Author: MLB Baseball News, Scores, Standings, Rumors, Fantasy Games

On May 26, 2023, I had the unfortunate experience of sitting through a Noah Syndergaard start at Tropicana Field. Normally, Dodger baseball is fun, even in defeat, but this game was an exception. The Rays were getting on base and turning the game into a de facto track meet by bullying Syndergaard’s complete inability to hold runners on.

I even had to double-check my notes, but Taylor Walls stole second and third base on consecutive pitches.

Even with proper lighting on streaming that was oddly lacking at the venue, this game was not fun.

If I were at home for that game, I would have stopped and gone to do something else. It was this game where I coined the phrase “being trapped at the ballpark.” I spent all this time and effort to get to St. Petersburg, FL; I had clocked the game as a loss before I even touched down, and I still felt obligated to stay and watch a one-sided, dreary affair.

This anecdote is noteworthy now, because the Brewers have essentially been able to run at will on Dodger pitching in the NLCS. At the beginning of the series, I figured runs would be a premium.

Runs have been hard to come by for the Dodgers, but not so much for the Brewers.

No free rides

I wasn’t worried about Tarik Skubal or Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but clearly I was wrong. But Skubal and Yamamoto weren’t dishing out free passes, either. Blake Snell and, particularly, Tyler Glasnow are middling at holding runners in 2026.

• Snell – 10 steals in 13 attempts
• Glasnow – 14 steals in 17 attempts
• Skubal – 4 steals in 4 attempts (with Los Angeles); 4 steals in 5 attempts (with Detroit)
• Yamamoto – 6 steals in 10 attempts

It’s not 2023-Noah Syndergaard bad, but if the Brewers turn the base paths into a track meet, that favors their style of play.

Snell and Glasnow have to pitch better than they did previously in the NLDS. If they combine for another ten walks over the next 48 hours, any attempt at coming back in this series likely ends before it has a chance to get started.

Turns out, you can now run on Will Smith

Will Smith nabbed ten base stealers in the regular season in 49 attempts, for a 20.4% caught-stealing rate. The league average in 2026 was a 23.3% caught-stealing rate. It’s not terrible, but a far cry from when he caught 32 out of 96 would-be basestealers to lead all of baseball in 2024.

As an aside, for those wondering if Hunter Feduccia would fare better at holding the Brewers’ running game at bay, the answer is probably not.

In 2026, in 59 games with the Rays, there were 37 stolen bases in 49 attempts, which is a 24.5% caught-stealing rate. What’s the problem?

However, with the Dodgers, in 31 games, Feduccia has only caught two runners in 27 attempts. Technically.

One of those was on the last day of the regular season campaign, when Jack Dreyer picked off Scott Bandura with Feduccia never touching the ball.

The other, which is far more relevant to our discussion before Game 3, is that Feduccia’s other nabbed runner with the Dodgers was Jake Bauers of the Milwaukee Brewers on August 14, 2026.

If there was an opportunity to repeat this bit of history, now would be the time.

Recently, a young man from Chicago’s South Side went viral for his feelings about what happens if, or when, his White Sox lose. The sixth grader spoke straight from my soul when he said he would have “no heart for baseball” if the Sox lose. This has long been my relationship with baseball and the Yankees.

Frankly, when it comes to Major League Baseball, if it is not the Yankees, I have no desire to watch. Never have, never will. Call me an old-timer, but I would rather read about the outcome the next morning than try to enjoy another team winning in the moment. Unfortunately, like so many other times over the last 17 years, that means that after enjoying the fall weather until darkness forces me inside, I now have no baseball to enjoy.

This year, with a lockout looming and the longest championship drought of my fandom’s life, the darkness feels earlier than ever. The void that the NFL and betting app commercials are trying their best to fill still feels empty. I have never done a good job of preventing the Yankees’ elimination from souring me on sports for a bit, but this year, I have decided to try an unexpected way to fill the void.

If you did not know, Mike Pinsky is on Season 51 of Survivor. Why would a random man on a reality television show that has been running for over 26 years matter in this context? Well, you see, Pinsky just so happens to be the Yankees’ assistant director of baseball operations.

