NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 21: David Bednar #53 of the New York Yankees enters the game in the ninth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on August 21, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. The New York Yankees defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) | Getty Images
A generation of Yankees fans have been spoiled. First, it was Mariano Rivera — when “Enter Sandman” began to echo through the halls of Yankee Stadium, the game was effectively over. David Robertson “the Houdini” and Andrew Miller “the Game Enderer” locked down the ninth inning so effectively in their one-year stints as the closer that nobody really noticed a difference. Aroldis Chapman exasperated fans, for, well, a lot of reasons, but he’s got a Hall of Fame resume for a reason, and there’s a non-zero chance he ends up there with a Yankee cap. Clay Holmes spent the better part of three seasons as the Yankee closer, making two All-Star appearances, and in his brief stint in the job in 2024, Luke Weaver was a big reason they made the World Series.
In truth, only one closer in the last 30 years has been an unmitigated disaster, and his performance prompted the Yankees to make a swing for his replacement — today’s birthday boy, David Bednar.
David Jeffrey Bednar Born: October 10, 1994 (Pittsburgh, PA) Yankees Tenure: 2025-present
Born in Pittsburgh and raised in the extremely small town of Mars (the Pennsylvania borough, a part of the greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area, has fewer than 1,500 inhabitants), Bednar played baseball for his local high school but — perhaps unsurprisingly, given the size of the school — went undrafted. From there, he went to Lafayette College in Easton, PA, and was en route to Massachusetts after his junior year to play in the Cape Cod Summer League. He never made it there, however, as the San Diego Padres instead made him the 1,044th pick of the 2016 MLB Draft — a pick that, since Rob Manfred shrunk the draft to 20 rounds, no longer exists.
According to the school newspaper, he was just the fourth player ever drafted out of Lafayette, and when he made his MLB debut as a 40-man roster call-up in 2019, he became just the second Lafayette alumnus to make The Show. Between that month and the abbreviated 2020 campaign, Bednar struggled in limited time with the Padres, allowing 13 runs in 17.1 innings across the two years. As such, the Padres had no problem including him as part of the seven-player deal that brought Joe Musgrove to Southern California.
Now with his hometown Pirates, Bednar spent the entire 2021 season in the Majors, and he established himself as one of the league’s most reliable relievers. He posted a 2.23 ERA in 61 games, striking out 77 en route to a down-ballot Rookie of the Year vote. He then took over the closer’s job on a permanent basis the following year, compiling 58 saves and a pair of All-Star nods across the 2022 and 2023 campaigns.
An awful start to 2024, however — he allowed 14 runs in 10 innings in April — prompted the Pirates to remove him from the closer’s role after a disastrous August (10.97 ERA), and when he struggled out of the gate in 2025, they wasted no time and optioned him to Triple-A in the first week of the season.
When he returned to the Majors in late April, though, Bednar recaptured his All-Star self. From April 19th through July 28th, he allowed just seven runs and struck out 50 batters in 37 innings. It was on the back of this dominant performance that the Yankees, eager to rebuild their bullpen, made Bednar a priority at the trade deadline, sending a package centered on catcher Rafael Flores to the Pirates to bring “Renegade” to the Bronx.
Bednar’s introduction to the Yankees was, like that of every player the Yankees acquired at the 2025 deadline, a disaster: called on to bail out fellow acquisition Jake Bird, he allowed two runs on four hits (including one home run) to hand the lead to the Miami Marlins. Fortunately, his second inning of work in that game, in which he struck out two while retiring the side in order, would be much more emblematic of the rest of his 2025 — he allowed just four runs in 23 innings across the final two months of the season, as he brought stability to a closer role that had seen Devin Williams and Luke Weaver struggle. He remained his dominant self that October, allowing a grand total of three hits across six innings, earning the final out in each of the two Wild Card wins as the 2025 Yankees became the first team since the new playoff format was introduced to advance to the ALDS after dropping Game 1 of the Wild Card.
Bednar began 2026 by joining Team USA for this year’s World Baseball Classic, and while the United States squad embarrassed itself in pool play against Italy and ultimately lost in the championship to Venezuela, none of that was his fault: he provided four scoreless innings in middle relief as part of a stacked bullpen, allowing just six baserunners and striking out eight. Unfortunately, following the tournament, he got off to a shaky start to the season, culminating in a disastrous blown save against the Mets on May 17th in which he allowed three runs.
After that day, though, Bednar became lights-out, surrendering just 11 runs (eight earned) in his final 44 appearances of the season, with just two blown saves in that stretch. While his early slow struggles kept him from making his third career All-Star appearance, he ended the season tied for fifth in saves (35) and 14th among relievers in fWAR (1.9). Sure, he needed his emotional support baserunners far too often for my liking, but at the end of the day, few relievers were as reliable as he was in 2026.
At the end of this season, Bednar hits free agency, and at this point, it’s not clear whether the Yankees will look to retain their closer — after all, they haven’t really signed a reliever to a big long-term deal in half a decade, and on top of that, Bednar is on the wrong side of 30. (That’s a discussion for another day.) Whether he stays or goes, though, he was one of the bright spots in the Yankee bullpen over the last two seasons.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 27: Andrés Chaparro #87 of the Washington Nationals rounds the bases after hitting a home run in the fifth inning during the game between the New York Mets and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on Sunday, September 27, 2026 in Washington, District of Columbia. (Photo by Alyssa McDaniel/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
This season, the Nationals had a lot of hitters emerge. However, you could make a strong argument that Andres Chaparro was the best of the bunch after the All-Star Break. After struggling to get things going as a part time player in the first half, Chappy burst on to the scene down the stretch.
In the first half, I wondered why Chaparro was even on the team. The 27 year old seemed like the ultimate Quad-A player who could dominate in AAA but couldn’t replicate that success against big league pitching. With a .586 OPS in the first half, and big league struggles in the past, it just seemed like Chappy was not that guy.
Things changed in the second half though, and I think you can point to one swing as the turning point. The Nats were playing in Sacramento when Chaparro absolutely unloaded on a Jose Suarez fastball. He sent the pitch 467 feet, hitting the ball over everything.
That swing unlocked a new version of Chaparro. During that first road trip after the break, Chaparro hit 3 homers and gained a ton of confidence. Before that swing, Chaparro was just trying to show he belonged. However, that monster blast proved to him that he could compete and thrive at this level.
