Category: Baseball

The Royals had a disappointing season as a team, but some individual players stood out and could be recognized this offseason. Bobby Witt Jr., Carter Jensen, and Jac Caglianone were named finalists for the 2026 Silver Slugger Awards, with winners to be announced on November 17.

The Royals are one of five teams with at least three finalists, joining the White Sox (four), Tigers, Brewers and Cubs (three each).

Witt is looking to make it three consecutive Silver Slugger Awards after winning in 2024 and 2025. No Royals player has ever won the award in three consecutive seasons, and the only AL shortstops to ever win the award three consecutive years are Cal Ripken (1983-86), Alex Rodriguez (1998-2003), and Derek Jeter (2006-09). Bobby hit .281/.359/.441 with 18 home runs, 33 doubles, 94 runs scored and 45 stolen bases in 143 games this season. His 7.0 fWAR ranked second in the majors, trailing only Pete Crow-Armstrong. Among American League shortstops, Witt led the position in hits, doubles, batting average, on-base percentage and stolen bases. He is up against Zach Neto of the Angels and Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers.

Jensen is a finalist after an impressive rookie campaign in which he hit .239/.323/.467 with 27 home runs, 35 doubles and 81 RBI in 149 games. Among AL catchers, he ranked first in runs scored and doubles, tied for first in home runs and second in RBI and walks. His 27 home runs set a Royals franchise record for a rookie, surpassing Bob Hamelin’s 24 in 1994. His 64 extra-base hits were also the most ever by a rookie catcher in major league history, breaking the previous record of 61 set by Mike Piazza in 1993. If Jensen wins, he would become just the second Royals catcher to earn the award, joining Salvador Perez, who has won five times (2016, 2018, 2020-21 and 2024). He would also become just the fifth rookie catcher to win a Silver Slugger, joining Benito Santiago, Matt Nokes, Craig Biggio and Piazza. He faces Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler.

Caglianone is a finalist after hitting .289/.340/.494 with 23 home runs, 32 doubles and 75 RBI. His .289 batting average ranked fourth in the American League, while his .494 slugging percentage ranked sixth and his .834 OPS ranked ninth. Caglianone hit .411/.429/.684 in the month of August and was named AL Player of the Month Caglianone also showed off his prodigious power, averaging 416 feet on his home runs and participating in the Home Run Derby. If Caglianone wins, he would become just the second Royals outfielder to earn a Silver Slugger, joining Willie Wilson, who won the award in 1980 and 1982. Three outfielders will be chosen, with Caglianone up against Wilyer Abreu of the Red Sox, Randy Arozarena of the Mariners, Cody Bellinger of the Yankees, Chase DeLauter of the Guardians, Riley Greene of the Tigers, Tristan Peters of the White Sox, Chandler Simpson of the Rays, and Mike Trout of the Angels.

Silver Slugger finalists and winners are selected by managers and coaches, who vote for players at each position in their league. Voting considers a combination of offensive statistics, including OPS, OPS+, home runs, RBI, batting average, total bases and runs, along with the voters’ overall impressions of each player’s offensive value.

American League Finalists

• Catcher: Dillon Dingler (Detroit Tigers), Carter Jensen (Kansas City Royals)First Base: Pete Alonso (Baltimore Orioles), Willson Contreras (Boston Red Sox)
• Second Base: Kody Clemens (Minnesota Twins), Chase Meidroth (Chicago White Sox)
• Shortstop: Kevin McGonigle (Detroit Tigers), Zach Neto (Los Angeles Angels), Bobby Witt Jr. (Kansas City Royals),
• Third Base: Junior Caminero (Tampa Bay Rays), Miguel Vargas (Chicago White Sox)
• Outfield: Wilyer Abreu (Boston Red Sox), Randy Arozarena (Seattle Mariners), Cody Bellinger (New York Yankees), Jac Caglianone (Kansas City Royals), Chase DeLauter (Cleveland Guardians), Riley Greene (Detroit Tigers), Tristan Peters (Chicago White Sox), Chandler Simpson (Tampa Bay Rays), Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels)
• Designated Hitter: Yordan Álvarez (Houston Astros), Ben Rice (New York Yankees)
• Utility: Sam Antonacci (Chicago White Sox), Ezequiel Duran (Texas Rangers), Kevin McGonigle (Detroit Tigers)
• Team Award: Chicago White Sox, Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins, Tampa Bay Rays

National League Finalists

• Catcher: Hunter Goodman (Colorado Rockies), Gabriel Moreno (Arizona Diamondbacks)
• First Base: Jake Bauers (Milwaukee Brewers), Alec Burleson (St. Louis Cardinals), Matt Olson (Atlanta Braves), Rafael Devers (San Francisco Giants)
• Second Base: Brandon Lowe (Pittsburgh Pirates), Brice Turang (Milwaukee Brewers)
• Shortstop: CJ Abrams (Washington Nationals), Elly De La Cruz (Cincinnati Reds), Otto Lopez (Miami Marlins)
• Third Base: Alex Bregman (Chicago Cubs), Max Muncy (Los Angeles Dodgers)
• Outfield: Pete Crow-Armstrong (Chicago Cubs), Corbin Carroll (Arizona Diamondbacks), Jackson Chourio (Milwaukee Brewers), Seiya Suzuki (Chicago Cubs), Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres), Jordan Walker (St. Louis Cardinals), James Wood (Washington Nationals)
• Designated Hitter: Kyle Schwarber (Philadelphia Phillies), Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Dodgers)
• Utility: Jake Bauers (Milwaukee Brewers), Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres), Sal Stewart (Cincinnati Reds)
• Team Award: Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Washington Nationals

Much of the focus this off-season for the Phillies (around the impending lockout, of course) will be how the team improves their lineup, baserunning and defense.

All of those areas are vitally important. No, they won’t transform themselves into the Milwaukee Brewers overnight, nor should they. But they do need to improve significantly in some vital areas in order to be a more consistent unit, and one that is capable of producing results against better pitching.

While that may suck up most of the oxygen in the room, no one should be sleeping on the bullpen. Sometimes, ‘pen moves can feel minor because oftentimes, you’re trading for a guy you’ve never heard of, or signing someone on a relatively inexpensive one-year deal.

One of Dave Dombrowski’s strongest moves last off-season was a trade with the Kansas City Royals in which he dealt away his best left-handed reliever, Matt Strahm, in exchange for right-hander Jonathan Bowlan.

The move was a gamble, in that Strahm had been a stalwart in the ‘pen since his arrival as a free agent ahead of the 2023 season. Over three years he posted a 2.71 ERA across 188 appearances and a 0.955 WHIP, earning an All Star berth in 2024, but Strahm’s stuff was fading by the end of 2025, and his time in Philadelphia ended when Teoscar Hernandez hit his go-ahead three-run home run off Strahm in Game 1 of the 2025 NLDS.

Strahm’s 2026 season was a disaster with Kansas City, perhaps the worst by any relief pitcher. It’s difficult for a reliever to get enough opportunities to compile -1.3 WAR, but his 7.32 ERA and 7.14 FIP were not fluky. Dombrowski’s timing was spot on.

