Category: MLB

Happy Friday everyone!

The race to crown a first-time champion begins tonight as the National League champion Milwaukee Brewers host the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays in Game 1 of the best-of-seven Fall Classic.

Milwaukee’s hard-throwing right-hander Jacob Misiorowski will start his team’s first World Series game in 44 years, while the Rays will counter with right-hander Nick Martinez, who is coming off a career-best season. It is fitting that these two teams are the last ones standing, given how much discussion of a salary cap and floor has hovered over MLB this season. Baseball fans, be sure to enjoy this World Series because the threat of an owner-imposed lockout could shut down the sport for an undetermined period.

Moving forward under new president of baseball operations Taylor Smith, the Athletics would be wise to follow the blueprint that the Brewers and Rays have successfully used. By relying on strong scouting and player development along with player acquisitions driven by shrewd use of research and data, these two small-market organizations annually build competitive rosters that often outperform their big-market division rivals.

If the A’s can blend this modern “Moneyball” strategy with what will likely be increased revenue from their new ballpark in Las Vegas, this historic club has the chance to escape last-place purgatory.

However, before the A’s Las Vegas era begins, the team will play one more season at West Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park. Over the past two years, the team’s pitching staff has significantly struggled to keep opponents off the scoreboard.

As a result, the A’s pitching staff, particularly its bullpen, needs a major boost. Upgrades could come from minor league prospects such as Jamie Arnold and Wei-En Lin making their mark in the majors, free-agent signings or trades, or current players such as Jack Perkins and Jacob Lopez taking the next step. This is where Smith’s background in research, data and statistics could make a difference.

In addition to bolstering the A’s roster this offseason, Smith must help manager Mark Kotsay hire several new assistant coaches, including a pitching coach. If the 2027 season happens and the team continues to flounder, that could spell the end of Kotsay’s tenure.

Who do you want to win the World Series? Did Smith’s intro press conference make you more or less excited about the hire? If you were in his shoes, what would you do first to improve the A’s roster?

A’s Coverage:

• Athletics Hire Taylor Smith As Next President of Baseball Operations
• A’s bring in Taylor Smith to run baseball operations
• On New PBO Taylor Smith: What’s In A Number?
• A’s Considering Hiring GM Under Taylor Smith
• Trade Candidate: Shea Langeliers
• The five biggest questions facing the A’s this offseason
• Inside the A’s State-of-the-Art Las Vegas Ballpark
• Pitching prospect Huggins growing his game with the help of this A’s Hall of Famer
• ’Be a sponge’: No. 19 prospect leads A’s Fall League group with do-it-all mentality
• A’s LHP prospect Richardson shows off health and resiliency during Fall League homecoming
• Zack Of All Trades Tries To Get One More Win: In Court
• Important Dates For The Athletics This Offseason
• 12 A’s Players Out of Options Heading Into 2027
• How MLB’s Proposed Changes Would Impact the A’s
• A’s part ways with assistant hitting, quality control coaches
• After an outfield collision left him paralyzed, every gain in rehab is a big win for A’s Ryan Lasko
• Why 2027 Athletics Will Be Completely Different Team
• A’s Las Vegas ballpark cost rises to $2.1B, public funding delayed
• 2026: Year Of The “Didn’t See That Coming!”
• A’s Hoping Luis Severino Chooses to Stay
• Where the A’s Plan to Use Zack Gelof in 2027
• Drafting The Top AL Graduated MLB Prospects From 2026
• Devin Taylor: Athletics 2026 Minor League Player Of The Year
• Athletics 2026 MLB Draft Report Card
• Henry Bolte Is the A’s Next Budding Star
• Determining Athletics’ Offensive MVP for the 2026 Season
• 2027 Infield Landscape Ever Changing
• Get the best of Athletics Nation on the new SB Nation app

MLB News & Interest:

• MLB’s lockout is coming. Before it arrives, baseball insiders expect a free-agent frenzy
• Stephen Vogt back to Guardians in ’27, shuns Mariners rumors
• It’s baseball’s fastest bat vs. fastest arm in the World Series
• This year’s World Series champ will be a 1st-time winner … either way
• Winners of the 2026 Fielding Bible Awards announced
• Each team’s top performer from the 2026 Draft
• Kurt Suzuki out as Angels manager; interim GM John Mozeliak won’t return in 2027
• Mariners Interested In Jason Kanzler For Managerial Vacancy
• Shohei Ohtani won’t need offseason surgery
• Dalton Rushing to undergo surgery
• Red Sox in need of new first and third base coaches
• Boone spurns calls for culture change; Yankees clubhouse remains a ‘strength’
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X

Get to know new Athletics president of baseball operations Taylor Smith.

Baseball Ops (Taylor's Version) pic.twitter.com/u6ES2v13jG

— Athletics (@Athletics) October 22, 2026

What moves should Smith make to build on the A’s “really exciting young core”?

Taylor Smith on his vision for the A's:

“We want to build a team that can compete for championships. And right now we have this really exciting young core, we’re so exited to build on that”

What will be his first move as the NEW President of Baseball Operations?🤔👀 pic.twitter.com/P6087MKvHh

— SleeperAthletics (@SleeperAth) October 22, 2026

The good old days.

October 22, 1972 – The celebration begins as the #Oakland A's, ending an #Athletics franchise streak of 40 consecutive years without a World Series appearance, defeat the #Reds 3 to 2 in the deciding 7th game to win the World Series championship.#MLB#OTD#1970spic.twitter.com/VuFIWa7Cu7

— JVAN (@VanderlansJim) October 22, 2026

Now that all but two teams are done playing, baseball and the writers who cover the game are turning their attention to the brief span of time that will be the open market for players. With the potential lockout looming on Dec. 2, executives, players and agents must devise a strategy for handling this unique month ahead of them.

The last lockout, during the 2021 offseason, lasted 99 days. Spring Training was shortened and regular season double-headers had to be played to get all the games in. There was no salary floor or salary cap proposed last time. The game was still recovering from the COVID pandemic and that contentious subject was avoided.

This time, with a resurgent sport and enthusiastic fan base, it seems both sides are willing to risk alienating those fans in order to bring massive change or keep the status quo in the financial structure of baseball.

A trade could make the most sense

A recent article by Andy McCullough in The Athleticfloated the idea that executives and agents alike might make a fast start to this abbreviated free agent period. There is a sentiment that signing before potential rule changes could benefit both sides. The unpredictable time span before a new season begins could spur unprecedented activity.