There were more big swings to come from the Nats hulking slugger. Chaparro hit .299 with a .998 OPS in the second half. He also crushed 12 homers, including two on the final day of the season. It was a shocking and awesome reversal of fortunes.
One of my favorite things about Chaparro is just how majestic his home runs are. When he gets a hold of one, you usually know it is gone. With his steeper bat path, his homers tend to hang in the air longer than most. The best example of that is his first homer on the last day of the season. I was at that game, and it felt like time stopped as we waited for that home run ball to reach the seats.
It is really tough not to be blown away by what Chaparro did in the second half. That generational run gave him great season totals. For the year, Chappy hit .263 with a .360 OBP, an .885 OPS and 13 homers in just 83 games. He only had 198 AB’s, though it felt like it was more than that. His impact in that smaller sample was very loud. Chaparro’s 141 wRC+ is an elite number.
Heading into next season, I would like to see Chaparro get a shot at every day playing time, or at least something close to that. Despite his reputation as a lefty masher, Chaparro had very even splits. He had an .888 OPS against lefties and an .880 mark against righties.
The Nats showed they are willing to turn platoon guys into everyday players if it is earned. We saw that with Curtis Mead, and I think Chaparro could be another example of that. He was facing more right handed pitching at the end of the year, and I hope that carries over. We actually wrote about how he could be more than a platoon guy during his monster run.
Like Curtis Mead before him, Andres Chaparro is transitioning from a platoon bat to an everyday guy. With his success, Chappy is gaining confidence by the minute https://t.co/PzV3SIq9f9
Right now, Chaparro’s primary competition for at bats against RHP is Abimelec Ortiz, who struggled mightily down the stretch. Even though Ortiz is left handed, I think Chaparro is the better option against righties. That could change as we get into the 2027 season, but right now, Chaparro is much more proven.
The biggest drawback for Chaparro is his poor defense. Ideally, Chaparro would be a DH who plays first base occasionally. This season, Chaparro mainly played at first base, where he did not look great. He also got a few games at third, where I do not think he can play.
However, if he hits like he did this season, you simply have to get his bat into the lineup. Chaparro demolished fastballs, does a great job pulling the ball in the air and takes his walks. He is not a contact hitter by any means, but a 23.2% K rate is totally manageable.
With his big finish to the season, Andres Chaparro positioned himself nicely heading into next season. I think he deserves a shot at everyday playing time. It took him a while to establish himself, but like so many other Nats hitters, he took a major step forward this season.
Frank Chance, player/manager for the 1908 Cubs | | Photo by Chicago History Museum/Getty Images
We’re setting the BCB “Wayback Machine” pretty far back today, all the way back to one of the Cubs’ World Series wins in the early 20th Century.
That win might not have been possible without the team’s tremendous rally in the top of the ninth inning in Game 1 in 1908.
The Cubs had quite a rough road to even get to the 1908 World Series. They had to win the makeup for the famous “Merkle Game,” played in New York in September and declared a tie after the final play descended into chaos at the Polo Grounds. That game was played Oct. 8 in New York and Mordecai Brown outdueled Christy Mathewson. The Cubs’ 4-2 win put them in the World Series against the Tigers, who also had to win their final regular season game to take the AL pennant.
But the Tigers had done that Oct. 6, so they had three days to get ready for Game 1 of the World Series in Detroit. The Cubs, meanwhile, had to take a train from New York to Detroit and had only one day off. Ed Reulbach was given the start for Game 1.
I.E. Sanborn of the Chicago Tribune noted that the entire game was played in a constant steady rain:
The battle took place under the most wretched conditions imaginable, as it was started in the early stages of a rain storm which never ceased and it was finished on a field so soggy that footing was insecure and the base lines almost two inches deep in mud.
Reulbach allowed the Tigers a run in the first inning, and in the top of the third, the Cubs responded with four of their own, adding a run in the seventh to lead 5-1 with just nine outs to go.
When Reunlach allowed Detroit three runs in the seventh, Orval Overall was summoned to put out the rally, but when he issued a leadoff walk in the eighth, Cubs manager Frank Chance called on Brown on one day’s rest. It did not work. Brown began by throwing a wild pitch and after an error put runners on first and third, gave up a single that scored the tying run. Another Cubs error gave Detroit a 6-5 lead, so they needed just three outs to win Game 1.
Here’s how Sanborn wrote up the Cubs’ ninth-inning rally.
When Rossman cut off Evers’ grounder to start the ninth and succeeded in retiring the Trojan without help the roars of the crowd increased as apparently victory became assured. But a frightfully rude awakening was in store for them. Schulte rapped a bounder to O’Leary, who cut it off in deep short, but was unable to throw the fleet footed Dutchman out.
Chance turned the tide of defeat back right there with a ringing single to center. That put the Tigers in the hole and sent their rooters’ hearts into their throats, for a one run lead looked small enough with Cubs on second and first with one out.
Here came Steinfeldt and completed the despair of the crowd by smashing a single into left. McIntyre came in on it and his good throw held Schulte on third. Still Detroit had a lead of a run, but the sacks were full and some determined Cubs were coming to bat. Hofman settled the verdict with a liner into left on which Schulte and Chance both rode home in safety. McIntyre made a desperate throw to the plate trying to stop the winning run, but the ball shot past Schmidt behind Chance as he flashed across the pan.
Steinfeldt went to third on the play to the plate and Tinker scored him with a bunt which did not go twenty feet from the plate, but which completed the utter rout of the Tigers. Schmidt tried to chase the bunt and cover the plate at the same time, as Summers made no move to help him do either. But it was a useless effort. While Steiny scored, Tinker reached first and Hofman second. Then Artie and Joe got together and showed the Tigers up still further by ringing in a double steal in the mud. Kling scored them both with a single into center, which made the fifth run in the inning. Brown bunted, but Sheckard’s fly closed the session.
They don’t write ‘em like that anymore, that’s for sure. The Cubs led by four, and Brown put two Tigers on base with one out by a walk and a single in the bottom of the ninth, then retired Sam Crawford on a fly ball and Ty Cobb on a comebacker and the Cubs won Game 1 of the 1908 World Series 10-6. They would go on to win three of the next four, two by shutout, and take their second straight World Series title.
This rain-soaked rally happened 118 years ago today, Saturday, Oct. 10, 1908.
ARLINGTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 06: Manager Skip Schumaker #55 of the Texas Rangers celebrates a home run hit by Jake Burger #21 during a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Globe Life Field on September 06, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Kai Kanzer/Texas Rangers/Getty Images) | Getty Images
COLUMBUS, GA - AUGUST 21: Owen Carey #17 of the Columbus Clingstones bats during the game between the Montgomery Biscuits and the Columbus Clingstones at Synovus Park on Friday, August 21, 2026 in Columbus, Georgia. (Photo by Lyndon Terrell/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
As the major league postseason churns on, a handful of Braves farmhands are making an impact in the Arizona Fall League. Let’s dive into Friday’s action.
(1-5) Glendale River Dogs 9, (5-1) Salt River Rafters 13
Briggs McKenzie made his second start of the postseason, but it unfortunately did not go all that well for the lefthander.
While his first start a week ago was fairly solid despite a few command issues, McKenzie was tagged for eight runs (seven earned) on eight hits and a pair of walks before being pulled with two gone in the third inning.
On the one hand, the baseline numbers weren’t great Friday. On the other hand, the underlying metrics were still impressive for McKenzie.
Overall, he registered seven whiffs on the night, while his fastball generated four of those, which was good for a 33.3% clip.
The biggest issue for McKenzie was the fact he left a good number of changeups and sliders up in the zone, which doesn’t bode well for a guy who needs the upper part of the zone for his fastball to be effective.
It’s probably just a blip on his resume given the fact he hasn’t pitched since late June, and it’ll be interesting to see how his next start goes.
On another pitching note, reliever Tyler LaPorte came on to toss the final inning for Glendale and pitched a scoreless frame while striking out a pair. Overall, LaPorte has yet to allow a run during his AFL stint.
At the plate, Owen Carey came through with an RBI by lacing a two-out single into right centerfield to tie things up at 1-1 in the top of the second.
On the season, albeit a short stint, Carey is hitting an even .300 with a .762 OPS.
Later in the game, Isaiah Drake came on as a pinch hitter and managed to register an infield single as well.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 07: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on from the dugout against the Atlanta Braves during the seventh inning in game four of the National League Division Series at Truist Park on October 07, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
I usually write serious articles. This is not one of them.
No team deserves to be trash-talked like the team that ruined baseball.
Last year, I wrote a series of satirical articles poking fun at each of the NL Central teams, including the Brewers. Then the Brewers broke the franchise record for wins in two straight seasons, and it felt like bad taste to keep kicking division rivals who were already down. So I retired the series… until now, because Milwaukee is facing the New Evil Empire in the NLCS for the third time in eight years.
The guiding principle behind the original series still applies; as a baseball fan, you probably talk at least a little trash. Even the most mild-mannered Brewers fan has said something less than kind about an umpire, or Jesse Winker, or Manny Machado. I know it’s always better to take the high road, and I encourage you, reader, to take it as often as possible.
However, if you’re going to talk trash, do it well.
This guide is for every Brewers fan who’s had to hear that the Dodgers “earned” their titles, and for anyone whose buddy from college moved to LA and bought an Ohtani jersey but can’t name five other players. Next time someone tells you the Dodgers are “just a well-run organization,” come back and find this article. I promise it’ll inspire you.
And to the impartial baseball fan: read this, then tell me you want the Dodgers to win.
This is the Haters’ Guide to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Owner:
The Dodgers’ current dynasty is, indirectly, thanks to former owner Frank McCourt. McCourt fired his wife from the Dodgers, kicking off what Business Insider — an outlet known for its dramatic, sensationalized headlines — called “The Nastiest Billionaire Divorce Ever.” The ensuing legal battle led to allegations of fraud, embezzlement, and tax evasion, and eventually a reported $130 million divorce settlement. In 2011, then-commissioner Bud Selig stepped in and took control of the team, and McCourt responded by filing for bankruptcy.
McCourt eventually sold the team to a group led by Mark Walter, who acts like the Dodgers are still bankrupt. Walter has built this current dynasty largely on IOUs, deferring over a billion dollars in guaranteed money to players in what is essentially a super-Bobby Bonilla situation. The Dodgers will be paying star players like Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Edwin Díaz through the 2040s. In both 2038 and 2039, they’ll owe $102.3 million in deferred payments. Seems super sustainable. When the payments end in 2047, Walter will be 87, so he probably doesn’t care.
So, how did Walter get the money to buy the Dodgers? That’s a great question, one that federal investigators also want to know; Walter and his companies are under investigation for potential fraud by federal prosecutors and the SEC, even having his phone and computer seized by the FBI.
Investigators are looking into whether Walter’s insurance companies invested large amounts in Walter’s own businesses through private loans and failed to label them as “related-party” deals, transactions between entities with shared ownership that require extra disclosure and scrutiny. Delaware Life, one of those insurers, originally said about 3% of its investments were tied to Walter-linked companies. After it was subpoenaed, that number turned out to be roughly 39%, or about $17 billion.
In layman’s terms, the feds want to know whether he’s been using his insurance customers’ money as his personal piggy bank. That’s a big deal because, according to the Wall Street Journal, that insurance-funded investment strategy is what gave Walter the financial firepower to buy the Dodgers in the first place. Everything here seems totally above board. Where’s Pablo Torrewhen you need him?
Walter also sold the naming rights to the field at historic Dodger Stadium, which is now confusingly known as “UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium.” This might be the most unforgivable thing he’s ever done. Someday, maybe I’ll get to go to a game at Banana Republic Field at Fenway Park.
The President of Baseball Ops:
Andrew Friedman, who’s been in the position since October 2014. Before baseball, Friedman was an analyst at Bear Stearns, which collapsed in the 2008 financial crisis. So, to recap: the Dodgers’ baseball operations are run by a Bear Stearns alum, and the owner’s finances are under federal investigation. The jokes literally write themselves.
The highlights: Friedman traded for Mookie Betts and signed both Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman. But to be fair, getting paid egregious amounts of money to live in Los Angeles kind of sells itself. I could have signed those guys.
The lowlights: Friedman let 2023 World Series MVP Corey Seager walk in 2021 and non-tendered 2023 Comeback Player of the Year Cody Bellinger in 2022. He also signed Trevor Bauer, kept Julio Urías around after his first arrest, and — again — worked for Bear Stearns, so it’s not like his judgment is infallible.
Roberts is the only person worse at bullpen management than Craig Counsell. That’s why the Dodgers carry roughly 12 All-Stars on the pitching staff. It’s the only way to Roberts-proof a bullpen.