But that doesn’t mean the Phillies didn’t miss vintage Strahm in their bullpen last year. They did. Dombrowski entered the season pinning his hopes on Jose Alvarado bouncing back from injuries and an 80-game PED suspension the season before, Tanner Banks repeating a surprisingly successful ‘25 season, and Tim Mayza or Kyle Backhus being the No. 3 lefty out of the ‘pen.

It didn’t work. The team’s 5.12 ERA from left-handed relievers was 2nd-worst in the Majors. They allowed a league-worst .277 batting average last season, and only four other teams saw their lefty bullpen options give up more home runs than the Phils.

So it’s no surprise they are entering this off-season desperate to make fixes. They re-signed their lone effective left-handed reliever, Tim Mayza, to a one-year deal. They’ll need at least one more, and maybe two.

The highest-profile arm is San Diego’s Adrian Morejon, who posted a 2.83 ERA and a 1.9 WAR last season for San Diego. Over the last three years, he’s been worth 5.6 WAR and has a 2.58 ERA in 211 games. He’s a high-velocity, high-strikeout pitcher who will get a big-money contract from someone. He’s the best relief pitcher on the free agent market and would form a dynamic 1-2 punch with Duran at the end of games.

Despite all that, there are a number of reasons why a Morejon signing is unlikely. MLB Trade Rumors is predicting a five-year, $80 million deal. Dombrowski has never given a relief pitcher more than a two-year contract since joining the Phillies. Not only that, Jhoan Duran is slated to make around $11-12 million in his final year of arbitration. It’s likely that, if Dombrowski is going to give a relief pitcher a big-money contract, it will be Duran. There is little chance the team will put that kind of cash into just two relief pitchers, and an even smaller chance the team will give Morejon a larger contract to be a set-up guy than their incumbent closer will earn this season. That could create some uncomfortableness in the clubhouse.

Phillies fans know Alex Vesia quite well. The 30-year-old long-time Dodger was a thorn in their side during the 2025 playoffs. Despite not being a hard thrower, his arm angle and delivery make him difficult for left-handers to hit. As such, he has a 2.45 ERA over the last three seasons, piling up 184 innings and 207 appearances. His overall numbers remain good, but his walk rate did jump to 13.5% a season ago, and there are worries any further loss in velocity could make him more homer-prone. Still, the two-year, $26 million contract estimated by MLBTR is more in line with what the Phils may be willing to pay their top left-handed option.

Another potential is Houston’s Steven Okert. As a 34-year-old, he came out of nowhere for the Astros in 2025 and, over the last two seasons, has a 2.58 ERA and 3.8 WAR in 136 games. He also doesn’t throw hard, averaging just 91.2 mph on his four-seam fastball. His specialty is generating a lot of infield flies. Last season he had a 28.3% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate, and despite his extreme fly ball tendencies, he’s managed to avoid getting deluged with dingers. His two-year contract is projected at $14 million.

The remaining relievers are all likely gettable on one-year contracts, so it could make sense for the Phillies to add multiples if they choose not to invest on the higher end. Sean Newcomb has had a terrific last two years, putting up 1.8 WAR and a 2.73 ERA for the Red Sox and A’s in 2025 and a 2.0 WAR/3.09 ERA in 60 games for the White Sox last season. His fastball averaged 94.4 mph last year, placing him in the 49th percentile, and he doesn’t generate much chase, but he’s a ground ball guy who was good against lefties (.632 OPS allowed) and right-handers (.637 OPS) last year.

Cincinnati’s Brock Burke has also had a solid two-year run, with identical 1.3 WAR seasons each of the last two seasons. In 2025 with the Angels, he posted a 3.36 ERA and last year for the Reds, he was the most used relief pitcher in the National League, with a league-leading 77 appearances, in which he put up a 2.30 ERA. He was in the 89th percentile in hard-hit rate, averaged 95.5 mph on his fastball and generated a 28.7% whiff rate that was in the 76th percentile. He will walk some guys (12.7%), but would be a terrific addition on a one-year deal.

Let’s talk a minute about JoJo Romero, the former Phillies reliever who became an extremely effective and consistent reliever for the Cardinals and, last season, for the world champion Brewers. Over the last four years, he has a 3.04 ERA in 212 games and, between St. Louis and Milwaukee, had a 3.36 ERA in 56.1 innings in ’26. He’s a sinker/sweeper pitcher with a lower-than-average fastball velo, but is an elite ground ball thrower, ranking in the 88th percentile with a 51.2% ground ball rate. While lefties actually did better against him than righties last year, he’s traditionally been very tough on left-handers. He will be just 30 years old in 2027.

There is also A.J. Puk. If the Phils are looking for a potential high-end guy on a cheaper deal, Puk is a good candidate for a potential bounceback. He didn’t pitch at all last year due to UCL surgery and appeared in 8 games in 2025. But from 2022-24 he had a 3.38 ERA in 182 games with 22 saves and 242 strikeouts in 194.1 innings. His Baseball Savant page for 2024 is littered with red, upper-tier numbers across the board. If he can be had on a low-cost, one-year deal, he’s absolutely a pitcher worth taking a chance on if the medicals come back clean.

The Phillies need to take this area of the team as seriously as fixing the offense. The blame for their postseason failures dating back to 2023 are evenly split between a non-functional offense and a bullpen that hasn’t converted a save opportunity since Game 4 of the NLDS against the Braves in ‘23 (Strahm).

Something curious is happening and I can’t quite figure out why. Ever since the World Series ended, there’s been a new source of smoke almost every day about the Red Sox trading for a shortstop. As best I can tell, it started on the morning of Halloween, when Rob Bradford made this post:

One name that should interest Red Sox followers: Elly De La Cruz. Red Sox showed fairly significant interest before the trade deadline.

— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) October 31, 2026

Two days later, Chris Cotillo of MassLive included an Elly De La Cruz trade in his list of bold Red Sox offseason predictions.

Then the following day, Jim Bowden — who should always be taken with a grain of salt — added CJ Abrams to the list of Red Sox trade targets along with doubling down on the De La Cruz rumors.

“The Red Sox will also continue to call the Nationals regarding a possible CJ Abrams trade and the Reds if Cincinnati decides to move Elly De La Cruz. Either way, expect them to be aggressive with the aim of adding at least a bat or two.”

– @JimBowdenGMpic.twitter.com/Uyoli7aYQ4

— Gordo (@BOSSportsGordo) November 3, 2026

Now in the last 36 hours, there’s also been rumblings of the Otto Lopez rumors. Yesterday on the Felger & Mazz program, Jimmy Stewart even said he would prefer Lopez to De La Cruz because De La Cruz is “more sizzle than steak.”

This isn’t the first time the Red Sox have been connected to Lopez either. Back at the deadline, Jeff Passan even floated a deal that centered around Lopez and Liam Hicks from the Marlins before the Sox eventually landed on Adley Rutschman.

The Red Sox are going big at the trade deadline, per @JeffPassan.

Floats an Otto Lopez + Liam Hicks deal, but it’ll be costly.

“As of now, the Red Sox are juggling dozens of balls. They'll cull those in the coming days and are among the teams likeliest to make a decisive move.” pic.twitter.com/r9a9eJHmK8

— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) July 30, 2026

But as we’ve been learning recently, the Marlins don’t seem interested in playing ball here, so we’ll have to wait and see if this part of the conversation has any sticking power.

