San Diego, California - September 25: Casey Mize #32 of the San Diego Padres pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Petco Park on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
Well the offseason continues to be eerily quiet as the clock ticks down on the seemingly inevitable lockout. The expectation has been that there will be a flurry of movement before the lockout, but we haven’t seen much movement of note as of yet. We did at least get a few morsels of rumors as it relates to Braves’ interest in starting pitchers at the deadline, which may inform interest this offseason.
San Diego, California - September 25: Casey Mize #32 of the San Diego Padres pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Petco Park on Friday, Sept. 25, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune via Getty Images)
Well the offseason continues to be eerily quiet as the clock ticks down on the seemingly inevitable lockout. The expectation has been that there will be a flurry of movement before the lockout, but we haven’t seen much movement of note as of yet. We did at least get a few morsels of rumors as it relates to Braves’ interest in starting pitchers at the deadline, which may inform interest this offseason.
TAIPEI, TAIWAN - SEPTEMBER 12: Shoki Oda #11 of Team Japanthrows in the second inning during the BFA U18 Asian Baseball Championship Super Round game between Chinese Taipei and Japan at Taipei Dome on September 12, 2026 in Taipei, Taiwan. (Photo by Gene Wang - Capture At Media/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Bleacher Report | Adam Wells: The Yankees have been linked to a number of Japanese stars in recent weeks as they attempt to reestablish a foothold in the Japanese market that the Dodgers have dominated of late. They reportedly have a meeting planned with 18-year-old starting pitcher Shoki Oda, who broke out during the 2026 Koshien National High School Baseball Championship of Japan. The young ace’s fastball has been recorded as high as 98 mph, attracting the attention of as many as a dozen MLB teams. Oda announced that he plans to forgo pitching in NPB and wishes to declare himself for the international free agent signing period that will open on January 15th.*
*This will likely happen regardless of the lockout, like during the early 2022 dispute. These agreements are with players who are not about to be added to the MLB 40-man roster and the new minor leaguers would join a different union. That’s why Triple-A, Double-A, etc. Opening Day 2027 will not be pushed back by the MLB lockout.
Oda would follow a similar path to Roki Sasaki, who joined the Dodgers on a $6.5 million signing bonus in 2025. By not signing for NPB and going through their posting system after a certain amount of years, Oda would be treated as an international free agent, capping the amount he could sign for and giving the signing team six years of team control, as opposed to someone like Teruaki Sato, who is being posted by his NPB team and can therefor sign a lucrative multi-year deal.
MLB.com | Benjamin Hill: Earlier in the offseason, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders announced that they would undergo a rebranding ahead of the 2027 season, and now we know the new name of the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate. They will now be known as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Highlanders — partially a nod to the inaugural name of the Yankees’ big-league franchise.
The Yankees were known as the Highlanders from their inception in 1903 until they became the Yankees in 1913. The change comes as the team enters its 20th season as the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, and is the fourth name in their history following Red Barons, Yankees, and RailRiders. They had been the RailRiders since moving into the highly-renovated PNC Field in 2013.
MLB Trade Rumors | Steve Adams: While not strictly Yankees related, it is possible one of their trade targets has come off the board. Earlier in 2026, the Yankees were rumored to have interest in Nationals center fielder Jacob Young, but he has now signed a four-year, $23 million extension with a fifth year option with Washington. After several seasons of well below average offensive production, Young improved to slash .252/.318/.390 with 10 home runs, 50 RBIs, a 95 wRC+, and 18 steals in 22 attempts. His real calling card is his center field defense, where he has accrued the second-most Statcast Outs Above Average (+46) of any qualified outfielder over the last three seasons, trailing only presumptive NL Cy Young Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Yahoo! Sports | TJ French: Another possible outfield depth piece is no longer an option. Jarred Kelenic elected free agency after joining the organization on a minor-league deal at the end of August following his DFA from the Braves. The Yankees never selected his contract to the majors, and he appeared in 19 games at Triple-A, posting a 43 wRC+ with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 92 plate appearances. The sixth overall pick by the Mets in the 2018 MLB Draft, Kelenic was one of the centerpieces in the 2018 trade with Seattle for Edwin Díaz and Robinson Canó. His big league career never really got on track after that point, and in six big league seasons playing for the Mariners, Braves, White Sox, and Rangers, Kelenic batted .211/.283/.371 with 50 home runs, 162 RBIs, an 84 wRC+, and 0.8 fWAR across 1,571 plate appearances.
TAIPEI, TAIWAN - SEPTEMBER 12: Shoki Oda #11 of Team Japanthrows in the second inning during the BFA U18 Asian Baseball Championship Super Round game between Chinese Taipei and Japan at Taipei Dome on September 12, 2026 in Taipei, Taiwan. (Photo by Gene Wang - Capture At Media/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Bleacher Report | Adam Wells: The Yankees have been linked to a number of Japanese stars in recent weeks as they attempt to reestablish a foothold in the Japanese market that the Dodgers have dominated of late. They reportedly have a meeting planned with 18-year-old starting pitcher Shoki Oda, who broke out during the 2026 Koshien National High School Baseball Championship of Japan. The young ace’s fastball has been recorded as high as 98 mph, attracting the attention of as many as a dozen MLB teams. Oda announced that he plans to forgo pitching in NPB and wishes to declare himself for the international free agent signing period that will open on January 15th.*
*This will likely happen regardless of the lockout, like during the early 2022 dispute. These agreements are with players who are not about to be added to the MLB 40-man roster and the new minor leaguers would join a different union. That’s why Triple-A, Double-A, etc. Opening Day 2027 will not be pushed back by the MLB lockout.
