PHOENIX, AZ - MARCH 29: Beau Ankeney (35) Grand Canyon Infielder takes a big swing during a baseball game between the Arizona Wildcats and the Grand Canyon Lopes on March 29, 2022, at GCU Ballpark in Phoenix, AZ. (Photo by Zac BonDurant/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
There are two particular categories of player that go under the radar in the major league amateur draft each year. The first are college seniors. If you didn’t get drafted by your junior year or earlier, as a JUCO or prep player, there’s a natural stigma attached. The second are first basemen. Because the position is usually filled by less athletic players whose value is heavily tied up in their bat, only the top ranked college first baseman really get much notice, and they tend to go in the early rounds as some of the better hitters each year. Leaving aside the player and just considering the profile, Spencer Torkelson was a hard player to philosophically wrap one’s head around as the first overall pick in the draft back in 2020. Living up to that would’ve required him to develop quickly into one of the better hitters in baseball. There’s a reason you very rarely see a 1-1 first baseman.
Detroit Tigers prospect Beau Ankeney checks both boxes, and he definitely didn’t get much attention on draft day 2025 when they picked him in the 14th round out of Loyola Marymount and paid him just the minimum signing bonus. He played three years at Grand Canyon University before breaking out and transferring to Loyola for his senior season in 2025. That was notable, as he was clearly a bit of a late bloomer. Also notable was his muscular six-foot-three, 235 pound frame. He only played in four games after the draft, so there wasn’t anything to get excited about yet. That changed in 2026.
Ankeney mashed 24 home runs total, including 9 in just 27 games at the High-A level after he was promoted in late July. He took his walks. He showed pretty good athleticism for a first baseman, with enough speed to handle a corner outfield spot here and there. His raw power really stood out, as he averaged 92 mph off the bat, which is great even at the MLB level, and maxed out at 114.4 mph off the bat, giving him a 65 FV grade on his raw power potential. And most importantly, he took his walks and didn’t strike out that much for a power hitter.
In Lakeland at Single-A, Ankeney chased about 30 percent of the time, and his whiff rate was similarly on the higher end of the scale. Considering that he was 23 years old already and competing with 19-22 year old players quite a bit, it was impressive, but didn’t really knock anyone’s socks off. What really got prospect hounds talking was the fact that he went straight into High-A and did even more damage, without much of an increase in his strikeout rate. From August 4 through the 16th, Ankeney hit seven homers in nine games while walking and racking up one multi-hit game after another. He was the hottest hitter in the league for that stretch before cooling down over the final weeks of the season.
Beau Ankeney is on an all-time heater. He crushes another homer here to put the Whitecaps up 5-3. It’s his 2nd of the game, his 5th in his last 5 games, and his 7th in 14 games at High-A. Sheesh. @ThatDanHasty calls it. pic.twitter.com/TK36VMUrD6
He does chase too much right now, and there’s some swing and miss in his game, producing at 24.3 percent K-rate in Single-A, and 27.5 percent in High-A, but that’s not terrible either. He also showed nice feel at times for hitting the ball where it’s pitched, driving fastballs away to right field with authority, and hitting tape measure shots to center and left-center when he got something middle or middle-in over the plate. He hits from an upright stance and is pretty flat through the hitting zone, making him strong against the high fastball. He can get some tilt to launch sinkers and secondary pitches that hang up in the zone as well, but a pitcher that pounds the bottom rail can give him trouble. Still, it’s a compact inside-out move that works to the big part of the field pretty well as long as he doesn’t get too pull happy. He struggled some with breaking stuff and that will be something to watch as the pitching he’s facing gets tougher, but he hit for average and plenty of power against fastballs and offspeed stuff.
Obviously there’s a caveat here due to his age. He’s a little older and more physically mature than a lot of the pitchers he faced this season. The short sample in the Midwest League to close out the season was really impressive though, and lends credence to the idea that he was putting it together nicely late in his first pro season. Another plus for him is the athleticism, in that he isn’t the typical big hitting statue you typically find in a college first baseman.
I’m not going to get too carried away just yet, but it’s good to see another power-hitting right-handed bat with potential in the system. Hopefully we’ll see him refine his approach and start to handle the nastier stuff he’s seeing at the High-A level more consistently next season. He’s probably never going to be a high contact hitter and there’s certainly risk in the hit tool, but the fact that he sprays the ball around is pretty promising for his future batting average projections. So is the batspeed and hard contact he’s mustering.
Beau Ankeney wasn’t the biggest breakout prospect of the year for the Tigers, but he was among the least expected and should feel great about his full season debut. No doubt the Tigers do.
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - MAY 04: Jac Caglianone #14 of the Kansas City Royals is doused with water by Bobby Witt Jr. #7 and Carter Jensen #22 of the Kansas City Royals after a 6-2 win over the Cleveland Guardians at Kauffman Stadium on May 04, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Max wrote about yesterday’s biggest stories already:
Mense was a minor-league hitting coordinator in the Blue Jays organization. He became an assistant hitting coach at the big-league level in 2022. He has worked alongside such All-Stars as Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer.
The Royals have been looking to backfill their lineup of hitting coaches. Last month they reassigned Alec Zumwalt to the minor leagues. His departure left the open spot on Matt Quatraro’s coaching staff that Mense is set to fill.
The Kansas City Royals had three of the top hitters in the American League this season. And on Thursday, that trio was recognized as Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award finalists at each player’s respective position.
Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. headlined the club’s finalists. He joins Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen as award nominees. Caglianone is an outfield finalist and Jensen — who is coming off his rookie season — is a finalist behind the plate.
Also at The Star, Pete Grathoff points to a writer who thinks Jac has a lot to lose from the lockout:
The New York Times reported that teams have been instructed to “document interactions between players and medical/training staff during the latter part of the season to confirm that there have not been any disabling injuries prior to the end of the season.”
That lack of medical care is one reason why RotoWire’s Thomas Leary believes a lockout could affect Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone more than other players.
[Mark] Feinsand [of MLB.com] further clarifies that Mense and Marcus Thames will be the hitting coaches in Kansas City while Connor Dawson will be offensive coordinator. In 2026, Thames and Dawson worked as hitting coaches alongside Alec Zumwalt. It was reported in September that Zumwalt would be reassigned to a position as senior director of hitting performance.
The White Sox have signed right-hander Alec Marsh to a minor league contract with an invite to major league camp in spring training. Scott Merkin of MLB.com was among those to report the deal.
“The Plaza Lights are a Midwest staple that all Kansas Citians know and love, and to be able to do this in my hometown with my Kansas City family is an incredible honor,” Jensen said in a press release. “I can’t wait to help celebrate the holidays, and this city, with everybody in a place we all cherish. My family and I are extremely grateful for this opportunity to help light up the city that raised me!”
Needs: Right-handed-hitting center fielder and a rebuilt bullpen
Analysis: The Royals need a right-handed-hitting outfielder who can play center field and perhaps will take a chance on 29-year-old free agent Luis Robert Jr., if he’s amenable to a one-year, prove-it type contract.
The real priority for this team will be to continue to improve the pitching staff, which could include adding a starter, but the emphasis will be on rebuilding the bullpen through both trades and free agency.
It’s the offseason, so here’s a little silliness. The Tri-City (Virginia) Chili Peppers just released their 2027 schedule and it includes Wichita and Springfield. If you’re looking for gimmicky baseball, I can confirm this is a fun one as I went to a game in 2025. The first few innings play like a normal game. But then the game stops for about a half hour, the stadium crew changes the lights, the teams change jerseys, and the second half of the game is played under blacklight. It’s one of those things where your brain can’t entirely process what you’re seeing.
The league pull air rate last season was 18.4 percent. That includes line drives, fly balls and popups. If you take out popups, the league number was 16.9 percent. Witt’s overall pull air percentage was 16.3 percent. Remove popups, and it was just 13.9 percent. That tells me that two things are happening. The first is that he isn’t pulling the ball in the air enough. When he pulled the ball in the air, he hit .521 with a 1.192 SLG. That included a 95.3 MPH average exit velocity (98.8 MPH when you remove popups), a 56.8 percent hard-hit rate and a 25.7 percent barrel rate. The average and SLG were pretty much on par with league average, but the hard-hit rate for Witt was 1.8 percent higher than league average and 5.8 percent higher on the barrel rate.
He gets into the weeds a lot with the numbers, but it’s a good read.
