Back in June, the New York Rangers traded forward Chris Kreider and a 2025 fourth-round pick to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for prospect Carey Terrance and a 2025 third-round pick. This was after Kreider was the subject of trade rumors throughout the 2024-25 campaign.

The Rangers trading Kreider to the Ducks was certainly significant, as the Boxford, Massachusetts native had been an important part of their core during his 13-year stint with the Original Six club. However, after a tough 2024-25 season, the Rangers wanted to shake up their roster, and Kreider was moved because of it. 

On Sep. 22, Kreider made his preseason debut for the Ducks in their 6-1 win over the Utah Mammoth. The longtime Rangers forward did not record a point in his preseason debut for Anaheim, but he did throw one hit and had a plus-1 rating. 

Kreider introduced Ducks fans to his gritty style of play, as he got into a scrum with Mammoth top prospect Tij Iginla, who is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla. 

Chris Kreider, playing for the Anaheim Ducks, mixing it up with Jarome Iginla’s son, Tij, a member of the Utah Mammoth, in an NHL preseason game.

An absolute FEVER DREAM sentence 😅 pic.twitter.com/2wYDDMwjxo

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) September 23, 2025

Kreider is now expected to be a key veteran for the Ducks as they look to take that next step in their rebuild. It is going to be very interesting to see how much of an impact he can make for the Ducks once the regular season is here. 

In 883 games over 13 seasons with the Rangers, Kreider recorded 326 goals, 256 assists, 582 points, and 1,593 hits. The Rangers' 2009 first-round pick was also a two-time All-Star during his time with the Blueshirts. 

Recent Rangers News 

Rangers Reveal Roster For Preseason Game vs. Bruins 

Rangers' Matt Rempe Ready To Shine 

The Bigger The Blueshirts Come The Harder They Rise Or Fall

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The New York Rangers are back on the ice on Sep. 23 to take on the Boston Bruins in a preseason matchup. They will be looking to build off their solid 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils in their first preseason game of the year on Sep. 21. 

The Rangers have now announced their roster for their upcoming contest against the Bruins, and there is a good mix of NHL-caliber players and youngsters. 

Rangers regulars like Adam Fox, Igor Shesterkin, and Will Cuylle will all be in the lineup against the Bruins. Rangers fans will also get their first chance to watch top free-agent signing Vladislav Gavrikov play for the Blueshirts in this contest. Andrej Sustr is another veteran to watch in this contest, as the defenseman is on a professional tryout (PTO) and looking to impress. 

The Rangers are also playing some notable prospects in this contest, as Gabe Perreault, Brennan Othmann, and Scott Morrow are all in the lineup. 

Here is a full look at the Rangers' roster for their matchup against the Bruins.

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Rangers' Forwards

Anton Blidh 

Justin Dowling 

Adam Sykora 

Sam Carrick 

Noah Laba

Jackson Chmelar

Will Cuylle

Trey Fix-Wolansky 

Brett Berard 

Juuso Parssinen

Brennan Othmann

Brendan Brisson

Gabe Perreault 

Rangers' Defensemen 

Adam Fox

Matthew Robertson

Andrej Sustr 

Vladislav Gavrikov 

Scott Morrow

Blake Hillman

Jackson Dorrington

Rangers' Goalies 

Igor Shesterkin

Dylan Garand 

Talyn Boyko 

On the latest episode of The Mets Pod presented by Tri-State Cadillac, Connor Rogers and Joe DeMayo gear up for the final week of the regular season for the Mets, and brace for a tight race to the last Wild Card spot. 

Connor and Joe recap a week that brought hope with a series win over the Padres, then delivered despair after a bad series loss to the Nationals, and discuss the situation ahead with a week that will either lead to the playoffs or earlier-than-expected offseason conversations. 

The show also checks in Down on the Farm for prospect postseason heroics, and dips into the Mailbag to answer questions about “piggybacking” pitchers. 

Be sure to subscribe to The Mets Pod at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The Mets open a three-game series against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday at 7:40 p.m. on SNY.

Here's what to know about the game and how to watch...

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Mets Notes

• Pete Alonso is hitting .347/.393/.644 with eight home runs in 112 plate appearances over 25 games dating back to Aug. 26
• In 8.2 innings over eight appearances this month, Edwin Diaz has allowed one run on five hits while walking three and striking out 12
• David Peterson has struggled in three starts this month, with a 7.63 ERA over 15.1 innings 

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What channel is SNY?

