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

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.

Free Agent Signings

• Trevor Rogers (4/$85m), Casey Mize (2/$26m), Mauricio Dubon (2/$16m)

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”.

Discuss.

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.

Brandon Marsh, OF, Phillies

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.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Would listless MLB team trade unicorn shortstop? Blockbuster possibilities

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.)

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. 

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.

Remember him? Phillies should pursue their 2022 World Series nemesis originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

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.

SNY | Phillip Martínez The finalists for the American League Silver Slugger Awards were revealed on Thursday, and two Yankees will have a chance to bring home some hardware. Ben Rice, who is competing in the DH position and hit 41 homers with a 149 wRC+, could earn his first award, and outfielder Cody Bellinger is a candidate to win his third. Rice will compete with AL MVP candidate Yordan Álvarez, though.

New York Daily News | Gary Phillips The Yankees would love to retain David Bednar, and bringing back some of their own free-agent relief pitchers, such as Paul Blackburn and John Schreiber, would also be a good idea. However, Phillips explains that for the team to build a quality bullpen, they need to bring in some external options, naming Adrian Morejon, Raisel Iglesias, JoJo Romero, and Alex Vesia as some of the potential alternatives.

MLB.com | Jared Greenspan Greenspan analyzed a player who could potentially be one of the Yankees’ X-factors heading into 2027: outfielder Spencer Jones. To be more specific, he took a close look at his unique swing, its steep path, and how it plays against pitches in the middle of the strike zone or lower. However, a key weakness also appeared in his analysis: Jones’ vulnerability to high heat. It’s definitely worth a read.

Mario Camilletti
Third Baseman
5´7´´
195 pounds
Age: 27
2023 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking50
2024 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking40
2025 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking 56
2026 South Side Sox Top Prospect Ranking 82
2026 High Level Charlotte (AAA)
Age relative to high level +0.9 years
SSS rank among all third basemen in the system 5
Overall 2026 stats 113 games ⚾️ 9 HR ⚾️ 53 RBI ⚾️ .263/.383/.387 ⚾️ 70 BB ⚾️ 102 K ⚾️ 7-of-12 (58.3%) SB ⚾️ .960 FLD% ⚾️ 2.4 WAR

With pick No. 251 in the 2022 MLB draft, the White Sox snagged Camilletti, then a second baseman, out of Central Michigan.

A high OBP player with great plate discipline, Camilletti amassed a very impressive 207 walks over five college seasons. He was a first team All-Region and All-American selection back in 2020, carried mostly on the back of an absurd .502 OBP and a walk rate that was double that of his strikeout rate (22% vs 11%) for Central Michigan.

His small frame doesn’t project much for power, but with a god-given gift to get on base, Camilletti is an interesting prospect coming into the White Sox system. Add in some plus baserunning and manageable defense in his career, and there are more than a few things to make Camilletti and intriguing name to watch rise up through the Sox system.

Like several other draftees, Camilletti merely dipped his toe into pro play in the ACL late in 2022, getting into two games and, what new, walking twice.

He made a swift move (necessary, as he is significantly older than even A-ball competition) up to High-A during the course of 2023, following his usual pattern of selectivity at the plate and sharp but modest contact when swinging. Following a bit of a pattern established even back at college, Camilletti also saw time at third base; not much, but enough to earn additional playing time in a middle infield-heavy low minors.

Toward the end of 2023, we ran a direct piece on Camilletti via this great Q&A.

In 2024, Camilletti got off to a late start, with an injury out of the gate that pretty well killed off his April. From there, he split time between High-A and Double-A, landing in Birmingham in time to aid the Barons’ run to the Southern League title. His power game waned, but frankly it pales worse for a positive reason — Camilletti’s astronomical on-base rate.

Come 2025, things were looking more dire for Camilletti despite him seeing his first Triple-A action. Two factors stand out, most so his dwindling OBP. What was Mario’s calling card into pro ball turned pedestrian, and without a power or speed game, getting on base was crucial if he hoped for a South Side look-see. Second was, on the face of it, a positive: Camilletti moving to third base as a primary position, given that third base depth was nonexistent in 2025 for the Sox — but that wasn’t a product of his ability there, but rather a case of gotta-put-him-somewhere prioritizing other middle infielders over him. Camilletti could have turned that move into a positive, as other players have, but he’s pretty much just backed into the hot corner.

