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5 takeaways from Dombrowski, Thomson end-of-season Phillies presser originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Fall air, empty seats at Citizens Bank Park and one final media session. Dave Dombrowski and Rob Thomson met with reporters Thursday to reflect on the Phillies’ 96-win NLDS-exit season and preview an offseason of evaluation and adjustment.

The Phillies don’t sound like a team planning an overhaul. A bench coach will be hired. The outfield will have a new look. Bryce Harper is locked in at first, J.T. Realmuto’s value still resonates, and a wave of young talent is nearing the doorstep.

The message from both Dombrowski and Thomson? Their belief in this roster hasn’t wavered — but the focus now is on taking the next step to make a deep October run in 2026.

Here are five key takeaways from their remarks.

1. After Phils commit to Thomson, a new bench coach is coming as continuity remains crucial

Just two days after the Phillies extended Rob Thomson through 2026, Dombrowski emphasized that stability remains one of the club’s greatest strengths. “We believe in Rob and his staff,” he said. “They’ve helped establish a winning culture here.”

Still, one change is on the way. Mike Calitri will transition into a new role — Major League field coordinator — and the team will look externally for a new bench coach.

“It was Dave’s idea,” Thomson said. “But I thought it was a good one — another set of eyes, a different perspective.”

Beyond that, the infrastructure remains intact — a signal that both the front office and clubhouse trust the same core group that’s guided the Phillies to four straight postseason appearances.

2. The outfield and the youth could shape the offseason

For the second straight winter, Dombrowski pointed to the outfield as a possible area of change. With Harrison Bader’s mutual option, the possibility of a Nick Castellanos trade and Max Kepler’s free agency, the club could blend veteran stability with younger energy.

“Our infield is pretty well solidified,” Dombrowski said. “The outfield is a logical area that you would look at.”

Thomson agreed that some balance might be needed offensively too. “We’re awfully left-handed,” he admitted.

With lefty-swinging Kyle Tucker and Cody Bellinger among the headline free-agent outfielders, Philadelphia may instead lean on its in-house youth — including right-handed utility man Otto Kemp.

“I really liked the at-bats. He uses the entire field. He’s got a lot of thump,” Thomson said of Kemp. “He’s grounded — mentally and emotionally. I like him being an everyday player.”

Dombrowski also mentioned top prospects Justin Crawford, Andrew Painter and Aidan Miller as possible spring contributors — though not all will be Opening Day ready. Thomson echoed that enthusiasm: “I love young players because they bring energy — and the fan base loves watching them have success.”

3. Bryce Harper’s position is settled but he awaits a bounce-back 2026

After two seasons at first base, there’s no question where Harper will play. “Bryce is a first baseman at this time,” Dombrowski said. “And he’s a really good first baseman.”

Harper, however, wasn’t quite himself offensively. He hit .268 with 27 home runs — solid by most standards but not quite his MVP self. Thomson believes that’s about to change.

“I think he’s highly motivated to have the best season of his career next year,” Thomson said. “I just want him to be himself and not try to do too much … and really focus on hitting the ball the other way.”

The Phillies seem confident Harper’s third full year post–Tommy John surgery will bring out the best version of him that we’ve seen in a while.

4. The importance of J.T. Realmuto remains clear

Both Dombrowski and Thomson praised Realmuto’s leadership and preparation — a reminder of how valued the veteran catcher is as he enters free agency.

“He’s the most prepared catcher I’ve ever been around,” Thomson said.

At the same time, Thomson made a point to highlight Rafael Marchán, who impressed in limited work behind the plate. “Unbelievable … that’s one of the toughest jobs you can have, and he did a phenomenal job.”

Marchán tallied 22 hits in his limited plate appearances, but Phillies fans will long remember his three-run, go-ahead homer at Dodger Stadium in September to help Philadelphia win the regular-season series against L.A.

With Realmuto in free agency and the importance of his role handling the Phils’ rotation, the organization faces a significant decision: whether to bring back the catcher who’s started 685 games over seven seasons in red pinstripes.

5. No panic, just perspective after another postseason exit

Dombrowski and Thomson didn’t sound like they were searching for a reset button. Their tone was actually quite steady.

“We won 96 games and fought the Dodgers tooth and nail,” Thomson said. “That series could’ve gone either way. I liked our at-bats a lot better than last postseason.”

Dombrowski echoing that same sentiment, “It’s a fine line,” he said. “A pitch missing by a couple inches that gives up a three-run homer … a missed call the umpire apologized for immediately.”

The Phillies’ October run also came without Zack Wheeler, sidelined by a season-ending blood clot, showing how difficult it is to win without one of baseball’s most reliable arms.

The pain was evident, but the newly extended Phillies skipper emphasized moving on to the next challenge. “Every time we get knocked out, it hurts to the core,” Thomson said. “I’ll wear this until the first day of spring training — then I’ve got to turn the page.”

