Category: MLB

Jack Flaherty had zero command of anything in this one and was mauled for six runs in two innings of work. Even accounting for Flaherty’s usual rollercoaster nature, this is two in a row where he really couldn’t put the fastball remotely where he wanted it with any consistency. Kevin McGonigle and Spencer Torkelson homered early on, but the Tigers offense couldn’t put together a rally as they dropped their second in a row to the Reds in Cincinnati on Saturday.

This one started off auspiciously and in classic Great American Ballpark fashion, as Kevin McGonigle got a 1-0 sinker away from Brady Singer, and hammered it into the seats for his second major league home run. Perhaps he felt the pressure to maintain his lead in Baseball Reference’s WAR metric. Good to see his right hand was alright after getting hit last night.

Matt Vierling grounded out, but Colt Keith slapped a single up the middle and Riley Greene followed with an oppo roller to the left side that went for a hit as well. Dillon Dingler grounded one in the hole and the Reds could only get the out at second. So it was first and third with two outs to Kerry Carpenter. Singer fell behind in the count but eventually Carpenter flew out to end the inning, stranding two.

Jack Flaherty started his day by striking out TJ Friedl, but he quickly fell behind Matt McLain and walked him and did the same with Elly De La Cruz. Bad Jack continues, and in this park a lack of control is a disaster. I wrote that last sentence before Sal Stewart hammered a 1-1 slider down over the middle for a three-run shot and a 3-0 lead. Nathaniel Lowe launched a solo shot to make it 4-1. Flaherty still had just one out, and he was going to have to wear this. Spencer Steer would have to wear something as well, as he then got plunked, bringing Chris Fetter to the mound as this was trending toward a bullpen game as Flaherty was already over 30 pitches. Tyler Stephenson took a called strike three, and Will Benson whiffed on a knuckle curve to end the inning. 4-1 Reds.

The Tigers went in order, and Ke”Bryan Hayes started the bottom of the second by hammering a first pitch fastball to the wall in center field for a double. Friedl dropped a good bunt toward third base, but Colt Keith made a nice play to get him at first. Still, it did the job of advancing Hayes to third. Flaherty got away with a 3-2 meatball of a slider that McLain whiffed on. Flaherty’s velocity continued to swing wildly as his mechanics from 89.5-95.2 mph. De La Cruz got into a 2-2 count and smoked a curveball for a deep drive to center field. 6-1 Reds.

Even before De La Cruz’s homer, this was already looking like the kind of game where you just want Flaherty to take an absolute beating if that’s what it takes to get four innings out of him and not hurt the bullpen too much. Coming back to win wasn’t really in the cards unless Singer fell apart entirely. Stewart was called out on strikes, but it wasn’t really close, and a challenge quickly overturned that. After an 11 pitch AB, he snoked a hot grounder that McGonigle could only dive for and keep in the infield for a single. After back-to-back disasters, Dillon Dingler apparently remembered that you need to pitch Nate Lowe up and in, finally getting a ground out to end the inning as RHP Burch Smith warmed in the Tigers’ bullpen. I won’t bore you with Flaherty’s line. It suffices to say it sucked, and you had to think his night was already over.

McGonigle led off the third by lining a cutter to center field for a single. Matt Vierling lined out to right, and Keith made an oppo bid with a drive to left that just fell short for the second out of the inning. Riley Greene continues to swing it great, ripping a hot one-hopper through the right side for a single that got McGonigle to third. Singer did the right thing with Dingler, staying down away from him with breaking balls. A ground out to second ended the threat.

Burch Smith’s outing didn’t begin well as he walked Steer. The veteran right-hander’s power curve got Stephenson to lift a routine fly out, and he froze Benson with a fastball for strike three. Hayes whiffed on a good curveball down, and we were on to the fourth.

Kerry Carpenter was ahead in the count to open the inning, but he whiffed on a sinker on the outer edge. Spencer Torkelson however, got a first pitch heater and killed it to right center field for his fourth home run of the year and fourth in as many days. The Tigers record is five straight from Marcus Thames in 2008. 6-2 Reds. Nice to see an oppo shot. Tork’s approach has been very good this year and he’s finally reaping the rewards.

Wenceel Pérez has been putting the ball in play a ton with horrific luck, but he got a sweeper and pulled it to right for a one-out single. Javy Báez chased a sweeper and struck out. With two outs, we were looking for Pérez to run on a pitcher that doesn’t hold runners well, but the Tigers continue to be really conservative with the base stealing. McGonigle flew out to center field to end the half inning.

Friedl landed a little bloop double to start the bottom half, but Smith went through the heart of the Reds’ order without issue, striking out McLain along the way.

The Tigers failed to take advantage of Singer, going 1-2-3 in the fifth. After a good two innings from Smith, Tyler Holton took over. He got two quick outs before walking Tyler Stephenson. Former Tigers’ farmhand Dane Myers pinch-hit for Benson against the left-hander, taking over in center field. A 2-1 cutter from Holton got a grounder to Báez at second to end the inning.

Dingler lined out to left to open the sixth inning with Singer’s outing coming to an end. Carpenter singled to center, and that was it for Singer with Connor Phillips ready to enter the game. Phillips dumped three straight sweepers in and struck out Torkelson, while Pérez flew out to center field.

Hayes and Friedl started the bottom of the sixth with consecutive singles off of Holton, and that ended his outing. Connor Seabold got McLain to fly out, but he walked Elly De La Cruz. That brought Sal Stewart to the dish with the bases loaded and one out. Not good. Seabold fell behind 2-1 but got a whiff on a 95 mph heater to even the count. He tried it again, but Stewart inside outed a hot grounder into the hole. Báez dove and got some glove on it but it bounced into right field as two runs scored for an 8-2 lead. Hopefully you moved on with your Saturday night if you hadn’t already.

Seabold threw three straight balls to Nate Lowe, and then collapsed to the ground. Replay showed that he slipped on his lead leg when he landed. He tried a practice pitch, but had to leave the game. Drew Anderson had to speed through a warm up and come into a 3-0 count with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Anderson walked Lowe to load the bases, but induced a 4-6-3 double play from Steer to clean up the mess. Nicely done.

Assuming Seabold hits the IL, my guess is that Ricky Vanasco gets the call after a great start in Toledo. He’s already on the 40-man roster. Brenan Hanifee and LHP Drew Sommers are the other relief options.

