Jonathan Clark was really good for the Birmingham Barons in 2026 — but he’s been simply brilliant this fall with the AZFL’s Glendale Desert Dogs. | (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images)
Jonathan Clark Right-Handed Relief Pitcher 6´1´´ 190 pounds Age: 26 2026 South Side Sox Top 100 ranking52 2026 High Level Birmingham (AA) Age relative to high level +1.4 years SSS rank among all right-handed relievers in the system 16 Overall 2026 stats (High-A/AA/AZFL) 9-3 ⚾️ 57 games (34 finishes) ⚾️ 9 SV ⚾️ 3.99 ERA ⚾️ 1.404 WHIP ⚾️ 70 K ⚾️ 33 BB ⚾️ 1.0 WAR
Jonathan Clark is one of the odder success stories in the White Sox system.
The San Jose State product was signed as an undrafted free agent not in July after the draft … but more than two years after Clark’s draft class matriculated. So when the White Sox inked Clark on Feb. 12, 2025, there was little in his history as a five-year starter for the Spartans that would indicate real success in anything more than semipro ball. And frankly, pitching for the Glacier Range Riders and Missoula PaddleHeads in 2023 and 2024 (independent Pioneer League ball) didn’t move the needle at all, either (8.68 ERA over 25 games over the two seasons).
Clark opted to work with Tread Athletics in order to retool his arm motion. The trainers put together a series of exercises on and off of the mound intending to create more flexibility and overall range of motion in his shoulder. His drills, including weighted balls and even larger-sized softballs, eased Clark away from pulling up short in his motion, which tightened his command and control.
The White Sox put season statistics aside and liked what they saw, and boy did Clark pay back the faith with a phenomenal 2025. While pitching significantly old for his A-ball levels, Clark mowed down batters like he hadn’t done since … ever (OK, maybe high school). He filled a closer/high-leverage role in Kannapolis to start the season, and his 2.48 ERA and overall mature approach on the mound earned him a post-draft July call-up to Winston-Salem. And once there, Clark got even better, starving High-A batters to the tune of one earned run and seven hits over 14 ⅓ innings.
Clark had a strong follow-up to his pro debut, starting 2026 in Winston-Salem but vacating for Double-A ball as May dawned. He spent the rest of 2026 as Birmingham’s primary closer, sharing the gig with Jackson Kelley but getting more high-leverage opportunities. And Clark, despite a bit of an elevated ERA and WHIP, passed with flying colors. An end-of-season gig in the Arizona Fall League only bolstered his final season numbers, as the righty has been immaculate in the thin air, named to the Fall Stars team and edging his ERA below 4.00.
So why is Clark ranked so low, especially given his middle placement a year ago? I can’t tell you, other than to say ranking is a fickle game. I’ll go on record saying Clark places much too low on our list this year.
One tug against Jonathan is his “advanced age,” as he’s yet to pitch a single inning in the White Sox system where he wasn’t older than his competition — and to that end, significantly older. Given he will assuredly start 2027 in Charlotte, Clark’s streak as a graybeard will end, one step from the South Side.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 27: Ketel Marte #4 of the Arizona Diamondbacks walks to the dugout during the first inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on September 27, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Orlando Ramirez/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Tis’ the season for mock trades! Dbacks fans are no stranger to Ketel Marte rumors as we have been living them pretty much for the past 2+ years, however this season it really felt like Ketel finally wore out his welcome. No sense in rehashing all of that in this article. His off-field issues are well documented, and every team knows Arizona is motivated, so they likely only are able to get 75 to 80 cents on the dollar. The question isn’t whether he goes. It’s who gives the most back, and what Arizona wants is likely starting pitching.
That’s the right ask. The rotation was the biggest hole in 2026 as I previously wrote about, and a team that won 86 games should be trying to win in 2027 and build for later at the same time. A young starter under team control for years does both.
So with all of the Ketel Marte trade speculation floating around out there, I decided to try my hand at a Ketel Marte mock trade. My focus was simple, acquire as much controllable big league starting pitching upside as possible. Here was my favorite target:
Arizona Trades Ketel Marte to the New York Mets for Christian Scott
What Ketel Marte brings: 1 thing is for certain. When Marte is healthy, he has one of the most impactful bats in the game. Marte was a top-15 bat in baseball over the last three years, and no free agent this winter matches what he has done over that span. Over 2024–26, his 133 wRC+ ranks 13th of 176 hitters with 1,200+ PA, and his 13.5 fWAR ranks 14th. Now some people could push back and point at 2026 being a bit of a down year for him, however his 2026 contact was still good. His .349 xwOBA was 81st percentile, so his results trailed the quality of his contact.
Why the Mets The Mets won 74 games in 2026 and scored 699 runs, 20th in baseball. The offense failed them, and Marte is one of the best bats teams can get this winter. Steamer projects a 126 wRC+ for 2027, 22nd of 225 hitters with 400+ PA, and 3.8 WAR. His 2026 line looks worse (103 wRC+), but his .349 xwOBA says he hit better than the results showed.
I cant imagine the Mets sitting around wasting Juan Soto’s prime years and not being aggressive to get back to the postseason. Second base is also an easy upgrade for them. Marcus Semien hit for a 74 wRC+ in 2026 with −0.5 fWAR and −9 OAA. He’s owed $26M in 2027 and $20M in 2028, but the Mets owe that money whether he plays or not. That shouldn’t stop a team built to win during Juan Soto’s prime. Marte is worth about 2 wins over Steamer’s Semien projection, and closer to 3.5 if Semien repeats his 2026.
What Arizona gets: Christian Scott
Scott struck out hitters like a top-quarter starter in his first season back from surgery. His FIP was better than his ERA, which suggests some bad luck. He’s under team control through 2030, and our my trade model puts his surplus value around $28M. That’s at the top of the 75–80 cent range on Marte, so Arizona wouldn’t need to send money or ask for another prospect.
The risk: Innings Scott moved fast. He was drafted in 2021 at 22 and debuted in May 2024. Then he hurt his UCL after 47 MLB innings, had hybrid Tommy John surgery that September and missed all of 2025. He turns 28 in June with only 157 career MLB innings and has never thrown more than about 125 in a season, counting the minors. His walk rate also rose to 9.9%, well above his 3–7% in most minor-league stops, which can be common in the first year back from a major surgery like that. Arizona needs innings, and Scott hasn’t shown he can provide 160 of them. That’s the main reason this deal could be a risky bet for Arizona, but it is also the main reason why the Mets may be willing to give up such upside.
The 2027 Cost This trade costs Arizona wins next year. Losing Marte is worth about −4 wins, and Scott gets back roughly 1, so the swap is about −3 before spending the money. Moving Marte frees about $12.75M for 2027, which buys about 1.3 wins at market prices. Net, Arizona is about 1.5 to 2 wins worse in 2027 unless they find second-base help.