After longtime closer Clay Holmes left in free agency to become a starter with the Mets, the Yankees needed bullpen help and found it with the trade for Brewers All-Star closer Devin Williams.

Or that's what they hoped for.

Williams assumed the role of closer out of spring training but struggled out of the gate. What followed was an up-and-down season where he lost, regained, and lost his job as the team's closer before ultimately finding himself down the stretch. 

Through it all, Williams became an important piece to manager Aaron Boone's bullpen. And when the Yankees acquired David Bednar from the Pirates, with him becoming the new closer, Williams excelled as New York's setup man.

The 31-year-old is now set for free agency, and he rebounded just in time to test the market.

Should the Yankees bring him back?

WHY IT COULD MAKE SENSE TO KEEP WILLIAMS

Williams is an elite reliever despite what Yankees fans saw for parts of 2025.

Throughout his seven-year career, Williams won the NL Rookie of the Year award when he posted a minuscule 0.33 ERA across 22 appearances in the shortened 2020 season and went to back-to-back All-Star games when he posted sub-2.00 ERAs in 2022 and 2023. Unfortunately, his 2024 started late after he suffered an injury, but he rebounded nicely, pitching to a 1.25 ERA in 22 appearances.

But that was with Milwaukee. How did he do with the Yankees?

Well, not great, but not as bad as many may remember. Yes, he posted a career-worst 4.79 ERA, but that was due to his early blowups. He posted a 9.00 ERA in April and never quite bounced back. Here's Williams' monthly ERA the rest of the season:

• May: 4.22
• June: 0.93
• July: 5.73
• August: 4.91
• September: 3.72 

A roller coaster, to say the least, but Williams regained his form as the regular season came to an end, allowing no runs in his final nine appearances (9.0 IP). In the postseason, he was just as dominant, pitching five shutout innings across four games while striking out four batters. That included shutdown innings in the back-to-back wins in the Wild Card series over the Red Sox, and the 1.1 innings pitched to help complete the improbable comeback in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Blue Jays.

Dig into Williams' stats and his stuff is still good. According to Baseball Savant, he had a 37.7 percent whiff rate, which ranked in the 99th percentile, and he was in the 97th percentile in chase percentage. Also, his xBA was .198, putting him in the 96th percentile. 

WHY IT COULD MAKE SENSE TO LET WILLIAMS GO

While the advanced metrics showed Williams' stuff was still good, how do you explain his on-and-off struggles with the Yankees in 2025? 

Perhaps the change from small-market Milwaukee to New York City was too much for him, as we saw with so many other big leaguers. Did the pressure and high expectations from a rabid fanbase, or knowing that he was in a walk year, affect him?

We will likely never know, but those questions should be considered when answering whether the Yankees should want Williams back. 

Sure, he seemed to round into form by the end -- which he and Boone deserve a lot of credit for -- but that mercurial nature may not be something the Yankees need right now, especially if he gets off to a bad start next year.

Also, if Bednar is going to be the closer for the foreseeable future, that would make Williams the setup man. He may be looking elsewhere to be a closer, and the money that comes with it. 

A bidding war for Williams may not be worth it at this juncture. This past trade deadline not only brought in Bednar, but also Camilo Doval as multi-year relievers. Doval could potentially become the setup man for Bednar, or the Yankees could bring back Luke Weaver and try to rehabilitate him.

There are a lot of options in the bullpen, and a potentially high-priced setup man may not be what they are looking for this offseason.

VERDICT

The Yankees' bullpen will look a lot different next season with Williams, Weaver and Tim Hill (club option) potentially leaving in free agency. While Williams proved to be a worthy arm once he figured things out, he may be too expensive -- especially if he's just going to set up Bednar. 

The looming cost and uneven performance in his first season in the Bronx should give the Yanks pause. New York has options in the bullpen, and with a robust list of relievers exploring free agency, bringing in some lower-leverage (and lower-cost) options will benefit the Yankees in the long run.

 

The Dodgers aren’t supposed to be making this look so easy.

From Day One in spring training, this was the season storyline: Can the Dodgers become the first major league team in 25 years to repeat as champions?

Easy to understand. Hard to do.

But a deeper look reveals a degree of difficulty beneath the storyline.

The New York Yankees won the World Series in 2000 — their third consecutive championship — then lost the World Series in 2001.

Since then, only one champion has even returned to the World Series the following year.

Over half the time — 12 times in 23 years — the World Series champion did not even qualify for the postseason the following year.

Seven champions lost in the next year’s league championship series. Three lost in the next year’s division series.

Repeat? Easy to understand and hard to do, but the Dodgers are 7-1 in this postseason.

Read more:Shaikin: Dodgers starting pitchers proving to be the ultimate opposing crowd silencers

As the National League Championship Series moves to Dodger Stadium on Thursday, the Dodgers are two victories from a return to the World Series.

