Category: MLB

Now that the Houston Astros have found the GM in Randy Flores, now they need to settle on a new manager.

While team owner Jim Crane has said that interviews began before the GM was even hired, Flores has now gotten immersed in the search. Several names familiar to Astros fans have been associated with the position, including former Astros catcher Brad Ausmus, former Cardinals 1B Albert Pujols, former Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, and former Astros 3B Morgan Ensberg.

Astros beat writer Brian McTaggart was on MLB Network today with the latest on the Astros search, including a timeline on the hire, which he described as they want to “move fast” and on Crane’s desire to make a “big splash” hire:

"They're moving fast. I think they want to hire somebody within the next few days…"@brianmctaggart shares insight into the Astros’ managerial search, noting they might want to go into the GM Meetings (starting on Monday) with a skipper. pic.twitter.com/d5xEXKVJZj

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 6, 2026

The calendar says November 6 but it’s Christmas around here at Lookout Landing HQ.

The New York Post reports the Mariners have reportedly finally pried Tanner Swanson away from the Yankees organization to serve as Jason Kanzler’s bench coach. The 44-year-old Swanson, who has deep roots in the Northwest, has been a long-time dream coaching candidate for many of us in the LL community, but he’s been deeply enmeshed in a high-profile role in the Yankees organization since 2019 as their primary catching coordinator; he’s also served as their quality control coach and field coordinator. Finally, with the bench coach job open under new head coach Jason Kanzler, the Mariners were able to bring Swanson home.

Swanson, who was born in Cle Elum and attended high school at Cle Elum-Roslyn (and still makes his home in Roslyn), played his college baseball in the Northwest, moving from local community colleges (Green River and Everett) before transferring to Central Washington. After graduation, he coached high school baseball in Sultan and at his various alma maters (almae mater?) as well as at the University of Washington, where he zeroed in on his true love of coaching catchers, founding his own catching development business, D1 Catching. He parlayed that into his first job in pro baseball, joining the Twins as a minor league catching coordinator in 2017. Swanson’s first big-league job came in 2019, when the Yankees hired him as their quality control coordinator and big-league catching coordinator, where he remained until the Mariners came calling with the bench coach opportunity.

This hire is very exciting for lots of reasons. Under Swanson’s leadership of the Yankees catching corps, they’ve improved from middling to one of the consistently best teams in catcher framing runs. Swanson oversaw Jose Trevino during his first Gold Glove-winning season in 2022, when he led the league in the metric. Swanson has also been credited for his work with Yankees catcher Austin Wells, who many scouts expected to move off the catching position post-college. Wells has ranked in the top five for catcher framing runs for each of the past three seasons.

More globally, Swanson was an early adopter of the one-knee-down catching philosophy, at the time regarded as controversial but now standard practice. Swanson advanced the technique way back in 2017 during his first year with the Twins, while working with minor-league catcher Ben Rodriguez, whose bigger frame caused him issues when he was trying to block balls. He’s a respected voice in the industry who has spoken at conferences, appeared on podcasts, and generally acted as a thought-leader in his field for the past two decades.

Swanson’s father was Jim Swanson, a left-handed catcher with the minor-league Portland Mavericks – made famous in the documentary The Battered Bastards of Baseball – and is worth reading up on if you don’t know his story (left-handed catchers, I will forever dream of you). For those of you fans of a certain age, he also ran Swannie’s sports bar in Pioneer Square in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Catching development is Swanson’s calling card – and makes him a good fit for a team where one of the clubhouse leaders is the catcher – but ironically, he never played catcher in his career, instead playing as an infielder during his college career. But Swanson’s interests are beyond catching; he’s a student of all aspects of the game, often retweeting ideas he finds interesting about hitting or coaching in general (he’s a solid Twitter follow – @TannerSwanson. I’ve been following him for years and learned a ton). He is also passionate about sports in general – especially women’s sports, as the dad of four girls – and still deeply connected to developmental sports in the Northwest.

As far as experience, Swanson has direct experience being a bench coach – he served as Great Britain’s bench coach in the WBC this past year. (He also served as manager for one game in 2026 when both Aaron Boone and Brad Ausmus were ejected in a game against the Rays.)

As the Houston Astros look for a new manager, the idea of future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols getting the job has both fans and media abuzz.

Former Astros OF and World Series Champion Josh Reddick joined the Crush City Podcast and expressed he would like to see Albert Pujols get the job and laid out his case for why:

Josh Reddick is ready to roll out the red carpet for Albert Pujols… 👑 @JRedDubDeuce believes the future Hall of Famer would instantly command respect in Houston, saying his “baseball IQ is through the roof.” pic.twitter.com/K2EM5LgujU

— Crush City Territory (@CrushCityShow) November 6, 2026

Pujols was known as a team leader with an incredibly high Baseball IQ. He was essentially another coach on the field, and had the respect of players, coaches and front office staff alike. Pujols was also known for his intensity, and could perhaps bring some fire to a team that has at times looked like it could use more if it.

It was exactly one week ago that I explained why the Mets might consider keeping Robert Stock around for the 2027 season:

“It takes guts to make it back to the majors after years away. It takes guts to perform under pressure with each outing potentially being the last of your career. And it takes good enough stuff and good enough command to show the glimpses of success that Stock did in August and September.

Injuries will always strike. Severe underperformance is always possible. (The current Mets brass should know those two principles better than anyone). If by May 2027, the Mets are already in emergency need of a spot starter or even a full-on rotation replacement, Stock is certainly a more attractive option than someone with zero command, zero experience, or zero ability to meet the moment.”

Well, on the seventh day, the baseball gods answered my prayers. On Friday afternoon, the Mets announced they had signed Stock to a one-year major league contract. 