Oda would follow a similar path to Roki Sasaki, who joined the Dodgers on a $6.5 million signing bonus in 2025. By not signing for NPB and going through their posting system after a certain amount of years, Oda would be treated as an international free agent, capping the amount he could sign for and giving the signing team six years of team control, as opposed to someone like Teruaki Sato, who is being posted by his NPB team and can therefor sign a lucrative multi-year deal.
MLB.com | Benjamin Hill: Earlier in the offseason, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders announced that they would undergo a rebranding ahead of the 2027 season, and now we know the new name of the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate. They will now be known as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Highlanders — partially a nod to the inaugural name of the Yankees’ big-league franchise.
The Yankees were known as the Highlanders from their inception in 1903 until they became the Yankees in 1913. The change comes as the team enters its 20th season as the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, and is the fourth name in their history following Red Barons, Yankees, and RailRiders. They had been the RailRiders since moving into the highly-renovated PNC Field in 2013.
MLB Trade Rumors | Steve Adams: While not strictly Yankees related, it is possible one of their trade targets has come off the board. Earlier in 2026, the Yankees were rumored to have interest in Nationals center fielder Jacob Young, but he has now signed a four-year, $23 million extension with a fifth year option with Washington. After several seasons of well below average offensive production, Young improved to slash .252/.318/.390 with 10 home runs, 50 RBIs, a 95 wRC+, and 18 steals in 22 attempts. His real calling card is his center field defense, where he has accrued the second-most Statcast Outs Above Average (+46) of any qualified outfielder over the last three seasons, trailing only presumptive NL Cy Young Pete Crow-Armstrong.
Yahoo! Sports | TJ French: Another possible outfield depth piece is no longer an option. Jarred Kelenic elected free agency after joining the organization on a minor-league deal at the end of August following his DFA from the Braves. The Yankees never selected his contract to the majors, and he appeared in 19 games at Triple-A, posting a 43 wRC+ with two home runs and 10 RBIs in 92 plate appearances. The sixth overall pick by the Mets in the 2018 MLB Draft, Kelenic was one of the centerpieces in the 2018 trade with Seattle for Edwin Díaz and Robinson Canó. His big league career never really got on track after that point, and in six big league seasons playing for the Mariners, Braves, White Sox, and Rangers, Kelenic batted .211/.283/.371 with 50 home runs, 162 RBIs, an 84 wRC+, and 0.8 fWAR across 1,571 plate appearances.
Diego Natera (left, celebrating a June 23 homer) had two uneven seasons in the DSL, but the best of each year supports an enticing future. | Sideline HD
Diego Natera Catcher 5´10´´ 190 pounds Age: 19 First appearance in the South Side Sox Top 100 2026 High Level DSL (rookie) Age relative to high level +0.4 years SSS rank among all catchers in the system 8 Overall 2026 stats 31 games ⚾️ 1 HR ⚾️ 4 RBI ⚾️ .314/.400/.600 ⚾️ 4 BB ⚾️ 13 K ⚾️ 1-of-15 (6.7% CS) ⚾️ .957 FLD% ⚾️ 0.3 WAR
Every time we run out this Top 100, the results can surprise, a player ranked higher than anyone else has him (cough Grant Umberger cough) and we’re right … or, sometimes fantastically, we’re wrong. So let me take this moment to direct all slings and arrows my way if two-season DSL catcher Diego Natera dissolves into the ether if he makes it Stateside for the ACL White Sox in 2027; he’s on the list solely because I’m taking a flier on him.
The White Sox inked Natera to an international deal in January 2025, handing over a $225,000 signing bonus that wasn’t exactly spare change but not quite saying more than why not, either. The 17-year-old’s summer didn’t quite validate the decision, either, as he was, uh, BAD. Like, .156/.415/.267 slash bad.
However, there was one thing that was really, really good about Natera in 2025: his defense, particularly an arm that gunned down 36% of base-stealers. He was just a baby, and was flashing a cannon.
In 2026, the script flipped, as Natera in somewhat limited time shook his bat awake (.314/.400/.600) but lost the plot behind the plate. Here’s his sole homer of the 2026 season:
The ranking here reflects a belief he’ll put the two sides of his game together in 2027, as he makes the challenging move into the ACL.
Diego Natera (left, celebrating a June 23 homer) had two uneven seasons in the DSL, but the best of each year supports an enticing future. | Sideline HD
Diego Natera Catcher 5´10´´ 190 pounds Age: 19 First appearance in the South Side Sox Top 100 2026 High Level DSL (rookie) Age relative to high level +0.4 years SSS rank among all catchers in the system 8 Overall 2026 stats 31 games ⚾️ 1 HR ⚾️ 4 RBI ⚾️ .314/.400/.600 ⚾️ 4 BB ⚾️ 13 K ⚾️ 1-of-15 (6.7% CS) ⚾️ .957 FLD% ⚾️ 0.3 WAR
Every time we run out this Top 100, the results can surprise, a player ranked higher than anyone else has him (cough Grant Umberger cough) and we’re right … or, sometimes fantastically, we’re wrong. So let me take this moment to direct all slings and arrows my way if two-season DSL catcher Diego Natera dissolves into the ether if he makes it Stateside for the ACL White Sox in 2027; he’s on the list solely because I’m taking a flier on him.
The White Sox inked Natera to an international deal in January 2025, handing over a $225,000 signing bonus that wasn’t exactly spare change but not quite saying more than why not, either. The 17-year-old’s summer didn’t quite validate the decision, either, as he was, uh, BAD. Like, .156/.415/.267 slash bad.