That is a step toward the goal, not the goal itself, but it nonetheless would make them just the second team in 23 years to win a championship one year and return to the World Series the next.

The other: the 2008-09 Philadelphia Phillies, the team of Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins.

The historical record indicates winning the World Series is tough and winning the next is tougher, but Rollins would not concede that.

“I don’t think it was harder than it was the first time,” said Rollins, working the NLCS as an analyst for TNT Sports. “I think the first time was the hardest.

“You haven’t gone there. You haven’t made it to the top and had that success. It was more about motivation: We’re the champs now, we’re just taking another step.”

Read more:In this postseason, Dodgers' offense starts from the bottom

Recall what Mookie Betts said at the Dodgers’ fan festival last year, after the Dodgers had signed Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow but before they had even reported to spring training: “Every game is going to be the other team’s World Series.”

The Dodgers took everyone’s best shot last year. They collect starting pitchers every year — your veterans, your kids, your waiver claims, your highly paid free agents, and your injured — with the aim that just enough will be healthy and effective come October.

This year, they have so many arms ready that Clayton Kershaw and Emmet Sheehan are relegated to the bullpen. Last year, they had so few that their postseason starters included four openers: Ryan Brasier twice, Michael Kopech and Ben Casparius.

“We did it the hard way last year,” utilityman Kiké Hernández said. “It’s really hard to win without starting pitching, and we found a way to do it.”

The Dodgers signed Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki for the rotation last winter, and Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates for the bullpen.

Now? Snell is starting, Sasaki is closing, and Scott and Yates are not on the playoff roster. But, well, that was the plan after winning the World Series.

“Usually, if you’re the last team standing at the end of October, you’ve used a lot of your pitching very aggressively throughout the month to do it,” said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman. “And we really didn’t have that.

“Now, our bullpen did, but didn’t have it in the conventional way. So adding some fresh arms, we thought, would be helpful with that.”

Read more:Kiké Hernández and Will Smith talk NLCS Game 2 win, Yoshinobu Yamamoto's big night

The October aces — the starting pitchers that can put their team on their back and carry it through the postseason — are few and far between. Snell, Yamamoto and Glasnow have been aces so far this October, but the Dodgers intend to keep playing for another two weeks.

In 1988, Orel Hershiser threw 300 innings, playoffs included. In 2013, Kershaw threw 259 — more than the combined total of Snell, Glasnow and Ohtani so far this year. Yamamoto has thrown 193 innings.

There is a concern for the Dodgers, just as there always used to be a concern for the Lakers, about the long-term toll of playing another month every year.

For pitchers, however, the workloads for the best starters have gone down even as the number of playoff rounds have gone up. On the other hand, those new rounds are shorter ones, and even the best teams can lose two of three games, or three of five, to be eliminated long before a World Series.

“The playoff format doesn’t lend itself to just getting into the championship series and getting to the World Series,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “So that in itself makes it more difficult.”

The Dodgers have won the World Series one season and returned the next season twice: in 1955-56 and 1965-66, when each league champion advanced directly to the World Series.

In those years, the postseason field was two teams, and four wins won the championship trophy. The field is up to 12 teams now, and the Dodgers will need four rounds and 13 postseason wins to repeat.

“It’s hard getting guys to play their best baseball at the right time and to keep guys playing at a high level for 162 [games] to get to the postseason,” Roberts said, “then to give yourself a chance to win 11 or, this year, 13 games in October.

Read more:Just how much are the Dodgers charging for World Series tickets?

“What have I learned? I’ve learned that you’ve got to kind of give players grace at points during the season to appreciate the human side — it’s hard to play every game in April like it’s Game 7 — but know when to kind of turn it on.”

On July 3, the Dodgers had built a nine-game lead. On Aug. 13, after the Angels had swept them, the Dodgers fell into second place.

Said Rollins: “August? You’ve got a whole other month. July? It’s hot, let’s get to the All-Star break. In the playoffs, it’s just win the series.”

The Dodgers finished the regular season with the third-best record in the NL, but they have beaten the team with the second-best record (the Philadelphia Phillies) and appear poised to beat the team with the best record (the Brewers). They have won 22 of their last 28 games.

The one concern Friedman said he did not have about building a repeat winner was complacency. He said he always believed the players would be “focused on and driven by legacy, and doing something that’s so incredibly difficult.”

They are already more than halfway there. They need 13 wins. They have seven. Rollins believes they will get the other six.

“I thought, if the Phillies had beaten the Dodgers, no one could stop them,” Rollins said. “And vice versa: If the Dodgers beat the Phillies, no one could stop them.

“If you look at the way the teams match up — power for power, star power, great pitching — they presented basically a mirror image of themselves. Obviously, no one else has Shohei. But the style of game: they can score in many ways, they can bop, they’re clutch. They’ve proven it.”

