Category: MLB

Because the Mets traded or waived nearly all of their pending free agents (Brooks Raley, David Peterson, A.J. Minter, Freddy Peralta, Clay Holmes, and Luis Robert Jr.), the only notable pending free agent is Frankie Montas, whose two-year deal blew up due to a mix of injury and ineffectiveness.

Beyond that, it's possible Bo Bichette will opt out of his contract. But it would be an upset, considering that Bichette would be leaving $84 million on the table ($42 million each of the next two seasons) after posting a 97 OPS+ in order to join a free agent market that could be impacted by an expected lockout.

That means if the Mets are going to move on from any key pieces of their offense this offseason, it will almost certainly mean doing so via trade.

With that as a backdrop, a possibility exists where New York could consider dealing one of its catchers -- something there were rumblings about ahead of the trade deadline.

Francisco Alvarez is still very young (set to enter his age-25 season in 2027) and is under team control via arbitration for three more years.

Luis Torrens signed a two-year, $11.5 million extension during the 2026 season and is under contract through 2028.

With Torrens in tow, could Alvarez be dangled this winter? Should he be?

WHY IT COULD MAKE SENSE TO TRADE ALVAREZ

Alvarez remains wildly inconsistent both at and behind the plate.

After posting a career-best .787 OPS over 76 games in 2025, Alvarez appeared to be reaching a new level this past season. But then things took a turn for the worse.

The backstop entered play on Aug. 11 with a .786 OPS, but faltered badly for the remainder of the season. Over his last 31 games, Alvarez slashed .176/.224/.296 (.520 OPS) and struck out 48 times as he had serious issues laying off pitches out of the strike zone. 

Overall, Alvarez fanned 129 times in 113 games in 2026. That isn't an outrageously high number for someone who often sells out for power, but it was the worst strikeout rate (30.7 percent) of his career.

Alvarez's chase rate was in the 35th percentile (via Baseball Savant), while he was near the bottom of the league in both whiff percentage and strikeout percentage.

His ability to block balls in the dirt was also near the very bottom of the sport, with Alvarez in the first percentile. 

Meanwhile, Alvarez was limited to 113 games due to a meniscus tear in his right knee. But he also returned from that injury well ahead of his estimated timeline -- something that has been a trademark of sorts for him since reaching the majors. 

WHY IT COULD MAKE SENSE TO KEEP ALVAREZ

While Alvarez can be a frustrating player at times, his potential remains tantalizing.

He is a player in his mid-20s with light-tower power, an incredibly strong work ethic, and a relaxed, effervescent personality.

And even though he has a tendency to swing and miss (and his strikeout rate bears watching) Alvarez seriously impacts the baseball. This past season, his barrel percentage (96th percentile), hard hit percentage (86th percentile), and average exit velocity (80th percentile) were all elite, with his bat speed (74th percentile) well above average.

Following the season, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns referred to Alvarez's season as "probably up an down," but he praised the improvements he made defensively.

"The second half, Francisco behind the plate was really encouraging," Stearns explained. "I think his defense took a step forward behind the plate. His command of the pitching staff and game-calling took a step forward in the second half. Really a credit to him for not getting down and frustrated, and a credit to our coaching staff for getting him there."

The numbers bear out what Stearns noted, with Alvarez solidly above average in 2026 when it came to pitch-framing, pop time, and caught stealing above average. 

There's also the contract status factor, with Alvarez under team control through 2029.

Entering his second year of arbitration, Alvarez will get a solid raise from the $2.4 million he made in 2026. But he will still be an absolute bargain. 

VERDICT

Giving up on a player like Alvarez at this point would seem like a knee-jerk reaction to his end-of-season swoon.

Sure, the Mets have a very capable backup in Torrens, who is a terrific defensive catcher and would profile as a starter for a handful of other teams. But there's just no reason to shake things up. 

But with the Mets having a long list of needs to address this offseason, it would seem counterintuitive to open up a hole behind the plate.

It also needs to be noted how difficult it is to find catchers who produce like Alvarez has.

Despite his inconsistencies, Alvarez is an above average hitting catcher with the upside to develop into much more.

In a world where the Mets traded Alvarez, the backup to Torrens would likely be Hayden Senger -- meaning New York could roll with Senger (career 21 OPS+ in limited big league action) or find an Alvarez replacement in free agency or via trade.

Or they could just keep Alvarez, which should be a relatively easy call. 

The Dodgers and Braves shift their National League Division Series to Atlanta, tied at one game apiece. On the off day Monday, let’s look back a little more at the disappointing Game 2 loss by Los Angeles.

Blake Snell got only 11 outs on 90 pitches, and though he only allowed one run, the Dodgers used six relievers to cover the final 5 1/3 innings on Sunday. The Dodgers felt it was more rust than any lingering effects from the left groin discomfort that caused Snell to leave his start early on September 16 in Cincinnati.

From Sonja Chen at MLB.com:

“He just was fighting himself with his delivery all game,” Roberts said. “I think, in total, didn’t have fastball command, didn’t have slider command and the changeup wasn’t there. … It wasn’t the groin. He just wasn’t sharp tonight.”

All five runs the Dodgers scored in Game 1 came on home runs — two-run shots by Teoscar Hernández and Kyle Tucker, plus a solo shot by Mac Muncy. Then in Game 2 the Dodgers’ only two runs were on solo home runs from Freddie Freeman and Muncy. From Kevin Baxter of the Los Angeles Times:

“We’ve to find a way to score some runs without hitting a home run,” added Freddie Freeman, who homered Sunday and has three hits in the series. “That’s our biggest thing right now. So keep getting guys on base and get that big hit.”

Freeman said the Braves have done a good job keeping the Dodger hitters off-balance by emptying their bullpen, sending in a fresh pitcher every couple of innings.

“It’s tough because you’re facing a different arm every single time you’re going up there,” Freeman said. “It’s different angles, different velocities, different things. So stringing hits together is very hard.

