Category: MLB

Good morning everyone!

We sure witnessed a wild World Series game last night. Let’s get to all of that and more in today’s batch of links.

MLB Postseason scores…

• Former Mariner Ben Williamson became a postseason hero with his walk-off 12th inning hit against the Brewers to keep the Rays alive in a 4-3 win. Milwaukee will get another chance to clinch the series in Game 5 tonight.

In Mariners news…

• In case you missed it, it appears that former Astros manager Joe Espada and Cubs director of player development Jason Kanzler are finalists for the Mariners’ managerial opening. They hope to make a final decision by the end of the month.
• Kate Preusser dug deep to find some Mariners coaching candidates from the ranks of the AL Central.

Around the league…

• Twins right-hander Jeff Hoffman has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his pitching elbow but is expected to be ready for the start of the season.
• Yankee legend Jorge Posada says he “doesn’t feel welcome” with the organization in a post-playing career capacity.
• The Pirates have reportedly hired Astros Triple-A pitching coach Sean Buchanan in an unknown role.
• The Astros have released outfielder Nelson Velazquez so he can pursue career opportunities in Asia.
• Maddie Landis at Baseball Prospectus projected the production for incoming NPB stars Teruaki Sato and Shugo Maki. ($)
• This is super interesting to keep in mind as we prepare for a long winter with lots of projecting for the 2027 season ahead of us.

Anders’ pick…

• Over at The Stranger, friend of the site Matthew Roberson wrote about the weird AI obsession that Seahawks Vice Chair (and son of the owner) Neal Khosla has.

About a week or so ago (right around the second anniversary of this moment), I was bombarded online with videos of Mark Vientos’s first inning solo home run off Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 4 of the 2024 National League Championship Series (a moment I remember far too well, as I was in attendance for the game). I was skeptical of Vientos up until this point in his career, but his 2024 regular season, combined with his exceptional postseason performance, made me eat my words and admit to myself that he was a future star for the Mets. Vientos is, after all, one of only five players to homer off Yamamoto in the postseason, joining a group that includes Juan Soto, Manny Machado, Kyle Schwarber, and Jackson Churio—a truly star-studded list. Now, that home run and his terrific 2024 season only serve as a reminder of what he could have been, and how far his star has fallen.

For the second straight season, Vientos failed to perform to the standards that he set during his breakout 2024 campaign, when he slugged a career-best 27 homers, posted a career-best 131 wRC+ and 2.8 fWAR, and followed that with five home runs, 14 runs batted in, and a 176 wRC+ in 13 postseason games. As a reminder, his numbers did dip precipitously in 2025, as he finished the year with a 96 wRC+ and 0.3 fWAR in 121 games. He also managed just 17 home runs and saw his OPS dip from a career-best .837 in 2024 to .702 in 2025. Despite the decline, there was some hope that maybe 2025 was the outlier, and not 2024.

Heading into 2026, Vientos was not a lock to earn an everyday spot in the lineup, especially with some new additions threatening his playing time. He began the year as a right-handed platoon designated hitter, mostly seeing time against left-handed pitching, but injuries to Jorge Polanco opened the door for Vientos to snag some reps at first base, perhaps opening the door for more playing time. When he did see the field, he spent most of the time at first base, logging just over 519 innings at the position, but his -3 DRS proved that Vientos was not the long-term solution for first base.

That brings us back to Vientos’ bat, which is what he’s here for. As mentioned, he got plenty of chances to DH, and he failed to hit when his name was written on the lineup card. He actually started off the year red-hot, picking up hits in ten of his first 21 at-bats, which included three straight multi-hit efforts in San Francisco on April 3-5. At that point, he was hitting .476/.522/.714 and looked to, perhaps, be on his way to a bounce-back season.

Not so fast! Lest you think this was a precursor for things to come, it was not meant to be, as he went hitless over his next 23 at-bats to plunge his slash line to .227/.255/.341. Carlos Mendoza continued to give the 26-year-old playing time to try and get him out of his funk, but he ended April on an 8-for-32 stretch after snapping that long hitless drought. He also demonstrated an alarming power outage, as he ended April with just two home runs and three doubles, and for someone who was in there to slug homers and drive in runs, this was not what you wanted to see. He broke out from that funk a bit in May, putting together his lone multi-home run effort on May 3 against the Angels and picking up five home runs and six doubles in the month. Despite that, he still ended the month hitting .225/.260/.390 on the year.

