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Since making his MLB debut in 2021, veteran Luke Williams appeared in the big leagues in a career-low two games in 2026, amassing one PA in which he drew a walk. He spent nearly his entire year at Gwinnett, where he had another nondescript season.

How Acquired

The Braves first selected Williams off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 5, 2023. Since then, he’s elected free agency time each time he was designated for assignment by Atlanta, and returned to the organization via minor league contract afterwards. That same song-and-dance included a preseason instance on January 18, 2026 and then again during the season on April 16.

What were the expectations?

Williams had become a regular on the end of Atlanta’s bench in recent seasons, primarily serving as a pinch-runner, defensive replacement or extreme mop-up reliever. With the team trading for super-utilityman Mauricio Dubon and bringing back infielder Ha-Seong Kim on a free agent contract, Williams headed into Spring Training as a longshot to break camp with the team, especially with Jorge Mateo and Kyle Farmer as utility options. Infielder Brett Wisely, who’d been picked up by Atlanta toward the end of the 2025 regular season, was also brought back on a minor league deal adding another option for Atlanta’s deep reserves. For the first time since arriving in Atlanta, Williams was no sure thing to see time at the big league level.

Performance-wise, well, there’s not much to talk about. Coming into 2026, Williams had received 349 major league PAs and posted a 53 wRC+ and -0.8 fWAR, while outhitting his xwOBA (so it would be worse if he hadn’t). He managed to be slightly above replacement level in 2021-2022, but careened well under that since. Basically, the expectation was that he wouldn’t play much, and that he wouldn’t be useful except as a warm body when he did.

2026 Results

With Mateo and Farmer making the team out of Spring Training, Williams began the season in Gwinnett. But, when Michael Harris II went on the paternity list on April 11, the organization brought Williams up to the big league club. His stay was likely to be short, and it was, with Williams being designated for assignment when Harris II returned on April 13.

While up, Williams appeared in two games, walking in his only plate appearance on April 12 after appearing as a defensive replacement in left field the night before.

Upon re-upping with the Braves, he spent the rest of the season at Triple-A Gwinnett, playing in more than 100 games while appearing at every infield position, left field and pitching in three contests. He had an 81 wRC+ for the Stripers that came with a massive xwOBA overperformance, but he did steal 37 bases.

What went right?

Three days on the major league roster is better than none. On top of that, the utility that Williams provided, pun intended, showed up when the Braves opted to add him to the Wild Card Series roster, although he did not appear in a game and was not rostered for the Division Series.

During the 2026 regular season with Gwinnett, he continued to showcase his defensive versatility and speed — and in the same vein as three days in the bigs being better than none, outhitting your xwOBA in the minors is better than… not doing that, I guess.

Oh, and if you don’t notice that he one PA this season, he has a cool .698 wOBA, .698 xwOBA, and 355 wRC+ to show for it.

What went wrong?

After the three-game soiree with Atlanta in April, Williams didn’t crack Atlanta’s roster for the rest of the season as Farmer assumed the role Williams had filled the prior two years as the last “position player” (really, non-player) on the bench.

Williams’ overall offensive performance with the Stripers was below his career minor league standard despite getting semi-regular playing time, and although offense is not his calling card, the continued decline limited his viability, as seen when the team opted to promote rookie Jim Jarvis when the team needed an infielder in July. There hasn’t really been any “development” in terms of Williams’ skillset, and he’s really moving from “generic replacement level filler” to “guy who no one’s going to roster because there are better literal replacement level players out there.”

2027 outlook

Williams turned 30 in August and his specific skillset is probably best suited for a team like Atlanta, that is, one that plays its regulars the majority of the time and doesn’t mind a no-hit option that can kinda-sorta play shortstop while being proficient enough glove-wise at other positions. He’s baserunning is his biggest asset: he’s been a perfect 11-for-11 on stolen base tries with the Braves during the regular season.

Williams appeared with four different teams before coming to Atlanta in 2023 and since, he’s appeared with the Braves in four consecutive seasons. He’s almost surely headed to another minor league contract. With questions about Atlanta’s infield depth, a reunion with the Braves is possible, even if it is only to stash Williams at Triple-A should the need arise. The Braves obviously like Williams in terms of having him in the organization and another long run on the big-league roster isn’t out of the question as a little used regular should the team add a full-time starter at shortstop for 2027.

