SAN DIEGO — The last time the Chicago Cubs laid eyes on the San Diego Padres they had to refrain from laughing aloud in their faces.

It was July 1 at Wrigley Field.

And the Cubs humiliated the Padres, winning 23-3, with No. 9 hitter Dansby Swanson hitting three home runs and driving in eight runs, handing the Padres their worst loss in the 58-year history of the franchise.

It was the Cubs’ fifth consecutive victory, and the Padres’ fifth consecutive loss, leaving the Padres’ season on the brink.

Well, here they are meeting again, and, oh, how so much has changed.

The Padres these days just so happen to be the hottest team in baseball, winning 17 of their last 20 games, to not only storm into the postseason, but clinch the top wild-card spot, hosting the Cubs in the best-of-three wild-card series.

It’s a rematch of the wild-card series a year ago, only this time the games will all be played at raucous Petco Park and not Wrigley Field.

The Padres (91-71) are in the postseason for the third consecutive year, fifth time in the last seven years, and believing this time around they could go where they have never gone before in franchise history.

That’s winning a World Series.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns met with the media Monday in his end-of-season news conference. From first base plans and Pete Alonsofallout to the starting rotation's outlook and second base's starter, Stearns' 2026 reflection and 2027 outlook were covered extensively on SNY.

"I'm always under pressure," Stearns said. "My job is to put a winning team on here, on the field, every single year. That hasn't changed from the day I sat up here for my introductory press conference to when I'm sitting up here right now."

What other key topics did Stearns discuss? From the Mets' roster to New York's retooled coaching staff and front office, here is a closer look.

Bo Bichette's opt-out decision remains ongoing

Bichette has time to opt in or out of his contract with the Mets. He and Stearns "have not had those discussions."

"I have not had those discussions with Bo," Stearns said of Bichette, who slashed .260/.312/.390 with 18 home runs and 78 RBI in 160 games. "He's got the right now to take some space, discuss with his family and his agent, and I'm sure he'll get back to us."

Brett Baty's September momentum

Baty slashed .333/.417/.608 with three home runs and 16 RBI in September, capping his fourth full season since his Aug. 17, 2022, debut. Will he take another step in 2027?

"The truth is we won't know," Stearns said of Baty, who slashed .236./.309/.371 with 11 home runs and 56 RBI in 143 games. "I do think, having been around Brett for multiple years now -- I think where he is from a mindset perspective, his level of belief in himself and how he works through an at-bat, is different right now. But as with any player, until you see it for an extended period, very difficult for me to sit here right now and have complete certainty on that."

Ronny Mauricio's 'flash'

Mauricio, who broke out with two home runs this past weekend to cap a 20-game sample size with the Mets this season, has a pivotal offseason entering the 2027 campaign.

"He's among them," Stearns said of Mauricio, who slashed .220/.258/.441 with four home runs and eight RBI. "Ronny goes into next year out of options. We saw the flash of potential over the last couple days. That was exciting for us to see -- I think great for him to experience going into the offseason, and so he's among them. I think he comes into spring training next year competing for a spot."

Francisco Alvarez's 'really encouraging' second half

Alvarez slashed .233/.311/.399 with 16 home runs and 43 RBI in 113 games but left Stearns impressed elsewhere.

"Probably up and down," Stearns said of Alvarez's fourth MLB season. "But we've seen, I think -- again, the second half Francisco behind the plate was really encouraging. I think his defense took a step forward behind the plate. His command of the pitching staff and game-calling took a step forward in the second half. Really a credit to him for not getting down and frustrated, and a credit to our coaching staff for getting him there."

Kodai Senga's to-be-determined role

Senga started 8 of 31 games and moved to the bullpen. Will he remain a reliever or return to his role in the starting rotation?

"I think we'll make that determination as we get into spring training and see where we are," Stearns said. "We know where Kodai's passion is. He's been very honest with that. We also understand that we need a level of production, in whatever role he's going to be in, to contribute to a winning team. And so, we'll ultimately make that role determination as we get into next year."

Bullpen options

Whether or not the Mets' bullpen includes Senga, Stearns sees options among the returning arms.