His playing time further diminished, and he recorded just seven hits across 48 at-bats in June. He was relegated to late-game pinch hitting opportunities against left-handed pitchers, and with good reason. While his overall numbers were not good across the board, they were downright putrid against right-handers. He finished the year with a 48 wRC+ and a .182/.229/.309 slash line in 159 at-bats against righties. Comparatively, he posted a much more respectable 119 wRC+ with a .252/.296/.513 slash line in 115 at-bats against south paws. While those numbers will hardly put him on the road to Cooperstown, they are, at the very least, playable. He also struck out a ton against righties, picking up 44 Ks against them against 27 Ks against lefties. That, understandably was why Mendoza, and eventually Andy Green, played him the way they did.

Misfortune befell Vientos when he got struck by a pitch on July 9 that resulted in a fractured hand and a lengthy Injured List stint. He would not return until August 31, with the Mets’ season well over. He recorded 37 at-bats over the final few weeks of the year and contributed eight hits, including one homer, which failed to impress. In all, he concluded 2026 with 13 home runs, 41 runs batted in, a 78 wRC+, a .652 OPS, and -1.1 fWAR in 87 games.

As a result, Vientos may very well may have played himself off the Mets’ roster. While he is still under team control, he really is a man without a role in New York. He doesn’t hit well enough to serve as Designated Hitter, and it’s hard to roster someone solely to DH or pinch hit against left-handed pitching. His defense at first and third are mediocre, to put it kindly, and he really is just eating a valuable spot on the 26-man roster. He has three more years of team control and is entering his first year of arbitration this winter. He is probably a good “Change of Scenery” candidate, and the promise of his bat is probably enough to entice a team to give him a shot. It’s very likely this is exactly how the front offices approaches the Mark Vientos Problem this winter.

It really is a shame, because Vientos was one of the many great stories from the 2024 season. A kid from Connecticut who grew up a Mets fan putting it all together and having himself a terrific postseason…what could be a better sell? It was the perfect set up for what could have been a long, productive career in orange and blue. That story looks like it may not play out that way in the end, and it looks like Vientos will either not play a significant role in New York going forward, or will find himself suitinwg up elsewhere in 2027.

(6-13) Glendale Desert Dogs 1, (10-9) Salt River Rafters

• Tate Southisene, SS: 0-3, .863 OPS
• Isaiah Drake, LF: 1-3, 2B, .532 OPS
• Logan Samuels, RP: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 3.00 ERA
• Owen Hackman, RP: 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 1.00 ERA

box score

Statcast

The offenses on both sides were sluggish as good pitching ruled the day, but even with that two Braves prospects had a decent showing at the plate. Tate Southisene did go hitless, but with a solid flyout and two other batted balls over 100 mph on his register for the game it’s hard to say he had a terrible day out there. He wasn’t able to square one up and add to his breakout performance for Glendale, but as long as the hard contact is there the performance will keep pace. Southisene has looked terrific with his swing decisions and ability to cover the strike zone, and there is little from this fall that you could point to as a negative. Isaiah Drake has not put in the same level of performance this fall, but finally broke through in this game with a double on a bouncer that snuck into left field for his first extra base hit of the fall and the only from a Desert Dog this game. It was one of two hits for the team in the game, though Drake’s only involvement in Glendale’s run-scoring second was grounding into an inning-ending double play during which the go-ahead and eventual winning run scored. Drake has done a good job of making contact so far this fall, but it’s the ability to consistently get to hard contact that has been the problem. A shutout pitching performance from Glendale ruled the day, and two Braves relievers contributed mightily to that effort. Logan Samuels came in with a runner on second base in the sixth inning and retired the first batter he faced to strand the runner and maintain the lead. He then added a scoreless frame in the seventh inning with only a hit batter to mar the day. Owen Hackman continued his strong work this fall with a scoreless save. He did allow a one-out single, but bounced back with a strikeout in a huge spot and got a weak ground ball to end the game. Hackman has done a great job of commanding the strike zone this fall, though he has carried over his struggles with finding consistent swing-and-miss with his secondaries.

Pain free and producing: Phillies prospect Aidan Miller is loving baseball again originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

Aidan Miller is finally back in his happy place.

He is on the ball field. Playing. Pain free.