However, there was one thing that was really, really good about Natera in 2025: his defense, particularly an arm that gunned down 36% of base-stealers. He was just a baby, and was flashing a cannon.
In 2026, the script flipped, as Natera in somewhat limited time shook his bat awake (.314/.400/.600) but lost the plot behind the plate. Here’s his sole homer of the 2026 season:
The ranking here reflects a belief he’ll put the two sides of his game together in 2027, as he makes the challenging move into the ACL.
Despite the speculation of a frenzied period to sign players before the expiry of the CBA at 11:59 pm on December 1st, it’s been all quiet on the free agent front around the league. Nary a peep has been heard from the Yankees front office as to players they are potentially pursuing, making for a rather lifeless offseason so far since being swept out of the ALDS. Mostly, news has centered on end-of-season awards, the most immediate roster decision mile markers being the November 17th deadline to protect players from the Rule 5 Draft and the November 20th non-tender deadline.
Today, we will cover the players under consideration for Rule 5 protection. We’ll begin with the disclaimer that there is a strong likelihood that the major league portion of the Rule 5 Draft will be cancelled this offseason, just as it was during the previous lockout during the 2021-2022 offseason, as it is scheduled to fall during the December 7-9 Winter Meetings that are largely expected to be cancelled with no CBA in place. The MLBPA proposed moving the Rule 5 Draft up to the end of the November so that it can take place before the expiry of the current CBA, but that was back on July 1st and we have not heard anything on the matter since.
That being said, this still might be a useful exercise to refamiliarize ourselves with the players who did enough in 2026 to merit consideration to be added to the 40-man roster. The Rule 5 Draft was created to prevent teams from suppressing players in the minors who might otherwise have a shot to make the major league roster of another team. Any player who joined an organization at age 18 or younger must be added to the 40-man roster within five seasons while players who joined aged 19 or older must be added within four season or else risk exposure to the Rule 5 Draft. Any team who selects a player from another organization in the draft must pay the original team $100,000, and the selected player must be added to the 26-man active roster for the subsequent season. If a team wishes to remove that player from the 26-man roster during the season, the player must be placed on outright waivers, and should he clear waivers, must be offered back to the original team for half the draft price ($50,000).
The Yankees have 49 players who are Rule 5 eligible by virtue of not currently inhabiting a 40-man roster spot and their minor league service time:
The vast majority of these players will not be added to the 40-man roster for protection. There is either high confidence that said player would not be selected in the Rule 5 Draft or that said player is not one the Yankees would mind losing to the Rule 5 Draft. However, with seven open spots on the 40-man roster, the Yankees have some wiggle room to protect a handful of players while still maintaining flexibility to add additional players via free agency or trade.
In my mind, there is only one surefire lock to be added to the 40-man roster in this prospective scenario, and that’s Carlos Lagrange. A consensus top-three organizational prospect, Lagrange was already on the major league radar for a potential late season call-up to the bullpen before a shoulder injury derailed the second half of his season. Evaluators are split as to whether the Yankees should continue his development as a starter or commit to moving him to the bullpen full time. However, he can certainly impact the big league bullpen as soon as next season with his triple-digits heater and at times plus secondaries of cutter, sweeper, and changeup, especially with David Bednar and Paul Blackburn hitting free agency and Fernando Cruz suffering a partially torn UCL at the end of August. Lagrange has always struggled with his command, but reined in his walk rate to a more palatable 11.6-percent while still striking out almost 30-percent of batters in 64.1 innings at Triple-A in 2026.
On the position player side, there’s not a lot that jumps off the page. Roderick Arias is the most recognizable name after signing for $4 million as the No. 1 ranked prospect of the 2022 international class. However, he has steadily fallen down the organization’s prospect rankings and has yet to reach Triple-A after five years in the organization. He split time between High-A and Double-A in 2026, posting a 107 wRC+ with 16 home runs, 84 RBIs, and 38 steals in 128 games, but struck out 30-percent of the time between the two levels.
Tyler Hardman has seemingly been in the organization for ages, but only just got his first taste of Triple-A in 2026. He went from a 157 wRC+ in Double-A to a mark of 80 in Triple-A, but did slug 28 home runs in 134 games across both levels. However, I’m not sure how much interest there would be from other teams or indeed major league breakout potential for a career minor leaguer about to enter his age-28 season. Infielders Josh Moylan and Coby Morales and outfielders Jace Avina, Cole Gabrielson, and Garrett Martin all put together decent campaigns at Double-A, but nothing extraordinary enough to merit 40-man consideration.
Things get a little more interesting on the pitching side of things. The Yankees boast a trio of intriguing high octane arms who could work their ways into the major league bullpen discussion in the not-too-distant future. Allen Facundo rocketed up the organizational ranking list last year after going 7-3 in 22 starts with a 4.01 ERA, 4.09 FIP, and 148 strikeouts in 114.1 innings between Low and High-A. Eric Reyzelman has pitched almost exclusively out of the bullpen in the minors, and has struck out an eye-popping 199 batters in just 144 career minor league innings. Hayden Merda posted gaudy strikeout totals in 2026 but saw his ERA spike upon making the jump from Double-A to Triple-A. All three have touched triple digits with their heaters along with the potential for 60-grade sliders. Precipitously high walk rates for the trio likely rule them out of long term rotation plans, but they all possess fastballs that are absolutely major league ready from a raw stuff standpoint.