The Upside
In my humble opinion, an arm like Christian Scott is exactly the kind of gamble this team needs to take. A controllable starter whose stuff really plays. His Stuff+ was 116 in 2026 was in the 93rd percentile and his K% of 28.3 was in the 90th percentile. He likely has the ceiling of a real No. 2 starter (4-5 WAR) if he cuts back his walk rate and finds a better 3rd pitch for lefties. His stuff is already near the top of the league, walks and innings are what is holding him back. From a projections standpoint: Steamer 2027: 145 IP, 3.86 FIP (45th of 176 projected starters), K% 24th, 2.3 WAR (54th). From a player comps standpoint: 25 starter-seasons from 2022–25 closest to his Stuff+, K% and BB% at ages 25–29 include Dylan Cease, Cole Ragans, Blake Snell, Freddy Peralta and MacKenzie Gore. That’s exactly the high-strikeout, high-walk profile we are talking about here. The next season for that group: median 2.2 fWAR in 168 IP; 40% reached 3+ WAR, 20% reached 4+, and the 90th percentile was 4.7; 28% threw fewer than 80 innings.
The Verdict
I like this move for both teams. The Dbacks get worse in 2027, but get a solid upside starter and get Ketel off the team and free up some cash. The Mets get to make the big splash and get the best bat of the offseason for a starter with little track record and immediately run out one of the top offenses in baseball with Ketel, Soto, Lindor, and Bichette. They also are in a good position to sign one of the big offseason starting pitching arms out there as Jon Heyman of the NY Post said last week that the Mets are in on Skubal.
Overall, it ultimately depends on whether or not the Mets believe they can work with Ketel Marte and whether or not they are already planning on bolstering their rotation in free agency.
What do you guys think?
Bonus Content! Runner-Up Mock Trades for Ketel:
If you’ve made it this far and want to keep mock trading for Ketel, I figured I may as well share my runner up mocks as well:
PHI for Andrew Painter- PHI also bad need for offense (2027 Steamer 95 wRC+ ranks 28th), and has a surplus of pitching but Painter not as proven as Scott, bigger risk for ARI. But Painter throws hard: 96.6 mph, held all season, at age 23, and more than 150 total innings in 2026 between MLB and AAA. His secondaries were very good. Hitters managed a .177 wOBA against the changeup as lefties and .241 as righties, with whiff rates of 35–38%. His sweeper held righties to .205. However his 4 seamer got hit hard in 2026. .544 wOBA against righties, and only an 11.4% whiff rate against lefties.
DET for Jackson Jobe- DET has a big hole at 2B and is reportedly in on some big FA as it appears they have a real shot to contend in 2027 and beyond in a weak AL Central. They also have a wealth of young arms. Young pitchers like Jobe usually aren’t available, however he has some real durability issues. Jobe threw about 61 innings in 2026 with rehab, 49 in 2025, and has never topped about 96 in a season. But real top of the rotation potential here.
NYY for Will Warren- Much lower ceiling than Jobe, Scott, or Painter, but more of a steady innings presence at the backend of a rotation. Take a swing for an upside arm IMO. NYY need a 2nd basemen.
PHI for Gage Wood- If PHI wont do Painter, Wood is near MLB ready but gave up a lot of HR in 2026 and only threw 95 innings in 2026 so a full starters workload in 2027 would be a stretch. High upside though.
NYM for Jonathan Santucci and Jack Wenninger- If the Mets wont do Scott, and the Dbacks are willing to settle for unproven MLB talent, this is a good blend of upside and innings. For Santucci, the swing-and-miss is real: his swinging-strike rate was 95th percentile at both AA and AAA. His slider got 39.8% whiffs per swing and his curve 47.5%, on 610 tracked pitches. But has a real walks problem. However, Wenninger threw 115 AAA innings last year so provides some more proven floor to the deal.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 04: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Kris Bubic (40) delivers a pitch during the fifth inning of game two of NLDS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026 in Los Angeles, United States. (Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The Nationals have an opportunity to add some interesting arms this offseason, and one pitcher I want to see them take a look at is Kris Bubic. The 29-year-old left-hander has struggled to stay healthy, but when he’s been on the mound over the last few years, the results have been encouraging. Depending on how the Nats want to use him, Bubic could be a high-risk, high-reward starter or a valuable long man out of the bullpen.
Bubic’s best stretch came in 2025 with the Royals, as he posted a 2.55 ERA with 116 strikeouts in 116⅓ innings across 20 starts, earning his first All-Star selection. Unfortunately, a rotator cuff strain ended his season in July, cutting short what was looking like a huge breakout for the lefty. That season showed what Bubic can do in a rotation when healthy, and it’s why he’s worth paying attention to this winter.
In 2026, Bubic wasn’t quite as sharp, but his numbers were still solid. According to FanGraphs, he posted a 3.76 ERA, 3.54 FIP and 3.99 xFIP in 55 innings between Kansas City and Los Angeles. His 9.16 K/9 and 46.8% ground-ball rate were encouraging as well, although his 4.25 BB/9 was higher than you’d like to see. His FIP, which focuses on strikeouts, walks and home runs, supports the idea that Bubic was still pitching well despite another injury-filled season.
LHP Kris Bubic [29 y.o.]
2026 stats: 14 games (9 starts) 3.76 ERA 3.54 FIP 25% K%/12% BB% 49% GB%
Given the nature of his injury history, he is due for a 1+1 (club option) contract as high as $10-15M for 2027. His versatility in both a rotation and bullpen role could excite… pic.twitter.com/5oOilu3JHy
The numbers on Baseball Savant give some reasons to believe in his stuff as well, particularly his changeup. Hitters posted just a .119 AVG and .119 SLG against the pitch in 2026, with a 32.1% whiff rate (the percentage of swings that result in a miss, for reference). His slider also generated a 33.3% whiff rate, while his sweeper had a 29% whiff rate. The sample size wasn’t huge, but Bubic still has the pitches to make big league hitters uncomfortable.
The biggest concern is whether he can stay on the mound long enough to put everything together. Bubic underwent Tommy John surgery in 2023, had the shoulder injury in 2025, and missed most of 2026 with elbow trouble. There’s plenty to like about his potential as a starter, but the Nats would need other options available if injuries became an issue again. He’s someone I’d like to see compete for a rotation spot, with the Nats keeping a close eye on his workload.