Six to get, and history to make.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Watch Phillies end of season press conference with Dombrowski, Thomson originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Watch live 11 a.m. ET Thursday as Phillies President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and manager Rob Thomson address the media for their end of the season press conference.

At 5:37 p.m. Wednesday, Michael Buble’s "Feeling Good" blared from the Dodger Stadium speakers.

Shohei Ohtani came strolling to the plate with a bat in his hands.

There was no one in the stands, of course. Nor an opposing pitcher on the mound. The Dodgers, on this workout day after returning from Milwaukee, were still some 22 hours away from resuming their National League Championship Series against the Brewers. For any other player, it would have been a routine affair.

Ohtani, however, is not just any player.

And among the many things that make him unique, his habit of almost never taking batting practice on the field is one of the small but notable ones.

Which made his decision to do so Wednesday a telling development.

Over the last two weeks, Ohtani has been in a slump. Since the start of the NL Division Series, he is just two-for-25 with a whopping 12 strikeouts. He has been smothered by left-handed pitching. He has made poor swing decisions and failed to slug the ball.

Last week, manager Dave Roberts went so far as to say the Dodgers were “not gonna win the World Series with that sort of performance” from their $700-million slugger.

Thus, out Ohtani came for batting practice on Wednesday in the most visible sign yet of his urgency for a turnaround.

“The other way to say it is that, if I hit, we will win,” Ohtani said in Japanese when asked about Roberts’ World Series quote earlier Wednesday afternoon. “I think he thinks that if I hit, we will win. I’d like to do my best to do that.”

Read more:Shaikin: Dodgers starting pitchers proving to be the ultimate opposing crowd silencers

In Roberts’ view, Ohtani has already started improving from his woeful NLDS, when he struck out nine times in 18 trips to the plate against a left-handed-heavy Philadelphia Phillies staff that, as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman emphatically put it, had “the most impressive execution against a hitter I've ever seen.”

In Game 1 of the NLCS against the Brewers, Ohtani was 0-for-two but walked three times; twice intentionally but another on a more disciplined five-pitch at-bat to lead off the game against left-handed opener Aaron Ashby.

The following night, he went only one-for-five with three more strikeouts, giving him 15 this postseason, second-most in the playoffs. But he did have an RBI single, marking his first run driven in since Game 2 of the NLDS. He followed that with a steal, swiping his first bag of the playoffs. And earlier in the game, he scorched a lineout to right at 115.2 mph, the hardest he’d hit a ball since taking Cincinnati Reds pitcher Hunter Greene deep in the team’s postseason opener.

“The first two games in Milwaukee, his at-bats have been fantastic,” Roberts said Wednesday, before heading out to the field and watching Ohtani’s impromptu BP session.

“That's what I've been looking for. That's what I'm counting on,” he added, while noting the careful approach the Brewers have also taken with the soon-to-be four-time MVP. “You can only take what they give you. So for me, I think he's in a good spot right now.”

Ohtani’s overall numbers, of course, continue to suggest otherwise. His .147 postseason batting average is second-worst on the team, ahead of only Andy Pages. His seven-game drought without an extra-base hit is longer than any he endured in the regular season.

“The first thing I have to do is increase the level of my at-bats,” Ohtani said in Japanese. “Swing at strikes and not swing at balls.”

On Wednesday, Ohtani’s slump also led to questions about his role as a two-way player, and whether his return to pitching this season (and, this October, doing it for the first time in the playoffs) has contributed to his sudden struggles at the plate.

After all, on days Ohtani pitched this season, he hit .222 with four home runs but 21 strikeouts. On the days immediately following an outing, he batted .147 with two home runs and 10 strikeouts.

His current slump began with a hitless, four-strikeout dud in Game 1 of the NLDS, when he also made a six-inning, three-run start on the mound.

And in days since, Roberts has acknowledged some likely correlation between Ohtani’s two roles.

“[His offense] hasn’t been good when he’s pitched,” Roberts said following the NLDS. “We’ve got to think through this and come up with a better game plan.”

Ohtani, on the other hand, pushed back somewhat on that narrative during Wednesday’s workout, in which he also threw a bullpen session in preparation for his next start in Game 4 of the NLCS on Friday.

Read more:Dodgers' Teoscar Hernández avoids Milwaukee's allegedly haunted hotel at wife's insistence

While it is “more physically strenuous” to handle both roles, he conceded, he countered that “I don’t know if there’s a direct correlation.”

“Physically,” he added, “I don’t feel like there’s a connection.”

Instead, Ohtani on Wednesday went about fixing his swing the way any other normal hitter would. He went out on the field for his rare session of batting practice. Of his 32 swings, he sent 14 over the fence, including one that clanked off the roof of the right-field pavilion.