It feels fairly obvious to me that Butler is one of the top hitters in franchise history. He’s fourth all-time in batting average (.295), ninth in hits (1,273), ninth in total bases (1,938), eighth in doubles (276) and eighth in RBI (628). He’s just outside the franchise top 10 in OBP (.356, good for 13th), slugging (.449, 15th) and OPS (.808, 12th). His best season was in 2012 when he hit .313/.373/.510 with 29 home runs and 107 RBI, won a Silver Slugger and was selected to the All-Star team. He should’ve been a participant in the Home Run Derby, damnit. Boooooooo!
What are we doing here? Beltran was inducted in the big Hall–you know, the one in Cooperstown–this year. But he’s not in the team Hall. I sort of get it, since he was only a Royal for 6 ½ seasons, had a clash with the team early in his career, and played on mostly bad teams. But that was all more than two decades ago, and he was around long enough to accumulate 24.8 bWAR, ahead of six Royals Hall of Famers by my count. Since this is his final appearance on the ballot, this needs to get done.
It’s November, which means it’s time to wrap up the Asian baseball leagues for the year. Normally, we’d go CPBL -> KBO -> NPB. But I think we’re going to change that order this year because of the impending lockout. Here are links to our previous articles this season: (CPBL Preview) (KBO Preview) (NPB Preview) (Midseason Notes)
As Max noted in Wednesday’s Rumblings: “Teams have until December 1 to sign posted Japanese free agents”. There’s one big name and a couple of others who may factor into this year’s plans. But we’ll get to all of that in a bit.
Let’s look back at the midseason report: “I know it’s early, but it feels like we may already know the playoff teams. In the Pacific League, there are 3 teams with winning records: Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, Saitama Seibu Lions, and Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.“
That came to pass: the Hawks (91-49-3), Lions (79-60-4), and Fighters (78-62-3) made the playoffs as the three Pacific League teams with winning records. The Orix Buffaloes, Chiba Lotte Marines, and Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles all finished between 25 and 35 games out of first and with a losing record.
The Lions and Fighters squared off in the First Stage best-of-three series. In game 1, Alexander Canario hit a walk-off home run in the 10th for the Lions. 22-year-old Kota Tatsu dominated game 2, striking out 7 across 6 innings in a 1-0 win to force game 3. Hiromi Itoh only gave up 1 run in 5 IP and the Fighters’ bullpen went 4 scoreless to clinch the series.
This series was of MLB interest as both Itoh and Seibu’s game 1 starter, Kaima Taira, have been posted to MLB. Here’s a couple of quick notes from MLBTR’s free agent tracker:
36. Hiromi Itoh, RHP: Two years, $20MM
Itoh doesn’t throw as hard as Taira, nor does he have his youth. He’ll pitch next season at 29 but turn 30 at the end of August. He has an eye-popping track record, one that includes a 2025 Sawamura Award — NPB’s Cy Young Award equivalent. Itoh sat around 93 mph with his heater when he won that award but was more in the 91-92 mph range throughout a good but decidedly lesser season in 2026.
10. Kaima Taira, RHP: Four years, $72MM (with at least one opt-out)
A 26-year-old righty with upper 90s velocity, a career 1.78 ERA and a nearly 26% strikeout rate? What’s not to like? Based on pure age and results, Taira sounds like he should be commanding a massive nine-figure deal — and it’s at least possible that he will do so. However, big league scouts tend to have trepidation about players with unique or unconventional body types, and Tairia is listed at just 5’8″ and 209 pounds. It’s an Alejandro Kirk-style build on the mound. On top of that, he’s only spent two full seasons as a starting pitcher. Much of his time in NPB has come working out of the bullpen.
Unfortunately, the Pacific League Climax Series wasn’t all that interesting. First, “a new Climax Series rule also took effect this season that rewards any league champion a second win advantage in the final stage if they lead the other team by ten or more games, or if the other team has a regular season record below .500”. That meant the Hawks started out with a 2-0 lead in the first-to-five series. I’ve said it over and over in these Asian baseball writeups – this is the way MLB should handle the playoffs if they want to keep expanding them. Make the regular season mean something – give playoff advantages to teams who do better in the regular season.
The series itself was mostly a dud. SoftBank scored 6 runs in all 3 games and the Fighters could only muster 4, 2, and 2. Game 2 had some excitement as MVP candidate Ryoya Kurihara, .271/.365/.557 with 40 HR in the regular season, hit a walkoff grand slam. Speaking of MVP candidates, the Hawks also feature Kensuke Kondoh and his .309/.431/.569 line with 32 HRs. The Fighters have their own candidate in former Royal Franmil Reyes. He won the batting crown with a .313/.375/.571 slash and also had 32 HRs. He’s not going anywhere as the Fighters signed him to a whopping 4/$40M contract, the largest in NPB history. I’m not sure I’d give that to a 31-year-old DH, but I don’t have Nippon-Ham money.
*****
How about the Central League? At Midseason, I wrote: “the Hanshin Tigers lead their rival Yomiuri Giants by 1 game. Our rooting interest, the Tokyo Yakult Swallows, are vulnerable in 3rd. They’re 7.5 GB from the Tigers but only 3, 5, and 7 games up on the Yokohama DeNA BayStars, Hiroshima Toyo Carp, and Chunichi Dragons.” Things did not go so well for the Swallows. They finished in 5th, sandwiched between the 4th-place Carp and the 6th-place Dragons, all with losing records. The BayStars rallied to finsh 3rd at 71-69-3. Meanwhile, the Tigers edged out the Giants for 1st.
On the same day that Canario walked it off for the Lions, Ryuki Watarai hit a home run in the top of the 9th to win the game for Yokohama. Then, on Sunday, he hit a home run in the 1st to get the scoring started as the BayStars swept the Giants in the Tokyo Dome with a 4-1 win in Game 2.
In the Central League Climax Series, the Tigers were spotted a 1-0 lead for their better regular-season record. I don’t entirely understand why the winning team only had to win 4 while the other league had to win 5, but maybe that was because of the 2-game advantage. The BayStars swept all 4 games played and won the series 4-1. Hanshin didn’t score until game 4 as Yokohama won 2-0, 1-0, and 4-0. After 2 home runs in the First Stage, a Shugo Maki HR accounted for the only run in Game 2 and he also hit one in Game 3. He was named the series MVP. There’s been a little chatter that he could post, but it hasn’t happened yet.
In Game 4, the BayStars started the scoring early again as Maki scored on a sacrifice fly in the 1st. The Tigers tied it up in the bottom half of the inning when a runner reached base on a Maki error and came around to score. Yokohama’s Shuto Naruse hit a 2-run homer in the 4th. But Hanshin scored 1 in the 5th, 1 in the 6th, and 2 in the 7th. Teruaki Sato was in the middle of that 7th inning rally and we’ll come back to him in a bit. The BayStars got a run back in the 8th but were down 5-4 going into the 9th. I’ll let Wiki take it from here:
In the top of the ninth inning, with one out, Shion Matsuo walked, then advanced to third on Watarai’s single, a ground ball deflected off the second baseman Nakano in the shallow right field. Maki then hit a ground ball to first baseman Oyama, who decided to throw home, catching Matsuo in a rundown between third and home. During the rundown Watarai advanced to third while Maki reached second. With Tigers being one strike away from living another day, and the “One More Strike!” chant from the Tigers fans echoing throughout Koshien Stadium, the next batter Masaki Mimori hit a fly ball that fell to the ground in the shallow left-center field, resulting in a 2-run single, scoring Maki and Watarai. With this hit, Kudō blew the two-inning save, and left the mound after intentionally walked Miyazaki. Rafael Dolis took over, and immediately allowed back-to-back RBI singles in two pitches, with these two runs earned to Kudō. Dolis retired Naruse to finally end the frame. In the bottom frame, the Tigers had the bases loaded with one hit and two walks, but were ultimately stranded, with Sean Reynolds striking out the side, ending the game and the series.
Before we get to the Japan Series. Let’s talk about Sato. He could potentially get a 9-figure contract this offseason and the MLBTR article I linked to above listed him as the 7th best free agent with a 5/$80M contract. David Adler at MLB wrote this article entitled “What to expect from Japanese superstar Sato in the Majors”:
We’re still very early here, but check out how FanGraphs’ Depth Charts projects Sato for 2027:
.247 AVG/.314 OBP/.468 SLG
31 HRs, 89 RBIs
112 wRC+ (aka, 12% better than an average hitter)
2.7 Wins Above Replacement
*****
Sorry for the spoilers, but you’d figure it out soon enough. The Japan Series was as exciting as a sweep could be. All of the games were close. But all of the games went the way of the Hawks. The Hawks were the best team in the regular season and went 7-0 in the playoffs en route to their 13th Japan Series championship.
