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When the Brewers got swept at Petco Park in August, two of the three losses came down, at least in part, to bullpen management.

In the first game, a 3-2 loss, Logan Henderson had thrown six strong innings, but Brewers manager Pat Murphy left him in after he allowed a one-out single to Ty France in the seventh. The next batter, Jackson Merrill, hit a two-run homer to give the Padres the lead.

In the third game, a 4-3 extra-inning loss, Murphy sent Dustin May back out to start the eighth. May walked Xander Bogaerts, and Murphy pulled him for Chad Patrick, who walked the bases loaded. Aaron Ashby then came in to face Jake Cronenworth, who tied the game with an infield single. The Brewers retook the lead in the 11th, but Antonio Senzatela gave up two runs in the bottom half, and the Brewers lost.

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In the NLDS, Murphy learned from that series. Reluctant to let any pitcher face the Padres’ lineup a third time, he kept each of his starters on an extremely short leash, which was only possible because of the depth and effectiveness of the Brewers’ bullpen in a short series.

Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski hit the showers after just four innings in Game 1, and Milwaukee’s bullpen threw five scoreless. In Game 2, Henderson went five innings, and the bullpen allowed just one unearned run. In Game 3, May exited after three innings, and the only earned run the bullpen allowed came on a solo homer allowed by JoJo Romero.

In Game 4, Murphy pulled starter Robert Gasser after four innings, even though Gasser had allowed only three hits and one run. Milwaukee’s bullpen then held the Padres hitless over the final five innings. For those of you keeping count at home, Brewers relievers threw 19 innings (compared to 16 by Brewers starters) and allowed just one earned run, the Romero homer. That works out to a 0.47 ERA.

Neither team led by more than two runs at any point in the series, but even without any garbage time, Murphy wasn’t afraid to hold his leverage guys back until he absolutely needed them.

In Game 1, he replaced Misiorowski with Senzatela, who isn’t usually on the shortlist for high-leverage spots. Senzatela allowed two hits but got two outs, and then Murphy brought in Ashby to finish the inning.

After Henderson exited in Game 2, Murphy went to Romero, who got two outs and issued a walk. Then, Murphy brought in Uribe, who got the final out of the inning.

In Game 3, down a run in the bottom of the fourth, the first two relievers out of the bullpen were again Romero and Senzatela, who covered 2 2/3 innings between them.

With a one-run lead in Game 4, Murphy finally went first to one of his most trusted options, Ashby, who responded with three hitless innings. Uribe and Megill, the Brewers’ usual eighth- and ninth-inning duo, closed out the game and sent the Crew to the NLCS.

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After four playoff games, Murphy’s playoff bullpen strategy is clear. He’ll hold his leverage arms for the right moment, erring on the side of saving them for a true do-or-die situation. He trusts the depth of his bullpen, and he trusts his guys to show up when the lights are brightest.

Comparing Murphy’s bullpen management to that of Padres manager Craig Stammen, it’s hard not to conclude that the bullpens were the difference in this series. The Padres have what Murphy called “the best bullpen in baseball,” so Stammen, like Murphy, kept his starters on a short leash. Unlike Murphy, though, Stammen didn’t seem to trust his depth options.

In Game 1, Stammen used all of his best relievers except closer Mason Miller: Bradgley Rodriguez, Yuki Matsui, Jason Adam, and Adrian Morejon. If not for a Contreras homer off Morejon, the only run San Diego’s bullpen allowed in Game 1, it would have worked.

After starter Michael King exited in Game 2, Stammen went to Matsui and Rodriguez again, then brought in Miller to attempt his first six-out save since 2024. After a dominant eighth, Miller looked fatigued in the ninth and lost command. The Brewers worked three walks, setting the stage for Jackson Chourio’s walk-off single on Miller’s 40th pitch.

Miller and Morejon, who threw 31 pitches in the eighth inning of Game 1, were unavailable for Game 3 with what Stammen called “shoulder stickiness.” When Nick Pivetta exited, Stammen didn’t turn first to one of his less-used arms (Randy Vásquez, Joe Musgrove, or David Morgan). Instead, he went to the same three relievers, Adam, Matsui, and Rodriguez, then called on Game 2 starter Michael King for 40 more pitches.

Understandably, King also ran out of steam in the ninth. After getting the first out, he walked two straight batters, then gave up a 107-mph one-hopper to Christian Yelich. Unfortunately for the Brewers, Yelich hit it right into the shift, and Bogaerts turned two to secure the win.

In Game 4, with his bullpen overworked, Stammen pulled starter Walker Buehler, who’d allowed one earned run over three innings, for Game 1 starter Robbie Ray. Ray gave up a triple to Garrett Mitchell, who scored two batters later to give the Brewers a lead they’d never relinquish. After Ray, Stammen went back to Rodriguez, Matsui, Adam, and then Miller, who didn’t look like his usual dominant self but kept the Brewers off the board. Finally, down 3-1, Stammen turned to Joe Musgrove, who looked great in two hitless innings across the eighth and ninth.

