Category: MLB

When Albert Pujols stepped into the batter’s box during his major league career, the game seemed to pause. Everybody wanted to watch, from his first season in 2001, when he hit 37 home runs, to his last, when he passed 700.

They wanted to watch AJ, his oldest son, too. AJ Pujols told his dad what that was like when he was around 13.

“Dad, I don't want to play baseball anymore,” he said.

“He didn't feel good having his friends and everybody else stopping the game and coming, watching him hit,” Pujols tells USA TODAY Sports. “And I felt that pressure. He was getting a lot of pressure, and I respect that. I wish he would have kept playing, because he was really good at it, but I was always a dad that didn't force sports on any of my kids. I support them, whatever sport they want to play.”

Pujols, 46, a father of five kids ranging from teenagers to their 20s, watched AJ become a college golfer, while his daughter, Sophia, is a gymnast for UC Davis.

“I'm just a big supporter,” he says of his kids’ sports. “Anytime I get an opportunity to be there and watch them play and not judge them at all, just try to help them out to be better.”

He has been retired since 2022. He splits time between New York and his native Santo Domingo, traveling with his wife, Nicole, and  “doing the things that I wasn't able to do when I played for 23 years, because as you know, it's a busy schedule for nine months. And now I'm kind of my own boss, and I kind of make my own schedule.”

“I'm able to do a lot of things,” he says, “and as you see, that beautiful tan that I have, playing a lot of golf.”

Dressed in a sharp light aqua blue jacket and white collared shirt during our virtual interview, he spoke to us about his campaign with Cologuard to increase awareness about the importance of colorectal cancer screening and early detection.

He also spoke with us about his career and his mentors, where his desire stands to manage in the major leagues and how parents and their athletes can maintain a healthy lifestyle and relationship.

'Far from the truth': Pujols denies rumors of making big managerial demands

Pujols said he interviewed to be the manager of the Los Angeles Angels and San Diego Padres last offseason. The Angels went with Kurt Suzuki, the Padres with Craig Stammen, but Pujols says he came away feeling good about how both went.

“I think there's an opportunity that could happen at the end of the day,” he tells USA TODAY Sports. “It’s playoff time right now, so I think things are busy within the season, but I'm looking forward to seeing if I get any job out there. I think it was a learning experience for myself as well.”

The Seattle Mariners have a vacancy so far, while the Phillies have likely moved on from Don Mattingly, although Alex Cora appears to be his likely successor.

John Mozeliak, who was general manager and president of baseball operations, respectively, during Pujols’ two stints with the Cardinals, joined the Angels front office this year. According to The Athletic, Mozeliak hopes Suzuki will be back, but he said it’s not his decision with a new ownership group.

When Pujols fell short of the Angels job last season, news media reports surfaced that he made heavy contract demands of the team, and they resurfaced in September.

“I think both of the teams showed me really good interest,” he says, “and just, it wasn't my time. So the process went well. I enjoyed it. I know the rumors about what I was asking, which was far from the truth, (there) was never anything about that. If anything, it was really close and it was great interview. I mean, it happens.”

Pujols referenced his extended second interview with the Padres.

“I think the whole process with the interview went really, really well,” he says. “I'm a big believer that when your last interview, you interviewed for (hours) because they like what you brought to the table, and it just didn't happen, but I think what I took from there, it was just a great experience of preparing myself better.

“I think at the end of the day, just waiting to see when my name (is called), and if it comes, great, I mean, if it doesn't, I still want to be around being a voice for this great game that helped me out a lot.

“I took the big jump on managing. I did it in the Dominican Republic and it was really successful.”

During the winter of 2024, Pujols managed Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Republic to the Dominican League and Caribbean Series championship. He led the Dominican team to the semifinals of the World Baseball Classic.

We need to be able to lean on our family first, especially when we are kids

He has since taken a job as team president for the Estrellas Orientales, another Dominican winter league team. He says that as athletes, and as adults and parents, we are constantly learning.

“When I got into the country, I didn't know English that well, so it was hard going to school,” he says. “My cousin took a lot of the classes with me to help me out, but when I want something, I go hard at it, until I get the best out of it, and I learned the language, I mean, I’m still learning up to now [he laughs] but it's something that was tough at that time.”

Pujols came to the United States at 16 and settled in Missouri. He says the transition wasn’t easy, but it was eased by the presence of relatives who came with him, especially his father and grandmother.  

“I was around my family, who gave me the education and supported me every single game that I played,” he says.

The support started with his father, Bienvenido, whom he has said was one of the best softball pitchers in the Dominican Republic. Pujols followed him around from the time he was six, and his father saved him a seat at games.