“Just being out here, being so grateful to be playing baseball again, feeling healthy while you’re playing,” he said during a recent interview on The Phillies Show podcast. “It’s definitely given me a new love for the game.”

Miller, a 22-year-old shortstop/third baseman, remains one of the Phillies’ top prospects even though he missed most of the 2026 season with a stubborn lower back issue that kept him from playing until September.

He helped Double A Reading rally to win the Eastern League Championship and has now moved on to the Arizona Fall League, where he was hitting .300 with a .571 on-base percentage and a .467 slugging percentage in his first 10 games for the Surprise Saguaros. The league runs through Nov. 11.

“Just playing baseball again, it’s been so much fun,” he said. “I think I took it for granted, honestly, my whole career so far. To have it taken away from me for a long time and getting back and having that itch again and that love and fire for the game. There’s nothing like it.”

Miller had a strong season, registering an .825 OPS with 14 homers, 42 RBIs and 59 stolen bases in 116 games at Double Reading and Triple A Lehigh Valley in 2025. There was a lot of talk that he could challenge for a spot on the big-league roster sometime in 2026. Then spring training arrived. A lower back issue that had bothered him on occasion over the years popped up again in spring training. From February through the summer, he had the Phillies’ medical staff searched for answers.

In June, the young player had a procedure called a radiofrequency ablation of the facet joints in his lower spine. “Basically, they find the pain and burn the nerve,” he said. Results from the procedure were only so-so. Miller found the pain relief he was looking for when he and team athletic trainers visited the TB12 Performance and Recovery Center in Tampa. The facility is co-owned by former NFL great Tom Brady. It specializes in optimizing recovery and eliminating pain through massage and other techniques that work on soft tissue.

Along with the folks at TB12 and Justin Ahrens of the Phillies’ athletic training staff, Miller has come up with an hour-long daily routine that keeps him on the field – pain free. The routine includes some yoga and jiu-jitsu techniques, some stretching and massage ball work.

“It’s all about keeping those joints lubed up,” he said with a laugh. “We’re at a point now where I feel 100 percent. I told my trainer the other day, it’s not even a thought anymore. When I wake up, it used to be how’s my back feeling, can I bend over and touch my toes? Now, I can swing a bat right out of bed, which is great.”

Miller expects to continue his back-maintenance routine throughout his career. Cole Hamels had to do that, as well. Like Miller, he had a lower back issue as a young minor-leaguer. He found a back-specific strength and conditioning program that helped him pitch until he was 36 and win 163 games.

“Back pain is no joke,” Miller said. “I have a checklist that I do before I even hit in the cage. I’ll probably do it the rest of my career. It just makes you feel great in general.”

Miller and Hamels have more in common than just overcoming back issues. Both dropped in their respective drafts, allowing the Phillies to swoop in and get them. Hamels fractured his pitching arm between his sophomore and junior year in high school. Many teams backed off him over health concerns, but the Phillies did their homework and nabbed him with the 17^th overall pick in 2002.

Miller was projected to be a Top 10 pick in 2023 before he fractured the hamate bone in his left hand in the first at-bat of his senior season in high school. He did not play a game after that. Some teams moved on, but the Phils liked what they’d seen enough in previous seasons and summers to select him 27^th overall.

“I’m glad I ended up here,” he said before the 2025 season.

Though he missed much development time in 2026, Miller believes he can make the jump to Philadelphia in 2027. It is an opinion shared and vocalized by president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

“We think we’ve got a really, really good player,” Dombrowski said earlier this month at his end-of-season news conference. “You see all the young players who jumped into playing this year. Aidan Miller, when he’s healthy, is as good as any.”

With an aging core roster and a huge payroll, the Phillies desperately need to inject some cost-effective, productive youth into their mix. Miller plays two positions where there could be openings in 2027 as third baseman Alec Bohm is likely to move on in free agency and shortstop Trea Turner could be subject to a position change.

Miller’s style of hitting would seem to fit the Phillies well. On a team that lacks overall plate selectivity, he has it. In Arizona, he has walked 18 times and struck out just 10.

“I’m a pretty picky hitter,” he said. “My approach is to try to hit a line drive to center field. I like to work at-bats and hit something hard.”

During his long summer rehabbing his back injury, Miller didn’t pay much attention to what was going on in Philadelphia.

