Category: MLB

As the Milwaukee Brewers gear up for their first World Series appearance in over four decades, fans across the nation are once again celebrating one of baseball’s most beloved logos: the iconic Brewers ball-in-glove.

The glove’s fingers cleverly form the letter “M,” while the palm and thumb create a distinct “B.” A white baseball is in the center, completing the design’s dual meaning. This logo was created in 1977 by Tom Meindel, a 30-year-old art student at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire who saw an opportunity to blend simplicity with team identity.

Meindel’s design was one of 1,932 entries submitted to a team-sponsored contest in the fall of 1977. At the time, the Brewers were seeking to rebrand after eight consecutive losing seasons, looking to replace their old “Barrelman” logo with something new. The contest inspired creativity, both good and bad, from fans and artists, but it was Meindel’s clever, modern design that captivated the judges.

The ball-in-glove logo was officially adopted in 1978, quickly becoming synonymous with the Brewers’ brand. It served as the team’s primary logo until 1993, after which the organization experimented with various designs, including new takes on the interlocking “M” and “B.”

Despite these changes, the original ball-in-glove remained a fan favorite and was regularly featured in throwback merchandise and special events. In 2020, to celebrate the team’s 50th anniversary in Milwaukee, the Brewers unveiled a reimagined version of Meindel’s classic logo as their primary mark.

Now, the Brewers will continue to proudly wear the restored logo, featuring bold navy blue coloring and a refined glove webbing on a yellow background, as they embark on their quest for a long-awaited first World Series championship.

More: Brewers-Rays World Series inspires both dreams and nightmares around MLB

MILWAUKEE — The headlines and press releases are practically written already: World Series between Tampa Bay, Milwaukee draws record-low ratings.

But just because something’s lightly watched doesn’t make it any less aesthetically pleasing. So perhaps we should look at this Rays-Brewers World Series like an indie film at your local art house theater, light on the box office haul but thick with intrigue.

After all, these are the two best teams in baseball, evidenced both by regular season performance (103 wins for the Brewers, 98 for the Rays) and playoff dominance (Brewers 7-1, Rays 7-2). There is star power, in Tampa Bay slugger (and home run trot aficionado) Junior Caminero and Jacob Misiorowski, the Brewers ace who lives life somewhere around 102 mph on the radar gun.

Why watch? We posed this question to a handful of Rays and Brewers:

Daily News | Gary Phillips: ($) With the specter of a lockout looming over the 2027 season, Hal Steinbrenner was asked during his press conference Wednesday about hit thoughts on the owners’ salary cap proposal. The Yankees owner bristled at the questions, citing a desire to hold on discussing labor issues until after the World Series is complete while conceding that, as a member of the league’s labor policy committee, “I helped craft, one of many, the proposals that we have given at the bargaining table, and I support those proposals in their entirety.” Left unanswered is how a salary cap (and with it, potentially, a salary floor) could possibly give one of the league’s highest spenders a better chance to win, a refrain he returned to frequently as his top priority.

MLB.com | Shanthi Sepe-Chupuru: Congratulations are in order for Cody Bellinger, who took home his third Fielding Bible Award Thursday. The award, presented by Sports Info Solutions and voted on by a panel of experts, recognized him as the best defensive left fielder in all of baseball. Belli’s first two awards came back in 2019 with the Dodgers, when he was honored both for his work in right field and as a multi-position player. The 31-year-old’s 21 DRS tied for third in the majors at any position despite his missing nearly a month to injury.

The Athletic | Ian O’Connor: ($) The venerable former beat writer pens a pointed critique of Steinbrenner’s leadership, arguing the Yankees’ underperformance in October goes straight to the top. He contrasts the owner’s parsing of what makes a successful season with Derek Jeter’s more direct, “If we don’t win a championship, the season is a failure,” positing that Hal’s reticence to hold anyone to task publicly trickles down to a lack of accountability at all levels of the organization. O’Connor cites Jazz Chisholm Jr. as an example; after Aaron Boone indicated he addressed concerns with the second baseman behind the scenes in 2025, he had a dreadful ‘26 punctuated by taking the field with a lollipop in his mouth and contributing a head-scratching error in the first inning of Game 2 of the ALDS as the Yankees’ season slipped away yet again.

Is this World Series proof that money doesn’t bring (baseball) happiness?