“Certainly, there's frustration,” Roberts said of how he’s seen Ohtani handle his uncharacteristic lack of performance.

But, he added, “that's expected. I don't mind it. I like the edge.”

“He's obviously a very, very talented player, and we're counting on him,” Roberts continued. “He’s just a great competitor. He's very prepared. And there’s still a lot of baseball left.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Teoscar Hernández doesn't believe in ghosts.

But just the same, the Dodgers outfielder declined to stay with the team at the historic — and allegedly haunted — Pfister Hotel in downtown Milwaukee during the first two games of the National League Championship Series against the Brewers this week.

Hernández told reporters before Game 2 on Tuesday that his wife, Jennifer, was the one who insisted on finding somewhere to stay other than the 137-year-old hotel that has been the source of spooky tales from MLB players for decades.

"I don't believe in ghosts. I have stayed there before. I never see anything or hear anything," Hernández said. "But my wife is on this trip, and she says she doesn't want to stay in there. So we have to find another hotel."

Read more:Hernández: The Dodgers' latest starting-pitching flex? Make the bullpen a non-factor

Hernández added, however, that his wife told him that she has heard from other players and their wives that there had been "something happening" over at the team hotel.

Asked to elaborate, Hernández said he had been told that in "some of the rooms, the lights, goes off and on, and the doors — there are noises, footsteps. ... I'm not the guy that I'm gonna be here saying, 'Oh yeah, I experienced that before,' because I'm not, and I don't think I'm gonna experience that.'"

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked during his pregame media availability Tuesday if he had any ghost stories to share from the team's stay at the Pfister.

"I don't," Roberts said. "Those stories went away when I was about 10 years old. So, no, not anymore. I'm OK to go to bed now."

Over the years, not everyone has been as at ease about staying at the creepy old digs. In 2005, then-Dodgers closer Eric Gagne told The Times' Steve Henson that the place freaked him out.

“It’s old, weird and scary,” Gagne said. “It’s very creepy. I don’t sleep well there.”

Read more:NBA's Tyrese Haliburton was a Brewers fan. Here’s why he’s actively rooting against them in the NLCS

Henson also noted at the time that former Dodgers third baseman Adrián Beltré had "reported a ghostly presence turning on lights and tickling his toes" during a 2001 stay at the Pfister. Fellow Times staff writer Kevin Baxter reported in 2007 that Beltre Beltronce insisted on sleeping with a bat for protection after he had a brush with a ghost" at the hotel.

One-time Dodgers infielder Michael Young told ESPN that he once heard loud stomping noises in his room while he was trying to sleep.

"So I yelled out, 'Hey! Make yourself at home. Hang out, have a seat, but do not wake me up, OK?'" Young said. "After that, I didn't hear a thing for the rest of the night."

Current Dodgers shortstop Mookie Betts decided a couple of years ago he doesn't want to take any chances at the spooky spot.

Read more:Are the Dodgers staying at a haunted hotel? Mookie Betts won't be there to find out

“I don’t know if they’re real or not, nor do I care,” Betts said of the hotel's alleged ghosts after a 2023 game against the Brewers in Milwaukee. “My boys are here, so we just got an Airbnb. That’s really it.”

Betts admitted to the Orange County Register that the Airbnb rental was “just in case” the scary stories were true and “it was a good excuse" not to stay at the creepy old building.

Last, during another series in Milwaukee, Betts appeared to confirm that he will continue to find alternative lodging for road games against the Brewers.

Read more:Just how much are the Dodgers charging for World Series tickets?

“You don’t want to mess with them,” Betts said of the Pfister's alleged ghosts. “I’m staying at an Airbnb again. That part is not gonna change.”

The Dodgers more than survived their two games in Milwaukee this week, riding dominant performances by starting pitchers Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to take a 2-0 National League Championship Series lead over the Brewers.

The Dodgers who checked in to the Pfister Hotel also appear to have survived another stay in downtown Milwaukee. And with the next three games (if that many are necessary) taking place at Dodger Stadium, they have the chance to make sure they avoid returning to the (allegedly) haunted haunt this postseason.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

When Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, and Jonah Tong made their major league debuts and became potential factors if the Mets made the postseason, that was a big step for the burgeoning Mets pitching development system.

Rebuilding a minor league system and a program is something that takes time and investment in both personnel and technology. After Steve Cohen bought the Mets, that investment grew exponentially. The “pitching lab” has been the center of discussions at times, but that is just a physical building in Port St. Lucie. That building means little if you don’t have the right technology in it or the right coaches/instructors to help groom these young pitchers, or most importantly, pitchers who buy into it.

The Mets hired Eric Jagers before the 2023 season to be their director of pitching development. In three seasons since that, Jagers has been promoted to the role of Vice President of Pitching and assembled a strong support staff under him that has led to the Mets recently being ranked as the No. 1 farm system for pitching prospects in all of baseball by MLB Pipeline.