“There was a point when I was hurt that I wanted no part of watching baseball,” he said. “I’d do my rehab, go home and go fishing. I wanted to take my mind off baseball and not pay attention. I wasn’t on the field and I didn’t want to go through it with my mind.”

Now he’s back on the field, smiling and succeeding.

Where does Aidan Miller see himself in 2027?

“In Philadelphia, playing,” he said.

Since the abolition of the post-deadline waiver trades, a new trend has arisen around the majors. After the Trade Deadline, if some teams are headed towards missing the playoffs, they will opt to put a player with an expiring contract on waivers, seemingly mainly just to get the last couple months of their contract off the books. The Yankees themselves did that with Harrison Bader in the doomed 2023 season.

This past season, the Yankees ended up being the beneficiary of one of those moves, as they picked up reliever John Schreiber for nothing. Schreiber was having a pretty solid season already, and he put in a good couple months for the 2026 Yankees.

Grade: Incomplete

2026 Stats (Overall): 66 games, 60.1 IP, 3.28 ERA, 4.62 FIP, 4.62 xFIP, 16.3 K%, 10.6 BB%, -0.2 fWAR, 0.8 rWAR
2026 Stats (with Yankees): 11 games, 11.0 IP, 1.64 ERA, 3.46 FIP, 4.97 xFIP, 9.3 K%, 9.3 BB%, 0.1 fWAR, 0.4 rWAR

2027 Contract Status: Free agent

Schreiber is an eight-year major league veteran, who had been playing for the Royals for the last three seasons. Other than arguably his 2022 with the Red Sox, he’s never been an especially dominant reliever, but with a career 120 ERA+, he’s been a pretty good one.

Prior to going on waivers, he had been solid but not spectacular in 2026. His 3.65 ERA with the Royals graded out to an above average 116 ERA+, however there was one glaring issue. Schreiber was walking a good amount of people. In Kansas City, he had issued 22 walks in 49.1 innings. That was a major reason why his FIP ended up so out of whack from his ERA. That’s also why FanGraphs WAR rates him in the negatives for 2026 but he put up a totally respectable reliever WAR number according to Baseball Reference.

However as a team, the Royals weren’t particularly going anywhere. On August 29th, the team opted to put him and the rest of his expiring $3.75 million contract on waivers. (They were definitely out of it at the Trade Deadline too, so why they wouldn’t flip Schreiber for just anything seems short-sighted to me, but I don’t make the big bucks.) Luckily for the Yankees, he ended up making it through to them and they claimed and acquired Schreiber on the 31st.

In addition to generally just being a solid reliever having a fine season, Schreiber also had one big thing going for him: he is very good against right-handed hitters. For his career, he allows a .587 OPS against righties and .439 in 2026 in particular. The Yankees’ bullpen was already pretty solid in general, but that aspect added another dimension.

Adding him so late in the season, the Yankees only used Schreiber in 11 games, but it’s hard to have any complaints with what he did. He allowed just two earned runs in 11 innings and dropped his walk rate as well. We felt compelled to give him an incomplete grade as he wasn’t around for that long, but if you had to pin me down, I’d personally go B+.

As for the future, Schreiber is now a free agent. While bringing him back wouldn’t cost that much exactly, there will probably be plenty of suitors, considering how good he’s been against righties over the years. That being said, if the Yankees wanted to, I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing him get another season working with Matt Blake.

---

See more of the Yankees Roster Report Card series here.

Diamondbacks News

Which Diamondbacks are Entering Free Agency?
As the World Series draws to a close, free agency looms.

Diamondbacks Led the Way with 10 Walk-off Wins – Here They Are
A look back at some of the more exciting moments of Arizona’s 2026 season.

Key Dates for the MLB Hot Stove
These are the key dates and decision milestones for the upcoming, likely abbreviated 2026 MLB Hot Stove.

Other MLB News

Rays Walk Off Brewers in 12 to Force Game 5
Ben Williamson sent the Milwaukee Brewers back to their hotel, forcing them to wait at least one more night before potentially celebrating their first-ever World Series trophy.

Brewers’ Ashby Sets Postseason Scoreless Innings Record for Relievers
Left-hander Aaron Ashby retired all seven batters he faced in Game 4 against Tampa Bay and broke Andrew Miller’s record for scoreless innings by a reliever in one postseason.