The 2026 season was more positive for Camilletti, benefiting from a full season in the pinball machine that is Charlotte’s ballpark and punching up his offensive numbers across the board (the exception being stolen base efficiency, a tool/stat that seems to matter not to the White Sox these days). There really isn’t a universe where Camilletti plays himself to the South Side, and third base is not a position of weakness any longer for the White Sox, with Miguel Vargas, Colson Montgomery, Chase Meidroth minimally able to be stationed there. But stranger things have happened.

Camilletti will ship back to Triple-A for 2027, if not occupying on-deck for a call-up, at least helping a Knights push toward the International League postseason.

---

Full 2027 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox ProspectsStorystream

Anthony Santander appeared to be unhappy with Michigan electing Abdul El-Sayed on Tuesday, as the Blue Jays outfielder made multiple posts on social media attacking the senator-elect’s Muslim faith.

Santander, 32, reposted two videos to his Instagram story attacking the Democrat, with one captioned “America voted for Sharia Last Night,” and the other titled “Islam is not peaceful.”

In a statement to The Athletic, a spokesperson for the Blue Jays rebuked Santander’s posts, saying that they do not reflect the franchise’s values.

I’m all for free speech, but this is extremely disgusting and flat out disrespectful stuff shared by Anthony Santander.

Islamophobia is never acceptable, and I hope the @BlueJays take the appropriate action, considering they have some Muslim employees as well. pic.twitter.com/F3VV9cgMLH

— Omer Osman (@OmerOsman200) November 5, 2026

“Baseball is for everyone and the Blue Jays have created an inclusive experience where all fans feel welcome at our ballpark,” the statement read. “Individual comments do not represent our organization’s values and beliefs.”

Before being removed, the posts were captured and shared on social media, with many Toronto fans pushing back on the Venezuelan outfielder.

Santander’s comments come after El-Sayed defeated Republican opponent Mike Rogers in a highly contested election on Tuesday.

He will become the first Muslim U.S. Senator once he takes office in January.

---

More coverage of the 2026 midterm elections:

• Live updates on the midterm elections
• NY suburbs’ last GOP strongholds flip as blue wave makes history on Long Island, Westchester
• Dems prep anti-Trump blitz during first 100 hours when they take back Congress
• Dem House majority swells to Obama-era levels as more GOP incumbents are wiped out
• NY’s top 5 most expensive House races include a whopping $308M in total spending

---

Toronto has made roster decisions following controversial posts from players before, with reliever Anthony Bass being released two weeks after sharing a post supporting anti-LGBTQ boycotts back in 2023.

The Blue Jays, however, insisted that his release was a “baseball decision.”

Santander, who has been injured since the 2025 postseason, is in the middle of a five-year, $92.5 million contract with Toronto, with three years left on his deal.

His Blue Jays tenure has been nothing short of a disaster, however, playing in just 54 games and posting an abysmal slash line of .175/.271/.294 with six home runs and 18 RBIs.

Anthony Santander reportedly posted Islamophobic content to his verified Instagram's stories on Wednesday, Nov. 4. The posts came after nationwide elections a day earlier.

The Toronto Blue Jays outfielder was seen to have shared two reels to his personal page, one featuring Abdul El-Sayed, who won a highly-contested race for U.S. Senator in Michigan and in doing so became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. Screenshots of that video showed a caption that read, "America voted for Sharia (law) last night!" The other post seen in screenshots had a caption on the video that said, "Islam is not peaceful."

Both posts were no longer on Santander's stories by Thursday night, which was after the 24-hour life span of an Instagram story. Various people posted screenshots onto their own social media pages, saying the posts were deleted before their expiration.

The Blue Jays released a statement about the posts to multiple publications on Thursday. USA TODAY Sports reached out to the team and had not received a response at the time of publication.

“Baseball is for everyone,” Toronto said in the statement, “and the Blue Jays have created an inclusive experience where all fans feel welcome at our ballpark. Individual comments do not represent our organization’s values and beliefs.”

Santander, 32, did not play for Toronto last season as the Blue Jays went 79-83 and failed to make the playoffs. He has been struggling with shoulder injuries and had surgery in February.