Still, he’s probably sub-replacement at this point, so they could also look to find “Luke Williams, but a little better” for no real investment or commitment, either.

Two potential starting pitcher free agents who could be targeted by the Guardians in the coming month (or beyond) in Michael Soroka and Nick Pivetta. Let’s talk about these hurlers.

You can find my previous articles about potential Guardians’ free agent targets here and here. Matt Seese also provided one here. I did not include Soroka and Pivetta because I felt the prices reflected on FanGraphs and MLBTrade Rumors for both were a little too high, but with Zack Meisel emphasizing today from the GM Meetings that the team is trying to find starting pitching depth and spending a lot of time talking to agents, accordingly, I think I should expand our net of pitchers to evaluate just a little.

First, Nick Pivetta… the right-hander is 33 years old, put up a 2.86 ERA and a 2.21 FIP with a 11/2 K/BB/9… in only 34 innings for the Padres because he dealt with an elbow strain in his pitching arm. ELBOW! ELBOW! ELBOW! the warning signs blare. MLB Trade Rumors has Pivetta at 2 years and $26M which would be an absolute steal if it weren’t for the ELBOW, ELBOW, ELBOW. The primary reason that Pivetta might be a decent fit for the Guardians is that (knock on wood) the organization has done very well helping pitchers manage their health and rebuild free agent value. Is it possible that Pivetta would be interested in a two-year deal with a player opt out for something similar to what MLBTrade Rumors suggests? If so, wow, I’d love for the Guardians to make that kind of move. Over the past two seasons, Pivetta has a 2.86 ERA. He is a front-of-the-rotation arm… if that arm has a functioning ELBOW, ELBOW, ELBOW. The Padres declining to pick up his option may be another red flag for teams.

Second, right-hander Michael Soroka has dealt with a lot of injuries in his career but he managed to throw 116 innings last season for the Braves with a 3.41 ERA/3.19 FIP and an 8.84/2.25 K/BB/9, and didn’t have any arm issues. He’s 29 years old and has thrown over 150 innings just once in his career, in 2019. MLB Trade Rumors projects Soroka for 2/$26M and FanGraphs says 2/$34. Again, if the Guardians can sell themselves as an organization that can help pitchers stay healthy, Soroka is a great mid-rotation-arm when healthy. Maybe there’s a similar two-year deal with a player opt-out that would make sense for both sides.

In summary, add Pivetta and Soroka to the list of potential Guardians’ starting pitcher targets in free agency, joining the linkes of Brandon Woodruff, Foster Griffin, David Peterson, Tyler Mahle, Nick Martinez, Dustin May, Kris Bubic, Shane Bieber, and Pablo Sandoval. Will the Guardians make a move before December 1st? Who knows? Which one of these eleven pitchers are of the most interest to you? Let us know in the comments below

The Houston Astros have hired Brad Ausmus as their new manager, per reports.

Ausmus had an 18 year major league career that included two stints with the Astros, for whom he played the majority of his career. He was the manager for the Detroit Tigers from 2014-17, and then managed the Angels in the 2019 season. His first year with the Tigers, Detroit won the division, but got swept in the division series. The Tigers then had a pair of last place finishes sandwiched around a second place finish, but didn’t make the playoffs again. The year with the Angels…well, they are the Angels. Most recently, he was bench coach for the Oakland A’s in 2022, and for the New York Yankees for 2024-26.

The Astros are an interesting franchise right now. The selection of Ausmus, who is reportedly close with former teammate Jeff Bagwell, an advisor to owner Jim Crane, leads one to wonder how much power new general manager Randy Flores has. The Houston decision-making dynamic has not been clear for a while, and it will be interesting to see how this plays out going forward.

Brad Ausmus, who served as the Yankees’ bench coach under Aaron Boone from 2024 through 2026, is reportedly headed to the Astros, for whom he played from 1997-98 and then again from 2001 through 2008. He will become their next manager after the recent announcement that Joe Espada won’t be returning for the 2027 campaign.

Astros insider Brian McTaggart had the report; Ausmus will be the first big hire under new GM Randy Flores, who succeeded the dismissed Dana Brown under oft-meddling owner Jim Crane.