BEN WILLIAMSON
WALK-OFF
RAYS SURVIVE! pic.twitter.com/bjHolx3L4m

— MLB (@MLB) October 28, 2026

With the season on the line as the Milwaukee Brewers took a 3-2 lead in the top of the 12th inning against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 4 of the World Series, the home team rallied for two runs in the bottom of the 12th inning and the Rays won the game and avoided the sweep. Milwaukee and Tampa Bay will meet today at 5 p.m. with the Brewers needing one win to earn their first championship in franchise history. Meanwhile the Rays would like to send the series back to Milwaukee with a win.

For baseball fans, a 12-inning World Series game is just what you want — more baseball. For Brewers fans it was probably excruciating to know your team was that close to closing out the series and completing a dominant postseason run. Fans without a rooting interest in the series, just wanted a good competitive series that allowed them to hang on to baseball for as long as possible. With a looking lockout likely coming when the CBA expires in December, it’s hard to say when or in the most dire circumstances, if baseball returns.

The optimists hold out hope a deal can be reached to avoid a lockout altogether. The pessimist says the 2027 season will be at least cut in half if not lost completely as the owners and players reach a stalemate about a potential salary cap and salary floor. With all the uncertainty surrounding the game, fans should enjoy the baseball that is left. If you’re not a fan of the Brewers or Rays, then root for more games. It should be an exciting finish to the season and fans should hope the offseason is held off just a bit longer between the top seeds from the National and American leagues.

Padres News:

• Reliever Jeremiah Estrada missed a chunk of the 2026 season with injury. How did that affect his grade from Gaslamp Ball’s Lincoln Zdunich?

• Cheri Bell of Gaslamp Ball takes a look at what role the Padres play in the CBA negotiations.

• Alex McCoy has been getting the headlines but other Padres prospects have impressed in the Arizona Fall League.

Baseball News:

• Francisco Lindor won the 2026 Clemente Award.

Josh Walker has learned not to take it personally. Well, to be honest, I haven’t actually asked him, but you figure somebody DFA’d seven times in his career—twice by his current team—has developed some thick skin.

He’s also developed his game in this, his fourth season, and it was good news for us, because the unsung lefty was an essentially costless addition to the team, and turned out to be one of its best relievers, with a 2.08 ERA in 30 1/3 innings, 29 strikeouts, a 1.19 WHIP, and his first big-league save. Along the way he put up 18 straight scoreless outings, the longest such streak by an Oriole in a decade.

You may have heard this story, or one like it, before. Walker was taken in the late rounds of the draft (in 2017, by the Mets, out of the University of New Haven), then saw his career delayed by injury/bad luck. First, a car accident left him needing elbow nerve-transposition surgery. Then the pandemic wiped out the 2020 season.

When Walker finally reached the majors, he got hit hard: an 8.10 ERA in fourteen games in 2023 and a 5.11 ERA in ten games in 2024. The Mets DFA’d him, then traded him to Pittsburgh. From there, waivers, waivers, waivers, as Walker made stops with the Pirates, the Blue Jays (a 7.20 ERA in three games in 2025), the Phillies, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Baltimore again. The O’s DFA’d him too, to clear room for Shane Baz, and he cleared waivers in January.

Walker entered 2026 with a 6.59 career ERA, little in the way of expectactions, and his season started like this: a May call-up, an option, another call-up, another option, a doubleheader 27th-man cameo, an on-paper move, and then, around August, a quiet turn into the most reliable arm in the Orioles bullpen. This was around the time he posted an 18-inning scoreless streak.

With Keegan Akin out due to injury, Josh Walker became Craig Albernaz’s most trusted lefty out of the ‘pen. And one of its most valuable, his 0.9 WAR ranking behind only Rico Garcia and Tyler Wells among relievers.

So what turned Walker from discarded over most of his career to indispensable this year? It’s not so much changed stuff: his four-seamer averaged 93.0 mph this year, slightly slower than before, and his slider was much the same as ever.

But the pitch mix was indeed different. As a rookie Walker was close to a two-pitch pitcher: 65% four-seamers and 33% sliders. This year, he threw 38% sliders, 27% sinkers, 25% four-seamers, and about 10% changeups. The changeup, in particular, was new: he didn’t throw the pitch at all in 2024 or 2025, and this season it was his best strikeout pitch, with a 44% whiff rate and a .172 xwOBA (the slider was close behind, at a 32% whiff rate and .195 xwOBA). Walker mostly threw the change mostly against righties, who actually hit him much worse than southpaws.

