Worldwide Sports News

Here's the latest buzz on free agent left-hander Tarik Skubal...

Nov. 2, 10:18 a.m.

The "expectation" is that Skubal will sign before the CBA expires on Dec. 1, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. 

Passan lists the Mets and Dodgers as the "most obvious" suitors for Skubal, adding that the Cubs "badly" want him. However, Skubal notes that there is skepticism within the Cubs organization about their ability to win a bidding war. 

Skubal, who turns 30 on Nov. 20, is not attached to a qualifying offer after being traded from the Tigers to the Dodgers during the season.

After winning back-to-back Cy Young awards in 2024 and 2025, Skubal had a 2.72 ERA and 0.96 WHIP with 186 strikeouts in 158.2 innings this past season. 

Oct. 28, 11:25 a.m.

SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes reports that while David Stearns will be "reluctant" to give Skubal a long-term deal, they anticipate that owner Steve Cohen will push for it anyway.

Aside from a serious run at Yoshinobu Yamamoto before the 2024 season, Stearns' free agent pitching pursuits have been measured and looked like this.

Sean Manaea: Three years, $75 million
Clay Holmes: Three years, $38 million
Frankie Montas: Two years, $34 million
Luis Severino: One year, $13 million
Griffin Canning: One year, $4.25 million  

The MLB offseason is officially here, and November 2nd is one of the first big days on the calendar. Due to how the rules work, we could see a lot of minor moves today, and we know how much Paul Toboni loves that. Players are not allowed to be stashed on the 60-day IL for the offseason, so all 40-man rosters actually have to be cut to 40 today by 5 PM.

For the Nats, that means moves will have to be made. Right now, there are five players on the 60-day IL who either need to be DFA’d or re-added to the 40-man. Those players are Mitchell Parker, PJ Poulin, Ken Waldichuk, Matt Waldron and Drew Millas. Several of those guys are likely to be DFA’d, but we won’t know for sure until later in the day.

The Nats are not the only team dealing with this situation. In San Francisco, Buster Posey has a busy day on his hands. As of October 29th, the Giants had 56 players on their 40-man roster. They had a lot of players go on the 60-day IL, but now they will have to trim that roster back down.

Paul Toboni is clearly monitoring that situation. In fact, he has already acquired two players from the Giants. First, he claimed RHP Braxton Roxby off waivers a few days ago. Then, he made a minor trade for second baseman Nate Furman, a speedy, contact oriented infielder. In that deal, the Nats gave up Tony Neubeck, who was an undrafted free agent in 2026. To clear space on the 40-man roster, the Nats DFA’d Richard Lovelady.

I could see Toboni and Ani Kilambi making more moves like this in the coming hours. They clearly like to churn through the back end of the 40-man roster in an attempt to find hidden gems. The results have been mixed so far, but Curtis Mead was a notable success story. There are going to be a lot of players DFA’d today, and I think the Nats will be keeping a close eye on the waiver wire.

The next month should be a hectic one across the league. Unless a deal is miraculously made, the CBA will expire in a month. Once that happens, teams will not be allowed to make any moves. That could mean we see a lot of blockbuster moves made in November. I also think we will see a ton of smaller moves as well. Executives will want as optimal of a 40-man roster as possible.

There are a number of key dates that are coming up. The GM and owner meetings are in the next couple of weeks. After that, the non-tender deadline is on November 20th. Paul Toboni is going to have quite a busy month.

Overall, this will be a busy day around the league. However, I think the Nats will be one of the busier teams. We could see a couple surprise DFA’s or some minor deals like the Furman one. This new regime loves optimizing the back of the 40-man roster, so today probably feels like a holiday for Paul Toboni, Ani Kilambi and the rest of the front office. Let’s see what goes down in the coming hours.

A pair of Japanese pitchers will be posted to Major League Baseball, their NPB clubs announced over the weekend.

The Seibu Lions announced on Saturday they plan to post Japanese pitcher Kaima Taira. On Sunday, the Nippon-Ham Fighters announced they will post ace right-hander Hiromi Itoh.

Players from NPB can be posted any time from November 1 to December 5, and once posted they have 45 days to sign. But expect any Japanese players to be posted on the early end this offseason, with a lockout coming on December 1 at 8:59 p.m. PT.

Players at least 25 years old with at least six years of professional experience in a foreign league can be signed as a major league free agent, rather than be subject to international amateur signing bonus limits like Roki Sasaki was before the 2025 season.

Taira turns 27 years old on November 15 and has pitched nine seasons for Seibu, mostly in relief but some starting. He had a 1.36 ERA with 141 strikeouts and 45 walks in 146 innings in his 23 games in 2026, after a 1.71 ERA and 31 games in 52 2/3 innings in 2025.

From Associated Press:

“As a pitcher, my goal is to win a Cy Young award,” the Japanese news agency Kyodo quoted him as saying. “And I’d like to pitch in the World Series as well.”

In his nine seasons with Seibu, the right-hander has a 1.85 ERA with 676 strikeouts and 252 walks in 633 2/3 innings over 351 games.