The Marlins asking price for Otto Lopez at the deadline was the “most insane shit ever” and they “probably put a higher ask on him than the Reds put on Elly”, per @mikeaxisa

(h/t @BobbyMilone29) pic.twitter.com/RkLsUwwFoE

— Punchoutpitch (@Punchoutpitch) October 30, 2026

Anyway, while we’re waiting, I’d like to suggest a name I’d be interested in seeing as the new Red Sox shortstop going forward: Franklin Arias. (My sources indicate that Worcester is willing to move him for a far cheaper price than any of the trade packages involving De La Cruz, Abrams, or Lopez from Cincinnati, Washington, or Miami.)

But seriously, why are the majority of the Red Sox rumors out of the offseason gate centered around shortstop?

I understand why this was the case in July: Arias wasn’t ready for a postseason run in 2026, question marks surrounded Trevor Story’s return (something I got wrong), and Andruw Monasterio can’t hack defensively at short. So yeah, given what we thought the Red Sox might be able to do in October off the back of the 15-game winning streak, it made sense to go nuts.

But now that 2026 is over and our eyes are centered on whenever baseball returns in 2027 (or beyond), why is Franklin Arias not the plan moving forward? He’s the No. 2 prospect in the sport! And just to be clear here, we’re not talking within the Red Sox system, we’re talking among all 30 teams in baseball. He is, BY FAR the best thing the Red Sox have going down on the farm right now (their only other guy in the top 100 is Justin Gonzales, who’s only played 18 games above High-A and ranks No. 71).

Any furthermore, I don’t think people truly appreciate how far Arias is tracking ahead of where Marcelo Mayer was in recent seasons. In Double-A Portland, Arias posted a .952 OPS in 380 plate appearances (many in horrible, wintry, early season conditions). Mayer meanwhile put up a .763 OPS in 524 plate appearances in Portland.

In Worcester, it appears a little bit closer (Arias has an .894 OPS there to Mayer’s .835) until you take into account that Arias achieved that line a full two years young than Mayer (his age 20 season compared to Mayer’s age 22 season). And also, by all accounts, the defense isn’t close either. Arias is far superiors.

So I guess my question is: Why isn’t Arias being hyped as the shortstop of the future? Did the Mayer experience just burn people to such a degree they now think Arias will turn out the same way because he plays the same position and that Roman Anthony will have the same personality because they were friends? I can’t believe I’m saying this, because the opposite is true 99 percent of the time, but I feel like this fan base is now underrating our potential future stars.

Franklin Arias turns 21 later this month. Roman Anthony will still be just 22 on Opening Day (if Opening Day happens on time), and the Red Sox control each of them for at least the next six seasons (probably more) at a reasonable price. Why isn’t this being hyped as the future or “the A-Team” if you want to get cute?

According to these rumors, the Red Sox need a shortstop and a big bat. Except for the fact, they may already have these things — Cost controlled, young, and with the ability to get better. Franklin Arias is already a better defensive shortstop right now than De La Cruz will ever be. Despite a disappointing 2026, Roman Anthony already has a higher career OPS than De La Cruz at the major league level, and is two years young.

So, I have to wonder, what are we even doing here? The last three teams standing in the MLB postseason this year ranked 22nd (Rays), 27th (Guardians) and tied for 28th / 29th (Brewers) in home runs. Other than Junior Caminero, who went deep 42 times, not a single other player on any of these teams had more than 26 home runs.

The Red Sox ranked 26th in home runs this year, so they fit right in, and while I understand and support the idea of more power in the lineup, I don’t think it needs to come from shortstop, and there’s no way in hell I’d give up on Anthony at this stage of his career.

But at the same time, these rumors aren’t coming from nowhere, so I have to wonder what’s going on. Are the Red Sox about to give up on a promising future mere moments away from when it’s about to pay dividends, because that’s largely what these rumors feel like in recent days. If that happens,, and either of these guys pan out elsewhere, I’ll be furious for years to come. There’s nothing worse than waiting years for something potentially great and then bailing on it last minute. If that happens, the dreams of the Red Sox future will quickly turn into a nightmare.

A pair of Dodgers are in the mix for a Silver Slugger Award in 2026. Max Muncy and Shohei Ohtani are one of two finalists at third base and designated hitter, respectively, in the National League, announced on Thursday morning.

Silver Slugger Awards, given annually to the top offensive players at each position in each league, are voted on by managers and three coaches from each team in their respective leagues.

Ohtani led National League designated hitters in on-base percentage (.377), OPS (.889), wRC+ (139), doubles (26) and stolen bases (11). Despite not hitting a home run after August 18 as he battled left knee and right biceps injuries, Ohtani’s 30 home runs still ranked second among National League DHs.

Ohtani started 134 games as designated hitter, and was one of only four NL players to start at least 100 games at DH this season, along with Kyle Schwarber of the Philadelphia Phillies (147 starts), Iván Herrera of the St. Louis Cardinals (108), and Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers (106).

Schwarber is the other NL DH in the top two in voting for a Silver Slugger Award. Schwarber tied for the major league lead with 45 home runs and hit .232/.354/.503 with a 130 wRC+, 20 doubles, 105 walks, 97 RBI, and 95 runs scored.

Ohtani has four Silver Sluggers on his mantel, including 2024and 2025 with the Dodgers in addition to 2021 and 2023 with the Angels. He was also a “finalist” at designated hitter in 2022 as well.

Muncy played in a career-high 149 games this season after two seasons with long stints on the injured list. He led all NL third baseman in OPS (.837), slugging percentage (.490), and wRC+ (129), hitting .252/.348/.490 with 29 home runs and a career-best 27 doubles.

Alex Bregman of the Chicago Cubs is the other NL third baseman in the top two of voting for a Silver Slugger Award. He hit .265/.355/.464 with a 128 wRC+, 28 home runs, 33 doubles, and 76 walks.

Muncy has not won a Silver Slugger Award, but he was among the top three in voting both in 2021 as a first baseman and in 2025 at third base despite playing in only 100 games.

Silver Slugger Awards have been around since 1980, and the only Dodgers third baseman to win one was Adrian Beltré in 2004.

Silver Slugger Award winners will be announced on Tuesday, November 17.

Morning, all!

Ezequiel Duran proved appointing himself The Solution wasn’t just empty talk by winning the Rangers’ Player of the Year award. Jacob Latz nabbed Pitcher of the Year.

Kevin Sherrington laments that the big money stars aren’t performing in a way that justifies their winning those awards every year.

Chris Young says he’s going to be creative this offseason, which he’s going to have to be if he expects to build a contender with the $20 million currently projected as available in the budget.

Right-hander Freddy Peralta was widely assumed to be a Cubs trade target last summer while he was with the Mets.

He’d had several good seasons pitching for Craig Counsell in Milwaukee, likely enough to recommend him.