Position Players Worth Mentioning:
The Dodgers’ catcher is named Will Smith (not that Will Smith though). At least actor Will Smith has a heart; what kind of monster leaves Randy Arozarena hanging?
Smith is due to make $50 million in deferred money from 2034 to 2043, so he’ll probably out-earn post-Oscars Will Smith just sitting on his couch. Good for him, I guess.
Their backup catcher for most of the season was Dalton Rushing, who didn’t even make the playoff roster. Still, he’s earned a spot here thanks to the long list of controversies he racked up in his sophomore season. In the span of two months, Rushing:
Fat-shamed Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya.
Made me defend a Cub.
Allegedly said “F— him” in reference to Jung Hoo Lee while Lee lay on the ground writhing in agony.
Said the video of him saying “F— him” was taken out of context.
Did his best Manny Machado impression sliding into Jared Triolo.
Baselessly implied the Rockies were cheating, because that’s apparently the only way the Rockies could beat the Dodgers in a random April game.
Gave a whole speech about how he’s misunderstood to The Athletic: “I think guys have started to like, give me the label of (villain)… I just think that’s me competing at the highest level and not allowing any outside source to kind of get in my way.”
Andy Pages, the only affordable player on the roster, put up 6.0 bWAR this season, making him one of the Dodgers’ best players. Can’t imagine how much it sucks to be better than your coworkers at your job, but all of your coworkers make $20 million a year. On the opposite end of the spectrum is prized offseason acquisition Kyle Tucker, who the Dodgers are paying $55 million this year to provide exactly 0.7 bWAR.
Shohei Ohtani didn’t notice his interpreter and best friend stealing roughly $17 million from his bank account. I hate when I lose track of $17 million. Ohtani posted a .666 OPS over his last 29 regular-season games while dealing with biceps and knee injuries, so hopefully that’s a sign that his deal with the devil is finally up.
Mookie Betts hit .257 with an OPS of .780 this year. Joey Ortiz hit .270 with a .730 OPS. Mookie Betts made north of $20 million dollars this year. Joey Ortiz made $790,400 this year. Mookie Betts is certainly not 25x better than Joey Ortiz. At this point in his career, he might be a better bowler than a baseball player.
Top prospect Josue DePaula wasn’t on the 40-man roster on September 1, but he’s on the playoff roster anyway because the Dodgers need all the help they can get.
Miguel Rojas, the oldest player in the oldest lineup in baseball, missed the last game of the NLDS with back pain. Again, the jokes write themselves. I feel you, Miggy.
Pitchers Worth Mentioning:
Shohei Ohtani (total contract value; $700 million) isn’t pitching this postseason, but it doesn’t really matter because the Dodgers already went and got the best starter in the American League, Tarik Skubal.
Skubal, who’s making $32 million this year, bought his former team, the Tigers, a really nice coffee machine. Then, when he was traded to the Dodgers, he took it with him. When the news broke and Skubal faced (understandable) backlash, he blamed it on his wife:
“That was my wife,” Skubal said Friday, per The Athletic. “I wanted to leave it and get a new one, but she wouldn’t let me. My wife was like, ‘That was too expensive to just run the charge back.'”
Even if your wife did make you, Tarik, you don’t ever actually blame your wife, you just own it and wipe your tears with your millions of dollars. Super classy.
Skubal might not even be the best pitcher on his new team; that’s not a knock on the back-to-back AL Cy Young winner, but a comment on the fact that the Dodgers have assembled the pitching Avengers. Yoshinobu Yamamoto ($325 million) is the only player on the Dodgers who I can’t hate on, simply because all he does is show up and pitch till his arm falls off.
Blake Snell ($182 million) also won two Cy Young Awards, then the Dodgers signed him to the best deal in sports. From March to August, Snell hangs out on the IL and works full-time as a Twitch streamer. He comes back in September to warm up, dominates in October, then heads back to the IL until the next postseason.
Former Ray Tyler Glasnow ($136 million) left Florida, but the Florida never left him. Glasnow has a longer IL history than Snell, but he’s usually healthy in October for some reason. And they say the Brewers are the team with devil magic on their side.
Another player the Dodgers have added since last year is Edwin Díaz ($69 million), who famously tore his patellar tendon celebrating at the WBC. Díaz is back and ready to ardently participate in all of his favorite pastimes, like blowing saves against the Brewers and cockfighting. Yeah, you read that right. You know how baseball is America’s pastime? Well, according to Díaz, cockfighting is Puerto Rico’s:
“It’s a pastime I’ve followed since I was a child,” Díaz told El Nuevo Día in March. “It’s legal in Puerto Rico, thank God.” Cockfighting is, in fact, illegal under federal law in Puerto Rico.
Back in 2018, Díaz also compared his pitching to his roosters’ fighting abilities: “My rooster went down dead and got up to fight, doing what my roosters know how to do: finish fights. He did what I do when I come in to pitch in the ninth: to close out the game.” If this season was any indication, he’s almost out of roosters.
Roki Sasaki throws 100 mph with a filthy splitter; he’s the Dodgers’ third-best Nippon Professional Baseball star, and he isn’t even in the rotation. Los Angeles will probably extend him anyway since they can just defer his salary until 2060.
The Manny Machado “Former Dodgers Worth Mentioning” Section:
There’s nobody Brewers fans hate like Manny Machado. Well, maybe Jesse Winker. I considered giving him his own section, but that felt like giving him more respect than he deserves. Here’s a complete timeline of why we hate him so much:
The Orioles Years:
Threw his bat at Oakland A’s third baseman Josh Donaldson.
Instead of denying he did it, said he “let his emotions get the best of him.”
Was suspended five games.
Charged Yordano Ventura (RIP) after Ventura hit him because, in the words of the Kansas City broadcast team, “apparently it’s Ventura’s job to just throw it right down the middle.”
Didn’t run out a grounder in the 2018 NLCS. When asked about it by the media, responded with this gem: “Obviously I’m not going to change, I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle,’ and run down the line and slide to first base… That’s just not my personality, that’s not my cup of tea.”
Spiked Brewers first baseman Jesús Aguilar’s foot while, for once, running out a routine grounder. Can’t blame him for this one; he hadn’t run out a grounder since high school, so he probably just forgot where the bag was.
Threw a ball at the Dodgers’ dugout during the 2024 NLDS, which Dave Roberts took as aimed at him.