Itoh had a 3.18 ERA in 26 games last year for the Fighters, with 159 strikeouts and 34 walks in 172 2/3 innings. The 29-year-old right-hander in six years in NPB had a 2.91 ERA with 914 strikeouts and 247 walks in 1008 2/3 innings.

Michael Clair at MLB.com talked to a Pacific Rim scout about Itoh, Taira, and two other Japanese players expected to be posted to MLB this offseason. On Itoh:

“He could be an up and down starter,” our scout said, “but maybe in relief he might show some more velocity. In the previous WBC, he came out of the bullpen and he was 94-96 with some nasty stuff.” However, what Itoh lacks in size, he makes up for with a deep pitch mix consisting of “10+ unique grips and shapes” as noted by Yakyu Cosmopolitan.

Should he come to the Majors next year, there is one thing Itoh would like to share: “I would like the fans in the U.S. and everywhere else to know that I am not just pitching, but that I enjoy myself on the mound,” Itoh told me this spring. “I like to express my excitement and joy.”

Three Japanese players were posted last offseason. First baseman Munetaka Murakami signed with the Chicago White Sox for two years, $34 million. Third baseman Kazuma Okamoto signed for four years, $60 million with the Toronto Blue Jays. Pitcher Tatsua Imai signed with the Houston Astros for three years, $54 million.

Tate Southiesene
4-for-15, 4R, 3 BB, SB

Just another strong week for Tate Southisene who struggled defensively – committing a trio of errors in a single game last week, but continued to get on-base. There has been lot of discussion about his position of the future, and while this writer believes he can be average to maybe below average at the position, his offensive upside far outweighs and allows you to still have excellent value from the position. So while he struggled in the field, Tate still got on base 7 times last week, including three walks. Broken down even more – he got on base three of the four games he played, including getting on-base at least twice the other three games he played in.

Owen Carey
6-for-16, 3 BB, 3 RBI, 2B, SB

Owen Carey broke out in a big way last week, getting on-base NINE times last week. While he was susceptible at times at the top or bottom of the zone, he didn’t expand east-west, another incredibly encouraging sign from the 20 year old outfield prospect. While he got off to a slow start, Owen has really started to pick things up – hitting .302 with an .853 OPS. He also has exhibited some of the highest bat speed in the league, adding intrigue to his profile.

Isaiah Drake
7-for-10, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB

There may not have been a hotter player last week than Isaiah Drake who only appeared in three games but still got on-base NINE times thanks to hitting a cool .700 on the week. Similarly to Owen Carey, Isaiah got off to a slow start but is now hitting .326 with an .815 OPS making up for lost time due to injury. It appears as though he has updated to the offseason league as well because the quality of his at bats have improved – not chasing, and using his loud tools to wreak havoc on pitching staffs.

Tyler LaPorte
2G, 2.1IP 1H 1ER 2BB 1K

Tyler LaPorte finally blinked, giving up an earned run. Yes, a single earned run. Something he had not done throughout the rest of his time in the AFL. He made up for it, in his second appearance, pitching 1.2 pristine innings – not allowing a hit or a walk. In a league pretty much designed for offense, Tyler has done extremely well, and showcased improved command with his nasty stuff.

Tanner Bauman
1IP 0H 0R 1BB 1K

Another zero for Tanner Bauman, as he worked around a walk to work a spotless innings. After a bit of a disastrous start to the AFL where he was being hit hard, Tanner has reined it in, exhibiting much improved command and executing his pitches significantly better. While he doesn’t have the stuff of a Tyler LaPorte, he’s tunneling well and executing the game plan.

Logan Samuels
2G, 2.1IP 1H 0R 0BB 1K

A pair of strong outings for Logan Samuels who gave up just one hit across two outings. The former starting pitcher has done well adjusting to the bullpen, and while the stuff has improved a bit, it’s mainly been the execution that has helped him of late.

Owen Hackman
1IP 1H 0R 0BB 1K

A surprising single inning of work for Owen Hackman who has taken to the bullpen role very well. The former starter took to the bullpen and had a strong 2026, continuing to show impressive strikeout rates without walking too many hitters. The biggest drawback has been the contact he’s given up, but Owen has done a solid job of limiting it in the AFL.

Briggs McKenzie
2.2IP 7H 6ER 2BB 3K

A frustrating start for Briggs McKenzie who got knocked around quickly – getting into the stretch by his second batter of the game. Briggs mechanics out of the stretch need some improvement, as his command lags well behind where it is out of the windup. It’s been a very weird AFL for Briggs who has looked like one of the best arms one start, and then struggles to get out of an inning his next. The biggest thing for him this period has been building up arm strength and just pitching, which to his credit he has done quite well with.

Tarik Skubal is probably the best pitcher in baseball. Since July of 2023, the lefty has posted a 2.47 ERA over 626.1 IP, backed by a 2.70 xERA, a 2.42 FIP, and a K-BB% of 26.7%, good for 21.3 fWAR. All of those metrics rank as the best in baseball over the time period in question, most by a not insignificant amount. He’s won two Cy Youngs (2024 and 2025), a pitcher Triple Crown (2024), and a record breaking $32M in his final arbitration-eligible season (2026). Skubal remains in his prime at 29 and he now enters free agency free of the burden of draft pick compensation after being traded at midseason from Detroit to LA.