Beyond that pair, I wouldn’t be that interested to protect any of their other Rule 5 eligible pitching prospects. Lefty starter Brock Selvidge posted a 4.68 ERA in 18 starts between Complex ball and Double-A in 2025 but missed the 2026 season after undergoing an internal brace procedure. Given the depth of Yankees starting pitching, lower level starters Cade Smith and Luis Serna are still miles away from major league consideration. Harrison Cohen, Carson Coleman, and Zach Messinger are all Triple-A relievers 27 years old or older, the former pair finding that level a step too far while Messinger simply does not possess major league stuff. Thomas Balboni Jr. is an interesting higher velo sidearm guy but only just made it to High-A after blowing out his elbow in 2025.
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - AUGUST 25: Ryan Waldschmidt #15 of the Arizona Diamondbacks celebrates after hitting a pinch-hit, walk-off, two-run home run during the ninth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Chase Field on August 25, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks defeated the Cubs 5-4. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) | Getty Images
“I mean, anytime you can come up in that spot and win the game for the team is just a special moment, and I think obviously coming off the bench too for a pinch hit makes it even cooler. I know how tough it is to be a pinch hitter. So to be able to execute like that and in your one at-bat of the game is pretty awesome, and obviously seeing the guys how excited they were and all the fans are cheering. It was just really cool.” — Ryan Waldschmidt
As mentioned, some players have gone a very long time without hitting a walk-off home-run for the D-backs. Nick Ahmed played 888 games for the D-backs, and never felt that thrill. Ryan Waldschmidt may be forgiven for feeling it’s an easy feat to accomplish, having done it twice in his first 66 career MLB contests. Indeed, he did it twice in the month of August. The only other Diamondback with two walk-off HR in the same calendar month was Chris Young on June 5 + 19 in 2007. Ketel Marte also had a pair of more adjacent walk-offs earlier in 2026, on May 19 + June 4 – sixteen days apart, compared to Waldschmidt’s eighteen days.
It’s all the more remarkable because Waldschmidt was sent down to Reno in mid-June, as pitchers exploited his trouble with breaking pitches. Said hitting coach Joe Mather, “The league made a little adjustment, started spinning a lot of pitches, making it tougher for him at a level of which he’s never seen… The slider started coming out more, we noticed that.” Ryan was called back up four weeks later, after an injury to Lawlar left the team in need of an outfielder, and was a solid contributor the rest of the way, with a .710 OPS. But nothing surpassed the pair of walk-off home-runs he hit in August.
How do we separate them? Both were two-run shots, coming with a man on second, when the D-backs trailed by one run. His walk-off against the Dodgers came with two strikes, as opposed to one strike versus the Cubs. And, of course, walking off Los Angeles does come with bonus, simply because it’s Los Angeles. However, it was off Edwin Diaz, who trudged off the mound with an ERA of 11.00 across ten appearances. Frankly, I feel my grandmother could have taken Diaz deep, and she died in 1984. Jacob Webb’s ERA this year after meeting Waldy? Just 2.91. Also, Arizona were down to their final out when Ryan delivered, making it particularly dramatic.
“When I go up there and I’m looking up at the scoreboard and seeing it’s the bottom of the ninth inning, two outs, down by one, guy on base and get my name called to go pinch hit, I was grateful for the opportunity. So, I’m walking up, smile on my face, like this is what everyone dreams to do, every kid, every time you’ve played baseball growing up, you make this scenario up in your head. So for me to go up there and be able to do this in real life and have that opportunity, it doesn’t even matter anymore if you get a hit or not. This is just one of the coolest opportunities that you could ever get.” — Ryan Waldschmidt
Indeed, by Win Probability, it was not only the biggest hit of the year, at +85.5% it ranked top five in franchise history, and the greatest in over 14 years. The all-time record was by Ryan Roberts – though perhaps not the hit you’re thinking, his grand-slam against the Dodgers. That was in 2011, and was worth +90.8%. But even higher, at +91.1%, was this one against the A’s the following year. Not sure how that counts for more, but them’s the numbers. Anyway, what of Waldschmidt’s?
The Cubs had a 4-0 lead through seven, having scored a remarkable thirty unanswered runs in a row. Jordan Lawlar then got hit in the head in the eighth, adding to the gloom. But a checked-swing roller by Gabriel Moreno, with an xBA of .080, became an RBI double, and Geraldo Perdomo made it a one-run game with a single. In the ninth, Tim Tawa drew a one-out walk, and was run for by Jose Fernandez. With two outs, and Waldschmidt pinch-hitting for Jorge Barrosa (another element in favor of this walk-off), Fernandez stole second and the call was upheld after a review requested by the Cubs manager. Two pitches later…
Statcast tells us this had a 31-degree launch angle. It left the bat at 102.6 miles per hour, and the ball would have traveled an estimated 408 feet. Waldschmidt became the first rookie in Diamondbacks franchise history to hit a pinch-hit, walk-off home run. More remarkably, he had more walk-off homeruns (2) than regular home-runs (1) to that point in his career. He’s among just five players to have two walk-off homers in their first three bombs – among the others, curiously, was team-mate James McCann.
“Being a pinch-hitter, I went up looking for the fastball,” said Waldschmidt afterwards. However, Webb started him off with a slider. He laid off it, and that gave Ryan a look at the pitch. When Webb threw another one on the fourth pitch of the at-bat, the batter was ready. He said, “I saw the same kind of release [point] with that pitch that I saw in the first one, so I had a good feeling where I thought it was going to end up. And just tried to stay through it, keep my head down and not try and [take] too big [of a swing] on that kind of pitch.” The result has now become the 2026 SnakePit Play of the Year – congratulations to Ryan for that!