“As a young player, my dad was my hero,” he says. “That's that person that I also look up to. And he was a great example for myself, especially growing up. And the reason why I fell in love with the game of baseball. My dad was somebody that inspired me, and  helped me out to... I would say, to learn the game.”

Pujols remembers his father patiently hitting him grounders during a 20-minute break in between games.

“I think, sometime, you get parents (who) go to some of these games, and their kids didn't perform to their level that their parents were expecting,” he says. “And they get frustrated with the parent, and that's a big mistakes that we make sometimes as a dad, or as a mother, to yell at our kids (and) put a lot of pressure on them.”

Think of yourself being outside with your son or daughter, getting frustrated because they’re not quite doing what you want. When they are young, maybe they are being pushed into travel teams.

They are impressionable and still developing and figuring out what they like.

“At the end of the day, they need to do it because they love it instead of I'm doing it because my dad's forcing me, because that's the last thing that we want as a parent, have that guilt, that my son didn't want to play baseball,” he says. “Well, Albert Pujols decided, yes, because I'm a baseball player, you need to play. No, I didn't want to have guilt. I want my son to choose what he wants to do and support him.”

Pujols remembers taking the time to understand why AJ didn’t want to play baseball anymore, and listening to AJ’s reasoning. Pujols, during a 2019 episode of Graham Bensinger’s interview show, says he always told his kids to just be themselves.

 “He’s still a dad, still my dad,” AJ told Bensinger for the episode. “Every night when he comes home from playing a game, he’s still the same dad. Throughout the failures, throughout the awards, nothing changes in his heart and he’s awesome. … He tells me to keep going, no matter how much I fail, no matter how much trouble I’m going through, he always helps me push to the end.

“On the golf course when I’m playing, I’ll play my rounds and I’ll call him right after. I’m like, ‘Dad, I just got off the course, I just shot 87. I never play like this. This is terrible.’ And he’ll call me, he’s like, ‘Buddy, there’s days where I go 0-or-4, 0-for-5, 0-for-6 with three strikeouts and I don’t get a hit and I’ll go in a slump. But do you ever see me back down? I’m always standing there, I’m always fighting, I’m always pushing.’ He always tells me to stand up and I’ve got it.”

Bryce Harper went deep about his mistake in rightfield and how he came back from it and how kids can learn from that, especially his son

“I'll tell you what, I was thinking about Krew, my son, what I would say to him in that situation. I think it's a learning situation not for…

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) September 30, 2026

'Choose your friends': You can often tell which teammates you can trust

Even when we are extremely talented and move up levels, we can enter spaces where others have more experience than us. We find teammates and coaches we need to lean on for support.

Pujols saw them in manager Tony La Russa, who was like a father to him, and he listed a number of teammates who helped him get comfortable in the major leagues: Darryl Kile, Jim Edmonds, Woody Williams, Mark McGuire, Placido Polanco. Jim Edmonds, Scott Rolen, Mike Matheny, J.D. Drew.

When you join a team, you can see who the leaders are by the ones who talk to the new guys, and not just the rising stars but the ones who are struggling.

“Choose your friends, who you have hanging around you,” Pujols says. “You always want to have people around you that are gonna bring great things to you and know, take you away (to) the place that you want to reach. And I was lucky enough and blessed, I guess, to have that wisdom, to see that right away.”

And at the end, when he hit home run No. 700 at Dodger Stadium in 2022, he found himself surrounded by his wife and kids. It’s a reminder that when we achieve sports success, or even fame, our families can also be the ones we look to for support when they are over and we move on to something else.

Check in on physical and mental health, for yourself and your kids

According to Pujols’ campaign with Cologuard, many people don’t know that screening for colon cancer is recommended for anyone 45 and older, while 60 million people either remain unscreened or are outdated on their screening. 

He says he learned from the campaign that colon cancer is the nation’s No. 2 cancer-related killer.

“You can be in the best shape ever, and feel great about it, and there's no red flag(s) and (you’re) not feeling anything, and then, all of a sudden something comes along,” he says.

The theme is similar to how we can be with our kids. Have open communications with them about their health and well-being, in and out of sports, even if you think things are going well.

“I always say that we only have such a short window with our kids before we (send) them into the world, they go to college, and we don't control them anymore, and I think the goal was as a dad is that is that when the kids run into temptation, we help them out," he says. "The discipline, hard work, day in and day out, separate the bad things from the good things.”

Steve Borelli, aka Coach Steve, has been an editor and writer with USA TODAY since 1999. He played baseball in high school, rowed in college and spent 10 years coaching his two sons’ baseball and basketball teams. He and his wife, Colleen, are now sports parents to a college and high school baseball player.For his past columns, click here

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pujols talks managerial pursuit, kids sports in wide-ranging interview

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The New York Yankees aren’t the New York Mets.