But Peralta was pretty bad in 22 starts with the Mets: 4.99 ERA, 1.478 WHIP, 17 home runs allowed in 113.1 innings. That included losing twice to the Cubs. So the Cubs instead traded for two other members of the Mets rotation and Peralta went to the Rays, where he pitched in the World Series — and was also very good in the 10 regular-season starts he made in Tampa Bay, posting a 3.25 ERA and 1.012 WHIP, more in line with his Milwaukee numbers

The reason this happened is simple. The Rays figured out how to fix him:

[Jorge] Moncada, the Rays’ bullpen coach since 2023 after a lengthy stint in their system as a pitching coach and coordinator, dug into video of Peralta when he was at his best for Milwaukee last September and when he was at his worst in his final starts as a Met in July. Soon enough, Moncada noticed something: Last season, Peralta exclusively pitched out of the stretch. This season, he was going through an elaborate windup, hands over his head, with the bases empty. So he posed a question to his newest pupil as the meeting drew to a close: Which is more comfortable?

“He said, ‘I always feel comfortable pitching out of the stretch,'” Moncada said. “So we were like, ‘Go with what makes you most comfortable,’ and he went back.”

From there, the Rays instituted further modifications. They had Peralta move to the third-base side of the rubber and widen his stance. They told him to speed up his delivery. They gave him a drill package to incorporate into his preparation to generate more strength from his legs. In one of the drills, Peralta straps a 3D belt around his waist and Moncada pulls it so he feels the weight in his backside.

The modified routine, Moncada explained, set the foundation for Peralta to create better momentum toward the plate. His arm angle was raised slightly. His average arm extension rose a fraction.

I quoted quite a bit there — and there’s more, go to the link — mainly to give a prime example of how other teams’ pitching infrastructure is so far superior to the Cubs’. I wonder, had the Cubs actually been able to trade for Peralta, whether they would have been able to figure these things out and implement them the way they were in Tampa Bay. I’ll continue to maintain that Jed Hoyer ought to fire pitching coach Tommy Hottovy, VP of pitching strategy Tyler Zombro, and the rest of the pitcher coaches and start over. How much worse could it be?

Nevertheless, it does appear that Peralta is back to the way he pitched in Milwaukee, and that should be something that should attract the Cubs to signing him, especially with his long history with Counsell.

Peralta is 30 and will turn 31 in June. MLBTR says he’s worth a five-year, $110 million deal, which would be for his ages 31-35 seasons. I think such a deal would be well worth it. Presuming he’s healthy, Peralta should be a solid 3 or 4 WAR pitcher for the next five seasons.

Would you do it?

Well, the Reds hired Guardians’ assistant hitting coach, Joe Torres, to be their pitching coach.

Luis Ortiz and Emmanuel Clase opened their case arguing they were deceived by a bettor and that the pitches bet on were called by their catchers and just incidentally happened to help the bettor hit. I feel like this is not a great defense so far.

Other than that, man, it’s dead in the world of baseball.

It didn’t have to be this way. Two years ago, I argued that we needed to vote as many as we could into the Royals Hall of Fame for fear they’d fall off the ballot. Last year, those fears were realized to some degree, with Jarrod Dyson falling off the ballot. This year, Yordano Ventura has fallen off. Maybe you don’t think either of those guys should have been elected – I would argue with you about Dyson – but because other players on those ballots weren’t elected, we are now faced with a nasty conundrum.

There are 12 former Royals on this year’s ballot. I believe that 11 of them likely deserve to be inducted, all but Ian Kennedy. Unfortunately, because voters can only select up to five and candidates must receive 75% of the vote to be inducted, not all of them will be added this year. In the best-case scenario, six players could be elected, but only if the ballots were nearly perfectly divided among those six, and likely most, if not all, of the remaining six would fall off the ballot forever.

Realistically, it would be a stretch to even see three of these guys voted in this year. That makes me want to try to organize voters around three guys to make sure they get in, but a lot of these cases are so good that even if I could reach every single Royals fan, I’m not at all sure that I could convince everyone to rally around those three. Honestly, I’m not sure I can convince myself to rally around just three guys. How am I supposed to pick?

If you listened to the latest episode of the Royals Rundown podcast, you know that I really did struggle with this. I figured out my top four pretty quickly.

• Mike Moustakas
• Eric Hosmer
• Lorenzo Cain
• Wade Davis

It’s insane to me that Wade Davis is still on the ballot. I was so sure he would be elected that I decided not to vote for him when he first became eligible following the 2024 season. I voted for him last season as I thought we might get all of HDH in all at once, with Greg Holland becoming eligible for the first time. Kelvin Herrera has been on there as long as Davis and while I believe he is completely deserving, I can understand why he might not get elected. Davis stands out as an absolute travesty to me. From 2014-2016, he put together three of the most dominant relief seasons we have ever seen in baseball, posting a 1.18 ERA and 2.38 SIERA.” He allowed exactly THREE home runs over those three seasons, all in 2015. Mason Miller, who had one of the best individual seasons by a reliever of all time this year, also gave up three home runs, despite pitching in a much less hitter-friendly environment.

Hosmer, Moustakas, and Cain are all newcomers to the ballot this year. And while I know many of you will plan to vote for HDH as your first three, I choose to vote for them as the two biggest leaders of the 2014-2017 squads and the most talented player on those teams, respectively. It’s been interesting to see opinion morph over time to suggest that Salvador Perez has always been a leader on this team, but I was there in 2014, and I assure you he was not then a leader. He was one of the hearts, maybe the most important heart, of that roster. But those clubs belonged to Moose and Hos, or at least that’s how the story was told at the time. There were all kinds of stories of things Moose or Hos said or did to inspire or lead the club. I don’t say any of this to take anything away from Sal, but I don’t want people to forget just how important these corner infielders were to their teams.

Cain, of course, hit in the heart of the order and defined 2015 with his third-place MVP finish, while convincing every kid in the KC metro area that the best way to swing was the LoCain Lean-Back. He was also perpetually seen hanging around Salvador Perez, both sporting their giant smiles. I said Sal was the heart of those squads, Lorenzo was his twin, the two beating in harmony.

So how do I choose the final vote? This is the hard part. I can no more choose Holland over Herrera than Ernie could choose rubber over ducky. To me, Davis can stand above them, but it’s still an absolute sham that they didn’t all get inducted together last season. That leaves me debating between the current Cooperstown resident, Carlos Beltrán and future resident Zack Greinke.

Of course, that means I’ve already written off Alcides Escobar, Billy Butler, and Joakim Soria in addition to the ones I’ve already discussed. But what else can I do?

Ultimately, I think my choice has to be Zack Greinke. Carlos brought home a Rookie of the Year award, and he was part of “Dos Carlos”, which was a lot of fun. But Greinke brought home the team’s only Cy Young Award of my lifetime, and he did so with one of the greatest pitching seasons we’ve ever seen. He is tied for the 58th-best single-season fWAR of all time with 8.7. There have only been six better pitching performances this century, and three of them are Randy Johnson. Curt Schilling, Pedro Martinez, and Jacob DeGrom each have one. Roy Halladay tied the mark one year.

I hate leaving off six extremely deserving candidates, but what else can I do?

Well, I thought of one thing. Something to sate my curiosity at least. I created a ranked-choice poll with all 12 Hall of Fame candidates on it so everyone could rank them in order, and I can see how Royals fans would rank them all if they weren’t just selecting five in any order. I hope you’ll go vote on it. If we get enough votes, I’ll write about the results.