RHP Graham Ashcraft took over from Phillips to open the seventh inning. Báez chased a slider away from strike three. McGonigle got a 1-0 98 mph cutter and smoked it to right field for a double. Matt Vierling drew a walk, but Keith tapped one to Ashcraft and the Reds pitcher fired to second and on to first for an inning ending double play. Keith was ruled safe, but the Reds successfully challenged it.

Anderson carved up Stephenson to start the bottom half, spotting a perfect kick change on the bottom rail for strike three, then froze Myers with a good fastball for the first two outs. Myers wasted a challenge but it was clearly a strike. Anderson dialed up 98.2 mph against Hayes, and then fired a curveball down for a whiff to strike out the side.

At this point, the only thing the Tigers could do for themselves is close the gap and force Terry Francona to use his better relievers. They did not manage it in the eighth. Lefty Sam Moll came on for Ashcraft and walked Riley Greene, but Dingler grounded into a double play. Jahmai Jones pinch hit for Carpenter, but struck out on a sinker running back under his hands.

Anderson left a 2-2 curveball over the middle to TJ Friedl to open the bottom of the eighth and he launched it for a solo shot. 9-2 Reds. He bounced back to strike out McLain, and then Javy Báez made a brilliant diving catch on a 115 mph line drive from De La Cruz. Anderson walked Sal Stewart, but whiffed Lowe on a good changeup to send this to the ninth. One run in 2.2 innings of work with five strikeouts for Anderson. Good to see him coming around in terms of his command.

Emilio Pagan took over to finish this one out. Torkelson grounded out, but Pérez lined a single to right. Hao-Yu Lee pinch-hit for Báez, which was a little ominous after that incredible play on De La Cruz’s laser beam in the eighth. Lee flew out to left, while Pagan fell behind McGonigle and fired a wild pitch that got Pérez to second. McGonigle needed a triple for the cycle, but spanked a line drive to Myers in center field to end it.

The Tigers fall a game behind first place Cleveland, who lost to Toronto on Saturday. They are 7-5 over this 13 day stretch without a day off. If they can make it 8-5 on Sunday behind Keider Montero, we’ll take it. The Tigers will face a pretty good young right-hander in Rhett Lowder at 1:40 p.m. ET.

The Yankees hit three solo shots and the bottom of the order had seven hits as New York extended their winning streak to eight games after an 8-3 win over the Astros on Saturday night in Houston. 

New York used power, contact, good pitching and defense to keep the Astros off the board. They outhit Houston 12-7 and drew 10 walks, while Yankees pitching only allowed two walks.

Here are the takeaways...

-Ryan Weathers returned to the team from paternity leave and faced an uphill climb early. Carlos Correa led off the first with a double and eventually scored from third on a one-out single by Isaac Paredes. 

The young left-hander would settle in, but the long ball would get Weathers in the sixth. Correa launched a solo shot to tie the game at 2-2. The Astros would hit Weathers hard, even on outs, and manager Aaron Boone noticed it, taking out Weathers with one out in the sixth and a runner on for Fernando Cruz. 

Cruz walked Jose Altuve but bounced back to strike out Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz to get out of the inning and put an end to Weathers' night.

The Yankees southpaw tossed 86 pitches (56 strikes) across 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits, no walks and striking out four.

-The Yankees haven't trailed much during their winning streak, but knotted things up in the third via a Trent Grisham solo shot over the Crawford Boxes. The Yankees would then take the lead thanks to a solo shot from Jose Caballero in the fifth. It's the second straight game Caballero has homered. Caballero also extended his hitting streak to seven games with a bunt single earlier in the game. That streak is tied for the longest of his career (2024 with the Rays).

-Austin Wells proved to be an unlikely hero, launching the team's third solo homer of the game, this time in the seventh to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. The Yankees backstop had just one hit (1-14) over his last five games entering Saturday, and the homer was his first extra-base hit since April 11. 

The Yankees would have a chance to add on. Caballero singled and Grisham walked, but Caballero was caught stealing third for the second time in this game. Ben Rice followed with a single and Aaron Judge walked, setting up Cody Bellinger with the bases loaded and two outs. Bellinger fell behind 1-2, but fought back to draw a walk and push across a big insurance run. Jazz Chisolm Jr. worked a walk as well to give the Yankees a 5-2 lead. 

The Yankees would push across another run in the eighth on a Rice sac fly. The first baseman finished 3-for-4 and now has 21 RBI on the season. He's also leading the team with a .337 batting average. Well had an RBI single in the ninth and finished 2-for-3, his first multi-hit game since Opening Day (March 25). Wells entered the game with just two RBI and doubled it on Saturday.

Ryan McMahon got in on the fun with an RBI single to put the Yankees up 8-2. McMahon finished 2-for-5.

-Jake Bird, who returned to the team Saturday after Angel Chivilli was placed on the IL, was strong in his inning of work. He struck out a batter in a 1-2-3 inning on just nine pitches. Camilo Doval allowed a walk, but pitched a clean eighth. Tim Hill gave up a leadoff homer to Walker, but got the next three batters out to lock down the win.

Game MVP: Bottom of the order

Wells, McMahon and Caballero went a combined 7-for-13 with four RBI.

Highlights

Trent Grisham ties the game with a solo shot! pic.twitter.com/f1BAgIyGvK

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 25, 2026

Second straight night with a home run for Jose Caballero! pic.twitter.com/IgbmXoWiYG

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 26, 2026

Austin Wells puts the Yankees back in front! https://t.co/JnA8XBw6GI

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 26, 2026

Austin Wells brings home insurance for the Yankees! pic.twitter.com/xhbsWe8u98

— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 26, 2026

What's next

The Yankees and Astros wrap up their series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is set for 2:10 p.m.

Luis Gil (1-1, 4.11 ERA) will take the mound against Spencer Arrighetti (2-0, 2.45 ERA). 

Box Score

Three times in this baseball game, the Brewers—a team that hasn’t homered in almost a week—nearly hit a baseball out of the park to right field. But none of those balls made it over the wall, and while Milwaukee sparred with the Pirates and answered their runs throughout the first nine innings, they lacked the big hit to give them a lead. Then some bad bounces (and questionable management of relievers) went against them in the tenth, and the team’s slide hit four games.

The late dramatics came after a compelling showdown between the teams’ two starters, Jacob Misiorowski and Mitch Keller. Misiorowski had the goods early. His first pitch of the night clocked in at 102.6 mph, and he struck out the first two batters on a total of seven pitches. After Bryan Reynolds turned an 0-2 count into a walk, Miz struck out Ryan O’Hearn on three more fastballs, and he had struck out the side.