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The Brewers now head to the NLCS with a bullpen that allowed one earned run in 19 innings and, more importantly, with arms that aren’t running on empty. Only Ashby threw more than four innings, only Uribe pitched in all four games, and nobody threw more than three innings in a single outing. Guys like Romero and Senzatela also proved Murphy can trust them in the middle innings, and Chad Patrick, Shane Drohan, and Kyle Harrison haven’t pitched yet.

That depth will matter even more in a seven-game series. If Murphy keeps trusting it, the Brewers’ bullpen might be the best weapon left in the postseason.

Major League Baseball is heading straight for a work stoppage. Of that we are all almost 100% certain, as the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) expires on December 1st and both MLB and the MLB Players Association seem far apart on their biggest demands.

Chief among those is the scuttlebutt surrounding a potential cap and floor on total payrolls, something championed by several owners who see spending money as the lone way to compete in this sport (while the low-budget Tampa Bay Rays, Milwaukee Brewers, Chicago White Sox, and Cleveland Guardians all remain alive in the postseason).

A new wrinkle was leaked on Thursday however. As ESPN’s Jeff Passan relayed, MLB proposed limiting the regular season to just 154 games (down from 162) as part of a structural overhaul of the regular and postseasons, with a caveat that Division Series would move to a best of seven format.

Major League Baseball proposed cutting the regular-season schedule from 162 games to 154 games in a bargaining session with the MLBPA today. Also part of its proposal: higher seeds in playoffs get to choose their opponents, and division series expand to seven games.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 8, 2026

The other fun wrinkle here is that teams could then choose their opponents in the postseason, something that’s been a topic of discussion just about every postseason as some Wild Card teams finish with records far greater than teams who won weak divisions (and therefore ended up with tougher overall paths to advancing).

Shaving off games during the regular season means shaving off money from gameday receipts, television contracts, and the like. It would also mean fewer overall game checks for players, so this would be something the MLBPA would likely be in opposition to unless there were significantly greater incentives for playing in the postseason. Such is life in a labor/owner negotiation, as there are billions of dollars riding on these seemingly small decisions.

I can only assume we’ll get more interesting ideas leaked in this entire process. Keep in mind this is the same league with the same commissioner who gave us the Manfred Man, killed the shift, added pitch clocks and ABS, and slapped sponsor logos on helmets. Change does not seem to phase Rob Manfred, so change will 100% be on the table early and often within these negotiations all winter.

For me, one of the most memorable moments from the 2010 Texas Rangers playoff run — the season the Rangers won a playoff series for the first time ever, the season the Rangers went to the World Series for the first time ever — is a scene from a play where things went bad for the Rangers.

Specifically, it involves the second inning of Game Four of the ALCS, when the New York Yankees, down 2 games to 1, took the lead in a game that they needed to win to bring the series back to even.

The first ten batters of the game had been retired — six Rangers hitters sat down by Yankee starter A.J. Burnett, four Yankees hitters by Tommy Hunter of the Rangers. The #5 hitter for the Yanks, Robinson Cano, got down 0-1 to Hunter before lofting a fly ball to the wall in right field. Nelson Cruz looked like he might have a play on it, but it was caught by a backwards hat wearing Yankees bro in the first row.

The immediate aftermath of the play was captured in this immortal gif:

I have no idea how many times in my life I’ve watched this. Hundreds? Thousands? I feel like I have watched it at least 50 times just today, thinking about doing this post, and then with it cycling on the screen as I continue typing this post.

I really get so much joy from this gif. I feel like Sam Malone on Cheers with the painting of the dogs playing poker, talking about how he sees something new every time he looks at it. There’s so much going on there, and I wish I could find the old SBN piece — I think by Jon Bois, but maybe by Grant Brisbee or Jeff Sullivan — where he offers up a backstory for each person in the gif, and read it again, and make all of y’all read it again.

Part of the reason that I can get joy from this gif is that, well, the Rangers went on to win the game, and then the series. Kind of like I’d probably find some humor and lightness in another extra base hit over Nelson Cruz’s head that occurred a little over a year later, had the Rangers ended up winning that Game 6 (or the subsequent Game 7).

But at the time, it sucked, and I hated the Yankee bro, and everyone else in this shot — yes, including the popcorn guy in glasses, and the two different kids — with a degree of sports hate that I had previously reserved solely for Dwight Clark and for the 1996 Seattle Mariners.

The hate didn’t last long. The Rangers tied it up in the top of the third, gave up singletons in the third and fourth to go down 3-2, but then exploded for eight runs in the final four innings,* rolling to an easy 10-3 win.

* The Rangers scored five runs in all off of Burnett, the final three coming on a two out, three run home run by Bengie Molina in the top of the sixth, a play that may have inspired my “most momentum-shifting play in baseball” mantra. They scored one off of Boone Logan, one off of Joba Chamberlain, and three off of Sergio Mitre. The only Yankee pitcher who made an appearance and didn’t give up a run was future Rangers great David Robertson.

Texas was up 3-1 in the series, and though they fell to the Yankees in Game 5 behind a bad C.J. Wilson start and an offense that managed just two runs on 13 hits (one of which was a Matt Treanor home run, shoutout to Mr. May!), they rolled over New York in their return to Arlington for the Good Game 6. Colby Lewis — who was incredible in that postseason run — threw eight innings of three hit, one run ball, Vlad Guerrero and Nelson Cruz sparked a four run fifth to give the Rangers a comfy lead, and Neftali Feliz finished it off by freezing ARod on a called strike three:

Seriously, watch this clip again (even though you have to sit through a stupid 15 second commercial because MLB.com has to monetize their video snippets). Remember that feeling? Remember how amazing that was? I still get goosebumps when I watch the Corey Seager World Series home run, and I still get goosebumps when I watch this.