What is an assistant director of baseball operations? According to what has been released and what Pinsky himself has said on the show, his role involves advising general manager Brian Cashman on roster construction, assisting with contract negotiations, and helping evaluate trade and free-agent targets.

So essentially, Pinsky gets paid to do what we all do right here on our beloved Pinstripe Alley, but with a direct line to Cashman. In an interview with The Athletic, Cashman offered the kind of praise he might give to any player in the Yankees organization, calling Pinsky a gifted person and saying he believes Pinsky has what it takes to endure and win. Gotta love that Cashman just recycled the lines he has used to describe players year after year.

For those who are not familiar, Survivor is a game played on an island in Fiji that combines physical competitions and social manipulation to whittle a group of contestants down to a “Sole Survivor.” The show has really changed from a survival-like competition into something more like a chess match involving immunity idols, advantages, twists, and jury management. That means backstabbing or building relationships so well that people still vote for you to win at the end.

Now, this show is not for everyone, but it does offer a chance to quickly strip away some layers and learn a lot about the players. The show is designed to make contestants uncomfortable and expose their generosity, arrogance, paranoia, patience, and resilience in a foodless vacuum.

The season’s fourth episode airs tonight, and spoiler alert: Pinsky, unlike the Yankees, is still alive. Our very own Mr. October. I am officially locking in, not necessarily because I think this somehow counts as a Yankees win if he pulls it off, but because I want to learn all I can. I want to know what Pinsky will do. How will he handle things? When is he going to reference work and apply it to the strategy of the game he is playing? Will he say the word “analytics”?

I mean, come on, what if he tells us how much the Yankees really depend on analytics in their decision-making? Pinsky has said there are parallels between the Yankees’ management structure and his experience playing Survivor. A fellow contestant compared playing with Pinsky to playing with a sponge, saying he spent his time soaking up information without giving anything back. Call me a sponge too, because whether it is fair, foul, or fruitless, I want to learn more about one of the personalities in the Yankees’ front office and its processes while hopefully being entertained once a week. 

Realistically, I know we will not get Pinsky telling Jeff Probst about the Yankees’ salary restrictions or potential free agent targets. I also realize this sounds like a fan who is so starved for actual team success that they have been reduced to cheering for a front-office suit eating bugs on an island just to feel something in October.

But hey, here’s to hoping other fans enjoy watching whichever team wins the World Series. For me, I’ll support the last Yankee standing. I hope Pinsky has the time of his life and represents the organization well. At the end of the day, this is his individual journey and story, but it’s kind of cool to have a Yankee still alive in October, at least for now.

Earlier today Rawlings announced the finalists for this years Gold Glove awards.

TJ Rumfield was named as a finalist among National League first basemen alongside Matt Olson of the Atlanta Braves and Ty France of the San Diego Padres.

Rumfield is one of five rookies since 1901 to have a season with at least 1,150 innings played at first base and seven or fewer errors, joining Todd Helton (1998), Travis Lee (1998, ARI), Freddie Freeman (2011, ATL), and Nolan Schanuel (2024, LAA). https://t.co/fJwmOpcZPo

— Rockies Club Information (@RockiesClubInfo) October 14, 2026

Rumfield’s consistent glove work helped stabilize the Rockies infield all season, and it appears as though the that did not go unnoticed by people outside the organization. The 26 year old rookie played 139 games at first base this season, committed only seven errors, and collected six Defensive Runs Saved.

Rumfield faces stiff competition for the award as the other finalists, Olson and France, already have four Gold Gloves between them. Olson leads all NL first basemen in Outs Above Average with 11 whereas France leads in Defensive Runs Saved with 15.

Rumfield is the lone Rockie to have been named a Gold Glove finalist this season.

The winners are set to be announced on Sunday, November 1.

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Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom, outfielders Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter, and infielder/outfielder Ezequiel Duran have been named finalists for the 2027 Rawlings Gold Glove Awards. The full list of finalists in both leagues is here.