Team News

Diamondbacks prospects Demetrio Crisantes, Joe Ariola make Fall Stars Gamehttps://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/diamondbacks-prospects-demetrio-crisantes-joe-ariola-make-fall-stars-game

Former Diamondbacks Top Prospect Departs Without Getting Shot in MLBhttps://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/former-diamondbacks-prospect-mlb-robinson

What D-backs are looking for from AFL, winter ball participants
https://www.mlb.com/dbacks/news/demetrio-crisantes-patrick-forbes-in-d-backs-arizona-fall-league

Other Baseball

Angels Yet To Begin Interviewing GM Candidates While Awaiting Sale Approvalhttps://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/11/angels-yet-to-begin-interviewing-gm-candidates-while-awaiting-sale-approval.html

Albert Pujols to interview for Astros’ managerial job, sources sayhttps://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/50381841/sources-albert-pujols-interview-astros-managerial-job

Guardians’ Clase, Ortiz described as ‘cheaters’ at pitch-rigging trialhttps://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/50381638/guardians-clase-ortiz-described-cheaters-pitch-rigging-trial

MLB proposes delaying salary cap until 2028 seasonhttps://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/50370860/mlb-proposes-delaying-salary-cap-2028-season

Former MLB star Mark Teixeira wins U.S. House seat in Texashttps://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/50376245/former-mlb-star-mark-teixeira-wins-us-house-seat-texas

What does the latest labor proposal from MLB actually mean?https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/what-does-the-latest-labor-proposal-from-mlb-actually-mean-210558498.html

Anything Goes

This day in history:

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-5

This day in baseball:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/November_5

The smallest ocean is the Arctic ocean.

It is also the shallowest and the coldest ocean among the world’s five ocean basins. The Arctic ocean is about 1.5 times the size of the United States. 

Room temperature is between 20-25°C.

In other units of measurements, it is 298-293K or 59-77°F. 

Mustache shields were a thing in the Victorian Era.

You’ve heard of post-mortem photo opps and cocaine toothache drops, but another peculiar Victorian Era thing is the mustache shield.  Patented in 1876 by Virgil A Gates, the mustache shield was designed to keep facial hair out of the way when eating and drinking.

Few players have had a true Jekyll and Hyde relationship with the Yankees quite like Johnny Damon. I personally never thought I’d be able to move past his role in helping end the curse back in 2004. However, the gritty, fun-loving Damon cleanup up his look and image before playing his way into the positive side of Yankees history.

Johnny David Damon
Born: November 5, 1973 (Fort Riley, KS)
Yankees Tenure: 2006-09

Damon was born on a military base in Kansas but bounced around quite a bit during his childhood. His father was a sergeant in the United States Army, and his mother was a Thai immigrant. Growing up with a stutter, Damon was a quiet child but eventually came into his own through sports. In addition to his baseball talents, he flashed elite athleticism on the track at Dr. Phillips High School in Orlando, finishing as the runner-up in the 200-meter dash during his senior year.

In 1992, Damon was rated the top high school prospect in the country by Baseball America. That led to him being selected by the Kansas City Royals with the 35th overall pick in the supplemental first round of the MLB Draft. Damon worked his way through the minors and made his major league debut on August 12, 1995.

Kansas City was Damon’s home for six seasons. Over that stretch, he developed into a solid big leaguer, using his left-handed swing to produce 17.3 WAR while hitting 65 home runs, stealing 156 bases, and slashing .292/.351/.438. He also established himself as a versatile outfielder. In his final season with the Royals, Damon led the American League in both runs scored with 136 and stolen bases with 46. KC traded him that offseason, with only one year of team control remaining, to the Oakland Athletics as part of a three-team deal that also involved the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Damon spent one season, 2001, in Oakland. His production slipped some, but for the first time in his career, he got to play postseason baseball. Facing the Yankees in the ALDS, Damon made a great first impression, collecting nine hits over the five games and slashing .409/.435/.591. The Yankees prevailed, with the series highlighted by Derek Jeter’s famous flip to home in Game 3.

Reaching free agency for the first time ahead of the 2002 season, Damon agreed to a four-year deal with the Red Sox. Those four years would be some of the best of his career, as he made his only two All-Star teams in 2002 and 2005 while helping Boston end the Curse of the Bambino in 2004 with 20 homers and some memorable ALCS moments against New York. When he reached free agency following the 2005 season, it seemed likely that the beloved Caveman would stay with his fellow Idiots in Boston. However, the Yankees and their purse strings had other plans.

In December 2005, Damon signed a four-year, $52 million deal to switch sides and join the Bombers. At a time when the Yankees’ hair and grooming policies were still firmly in place, it was a big deal. Damon shaved his iconic beard and cut his flowing locks to fit in with his new teammates. With a new look, Damon hit .285 with 24 home runs in 2006 while playing 131 games in center field. He also joined legends Lou Gehrig and Stan Musial in the record books by posting his ninth consecutive season with at least 100 runs scored and 30 doubles. The Yankees finally had a leadoff hitter to insert at the top of the order, and things looked promising as the team won the AL East. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get out of the Division Series, falling to Detroit in four games.

The 2007 campaign saw Damon’s numbers slip some as he took on a different role, splitting time between left field, center field, and designated hitter. He hit .270 with 144 hits, 27 doubles, 12 home runs, 63 RBIs, and 27 stolen bases in 141 games. The team again flamed out in the ALDS, but Damon did all he could in the losing effort, batting .278 with two home runs.

After years of disappointment in the playoffs, the Yankees missed the 2008 postseason altogether. However, the 34-year-old still played well, even as he dealt with injuries. In a testament to his availability and durability, Damon landed on the disabled list for the first time in his career with a shoulder sprain suffered on a wall collision. Despite that setback, he still played 143 games and slashed .303/.375/.461 with 17 home runs, and he went a career-best 6-for-6 on June 7th against the Royals, capping it off with a walk-off hit to right. Damon is one of only three Yankees in MLB history to register a six-hit game, alongside Myril Hoag and Gerald Williams.

Still serving as the table setter, Damon helped the reloaded 2009 Yankees return to October. The veteran took a liking to the new Yankee Stadium and became a regular Short Porch threat, tying his career high with 24 homers and a 118 OPS+.

All told, Damon hit .282 with 155 hits, 36 doubles, 24 home runs, 82 RBIs, and 107 runs scored. Despite a sluggish ALDS against Minnesota, he recovered to hit .300 with a a big homer in the ALCS as the Yankees brushed past the Angels to win the pennant.

Damon continued to deliver in the Fall Classic, as he collected eight hits, scored six runs, and drove in four with an .895 OPS as the Yankees prevailed in six games over the Phillies. One of Damon’s most memorable moments in pinstripes came during game four when he grinded out an single with two outs and then stole second and third before scoring what would be the winning run. Despite his contributions to the championship run, the Yankees decided to let Damon walk as a free agent, instead trading for Curtis Granderson and allowing an up-and-comer named Brett Gardner to take on a bigger role.

In free agency, Damon signed a one-year deal with the Tigers for the 2010 season, where he remained productive but saw his power deep away from the Short Porch. The next year, he joined the Rays for the 2011 campaign, posting his last productive season and notably hitting his final career postseason home run during their ALDS loss to Texas. Chasing a dark-horse bid for 3,000 hits, Damon found a spot with Cleveland in 2012, but he was out of gas and released in August with a .610 OPS. He couldn’t find another taker and settled into retirement.