So, yeah, the Yankees bro gif is fun to me. It makes the Rangers comeback, and ultimate series win over New York, all the more delightful.

That said, in the aftermath of last night’s Yankees game-tying homer that wasn’t, I was thinking about the Yankees bro clip, and the timing of it in relation to the Yankees’ recent history.

The 2010 Yankees, you may recall, were the defending World Series champions, having beaten the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2009 World Series four games to two. (Both losses, incidentally, were against Cliff Lee, who shut out the Yankees on two hits over eight innings in Game 3 of the 2010 ALCS. The Yankees, of course, tried to get Lee from the Mariners at the 2010 trade deadline before the Rangers out-bid them, and there was talk that Lee was in the Yankees’ head, much like Mike Scott was in the head of the Yankees’ crosstown rivals in the NLCS in 1986).

The 2010 Yankees were favored over the Rangers, even though the Rangers had homefield advantage. The Yankees had the second best record in the A.L., with 95 wins, while the Rangers had the worst record of the four A.L. playoff teams, at “just” 90-72. The Yankees still had Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte from their dynasty teams, plus high-priced former Rangers Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, stud second baseman Robinson Cano (who the Rangers could have had in the ARod trade, though they picked Joaquin Arias instead) in his prime, C.C. Sabathia fronting the rotation…

And the Rangers…well, they were the Rangers. Yes, they traded for Cliff Lee, and signed an aging Vlad Guerrero to be their DH. But otherwise, they were relying on a bunch of hitters without playoff experience, as well a converted reliever and a guy who got run out of the majors and had to go to Japan in the rotation behind Lee. The end of the 90s saw the Rangers chased from the playoffs by a Yankees dynasty, and the start of the 2010s seemed to be setting the stage for the same thing to happen in a new decade.

Texas ceded homefield advantage one game into the series, blowing a 5-0 lead that included a gruesome five run eighth inning where five pitchers — C.J. Wilson, Darren Oliver, Darren O’Day, Clay Rapada and Derek Holland — combined to retire none of the first seven batters in the inning. The Rangers won big in Games 2 and 3, but when Cano homered off of Big Game Hunter to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead in Game 4, when backwards hat Yankees douche was yelling and posturing and Horatio Sanz’s twin was cheering and the Sopranos extra in the 72 inch waist jeans was yelling “Fuck you! Fuck you! Fuck you!” over and over, it felt like an ill harbinger, a bad omen, the beginning of the end of the Rangers’ magical run.

In another timeline, maybe that’s the case. In another timeline, the Burnett stifles the Rangers in this Game 4, and Wilson’s Game 5 egg is followed up by a slightly less effective Colby Lewis in Game 6, with Philip Hughes avoiding the crooked number in the bottom of the fifth in Arlington and David Robertson and Kerry Wood keeping Texas off the board until Mariano Rivera gets Josh Hamilton swinging with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Rangers fans watching the Yankees celebrate at TBiA before stomping the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.

We aren’t in that timeline, though. In this timeline, the Rangers ended the Yankees’ hope of repeating as champions, of bringing back the Yankees Dynasty. They rebounded from the Cano home run that set off the iconic celebration in the stands, won the game, and won the series.

And the Yankees?

The Yankees are still chasing their next ring. When Robinson Cano hit that home run, Yankees fans felt another title was imminent, and even if, somehow, someway, they didn’t win it all in 2010, it would just be a brief delay of the inevitable, and the next ring would come in 2011 or 2012, with the Yankees surely having accumulated multiple rings by the time the 2026 season ended.

But that hasn’t happened. The Rangers have won more titles since then than the Yankees have. The Rangers have been to three World Series — including 2010 — to the Yankees’ one. Nevermind a Yankees dynasty…New York has found it difficult to get past the divisional round during that time.

Could it be that the Yankee bro’s celebration, caught on camera, along with the fans around him, caught the eye of the fickle gods of baseball? Could it be that the ostentatiousness and brashness of an entitled fanbase, encapsulated in that that shot, caught the attention of the baseball gods, who decided to punish Yankees fans for their hubris?

Despite consistently running one of the highest payrolls in the game, despite being one of the marquee franchises in the game, the Yankees haven’t won a World Series title since. They have now gone 17 seasons without a title, tied for the longest stretch in franchise history since the team won its first title in 1923. Given their payroll, their on-field success in the regular season during that time, you’d have thought they’d have won the World Series at least once in that stretch, right?

Could it be…the Curse of the Yankees Bro?

It’s The Day After and now that we’ve all had some time to really take things into perspective, the obvious thing to do in times like this is to look forward. The good news is that following their exit in the NLDS at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, it’s pretty clear where the Atlanta Braves need to focus their improvement efforts on. The main question, however, is how are they going to do that in a way that tangibly changes things going forward?