That resumé arguably makes Skubal one of the most valuable free agent pitchers of the 2000s, if not all time. Gerrit Cole had a better platform year in 2019, but had not been as dominant over a multi-year period. Yoshinobu Yamamoto was younger but completely unproven in the majors. David Price had a longer track record of being very good but a shorter track record of being elite when he signed with Boston in 2016. Max Scherzer had a similar shape of production but hadn’t reached the highs Skubal had. Clayton Kershaw and Stephen Strasburg never reached free agency. CC Sabathia might have the most credible case, but pitching has changed so much in the last 10-15 years that any direct comparison to a free agent from more than 15 years ago is difficult to make. It’s unsurprising then that Skubal is expected to break all free agent contract records for pitchers, likely signing for something in the $350M-500M range.

Despite those bona fides, I do not think this is a free agent the Mets should seriously pursue. Three primary concerns loom large; Skubal’s injury risk, the general performance of this class of player, and the Mets’ position amidst a changing CBA.

You may have noted as we lauded Skubal’s performance over the past couple years that we set a pretty arbitrary start date. That’s because Skubal missed the first half of 2023 recovering from flexor tendon surgery, which he underwent in August of 2022. Then in 2026, Skubal had another procedure, this time to remove loose bodies from his left elbow. Now, to his (and his surgeons’) credit, Skubal made a remarkably fast recovery from that procedure. But that’s two operations on his left elbow in the last four years, on top of the Tommy John surgery he underwent in college in 2016. Recall that the average shelf life of a TJS is somewhere between 5 and 10 years, a range that Skubal is now on the back end of. There are a bunch of at least orange and possible outright red injury warning signs here, even more so than for the typical pitcher.

Even beyond the Skubal-specific injury risk, this class of pitchers—high-end starters entering their 30s—are a much less successful cohort than you’d expect. Here’s a view of post age-30 fWAR, segmented by the fWAR accrued prior to age 30:

^{Only includes pitchers who appeared in a game from 2000-2026}

To put this into words, even if you’re a very good pitcher who has posted more than 20 fWAR prior to your age-30 season (Tarik Skubal has 24.7 career fWAR), the mean expectation of your age-30 and above career is 10.8 fWAR. It’s only a little better if we narrow things to even better players who posted more than 30, 40, or 50 fWAR prior to their age 30 season.

Sure, Justin Verlander has had an incredible run in his 30s (and 40s). So did Max Scherzer for much of the last decade. Chris Sale is still going. Zack Greinke posted nearly as many wins after 30 as he did before, and Roy Halladay in fact surpassed his pre-age-30 production. But Felix Hernandez was basically done at 30. So was Ben Sheets, and Madison Bumgarner, and Stephen Strasburg, and Brandon Webb, and Matt Cain, and Tim Lincecum. Roy Oswalt, Jake Peavy, Johnny Cueto, and David Price were just okay (<15 fWAR after age 30), and they’re roughly average outcomes for this cohort. Time and pitcher injury risk are undefeated, and the bell tolls for many pitcher’s career—or at least their time as a top-level ace—well before you’d like.

Now, we should caveat this analysis. This is an extraordinarily rudimentary look at things; more granular age cohorts or use of deeper metrics beyond surface level fWAR would surely provide a more accurate picture. This class of players also has the benefit of typically being good or injured; it’s rare that such a player is plodding along with middling but healthy production, clogging a roster spot and confounding attempts to improve the team. It’s more likely they’re either pitching like an ace or simply unavailable, and that sort of downside is preferable to the alternative.

Still, is guaranteeing a player who, by the median / mean performance of comparable players, is likely to give you ~15 wins over the remainder of their career, more than $350M a good idea? That’s more than $20M per win (again, an extraordinarily rudimentary way to look at this, but an acceptable heuristic) with significant additional downside risk, a steep price even by modern free agency standards.

Zooming out one more level, the potential changes to the CBA must be considered as well. The league’s proposals to date have included a cap-and-floor system, with a proposed cap of $245.3M. For reference, the Mets’ payroll in 2026 was more than $100M higher than that ($346.7M), and with Bo Bichette opting in none of the big money is falling off the books until next offseason.

A hard cap system is basically a non-starter for the players and it’s highly unlikely one gets adopted. There’s also a chance big spenders would be grandfathered in in some way, perhaps given a period of a few years to get below the cap. However, the current course of negotiations is headed towards harsher penalties—likely draft pick based—on the highest spending teams. If you’re the Mets, and you’re guaranteeing nearly $100M per year to Juan Soto and Francisco Lindor for the next 5 years and have other gaps in the roster that still need to be filled, cramming in yet another top-of-the-market deal seems foolhardy, if not downright impossible.

So yes, Tarik Skubal is quite possibly the best starter in baseball, and having him on the 2027 Mets would be both very fun and beneficial to the Mets’ World Series chances. But the combination of injury risk, cohort performance, and broader roster construction implications makes this one opportunity the Mets should probably pass on.