But, now that they’re coming home to Yankee Stadium down 2-0 to the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALDS, they gotta believe.

Should Aaron Boone’s club prevail, they’ll become just the sixth team in MLB history to overcome an 0-2 deficit in a five-game series.

If you’d like to be there to root on the Yanks at home, last-minute tickets are still available for both potential games in the Bronx.

Their two, huge do-or-die contests are slated to take place:

Game 3Wednesday, Oct. 7
8 p.m. EST
Nick Martinez (15-6, 3.10 ERA) vs. Max Fried (5-5, 2.80 ERA)

Game 4Thursday, Oct. 8
8 p.m. EST
TBD vs. Carlos Rodón (7-3, 2.67 ERA)

A hypothetical decisive fifth game — if the Bombers sweep the Rays in the Bronx — would go down at St. Petersburg, FL’s Tropicana Field on Saturday, Oct. 10.

At the time of publication, the lowest price we could find on seats for either game in NY was $95 including fees on Vivid Seats.

While somewhat expensive, that’s $28 cheaper than what they cost when we last reported on Yankees ALDS tickets five days ago.

As fans are likely aware, Games 1 and 2 of the series were not kind to New York.

In the first one, Rays ace Drew Rasmussen hurled 7 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball before catcher Austin Wells broke up the occasion with a double that he tried and failed to stretch into a trouble.

Then, with Cam Schlittler on the hill, the Yankees faltered defensively and made four crucial errors before ultimately losing 5-2.

Now, it all comes down to Yankee Stadium.

New York needs all the help they can get (or as The Post’s Joel Sherman says “Aaron Boone should manage like his Yankees job is on the line”).

Be there and be loud, bleacher creatures…because you gotta believe.

For more information, our team has everything you need to know and more about seeing the New York Yankees play the Tampa Bay Rays at home in the 2026 ALDS below.

What do tickets cost to see the Yankees at home in the 2026 ALDS?

All hypothetical Yankees home game dates at Yankee Stadium and links to the cheapest tickets available (versus what they cost on Oct. 1) are listed here:

How much are tickets for Rays 2026 ALDS games in Tampa?

A complete calendar of all potential Rays home games at Tropicana Field and links to buy tickets can be found below.

Are Yankees tickets available for later rounds?

Optimistic fans looking to get ahead of themselves can procure potential ALCS and World Series tickets before the ALDS is over.

To grab seats for the game of your choosing, all potential hypothetical Yankees playoff tickets can be found here.

How to watch the Yankees in the 2026 playoffs

Fans that prefer to watch on the tube, you can catch Yankees playoff contests on ESPN via DIRECTV.

Huge 2026-27 NYC shows

The Yankees aren’t the only huge attraction in The Big Apple these next few months.

Here are just five of the biggest acts headed to New York City in the near future.

• Stevie Wonder

• Dave Chappelle

• Death Cab For Cutie

• Gnarls Barkley

• Andrea Bocelli

Plus, Bernie Williams is making his Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning show “Buena Vista Social Club” from Oct. 22 through Nov. 29. Don’t miss the star centerfielder from yesteryear under the spotlight today.

Why you should trust ‘Post Wanted’ by the New York Post

This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change.

The top of Washington’s starting rotation was solidified with the recent 4-year, $47 million extension handed to ace Cade Cavalli. Outside of that, however, the pitching staff is littered with question marks going into an uncertain 2027 offseason.

Andrew Alvarez emerged as a high-floor option after being promoted to the starting rotation midway through the season, but his lack of experience keeps him from being a surefire piece moving forward. The signings of righties Zack Littell and Miles Mikolas last offseason fell flat, and trading southpaw Foster Griffin at the deadline weakened the rotation further.

The looming Major League Baseball CBA negotiations make the 2027 season outlook a complete mystery, but free agency, in some form, will still exist. With top prospects Travis Sykora and Jarlin Susana expected to debut in the coming years, one free-agent move that would benefit both the present and future would be adding a veteran workhorse to the rotation.

Looking at the surface numbers, Kevin Gausman’s 2026 was far from a success. He finished the year with a 4.51 ERA with the Toronto Blue Jays and Chicago Cubs, and he posted his highest WHIP since 2019. That said, the 35-year-old can be counted on for innings.

Gausman has thrown at least 170 innings in each of the last six seasons, and has made 30 or more starts in every complete season going back to his time with the Baltimore Orioles in 2016. Beyond that, he posted an ERA ranging from the high-2.00s to the mid-3.00s in the previous five seasons before his down year in 2026.