Signing first baseman Ty France to a deal should be the priority for the San Diego Padres. But at the same time, they need to consider a trade. One that would give them a little financial wiggle room but would also address a need.

Tim Britton, also of The Athletic, surveyed the free agent class of players available during this volatile time. While the pitching market looks ripe with talent, the position player class is rated as the second worst in a decade. The best hitters on the list, Randy Arozarena, Seiya Suzuki and Brandon Lowe, are all 32 years old.

The Padres’ primary need is starting pitching. Most of their positions are occupied once they re-sign France. Should they also re-sign Ramón Laureano, the bench would be their primary positional need.

Deal from a strength

They also have three catchers on the major league depth chart. That is most likely one too many. They have an outfielder who owns two Platinum Gloves and prefers to play in the infield.

For multiple seasons, Jake Cronenworth has been the subject of trade rumors but he has remained a Padre every time. He plays the position that Fernando Tatis Jr. would probably choose to play. They also have a defense-first infielder in Sung-Mun Song who needs to play more so that he can get better against major league pitching.

Packaging either Freddie Fermin or Luis Campusano with Jake Cronenworth in exchange for a starter or bench depth/outfielder could go a long way toward setting the Padres up for what will need to be an active free agent period.

A busy trip to Las Vegas

The General Manager’s meetings begin in Las Vegas on Nov. 9. They are traditionally the start of the trade season, with the free agent market usually getting hot during the Winter Meetings. With the pending labor dispute, the Winter Meetings will likely be cancelled and everything will be swinging in Las Vegas.

President of baseball operations/general manager A.J. Preller will have a structure by then that will dictate the financials and goals of the organization. He should know how much he can spend and which players are considered available. He will have a shopping list for what is needed.

If the Padres can make a fast break during November, getting a skeleton of a starting staff and their team MVP of 2026 back in the fold, the extended work stoppage that might come will not bring as much worry to the fan base. 

Knowing that the 2027 season, whenever it begins, has most of a team already in place should decrease the anxiety that the shortened offseason would normally bring. 

There is also a chance everyone plays it safe and almost nothing happens during the short signing season. But the chance of that seems like a big gamble for the teams that consider themselves playoff contenders. Pushing through a lot of business in a short time will make for hasty decisions and probably inflate player values.

The November flurry of activity could be a small one or a blizzard. If it’s a blizzard, the Padres and Preller have to be taking part.

---

Padres News:

• In his ongoing grading of players on the Padres’ roster, Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball takes a look at veteran shortstop, Xander Bogaerts.

• Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune says the World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Milwaukee Brewers shows the Padres and the rest of baseball what is possible.

Baseball News:

• Here is all the information for Game 1 of the World Series, which starts tonight along with three questions to think about as the championship series gets underway.

• Former San Diego pitcher Nick Martinez will start Game 1 for Tampa Bay against Milwaukee and ace Jacob Misiorowski.

• Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt says he will return in 2027.

On the heels of his breakout 2025 campaign, the Yankees extended a qualifying offer to Trent Grisham, an offer that the outfielder accepted. On the surface, it seemed like a piece of business that could work out nicely for both sides. The Yankees retained their starting center fielder at a price just north of $20 million, and Grisham got a chance to prove his 2025 was no fluke, setting him up to enter free agency in 2026 without a qualifying offer and with his status as one of the top hitters on the market cleanly established.

For a while, everything went according to plan. Then, injuries struck, Grisham’s production plummeted, and his, and the Yankees’, season ended in ignominy. 

Grade: D
2026 Stats: 121 G, 484 PA, 18 HR, 67 R, 59 RBI, 9 SB, .211/.308/.395, 98 wRC+, 0.7 fWAR, 0.6 bWAR
2027 Contract Status: Free agent

Grisham got off to a nominally slow start this year, but thanks in part to the near-ubiquity of Statcast, most fans saw through his opening slump. The 29-year-old was hitting the ball well, but he wasn’t hitting ’em where they ain’t, so the early-season consensus on Grisham was that he was just one of the unluckiest hitters in baseball.  

Eventually, the results started to come. After the calendar turned to May and up through June 12th, Grisham hit .290/.373/.473, and was one of the primary reasons the Yankee offense remained excellent during the interim period between Aaron Judge’s initial injury and his placement on the IL. 

On that day of June 12th, however, Grisham’s season changed irreversibly. Grisham suffered what the team referred to as a “moderate” hamstring strain in his right leg, landing him on the injured list. Grisham only missed about three weeks with the ailment, but when he returned, he wasn’t the same player. From his return on July 3rd on, Grisham hit just .186/.269/.381.

What made matters worse was Grisham’s deteriorating performance in center field. Even during his superlative 2025 season, Grisham’s defense regressed by almost any measure, and at no point in 2026, before or after his hamstring injury, did Grisham look like he was in position to bounce back in that facet of the game. By season’s end, Grisham rated in the tenth percentile among outfielders in Statcast’s Range metric, and was eight runs below average by Defensive Runs Saved.

Grisham’s decline came to a head in the playoffs. He reinjured his right hamstring in early September, and hit the IL for the remainder of the regular season before the Yankees activated him for the postseason. Grisham started both games of the Wild Card Series against Boston and did well enough with the bat, picking up two hits in Game 2, but he did not look capable of playing center field at the major league level:

The Yankees stuck with Grisham as they faced off with Tampa Bay in the ALDS, and Grisham went 0-for-11 with five strikeouts while continuing to play a limited form of center field defense. 

As far as Grisham defenders go, I actually consider myself as one of the staunchest. Grisham was one of the team’s best hitters before he got hurt this season, and though there’s no way to prove this definitively, I believe that he would have gone on to have an excellent offensive season had he stayed healthy. But the fact of the matter is that Grisham did get hurt, and the player that was scalding the ball early in the year ceased to exist. Despite that version of Grisham disappearing, the Yankees stuck with him to the bitter end, a decision that in all likelihood hurt their chances of prevailing when they faced off with the American League’s top seed in the playoffs. It’s unfortunate that Grisham hitting leadoff in the season’s last game and going 0-for-5 may very well be the lasting image of him in pinstripes for many fans, especially since Grisham’s tenure in the Bronx should largely be defined by his reinvention with the bat and his mid-career growth into a formidable power threat.