Over his 18-season MLB career, Damon built a reputation as one of baseball’s premier leadoff hitters and most durable outfielders. He finished his career with a .284 batting average, 2,769 hits, 235 home runs, 1,139 RBIs, 1,668 runs scored, and 408 stolen bases across 2,490 games. Damon garnered only eight votes in his only Hall of Fame ballot appearance in 2018, too few for future consideration by the BBWAA. Still, plenty agree that, despite some controversies after his playing days, he belongs as a first-ballot member of the Hall of Very Good.

Happy birthday, Johnny!

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See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

Jyun-Yue Tseng was born on November 7, 2001 in Taichung, Taiwan’s second-largest city behind Taipei. He attended the verbosely named Taichung Municipal Taichung Industrial High School and developed into a standout baseball player, at first as an infielder and later as a pitcher. On July 20, 2020, he was one of 123 amateur players to enter into the CPBL Draft, and the right-hander was one of 48 players who were selected by a professional club, with the Fubon Guardians picking him in the seventh round of the process.

The 19-year-old Tseng made his professional debut in 2021 and quickly established himself as one of the preeminent relievers in the league, appearing in 57 games and posting a 1.80 ERA in 55.0 innings, allowing 36 hits, walking 16, and striking out 62 while saving 12 games. For his efforts, he was named the 2021 Rookie of the Year.

He followed up his Rookie of the Year campaign with statistically similar seasons over the next few years, cementing himself as one of Taiwan’s best relief pitchers. In 2022, he posted a 2.86 ERA in 50.1 innings over 47 games, allowing 35 hits, walking 18, and striking out 64 while saving 20 games. In 2023, he posted a 1.22 ERA in 51.2 innings over 54 appearances, allowing 29 hits, walking 17, and striking out 60 while saving 18 games.

After the 2023 season ended, Tseng was able to get the Guardians to post him, but he did not find much of a market outside of Taiwan and opted to remained with Fubon. In 2024, he posted a 1.52 ERA in 47.1 innings, allowing 36 hits, walking 14, and striking out 63 while saving 6 games. His streak of utter dominance ended in 2025, when he posted a 3.00 ERA in 36.0 innings over 34 games, allowing 30 hits, walking 13, and striking out 28.

Yue returned to the Taiwanese National Team in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, appearing in a pair of games and notching a single save, throwing 2.0 scoreless innings, not allowing a hit or a walk while striking out two. Returning to the Guardians for the regular season, the right-hander would go on to post a 1.57 ERA in 51.2 innings, allowing 48 hits, walking 13, and striking out 65 while saving 25 games.

After the season ended, the 24-year-old right-hander filed for international free agency and the posting request was approved by the Guardians.

The 5’8”, 150-pound right-hander would be one of the shortest pitchers in Major League Baseball. He throws from a high-three-quarters arm slot with a long arm action through the back, utilizing a hitch in his leg lift and wrapping his wrist during the full extension of his arm circle.

Tseng throws a fastball, cutter, slider, and splitter, with the latter being an exceptional pitch in Taiwan. The right-hander sits in the low-to-mid-90s with the pitch and tops out in the high-90s, flirting with triple digits. While the spin rate for the pitch is merely average for a four-seam fastball, hovering around 2300 RPM, the right-hander attacks batters from a flat approach angle thanks to his size and release point, heightening the pitch’s perceived induced vertical break that it otherwise does not produce through spin.

Tseng’s cutter, slider, and splitter are all pedestrian pitches, with all three sitting in the mid-to-high-80s. He is able to command all three, and the pitches tunnel well with one another and his fastball, but none have any standout pitch characteristics.

Good morning everyone!

The Mariners introduced Jason Kanzler as their new manager, while the Astros and Angels look to fill out their group of decision-makers. Let’s get to all of that and more.

In Mariners news…

• Kate Preusser broke down a 2020 podcast appearance by Jason Kanzler to get a sense of his mindset on coaching.
• Kate also provided the most important takeaways from Kanzler’s introductory press conference.
• This is an interesting trio to appearing together representing the Mariners (Cal was actually there too, apparently. Maybe he was in the bathroom.)

Around the league…

• The Astros are hiring Brewers senior vice president of player development and performance Cam Castro to serve as their new general manager.
• Albert Pujols will reportedly interview for the Astros’ managerial opening.
• The Angels have not yet started the process of interviewing general manager candidates while they wait for the sale of the team to be formally approved.
• The Mets are hiring former catcher A.J. Ellis to serve as their major league strategy coordinator.
• The Braves’ latest financial report reveals they have created a cushion of profit through their real estate investments which will help offset potential losses from a lockout.
• Ben Clemens at Fangraphs tried to figure out why this postseason was so pitcher-friendly.

The offseason has barely begun and yet it has already been an eventful one for the Colorado Rockies.

On October 15, they fired pitching coach Alon Leichman after just a single year with the team. This past Monday, they hired Ethan Katz as his replacement.

On the surface this all seems pretty simple:

• Leichman, in his first season as a head pitching coach, oversaw a pitching staff that had the worst ERA, the second-worst FIP, and the fifth-worst fWAR in all of MLB.
• Before his brief foray as the assistant pitching coach for the (barely) playoff-bound Houston Astros, Katz was the Chicago White Sox primary pitching coach for five seasons.

When just looking at the basic facts, the Rockies have simply pivoted from a coach whose first results were poor to one with more experience; totally mundane.

The drama, however, comes from the details.

Some of those details may have come out in the latest edition of the DNVR podcast in which host Christian Saez shared a summary of conversations with both Leichman and unnamed members of the Rockies front office.

According to DNVR, the reason for the Rockies moving on from Leichman wasn’t purely results based but instead part of a fundamental inability for Leichman and the other members of the coaching staff to align on a shared vision for Rockies pitching.

Last offseason, the newly-appointed Rockies front office took the approach of bringing in the best pitching minds they could find, assuming that a melting pot of different approaches and ideas would lead to the best results. Instead, it appears as though competing ideas simply led to players getting mixed messages over the course of the season.

The variety of “experiments” that the Rockies came into the 2026 season attempting to run with their pitching staff (pitch suggestions from the dugout, heavy use of openers, etc.) were reportedly Leichman-led efforts. Leichman, as quoted on the DNVR podcast, characterized his tenure this way: “I felt like they brought me in and then after the month of May we struggled, they ditched everything that I wanted. I couldn’t get one voice to the players and ultimately paid for it.”

According to DNVR, the coaching staff spent a full week after the season attempting to resolve their differences in philosophies and to create a consensus about the path forward. When they were unable to arrive at a resolution, the front office essentially chose which side to move forward with in order to make sure that they had a unified plan in place next season.

The odd thing about this, from the outside perspective, is that the Rockies best pitching results in 2026 were very clearly during the early portion of the season when their experimentation was in full swing. If the front office was choosing between two sides of an internal debate, it is confusing, given our limited information, why the side that yielded the worse results this season was ultimately chosen.

The thing is, while we have a fairly robust picture of what Leichman’s vision for pitching in the organization was, we don’t have as clear an idea of what the alternative vision being espoused, presumably, by some mixture of director of pitching Matt Daniels, assistant pitching coach Gabe Ribas, and bullpen coach Matt Buschmann actually entails.