Check your TV or streaming provider's website or channel finder to find your local listings.

How can I stream the game?

The new way to stream SNY games is via the MLB App or MLB.tv. Streaming on the SNY App has been discontinued.

In order to stream games in SNY’s regional territory, you will need to have SNY as part of your TV package (cable or streaming), or you can now purchase an in-market SNY subscription package. Both ways will allow fans to watch the Mets on their computer, tablet or mobile phone. 

How can I watch the game on my computer via MLB? 

To get started on your computer, click here and then follow these steps: 

• Log in using your provider credentials. If you are unsure of your provider credentials, please contact your provider. 

• Link your provider credentials with a new or existing MLB.com account. 

• Log in using your MLB.com credentials to watch Mets games on SNY. 

• Select the SNY Mets game you wish to view from the Multimedia Center. 

How can I watch the game on the MLB App? 

MLB App access is included for FREE with SNY. To access SNY on your favorite supported Apple or Android mobile device, please follow the steps below.  

• Download the free MLB App.

• Open “MLB” and tap on “Subscriber Login” for Apple Devices or “Sign in with MLB.com” for Android Devices. 

• Type in your MLB.com credentials and tap “Log In.”  

• To access live or on-demand content, tap on the "Watch" tab from the bottom navigation bar. Select the "Games" sub-tab to see a listing of available games. You can scroll to previous dates using the left and right arrows. Tap on a game to select from the game feeds available.  

For more information on how to stream Mets games on SNY, please click here.

With six games remaining in the regular season, the Mets are looking to nab the third and final Wild Card spot in the National League.

The Reds hold tiebreaker over the Mets due to winning the season series. The tiebreaker between the Mets and Diamondbacks is TBD, and will likely be based on intradivision record since the two clubs split the season series.

Here's everything you need to know ahead of play on Sept. 22...

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Reds: 80-76, tied with Mets for third Wild Card

Next up: vs. Pirates, Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. (Brady Singer vs. Johan Oviedo)
Latest result: 1-0 win over Cubs on Sunday
Remaining schedule: 3 vs. PIT, 3 @ MIL
Odds to make playoffs: 42.4 percent

Mets: 80-76, tied with Reds for third Wild Card (Reds hold tiebreaker)

Next up: @ Cubs, Tuesday at 7:40 p.m. on SNY (David Peterson vs. Cade Horton)
Latest result: 3-2 loss to Nationals on Sunday
Remaining schedule: 3 @ CHC, 3 @ MIA
Odds to make playoffs: 51.7 percent

Diamondbacks: 79-77, 1.0 game back of Reds and Mets

Next up: vs. Dodgers, Tuesday at 9:40 p.m. (Brandon Pfaadt vs. Shohei Ohtani)
Latest result: 9-2 win over Phillies on Sunday
Remaining schedule: 3 vs. LAD, 3 @ SD
Odds to make playoffs: 6.4 percent

MLB to implement Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System for entire 2026 season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

MLB made a major announcement about the future of the game on Tuesday.

The league announced that it will use the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge system for the entire 2026 MLB season.

BREAKING: Major League Baseball will use the Automated Ball-Strike Challenge System (ABS) during the entire 2026 season

ABS CHALLENGE RULES:

– Each team will get two challenges and can keep them if they're successful

– Challenges can only be initiated by a pitcher, catcher, or… pic.twitter.com/xHkRIbHrRx

— MLB (@MLB) September 23, 2025

The system, which was fully implemented across the Triple-A level in 2024 and used throughout spring training in 2025 and again during the MLB All-Star Game this summer, was expected to be added to the major league level soon, and it appears that will be in 2026.

With the ABS Challenge System, each team will get to challenge two ball or strike calls per game and will keep their challenge if the call is overturned. The challenges only can be initiated by pitchers, catchers and batters right after the pitch, and they must tap their hat or helmet to initiate one.

The players are not allowed to receive any help or feedback from any other players on the field or anyone in the dugout.

A team will be rewarded an additional challenge in each extra inning if they are out of challenges entering the inning.

According to MLB, the ABS Challenge System is “powered by a T-Mobile 5G network that uses cameras set up around the perimeter of the field to track the location of each pitch and a graphic on the scoreboard shows the result of the challenge.”