For the most part, the Braves are going to be running it back. In order of compensation, Chris Sale, Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Spencer Strider, Ronald Acuña Jr. (team option), Robert Suarez, Sean Murphy, Jurickson Profar (Yep), Mike Yastrzemski, Michael Harris II, Reynaldo López and Ozzie Albies are all under contract for next season. Dylan Lee, James Karinchak, Joey Wentz, Michael Grove, Luke Williams and Bryce Elder are all eligible for arbitration. Spencer Schwellenbach, Grant Holmes, Drake Baldwin, Ray Kerr, Didier Fuentes, Dylan Dodd and Victor Mederos are still in pre-arbitration so they’re under team control.

Now, it’s tough to imagine what moves can be made considering that there’s a pretty decent chance that the financial landscape of baseball is going to change significantly once the impending CBA negotiations and potentially-looming lockout is said and done with but no matter what, I’d imagine that the 2027 Braves are going to look similar to the 2026 Braves. Atlanta is locked in at catcher, first base, (very likely) second base, third base, center field and (very likely) right field, they’ll have enough starting pitching to fill out a rotation from the names I listed above and their bullpen is likely going to have its key players returning as well.

There’s an opportunity to run it back for the Braves and I’d imagine that Alex Anthopoulos would do so. Again, this is a team that won 94 games and the NL East Division and has made the Postseason in every season but one since winning the World Series in 2021 — and even in 2025, you could argue that the injury bug was the main culprit for how disastrous that season ended up being. This is still a solid core with players who have the potential to break out at any given moment, so there’s no reason to even consider blowing it up. It’s also clear that both Anthopoulos and Walt Weiss value clubhouse chemistry a ton and this clubhouse’s chemistry is arguably as good as it gets around baseball, so that’s another reason to not just cause an earthquake with the ballclub.

With that being said, it can’t be denied that the offense has taken a precipitous drop since their historically-successful 2023 regular season — and it’s not like there have been many changes with this squad since then. The Braves have gone from a MLB-leading 126 team wRC+ in 2023 to a 101 wRC+ in 2024, then 101 wRC+ again in 2025 before sliding down to a below-average 97 wRC+ in 2026. Acuña, Olson, Murphy, Riley, Albies, and Harris were all here in 2023 and the fact that the lineup has declined as much as it has is actually a bit strange considering that there are only two players in that group who are over 30: Murphy and Olson, and it’s not like they’re ancient, themselves.

I hate to do coaching speculation since 1) we’re not privy to their contract situations and 2) we haven’t heard anything suggesting that anybody’s jobs could be in danger but it would also make sense if Tim Hyers’ position as hitting coach could come into question considering the performance. Dodgers pitching staff or not, a Postseason performance like what we saw at the plate from the Braves is going to put the magnifying glass on what exactly is going on with the offense and when it comes to that, Hyers is the one who could end up taking the blame in a big way if the Braves do decide to make a change. That’s purely speculation on my part but also I’m not the only one!

It’s also difficult to envision any trades being made — again, they’re locked in at a lot of positions for a lot of dollars and any trades would have to be of either the blockbuster variety or something at the very fringes. So with that in mind, the way that the Braves could address the situation is the ol’ fashioned way: From within.

As it turns out, the Braves currently have two position player prospects on the farm who just so happen to play the positions that could fill the pressing positional needs for the Braves for the forseeable future. Eric Hartman really made a name for himself during this past minor league season and while the Braves did have him playing center field for the most part, he also spent time manning left field as well. Tate Southisene is another consensus Top 100 prospect who has done a solid job of improving on the farm system this season and sure enough, he’s capable of playing shortstop as well.

Will they be ready in time for the 2027 season? That’s a bit doubtful, considering that both prospects are estimated for a 2028 arrival according to MLB Pipeline. It’s more of a long-term option but those two are coming and they could finally address two inconsistent spots on the roster that have dogged the Braves for a few years now.

The bridge options are appealing, though. I’d imagine that the Braves are going to try hard to bring back Mauricio Dubón for another season considering how valuable he was for them with both his versatility and being able to man the shortstop spot when needed. Left Field may be a trickier proposition — remember, Jurickson Profar was slated to be a full-time DH before he got caught enjoying too much of a balanced and nutritious breakfast everyday for the second season in a row and had to take an unpaid suspension for the entirety of the 2026 season. Yaz is still going to be around but again, he’s certainly a platoon option rather than an everyday option. I’d imagine that they’ll try to acquire another outfielder to form a platoon.

The main reason why I haven’t mentioned trading as much so far is because of the contract status of a lot of the core players and also because again, there’s a lot to consider when it comes to what baseball looks like after the labor war ends. There’s not a lot to speculate on until that’s figured out but again, I can’t see other teams really having the appetite to attempt to “fix” Austin Riley with the contract that he’s on and it’s a safe assumption that the Braves are simply going to try to figure this out internally when it comes to improving the offense as a whole.

It’s a tricky situation to be in if you’re Alex Anthopoulos and anybody in this front office! The team on paper is fine but if they’re going to take the next step and potentially pick up another World Series title during this current window that they’re in, it’s clear that they’re going to need to find a way to hit more consistently — especially in the Postseason. This routine of the bats failing to show up in October for the past few playoff appearances is starting to get honestly tiring and concerning. Even if the level of competition ratchets up during the Postseason, a near team-wide power outage that the Braves sustained shouldn’t be happening as consistently as it does for this team in the playoffs. It also started to rear its ugly head during this regular season as well (remember June?) and it’s become clear that improving the offense should be the main focus going into the offseason.