Miz strikes out 3️⃣ to start us off pic.twitter.com/ZQLYZegrOn

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) April 25, 2026

Keller’s first inning looked quite a bit different, but the results were similar. Brice Turang was frozen by a 2-2 curveball, William Contreras hit a lazy fly ball to right, and Jake Bauers struck out, too.

Nick Gonzales led off the second with the first hit of the game, a base hit to center on a 1-2 fastball that got too much of the zone. But three pitches later, Spencer Horwitz hit a grounder into the shift that ended up as a 5-4-3 double play. A strikeout of Jake Mangum ended the inning.

Tyler Black led off the bottom of the second and struck out looking on an 0-2 curveball that was overturned on a challenge by Pittsburgh catcher Henry Davis. Garrett Mitchell battled, fouled off a couple of high fastballs (which have given him trouble this year), and then smoked a line drive that almost beheaded Keller, but Konnor Griffin had him positioned perfectly and caught Mitchell’s 108 mph liner on the fly. Sal Frelick became the Brewers’ first baserunner of the night when he drew a two-out walk, but Greg Jones struck out on three pitches to end the inning.

Griffin started the third with a base hit to right, but Davis flew out to right and Misiorowski struck out Oneil Cruz and Brandon Lowe for the second time each, and for the second straight inning, a leadoff Pirate baserunner did not advance past first base.

David Hamilton tried to drop one of his patented bunts-for-hits down to start the bottom of the inning, but Gonzales was ready for it and threw him out by a half-step. Joey Ortiz drew a one-out walk (on a 3-2 pitch that might’ve been successfully challenged had the Pirates not lost one in the previous inning), and Turang hit a ball hard to center field but Cruz made a nice catch running back on the warning track on Turang’s 106 mph fly ball. Contreras struck out looking on a front-door sweeper, and Milwaukee still didn’t have a hit after three innings.

Miz’s first pitch of the fourth inning was a curveball that got away and hit Reynolds on the thigh. O’Hearn followed with a single to center, and the Pirates had two on and nobody out in the fourth. Gonzales hit a ball to Turang at second and he tagged O’Hearn for the first out but it wasn’t hit quite hard enough to turn two. Horwitz was the batter with runners on the corners and one out, and Miz got ahead 1-2 but Horwitz went up and got to a 100 mph fastball that was even just a little bot up out of the zone and hit an RBI single to center. Another fielder’s choice that was nearly a double play gave Misiorowski the second out, but Griffin came through with another RBI single and the Pirates had a 2-0 lead. Davis flew out to end the inning, but a struggling Brewer offense now had to come to Misiorowski’s aid.

A couple of bloopers gave the Brewers life in the bottom of the fourth. Milwaukee’s first hit of the game came when Bauers flipped one into no-man’s land in left center. But Magnum misplayed it, and Bauers ended up at second. Black was next, and he got jammed on the first pitch and hit one weakly down the left-field line that landed just out of the reach of a diving Magnum. Bauers, who had to wait to see if it would be caught, only made it to third, but Black was on second with a double and the Brewers were in business with nobody out.

Mitchell again managed to not strike out on a couple of high fastballs again, and a productive groundout middle got Black to third and scored Bauers for the Brewers’ first run since the seventh inning on Thursday. A sacrifice fly from Frelick tied the game, and Milwaukee’s offense had mustered a response to Pittsburgh’s two runs in the top of the inning. Jones scalded a ball at 109 mph with two outs but hit it right at Lowe, who was able to knock it down and throw him out to end the inning. Through four innings, the Brewers had three balls hit at 106 or higher that all went for outs, while their two hits came off the bat at 74 and 71 mph, respectively. Baseball.

Misiorowski responded nicely with a clean fifth inning in which he needed only ten pitches to get two groundouts and a strikeout to retire the top of Pittsburgh’s order. Turang picked up a two-out single in the bottom of the inning to break an 0-for-15 streak, but Contreras grounded out weakly on the first pitch and the score remained knotted at two as we headed to the sixth.

For the second time in three innings, Misiorowski hit the first Pirate batter of the inning, O’Hearn, with a pitch (though this one needed a replay review to confirm that), and just like in the fourth, the next batter, Gonzales, singled to follow that up. To make matters worse, a wild pitch with Horwitz at the plate moved both batters into scoring position with nobody out. Horwitz hit a fly ball to left that was deep enough to score O’Hearn, and an ill-advised throw to the plate by Jones also allowed Gonzales to move up to third with just one out. Misiorowski got a needed strikeout of Mangum, and another one of Griffin ended the inning, but Pittsburgh had retaken the lead.

Once again the Brewers were searching for an answer, and once again Bauers led off the inning with a hit, this time a single in between the shortstop and second baseman, and once again, Black followed with a blooper that landed in the outfield, this time for a single. Milwaukee had runners on first and second this time with nobody out, and that was it for Keller, who was pulled after five-plus innings and 93 pitches in favor of the righty Isaac Mattson.

Mitchell went after Mattson’s first pitch and hit a ground ball to second, which was not hit hard enough to turn a double play, so Milwaukee had runners on the corners with one out for Frelick. For the second straight at-bat, Frelick came through with a sac fly to right that tied the game. Jones, who continued to have some rough luck, hit a solid line drive to center but Cruz caught it and the inning ended. For the second time, though, the Brewers answered the Pirates, and the game was again tied as it headed to the seventh.

Misiorowski was taken out of the game after six pretty good innings; the two HBPs didn’t help him and he gave up a few poorly timed somewhat tough-luck hits, but he only walked one, he struck out nine, and he completed six innings for just the second time on the season. Aaron Ashby was the chosen arm out of the bullpen, and he quickly got the first two outs before Lowe singled to center. No trouble, though, as Ashby struck out Reynolds looking to end the inning.

Luis Rengifo came off the bench to hit for Hamilton to counter lefty Mason Montgomery in the bottom of the seventh. He got a couple of good fastballs to hit but could merely foul them off, then he struck out on a 2-2 breaking pitch. Ortiz grounded out, but Turang drew a two-out walk to give Contreras an opportunity versus the lefty. Contreras got into a hitter’s count and drove one deep to right… but it held up just in front of the wall for Reynolds, and Montgomery escaped the inning.

Ashby kept going in the eighth and struck out O’Hearn looking to start the inning, with an assist from Contreras and the ABS challenge system. Gonzales struck out, too, and Ortiz made a nice pick on a hard one-hopper from Horwitz to end the inning.