More from Roberts on Braves reliever Didier Fuentes, who retired 11 straight batters before Muncy homered in the ninth to pull the Dodgers within a run , from Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register:

“I think it was just the fastball,” Roberts said of Fuentes, who threw two scoreless innings against the Dodgers during the Braves’ three-game sweep in Atlanta in August. “Tonight you could see the fastball, it was 99, 100. There was a lot of balls we were just missing as far as lazy fly balls, and we just couldn’t hit the ball flat against him. Then he was mixing in his split once in a while.

“Tip my hat to him, two days off (since pitching in the Wild Card Series) and doing what he did was pretty impressive.”

The 2026 version of Yennier Cano was one we thought we might not see again. After a brutal 2025 season in which Cano was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk in late June and ultimately had a 5.12 ERA in 65 games, it looked like Cano’s run as an effective reliever might be over. But a resurgent 2026 put him back on track and even earned him a contract extension.

When Cano allowed the losing run in relief to the Texas Rangers in the second series of the season, it felt like an omen that Cano would suffer a similar fate in 2026 as he did in 25. But the omen wasn’t reliable, as he went on to allow just one run on four hits over his next 18 games. In fact, over his first 21 games, Cano pitched to a 1.06 ERA and allowed just seven hits and three walks in 17 innings. In a bullpen that suffered from injuries and ineffectiveness, a resurgent Cano was a welcome sight.

At the end of May, Cano had two consecutive rough games, including on May 29th when he coughed up two runs to blow a game that the Orioles had once led 5-0. But after that blip, he went right back to what he’d been doing so far in the season. He was aided by a ground ball rate of 62%, back up where it was before his unfortunate 2025 (and among the best in baseball). He also allowed just two home runs, which allowed him to get out of many jams. He cut his walk rate by over 3%; at 6.4%, it was the lowest since his outstanding 2023 season.

Just ahead of the trade deadline, Cano was rocking a 2.15 ERA and had re-established himself as one of the core members of the bullpen. Just days before the Orioles traded his bullpen mate Tyler Wells, they went a different direction with Cano. On July 31st, the Orioles signed Cano to an extension that covered his final two years of arbitration and gave the Orioles a club option for the 2029 season. The move gave Cano stability while giving the Orioles the ability to keep him longer if they desired.

Cano’s numbers after the trade deadline look pretty bad, but that all came down to back-to-back appearances against the Rays in which he allowed three runs in each. In one, the three runs he allowed were the difference in a loss. In the other, the team held on to win despite his three runs allowed. Cam Sanders had to relieve him to get the final out.

Over the years, the Orioles have tried Cano in the ninth inning and it has never worked out. In his career, Cano has a 5.27 ERA in 54.2 innings pitched. He’s been much more effective in the seventh or eighth innings, where he’s logged the most innings. In 2026, Cano allowed seven runs in 13 games in the ninth inning. Which is a lot! But all seven scored in three games.

Bottom line, it’s worth keeping Cano out of the ninth inning if possible. That is fine, because he thrives as a setup man. He held opponents to a sub-.550 OPS in those innings this year. What would be best for the Orioles is to build the 2027 bullpen around the idea that Cano can be a late-inning guy. I expect that Ryan Helsley will exercise his player option for next year. His presence (and hopefully that of Félix Bautista) will keep Cano where he has thrived.

Relief pitchers are volatile, and it’s hard to know what to expect from Cano going forward. But this season was a reassuring step in the right direction after a tough 2025. The Orioles showed faith in him with the extension with a 2.90 ERA in 68 games. A repeat performance in 2027 would be a welcome sight as the Orioles try to get back into contention.

In some ways, it feels weird to re-litigate this after the Braves won in Game 2 without Chris Sale starting, but what happened feels so weird that I still can’t wrap my head around it.

We basically have two things in play:

First, Chris Sale has gotten extra rest ahead of many of his starts this season. He hasn’t started on the standard four days’ rest very much.

Second, Chris Sale appeared out of the bullpen to finish off the NL Wild Card Series win over the Phillies.

There was a logical world where that appearance functioned as a normal bullpen session, and Sale would’ve started on regular rest twice, once in NLDS Game 2, and once in NLDS Game 5, if needed. That seems like kind of a big deal, given that A) Sale is really good, B) Tyler Mahle would only appear once in the NLDS given the schedule, and C) the Braves don’t have any other starters.

But then, Sale didn’t start Game 2. A lot of discussion was focused on his bullpen appearance, and whether that was the culprit for knocking him back a game. Is that what happened? I have no idea. Or, would the Braves have knocked him back a game anyway for reasons that we aren’t privy to?

From reporting, it seems like it was a Braves decision and not a Chris Sale decision, which is not at all a surprise to me. There’s also some reporting that Sale wasn’t 100 percent heading into Sunday’s Game 2, but… it’s also unclear to me whether that would’ve been the case for him facing normal rest irrespective of the relief appearance.

Basically, I don’t expect anyone or anything to resolve this, but there seems to be this lack of a throughline between “Sale appeared out of the bullpen” and “Sale isn’t starting Game 2.” Maybe that throughline exists, or maybe Sale was going to get extra rest anyway.

The whole situation is just weird. In theory, the Braves’ odds of advancing are pretty dependent on how many Sale appearances they can cram into their remaining games. But, in practice, they could just out-slug the opposition, or even pull an NLDS Game 2, where they probably shouldn’t have won but did anyway.

(Game 2, Dodgers: .281 wOBA, .286 xwOBA | Game 2, Braves: .309 wOBA, .276 xwOBA)

Baseball brings both horror and odd silver linings from unexpected places. In just the last handful of days, Roman Anthony’s been handed both.

The first is the most obvious as the hand injury Anthony battled all year resurfaced and wrecked his first playoff appearance in merciless fashion. He now faces a long offseason of rehab and questions he won’t be able to answer for multiple months. In almost every way, the ending to his 2026 is cruel, harsh and final.

