Category: MLB

Hello, friends.

There are 157 days remaining until the next scheduled Orioles game. We will probably not know whether a game will happen on that day or not until something like 110 days from now. Many of the days between now and then will have apocalyptic rhetoric about whether there will be a 2027 season at all. It’s going to suck for fans.

For now, the 2026 season remains to be decided. Milwaukee is sitting around waiting to find out who they will play in the World Series. The Brewers will probably be trying to stay sharp; they won’t play another game until Friday regardless of when the series ends between the Guardians and Rays to determine the AL representative. When the World Series is over, no later than Halloween, we can start to find out what will happen with the offseason.

Cleveland and Tampa Bay will play another one in Cleveland today. Game 5 was pushed back to today due to Friday’s rain in northeast Ohio. That is set to begin at the unusual time of 5:08 Eastern. The series will not end tonight. The Rays fought to even the series up on Saturday night. The Guardians cannot clinch in front of their home crowd. They can only hope to take a lead back to the Trop.

I am mildly hoping the Guardians are the winners in the series, but I’m not sad about the Rays winning last night. Cleveland had former Oriole Shawn Armstrong as an opener yesterday and then ended up using seven different pitchers on the way to a 7-3 loss. It offends me on an aesthetic level to see bullpen games or openers in the playoffs. If you don’t have starting pitchers that can even get you five innings in the postseason, you don’t deserve to move on. Deserve has nothing to do with it in baseball, not the regular season nor in the postseason. But for last night, the Rays had a real starting pitcher and they won, so, good for them.

Orioles stuff you might have missed

Five surprising occurrences from the 2026 Orioles season (School of Roch)
Number one is that the Orioles catching duo of Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo was separated in the middle of their first full season together. I’m still surprised Elias pulled the trigger on that one.

As Orioles look to improve outfield production, will a trade be the avenue to do that? (Steve on Baseball)
Looking at the list of this offseason’s available outfield free agents pushes the needle strongly towards yes.

A possible unexpected Orioles 40-man roster decision (Orioles on the Verge)
The prospect enthusiasts at the Verge are stumping for reliever Yaqui Rivera, which would keep hope alive for the Orioles getting any MLB value whatsoever out of the Cole Sulser/Tanner Scott trade.

Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries

Nothing of particular consequence has happened on this day in Orioles history. Until the team makes a deep postseason run in the three wild card era, this is not going to change.

There are a number of former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2025 outfielder Jordyn Adams, 2007-08 pitcher Garrett Olson, 1992-98/2000-01 pitcher Alan Mills, 1995 pitcher Terry Clark, and 1977 one-game pitcher Ed Farmer.

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you! Your birthday buddies for today include: toy retailer Frederick August Otto Schwarz (1836), baseball Hall of Famer Candy Cummings (1848), longtime Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau (1919), rock’n’roller Chuck Berry (1926), tennis legend Martina Navratilova (1956), movie martial artist Jean-Claude Van Damme (1960), jazz legend Wynton Marsalis (1961), gold medal skier Lindsay Vonn (1984), and actor Zac Efron (1987).

On this day in history…

In 1597, Spain’s King Philip II had a third armada launched with the aim of invading England. Although some forces were actually landed from the armada in Cornwall and Wales, this endeavor was ultimately no more successful than the previous two attempts to invade.

In 1748, the War of the Austrian Succession came to an end with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, a treaty that was notably concluded without any Austrian participation. The result of the treaty was Austria losing a lot of territory to Prussia, which had begun the war in 1740 by refusing to accept a woman, Maria Theresa, as inheriting the throne of Austria.

In 1851, Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick was first published in London, although at this point it was simply called The Whale.

**

And that’s the way it is in Birdland on October 18. Have a safe Sunday.

It was too late for me to add to the news yesterday, but how about the Orioles owner saying the quiet part out loud?

Honestly, I don’t think that it does much to sway anything in the upcoming negotiations either way too wildly. The MLBPA still hasn’t started putting out ads to combat the ones the league is putting out, so the PR battle is still kind of one sided.

On to the links.

Phillies news:

• If you thought that the team was going to get rid of Dave Dombrowski anytime soon, I have some bad news for you. He ain’t goin’ nowhere ($).
• With J.T. Realmuto going to need more time off this season, here are some options they could look at to help fill the backup catcher’s spot.