Once a member of the 2021 Mets, Stock spent three years away from the majors while playing in international leagues. The 36-year-old underwent thoracic outlet surgery last March, but leveraged a summer spot start opportunity into a two-month stint with the Mets, posting a 5.93 in 30.1 innings across eight appearances. His 3.92 FIP suggests poor batted-ball results, and a couple of egregious outings overshadow the fact that he allowed one or zero runs while pitching four or more innings in four of seven starts, including one against the American League champion Rays.

The right-hander offers another veteran presence at the back of a projected pitching staff brimming with young talent. Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, and Zac Thornton all put their potential on display last season, with Jonah Tong waiting in the wings for another shot at the starting rotation. Sean Manaea will look to provide stability in the final year of his three-year contract. The Mets may also look to add outside reinforcements, even if that doesn’t mean signing two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal.

Stock also has experience out of the bullpen, including in his breakout 2018 season with the Padres under current Mets manager Andy Green. Should the Mets’ rotation slots become occupied, Stock can slide into a multi-inning relief role, providing flexibility for Green in his first full year at the helm in Queens.

For the second time this week, the Yankees have lost a significant member of their coaching staff. Tanner Swanson, the organization’s director of catching since 2020, has been hired by the Seattle Mariners to join new manager Jason Kanzler as their bench coach according to the New York Post’sJoel Sherman. This comes on the heels of Triple-A manager Shelley Duncan defecting over to the Red Sox on Wednesday to join their staff, and now despite not making any firings of their own on the coaching staff the Yankees will have some holes to fill.

Swanson was revolutionary in the organization for developing the team’s ability to frame pitches. Austin Wells has become the model for his work, becoming one of the best pitch framers in the game, and his development lined up directly with Swanson’s arrival in New York. The Yankees have been providing catchers to several teams over the years though, as they traded from their surplus of catchers sending Carlos Narváez over to Boston for Elmer Rodriguez, flipping Jose Trevino to Cincinnati for Fernando Cruz, and including Kyle Higashioka in the package to San Diego that netted Juan Soto.

The loss of Swanson is a big one for the Yankees to swallow, but they’ve hopefully learned enough from his time here to continue the catching pipeline that has netted them so much value. For Swanson, the chance to coach in the major leagues is an opportunity that he couldn’t pass up on, and he’ll now get to work with a premier catcher in Cal Raleigh coming off what was a disappointing follow-up to his MVP runner-up 2025.

Good afternoon everyone, it’s time to dive back into the mailbag and answer some of your questions. Remember to send in your questions for our bi-weekly call by e-mail to pinstripealleyblog [at] gmail [dot] com.

Darth_Lazarus asks: If the CBA negotiations go really sideways is there a possibility we see replacement player games next year?

Never say never, but I doubt the owners would want to go this route even if it’s looking like the season is completely lost. Recruiting scab players at this point in the league’s history would be a black eye on ownership and would completely kill any goodwill they could have with the public as these negotiations drag on, as the product on the field will be a clearly inferior copy that wouldn’t draw much interest while also making them look desperate to recoup on the broadcast deals they’ve negotiated. Speaking of those broadcasting rights, while the league is a much more regional product than the NFL or NBA and several teams were having trouble finding an actual partner for their TV audience, it’s my hope that the prospect of future negotiations with broadcasters is one of the pressure points pushing ownership to get to the table sooner rather than later resulting in an actual season being played out in 2027 — perhaps a bit too hopeful, considering the lines in the sand that have been drawn this time around, but a girl can dream.

LocalBlueWhaleRuinsEverything asks:With the Yankees needing some offense, could they consider Arozarena or Suzuki? Theoretically, they could stick one in LF and have Cody move to CF. It’s not something I’d want them to do long term, but for one season I’d be interested. Stanton and Garcia should be gone after next season, so in the future you’d a spare DH spot to rotate them.

Theoretically they could, but that takes a lot of the value that Bellinger provides away by moving his excellent left field defense over to center field, where he has been underwhelming at best since 2021. Arozarena and Suzuki are both quality offensive options that would improve the lineup tremendously, but the defensive setback that adding either would cause problems down the line. That being said, the free agent market for true center fielders is abysmal, so if they’re looking for an upgrade they’re going to have to get creative with trades to find it.

Johnny1944 asks:It seems JD was overhyped for years by Cash. Does he have any real value?

Jasson Domínguez’s career is looking like a relatively unremarkable one, which is what tends to happen to the majority of MLB players — but most players don’t get compared to Mickey Mantle when they were 17 years old. That unfair expectation has felt like a weight on Domínguez’s shoulders the entire time that he’s been in the organization, with every glimpse of a solid run down in the minors being heralded as the turning point where he was going to spark a path straight to the majors. However, Domínguez has now had two full seasons in proximity to the majors, and while he’s still very young entering his age-24 season in 2027 it just doesn’t seem like there’s much to work with in his game.

Our own Andrés tackled the idea of whether the Yankees should move on from Domínguez the other day, and while his conclusion was that there’s no pressure to do so immediately time is running out for the former wonder prospect. He’s got one minor league option remaining meaning he’s likely to start the year in the minors, and while there’s some underlying promise in his peripherals the majority of his Savant page is disappointing. Domínguez’s defense has been atrocious to watch, and he’s alternated from being unable to hit lefties to being unable to hit righties. If there was just some consistency to his game he’d at least be able to stick around as a bench option in the majors, but as is he’s got to get consistent playing time to try and make something of himself and he isn’t going to find that in pinstripes at the moment.