Game 1 was scoreless until the 7th when Yudai Shoji plated a run with an RBI groundout. Maki homered in the 8th to tie the game. He also tied a Japan Series second baseman record with nine putouts in the game. A Shoji double knocked in the eventual winning run in the 11th. Kazuki Sugiyama picked up his first of three saves in the series.
Game 2 was another dramatic extra-inning affair and the game of the series. Fukuoka scored on a Tomoya Masaki solo home run in the 3rd and a Shoji RBI double in the 4th. Hawks starter and 2025 MVP Liván Moinelo threw 7 scoreless but the BayStars would have their chance against the bullpen. After Watarai and Maki reached on a single and HBP, former MLB veteran Yoshi Tsutsugo went the other way with a fly ball that just cleared the left field fence, giving the BayStars a 3-2 lead. But in the 9th, Yokohama closer and former Padre Sean Reynolds served up a monster game-tying home run to pinch hitter Hotaka Yamakawa. Top 10, Yuto Kawamura gave the Hawks the lead for good with a solo homer and Sugiyama picked up his second save.
Katsuki Azuma started Game 3 for the BayStars, while Haru Matsumoto started for the Hawks. Azuma threw seven shutout innings, with three strikeouts, two walks and two hit by pitches, and allowed 6 singles. Matsumoto, on the other hand, threw six innings with five strikeouts, allowed six hits, and gave up one run.
In the bottom of the 9th, Reynolds blew another save, giving up an RBI single with 2 outs. Masaki, who would win series MVP, walked it off with a home run in the 10th. Sugiyama didn’t pick up a save, but he got the win.
Game 4 wasn’t quite as dramatic as the others. The BayStars scored 2 in the 1st, the Hawks scored 3 in the 4th, and 1 in the 6th en route to a 4-2 series-clinching victory. Sugiyama picked up his 3rd save and the Hawks “became the first team in Japan Series history to sweep their Japan Series opponent without having any of their starting pitchers record a win”.
The Hawks have now won back-to-back titles, having also won in 2025.
*****
Finally, NPB said goodbye to the legendary Isao Harimoto, nicknamed “Hit Machine”, in September. Talk about an extraordinary life:
Born to Korean parents in Hiroshima in 1940, Harimoto as a child overcame a series of difficulties. At age four, severe burns in his right hand cost him most of its mobility.
Harimoto was five when he survived the U.S. atomic bombing of the western Japanese city on Aug. 6, 1945. His father died shortly after World War II and Harimoto’s hard-working mother ran an eatery to support the family.
In 1959, he won Pacific League Rookie of the Year. In 1960, he made his first of 18 All-Star games. In 1961, he hit for the cycle and won the first of seven batting titles. In 1962, he won Pacific League MVP and his Toei Flyers won the 1962 Japan Series. He is still the only player to ever collect more than 3000 hits in the NPB (3085) and he hit 504 home runs. He retired in 1981 and was inducted into the Japan Baseball HOF in 1990.
It’s been a while so let’s go revisit Soul Blade. This is Taki’s theme, Future Dancin’
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - OCTOBER 28: William Contreras #24 of the Milwaukee Brewers receives the Willie Mays World Series Most Valuable Player Award after the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in Game Five of the 2026 World Series presented by Capital One at Tropicana Field on Wednesday, October 28, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
For the first time in the history of the franchise, the Milwaukee Brewers are champions of Major League Baseball. Somewhere, Bob Uecker is smiling down from those great cheap seats in the sky.
The Brew Crew certainly deserve a lot of praise for their demolition run through the postseason bracket. After procuring a bye and home field advantage, they proceeded to…
Dispatch a solid San Diego Padres squad in the NLDS
Sweep the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS
Dismantle the American League’s clear top team—Tampa Bay Rays—in the Fall Classic
Yet, from a Twins fan perspective, the most interesting facet of Milwaukee’s mow-down was how the community came together to support the team at home and on the road.
One would be hard pressed to find more electric crowds than what showed up at AmFam Field in October. They even basically sold the place out just for fans to watch road games on the scoreboard! Perhaps most impressive was the complete and utter takeover of Tropicana Field (some 1,100 miles from MIL) for games 3-5 of the World Series. Based on crowd noise/reaction, one would have thought these home games for the Suds.
I have no special affinity nor malice towards the Brewers. Bud Selig can no longer hurt us and I don’t hold their cheesehead-ian pigskin proclivities against them in this context. Despite geographic proximity, a Twins/Brewers “rivalry” has never really developed (even when both were in the AL). Yet, our neighbors to the east can be a good litmus test for how MN baseball is doing—an exam currently being flunked in two significant aspects:
By population density, Milwaukee is the smallest baseball market. Yes, significantly smaller than even our Twin Cities. Yet, MIL outspent MIN in total 2026 payroll: $146,706,320 to $115,748,036 (according to Spotrac). “Not great, Bob” to quote the infamous Mad Men line.
Brewers owner Mark Attanasio seems to understand the deep local commitment to his product. Without a doubt, James Fillmore could tell us the ways Attanasio is angling for taxpayer money. But at a basic level, he hasn’t fallen into the never-ending (and self-fulfilling) death trap of letting poor attendance justify measly payrolls. For close to a decade now, the Brewers have at least put a competitive product on the field per their market realities.
It all paid off for The 414 in a 2026 championship—and will certainly continue to pay dividends (literal and figurative) in the near future. If Twins ownership ever wants a blueprint for how to build fan interest and competitive squads, a gaze over the St. Croix river is all it would take.
On this day 101 years ago, Hervey McClellan passed away at 30, from cancer. | American Caramel
1925 Shortstop Hervey McClellan, who made his White Sox debut in 1919 and played five seasons with the team after that, died at 30, of cancer. The defensive ace first felt ill on April 27, 1924, when he nearly passed out on the field with was thought to be “acute indigestion.” A week later, McClellan had his stomach operated on — he had stomach cancer, but somehow was not informed of his affliction. Incredibly, he battled his way back to the field after Independence Day and played in 24 more games that season, including a brief return to the starting lineup.
In 1925, McClellan reported to Spring Training in California with hopes of a healthy season starting at shortstop. However, he was weakened and never made it to the regular season, going under the knife again in June, this time to remove gallstones. Five months after his hospital discharge in July, the popular teammate known as “Little Mac” was dead.
1935 After a 22-year career logging a 229-217 record with a 3.84 ERA and 39.7 WAR (180th all-time among pitchers), “Sad” Sam Jones retired. The former Cleveland, Red Sox, Yankees, Browns and Senators player had ended his run with four seasons on the South Side.
Jones was a curveball specialist, and while never a consistent superstar in the game had some outstanding seasons, finishing fifth in the American League in WAR in 1921 (7.2) and seventh in 1928 (6.2); even in his age-40 season in Chicago, Jones put up an outstanding 3.8 WAR over 25 starts.
Jones played on four pennant winners and took home three titles, and compiled an 0-2 record with a 2.05 ERA in World Series play. He got his nickname not from melancholy, but from staring down runners at first base to prevent steal attempts.
Jones was the oldest player in the majors when he retired at 43. His 22 consecutive years playing in a single league remains a record, tying him with Herb Pennock, Early Wynn, Red Ruffing and Steve Carlton.
Jones was also a writer and photographer, and an avid basketball player who would have likely chosen to go pro on the hardwood had the NBA existed in the 1910s.
1943 After missing two seasons due to debilitating migraine headaches, Hal Trosky came back to the majors, with the White Sox purchasing the first baseman from Cleveland. His return resulted in average production (.241/.327/.374, with a 102 OPS+ and 0.5 WAR) and saw him sit out another year, 1945, to deal with his health. (Trosky returned for one final year with the White Sox in 1946.)
It was a hard ending for a borderline superstar during his Cleveland career, earning MVP votes in four seasons and boasting two 5.0 WAR-plus years.
1976 The White Sox sent second baseman Hugh Yancy to the Reds for outfielder Tom Spencer. Yancy had played in seven games over three seasons with the White Sox, compiling a -0.3 WAR that might not seem too bad, at least if you avoid the fact that -0.3 WAR in seven games works out to -6.9 over a full season.
However, despite Yancy never seeing the majors again (three Triple-A seasons in the Cincinnati and Cleveland systems), Spencer was worse. He played all of 1977 in Triple-A to no distinction, then burned it up in 1978 after being demoted to Double-A and getting his first and only call to the majors in July. With the White Sox, Spencer mustered just 12 hits, batting .185 and slugging .200. He clocked in with a -0.6 WAR and would finish his pro career in the Houston system.
2009 White Sox GM Ken Williams had a strange att achment to certain players, but they usually took the form of long-desired superstar veterans … well past their primes (see: Kenny Always Gets His Man).