How will they do that? There’s still a ton of questions to be answered and we’re still a little too early to be getting into specifics. But it’s clear what needs to be done and hopefully we’ll see them make progress on addressing those issues once everybody gets a chance to actually figure it out in the offseason. We’ll see what happens.

SAN DIEGO — Major League Baseball proposed to the players union Thursday that the regular season be reduced from 162 games to 154 games for the first time since 1960, with teams also playing four split-doubleheaders during the season, ending the season a week earlier than normal.

The reduced schedule, which would provide virtually each team an off day every Monday except for holidays and special events, would begin in 2029 to coincide with MLB’s new national TV package. 

MLB, while wanting to lengthen the division series from a best-of-five to a best-of-seven format (which would potentially add eight games to the postseason), also is proposing once again that the highest-seeded teams in the postseason can choose their playoff opponent. It is similar to the same proposal during their 2021 negotiations when it tried to expand the playoff field to 14 teams, but the union refused because it believed it would promote mediocrity, and they settled on a 12-team playoff pool.

"Returning to a 154-game schedule would allow us to introduce a weekly off day, which is good for player health, while also creating a new national broadcast window to showcase our most exciting teams and players," MLB spokesman Glen Caplin said in a statement. "A shorter regular season unlocks making October even better for our fans – with fewer weekday afternoon games, a longer Division Series, and more opportunities to see the game’s best pitchers on the biggest stage. And allowing the top seeds to select their opponents in the first two rounds would create compelling storylines, intensify existing rivalries and create new ones."

MLB, which vowed that players would not have their salaries reduced and that award bonuses would become pro-rated, is also trying to appease the union by saying that a shorter season would help reduce the number of injuries, particularly among pitchers, while lessening the frequent optioning of pitchers to the minor leagues. Teams averaged 24% fewer optional assignments when they had an off day during a week compared to playing seven days in the week, according to MLB’s research.

The new playoff format is nearly identical to the one MLB wanted in 2021.

The top two teams would still receive byes, and the No. 3 seed would select whether they want to play the No. 5 or No. 6 seed. In the division series, the top seed would select which wild-card winner they want to play. The selections would likely come on a national TV show.

Certainly, it would prevent what occurred this postseason when the top three teams in the American League – the Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox of the AL East – were all in the same bracket. The Red Sox were eliminated in the wild-card round and the Yankees in the division series. The bracket structure left the Chicago White Sox and Cleveland Guardians on the opposite side from the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox.

The caveat, of course, is that the players union would have to agree to a salary cap, which it has long resisted.

"Players will weigh in on these proposals, and we will respond at the bargaining table," the union said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the league once again made clear that all of its proposals are contingent on players’ agreement to a salary cap, a system that guts player rights and compensation, as well as its other anti-player proposals."

The current collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, and if no agreement is reached, MLB is expected to impose a lockout that could carry into the 2027 season. MLB sent memos to each team last week reminding them of the protocols, which were employed during their last lockout in 2021 that lasted 99 days.

Follow Bob Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB proposes 154-game season, longer playoffs beginning in 2029

Welcome to the 2026 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2026. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.

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No. 47, Kyle Freeland (-0.4 rWAR)

We’ve all heard the cliches.

“Denver native.”

“Went to Thomas Jefferson High School.”

“Grew up 15 minutes from Coors Field.”

“The hometown kid.”

Heck, we’ve heard these so many times that we made an entire bingo card out of them!

But 2026 marked what could be the last time we hear those phrases uttered on the Colorado Rockies home broadcast about Kyle Freeland.

Since he was drafted eighth-overall in the 2014 MLB Draft, Freeland has spent his entire career with the Rockies. He’s had some highs – such as his near-no-hitter in 2018 – and plenty of lows. And 2026 unfortunately marked a low for the left-hander, who not only finished with career worsts in a number of categories, but also finished with a negative rWAR for the first time since 2019.

Freeland was tagged for a career-high 104 runs (100 earned), and his 29 home runs allowed tied a career worst (also 2023). His 6.65 ERA is a career high, and his 75 ERA+ is also a career low, while his 1.522 WHIP is second only behind his 1.581 in 2019. Finally, his 3.72 SO/BB ratio was the highest of his career.

But Freeland also hit numerous milestones in 2026:

• On March 27th against the Miami Marlins, he made his fifth Opening Day start – the most Opening Day starts in franchise history. He also became the first pitcher in franchise history to make three consecutive Opening Day starts.
• On June 1st against the Los Angeles Angels, he passed Jorge De La Rosa (985) for the second-most strikeouts in club history. 
• On June 7th against the Milwaukee Brewers, he set the franchise record in innings pitched, surpassing Aaron Cook (1,312.1)
• On June 19th against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he struck out his 1,000th career batter, becoming the second Rockie to achieve the feat behind Germán Márquez (1,069).
• On August 2nd against the Kansas City Royals, he threw his first-career complete game.
• On September 27th against the Chicago White Sox, he started Game 162 for the second time in his career (also 2017), becoming the fourth Rockies starter to start game No.1 and No. 162 in the same season.