Here is an example from this summer’s MLB All-Star Game for how the system will work:

Take that, rewind it back 🎶

Tarik Skubal successfully challenges for a strikeout! #AllStarGamepic.twitter.com/X1cMuIMtT4

— MLB (@MLB) July 16, 2025

Giants getting early look at potential 2026 catching option Jesús Rodríguez originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — Buster Posey once played all nine positions in a college game, but he was drafted as a catcher, retired as a catcher and will go into the Hall of Fame as a catcher. That means that for as long as he is running baseball operations for the Giants, any catcher who is acquired will merit a bit more attention. 

The most notable newcomer to the position arrived at Oracle Park on Monday afternoon, although Jesús Rodríguez might not get into a game this week. Acquired at the deadline in the Camilo Doval trade, Rodríguez was brought to San Francisco to be on the taxi squad and gain experience with a big league staff that he might be catching next season. 

The 23-year-old said he was excited for the opportunity to get a look at life in a big league clubhouse. He hopes to make a good impression, and team executives certainly will be watching him closely. Rodríguez was the main piece in the deal that sent Doval to the New York Yankees.

“We wanted to take a hard look at him in spring training,” manager Bob Melvin said. “That was the key guy in the trade. Buster really wanted him. Yeah, he’s definitely in the plans.”

The Giants will reevaluate their catching group over the winter, but there’s a good chance Rodríguez enters next spring as the favorite to back up starter Patrick Bailey, and possibly carve out a hefty role given that he’s right-handed and Bailey has struggled against left-handed pitching. 

Backup catchers are usually glove-first, but it’s the opposite with Rodríguez. He played every position but shortstop in four minor league seasons with the Yankees, and while the Giants view him as a catcher long-term, his development has been slowed by shoulder discomfort that led to plenty of DH duty when he joined the Sacramento River Cats.

What never has been in question, though, is the bat. Rodríguez is a career .309 hitter in the minors, and has batted at least .294 in every one of his professional seasons. He never has flashed much power, but he has the kind of approach that is needed for a swing-happy Giants lineup, and it showed after the trade. In 39 games with the River Cats, Rodriguez hit .322 with two homers. He struck out just 17 times and drew 18 walks. 

Asked about the reports he has gotten from the player developments staff, Melvin had a quick answer. 

“The reports are that this guy can really hit,” he said. “He has been catching but (did not catch) a ton in the Yankees organization. The bat is ahead of (the glove), of course. But from what I’ve heard, it’s a real hard-working kid and he’s doing everything he can, catching bullpens and doing as much as he can to speed up the process. The bat is just a little bit ahead right now.”

With Tom Murphy injured all season, the Giants have used Andrew Knizner, Sam Huff and Logan Porter as backups. Knizner has been the best of the bunch, but has a .561 OPS. There aren’t any top catching prospects in the organization, either. 

Rodríguez still might be relatively new to the position, but he said he loves it. His shoulder is healed, he said, and he’s looking forward to soaking up as much as he can over the next week. In particular, he wants to learn better ways to protect against passed balls and wild pitches.

Rodríguez spent plenty of time with Giants catching coach Alex Burg on Monday and because he’s serving as the team’s “emergency catcher,” he can do pretty much everything that his teammates do. He’ll take BP all week, catch bullpens and warm up pitchers between innings so he can become familiar with their pitch shapes. On Monday, he took part in his first big league hitters’ meeting. 

Rodríguez already is on the 40-man roster because he had been added by the Yankees long before the trade, but the current plan is to go with Bailey and Knizner over the final week. Still, Rodríguez will be eyed closely. Like Posey, Melvin is a former big league catcher. He has watched plenty of Rodríguez’s at-bats on video the last couple months. 

“Up close and in person, you get a little better idea,” he said. “It’s good we have him here.”

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As Dodgers players packed in for Clayton Kershaw’s retirement news conference last Thursday, Freddie Freeman waved the Kershaw family to a row of seats at the front of the room.

He wanted Kershaw's wife, Ellen, and their four kids in front of the pitcher right when he sat down at the dais at Dodger Stadium.

How else, Freeman joked, could they get the future Hall of Famer to cry?

Turned out, in a 14-minute address announcing his retirement from baseball at the end of this season, Kershaw did get choked up from behind the mic. But, it happened first when he addressed his teammates. They, he told him, were who he was going to miss most.