MLB news:

• One of these impending free agents from the Dodgers would look pretty good in a Phillies uniform….and it ain’t Enrique Hernandez.
• The Orioles had two good catchers, then traded one, which means they have to start looking around for another good catcher.
• Teruaki Sato will be posted by the Hanshin Tigers officially after capturing the NPB Triple Crown.

The National League Championship Series might have ended in a four-game whooping of the Dodgers, but the American League Championship Series is already guaranteed for six. Following Friday’s rainout, the Rays brought the lumber to Cleveland with their best offensive showing of the postseason, ALDS sweep of the Yankees included. The 7-3 win knotting the ALCS up at 2-2 and ensured that no matter what happens today, we’ll have a Game 6 at Tropicana Field on Monday. Someone will have a shot at a World Series date with Milwaukee by then, but a Game 7 can’t be ruled out. Tire yourselves out, I say! (Or at least give us more compelling baseball than yesterday.)

Today on the site, Madison will recap Game 4 of the ALCS, Peter will discuss why he’s rooting for the Brewers in the World Series no matter what, and Matt celebrates what would’ve been the 95th birthday of a valued 1950s dynasty role player, Andy Carey. Matt then returns to recount the dumbest games of the Yankees’ 2026 season, and John runs through the weekly Social Media Spotlight.

Today’s Playoff Matchup:

American League Championship Series Game 5
(Series tied, 2-2)

Cleveland Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Time: 5:08 p.m. EST

TV: TBS/HBO Max/truTV

Venue: Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH

Questions/Prompts:

1. Where are you now on your ALCS prediction? Would you say Rays in 6, Rays in 7, Guardians in 6, or Guardians in 7?

2. It’s Jets/Patriots and Giants/Saints today in the NFL. Who ya got in each?

NJ.com | Randy Miller and Bob Klapisch: With no baseball on Friday night, Randy Miller and Bob Klapisch of NJ.com sat down to discuss what Yankees fans throughout the world are probably talking about: general manager Brian Cashman. Discussing a whole host of trades, free agent signings, and other roster moves — and in particular, arguing over which ones had good logic but which didn’t work out for unforeseeable reasons (Giancarlo Stanton becoming injury-prone, Joey Gallo forgetting how to hit) and which ones were just bad overall (Ryan McMahon). I don’t totally agree with them on everything — the idea that the Jazz Chisholm Jr. trade, a move for a player that helped them make the 2024 World Series and was a major contributor in 2025, was a mistake is absolutely laughable to me — but it is an interesting read nonetheless.

MLB Trade Rumors | AJ Eustace: The playoffs may still be ongoing, but that doesn’t mean the hot stove hasn’t started to simmer. Jon Heyman this week highlighted that the Yankees have previously shown interest in Nationals center fielder Jacob Young. Arbitration-eligible for the first time, the 27-year-old is not known for his bat (his 95 wRC+ in 2026 was a career-high), but he provides great defense in center field. Young’s +49 Outs Above Average is second only to defensive wiz Pete Crowe-Armstrong.

Although it’s unclear whether the Nationals are looking to move him at this time, they have explored the possibility in the past, and given the recent history between the Yankees and Nationals front offices (they have struck deals at the past two trade deadlines), it’s not out of the question — especially with New York likely in need of a center fielder.

The Athletic | Keith Law: While most of the baseball world has their eyes on the ALCS and the upcoming World Series, the Arizona Fall League quietly began this week. A developmental league where young players go to learn new positions, get in some reps after injury-filled seasons, and just generally work on their play (check out my colleague Michael for some Yankees-specific coverage), the AFL has occasionally been used to test out potential rule changes. This year, the league is experimenting with restrictions on outfield alignment, using Statcast to force the corner outfielders closer to the lines and the center fielder more shallow than they typically play — an attempt to help more balls in play find the outfield grass. A week into the AFL season, Law calls this attempt a “misfire,” as not only has this actually resulted in balls down the lines turning into outs at a weirdly high rate, the test is itself inherently flawed because many of these players are learning the position for the first time.