On top of his on-field struggles, Freeland’s season was also muddied by injuries. He spent two separate stints on the injured list – April 15-28 with left shoulder inflammation (retroactive to April 13) and August 24-September 15 with cervical radiculopathy. 

Ahead of his first IL stint, Freeland was pitching well. In three starts, he’d posted a 1-1 record with a 2.30 ERA across 15.2 innings. He hadn’t allowed more than two runs in any of the three starts.

But when he returned, the wheels fell off.

In his first start back against the Cincinnati Reds, he allowed four runs on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts. Two of the runs came off a Spencer Steer home run in the first inning. In each of his first four starts after coming off the IL, he allowed four or more runs while only pitching five complete innings twice in that span. 

May was Freeland’s worst month when he posted a 12.46 ERA across 21.2 innings (five starts). He struggled through June and July, but really hit his stride again in August, posting a 2.52 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in four starts. He allowed four runs on six hits with the two homers on August 19th, but then was placed on the IL again.

In his final three starts, Freeland went 0-2 with a 9.82 ERA across 11 innings to likely end his career in Purple Pinstripes.

It’s unclear at this time what the future holds for the five-time Roberto Clemente Award nominee, as his contract expired at the end of the 2026 season.

But regardless, I will always be a Kyle Freeland Fan.

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Another October thud, naturally, leads to winter questions, some quite thorny. Where do the Yankees go from here, apart from taking some time to process the ache of getting swept by the Rays in the ALDS? 

That’s consecutive ALDS exits against AL East rivals that were better than the Yanks during the regular season now, so the team must get better. How does that happen? There are important free agents looming, like closer David Bednar, so big decisions must be made. All those will come as the sport sorts through negotiations for a new labor agreement, which will have an as-yet unknown impact on the game’s economics.

Here are five Yankees storylines to follow during the offseason... 

Will Aaron Boone be back? 

The outside debate over whether the Yanks need a new dugout voice rages with every end of season loss (and often long before). Perhaps a culture jolt would be just the thing. But fans’ ire does not fire or hire when it comes to the Yankee manager, so Boone seems likely to stick. 

He’s got one year left on his deal. A likely lockout would give a new manager little time to get set and get to know players. Big-name stars such as Aaron Judge and Cam Schlittler backed Boone after the Game 3 loss. 

There’s also an easy way for the Yankees to talk themselves into letting Boone proceed -- Judge, probably the best hitter in the world, played only 66 games, none in the postseason. Other stars missed significant time, too. In a season of tribulation, the Yankees weren’t good enough, but they still won 93 games and beat Boston in the Wild Card Series. Boone has missed the playoffs once in nine years guiding the Yanks.

What does Aaron Judge’s "all-in" look like?

Judge urged the Yanks to go "all-in" and "go out there and get it" to fill whatever holes the team has going forward. How does that happen, especially in a generally-thin free agent market? The Yankees have some well-regarded young big leaguers who helped them get to the playoffs. 

Do they get creative on the trade market with them and their prospects? Or do they trade peanuts for some team’s bad contract and hope they snag a player who is re-energized in the Bronx? They’d better do something, especially with a lineup that flagged during the season and then produced, well, that October. 

It’s one thing to say that good pitching beats good hitting in the October cauldron, but the Yankees were dreadful on offense against the Rays, batting .130 with a .431 OPS. Even with the team missing Judge, they can’t be that awful. Without Ben Rice, would they have even scored at all? (We’re exaggerating, he only drove in three of the Yanks five runs in the series, but still).

There’s no wiggle room at designated hitter. Rice and Judge, who turns 35 in April, require at-bats there. Giancarlo Stanton has no position other than DH. Maybe they could steal from the Rays playbook and add players with big-time ball-in-play skills to diversify? 

Second thoughts

Jazz Chisholm Jr. is a free agent and Anthony Volpe revitalized his career after being sent to Triple-A and returning with vigor. Perhaps Chisholm out, Volpe in is the easiest way to solve second base. 

It’s pretty unlikely Chisholm returns -- he did not live up to his big talent in his walk year, heard boos at Yankee Stadium, and was so un-vital to the Yankee cause that Boone didn't start him in Game 3 against a righty. 

The Yanks could make him a qualifying offer and get a draft pick when he signs elsewhere. But they’d have to be OK with him returning. He could just grab the $23-plus million and try to reset his free agency with a bigger season on what figures to be a good Yankee team in ‘27. 

Finally, the Yanks’ biggest deadline deal brought them Luis García Jr., a thunderous lefty bat. He played only first base for the Yankees and Nationals this season, but spent the previous three seasons as Washington’s second baseman. He’s played second, but can he play second? Especially for a club that just embarrassed itself defensively this postseason?

Pen notes

The Yanks have done a remarkable job discovering and developing useful relievers for years, but that doesn’t mean they should overthink closer this winter. Bednar is a free agent. The Yankees should re-sign him. He recorded 35 saves and a 2.47 ERA in 64 games during the regular season and added three scoreless postseason innings. 

He’s proven he can handle the New York market, and his entrance song -- "Renegade" by Styx -- sounds cool. 