The initial external reaction to the DNVR podcast I’ve seen has likened the organization’s rebuke of Leichman’s ideas as a return to the Bud Black era of pitching philosophy. Given that Black, and everyone from his pitching department, are gone this seems overblown.

For instance, Buschmann (along with Brandon Stone, Rockies manager of performance science) appears to be at the forefront of the team’s recent adoption of wearable tech in the form of Catapult Vests and Plantiga inserts to track and measure player biomechanics.

Those sort of efforts are less visible on the broadcast than something like the use of openers, but are tangible steps into the world of modern baseball. The Rockies don’t seem poised to mimic the cutting edge style of the Brewers and Rays that many would like, but let’s be clear that this is still an organization years ahead of where it was in 2025.

What’s more, as far as I can tell, there is no current indication that new pitching coach Katz is anti-analytics or preaches a Bud Black style one-size-fits-all sinker forward approach.

In a lengthy interview with SoxOn35th.com from 2022 when he was with the White Sox, Katz described himself as “very hungry for information” and “very open-minded.” The key part, from Katz’ perspective is effectively communicating that information with his players: “You got to get to know the person and the player and basically understand, okay, he could handle this information, or he can’t handle this information. [For some], this might be too much. I’m going to save this for the right time, or if he has a question, dumb it down for him if he needs it.”

Granted, those are all pretty standard, non-specific answers. I tend to think that interview does more to show that Katz has had media training than it does to give a deep insight into his relationship with modern analytics. There is something to be said, however, for him knowing the right things to say for a public audience.

While the overall record of the White Sox declined over the course of Katz’s tenure as pitching coach, there were still many success stories on the mound.

• Reynaldo López had an ERA north of five in the two seasons prior to Katz’ arrival in 2021. After Katz became the pitching coach, López racked up four straight seasons with an ERA- 20% better than league average.
• After two straight seasons of Dylan Cease running elevated home run and walk rates, Katz oversaw his transformation into a Cy Young candidate in 2022.
• Erick Fedde came back to the states from the KBO after having flamed out with the Washington Nationals earlier in his career. Under Katz, Fedde put up 4.6 rWAR before the trade deadline when he was traded to the St.Louis Cardinals.
• Even late in his tenure with the White Sox, Katz was able to strike gold by successfully transitioning Garret Crochet from a flamethrowing reliever that had never started a professional game into a genuine ace.

While the team as a whole was falling apart, Katz managed to help all four of these pitchers perform on the field and become appealing trade targets for contenders. The Crochet and Fedde trades in particular brought back many of the 2026 White Sox key contributors.

This is all to say, Katz has many more recent examples of successfully getting results from his pitchers than anyone that the Rockies had employed in the Bud Black era. His methodology may not be as obviously boundary pushing as Leichman’s, but that doesn’t mean he represents a clear step backwards in terms of tangible results.

Regardless of whether or not the front office chose the optimal side of the pitching philosophy divide, it is necessary for the organization to have a unified vision. Having multiple different coaches telling players to do radically different things can only lead to confusion or mistrust.

Last offseason, Paul DePodesta credited this sort of organizational misalignment as the source of his failure during his time as the general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I was really young [31] at the time. What I knew how to do at that point, or what I felt I knew how to do, was build a roster that could win. I had been incredibly fortunate — I had been in Cleveland, had been in Oakland, and both of those teams had done nothing but win. So I had an idea of ‘This is what it’s going to take to win, and that’s the job.’ And we did it the first year.

“Then it didn’t take long after that to realize that’s not the whole job. It’s a necessary part of the job — it’s why you do it. But it really isn’t the whole job. The whole job is actually building an organization, not just a team. I look back on that now and realize I made a lot of mistakes in terms of bringing that organization along, being able to bring in people from different departments, tying together baseball and business.”

Leichman himself seemed to agree with the sentiment that it was not productive to have different members of the coaching staff pulling the players in different directions. As quoted on DNVR, Leichman said that ultimately “My job was to get everyone on the same page, and I couldn’t.”

Let’s just hope that under Katz, the Rockies are now all on the same page.

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Happy Friday Junior everyone!

The Athletics have decided on Brewers executive Cam Castro as their next General Manager. Like most modern front offices in the sport these days, the GM title isn’t what it once was. The top job is now President of Baseball Operations, the job that went to Taylor Smith recently. Even with that being said, the GM job is an important one one way or the other, and it looks like the A’s landed on a good pick for their next one.

Castro’s time with the Brewers saw him help draft and develop tons of talented pitchers. Just looking at a list of former pitchers for the Brew Crew over the past decade and you see tons of quality starting pitching such Corbin Burnes, Brandon Woodruff, Freddy Peralta, and more recently Jacob Misiorowski. And then you have studs in the bullpen seemingly every year, with the team able to say bye to Josh Hader and Devin Williams and simply plug in Trevor Megill, who had a dominant season as Milwaukee’s closer (and could be on the trade market).

Smith himself comes from more of an analytical background but also oversaw good pitching development at his previous stops in Tampa and Boston. It’s likely Smith is going to be the big-picture voice of the front office moving forward while Castro is in charge of the pitching development. That’s a tall task for this organization, one that has struggled to produce consistent pitching at the big league level.

While Castro’s primary focus is likely to be on revamping the farm and the development system, don’t be surprised to see the A’s connected to names he might be familiar with from his days in Milwaukee. If baseball ends up with a salary floor, could we see the A’s make a play for former Brewers ace Freddy Peralta? That’d sure be one way to soak up all that sudden payroll space. Maybe the team is enamored with one of Milwaukee’s young pitchers like Logan Henderson, Robert Gasser or Aaron Ashby, all of whom are young and fit the A’s timeline. Could Castro convince Smith that trading four years of first baseman Nick Kurtz in exchange for four years of an ace in Henderson? If the A’s believe in Tommy White, that’s not the worst trade idea in the world.

The A’s are going to be making moves in their pitching department this offseason. Trades, signings, under-the-radar additions that will end up paying huge dividends during the dog days of August and beyond. One thing A’s fans can know is that Castro has a good track record, and he’ll be directly linked to any and all pitching additions the Athletics begin making over the coming months and years.

Have a great Thursday A’s fans.

A’s Coverage

• Athletics Hire Cam Castro As General Manager
• Taylor Smith’s Improbable Quest: A Quality SP
• A’s trade RHP prospect to Red Sox for outfielder Eaton
• Three A’s Officially Elect Free Agency
• After standout year, No. 7 prospect Taylor could factor into A’s ’27 plans
• Q&A: Smith discusses his new role as youngest head of baseball ops in MLB
• Taylor Smith’s Improbable Quest: A Quality SP
• Why A’s Bringing Back Sonny Gray Could Make Sense
• Optics vs. Infrastructure: Taylor Smith’s First Dilemma
• Athletics Hire Taylor Smith As Next President of Baseball Operations
• Realistic Shea Langeliers trade offers the Yankees, Cubs and Reds can make
• A’s Max Muncy Undergoes Knee Debridement
• The five biggest questions facing the A’s this offseason
• Inside the A’s State-of-the-Art Las Vegas Ballpark
• How technology will shape fan experiences at the A’s Las Vegas ballpark
• Pitching prospect Huggins growing his game with the help of this A’s Hall of Famer
• ’Be a sponge’: No. 19 prospect leads A’s Fall League group with do-it-all mentality
• A’s LHP prospect Richardson shows off health and resiliency during Fall League homecoming
• Get the best of Athletics Nation on the new SB Nation app

MLB News & Interest:

• MLB increases cap and floor in latest proposal, sets 2028 target
• Pujols, Ensberg to interview for Astros manager opening (sources)
• Angels Yet To Begin Interviewing GM Candidates While Awaiting Sale Approval
• Guardians’ Clase, Ortiz described as ‘cheaters’ at pitch-rigging trial
• Hot Stove rumors: Gunnar, Mets, Rasmussen, Marte
• Phillies Likely To Pursue Left-Handed Setup Man
• Team-by-team breakdown of every free agent
• UPDATED 2027-28 MLB Free Agents
• Former MLB star Mark Teixeira wins U.S. House seat in Texas
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

This is coming from a Brewers guy:

Huge loss for the Brewers front office

Cam Castro has been the Brewers Senior VP of Player Development and Performance.