The Athletic | Jason Lloyd: (subscription required) Friday night’s Game 4 matchup between the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays was postponed because of rain, pushing back Games 4 and 5 and eliminating the offday. This was no surprise to literally everybody who could watch The Weather Channel or has a weather app installed on their phones — in fact, Major League Baseball had even altered the schedule slightly already, playing Thursday night’s game during the day in order to get ahead of the storm. Even so, the league went through the charade of inviting everybody into the ballpark so that fans could pay “$70 to park, $30 on beer and nachos,” all without the slightest intention of playing the game. (Yankees/Orioles Game 162, anyone?)

No, this article might not directly matter to us — after all, the Yankees are unfortunately not playing — but with the CBA negotiations coming up and the inevitable lockout looming, it’s important to remember who Major League Baseball is, and what they care about.

CBS Sports | Mike Axisa: As happens every time a quasi-dynastic team falls in the postseason (I refuse to say to call the Dodgers a dynasty yet), sportswriters have begun to ask which team will emerge as the next “superteam” and challenge for the right to be called a dynasty. In what may be a surprise to, well, everybody who is tuned into Yankees fan culture, which is arguably the most pessimistic place on the internet, the Yankees are considered one of the three powerhouses most likely to go on a dynastic run, alongside the Brewers and Dodgers.

As we approach the offseason and it increasingly looks like we will get a window for transactions before a likely lockout in early December. Last time we had a CBA negotiation and associated lockout, there was a flurry of transactions before the lockout, as teams and players looked to lock in some certainty before an unknown absence. Labor tensions seem higher and the changes being discussed larger than last time, which could chill the market some, but we will surely still see some movement. I would love to see the team lock in Tyler Mahle to a 2-3 year deal and add a high-quality bat before the lockout, and then perhaps allow themselves more time to evaluate their injured pitching before adding more after the lockout. Of course, Alex Anthopoulos will be opportunistic and the market conditions may not allow for this strategy, but I think it’s a decent plan.

Braves News

MLB News

The Rays evened up the ALCS with a win over the Guardians, to the thrill of the Brewers.

The San Diego Padres wasted no time making their first move of the offseason. Pitcher Tatsuya Nogami signed a minor-league deal out of Osaka Sangyo University, bypassing Nippon Professional Baseball. It’s an emerging trend among Japanese players to bypass NPB by signing out of the collegiate level. Whether it continues is another question entirely. NPB could certainly step in and put a stop to it, but they haven’t just yet.

Regardless, San Diego has an intriguing new prospect. Not much is known about Nogami. By “not much” I mean next to nothing. Nogami has almost zero public stats available. What is known is that he played baseball in high school before attending OSU. He decided not to play for the university team in his first year, instead joining them in his second year.

Crunching the Numbers

There are no stats available for that second year, but there are some for his most recent season. This spring, OSU won the league championship in the Seito Six University Semi-Hardball Baseball League with an undefeated record. Much of that was due to Nogami’s work on the mound. In six games of work (25.1 IP), Nogami allowed just one earned run for a 0.36 ERA.

The 20-year-old’s most intriguing ability is his strikeout rate. In 25 1/3 innings pitched this season, Nogami struck out 54 batters. That is not a typo. The number resulted in a blistering 19.18 K/9 rate. He threw up to 90 mph in high school but hasn’t had any public measurements available while in university. It’s safe to say his velocity has increased a little since then. His pitch mix has obviously kept hitters guessing, with a four-seamer, slider, cutter, curveball and splitter.

Differences in Semi-Hardball

The big question is how Nogami will adjust to MLB. That’s not just because he’s coming over from Japan, it’s because he’s been pitching in a semi-hardball league instead of baseball. Semi-hardball isn’t that much different from baseball. The way that the ball moves for pitchers is incredibly similar. The bigger difference is for hitters, with batters not being able to hit the ball as hard.

Because Nogami is a strikeout pitcher (in every definition of the term), the change shouldn’t affect his stuff all that much. It might be a bigger problem if he was a groundball pitcher, but that shouldn’t change too much for the 20-year-old in his transition to professional baseball in America.

Immediate Expectations

Nogami is certain to begin the coming season in the minor leagues. Not only is he incredibly young, but he also would benefit from gaining some experience facing higher-caliber hitters. A more intriguing question is whether Nogami will be issued a non-roster invite to Spring Training. It could be valuable to see him face big-league hitters. If his stuff plays well against them in a small sample, that could push his timeline forward.