Along with deGrom, the finalists among the pitchers in the American League are Tanner Bibee of the Guardians and Jose Soriano, now of the Blue Jays. One would not normally expect a 38 year old managing various physical issues to be a Gold Glove finalist, but then, life is full of surprises. deGrom has never won a Gold Glove before.

Langford is a finalist in left field, going up against Cody Bellinger of the Yankees and Chandler Simpson of the Rays. Langford was +5 in Statcast’s Fielding Runs Value in 2026 between left field and center field, and +10 in DRS. compared to Simpson’s +3/+8 and Bellinger’s +8/+20.

Carter is up against Steven Kwan and Ceddanne Rafaela for the center field Gold Glove award. Carter is +9 in FRV and +6 in DRS, while Kwan is +7 and +17 while playing center and left roughly the same amount in 2026. Rafaela is at +16 and +21.

Duran is a finalist for the utility Gold Glove, along with Jose Caballero of the Yankees and Zach McKinstry of the Tigers. Duran played every position except for pitcher and catcher over the course of 153 games in 2026, with the bulk of his playing time coming at third base and shortstop.

The winners will be announced on November 1.

The Mets have three finalists for National League Gold Glove awards.

Carson Benge is a finalist in right field, Nolan McLeanis a finalist for pitchers, and Luis Torrens is a finalist behind the plate. 

Benge will be competing with Corbin Carroll of the Diamondbacks and Seiya Suzuki of the Cubs for the award.

In his rookie season, Benge emerged as a game-changer in the outfield with both his glove and arm.

Benge was above average when it came to OAA (Outs Above Average), grading out in the 70th percentile, via Baseball Savant. He was at the very top of the league in arm value (100th percentile) and arm strength (99th percentile).

He also had 10 outfield assists, which was tops among all NL right fielders and third among all NL outfielders (Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages had 14 and Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill had 11). 

Given how poorly Carroll's arm rated (he was in the first percentile in arm value), it's possible the race comes down to Benge and Suzuki, whose advanced numbers were elite across the board. 

McLean is battling with Chris Sale of the Braves and Michael McGreevy of the Cardinals for the NL award at pitcher.

Torrens, who is seeking to become the first Mets catcher to ever win a Gold Glove, is up against Freddy Fermin of the Padres and Gabriel Moreno of the Diamondbacks.

Torrens' defense was elite in 2026, with his blocks above average (85th percentile), framing (86th percentile), caught stealing above average (89th percentile), and pop time (95th percentile) all near the top of the league.  

The last Met to win a Gold Glove was Juan Lagares, who secured the award for center field in 2014. 

The Houston Astros announced today that manager Joe Espada will not return for the 2027 season.

I think this was expected, given that the Astros granted the Seattle Mariners permission to interview Espada for Seattle’s vacant managerial job. The interesting thing, though, is that a number of coaches — pitching coach Josh Miller, hitting coach Victor Rodriguez, first base coach Dave Clark, major league field coordinator Jason Bell, and bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte will reportedly return for the 2027 season.

The Astros are not bringing back assistant hitting caoch Anthony Iapoce, assistant pitching coach Ethan Katz, third base coach Tony Perezchica, game planning coach Tommy Kawamura and catching instructor Tim Cossins. If Iapoce’s name sounds familiar, he was the Rangers’ hitting coach under Jeff Banister from 2016-18.

This is kind of weird. The Astros do not have a manager or general manager at this point, and in the normal course of things, you’d expect the team to hire a general manager, who would hire a manager, who would then assemble a coaching staff. As it is, the incoming general manager and the incoming manager will apparently be inheriting coaches that are already in place and that they will be expected to work with.

I have not seen anything as of yet in regards to who the Astros may be planning on interviewing for either position. Or at least I don’t remember seeing anything about that. It is possible I saw something about it and then forgot, because there’s a lotta ins, a lotta outs, a lotta what-have-yous. A lotta strands in ol’ Duder’s head.

While the Royals may have struggled on offense at times this year, defense does not slump. The Royals flashed some leather in the infield this year, and today all four defenders were named finalists for Gold Glove Awards. Vinnie Pasquantino, Michael Massey, and Nick Loftin are all up for the first award, while two-time winner Bobby Witt Jr. has a chance to repeat as top overall defender.