Pretended to toss a ball to a Dodgers fan, but flipped him off instead and kept the ball.
Railed against analytics, saying, and I quote, that there’s “too many numbers” in baseball. He was hitting .175 with a .617 OPS at the time. Bet he wouldn’t have said that back when he was an MVP candidate.
At least Machado doesn’t use steroids, unlike the other Manny.
Machado isn’t the only former Dodger who understood the value of a good old ridiculously dangerous slide into second base. As bad as the Aguilar and Pedroia incidents were, neither qualifies as the dirtiest play by a former Dodger in recent history. That honor goes to Chase Utley, who broke Rubén Tejada’s leg in the 2015 NLDS with a slide so dirty it led to the implementation of the “Utley Rule.”
Machado also might not even be the worst human to play for the Dodgers. That honor could also go to Trevor Bauer, whom Friedman signed to a $102 million contract in early 2021. Yeah, you read that right: $102 million committed to what turned out to be half a season of Trevor Bauer. No wonder they have to defer all their contracts now.
I’m leaving the sexual assault allegations out of this, because they aren’t a joke. Luckily for this column, Bauer gave us plenty of other material.
In 2018, while with Cleveland, Bauer hinted on Twitter that Astros pitchers were using sticky substances to boost spin rates. His first tweet was 36 thinking-face emojis, then a sarcastic follow-up about wishing there were a quick way to increase spin rate. He also said sticky stuff gave pitchers a “bigger advantage than steroids.” Alex Bregman, then an Astro, weighed in by calling him Tyler.
Then, his own spin rate jumped 300+ RPM in 2020. In his second start as a Dodger, in April 2021, umpires pulled several of his baseballs for having visible marks and being sticky and sent them to MLB for inspection. He responded by mocking “national gossip bloggers” on Twitter.
Last year, Bauer put up a 4.51 ERA in Japan; I don’t think even sticky stuff can save him now.
Other notable Bauer incidents include:
Before his start in the 2016 ALCS, he cut his finger playing with a drone. Said finger started bleeding on the mound during the first inning and Terry Francona had to pull him. It’s probably the only time a foreign substance on Bauer’s hand wasn’t his fault.
In 2019, Francona came out to take him out of the game. Bauer responded by launching the ball over the center field fence. Not a great way to respond when your manager tells you you can’t throw strikes. Cleveland immediately traded him.
Another player involved in that trade was Yasiel Puig, who ended the Brewers’ season in 2018 and was as annoying as humanly possible about it. Since I’m nearing my word limit, here’s the CliffsNotes on Puig:
Shoved catcher Nick Hundley, starting a brawl that he was later suspended for.
Unlike Ohtani, didn’t need an interpreter to rack up gambling debt. Funnily enough, Puig’s defense team blamed… the interpreter.
Clayton Kershaw, one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, spent his entire illustrious career with the Dodgers. For much of that career, he was also known as a playoff choker. He retired having allowed Brandon Woodruff, a pitcher, to hit .500 against him in the playoffs, including a homer.
Since Rafael Furcal also played for the Dodgers, I get to reuse this one from the Cardinals article:
Rafael Furcal just got arrested on a felony charge for “throwing a missile” at someone in a Publix parking lot. Yes, this happened in Florida. The guy Furcal assaulted allegedly beat him up afterwards, proving that — like most Dodgers fans — he doesn’t stand a chance in a fair fight.
The Ballpark:
Now known as UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium. Very Dodgers to sell the naming rights to the grass and dirt but keep the stadium name. Selling out halfway is kind of their thing — just ask all the fans who leave before the game ends.
UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium (I just wanted to say it again) is the third oldest stadium in baseball. I went to college in LA, so I’ve been to a few games there, and it’s honestly a great ballpark. What takes the fun out of the experience is getting there.
I lived 15 minutes away without traffic. That means I lived an hour away. If you want to Uber, be prepared to spend $60 each way. If you want to drive, you have to spend $60 to park roughly two miles away and walk up a bunch of hills.
Dodger dogs are overrated.
The Fans:
Leave before the game ends. Half the stadium thinks a “walk-off” is when you leave in the seventh to beat traffic. Dodgers fans can name every celebrity at the game but think the infield fly rule is a Delta policy.
True story: I have a buddy from LA, a self-proclaimed lifelong Dodgers fan, who asked me when I thought Kershaw would pitch against the Braves. In the 2026 NLDS. Kershaw retired last year.
The only relievers he could name were Tanner Scott and Edwin Díaz. Which is weird, because Dave Roberts uses his entire bullpen every night.
The City:
There’s a reason everyone wants to live in LA. It has the best weather in the country, except for San Diego. That’s it; that’s the reason.
Unlike in San Diego, most people live nowhere near the beach. Unlike in San Diego, you have to spend an hour in the car if you want to leave your neighborhood. At least if you’re Ohtani-level rich, you can just hire a driver — just make sure he doesn’t have your bank password and a crippling gambling addiction.
Just like in San Diego, you can’t buy a coffee for under $8 or rent an apartment for under $2,000 a month. And just like in San Diego, the fans expect to win the World Series every year. The difference is the Dodgers fans are usually right, which is so much worse.
TALKING STICK, AZ - OCTOBER 06: Angeibel Gomez #18 of the Surprise Saguaros bats during the game between the Surprise Saguaros and the Salt River Rafters at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 in Talking Stick, Arizona. (Photo by Norm Hall/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
We’ll start with the guy people will ask about first. Gomez is a tapered 6-foot-2. While he isn’t a freaky athlete in the Elly De La Cruz mold, he’s limber and has a fast bat for a kid his age. Facing some of the best stuff of his life, his feel for hitting stood out. Gomez is athletic in the box, and he was able to fight off above-average velo on the hands, turn around 97 above the belt, and flatten the bat and hit a line drive on a hard fastball up, all while holding his own versus spin. He fouled off a couple tough sliders and took one just beneath the zone. He wasn’t perfect — he expanded the zone a few times and chased a curve in the dirt — but it was a really impressive showing in context.
Where does this go from here? To my eye, Gomez doesn’t look like an early-mature guy, but he also isn’t someone who screams “physical projection” in the way that, say, Sebastian Walcott did at his age. Gomez already has average measurable power, and while there’s room for him to grow into more, my projection leans closer to “comfortably plus” than “80.”