His underlying metrics also give hope to a bounce back in 2027, and contain patterns that the Nats desperately need. Namely, he posted an 86th percentile BB%, one aspect of the 2026 Washington rotation that was severely lacking. He also maintained an 88th percentile Chase% and 70th percentile Whiff%, giving him the favorable combination of plus stuff and plus command. Gausman’s FIP and xFIP were similar to where they were in 2025.

Gausman’s last time as a free agent came back in 2021, when he inked a 5-year, $110 million deal with Toronto. This time around, he should still command a decent-sized salary, but the long-term commitment seen in his last contract will likely not be present.

Toronto is projected to be a major contender to re-acquire Gausman in the offseason, so the Nats will still be forced to shell out a decent chunk of salary for the right-hander. If there was ever a time to invest in starting pitching, now would be that time. The 2026 Nationals fell short of the playoffs, but many young pieces, mostly on the offensive side, proved worthy of being in the franchise’s future plans.

If the Nats can build even an average rotation around Cavalli, the team’s supposed rebuild could be accelerated. Buying in on an arm who has shown to be a reliable starter for nearly a decade would be a fantastic starting point, and Gausman fits that bill as well as just about anyone.

Welp, the Yankees forgot to bring their bats to Game 1 against the Rays and now they forgot their gloves in Game 2. Five errors in the first five innings destroyed any advantage they might have gained from Cam Schlittler starting, their self-immolation eerily reminiscent of the fifth inning collapse in Game 5 of the 2024 World Series. In an attempt to cling on to a positive memory of these playoffs, I present our first At-Bat of the Week of the 2026 postseason, this edition featuring George Lombard Jr. in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series against the Red Sox.

We join Lombard with no outs in the sixth inning last Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees blew Boston’s doors off in Game 1, 9-0, on the back of Ben Rice’s historic two home run, six-RBI performance. That game was close until the Yankees blew things open in the eighth, and this game is following a similar pattern with Max Fried and Sonny Gray largely holding both offenses in check.

And just like in Game 1, Chad Tracy came out with a quick hook for his starter, which is how we see Garrett Crochet pitching out of the bullpen to open the sixth. Crochet hadn’t thrown an MLB pitch since April, missing most of the season with a left shoulder injury, but made it back just in time to sneak onto the Wild Card roster. Spencer Jones stands on first after reaching on a leadoff strikeout wild pitch, and as we’ll soon see his hustle down the line will prove to be the turning point in the game.

I can almost guarantee that Lombard and everyone else in the stadium is expecting Crochet’s first MLB pitch in over five months to be his overpowering four-seamer. Perhaps Crochet looks to play off this expectation, because he introduces a wrinkle with a first pitch cutter trying to get a hitter sitting four-seamer to chase below the zone.

The intent is sound but the execution isn’t quite there. This pitch starts as a ball low out of Crochet’s hand and never looks like a strike. Lombard isn’t tempted to chase and spits on this cutter for ball one.

After showing Lombard a fastball that breaks glove-side, there is an opportunity for Crochet to steal a called strike inside. His four-seamer breaks in the opposite direction as the cutter, so a pitch that starts a little in off the plate and tails back to the inside edge should freeze the hitter.

It’s clear Crochet’s command is rusty given he misses his target on the opposite side of the plate. He wants to get this four-seamer in under Lombard’s hands but instead lands it low and away, just out of the zone. It still requires an impressively disciplined take from Lombard given it lands mere inches from the outside edge, made doubly difficult considering it immediately follows a cutter that breaks toward the plate from outside to in.

Lombard has worked the count leverage in his favor, 2-0. You’d expect most pitchers to come into the zone with a heater to avoid falling behind, 3-0, especially a pitcher with as blazing a fastball as Crochet’s.

Lombard completely sells out for the four-seamer and is made to look a little bit foolish on this back foot cutter. Make no mistake, this is a filthy pitch from Crochet. It looks like a strike middle-down out of the hand before the late movement zips it down and in under Lombard’s bat.

So far, the cutter appears to be coming out of Crochet’s hand a lot better than the four-seamer. After getting the chase and whiff on the previous one, he doubles up with another back foot cutter.

Crochet is able to pinpoint the bottom rail of the zone with this cutter for called strike two. Lombard is taking all the way to give Jones the opportunity to steal second . It’s a good thing he didn’t swing, because an errant throw to second from Adley Rutschman allows Jones to take the extra base, putting him 90 feet away from scoring an invaluable insurance run. Even if Jones hadn’t been running on the play, I still like this take from Lombard — this pitch had tailor-made groundball written all over it.

In the span of two pitches, Crochet has swung the count leverage in his favor, from 2-0 to 2-2. Having shown Lombard three cutters out of four pitches and with his first chance for a strikeout, Crochet attempts to gas a four-seamer by the Yankees rookie, the pitch coming in seven mph faster and with eleven inches less drop than the cutter.