Week two of the AFL season saw the Peoria Javelinas dealing with a rainout that was rescheduled for an off day. Going 2-3 for the week, the Javelinas sit in fourth place with a 5-6 record overall. They are 2.5 games back of the two leading teams, the Scottsdale Scorpions and Surprise Saguaros.

San Diego Padres RHP Kannon Kemp had a start on Oct. 10 and pitched three innings allowing four runs on four hits with three strikeouts. Two of the runs were the result of a home run. RHP Winyer Chourio started on Oct. 14, pitching 2.2 innings allowing a hit and two runs with six walks and two strikeouts. He also had three wild pitches in his 59 pitches thrown with only 25 strikes. After a breakout season in 2025, Chourio has struggled with command during parts of the 2026 season.

Righty reliever Francis Peña pitched in one game for one innings and allowed no hits or runs. He had no walks or strikeouts. Lefty reliever Igor Gil pitched 1.2 innings with a hit, two walks and three strikeouts.

Outfielder Alex McCoy played in two games and hit his second home run for the Javelinas. Infielder Justin DeCriscio also played in two games with two RBI. Catcher Ty Harvey played in two games with two RBI for the week.

Sam Dykstra, who writes for MLB Pipeline on MLB.com, featured McCoy and Harvey in his AFL update this week. For his first two home runs in the AFL, McCoy rose to the top levels of baseball with a 118.2 mph EV on the 435-foot homer he hit on the 15th. The blast came on an 89.3 mph sinker and was not the hardest-hit ball of his 2026 season.

On April 12, while playing for Fort Wayne, McCoy had a groundout clocked at 119.5 mph and a 118 mph home run with Lake Elsinore at another point in the season.

McCoy missed time in 2025 due to injury but that is not reportedly the reason he is playing in the AFL this year. The Padres want him exposed to other pitching than he has seen so far. Hoping that there would be top prospects throwing during AFL games, McCoy’s high strikeout rate and swing-and-miss tendencies need more exposure to improved pitching. A successful adjuster so far in his career, challenging the 6-foot-5 outfielder makes sense as the Padres consistently challenge their top prospects.

Harvey, who did miss big portions of the 2026 season, is making up for lost time. At 20 years old, just one month younger than Padres catcher Ethan Salas, Harvey is also a potential plus power hitter in the system. After returning later in the season, Harvey was the catcher of record for most of the championship run for the Lake Elsinore Storm.

Ethan Salas gets an award

To wrap up the 2026 minor league season for the Padres’ top prospect, Ethan Salas was named the MiLB Defensive Player of the Year. Recognized as a plus defender at this point in his career, Salas almost certainly is done with his minor league career. Assured of an opportunity to win a starting job with the Padres in 2027, Salas will benefit from working with Padres catching coach Kevin Plawecki, who has been credited with helping Luis Campusano up his game.

John Smoltz got a firsthand look at the Dodgers’ collapse in the National League Championship Series.

On the call with play-by-play announcer Joe Davis, the former Cy Young winner watched every pitch from the Dodgers’ rotation. Tarik Skubal, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow comprised the lethal group, but none of the elite hurlers made it past the fifth inning against a red-hot Brewers lineup.

Smoltz criticized the Dodgers’ pitch selections in the NLCS, where the back-to-back World Series champions were swept by Milwaukee.

“They pitched well, but they didn’t pitch good enough in situations where veteran pitchers should not be making those mistakes,” Smoltz said on the Flippin’ Bats podcast. “In my opinion, there were some pitch selections — I don’t know if it came from Will Smith or it was the pitcher himself — and they put the Milwaukee Brewers in a position to flex their muscles when the Dodgers should have been flexing theirs.

John Smoltz questions the Dodgers pitch selection in the series:

“There were some pitch selections… I don’t know if it came from Will Smith or from the pitcher himself. But it allowed the Brewers to flex their muscle” pic.twitter.com/sKeYAdIdyv

— Ben Verlander (@BenVerlander) October 17, 2026

“It was the most shocking scenario that I could have seen from a standpoint, all right, lay out the series, this is how Milwaukee’s gonna win. There’s no way you said they’re gonna win trailing every game, never being down, with the exception of the last game being down by four. They were gonna out-homer, they were gonna hit better with runners in scoring position, that isn’t as shocking they did that in the regular season. And they were gonna dominate from the bullpen in a way that we have never seen.”