Recently named in MLB Pipeline’s All-Rookie first team, Jensen showed the world that he could be a dominant hitter over the course of a full season. He had posted some impressive numbers in a brief 20-game cameo in 2025, with a .300/.391/.550 line and a 152 wRC+ in 69 trips to the plate.
Well, he hit a solid .239/.323/.467 with 27 home runs, 80 runs, 81 RBI, a 116 wRC+, and 3.7 fWAR while splitting time behind the plate and at the DH spot. Oh, he also contributed 35 doubles and two triples, and ranked 15th in the majors with 64 extra-base hits. Not bad for a catcher, huh?
One ordinance, approved unanimously on Thursday, rezones 68 acres of the stadium development area, a key step for the $2 billion project to move forward.
The second ordinance authorizes more than $615 million in bonds, $537 million of which will pay for the construction of the ballpark, team offices and infrastructure improvements.
The third ordinance approves a tax increment financing plan that creates a so-called “stadium impact area” that stretches from Interstate 670 and the state line to 31st and Campbell streets. The law uses the taxes collected from that area in 2025 as a baseline, and redirects much of any revenue above that amount for the next 30 years to help pay the stadium construction debt.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 06: (L-R) Manager Craig Stammen, Fernando Tatis Jr. #23, Jackson Merrill #3, Manny Machado #13, and Ty France #25 of the San Diego Padres stand for the singing of the national anthem prior to game three of the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Petco Park on October 06, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Diego Padres have long been the team that cannot sustain — at least that is what is espoused throughout the baseball media industry. It can be frustrating at times to hear other teams lauded for their approach to roster construction, free agency, the trade deadline, etc. and as soon as the Padres make a similar move, they are chastised.
San Diego heads to the offseason after another disappointing postseason exit and once again the baseball world has come out to say the Padres missed an opportunity and that their window to reach the precipice of the sport is closing. Critics point to an aging roster — which it is — and a barren farm system that could not possibly fetch anything of significance on the trade market. Worse yet, the Padres will surely face financial ruin if they add a single dollar to their payroll.
Of course, then there are the calls for Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado or Jackson Merrill to be traded away to a team like the New York Yankees, New York Mets of Philadelphia Phillies. None of those things need to happen but the baseball pundits and fans of the opposing teams like to dream of plucking the stars from the “little team that couldn’t” in America’s Finest City.
This is all to say, leading up to and after the lockout has come and gone, Padres fans can and should expect the same old narratives to come from every corner of the baseball media landscape. The only way they will change is if new owners Kwanza Jones and Jose E. Feliciano backup their words with investments in the team that will allow them to reach the postseason for a fourth consecutive year.
This year’s ALDS sweep at the hands of the Rays felt like a culmination for the Aaron Boone era Yankees. I’m not sure it will actually be a culmination of his managerial tenure as I could definitely see the team keeping him, but those three games felt like everything that has gone wrong in a Yankees’ playoff exit from 2018 to now all rolled into one. There were mental mistakes, sloppy play, and bats going cold all at once.
I think it would be unfair to say that Boone hasn’t grown at all since taking the job. Early in his tenure, I used to get frustrated by him sticking with a pitcher too long trying to steal an extra out or two. These days, it seems pretty rare that those instances happen. However, any growth from him is overshadowed by the frustration that I share with many other Yankee fans.
In watching this year’s playoff defeat, my mind couldn’t help but keep going over the things that went wrong that I could see coming, because all of Boone’s teams seem to suffer in these ways. Whether or not the Yankees do bring Aaron Boone back, I personally am out, and it would take a massive change of fortune to change that. Here are the reasons why.
For one, his teams seem to play with just no sense of fundamentals. I am an analytically-inclined fan, so when I say this, I don’t meant that they don’t bunt enough or that they need to learn to go the other way and hit singles, because I think there are logical reasons that make it easier said than done against the pitchers of today. However, there are some baseball things that happen in the heat of the moment of a game that don’t make sense no matter your way of thinking.
Austin Wells getting thrown out try to stretch a double into a triple in Game 1 of the ALDS is the perfect example. “Don’t make the last out of the inning at third base” is a longtime baseball axiom that makes perfect sense. With two outs, you can’t score on a sacrifice fly or any other kind of productive out, so those 90 feet matter way less than just having a chance with a runner in scoring position. Yet in the heat of the game, Wells seemingly wasn’t even thinking about that, never mind the fact that he ran through Luis Rojas’ stop sign too.
Austin Wells said he was just trying to make something happen with the Yankees not doing anything against Rasmussen. He picked up Luis Rojas' stop sign after he was passing second base.
I feel like I regularly watch the Yankees allow opposing runners to take extra bases because a fielder tries for an out at home that has like a five percent chance at happening rather than throwing ahead of the runner, holding them, and living to fight for another day. Or, an infielder will try and make a rushed and/or spectacular throw to try and complete a double play leading to an error, and a runner getting an extra base (à la Jazz Chisholm Jr. in Game 2). I know it’s probably hard to think about these things in the moment and your instincts will kick in to some degree, but it feels like the Yankees regularly disadvantage themselves by going to the spectacular instead of sticking to basics.
Relatededly, I have another issue with the defense in general. Anthony Volpe went from winning a Gold Glove as a rookie to looking like a shortstop novice in just two seasons. It’s cost the Yankees some playoff games, including the infamous 2024 World Series Game 5 meltdown. Again, errors are something that are going to occur no matter what, but the Boone Yankees have been so sloppy so often.
That sloppiness also almost always comes to a head during an almost annual mid-season — usually around June or July — swoon.
Another baseball saying is that every team wins 50 and loses 50, and your season is decided by what you do in the rest of the games. For the most part, that holds true and I don’t think there’s any manager who could’ve snapped their fingers and won 110 games with any of Boone’s Yankees teams. Every team is going to slump. However, why is it that every Boone team will start off hot and then go through about a month where they appear to forget how to play baseball?
This year, they went 12-14 in June. If you expand that out to a couple days either side of the month, they had a 15-20 stretch. In 2025, they were under .500 in all of June and July. They were under .500 in July 2024, and that includes a five-game winning streak at the end of the month. They were on pace for 122 wins in mid-June 2022 and ended up winning under 100.
Again, I recognize that every team is going to have some slumps. The MLB-best Brewers were just barely over .500 after April and ended up with 103 wins. No team is going to put up exactly even .600 winning percentages every month — even the 1998 Yankees played a few ticks below that pace in September. However, I would appreciate if the Yankees stop having a stretch that obviously foreshadows what is going to happen that October.