It’s somewhat of a miracle to still be writing about a Salvador Perez season in 2026. I really thought he was done after his 2023 season, when he was a below-average hitter with a negative fWAR. Remarkably, Perez bounced back with a great 2024, followed by a fine 2025 campaign. It was easy to believe that Perez could maintain at least his 2025 production and be a more than positive contributor to a playoff-bound Royals team. Instead, 2026 would be the season Father Time would finally catch up with the Royals legend.

Salvy agreed to a two-year, $25 million extension last offseason, keeping the captain in Kansas City. The highlight of his 2026 baseball season came before MLB play began. He was the captain of Team Venezuela, which won the World Baseball Classic in a thrilling and charged 3-2 game against the United States. I was cheering for the USA in the game, but was extremely happy for Perez and Maikel Garcia to get the chance to win that tournament and celebrate with their countrymen. The WBC remains awesome, and I hope it continues to grow in popularity.

Once the MLB season started, things were much less exciting for Perez and the Royals. Just like last season, Perez got off to a very slow start at the plate. Unlike last season, his Statcast peripherals supported his poor results. Through the All-Star break, the veteran had a .595 OPS, which was 41% below league average. Despite his struggles, Salvy was in the lineup nearly every day. He didn’t catch for a while because his hip was bothering him, but he continued to play most days despite his terrible numbers.

To his credit, he was much more successful in the second half of the season. On the strength of improved contact at the plate, which led to a higher average and more power, Salvy posted a 105 wRC+ in the second half of the year. Even with his marked improvement, Perez finished the season with a 77 wRC+ and -1.1 fWAR. Both of those numbers are the worst of Salvy’s career.

Perez did not catch very much this season. He was behind the dish for 44 games, compared to 80 at DH and 25 at first base. When he was catching, he showed a real penchant for knowing when to use the ABS system. He challenged 65 times, winning 46 of them, good for the sixth-highest win percentage among catchers making challenges. He didn’t get enough reps for this to really matter, and his framing remains poor. Still, it was legitimately cool to see his knowledge of the strike zone (behind the plate at least) put to good use.

Salvy continues to play a lot, which could have been a much bigger issue this season if the Royals had been near contention. The Royals are planning on competing next season, and one way for them to show that they are serious about that would be to downshift Perez to a more part-time role. If Salvy wasn’t a Royals legend, I would be willing to make the argument that they just need to walk away from him regardless of the money they owe him. That seems extremely unlikely to happen, and I don’t think they should.

However, Perez should really be a part-time platoon player at this point, helping out against lefties and catching every now and then. Nothing in Salvy’s history as a player suggests to me that he would be amenable to this, but I have no special insight other than observing that he really likes to play every day. It’s up to Matt Quatraro and his staff to figure out how to balance personalities while giving the team the best chance to succeed next year.

It seems likely that 2027 will be Perez’s last season on the Royals, and I want a storybook ending for him. It’s been a joy and a privilege watching Salvy play baseball all these years. What 2026 reminds us is that time catches up to everyone, and we witnessed that happen in a real way to Perez this year.

Ten years ago today — well, early Nov. 3, 2016 in Eastern time, where the game was played, but Nov. 2 to most Cubs fans — the Cubs won the World Series, breaking their 108-year championship drought.

It’s certainly an anniversary worth celebrating, and certainly 10 years without a title isn’t great, but… better than 108, right?

I thought about what to write on this anniversary and I didn’t think I could come up with anything better than simply to repost my game recap of 2016 World Series Game 7. So here it is, all 3,500+ words of it. Re-live that night, and 10 years later it still brings back all the emotions of Nov. 2, 2016.

In all the years I’ve been writing recaps of Cubs games, this, I knew, would be the most important one of my life, win or lose.

I had long planned something special for a victory recap, something that I knew every single one of you would enjoy, and you are, in fact, going to read it. I had originally planned for it to be the lede of this article, but all of it has to take second place to one of the most incredible games in the long history of baseball — and I do not think that’s hyperbole, not given the stakes at hand in this game, with a long World Series drought that was going to end no matter who won.

11:47 p.m. Central time, November 2, 2016 is a time and date that every Cubs fan will remember forever. That’s when Kris Bryant’s throw on a dribbler by Michael Martinez nestled snugly in Anthony Rizzo’s glove to complete the Cubs’ 8-7 win over the Indians in 10 innings, making them World Series champions and ending the longest drought in sports history, in so doing becoming the first team to come from a 3-1 deficit in 31 years, as if just breaking the drought wasn’t in and of itself enough.

I can’t think of anyone more appropriate than Rizzo to handle that last out (and he put it securely in his pocket after the play), Rizzo, the heart and soul and emotional leader of this team, a man who suffered (with many of the rest of us) a 101-loss season just four years ago. That turned into 103 regular-season wins and 11 more leading to ecstasy this autumn, and I do have something special to end this recap, but first I am going to tell you the story of this game for which you cannot have too many superlatives, before I wrap this wonderful gift in a neat little bow for you.

Dexter Fowler led off the game with a home run. That’s the sort of thing I thought they needed to do early on in this game, take the lead off Corey Kluber, who’d been tough before but appeared, on this night, that throwing on short rest twice in eight days took its toll on him. It looked at first as if Rajai Davis had a chance to catch Fowler’s ball, but it actually landed well out of his reach:

Davis would come to play a more important role in this game later on.