Read more:Hernández: Roki Sasaki a playoff reliever? Don't put it past desperate Dodgers

“The hardest one is the teammates, so I'm not even going to look at you guys in the eye,” Kershaw said, his eyes quickly turning red. “Just you guys sitting in this room, you mean so much to me. We have so much fun. I'm going to miss it.”

“The game in and of itself, I'm going to miss a lot, but I'll be OK without that,” he later added. “I think the hard part is the feeling after a win, celebrating with you guys. That's pretty special.”

Days later, that message continues to reverberate.

For the Dodgers, it served as a reminder and a reset.

Ever since early July, the team had lived in a world blanketed by frustration and wracked with repeated misery. Many players were hurt or uncharacteristically slumping. The team as a whole endured an extended sub-.500 skid. Behind inconsistent offense and unreliable bullpen pitching, a big division lead dwindled. Visions of 120-win grandeur were meekly dashed.

Amid that slump, the club’s focus drifted. From team production to individual mechanics. From collective urgency to internal dissatisfaction.

Read more:Dodgers fall to Giants in regular-season home finale, plan to return in the playoffs

“Everyone on this team has been so busy this year trying to perfect their craft,” third baseman Max Muncy said, “that sometimes we forget about that moment of just hanging out and enjoying what we’re going through. “

Or, as Kershaw put it after his final regular-season Dodger Stadium start on Friday, “the collective effort to do something hard together.”

“All that stuff is just so impactful, so meaningful,” Kershaw explained.

And if it had gone missing during the depths of mostly difficult summer months, Kershaw’s retirement has thrust it back to the forefront.

“I do think it helps reset,” Muncy said. “Over the course of seven, eight months, you see each other every day and sometimes you take that a little bit for granted … It’s not something that anyone forgot. But sometimes you need a refresher. I think that was a good moment for it.”

Don’t mistake this as a “Win one for Kersh!” attitude. The Dodgers insisted they needed no extra motivation to defend their title, even after what’s been a turbulent repeat campaign.

But, both players and coaches have noted recently, their efforts this year have sometimes felt misplaced. The togetherness they lauded during last year’s championship march hadn’t always been replicated. A pall was cast over much of the second half.

“When you’re not winning games, it’s not fun,” veteran infielder Miguel Rojas said earlier this month. “But at the end of the day, we gotta put all that aside. … We have to come here and enjoy ourselves around the clubhouse, regardless of the situation.”

The Dodgers did that and more this past weekend, when a celebration of Kershaw — which included nearly team-wide attendance at his Thursday news conference, several on-field ovations Friday, and Kershaw’s address to Dodger Stadium on Sunday — was accompanied by three wins out of four against the San Francisco Giants.

“Watching him get choked up when he started talking about the teammates — it was just a crazy feeling in that room,” pitcher Tyler Glasnow recounted from Thursday’s announcement.

Added Muncy: “You hear when he talks about the stuff he’s gonna miss the most, the stuff that he enjoys the most: It’s being a part of the team. It’s being with the guys. It’s being in the clubhouse.

“To hear a guy like him just reinforce that, I think it’s a good message for a lot of people to hear.”

Read more:Dodgers defeat Giants, but Will Smith's playoff availability remains a concern

In Muncy’s estimation, the Dodgers have “seen a reflection of that out on the field” of late, having moved to the verge of a division title (their magic number entering play Monday was three with a 10-4 record over the last two weeks.

“There’s been more of an effort to try and enjoy the moments,” Muncy said. “Make sure we’re still getting our work in, but try to enjoy the moments.”

The Dodgers made a similar transformation last October, when they used their first-round bye week to build the kind of cohesion they had lacked in previous postseason failures — one the team credited constantly in its eventual run to the World Series.

Kershaw's retirement might’ve provided a similar spark, highlighting the significance of such intangible dynamics while lifting the gloom that had clouded the team's last two months.

“There's obviously been a lot of things to point [to this season], as far as adversities, which all teams go through,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But I think that as we've gotten to the other side of it … guys have stuck together and they've come out of it stronger, which a lot of the times, that's what adversity does.”

More adversity, of course, figures to lie ahead.

The Dodgers ended the weekend on a sour note, with Blake Treinen suffering the latest bullpen implosion in a 3-1 loss on Sunday. They’ll still enter the playoffs in a somewhat unsettled place, needing to navigate around a struggling relief corps and overcome a hand injury to catcher Will Smith.