What amounted to one pitch after Contreras flew out to the wall in right, Bauers did the same to lead off the bottom of the eighth, on the first pitch against the new Pittsburgh pitcher Dennis Santana. Black popped out, but with two outs Mitchell nearly gave the Brewers a late lead. He hit a fly ball that hit just below the yellow line on the top of the wall in right-center, but had to settle for a double. Frelick had an opportunity to put the Brewers ahead with his third RBI of the night, but he was walked on three pitches (intentionally after the third), and it came down to Jones. Santana spammed sliders until Jones struck out on the seventh pitch, and sixth slider, of the at-bat.

Garrett Mitchell was thiiiiis close to giving the Brewers the lead and snapping their home run drought, which started Sunday in Miami.

Instead, this game is heading to the ninth tied, 3-3. pic.twitter.com/wTXuXmt4f4

— Adam McCalvy (@AdamMcCalvy) April 26, 2026

Anxious to end a three-game slide, the Brewers went to Abner Uribe in the top of the ninth. Uribe’s first pitch, to Mangum, was grounded to second for an easy first out. Griffin struck out looking (and burned Pittsburgh’s second challenge in doing so), and Davis flew out to Frelick in right. Pittsburgh sent lefty Gregory Soto to the mound to try to get the game to extra innings. Rengifo flew out to left, Ortiz popped out, and Turang struck out looking. Soto succeeded.

Even though Uribe had only thrown eight pitches in the ninth, it was the struggling Ángel Zerpa to face the lefty-heavy top of the Pirates’ order in the tenth. Cruz did Zerpa a favor by swinging and missing at a 2-0 pitch that was quite a ways inside, and Zerpa came back to strike Cruz out after that. Pittsburgh countered the Zerpa move by pinch-hitting Marcell Ozuna for Lowe, and Ozuna drew a walk (and was pinch-run for by Nick Yorke). Not the end of the world, as it set up a double play with one out, and Zerpa did get a ground ball, but Reynolds hit it where there weren’t any fielders, and Pittsburgh took a 4-3 lead. A chopper back to the mound bounced too high to get a double play—or even a lead runner—but Zerpa did get the second out. Pat Murphy opted for Grant Anderson to face Gonzales, and it did not work; Gonzales hit a 1-1 single that plated both runners and made it 6-3. A fly ball to right ended the inning, but the Brewers, who were just a couple of luckier bounces or a couple of better pitches from getting it to the bottom of the tenth tied, were facing a daunting task.

The Pirate pitcher was Yohan Ramírez (remember him?). The Brewers went quietly, as Contreras grounded out and Bauers and Black struck out.

It’s been a rough week for the Brewers. Go get ‘em tomorrow, I guess. Black did have two hits including a double, which was nice, though both of those hits were softly hit. Mitchell made good contact a couple of times tonight, but his evening will be remembered for just missing a go-ahead homer. Bauers had a couple of hits. Misiorowski was mostly pretty good, but still couldn’t escape that one big inning that tends to plague him. Ashby and Uribe pitched well out of the bullpen.

Milwaukee will look to salvage a game tomorrow at 1:10 p.m., when Carmen Mlodzinski faces Kyle Harrison.

The Colorado Rockies will play a double-header tomorrow to wrap up their series against the New York Mets after an unexpected off-day thanks to a rainy day in Queens.

Since there was no baseball game today, I thought we could play a little game instead. It’s time to remember some guys who played for our Rockies.

In this exercise, the goal is to come up with a lineup of players for your favorite team—in this case, the Rockies—comprised of players who posted between 20 and 40 wins above replacement (WAR) according to Baseball Reference. This spread cuts out the team’s Hall of Fame players like Larry Walker (72.7 bWAR) and Todd Helton (61.8 bWAR), but still includes players who overall had strong careers.

The other stipulation is that players selected must be retired. For the Rockies, that means that DJ LeMahieu—their all-time second baseman—isn’t currently on the list.

For a team as young as the Rockies I found it both interesting and challenging. For older teams there are certainly a lot more players to choose from. However, I ultimately was able to come up with a full 10-player lineup, including designated hitter. For this lineup, I did not necessarily take into account how they performed with the Rockies, especially since they usually only played one or two seasons here. Instead, I went with their career WAR.

Lineup:

• Catcher: Charles Johnson, 2003 (22.6 WAR)
• First Base: Andrés Galarraga, 1993-1997 (31.7 WAR) 
• Second Base: Mark Ellis, 2011 (33.5 WAR)
• Third Base: Jeff Cirillo, 2000-2001 (34.6 WAR) 
• Shortstop: Juan Uribe, 2001-2003 (22.6 WAR) 
• Left Field: Ron Gant, 2001 (34.1 WAR)
• Center Field: Charlie Blackmon, 2011-2024 (21.5 WAR) 
• Right Field: Carlos González, 2009-2018 (24.5 WAR) 
• Designated Hitter: Justin Morneau, 2014-2015 (27 WAR) 

I decided to take things one step further and come up with a five-man starting rotation and a four-man bench.

Rotation:

• LHP Mike Hampton, 2001-2001 (28.2 WAR) 
• RHP Pedro Astacio, 1997-2001 (25.6 WAR) 
• LHP Denny Neagle, 2001-2003 (22.4 WAR) 
• RHP Bill Swift, 1995-1997 (20.7 WAR) 
• RHP Ubaldo Jiménez, 2006-2011 (20.4 WAR)

Bench:

• INF Marco Scutaro, 2012 (22.1 WAR)
• UTIL Howard Johnson, 1994 (22.2 WAR)
• OF Matt Kemp, 2020 (21.6 WAR)
• INF Ronnie Belliard, 2003 (20.8 WAR)

Of course, the methodology has some flaws. For example, this list of Rockies has no backup catcher. Chris Iannetta failed to make the cut with just 14.9 career bWAR. The WAR criteria also makes building a bullpen impossible. I discussed it with a few friends, and we decided that for a bullpen we could select players that had at least 10 career WAR. In true Rockies fashion, this leaves us with a bullpen that has only one lefty.

Bullpen:

• RHP LaTroy Hawkins, 2007/2015 (17.8 WAR)
• RHP Steve Reed, 1993-1997/2003-2004 (17.6 WAR)
• RHP Adam Ottavino, 2012-2018 (14.9 WAR)
• RHP Houston Street, 2009-2011 (14.5 WAR)
• RHP Dave Veres, 1998-1999 (12.9 WAR)
• RHP Greg Holland, 2017 (12.4 WAR)
• RHP Curtis Leskanic, 1993-1999 (12.1 WAR)
• LHP Brian Fuentes, 2002-2008 (10.5 WAR)

Overall this gives us a complete “remember some guys” 26-man roster! What names are you surprised to see? Who are you surprised to see not make the cut? Let us know in the comments. Feel free to come up with your own lineup or roster for either the Rockies or a different team as well!