But in the case of Mark Teahen, who the White Sox acquired from the Royals in a trade on this day for Josh Fields and Chris Getz, the usual attachments did not apply. Teahen had lit up the majors in 2006, his second full season (3.7 WAR, .874 OPS/122 OPS+ in just 109 games) and followed it up with a solid 2007. Versatile enough to have logged significant games in corner outfield and infield, Williams envisioned Teahen as the solution to Chicago’s hole at third base.
But Williams wasn’t satisfied in merely acquiring Teahen: A month later, he extended the 28-year-old with a three-year, $14 million deal through 2012. Unfortunately, Teahen was positively awful in 2008-09, running up -1.4 WAR over 293 games. For a player showing all indications he might be cooked as a major-leaguer, Williams’ no-questions-asked buyout of arb years and three-year commitment was a bold statement.
And, as it turned out, a bad move, as Teahen ran up -1.1 WAR for the 2010 White Sox and never played another game in the majors after his three-year deal gifted by Williams ran out.
SAN DIEGO, CA - SEPTEMBER 05: Luis Gil #81 of the New York Yankees looks on prior to the game between the New York Yankees and the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Saturday, September 5, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Ryan Levy/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
In 2024, New York Yankees right-hander Luis Gil impressed with a brilliant first half and a full campaign worthy of the American League Rookie of the Year Award. At that point, the Bombers thought they had unearthed another pitching gem, controllable for multiple years on the cheap.
A severe lat strain in 2025 and shoulder issues in 2026 have hampered his progress and affected his fastball velocity and command, though. Last year, he posted a 3.32 ERA in 57 innings, but with very ugly peripherals. This season, the wheels completely fell off. The shoulder woes limited him to 39.1 innings between the majors and the minors. He finished with a 4.61 ERA and a rough 7.12 FIP in 27.1 MLB frames, with 18 walks and 17 strikeouts.
The right-hander started to transition to a bullpen role during the season, which could actually represent his firmest, most concrete way into the team’s plans. With the non-tender deadline looming on November 20th, however, the Yankees will have to make a decision. Is holding onto Gil worth the headache? The right-hander is projected to get a modest raise in his first year of arbitration, to $2.3 million, according to MLB Trade Rumors. Money, in this case, is not the primary issue, though.
Is Gil good or promising enough to warrant a place in the team’s future plans? Well, it will entirely depend on his ability to thrive out of the bullpen, which could be both his short and long-term home.
The concept of Gil as a multi-inning reliever is certainly enticing. Potentially increased velocity and not as much wear and tear on his shoulder sound excellent for his long-term prospects, but he does have short-term goals: looking good on the mound and getting closer to that 2024 version of himself, regardless of role. He was a completely different pitcher back then:
He is currently pitching for Tigres Del Licey in the Dominican Republic League, and boasts a solid 1.50 ERA in six frames, spanning over three games. The problem? He has issued six walks against seven strikeouts. Control has never been Gil’s calling card, but anything that starts with a five next to his BB/9 stat would represent a big problem.
The Yankees would probably love to trade Gil, hoping to get something in return for his name value and the fact that he won the award for the league’s best rookie just two years ago. They are probably dangling his name in the market as we speak. If they can’t reach a deal with any team, they will need to make a decision. They can give their promising, yet erratic right-hander one last chance, probably in the bullpen, or they could choose to cut ties and not tender him a contract, making him free to sign with any squad.
Complicating matters is the fact that Gil does not have any minor league options remaining. The next time the Yankees want to remove him from their 40-man roster, they will need to put him through waivers and risk losing him for nothing. If the Yankees can’t find a deal for him, they could opt to keep him around and try the bullpen experiment full-time to see if he can give them anything there, considering that it’s an area of need at the moment. It’s hard to see him sticking over the long term unless something drastically changes, though.
Sep 10, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; General view of the helmet used by the Milwaukee Brewers before the start of the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-Imagn Images | Stan Szeto-Imagn Images
Greetings, Brew Crew Ball community. The offseason is now underway, and the Brewers will look to build a World Series defense as the majority of the roster is expected to return. The MLB lockout is also looming, with less than a month until the current CBA expires, though both sides seem to be negotiating in good faith at this point. Lastly, I’d like to point out two posts in The Feed: our MVBrewers voting has begun, with the poll open through Sunday for our #1 spot; and I’m looking for feedback on how you’d like these Bernie’s Dugout Open Threads to continue moving forward. You can check both of those out below.
Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-baseball sports, the Brewers, you name it. As long as it’s appropriate and is allowed by our moderators, it’s fair game here.
Happy birthday to Justin Speier, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 1886 – The Sporting News publishes the official National Leagueaverages, which show King Kelly as the batting champ with a .388 average, 17 points ahead of Cap Anson. The paper previously had printed its own stats showing Anson ahead, .374 to .367, as well as 1998 – Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Kerry Wood, who posted a 13-6 record, wins the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Wood held batters to a NL best .196 average and finished third in the league in strikeouts with 233 in just 166.2 innings pitched, and other stories as well.
2007 – The 2007 Gold Glove Awards are announced. Greg Maddux is honored for the 17th time, setting a new record for most Gold Gloves.
2023 – In an unexpected move, the Cubs announce that they have hired Craig Counsell, who until now was the manager of the rival Milwaukee Brewers, to replace David Ross as their skipper. Ross’s position was not considered to be in danger after he had led the Cubs back into respectability following a re-build this past season.
1861 – Jefferson Davis is elected to a six-year term as President of the Confederate States of America.
1869 – In the first US college football game, players use their hands, feet, heads, or sides to advance the ball, but they cannot run with it; Rutgers College beats New Jersey (now Princeton) 6-4.
1936 – RCA displays TV for press.
1947 – Debut of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the longest-running TV show in the US.
1975 – First performance by punk band the Sex Pistols at St. Martin’s College in London.
1981 – Larry Holmes TKOs Renaldo Snipes in 11 for heavyweight boxing title.
1990 – “I’m Your Baby Tonight,” the third studio album by Whitney Houston is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1991).
1995 – Art Modell officially announces the Cleveland Browns are moving to Baltimore.
Today in presidential history:
1860 – Republican Abraham Lincoln of Illinois is elected the 16th President of the United States of America.
1888 – Benjamin Harrison is elected US President, defeating sitting President Grover Cleveland (D), 233 electoral votes to 168, Cleveland receives slightly more votes.
1984 – Incumbent Republican President Ronald Reagan re-elected President of the United States in a landslide; wins 49 states, and defeats Democrat Walter Mondale
2012 – Barack Obama is re-elected as US President, defeating Republican candidate Mitt Romney.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - SEPTEMBER 30: Kyle Schwarber #12 of the Philadelphia Phillies walks to the dugout against the Atlanta Braves during the tenth inning in game two of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park on September 30, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Edward M. Pio Roda/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Bad news: there’s a salary cap on Thanksgiving this year. You’re going to have to trade mashed potatoes if you want to resign stuffing. Unless you can find someone to take Brussels sprouts off your plate.
Should the Braves trade Ronald Acuña Jr? Given that this is a Phillies site, your answer is probably “yes”. But from a nonpartisan perspective, it’s a different story.
SURPRISE, ARIZONA - OCTOBER 14: Ike Irish #10 of the Baltimore Orioles in his batting stance on deck during a game between the Peoria Javelinas and Surprise Saguaros at Surprise Stadium on October 14, 2026 in Surprise, Arizona. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
MLB free agency has been open for three days, but so far, all has been quiet on the hot stove front. As of this writing, no free agent has signed a major league deal with any team. There had been some speculation that November would be a particularly busy month as players scramble to find new teams before the lockout hits, but that hasn’t come to pass as yet. We’ve still got more than three weeks, though, so things could certainly change.
While we wait for some Orioles news, let’s check in on the O’s prospects currently playing in the Arizona Fall League. Of the eight-player contingent representing the Orioles for the Peoria Javelinas, four of them were selected to the Fall Stars Game for the league’s top performers. Steve Melewski wrote about that quartet, which includes Ike Irish, Vance Honeycutt, Braxton Bragg, and Patrick Reilly.
Those were the four most interesting prospects the Orioles sent to the AFL, so it’s nice to see that they’ve all done well, small sample size notwithstanding. Irish has been red hot with an .896 OPS in 16 games, picking up where he left off during the 2026 minor league season before suffering a torn meniscus in July.