Ausmus, a former defensive-minded catcher, has some managerial experience in the majors, having led the Detroit Tigers from 2014 to 2017 and then the Los Angeles Angels in 2019. Before succeeding Carlos Mendoza as the Yankees’ bench coach, he had a stint with the Athletics in 2022, filling the same position.

The Yankees will now have to find a new bench coach. They had already lost Tanner Swanson, who was their major league quality control coach and catching coordinator, to the Seattle Mariners, to become their new bench coach. Matt Blake was extended as pitching coach and both Luis Rojas and Dan Fiorito will remain the base coaches, but James Rowson’s contract as the hitting coach has expired and news just broke that he will become the Giants’ “offensive coordinator.”

That, according to head of baseball Brian Cashman, creates a “fluid” situation about who might fill the position.

As for Ausmus, he gets another chance to be a manager in an organization he is very much familiar with from his playing days. He has a combined 386-422 managerial record with the Tigers (2014-17) and Angels (2019), including a division title with Detroit in 2014.

The next few days will be crucial for the Yankees, as they work to fill a coaching staff that has been somewhat raided after recent hires around the league.

Dru Baker
Center Fielder
5´10´´
205 pounds
Age 27
2026 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking 53
2026 High Level Charlotte (AAA)
Age relative to high level -0.1 years
SSS rank among all center fielders in the system 8
Overall 2025 stats 94 games ⚾️ 8 HR ⚾️ 44 RBI ⚾️ .266/.322/.504 ⚾️ 20 BB ⚾️ 88 K ⚾️ 19-of-23 (82.6%) SB ⚾️ .970 % FLD ⚾️ 0.9 WAR

Dru Baker brings contact hitting and strong defense to a White Sox organization that could always use bench depth, especially in the outfield. Drafted in the fourth round in 2021 by the Rays, scouts clocked Baker as a utility player with fourth-outfielder upside, but his time to play that role never came in 2026. 2027 could be the year.

Baker slowly progressed through Tampa Bay’s minor league system before arriving in Chicago in the Matt Thaiss exchange in May. Baker got out to a fast start in 2022, slashing .297/.399/.467 while driving in 32 runs and drawing 29 walks in 47 games, which were nearly evenly split between Low- and High-A. His shortcoming, however, was 48 strikeouts, and contact continues to be an ongoing concern.

Baker’s productivity remained high in 2023 and 2024 in High- and Double-A, regressed slightly in 2025 while facing Triple-A pitchers, but bounced back in 2026. He’s a bit more patient at the plate, and he more than doubled his RBIs from 2025 while breaking the .700 OPS benchmark. Truist Field helps pad his stats, but Baker needs to sustain his power and keep his whiffs down if he’s going to break through the 40-man roster.

One way Baker can shoehorn his way onto the squad is with his defensive versatility. Having played every outfield position while also getting a few reps in at DH and second base, Baker is a healthier version of Brooks Baldwin, with a slightly better arm. Baker’s speed gives him a slight edge, but he’s coming up on 27, and his age and major league inexperience will work against him in the Sox’s already young and defensive platoon outfield.

A healthy and improved 2026 steers Baker on the right path to make his debut in 2027 when Chicago’s down an outfielder, but he needs to step it up if he wants to stand out among the several Charlotte prospects who have shown more big league potential.

Full 2027 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox ProspectsStorystream

It's not exactly an in-house hire, but the Houston Astros opted for familiarity in settling on Brad Ausmus as their next manager, the club announced Wednesday, Nov. 11.

Ausmus, 57, will take his third crack at managing a major league team, having led the Detroit Tigers from 2014 through 2017 and managing the Los Angeles Angels for the 2019 season. He's spent the past three seasons as the New York Yankees' bench coach.

Ausmus was a catcher for the Astros from 2001 through 2008, growing into a core player for a franchise that reached the World Series in 2005. Hall of Fame first baseman Jeff Bagwell remains a trusted advisor to owner Jim Crane, who recently hired former Cardinals executive Randy Flores as the club's new general manager.