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There’s no time for Alex Cora to file for unemployment.

He might not even have time to get back to Fenway Park to clean out his office.

Cora, who was fired Saturday by the Boston Red Sox, is going to be managing again, and quickly.

Who knows, he could be managing the Philadelphia Phillies by the time they return home Tuesday to face the San Francisco Giants, and yes, former Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers.

The Phillies, of course, already have a manager in Rob Thomson.

They also have a team that’s grossly underachieving, with the worst record in the National League, and on a 10-game losing streak entering play Saturday night against Atlanta.

It was a bit of a surprise that the Phillies kept Thomson after last season when they were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs again, signing him to an extension through 2027.

The Phillies didn’t think it would be fair to dump him. He led the Phillies to the postseason four consecutive years. He is well-liked. He is respected by the players and front office.

And Cora was still employed by the Red Sox.

The worst-kept secret in baseball is that Dombrowski loves Cora from their days together in Boston, hiring him in 2017 and winning the World Series a year later.

While Dombrowski expressed his public support of Thomson three days ago, and insisted that his job is safe, Dombrowski didn’t realize that Cora was about to be fired.

If Cora had not signed his three-year, $21.75 million contract extension last summer, Cora likely would have managing the Phillies at the start of this season.

Now that Cora, 50, is available, the Phillies must quickly decide whether they want to remain patient with Thomson, wait until the end of the season to determine whether they want to pivot to Cora, or do they make a move now.

And if they do wait, what’s the chances Cora will still be unemployed?

You don’t think the New York Mets are asking themselves whether they should hire Cora now, and part with Carlos Mendoza?

You believe the Houston Astros will simply still stick with Joe Espada without making a call to Cora, their bench coach when they won the 2017 World Series championship, to at least gauge his interest?

Really, Cora, with a 620-541 career record, is the one with all of the power.

He still is being handsomely paid through 2027, and can just hang out in Boston with his family.

He can wait until the season is over, sit back, with a larger assortment of job opportunities to choose.

Or he can jump right back in the saddle, take a job now, and show the Red Sox just how foolish they are to dump him, along with five members of his coaching staff: hitting coach Peter Fatse, third-base coach Kyle Hudson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson and major-league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin.

And, oh, wouldn’t Dombrowski, fired himself by the Red Sox in 2019 — just 10 months after winning the World Series — love to stick it to the Red Sox.

Surely, Cora’s firing wasn’t solely about the win-loss record. The Red Sox were 11-16 the following year after winning the World Series and weren’t contemplating firing Cora. They were 10-17 in 2022 and Cora was still safe. They hovered around .500 each of the last three seasons after 27 games and no worries.

Never since John Henry and Tom Werner bought the team in 2002 have they fired a manager during the season.

Only now was there an issue, likely philosophical differences that couldn’t be overcome between Cora and Craig Breslow, president of baseball operations, who heavily integrated Driveline philosophies into the organization.

“We got a bunch of kids that are learning the game,’’ Cora said Friday. “It’s my job to keep teaching them the game.’’

Yep, not quite a ringing endorsement for the Red Sox’s player development folks, with a major-league team that ranked last in homers (15) and slugging percentage (.335), and a pitching staff that was 27^th in ERA (5.31).

If this was simply a matter of wins and losses, there’s no chance Cora would have been fired after their biggest victory of the season, 17-1 over the Baltimore Orioles.

The Red Sox actually had decided to fire Cora on Friday, and if their game Saturday wasn’t moved up four hours because of the threat of rain, Cora would have been fired Friday night or even Saturday morning. They simply couldn’t get Chad Tracy, the interim manager from Triple-A Wooster, Massachusetts, and his coaches into Baltimore quickly enough for the early start.

So, Cora stayed one final game.

And makes history, becoming the first manager to be fired after winning a game by at least 16 runs since the New York Metropolitans fired Bob Ferguson after and 18-2 victory over the Cleveland Spiders on May 30, 1887, according to Sportradar.

He leaves a winner, and becomes the latest champion to depart a dysfunctional organization, joining the likes of executive Theo Epstein, manager Terry Francona, and yes, Dombrowski.

Cora will be back.

He’ll be winning again.

And, yes, will get that last laugh.

Follow Bob Nightengale on X and Bluesky.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alex Cora might have options after Red Sox firing

The Texas Rangers scored four runs while the Did You Know They Were Originally From Philadelphia? Athletics scored three runs.

Against the AL West-leading A’s tonight, the Rangers looked like they were about to finally succumb to the dreaded below .500 record while guaranteeing themselves a series loss only for their April hero to save them again.

Texas has been playing hot potato with .500 ball for weeks now hanging on the precipice of falling back down below the mark only to rise to the occasion when a losing record stares them in the face several times over.

In fact, since April 5 when the Rangers were 4-5 for their only day below .500 this season, they’ve faced five games with an even record and won all of them. However, on the flip side, since that date they’ve only risen to a highwater mark of two games above .500 and have also lost five games that immediately put them back at .500.

It’s been quite the roller coaster and that’s exactly what tonight’s game was too.

Rangers’ starter MacKenzie Gore started things well with a 1-2-3 first inning, all on strikeouts. But then he struggled to finish off A’s hitters as they collected a two-out RBI in the top of the second to take an early lead. A messy top of the third finished with the A’s up 3-0.

But the bats came through in the bottom of the inning with their own messy rally to put two runs on the board off left-handed former Ranger Jeffrey Springs. The two runs scored despite only two singles from Texas with Corey Seager’s two-out RBI lefty-on-lefty hit proving to be a big moment.

The game stayed at 3-2 and it seemed like maybe the third inning flareup would be all we’d see at the offense-adverse Shed, but then Josh Jung stepped up to the plate with a man on.

There’s really no Ranger you’d rather see in such a situation right now, and Jung delivered again with an opposite field two-run shot to the Texas bullpen on a ball that just kept carrying and carrying.

Josh Jung's 4th homer of the year is a go-ahead shot for the @Rangers 😤 pic.twitter.com/9MV7lcU3qW

— MLB (@MLB) April 26, 2026

The superlative relief arms for the Rangers finished things off from there with four, one-hit shutout innings and the Rangers once again find themself above .500.