Javier Baez made a throwing error in the bottom of the first. It didn’t result in a run, but an extra hitter came to the plate as a result, and that also might have been important later on.

In the third inning, a Cleveland double, sacrifice bunt and single tied the game off Kyle Hendricks. Then the Cubs hustled their way into a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Bryant singled and Rizzo was hit by a pitch. A force play moved Bryant to third, and Addison Russell hit a fly ball to short center, caught by Davis. It seemed far too short for anyone to score, but Bryant took off right away. Davis isn’t known for having a good arm, and his throw came in high to Roberto Perez, and Bryant slid under it, safe. That’s not only good, solid baseball play, but good advance scouting. Willson Contreras followed with a double scoring Ben Zobrist and the Cubs had a 3-1 lead.

That became 4-1 thanks to Baez:

Two errors by Baez, one home run: I think that’s a fair trade, don’t you?

Bryant scored in the fifth inning on a smartly-executed hit-and-run; he took off and Rizzo smacked a ball into the right-field corner, and Kris never stopped running:

You felt pretty confident at that point, didn’t you?

In the bottom of the fifth, Hendricks walked Carlos Santana with two out. That brought Joe Maddon out, and this is where, I think, Joe started overmanaging. He’d said before the game that he didn’t want to use Jon Lester in relief except in a “clean” inning, but here came Jon with a runner on base. Hendricks was rolling pretty well and I thought he could have finished the inning, despite the walk. And Hendricks could have, and probably should have, been upset about that walk:

We all wished Joe had indeed left Kyle in the game, because Jason Kipnis hit a little roller that you just knew Lester wouldn’t touch. David Ross, who’d come into the game when Lester did, fielded it off-balance and his throw to first went awry. Runners wound up on second and third, but didn’t stay there long, because Lester wild-pitched them both home.

That’s pretty rare, especially in a World Series. How rare?

Like the length of the Cubs’ previous World Series title to now, over 100 years’ time rare:

Since this was a game for the ages, have a look at it, because it might be another century before you see it again:

So it’s 5-3. That didn’t last long, thanks to Grandpa Rossy:

That ball: Crushed!

Just how cool is all that? Here’s a guy you know is playing in his last major-league game, someone all his teammates look up to for leadership and, as Zobs said in postgame interviews, someone every single player on the team wanted to win it for so badly, and he hits a home run in that game, and not only that, but a long, long home run — and off the previously nearly-unhittable Andrew Miller? Awesome, totally awesome. I couldn’t be happier for Ross, who was a revelation in his two years in a Cubs uniform and who became a popular fan favorite. We will, and the players will, miss him next year. I hope he returns as a coach, soon.

It’s 6-3 Cubs and Lester, after that wild pitch, is dealing.

Then Joe decided to overmanage again in the eighth. With two out, Russell and Baez couldn’t handle a grounder that bounced off the lip of the infield grass. Lester could easily have faced Brandon Guyer, but Joe decided to call on Aroldis Chapman. Chapman appeared gassed not long after he entered the game, and, like Lester, he came in with a runner on base, a situation not always best for him. Of seven pitches Chapman threw to Guyer, only one touched triple digits. Guyer doubled, making it 6-4. Davis was next and Chapman never hit triple digits to him either. Davis homered, the ball smashing off a TV camera in the left-field seats, tying the game.

Are you kidding me? Four outs to go for a World Series championship, and the closer Theo & Co. spent a high cost in prospects to get blows the lead?

Ugh. This did not make me happy, nor any of you, I’m sure, nor any of the thousands of fans at bars in Wrigleyville or in the streets surrounding the ballpark. At one point so many people were in that area that the CTA announced that trains wouldn’t stop at the Addison station, and buses in the area were being re-routed.

Still, the Cubs had the top of the ninth to try to re-take the lead. Ross walked and was replaced by Chris Coghlan on base, ending his career with a fine performance. Cogs was forced at second by Jason Heyward, who stole second and took third on a throwing error. Now we’re talking! Baez, as the TV announcers noted, might be given the safety squeeze sign, and he did — but he promptly bounced it foul for strike three.

Miguel Montero entered the game at catcher, replacing Ross, and Chapman came out for the bottom of the ninth, still gassed, but with enough to retire the side 1-2-3.

Extra innings? In a game like this? Were the baseball gods just messing with us?

Before the game could go to the 10th inning, they messed with everyone in a non-baseball way: It started raining. It rained hard enough for the field to be covered and play delayed. This was actually good for the Cubs, I thought. They could slow the game down and reset things a bit. They hadn’t been able to do much with Bryan Shaw in the ninth, but Kyle Schwarber led off the 10th with a single. Albert Almora Jr. ran for Schwarber and alertly tagged up and took second on a long fly to center by Bryant. Rizzo was intentionally walked, bringing up Zobrist.

Zobrist, who had signed specifically with the Cubs because he knew Joe Maddon and Dave Martinez from their Tampa Bay days and, after winning the World Series last year with the Royals, wanted to be part of what was being built in Chicago.