What a swing by Lombard! This is a nasty heater from Crochet, 98 mph and just off the corner up and away. The situational hitting by Lombard is mature well beyond his 21 years. Living by the old adage of hitting the ball back the way it came, Lombard stays through this outside heater and shoots it to the opposite field for an RBI single. It’s such a simple approach and swing — short and compact to the pitch making sure to stay behind the baseball — the rookie not trying to do anything more than the pitch will allow him to do, knowing that solid contact the other way is almost certain to get the run in.

Here’s the full AB:

Proper credit has to be awarded to Jones as the precursor to this AB. Not giving up on the play when he struck out, the wheels to steal second and then the awareness to see the ball rolling into center and take off for third put Crochet on the ropes, and Lombard’s single opened the floodgates. To get that kind of mature contribution from a pair of your homegrown rookies in the playoffs against your age old rival is such a shot in the arm for the rest of the team. And returning to Lombard, I cannot say enough about how mature his approach was in this AB. It would be easy for any player, especially a 21-year-old rookie in his first postseason, to let the tension and stress creep in after Crochet quickly flipped the count from 2-0 to 2-2. However, he clutched up and came through with one of the finer pieces of situational hitting you are likely to see this postseason, giving his team an indispensable two-run cushion and setting the stage for the fireworks that would follow later in the frame.

Trying to hit against Chris Sale sometimes seems like trying to to catch a chainsaw, so the Dodgers will have their work cut out for them. But they’ll also have reliable ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series at Truist Park in Atlanta.

Yamamoto started four games and pitched once in relief on the road over the last two postseasons, with five total runs allowed in 31 innings, with 30 strikeouts against only four walks. The Dodgers won all five games with Yamamoto earning the win in all four of his road appearances during the 2025 postseasons.

Then again, the Dodgers are 9-1 in the 10 postseason games in which Yamamoto has appeared, with the only loss coming in last year’s NLDS Game 3 at Dodger Stadium. That was with the Dodgers already leading the series 2-0, while his start on Tuesday comes in a 1-1 series.

Let’s look back at every other Game 3 for the Dodgers in a tied series during their consecutive postseason run dating back to 2013. This is the ninth time in 14 years the Dodgers best-of-five Division Series is tied after two games. The home team in those NLDS Games 3 is 6-2, and the winner of Game 3 won four of the eight series.

NLDS Game 3 info

• Teams: No. 2 seed Dodgers at No. 3 seed Braves
• Series: Tied 1-1
• Ballpark: Truist Park, Atlanta
• Start time: 3:08 p.m.
• TV: FS1 (Joe Davis, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal)
• National radio: ESPN Radio (Dave O’Brien, Jessica Mendoza)
• Local English radio: AM 570 (Charley Steiner, Rick Monday)
• Local Spanish radio: KTNQ 1020 AM (José Mota, Luis Cruz)

Fitzy already took you through the highlights (such as they were) from yesterday’s press conference. We’ve gotten plenty used to the front office telling us about how pained they are by failing to meet their goals, so there wasn’t much actual news in that sense. But we did get some actual substantive information regarding Roman Anthony. After a lost season that saw him bow out of the playoffs in the middle of the first game, Anthony will not need surgery on his mysteriously strained hand. “What we’ve been told [is] that we don’t even know what surgery we would do,” said Craig Breslow. And, yeah, that sentence doesn’t inspire much confidence in me, either. (Sean McAdam, MassLive)

Roman Anthony having a healthy and productive 2027 season is key to the Red Sox having a productive 2027 season. But considering that the team’s biggest issue is home run power, he won’t be able to fix things on his own. The Red Sox know that they need to add power to the lineup, but knowing something and doing something are two different things. “Despite identifying power as a priority entering last offseason, the Red Sox’ lineup took a step backward. In 2025, the Sox hit 186 homers (15th in MLB), had a .324 on-base percentage (eighth), and a .421 slugging percentage (ninth). This year, the Red Sox hit 163 homers (26th), had a .319 OBP (12th), and slugged .398 (20th).” (Alex Speier, Boston Globe)

But maybe they already have some more power in the organization in the form of Curtis Mead, whom the Red Sox appear to be penciling in at second base as they head into the offseason. “He was acquired for a reason. You see the numbers that kind of project at least toward a 30-home run season. And adding that, we were really excited about that,” said Chad Tracy. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)

The Sox best source of power in 2026, Willson Contreras, didn’t sound too happy the last time he spoke to the media, following the Sox’ embarrassing exit from the playoffs. But the Sox brass is confident they smoothed things over with the slugger after Tracy and Breslow met with him for over two hours on Sunday. “We actually had a great conversation, Trace and I, with Willson,” Breslow said. “Many of those [details] I will keep private just to protect or just to kind of preserve the relationship that we have. But it was incredibly constructive and covered a wide scope of things. And Willson would be the right person to ask directly, but he spoke very, very highly of his time here, how much he’s looking forward to 2027, and the way that he and his family appreciated the Red Sox.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)