But leave it to the baseball gods to follow up that nastiness with an odd, but also rather ideal ray of hope. Enter Jackson Chourio, who yesterday came up in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 2 of the NLDS with the bases juiced and Mason Miller on the mound. After a highly entertaining battle, Chourio came through on a 2-2 pitch with this game-winner that sent the Brewer crowd into bedlam:

So what does that have to do with Roman Anthony? Well, just one year ago, Chourio faced a very similar set of frustrating circumstances that largely mirror what Anthony is dealing with today.

The curious correlations started back in July of 2025, when Chourio suffered a right hamstring injury on this triple against the Cubs:

Chourio was initially listed as day-to-day (that should sound familiar), but ended up missing several weeks (that should also sound familiar).

Now so far, the similarities are very rudimentary. Anthony, like Chourio, is a 22-year-old hitting stud born in 2004. Anthony, like Chourio, is an outfielder who plays predominantly in left but can move to other slots when the team needs it. Anthony, like Chourio, signed an 8-year contract extension. And Anthony, like Chourio, suffered a frustrating injury that started as day-to-day and then became something much, much more.

But here’s where the similarities get crazy. Do you know what happened shortly after Chourio went on the IL last year? His team went on a 14-game winning streak, which is wildly similar to the 15-game winning streak the Red Sox went on this summer.

Do you know the date Chourio came back from his injury last year? August 30th. Do you know the date Anthony came back from his injury this year? August 30th. Both Anthony and Chourio then proceeded to play in exactly 25 regular season games upon returning, and then had their old injury resurface in Game 1 of the postseason, where they each had to leave early. Here’s the Brewers announcing Chourio’s departure 12 months ago.

OF Jackson Chourio left today's game with right hamstring tightness. He will be further evaluated after today's game.

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) October 4, 2025

Now the difference is the 2025 Brewers went much deeper into the postseason than the 2026 Red Sox. So Chourio was actually in the lineup again in the NLCS, where he unfortunately had to leave another game with that reoccurring hamstring injury.

Jackson Chourio left the game after an awkward swing that appeared to potentially reaggravate his hamstring injury pic.twitter.com/DYBPouE1xM

— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 17, 2025

Either way, if you check the social media archives, you’ll find hundreds of comments from dimwitted imbeciles calling Chourio soft, made of glass, uncompetitive, and questioning if he had anything to play for after the Brewers gave him an an 8-year, $82 million contract extension. Basically, you’d be reading the same trash many people are saying about Roman Anthony right now, which is suddenly oddly comforting in an extremely bizarre way after what Chourio did on Sunday.

Now unfortunately, there’s no guarantee the story keeps following the same set of parallel tracks, and even if it does, we have to wait a year to get the payoff. For now, Roman Anthony, Red Sox fans, and potentially the entire sport face a long, grueling winter ahead, and maybe even a delayed start to next season. (Chourio by the way also had a delayed start to his next season, but that was for a fractured hand, which given everything else here is kind of nuts.)

But at the very least, it’s nice to know the pot of gold is sitting out there somewhere. Chourio’s heroics provide a beacon of light in a moment filled with uncertainty and darkness. So even though it’s a million miles away and there’s no guarantee we ever get there, it can serve as our north star for the time being. Who knows? Maybe a year from now we can circle back and note one more satisfying similarity in this silly string of surrealness.

Meet the Mets

Without the team playing in games, the closest we get to Mets content is Zac Thornton and Nate Lavender opening up football cards.

If you’re really jonesing for only the happy parts of the Mets regular season, the Mets uploaded every single home run that Juan Soto hit during the year on their YouTube in one handy video.

Around the National League East

Chris Sale didn’t get the ball as he wished he would, but the legend of Ray Kerr grew once again as he technically outpitched Blake Snell and combined with almost-cycling Michael Harris II to tie the NLDS at a game apiece against the dastardly Dodgers.

James Wood was excellent for the Nationals when you look at the entirety of his 2026 season, but for a second consecutive year, a late power-outage pulled his numbers down a bit when it was all wrapped up.

Around Major League Baseball

Facing Mason Miller and his 104 mile per hour fastballs, the 22-year-old Jackson Chourio added to his impressive postseason resume, sending a single up the middle and driving in the tying and winning runs to give the Brewers a 2-0 lead against the Padres in the other NLDS.

Kyle Tucker is learning first-hand that a good postseason can erase any regular season, no matter how calamitous.

On the other hand, Austin Wells is learning that even when running the fastest you have in your life, it’s very easy to become the designated goat of the postseason.

Starting tonight for the Yankees, Cam Schlittler has found another level of nasty this October with a new reliance on a curveball.

On the other side of the diamond, the Rays will turn to Old Friend Freddy Peralta to face off against the Yankees’ ace.

A funky stadium helps, but the truest outfield advantage that the Tampa Bay Rays is in the form of their best-in-class outfield defense gobbling up every would-be extra base hit.

You might find yourself missing the Randy Johnson-style playoff ace, but what if I were to tell you that there are still aces out there and they’re ending the game.

This Date in Mets History

On this date in 2024, the Mets scored five times in the top of the eighth inning to snatch the first game of the NLDS away from the Phillies.

In the end, the Braves accomplished their goal. Through a dramatic 3-2 win over the Dodgers, the Braves won Game 2 and split the series in LA. Now the, the Braves have flipped home field advantage and will welcome the Dodgers to Atlanta for Games 3 and 4, with a fully rested Chris Sale and Tyler Mahle ready to go. It was a big gamble, but led by Ray Kerr and Didier Fuentes, the job got done.

Braves News

Another hero of the night was Michael Harris II, who continues to provide the needed power for the Braves offense.

Walt Weiss discussed the decision to go bullpen game over Chris Sale in Game 2, with main focus being on full rest for effectiveness.