Meanwhile, Honeycutt has continued the late-season surge he enjoyed after being promoted to Double-A Chesapeake, as he’s rocking the AFL to the tune of a 1.075 OPS, three homers, and more walks (18) than strikeouts (16). I’d all but given up on Honeycutt as a prospect after his horrendous 2025 and mostly horrendous 2026, but it’s possible that something has finally clicked for him. Can he salvage his career after all?
Reilly and Bragg, who both had Tommy John surgery in 2025, are back on the mound and pitching well, particularly Reilly, who has a 2.87 ERA and 14.3 K/9. As with Irish, what matters more than the stats is the fact that they seem to be fully healthy. (Of course, the stats are nice, too.)
Of the non-Fall Stars Orioles, infielder Brandon Butterworth is hitting just .217 but has a .400 OBP, thanks to 14 walks in 17 games. The O’s also have three relievers on the squad — Keilen Hamson, Kiefer Lord, and Teddy Sharkey — who aren’t having much luck. Sharkey has been OK, giving up two runs in 5.2 innings, but Hamson has surrendered seven walks in 4.1 innings and Lord has been bombed for nine runs in 8.1 frames.
The Fall Stars Game will air on MLB Network this Sunday at 8:00 pm. In the absence of anything else going on in baseball, it might be worth a watch.
Our SBNation Cardinals sister site proposes a few possible trades for Orioles infielders. He’s very insistent on trading some guy named Jimmy Crooks to the Orioles.
The Polar Bear is up against Boston first baseman Willson Contreras for the award. Contreras had a nice year and all, but come on, this should be an easy choice.
Only if we can get Jimmy Crooks. I will settle for nothing less.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You share your day with two former Orioles infielders: Deivi Cruz (54) and Leo Hernández (67).
On this date in 1969, the Orioles’ Mike Cuellar was voted the co-winner of the AL Cy Young Award along with the Tigers’ Denny McLain. It was the first and only time in major league history that there’s been a tie vote for the Cy Young, as Cuellar and McLain each received 10 votes (unlike today, voters listed only one name instead of ranking their top five). McLain was the better of the two by bWAR (8.1 to Cuellar’s 4.4) and threw a league-leading 325 innings and nine shutouts, but Cuellar had the better ERA (2.38 to McLain’s 2.80) and pitched for a pennant-winning team.
And on this date in 2011, the Orioles reached agreement with Dan Duquette to become their new general manager, an out-of-the-blue hire after he’d been out of baseball for 10 years. Duquette lasted seven years with the Birds and helped build a team that had the best record in the American League from 2012-16, but the Orioles collapsed late in his tenure and he was fired after the disastrous 2018 season.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - OCTOBER 11: Tarik Skubal #29 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning in game one of the National League Championship Series at American Family Field on October 11, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Andrew Wang of “Dealin’ the Cards” podcast did us a solid with his neat little GM Simulator. Really fun little app and you can play here. Compare your desired outcomes with mine and other commenters down below.
Full disclosure, I have two articles in the pipeline but I’m having trouble bringing them to the finish line. Been working on one since August. “Can the Cardinals compete with a singular Draft-and-Develop Model?” Still too disorganized and as I’ve turned back to it lately, it turns out people in the Cardinal organization take a minute or two away from their 24×7 jobs this time of year. So be it.
The other is a “30,000 foot look at the Cardinal talent pipeline” in which I try and visualize strength and weaknesses by position group throughout the system, more than focusing on projecting individual players chances of success. The visual will show, for example, the fairly wide gap between the talent on the MLB roster and the next wave of position players, none of which are AAA level (or in other words, not MLB ready). I’m having trouble getting a visual that is organized and clear, but the pathways I’m trying to describe look like a California freeway interchange. Lots of overlaps and intersects.
It is time to get a little silly. What you will see here is not my usual rendition of how I think they look at things or try to explain why they are going down their chosen path. This will be my own silliness. Here is what I would do. I still try and maintain a touch of reality … the roster is what it is and I can’t wish that away. The Cardinals financial constraints, self-imposed or otherwise, are real and I don’t ignore those (so, no signing Skubal in my scenario). As well, the Cardinal’s long-term view, patience and “no short cuts” is decided. So I work within that. The opinions are mine. What I would do, given the imposed constraints.
Working the simulation
The GM Simulator tool produced some neat, interesting graphics. Nice job on their part. The key one in my mind is the changes I’d consider if I was in charge of shaping the 2027 roster. That one graphic didn’t fit (I changed a fair bit), so here is just the list of transactions I’d undertake.
Non-Tender
Chase Davis
Liberatore
Scott II
Gorman
Prieto
A Davis non-tender is driven by other decisions I’d make, which are explained below. My transactions would make him redundant, and realistically, runway expires at the MiLB level, too.
Liberatore and Gorman are as much about saving money and getting more value for those dollars, but also about runway. I’ve seen enough. Same with Scott II. I had high hopes, but they are extinguished and there are other areas of greater hope.
Decline Option
Ryne Stanek
I wrote this before it became official. They couldn’t fix his Splitter, which made him too vulnerable. Not hard to predict, most relievers don’t emerge at 32 years old.
Select Contract
Ledbetter
Cho
Lin
Levenson
You could change a few of these names and I wouldn’t argue. I try not to agonize over decision made at the marginal edges of the roster. Chase Davis could be kept instead of Ledbetter or Levenson. Ok. But Bloom acquired Ledbetter, which I suspect breaks all ties. Levenson is a question mark in my mind, but after all my machinations, I end up with 39 players and someone gets that spot and I picked him. As for me, I’m looking around in Spring to see if I can add incremental value in all 4 of these spots, except maybe Cho. I want to see more.
A point here…I selected the contracts of only those players requiring Rule V protection that I don’t want to lose. There aren’t a lot of guys that do NOT need 40-man protection today that I think are ready for MLB on Opening Day, so I kept them off the 40-man for now and hold them in reserve (Santana is a notable one). There are a whole slew of guys I think will come up during the season and require 40-man spots at the same time they get 26-man spots. To me, the best kind of churn, but one better served for Flag Day and beyond, and strategically timed to match their readiness as much as team need.
Skubal is a dream idea that doesn’t fit any of Cardinal planning criteria listed above. The current rotation is solid but unspectacular. It really wasn’t the problem this year and looks to get better just with internal options, but the timing isn’t quite right. To my mind, Mize and Rogers raise the bar of the rotation without breaking the bank. Neither pitcher is TOR but I think this creates a better rotation that is more than solid and ready to absorb new guys that might need some time to stabilize. Working a Cijntje or a Doyle into the rotation is better if you have a lot of confidence in the other 4 spots. Losing the draft picks for signing Rogers might give them pause, but I believe it would be a Comp B pick and they are going to have to bite that bullet sooner or later, and could still get that pick back when Rogers is dealt away later (assuming all this young pitching works out).
Dubon is my super-sub, probably more IF than OF, although the system lists him as LF. He is better than Saggese/Fermin/Torres/etc. He raises the bar (and it is a low bar).
As a note, I tried to be realistic with my FA contract lengths and amounts. No low-balls here.
Trades
Pallante and Mason Molina to MIN for Royce Lewis (to play Third)
Crooks, Church, Jesus Baez to PIT for O’Neil Cruz (to play Center)
Some folks are going to say Cruz??? WTF? He has become an average defender in CF and that 3.3 fWAR would be quite an improvement in CF over what the Cardinals have gotten recently and expect next year. I also wonder how he might respond with a stronger set of players around him on the field.
Royce Lewis is my wild card. I’d want more scouting material than I have on him to be sure this is a good bet. If I could, I’d offer less but didn’t want to be that guy that offers our throwaways for someone else’s core player. I think at worst he’d solidify third for a while, since there are no answers internally, free agent or other good trade routes that can be imagined. But, what about Jesus Baez? Well, I traded him for Cruz. He is exciting to watch, but I’m not a believer.
The net result looks like the following, which also a really good graphic from Dealin’ the Cards.
The narrative
My first goal was to be realistic about money. I ended up with a $110m base payroll, which I think might be a bit higher than the Cardinals want to go, but I see it as in the neighborhood. My second goal was to improve the 2027 roster and make it competitive without creating serious obstacles for the next wave of prospects (Doyle, et.al.) or compromising the pipeline.
Line-up wise, I tried to keep the L-R-L orientation they like so much in the line-up, as well as setup the roster so some young guys like Baez and Bernal could hit lower in the line-up as they get acclimated to MLB baseball. My goal was to make the line-up deep enough that Masyn Winn could hit ninth. To me, if he is your 9th place hitter, that is probably a productive line-up. To me, likely way more consistent than the 2026 edition.