Part of that is the fact that McLean, Tong, and Sproat are big player development wins as third, seventh, and second-round picks, respectively. They all have emerged to be not just among the best pitching prospects in the sport, but they are real options to count on as a part of the 2026 starting rotation.

McLean, specifically, may be one of the early favorites to win Rookie of the Year in the National League in 2026. While all three of McLean, Tong, and Sproat may not make the Opening Day rotation, as the Mets showed in 2025, a lot of pitchers are needed to get through the marathon that is a 162-game major league season.

A No. 1 ranking doesn’t come just because of three pitchers. As I wrote last week, the sign of a functioning player development system is avoiding multi-year gaps in generating young talent for the big-league roster. At some point in 2026, McLean, Tong, and Sproat are going to graduate as prospects.

The question is: Who’s next?

As it currently stands, the Mets don’t have a pitching prospect that could currently rival any of the above three’s prospect status. However, there are several arms in the upper minors with big-league potential that could impact the Mets as soon as 2026.

On the reliever front, there are two notable right-handed fireballers that should get an opportunity to play meaningful roles at some point in 2026: No. 19 ranked prospect Dylan Ross and No. 21 ranked prospect Ryan Lambert.

The 25-year-old Ross, who was added to the Mets’ active roster at the end of September, should be competing for a spot in the bullpen in spring training. The former 13th-round pick posted a 2.17 ERA in 54 innings across three levels in his first full professional season in 2025. He spent the most time with Triple-A Syracuse, where he had a 1.69 ERA in 32 innings with 39 strikeouts.

Ross mostly throws three pitches. The first is a four-seam fastball that averaged 97 mph and touched 100. That isn’t even his best pitch, though, as that honor would go to his splitter, which he throws in the low 90s and which generated a 48.3 percent whiff rate. He also throws a high-80s slider. Ross will have to rein in his control, as he had an unsustainable 17.3 percent walk rate in Triple-A, but with some tweaks and, frankly, more reps, as he has had Tommy John surgery twice, Ross could be an impactful part of the Mets bullpen.

The 23-year-old Lambert posted a 1.62 ERA in 50 innings, allowing only 31 hits and striking out 81 between High-A and Double-A. The former eighth-round pick is more of the prototypical two-pitch fastball-slider reliever. His fastball is at least a plus offering that will sit 96–97 and touch 100, averaging 20 inches of induced vertical break and nearly 2,700 rpm. His slider is an above-average offering in the mid-to-high 80s. Lambert also needs to improve his walk rate, but I would expect him to start next season in Triple-A and earn a call-up.

On the starting pitching front, most of the Eastern League Champion Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies rotation are ranked among SNY’s top 30 prospects in the Mets system and look like future big leaguers.

Those names are No. 10 prospect Jonathan Santucci, No. 11 prospect Jack Wenninger, No. 14 prospect Will Watson, and No. 24 prospect Zach Thornton. It may be a numbers game to determine which of these will start in Triple-A, but we should not forget both McLean and Tong started 2025 in Double-A.

Santucci, a second-round pick in 2024, struggled in his first six professional starts, posting an 8.14 ERA in 21 innings. In the 20 starts after that, he was one of the best performers in the Mets system, with a 1.95 ERA in 101.1 innings. In that stretch, he struck out 120, and opposing hitters only hit .186 with a .505 OPS against him.

He has a three-pitch mix with a fastball that sits 93–95 and will touch 97 mph. His 83–85 mph slider was a swing-and-miss pitch for him, and further development of his changeup will be key for him to remain a starter long-term.

Wenninger, a sixth-round pick in 2023, really impressed Mets brass in 2025. He spent the whole season with Binghamton where he posted a 2.92 ERA in 135.2 innings and ranked second in the Eastern League in strikeouts with 147.

He has a full starter’s repertoire with five pitches and his stuff ticked up in 2025. His fastball was touching 97 mph, even late into starts. His split-change is his best secondary swing-and-miss offering, and he also mixes in a two-seam fastball, curveball, and slider. He looks the part of a higher-floor back-end starter that I would anticipate starting 2026 in Triple-A.

Watson, a seventh-round pick in 2024, split time as a starter and a reliever while at college at USC. 2025 was his first year as a full-time starter, and he emerged as a non–top-30 prospect preseason to inside the top 15 by August. In 121.1 innings, he allowed only 88 hits and struck out 142.

He reaped benefits from the Mets’ pitching development staff, as his velocity increased across the board from his time in college. His fastball sat at 95 and would reach 97 mph. He also throws a slider and changeup and has worked on a cutter and sinker/two-seam fastball. His command at times was below average, but Mets people are excited about a second year of Watson, and he could take another step forward. I would expect him to repeat Double-A to start 2026.