Another issue that has played out in the postseason, but sometimes appears in the regular season as well is that the Boone Yankees’ teams never get the last laugh. I don’t mean this just in a “they haven’t won the World Series” sense, but they always seem to be the team that ends with with egg on their face.
In 2020, they got into it with the Rays after Aroldis Chapman airmailed a pitch over Mike Brosseau’s head, leading to a verbal back and forth between the two teams, on the field and in the media. What happens that October? The Yankees lose to the Rays after … Mike Brosseau homers off Aroldis Chapman.
In a 2021 Subway Series game, Francisco Lindor made allusions to what he perceived as the Yankees’ stealing signs. Giancarlo Stanton chirped him back after he hit a home run, leading to the benches clearing. However, what ended up deciding the game? Lindor’s third homer of the game.
The Yankees had a running rivalry with the Astros, partially inflamed by the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal. However, Houston has won every postseason series. The 2018 Red Sox used the Yankees as motivation even after defeating them. The Dodgers’ Joe Kelly kept chirping the Yankees after the 2024 World Series, even though he was bad enough that he wasn’t on LA’s roster that entire postseason.
Beyond just losing every postseason under Boone, the Yankees constantly end up the butt of jokes, and frankly I’m done with it.
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 27: Corey Seager #5 of the Texas Rangers rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the ninth inning during the game between the Texas Rangers and the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on Sunday, September 27, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Andrew Ritter/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Hello everyone and welcome to the weekend!
Yesterday was an off-day for the lone remaining Division Series. The Guardians and White Sox will face off in a do-or-die Game 5 tonight with first pitch slated for 5pm PT.
Mets infielderRonny Mauricio's relatively small taste of the majors in parts of three seasons can be summed up pretty easily: His chances have been sporadic and his performance at the plate has been largely ineffective, but he has displayed enough eye-popping exit velocities and light-tower power to keep your eyebrow raised just a bit.
Still just 25 years old, Mauricio has also been bitten by the injury bug.
He missed the entire 2024 season and a chunk of the 2025 campaign after tearing his ACL while playing winter ball.
This past season, when it looked like Mauricio would get a long look at shortstop while Francisco Lindorrecovered from a serious calf injury, he fractured his left thumb on a headfirst dive into first base.
Given a chance in the last two games of the 2026 season, Mauricio went off, going 4-for-7 with three homers, six RBI, and a walk. Mauricio's two home runs on Sept. 26 put an exclamation point on New York's final victory of the season, and his blast in Game 162 the next day gave the team something more to think about heading into the winter.
With Mauricio out of minor league options, it's now or never for him to stick.
Will the Mets move on from him ahead of the 2027 season? Should they?
Apr 24, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets third baseman Ronny Mauricio (0) singles during the fifth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Citi Field. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
WHY IT COULD MAKE SENSE TO MOVE ON FROM MAURICIO
Three years removed from his MLB debut, Mauricio is still the same kind of offensive player he was back in 2023.
In 107 games spanning three seasons (he missed 2024 due to the ACL injury), Mauricio has never had a batting average over .248. He has never had an on-base percentage higher than .296. He has never had an OPS+ that was even league average.
Some of that can be chalked up to inexperience and infrequent chances at the big league level, but it also has a lot to do with Mauricio's inability to lay off pitches outside the strike zone.
"He missed a lot of time, that was a nasty knee injury," Mets manager Andy Green said when discussing Mauricio after the 2026 season ended. "He’s come back and the athleticism has returned. I don’t see any residual effect from that -- from my vantage point, people come back from injuries all the time.
"Does it make life harder? Sure. Does he have every opportunity to still turn this into a good career? Sure, he does. The path forward for him is to impact the baseball consistently, and if he can, minimize the chase."
When it comes to the chase issue, Mauricio was near the very bottom of the league in 2023, 2025, and 2026 in chase percentage while unsurprisingly also being near the bottom of the league in strikeout percentage. The strikeout rate has actually ticked up each of his first three seasons, from 28.7 percent to 29.3 percent to 32.3 percent.
While bouncing around the infield and getting starts at third base, second base, and shortstop, Mauricio's defense has been a mixed bag. He might not be the best fit to play shortstop regularly, but that wouldn't be an issue with the Mets because of the presence of Lindor.
What could impact Mauricio, though, is that the Mets will be set on the left side of the infield if third baseman Bo Bichette opts in. At second base, New York has three highly thought of prospects at the upper levels of the minors -- Jefferson Rojas, Mitch Voit, and Émilien Pitre -- who could push Marcus Semien for the job early next season.
/ IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
WHY IT COULD MAKE SENSE TO KEEP MAURICIO
When Mauricio squares a ball up, it often explodes off his bat.
In his three seasons in the bigs, Mauricio has consistently posted elite exit velocities with impressive bat speed to match. During Mauricio's 20-game look in the majors this past season, his barrel percentage was elite.
To drill down a bit more, here's a deeper dive on Mauricio's big league home runs over the last two seasons:
As far as Mauricio's potential fit, it could come as a backup infielder and designated hitter option.
Brett Baty figures to be in New York's plans in 2027, and could be in a super utility role. Beyond Baty, though, no one on the 40-man roster stands out as a clear backup infielder who can also be part of the DH mix.
Jared Young could be the backup first baseman or part of a timeshare situation at the position, and Jorge Polanco profiles best as a DH -- but Polanco being a contributor in 2027 is health-dependent. When it comes to Mark Vientos, it feels like his days as a Met could be coming to an end.
Regarding Mauricio's contract status, he is under team control through 2030 and won't be eligible for arbitration until 2028.
New York Mets shortstop Ronny Mauricio (0) is congratulated by shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) after hitting a home run against the New York Mets during the ninth inning at Nationals Park. / Brad Mills-Imagn Images
VERDICT
The Mets don't have to be in a rush when it comes to making a decision on Mauricio.
Unless there's a team out there that views Mauricio highly via trade, New York can simply have him come to spring training (whenever it begins, given the expected lockout) and take things from there.
It's possible a crowded 26-man roster situation could squeeze Mauricio out, but that would likely mean that Young is on the bench, Baty is on the bench, and Polanco is healthy (along with every other expected Opening Day position player).
The likeliest outcome with Mauricio is that he doesn't seriously reduce his tendency to chase, resulting in him never being an average or better offensive performer in the majors.