I worked to leverage current assets that aren’t really part of the future core (Crooks, Church, Pallante) to augment with shorter-term bridge talents that could improve the 2027 roster and I really did not a focus on adding more MiLB talent. The structure of my MLB acquisitions buys a little bit of time to continue to spruce up the position player side of the organization, with an eye that by this time next year, we may have a surplus of starting pitching talent that can be leveraged, without abandoning the 2027 season.
I debated about moving Liberatore to the bullpen but decided that the money was better spent on FA that could provide more value. Dollars invested into the rotation pay off more than dollars to the bullpen, usually. Mautz takes that LHRP role, although you could put Bruihl there and I wouldn’t object much. I see Cijntje and others adding firepower to this bullpen later in the season and suspect it will be needed. Bullpens are so volatile. I don’t do a lot with it, to create headroom for young guys and recognize that this is the kind of thing you can fix in July when you know what is working and what is not. I hold Santana (and now Eduardo Lopez) in reserve at the start of the year. By keeping Santana back, it gives me an extra 40-man slot to work with and allows me to choose the time when he is deployed (later).
I traded prospects Jesus Baez and Mason Molina under the auspices that when you have some really good prospects, the second-tier guys can bring back value and are likely to get blocked anyway. There is still a need to solve 3B in the longer term, but Dubon, Lewis and Jordan probably give you another year or two to sort that out. There is enough talent at High-A and AA that appear to offer opportunities (Ortiz, Padilla).
I feel like I have solved the C problem until Rodriguez emerges, but he seems good enough that when he does, he just displaces someone and the roster is better no matter who that is. Herrera? Pages? Jordan? 3B? C? 1B? DH? Doesn’t matter. Let that happen organically and when he emerges, you have another asset to disperse to improve another part of the roster.
At the end of the day, I kind of like this line-up for $110m and walk away feeling good that I didn’t give up a top-10 prospect to get some improvement in the current roster.
My last goal was to add athleticism and baserunning (speed), which I think I did. Wetherholt, Winn, Walker, Cruz, Baez bring an element that has been missing. This was my reasoning for not trading Tai Peete, but I could be convinced to do that for the right deal (a 3B solution better than Lewis).
This isn’t a world championship caliber team, but I think perhaps a legit wild card contender with a bit of upside if the young guys hit the ground running. As the young phenoms matriculate in, I think the floor of my roster is easier to build up than the current one. It is a step in the right direction, which stays in line with “no short cuts” and “build from within”.
It is a question almost any wannabe contender in Major League Baseball faces: Trade a core player nearing the back end of their club control years, or keep them to finish the job?
That problem is complicated for clubs who perceive themselves as low-revenue or small-market. Perhaps attempts to retain the player on long-term deals have gone nowhere. Or sufficient replacements are believed to be nearing readiness in the minor leagues.
Or maybe the player just doesn’t believe in the club’s long-term vision.
Any number of issues can compel a club to trade an All-Star talent mid- or late-term in their six to seven years of club control. And a handful will land on the trade block this winter - or at least be the subject of many phone calls and messages. With that, a look at seven National League players who could conceivably get traded this winter:
Elly De La Cruz, SS, Reds
This is it. This is the big one.
De La Cruz is halfway home to his six years of service time before free agency, and in the first half of the Elly Era, he’s racked up two All-Star appearances, the adoration of thousands of young fans and, in 2026, a 30-30 season that included career highs in WAR (5.6) and OPS (.880).
In January, he will celebrate his 25th birthday.
Yes, an uncommon talent in a 6-6, 200-pound frame, but in his four seasons in Cincinnati, the Reds have landed between 75 and 83 wins, seemingly fulfilling ownership’s vision of mediocrity. The 83-win season landed them a last-minute wild-card berth, which lasted about as long as it takes to get from downtown L.A. to Dodger Stadium.
Is there a plan for building around this franchise player? Or rebuilding by flipping him to a prospect-rich true contender?
The answer would certainly add fuel to this impending lockout. As a Scott Boras client, the script says De La Cruz has been predisposed to ignoring overtures for a contract extension, ostensibly leaving the Reds powerless like so many lower-revenue clubs, fated to never win a World Series.
Just one problem with that theory: The Brewers developed a Boras-client shortstop, signed him to an extension of at least eight years and, just last month, won a World Series with Cooper Pratt.
So it can happen. But the clock is ticking on De La Cruz’s Cincy stint, as well as the team’s ability to construct a functional team around him.
CJ Abrams, SS/2B, Washington
Another winter, another round of Abrams conjecture. The big question is whether president of baseball operations Paul Toboni will simply listen to Abrams suitors, or initiate phone calls himself.
In a 1,500-word letter to fans, Toboni reflected on the pleasantly surprising 77-win season, the difficulty – emotionally and tangibly – of shipping off good players at the trade deadline and the paths ahead.
“Our progress in 2026 does not dictate what 2027 will bring,” Toboni wrote. “We cannot assume that the same trajectory will continue. We must find new ways to improve, remain open-minded enough to challenge our own assumptions and hold ourselves accountable to the standards we are establishing.
“That is what my staff and I remain focused on.”
Hmm.
That can certainly be interpreted several ways, though per usual, it sounds like the two-time All-Star infielder could be had for a good price. It doesn't hurt that Washington has a budding franchise shortstop and former 1/1 pick in Eli Willits bound for Class AA at 19, along with former first-rounder Seaver King at AAA and the speedy and defensively deft Nasim Nuñez at the big league level.
Trading Abrams coming off an All-Star season – and a seemingly permanent switch to second base, though he toggled between middle infield spots – might be more stomachable now than ever. Yet Toboni’s regime might have to weather a gap year or two where giving up a 33-homer, 34-steal guy brings significant pain before the next wave is ready.
It was a dizzying dropoff from half-to-half for Marsh, who tumbled from All-Star to a 90 adjusted OPS and a symbol of the Phillies’ offensive struggles. His .304 OBP is an easy target for a club looking to improve on its paucity of walks – ranking 10th in the NL and 17th in the majors.
Marsh, entering his final year before free agency, can be of use to a contending team, if only for his speed and baserunning, his serviceable defense and the notion that a change of scenery might recapture some of his first-half magic. Marsh had a .319/.352/.530 line through July 1 – and a .177/.241/.241 mark thereafter.
DL Hall, LHP, Brewers
Hey, we’re not looking for trouble in paradise.
There’s a case to be made that the World Series champion Brewers run it back 24 to 26 strong, pending what happens with first baseman Jake Bauers, who was extended the qualifying offer. And Hall was terrific for the Brewers, posting a 1.91 ERA across 61 ⅓ regular season innings and adding six scoreless outings – covering eight innings – in their postseason run.
This is still Milwaukee, though, where the next chapter of sustained postseason existence must be written by players spun off from the current one. And Hall – who has battled injuries since he was a first-round pick in 2017 – might be at the peak of his value as he enters his first season of salary arbitration.
He’d a fun and higher-leverage weapon for another contender, as he stacks up fourth in Milwaukee’s bullpen barrage, taking a number behind Trevor Megill, Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby. Fellow lefty Angel Zerpa figures to be back from Tommy John surgery before Summerfest officially kicks off winning time in Milwaukee.
So a deal would make sense. It’d just be a bummer to break up the band before they absolutely must.
Ivan Herrera, C, Cardinals
A 26-year-old dude with a .353 OBP, a 111 adjusted OPS and 20-homer power sounds pretty appealing. Throw in the fact he can catch a little and the intrigue increases.
And top that with the fact that the “catcher’s room” – as they might say in the NFL – is getting kind of crowded in St. Louis, and you can imagine the wheels spinning in the Cardinals front office.
Herrera is mostly a DH in their eyes now – he caught just 11 games the final two months of the season – as Leo Bernal took over more of those duties. Pedro Pages is also around and Rainiel Rodriguez, a consensus top 10 overall prospect, will be there soon.
Herrera would be a great fit for a club that could use his right-handed bat at DH, badly needs his OBP acumen and can toss him a couple catching assignments every week or so. (Might want to review the Brandon Marsh item for a decent fit).
Tommy Edman, 2B/CF, Dodgers
Let’s start with the reasons why the Dodgers wouldn’t trade Edman.
They love their multi-positional Swiss Army Knives, and they’re fresh out of Chris Taylors and Kiké Hernandezes. Edman provides them security at several positions, including center field should Andy Pages get hurt again. And while the remainder of his contract is reasonable – roughly $39 million over the next three seasons, including a $3 million 2030 buyout – it’s not exactly nothing for a guy who will turn 32 in May.