Thornton may have made it to Triple-A during the 2025 season had he not injured his oblique at the end of June, which wiped out the remainder of his season. In the 72.2 innings he did pitch, the former fifth-round pick posted a 1.98 ERA with 78 strikeouts and only 11 walks.

He is the best strike-thrower in not just the organization, but all of minor league baseball. Among pitchers that threw at least 70 innings, he led all of minor league baseball in WHIP (0.81) and was second in walks per nine (1.36). Thornton is not a hard thrower, as he will top out at 94 mph on his fastball, but he controls a four-pitch mix that also includes a slider, curveball, and changeup.

A few other names currently outside the top 30 that are worth keeping an eye on: R.J. Gordon, Saul Garcia and Brendan Girton.

One of the consistent trends here: none of the names I mentioned were first-round picks, and all but Sproat and Santucci were outside of the top two rounds. That is a credit to the amateur scouting department identifying the talent, as well as the pitching development department helping maximize the pitchers in the organization.

While McLean, Tong, and Sproat emerged on the scene in 2025, there is another wave coming. And if the Mets can continue their development plan, there’ll be another wave after that.

Exploring Red Sox' options with Alex Bregman opting out of contract originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Red Sox stopped playing baseball earlier than they wanted this fall, and now their offseason roster-building process has gotten off to a start they likely would not have preferred.

That stage began with a partially expected thud, as Alex Bregman will opt out of his contract, according to the New York Post’s Jon Heyman.

In doing so, Bregman will forego the $40 million for each of the next two seasons that were on his contract, meaning he and agent Scott Boras anticipate landing a healthy amount more than $80 million over multiple years when he hits the free-agent market.

Even if such a scenario was anticipated when Bregman put ink to paper in mid-February, it leaves the Red Sox in a tenuous position as they try to build on a positive 2025 season instead of taking a significant step backward in 2026.

So what should Craig Breslow and the baseball operations department do? Let’s explore all options.

Re-signing Bregman

As is the case with most baseball matters, this one can be solved with one word: Money.

In this particular situation, while Bregman’s free-agent value did get dinged due to a quad injury that cost him seven weeks and severely limited his mobility for the second half of the season, it’s going to cost over $100 million to retain his services.

Given all that Bregman brought to the Red Sox — he was an elite hitter prior to the injury, he played Gold Glove-caliber defense all year long, he embraced a role as a coach and mentor to all of his new teammates — the team may be happy to give the soon-to-be-32-year-old a three-year, $100 million contract.

The issue is that Bregman and Boras will likely be seeking much more. ESPN’s Jeff Passan suggested in early September that Bregman was “bound to get the five-year-plus deal at an average annual value of $35 million-plus that eluded him last winter.” That may be the extreme end of the ask, especially after Bregman posted a .640 OPS in the final month of the season.

Yet if the market dictates that Bregman warrants a four-year deal worth over $120 million, the Red Sox will face a decision. They surely won’t want to be paying a 35-year-old Bregman over $30 million annually. Other teams — Heyman listed the Tigers, Jays, Mariners and “some surprise teams” as potential suitors — will also be in the mix, muddying those waters and driving up the price.

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

On the one hand, Bregman was an All-Star this season. On the other, it was his first All-Star appearance in six years.

His second-half OPS was 200 points lower than his first-half OPS (.927 to .727), yet even if that drop was due in large part to the quad injury … he’s at least theoretically likely to continue to deal with injuries as he navigates his 30s.

Bregman is not a long-term slam dunk, but he bet on himself last winter, when no team was willing to give him the multi-year deal he desired. Now, he’s due to reap the benefits.

Letting Bregman go

If the Red Sox decide that the money saved from trading Rafael Devers shouldn’t be used to keep the man who essentially led to the removal of Rafael Devers, they’ll really have to thread the needle with their Plan B.

The most obvious replacement at third base would be Marcelo Mayer. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, Mayer was primarily a shortstop through his first four seasons in the minors. Yet he filled in for Bregman at third during the veteran’s injury absence and looked more than capable in his 248.2 innings there.

The issue with leaning on Mayer, though, is twofold. For one, it’s unknown if the bat is ready. He hit .228 with a .674 OPS in his 44 big league games this year. His .850 OPS in Double-A in 2024 and his .818 OPS in Triple-A last year are indicators that he’s been developing on the correct trajectory, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to make the most difficult leap while working as an everyday big leaguer for the first time.

The other issue is health. Mayer suffered an injury on a check swing in late July, an injury so severe that it required surgery and ended his season.

In Worcester and Boston combined, he played just 87 games in 2025. That was a year after playing just 77 games in 2024 … which came after the played just 78 games in 2023.

Whether that history is due to bad luck or a body prone to injury is something the Red Sox likely know better than the rest of us. And it could be the reason they might lean away from this route.

The free-agent market

The Red Sox waited until the 11th hour last spring before signing Bregman in the free-agent market. They might not be able to find such a prize this year.