Doug Creek pitched for seven teams over his nine years, and nearly made it eight after his purchase by the White Sox on this day, 29 years ago. | (Photo by Sporting News via Getty Images)
1971 Todd Ritchie, author of one of the worst seasons in White Sox history, was born in Portsmouth, Va.
He came to the White Sox from Pittsburgh in a ballyhooed deal that saw three pitchers dealt away for a player in Ritchie — who was never destined for much more than middle-rotation innings-eater. And in 2002 for the Pale Hose, Ritchie was … awful: a 6.06 ERA (to be fair, something was fishy, as he sported a 4.84 FIP), 5-15 record and 1.706 WHIP. All those peripherals added up (down) to a -1.7 WAR, which is still tied for the 15th-worst pitching season in White Sox annals.
Ritchie was eligible for free agency after the season, and unsurprisingly the White Sox let him go.
1997 The White Sox bought reliever Doug Creek from the San Francisco Giants. There’s a chance the lefty was someone that Chicago wanted as part of the return in the “White Flag Trade,” given this purchase’s proximity to the deal. If so, something turned pretty quickly, as Creek was sold a month later to the Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese Central League.
Creek would make his way back to the States and play in another six MLB seasons, but never with the White Sox.
2005 In an utterly shocking and embarrassing move, despite going wire-to-wire in first place and sweeping to a World Series title White Sox GM Ken Williams did not win Executive of the Year from The Sporting News. Instead, Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro took home the honors.
It’s noteworthy that not only did Cleveland finish in second place in the AL Central, six games behind Chicago, but a White Sox sweep on the season’s final weekend eliminated their rivals from playoff contention entirely.
The award was not given to Shapiro for his club’s massive jump in the standings from 2004 to 2005, either, as Cleveland improved by 13 wins in 2005 — but the White Sox jumped ahead 16.
Williams’ work in piecing together a 99-win team that lost just one playoff game en route to a title after leading the AL Central from wire to wire was nothing short of masterful. To wit, seven players brought in by trade or free agency for their first full seasons in Chicago in 2005 combined to provide 18.4 WAR toward the title season — the very definition of brilliant executive work.
2012 The White Sox acquired center fielder Blake Tekotte from the Padres, for minor league reliever Brandon Kloess. While Kloess never made the bigs with San Diego, it might have been best that Tekotte didn’t in Chicago, either: a .226/.306/.355 slash in 20 games and caught in three of four steal attempts, for a -0.2 WAR.
After spending most of 2013 and all of 2014 in Triple-A Charlotte, the White Sox sold Tekotte off to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 3, 2014. He never played in the majors again.
2014 Long after he played his final game in his home country, Minnie Miñoso was inducted into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame — eight years before the legend found his way into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
Given that Miñoso had played his last professional game in Cuba some 55 years earlier, it seems Cuba was just as tardy in honoring one of its greatest players of all time, right?
Not so. After the communist revolution in 1959, there were no official inductions to Cuba’s Hall of Fame; otherwise, Miñoso surely would have been enshrined decades earlier.
Miñoso had started his professional baseball career at age 16 in Cuba’s Serie Nacional. Five years later, he was in the U.S., playing for the New York Cubans of the Negro Leagues, with whom he won his sole World Series. Another four years later, Miñoso made his MLB debut, with Cleveland.
But Miñoso found his greatest fame with the White Sox, and remains No. 12 overall with 41.5 WAR with the club and fifth overall among batters.
Miñoso was part of a class of 10 players inducted in 2014, and he had the good fortune of being alive for the honor. Sadly, with Miñoso’s passing in 2015, Cooperstown was years too late to treat him similarly.
🎥 Glasner runs length of pitch to celebrate with players mid-game 😂
Scenes at City Grounds today!
During Nottingham Forest's match against Manchester City, manager Oliver Glasner couldn't contain his excitement when his men turned the game 3-1.
After some chaos in the box where the visitors somehow didn't score, the hosts launched a lightning-quick counterattack.
The ball eventually found Liam Delap, who drifted left thanks to his wicked pace, and eventually hit the far right post, seeing the ball go off it and in for his brace.
Delap hit the 'Siuuu' against his former club and eventually had the manager jump in the celebration huddle as Glasner soared down the pitch.
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - AUGUST 28: Casey Mize #32 of the San Diego Padres delivers a pitch in the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on August 28, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
We’ve got some more hot stove speculation to talk about and apparently it’s on the pitching front. As you can imagine after how this past season went, the Atlanta Braves are likely going to be on the hunt to add to their rotation in order to fortify it ahead of next season (whenever that may be). There are some intriguing names out there and while there aren’t really any substantial rumors at the moment, there is now some information out there on who the Braves were looking at back in August once the Trade Deadline rolled around.
According to Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves were “prominently linked” to current free agent right-hander Casey Mize and were also reportedly interested in fellow free agent and right-hander Nick Pievetta as well. With that being said, Burns did mention that Atlanta’s “interest was overstated” when it came to Mize and that they also had injury concerns when it came to Pivetta as well.
Mize was certainly coveted by large portions of this fanbase at the deadline, as he’d been a core member of the Tigers’ rotation for a few years and had been having a solid season up until he got traded to the Padres. He then had a very rocky rental stint in San Diego across 10 starts and 44.2 innings pitched where he ended up with a 7.42 ERA (185 ERA-) and a 7.17 FIP (171 FIP-). His production truly fell off of a cliff when compared to how he fared during his time in Detroit in 2026, which is when he was sitting on a 2.70 ERA (65 ERA-) and a 2.58 FIP (62 FIP-) over 16 starts and 86.2 innings pitched.