The Venezuela native was limited to just 54 regular season games in 2025, the first year of a five-year, $92.5 million contract, due to a left shoulder subluxation. He returned in time to play in five playoff games, but a back injury forced his removal from the ALCS roster, ending his season. The Blue Jays made it to the World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.

Contributing: Gabe Lacques

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Blue Jays respond to Anthony Santander's Islamophobic Instagram stories

That sound you’re hearing blasting from Cobb County right now is the front office for the Atlanta Braves blaring a familiar tune from Thin Lizzy. Not too long ago, former Astros GM Dana Brown returned to the franchise as a senior adviser for amateur scouting. Now, former Angels GM Perry Minasian is returning to the Braves to work with Alex Anthopoulos once again.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today was the first to report the news and Jesús Cano of The Athletic added on that Minasian is returning in the same role as Dana Brown, so those two will be working together.

There’s not a ton to say here, other than it seems pretty exciting that the Braves are bolstering their front office with some proven (and familiar) figures around here. Both of these guys have worked well with Anthopoulos in the past and had success with the Braves as well, so hopefully we’ll be able to see them pick up where they left off in their new roles with Atlanta for the 2027 season. Brown was last season with the Braves in 2022, while Minasian will be returning after leaving following the 2020 season.

If I had to guess, both executives were probably willing to take on their jobs as sort of a holding situation for another big job opening up in the future but that’s pure and total speculation on my part. The tangible part here is that their experience and familiarity should be a positive for the organization going forward — especially (as Gaurav Vedak mentions below) considering that the farm is also starting to look encouraging for the first time in a while.

Ronit Shah, Dana Brown, and Perry Minasian managing a quickly developing Braves farm system that has two of the top 40 prospects in baseball. We are going to have some FUN in 2027. Let me interview them @Braves

— Gaurav (@gvedak) November 6, 2026

So yeah, hopefully we’ll see this front office continue to be competent and get stuff done, as they will surely benefit from now having both Dana Brown and Perry Minasian back in the fold for the moment.

Welcome to our series grading every member of the San Diego Padres’ 40-man roster. The roster being evaluated is current as of Oct. 18, prior to the end of the World Series. Because of that, it will include players who will be free agents once the postseason concludes. Each player will be graded on their performance in the 2026 season, including the playoffs. That performance will be weighted based on how much time the player spent with the team (availability is the best ability). 

Ethan Salas

Salas was signed by the Padres when he was just 16 years old. Although he was born in Florida, Salas grew up in Venezuela and qualified for international free agency. He was signed with a record-setting $5.6 million signing bonus. Since then, he has had a rollercoaster career. Salas was one of the brightest prospects in baseball before 2025 when a stress reaction forced him to miss most of the year. There was a worry he would never be the same.

Overall Grade: B+

The backstop put those worries to bed quickly. Across 96 minor-league games in 2026, Salas slashed .296/.374/.488 with 10 homers and 31 extra-base hits. He was phenomenal in every way. He was promoted to Triple-A for the first time in his career and raked, hitting .326 with a .949 OPS in 24 games. That production led to speculation that the Padres might call up Salas to make his debut when rosters expanded.

The rumors were true. Salas made his MLB debut to much fanfare as the youngest catcher to debut since Iván Rodríguez in 1991. He flew out to the deepest part of the yard in his first at-bat but went 0-for-4 that day. And the next day. And the next day. Salas started off his big-league career going a whopping 0-for-14. He finally recorded his first career hit on Sept. 13 against the San Francisco Giants, roping a triple.

Salas never looked back after that. In the 10 games following, he hit .400 (10-for-25) with five RBI and 18 total bases. He also became the youngest catcher in MLB history to record a multi-homer game, swatting two against the Colorado Rockies. Salas will likely factor into the Padres’ catching group for 2027, sharing time behind the dish with Luis Campusano and Freddy Fermin. However, he could start the season in the minors if San Diego feels he needs some more time to develop.

The price on Randy Arozarena keeps going up.

Today Arozarena was named a finalist for the Silver Slugger award, an award given to the best hitter at each position in each league. This would be Arozarena’s first Silver Slugger award despite having been nominated three previous times: 2021, 2022 and 2023.