Improved, too, was Walker’s control. While Walker’s strikeout rate of 23% wasn’t much to write home about, he did avoid hard contact, with the lowest barrel, sweet-spot, and xwOBA rates of his career.

He also got ahead in counts. His first-pitch strike rate was 62.1%, up from 50% as a rookie, and his walk rate fell from 12.5% to 9.5%. It appears that, because Walker was able to land his offspeed stuff, hitters could no longer sit on his four-seamer.

So, is the Walker revival smoke and mirrors, or something to rely on next year? Mostly the former, I’m happy to report. His 3.33 FIP says the ERA is somewhat too flattering. But his 2.70 xERA, which accounts for the quality of contact he allowed, backs up his stinginess, and there is barely a gap between his actual and expected wOBA (.265 and .255), speaking to the weak contact he allowed. That said, we don’t have a huge sample size from him (30 innings), and relievers who thrive on weak contact, as opposed to strikeouts, are more prone to year-to-year swings than pure flamethrowers.

Still, this version of Walker seems convincing. A four-pitch lefty who throws strikes, has a real weapon against righties, and limits hard contact definitely has a role to play in the bullpen. And he’s still on a pre-arbitration salary. After seven DFAs, Josh Walker has earned the right to be taken seriously—and perhaps some prime real estate in next year’s bullpen, too.

We’re doing the player reviews. The first part is a lot of “this guy was injured” and “this guy was cut early” and “you don’t even remember who this guy is.”

But, someone has to get the PAs and pitch the innings. Maybe you’d prefer it was someone else in the organization instead.

Here’s your chance to lobby for that. Lobby to no avail, of course, since the season has already happened and you presumably can’t go back and change it. Have at it.

I’m not even saying it can’t be someone that played for the Braves in 2026. But, if you felt like, for example, JR Ritchie got too many innings, who should’ve gotten those innings instead?

Former New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, who won five World Series rings as a member of the team's "Core Four" during his playing career, says he no longer feels welcome by the organization.

On a new episode of "The Show" podcast, Posada told New York Post writers Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman that the current version of the team needs a coaching staff that will "push" them to be more accountable to themselves and each other.

But he said he doesn't think he'll be involved in any official capacity.

“I could, but I don’t think they want me there, to tell you the truth,” Posada said on the episode, which premiered on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

“I don’t feel welcome when I go there, you know? Even in spring training, I don’t feel like – I’m just like, I don’t know, like, I don’t feel welcome. I don’t feel like they want me there, so I don’t go.”

The five-time All-Star was part of the Yankees' "Core Four," along with shortstop Derek Jeter, starting pitcher Andy Pettitte and closer Mariano Rivera, that won four World Series titles from 1996-2000. He later won a fifth ring in 2009.

Posada, who spent his entire 17-year major-league career in Yankee pinstripes, didn't go into any specific details about his rift with the organization.

“I don’t know what happened. I’d rather just move forward,” he said. “My last season of my career was a really tough one when it comes to handling everything in my part and also the Yankees toward Jorge Posada. So, it’s tough to go back and feel that again.”

The five-time All-Star had his number 20 retired by the Yankees in 2015 and has been a participant in the team's Old Timers' Day ceremonies.

However, his final season in 2011 was tainted by public disagreements with the team about playing time and his shift from playing catcher to serving as designated hitter.

More: World Series winners by year: Full list of MLB champions

Posada, a fan favorite for his emotional style of play, said on the podcast that the current Yankees squad seemed to lack some of his trademark fire, and that the players need leaders in the clubhouse to uphold the team's high standards.

"[Mental mistakes are] magnified during the playoffs," he said. "So during the season, if it happens and you don't address it, that's when it becomes a problem. So it needs to happen more during the season and make these guys more accountable."

The Yankees were eliminated from this year's playoffs when they were swept by the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League division series.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jorge Posada reveals rift with Yankees: 'Don't think they want me there'

Meet the Mets

Danny Abriano at SNY imagined how the Mets might rebuild their bullpen ahead of next season.

Voting is open for the 2026 Heart and Hustle Award, and Carson Benge is the Mets nominee.