Ausmus will replace Joe Espada, who managed the club for three seasons and led them to the AL West title this season, though the club had a .500 record. Espada led the Astros to the playoffs in two of his three seasons and was the bench coach under World Series-winning manager Dusty Baker before that. Crane opted not to extend his contract.

"I am very excited to be back in Houston,” Ausmus said in a statement released by the club. "The Astros and the City of Houston have been a huge part of my life, and I’m thrilled to create a new chapter as the team’s manager. I’d like to thank Randy and the entire Astros organization for this opportunity, and I can’t wait to get to work."

Ausmus was an All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner as a player and posted a 386-422 record managing the Tigers and Angels. In his first year managing, Ausmus inherited a club that reached the 2013 ALCS under retiring manager Jim Leyland but got bounced in the 2014 ALDS. His final three Tigers clubs did not reach the playoffs.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Houston Astros hire Brad Ausmus as next manager

There was consistently a positive relationship between Cincinnati Reds closer Emilio Pagán and manager Terry Francona during their three-year run in the Queen City. The future Hall of Fame manager trusted Pagán with the closer’s job early in 2025 with Alexis Diaz fell completely apart, and the move paid off in spades both for the Reds and Pagán, who turned his 2025 success into a new 2-year, $20 million contract after the Reds made the playoffs.

That deal, though, included an opt-out at the end of the 2026 season, an opt-out that Pagán exercised just days after the Milwaukee Brewers won the World Series.

In the wake of that decision, Tito clearly maintained contact with his former closer, even revealing to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon last week that he’d recently been texting him.

I texted him last night and he was at dinner. I said, “Do I need to come over there and kick your [butt]?” The reason I said that is I love the guy. He’s such a phenomenal teammate. He bailed us out. When we made him the closer, it allows you to work from back to front, when you know there’s an end in sight. I’m not giving up on him coming back. He has the right to test the market. But I don’t think it’s any secret how much I enjoyed him and how much I respect him and how much I love him.

Just a week after turning down the chance to pitch for the Reds again at a $10 million rate, Pagán agreed to an $11 million deal to pitch for the Detroit Tigers for the 2027 season.

I am not one to put words into another person’s mouth. I will merely point out that it’s a little bit curious that Pagán opted out in a ‘bet on yourself after a couple good years’ kind of move and ended up signing elsewhere at almost exactly the same rate that was already guaranteed to you from an organization that, per Francona, still had a lot of love for you – all after testing the market for roughly one whole week.

There are a million different ways to interpret this, quite literally. The Reds sure do look like a mis-managed sinking ship, and for Pagán to recognize that while having an opportunity to bail deserves neither fault nor scorn. Frankly, I wouldn’t blame him one single bit if that was all he was looking to do. Detroit’s home park offers a fly-ball pitcher like him a whole lot more room to succeed with his own methods than do the cozy confines of Great American Ball Park.

Perhaps he simply wanted to get a guarantee on the books before the looming December 1st lockout, and did so with a team in whom he has more confidence than he has in the Reds.

Cincinnati did change pitching coaches from Derek Johnson to Joe Torres, too. There could very well be a philosophy clash behind the scenes we’ve not yet seen play out publicly.

One thing is cut and dry, though, and that’s that Pagán is not going to be back on the Reds in 2027 in any capacity, and the search for a new closer amid a bullpen that needs an entire overhaul is firmly front and center on Nick Krall’s to-do list this winter…along with about thirty other things that, if accomplished, would’ve made this club a lot more attractive to a closer on the open market in the first place.

The Phillies entered the 2026 season with Otto Kemp penciled in for a big role on the MLB roster. He was supposed to be Brandon Marsh’s right-handed platoon partner in the outfield, as the team finally acknowledged that Marsh should be prevented from facing lefties. Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies took every opportunity to talk up Kemp over the offseason and cited a knee injury as reason to believe he would improve upon his rookie season.

Felix Reyes was the first attempt to correct that colossal mistake of putting all the eggs in the Otto Kemp basket, as Reyes was promoted in mid-April when Kemp was demoted following a dreadful start to the season. Reyes, despite mostly playing first base in his minor league career and hardly having played above Double-A, was selected to be Marsh’s new platoon partner in left field.