Eugenio Suarez, currently vying for a World Series with the Mariners after moving at the deadline, is set to hit free agency. As he enters his age 35 season, he could be a stopgap solution, even if his defense would represent a downgrade.

The rest of the free-agent class — Yoan Moncada, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Gio Urshela — is not of the caliber that would be expected to replace Bregman.

Adding bats elsewhere

If the third-base market is looking thin, the Red Sox could look to boost the offense elsewhere. Most obviously and notably, they could go after first baseman Pete Alonso, who posted an .871 OPS this year after the Mets gambled that he wasn’t worth a long-term contract. (Sound familiar?)

Alonso batted third and fourth for the Mets this year at age 30 and drove in 126 runs, playing every single game. He could certainly help in replacing the drain of losing Devers and potentially Bregman in short order.

Kyle Schwarber — coming off a 56-homer, 132-RBI season — set himself up to make a lot of money, even as he approaches his age-33 season. Considering he doesn’t play defense, he alone couldn’t solve this problem. But if the Red Sox really dedicated to spending cash this winter, acquiring Schwarber in tandem with Alonso would completely reshape the meat of their order — at least for the short term.

That, though, would require a whole lot of money. We’d have to see it to believe that the Red Sox are willing to extend themselves in such a fashion in free agency.

Gregory Fisher/Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

(The potential monkey wrench to the situation would be if shortstop Trevor Story opts out of his contract. That, though, will have to be a story for another day.)

The conclusion is …

Let’s end this thing where it started: The simplest, cleanest solution for the Red Sox is to pay market value to keep Alex Bregman in Boston. (And, considering the Red Sox ranked ninth in MLB in OPS and slugging and likely need more than just Bregman if they want to climb into contention, they’ll also have to spend elsewhere on another big-ticket free-agent bat. But again, another story, another day.)

Will Bregman be worth every dollar of that contract? Probably not. Is he a risk to be dealing with more injuries in his 30s? Sure.

Yet this is the price the Red Sox will have to pay for last year’s fiscally conservative pursuit of Bregman — a franchise decision that has already cost them Devers. Bregman bet on himself, and he won. Now the bill is due for Boston.

Anthony Volpe played through a partially torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder for a large portion of the 2025 season, and the Yankees shortstop finally underwent surgery to correct the issue on Tuesday, per the New York Post. 

According to the Post, the typical recovery for this kind of surgery would have Volpe ready for the start of the regular season, though it can vary. 

Volpe, 24, initially suffered the injury while diving for a ball in May, and while he ended up missing a handful of games, he was ultimately able to play through the pain, thanks in part to multiple cortisone shots.

It was a tough go for Volpe this season, as the young shortstop committed a career-high 19 errors in the field and struggled a bit at the plate as well, slashing .212/.272/.391 with 19 homers and 72 RBI. As a result, Volpe lost playing time at short to Jose Caballero, though he eventually was back in the starting lineup by the postseason. 

A View from the Terrace presenter Craig Telfer insists "big changes" are needed at Rangers and the new manager will need to rebuild - as this season feels like a write-off for the Ibrox club.

"Certainly, Kevin Muscat has got a decent pedigree, played for Rangers for a season in the early 2000s, very successful time as well, won a treble with them," said Telfer on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"As a player, probably one of the dirtiest players that's ever kicked the ball in the last 30 years, just go and look at his Wikipedia page and read the list of the stuff that's under his reputation.

"He's certainly quite a hard, no-nonsense kind of manager, but I think as well as his personality as a player, he's been able to channel that into something a lot more positive as a manager.

"It's all very well going in there and giving players the 'hair dryer' treatment. The players at Rangers seem quite soft and I think that's perhaps a big issue. You can go in there and you can shout at them, and you can try and control them. But if the players just aren't reacting to that then I don't know what you do.

"They're already 11 points off Hearts. It feels, though, at this stage of the season, like it's a bit of write-off for Rangers and it's just about getting into January, try to ship out some of the players, and get to the summer and make big changes."

Former Celtic and Hibs midfielder, now East Kilbride coach, Scott Allan says that Muscat's experience of going for titles and the aggressive style of play of his teams are positives should he come to Rangers.

"The fact that he's proved he can be successful and win things, that's obviously a big plus in terms of coming to a club like Rangers. He has demands and he's been in situations where he's fighting for titles," said Allen.

"In terms of his style of play, it is a lot more aggressive. Russell Martin was meant to be that way as well. It's how you can come to a club like Rangers and really implement that - because you do come up against certain styles that you might struggle to break teams down.

"The question for me is do they have the players who can really break teams down when the going gets tough?

"The biggest thing that's been questioned of this Rangers team since the start of season is mentality. So how does Kevin Muscat then build that mentality into winning games at a time in the season? You're trying to change that in a very short space of time."