If starting doesn’t work out, Bubic has already shown he can pitch out of the bullpen. In 2024, he posted a 2.67 ERA with 39 strikeouts in 30⅓ innings, and he finished the 2026 regular season with 4⅔ scoreless innings for the Dodgers. A long-relief role could allow the Nats to use him for multiple innings after a short start, or potentially give him a spot start when needed. That would depend on his health, but his experience in both roles gives the Nats some flexibility.
ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel projects Bubic to sign for two years and $18 million, a reasonable price if the Nats are comfortable with his medicals. That’s still a meaningful commitment for a pitcher with his injury history, but the upside makes him worth considering. If Bubic can get back to his 2025 form, the Nats could find itself with a bargain in the rotation. If he ends up as a productive multi-inning reliever, he could still be a useful addition to the staff.
Last year, this was more of a procession than a contest. It was basically over by the start of April, due to Eugenio Suarez swatting four home-runs in one game on April 26. Everything thereafter was window-dressing, though Brandon Pfaadt’s September outing, tossing nine innings of one-hit ball, at least made the category something of a contest. This year promises to be a little more competitive – though it still might be over by the end of April. Typically, we will have five nominees, and these usually include one relief pitcher, two starting pitchers, and two position players. But I am prepared to hear arguments to the contrary, because there are two very credible relief outings this year, I think.
Here’s how this will work.
Go to the comments section.
If your choice is already mentioned there, give it a “rec”.
If your choice is NOT mentioned, put in a brief summary of the performance in question and leave that as a new comment.
The MLB Video Search tool might be very helpful in bolstering your case.
Duplicate nominations will get deleted.
On Wednesday, I’ll tally up the recs, and use those as a guide towards a list of five or so nominees.
Position player
3/31, Jose Fernandez: 3-for-4 with two home-runs in his debut
4/26, Ildemaro Vargas: a single short of the cycle
5/24, Corbin Carroll: 4-for-4, two triples, two RBI
8/15, Nolan Arenado: two HR, three R, four RBI, BB
9/14, Corbin Carroll: 2-for-5, three RBI, R, +70.7 WP
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 27: Will Dion 376 of the Washington Nationals pitches against the New York Mets at Nationals Park on September 27, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images) | Getty Images
When the Nationals traded Foster Griffin to the Guardians, I thought the return was underwhelming. Paul Toboni went for a quantity heavy package that was short on big name prospects. However, the deal has aged well mostly due to the emergence of Will Dion, who was excellent after joining the Nats.
Multi-inning relievers are becoming increasingly common across Major League Baseball. We saw how important they can be this postseason. The Brewers leaned heavily on their bullpen, and it resulted in a championship. Aaron Ashby and DL Hall were tasked with throwing multiple innings throughout the playoffs.
It is not the flashiest profile in the world, but the multi-inning reliever is becoming very important. That is exactly the role Will Dion filled for the Nats down the stretch. He made 15 appearances for the Nats, and threw 30 innings. There were times when Dion was only asked to get one out, but other outings he gave the Nats as many as 4.1 innings.
In a Nationals bullpen that desperately needed help, Dion pitched to a 3.00 ERA for the Nats. He also struck out 30 batters in 30 innings. Those strikeout numbers are impressive given his lack of velocity. Dion’s fastball only averaged 91.1 MPH this season. However, batters only hit .198 against the pitch and Dion got 31 of his 55 strikeouts on the heater.
Dion has no ordinary 91 MPH fastball though. He releases the ball from an extreme over the top delivery and generates a ton of carry on his fastball. Dion averages 20 inches of induced vertical break on his fastball, which is one of the best marks in the league. That IVB means hitters misjudge his fastball and often swing underneath it.
Four pitchers in MLB are averaging 20.0” IVB on four-seam fastballs (min. 200 fastballs thrown):
1. Alex Vesia (21.2”) 2. Tobias Myers (20.1”) 3. Will Dion (20.1”) 4. Dylan Lee (20.0”)
Dion starts for Washington tomorrow. Also second highest arm angle (67°) in MLB (Vesia 70°).
It is impossible for a fastball to actually rise, but Dion’s heater resists gravity much more than most heaters, which gives hitters the illusion that it is rising. This unique fastball is Dion’s calling card, and it sets up the rest of his arsenal.
Speaking of the rest of his arsenal, the Nats actually made a tweak that really unlocked Dion. Before coming to DC, Dion’s changeup was on the periphery of his arsenal. He would throw it, but only around 15% of the time. When he joined the Nats, he started throwing the changeup way more. In August, he threw it a crazy 37.6% of the time. That came down to 24.4% in September, but that is still more usage than before.
Dion’s changeup pairs very well with his rising fastball. It is a true bugs bunny changeup that looks like the fastball before dying while it comes to the plate. At 78 MPH, the changeup is 13 MPH slower than his fastball. That velocity difference really kept hitters off balance. Batters hit just .119 with a 33% whiff rate against that changeup.
It was a pitch he mostly used against right handed hitters, but by the end of the season, he was throwing more left on left changeups. Those two pitches are the centerpieces of his arsenal, but Dion also throws his curve 20% of the time. His curveball is mainly used to steal strikes early in the count. It does not get many whiffs, but he can land it in the zone often.
Dion’s lack of velocity puts a cap on his ceiling, but he has shown to be a capable multi-inning relief arm. He and Brad Lord will be asked to do the dirty work in the bullpen next season. It is not a flashy role, but it is one that teams need now more than ever.
If Dion can replicate the success he had down the stretch, that Foster Griffin trade should age fairly well. Dion has proven to be useful, and I think Josh Hartle has the ability to fill a similar role at some point. For half a season of Foster Griffin, that is not too bad. Paul Toboni did not shoot for the stars in this trade, but it looks like he has found at least one piece that will be a functional bullpen arm for years to come.
There was some hope that JR Ritchie could serve as a key member of the rotation for the Atlanta Braves this season. While many thought the rotation was going to be a problem area for the Braves, it turned out that the Braves did okay in that regard. Unfortunately, JR Ritchie didn’t really have much to do with that, as he largely struggled across 17 appearances (11 starts), with the team going 7-10 in those games.
How Acquired
JR Ritchie a homegrown prospect, drafted thirty-fifth overall in the 2022 draft. (He’s from Bainbridge Island, Washington, but development-wise, he’s Braves all the way.) He spent parts of five seasons in the minors before he made his MLB debut in April this year. He peaked as the 84th ranked prospect by Baseball America and 69th by FanGraphs.
What were the expectations?
Ritchie was somewhere around a 45-50 FV in the run-up to the season, and had pitched well before hitting Triple-A in 2025, though he stumbled a bit at the highest level of the minors. After a poor first start in Triple-A in 2026, Ritchie reeled off a dominant four-start stretch where it looked like he had nothing left to learn at Gwinnett, leading to his promotion.