2026 stats: 12 games, .158/.158/.263, 1 home run, 11 OPS+, -0.6 WAR

What went right

Reyes was not someone particularly on the radar for an MLB job, but a strong spring training no doubt helped get his name into some consideration despite only having played six career games above Double-A. The 25-year-old hit .303 with a .930 OPS and three home runs in 18 Grapefruit League games this year. He was sent to Triple-A to begin the season but unexpectedly found himself on the Phillies roster on April 18th thanks to the aforementioned struggles of Kemp. The Phillies were throwing a dart to see if they could get some production out of an unexpected source because they had no real backup plan in the rather likely possibility of Kemp’s position being untenable.

They appeared to have gotten lucky in Reyes’ first game, as he launched a home run off of Chris Sale in his first career at-bat in the Majors while batting cleanup behind Bryce Harper.

It would quickly go downhill from there though.

What went wrong

It became very apparent, very fast that Reyes was simply overmatched in the major leagues. The tendency for chasing Reyes showed in the minors was easily exploited by MLB pitching, as he swung at 53% of the pitches he saw outside of the zone in his short time with the Phillies. He also racked up nine strikeouts in 38 plate appearances and did not walk once, as Reyes collected just five more hits after that debut home run. His brief time on the MLB roster ended exactly a month after it began when the Phillies optioned him to Triple-A on May 18th.

Reyes remained with Lehigh Valley the rest of the year, hitting .287 with an .830 OPS and 21 home runs before a broken wrist ended his season on August 15th.

Final Grade: F

This isn’t as much of a grade for Reyes as it is for the circumstances that led to him being on the Phillies roster. Reyes is the exact type of player that teams with poor depth are forced to rely on, and that’s exactly what the Phillies are. A 25-year-old career minor leaguer who had barely played above Double-A should not be plan B for a significant role on an MLB roster. The Phillies dramatically overvalued Kemp, and his predictable struggles and the team’s utter lack of upper minor league depth led to the Phillies thrusting Reyes into a role he frankly was not suited for. That included batting him cleanup for almost half of his plate appearances because the Phillies didn’t have any other real options for right-handed production behind Harper and Kyle Schwarber.

It was also head-scratching at the time that the Phillies went to Reyes over Bryan De La Cruz, who also had a strong camp but had vastly more MLB experience and was an actual outfielder. That decision looks even worse in hindsight as once the Phillies finally did add De La Cruz to their roster on July 21st, he hit .280 with a .762 OPS in 34 games. Regardless, the whole saga involving Reyes is just an exacerbation of the Phillies failure to develop even the smallest of contributors from within.

The Seattle Mariners were rumored by Ryan Divish and Adam Jude of the Seattle Times to be pursuing free agent OF Seiya Suzuki in their coverage of MLB’s GM meetings on Tuesday. Jerry Dipoto danced around the subject in the report, but reiterated the truth of Seattle’s history and capacity for appeal to players hailing from Japan. And yet, the top of the position player market is water Dipoto’s Mariners have not sailed in, and Suzuki is himself a rarity as a position playing free agent to reach true free agency, having completed his first contract signed in 2022 with the Chicago Cubs. Suzuki, much like Randy Arozarena, has a corner outfield profile with a history of big offensive production and some suspect glovework, and both will enter 2027 as their age 32 season.

So why Suzuki and not, as reported by Divish and Jude, a reunification effort with Arozarena? Seemingly, Arozarena is interested in other markets, and fair enough. Randy also will yield Seattle an extra draft pick when he signs, all but certainly in Competitive Balance Round A due to Seattle’s revenue-sharing recipient status in recent years, meaning a top-40 selection in the 2027 draft. The cost of signing Suzuki, beyond the financial which might push into nine figures, would be Seattle’s third-highest selection in the draft in kind. This would mean most likely for Seattle to sacrifice their third round pick, as compensation picks are (possibly?) immune from the calculus for this effort, however it could be the club would sacrifice their second round pick if the comp pick they receive is eligible.

And that cost is not necessarily going to be cheaper than what Randy would demand for retainer. Both Suzuki and Arozarena have been steady, right-handed bats, performing to a genuinely remarkable degree of synchronicity. For Randy in 4029 PA across 955 MLB games, and 2899 PAs over 675 games for Suzuki, they’ve both maintained a 128 wRC+ exactly. They’re within decimals on career walk and strikeout rates, and while Arozarena is more of an iron man, they’ve each amassed an average of over 140 games played per season over the last four campaigns.