Player of the Game:

Up Next: The Rangers and A’s close out this series with a rubber match that will see RHP Kumar Rocker take the mound for Texas against RHP J.T. Ginn for Someday Vegas’ squad.

The Sunday afternoon first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 1:35 pm CDT and will be covered by the Rangers Sports Network.

The San Diego Padres found themselves down by four runs after starter German Marquez struggled to get the third out of the second inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City. The Padres mounted their comeback and scored six unanswered runs to set Mason Miller up to get his 10th save of the season with another scoreless ninth inning, giving him the franchise record for most innings pitched (34.2) without allowing a run, to give San Diego a 6-4 win over Arizona.

FINAL: San Diego Padres 6, Arizona Diamondbacks 4.

▪️Mason Miller retires Ketel Marte for the save and sets the Padres' consecutive scoreless innings record at 34 2/3 innings in the win.#MLB#MexicoCitySeriespic.twitter.com/xfJkBhyWzo

— San Diego Strong (@PadresStrong) April 26, 2026

Miller came in for the bottom of the ninth inning after Ty France gave the Padres a two-run lead in the top of the inning with his second home run of the game. It was fitting that France, who opened the scoring for San Diego with a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning. also drove in the final run of the game. The right-handed closer continued his dominance with another three-up, three-down inning that saw him get an east flyout to left field for the first out before finishing with back-to-back groundouts.

¡Viva Francia! pic.twitter.com/8Yw34eab2F

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) April 26, 2026

Marquez seemed to be unable to stop the bleeding in the bottom of the second. However, he returned to the mound in the bottom of the third and pitched well enough to keep the Diamondbacks from adding on. Marquez completed six innings, allowing four runs on six hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Perhaps the most important fact was Marquez allowed just one home run, a two-run shot, to Alek Thomas.

The Padres offense started sluggish once again. They faced Zac Gallen to open the game, but he exited in the top of the fourth inning after he was struck by a line drive off the bat of Freddy Fermin. Brandon Pfaadt came in for Arizona and pitched well until the top of the seventh inning. Jackson Merrill opened the inning with a leadoff walk and was followed by Manny Machado who singled and Xander Bogaerts who walked to load the bases.

Taylor Clarke replaced Pfaadt and faced Gavin Sheets, who came through once again for San Diego. Sheets hit a two-run single that scored Merrill and Machado and pushed Bogaerts to second base. France then reached on a fielder’s choice and an error. Fermin hit a sacrifice fly to score Bogaerts to make the score 4-4 before Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Ramon Laureano, who did not have a hit in the game, hit a sacrifice fly to right field which allowed Sheets to tag up and score to complete the comeback and put the Padres in front 5-4.

Ramón Laureano's sacrifice fly

Padres now lead 5-4.#MexicoSeries#ForTheFaithfulpic.twitter.com/ivVTAHcrjb

— San Diego Strong (@PadresStrong) April 26, 2026

San Diego will complete their two-game series with Arizona on Sunday at 1:05 p.m.

It had been 715 days since Missouri baseball had last tasted a Southeastern Conference victory at Taylor Stadium. 1,491 days marked the last time the Tigers had bested Arkansas. Both of those streaks ended in Mizzou’s 6-0 victory on Saturday afternoon at Taylor Stadium.

Another monkey off the Tigers’ back? Their recent nine-game losing streak, which included eight losses in SEC play and one to in-state opposition, SIUE, reached its ultimate conclusion.

Based on this series alone, it would be easy for Tigers fans to anticipate or even triangulate what could go wrong after the first inning. After all, the Tigers’ 5-4 defeat in the series opener came after an early inning that included a pair of homers from Jase Woita and Blaize Ward. This game was different.

Right out of the blocks, Missouri’s offense sprinted out like Usain Bolt, starting with back-to-back singles from Woita and Durnin. A walk surrendered to Blaize Ward loaded the bases with nobody out, and Mateo Serna was hit by a pitch, which was not the most conventional way to put the first run of the game.

Kaden Peer reached base on a fielder’s choice, and Donovan Jordan’s groundout drove two more runs across the plate, giving the Tigers more hits and runs than they accumulated all of Friday evening against the Razorbacks pitching.

SEALS AND MAISONET MAKING IMPACT IN STYLE

The second inning came along, starting with an infield single by Eric Maisonet. Then walked up Pierre Seals. It had been one month and three days since the last time he had gone yard. That changed two pitches into his at-bat against Colin Fisher.

Seals watched, stood, and flipped his bat, and he slowly moved down the first-base line, knowing he had gotten much more than enough of the ball for it to travel out of Taylor Stadium. 425 feet over the left field wall to be exact, giving Mizzou a 5-0 cushion in the bottom half of the second.

“We all come up with all of these cool celebrations to do, and that’s great,” Jackson said. “The thing that was most important for me, he finally got the barrel on it. He’s a guy who’s constantly hitting things to the backside. When you have that power that he does and the bat speed he does, if he can get the barrel out more consistently, you’re gonna see more of that.”

As Jackson pointed out post-game, Seals, despite having hit four homers this year, has proven to be a power bat for the Tigers in Blue, Memphis. 10 home runs, 65 hits, and 33 RBI prove Seals can be a potent hitter when aggressively hitting towards the middle of the field.

On a day where the Tigers broke lots of negative streaks, Seals’ home run drought ended, as well as collecting a hit a piece over the last two games. after previously going hitless in his previous five.

“[Hitting the homer] was definitely big, because I feel like I’ve been hitting balls hard in the past couple of weeks and I didn’t have anything to show for it,” Seals said. “I kept going and kept my approach, and it was good to see it pay off.”

Eric Masionet, who wasn’t necessarily high in the home run column for Missouri this season coming into Saturday afternoon, made his mark in the bottom of the fourth. After connecting on a 1-0 pitch from Gabe Geckle, which admittedly didn’t look like it was leaving the yard, kept carrying.

Damian Ruiz jumped at the left field wall, the ball hit the top of the padding, and then the left field scoreboard. The Tigers were well and truly in the driver’s seat, up 6-0 in the bottom half of the fourth and hitting like a team that hadn’t been at the plate in nine games. No trepidation in the box, aggressive and having nothing to lose and everything to gain from besting a top-25 team in the country.

GONZALEZ AND VILLAREAL PUT UP ZEROS OVER 7.2 INNINGS

Gonzalez and Villareal stepped up not to the plate, but to the mound after an early re-aggravated injury occurred to Missouri’s starting pitcher JD Dohrman in the top of the second inning. 