Even before all that, though, Ritchie was getting the standard prospect projection of a fourth starter (somewhere between 1.5 and 2.0 WAR on a rate basis). As with every pitcher getting similar projections (which is most prospect pitchers), it was up to Ritchie to prove he could do better (or worse) than that.
2026 Results
Unfortunately for Ritchie and the Braves, he mostly proved the latter. At the top line, Ritchie made 11 starts and six relief appearances, earning -0.3 fWAR with a 117 ERA-, 134 FIP-, and 112 xFIP-. His value was depressed by a high HR/FB (above 18 percent), but even without that, he pitched like a not particularly effective fifth starter.
Ritchie’s season was one of repeated chances and not doing much with them. His first rotation stint was five starts, in which things were a mixed bag at best. After another month in the minors, he then became one of the Braves’ yo-yo guys, making three starts and six relief appearances across four different call-ups in the span of about two months. The performance wasn’t much better. He made three starts to close out the season, and to the extent he had improved at all over the course of the year, it was hard to tell because teams blasted him for four homers in 15 1/3 innings in those final appearances.
Ritchie was not rostered for the Wild Card round; he made the NLDS roster, but did not appear.
What went right?
It’s not that Ritchie didn’t have success. It’s just that that success was limited to individual outings.
His MLB debut was exciting, as he went seven frames with a 7/2 K/BB ratio against a high-powered Nationals offense, giving up two solo homers in what was a very close game until the Braves pulled away before his final inning of work. It wasn’t entirely downhill from there, but his poor performances did dampen the excitement a bit. Still, plenty of stuff went right, just… intermittently.
For example, he had a couple of successful relief appearances against the Mets, totaling eight innings with a 9/3 K/BB ratio. He also had a nice innings-eating stint relief appearance against the Cardinals where he pitched 4 1/3 innings in a close game and was charged with a single run with a 2/2 K/BB ratio — it was his highest WPA game over the year and set up the Braves prevailing by scoring a run in the top of the ninth. He followed that up with a crisp one-inning relief appearance against the Rangers, giving some credence to the idea that he could be an effective relief pitcher. (It didn’t really last, though, as his xFIP was only slightly better as a reliever, though he did allow way fewer homers in shorter stints.) He also had one nice start against the Reds as the Braves ran down the clock on the season, with an 8/3 K/BB ratio — but this too was marred by a homer, as well as the fact that his other two starts around this one were horrible.
All in all, across his 17 appearances, Ritchie had five (two starts and three relief appearances) with an FIP- of 80 or lower, and four (two starts and two relief appearances) with an xFIP- of 80 or below. So, it wasn’t entirely hopeless… just mostly a bummer.
Pitch-wise, his curve was effective with an xwOBA-against under .300 and a whiff rate of nearly 30 percent. Its success wasn’t surprising, as it has many of the makings of a great pitch: he throws it harder than a normal curve, but is able to keep a reasonable depth on it while also adding some horizontal break, giving it two-plane movement of the sort batters don’t tend to expect, while mirroring its spin against his other offerings.
What went wrong?
At the top line, none of his results or metrics suggested any degree of effectiveness, which means he had a bunch of problematic outings. Even his xERA was really bad, which suggests a lack of contact management beyond problems in the “traditional” pitching assessments. He struck out fewer batters than league average, had an egregiously high walk rate (especially considering his lack of strikeouts), suffered from harder-than-average contact, and made it easy for batters to pull the ball in the air. Really, he pretty much struggled across the board in terms of his pitching approach: he didn’t pound the zone, he didn’t get whiffs in the zone, he didn’t get chase, he didn’t put pitches on the corner, he didn’t get ahead with strike one, and he didn’t avoid meatballs.
On a game level, he was a disaster for the team’s win expectancy in six of his 11 starts. The worst was him getting shelled for three homers in two innings against the Giants: the Braves were down 5-0 after he faced 11 batters, and lost 7-5. But, he also struggled at times in relief, like an outing where he had a 1/2 K/BB ratio while on the mound for four outs with a slim lead against the Pirates, though the Braves gutted that one out. And, it’s not like all of this meant he didn’t just get BABIPed among shoddy pitching in other outings, like his start in September against the Cubs (5/2 K/BB ratio but two homers and six runs charged in 4 2/3 innings) or his final start of his first stint against the Marlins, where he had a 5/3 K/BB ratio and didn’t get tagged for a homer, but got BABIPed for six runs charged anyway. And then there was the outing where he put together a pathetic 2/6 K/BB ratio against the Mariners in Seattle, which was one of those “Braves decided to stop managing aggressively” disasters that stuck with them through the season.
If you look at his actual pitch metrics, the high degree of struggle wasn’t surprising. Ritchie lacked command of any of his pitches, working more like a junkballer attempting to get by on the element of surprise. Unfortunately, the lack of command meant that many of his pitches missed badly in the zone where they were hittable (especially his curve and four-seamer), while he also had a tendency for bad, nowhere-near misses with those pitches and his changeup. On top of that, only his curve had good shape — the natural sink on his four-seamer made it somewhat problematic that he tried to execute it at the top of the zone; meanwhile, his sinker, which he threw more than his four-seamer, had a lot of drop but was thrown “high” and ended up letter high way too often.
There are things to work with in Ritchie’s profile, but the lack of command and the fact that he tries to go fastball up, changeup down when all of those pitches have a downward movement profile is a disaster. He needs to clean up his mechanics to allow his curve to eviscerate hitters, but in concert with that, he needs to actually have a pitching plan that takes advantage of his pitch shape, instead of working against it.
2027 Outlook
JR Ritchie was a rookie in 2026 and unless something drastic happens, he is still in the plans to develop into a starter for the Braves for now and the future. Odds are that the Front Office has not given up on him and depending on which players the Braves acquire in the offseason, we could see him in both the rotation and the bullpen at the MLB level in 2027. It may not be the most exciting news based on his 2026 results, but the odds lean that way for the moment.
Given that his types of struggles aren’t unusual for rookie arms, Ritchie’s projections haven’t taken a big hit. Steamer’s early release has him as an 0.8 WAR guy in 99 innings as a swingman, which is still in that fourth starter tier. Once again, it’s up to Ritchie to prove he can do better… and avoid doing the opposite, like he did in 2026.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - OCTOBER 11: Tarik Skubal #29 of the Los Angeles Dodgers throws a pitch against the Milwaukee Brewers during the second inning in game one of the National League Championship Series at American Family Field on October 11, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | Getty Images
We have been doing this for a few years now: looking at the top free agents, using the contract Ben Clemens suggests he’ll get, and asking whether you would like the Jays to give him that contract. This year, the lockout makes it a little more complicated.