The source of Contreras’ unhappiness seemed to primarily be the early hook Tracy employed in removing Sonny Gray from Game 2 against the Yankees, a decision that Tracy is owning. “I do trust Sonny Gray,” Tracy said. “I do trust the guys in the bullpen as well. So again, I think the easiest way to say is it was my call. It’s my decision. It went south. I think the biggest thing for me coming into this was maybe dispelling any notion of people thinking that decisions get made prior to the game or with a piece of paper or with any computer. If I can do anything just to dispel that, say, those decisions are always going to fall on me.” (Ian Browne, MLB.com)

At least Contreras can comfort himself with the fact that he’s a finalist for the Hank Aaron Award. The award, given to the player who had the most outstanding offensive season is, for some bizarre reason, voted on by the fans. So if you want to throw some love Willson’s way, you can cast your ballot online. (MLB.com)

This is the first of what are likely to be several major awards won by Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong this year (Bluesky link):

You all know PCA’s numbers, but they are certainly worth repeating here, because they represent a Cubs season not seen in decades. Some highlights as posted in the BA article:

• He led all MLB hitters with 45 home runs, 119 runs, 84 extra-base hits and 357 total bases.

• He led National League hitters with a .570 slugging percentage, .943 OPS and 157 wRC+.

• He played in all 162 games, drove in 107 runs batting primarily out of the leadoff spot, stole 41 bases, grounded into just two double plays and played a spotless center field, positioning him for a second straight Gold Glove.

• Beneath the surface, he improved his decision-making by swinging less, chasing less and missing less. As a result, he drew 83 walks, hit .280 and posted a .372 OBP—all far and away his best marks in three full MLB seasons.

• His discipline gains were most apparent in same-side matchups. He hit .280/.374/.505 versus lefthanders, one year after hitting .188 against them.

Of all those numbers, perhaps the difference in his plate discipline is the most impressive. PCA had a very good season in 2025, but walked only 29 times last year and posted a . 287 on-base percentage. He raised that OBP 85 points this year, which was eighth-best in the National League. Here’s another stat that will amaze you:

PCA had finished his breakout 2025 season on a down note, posting a .611 OPS for the final 60 games of that campaign.

But from June 1 onward, there was no better baseball player on the planet than PCA. 

His 1.065 OPS and 186 wRC+, spanning 476 plate appearances, were tops in MLB. Consider: Crow-Armstrong packed so much value into the final four months of the 2026 season that he nearly went 30-30 in the final 102 games, finishing one stolen base shy of 30. 

So over the season’s final four months, he put together numbers that probably would have won an MVP award even if you ignored the numbers before June 1:

And, as you know, the 9.8 bWAR he posted this year was tied with Ron Santo’s 1967 season for fourth-best in Cubs franchise history (behind Rogers Hornsby, 10.6 in 1929; Sammy Sosa, 10.3 in 2001; and Ernie Banks, 10.2 in 1959). PCA’s year created 10.6 fWAR, second only to Hornsby in 1929 (11.0).

He’ll certainly be the National League MVP when that award is announced next month, and there’s a good chance he’ll be the unanimous choice.

There’s one more award that PCA is up for:

The Hank Aaron Award was created in 1999 to honor the best offensive performer of the year in each league. Here’s a list of winners; there have been three Cubs to win the award previously (Kris Bryant in 2016, Aramis Ramirez in 2008 and Sammy Sosa in 1999.

And your vote counts! You can vote here and fan voting, along with a panel of Hall of Famers, will decide the winners, who will be announced next month:

The Hank Aaron Award winners will be announced live from The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas on Wednesday, Nov. 11 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT during a special presentation at the MLB Awards, which will be aired live on MLB Network for a fourth consecutive year.

As I’ve written before: Don’t ever forget what you saw Pete Crow-Armstrong do this year. The 2026 Cubs season didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but PCA’s performance was one for the ages.

The offseason will be a bit trickier for the Colorado Rockies this year.

The window to make decisions will be shorter because the World Series will end on October 27 at the earliest, and the collective bargaining agreement ends on December 2, bringing a presumed lockout. That leaves teams with about a month to start making meaningful decisions before the market is frozen with no real clarity on when it will resume under a new CBA.

One of the major decisions to make will be figuring out which players will be tendered a contract. Under the current CBA, the non-tender deadline will be November 20. The most consequential group of players for the Rockies are those who are eligible for arbitration this year. The Rockies have a relatively short list of arbitration players this year, and thanks to the folks over at MLB Trade Rumors, we have a guideline of projected salaries for what the players could potentially earn in 2027.