Who knows how much the change of scenery played a role in Mize going from having an fWAR of 2.9 with the Tigers to cratering down to a -0.7 fWAR during his time with the Padres, but you have to imagine that the Detroit version is more of the true version of Mize than the one we saw in San Diego and that means that he’ll certainly have plenty of interest in him during this free agency cycle. With that being said, that rough stint should play a factor and maybe it’ll play out in Atlanta’s favor since Mize might end up being more amenable to the type of short-term deal that Alex Anthopoulos likes to go for on the free agency market.
Mize also comes with his fair share of injury issues as he did spend a decent amount of time on the IL during the 2026 season. It makes sense that if Atlanta’s interest in Mize was overstated then their interest in Nick Pivetta being muted due to injury concerns is also understandable. Pivetta was only able to make eight starts in 2026 for the Padres as a right flexor strain essentially torpedoed his season and caused him to miss basically everything from late-April until September.
With that being said, Pivetta was effective when he did pitch in 2026 as he finished with an ERA of 2.86 (71 ERA-) and a FIP of 2.21 (53 FIP-), which was largely in line with what he did in 2025 during his first season with the Padres. As such, it makes sense that the Padres themselves are reportedly interested in bringing Pivetta back on a different deal.
That also makes it make sense that Pivetta would be up Atlanta’s alley because, again, Anthopoulos has a M.O. of sticking with short-term deals in free agency. At this point, however, it’s purely speculation on the part of Burns and everybody else since we haven’t really heard anything substantial or that the Braves are close on anybody at the moment. I’m sure that there’s certainly some talking going on with various free agents at the moment but for now, the talk is just that: Talk.
We’ll see if this light puff of smoke eventually turns into a source of fire but for now, all we can do is wait and see what the Braves get up to in this period before the lockout. Let’s see what happens!
This photo was sent to me by BCB reader Brian Peterson. Thanks, Brian — and a reminder, if you can find photos you’d like me to sleuth, send ‘em along!
Incidentally, I could have taken this one and made it black-and-white, but this is the way it was sent to me and I rather like the old-fashioned sepia tone.
So what do we know about this photo? The Cubs catcher is wearing No. 9. There’s a Padres runner who was just thrown out at the plate, as shown by the emphatic “out!” call by the plate umpire. A Padres batter wearing No. 21 is clearly the on-deck hitter.
At first, this might seem difficult but in fact, it was pretty easy.
The catcher is Steve Swisher. I recognized him right away. That narrows this down to 1974-77.
There were several players who wore No. 21 for the Padres in those four seasons, but this man is also easy to recognize. It’s Cito Gaston, who later was a World Series-winning manager with the Blue Jays in the 1990s.
That narrows it down to one season, as Gaston left the Padres after 1974.
Gaston played in just three games at Wrigley Field in 1974: June 17, Aug. 18 and Aug. 19. So then it was a simple matter of seeing when there was a play at the plate where Gaston was the on-deck hitter.
There was, fortunately, only one such play. It happened in the first inning of the game Monday, June 17, 1974. Padres second baseman Horace Clarke, better known for his 10 years with the Yankees — he played only 42 games with San Diego and had been acquired by them only a couple of weeks earlier — walked with one out in the top of the first inning and advanced to second on a walk drawn by Dave Winfield.
Nate Colbert then singled and Clarke tried to score. Billy Williams, playing left field that day, threw Clarke out at the plate. That’s what we are seeing in this photo.
The Cubs took a 5-0 lead into the sixth inning of this game and blew it, with the Padres scoring the tying run in the top of the ninth. That led to long extra innings and the Padres broke through with a two-run 13th inning off Steve Stone, in his first of three years with the Cubs. The Cubs did get the tying runs on base in the bottom of the 13th on a pair of singles with two out, but Carmen Fanzone flied to center to end the game, which the Cubs lost 7-5.
Just a little slice of Cubs baseball from more than half a century ago.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - APRIL 10: Osvaldo Bido #70 of the Atlanta Braves pitches during the ninth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Truist Park on April 10, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It was a memorable first week of the season for 30-year-old reliever Osvaldo Bido, who somehow landed on the Atlanta Braves Opening Day roster after a well-traveled off-season.
How Acquired
Bido first landed with Atlanta on December 5, 2025 when he was claimed off waivers from the West Sacramento Athletics, but the Braves moved on from him 10 days later. He then was subsequently claimed and waived by the Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins, Anaheim Angels and New York Yankees before returning to the Braves on March 24, 2026 — right before the start of the regular season.
What were the expectations?
Every offseason, there’s a player or two who suffers a fate similar to Bido, caught in a seemingly never-ending swirl of back-of-the-40-man-roster churn. For Bido, this status was understandable. He was reasonably effective as a swingman with the Pirates in 2023 and Athletics in 2024, putting together a combined 107 ERA-, 89 FIP-, and 113 xFIP- in 114 combined innings, earning 2.1 fWAR in the process on the back of a very low HR/FB. However, he was horrible in 2025 (133 ERA-, 138 FIP-, 132 xFIP-), which led the Athletics to move on and a bunch of other teams to take a peek at him in the hopes of getting something closer to 2023-2024.
His overall outlook was a decent longer-stint reliever… with the hope that 2025 was a blip and that it would be easy to go back to his prior performance level.
2026 results
Unfortunately, 2025 didn’t look like a blip as 2026 wound on. Bido made the Opening Day roster and got some run, appearing in six of the team’s first 19 games. He struck out all three batters he faced in his season debut, but it was all down hill from there, as he could only a manage a 3/5 K/BB ratio in his next five outings. That gave him a 150 ERA-, 128 FIP-, and 145 xFIP-, which looked a lot like his bad 2025 line in ten innings.