Number one on both Keith Law and Ben Clemens’ list of top free agents is, of course, Tarik Skubal. Skubal turns 30 on the 20th of this month. He won the AL Cy Young in 2024 and 2025 (this year he split time between the AL and NL). He had a terrific 2026 season: a 2.72 ERA in 26 starts, a 12-7 record, 186 strikeouts in 158.2 innings, and just 27 walks.
Career, he is 66-44 with a 3.02 ERA and a 22.7 bWAR.
The only downside is his injury history. Three elbow surgeries since college, one this past season. But then, he’s made 88 starts in the last three seasons.
Keith Law said:
Skubal is the obvious star of this free-agent class, a No. 1 starter on any club when he’s healthy, although we didn’t see that version of Skubal as much in 2026 as we did in 2024 and 2025, when he won back-to-back Cy Young Awards and was worth 6+ WAR each season (using either version of WAR). He can show three plus pitches — his upper-90s four-seamer, wipeout changeup with excellent arm speed and some fading action, and a slider that plays above its “shape,” due in part to its velocity, up to 92-93. He’s posted walk rates below 5 percent in four straight seasons, consistently limits hard contact, and doesn’t let hitters pull the ball in the air that much, so his BABIPs have come in better than league average in every year of his career — he’s at .281 overall and has never allowed a BABIP of .300 in any season, which is Clayton Kershaw-level pitching.
Clemens:
There are no bad free agent markets for players as good as Skubal, which made his contract easier to forecast. Teams pursuing his services want Skubal specifically, not Skubal or someone like him. He’s the best free agent in the class by such a wide margin that his market is more or less separate from the rest. If you’re looking for a good pitcher who might turn in an ace-level season, there are a few options. If you’re looking for an ace, it’s just Skubal. Thus, the question is how much he’ll eclipse the old record contract for a pitcher, not whether he will.
Clements figures he will get a 10-year contract at $38 million a year, for a total of $380 million, taking him to his age 39 season.
This is not only a blast from the Cubs past, but the view of bleacher fans shows hairstyles and dress styles for what could be said to be “average” fans in the mid-1980s.
Honestly, the fans you see don’t look that much different from what you’d see in the bleachers today. It is sobering for me, personally, to realize that everyone you see in this photo is at least in their 60s now, possibly older.
Anyway.
The photo is a little bit washed out, so the numbers on the board aren’t that easy to read. I put it through Photoshop, did a little bit of adjustment on the brightness and contrast and got this closeup view of the scoreboard:
It’s 3:45 and we’re in the top of the third inning, so this is a game that likely began at 3:05. There are no NITE GAME indicators on any of the other games, so this would at first glance appear to be a Sunday afternoon, possibly in the Cubs’ NL East title year of 1984.
This is where you go wrong with assumptions. The batter is Garry Templeton, so the Cubs are playing the Padres. (Yes, the city names are still a bit blurry, but Templeton was a Padre from 1982-91, so it’s got to be the Padres. We also know it has to be in the 1983-85 time frame, because that’s when those beer ads were on the board.
But I looked through all the Cubs/Padres 1984 games — including the two NLCS games — and nothing matched the Cubs having a 4-0 lead in the top of the third, having scored two runs in each of the first two innings.
Instead, this game was played Tuesday, July 9, 1985, in front of 33,085 on what’s clearly a gorgeous summer day at Wrigley. The pair of two-run innings were both courtesy of Ryne Sandberg — he hit two-run homers in each of the first two innings. Not an easy thing to do, incidentally! The Cubs got a couple more runners on base in the first after Sandberg homered with Billy Hatcher on base. Then in the second, a groundout was followed by a single by Steve Trout and a fly ball by Hatcher before Sandberg homered again.
In the top of the third, Bruce Bochy, then the Padres catcher, grounded out. That brought up Templeton, which is what we see on the board. There’s one out and one strike on Templeton. He eventually grounded to third base in this at-bat.
The Cubs won the game 7-3. Sandberg went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, including the pair of two-run homers. Hatcher, who later went on to have good years in Houston and Cincinnati after the Cubs ill-advisedly traded him for Jerry Mumphrey, went 3-for-4. Trout threw seven strong innings and got the win.
There were some night games on this day so I’m not sure why NITE GAME was not shown on the board. After this win the Cubs were 43-38, in fourth place but just 5.5 games behind the first-place Cardinals, theoretically still in the NL East race. But pitching injuries killed that team and they went just 34-46 the rest of the way and finished fourth at 77-84, 23.5 games out of first place.
Just another little slice of life from Wrigley Field, more than 40 years ago.
TORONTO, ON - JUNE 08: Adolis García #53 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a 2-run home run in the second inning during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on June 8, 2026 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images) | Getty Images
I recently came across this post on X which listed the players the Phillies have signed to one-year contracts over the past few seasons.
Every one-year MLB Free Agent Contract given out by the Phillies since Dave Dombrowski took over as President of Baseball Options:
Craig Kimbrel 1 Year, $10 Million Corey Knebel 1 Year, $10 Million Max Kepler 1 Year, $10 Million Adolis Garcia 1 Year, $10 Million Jordan Romano 1… pic.twitter.com/3SjioOfa0i
There’s a saying that “there’s no such thing as a bad one-year contract,” but that list seems to work against that belief. To be fair, most of those guys weren’t signed to be major contributors, and they did find some usable bench players (Brad Miller, Johan Camargo) over the years. But there were some players – particularly relievers – who they expected to be at least semi-major contributors. Sadly, the best season out of any of them was Craig Kimbrel. (Kimbrel was actually very good for much of the year before he collapsed late in the season and the playoffs.)
As it turns out, there’s usually a reason why players sign for one-year deals. If there was a lot of optimism regarding how good these players were going to be, they would likely be attracting multi-year offers.
Looking ahead to the 2027 season, the Phillies once again have some holes to fill, and they only have so much money to fill them. Many fans are dreaming of filling one of the outfield spots with a free agent like Seiya Suzuki or Randy Arozarena.
The Phillies are prioritizing the outfield this offseason, with free agents Seiya Suzuki and Randy Arozarena both on their radar, per @JimBowdenGMpic.twitter.com/jJu3v6Gwds
I expect the Phillies to be in the mix for those players, but so will a lot of teams, and it isn’t clear if the Phillies can make the best offer. Unless you’re the Dodgers, teams generally can’t have high priced players at every position. While the pending player lockout might change the financial outlook for the Phillies, it doesn’t seem likely that they’ll be able to simply outspend themselves out of their current fringe of contention status.
The Phillies also might not want to lock themselves into yet another multi-year contract for a player’s decline phase. Sometimes those deals work out, but it isn’t hard to imagine one of them turning into Nick Castellanos 2.0.