Ah, age. This is the thing: The Dodgers need to get younger. Perhaps it was the totality of three long playoff runs that rendered them a step slow and so punchless against Milwaukee in the NLCS, but everyone adds another year come 2027.
And Edman was far removed from his playoff heroics of 2024 and ’25, going 1 for 14 with one walk in eight games, five of them starts.
Meanwhile, Alex Freeland is lurking on the bench. The ultraspeedy and athletic Hyeseong Kim couldn’t crack all the playoff rosters. And the on-base and power savant, Josue DePaula, is primed for close to full-time duty, gobbling up more plate appearances in the aggregate.
This wouldn’t be a blockbuster. The Dodgers would mostly be moving the money and the body, and might even pay down some of Edman’s future salary. But Edman could still be of use for a contender that needs a steady and versatile veteran hand – while allowing the Dodgers a chance to peek at the future.
Ketel Marte, 2B, Diamondbacks
“Honey, can you grab the holiday decorations? No, they’re under the stairs…right next to the bucket of Ketel Marte trade rumors."
It’s a winter tradition unlike any other. Marte has 10/5 rights and must approve any trade, but after a second consecutive year where Marte dipped on the D’backs, how bad would it be if they brought him back again?
Certainly, they don’t want to sell their best offensive player for 80 cents on the dollar. And perhaps his value will drag not just because of his penchant for going AWOL but also because his OBP dipped to .316, lowest since 2016. His adjusted OPS tumbled from 147 to 107.
Yet this is still a switch-hitting weapon who’s averaged 28 homers a year since 2023 and still makes just $12 million in 2027. His price jumps to $20 million annually from 2028-30, but that’s still plenty reasonable.
So, fire up the cocoa and gather round. Perhaps Marte will finally come tumbling down another team’s chimney.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 23: Ben Rice #22 of the New York Yankees celebrates hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on September 23, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Dustin Satloff/Getty Images) | Getty Images
We’ve made it to the weekend, and now that we’re a full week into November the holiday season is fast approaching. I’m personally brushing up on some fun fall recipes to have on hand for a Friendsgiving later in the month, which is how you know we’re fully into offseason mode when baking is the lede we’re going with. To be fair, it’s not like we’re anticipating much of a hot stove in the baseball sense with the lockout about to freeze transactions once the calendar turns over to December. The league is still rolling out award nominations, with the Silver Sluggers the most recent batch to be announced, and we’ve got a few weeks to go until we know who will be tendered a contract among arbitration-eligible players and who will accept their qualifying offers.
It’ll be a quiet day as we get your morning started. Andrés starts us off with his second look at a player on the fringes of the Yankees’ roster in Luis Gil and whether the Yankees should cut bait with him entirely. Jonathan looks back at Fernando Cruz’s season and hands out our next report card, and then John takes us through James Paxton’s career on his 38th birthday. Later on in the afternoon, I’ll return to answer your latest questions from the mailbag.
Questions/Prompts:
1. Would Ben Rice have better odds of winning a Silver Slugger had he stuck around at first base long-term this season and gone up against Pete Alonso instead of Yordan Alvarez, or is it a moot point?
2. What’s a random Yankee from the 2010s that you think about from time to time? (I’m picking Nathan Eovaldi personally, he’s been around the block for a while now but his Yankees days feel like a forgotten part of his career.)
DETROIT, MI - SEPTEMBER 25: Brandon Lowe #5 of the Pittsburgh Pirates bats during the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Friday, September 25, 2026 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Izzy Rincon/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Brandon Lowe’s first season as a Pittsburgh Pirate has been a huge success. He is up for a Gold Glove award in the National League, and he led the team in home runs and RBIs. Lowe is also now named a National League Silver Slugger finalist.
Lowe slashed .260/.331/.493 with 29 doubles, one triple, 35 home runs and 96 RBI in a career-high 150 games this season. The 32-year-old led the Pirates in home runs and RBI. Lowe’s 33 home runs as a second baseman were the most in a single season in franchise history.
Lowe led all MLB second basemen in home runs, slugging percentage and OPS (.824). He finished second in RBI and runs (94). Lowe finished sixth in the National League in home runs and ninth in RBI, regardless of position.
Brice Turang of the Milwaukee Brewers is the other finalist for NL second basemen. This would be Lowe’s first Silver Slugger award if he were to win. Andrew McCutchen was the last Pirate to win a Silver Slugger award when he did it in 2015.
The veteran second baseman is slated to be a free agent this offseason and this nominee is just more proof that the Bucs need to re-sign him. The Pirates extended him a $23.15 million qualifying offer on Monday. He has until Nov. 17 to either accept or reject the offer.
With the season Lowe had it makes sense that the asking price for him will be high but the Pirates need to be aggressive in the offseason and they can’t be afraid to spend some money. Pittsburgh had a top 10 offense in the league this year and Lowe was a big reason for that.
The winners for the Silver Slugger award will be announced on November 17.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ - OCTOBER 31: Jake Bloss #50 of the Mesa Solar Sox pitches during the game between the Solar Sox and the Scorpions at Scottsdale Stadium on Saturday, October 31, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
We had a little bit of news earlier in the week, but now there’s truly nothing much going on.
The major league news we have isn’t the fun kind to talk about. Anthony Santander reposted bigoted anti-Muslim videos on his Instagram, which has sparked a predictable and justified backlash. The team has issued a statement saying the comments don’t represent their views, but I don’t think that’ll put an end to the matter. Anthony Bass got himself DFA’d for sharing hateful videos on social media three years ago (in his case they were homophobic). Doing the same for Santander would be complicated. For one, he’s injured, which as The Athletic’s Keith Law notes, would lead to a union grievance if her were released. For another, he’s not a fringe reliever, he’s (notionally) a star owed $49 million over the next four seasons (assuming they buy out his 2030 club option). That puts the club in a bit of an awkward situation. There will be a lot of fans who won’t want to see him back (in addition to the ones who already didn’t for on-field performance reasons). We’ll see what happens, but personally I’d prefer not to see him in a Jays uniform again.
In thrilling procedural news, the Jays have been awarded a fourth option year on Jake Bloss’ contract. Teams typically get three options on a drafted minor league player, but can be given a fourth if the three are exhausted before the player reaches five full seasons. Bloss was just drafted in 2023, but was called up in 2024 by the Astros before being traded to Toronto. He used up his second and third options in 2025 and 2026. The additional option means that he can be sent back to Buffalo if necessary in 2027. Ideally, of course, he’ll be fully healthy for camp and make the opening day roster. The option alleviates the pressure to do so or face a DFA, though.
Speaking of Bloss, he was one of three Jays named to the Arizona Fall League’s Fall Stars roster. Bloss had shaky top line results, allowing 10 runs in 10.2 innings, but his 11:2 strikeout to walk ratio is probably more representative. He apparently sat 93-96, which is down from the increased velocity he showed working back from Tommy John rehab this summer but is in line with where he was in 2024. Hopefully a healthy winter of work brings his command all the way back and he’s ready to challenge for a rotation spot in spring training. The other Jays honoured were slugging catcher/outfielder Aaron Parker and speedy OF Jake Cook. Parker lit up AA this past season with his power, but showed concerning swing and miss. In the fall he dialed his strikeouts back to 25% and upped his walks. He also got significant reps in the outfield for the first time. Parker isn’t a great defender behind the dish, so this may be a trial to see whether he can do enough on the grass to allow him to focus on developing his more promising offensive tools. Cook, a 2025 draftee, is an extremely raw toolshed who only converted back to hitting in his junior year of college after spending his first couple seasons on the mound. He’s got genuinely elite speed and an athletic frame, but has a long ways to go to develop as a hitter. Congrats to all three Jays prospects.
Speaking of speedy outfielders, Rudy Martin jr. agreed to a minor league deal with a spring training invite. Martin, 30, got his first MLB cup of coffee with the Jays this past season. The Royals drafted him out of high school way back in 2014, and he spend years in the lower levels of their system before a few years bouncing around independent ball. He caught back on with the Royals system in 2025 before coming over to the Jays. His .274/.394/.421 slash line in Buffalo was a solid 14% above league average. More importantly, he played centre field and went 45-53 stealing bases. With Myles Straw gone, Martin moves one slot up the depth chart and could see time with the Jays in 2027 as a speed and D extra outfielder.