Suzuki has benefitted from a ballpark less vicious to right-handed hitters than Arozarena in recent years (which is literally every other park, bless you Randy), good for a .269/.351/.472 mark for his career, and while he runs reasonably, he’s put a halt on his base stealing in the past few seasons, while Arozarena has notched six straight 20-20 campaigns. But what Suzuki managed in 2026 may be setting him above Seattle’s estimation of their erstwhile left fielder. Seiya’s skill with the glove took a major step forward in 2026. After a season spent in the corners and at DH, Suzuki was expected to handle center field duties in the World Baseball Classic for Team Japan this past spring. The Tokyo native still runs at an above-average level, and has a strong enough arm for any outfield position, but where he shone was in his improved tracking of the ball and range in Wrigley’s corner spots. Of course, Suzuki benefitted from the best defensive center fielder in baseball with Pete Crow-Armstrong ranging in Andruw Jones-esque capacities this past summer, but in Seattle the longer trend of Julio Rodríguez still suggests a fielder far above average to flank his compatriots.

The counters here are curious. For one, defensive metrics have a taller task of capturing process and cause/effect than hitting or baserunning, in many ways. Can one count on Suzuki’s glovework maintaining any more than they could on Julio’s failing to bounce back? And on the other side, many of Suzuki’s offensive peripherals took some hits. Though still a strong performer when it comes to maximizing contact, Suzuki’s hard hit rates and expected outcomes took a step downward from the past three seasons. Given his numbers didn’t dip, and in fact took a positive step on the back of an elevated walk rate, this may not be troubling the M’s.

But Suzuki is likely to get four or five years on his contract, something this front office has only ever offered hitters in their 20s. MLB Trade Rumors estimated 4/$105m for Suzuki, while FanGraphs writer Ben Clemens suggested a similar 4/$108m, and the crowdsourced rankings from the site came in with a median 4/$96m. All are plausible ranges, and all would be surprising to see the low-investment Mariners ownership group commit to. To give them credit, however, the club did re-sign Josh Naylor swiftly a winter ago and seems at least to hover around a league median (though not mean) payroll in recent years. There should be at least $20 million to re-invest in the club purely working off the club’s past trend line of spending, and Jerry Dipoto’s successful deal of Luis Castillo at the deadline may have created wiggle room for himself to improve the 2027 squad and beyond.

And yet, filling the hole of Arozarena is a real challenge. As Ryan Blake noted at the end of the season, Seattle faces a gap between 2025 and 2026 that can largely be made up in 2027 by positive regression from existing players. But what they cannot expect to replicate is the greatest season by a Mariners left fielder in franchise history that Arozarena put up, with his 5.5 fWAR, .281/.381/.484 line and 151 wRC+ from a guy who could be relied upon to be healthy enough to play at a high level daily for 2.5 years.

Suzuki is the only player in this free agent class likely to meet the M’s desire to improve defensively and have a strong shot at holding serve offensively in Arozarena’s stead. He’s right-handed, something nobody but Julio from the expected Opening Day lineup can claim. His offensive profile has power, but is not purely reliant upon it, and he’s got what continues to be above-average athleticism that may age more gracefully than his contemporaries already starting from a lesser point of ability.

If Seattle were to invest in a new free agent this winter, Suzuki would be the most likely to have a positive and fitting impact, with his track record as a corner outfielder and hitter. Seattle should be in on this type of player at this stage, particularly with a balance sheet recently glutted by the 7th-best attendance in MLB this year, the most attendees since 2004 for the franchise. To maintain and reclaim the enthusiasm and the justifiable expectations following their lost 2026 season, would be a very appropriate player to bring into the fold for the franchise’s 51st season.

Let’s switch gears for a moment from the series I’ve been writing about potential free agent signings for the Cubs to a potential trade target, Angels left-hander Reid Detmers.

The Cubs came close enough to dealing for Detmers at the deadline last summer:

Well, you all know that didn’t happen. Instead, the Cubs sent Moisés Ballesteros and minor leaguer Mason McGwire to the Angels for Ryan Zeferjahn. This could eventually turn out to be a useful deal; Zeferjahn clearly has talent, is not arb-eligible until 2028, and is under team control for four more seasons.