As it stands, here are the confirmed eligible players:

• Jimmy Herget: $2.4 million
• Jake McCarthy: $4.6 million
• Ryan Feltner: $3.8 million
• Brennan Bernardino: $1.6 million
• Hunter Goodman: $6.2 million

So, let’s check in on the prospects of each player being tendered a contract and sticking with the Rockies for 2027.

Jimmy Herget

Entering his final year of arbitration, Jimmy Herget is an interesting case for the Rockies. Claimed off waivers from the Chicago Cubs, Herget ended up as one of the most valuable players for the historically bad Colorado Rockies. In 83.1 innings over 59 appearances, Herget posted a 2.48 ERA and looked like a revelation for the Rockies bullpen.

Unfortunately, he regressed in 2026, posting a 5.70 ERA over 53.2 innings across 51 appearances. The major issue was that he gave up a lot of hard contact and more home runs than ever before, alongside an 11% walk rate. The Rockies often needed some firemen to put out fires, and Herget had his moments, but he was purely a bridge piece when deployed.

Herget turned 33 in September, so age isn’t exactly an issue since his veteran experience is welcome in a young Rockies bullpen. The projected $2.4 million salary also isn’t a massive dent to the budget, assuming the Rockies should have some flexibility to spend some money. The safe route is to run it back with Herget, but it may behoove the Rockies to look for other bullpen arms, perhaps with a more consistent track record of success to set the tone in the bullpen.

Prediction: Non-tendered

Jake McCarthy

No one was expecting Jake McCarthy to have the breakout season he ended up having with the Rockies in 2026. He ended up stabilizing the lead-off spot while putting together a historic Rockies season. Initially brought in as an extra-outfield option, McCarthy made himself a home in Colorado and even earned a nomination for the All-MLB Team.

Entering his second year of arbitration, McCarthy did enough to earn himself a nice pay raise. Projected to earn $4.6 million, that’s a 201.7% increase over his $1.525 million salary this season. For a single-season salary, that’s not a bad result for either party involved. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rockies figured something out for a multi-year deal to buy out his third year of arbitration, as he just turned 29 in July.

Unless something materializes and the Rockies get a trade offer they can’t refuse, McCarthy is extremely likely to start the 2027 season with Colorado.

Prediction: Tendered, potentially extended

Ryan Feltner

Before the season ended, I was leaning heavily toward the idea of Ryan Feltner getting non-tendered. Despite his potential, Feltner just hasn’t been able to put it all together as a starter to be consistently competitive. Walks remain an issue while he gives up a lot of contact with too few strikeouts. In 2026, he posted a 6.10 ERA across 22 starts, giving up 120 hits, including 20 home runs, in 107.2 innings.

However, the Rockies decided to move Feltner into the bullpen as a bulk reliever/piggyback late in the season, and it started to work for him. In 15.2 innings over four outings, Feltner allowed one earned run on 12 hits for a 0.57 ERA. For some reason, the move just seemed to work better for him, much like it did for Chase Dollander earlier this season.

If the Rockies plan to keep Feltner in that role as they try to figure out pitching at altitude for the club, a $3.8 million salary in his second year of arbitration isn’t a bad deal, money-wise. However, there is the risk that comes with it and the record of Feltner struggling in Colorado, along with him just turning 30. The small sample size of 15 relief innings shouldn’t be enough to gamble nearly $4 million when that money could be used on fortifying the rotation. Perhaps a trade could come together because a change of scenery could do him some good. Either way, his fate feels a little bit uncertain, despite the promising success to finish the season.

Prediction: Tendered

Brennan Bernardino

The first trade by Paul DePodesta as head of the Rockies turned out to be a good one with Brennan Bernardino. As a Super Two player, Bernardino is entering his second year of arbitration at the age of 34 and will turn 35 in January. He isn’t slated to become a free agent until 2030.

Bernardino has been fairly successful in his career since debuting in 2022 as a 30-year-old and put up his best season yet in 2026. In 64 innings over 72 appearances, Bernardino posted a sparkling 2.81 ERA with 49 strikeouts against 15 walks. He was deployed in various roles throughout the year, but the consistency of his reliability, especially as a lefty, was a welcome asset to the Rockies bullpen.

It seems like a no-brainer to retain Bernardino, especially at the projected price of $1.6 million. Southpaw relievers are a valuable commodity, and he has been a steadying veteran presence in the bullpen. Of course, age will always be a concern for players in their mid-30s, but Bernardino showed no signs of slowing down all year and looks to have a few more years in the big leagues. However, it’s that value that may make him a popular ask by other teams.