OLDY MOLDY asks:How reliable are Cole, Fried, and Rodón next year considering recent arm problems in the last 3 seasons and age? Any innings projections? Does Schlittler come back to earth in 2027?

I don’t have many concerns about Max Fried at the moment — he’ll probably be good for one short-term IL stint but otherwise give the team 25-30 starts and has been lights out when he has been active. Likewise, while Gerrit Cole has missed significant time over the past couple of seasons the core issue has now been dealt with and he should be fully healthy entering 2027. It’s wild to think that we’re already seven years into the nine-year deal that Cole signed with the team, but there’s just two seasons left of his contract and if you told me back then that he’d have compiled three top five Cy Young finishes with one win up to this point, I’d be pretty content entering the final days of that deal. Carlos Rodón has salvaged his Yankees career quite well following his disastrous first year in pinstripes, but of the three his health still concerns me more going forward — not enough to panic, but enough to keep my eye on how he’s getting through each start even when he’s on. As for Cam Schlittler, the sky is the ceiling for the team’s newfound ace and while it would certainly be unrealistic to expect a 1.95 ERA as the standard going forward I think he’ll remain the team’s best pitcher next year as he comes into his own.

The San Francisco Giants announced a small deal on Friday, as a trickle down from Monday’s roster-cutting actions. Lefty reliever Reiver Sanmartin has been traded to the Washington Nationals in exchange for Minor League reliever Robert Cranz.

It’s not news that Sanmartin is gone, as the Giants announced that he had been designated for assignment on Monday, amongst the flurry of moves that got the roster back down to 40 players at the deadline. But most DFA’d players leave with nothing in return, so it’s nice that Sanmartin was an exception, and the Giants were able to get something back to allow the Nationals to jump to the front of the line.

As is always the case with these sorts of deals, it’s not a huge haul they got back, but Cranz is interesting. The 23-year old right-hander was drafted in the seventh round of the 2024 draft (pick No. 200 on the dot) out of Oklahoma State, and received a mildly underslot bonus of $190,000. He performed fairly well in Low-A and High-A in his first full season in 2025, and started to make a name for himself in 2026.

Cranz opened the year in High-A, where he had a 2.25 ERA and a 2.68 FIP, with a whopping 27 strikeouts in just 16 innings. He kept it up in AA, where he posted a 3.42 ERA and a 2.95 FIP, with 40 strikeouts in 26.1 innings.

A native of Keller, Texas, Cranz made it to AAA to end the year, and that’s where his success ended. It was a rude introduction to the top ring of the Minors, and he ended his cup of coffee there with a 13.11 ERA, a 7.17 FIP, and just nine strikeouts in 11.2 innings.

Cranz mostly throws hard stuff, as in AAA he used his four-seam fastball (which averaged 95.2 mph) nearly half of the time, while throwing his cutter and slider more than 20% of the time each. There’s definitely something intriguing there, and he’ll be a big part of AAA Sacramento’s bullpen depth this year, and have a chance to play his way into the Majors.

While spring training gets all the hype when it comes to baseball in Arizona, locals know that the Arizona Fall League is where the true baseball joy is to be found. The weather is typically much more conducive to spectating, and while Cactus League prices are barely indistinguishable from a regular season game, basically the price of a movie ticket – $14 – gets you any open seat in the park. Of course, you will be watching prospects rather than (five innings of!) major-league players. But that just gives you bragging rights, as many future stars pass through the AFL. 27 players in this year’s MLB All-Star Game were AFL graduates, so you will get to say “I saw him when…”

Last night, I met up with ish95 and Mrs. ish95, and went to Peoria. There, the Rafters (including players from the D-backs farm system) were taking on the Javelinas. It’s been a while since I’ve attended a game at the Peoria Sports Complex. I think the last time I was at the stadium was getting a COVID vaccine! But I do like that it’s right in the middle of the 83rd Avenue Entertainment District, offering lots of options for food before or after the game. We went to Firebirds’ Grill, and their Phillie Cheesesteak Egg Rolls come highly recommended. From there, it’s only two mins to the park, with free and easy parking. The announced attendance of 397 certainly helps in that department!

I will say, the park is beginning to show its age. Built in 1994, of the six AFL stadiums, only Scottsdale (1992) is older – and it underwent a $50 million renovation in 2020. Peoria has had little more than a lick of paint in the past decade. It’s still serviceable, to be sure. But I noticed stuff like a folding table, parked upside down on top of the visitors’ dugout. It had clearly been there for a while, going by it being full of water, presumably from the rain over the weekend. Hoping I don’t come down with West Nile Virus. There were plenty of other insects around – Mrs. ish95 was freaked out by the arrival of CricketZilla. But that’s probably an inevitable result of baseball under the floodlights.

The game ended 5-3 to the Javelinas and was… interesting. It wasn’t very well-played, to be honest. Was chatting to Jack Sommers about it, and he said, “The quality of the AFL has gone down in recent years. There are fewer and fewer good pitchers, and it has skewed towards younger, less developed position players. Fifteen years ago it was much better quality.” Certainly, last night was… interesting. The teams combined for only six hits, but the pitchers issued no less than twenty-two free passes – nineteen walks and three hit batters. Add to that, three wild pitches, a balk (more on which shortly), a disengagement violation and three pitch timer violations. Yeah. Not exactly crisply pitched.

But if anyone had a bad night, it was Salt River Rafters catcher Miguel Rodriguez, despite delivering the entire visitors’ offense with a three-run homer in the second inning. For the Javelinas ran wild, stealing twelve bases on him, in thirteen attempts. Worse still was his error in the eighth (one of a total of four in the game). I can’t be certain – no replays – but it looked like he dropped his mask on a foul ball before it had been called dead. That gave all base-runners an extra base, and brought home the go-ahead, and what turned out to be the winning, run for the Javelinas. I kinda feel that kind of thing would be barely excusable at the high-school level.