He's been one of the reasons the Brewers have been so good at getting the best out of players in recent years https://t.co/jYaQvNNZav

— David Gasper (@dgasper24) November 4, 2026

The correct take:

On paper, this is a terrific hire. More importantly, it's further indication that #athletics ownership is finally committed to rebuilding their analytics and player development infrastructure. Smith and Castro wouldn't leave their gigs in Boston and Milwaukee if they weren't https://t.co/aXukcgv27N

— Aaron Cameron (@ThatBootlegGuy) November 4, 2026

Love love love it!

I like that he has a background as a pitching coach. It’s important for the front office to be able to connect with the coaches on the field.

It’s also another breadcrumb that the A’s are investing in their analytics department.

Love this https://t.co/dGjFAsUy3e

— Straight A’s (@StraightAs123) November 4, 2026

AFL update:

A’S IN THE AFL TODAY (11/4)
LHP Tucker Novotny: 3.2 IP/3 H/1 ER/3 BB/3 K
RHP Kenya Huggins: 2 IP/1 H/0 ER/1 BB/2 K
Mesa Solar Sox win 14-5

— Bill Moriarity – A's Farm (@AthleticsFarm) November 5, 2026

One candidate that lost out on the A’s GM gig:

Cole Figueroa, assistant GM of the Texas Rangers, is the leading candidate to be the new GM of the Athletics under Taylor Smith, their president of baseball operations.
Figueroa, 39, a former infielder, and Smith worked together in Tampa Bay when Smith was director of baseball…

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) November 4, 2026

This morning, the great folks at Baseball America released an updated top 10 list of Washington Nationals prospects. I really respect the work that BA does, so this list holds a lot of weight to me. While most of the list consisted of familiar names, there were a couple surprises as well.

Eli Willits is one of the top prospects in baseball 👀

He headlines a Nationals system that's trending up after an impressive season across the board.

2027 Top 10 Prospects: https://t.co/Y9Uj5vHXI9pic.twitter.com/9ira8lOUi9

— Baseball America (@BaseballAmerica) November 5, 2026

As you can see, Eli Willits was ranked as the Nats number one prospect, and his tool grades are very impressive. His hitting ability and speed are considered elite tools. Meanwhile, his fielding and arm are above average while his power is seen as average. Willits is a well-rounded player, who also has standout tools.

In the writeup, BA said that his pure bat to ball skills were merely above average instead of elite. However, his plate discipline is so good that it helps boost his hit tool. We saw that in his first full professional season, where Willits walked at a 17.7% clip. Power has always been seen as his weakest tool, but even that was better than expected in 2026.

The 18 year old hit 14 homers, 27 doubles and 8 triples in 114 games this year. Willits posted a 100.4 MPH 90th percentile EV, which is below average, but some of the other numbers are more encouraging. His average exit velocity was 89.2 MPH, which is actually slightly above big league average. Meanwhile, his max exit velocity was over 110 MPH, which is very good for an 18 year old. Power will never be the best part of his game, but this season Willits showed he has plenty of juice.

2025 No. 1 pick Eli Willits launched two homers in his 2nd game after being promoted to High-A 💪💪 pic.twitter.com/nhDOfxGLt0

— MLB (@MLB) June 11, 2026

At the end of his writeup, BA said that Willits is tracking like an All-Star shortstop who could lead the league in stolen bases and runs. With 62 steals on the season, Willits’ base running ability is elite. When I saw him in person, that aggression on the basepaths was one of my main takeaways.

We already know a lot about Eli Willits though. He was the number one overall pick in the draft and is a player Nats fans have been following. However, Samil Serrano is a teenaged prospect fans might not be as aware of. The biggest surprise of this BA list is that Serrano was ranked as the Nats 5th best prospect. He was ahead of bigger names such as Devin Fitz-Gerald and Chris Hacopian.

The folks at @BaseballAmerica released a top 10 prospect list. I was shocked to see Samil Serrano at 5 on the list ahead of Chris Hacopian, Ronny Cruz and Devin Fitz-Gerald. Can't wait to see him make his stateside debut in 2027

— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) November 5, 2026

Serrano is a very young player, having just turned 18 a few days ago. He was the Nats biggest international signing this past year, inking a deal with $1.97 million. His stock only rose in the Dominican Summer League this year. He put up great surface level numbers, but his underlying data was even better.

In 48 DSL games, Serrano hit .310 with a .968 OPS and became a DSL All-Star. Impressively, Serrano walked more than he struck out this season. He might be the best pure hitter to come from the Nats international ranks since Juan Soto. The only competition would be Luis Garcia Jr., but Serrano has better plate discipline and power at this stage.

There was one stat in Baseball America’s writeup that made me pop up in my seat. Serrano ranked in the 90th percentile of DSL hitters in contact rate, chase rate and 90th percentile exit velocity. The only other player to meet that criteria in the statcast era is Jesus Made, who is now the best prospect in baseball. 

We still need to see how he does when he arrives in the US this year, but it is easy to see why BA is so bullish on him. Even at this early stage, it is clear to see that he is a special offensive talent. Serrano has the ability to hit for average and power. While he is not some exceptional athlete, his hitting ability is good enough to carry his profile.

On the defensive side of the ball, Serrano plays center field right now. He is seen as having good instincts in the outfield, but average speed means he is likely to be a corner outfielder. However, he has enough athleticism and arm strength to be a good defender in right field.

The Nats have not had a lot of great international prospects in recent years, but Serrano is one. His stateside debut is something I will be watching very closely. He will probably start the season in rookie ball, but do not be surprised if he is with the Fred-Nats and putting up solid numbers in the summer.

This is the type of prospect who could rise on to top 100 lists before too long. On MLB Pipeline’s rankings, he is the Nats 16th best prospect, but I assume he will rise when that is updated. 

Putting Serrano in the top 5 is an aggressive ranking from BA. There are safer prospects who have a much longer track record that are behind him in the rankings. However, this boldness shows just how high the industry is on Serrano. By this time next year, we could be saying some things about Serrano that sound outlandish right now.

Baseball America is behind a paywall, so I do not want to spoil the entire list. They do great work though and if you are passionate about prospects, I would highly recommend subscribing to them. This list was fascinating. It made me even higher on Willits and made me think about Samil Serrano in a different light.