Bobby Witt Jr. won the 2025 American League Platinum Award for top overall defender. He led all American League players at all positions with +25 Outs Above Average. He led all American League shortstops with 71 double plays and Fielding Run Value with +17.

Vinnie Pasquantino was second among American League first baseman in Defensive Runs Saved with 7, behind only Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is also a finalist. Houston’s Christian Walker is the other Gold Glove finalist at first base.

Michael Massey was second among all American League second basemen in Outs Above Average at +11 behind only Jazz Chisholm Jr. of the Yankees and was tied for second in Defensive Runs Saved with 5 behind only Cole Young of the Mariners. He tied Young for the highest fielding percentage for anyone with at least 750 innings at .990, and his 68 double plays were second behind only Young. Massey is up against Young and Chase Meidroth of the White Sox, all of whom are seeking their first Gold Glove.

In his first full year in the big leagues, Nick Loftin was tied for fourth among American League third basemen in Outs Above Average with +6 and was third in fielding percentage for third basemen with 500+ innings at .982. Loftin is up against Caleb Durbin of the Red Sox and Brooks Lee of the Twins.

Winners will be announced on November 1 on ESPN. Here is how Gold Glove finalists and winners are determined, according to MLB.com:

To determine the winners at the nine standard positions, the 30 MLB managers and up to six coaches from each team vote from a pool of players in their league, excluding players from their own team. These votes comprise 75% of the selection total, with the SABR Defensive Index counting for the other 25%.

For the utility position, Rawlings collaborated with SABR to create a specialized defensive formula separate from the traditional selection process.

Here is a complete list of finalists:

American League

Pitcher:
Tanner Bibee (Guardians), Jacob deGrom (Rangers), José Soriano (Angels/Blue JAayS)

Catcher:
Dillon Dingler (Tigers), Brandon Valenzuela (Blue Jays), Austin Wells (Yankees)

First Base:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Blue Jays), Vinnie Pasquantino (Royals), Christian Walker (Astros)

Second Base:
Michael Massey (R0yals), Chase Meidroth (White Sox), Cole Young (Mariners)

Third Base:
Caleb Durbin (Red Sox), Brooks Lee (Twins), Nick Loftin (Royals)

Shortstop:
Andrés Giménez (Blue Jays), Taylor Walls (Rays), Bobby Witt Jr. (Royals)

Left Field:
Cody Bellinger (Yankees), Wyatt Langford (Rangers), Chandler Simpson (Rays)

Center Field:
Evan Carter (Rangers), Steven Kwan (Guardians), Ceddanne Rafaela (Red Sox)

Right Field:
Wilyer Abreu (Red Sox), Nathan Lukes (Blue Jays), Cam Smith (Astros)

Utility:
José Caballero (Yankees), Ezequiel Duran (Rangers), Zach McKinstry (Tigers)

National League

Pitcher:
Nolan McLean (Mets), Michael McGreevy (Cardinals), Chris Sale (Braves)

Catcher:
Freddy Fermin (Padres), Gabriel Moreno (Diamondbacks), Luis Torrens (Mets)

First Base:
Ty France (Padres), Matt Olson (Braves), TJ Rumfield (Rockies)

Second Base:
Brandon Lowe (Pirates), Brice Turang (Brewers), JJ Wetherholt (Cardinals)

Third Base:
Alex Bregman (Cubs), Max Muncy (Dodgers), Javier Sanoja (Marlins)

Shortstop:
Geraldo Perdomo (Diamondbacks), Dansby Swanson (Cubs), Masyn Winn (Cardinals)

Left Field:
Jackson Chourio (Brewers), Ian Happ (Cubs), Daylen Lile (Nationals)

Center Field:
Pete Crow-Armstrong (Cubs), Michael Harris II (Braves), Andy Pages (Dodgers)

Right Field:
Carson Benge (Mets), Corbin Carroll (Diamondbacks), Seiya Suzuki (Cubs)

Utility:
Mauricio Dubón (Braves), Jared Triolo (Pirates), Ildemaro Vargas (Diamondbacks)

Austin Wells, Cody Bellinger and Jose Caballero are three Yankees named finalists for the Gold Glove Award at their respective positions Wednesday. 