MLB News

The Brewers continued to deliver in their dream season so far with a walk-off win off Padres bullpen ace Mason Miller.

Big crowd awaits Cam Schlittler and the Yankees for Game 2 versus the Rays in the ALDS.

Good morning. This is the time of year that the news becomes outdated very quickly. There won’t be anything about last night’s Dodgers/Braves game because I’m writing this before it ended. And not much from the Brewers and Padres Game 2.

• The playoffs got weird in Game 1 of the National League Division Series when a potential go-ahead home run in the top of the ninth by the Padres’ Ty France hit a cable on the roof of American Family Field and landed in Jackson Chourio’s glove for an out. AJ Cassavell and Adam McCalvy have the details.
• Dayn Perry has more on the ground rules for the play and how according to Statcast, at least, the ball likely would not have been a home run.
• Eno Sarris and Spencer Nusbaum say not so fast, and that Statcast doesn’t do well with balls hit that high in the air. (The Athletic sub. req.) However, while they can’t say for sure, they think that “foul ball” was a much more likely outcome than “home run.” Still, that would have given France another chance to swing the bat.
• France’s fly ball joins some of the weirdest plays in playoff history.
• Kiri Oler has an analysis of Game 1 between the Padres and Brewers, (Fangraphs paywall) a game that was full of important moments.
• Russel Dorsey writes that the Brewers think that experience plays into their favor this time around in the postseason.
• Matt Snyder writes something that many people around here have said: The Brewers need to stop pretending they are scrappy, underestimated underdogs and not the clear favorites that they are.
• Snyder also has winners and losers from Game 2 of the Brewers/Padres series.
• Ryan Phillips has a profile of Padres reliever Adrian Morejón.
• Jayson Stark has a recap of Day 1 of the Division Series, including the Rays’ Drew Rasmussen almost no-hitting the Yankees.
• Another summary and analysis of every Game 1 of the four Division Series.
• Game 1 “winners and losers” of all four series.
• Will Sammon thinks that Rasmussen was “untouchable” in Game 1. (The Athletic sub. req.) Also with more behind-the-scenes stuff about Rasmussen’s gem and what was going on in the Rays’ dugout.
• Dan Szymborski analyzes Rasmussen’s “rude” outing. (Fangraphs paywall) “Rude” as in the Yankees never had a chance.
• Sarah Langs has five “incredible” stats from Rasmussen’s outing.
• Ryan Phillips thinks that Game 1 proved that the Yankees aren’t good enough to win a title. Or maybe that Rasmussen is really good?
• The one hit off Rasmussen was a two-out double in the eighth inning by catcher Austin Wells, who ran through a stop sign and was thrown out at third base. Kristie Ackert and Gabe Lacques have more on the play that snuffed any chance the Yankees had to win.
• No-hitters and close calls in postseason history.
• Mike Petriello explains that the Rays’ secret weapon is their best outfield defense in the majors.
• Brendan Kuty has some reasons why the Yankees won’t lose Game 2. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• A big reason is that likely Cy Young winner Cam Schlitter is starting for the Yankees. Jared Greenspan notes that in addition to his already nasty stuff, Schlitter has added a nasty curveball to his arsenal recently.
• The Yankees left Aaron Judge off the Division Series roster as he still hasn’t recovered from his calf injury. Bryan Hoch with details.
• The Dodgers put rookie Josue De Paula on the playoff roster. Andrés Soto has what to expect in the postseason out of this highly-touted youngster.
• Shohei Ohtani says he’s still trying to figure out the cause of his knee, biceps and neck problems. In any case, he’ll simply try to manage the symptoms from here on in.
• Andrés Soto details how Dodgers star Tarik Skubal and his teammates overcame the heat and the Braves to win Game 1.
• Kiley McDaniel polled 27 executives about what kind of a contract (and with whom) will Skubal sign this offseason. Most of them expected Skubal to sign before the lockout and for a team that guarantees he gets paid whether or not there is a lockout.
• Bob Nightengale thinks Kyle Tucker was finally playing like a $240 million player in Game 1 of the NLDS.
• Rhett Bollinger calls lefty Hagen Smith the White Sox “secret weapon.”
• Zack Meisel notes that the famous midges are back in Cleveland for this playoff series.
• Anthony Castrovince recalls how the White Sox and Cleveland were the founding teams of the American League.
• Matthew Roberson has one specific matchup for each series that could determine the outcome. (Fangraphs paywall)
• Matt Snyder ranks three still-active playoff teams by how likely they are to win their first ever World Series.
• Mike Axisa ranks all 16 possible World Series matchups by how compelling they are.
• Jordan Shusterman examines what went wrong with the Phillies this year.
• Jon Becker has playoff report cards for Don Mattingly and Craig Counsell. (The Athletic sub. req.)
• And finally, Cole Jacobson has the ten stadiums that have provided the biggest home-field advantage in the playoffs.

Good morning, Rockies fans!

Did you see what happened in Milwaukee yesterday?

The Brewers were down 3-2 in the ninth, and after Andrew Vaughn flied out for the second out, their win probability had sunk to 17.6%. Gary Sánchez walked to load the bases, but even then Milwaukee was still sitting at just 28.2%.

Then Jackson Chourio ripped a 109.5 mph line drive up the middle.

One swing, and Milwaukee’s win probability was 100%.

Two runs scored. Game over.

Our friends at Brew Crew Ball have the full recap, but watching the Padres stand around while another team celebrated a walk-off got me thinking about something Rockies fans know pretty well.

Walking off the Padres.

The Rockies were down two runs in the 13th inning of Game 163 in 2007 when Kazuo Matsui and Troy Tulowitzki both doubled, Matt Holliday tripled and Jamey Carroll lifted a sacrifice fly to right.

Holliday came flying home.

Safe.

Colorado won 9-8, and Rocktober kept rolling.

As far as Rockies walk-offs go, nothing tops it.