Zobs doubled down the left-field line and the Cubs had a 7-6 lead. The look on his face was the same look he had when he doubled in the Cubs’ first run in the eventual game-winning rally in Game 4 of the division series in San Francisco. The look of winning — a look we have never really seen before this year on the North Side of Chicago. I think I could get used to it. Zobs’ key hit, and his .357 BA in the World Series, got him the Series MVP award.

Another intentional walk loaded the bases, and brought up Montero, who’d lost his starting job and had thought, during the summer, that he might be released.

Miggy singled in a run, which would turn out to be very, very, very important.

Carl Edwards Jr., who might be a closer someday, came in to close the most important game of his life. Two easy outs came and we were all one win away from joy.

Guyer, again, was next. Think about this for a moment: Guyer, once a Cubs farmhand, had been traded to the Rays by Jim Hendry as part of his deal to get Matt Garza. Edwards had been acquired from the Rangers when Theo shipped Garza there two years later. And there they were, facing each other for the possible last out of the World Series.

That would have been poetic. The baseball gods decided poetry was out, at least for this moment. The pesky Guyer walked and took second on defensive indifference.

Then, Davis again. He singled, scoring Guyer and it was 8-7 with the tying run on base.

Nothing like this is ever easy, and after 108 years, you didn’t think this would be, did you? It’s almost as if history itself was saying, “You can have this… but you are going to have to work very, very hard for it.”

Michael Martinez, who’d been placed in the game by the Indians an inning earlier for defense, was the hitter. Mike Montgomery, who’d never saved a big-league game, was summoned.

I’ll let Pat Hughes tell the end of this story:

Congratulations to Pat, too — he’s the first man ever to say the words “The Chicago Cubs have won the World Series!” on radio.

The Chicago Cubs have won the World Series. This is something we’ve all wished for, dreamed of, wanted so badly for so many years.

And now, it is reality.

How does this all feel? Surreal, a bit, and it surely will take a while to sink in and for us to really understand the meaning of what we’ve seen. I celebrated quietly at home, unable to make it to Cleveland, as a huge contingent of Cubs fans did — and clearly, everyone who went represented every single one of us. So did the thousands who crowded Wrigleyville. I live about 2½ miles from Wrigley Field, and not long after the game ended I went out on my deck and I could hear the cheering from there, as well as cars honking in celebration, a party literally more than a century in the making.

This title, this party, this amazing night and victory… this is for Ernie. Rest now, Mr. Cub. Rest. They won it for you. “The Cubs were the team in 2016.”

It’s for Ron, too. Oh, how he would have loved this team, this World Series, this night of glory. Can’t you just hear him yelling “Yes, yes, YES!” over and over and over, the happiest man on the planet?

It is almost ineffably sad that those two men are not here to share this with us. We celebrate in their stead. Do not fail to do that, know how much these men would have loved all we have just witnessed, keep them in your thoughts, not that I really even have to ask that.

It’s for Billy and Fergie, and how wonderful it is that those two Hall of Famers who dazzled us with their play but could never win it all, are here to celebrate with us.

It’s for Don and Glenn and Randy and Jim and Bill and Paul and Kenny and all those men who played so hard and thrilled me when I was young, never won anything, and they are like old friends, because I don’t even have to write anything more than their first names and all the memories of their play come flooding back.

It’s for Ryne and Leon and Ron and Keith and Steve and Lee and Rick and Jody and Bobby and Gary, the men who came achingly close to winning it all for themselves and us, only to fall short. I salute you, and am thrilled you can share this victory with us.

It’s for Greg and Mike and Shawon and Mark and Joe and Jerome and Dwight and Mitch and the rest of the “Boys of Zimmer,” whose charmed life ended once the calendar turned to October.

It’s for Sammy and Oh! Henry! and Mike and Mickey and Lance and Kerry and Rod and Terry and the team that left it all on the field in one incredible game against the Giants, thrilling us but getting dispatched in the first round.

It’s for Aramis and Eric and Damian and Alex and Mark and Moises and Carlos and Joe and Sammy, again… the pain’s gone, my friends, celebrate with us, you didn’t make it, but you’re all part of this family.

It’s for Derrek and Mark and Reed and Ryan and Jacque and Geo and Kosuke and Ryan and Ted… the men who we just knew would end this drought after exactly a century, only to see them, too, flop in the division series, not once but twice.

It’s for Lennie, God bless him and his wonderful family, who I am proud to call my friends. Rest now, too, Lennie. Until this past week you were the last living Cub to play in a World Series. Now there are 25 men who proudly hold that title, but I know they’ll never forget you. I know I won’t.

It’s for the Cubs of 1910, 1918, 1929, 1932, 1935, 1938 and 1945, too many to mention here, who got to the World Series but couldn’t bring victory home to Chicago. I salute you, long-ago members of the Cubs family, not one of those men living today (except for Lennie), but I know you’re all celebrating with us.