Wells, along with Toronto's Brandon Valenzuela and the Tigers' Dillon Dingler are the three American League catchers vying for the top defensive award in MLB. 

The Yankees backstop may have struggled offensively, but his defense continued to improve this season. According to Baseball Savant, the 27-year-old is in the 92nd percentile in blocks above average (9) and in the 95th percentile in framing (7). While his caught-stealing average (-3) and pop time (1.97) rank low, his work behind the plate while managing one of the best starting rotations in the majors has earned Wells his first nomination. 

For Bellinger, the veteran outfielder is looking for his second Gold Glove after capturing the award in his 2019 MVP year. 

Bellinger is joined by the Rangers' Wyatt Langford and the Rays' Chandler Simpson as the three finalists for AL left field. The 31-year-old led all left fielders in DRS (21) and FRV (8) and was second in OAA (6). 

Caballero will be up against the Rangers' Ezequiel Duran and the Tigers' Zach McKinstry in the utility category. He'll look to be the second Yankee ever to win the award in that category after DJ LeMahieu was the inaugural AL winner back in 2022. 

The Gold Glove Award winners will be announced Nov. 1. 

The Cubs are known as an elite defensive unit and today, Rawlings announced the “finalists” for their Gold Glove Awards for this year.

In reality, these aren’t actually “finalists,” which is why that’s in quotes — there isn’t another election. The players named today are simply the top three vote-getters at every position in the voting that was conducted before the end of the regular season.

Five Cubs are listed as finalists: Pete Crow-Armstrong in center field (one previous Gold Glove), Alex Bregman at third base (one previous Gold Glove), Dansby Swanson at shortstop (two previous Gold Gloves), Ian Happ for left field (four previous Gold Gloves) and Seiya Suzuki for right field (this would be his first, though he won five Golden Gloves in Japan, the NPB equivalent).

It’s a bit of a surprise, but not that much, that former Gold Glove winner Nico Hoerner didn’t make it. Hoerner wound up playing at shortstop in Dansby Swanson’s place this year, and while Nico was still an elite fielder, his defensive numbers were down a bit.

If you’re interested, here’s how the voting is conducted.

Congratulations to all the Cubs named today and I believe there should be several winners here, likely PCA and Happ for sure, and hopefully the other three.

The 2026 Gold Glove winners will be announced in an ESPN broadcast at 8 p.m. CT on Sunday, Nov. 1. Platinum Glove voting will begin immediately after the broadcast on Rawlings.com.

Jim Crane clearly wanted an organization reset in Houston.

The Astros are not renewing manager Joe Espada’s expiring contract, the team announced Wednesday, moving on from the third-year skipper months after dumping general manager Dana Brown.

Houston also announced that five additional coaches will also not be returning for 2027, while bench coach Omar Lopez has been offered a new role within the organization.

“We are thankful for Joe’s hard work, his passion for the game, and for his commitment to the Houston Astros,” Crane, the owner, said in a statement posted to MLB.com. “He represented the Astros and the Houston community in the most positive way. We wish he and his family the best moving forward.”

The Astros are going through a down period following their seven straight ALCS trips from 2017-23 that resulted in two World Series, having failed to win a playoff series during Espada’s three years.

After serving as the team’s bench coach from 2018-23, the former Yankees assistant took over a team that lost in the Game 7 of the 2023 ALCS and oversaw a wild-card sweep in 2024 by the Tigers, a 2025 campaign without a postseason berth and another wild-card sweep this year by the Guardians.

In retrospect, the team tipped its hands when it allowed Espada to interview for the vacant Mariners managerial opening while he was still under contract for the time being.

Espada went 256-229 in the regular season and 0-4 in the postseason as the team’s manager, winning a pair of AL West crowns.

This year’s team won the division with an 81-81 record, the worst record for an MLB playoff team in a 162-game season, and that inconsistency cost Brown his job in late August.