And since walk-offs are awesome, here are a few more worth remembering.

Todd Helton kept the surge toward Rocktober alive with a two-run walk-off homer against the Dodgers during Colorado’s mad September 2007 charge.

The great Ryan Spilborghs sent everyone home in 2009 with a 14th-inning walk-off grand slam against the Giants.

Carlos González completed the cycle with a walk-off homer against the Cubs in 2010, jumping on the first pitch and launching a no-doubter into the third deck at Coors Field.

Nolan Arenado somehow did it, too. On Father’s Day in 2017, Arenado hit a three-run walk-off homer to complete the cycle against the Giants. Arenado emerged from the celebration looking like a wild man — completely amped up, blood streaming down his face. Unforgettable.

And Dante Bichette christened Coors Field properly. The first Rockies game ever played there went 14 innings before Bichette ended it with a three-run walk-off homer.

Which ones did I miss?

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Rockies News & Links

Did the Rockies Fix Their Biggest Offensive Problem in 2026? | SI.com

Colorado’s offense made a noticeable jump in plate discipline this season, improving from a league-worst .293 on-base percentage in 2025 to .322 in 2026. TJ Rumfield, Kyle Karros and Cole Carrigg were all part of that progress, while the piece also points to Jordan Pacheco’s approach as part of the broader shift.

Projecting the Colorado Rockies’ 2027 Opening Day lineup | SI.com

Maddy Dickens takes an early look at how the Rockies’ lineup could shape up next season, with TJ Rumfield leading off, Cole Carrigg and Hunter Goodman near the top, and Charlie Condon making his MLB debut as the primary DH. The young core is starting to come into focus, even if there is still plenty of offseason left to change the picture.

Arizona Fall League: The next wave of Virginia baseball prospects | Augusta Free Press

Rockies left-hander Konnor Eaton is among the Virginia-born prospects getting extra work in the Arizona Fall League. The 2024 sixth-round pick reached Double-A Hartford and went 5-3 with a 4.46 ERA over 107 innings this season, giving Colorado an arm to keep an eye on this fall.

Every major contract decision facing the Colorado Rockies this offseason | SI.com

Matt Postins runs through the Rockies’ biggest financial calls heading into 2027, from Kyle Freeland and Jordan Romano’s free agencies to arbitration decisions on Hunter Goodman and Jake McCarthy. Kris Bryant’s contract still looms over everything, but there are several smaller choices that could help shape DePodesta and Byrnes’ next step.

Around Baseball

Burning questions for each ALDS team ahead of Game 2 | MLB.com

Monday’s ALDS action shifts the spotlight to two critical Game 2s. Cleveland was supposed to have a rotation advantage in a series that otherwise looked fairly evenly matched, but Chicago took Game 1, while the Rays will try to push the Yankees into a 2-0 hole in the nightcap.

The new pitch making Cam Schlittler even nastier | MLB.com

Cam Schlittler has dominated all year with a fastball-heavy mix, but his curveball is becoming a real postseason weapon. He threw a career-high 32 of them against Boston, generated eight whiffs and four strikeouts with the pitch, and now gets a Rays lineup that has also struggled against hard curveballs.

1, 2, 3! There’s strength in offensive numbers atop Rays’ lineup | MLB.com

Tampa Bay finally settled on Yandy Díaz, Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero atop the order, and the trio became the engine of one of the AL’s best offenses. They all get there differently, but together they give the Rays a tough mix of contact, patience and power — and plenty for the Yankees to worry about in Game 2.

What to expect when MLB lockout strikes this winter | SNY.com

Baseball is headed toward a Dec. 1 lockout with the owners pushing for a salary cap and the players firmly opposed. The piece lays out what a work stoppage would actually mean — no player-team contact, likely no Winter Meetings and possible schedule changes — with neither side looking especially close to blinking.

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The Orioles selected Caden Hunter with the 184th pick in the 2025 draft. It’s rare that a player can make a jump from the sixth round to MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospect list in only a year, but that’s exactly what Caden Hunter did after a dominant first season in professional baseball.

Hunter spent two years at Sierra College before transfering to the USC for his junior season. The lefty pitched well enough to find his way onto draft boards, but he never profiled as a top prospect. This wasn’t a case of a player falling in the draft due to injuries or signability concerns. The Orioles liked Hunter enough to take a chance in the sixth round, and Hunter signed at the allotted slot value.

It’s unlikely that anyone, including the Orioles, anticipated the breakout season that Hunter delivered this past year. The 22-year-old posted a 1.17 ERA over six games at Delmarva before earning a quick bump to Frederick. Hunter posted a 1.60 ERA over 45 innings at High-A with a 62/19 K/BB ratio. The strong numbers led to another promotion, and the former Trojan kept his foot on the gas.

Hunter tossed seven scoreless innings during his first Double-A appearance on July 29. He was named the Eastern League Pitcher of the week five days later. Hunter went on to post a 3.09 ERA over 35 innings despite a -2.8 age differential with his peers. He finished 2026 with a 2.01 ERA over 103 innings across three levels. He posted a 1.058 WHIP and struck out 151 batters compared to 47 walks.

Teammates Joseph Dzierwa and Anthony Eyanson captured plenty of headlines, but Hunter delivered one of the more consistent seasons in recent memory. Dzierwa bested Hunter for the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year, but the trio represent a three-headed monster at the top of Baltimore’s system.

MLB Pipeline currently ranks Hunter as Baltimore’s fourth highest prospect behind Eric Booth Jr., Eyanson and Dzierwa. A recent update of Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects ranked Hunter as the 92nd best prospect in baseball. Ike Irish (95) and Enddy Azocar (99) rounded out the Top 100.

Hunter did plenty of damage with a fastball that topped out at 98 MPH. Hunter and the Orioles found a way to add a few extra ticks to his heater, and he often used the pitch up in the strike zone. He complimented the fastball with a slider, changeup and curve, but the heater did a large portion of the damage at the lower levels.