It’s for Harry and Jack and Steve and Vince and Lou and Jack Q. and Lloyd and all the men who broadcast games never seeing what we’ve seen. They brought such pleasure to us anyway, describing the spring and summer and fall days of baseball, and I salute them. Here’s Harry’s broadcast of the final game of 1991 and his prediction that the Cubs would someday get to exactly where they are on this day:

Most of all, this triumph is for you. And for me. And for every single person who’s ever cheered for the Chicago Cubs for the last 108 years, so many of whom aren’t with us anymore. No doubt, you know someone like this in your own life. Your parents, or grandparents, or great-grandparents, generation after generation who went to Wrigley Field and hoped, year after year, that things would be better, that things would change, but they never did.

And now they have. I pause here to remember and pay my respects to all those who wanted to see this as much as we, the living, did. They deserve to be a part of this celebration, and are, in our hearts and minds. If you feel the presence of someone important to you who loved the Cubs smiling on you this morning, savor that feeling for the rest of your life. Those who have lived and died without ever seeing what we witnessed Wednesday night, but who loved this team as much as any of us, are forever part of this, too.

The late New York Times sports columnist Red Smith once paid tribute “to absent friends,” and I want to do the same here, for absent bleacher friends, men and women I knew well over the nearly four decades I’ve spent out there who are no longer living, and they deserve to be part of this, too. Stephanie, Fred, Elsie, Al B., Connie, Mark, Maureen, Chet, Irving, Paul, Marv, Les, Carmella and Papa Carl (and others I might have forgotten): you’re in my thoughts this celebratory morning, and you’re as much a part of this as those of us who saw and experienced it for ourselves. You’ll always be remembered by me and by other longtime bleacherites.

To the Cleveland Indians and their fans: Thank you. You are passionate, dedicated fans, and the team was a tough and worthy adversary in one of the most memorable World Series of all time, and perhaps the best Game 7 ever. Our drought is over. Yours continues. Trust me, we know how this feels. But you know what? Persevere, stick with your team, don’t ever give up. We didn’t, and now we are at the top of the baseball world. You’ll get there, someday. I know this because for years, decades, a century, it felt hopeless to us — and now we’re at the top of the baseball world. Next time the Indians are in the World Series, I’ll be your biggest fan — unless you’re playing the Cubs again, of course.

And now, thanks are in order for the people who brought this championship that many of us never thought we’d see on the North Side of Chicago.

Thank you, Willson, Miguel, David, Anthony, Kris, Addison, Javier, Ben, Dexter, Albert, Jason, Chris, Kyle S., Jorge, Jake, Jon, Kyle H., Carl, Aroldis, Justin, John, Mike, Hector, Travis and Pedro, the 25 men who brought the ultimate elation to us, as well as the 20 other men who played for the Cubs this year. You’ve made all our dreams come true.

Thank you to all the Cubs personnel I’ve had the pleasure to have contact with in whatever form for all your kindnesses, as well as the countless gameday employees who worked hard to make sure everyone had fun at the ballpark: You’re all part of this celebration, too. We’re all one family, now and forevermore.

Thank you, Tom Ricketts, for never wavering from your stated goal seven years ago of winning the World Series. Thank you for investing in the team and in our beautiful ballpark, made much better by the ongoing renovations; when they are done Wrigley Field will be the best ballpark in baseball — not that it isn’t already, but with new and modern amenities for fans and players, it will be second to none.

Thank you, Crane Kenney, for your leadership of a business operations department that often had to navigate a city of Chicago minefield to accomplish things with the ballpark and team, but also is now second to none.

Thank you, Joe Maddon, for bringing your unique perspective on baseball and life to Chicago. When you were hired you paid tribute to Wrigley Field and the Cubs fanbase and, though you never played or coached in Chicago before you came here, you “got it” better than any manager I’ve seen in Chicago in my lifetime. Your in-game management and lineups and bullpen use were unorthodox at times, but I surely can’t complain — it worked!

And thank you, Theo Epstein. Yes, there were times when I doubted your plan. I’ve said here before that I was wrong, totally wrong about that, and today I’ll say it again, gladly: I was wrong, Theo was right all along. His plan was put in place beginning five years ago and it worked perfectly, exactly as it should have. Three years of bad major-league seasons? Worth it, totally, to enjoy the fruits of the championship just won. I have never been so happy to have been wrong. Thank you to Jed and Jason and every single member of the baseball operations staff, all of whom contributed to this ultimate victory.

And at last, all the talk surrounding this franchise of curses and jinxes and goats and black cats and all that other nonsense can be laid to rest forever, never to be spoken of again. The simple truth is that for 108 years, the Cubs didn’t win because they weren’t good enough. In 2016, at last, they were.

A parade and celebration in Chicago are still to come, but here’s my final thought to wrap this all up this morning: Let’s do it again next year!

Konner Eaton (No. 28 PuRP) and Fidel Ulloa are very different pitching prospects. 

For starters, Eaton is a left-handed starter, having been drafted in the sixth round of the 2024 MLB Draft out of George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Ulloa, on the other hand, is a right-handed reliever who was drafted one round later out of Louisiana State University. 

But both have found success in the Arizona Fall League so far. 

Three weeks in, Eaton has made five appearances (one start) and has allowed two unearned runs with six strikeouts, one hit batter and two walks across nine total innings. Ulloa has tossed 7.1 scoreless innings across seven appearances, striking out nine and walking two.