There had been rumors of disputing views on a trade involving reliever Bryan Abreu that Crane ultimately nixed.

After the split, which came during the last year of Brown’s contract, the team said in a release at the time that Crane would oversee baseball operations during the “transition period.”

In its announcement Wednesday, the Astros also stated that five coaches will be retained for 2027, including the pitching and hitting coaches.

While Houston has enjoyed grand success over the last 10 years, consistently allowing premium talent like Gerrit Cole, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, to exit has left the roster exposed.

1906
The White Sox beat the Cubs, winning the World Series four games to two, behind the pitching of Doc White. The South Siders clinched the title by winning the sixth game, 8-3. The White Sox wasted no time in putting this one out of reach, jumping out to a 7-1 lead after two innings against Cubs ace Mordecai Brown, who was knocked from the box with two outs in the second inning. Jiggs Donohue provided the most potent blow, driving in two runs with a ground-rule double in the bottom of the first, putting the White Sox up for good, 3-1.

The win remains one of the biggest upsets in World Series history. Ironically, the light-hitting White Sox ended up putting up 37 hits in the Series, to the 116-36-3 Cubs’ 36. The “Hitless Wonders” White Sox had a team batting average of only .230 for the season and hit even worse (.198) in the series. But they collected 10 doubles and three triples in the six games — and held the powerful Cubs to a series batting average of only .196.

Best of all, a crowd of 19,249 at South Side Park got to witness the only home win of the entire World Series.

Ed Walsh won two games for the Sox during the Series, with infielder George Rohe batting .333, leading the team with an OPS of better than 1.000, and playing in all six games. Rohe also contributed the key moment of the Series, clearing the bases with a two-out triple to give the White Sox a lead in Game 3 and contributing a Series-high 276.51 championship leverage (cLI) score to the cause.

Based on championship win probability (cWPA), the MVP of the Series would have gone to Nick Altrock, who won Game 1 and lost a heartbreaker in Game 4, with 26.33% cWPA. Others in the running would have included Donohue (18.39%), Rohe (13.55%) and George Davis (17.72%).

Leadoff hitter Ed Hahn smacked four singles in five at-bats, just the second White Sox player to have four hits in one postseason game — answering Frank Isbell’s effort all the way back in … Game 5 of the Series! Only two White Sox have matched that feat since.

Reflective of the time, both the White Sox and Cubs used just four pitchers apiece to span all 54 innings of the Series.

After the win, owner Charles Comiskey handed a $15,000 check to manager Fielder Jones, to be split among the players. The players viewed the check as a bonus for their championship effort. Comiskey, though, considered it as part of their 1907 salary! To put that bonus/advance in perspective, the loser’s share for the Cubs ($439.50) remains the lowest in World Series history.

The 1906 Fall Classic remains the only time in 120 years that the White Sox and Cubs have ever met in the postseason. It also remains the only playoff series the White Sox have ever clinched at home.

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1911
Matty McIntyre doubled to tie Game 2 of the City Series, 7-7, in the top of the eighth at Wrigley Field. Later in the frame, McIntyre would score the eventual winning run. The clutch hit was capped quite a season for McIntyre; the White Sox had purchased the veteran left fielder from Detroit before the season, and the 31-year-old delivered in a big way, with 17 steals, 52 RBIs, a .323/.397/.401 slash and 4.2 WAR.

The 8-7 win gave the White Sox a 2-0 lead in the Series, which they would sweep two games later.

That sweep would mark the first-ever City Series win for the White Sox (not counting the World Series win in 1906), making the South Siders’ all-time Series record 1-2-1 at that point. It also was the first of many City Series upsets to come for the White Sox, who came into the clash with the Cubs with 15 fewer wins in the 1911 season.

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1922
In front of 14,677 fans, Ray Schalk’s squeeze bunt with one out in the ninth inning scored Earl Sheely for a 1-0, walk-off win at Comiskey Park.

Red Faber was the pitching hero, twirling a three-hitter. However, the Cubs finished off the White Sox the next day, taking the 1922 City Series.