Like many Mets fans, Daryl Strawberry is “heartbroken” over the Mets 40 year championship drought, but he isn’t losing faith in the team.

Ron Darling clarified his recent comments on his future in the SNY booth.

Around Major League Baseball

Jim Bowden at The Athletic ranked the top 40 free agents this offseason and speculated on where they could end up.

Cam Schlittler seems like a lock for the Cy Young Award, but he’s not the only Yankee with a chance at some hardware.

Jackson Chourio is growing into his superstar potential this October, raising the standards for young stars in the postseason.

William Contreras—or “Wild Bill” as he’s becoming known—has been showing off his many talents this postseason, including his mastery of ABS challenges.

Aaron Ashby now holds the record for the longest scoreless streak by a reliever in postseason history.

Ben Williamson’s walk-off single gave the Rays life for at least one more game.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Micah Noe reviewed Ronny Mauricio’s disappointing season abbreviated by injury.

This Date in Mets History

65 years ago, ground was broken on an ash heap in Flushing Meadows, soon to be the home of the New York Mets.

The Fall Classic has been extended to Game 5 after the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 on Tuesday. With a 3-1 series lead, the Brewers have the chance to win their first World Series tonight at 8:00 ET.

Braves News:

Our 2026 player review series continues with right-hander Hurston Waldrep. 

MLB News:

Minnesota Twins right-hander Jeff Hoffman underwent surgery on his right elbow. He is expected to be ready for the start of the 2027 season. 

The Philadelphia Phillies have officially announced Peter Fatse as their next hitting coach. 

From the Feed:

Will the Rays win again tonight? Drop your predictions here.

The 2004 ALCS swung on a stolen base in Game 4 and if the Rays are going to join that Red Sox team in MLB history, perhaps it will be a caught stealing that swings the series.

One of the pivotal plays in the 4-3 win in 12 innings in Tuesday’s Game 4 that got the Rays on the board in this series involved an agonizingly close overturned stolen base that instead ended a Milwaukee scoring threat in the top of the ninth inning in a 2-2 game.

Cooper Pratt has originally been ruled to have stolen second with two outs before video replay changed the call.

Safe or out? pic.twitter.com/BMVpb3RmPU

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 28, 2026

“There’s a caught stealing there that’s … really, really close. Maybe in season that’s a stands,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “Who knows? We had a couple things not go our way in terms of calls — not saying they’re wrong, but I’m just saying we had a couple things really — running out of the baseline there the first run we gave up or second run, whatever. Come on.

“Look at it. The ump didn’t have it that way, and that’s part of it. We got some benefit of some things too sometimes.”

With Andrew Vaughn at the plate with two outs facing Rays closer Brian Baker, the Brewers attempted to get Pratt in position to potentially score on a bloop by having him steal.

A bang-bang play went in their favor at first before Rays manager Kevin Cash opted to challenge.

The Fox broadcast booth of Joe Davis and John Smoltz analyzed the slo-mo angle while they world awaited the verdict.

The slowed clip appeared to show second baseman Richie Palacios just getting Pratt before his leg touched the bag, although one could possibly argue it wasn’t conclusive.

“The first thing to know is the strings on the glove don’t count,” Davis said.

“I think the glove got the hand. How about the pressure on the two dudes sitting down in a little cramped closed telling Kevin Cash, ‘Challenge this.'”

New York officials ultimately saw enough to feel confident in reversing the call to end Milwaukee’s threat, setting the stage for the Rays’ heroics in the 12th.

After Pratt redeemed himself with a homer to take a 3-2 lead, an error followed by four straight hits gave the Rays the win and set up Wednesday’s Game 5.

“We weren’t knocking balls in the gap or knocking balls out of the ballpark,” Cash said. “We pieced together a big inning, maybe the most important inning of our season.

We awoke this morning to discover that the 2026 baseball season was still with us. Standing on the brink of elimination, Brewer brooms sweeping towards them, the Rays found a way to survive, walking off Milwaukee on a Ben Williamson single to right.

But doom still stares them in the face: a 3-1 deficit is a forbidding thing. The odds of a comeback are against them. But we are not asking about odds. We are asking about a stranger, less predictable thing: the vibes, the hopes, the general sense of it.

The Rays have faced World Series deficits twice before, in 2020 and in a year that you surely recall. They had no miracles in them then. Do they have one in them for 2026?