Finally, as free agency continues to not really get going, there were a couple of profiles of players the Jays should consider signing this winter. At MLB.com, Keegan Matheson makes the case that Seiya Suzuki is a perfect fit for the Jays. I think he’s overselling his defence, as 2026 was the first year he’d posted above average value in the field and the Cubs chose to DH him a lot of the time, but a well rounded power bat would do a lot for the roster. Whether a hundred million dollar five year deal for a player who will be 32 for most of next season makes sense is a question, but at least for the next couple of years Suzuki would fill a major need. Meanwhile, David Adler profiles another Japanese star, this one just posted this winter. Teruaki Sato will need to sign before the lockout, so he might be the only significant free agent domino that actually falls in November. He has loads of power, which would fit the Jays nicely, but he’s also a super aggressive hitter with some swing and miss. That’s lead to strikeout rates in the mid-high 20s% range in Japan, and could become a problem in the majors. Kazuma Okamoto, as a comparison, struck out about 10% less often in Japan and still had some contact issues in Toronto (although it didn’t stop him from posting a very solid overall line). He’s also not great either at third or in right field. Still, 27 year olds with monster power don’t come on the free agent market very often, and the Jays could use an infusion of youth and thump. He merits a deep dive from their international scouts to see whether they believe his approach will stand up in North America.
Baseball players are taught to have short memories. Executives, whose job is to remember which players fit their roster and why, do not have that luxury.
Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies’ front-office should remember Jeremy Peña quite well.
As a rookie in 2022, Peña hit .400 against them in the World Series, led both teams with 10 hits and became the first rookie position player to win World Series MVP. He recorded a hit in all six games, homered in Game 5 and helped end the Phillies’ unexpected October run.
Four years later, the player who tormented Philadelphia could give its lineup several of the elements it now lacks.
Peña hits fastballs, runs well, bats right-handed and has spent most of the last two seasons leading off for Houston. He also plays shortstop, a position where the Phillies have already acknowledged that their long-term arrangement is no longer certain.
There is no indication that the Astros have made their 29-year-old available. There is enough uncertainty surrounding Peña’s future, though, that Houston should be one of Dombrowski’s first calls this winter.
How does he fit?
The industry has spent the last few weeks discussing the style of baseball that carried Milwaukee and Tampa Bay to the World Series. Both clubs were athletic, played strong defense and consistently forced opponents to complete plays. Toronto reached the World Series a year earlier with baseball’s lowest strikeout rate and another lineup built around making contact.
Power did not disappear from any of those offenses. Their success simply reinforced the value of pairing it with speed, contact and the ability to pressure a defense.
That showed up in how the Brewers and Rays handled velocity. Milwaukee led the majors with a .283 average in plate appearances that ended with fastballs. Tampa Bay ranked fifth at .272. Both also finished among baseball’s five most active teams on the bases.
The Phillies went in the other direction against fastballs. Their .268 average ranked second in 2025 before falling to .261, which ranked 17th, last season.
Peña would directly address that decline.
Among the 149 major-league hitters who had at least 500 plate appearances end with a fastball over the last two seasons, none produced a higher batting average than Peña’s .348. He also recorded a .953 OPS in those situations.
His .367 batting average on balls in play against fastballs during that span provides additional context. Peña’s production was not carried entirely by home runs or an overwhelming exit-velocity profile. He consistently put velocity in play and turned that contact into hits, with his speed giving him another way to beat a defense.
That has been a theme throughout his career. Peña’s underlying metrics have rarely been flashy. He has not consistently ranked among the league leaders in average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, barrels or walks, but he has remained productive without dominating those categories.
Peña followed an All-Star 2025 season, when he hit .304 with an .840 OPS, 17 home runs and 20 stolen bases, by batting .277 with an .802 OPS and 22 homers in 112 games last year. A fractured fingertip, hamstring strain and calf strain limited him, but he still matched his career high in home runs.
The speed remained, too. Even during an injury-interrupted season, Peña’s 29.3 feet-per-second sprint speed ranked in the 93rd percentile. He stole 20 bases in both 2024 and 2025 before finishing with 12 last season.
That would fit the style Don Mattingly wants to establish during his first full season as manager. Mattingly said he wants the Phillies to “play faster” and specifically mentioned wanting Trea Turner and Bryson Stott to become more aggressive on the bases.
Peña could give that idea some substance while offering another option atop the order.
The Phillies have used both Kyle Schwarber and Turner extensively in the leadoff spot. Peña would provide a more traditional alternative without forcing Mattingly to commit to it every day. Houston moved Peña to the top of its lineup in 2025, when he produced an .873 OPS across 96 games there, and returned him to the spot for nearly all of 2026.
Adding Peña would also force the Phillies to address their infield before Turner’s defense becomes a daily discussion in spring training.
Dombrowski has already said Turner must show that he can remain at shortstop. Turner finished with minus-10 Outs Above Average and tied for the major-league lead with 21 errors last season.
“If he plays shortstop like he did in ’25, he can play shortstop,” Dombrowski said last month. “But if he plays it like he did in ’26, he can’t.”
Peña has not been a model of defensive consistency, either. He won a Gold Glove as a rookie and finished with eight OAA in 2025 before falling to minus-6 last season. His range metrics have moved in both directions throughout his career.
He is still four years younger than Turner and remains one of baseball’s fastest players. That athleticism gives Peña a stronger chance of staying at shortstop through his next contract.
If the Phillies acquired him, Turner could move to second base or the outfield. Stott could remain at second or shift to third, where he received extended work after the Luis Arraez trade. Aidan Miller could continue developing without the organization depending on him to reach Philadelphia immediately.
Rather than waiting to see whether Turner’s defense creates a problem, the Phillies would enter camp with several ways to arrange their infield.
Why Houston could listen
Peña is entering his final year of arbitration after earning $9.475 million in 2026. MLB Trade Rumors projects him to receive approximately $13.1 million next season, and he can become a free agent following the 2027 World Series.
The Astros have already tried to prevent him from reaching this point.
Houston and Peña held serious extension talks during the 2025 season, with the sides reportedly discussing a five-year contract worth more than $105 million. Those negotiations stalled after Peña changed his representation to Scott Boras, and no agreement followed.
New Astros general manager Randy Flores inherited three options: make another attempt at an extension, allow Peña to play out his final season or trade him while his value remains high.
Houston faced the same decision with Kyle Tucker two winters ago. Rather than risk losing him after his final year of club control, the Astros traded Tucker to the Cubs for third baseman Isaac Paredes, pitcher Hayden Wesneski and top prospect Cam Smith.
Peña would not command the same return as Tucker, who had developed into one of baseball’s best all-around outfielders. The situation is similar enough to create a conversation.
The Astros are attempting to remain competitive while replenishing a farm system that has not produced at the same level it did during the organization’s championship run. They also have a crowded infield with Peña, Paredes, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Christian Walker.
Trading Paredes could resolve that congestion. Peña, however, would bring the stronger return.
What could a trade cost?
Aidan Miller should not be included for one guaranteed season of Peña. He remains the Phillies’ best position-player prospect and could become a central part of their next core.
Bryan Rincon would be the more logical prospect centerpiece.
The 22-year-old switch-hitter broke out at Double-A Reading by hitting .267 with a .410 on-base percentage, 26 home runs and 30 stolen bases. He entered MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 and won the Paul Owens Award as the Phillies’ top minor-league position player.
Rincon’s glove was his strongest attribute before his offensive breakout. He has the hands, arm and instincts to remain at shortstop, giving Houston a possible successor to Peña while adding a player who could reach the majors relatively soon.
The Astros would likely seek major-league help in addition to Rincon.
Brandon Marsh would address an immediate weakness for a Houston outfield that struggled throughout 2026. He can play all three spots and would help the Astros remain competitive while Flores begins reshaping their roster, although Marsh is also only under club control through 2027.
Orion Kerkering would offer a different type of return. The right-hander struggled enough to be optioned late last season, but he remains inexpensive and under team control. A change of scenery could help him regain the feel for the sweeper that made him one of the Phillies’ most dependable relievers over the previous two seasons.
A discussion could begin with Rincon and one of those major-league players, with another lower-level prospect completing the package. If Houston demanded Miller or a return closer to what it received for Tucker, the Phillies should move elsewhere.
Their willingness to surrender significant young talent should also depend on whether they believe Peña can be extended. Paying a substantial price for one season would be difficult to justify. Acquiring a 29-year-old shortstop and keeping him through the early portion of their next core would be a different investment.
The current free-agent infield market has useful players, but it does not offer an everyday shortstop with Peña’s combination of speed, fastball production and postseason experience.
Peña is not a flawless target. His chase and strikeout rates increased last season, his defense slipped and the Phillies would initially be trading for only one guaranteed year.
He would still address several of their needs while allowing them to retain Miller and move Turner before his defense forces their hand.
The Phillies already know what Peña can do in October. This winter, they should find out what it would take to put him at shortstop and atop their lineup.