"I give Devin (Williams) a lot of credit for working his tail off to getting back here and being able to pitch a couple games in September," Stearns said of Williams (right shoulder strain) returning from a late-season stint on the injured list to make two relief appearances. "I think that was important for us. It was important for Devin. He's now going to have a completely normal offseason. He's healthy, he feels great and we expect him to be a big part in the back end of the bullpen going forward.

"We also feel really good about some of the younger guys who stepped up in a big way over the last two months, whether that's aNate Lavenderor (Dedniel Núñez) coming back or (Daniel) Duarte taking some leverage innings. We saw flashes from (Jefry) Yan that make you believe that there's a level in there that he can be one of the better left-handed relievers in baseball. Again, we need to see consistency, and we recognize that, and there's inevitable volatility in bullpens. But I think what we saw out of that group collectively was very encouraging."

Reed Garrett, Tylor Megill eye spring in Tommy John rehabs

Garrett and Megill are set to enter the spring at 100 percent after missing the 2026 season due to surgeries in 2025, Stearns said.

"They've both been around the team over the last couple weeks," Stearns said. "Great to see them. We expect them to be full go in spring training."

Stearns did not say whether Megill, a starter before he went down with his injury, would be a reliever when asked.

"I think he's going to come and compete, and we believe he can contribute on the team," Stearns said of Megill, who is a career 26-26 with a 4.46 ERA in 88 games (81 starts). "He'll ramp up for starter workload over the offseason and come to spring training, compete."

Jared Young's concussion recovery 'going well'

Young, who sustained a concussion in the past two weeks, is doing "well" after the "scary" incident against the Philadelphia Phillies.

"Concussions are serious, and obviously that was as ugly as it gets on a baseball field and scary," Stearns said of Young, who slashed .266/.330/.429 with nine home runs and 39 RBI in 103 games. "Right now, everything seems to be going well. But concussions are serious, and we've got to see how this goes."

Derek Falvey's addition to front office

The Mets added to the front office this past week when they hired Falvey as their senior advisor for baseball operations.

"Derek's in the office today," Stearns said. "He's up and going. Derek, in my estimation, is one of the better executives in our sport. He's got a tremendous amount of experience. He's touched every aspect of baseball operations over the course of his career. He ran the business side in Minnesota as well. So, I think he's going to help us everywhere. He's a great thought partner, can provide some different life experiences and different perspectives, and I'm thrilled that he's on board right now."

Falvey's career includes stints in the front offices of the Cleveland Guardians (2008-16) and Minnesota Twins (2017-26).

"I think you can add to front offices in a variety of different ways," Stearns said. "I think the important part is getting people here who are ready to contribute and want to contribute and can offer us perspectives that will help."

Stearns did not "close the door on" adding to the front office further.

"There's always executive movement in October," Stearns said. "I'm open to adding, as I've always been, if we find the right complements and the right people. So, I wouldn't close the door on anything right now."

Staff movement

Andy Green is the Mets' full-time manager, and "conversations on" his coaching staff will come in the near future.

"Andy and I are going to have conversations on that this week, and we'll get to a decision point here over the next week or so," Stearns said.

With the Mets' 2027 blueprint already taking shape, Green and Stearns look to build on the 2026 season's improved second half.

"I think the manager is always an integral part of that, and I think Andy did a really nice job creating an environment that facilitated that level of connection," Stearns said. "I also think players are responsible for that, and both the players we had here and the younger players and the Triple-A players who joined after the deadline made real effort of that and I'm appreciative of that."

Texas Rangers president of baseball operations Chris Young addressed the media today in the wake of the team’s disappointing 80-82 finish.

I am not sure if this was broadcast live or not, but if it was, I didn’t hear it, because I was busy working. I haven’t seen the DMN or the Rangers website put up any stories about Young’s comments yet, as I’m typing this, but the beats did live-tweet things.

Young said, per the beats, that the Rangers have not exuded enough “toughness and [] grit” the past few seasons, and that has shown in the team’s poor road performance. Young said, per the beats, that “[t]here are some things we need to change in terms of bringing out that grit and toughness . . . that it takes for a team to go on the road, into an opposing city and play in front of opposing fans.”