Yes - and in fact, evidence that money actively undermines baseball happiness. For the big-market teams, anything less than a World Series is disappointing. Whereas for the Rays (who in April were given a 1.1% chance of winning the World Series by FanGraphs) or Brewers (2.1%), the season is already a success, and winning it all would give their fans more pleasure than a Yankees or Dodgers fan could ever experience. Alan Evans

No. It’s does offer proof that October remains gloriously resistant to being bought outright. But money buys depth and insurance, even if it can’t guarantee that your $300m hitters won’t spend an off week grounding into double plays. Better to enjoy this peach of a matchup – only the second Fall Classic since 1920 where a first-time winner is guaranteed – without letting baseball’s billionaire owner class weaponize it in the coming labor fight, with a salary cap on the table and the sport potentially heading for another protracted lockout. Bryan Armen Graham

Yes. High-end talent is nice, but to get to the World Series on a shoestring budget you also need a certain culture. There shall be no tolerating careless mistakes, no getting too comfortable in cushy MLB dugouts, and players must have a clear understanding of their roles and the brand of baseball they’re expected to play. That’s where Milwaukee and Tampa Bay have truly excelled this season. David Lengel

What the Brewers need to do to win

Jacob Misiorowski may be the best pitcher in the world, but the cliché that “bullpens win championships” is more true than ever in modern baseball. Luckily for Milwaukee, theirs is one of the best in the game – only the Yankees had a better collective regular season earned run average – and the sweep of the Dodgers means everyone will be starting on full rest. AE

Make Tampa Bay chase. Milwaukee have the pitching to win this series, but asking them to weather seven nights of high-leverage situations with traffic on the basepaths is inviting trouble. Get ahead in counts, limit free passes and force the Rays to string hits together. The fewer opportunities Tampa Bay have to improvise, the better the Brewers’ chances. BAG

The Brewers bullpen is lights out but don’t ask them to do too much. The Rays will try to pile up reliever innings in a bid to weaken the core. Also, Game 4 in Tampa will be a bullpen game for Milwaukee, so make sure the unit is kept fresh for that pivotal matchup. DL

What the Rays need to do to win

Be inventive. Ace Shane McClanahan is injured, but their occasional gambit of using opening pitchers is arguably even more of a power move in a single series at the very end of the season. As for batting, if any two of the “big three” of Yandy Díaz, Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero find their groove at the same time, they’ll be hard to keep quiet. AE

Turn every baserunner into a problem. Swipe a bag, take the extra base and make Milwaukee’s fielders execute under pressure. But don’t confuse small ball with giving away outs: Díaz, Aranda and Caminero still need to supply damage. The best version of the Rays makes opponents defend everything, including the outfield seats. BAG

Ensure the big three are up and running against the Brewers rotation. When Caminero, Díaz and Aranda struggled in the ALCS, the Guardians took two games and sent Rays fans searching for the nearest cliff. Kevin Cash also must excel in the dugout against healthy competition in Pat Murphy, who won’t make Dave Roberts-like mistakes. DL

One bold prediction

Tampa Bay will clinch the title wearing their Devil Rays throwback jerseys, and within a year will revert to that as the franchise name. They went 12-3 in the regular season wearing them and are now 2-0 in the postseason. If it happens, fan demand will make it hard for the newish owners to resist. AE

Someone will lose a game after pulling a starter who looks untouchable, and the ensuing argument will briefly eclipse the actual World Series. The manager will point to the matchups, the broadcast will show the abandoned pitcher staring into space and everyone will pretend the alternative outcome was a matter of certainty. (And for Tampa Bay fans, it could be déjà vu.) BAG

Club Tropicana by Wham! becomes the theme song for the Rays and this World Series as the dumpy dome in St Pete becomes the epicenter of the October sports world. Tampa win in seven tight games and fall in love with the worst venue in all of Major League Baseball. They take a 180 turn on the Trop and demand that their new owners drop plans for a new stadium. Talk about bold! DL

World Series MVP

Chandler Simpson, Tampa Bay. He’s become the talisman of a team increasingly focused on small ball, and is well on his way to becoming a folk hero for his homer-averse approach. Tight games are often decided by small margins such as a stolen base or a timely bunt. If it happens two or three times at key moments, the underdog could finally have his day. AE

Junior Caminero, Tampa Bay. There’s a temptation to choose someone whose candidacy explains the Rays’ entire organizational philosophy. I’ll take the less complicated option: the hitter who can put the ball into the seats with the purist-rankling, time-expanding home-run trot. In a series of infinitesimal margins, one emphatic swing can turn the whole thing. BAG

Drew Rasmussen, Tampa Bay. Like Freddy Peralta, Drew Rasmussen has spent some time in a Brewers jersey, and has benefited from whatever they’re sprinkling on pitchers in Tampa. The 31-year-old righty was a sixth-round pick who can miss bats and hit his spots with ease. In this World Series, he will reach the pinnacle. DL

Your winner will be ...