Trent Grisham and the Yankees in 2026 could have worked out. Perhaps there’s an alternate universe out there very similar to this one, where Grisham’s hamstring stayed intact and he hit 35 bombs to give the Yankees another potent lefty bat in the lineup. But that’s not the universe we live in. Here, Grisham got hurt and his performance suffered, with the team trotting him out there in a vain attempt to get him back to his prior self night after night. It’s because of that that Grisham goes home with one of the harshest grades you’ll see in our Report Card series. 

The last time the Mets made a big splash by signing a position player from Japan was the only time they made a big splash signing a position player from Japan.

It was the 2003-04 offseason, and the player was Kaz Matsui, a power-hitting superstar infielder. The signing of Matsui was enormous at the time since it came on the heels of Ichiro Suzuki being the first-ever Japanese position player to be posted and signed by an MLB team -- in 2001 with the Mariners, when he won the MVP award. Shortly after Suzuki arrived, Hideki Matsui inked a deal with the Yankees during the 2002-03 offseason and made an immediate impact in the majors.

The Mets had signed a Japanese position player before, landing the flashy outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo ahead of the 2001 season. But Shinjo, while a fun player, was not viewed as a difference-maker.

Kaz Matsui was, though he didn't live up to the hype. He had a respectable .727 OPS in 2004 but flamed out quickly in New York, with a .670 OPS in 255 games over parts of three seasons before he was traded to Colorado in June of 2006. Matsui had some solid years for the Rockies and Astros later in his career, but never hit more than nine home runs in a season -- a massive disappointment after blasting 30-plus homers in back-to-back seasons for the Seibu Lions in Japan before coming to the majors.

Since Matsui, the Mets have been active in the Japanese market, but it has been limited to pitchers -- most recently the signing of Kodai Senga and strong pursuit of Yoshinobu Yamamoto before he landed with the Dodgers. 

Meanwhile, Japanese position players have continued to wind up elsewhere.

Most recently, Shohei Ohtani went to the Angels and then the Dodgers (refusing to even consider an East Coast team), Seiya Suzuki signed with the Cubs, Kazuma Okamoto landed with the Blue Jays, and Munetaka Murakami inked a deal with the White Sox. 

Another crop of Japanese stars is about to hit the open market this offseason, and slugging infielder Teruaki Sato could be a strong fit for New York.

Should the Mets pursue Sato? Here are the pros and cons...

PROS

Sato has reached another level offensively over the last two seasons for the Hanshin Tigers.

He smacked 40 homers and 34 doubles while posting a .924 OPS in 2025 as he won the Central League MVP award. Sato followed that up in 2026 with another monster season. In 143 games, he slashed .306/.383/.609 with 39 home runs, 40 doubles, 100 runs scored, and 106 RBI -- winning the Triple Crown in the process. 

Sato also excelled in a small sample against international competition in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, hitting .300/.417/.600 with three doubles in 12 plate appearances.

A look at Sato's advanced stats doesn't reveal any glaring issues. While he has a propensity to strike out (he fanned 164 times in 143 games in 2026), his strikeout percentage has been quite steady since 2023 -- and it actually ticked down a bit from 2025 (27.3 percent) to 2026 (26.7 percent) as his power output increased. Sato's BABIP in 2026 (.370) was a career high, so there should be some regression there. But his BABIP has always trended relatively high (.343 in 2024, .323 in 2025).  

When it comes to durability, Sato has been a rock of sorts, appearing in 132 or more games in each of his first six seasons.

Sato also has youth on his side, as he'll be playing the entire 2027 season at just 28 years old.

While Sato has been primarily a third baseman and corner outfielder in Japan, many experts believe his defensive home in the majors will be at first base.

If Sato is indeed destined for first base, it would make him an ideal fit for a Mets team that still has a huge hole at the position. Jared Young performed admirably there this past season with Jorge Polanco injured and Mark Vientos ineffective, but Young -- who doesn't have much power and struggles against left-handed pitching -- might profile better in a reserve role. 

CONS

While Sato might fit better at first base than third base, that doesn't mean he can definitely handle the position. At the same time, plenty of players have made a successful transition across the diamond, so there should be hope that a relatively athletic player like Sato can do it. 

Another possible knock against Sato -- strictly when it comes to a possible Mets pursuit -- is that he hits from the left side of the plate. 

The Mets are already very left-handed, with Juan Soto, Carson Benge, and A.J. Ewing among their key offensive cogs. But they do have some variety with the switch-hitting Francisco Lindor, both of their catchers (Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens), and Bo Bichette (if he opts in to his contract) all hitting from the right side.  

Then there's the strikeouts.

As is noted above, Sato's strikeout rate for Hanshin in 2026 was 26.7 percent (164 K's in 143 games).

In 2024, in what was his last full season playing in Japan, Murakami's strikeout rate was 29.5 percent (180 in 143 games). In 69 games in 2025, Murakami's strikeout rate was 28.6 percent (71 in 69 games). In his first season for the White Sox, Murakami fanned a whopping 196 times in 127 games -- a rate of 35.4 percent.  

Even though it's fair to expect Sato's strikeout rate to tick up as he transitions to the majors, there's no reason to believe it will be as stark as Murakami's increase. 

In any event, even while striking out as often as he did in 2026, Murakami was still very valuable for Chicago, posting an .825 OPS (130 OPS+) and cracking 35 homers in 127 games.

VERDICT

With the Mets seemingly locked in at most positions on the diamond, the easiest way to move the needle offensively is to add someone to play first base or be the regular designated hitter. And with there being serious drawbacks to adding a DH-only player, the target should be first base.

There are other intriguing first basemen set to be on the free agent market, including Ty France. But none of them possess the upside of Sato. 

Sato obviously comes with some risk, but it's time for the Mets to take a big swing on a high upside talent. 

On Monday, I watched the Tampa Bay Rays clinch their place in the World Series. The broadcast was entirely in French.

Now, part of the fault of this lies directly with me, I’ll admit. I am in fact, a Canadian. During the regular season, I watch all my games—those available to be watched—on MLB TV, a service which has steadily become less and less worth the $120 Canadian a season I pay for it. The postseason is not carried on MLB TV. For the two postseasons before this, I made the same mistake each year: I went to the SportsNet website directly to sign up for an account for October. I then subsequently realized I couldn’t use that same account if I wanted to sign into SportsNet through Prime Video. So for two years in a row, I paid twice for the same service.

Eager not to make the same mistake this season, I pulled up the game on my TV through Prime and selected the paid feed option. I was delighted to see the price had gone down, but didn’t know why it was telling me my subscription would be through “RSN.” It is worth noting that up to this point, every single step of the process had been in English. I finalized my new subscription and turned on the game, only to discover that the entire broadcast, commercials included, was all in French. No subtitle options, no language change options, no ability to switch my audio feed.