The other outfielders who are nominated are Wilyer Abreu (Red Sox), Cody Bellinger (Yankees), Jac Caglianone (Royals), Chase DeLauter (Guardians), Riley Greene (Tigers), Tristan Peters (White Sox), Chandler Simpson (Rays) and Mike Trout (Angels). Three will win.

Unlike the Gold Gloves, which are awarded based on at least a partial sabermetric calculation despite defensive metrics being [waves hands], the Silver Slugger award is voted for by MLB managers and coaches. However, if they were to take into account a metric such as wRC+, none of the nominees come anywhere close to Arozarena’s 151 (!), which is 15 points higher than the next-closest competitor. When considering wOBA, Arozarena’s mark of .379 is over ten points higher than the next closest (Detroit’s Greene).

As far as traditional metrics, Arozarena leads in homers and is near the top in other categories like average (.281; DeLauter, Caglianone, and Simpson are all higher), slugging (.484, second to Caglianone), and OBP (.381 second to Trout). Arozarena also ranked first among all AL batters, not just outfielders, in runs scored.

Voters probably won’t have to think too hard to decide to tick the box next to Arozarena’s name, not when he spent the season putting on a coast to coast show in ballparks around MLB.

Back-to-back nights with a monster homer for Randy Arozarena 😤 pic.twitter.com/CbCRdPnBWw

— MLB (@MLB) September 1, 2026

It was a spectacular season for Arozarena that will more than likely conclude in his first Silver Slugger award. It was a historic season for Arozarena, who recorded his sixth-consecutive 20-20 season in 2026, becoming just the eleventh player in MLB history with at least six such seasons. He also became the fifth player to do it in at least six consecutive seasons, joining an historic crew of some of baseball’s best: Barry Bonds (1990-98), Bobby Bonds (1969-75), Bobby Abreu (1999-2005) and Willie Mays (1955-1960).

Winners will be announced on Saturday, November 17th. The announcement will be streamed exclusively on FanSided’s The Baseball Insiders podcast, which…okay. A complete list of the nominees can be found here.

Five retired MLB umpires have filed a federal lawsuit against Major League Baseball, alleging the league wrongfully underpaid them under its umpires’ retirement income plan, according to multiple reports.

Legendary umpire Joe West (who worked an MLB-record 5,460 regular-season games), Gerry Davis, Tom Hallion, Larry Vanover and Jerry Layne filed a 44-page complaint on Sept. 29 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. 

The lawsuit was first reported by USA Today.

There were five who filed the suit, but there are at least two dozen umpires who were not supplied with the proper amount of money in their pension plan, according to attorney Paul Holmes, who is representing the umpires with Mark Debofsky. 

All five of the umpires — who were out of baseball by the end of the 2024 season — in the lawsuit had at least 25 years of major-league service and retired after age 65. Holmes said the five are owed around $2 million.

The five were “paid far less than the full benefit earned under the Plan,”  the lawsuit read. West and Vanover received their pension benefit in a lump-sum payment, while the other three received it in yearly payments.

“They retired in their mid-to-late 60s, and under the unique structure of the umpires’ pension plan, MLB tried to short-change them,” Holmes told USA Today on Thursday.

Leading up to the lawsuit, the umpires went through an administrative process, but their appeals were denied after complaints began in November 2021. After an MLB executive told them, “If you don’t like it, sue us,” Joe West recalled, according to the Associated Press.

MLB has declined to comment to multiple outlets about the ongoing suit.

It’s not West’s first time in the legal realm, as he was awarded $500,000 in a defamation lawsuit against former Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca in 2021.

Almost to the weekend, folks. I don’t know about you, but with darkness descending at 5 pm, I’ve been going to bed before 9.

Here’s what’s on BravesVision’s offseason programming tonight (info here, FAQ at the bottom of this page):

What to catch on BravesVision tonight! pic.twitter.com/5lc5lKPkqN

— BravesVision (@BravesVisionTV) November 5, 2026

Here’s what you’ve missed on BP:

For a taste of the future, here’s more on Braves prospects Isaiah Drake, Tate Southisene and Briggs McKenzie:

Tate Southisene and Briggs McKenzie make AFL Fall Stars Game

In the meantime, we need a SS. Any of the options below catch your eye?

ICYMI

Braves release third quarter 2026 financial reports ahead of potential lockout

Braves set to return entire coaching staff for 2027, per report