Rays 4-3 Brewers. There’s not much between the teams, but the Rays have surpassed every expectation this season and easily won the toughest division in baseball. It’s close to a tossup, but the Rays’ versatility and Cash’s managerial nous might be enough to edge it. AE

Rays 4-3 Brewers. Milwaukee have the pitching to make every run feel precious, but I trust the Rays’ ability to manufacture offense to make the difference in a series where margins will be razor-thin. There’s something about this matchup that reminds me of the 1991 World Series between the Twins and Braves: Great Lakes v South, two evenly matched teams with no obvious weaknesses and barely a whisker between them. Expect seven games of mounting tension, managerial second-guessing and repeated reminders that neither of these teams arrived here by accident. BAG

Rays 4-3 Brewers. How could it not go seven? They’re so close in culture and approach that you’d be shocked if either of these teams went down without a fight. The Rays have just a little bit more, and a slight advantage at skipper with Kevin Cash. It’ll be super tight: Rays in seven. DL

On Tuesday, I looked at historical comps to Vladimir Guerrero jr.’s miserable 2026 season. The takeaway was that this kind of collapse is rare, occurring just about 1% of the time for players under 30 who don’t miss major time due to injury, that a lot of players who fall off a cliff like that never fully recover, but that Vlad’s youth, health, and the fact that the drop almost all came from power issues rather than walks or strikeouts means he has better than average odds of recovering. Today, I want to dig a little bit into what actually drove his 2026 fall off.

The first thing to look at is whether there’s a significant shift in how he was pitched. The graph below shows the pitch types he’s seen by season in his career. The big thing to note is that over time he’s seeing somewhat fewer four-seamers and steadily more sinkers, with the two pitches almost equal in 2026. That makes sense, as Vlad’s weakness at the plate has always been the ability to elevate the ball. In his career, he has a -3 degree launch angle against sinkers compared to 14 degrees against four-seamers. He still hits sinkers very hard, but he struggles to elevate them enough to do damage.

I don’t think pitch mix is a huge contributor to his 2026 struggles, though. For one, he has a .873 career OPS against sinkers, so while he’s not as good against them as four-seamers it isn’t as if they eat him up. For another, He hit the sinkers he saw this year pretty well (.849 OPS) but fell off against four seamers (.873, compared to .964 in his career).

The shift also doesn’t look to be related to where pitchers attacked him. He actually saw more fastballs and off-speed pitches in the heart of the zone this season, compared to the last two:

Instead, I think the issue lies with his timing. Vlad swings extremely hard, and that didn’t change this season. His 76.3mph average bat speed was in the 92nd percentile among qualified hitters, and while it was just slightly slower than 2025 it was significantly harder than 2023 or 2024. He has a relatively flat swing, with a 29 degree tilt that’s 3 degrees below mlb average. That number was up one degree from 2024 and 2025, but the difference isn’t substantial. His swing also didn’t get any longer. All in all, it doesn’t look like he changed his swing meaningfully this year.

What did change was the type of contact he made. Vlad didn’t swing and miss more this season. In fact, his 82% contact rate was a career best and in the 73rd percentile in MLB, which is impressive for a player who swings as hard as he does. That contact wasn’t nearly as good, though. The panel below shows an assortment of swing metrics, comparing his 24-25 results to this year. His bat speed is about the same, with a few less average swings and slightly more extremely hard ones. His attack angle, which is the angle the barrel of the bat is traveling when it hits the ball, shows a significant shift, though. He hit a lot more balls on the downswing and fewer in positive territory, especially the 0-10 degree range. He is attack direction, which measures the horizonal direction of the barrel at contact, shows that he went up the middle and slightly the other way less often, and pulled the ball a bit more. Relatedly, his contact depth shifted forward, meaning he was meeting the ball out in front of the plate more often. All these signs point to him being a little in front of or behind the pitch more often, and meeting it at the ideal point less. The last plot shows the result. Squared-up fraction is the percentage of the maximum possible exit velocity (based on how fast the bat and ball are moving) that the batter achieves. Anything over 80% is considered squared up, meaning the batter got most of the possible impact on the ball. Vlad’s squared up fraction dropped in 2026, and the share of balls he really nailed, with 90% or better contact quality, fell dramatically.