I know enough French that this was not devastating or worth the effort of cancelling only to find an alternate feed for SportsNet, but the frustration remained. Because of the way MLB allows regional broadcast restrictions—in the case of Canada, we cannot watch a single Blue Jays game through MLB TV, they are exclusively available through Rogers—my ability to properly watch the postseason in my preferred language was made unnecessarily difficult.

In 2026, MLB aired exclusive games on multiple streaming services, including Apple TV+, Peacock, and Netflix. In the case of Netflix, they had exclusive rights to the Opening Night game—the first game of the 2026 season—and events like the Home Run Derby and the Field of Dreams game. Peacock, meanwhile, had rights to Sunday Night Baseball, the draft, the Future’s Game, and more importantly, every single game of the 2026 Wild Card series. Apple TV+ had exclusive access to two Friday night games each week.

In addition to this, many teams debuted their own regional networks this season after leaving behind Bally Sports/FanDuel sports and other traditional RSNs. This meant that for many fans, they now had to subscribe to a local regional network package in order to watch their team play. With all these packages, and MLB TV factored in, a baseball fan in 2026 might need to spend over $100 a month just to watch baseball. And if they want to watch the All-Star Game or the rest of the postseason? Well, too bad, hope you still have cable.

For years, I have bemoaned the lack of MLB foresight when it comes to making their most exciting product available to the widest possible audience. The MLB All-Star Game each July plays host to the biggest names and hottest talent in baseball, and for a sport that has been having trouble getting and maintaining a young viewership of new fans, this seems like a gross oversight. The game is not broadcast on any streaming services, but it’s also not available on MLB TV, so for those who have cut out cable, there is no way to watch the biggest exhibition game of the year. Moving this game to YouTube, where it would be freely accessible to anyone who wanted to watch it, would create not only plenty of ad revenue for MLB, but would also make it easy for new fans to find and participate in. MLB even attempted an arrangement with YouTube in 2019 with the MLB Game of the Week Live on YouTube, where select regular season games were broadcast on the online platform. This program lasted through the 2022 season, but was not renewed in 2023, as MLB explored new options.

Herein lies the problem with MLB’s current model. There is no one place anyone can go to watch their team play a whole season of baseball. Once upon a time, MLB TV allowed for an optional postseason package for international viewers, allowing them to live watch all the postseason games, but that has since been dropped. Canadian fans who don’t watch the Blue Jays are not able to watch their chosen teams play if they happen to be up against the Toronto club. That’s a whole country blackout, arguably the largest geographical blackout for restricted viewing. But even for American viewers, unless someone wants to keep cable, and then subscribe to an additional 3-6 streaming packages, there will be games during the season that are simply unviewable.

And that’s because MLB doesn’t care if fans can watch the games. We’re just in an ongoing game of chicken to see how far fans can be pushed.

MLB is, at the end of the day, the stomping ground of billionaires who are mostly concerned with fattening their bottom line. They want localized sports networks, they want Netflix money, they will accept any and every streaming offer if it means a sweet shared payday when everything is said and done. Under the current administration of baseball, we’ve seen a vast number of changes made to quicken the pace of games, making them more watchable, hoping to hold fan retention in an era of increasingly shortened attention spans. We’ve seen pitch timers, ghost runners in extra innings, the ABS challenge, the elimination of actually throwing pitches for an intentional walk. All of these things were introduced, ostensibly, to create a more consumable product.

But MLB does not seem to care if you actually get to consume their product, because they have already cashed their checks. With each MLB TV subscription, even if it doesn’t include all the games of the season, they have made their money. When we tune into the Home Run Derby because hey, we already have Netflix, they already have their money. When we sign up for Peacock to watch the Wild Card games and forget to cancel it for several months, they have made their money. Meanwhile, we’re now on to finding a service on which to watch FOX and TBS, if you don’t already have them, in order to see the rest of the playoffs.

In a sport where we already talk about players as if they were commodities to be bought, sold, and traded, we are, in a sense, complicit in our own downfall. We have accepted that we are consumers being fed a product that moves ever further from the original sport into a packaged television program, and like all industries, those with the money and power and control are seeing just how far they can push us before we refuse. Before the fans say No, I won’t subscribe to seven different channels to watch my team lose.

We haven’t hit that point yet, and MLB knows it.

But we should have hit that point a long time ago, when something we paid $120 a year for stopped being enough. When we couldn’t watch an entire season all in one place, we should have drawn a line. Because MLB has created a monster. Fans will now be treated to an incredibly irritating CBA dispute while getting squeezed for every dollar just to consume the product.

And even in saying all of that, even in feeling a sense of fury and frustration over how ridiculous the enterprise has become, I still paid $25 to watch eight baseball games.

In French.

For some people, Braves out equals no more baseball. For others, they’ll take as much as they can get.

I’m weird: I’ll take as much of the regular season as I can get, but lose interest in the short-series-tournament format pretty handily. I nominally watched the Braves in their two postseason series, though with far more multitasking and less paying attention than all the games that came before. I haven’t watched any other postseason series, though I have followed along with some. (Most were kinda boring, though.)

Honestly, a big reason why I have less interest is because MLB.tv is very convenient, but those stateside can’t get MLB.tv to show playoff games without a lot of hassle, and I just have no real interest in enduring hassle for the sake of receiving a product that I already receive, with payment willingly made, for the prior six months. One day, MLB might offer an a la carte plan for postseason viewing, and, well, my tune might change. But that’s not this year, or probably next year, either.

But, you are not me, and there’s one series left. Will you be watching?

The 2026 World Series begins tonight, as the Tampa Bay Rays travel to Milwaukee to take on the Brewers. First pitch in tonight’s Game 1 is scheduled for 8pm on FOX. It’s the first World Series since 1980 where neither franchise has ever won a title, ensuring that a first time-champion will be crowned.

It is both surprising and not that these two teams are the last ones standing. They may not have many marquee names attached to them, but both possessed the best records in their respective league, with the Brewers winning an MLB best 103 games and the Rays tallying the third best 98 wins. Both have gotten here in somewhat contrasting styles to most teams in the modern game today, mostly by playing impeccable defense with strong pitching and an offensive approach that led to the two best team batting averages but power numbers in the middle of the pack.