This year, across MLB, home teams won 52.9% of games, and away teams won 47.1% of games. Last year, it was 54.3% and 45.7% across MLB. The Rangers in 2025 won 59.3% of their home games and 40.7% of their road games, and in 2026 won 55.6% of their home games and 43.2% of their road games. I’m not sure if the issue is grit or toughness or something else, but the Rangers have underperformed on the road the past two years (or overperformed at home).

Something else that jumped out at me is Young saying that the team needs to be more athletic, needs be better defensively and on the basepaths, needs to be younger. I thought that was an interesting comment.

Back in June, I wrote about how the Rangers were epically unsuccessful in going from first to third in the first half of this season. The extreme station-to-station aspect of their baserunning, along with their miserable performance in bases loaded situations (a 549 OPS in 139 plate appearances with the bases loaded, compared to a 746 OPS leaguewide) were two of the biggest reasons why the Rangers’ run scored lagged behind what their overall offensive performance would have suggested that they should have scored.

But its worth asking how it is that the Rangers ended up with a group of position players that are not particularly athletic or good defensively or on the basepaths.

Let’s look at the position player moves the team has made over the past two years, since the end of 2024.

In December, 2024, they signed catcher Kyle Higashioka. Higashioka turned 35 in April of 2025, and wasn’t (and still isn’t) particularly fast or athletic, even for a catcher — he was 62nd out of 83 catchers in sprint speed in 2025, and 76th out of 87 catchers in sprint speed in 2026.

Also in December, 2024, they traded three players for Jake Burger to replace Nathaniel Lowe at first base, desiring more power at the position. Burger is actually just a little below average in sprint speed among MLB players, but he isn’t going to be described by anyone as particularly athletic, or gifted defensively or as a baserunner, and despite how little major league experience he has, he turns 31 at the beginning of 2027.

At the end of December, they signed Joc Pederson to a free agent deal, in what was really the one major move they made in an effort to upgrade the offense. Regardless of the merits of making your big offseason position player move the signing of a platoon DH to a big contract, Pederson — signed for his age 33 and age 34 seasons — is near the bottom of the league in terms of athleticism, defense, and baserunning.

They did add the 36 year old Kevin Pillar as a bench player. He was, once upon a time, a very athletic player, a quality defender and baserunner. There was still some athleticism there, I think, but it was hard to notice when he was slashing .209/.209/.256. I don’t think I realize until now he never ended up drawing a walk in 2025.

There was also Sam Haggerty off the bench, and he had a little of that speed and athleticism Young was talking about, but he was also a role player, and though he came back in 2026, he got quickly released because he couldn’t hit.

When Jake Burger got hurt, and the team needed to get someone to play first base, they signed free agent Rowdy Tellez, who, well…let’s put it this way. In 2025, there were 579 players with at least 10 opportunities for Statcast to measure their sprint speeds. Tellez was faster than two of them — Sam Huff and Martin Maldonado — and tied with Giancarlo Stanton. The other 575 players were ahead of Tellez.

Come the 2025-26 offseason, once again, the Rangers only made one really big move in regards to the lineup: they traded Marcus Semien to the Mets for Brandon Nimmo. Again, whatever the other motivations and positives that deal provides, its a downgrade in terms of speed, athleticism and defense.

And they added 39 year old Andrew McCutchen, who once upon a team fit the speed/defense/athleticism mold, but not in 2026.

They did add Danny Jansen, who probably has above-average athleticism for a catcher. Then when Jansen and Higashioka got sidelined they signed Einar Diaz out of the free agent scrap heap. Fun fact — Diaz was 80th in sprint speed out of 87 catchers in 2026, one of the few catchers actually slower than Higashioka.

No wonder the organization was so excited about Nicky Lopez’s presence — he’s not, at this stage in his career, someone who is elite in terms of speed or athleticism or defense, but he’s average to a little above in those categories, and on this team, it makes him look like Jim Thorpe.

If you’re identifying position players who you think of as regulars or semi-regulars on the Rangers, Evan Carter, Wyatt Langford, and Ezequiel Duran are the only three who you fit that triumvirate of attributes Young says the team needs. Of course, Carter and Langford also have not been able to stay healthy — and one of the other things that Young said that the team needed to improve upon is its health.

Otherwise…Corey Seager is Corey Seager. You know what he is. Josh Jung is not particularly athletic, is slow, has regressed defensively, and can’t stay healthy. Justin Foscue is much the same.