Three Diamondbacks prospects got into the game. Demetrio Crisantes started at 2B, batted second, and settled down after an ugly K in the first, drawing a pair of walks. Nathan Hall played LF, and got an extra life in the second inning, when a foul pop-up was dropped by the Javelina’s 1B. Hall then was hit, and scored on the Rodriguez homer. Hall then had the only other Rafters’ hit, with a solid double to left-center in the fourth. Joe Ariola came into the game as relief in the seventh, trying to protect what was a 3-2 Rafters’ lead at that point. But he walked the first two batters faced, and after a steal of third, still with no-body out, was in serious trouble.

To Ariola’s credit, he almost escaped. He got a comebacker to the first-base side of the mound for the first out, then a shallow fly-ball to right for the second. But the runner on third was dancing down the line, and coaxed Ariola into a throw over, called as a balk and scoring the tying run. Hard to tell – again, no replays. Ted Tom, the Rafters’ manager (he works in the Nats’ system) seemed unconvinced, and came out for a lengthy discussion with the umpires. I also noted at the end of the inning, Ariola had a significant conversation of his own with the home-plate official. I’m guessing he was getting clarification of what happened, and it was good to see him looking to learn from the experience.

To be honest, I think we were all a bit glad when it was over. Between the walks and the strikeouts (23 of those!), there weren’t very many balls in play, and the game felt considerably longer than its 2:58. The company was definitely better than the baseball, all told! Though a pro-tip: it may be Arizona, but the temperature will still drop after the sun goes down. Evening games can get more than slightly chilly by the time of the final pitch. But it is still something you can’t do anywhere else except Arizona. And with the lockout looming, who knows when the next chance we will have to watch professional baseball?

AFL updates

Just to fill in the overall progress of our guys. The loss dropped the Rafters to 13-13, leaving them 2.5 back of the league-leading Javelinas and Surprise Saguaros, with just three games to play before the playoffs at the end of next week (the AFL All-Star Game takes place this weekend). Four teams get in, and it’s between the Rafters, Scottsdale Scorpions and Mesa Solar Sox for the third and fourth places. Crisantes is batting .258, but has as many walks as strikeouts and a .734 OPS. Hall is doing even better there, with a K:BB of 7:13 – that gives him an OBP of .424, despite batting only .161. But 3B Yassel Solar continues to struggle, having gone 5-for-46, an average of just .109.

On the mound, despite Ariola’s wobble last night, he’s still doing well. Those were the first two walks of his AFL campaign, and a K:BB of 10:2 across 7.1 innings is pretty respectable, along with a 3.38 ERA. Patrick Forbes is also looking impressive, his K:BB being 11:3 over 8.1 IP, to go alongside is 2.16 ERA. Unfortunately, Luke Craig has not been able to complete a trifecta of quality. His seven outings in the AFL have covered a total of just four innings, giving up seven hits, five walks and nine runs (albeit three unearned), with three strikeouts, and an ERA of 13.50. John West (ERA 14.29) has also struggled, and Connor Foley has somehow managed to make five scoreless outing, and is 2-for-2 in save opportunities despite walking seven batters in four innings.

The fact that you’re reading my words now likely means you’re a St. Louis Cardinals fan, but are you a writer, too? I ask this very important question because there is now an opportunity for you to combine your fandom with a keyboard and join our team of baseball writers here at Viva El Birdos.

One of our team had had family responsibilities require him to take a step back soon which means there will be an opening in our lineup soon that you might be the perfect fit for. Here are some basics that we’re looking for:

1. You must love the St. Louis Cardinals. This is not optional. You don’t have to agree with everything the ownership, management and team do, though. It can be fun when you don’t agree with something (or somethings) that the Cardinals are doing, but you must have a passion for the team.
2. You need to understand the importance of deadlines and follow through to provide unique content every single week including the off-season. We’re a relatively small team, but we rely on each other to keep interesting content available for the community every day.
3. You need to have at least a basic knowledge of WordPress. No previous professional writing experience is necessary, but you need to be up-to-speed on how digital content is put together. I’m happy to train, but Mr. Miyagi I am not.
4. This is a part-time paid position, but you won’t be rubbing elbows with the Kardashians. No one here does this for the money. If we got rich doing this, we’d all be driving around Corvettes like the one David Eckstein was given as 2006 World Series MVP.
5. You must love coming up with unique viewpoints of the St. Louis Cardinals. The team here loves analyzing roster construction, minor league prospects, potential trade targets and second-guessing managerial, ownership and President of Baseball Operations decisions.

Does all of this sound good to you? If so, I’d love to hear from you. I’m hoping to have our new team member ready to get started in December (just in time for the inevitable lockout!). Feel free to email me direct and introduce yourself. I promise to respond to all inquiries. Viva El Birdos has the most educated baseball community in the sport. I have no doubt that there’s someone who’s a part of it who’ll be the perfect fit to help VEB move forward. Is it you?

After extending Jacob Young this morning, Paul Toboni made another move. He acquired lefty reliever Reiver Sanmartin in exchange for minor league righty reliever Robert Cranz. Sanmartin is now the third player Toboni has acquired from the Giants in the past couple weeks. It is a move I am not particularly inspired by, but we should see Sanmartin in the big leagues next year.

We have acquired LHP Reiver Sanmartín from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for RHP Robert Cranz.

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) November 6, 2026

The Nats rotated through a ton of relievers last year, but there was one archetype that Toboni really seemed to like. Throughout last season, the Nats often had at least one soft tossing lefty who threw from a lower slot on the roster. Richard Lovelady, Tom Cosgrove and PJ Poulin are all examples of that. Sanmartin also fits into that grouping.