National League Cy Young favorite Jacob Misiorowski will take the mound tonight in Game 1 at home for the Brewers and will face off against Nick Martinez of the Rays as Tampa curiously elects not to start their own ace and postseason revelation Drew Rasmussen. This gamble would allow the Rays to start Rasmussen in Game 2 on an extra day of rest. It will be interesting to see if that decision pays off.

So, who is your World Series pick? Who will be hoisting the trophy for the first time in their franchise’s history?

Every team needs a guy who can spend most of the year in the minors and comes up to the big leagues to fill in for someone who is hurt or to help the rest of the rotation get another day of rest. As a team, you could do worse than to have lefty Cade Povich in that position.

After making 16 starts in 2024 and 20 starts in 2025 for the Orioles, Povich couldn’t crack the Orioles’ starting rotation out of Spring Training in 2026. It’s not surprising. While Povich showed flashes of brilliance over the previous two years, he was mostly quite bad. His ERA was over 5 both seasons. He walked too many guys and allowed too many homers.

With Shane Baz and Chris Bassitt added to the team, there was no room for Povich in the rotation. Heck, there wasn’t even room for Dean Kremer. And so off Triple-A Norfolk Povich went.

Povich’s 2026 debut came on March 31st with the Norfolk Tides. It was not good. He struck out eight and didn’t walk anyone, but he allowed five runs in five innings and gave up two home runs. Even so, he was the first man up when Zach Eflin went onto the IL after just one start.

Povich only appeared in eight games with the Orioles, and he never made more than two appearances in a row before being sent back to the minors. He was truly a use in case of emergency kind of guy.

His first stint with the team lasted two games, and he was actually pretty good. On April 5th, he relieved Bassitt in the third inning and pitched 5.2 strong with two runs. His next appearance was an excellent game against the Giants. Povich pitched 6.2 innings, allowing just one run.

Despite the limited success, Povich was sent back to the minors the day after his second start. The Orioles needed a starter for the next day, so they swapped him with Kremer. He wasn’t down long, though. After two starts at Triple-A, Povich was right back on the big league roster.

He might have lasted longer in this stint, but in his second start back, he was pulled after just three innings. He had forearm soreness, which, luckily for him, did not send him to Tommy John surgery. It did cause him to miss quite a bit of time. By the time he healed, rehabbed, and was back with the Tides, he was almost two months later.

By early July, the Orioles rotation was solidified with Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Kremer, Brandon Young, and Shane Baz. So Povich settled into Norfolk’s rotation, although he didn’t have a very impressive stretch. Over five starts, he had an ERA over 7. He only had two true clunkers, but failed to pitch deep into games and gave up a bunch of homers. If he was angling for a call-up, he wasn’t doing a very good job.

He got called back up at the beginning of August anyway. Somebody had to pitch after Kremer was traded to the Twins, so Povich it was. And in his start on August 4th against the Angels, he was very good. He pitched six shutout innings with seven strikeouts and earned himself another look. But once again, he was gone after two starts. It had to be frustrating to him. Bassit was returning to the rotation, so someone had to go.

Povich got two more starts with the Orioles after that. He was back for just one day on August 31st to start against the Rockies, and again on September 18th against the Brewers.

Altogether, Povich had five stints with the Orioles, five stints with the Tides, and one rehab stint with the Chesapeake Baysox. In 13 starts with the Tides, he had a 6.28 ERA. He struck out over 10 batters per nine innings, but allowed 17 homers in just 61.2 innings.

In eight games with the Orioles, Povich pitched 37 innings with a 4.38 ERA. He struck out 28, which was just 6.8 per nine innings. But he only allowed six home runs! Small victories.

Cade Povich turns 27 years old just after Opening Day 2027. He is no longer a prospect, and he was never a top prospect. He struggled mightily in Triple-A, especially with the long ball.

It’s hard to judge his MLB season with the way he was moved up and down, but it’s hard to envision him having a place in the Orioles’ Major League rotation. Since Povich was shut out of the Opening Day rotation in 2026, the Orioles have lost (or will lose after the World Series) Trevor Rogers, Dean Kremer, Chris Bassitt, and Zach Eflin.

They still have Shane Baz, Kyle Bradish, and Brandon Young but will have to build out the rest. If they end up filling those spots with Povich and/or Trey Gibson, it will be hard to take them seriously as a team that intends to contend.

Povich could be included in a trade, but in my opinion, he will, in 2027, fill a similar role to the one he did in 2026. It’s probably what he is best suited for. I’d love for him to prove me wrong.

As award season is ramping up, Matt Olson is the first Atlanta Brave to be honored this offseason. It was announced Thursday that Olson was selected to receive the Fielding Bible award. 

​​https://x.com/Braves/status/2113331140870156573

The Fielding Bible Awards recognize the best defensive player at each of MLB’s nine positions, along with a top multi-position player, an overall Defensive Player of the Year and the best defensive team in baseball. Olson has accumulated six of these awards and is also a Gold Glove finalist. 

More Braves News:

Our 2026 player review series continues with left-hander Connor Thomas. 

Relive the 10 most unlucky moments for the Atlanta offense during 2026.

MLB News:

The Washington Nationals are reportedly retaining all of their coaching staff in 2027.

Before we begin looking ahead to 2027, OTM is looking back at 2026, diving into the highs and lows of the roster. Today, we look at the team’s biggest free agent acquisition.

---

2026 In a Nutshell

Suarez was the Red Sox’s biggest offseason acquisition. He had some great starts and some bad starts. He did not appear in either of the two postseason games, which should tell you all you need to know about whether he lived up to his price tag.

The Good

On his day, Suarez showed why he earned such a large contract. He had six starts in which he pitched over six innings while allowing one or fewer runs, including two eight-inning shutouts.

He continues to be one of the best in the game at limiting hard contact. His barrel and hard-hit rates both ranked in the top 20% of qualifiers, thanks to his ability to pitch to the edges. Some of his other metrics took a step back, but he was able to navigate that and turn in a 3.22 ERA while maintaining a respectable 23% strikeout rate.

He also remains excellent in the field. It often goes unnoticed for pitchers, but the lefty routinely showed cat-like reflexes on the mound when balls were hit up the middle. His defense has always been stellar, and that continued in 2026.

The Bad

There’s going to be more bad than good, but I’d like to emphasize that Suarez was still very effective this year.

The biggest area where the lefty took a step back was in his strike throwing. His walk rate jumped from 5.8 to 7.5%. His mark is still very solid, but it’s not quite the elite mark he posted in 2025 and it limited him to just 5.1 innings per start.