Here, per one report, is what the Cubs would have given up for Detmers (with Zeferjahn also included):

As you know, Jefferson Rojas wound up going to the Mets in the deal that brought Clay Holmes to the Cubs. That could still be worth doing if the Cubs re-sign Holmes, which is certainly possible.

Apparently the reason this deal fell through was that the Angels didn’t like the medical reports they received on Jaxon Wiggins. You likely also know this too, as Wiggins has been injured much of the time he’s been in the Cubs system. He made 22 appearances (11 starts) in 2026 and posted a 6.75 ERA and 1.781 WHIP in only 42.2 innings, with 50 strikeouts (which is good!) and 34 walks (which is not good!).

Wiggins, the Cubs’ second-round pick out of the University of Arkansas in 2023, turned 25 in October. To count on him in 2027 is not something the Cubs should do. Detmers is only two years older and has already thrown 634.2 major league innings, and is under team control for two more years.

So with Ballesteros, Rojas and McGwire already gone, and Wiggins probably not tradeable, who could the Cubs send to Anaheim to acquire Detmers?

For one thing, I would put the Cubs’ top three prospects (per MLB Pipeline) off limits — no trading Josiah Hartshorn, Owen Ayers or Ethan Conrad. Perhaps the Angels could be enticed to take Javier Assad as part of a deal like this — he has significant MLB starting experience. You might have to throw in Brooks Caple or someone like him. Would the Angels be interested in Matt Shaw?

I’m just spitballing here — given that the Angels have new ownership and management since the Detmers deal fell through in August, maybe they don’t want to trade him at all.

But I think the Cubs should look into this again.

For every legendary name recognizable across generations of Yankees fans, there are dozens others who fade from memory after leaving the organization. Thousands of players have come and gone through the doors of Yankee Stadium in the team’s 123-year history, the vast majority leaving just a faint mark in the annals of the franchise. Even during their most storied era in the Murderers’ Row years, far from every player ascended to the status of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig

Owen Thomas “Ownie” Carroll
Born: November 11, 1902 (Kearney, NJ)
Died: June 8, 1975 (Orange, NJ)
Yankees Tenure: 1930

Born just months before the inception of the New York Highlanders (who would become the Yankees a decade later), not much is known about Carroll’s family and early life aside from a few facts about his New Jersey upbringing. He emerged as one of the top high school pitchers of the early 1920s in his four years at Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, compiling a 49-2 record.

His legend grew during his four years on the varsity squad at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, the 1920s sometimes considered the heyday of college baseball. He was widely regarded as the best college pitcher in the country, amassing a 50-2 record, his only losses coming against Princeton and Boston College in his sophomore season. Games in which he pitched would often draw 30,000 or more fans at Braves Field in Boston, his most memorable performances including a 15-inning complete game against Harvard and a 17-strikeout one-hitter against Princeton.

Following his senior year, Carroll signed with the Tigers for $25,000 in 1925 and made his MLB debut later that season, going six innings and allowing eight runs (four earned) on nine hits and four walks in an 11-9 win over the Red Sox on June 20th. Carroll would make ten appearances (four starts) in his rookie season, going 2-2 with a 3.76 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 40.2 innings. Arm issues that would plague his professional career began to appear following that season, causing Carroll to spend the entirety of the 1926 season in the minor leagues with the Toronto Maple Leads.

Carroll returned to the majors in 1927, firmly establishing himself as a big leaguer. That year, he made 31 appearances (15 starts), going 10-6 with a 3.98 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 172 innings. His best season came in 1928, Carroll going 16-12 in 34 appearances (28 starts) totaling 231 innings while finishing in the top-10 in the AL in ERA (3.27) and complete games (19). He followed that with a less impressive 1929 campaign, compiling a 9-17 record in 34 appearances (26 starts), with a 4.63 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 202 innings.