“Its a groin injury,” Jackson said. “If it’s something you keep messing with it’ll never heal and he wasn’t quite feeling 100 percent so it’s better for us to pull him out and try to continue to put him on that rehab stretch and get him completely healed.” 

Gonzalez took Mizzou fans back to his outing earlier this month against an offensive powerhouse in Missouri State. Similar to his performance against the Bears, Gonzalez allowed zero earned runs and struck out a multitude of batters.

Gonzalez also became a U.S citizen earlier in the week and earning the victory after tossing five shutout innings capped off the series of good events for the right-hander.

“Its been a long process, Gonzalez said ”I came from Cuba, and, you know, got here to United States, and it was a long process, but being able to become a US citizen, it’s great. This country’s giving me everything, so I’m super happy and proud.“

Villarreal took over for Gonzalez after the sixth inning and continued the dominant outing from the Tigers relief staff. Villareal struck out three Razorbacks and pitched into the bottom of the ninth inning before surrendering a run and the bases being full of runners.

Jackson made the switch to the right-hander Sam Rosand, who’strikeout officially ended the long negative runs but not the work of playing more consistent baseball for Jackson.

“The relief for me is that we played good baseball, ”That’s the relief, regardless of if we would have not won or, like, I felt good on Thursday night because I thought we played good baseball. For me its ultimately it did we play good baseball, and by playing good baseball, can we continue to play good baseball… Yes I’m glad the streak is over but at the end of the day you can’t control whether you win or lose. If we do this consistently we’re going to win more than we lose.“

Perhaps the most memorable thing about this game from a White Sox perspective is that, according to the TV folks, it was only the second time since 1901 that four switch-hitting catchers appeared in the same game. Not much to that, you say? Well, it’s better than considering what happened on the field.

Want another anomaly? In the sixth inning, the Sox struck out not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times, the first a case of Miguel Vargas getting on via a third strike passed ball.

Noah Schultz pitched well, but not well enough. He did a terrific job getting out of a jam in the third, following a leadoff walk and double with two strikeouts and a grounder to short. But when Schultz started the fourth with two more walks and a wild pitch, both runners scored on a single by .179 hitter Nasim Nuñez to give Washington a 2-0 lead.

Schultz made it through six innings on a (very short) career-high 85 pitches, giving up four bases on balls and an equal number of hits and just the two runs while striking out a (very short) career-high eight. Meanwhile, though, Jake Irvin, who came into the game with an ERA of 6.00, was even better, walking none and allowing four hits and no runs while whiffing 10. He even had the first three K’s of the four-whiff inning.

Three Sox relievers kept it close, including new call-up Tyler Davis, who got two strikeouts in his first major league appearance. He did walk one, but maybe he just wanted to be part of the group. The fourth Sox reliever? Uh, well, we’ll get to that.

Nationals relievers did their best to try to hand the game back to the Sox via walks and hit batters and misplaying a bunt, which was to no avail until the eighth. It was then that Mitchell Parker walked Vargas and hit Colson Montgomery. Ex-Sox Gus Varland came in to give up an RBI single to Everson Pereira.

Chase Meidroth followed with a sac fly to knot the game, 2-2.

The Sox got two on via walks in the ninth — another attempted gift by the Nationals pen — but Montgomery struck out to end the threat. No matter how many gifts you’re offered, going 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position won’t help you much.

Then we arrive at the 10th, with Jordan Leasure on the mound. This is an apt time to scream, as usual, “Oh, no! Not him!” Leasure issued a walk and a single to load the bases, Manfred Man pushed to third. A passed ball by Drew Romo (just up from Charlotte to replace the DFAed Reese McGuire), on what looked like a cross-up from Leasure, let in one run. An intentional walk loaded the bases again. Leasure then walked Joey Weimer to force in a second run and make it 4-2, then gave up a two-run single to Nuñez, giving the shortstop (and No. 8 hitter) four RBIs on the afternoon.

Down 6-2, the Sox scored the free runner without any Washington effort to stop him, and 6-3 it ended.

It was a jammed house despite very cold weather thanks to a really cool jacket giveaway, but by the bottom of the 10th everybody had headed for warmth.

Thus, the White Sox are 11-16 and the series is tied at 1-1, with the decider at 1:10 p.m. Central tomorrow, Sean Burke and lefty Foster Griffin the scheduled starters.

---

For the last few weeks, the Nationals offense has been heavily reliant on James Wood and CJ Abrams. However, with Abrams out of the lineup, and Wood not having the best game, it was on the supporting cast to get the job done. Led by Nasim Nunez, the Nats were able to put six runs on the board and win the game in extra innings.

Nasim Nunez does a lot of great things on the baseball field. He is an incredibly smooth defender and is one of the best baserunners in the league when he gets on base. However, he is not known for his bat, and has gotten off to a pretty dreadful start at the plate. Even after this game, he is just hitting .195 with a .505 OPS. 

The great thing about this Nats offense though is that different guys have stepped up when needed. Today was Nunez’s time to shine. He drove in four runs on two ultra-clutch hits, including one in the 10th inning to break the game open. 

Have a day Nasim

Nats lead 6-2 in 10th inning pic.twitter.com/CzlA6hf42e

— Kev (@klwoodjr) April 25, 2026

There have been times this season where Nunez seemed like he was trying to do too much. After shockingly hitting four home runs last September, Nunez may have fallen in love with his power too much. You could tell during some at bats that he really wanted to lift the ball. Today, he was not trying to do too much, which is when he is at his best. 

Nunez should be trying to get on base whatever way he can. Whether that is bunting or selling out for contact, putting the ball in play should be Nunez’s main focus. He still struck out twice today, but in the biggest moments, Nunez was staying within himself.

This game was not all about Nunez though. The other big hero was Jake Irvin, who had his best start of the season. Coming into this game, Irvin had an ERA of 6.00, but I thought he was pitching a lot better than he was last year. Today, the results matched his improved stuff. He had 16 whiffs, the most he has had in a game since June of 2024.

16-whiff day for Jake Irvin.

That's the most swing-and-miss he's gotten in a start since 6/23/2024. If he can get the swing-and-miss to stabilize around 25 percent, he's a different pitcher. 11 whiffs on the curveball today. Great outing.