Sanmartin throws from a 22 degree arm angle, which is much lower than average. His fastball only averages 91.8 MPH, which is not impressive these days, even for a lefty. That means he has to rely on funk, movement and command to get outs. To be honest, these low slot lefties are not my favorite archetype. They have a low margin for error and are not very high upside.

Can’t say I am a huge fan of this one. Cranz had a really tough time in AAA but I liked his upside. Meanwhile, Sanmartin is a 30 year old low slot lefty without big league success who averages under 92 https://t.co/ckK2LlVLfA

— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) November 6, 2026

Robert Cranz, the pitcher who the Nats dealt in this move, is someone I was keeping tabs on as well. The 23 year old was drafted in the 7th round of the 2024 draft, and has a unique arsenal. He averaged 95 MPH while having elite carry on his fastball despite throwing from a lower slot. Stuff models absolutely loved Cranz. 

However, that raw stuff did not translate at all, at least in Triple-A. Cranz had a 2.25 ERA in High-A and a 3.42 ERA in Double-A. He also posted elite strikeout numbers at those levels. It was a different story once he got to Rochester though. Cranz had an ERA of 13.11 in 13 appearances before getting sent back to Double-A. That probably caused the Nats to give up on him.

I still do not know about the idea of giving him up for a 30 year old lefty who just got DFA’d. Sanmartin is also out of options, so the Nats have to roster him or risk him getting claimed on waivers. Last season, Sanmartin posted a 4.22 ERA in 21.1 innings. There are things he does well, but overall I am not a huge fan of this move.

Getting to the positives, Sanmartin is excellent at keeping the ball on the ground. He posted an elite 62.9% ground ball rate in 21.1 innings last year. Sanmartin also displayed good control, only walking 2.95 batters per 9 innings. Walks were something that haunted other low slot lefties on the Nats, but it was not a problem for Sanmartin. The 30 year old’s heavy sinker and good control gives him a path to success.

In 21.1 IP in 2026, Reiver Sanmartin posted a 62.9% GB-Rate

The Nats obviously fell short of the mark in the bullpen last season, but keeping the ball in the yard needs to be a priority moving forward.

The bullpen had a league-worst 1.39 HR/9 in 2026… https://t.co/Qryf076pYSpic.twitter.com/TS0kcgTJAo

— Baseball Unstitched (@BaseUnstitched) November 6, 2026

I also wonder if the Nats think they could squeeze out another tick of velocity. If Sanmartin’s sinker could sit at 93, I think that would be a big deal. To go with the sinker, Sanmartin has a slider he throws to lefties and a changeup he throws to righties.

He is a pretty standard sinker-baller, but there are some things to like here. Despite being a ground ball heavy guy, his 10% barrel rate was quite high. Honestly, the Nats might think that is due for some positive regression.

It is not my favorite move, but I at least somewhat see the vision. Hopefully this does not stop us from getting a bigger name lefty reliever. Sanmartin is out of options, so that worries me. We will have to see what the Nats vision is for the lefty though. I would be a little uneasy about Sanmartin, Tolman and Will Dion being the options from the left side. A bit of an uninspiring move, but let’s see how this plays out.

Welcome to the 2026 edition of Ranking theRockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for theRockies in 2026. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.

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No. 26, Jimmy Herget (0.1 rWAR)

Jimmy Herget entered 2026 coming off one of the best seasons of his career. The right-hander had posted a 2.48 ERA across 83.1 innings in 2025, giving the Rockies a dependable multi-inning reliever with a funky delivery and a varied repertoire.

A year later, Herget finished with a 0-6 record, a 5.70 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP across 51 appearances. He pitched well for extended periods, but two particularly difficult stretches did considerable damage to his final numbers.

There was plenty happening away from the mound, too. Herget became a dad, a major life adjustment on its own, before spending time on the bereavement list and dealing with a shoulder injury that landed him on the injured list. Between those interruptions, finding a consistent rhythm couldn’t have been easy.

Herget was also working with a new pitching coach and philosophy. He began the year with a revamped pitch mix that featured a new cutter. His slider, his second-most-used pitch in 2025, was nowhere to be found for much of the season before returning late in the year.

2026 Season Stats

G(GS)	W-L	IP	ERA	WHIP	K	BB	SV	rWAR
51 (3)	0-6	53.2	5.70	1.53	47	26	3	0.1

Statistics via Baseball Reference.

How it played out

Herget appeared in the Rockies’ season opener against Miami, replacing Kyle Freeland in the fifth inning and providing 1.1 scoreless innings. He continued pitching well throughout April, allowing just two earned runs across his first 11 appearances and 12 innings, good for a 1.50 ERA.

That stretch culminated April 21 against San Diego, when Herget served as an opener for Chase Dollander. He struck out Ramón Laureano, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill on just 14 pitches, throwing 10 strikes.

Dollander followed with six innings of one-run baseball and nine strikeouts, but the Rockies lost 1-0.

Two days later, Herget went on the paternity list.

He returned April 29 against Cincinnati and allowed two runs in the ninth inning of a 13-2 victory, including a home run by Will Benson.

Four days later against Atlanta, Herget surrendered three runs in the ninth, all scoring with two outs. On May 8 against Philadelphia, he inherited two runners with nobody out and Colorado leading 7-3. Bryson Stott doubled home both runners, and Justin Crawford followed with a two-run homer that tied the game.

Three appearances, three innings and seven earned runs.