Here’s the thing that kind of stuck with me when I read those quotes from Young today, though, that prompted me to sit here and pound out what is now over 1000 words on the topic.

If you feel, Chris, that the Rangers are not young enough, not athletic enough, not good enough defensively, then whose fault is that?

How did it happen?

How is it that you would put together a lineup on the position player side over the past two years with moves that have prioritized the team going after primarily older, slower, unathletic players who are limited defensively, and then act surprised that your team is not athletic enough and not good enough on the basepaths and not good enough defensively?

Happy Wild Card eve to all who celebrate. How are we feeling?

Firstly, a hype video for you. This year’s campaign theme and accompanying hashtag? LET IT FLY.

Are you hype enough yet? Let us know the creative ways you’re playing hooky with work or school for tomorrow’s 2 pm ET contest. We can write you a permission slip if you need.

It’s been a busy day for Demetrius and company with today’s team workout and other new info on tomorrow’s matchup. ICYMI…

• Demetrius’s report from Truist Park today: Braves stay loose and focused on Workout Day ahead of Wild Card Series against Phillies
• Ivan’s last deep dive for the regular season: Braves biweekly: a cromulent clincher

Tomorrow night’s home plate umpire has recent Altercations against both teams:

Tomorrow’s starter for Philly is Jesús Luzardo. But they’ll be without their main trade deadline piece:

And that’s what you missed on BP. The floor’s yours for your hopes, fears, predictions, prayers to baseball gods, and whatever else is on your mind tonight.

If you’re reading a Red Sox blog, you’re probably a bigger baseball fan than most. Still, baseball is a regional sport, and it can be hard to get eyes on other teams throughout the season. We see the American League East teams a few times, the other American League teams twice, and the National League teams once each. The team the Red Sox were in April is far from the team they are now. The same goes for every other team.

The baseball postseason has a way of breeding stars. Starters who go on short rest, relievers who perform Houdini-like escape acts, and utility players who come up with big hits. I won’t pretend to watch every game every night, but I do typically turn on a few innings during the day when they’re available, and flip over to another game on MLB.TV when the Red Sox game ends. That, combined with being chronically online with a Twitter algorithm that serves me baseball highlights, means I have a pretty solid lay of the land.

So if you haven’t had much opportunity to watch the rest of the playoff field yet, here is one player from each of the other Wild Card round teams to keep an eye on.

Tristan Peters, Chicago White Sox

FanGraphs projected the Chicago White Sox for 67 wins entering the season. They flew past that mark by recording 84 wins and securing the final American League Wild Card spot. FanGraphs isn’t infallible, but exceeding projections by 17 wins usually requires some breakout stars. One of those for the White Sox is center fielder Tristan Peters.

Peters played for the Savannah Bananas in 2021, before their popularity exploded and before he was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers. He was traded to the Giants, and then to the Rays in 2022 before debuting for Tampa in late 2025. He went 0-12 and was designated for assignment this past winter. The White Sox acquired Peters for cash, and he took off from there. His bat is solid but unspectacular; he hit .265 with 12 home runs and a low strikeout rate, but his fielding is excellent. If not for Ceddanne Rafaela, Peters would be a frontrunner for the Gold Glove in center field. The White Sox have been one of the better defensive teams in the league this season, and he’s a large part of that.

Hayden Wesneski, Houston Astros

The Astros are full of familiar faces: Yordan Alvarez, Jeremy Peña, Jose Altuve, and Josh Hader, to name a few. Their offense kept them afloat, posting the fourth-best wRC+ on the way to the worst regular-season record ever by a postseason team. In the playoffs, they’ll need to pitch to make a run. Hunter Brown is their ace, but you’ve heard of him, so how about Hayden Wesneski?

Wesneski made his season debut in July after rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and was a huge boost to the Astros’ rotation. In 11 starts, he was 6-2 with a 3.25 ERA. He’s not at all overpowering; his fastball averages 93 mph and gets hit hard, but he throws enough pitches to keep hitters off it. He leads with a huge sweeper with over 20 inches of horizontal break and commands a cutter well to generate weak contact. If he commands his changeup to lefties, he can get quick outs and eat innings for an Astros team that doesn’t want to lean on its bullpen.