Beyond Bednar, Paul Blackburn is another key bullpen free agent and he’s coming off an insane platform year -- a 1.69 ERA in 62 games and one hit allowed over six shutout innings in the playoffs. He’s a keeper, too.

Get defensive

We’ll stop short of using the term "run prevention" for obvious reasons, but the Yanks have had two high-profile defensive meltdowns in the postseason in the last three seasons and need to fix their defense. A few Dodgers chirped them after the Game 5 debacle in the 2024 World Series, but that wasn’t humiliating enough to prevent the Yankees from bungling Game 2 against the Rays with another torrent of miscues. 

Another early October exit is, sadly for them, becoming familiar territory. But a near-annual blooper-fest in the playoffs can’t be on repeat, too. If it takes new defensive protocols, more infield practice during the season, more accountability or better defenders, it must stop. 

Angel Martinez has had a horrific 2026 ALDS so far… he should still start in left field tonight.

First, let’s stare at the bleak numbers right in the face. Martinez is 0 for 12 with 7 strikeouts. He is chasing everything and whiffing at everything. He has gone 0 for 4 with runners on base and stranded eight baserunners, including three who were on third base. In positive news, he has been solid in left field and ran a mile to catch a pop-up that Brayan Rocchio and Jose Ramirez lost in the lights in Monday’s games. …But, his -100 wRC+ feels about right… he is a clear negative in terms of helping the Guardians win a baseball game at the moment.

So, why shouldn’t Stephen Vogt make a switch today? Maybe put Adell in right, DeLauter in left and let Nate Lowe DH and David Fry play first base, or vice versa? Maybe make Travis Bazzana DH and get Angel Genao a start at second base?

The reason is because Angel Martinez was one of the hottest hitters in baseball August-September with a 152 wRC+ and a .310/.346/.510 slashline. He is more than capable of getting back on track and the way to do so is pretty simple… I am sure every coach and player around him is saying “Just stay patient enough to make them throw you a strike. Force the pitcher to get the ball in the zone and jump on it.” If Angel can take even one walk or get to even one full-count early in the game, he will give himself the potential to unleash his power on this series.

The options behind Martinez are a big part of why he should continue to start. While I thought it might be nice to give him a chance to enter the game off the bench and start Daniel Schneemann yesterday, neither Schneemann, nor Petey Halpin, nor Angel Genao, nor David Fry are offensive threats of particular note. Genao showed some good contact ability yesterday… Martinez has contact ability if he can just lay off a few non-competitive pitches. Fry’s year-long struggles are well-known, Halpin is defense and speed only, and Daniel Schneemann has a career wRC+ under 80. The time to have added another bopper is passed. Martinez gives the team their best chance of impacting the ball with some authority in his role and should get another chance tonight.

Now, if we are sitting here Friday having somehow won the game, and Martinez is now 0 for 16 with 10 strikeouts… I think then it is time to recognize he’s not pulling out of it with the weight of the playoffs sitting firmly on his shoulders and a breather is probably best. Of course, there is no tomorrow. The Guardians have to win today or they are done. So, it’s a risk to continue to start Martinez… but I don’t think there is a preferable risk to exchange his volatility to pursue.

Angel, you’ve got this. You’ve done it all season long. You’ve seen all these pitchers a dozen times. Take a deep breath and remember it’s not all on you. Spit on some bad pitches and pounce on the first thing you see in the zone and you can redeem every bad game that’s happened before like they never existed. We believe in you.

Do you remember as a kid when you would go to the Boardwalk and there would be a sketch artist sitting on the pier somewhere and they would ask if you would like to have your picture drawn? Then they would create a picture with an oversized head and a tiny body trying to ride a bicycle or something like that?

The 2026 Phillies were a caricature. They had a big head and a tiny rest of its body.

They entered the 2026 season knowing they were a top-heavy operation. Offensively, Kyle Schwarber ($30 million), Trea Turner ($27.3 million) and Bryce Harper ($25.4 million) were their big-ticket items, high priced veteran superstars whose job it was to carry the team. They were led by a starting rotation featuring Zack Wheeler ($42 million), Aaron Nola ($24.5 million), Jesus Luzardo ($11 million) and Cristopher Sanchez ($5.7 million), as well as a top closer in Jhoan Duran ($7.5 million). J.T. Realmuto signed a big off-season free agent contract, but was never considered someone who would provide a major impact.

The majority of the roster was a mix of returning veteran bats, some bargain basement outfield additions, and a bullpen that seemed to be a strength until it very quickly became apparent it wasn’t.

Turner was a disaster. Harper and Schwarber were fine, ranking 13th and 15th, respectively, in MLB OPS among qualified players. The rotation was as good as advertised, and the bullpen was one of the worst in the league as the playoffs rolled around. Nearly every returning member of the Phillies regressed from 2025 to 2026.

In the end, the Phillies tried to skate through the season with two “great” position players, three elite starting pitchers, and one elite bullpen arm. The rest was a collection of underachieving veterans who were unable to provide enough value to substantially move the needle.

Simply put, there were not enough solid Major League contributors on the 40-man roster this year compared to the other 12 MLB playoff teams.