The result of all those changes can be seen in the heatmap below. The black shape represents roughly the combinations of launch angle and exit velocity that StatCast considers barrels, the type of batted ball that accounts for most extra base hits. The blue inside the barrel zone and the red areas just below and to the left of it show that a lot of barrels from previous seasons were either hit hard but too low, in the -10 to 10 degree area, or were at the right angle but just a little too soft.

There’s also a fair bit of red above +40 degrees and below -20 degrees. Those are angles that basically never result in useful contact. It looks like he maid more really bad contact than in past seasons, in addition to less really good contact.

My takeaway from all of this is that Vlad spent the whole season just a little off. His bat speed shows that he didn’t lose raw strength, and there’s nothing to suggest that his mechanics changed dramatically. He was just missing by a little bit, consistently. It’s surprising to have such a dramatic effect and not be able to isolate a dramatic cause, but there’s really no huge smoking gun here. It makes me wonder whether his vision really was an issue, or whether one of his nagging injuries was altering his swing just slightly, not in a way that shows up clearly in the metrics but enough to keep him from ever quite locking in.

In terms of his prognosis, I think this has to be seen as good news. If he’d lost his eye, or his bat speed, or his ability to get the bat on the ball, we’d have reason to worry that his skills had eroded in a way that wasn’t going to come back. I don’t see evidence for that, though. On the other hand, there’s no obvious fix, either. There’s no obvious adjustment to undo, or tweak that will address a revealed weakness. He just has to get right. Whether the coaching staff can help him do that this winter is maybe the single most important question facing the Blue Jays’ long term future right now.

The Milwaukee Brewers aren't named the Brewers for nothin'!

Molson Coors is celebrating the National League team's second World Series appearance by offering fans a free beer for Game 1 of the Fall Classic on Friday, Oct. 23.

Wisconsin residents aged 21 years or older can purchase a 16-ounce Miller Lite or larger on game day and get reimbursed through the company's rebate program, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network.

Molson Coors is also offering free tours of the Miller Brewery on game day. The company is treating 120 fans to an afternoon tour, which usually costs $20 and includes three beer samples. Each fan will also receive a Miller Lite Brewers hat.

“We can’t think of a better way to toast the Brewers’ incredible run than with beer and tours of the brewery we proudly call home," Alison Hanrahan, community affairs manager for the Miller Brewery, said in a statement.

The Dodgers’ collapse in the postseason has brought the organization to a crossroads.

After assembling one of the best rosters in baseball, the back-to-back World Series champions were swept in the National League Championship Series by the Brewers.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman pays no attention to the discourse surrounding the Dodgers’ dynasty and whether the golden era of baseball in Hollywood is over.

“I welcome it… everything we do is for our fans and there’s a lot of noise around us. We don’t really pay much attention to it, it’s a partnership we feel with our fans,” Friedman said.

“People saying that we’re done and we’re on the downside of this run — it’s just more noise to us.”

The Dodgers spared no expense last offseason in their efforts to create a roster that could achieve the three-peat. Kyle Tucker joined LA on a four-year, $240 million deal, and Edwin Diaz signed with the Dodgers on a three-year, $69 million contract.

But the Dodgers ultimately fell short and the team has several question marks ahead of the winter. For one, the aging roster will likely have to get younger this offseason, which means fan favorites may not return or could be traded.

At age 32, Shohei Ohtani intends to be a two-way player throughout the entirety of 2027. Though Ohtani was a top player in the National League throughout the regular season, he was not himself in the playoffs.

The Dodgers also have several free agents hitting the open market, potentially impacting the impending roster reconstruction ahead of the 2027 season.

The Milwaukee Brewers will have their ace on the mound as the 2026 World Series gets underway on Friday, Oct. 23 against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Flamethrowing right-hander Jacob Misiorowski, a near-lock for the National League Cy Young award, will look to give the Brewers an early advantage in their quest to win the first World Series in franchise history.

While Milwaukee has won both of Misiorowski's first two postseason starts, he's been far from the overpowering pitcher he was in the regular season.