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2005
Jon Garland threw the second straight White Sox complete game in the ALCS, going the distance for a 5-2 win that ended up decided with one out in the first. Scott Podsednik singled to lead off, was sacrificed to second by Tadahito Iguchi, scored on a Jermaine Dye double — and the White Sox finished the initial flurry with eventual ALCS MVP Paul Konerko clocking a home run to left-center. Konerko would go 3-for-4 in the game, and those top four batters in the order 8-for-15.

Garland scattered four hits and a walk, striking out seven.

The win gave Chicago a 2-1 advantage in the ALCS, two wins from a pennant.

Jarvis Gomez was hot at the plate all summer in the Dominican Summer League, but right now he’s very cold.

In his defense, the San Isidro native is on US soil for the first time, and while it’s currently 90 degrees and rainy in Boca Chica, where the Mariners Dominican complex is located, it’s a bit more brisk on a late September afternoon in Seattle. Perhaps no one warned the 17-year-old that he might want to bring a jacket.

Gomez was in Seattle last month to accept the award for Mariners MiLB Hitter of the Year, an award he shared with slugger Lazaro Montes, who won the award for the third straight year.

But while Montes has been a prospect sensation since signing out of Cuba in 2022 for a hefty $2.2M bonus, Jarvis (yar-VEES) Gomez isn’t a name even deep-cut prospect aficionados might know.

The 5’11” outfielder signed for a modest $100K, one of the lesser-known names in a draft class where most of the attention was filtered towards outfielder Juan Rijo and infielder Gregory Pio, who signed for a combined $5M, representing about 70% of the Mariners’ total bonus pool in the 2026 signing period. Both Rijo and Pio had solid debut seasons – Pio showcased excellent plate discipline for a 17-year-old, walking more than he struck out, and Rijo hit .310 with 20 extra-base hits. Both were overshadowed, however, by Gomez, who also walked more than he struck out, but hit as many home runs as the other two combined, with six, posting a slash line one might more expect out of a big-bonus signee. His OPS of 1.013 ranked 16th out of over 300 players in the DSL, and he added 17 stolen bases on to that output.

Standing on the big-league field at T-Mobile Park, Gomez didn’t look overwhelmed by the moment, craning his neck around to hopefully catch a glimpse of his favorite player, Julio Rodríguez, and taking in the blue skies – and crisp air – of a picture-perfect fall day in Seattle.

“It’s a dream I had since I was little to be here,” he said. “[Seattle] is a beautiful place with very nice people, everybody’s been very welcoming.”

Gomez will leave the Dominican Republic behind again later this month and make his second trip stateside, heading to the Mariners’ High Performance Camp in Arizona. He says he’s excited to take the next stride in his career, and maybe just a little bit nervous.

“It’s a very big step and a big change,” he said, but says he’s excited for the “more organized” structure of the stateside complex.

But Gomez won’t be making the journey alone; he’ll travel with many of his teammates from the Mariners DSL team, which finished at the top of their division with a 33-23 record, earning a spot in the playoffs. He doesn’t see his trip to the HPC as something he’ll be doing just as part of his personal journey, but rather as a step he’s taking with his teammates from the complex league.

“It was a group effort, a lot of work all between us to achieve what we did.”

Gomez was a steady contributor to one of the better DSL teams the Mariners have put forth in recent years, contributing both at the plate and in the field. His goal at HPC is to focus on strength and conditioning, continuing the work he started in the DSL and adding muscle. Gomez has a level swing that can result in him putting the ball on the ground too often, so it would be nice to see him add in some loft without sacrificing his excellent plate discipline.

Gomez describes himself as an “electrifying” player who doesn’t fear rising to the moment.

“When it’s zero hour, I’m out there and able to show what I can do.”

It’s always a challenge to learn about the prospects in the DSL with the lack of video (other than what the players themselves post), and especially when that player is one who hasn’t been given as much scouting attention as some other players. What does Gomez want Mariners fans to know about him?

“I want them to know that I always give my maximum effort. I always like to support my teammates in difficult moments, and I’m very happy to be playing for the Seattle Mariners.”