This year, the Phillies had three position players worth at least 1.5 fWAR on their roster: Bryson Stott (3.8), Harper (3.3) and Schwarber (2.9). That was the fewest of any team in the playoffs. The Brewers and Cubs each had 8. The White Sox had 7. The Dodgers, Guardians, Padres, Yankees and Rays each has 6.

Pitching-wise, the Phillies had 6 pitchers worth at least 1.0 fWAR: Sanchez (6.2), Luzardo (5.5), Wheeler (4.0), Duran (2.9), Nola (1.3) and Andrew Painter (1.1). The Dodgers had TWICE as many, 12, with the Brewers and Red Sox each having 9. The Yankees had 8. The Braves, Padres and Rays had 7 each.

When you add up all the hitters with 1.5+ fWAR and pitchers worth 1.0+ fWAR, the Phillies had 9 such players, the fewest of any postseason team. By comparison, the Dodgers had 18. The Brewers had 17. The Yankees, 14. Four teams had 13.

Dombrowski will have money to spend this off-season. There will be raises to Luzardo and Sanchez thanks to their well-deserved contract extensions, but there is significant money coming off the books. Dead cash for Nick Castellanos and Taijuan Walker, about $38 million, will be freed up. However, there are no star free agents outside of Japanese imports worth spending big bucks on.

The most likely free agent of note the Phils could sign is outfielder Randy Arozarena, who put up a career year in Seattle this season. They will give the soon-to-be 32-year-old a contract that everyone will be uncomfortable with to play left or right field, and it will probably be the right move. But outside of that, Dombrowski’s mission must be to find more 1.5+ fWAR hitters and 1.0+ fWAR pitchers.

He must balance the roster.

Harper is no longer good enough to be at the head of a top-heavy roster. After a 2025 season in which Dave Dombrowski questioned whether Harper was still elite, Harper was actually worth a little less in ‘26 than he was in ‘25:

• 2025: 132 games, 3.4 fWAR, .261/.357/.487, .844 OPS, 27 HRs, 75 RBIs
• 2026: 162 games, 3.3 fWAR, .269/.380/.485, .865 OPS, 29 HRs, 87 RBIs

We now know what Harper is at 33 years old. He’s slightly less than a 3.5-win player. That is a very fine thing to be and right in line with his very reasonable $25.4 million salary. Schwarber, the team’s other big bat, did not have as productive a season as his previous two:

• 2024: 150 games, 3.2 fWAR, .248/.366/.485, .851 OPS, 38 HRs, 104 RBIs
• 2025: 162 games, 4.8 fWAR, .240/.365/.563, .928 OPS, 56 HRs, 132 RBIs
• 2026: 156 games, 2.9 fWAR, .232/.354/.503, .857 OPS, 45 HRs, 97 RBIs

Schwarber is still one of the game’s most feared power hitters, and when he’s on a hot streak, he can carry the team for a solid month. But he can also go quite cold. He had just a .199 batting average in the second half last year, hitting .172/.330/.379 in September. He will be 34 next year.

When your two best players are streaky and, frankly, do not provide elite production, they need to be supplemented with other players throughout the roster who do more things well than what we saw this season.

It’s well past time to have serious conversations about Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh and Alec Bohm. Despite another mediocre year at the plate and his annual disappearing act in the postseason, Stott led the team in fWAR thanks mostly to his defensive versatility and baserunning. He would likely fetch a decent price as a trade chip this off-season. After starting the All Star Game last summer, Marsh finished as a player who was barely above replacement-level, with a 0.3 fWAR in 155 games. He should be traded. Bohm, worth 0.2 fWAR despite a better second half, should not be back.

The Phillies can only hope J.T. Realmuto and Trea Turner figure something out this off-season, because while Dombrowski might want to trade them, he won’t find any takers. And despite what you may have read, it is highly unlikely Harper or Schwarber are going anywhere in trades. They control their destiny, although Dombrowski should be willing to listen to any and all offers and present them to his two veteran stars.

Dombrowski has to rely on his pro and minor league scouts to earn their money. They need to comb through the 40-man rosters of every team in the league, identify players who can contribute at the Major League level, and swing some trades. They need to make smarter free agent decisions. That means no more Adolis Garcia-Max Kepler one-year deals to failing, washed-up veterans. This also means bringing aboard guys who are more well-rounded. Guys who play good defense, don’t chase at the plate, and understand what a professional at-bat looks like.

More importantly, they need to load up their system with bullpen arms and stash as many guys with plus-stuff on their minor league teams and on the 40-man as they can. The only minor league reliever to have any significant impact this year was Alex McFarlane, and they waited until late July to get him on the 26-man roster. Getting even 2 or 3 guys who can provide 1.0+ fWAR out of the bullpen as a middle reliever would be a major victory.

This is where champions are built. If there was a big-money free agent that could take over as the No. 1 star on the team, the Phillies would, and should, go for it. But outside of Japan, that player isn’t out there. So, the Phillies will enter the 2027 season with Harper and Schwarber as the guys they’re building around, hoping that Turner re-joins them in creating a Big 3.

Big game hunting is fun, but in the case of this sinking Phillies team, they simply need more competent big league baseball players in the organization to make the top-heavy roster look less like a caricature and more like a real playoff team capable of winning a World Series.