As for why his walk rate rose, there are a few places to look. ABS is an obvious one, and it certainly had an impact. Batters successfully overturned 17 strikes against Suarez, second most in baseball. On the other side of the equation, though, the Red Sox overturned 13 calls in Suarez’s favor, which ranked near the top of the league. Furthermore, his rate of pitches outside the strike zone called strikes in 2025 wasn’t extraordinary, so it’s not as if he was relying on framing and bad umpiring to throw strikes.

Aside from rule changes, Suarez didn’t throw his cutter in the zone nearly as frequently this season. Its zone rate against righties dropped from 57% to 44%, which dropped the strike rate about 6%. The locations were still good, and the contact against it was weak, but he was often just off the edge of the strike zone, which led to more walks. Small misses aren’t concerning, and the pitch was still good, so we’d let it slide.

More concerning, however, was his changeup. In 2025, it was his best two-strike pitch to right-handed hitters. In 2026, the chase rate dropped 10%, the swinging strike rate dropped 6%, and the strike rate dropped 9%. His feel for the pitch disappeared, with the percentage of changeups landing in the “chase” and “waste” zone jumping from 46% to 55%. By the end of the season, the pitch had virtually disappeared from his arsenal.

His changeup usage against lefties was smaller, but effective with the Phillies. In 2026, its usage was cut about in half against lefties as its effectiveness waned, leading to a decrease in strikeouts.

Suarez was on and off the roster due to injuries, which might have had something to do with him not having feel for all of his pitches. With a wide arsenal that relies on location, he needs to be precise to survive. Even without being at the top of his game, he turned in a solid season, so while the list of negatives might seem long, don’t sour on Suarez going into next year.

Best Game or Moment

Suarez threw two eight-inning shutouts in April. Those were his best games, although at that point in the season, things were going poorly for the team. In August, Suarez had a brutal month, posting a 5.70 ERA in five starts, adding another question mark to the pitching staff heading into the postseason. On September 4th, however, the lefty fired seven shutout innings against the Orioles, and followed it with seven innings of one-run baseball in his next start against the Royals. He, of course, did not pitch in the postseason, but he silenced some concerns about his demise.

The Big Question

Does the changeup come back? Suarez’s cutter is excellent at neutralizing righties, but his changeup is his best bet at continuing to punch them out. He’ll need it to continue posting solid marks against right-handed hitters.

2027 and Beyond

Suarez has always been able to survive without premium velocity. As long as he pitches to the edges, as he’s shown a history of doing, he’ll keep a solid floor and turn in long starts due to his ability to induce weak contact. On the other hand, if his command goes, that contract will look ugly in a hurry.

With the 2026 World Series set to commence, the Dodgers will be staring from the outside for the first time since 2023. While the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays battling to see which side will secure their first ever title, one now former Dodger will be at American Family Field for Game 1 on Friday.

Miguel Rojas has already found a new occupation eight days after the Dodgers’ three peat hopes came to a crashing end. He, along with Peyton Tolle of the Boston Red Sox and Ernie Clement of the Toronto Blue Jays, will serve as correspondents for this year’s World Series. Rojas will attend Media Day for Game 1 and will be providing coverage in Spanish while working with MLB Español, per a statement on MLB.com.

Rojas will also attend Media Day and Game One working closely with MLB Español to provide Spanish-language coverage. The Venezuelan infielder will interview some of the top coaches and players from both Clubs.

After the World Series concludes, Rojas won’t be hanging up the spikes completely yet, as he plans on playing in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League for Tiburones de la Guaira on Nov. 14 and 15, per Valentina Martinez of the California Post.

Although Shohei Ohtani will more than likely finish as the runner-up to Pete Crow-Armstrong for the 2026 NL MVP, his third season as a Dodger was by far the worst of his tenure. He still managed to hit 30 home runs while posting great numbers on the mound over 14 starts, but nagging knee and biceps issues in the second half limited his production until the very end.

The injuries weren’t too much of a strain to warrant any offseason surgery, and the team is confident that he will be back to his two-way status next season. Erik Kratz of the Foul Territory podcast voices his opinion on whether or not the Dodgers should hold off on Ohtani pitching until the second half of the 2027 season.

“Hitters go in slumps. The way he was pitching this year shows me this dude wasn’t going into a slump. I do think the value of Shohei for this team is doing both.”

The Dodgers core isn’t getting any younger, as Kyle Tucker and Andy Pages are the only everyday starters yet to hit 30 years of age. The saying of “out with the old, in with the new” might be in store next season, with several key prospects waiting in the wings to get their shot. Josue De Paula has a chance to help the team’s young nucleus of budding talent succeed at the big league level next season, notes Katie Woo of The Athletic.

“He’s fully aware of continuing to improve defensively,” Gomes said. “We’ve all seen what he’s capable of in the box, which is incredibly exciting. With that being said, we have a very talented core group already here, so I think it’s finding those opportunities, but also making sure that throughout this offseason and coming into spring training that he continues to improve and gets to that bar and gets to be an above-average defender.”

Did Alec Bohm's October swing buy him another year with Phillies? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Alec Bohm let the pitch travel and drove it over the right-field wall at Truist Park.

His two-out, opposite-field homer in the 10th inning of Game 2 gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead over the Braves, kept their season alive and provided Bohm with the biggest hit of his career.

Philadelphia was eliminated the following night, leaving the homegrown infielder’s future as one of the first questions of the offseason.

Did that swing help buy Bohm another year with the Phillies?

No decision this important will be based on one postseason at-bat. But the home run offered a final reminder of what Bohm has provided, even during a season that began disastrously. He consistently puts the ball in play, rarely strikes out and has repeatedly driven in runs for a lineup that does not have many dependable right-handed hitters.

The Phillies also need more power, better defense and a different look after failing to win a postseason series for the third consecutive year. Deciding whether Bohm remains part of that picture is not as simple as replacing his .698 OPS.

His tenure in Philadelphia

The Phillies selected Bohm third overall in the 2018 draft, and he reached the majors two years later. He finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting during the shortened 2020 season and has remained in Philadelphia’s lineup ever since.

His development has not been linear, but he eventually became one of the steadier run producers in the middle of the order.

Bohm drove in 97 runs in both 2023 and 2024, making his first All-Star team during the latter season while setting a career high with 44 doubles and producing a .779 OPS. Injuries limited him to 120 games in 2025, but he still hit .287 with 59 RBIs.

His contract year began under much different circumstances.