The 6-foot-2 lefty could eventually find his way to the bullpen if things don’t work out, but the organization (and MLB Pipeline) believe Hunter has what it takes to make it as a starter. He’ll likely return to Double-A next spring with an opportunity to force his way to Norfolk rather quickly. A 2027 debut as a starter, or in a similar role to fellow lefty Luis De León, cannot be ruled out.

De León, Baltimore’s eighth best prospect, is expected to compete for a rotation spot this spring. With Trevor Rogers future uncertain, the Orioles will lean on righties Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, and Brandon Young to anchor the rotation moving forward. The Birds will need at least one lefty starter next season, but it helps to have Hunter and Dzierwa lurking in the upper minors.

Hunter will likely face adversity at some point. He’ll be tested whenever he reaches Triple-A, but it’s hard not to be optimistic after his 2026 campaign.

Orioles fans know all too well that pitching prospects do not always reach their full potential. In some ways, it may help that guys like Eyanson and Dizerwa are around to help share the spotlight. Hunter will enter next season with lofty goals, but he won’t face the same pressure to perform as the crown jewel of the Adley Rutschman deal or Mike Elias’ highest drafted pitcher.

Hunter figures to climb in the Top 100 as prospects begin to graduate next season. He shouldn’t be considered a can’t-miss type prospect after only one season, but he represents another valuable chip in Baltimore’s system.

If you ask any baseball fan about what the single most important objective is for postseason baseball, some may bring up pitching depth or home runs, but what’s most important is timely hitting. We as Brewers fans have seen that twice already, just two games into the playoffs.

It’s easy to be riding the high of two electric postseason wins, especially when one player, such as Chourio, has played a major role in the two wins. But it’s hard to underestimate what he has done over his few short years as a Brewer.

On Saturday night, Chourio hit a game-tying two-run home run over the right-center field wall to even the game against the Padres at 2-2. What was hidden much further beneath the home run was the franchise significance: Chourio became the all-time leader in home runs in Brewers postseason history.

Now, it doesn’t feel that significant considering that the Brewers hadn’t hit many home runs in the postseason before, mainly because they were never in the postseason consistently until 2018. Oddly enough, before Chourio hit his home run Saturday night, Orlando Arcia, a player who struggled a ton for the Brewers, led the franchise with four.

However, Chourio taking over the all-time slot is exactly what this team was looking for. He’s been the main piece of the youth movement, and with him locked up through the 2031 season, he’s only expected to add to that lead throughout the next five years. That’s just one of many things that make him already one of the greatest to wear a Brewers uniform.

Clutch hitting for the Brewers feels like an oddity, especially when it matters. First, the most memorable clutch hitting moment for the Brewers in postseason history was Nyjer Morgan’s walk-off base hit to win against the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011 to advance to the National League Championship Series. The second was in game one of the NLDS against the Colorado Rockies in 2018, by Mike Moustakas. After Sunday night, there’s a new moment in town, and it was Chourio’s walk-off hit to survive a sloppy game against the San Diego Padres.

When it comes to the moments that the Brewers didn’t come through in the clutch, the 2024 Wild Card comes to mind, as the Crew had the tying run at the plate and didn’t come through. Or, the 2021 Division Series, where all the Crew needed was one run to tie the game against the Atlanta Braves, instead going 1-2-3. There were, of course, many more moments like that, but those are the most recent of this regime.

Sunday afternoon, the Brewers saw their defense commit three errors, which is uncharacteristic of them. But, as we’ve seen all season, this team has a knack for the comeback. This moment wouldn’t of been possible without Christian Yelich’s one-out walk to kick off the comeback. After a couple of walks, Chourio found himself down to his final strike of the game, and then he poked one through the infield up the middle.

This, of course, wasn’t the first moment for him, as in the bottom of the third inning in game one against the Padres, Chourio took advantage of a lead-off walk from Garrett Mitchell to tie the game at 2-2. A few innings later, William Contreras hit a solo home run to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead late.

With the two home runs in game one, Chourio, of course, accomplished what he did in franchise history, but coming up behind him is Contreras. In just a few postseason appearances, Contreras has three home runs, putting him third all-time in Brewers postseason home runs.

Clutch hitting might come across as the biggest goal for any postseason, but clutch pitching feels like something that’s not talked about enough. If it wasn’t for clutch hitting, the Brewers wouldn’t be headed to San Diego up 2-0. We wouldn’t have gotten to that point if it weren’t for the pitching. Out of the 18 innings played so far, 12 of those have had a Padres hitter on base, and only three times have they scored a run.

It’s an all-around team effort, especially when the defense has as rough a game as the Brewers did. Sunday afternoon, the Brewers pitching stranded eight Padres hitters on base, while leaving 12 on Saturday night. Of course, it’s hard to acknowledge exactly one person who has made it all possible, but if we were too, Chourio would be at the front.

Instantly, my mind goes to the Ty France controversy with his fly ball that hit the wire connected to the roof. Yes, it was a ball that could’ve gone foul, but not enough people are talking about how difficult it is to adjust mid-fly ball to make that catch, and Chourio did. It’s just one small piece of why he’s quickly establishing himself as one of the greats in Brewers history.

The Brewers are going to have the toughest road to the World Series of anyone in baseball. Being the No. 1 seed in the National League, they already have a target on their back. To further that, they have to face one of the hottest teams in September in San Diego, which they’ve already taken the first two games of the series. But with a series win, they’ll have to face either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Atlanta Braves, both of which they want to finally get over the hump against.

Good morning, baseball fans!

Both American League Division Series continues today with Game 2. As of the time this is being written, Game 1 has not yet been played. Because as always, I write in the past baby.

The visiting Chicago White Sox will take on the Cleveland Guardians at 2:00 p.m. PT, with national radio coverage available on ESPN Radio, and television broadcast available on TBS/HBO Max.