A lot of that success has come as the result of new pitches each is throwing. 

“I’m just working on commanding all my pitches in the zone and working on a new pitch – working on a changeup – so just throwing that more often,” Ulloa said about his Fall League plan. “Obviously, throwing that new pitch, I’m sure it’s not in the database, so I don’t know if guys are expecting it. But I’m just throwing it, trying to be consistent in the zone and it’s working out for me.”

Some of his success has come with the help of Rafters pitching coach Jerry Sullivan – current pitching coach for the Hartford Yard Goats, with whom Ulloa has worked since Single-A.

“Probably the most important thing that he’s done over the last six months is to develop his new pitch – the kick change – so long-term, we can see guys in the big leagues with two pitches that do really well, but they need to be really elite,” Sullivan said. “And we knew the third pitch would help him a lot, and it’s actually started grading out from a stuff-plus model really well. So this is one of those things where it could catapult a guy in their career because he has multiple weapons that would play, and then seeing how it’s doing and working for him in his arsenal.”

As for Eaton, he’s “here for command.”

“[I’m] just really trying to get in the zone as much as I can with all my pitches,” he said. “ Just really trying to pound the strike zone down here.”

Eaton also added three new pitches in 2026 – a cutter, a sinker and a sweeper – upping his arsenal from three to six. And his AFL plan has been two-inning sprints to give him the best possible opportunities to command his pitches.

“We have him on kind of a differential ball program where we’re just getting a feel for him to be in-zone with more pitches,” said Sullivan. “When we got him, he was a three-pitch mix guy. We’ve been adding more to the arsenal, so we’re just putting him in situations where he could have command with more of his arsenal. He’s obviously pretty dangerous when he’s in the zone, so our goal here has been to do that, and he’s been able to make some good adjustments.”

Considering expanded arsenals was a big push during spring training under the revamped front office and coaching staff, it’s unsurprising that’s been a focus in the minors and in the Fall League, as well. Sean Sullivan is also working on his slider and changeup.

“If we approach the game in a way that makes it more difficult to defend the plate – and for us it’s having pitches that can move in different directions,” Sullivan added. “So if you’re a north-south guy or an east to west guy, having the option to force a player to respect more (of) the plate is going to help a pitcher, especially when you have swing-and-miss pitches.”

For Ulloa, that comes from the “swing-and-miss slider, and now he’s proving that he has a swing-and-miss changeup.

“And then kind of in addition to that, he’s holding onto his vertical on his fastball, which also makes his swing-and-miss at the top of the zone,” Sullivan added. “So now he’s becoming a legitimate threat, and now we know what it looks like with the big-league ball.”

But Ulloa’s best pitch remains his slider.

“I think it’s just the intent behind it,” Ulloa said. “I just try to throw it a million miles an hour, and it just breaks and does what it does.”

And for Eaton, it’s working on a “better awareness of how to pitch the game well, and then use the new pitches that he’s developed well.”

“[The] cutter was a big pitch for him this year, getting that into the game – pretty good increase in usage in the second half for him there,” Sullivan said. “Again, just an option away from the four-seamer and the two-seamer – induce some weaker contacts, make it more difficult for the hitter. So that was a big one. 

“And then the changeup has been ongoing,” he continued. “He’s made some huge strides with that over the last three months – a little bit of adjustments to the grip, there. We want it missing arm-side. His tendency was to pull and yank on it, and now that’s happening significantly less. We also shortened up the slider, and there’s a sweeper on the horizon, but it might end up blending to be kind of this power-slurve/sweeper type of thing. But the shorter one has been what we’re working on here, which has been able to achieve and then obviously it’s producing good results. [We’re] not as concerned with the strikeouts yet with it as we are [that] it’s in the zone and a good pitch to complement the cutter, two-seamer [and] changeup.”

Still, Eaton said his best pitch remains, “Whatever gets me in-zone the most.”

“I don’t think it’s anything in particular,” he said. “Obviously, when it comes to scouting reports and stuff like that, whatever I can do to beat the hitter at the end of the day. That’s what my best pitch is.”

In addition to Sullivan, the pitchers are also taking full advantage of the opportunity to learn from players and coaches in other organizations.

“It’s awesome,” Ulloa said. “Obviously, there’s coaches from all over the organizations – even players from different organizations – so it’s just kind of cool to just pick their brains and see how different organizations go about stuff.”

Eaton, on the other hand, looked to AFL alums for lessons. Specifically, Jack Mahoney (No. 15 PuRP), as he was on a similar path last year.

“Anytime I get a question about the Fall League or anything else, I reach out to him,” Eaton said. “He’s awesome. I’m kind of following in his footsteps right now, and he’s a great guy to follow in his footsteps, too. He’s a great guy, and [I’m] just ready to keep on learning out there.”

Looking ahead to the end of the season, each has a specific goal in mind.

“I think it’s really just to kind of go out here and maximize my days as much as I can,” said Eaton. “Obviously, [I] get a little break after this – probably two or three weeks off – but then I’m hitting the ground running again, getting ready for spring ball.”

And for Ulloa: “Obviously, number one is obviously to finish the AFL healthy and just kill a few targets that I have in mind and stay on track.”

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