Against both the Padres and Dodgers, the 24-year-old was unable to get through five innings while throwing 88 and 94 pitches and giving up a total of three earned runs.

What can we expect from The Miz in this year's World Series?

It won’t be Rays ace Drew Rasmussen taking the mound in Game 1 of the World Series.

Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash made the surprising decision to give the ball to Nick Martinez for Friday’s Fall Classic opener against the Brewers, opting to give Rasmussen an extra day of rest before his likely Game 2 start.

“He’s had a pretty thick workload here,” Cash said of Rasmussen’s playoff usage, according to ESPN. “We’ve relied on him heavily. We know when he takes the ball, we’re trying to get the full-pitch allotment out of him.”

Martinez, who posted a 3.10 ERA across 180 innings in the regular season, held the Guardians to one run over 5⅓ innings in his last postseason outing. 

“It’s exciting,” Martinez said. “I think as a team, as a staff, we’re confident in whoever we call up to the mound. It fell on me, and my job is just to rack up as many outs as we can and keep us in this ballgame.”

Martinez, 36, came to Tampa Bay after signing a one-year, $13 million deal over the offseason and has enjoyed a career year in his first season as a full-time starting pitcher. 

He will start opposite Milwaukee flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski, who is a heavy favorite for the 2026 National League Cy Young award after leading the majors in both ERA (1.80) and strikeouts (252).

Rasmussen has tossed a team-high 21 innings this October, including seven innings of one-run ball in his most recent outing in Game 5 of the ALCS on Oct. 18, meaning he will have a full five days of rest if he does indeed take the mound in Game 2 on Saturday.

The move also allows Freddy Peralta, the likely Game 3 starter for the Rays, an extra day of rest.

The World Series starts tomorrow!

This is one of the only times of the year where the entire baseball watching fandom is able to settle in and focus on the same thing. It’s time to enjoy baseball at the highest level available.

As we’re all watching the games, what are you looking forward to?

What are you hoping for with this World Series?

• Are you rooting for one of the teams?
• Is there a particular player you are hoping shines?
• Are you just hoping it goes a full seven games?
• Something else?

Whatever it is you are rooting for in the World Series, let us know!

You may just give others in the comments something to be excited for with you.

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!

Hal Steinbrenner identified a Yankees problem in not just 2026 but 2025: a lineup that “twice now,” he said, “just hasn’t lived up to their end of the bargain.”

And so after sparing general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone, the Yankees owner shifted his gaze toward the hitters and the group that leads them.

“I’m going to look at all the coaching, like I do every year, and yes, I’m definitely focused on the offense and on the hitting,” Steinbrenner said at the postmortem news conference Wednesday, when a potential target was placed on James Rowson and the staff under him.

For each of the past three seasons, Rowson has been the club’s hitting coach and Casey Dykes has been assistant hitting coach. Before last season, the Yankees moved on from another assistant, Pat Roessler, and added Jake Hirst.

Rowson, Dykes and Hirst led a 2026 attack that is difficult to assess. In the regular season, the Yankees finished tied for ninth in runs scored largely on the back of the second-most home runs slugged.

As has become expected, the Yankees were strong in drawing walks (fifth) and poor at collecting hits (a fifth-worst .235 batting average) while striking out too often (fourth most). In the postseason, the Yankees lineup was incredible against the Red Sox and inept against the Rays.

Of course, the above numbers were accumulated with just 383 total plate appearances from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, who left massive voids that are impossible to replace and, thus, were not replaced.

Nonetheless, the Yankees expected more from Jazz Chisholm Jr., whose regular-season OPS dropped 102 points from 2025. And from Trent Grisham (108-point plunge), Ryan McMahon (58) and Austin Wells (88). Anthony Volpe and Jasson Domínguez stagnated.

The only true step forward belonged to Ben Rice. George Lombard Jr. and Spencer Jones debuted with promise, but was that more a reflection of the Yankees’ player-development system or major league coaches?

“We do feel like there were guys that I feel like had, call it ‘down years’ or whatever — not to what I believe they’re capable of,” Boone said before exempting Wells, who began brutally but found his stroke by August. “Some of that is young players that go through it. … But there were a handful of guys that I feel like probably underperformed expectations. So you’re constantly looking into that.”

In Boone’s mind at least, Rowson is not to blame.