Herget went on the bereavement list May 9 and returned three days later against Pittsburgh. He surrendered a leadoff double to Nick Gonzales and issued a walk but managed to escape the eighth inning without allowing a run, throwing 22 pitches and recording one strikeout.

Two days later, Herget landed on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement, keeping him out until June 17.

Including his May 12 appearance, Herget allowed just one earned run over 10 innings across 11 appearances through July 12, despite the extended interruption.

Then came his worst stretch of the season.

Between July 17 and August 1, Herget allowed at least one earned run in six consecutive appearances. He surrendered 13 earned runs in just 4.1 innings, walking seven hitters while striking out only four.

The struggles began July 17 against Cincinnati, when Herget inherited a runner with one out and promptly surrendered consecutive home runs to Spencer Steer and Eugenio Suárez.

On July 26 against Milwaukee, Herget entered with one out and a runner aboard before walking Gary Sánchez. Luis Lara followed with an RBI double, and Cooper Pratt and Joey Ortiz added consecutive doubles on sweepers that weren’t particularly well struck. By the time he escaped the inning, three earned runs had been charged to Herget, and the inherited runner had also scored.

Unlike his first difficult stretch, when he had struck out five hitters and walked just one, Herget was now struggling to keep runners off base while allowing damaging contact.

He began to settle down again in August. On August 4 and 7, Herget delivered consecutive scoreless, hitless innings, striking out two hitters in each appearance.

There were still rough outings, including three earned runs against Washington on August 27 and a difficult appearance against St. Louis on September 6. But the extended run of poor outings didn’t return.

Herget finished with 7.2 innings and two earned runs across his final four appearances, including three outings of at least two innings. On September 16 against San Diego, he worked two scoreless innings on just 22 pitches, retiring six consecutive hitters after allowing a leadoff single.

His final appearance came September 24 against Arizona. Herget entered in the fourth inning with two runners aboard and allowed an inherited runner to score before escaping the inning. He went on to pitch 2.2 innings, striking out four but allowing two earned runs, including a solo homer by James McCann.

An uneven season

Month	IP	ERA	K/9	BB/9	FIP
March-April	13.0	2.77	9.69	1.38	2.64
May	3.0	15.00	9.00	6.00	7.43
June	4.0	0.00	13.50	4.50	1.60
July	8.1	12.96	6.48	10.80	10.30
August	14.0	4.50	5.79	3.86	5.17
September	11.1	4.76	7.15	3.18	6.01

Statistics via FanGraphs.

Herget’s 2026 season wasn’t consistently poor. Two particularly difficult stretches accounted for much of the damage.

Across those two stretches, totaling nine appearances and just 7.1 innings, Herget allowed 20 earned runs, producing a 24.55 ERA.

In his other 46.1 innings, he allowed just 14 earned runs, a 2.72 ERA.

Removing a reliever’s worst appearances will naturally improve his numbers, and Herget’s home run and control problems were genuine shortcomings, not simply unfortunate results we can remove from the equation.

But the difference between a 24.55 ERA and a 2.72 ERA helps explain how a pitcher who was frequently effective finished with a 5.70 ERA.

So, what changed between the pitcher who was so dependable in 2025 and the one who struggled so badly at times in 2026?

A different arsenal

Herget’s sweeper was his most-used pitch in 2025, and it remained a major part of his repertoire in 2026. But its effectiveness, particularly against left-handed hitters, declined considerably.

In 2025, lefties produced a .339 wOBA against the sweeper, with 11 strikeouts and one home run allowed across 177 pitches. In 2026, that wOBA ballooned to .526, with four home runs and zero strikeouts across 105 pitches. Its whiff rate dropped from 24.7% to just 8.3%.

Herget actually reduced his sweeper usage against lefties from 29% to 22%, while maintaining roughly 33% usage against right-handed hitters.

Herget threw 362 sliders in 2025, holding left-handed hitters to a .194 wOBA with the pitch. Yet Statcast didn’t classify a single pitch as a slider through July 2026.

Instead, he featured a new cutter with a different movement profile. The cutter averaged 86.2 mph with 7.6 inches of induced vertical break, compared with 85.5 mph and 3.9 inches for his 2025 slider.

The cutter worked, particularly against right-handed hitters, who produced just a .223 wOBA against it.

But with his sweeper struggling against lefties, why had the slider that worked so well against them in 2025 nearly disappeared?

On August 23, the slider finally returned.

It initially appeared only occasionally, but by September it had become a significant part of his repertoire again.

Period	Slider	Cutter	Sweeper
March-July	0.0%	29.5%	31.0%
August	3.0%	32.0%	25.1%
September	21.2%	20.1%	21.2%

Percentage of pitches thrown, via Baseball Savant.

By September, Herget was throwing more sliders than cutters, 38 to 36. The slider’s movement was also similar to what it had been in 2025.

That gave Herget another option alongside his sweeper.

On September 6 against St. Louis, Herget showed how the two pitches could work together. He opened Thomas Saggese’s at-bat with an 84.8 mph slider for a called strike, then got him to swing through another slider that broke down and away. Saggese fouled off a sweeper, also away from the plate, before Herget went back to the sweeper for a called third strike.

Herget had already begun pitching more consistently before the slider returned, but he also avoided another prolonged stretch like the one that overwhelmed him in July.

Could bringing back the slider have helped him maintain consistency by giving hitters another pitch to account for?

Where does Herget stand heading into 2027?

It’s been quite a year for Jimmy Herget, both on and off the mound. And as the dust settles on 2026, the Rockies’ changing pitching philosophy adds another layer to his story.

Former pitching coach Alon Leichman emphasized repertoire diversification, but the Rockies eventually moved away from elements of his approach. Following his dismissal, Leichman described disagreements over pitching philosophy and suggested some pitchers had reverted to their previous approaches, as detailed in reporting on the Rockies’ competing pitching philosophies.