Read more:Shaikin: Clayton Kershaw was always at the heart of the Dodgers' franchise revival

It means, like last year, their path through October is unlikely to be smooth.

That, after a second half full of frustrations, they’ll have to lean on a culture Kershaw emphasized, and praised, repeatedly over the weekend.

“To have a group of guys in it together, and kind of understanding that and being together, being able to have a ton of fun all the time, is really important,” Kershaw said. “The older I’ve gotten, the more important [I’ve realized] it is. Like, you can’t just go through your day every day and go through the emotions. You just can’t. It’s too hard, too long to do that.”

“You gotta have Miggy doing the mic on the bus. You gotta have Kiké. You gotta have all these guys that are able to keep us having fun and energized every single day. That’s what this group is, and it’s been a blast.”

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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What we learned as Justin Verlander falls back to Earth in Giants' loss to Cards originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

• BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO — Throughout an up-and-down second half, the Giants always have viewed this final homestand as a huge potential boost for their MLB playoff chances. They knew that if they could just get within a game or two of a spot heading into the final week, they would have a decent chance to try and run the table and reach October. 

They did not, however, enter this homestand within a game or two of the third wild-card spot. And they’re not going to run the table, either. 

The final homestand of the year started with a 6-5 loss Monday to the St. Louis Cardinals, who pulled into a tie with the Giants in the overall NL standings. The Giants officially could be eliminated from postseason contention as soon as Tuesday. 

On another warm night at Oracle Park, the teams took turns hitting rockets. There were 10 balls hit at least 106 mph, including five at 110-plus (three by Matt Chapman alone). 

The scoring started early with a solo shot from Heliot Ramos, and the Giants went up 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth on singles by Ramos and Patrick Bailey.

Heliot drives in two more 🙌 pic.twitter.com/MaJvNmXLVg

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 23, 2025

But the Cardinals struck right back, scoring four runs in the top of the fifth and sending Justin Verlander back to the clubhouse. 

The Giants got a run back on Rafael Devers’ solo blast to left in the bottom of the fifth, but shut it down from there. 

Rafi gets one back 💪 pic.twitter.com/p3XFMgaHlg

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 23, 2025

Stuck on 265

Verlander’s attempt to continue climbing the all-time charts stood out as one of the storylines of the final homestand, but he had a rough night. The right-hander has been one of the game’s best pitchers over the last month, but he was charged with six runs — four of them earned — in 4 1/3 innings and didn’t take advantage of the early lead the Giants gave him. 

Through 28 starts, Verlander still has just three wins. This will be the first season of his MLB career with double-digit starts and fewer than five wins. In fact, prior to this season he never had won fewer than 11 games in a season with at least 25 starts. 

Verlander remains tied for 39th all-time with 265 wins, but he should get one more chance this weekend to pick up No. 266 and tie Bob Feller and Eppa Rixey for 37th. 

Leading Off

Ramos got the season’s final homestand off to a great start, blasting a solo shot off Michael McGreevy while leading off the bottom of the first. It was Ramos’ fifth leadoff homer of the year, which put him in pretty good company. The only other right-handed batter to hit at least five leadoff homers for the Giants is Bobby Bonds, who did it three times. Barry’s dad had an incredible 11 leadoff homers in 1973 alone.

Heliot starts things off with a bang 💥 pic.twitter.com/4vxQAzmQ5H

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 23, 2025

Ramos, who later added a two-run single, has five games left to reach 20 homers for a second straight season. The Giants already have three players — Chapman, Devers and Willy Adames — who have reached that mark. 

Good With The Glove

The best defensive center fielders often are the ones who never leave their feet, and generally, that has been Drew Gilbert. The rookie gets good jumps and has done an impressive job of running balls down as a Giant, but he had to lay out to rob Thomas Saggese of extra bases in the seventh.

Gilbert tracks it down 🫡 pic.twitter.com/BdtUZ0VpLI

— SFGiants (@SFGiants) September 23, 2025

Gilbert went 95 feet to make the catch, and it ended up being a big play. The next batter hit a ball into the gap, but the Cardinals wouldn’t score in the inning. 

Gilbert’s role heading into next year is still unclear, but he definitely appears to be the roster’s best defensive outfielder. If he hits enough to become an everyday player, the Giants might have to have an interesting conversation about whether to play Gilbert in center and move Jung Hoo Lee to a corner. 

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