“I think James leads a great hitting group,” he said. “I’ve been really impressed with the culture that he’s created year in and year out over the last few seasons. So there’s a lot of reasons that go into why there’s underperformance in certain areas of the club, and you try and address those all as best you can.”

Rowson took over for Sean Casey, who had taken over midseason in 2023 for the hit-strikes-hard, analytically minded Dillon Lawson.

The personable Rowson, a former Yankees minor leaguer and minor league hitting instructor, is popular in the clubhouse and regarded less for a hitting philosophy and more for his connection with the players.

His greatest connection could be his greatest lifeline. Rowson is close with Judge, whose relationship dates back to Rowson’s days as the Yankees’ minor league hitting coordinator while Judge was just an intriguing prospect.

Judge vouched for Rowson upon being hired and certainly will be heard before the Yankees make decisions regarding their coaching staff. Steinbrenner said he and Judge “had a great conversation [Tuesday] over a number of subjects.”

In Rowson’s first two seasons as Yankees hitting coach, the club won the American League Silver Slugger award. Last October, the Yankees were knocked out by the Blue Jays predominantly because their pitching, and not hitting, failed them, but Steinbrenner believes the problem with the offense was not isolated to 2026.

“It wasn’t just a one-year deal,” he said of a club that led baseball in runs scored in 2025, but also struck out the third-most times and then fell to a team that hit better for contact. “It’s two years now, and I’m seeing some of the same things.

“And yes, we need to get to the bottom of it.”

There were more issues (and more significant injuries) in 2026, though Rowson, like all Yankees, will be ultimately judged for his offense’s performance in the postseason.

The Yankees scored 18 runs in a two-game sweep of the Red Sox. They then scored five runs on 12 hits in a three-game sweep at the Rays’ hands, when the long ball could not be found and there were little traces of small ball.

For the majority of the playoff run, Rowson was not around the team because he tended to a family medical emergency.

Steinbrenner said the team would look into “everything” regarding the hitting issues, which could mean personnel — the Yankees could conceivably add a new third baseman, second baseman and perhaps center fielder that could change the dynamic of their lineup — and could mean the coaches in charge of that personnel.

“I feel like overall, our offensive preparation is very good and how the table is set and kind of the program that J-Row leads,” Boone said. “But we didn’t perform what I believe is up to our capabilities offensively, and we got to look into certainly all of that.”

The Dodgers won the trade deadline with the acquisition of Tarik Skubal — but that doesn’t mean they ultimately prevailed.

The Brewers were reportedly in the mix to land Skubal in a blockbuster trade, but Milwaukee managed to sweep the Dodgers despite losing out on the two-time American League Cy Young Award winner.

Brewers owner Mark Attanasio discussed the pursuit of Skubal and slipped in a slight jab directed at the Dodgers during an appearance on The Post’s “The Show” podcast hosted by Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman.

“This team was built, not bought. It’s critical to look at how we got here, and because I want to have sustained success, we had to do that by being careful about how many prospects we gave up,” Attanasio said.

“I thought a lot about it. If we had not won that Game 4, we would’ve seen Skubal and [Yoshinobu Yamamoto] again, and we could’ve been looking at Game 7.”

The 2026 World Series brings an interesting conversation to light as the Brewers and Rays managed to reach baseball’s biggest stage as small-market teams.

The Dodgers had the highest payroll of MLB’s final four teams, but were eliminated in four games by Milwaukee.

Attanasio’s comments ring true, the Brewers have taken years to build a winning team and it appears the squad has a strong chance of hoisting the Commissioner’s Trophy. But many of the Dodgers’ biggest critics tend to overlook the team’s top farm system.

While money is no object for the Dodgers, the team wouldn’t have won back-to-back World Series if the organization didn’t have the ability to make blockbuster trades because of its top prospects.

Skubal didn’t guarantee the Dodgers another ring, but it certainly improved their chances.

Where the Dodgers go this winter will likely determine how long the dynasty lasts for LA.

Todd Benzinger, a key member of the Reds’ 1990 World Series championship team, died on Wednesday, the team announced.

He was 63.

“Todd will forever be remembered by Reds fans for catching the final out of the 1990 World Series, but those of us who had the privilege of knowing him will remember so much more,” Rick Walls, executive director of the Reds Hall of Fame Museum, said in a statement.

“Todd remained close to the Cincinnati community and was a tremendous friend to the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum, generously participating in our events and sharing his time with fans. We will miss his friendship, his kindness and his presence in our community.”