After that, the visiting New York Yankees will go up against the Tampa Bay Rays at 5:00 p.m. PT. This will also have national radio coverage on ESPN Radio, and television coverage on TBS/HBO Max.

This time, I think I’ll also pick who I’m rooting for, since I keep asking you guys to. If you know me even a little bit, you know I’ve got to root for Cleveland! because it would make Taylor Swift happy. And honestly I don’t really have a preference among the non-Yankees teams. But I guess as a non-facetious answer, I’ll go with the White Sox. I feel like that would be a pretty cool story.

Who are you rooting for today?

Vahe Gregorian writes about what he wants to see the Royals change this offseason.

There’s another issue, though, that I hope the Royals will delve deeper into as they audit their processes.

Heck, maybe they could even form a task force for the cause:

Solve why so many of their seasons get wrecked within weeks.

Because it’s an ever-hovering albatross that deflates fans and typically has made for too much ground to make up.

Yes, the Royals have been above water through May in two of Matt Quatraro’s first four seasons as manager.

And, yep, the early stumbles are intertwined with broader reasons they do or don’t succeed through the course of a 162-game marathon. And, sure there’s a difference between causal and correlation.

But, geez, this happens over and over and over and over.

Matt Eddy at Baseball America writes about prospects who caught his attention in September reports.

Precocious righthander Kendry Chourio pitched at two Class A levels as an 18-year-old. The Royals knew he was ready for the challenge because they observed his pregame routine of studying hitters, reviewing video and developing game plans. “He’s super disciplined (and) he’s very mature for his age,” Royals farm director Mitch Maier said. “Just by the example, he sets on how he takes care of business when he starts, and the poise which he performs with, he sets a good example for everyone who he’s around.”

Drew Waters is one of six minor leaguers to elect free agency.

Brian Burrows at Kings of Kauffman wonders if Carter Jensen can win a Silver Slugger Award.

Angeibel Gomez becomes the youngest player to get a hit in the Arizona Fall League since 2014.

Ty France loses a bit for a home run to give the Padres a lead in Game 1 when the ball hits the roof.

Jacob Misiorowski sets a record for fastest pitch in the postseason.

Jackson Chourio came up with a walk-off single in Game 2.

Austin Wells’ baserunning gaffe hurts the Yankees in a 1-0 loss in Game 1.

Tampa Bay’s sensational outfield defense has been a bit part of their success.

The Cubs will make pitching a priority this offseason.

Aroldis Chapman has his 2027 option vest with the Red Sox.

Where does Jordan Westburg fit for the Orioles next year?

How did each team’s closer fare this year?

How the Mets can turn things around.

The Pirates won the Brandon Lowe trade.

Baseball America has park factors for all minor league stadiums.

Mizzou jumps to #14 in the AP poll after routing Florida.

Former Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has built an impressive city in Minecraft.

RuneScape is getting a TV series.

American dining habits are spreading to France.

Do human have a “lizard brain” under their rational brain?

Your song of the day is The Temper Trap with Sweet Disposition.

I already know the reaction of the vast majority of fans reading this headline, which will produce some version of “Wait what?” I have legitimately not seen his name thrown out as a possible Cardinals target anywhere, and it’s understandable because he is technically a shortstop. In fact, there’s a strong possibility the only thing you really know about JP Crawford is that he was a l0ng-time Mariners shortstop. Probably didn’t even know he was a free agent, because why would you even bother to pay attention to the free agent shortstops.

You might notice that I said he was technically a shortstop. By virtue of standing at short when playing defense. Functionally speaking he deserves to no longer be called a shortstop, because is a very bad defensive shortstop. He has been worth -9 OAA or worse in four of the five last seasons and he’s been worth -25 OAA the past two seasons combined. This is despite the fact that he actually played 254 innings at 3B last year and only 720 innings at short. He’s been a bad shortstop for a while and this season, his numbers suggested he was on par with Jose Martinez in the outfield.

This is admittedly an extremely strange way to make the case for the Cardinals to sign someone, but I want to emphasize there is no team in baseball that will – or at least should – sign up for JP Crawford’s services with the intention of putting him at SS. Everyone is aware he is a bad defender. Crawford has to know that his numbers rate very poorly. He is a beloved Mariner and they were forced to put him at 3B. Colt Emerson got called up and at first Emerson was at 3B and Crawford was at SS, but well, by June, the positions switched. Emerson ended up getting hurt, so Crawford finished the year at SS, but hopefully message received.

He should and probably will be viewed as a free agent 3B and in that respect, he is a lot more appealing. He hasn’t played at 3B very long, but he now has 254 innings of experience and though it is an extremely small sample size, he rated as dead average. Now Crawford does have a weaker arm – it is 20th percentile according to Statcast. But it’s honestly not a huge difference between him and Thomas Saggese or Blaze Jordan. He threw it 80.2 mph on average, Saggese threw it 82 mph, and Blaze threw it 82.8. All were clearly below average arms. I don’t think it is a dealbreaker to have a weaker arm at 3B.

Crawford however is an above average hitter. He has a career 106 wRC+, which is pretty close to his 105 wRC+ on the 2026 season, which was achieved with a .253 BABIP and a .319 xwOBA compared to a .312 actual wOBA. His xwOBA and wOBA are nearly identical for his career. I would ordinarily not comment on a 7 point difference, but it sounds more appealing to sign a 110 wRC+ hitter than a 105 wRC+ hitter and… again low BABIP and same xwOBA as wOBA for career. There’s reasons to believe he was unlucky.

He doesn’t have quite as wide of a splits as I would hope, which is both a positive and a negative. It’s a negative because if he was worse against LHP, it’d be easier to maximize his production (and honestly easier selling point to platoon). It’s a positive because well it is better if he’s not unplayable against LHP. With his defense, he certainly was unplayable against LHP at SS, so I suppose it depends on how good his defense is at 3B, but a 98 career wRC+ against LHP is perfectly fine. He was actually better against LHP last year, which again I’d prefer to not be the case to convince him to platoon.