We don’t know whether Herget’s changing pitch mix reflected that philosophy, his own adjustments or some combination of the two. Was the cutter part of a new approach that eventually fell out of favor? Did the slider return because Herget needed another option, or because the organization’s thinking had changed? It’s difficult to say, but the timing is intriguing.

That makes it difficult to know what to expect from Herget in 2027. The Rockies could trade him, designate him for assignment or bring him back.

After everything that happened in 2026, his 5.70 ERA tells us how the season ended, but not necessarily what comes next.

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The Detroit Tigers confirmed recent reports on hirings for their 2027 coaching staff on Friday. They announced the hiring of Kyle Hudson as the new first base and baserunning coach. Hudson worked with outfielders in his most recent job as Boston Red Sox’s third base coach, so perhaps he’ll take on some of those responsibilities in Detroit as well. Still the emphasis from the Tigers is on the baserunning side. Hudson was also an assistant coach for the Cleveland Guardians from 2020-2022 before joining the Red Sox.

The Tigers had already hired longtime major league catcher Martin Maldonado, whom AJ Hinch worked with briefly in Houston, as their new quality coach this offseason. Maldonado was behind the plate during the Astros 2022 run to the World Series championship. He brings a strong reputation as a leader and game planner, as well as his skill coaching the position, to the Tigers.

Longtime catching coach Ryan Sienko, who joined the organization in 2021, AJ Hinch’s first year as manager, will retain his duties coaching catchers, but will also now handle duties as bullpen coach following Juan Nieves departure from the organization. It’s typically a pitching coach in that role, so that’s a bit interesting. Presumably, Maldonado will handle more of the pre-game pitch planning with Dillon Dingler and Eduardo Valencia, while Sienko will continue coaching the actual catching skills, but perhaps their responsibilities will be mixed between them as well.

The Tigers have yet to replace Gabe Ribas as director of pitching in the farm system after his departure to work for the Colorado Rockies last offseason. They’ve replaced Nieves, who has been Chris Fetter’s assistant pitching coach since 2021, with a catcher, leaving Fetter and assistant Robin Lund as a duo to coach the pitchers. Perhaps they’ll end up hiring a new pitching director this offseason, but it’s a bit peculiar that they’re cutting out both major and minor league pitching coaches. Those responsibilities still have to be fulfilled by someone, but without some detailed clarification from the organization it’s difficult to pin down who is actually doing what at this point in regard to those roles.

The Tigers have named Kyle Hudson as their major league first base and baserunning coach.

Martin Maldonado has been named major league quality coach.

Hudson and Maldonado join manager A.J. Hinch’s coaching staff that otherwise returns intact from the end of the 2026 campaign,…

— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) November 6, 2026

George Lombard is expected to stay on for his seventh year as Tigers bench coach under Hinch. Billy Boyer took over from Joey Cora as third base coach during the 2026 season and seems set to remain in that role. Beyond Maldonado, Hudson, Sienko, Fetter, and Lund, the Tigers are working with a three-man group of hitting coaches. Michael Brdar, Cody Asche, and Lance Zawadski, who seem set to be retained for 2027. Boyer was the Tigers quality control coach last season, and will cede that job to Maldonado.

Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic also reports that the Tigers have hired Scott Peters as their new medical director, while Jeremiah Randle has been hired as the Tigers new athletic trainer. Peters was most recently the director of health and performance science for the Toronto Blue Jays. Randall was the head athletic trainer for the Astros from 2016-2025.

Former head trainer Ryan Eubanks and assistent trainer Chris McDonald parted ways with the Tigers organization at season’s end.

The Tigers also confirmed the hiring of Jay Sartori as Vice President of Baseball Operations. Sartori was formerly an assistant general manager in the organization going back to the beginning of the Tigers rebuild in 2017. He left last season for a college job in the ACC but has returned to the fold this offseason.

The Tigers have finalized their 2027 coaching staff. Kyle Hudson and Martín Maldonado are the only new additions. Ryan Sienko becomes bullpen coach in addition to his duties as catching coach.

Scott Peters is the new medical director. Jeremiah Randall is head athletic trainer.

— Cody Stavenhagen (@CodyStavenhagen) November 6, 2026

Mostly forgotten today, right-hander Warren Hacker is the kind of guy who epitomized the Cubs in the 1950s. He had one really good year — got downballot MVP votes! — and then either because of injuries, poor coaching, no support or all of the above, he descended into mediocrity and eventually was traded away in a deal where the Cubs basically got nothing.

Hacker, like yesterday’s entry in this series Carl Lundgren, was an Illinois native, from the tiny town of Marissa, which is southeast of St. Louis. When Hacker was born in 1924 Marissa had about 1,900 residents and it’s about the same size today.

The Cubs acquired him in 1948 in a minor-league deal but he didn’t become a mainstay in the team’s rotation until 1952 — that “one really good year.” In 33 games (20 starts) Hacker produced a 15-9 record, 2.58 ERA, 12 complete games and led MLB in WHIP at 0.958. He finished 22nd in MVP voting that year, in pre-Cy Young days. Cubs outfielder Hank Sauer was NL MVP that year and the team finished 77-77, their only non-losing season between 1947 and 1966. Hacker threw a five-hit complete game June 12 against the Phillies and the Cubs were in third place, only four games behind the league-leading Dodgers, with a 32-19 record.

Despite Hacker’s good pitching and Sauer’s hitting, the team went 45-58 the rest of the way, because, well, those two were about all the team had.