The Braves DFAed him again in mid-April, and surprise surprise, another team claimed him: the White Sox. Bido made five appearances for his new team, but his performance was just as bad as it was in 2025 and with the Braves. He finished the MLB portion of his 2026 campaign with -0.2 fWAR in 18 2/3 combined innings, and an eerily consistent, boy-the-system-worked-too-well 150 ERA-, 150 FIP-, and 150 xFIP-.
The White Sox outrighted him to Triple-A, but ten days later, he received enough interest from the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of the NPB that he received his release to go pitch in Japan. Said NPB career consisted of two outings spanning two outings where he got blasted. So, in the end, Bido was incredibly well-traveled in 2026, but not very good.
What went right?
It was a marvelous first appearance for Bido, striking out each batter he faced as the Braves trailed 2-0 in the top of the ninth. He was the box score beneficiary of Dominic Smith’s walkoff grand slam.
Then, he danced through the raindrops a bit and filled up the box score. He hurled a three-inning “save” against the Diamondbacks, though it came with a 1/1 K/BB ratio in those three innings. He then made two more appearances spanning three innings where somehow the opposition didn’t score despite another 1/1 K/BB ratio. All of these outings came in low leverage, so his results weren’t particularly relevant, but he wasn’t harming the team.
What went wrong?
But, then the bottom dropped out. He had a poor long relief appearance, but it didn’t matter much since the Braves were losing big anyway. And then, in his final appearance with the Braves, he entered with a big lead (6-0), and left with just one additional out recorded, along with a walk, a homer, two wild pitches, and some other hits. Though it was low leverage, he still earned a meltdown for the performance. That was it, the Braves moved on.
Though he didn’t pitch much, he showed essentially zero command, and his pitch shapes were average-at-best. While his sweeper seemed acquit itself fairly well despite limited break given how hard he threw it, every other pitch lacked effective movement, and Bido had no idea where anything was going when it came out of his hand.
2027 outlook
Bido’s future as an MLB-level player is not certain. He didn’t pitch well in Japan in those two outings, and he’s now had two seasons of basically unplayable MLB performance. Should he return to pitch in the U.S., he’s likely headed the minor league contract route. He could resurface as a deep reserve reliever but it is possible he’s made his final big league appearance. He’ll pitch at age 31 in 2027, so he no longer has youth on his side.
He’s going to be projected from somewhere between replacement level to below average reliever, and given that he showed almost nothing of use for two seasons now, there’s little reason for him to be one of the earlier fliers taken. Still, maybe someone will gamble on the dream of his low HR/FB-fueled 2023-2024 again.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ - SEPTEMBER 30: Adam Smith #48 of the Seattle Mariners poses for a photo during the 2026 Arizona Fall League media day at Scottsdale Stadium on Wednesday, September 30, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Of the eight prospects the Mariners sent to the Arizona Fall League this year, catching prospect Boston Smith was the biggest name sent by Seattle and has occupied the lion’s share of the headlines. But you should know about a different Smith, as well: Adam Smith, the 26-year-old reliever who makes up the other half of the Mariners’ AFL “Mr. and Mr. Smith” battery.
Acquired when the Mariners purchased his contract from the independent Lancaster Stormers last May to fill out Everett’s bullpen, Smith quickly overpowered the youngsters at High-A and earned a trip to Double-A Arkansas midway through the season, where his strikeouts fell and his walks shot up. Smith has a prototypical pitcher’s frame at a strongly-built 6’2”, but relies more on spin and location than velocity to outfox hitters. On the stat sheet, nothing about Smith stands out: he didn’t rack up eye-watering strikeout numbers in Arkansas, and he’s carrying an ERA north of 5 in the Fall League.
But on a trip to the AFL last month, I watched Smith pitch the most dominant inning of the night in a lopsided Peoria win. Hitters simply weren’t reading the ball out of his hand, swinging ugly or backing away from pitches that landed squarely in the zone.
So far, Smith has appeared in seven games in the AFL, pitching 6.2 innings, over which time he is yet to issue a walk while striking out 10, leading to his selection to the Fall Stars game.
Smith was initially drafted by the Padres in the 14th round in 2021 out of UNC Wilmington, where he spent four years before spending one year in the Red Sox system. He then transitioned to indy ball, which is where the Mariners found him.
As a former starter, Smith has a full arsenal at his disposal as a reliever: a four-seam, sinker, cutter, changeup, and sweeper. He mixes his pitches effectively, keeping hitters off-balance, but says he relies more heavily on his off-speed, since he’s not blessed with eye-popping velocity on his fastball. Of his off-speed pitches, he has a clear favorite.
“I would say I get most of the ugly swings from my sweeper,” said Smith. “It’s kind of my go-to, the old reliable. I learned it about two years ago, and then once I really figured out how to use it, I haven’t gone away from it.”
Smith says in his time with the Mariners he’s learned to not be afraid of throwing in the zone, buying into the “dominate the zone” philosophy and trusting in what the organization has told him about what makes him good. Ironically, that confidence to throw in the zone despite not having huge velocity and lean in to his identity as a pitcher who pounds the zone has caused his velocity to tick up into the mid-90s.
“The velocity aspect early in my career wasn’t really there, and being a part of two different organizations prior where they strive for only velocity just didn’t fit my motto because I was more of an in-zone pitcher, get a lot of strikes, and just average velocity. Whereas here, being able to embrace the identity of being in the zone all the time has translated into my velocity being where it’s at now.”