But a 25-year-old switch-hitter with this kind of power potential should be given every last opportunity to reach his ceiling before the Mets move on.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 07: Matt Olson #28 of the Atlanta Braves reacts after a strike out against the Atlanta Braves during the eighth inning in game four of the National League Division Series at Truist Park on October 07, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The watching Braves baseball portion of our year has ended. Now it’s the offseason. We’ll watch the rest of MLB’s postseason with you here. But outside of that, we will be into offseason programming. We’ll have player reviews soon. We’ll slowly perform an autopsy of the season. After that, it’s a lockout. The owners seem determined not to start the season on time. I would expect them to start at least a month late, then have an abbreviated Spring Training. Heh, if we get a shorter Spring, then maybe it won’t be terrible.
I guess I’m asking what would you all like to do in the meantime. I have some ideas for spending the time while we wait on the lockout to end:
Let’s start the Community Prospect List selection. This has been a tradition for a decade, but during 2025 no one was interested. Does anyone want to run it this year? I don’t mind, but I would rather someone else run with the ball on this one. It consists of setting up a Feed post asking who should be ranked number one. You tally the vote by recs, then continue until you reach number 25 or 30. If you’re interested, we may be able to set you up so that you have access to create polls in the Feed, which mere commenters can’t do.
While we’re voting, does anyone want a Commenter of the Year contest? I’ll organize that, if so.
I know lots of you like the version of football that is played on Saturday. Does anyone want an official Battery Power Alleged College Football Pick’em?
I have been kicking around starting a series on random/forgotten Braves over the years. I was thinking about a daily-ish Braves interesting post from years before. I may be hitting the Feed with that soon.
That’s what I have unless you guys want to play Yahtzee.
ATLANTA, GA - OCTOBER 01: Zack Wheeler #45 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches during Game Three of the National League Wild Card Series presented by AbbVie between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Thursday, October 1, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Let’s say there is a scenario in which the Phillies had an offer on the table to improve their moribund offense. That incoming player was a guaranteed 3-4 WAR player at a position of need – third base, outfield, pick your poison. The only catch is that there had to be something of value going back to the trading team, and that something of value was from a position they did not want to move from.
Would you trade one of Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez or Jesus Luzardo in order to get a piece for the offense that improved it substantially?
There needs to be some creativity this offseason to get the Phillies back into a position where they are fighting for a World Series title. Maybe this is the creativity that is required.
ATLANTA, GA - APRIL 12: Luke Williams #37 of the Atlanta Braves stands ready in the ninth inning during the game against the Cleveland Guardians at Truist Park on April 12, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Matthew Grimes Jr./Atlanta Braves/Getty Images) | Getty Images
No, this isn’t a post that was delayed four months.
That Atlanta Braves have begun their off-season roster machinations with the team’s transaction page showing that utilityman Luke Williams has been designated for assignment while left-handed reliever Danny Young has been selected to the roster.
This follows a slew of transactions on October 8 to activate players from the IL and recall players on the 40-man roster.
Williams has seen action with the big league team since being acquired by Atlanta in 2023, but only appeared in two games this season – walking in his only plate appearance – although he was on the team’s Wild Card Series roster. He spent most of the season with Triple-A Gwinnett.
Young appeared in 16 games with Atlanta this past season after seeing action nine times across the 2022 and 2023 seasons. After a solid start as a low-leverage option in the bullpen, he allowed nine runs in his final four appearances with Atlanta and was designated for assignment in mid-August.
With a lockout likely by December, there may be a small window for trade and free agent activities after the World Series.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 15: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates his RBI triple next to Andrew Vaughn #28 of the Milwaukee Brewers during the third inning at Dodger Stadium on August 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Off the field, owners and players are digging in for what promises to be a painful and shameful labor dispute. But before we get to that, we still have some action to settle on the field. Specifically, an NLCS matchup that almost perfectly prepares us the imminent conflict.
Yes, in classic baseball fashion, the sport has once again found a way mirror the issue of the day. Namely: Does MLB need a salary cap?
In one corner, we have the Dodgers and their Pacific rim empire. They have all of the money, all of the stars, and are gunning to become the first three-peat champions of this century. Just as importantly, a large segment of MLB fans from coast to coast believe the only reason they’re this close to a three-peat is because they have all of the money and all of the stars. This means — whether these beliefs are true or not — the Dodgers also might hold the keys the owners need to sell a salary cap to the fans.
That may sound crazy at first glance, but if the Dodgers don’t win, we instantly morph into an entirely different landscape. Consider the following:
1) The three American League teams to enter the season with the lowest payrolls were the Guardians, White Sox and Rays. They are now the last three teams standing on AL side of the board. (In other words, you’re guaranteed to have at least one small market / low payroll team in the World Series.)
2) The Mets spent over $350 million this year and finished in last place. (In a vacuum, a strong case that Dodger level spending isn’t necessarily an automatic ticket to success.)
3) The Brewers play in Milwaukee, which is MLB’s smallest market.
Could the stakes be any higher for the owners and players in terms of how the upcoming winter work stoppage is going to play with the general public? If the Brewers win, you’re guaranteed an all small market/low payroll World Series. Any rational argument for a salary cap is dead on arrival (although the owners will still be trying like hell to implement one). In short, the owners could be picking the worst possible year to make their case for a cap.
But if the Dodgers win, the owners can and will sell the following narrative to a receptive and captive audience: “It’s not fair! The big bad billionaire behemoths are blowing everybody out of the water.” In short, a third straight Dodger World Series win would make the owners’ case for a cap in the name of maintaining competitive balance — Even though we know the real reason is they just want more money.
I’m of course oversimplifying things, but those two scenarios are very different worlds. Right or wrong, the outcome of Brewers vs. Dodgers will change the public perception on this issue, and which side the public puts more pressure on during the stoppage matters.
Make no mistake, a lockout is coming no matter what. Both sides are going to draw a line in the sand and retreat to their trench. However, whether that happens in a world where the Dodger dynasty is at the peak of its power or in a world where two small market teams prove you can win on limited resources might tip the scales. It’s basically the difference between starting a war on a sunny day or starting a war trying to invade Russia on the first day of winter.
The background conditions will play a huge roll in the upcoming negotiations, and while fans have no seat at the table, it looks like the baseball gods will get to decide which way the wind is blowing when the owners and players fully engage in their pissing match.