1930 was a year of upheaval for Carroll, the righty pitching six games for the Tigers before being traded to the Yankees for rotation stalwart Waite Hoyt. That swap proved to be disastrous for the Bronx outfit, as Carroll made just 10 appearances in pinstripes. He allowed four runs on six hits and three walks in his team debut — a four-inning start that ended in a 13-7 loss to his former team on June 11th. Carroll was immediately removed from the rotation and would make nine further relief appearances, only one of those games ending in a Yankees win.

Despite stratospheric seasons from Ruth and Gehrig, the Yankees were seriously light in the rotation following Hoyt’s departure and missed the playoffs after finishing third. Carroll would not be allowed to see out the end of the season in New York. The Yankees sold him to the Reds at the end of the summer. In total, Carroll went 0-1 in those ten appearances, with a 6.61 ERA and eight strikeouts in 32.2 innings. His -0.3 fWAR and -0.7 rWAR were among the worst for anyone who pitched for the Yankees that season, Ruth himself accruing more value by spinning a two-run complete game against the Red Sox on the final day of the season — the Bambino’s first pitching appearance in nine years.

Carroll regained his starting pitching role in Cincinnati, going 3-9 in 12 starts with a 5.53 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 107.1 innings in 1931. 1932 saw him make 32 appearances (26 starts), Carroll improving to a 4.50 ERA, though he led the NL in losses (19) and hit batsmen (nine). That precipitated a trade to the Cardinals following the completion of the season, Jim Bottomley heading to Cincy to complete the deal. However, St. Louis flipped him just a few weeks later to the Dodgers for Dazzy Vance. With this trade, Carroll earned the distinction as the only player in MLB history to be traded for three future Hall of Famers in Hoyte, Bottomley, and Vance, a record that still stands to this day.

The now-30-year-old Carroll experienced something of a renewal in his first season in Brooklyn, making a career-high 31 starts and finishing with a 13-15 record, 3.78 ERA, and 45 strikeouts in 226.1 innings. However, that came to an abrupt end, injuries limiting Carroll to 26 appearances (five starts) in 1934 with a 1-3 record, 6.42 ERA, and 17 strikeouts in 74.1 innings. After spending 1935 with the Buffalo Bisons of the International League, Carroll called curtains on a nine-year big league career, finishing with a 64-90 record, 4.43 ERA, and considerably more walks (486) than strikeouts (311) in 1,330.2 innings.

Following his retirement, Carroll went on to become the head coach of the Seton Hall University baseball team for 25 years. He leaned on advice learned while playing under future Yankees Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengel, back then the manager of the Toledo Mud Hens of the American Association in 1930. He finished with a 341‐186‐3 record, leading the Pirates to four Metropolitan Conference championships and two College World Series appearances.

On April 25, 1973, the university honored their long-time coach by renaming their stadium the Owen T. Carroll Field. Carroll himself passed away on June 8, 1975, at the age of 72.

Carroll’s Yankees career may be a minor footnote in history of the franchise, but there is no doubting the impact he had on the lives and careers of the many young ballplayers who came under his leadership at Seton Hall.

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

LAS VEGAS — The Yankees need a new bench coach.

Brad Ausmus is leaving Aaron Boone’s staff to become the new Astros manager, The Post confirmed on Wednesday, creating a vacancy they will now have to fill.

Ausmus, who served as Boone’s right-hand man for the last three seasons, interviewed with the Astros this offseason for both their GM and manager job, Brian Cashman acknowledged Tuesday. The GM job ultimately went to Randy Flores before the Astros landed on Ausmus as their next manager.

The 57-year-old spent 10 seasons as the Astros’ catcher during his 18-year playing career and remained close with former teammate Jeff Bagwell, who is now a senior advisor to owner Jim Crane.

Before joining the Yankees, Ausmus had managed the Tigers from 2014-2017 and the Angels in 2019, posting a combined record of 386-422.

Ausmus marks the second departure from Boone’s staff, after major league field coordinator and director of catching Tanner Swanson left to become the Mariners’ bench coach. Ausmus and Swanson ran spring training together each of the last three years.

The Yankees are still working through their hitting staff, after hitting coach James Rowson’s contract expired, with the club “engaged in the marketplace and also internally,” Cashman said Tuesday.

Pitching coach Matt Blake, assistant pitching coach Desi Druschel, bullpen coach Preston Claiborne, third base coach Luis Rojas and first base coach Dan Fiorito are all set to return.