But it’s not just the uptick in strikeouts or velocity that Smith is grateful for. He’s happy to be with the Mariners because he feels like the organization has a clear direction for how to make him successful, a vision that’s communicated clearly and consistently.
“Everyone’s got a plan here, and they’re solely driven on that plan, and everyone’s bought into the plan, which is that communication aspect where everyone is in tune with what’s going on,” Smith said. “I think it makes it a lot easier for us as players when we’re communicated with on a daily basis about what we need to do, maybe in our routine or changing other things up. Everything is communicated. It’s not like we have to find out a few months later, like, oh, we’ve been actually wanting you to do this, but we didn’t tell you. It’s very upfront.”
Those are encouraging words to hear from any player in your organization, but especially considering the apparent communication breakdown that hurt the big-league club this year. It’s a reminder of what this organization does well when those avenues of communication are free-flowing and meaningful, a big part of which is identifying players like Adam Smith and helping them become the best version of themselves.
You can watch Smith pitch in the Fall Stars game on Sunday at 5 PM PT; the game will be broadcast on MLB Network, but you can also stream it on MLB.com.
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 28: Jacob Misiorowski #32 of the Milwaukee Brewers reacts during the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in game five of the 2026 World Series at Tropicana Field on October 28, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) | Getty Images
It’s not Tarik Skubal and Adrian Morejon, but when you make two huge moves and both meet the approval of even Trainman, you’ve done something right.
You would have to be quite the fanatical follower, or at least a fan of the Red Sox or Brewers, to even have been familiar with two names that will lead the A’s gently into that good desert. Taylor Smith is such a household name, if you search “Taylor Smith” Google’s first result is a question: “Did you mean Taylor Swift?” At this point you just say “yes,” click on the first few links and forget that you were thinking about baseball.
Cam Castro may be famous to his family and friends but few outside of Wisconsin could have told you much about his work. Out of all the Castros throughout history his fame ranking is relatively low, as there are no known political regimes nor neighborhood districts in his name.
Yet Smith and Castro come with just the credentials the A’s need right now as they try to rebuild their analytic, development, and trading/acquisition models to work more like, say, the Brewers and Rays. Those 2 teams have a couple things in common: they just met in the World Series and Castro/Smith previously spent the most seasons with their organization.
As GM, Castro will have a big hand in who the A’s acquire, who they keep and who they let go, but perhaps his most essential expertise comes in his record of helping to bring out the best in pitchers yet to tap into their potential. The hope would be that instead of spinning valuable players like Shea Langeliers and Tyler Soderstrom into worthy pitching talent, perhaps those gems can be culled from Luis Morales and Jack Perkins, who certainly have the physical tools.
Meanwhile, as PBO Smith comes with experience watching both sides of the payroll scale, starting with the frugal-but-shrewd Rays and continuing with the big market Red Sox. He will draw more from his understanding of how the Rays operate, but if his first big move (sorry Nate Eaton) was to select Castro to put a spotlight on the pitching side, Smith appears to be “1 for 1” and demonstrating a clear understanding not just of the need for the A’s to emphasize pitching but also to develop it beyond just bringing”adding good pitchers to the roster”.
If you’re not familiar with Castro’s resume (and I wasn’t until this week), he began his career in 2019 as a minor league pitching coach and his work since is littered with “pitching development”:
Senior Vice President of Player Development and Performance (2025–2026): Oversaw player development and performance systems fresh off helping guide the Brewers to a World Series title.
Vice President of Player Development (2022–2024): Led player development strategies and acted as a key liaison between the front office and coaching staff.
Director of Pitching Development (2022): Promoted to direct organization-wide pitching development frameworks.
Minor League Pitching Coordinator (2020–2021): Managed pitching philosophies and development across the minor league system.
This for the organization that, during this time, helped Jared Koenig go from an 89 MPH junk-baller with the A’s to a 96 MPH throwing plus reliever with the Brewers. The organization that brought Jacob Misiorowski and Logan Henderson from draft to rotation, and most recently turned a disappointing Freddy Peralta into a key arm seemingly overnight. The Brewers know how to develop and harness pitching and Castro was an integral piece of that program.
The intriguing question is how this exciting tandem will go about improving the A’s roster for 2027 and for beyond 2027, to try to realize the stated goal of building a team that can compete in the post-season year in and year out. That may be a high bar, but it’s also one that some teams do achieve for the most part — and those teams include Tampa Bay, Boston, and Milwaukee.
Easier said than done, of course. Every PBO and GM will say this as rarely do you pick up the morning paper to read that a GM’s goal is to “wobble around .500 most seasons and hope the division is as weak as the 2026 AL West”. Actually that does sound a bit like Arte Moreno but he’s on his way out the door.
Look for few “quick fixes” and many “long view” moves in which hopefully “long” comes to fruition in a year rather than 4. Look for significant “behind the scenes” improvements in the way development and analytics are emphasized and approached even if it doesn’t bring a specific player onto the big league roster.
But you can also look for a “get better now” splash as opportunity presents itself as the tandem tries to make the team competitive in time for a new stadium to be greeted with the excitement of success. That could look like giving Clay Holmes a longer deal than anyone else will, gambling on his sustained ability to limit hard contact into his late 30s and minimizing the impact of playing 2027 in West Sacramento. But while this is a pet idea oft floated on AN perhaps Smith and Castro have a whole different scheme up their sleeve to boost the team’s fortunes sooner rather than later.
With a lockout looming in 24 days, likely we will know soon, at least in some sense, what direction Smith and Castro and looking to go with regard to 2027. But the eye is going to be more on the next 5 years than on the next 5 months and all we know is this: the A’s appear to have made 2 very smart hires to lead this quest.