Let’s try this again, shall we? Here’s a note from samath on what we’re heading towards in next week’s World Series.

Whoever advances out of the AL, we’re already guaranteed some all-time drought-busting. A Brewers-Rays World Series would feature two teams who have never won! That would be the first time that’s happened since the 1980 World Series between the Royals and Phillies, and only the second since 1920, i.e. the last century. A Brewers-Guardians World Series would feature two teams who haven’t won for a combined 78 + 56 = 134 years, second all-time to 2016’s famous Cubs-Indians (108 + 68 = 176 years), just ahead of the 2005’s White Sox-Astros (88 + 43 = 131 years). For this purpose, I’m counting years in their current city, because that counts to fans.

So, who do you want to win the American League this year? The drought-busting Guardians? Or do you want the expansion sibling Rays to get their first title?

• Tampa Bay Rays @ Cleveland Guardians (1-2), 5:00 pm, TBS

Today, the AL could get one step closer to joining its Senior Circuit brother in the World Series. The Brewers finished off a sweep of the Dodgers on Thursday, so they’ll be sitting at home waiting to see who comes out of this one. Game 4 is set for 8 pm in Cleveland.

The Guardians took Game 3, 3-2, thanks to a two-run homer from Petey Halpin, so they lead the series 2-1. Tampa Bay has never trailed an ALCS 2-1 before. A win tonight would put Cleveland one game away from the World Series. A Rays win sends us back to square one as a best-of-three.

Tampa has fiddled with the lineup a little for Game 4, with Chandler Simpson now hitting third and Junior Caminero in the cleanup spot. Tampa’s starter, Nick Martinez, went 15-6 with a 3.10 ERA in 180 regular season innings. Martinez’s history against Cleveland should make Guardians fans nervous: two starts in the regular season, 13 innings, zero runs. The Rays need him to hold the line because their bats went quiet in Game 3. Díaz, Aranda, and Caminero went a combined 1-for-12, and Caminero struck out four times. Chandler Simpson has been their spark plug so far.

Tampa Bay lineup

1. Yandy Díaz – DH
2. Jonathan Aranda – 1B
3. Chandler Simpson – LF
4. Junior Caminero – 3B
5. Liam Hicks – C
6. Victor Mesa Jr. – RF
7. Jonny DeLuca – CF
8. Richie Palacios – 2B
9. Taylor Walls – SS

Cleveland is running it back with the exact same lineup from Game 3. That’s fine because José Ramírez and Chase DeLauter have been on fire, OPS’ing 1.038 and 1.438 respectively this postseason. Cleveland’s starting pitcher is none other than old friend Shawn Armstrong, the right-hander who in three seasons in the Baltimore bullpen posted a 5.34 ERA (was it really that high?). Anyway, this is another Cleveland bullpen game. You might expect Joey Cantillo will probably cover a good chunk of it after Armstrong, and Tanner Bibee and Slade Cecconi are available for bulk outings. Also, Cade Smith has been lights out this postseason, with a 1.00 ERA and 13 strikeouts in nine innings.

Cleveland lineup

1. Steven Kwan – LF
2. José Ramírez – 3B
3. Chase DeLauter – RF
4. Jo Adell – DH
5. Nathaniel Lowe – 1B
6. Travis Bazzana – 2B
7. Patrick Bailey – C
8. Petey Halpin – CF
9. Brayan Rocchio – SS

Kiké Hernandez may have played his final game with the Dodgers.

The fan favorite acknowledged the uncertain future he faces as he enters free agency in an Instagram post in which Hernandez expressed his gratefulness for fans.

“LA, we fell short of our big goal. But looking at the big picture, what a ride these last three years were!!” Hernandez wrote in the Instagram caption.

“If this is it for us…. Once again, I will always be thankful for you guys & I will forever love ya! #JustAKidFromPR,” Hernandez said.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman brought Hernandez back on a one-year deal last offseason, saying the “door was always open” for the utilityman. It remains unclear whether that will be the case this winter as Hernandez hits free agency again.

Hernandez has built his career as an electric personality in the Dodgers’ dugout and a clutch bat every October. His postseason numbers are simply mystifying with Hernandez coming to life every fall.