The first baseman’s cause of death has yet to be announced, but Hall of Fame shortstop Barry Larkin, a Reds teammate of Benzinger, said that his death came as a “shock.”

“I saw him at an event this past summer in Cincinnati and he looked good. It’s kind of a shock out of nowhere,” Larkin told MLB.com. “I know he’s got some young kids, so I feel really bad for his family.”

A Cincinnati-area native, Benzinger was drafted by the Red Sox out of high school in 1981 and spent two MLB seasons in Boston before being traded to his hometown Reds during the 1988 offseason.

Benzinger spent parts of three seasons with the Reds before they dealt him to the Royals midway through the 1991 season.

His most famous moment in Cincinnati was catching the final out in Game 4 of the 1990 World Series to seal the Reds’ most recent championship.

Across his nine-year MLB career, Benzinger put up a slash line of .257/.301/.386 with 733 hits and 376 RBIs in 924 games.

After retiring in 1995, Benzinger maintained a close relationship with the Reds and was a regular at select events and team camps.

He also managed the Dayton Dragons, Cincinnati’s High-A affiliate, from 2009-10.

“He was a super nice guy,” Larkin said. “He was always a hard worker, not real loud. Just about doing his business. He was just a steady, consistent contributor. There was no craziness about him. He fit in well with the team.

“Just a really good, solid guy.”

Welcome to our series grading every member of the San Diego Padres’ 40-man roster. The roster being evaluated is current as of Oct. 18, prior to the end of the World Series. Because of that, it will include players who will be free agents once the postseason concludes. Each player will be graded on their performance in the 2026 season, including the playoffs. That performance will be weighted based on how much time the player spent with the team (availability is the best ability). 

The Veteran Shortstop

When Xander Bogaerts was signed to an 11-year, $280 million contract prior to the 2023 season (wow, that’s still insane to think about), he was expected to man shortstop for the next several years for San Diego. He’s done so faithfully and has been available for the majority of his tenure thus far. Bogaerts has played in 130-plus games in three of four seasons with the Padres. However, he has yet to perform better than his first year in San Diego (4.2 Wins Above Replacement).

Overall Grade: C+

Bogaerts’ production has continued to decline year by year. This season was no different, with the shortstop posting a .231/.332/.344 slash line and 13 home runs. The homer total was an increase from the last two seasons, but his batting average took a sharp downturn. Bogaerts’ bat was downright anemic apart from certain portions of the year.

That being said, Bogaerts ended the season batting .315 in September and slashed .286/.348/.476 with a home run in the playoffs. His defense took a step back from his stellar performance in 2025 (+6 Fielding Run Value, +7 Outs Above Average), but he was still solid at the position with +4 FRV and +3 OAA. Bogaerts manned shortstop faithfully for the Friars, playing in 151 games for San Diego.

The biggest question for Bogaerts is whether his offense can return to form. Since joining San Diego, he has yet to prove he can make a difference with his bat apart from a solid 2023 campaign. That being said, Bogaerts was somewhat unlucky in 2026. The veteran shortstop batted .231 with an expected batting average of .248. That’s not a great deal better, but it’s certainly an improvement.

Miguel Rojas isn’t done with baseball.

The veteran infielder announced his retirement from Major League Baseball after the Dodgers were swept in the National League Championship Series by the Brewers. But Rojas will represent his home country one last time to play in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League for the Tiburones de La Guaira club.

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The Dodgers World Series hero will participate in special games for the team on Nov. 14 and 15 at LoanDepot Park in Miami.

Turns out Game 4 of the NLCS won’t be Rojas’ final game of his career.

“One last time on the field. One last time representing Venezuela,” Rojas said in an Instagram caption.

Rojas previously expressed disappointment with the World Baseball Classic after he was not able to participate in the spring tournament due to issues obtaining insurance on his MLB contract. The 37-year-old has never participated in a WBC and the 2026 tournament was his last chance before he retired.

“I didn’t know that my chance to go represent my country for the first and only time, probably as a player, was gonna get blocked because of an insurance problem,” Rojas said. “Even though we know we have to be ready for the season and we have to play and be healthy for our contract, at the end of the day, we didn’t know all those restrictions were gonna be in place the way they are right now.”

Rojas wasn’t able to represent Venezuela in the WBC, but he will play one last time for his home country next month.