Bohm filed a lawsuit against his parents days before Opening Day, alleging they had mismanaged his finances. His parents denied wrongdoing, and the sides reached a confidential settlement in September.

Through May 6, Bohm was hitting .159 with one home run, 15 RBIs and a .433 OPS. Don Mattingly then gave him two days out of the lineup to reset.

Bohm responded by homering twice in his return.

From May 9 through the end of the regular season, he hit .274 with 14 homers, 73 RBIs, 41 extra-base hits and a .773 OPS over 120 games. Extended across 162 games, that production translates to approximately 19 home runs and 99 RBIs.

That is much closer to the player Bohm has been throughout his career than the one who spent the opening weeks with one of baseball’s lowest OPS marks.

His production with runners in scoring position remained his greatest strength. Bohm hit .347 with a .418 on-base percentage, .542 slugging percentage and .960 OPS in those situations. His average ranked seventh among qualified major-league hitters, and 74 of his 88 RBIs came with runners in scoring position.

Bohm finished the regular season hitting .249 with 15 home runs, 29 doubles, 88 RBIs and a .698 OPS in 155 games. He then hit .333 with three RBIs during the Wild Card Series.

Dombrowski did not guarantee that Bohm would return, but he cautioned against allowing the infielder’s shortcomings to overshadow everything he has provided.

“It’s amazing sometimes when you look at a player day in and day out, sometimes you remember more negatives than you do positives,” Dombrowski said at the Phillies’ end-of-season press conference. “There are a lot of positives.”

“If Alec is not back with us, those 90 runs he drives in every year will be missed,” he added. “You’ll have to pick it up in other ways.”

Offseason outlook

Bohm’s free agency forces the Phillies to weigh a valuable skill against the limitations that accompany it.

He is not the traditional power hitter teams expect from a corner-infield position. Bohm has never hit more than 20 home runs in a season, and his career high came in 2023. But he has driven in at least 85 runs in three of the last four seasons, making him one of only seven right-handed hitters in baseball to do so.

The defensive evaluation is less favorable.

Bohm appeared in 106 games at third base and 50 at first after the Phillies acquired Luis Arraez and rearranged their infield. Statcast credited him with minus-8 Outs Above Average at third and minus-3 at first.

His ability to play both corners should expand the number of clubs that can pursue him, but the flexibility would be less useful in Philadelphia. Dombrowski has already said Bryce Harper will enter 2027 as the Phillies’ first baseman. If Bohm returns, he would return as their third baseman.

“Harper’s going to be our first baseman,” Dombrowski said. “If Bohm’s coming back, that means he has to be our third baseman. So, how does that compare with him as a third baseman, an all-around player, versus some other things that we could do?”

The Phillies have several alternatives to consider.

Bryson Stott showed that he can move from second to third, while top prospect Aidan Miller received his first professional work at the position late in the season. Miller’s back injury prevented him from reaching the majors in 2026, but a healthy year could put him in Philadelphia at some point next season.

Miller has not played the outfield professionally, but that could eventually become another possibility. If Turner shows that he can remain at shortstop, Bohm returns at third and Stott stays at second, the Phillies could consider introducing Miller to the outfield rather than leave their best position-player prospect blocked.

If Bohm leaves, third base would provide Miller with a more direct path to the majors.

The Phillies have also scouted Japanese third baseman Teruaki Sato, whose power would give the lineup a dimension Bohm does not. Sato hits left-handed, however, which would further increase the need to add right-handed power elsewhere.

That need already existed last winter, when the Phillies signed Adolis García to a one-year, $10 million contract. García’s season never came together, but the reasoning behind the move has not changed.

If Bohm returns, the Phillies would still have to add a right-handed hitter with greater home-run potential. With Harper returning to first base and Kyle Schwarber occupying designated hitter, the most logical place to find that power would be the outfield.

Bohm has received more career plate appearances in the cleanup spot than anywhere else, but his profile may be better suited to hitting fifth or sixth, where Harper and Schwarber can create traffic ahead of him.

The Phillies cannot confuse that run production with middle-of-the-order power, though. Bohm can remain part of a productive offense, but he cannot be the only answer for a group that finished 22nd in the majors in OPS.

His market could also place the Phillies in an uncomfortable position.

Bohm will play next season at 30 and reaches free agency in a thin group of available third basemen. Spotrac’s early projection places him near three years and $38 million. Given the limited alternatives and his record of run production, a three-year deal carrying an average annual value between $13 million and $16 million appears realistic. A fourth-year option could push the guarantee higher.

The Angels, Cardinals and Reds are among the clubs that could seek an everyday third baseman. A team such as Minnesota could view him primarily at first.

Before Bohm reaches that market, the Phillies must decide whether to extend him a qualifying offer.

The one-year offer is worth $23.15 million. Philadelphia can make it through the fifth day after the World Series, and Bohm would then have one week to accept or decline. Dombrowski said the Phillies had not reached a decision when he held his year-end press conference.

That salary would represent a significant raise from the $10.2 million Bohm made this season and would exceed the likely annual value of a multiyear contract. If he declines and signs elsewhere, the Phillies would receive draft-pick compensation, although their luxury-tax status would push that selection beyond the fourth round.

Prediction

The Phillies extend the qualifying offer, and Bohm accepts it.

It would be an expensive one-year agreement, but it may be the cleanest compromise for both sides.

Bohm would receive the largest salary of his career and another opportunity to enter free agency after a stronger overall season. The Phillies would retain a right-handed hitter who has repeatedly driven in runs without committing three or four years to a position that could eventually belong to Miller.

A one-year return would preserve their options. Stott could still move around the infield, Miller could force his way into the lineup at third or potentially in the outfield, and the Phillies would have another offseason to determine where Turner fits beyond 2027.

Bohm made it clear after the Wild Card Series that he would welcome another opportunity in Philadelphia.

Asked what the organization meant to him if Game 3 had been his final appearance as a Phillie, Bohm answered, “Everything.” He said he grew up in Philadelphia, loved his time with the club and would remain grateful for how the organization helped him develop.

“I have no idea what to expect, but I’d love to be back,” Bohm said.

He later added: “I feel like we have unfinished business here. I want to be a part of this. I want to get it done, for sure.”

His October home run will not make the Phillies’ decision for them. The qualifying offer could give Bohm one more year to try to finish that business.

For the majority of the 21st century, the Minnesota Twins were known for a playoff losing streak—0-18—that became the longest in North American professional sports history. Though finally breaking that curse in 2023, the Twins are likely now associated with a different sort of collapse—the kind that happens in the dog days of summer (August/September).

