract that’s set to expire after this season.

That makes this season particularly important as the Brewers seek the World Series berth that has eluded them since 1982. The Brewers also are trying to bounce back after they finished a game out of the NL’s final wild-card spot last year, ending a franchise-record string of four straight playoff appearances.

The Brewers open the season Thursday afternoon against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Jacob deGrom will make his debut for the Texas Rangers — and in the American League — against a familiar foe from his nine seasons with the New York Mets.

The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner will be limited to about 65 pitches Thursday against the reigning National League champion Philadelphia Phillies.

Just having deGrom healthy and on the mound for the season opener is a positive start for the Rangers and the pitcher whose last two years in New York were plagued by injuries.

“We feel good about him, and he should, too. He’s had some great outings,” new Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “I think there were probably some questions when we did have to slow play him, but now we see that he’s ready.”

All-Star outfielder Ian Happ appears poised to enter the season with an expiring contract after he and the Chicago Cubs were unable to agree on a new deal.

Happ had “nothing really to report” and “no real comment on it.” He said he is not breaking off talks, but adds: “That also doesn’t mean anything.”

Happ is eligible for free agency after the upcoming season.

Royals owner John Sherman believes that plans are progressing toward a new downtown ballpark, which would replace the nearly 50-year-old Kauffman Stadium as early as 2027 or 2028.

The club has had dialogue with fans, business leaders and politicians about potential sites, though none has been decided.

The idea is to build a $1 billion stadium as the centerpiece of a $1 billion residential and commercial development. Meanwhile, the owner is similarly optimistic about the current team, which lost nearly 100 games a year ago.

The Royals have a new manager in Matt Quatraro and several promising young prospects that they believe will continue to develop throughout the upcoming season, which begins Thursday against Minnesota.

The Philadelphia Phillies acquired center fielder Cristian Pache from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for a minor league pitcher.

Pache has played in in 115 games for the Atlanta Braves (2020-21) and Athletics (2022). He played center field in all but two of them.

The A’s got 23-year-old right-hander Billy Sullivan. He was signed by the Phillies as a non-drafted free agent in 2020 and went 5-1 last season with Double-A Reading.