New Closer for New Year
Few Changes for Defending Division Champs
by Caitlen Sullivan
Halifax Chronicle Herald Sports Editor
April 1, 2026
The new MBWBA baseball season opens tomorrow. Until today Halifax fans would have noticed few roster surprises save for the disappearance of some familiar names:
- Reliever Jesus Hopkins refused to negotiate a new deal and became a free agent. He has signed a two year deal with Birmingham for less than the Hawks would have been willing to pay.
- The Keith Young experiment at third base was a failure after he re-crossed the Atlantic from the EBA. He has now gone back across the pond to Madrid. From Halifax his flight was about as short as a trans-Atlantic trip can be, and he earns some more frequent flier miles. We wish him well.
- OF Weston Fitzpatrick was not offered an extension. The 38-year-old remains a free agent after a long MBWBA career.
- Pitcher Alberto López partially tore his UCL last year on April 26th and missed the rest of the season. After a prolonged rehab, he showed up at Spring Training ready for a comeback. Alas, after pitching as total of four innings, he completely tore the UCL again and will miss all of 2026. His career is probably over.
- First baseman Haku A'amakualenalena has been with the organization since 2023, but he has spent most of his time in AAA where he has been a productive power hitter. His role will mainly be as a backup to first baseman Cisco Guerrero and as a pinch hitter.
- Outfielder Pancho Torres. Torres played with the Hawks from 2022 through 2024, but he spent all of last year at Montgomery save for one AB with the Hawks. (He got a hit, so his major league batting average last year was 1.000 – it will be lower this season. )
- 
Pitcher Domingo Castillo (left)to Vancouver for Closer Wally Lopez
The press conference came as a complete surprise to most of us media types. The Hawks have dealt extremely popular pitcher Domingo Castillo to Vancouver in exchange for young closer Wally López.
It was well known that management was not happy with Castillo who has underperformed in Halifax where he would have earned $16 million this year in the last year of a six-year, $77 million deal. After an impressive 7-2 start last season that saw him selected to his first ever MBWBA All Star team, he was 2-12 for the rest of the year. That was the last straw for Vancouver management, and before Spring Training this year he reluctantly agreed to become the closer for the Hawks. It was a controversial experiment at best that he will (for now, at least) be spared as he is expected to be in the Vancouver starting rotation. Perhaps he will flourish in new surroundings and perhaps come close to matching his dual 20-win seasons in the European Baseball Alliance. While considered “fragile” but the so-called experts, Domingo has missed only a week at a time twice since 2022 when he missed over six months with consecutive injuries (biceps tendinitis followed by shoulder inflammation).
Lopez is just 23 years old. As a rookie last year with the Mounties, Lopez had 30 saves and a 2.63 ERA. He makes the league minimum $500,000 and will be under Halifax control for several more seasons. It is unlikely the Hawks would have shelled out big bucks to keep Castillo around for another season. Most importantly, Wally gives the Hawks a legitimate closer while freeing up significant cap space. Lopez relies almost totally on his fastball and slider although he has reportedly been working on a changeup. Like Castillo, he can bring it up the plate at 100 miles per hour. His history shows he is a durable player with good stamina. The deal does leave Halifax without a sixth starter to deal with injury.
For a pretty accurate preview of what’s in store for Halifax fans, see this preview prepared by the Madison Wolves.