The best alternative, of course, is to start developing young players to fill those holes. Wouldn’t it be nice if the Phillies could emulate the World Champion Brewers and call up a Cooper Pratt or Jackson Chourio? But based on the state of the minor leagues, the Phillies do not have many players who they can project to be regular contributors next year. (They REALLY need Aidan Miller to hit!)
Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise if the Phillies have to once again turn to a few one-year contracts to fill out their starting lineup, bench, and bullpen. Maybe they get lucky this time around and can find players who actually provide good value. But it seems like more often than not, what they’ll end up with is the next Adolis Garcia or Jordan Romano.
As Erick Fedde and Kyle Teel celebrated the White Sox clinching the AL Wild Card series, fans could take a breath and relax following a day of superstitious rituals. | (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
I didn’t move.
Not when Sam Antonacci doubled to open the second game of the American League Wild Card series against the Houston Astros. Not when Kyle Teel singled him home. And certainly not when Andrew Benintendi delivered a two-run single that helped the Chicago White Sox build a four-run lead before the Astros could record their second out.
There I sat, practically frozen in place, convinced that the slightest movement might somehow bring Chicago’s offensive outburst to an abrupt end.
Never mind that I was hundreds of miles from Daikin Park in Houston. Never mind that the White Sox players had absolutely no idea who I was, what I was wearing or whether I had gotten up to use the bathroom. And never mind that my position on the couch had precisely zero influence on a baseball traveling toward home plate at nearly 100 mph.
The White Sox were scoring. I wasn’t moving.
It wasn’t until Tristan Peters singled home Chicago’s fourth run and the inning finally ended that I allowed myself to get comfortable again.
Welcome to the wonderfully irrational world of sports superstitions, where otherwise reasonable adults become convinced that a lucky jersey, a particular snack or the precise arrangement of living room furniture might determine whether their favorite team wins or loses.
And apparently, I’m not alone.
A little luck never hurt anyone
My postseason wardrobe consisted of White Sox jerseys.
Every game. No exceptions.
When football season arrives, the situation becomes considerably more complicated. I pay attention to whether my team (either the Chicago Bears or Jacksonville Jaguars) is playing at home or on the road, choosing my jersey accordingly. I try to eat the same foods, snack at the same times and sit in the same location.
It’s definitely easy for my wife. Honestly, she probably thinks it’s a little obnoxious.
Sometimes a particular shirt becomes lucky. Other times, a hat gets blamed for a loss.
I understand how ridiculous this sounds.
I also know that if the White Sox had continued scoring every time I remained motionless during the playoffs, there’s a good chance someone would have needed to bring me dinner.
But the impulse to create rituals around sporting events isn’t unusual. A 2018 study published in Sport Management Review examined how superstitions influence the experience of watching sports. Researchers found that these behaviors were associated with fans’ emotional states during games and that more superstitious fans were more likely to attribute outcomes to outside influences such as fate or officiating.
In other words, fans aren’t necessarily trying to control a baseball game. They’re trying to control how helpless they feel while watching one.
A separate study published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2021 interviewed 24 soccer fans in Israel and identified two important elements of their superstitions: timing and location. Some fans performed rituals at specific moments. Others attached significance to where they watched games or sat inside stadiums. Researchers concluded that these behaviors could help fans manage the uncertainty and stress associated with sporting events.
That sounds suspiciously familiar. Especially the part about not moving.
The unwritten rules of being a fan
Superstitions aren’t exclusive to baseball.
Football fans develop routines around kickoff times, lucky clothing and where they sit. Some refuse to watch field-goal attempts. Others avoid speaking during important plays.
Hockey fans have their own rituals, sometimes refusing to celebrate a lead too early or changing where they stand during a power play.
Basketball fans might stay in the same chair during a shooting streak, wear a lucky shirt or refuse to discuss a possible victory before the final buzzer.
The details differ, but the underlying idea is remarkably consistent: Something good happened while I was doing this, therefore, I must keep doing this.
Of course, that logic has one enormous problem: Correlation isn’t causation.
A White Sox home run doesn’t happen because I happen to be wearing a black jersey instead of a white one. A missed field goal isn’t the result of someone opening a bag of potato chips at the wrong moment.
And yet, when the stakes increase, so does the temptation to believe.
In a 2006 study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology, researchers found that elite athletes were more committed to their rituals when the importance of the competition and the uncertainty surrounding its outcome increased. The research focused on athletes rather than spectators, but the emotional connection isn’t difficult to recognize.
A meaningless baseball game in May might not require any special preparation.
But Game 7 of the World Series? Suddenly, every article of clothing becomes a potential competitive advantage.
Baseball’s original creatures of habit
If fans are superstitious, baseball players have been perfecting the practice for generations.
Hall-of-Famer Wade Boggs famously followed an elaborate routine that included eating chicken before games, taking batting practice at specific times and following carefully established habits throughout the day. Boggs, who finished his career with 3,010 hits and a .328 batting average, believed luck played a meaningful role in his success.
In an August 2025 interview on MLB’s The Road to Cooperstown podcast, Boggs reflected on the importance of those rituals.
“I’ve always said I’d rather be lucky than good,” Boggs told MLB.com.
That might be one of the most revealing statements ever made about baseball superstition.
Boggs was unquestionably good. He won five batting titles, earned 12 All-Star selections and became one of the greatest contact hitters of his generation. But even with all that ability, he wanted every possible advantage, real or imagined.
Other players have taken their routines to even greater extremes.
Former major league pitcher Turk Wendell became known for brushing his teeth between innings, chewing black licorice and observing a collection of unusual habits throughout his career. Hall-of-Famer Larry Walker was famously attached to the number three, incorporating it into his uniform number and other aspects of his routine. And former Chicago Cubs outfielder Moisés Alou was among the players who openly discussed unconventional habits involving his hands and batting preparation.
Baseball has always been filled with characters whose rituals might seem strange anywhere outside a clubhouse.
But are modern players any different? Not necessarily.
A 2025 study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences examined superstitious rituals among athletes through interviews and focus groups involving 30 participants. Researchers identified connections between rituals, confidence, anxiety and the perceived importance of competition.
A more recent systematic review, examining 27 studies, likewise found that superstitious behavior remains common in sports.
There isn’t sufficient evidence to say today’s major leaguers are more or less superstitious than players from 20 or 50 years ago.
What seems clear is that the desire for routine hasn’t disappeared simply because the game has become more analytical. Baseball now measures everything from spin rate and launch angle to bat speed and the movement of a pitch. But there still isn’t a statistic capable of explaining why a player feels more comfortable wearing the same socks during a winning streak.
October brings out the believers
And that brings us to the final four teams who were in the running for the 2026 World Series.