Alex McFarlane, Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies nearly pulled off a historic collapse in September, losing four of their final five games. They gave the Diamondbacks a glimmer of hope, but ultimately beat the Rays to clinch on the last day. If Philadelphia makes a run during the postseason, it will likely be due to their pitching. They had the second-best team xERA in the second half of the season. A large part of that was thanks to the rotation, full of pitchers that you know: Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, Zack Wheeler, and Aaron Nola. Jhoan Duran is at the back of the bullpen, but there’s another electric arm in the pen as well — Alex McFarlane.

McFarlane debuted in July and was nearly perfect for most of the season. He didn’t allow a run in 17 of 19 appearances, striking out 25% of opponents on the way. He’s got a huge fastball that averages 99 mph and gets up as high as 102. It’s from a low release that creates an uncomfortable look for hitters and racks up whiffs. He pairs it with a sinker that’s just as hard, plus two breaking balls. He’s your classic hard-throwing reliever, and he’ll likely find himself in a big spot against the Braves this week.

Ethan Salas, San Diego Padres

Ethan Salas is the youngest player in the majors. His bat isn’t anything special, although he’s performed better at the plate in a short sample than I think most expected. He’s got an absolute cannon behind the plate, though. It’s awesome.

He’s 0-5 on throwing runners out in the majors. In my unprofessional opinion, the bases were stolen on the pitchers more than Salas, though. Moving on.

Alex Bregman, Chicago Cubs

This one is a deep cut, but a great story. Alex Bregman is playing for the Cubs just days after taking a foul ball off the face. You’ve probably heard of him because he hit two home runs against the Red Sox on the final day of the season. He’s really good.

Didier Fuentes, Atlanta Braves

The Braves are always in the mix, and they’re always kind of boring if you ask me. They have one of the best lineups in baseball (though they’ve slumped in the second half), a solid rotation led by Chris Sale, and a good bullpen. Ronald Acuna, Matt Olson, Michael Harris, and Drake Baldwin are all back this season, as is Rasiel Iglesis in the bullpen. Someone who hasn’t been in the mix this season is Didier Fuentes.

Fuentes debuted early this season and made one start before transitioning to the bullpen. He’s third on the team with 58 pitching appearances and has been the Braves’ top bullpen arm besides their closer. His 31% strikeout rate is among the best in baseball, while he limits walks as well. It’s a simple approach from Fuentes, who throws 70% four-seam fastballs and dares hitters to hit it. When he isn’t throwing fastballs by hitters, he’s pulling the string and dropping in mid-80s sliders to get ugly swings. He’ll likely move back to the rotation at some point, but for the next month, he’ll be a top arm in the Braves bullpen.

Cthulhu, New York Yankees

Last but not least, we have the New York Yankees. We play them 12 times a season, so you’re likely familiar with most of their players. Cam Schlittler is the ace, and Ben Rice is the best hitter. You’ve seen George Lombard debut and you know Gerrit Cole from years past. You probably haven’t seen Cthulhu, a cosmic entity that seeks to regain control over the world and whose presence drives humans mad. Seriously, he’s on the Yankees, and the players support his motives. Pretty messed up, right?

It’s award season in Major League Baseball, and the first thing we’ve got to bring to your attention is the All-MLB team. As a quick reminder, the fans are included as one of several entities (media, broadcasters, former players, “other officials”) who have a say in who ends up on the league’s All-MLB teams, which award the best players at each position.

Finalists in this award don’t necessarily work the same way that they do in the other awards—this is a much more open field. But it’s still cool to see Brewers players among the finalists at several positions. Here’s a quick rundown of who you can vote for amongst Brewers.

Jake Bauers, 1B

Bauers, who finished second in the National League in wRC+, is up against 13 other options at first base. Bauers had his best season by far, and finished with 26 homers, 86 RBI, and the second-best on-base percentage in the National League, aided by a Soto-ian 16.3 walk percentage. Bauers stands out among the nominees but has some tough competition; others who figure to factor heavily at first base include Pete Alonso, who led the AL in homers (43) and RBI (113), Alec Burleson, who led the majors with 116 RBI, Willson Contreras, who hit a career-high 27 homers and had a career best 153 OPS+, and Ty France, who had a surprising career-best year for the Padres at age 31.