Hacker never again had a year that good. The following year he led MLB with 35 home runs allowed, and in 1955 he served up 38 long balls, which remains the franchise record to this day despite Shōta Imanaga’s best efforts to break it in 2026. (Sorry, Shōta!) Also in 1955, Hacker had a game that might have put him in the history books. He took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Braves in Milwaukee, but George Crowe broke it up with a solo homer. The Cubs won the game 2-1.

Hacker was traded to Cincinnati after the 1956 season, along with Don Hoak and Pete Whisenant for Ray Jablonski and Elmer Singleton. Hoak hated playing for the Cubs — one of the few who ever felt that way — and demanded a trade, so the Cubs had little leverage. Jablonski never played for the Cubs and was dealt before the next season began, and Singleton, already 39 when the deal was made, was a spare part.

Hacker didn’t do much, either, after the deal, drifting from Cincinnati to Philadelphia to the White Sox before leaving the majors after 1961. He played in the minors through 1967, then was a minor-league pitching coach int the A’s organization (1967-71) and later in the 1970s in the Padres organization. He died in Lenzburg, Illinois, not far from his hometown of Marissa, on May 22, 2002, aged 77.

Warren Hacker posted 13.5 bWAR in his nine seasons with the Cubs, No. 99 on the all-time list.

This series will continue on Monday.

We’re cruising right along with the top 10 in the 2027 Willie McCovey Memorial Community Prospect List, which will see us rank the top 44 prospects in the San Francisco Giants organization heading into the 2027 season. It’s a fascinating group of prospects this year, and we can expect a lot of the races to be very, very tight.

But not the most recent one. The latest chapter of the CPL was a blowout, with 56 of the 69 votes going to one name in the four-player race. That prospect? Shortstop Jhonny Level, who has been voted as the No. 4 prospect in the system.

That’s a drop of one spot for Level, who was ranked No. 3 a year ago, and really, that tells you everything you need to know about the state of the farm. Level had an absolutely dreamy season, while one of the players ranked ahead of him last year (Bryce Eldridge) graduated from the system. And still, Level fell in the rankings.

And that’s how you know that things are changing ‘round these parts.

Level, a switch-hitter who signed in 2024 out of Venezuela, opened the season with Low-A San Jose, with the season starting just a few days after his 19th birthday. Hit hit the ground running with the Baby Giants and … well … he didn’t just hit the ground, he hit everything. In 44 games with San Jose, Level slashed .325/.392/.576 with 10 home runs, good for a .968 OPS and a 134 wRC+. He then took his talents to the Northwest League for 69 games with High-A Eugene, where his numbers stayed strong: a .302/.363/.473 slash line with eight home runs, an .836 OPS, and a 119 wRC+.

In addition to all those hits, homers, and walks, Level stole 26 bases on the season (though he was caught nine times), and played very strong defense at shortstop, while also getting a few reps at second base when splitting duties with Gavin Kilen during their brief overlap in the Pacific Northwest.

Those numbers all look fantastic, and even more fantastic when you account for Level’s defensive position, but they look even better when you contextualize his age: he was two years younger than his average peer in San Jose, and nearly three-and-a-half years younger when with Eugene. He was one of just three teenagers to log at least 100 plate appearances in the Northwest League and yet, despite that, made the All-Star team in the league. Perhaps even more critically, he was voted as the best MLB prospect in the league.

There’s really nothing that Level can’t do at this stage in his career. His contact skills are special, as he hit over .300 at both levels, and kept his strikeout rate well below 20%. He has some very impressive power, and is a good baserunner, while playing strong up-the-middle defense. There are a few things to work on (he’s a little bit of a free swinger, among other things), but really, the primary question with Level is the best question a prospect can have: can he keep this up against better competition? The answer to that question will determine whether Level flames out, survives, or becomes a star.

Given how strong he was in Eugene, and the length of his stay there, I would expect Level to open the 2027 season in AA. It’s possible that he’ll once again form a middle infield timeshare with Kilen there, though Kilen could very possibly begin the year in AAA. Either way, Level is one of the most must-watch prospects in 2027, because if he repeats his 2026 performance in the upper Minors, well … we’ve probably got a top-50 prospect on our hands.

Now let’s add to the list! We’ve got some new names to vote on, so head to the comment section to make your pick!

The list so far

1. Josuar González — SS
2. Jackson Flora — RHP
3. Luis Hernández — SS
4. Jhonny Level — SS

Note: Clicking on the above names will link to the CPL where they were voted onto the list.

No. 5 prospect nominees

Carson Bolemon — 19.7-year old LHP — yet to debut

JacobBresnahan — 21.4-year old LHP — 2.92 ERA/4.32 FIP in High-A (98.2 IP); 5.06 ERA/3.60 FIP in AA (16 IP)

ArgenisCayama — 20.1-year old RHP — 4.87 ERA/4.27 FIP in Low-A (57.1 IP)

BoDavidson — 24.3-year old OF — .861 OPS/122 wRC+ in AA (315 PA); .923 OPS/138 wRC+ in AAA (234 PA); .714 OPS/100 wRC+ in MLB (22 PA)

DakotaJordan — 23.5-year old OF — .879 OPS/125 wRC+ in High-A (355 PA); .697 OPS/87 wRC+ in AA (88 PA)

GavinKilen — 22.7-year old SS — .811 OPS/112 wRC+ in High-A (349 PA); .811 OPS/112 wRC+ in AA (143 PA)

RamonMarquez — 21.1-year old RHP — 1.86 ERA/2.67 FIP in Low-A (29 IP); 2.48 ERA/2.45 FIP in High-A (40 IP)

Note: Each player’s first name links to their Baseball-Reference page, and their last name links to their Fangraphs page.All stats are from the 2026 season.