But as the Dodgers look to get younger, the front office may go in another direction this offseason. The Dodgers assembled the most expensive roster in baseball, which also happened to be the oldest.

While the Dodgers won 100 regular-season games with their veteran core, the back-to-back World Series champions were swept by a hungrier, younger Brewers team.

The four-game sweep in the National League Championship Series may alter the Dodgers’ plans as the front office attempts to build another winning roster.

Only time will tell whether Hernandez is a part of that group.

So game four, try number two.

This time there is no rain in the forecast, but it is cold. 7 C at game time and dropping from there. It is much warmer here in Calgary and slightly warmer in Toronto.

Anyway, starting lineup:

I’ve spent the day off line, for a pleasant change, which my overlords will not like, but my well being needs occasionally.

Let’s try this again.

Two nights ago the NLCS ended, but we’ve still got plenty of action left on the AL side. In a series that features a pair of top-half teams in terms of Starting Pitcher fWAR and despite an extra day of rest with the rainout, Game Four will feature one team using a starting pitcher who barely struck out one every two innings during the regular season and just a flat-out bullpen game from the other side.

Nick Martinez gets the start for Tampa Bay. Somehow, he accrued a 2.9 fWAR this season while pitching a 2.90 ERA despite a lackluster 11.5% K-BB% and a barely above-league-average 1.10 HR/9, leading to a frightening 4.63 SIERA. Nick has already made one start this postseason, going 3.2 innings and allowing 2 runs in a series-clinching win over the Yankees.

The Guardians have already used Foster Griffin, Parker Messick, and Gavin Williams in this series, so they’re set to ask their bullpen to deliver the penultimate blow against the Rays before potentially cycling all three of those guys through in the back half of the series. Shawn Armstrong will be the first pitcher out of the gate. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tanner Bibee is asked to pitch a few innings; I also wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t actually pitch that long. Steven Vogt has shown a willingness to go to his bullpen very quickly, and with good reason in a postseason that has featured fewer innings from starting pitchers than any I can recall.

Let’s hope they actually play this time.

Take two!

Here’s the Rays’ lineup:

10/17 ⚾ Rays Lineup is Out!
Provided by mlbstartingnine (@DailyMLBLineups for link)

📊 Live Line: Rays -112 • O/U 6.5#Rays#RaysLineup#MLBpic.twitter.com/xWv3NhbKyD

— MLB Daily Lineups (@DailyMLBLineups) October 17, 2026

Here’s the Guardians’ lineup:

Let's run it back.#GuardsBall | #StandGuardpic.twitter.com/zO6R7W87Fo

— Cleveland Guardians (@CleGuardians) October 17, 2026

Let’s go, Guardians!

Jefferson Rojas - the Mets' #1 prospect according to SNY's most recent top 30 rankings - is making big waves in the Caribbean.

Rojas, who was recently assigned to the Gigantes del Cibao of the Dominican Professional Baseball League (a.k.a. the "Dominican Winter League"), crushed a 401-foot homer in just his second game with the team.

 

Jefferson Rojas smacks his first LIDOM home run 💥 106 MPH off the bat https://t.co/tplDV9hlTh

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) October 17, 2026

A few innings later, Rojas crushed another no-doubter.

#Mets infielder Jefferson Rojas liked his first homer so much ... he decided to hit another! MLB's No. 68 prospect slugs his 2nd roundtripper 423 feet for the @Gigantes_Cibao: https://t.co/H4lSK3LD5p

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) October 17, 2026

Rojas batted eighth in the Gigantes lineup on Saturday, playing third base.

His first game with the ballclub came a day earlier, when Rojas manned the hot corner and batted seventh in the order. He finished his debut with one hit, a walk, and a stolen base.

Rojas will spend part of his offseason playing for the Gigantes alongside MLB hitters, including Mets teammate Christopher Morel, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Victor Scott II, and Miami Marlins catcher Agustin Ramirez, among others.

Acquired from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor at this past season's trade deadline, Rojas exploded upon his arrival to the Mets' farm system. 

His .929 OPS and nine homers in just 29 games with Double-A Binghamton earned him a promotion to Triple-A Syracuse, where he continued to impress, posting a 1.037 OPS with three home runs across 6 games to close out the season.

Rojas is also a consensus top-100 prospect, currently ranking No. 68 in the sport by MLB Pipeline.