Every pitch matters. Every baserunner creates anxiety. Every questionable managerial decision threatens to send thousands of people searching for something, anything that they can control.
In Cleveland, fans had endured a championship drought dating to 1948. That’s 78 years of waiting for another World Series title. Milwaukee had never won a World Series, despite reaching the Fall Classic in 1982. Tampa Bay had reached the World Series twice, in 2008 and 2020, without winning a championship. And Los Angeles, with a considerably more recent history of postseason success, entered this year’s championship series attempting to defend its title again and pull off a rare threepeat.
Once the pennants were won, we were guaranteed to have a first-time World Series winner, but the franchise histories weren’t quite parallel.
The city of Milwaukee had experienced a title, albeit under the Braves moniker and nearly 70 years ago. The Brewers fan base hadn’t even seen a pennant for 44 years.
The Rays had been there twice, but couldn’t finish the job.
Can the Rays finish what previous teams couldn’t?
There is no reliable evidence that either fan base is more superstitious than the other. But with a World Series championship on the line, it’s difficult to imagine that every lucky shirt, preferred viewing location and carefully maintained game-day routine didn’t get put to the test.
And if Milwaukee started its run of four wins in five games to win it all while a fan happened to be sitting in an uncomfortable position? I suspect that person remained there for quite some time.
Does any of it really matter?
Here’s where I have to acknowledge something.
I don’t genuinely believe that the White Sox lost to Cleveland in the ALDS because I wore the wrong jersey.
I don’t believe that getting up to refill my drink caused a strikeout.
And I certainly don’t believe that a team of professional athletes needs me to remain motionless on my couch to score runs.
At least, that’s what I tell myself.
The scientific explanation is more compelling than the supernatural one. Superstitions give people a sense of control in situations where they have almost none.
For athletes, rituals may help establish a familiar routine, regulate emotions and improve confidence. For fans, the benefit can be psychological rather than competitive. Research suggests that superstitious behaviors can influence how spectators experience games, even without influencing what happens on the field.
There’s also something wonderfully communal about it: Sports fans recognize these behaviors in one another.
We understand why someone refuses to wash a jersey during a winning streak. We might laugh at a friend who insists on eating the same meal before every game, but we’ll probably ask what was on the menu after the team wins.
We know it doesn’t make sense, but we do it anyway.
Perhaps that’s because being a sports fan has never been entirely rational. We invest enormous amounts of time, money and emotional energy into teams whose success we cannot control. We celebrate victories as though we contributed to them, and mourn defeats as though we personally failed. We develop attachments to players we’ve never met and stadiums we may never visit.
And somewhere along the way, we convince ourselves that a little luck might make the difference.
The White Sox season ended despite my carefully selected jerseys and game-day routines.
I could take that as proof that superstitions don’t work. I could abandon the rituals, sit wherever I want and wear whatever happens to be clean.
But when the White Sox return to the field next spring, I’ll probably reach into the closet for the same jersey. I’ll settle into my usual spot. And if Chicago starts scoring runs?
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 17: (L-R) Darryl Strawberry, Keith Hernandez, and Sal Licata speak onstage during the SNY's Baseball Night in New York Live panel at Fanatics Fest NYC 2026 at Jacob Javits Center on July 17, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for Fanatics) | Getty Images for Fanatics
Meet the Mets
Reactions continue to pour in regarding the mass layoffs at SNY that were announced on Friday. “The real reason I’m sick to my stomach is because there are a lot of superb people who are great at what they do,” Sal Licata said on a livestream on Friday. “I’ve worked at a lot of places over the years, part-time and things like that, and none of them compare to SNY.” He added that if it were up to him, he would have stayed there his entire career.
“It’s overall AWFUL for the people most-affected but, after nearly 7 years there, I was lucky enough to work with pretty much everybody & am confident the cream will rise to the top,” Michelle Margaux tweeted.
“We all know the unfortunate realities of a changing industry, but that doesn’t make days like yesterday any easier,” wrote Steve Gelbs, also on Twitter. “So many of those affected weren’t just colleagues. They weren’t even just friends. They were family. Incredibly talented, creative people I’ve long admired who made this job feel like anything but work.”
“Hadn’t been here long, but felt right away that SNY was a special place where people cared about their work, prioritized joy in a cynical industry, and loved baseball the way their audience does and deserves. I know those of us left will continue to do that. But I’m heartbroken,” tweeted SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes.
Around the National League East
Paul Casella of MLB.com ran down the best and worst case scenarios for each member of the Phillies’ projected 2027 starting rotation.
The Nationals’ extension of Jacob Young potentially muddies the future for Dylan Crews in DC, writes Sam Sallick at Federal Baseball.
Jessica Camerato of MLB.com examined three Nationals pitchers who could be key to the team’s success next season.
Around Major League Baseball
Pete Crow-Armstrong and Cody Bellinger were named the Platinum Gold Glove winners in the National League and American League, respectively.
Mike Petriello of MLB.com ranked all 30 MLB rosters as they stand right now heading into free agency. The Mets came in at number 6.
The Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate Scranton/Wilkes-Barre has rebranded itself from the RailRiders to the Highlanders in a nod to the Yankees’ original name when they relocated from Baltimore.
Five retired umpires (Joe West, Tom Hallion, Gerry Davis, Larry Vanover and Jerry Layne) are suing over their MLB retirement plan, saying they are owed additional money.
The federal trial of Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz continued on Friday, as a government witness testified that the inside information he used to bet on Clase’s pitches dried up after the gambling scandal involving Shohei Ohtani’s former interpreter, which increased scrutiny on gambling in the sport.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 26: David Peterson #23 of the New York Mets in action during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field on May 26, 2026 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images) | Getty Images
David Peterson entered 2026 as the longest tenured New York Met. Over the course of the offseason leading up to the 2026 season, so many of Peterson’s former compatriots either were dealt away or signed elsewhere. Thus, David Peterson was the last man standing who went back to the prior ownership group. Peterson was looking to get back on track after a dismal second half of 2025, which came immediately after an All-Star first half of 2025. And with free agency looming at the end of the season, it was imperative that Peterson play well enough to be able to get a nice payday in his first chance at the open market.
Unfortunately for David Peterson and for the New York Mets, he wasn’t able to recapture any past glory, instead falling further from his top form of 2024 and the first half of 2025. His first start was 5.1 innings of scoreless baseball against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and after that everything went downhill. In 16 games with the Mets in 2026 (half of those starts), he had a 6.09 ERA in 68 innings, striking out 63 while walking 30 batters. He had a 1.647 WHIP, with a 10.9 H9 and a 67 ERA+, all career worsts. He was worth -1.0 bWAR, which was also a career worst and was an incredible freefall from the two seasons before.