Brice Turang, 2B

Turang should be the heavy favorite at second base after finishing his season with a 124 OPS+, 37 doubles, 21 homers, 100 RBI, 19 stolen bases, and Gold Glove-caliber defense. He had a 7.3 WAR season via Baseball Reference, which is getting close to MVP territory in many seasons. His primary competition probably comes from Pittsburgh’s Brandon Lowe, who hit 35 homers and played some of the best defense of his career, and JJ Wetherholt, the St. Louis rookie who played some of the league’s best defense while putting up a slightly above average offensive season.

William Contreras, C

Contreras is right in the mix amongst a strong group of catchers despite going through a brutal offensive slump for much of the summer. A strong finish to the season meant Contreras finished with a .270/.341/.417 batting line (108 OPS+) and 27 doubles, 18 homers, and 94 RBI. By WAR, this was Contreras’s worst season as a Brewer, though, so he’s not the favorite this season; this should be Arizona’s Gabriel Moreno (143 OPS+, 6.7 bWAR, led the NL in batting average at .311), who will see competition from Colorado’s Hunter Goodman (41 homers), Detroit’s Dillon Dingler (4.9 fWAR, 27 homers), and Atlanta’s Drake Baldwin (.284/.358/.459, 25 homers).

Jackson Chourio, OF

Chourio is the Brewers’ one candidate in the outfield this season (a little harsh on Garrett Mitchell, in my opinion), and he would surely have had a great chance had he not missed six weeks at the beginning of the season. Chourio has looked like a superstar for the past couple of months, but with only 127 games played, he’s likely to get overlooked. The strongest contenders here include the presumptive NL MVP, Pete Crow-Armstrong (45 homers, 41 stolen bases, league-leading 156 OPS+, best defense in league), Seattle’s Randy Arozarena (AL leading 113 runs scored, 26 homers, 148 OPS+), the Dodgers’ Andy Pages (.274/.343/.468, 23 homers, excellent defense), Atlanta’s Michael Harris II (26 homers, 36 doubles, .294/.321/.491), Boston’s Ceddanne Rafaela (great defense, solid offense) and Wilyer Abreu (AL leading 38 doubles, 24 homers, good defense), and Fernando Tatis Jr. (who overcame a very slow start to finish with a 130 OPS+, 25 homers, and 32 doubles).

Jacob Misiorowski, SP

Five pitchers make the All-MLB first team, and Miz is a lock to be one of those five (he would probably be a lock to be the only one if there were only one). Misiorowski is the only nominated Brewer; those who might join him on the first team include Cam Schlittler of the Yankees, Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo, and Zack Wheeler of the Phillies, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tarik Skubal of the Dodgers, Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays, Chris Sale of the Braves, and maybe a surprise like Eduardo Rodríguez of the Diamondbacks or Parker Messick of the Guardians.

Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe, RP

Both Megill and Uribe are finalists this season, deservedly so. After a rough first couple weeks, Megill was dominant for months; he converted 30 of 33 save opportunities and finished with a 2.63 ERA and 1.85 FIP. Uribe was just as good: in 61 outings, he had a 1.97 ERA and 2.68 FIP, converting six saves along the way. Either Brewer reliever could conceivably make it, but the favorites here figure to be Tampa Bay’s Bryan Baker, who tied for the league lead with 41 saves and had a 1.44 ERA (though his 3.07 FIP will give pause to those who prefer FanGraphs’ WAR); San Diego’s Mason Miller, who looked like the league’s best reliever for essentially the entire season, tied for the NL lead in saves, had a 1.67 ERA and an eye-popping 1.17 FIP; Toronto’s Louis Varland, who had a 1.27 ERA in 78 innings (more than the other contenders here) and converted 35 saves; Philadelphia’s Jhoan Duran, who pitched to a 1.82 ERA 1.42 FIP in 59 1/3 innings; and the ageless Aroldis Chapman, who had 35 saves for the Red Sox while pitching to a 1.92 ERA.

Who do you think should make it? Drop your All-MLB team in the comments. You can vote through Friday, October 9, and teams will be announced All-MLB teams will be announced on November 11 at the MLB Awards Show.