Which yes, that would be my hope with signing JP Crawford. The Cardinals have two right-handed options for 3B next season, neither of which were any good against the same-handed pitcher last season. Thomas Saggese had a 66 wRC+ (and 73 wRC+ career) and Blaze Jordan had a 51 wRC+ against RHP. I don’t hate the idea of those two getting a bunch of reps next year to see what they have, but for 75% of games, you at least appear to have one really bad hitter locked into your lineup with getting someone who can hit right-handed pitchers for 3B.

I also will add I think those two will still play plenty if you sign JP Crawford. There is of course all the games where they will play against a LHP, and they will come into many games when a left-handed reliever comes into the game. They will still start some games against RHP I’m sure – just the way a baseball season ends up going, someone will have injuries. But that’s kind of what those two should be against RHP – injury insurance, not the plan.

Another appealing aspect of Crawford – maybe the most appealing aside from his competence with the bat – I think he might have to sign a one-year deal. I don’t think he will be high in-demand from the market. He’s in no man’s land right now – a shortstop all his life, but nobody who will play him there – but a 3B without an arm and with not a whole lot of power (of course Safeco is terrible for power) is kind of difficult selling point. I know, I’m simultaneously making a case to not get him.

But that’s the thing in my mind. The Cardinals are trying to achieve a very delicate balance. I don’t think they are interested in a long-term solution at 3B, because maybe Rainiel Rodriguez will have to go there, maybe Jesus Baez looks like he should be called up in June. I could see them being uncomfortable with having literally no potential for any infielder to crack the starting lineup for a few years without an injury or a trade. At the same time, they want to improve at 3B for 2027 specifically, and I don’t think they really believe that Jordan or Saggese are future starting 3Bs. It’s a pretty big gamble that the Cardinals only improve at 3B because they literally could not get worse instead of improving to average or better.

Maybe Crawford is that delicate balance. A player you might be able to get for one year, that is an above average hitter, and yes a question mark on defense, but the early returns are positive. It could go really well. If he’s only a little bit below average at 3B and maintains his offensive consistency, he will be an above average player. He has been an above average player for most of his career at SS. He was 2.8 fWAR in 2025, so it isn’t ancient history either. He will be playing in his age 32 season, which for a one-year commitment isn’t super risky. If things go poorly, it’s not that hard to cut him. Hypothetically anyway. I don’t know what his market will be.

He will usually give you a good at-bat. He walks at a high rate and he doesn’t strike out all that much. He’s already used to playing in a park that doesn’t allow homers, I don’t think he will be too harmed by playing at Busch. He did hit 14 homers last year and he’s settled into a 10+ homer guy, so there is a little power, I don’t want to act like he’s David Eckstein. But power is not his strong point.

I know this is a boring signing. If you want to improve at 3B, this will not exactly excite people. I’m trying to be realistic. I don’t think the Cardinals will go international, and there’s not many great options. Crawford could be the boring, but effective signing to vastly improve 3B, admittedly because of how low the bar is, but still. He’s left-handed and a career 110 wRC+ hitter against RHP. I think it fits.

A not small caveat to all this is…. it is contingent on quite a few things to happen. Crawford has to actually be available for a one-year-deal, that there isn’t another team willing to give him more opportunities at SS, that there isn’t another opportunity for him to play 2B or 3B full-time instead of as a platoon option, and that the Cardinals believe Crawford could be fine at 3B defensively. It would not shock me if someone gives him two years, it would not shock me if another team would play him full-time instead of planning to platoon him, and it would not shock me if the Cardinals were not high on his defense at 3B. It would shock me if another team kept him at SS, he only lasted as long as he did at SS because he was the longest tenured Mariner who fans loved.

So yes, the chips have to fall right for this to work. I can think of a bunch of reasons for why this won’t happen. But the right version of this could work well for the Cardinals. They can delay the 3B question for another year while not sacrificing the on-field product. It is boring. I can’t imagine a lot of fans would be excited about this move.

But when the Mariners had the tribute for him on the last game of the season, Crawford to 3B occurred to me and it apparently occurred to nobody else, and I just want to throw this idea into the world more than anything. See what people think. He is not being treated as an option and he is an option. He is the not necessarily exciting option, but I wouldn’t mind seeing a solid hitter in the lineup against RHP next season. I don’t know I really want to believe in the best case scenario of this.

The National League had the MLB playoff stage to itself on Sunday, but while those four teams switch cities, Monday belongs to the American League Division Series, with a pair of Games 2 in Cleveland and St. Petersburg.

Major League Baseball in recent years has started the Division Series round with all four series playing Game 1 on the same day, then will insert an extra off day between Games 1 and 2 for one of the leagues — alternating each year — to ensure that there are as many days with baseball games as possible. This year, the AL got the extra off day between the first two games.

First up on Monday is the Chicago White Sox, going for a fourth straight win to open their postseason, with their first three wins thus far coming on the road. There’s one more game for the Sox before returning home, having to face Gavin Williams and the Guardians in Cleveland on Monday.

Only one run was scored in the opener of Rays vs. Yankees, and New York turns to Cam Schlittler in Game 2 on Monday to try to avoid the 2-0 hole before returning home to The Bronx.

Both games, and the entire rest of the American League playoffs (Division Series and Championship Series) will be televised by TBS.

Monday Division Series schedule

2 p.m. PT: White Sox at Guardians
Chicago leads, 1-0
ALDS Game 2: Anthony Kay vs. Gavin Williams
TBS (Alex Faust, Ron Darling)

5 p.m.: Yankees at Rays
Tampa Bay leads, 1-0
ALDS Game 2: Cam Schlittler vs. Freddy Peralta
TBS (Brian Anderson, Jeff Francoeur)