The Mets didn’t lack for wanting or trying to fix Peterson. They moved him to and from the bullpen, trying to find a role that would suit him and the changes to make that could fix him. And as the team went deeper and deeper into their own free-fall, it felt more and more imperative to find a way to plug as many of the holes as possible, whether that was by fix or by removing.
For Peterson, it ended up being the latter. On June 25th, Peterson was traded to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for minor league first baseman Cole Mathis. Thus went the longest tenured Met, and started what would become a major sell-off for the Mets ahead of the trade deadline. With the Cubs, Peterson was able to recover a little bit, appearing in 16 games with Chicago (15 of them starts) with a 3.70 ERA with a 1.369 WHIP and a 114 ERA+, and rebounding with 0.9 bWAR which brought him back up to just -0.1 bWAR over the course of the whole season.
After just over six seasons with the Mets, Peterson ended with a New York career 4.31 ERA, 677 strikeouts, a 94 ERA+ and 5.9 bWAR. Beyond that, he collected several accolades and big moments with the Mets. He was both an All-Star and Gold Glove finalist in 2025. He was a big part of the Mets 2024 playoff and postseason run, recording a save in Game 3 of the Wild Card series to send the Mets to the NLDS and got a win in Game 4 of the NLDS against the Phillies. He was the first lefty to throw a complete game shutout with the Mets since Steven Matz, throwing one against the Nationals in June 2025. Even with the inconsistencies and the disappointments, there were also some triumphant moments in Peterson’s time with the Mets.
Now, after a somewhat bounceback second half with the Cubs, Peterson enters free agency for the first time in his career. It will be a crazed free agency with most of it probably happening before the inevitable lockout amid CBA negotiations in December. Peterson might end up getting less money or less suitors because of it, and a potential reunion with the Mets seems highly unlikely. So, unfortunately for David Peterson and the Mets, the final memories of David Peterson in a Mets uniform will be marred with the frustration and misery of a failure of a Mets season where David Peterson was one of many not-insignificant problems that plagued the Mets.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - OCTOBER 04: Ty France #25 of the San Diego Padres hits an RBI single against the Milwaukee Brewers during the seventh inning in game two of the National League Division Series at American Family Field on October 04, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Happy Sunday everybody! Here’s roughly half a tablespoon of links. Not a lot of links, but quite a lot of cayenne powder. Much to think about.
In Mariners news…
Genuinely grateful to this post by the MLB Instagram account for reminding me of that Lázaro homerun.
Around the league…
Ty France is hoping that his major bounce back last season will finally net him a big payday in the upcoming free agent scramble.
New testimony in the case against Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz alleges that the inside information bettors would receive stopped being available in 2024 after the scandal surrounding Ippei Mizuhara prompted heavier scrutiny.
SCOTTSDALE, AZ - NOVEMBER 07: Alex McCoy #11 of the Peoria Javelinas bats during the 2026 Arizona Fall League Home Run Derby at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on Saturday, November 7, 2026 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Jill Weisleder/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The San Diego Padres farmhand, who has been playing for the Peoria Javelinas during the Arizona Fall League, gave the fans in attendance something to cheer for and gave the Friar Faithful something to hope for. Alex McCoy, the 6-5, 260-pound outfielder hit a 503-foot home run in the first round of the AFL Home Run Derby held at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Ariz. on Saturday night.
Alex McCoy (@Padres No. 26 prospect) drills one 503 feet to get things off to an electric start in the @MLBazFallLeague HR derby!
McCoy’s blast was one of seven first-round home runs hit by the right hander, but he was knocked out of the derby in that round by the eventual champion, Aaron Parker of the Toronto Blue Jays organization, 12-7. For McCoy, his appearance at the AFL Home Run Derby resulted in yet another headline home run from the AFL this season. The slugger has been drawing attention from fans of the Padres and baseball alike for his ability to hit the long ball.
The question for McCoy is whether or not his power can translate at the MLB level. Admittedly, he is still aways off from being called up to Petco Park, but after San Diego sent James Wood, another power-hitting outfielder, to the Washington Nationals in the Juan Soto trade, it would be nice to see a homegrown power-hitter rise through the ranks to make his MLB debut with the Padres. The knock on McCoy is his number of strikeouts, but that is to be expected with any young slugger. The hope is that the coaches throughout the San Diego minor league system can help him make adjustments so he can make his debut sooner than later.
The AFL Fall Stars Game will be played tonight at 5 pm PST.
Padres News:
Ty France had an impressive season in his return to the Padres but did he impress Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball? Read what grade France earned for his 2026 performance, here.
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 06: Mauricio Dubon #14 of the Atlanta Braves fields a ground ball during the seventh inning of Game Three of the Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on October 6, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Jack Casey/Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
If you missed the Braves financial release on Wednesday, it was a little unimpressive. They didn’t really cash in on the more expensive season tickets or the September playoff games. However, BravesVision is an unqualified success and so were the 2026 City Connect jerseys. Those were the highlights from the released numbers. One of the other highlights was this statement by Terry McGuirk:
I want to be clear about how I see this season. It was real progress. We went from missing the playoffs to winnings the division and a postseason series. Our core is in place. Our young players go better and our new manager’s first year was a success. Our minor league system is stocked with future major league talent. We’re pleased with where this organization is headed and will keep working to build on it in 2027.… Coming into this season, we made a deliberate decision to invest in our roster and our major league payroll was meaningfully higher as a result.
Are you sure about this, Terry? Below are the meaningful salaries that went away in 2025 and contracts and raises that were added in 2026.
OUT:
Marcell Ozuna (-16 million)
Jurickson Profar (-7.5 million, he played half the year in 2025 and 0 games in 2026)
Pierce Johnson (-7 million)
IN:
Ha-Seong Kim (20 million)
Robert Suarez (13 million)
Mike Yastremski (9 million)
Joel Payamps (2.5 million)
Mauricio Dubon (~5 million acquired via trade)
Spencer Strider (16 million more)
Reynaldo Lopez (6 million more)
Aaron Bummer (5.5 million more)
The Braves added 77 million, but 27.5 of that number was due to contracts going up in value. However it got there, they had eight meaningful contracts added and three removed. The sum total of their 77 million dollars added would yield 2.4 WAR. That’s Mauricio Dubon’s total, because the other seven returned 0.0 WAR. The WAR total from players in 2025 that didn’t return was 2.9. So for all of their moves, they went backwards. The Braves had a much better season this year, but it had nothing to do with the money added. This week’s financial results really aided the argument not spending money on higher salaries just to spend money.
So did the Braves make a “deliberate decision” to buy wins in 2026? Whatever that decision was, let’s not repeat it please.