A landslide, if you will.

2022

On August 1, the Twins were a respectable 54-48 and a game up on the Cleveland Guardians for the AL Central lead. Two months later they were 78-84 (a 25-36 Aug/Sept) and out of the playoffs entirely. A 1-7 record against the Guardians down the stretch was the main culprit.

2024

The landslide started later in ’24 but was even more pronounced. On September 1, the Twins had a strong 74-62 record—just 3.5 GB Cleveland and solidly in control of a Wild Card berth. Famously, MN’s playoff odds on Sept 5 were 95.4%–which was about when they pulled a Han Solo. A 9-18 September—including one series win and a 2-9 final two weeks—dropped the final tally to 82-80 and again the postseason was a pipe dream.

2025

Though considerably less dramatic from a competitive mindset—the Twins limped into August 51-58—the ’25 tumble was perhaps even more dramatic organizationally. After literally trading away every high-leverage bullpen arm at the deadline, a somewhat-predictable 19-35 Aug/Sept was the result.

2026

After four months of ’26 baseball, MIN was even-steven: 56-56. They sat about three games behind division-leading CLE/CWS and a similar 3 GB the final WC berth any given day. Even after acquiring bullpen arms—their biggest need—at the trade deadline, a 10-17 August and 11-13 September immediately followed (with most of the Sept wins coming in garbage time after realistic elimination).

If one possessed a 20-game season ticket plan the last few years, a wise deployment decision would be to follow my lead: load up on games in the early goings, as you don’t know how things will shake out late. Far more often than not, I’ve been trudging to Target Field in September out of habit and “I’m gonna miss this when it’s gone” motivations than anything competitive.

How to shake this reputation for rapid free-fall? A look to 2023 provides at least a few answers. That ownership/front-office…

-Cultivated a deep cadre of SP (and did get “good injury luck”, admittedly)

-Made a legitimate $$$ splash on a cornerstone player (no, it didn’t work in the long term, but without C-4 the ’23 squad doesn’t break a curse)

-Built in redundancies/depth at key positions, like Michael A. Taylor in CF for Byron Buxton & Willi Castro turning into a super-utility player extraordinaire

In short: ‘23 was the singular year that Joe Pohlad truly invested in a roster built to withstand injuries and the 162-game grind—with a playoff berth & series win the result. Will Tom Pohlad’s promises of payroll proliferation pay off similarly in 2027?

Happy Friday, everyone! The World Series has arrived, so you can expect to see plenty of discussion about the matchup between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays over the coming week as they square off to see who can lay claim to being the best team of 2026. We’ve got lots of that below, plus some Tigers took home early awards this offseason as Dillon Dingler and Zach McKinstry took home their first career Fielding Bible Awards, and Kevin McGonigle netted a Sports News Rookie of the Year Award. While the big name awards are all handed out in November after the end of the World Series, it’s great to see some Tigers’ players taking home early accolades to celebrate what they achieved this year.

Let’s get right into today’s news!

Detroit Tigers News

• Big day for awards yesterday and the Tigers netted several. The Sporting News ROY Award is not the “big” announcement for Rookie of the Year. That will come November 9th with the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award voted on by the BBWAA, but this certainly makes things look good for McGonigle.

This has a nice ring to it…
⁰Congrats to Kevin McGonigle on being named The Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Sc91CHKNg6

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) October 22, 2026

Congrats to Riley Greene & Dillon Dingler for being named to The Sporting News AL All-Star Team, chosen in a vote of more than 260 of their fellow players! pic.twitter.com/dVqm9NWwZ5

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) October 22, 2026

Congrats to Dillon Dingler on his first career Fielding Bible Award! pic.twitter.com/4CQxzeNm5g

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) October 22, 2026

Congrats to Zach McKinstry on his first career Fielding Bible Award! pic.twitter.com/yfvV1qqoMQ

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) October 22, 2026

• Plus the final episode of theis season of Behind the Stripes dropped.

"This team is better than what the record showed…but it's just how you get back up."

Hear from Max Clark, Eduardo Valencia, Jackson Jobe and Scott Harris in the final episode of season two of Behind the Stripes. ▶️ https://t.co/dUL8okw3zOpic.twitter.com/4WHZRAoUnm

— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) October 22, 2026

MLB News

• A 2026 World Series preview from Fangraphs.
• The rest of the Fielding Bible Awards.
• Five bold predictions for the 2026 World Series.
• The A’s are counting on a youth movement with their new President of Baseball Operations.
• A postseason managerial report card for Dave Roberts.
• Baseball’s fastest bat will meet baseball’s fastest arm in the World Series.
• Nine key factors that could swing the World Series.
• The Dodgers are certain Shohei Ohtani will be fine to pitch next season.
• A look at starting pitching for the World Series.
• The Rays never meant to scout Jonathan Aranda, but he’s been at the heart of their team this season.
• How the Brewers and Rays toppled baseball’s biggest spenders.
• Is Yandy Diaz the most complete hitter in the World Series?
• A position-by-position breakdown of the Brewers and Rays.
• Bob Uecker’s family says he would be “incredibly proud” of the Brewers.
• Comparing the Brewers and Rays payrolls to other championship teams.
• A look at the coming lockout, and the free agent frenzy that could precede it. ($)
• How the Rays and Braves are proving that maybe baseball isn’t broken after all. ($)
• Exploring the anthem that has proven to be a hit with Brewers fans. ($)
• It’s that time of year again.

• The things you’ll see customized these days…

• A sad day for the Reds.

The Cincinnati Reds are saddened by the passing of former first baseman and 1990 World Series champion Todd Benzinger.

Todd will be remembered with great affection and gratitude for his place in one of the most memorable chapters in Reds history. Our deepest condolences go out… pic.twitter.com/h3P6UWTNn1

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) October 22, 2026

• No real surprise here.

The Angels are not bringing Kurt Suzuki back as manager. He had an option. He will be offered a position to stay in the organization as a special assistant.

— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) October 21, 2026

• Or here, if we’re being honest.

Brian Cashman says on conference call he’s agreed to a new Yankees contract

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) October 21, 2026

• This is actually very interesting.

For my old friends at @BaseballAmerica, I compiled the sizes of each team’s scouting staff.

Note that many teams frequently renowned for their technology and analytics (Dodgers, Rays, Brewers) also have some of the largest scouting staffs in MLB. https://t.co/Iu4577ReKepic.twitter.com/uXtBTzeZgF

— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) October 22, 2026