— Spencer Nusbaum (@spencernusbaum_) April 25, 2026

Seeing those whiffs is a great sign for Irvin. When he was at his best in the first half of 2024, he was getting solid whiff numbers. He was not overpowering, but he had enough in the tank for hitters to respect him. Irvin has actually been a big strikeout guy to start this season, with 34 in 29.2 innings. He was not even striking guys out like that in his big first half a couple years ago.

Today, his curveball was a whiff monster. He got 11 of his 16 whiffs on the hook. You do not see a ton of big slow curve’s like Irvin’s anymore, but they are so nice to watch. Irvin’s command of the curveball was absolutely outstanding today. He was putting it right at the bottom of the zone or putting it slightly out of the zone. It was just too much for hitters not to swing at and he had White Sox batters fishing all afternoon.

Jake Irvin, Nasty Curveballs. 😨 pic.twitter.com/HnEv5aG00l

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 25, 2026

Honestly, I think Blake Butera’s hook for Irvin was pretty quick. After a disastrous sequence from Keibert Ruiz turned a strikeout into having a guy on second, Irvin buckled down. He got two more strikeouts, but Butera had seen enough. With a lefty coming up, he went to Mitchell Parker. While Parker got out of the inning, I would have preferred to see Butera stick with his starter.

It was another shaky game for Butera today. He stuck with Mitchell Parker for a bit too long and Cionel Perez almost gave me a heart attack. However, I do like that he went to Brad Lord for a single inning high leverage spot in the 10th inning. Lord is more than a long man, and should be treated as such.

It was a gritty win for the Nats. They drew 10 walks, and consistently had guys on base. The floodgates did not truly open until the 10th inning, but the Nats pressure eventually paid off. It was a nice win, and now they will go for the series win tomorrow.

The Civil War that’s been bubbling beneath the surface between Alex Cora’s and Craig Breslow’s philosophies on how to run the Boston Red Sox finally came to a head on Saturday evening. The rumbles started with this tweet from Jared Carrabis …

Holy shit. I think the Red Sox Red Wedding just happened…

— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) April 25, 2026

… And were confirmed within the hour across the baseball universe.

The Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora, hitting coach Peter Fatse, bench coach Rámon Vazquez and game-planning coach Jason Varitek, sources tell ESPN.

While the Red Sox won today, they are 10-17 and in last in the American League East. Massive change is coming in Boston.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 25, 2026

Noticeably not on this list is pitching coach Andrew Bailey, who aligns with the Breslow / Sabermetrics side of the coin.

The timing of this seismic shakeup is very much worth noting. It comes just hours after the club’s most complete win of the year — A 17-1 beatdown over Baltimore — and has shades of the Rafael Devers trade, which occurred right after a sweep of the Yankees last June.

Zooming out a little more, the horrific 10-17 start the Red Sox got off to also feels like the perfect opportunity for those in the front office to clean house of the guys who didn’t see eye to eye with them. Despite all the struggles, the strong starting pitching is still very much in tact, and eventually that’s going to start to matter. So this could be a very tactical move from the front office to time Cora’s departure with what they see as the nadir of the early season. If so, it will be viewed as both brilliant and diabolical, depending on which side of the war you find yourself.

In the meantime, the Red Sox still have another game to play tomorrow in Baltimore, and taking the helm will Chad Tracy, who is getting promoted from his post in Worcester to interim manager. This makes sense as the roster is both filled with young guys who are very familiar with Tracy (Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, Connelly Early, Payton Tolle, ect), and Tracy also seems very dialed into the in game details. Just today in Worcester he caught the Mets batting out of order:

Hilarious situation in the WooSox / Syracuse Mets game. Jackson Cluff appeared to triple for the Mets, but they batted out of order and he was called out. Cluff then had to bat again in his normal spot and flew out to center, so he was out twice after hitting a triple. pic.twitter.com/Q8kt8vMaEs

— Matthew Gross (@MattGross87) April 25, 2026

We’ll have much more on this and everything else that comes with it here at Over The Monster in the coming hours and days.

The next big item appears to be a press conference scheduled for tomorrow morning that will include both Sam Kennedy and Craig Breslow. (Have your spiked coffee ready!)

Long-term, only time will tell if today marks the turning point in a fun, memorable season, or the beginning of a total circus act.

With the 2026 NFL Draft coming to a close we head into the undrafted free agency period.

For the Arizona Cardinals there are not a lot of spots where they can add players, as even General Manager Monti Ossenfort said they have space for 6-8 signings.

Yet, the undrafted free agency for the Cardinals has delivered some nice talent throughout the years and hopefully 2026 will be no different.

We will update the names as they come along with hopefully a solid source and keep everyone up to date on what the Arizona Cardinals are doing, and as always, we will do a deep dive into every undrafted free agent after they have officially signed with the team.

Tre Wallace, WR, Ole Miss per Jordan Schultz

Elijah Culp, CB, James Madison per Jordan Schultz

Cameron Robertson, Edge, SMU per Aaron Wilson

Ka’ena Decambra, IOL, Arizona per Arye Pulli

Wydett Williams, S, Ole Miss per Bo Brack

It’s hard for me to get overly upset about Alex Cora’s sudden ouster this afternoon. This is a man who returned to the team after a one-year suspension for cheating, after all, which is a very weird thing to have happened. We were always on borrowed time, and for a good amount of that time, Cora wielded considerable power in the organization. This made him very important.

He is not important anymore. He’ s gone, along with Jason Varitek and several others. It’s a full reset at the top for a team resting at the bottom. You get the feeling that the organization had several contingencies for how this season could play out, and chose the “obviously sucks ass in April” option of a total reset rather than let it get any further. I can’t say I care too much either way or expect it to meaningfully affect the team’s performance. They do in fact stink.

From a 30K-foot-view, or just one in the mirror, the Red Sox need to move on from the 2018 team’s ethos forever, and getting rid of Cora is the last link in that now-diminished chain. He was only thing tying the franchise to their golden era and made us look bad just by showing up. Now that Red Sox aren’t trying to win a World Series for sure, it’s an honest question whether Cora is the right guy for that assignment, or if he even wanted tio be. Neither of the answers truly matter, but I can’t imagine he’s too broken up about it.

Point-blank, it was time for everyone to move on. And to be clear… that sucks. As the last guy standing who physically represented the singularly great 2018 title, Cora’s continued presence served as a bridge to the decreasingly recent past when the team aimed high and hit their goal, and then some, not just as the best in the league but as one of the best teams ever. John Henry tore it apart after that. This was just cutting the last string to that era. The Red Sox are dead; long live the Red Sox. Just don’t get your hopes up.