Many expected Bernardino to be traded, but the Rockies elected to keep him around. Perhaps November will be the time to trade him, as the uncertainty of 2027 may make trades more viable, especially for an effective lefty reliever.

Prediction: Tendered, potentially traded

Hunter Goodman

The power of Hunter Goodman continues to be a marvel for the Rockies. After hitting 31 home runs in 144 games last season, Goodman slugged 41 home runs in 138 games in 2026. While the value went down due to an increase in strikeouts and the need for improved defensive skills, Goodman still enjoyed a quality All-Star season. Now, as he turns 27 this coming Thursday, Goodman enters his first year of arbitration eligibility.

This season, Goodman’s salary was $810,000. His projected salary in arbitration of $6.2 million would be the highest amount in Rockies history for a first-year arbitration player, beating the $5 million salaries of both Nolan Arenado and Trevor Story.

It will always pay to hit home runs, and Goodman is more than deserving in that aspect. There is little doubt the Rockies would end up tendering him a contract and settling on an amount in that $6 million ballpark. The question is whether a long-term extension is in play or if the Rockies will be open to trading Goodman.

There was interest in him near the trade deadline, but concerns about his defense working with a new pitching staff mid-season, along with the Rockies’ high asking price, nixed any deal. However, teams are less averse to trading for a catcher in the offseason, and there are sure to be some phone calls coming the Rockies’ way before the lockout. Whether or not the Rockies pick up the phone is another question. However, it’s hard to imagine the Rockies trading away Goodman at this point as his power is something the lineup desperately needs.

Prediction: Tendered

Jordan Beck (Super Two)

While it won’t be finalized until after the season, MLB Trade Rumors estimates that Jordan Beck could be eligible for arbitration this season as a Super Two player. With 2.133 years of service time, Beck could be right on the cusp of earning four years of arbitration, or barely miss by a matter of a day or two.

It was a tough season for Beck as he struggled to take advantage of the opening in right field at the start of the season and saw his playing time reduced to a platoon role against lefties. He did quite well against left-handed pitching with a .295 AVG and a .760 OPS but hit just .091 against righties with a .312 OPS. He was never quite able to find a rhythm this season and force more opportunities from the Rockies as some other players did. Strikeouts and the lack of power were major issues for him.

If he is eligible for arbitration, I feel the Rockies would be unlikely to retain him, even for $1.2 million. If they did tender him a contract, the projected $1.2 million is cheap enough to swallow, but is it worth it? The best option may be to non-tender him to clear space and hope he can find an opportunity elsewhere where he can hopefully thrive.

Prediction: Non-tendered

Wait and see

November is going to be an interesting month to see how active the Rockies are with moves. There are also a lot of question marks about how the roster will continue to reshape in the second off-season with DePodesta at the helm. The non-tender deadline is going to be a huge indicator of the next step forward, I feel, and all we can do is wait and see.

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The Atlanta Braves have survived back-to-back starts from former Cy Young award winners to travel home with a 1-1 tie in the NLDS. This evening, they will be deploying their own former Cy Young award winner in Chris Sale in hopes of taking a series lead against the Dodgers and put them one step closer to advancing to the NLCS for the first time since they won the World Series in 2021.

Chris Sale was one of the heroes in the Wild Card series making a great start and then a few days later closing out the series in relief. There are debates whether that is why he is pitching today instead of yesterday, but fortunately, the Braves won yesterday despite it being a bullpen game.

This season Chris Sale faced the Dodgers twice. The first time was in early May where he went 7.0 innings and gave up two earned runs on five hits, and zero walks while striking out seven. The second time he faced them was at the end of the August where he pitched a complete game shutout and struck out eleven.

Needless to say, the Braves need to win today with their best pitcher on the mound. Tonight is going to be a huge momentum shift one way or another for both teams.

The Dodgers are bringing in Yoshinobu Yamamoto after he pitched the best regular season of his career. He started off relatively slow by his standards, but has been lights out since the start of August with an ERA of 2.12 and a K/BB ratio of 4.67. He has been a bit lucky with a BABIP against him of only .196, but those numbers are still impressive. The Braves will have to fight to win this game.

The last time Yamamoto faced the Braves was the same game Sale pitched the complete game. Yamamoto pitched well in that game too going 6.1 innings allowing one earned run on a solo HR and striking out eight to only walking one.

The key to this game is likely going to be the Braves doing what they did last game, where they worked counts and drove up the pitch count. Believe it or not, the Braves lead all postseason teams in walks. They have left quite a few runners on base this postseason, but the runs will come if they continue to put runners on. The Braves also lead in HRs and TB, so mathematically the goal here is to keep doing what they are doing and hope for some clutch hits with runners on.

This is easier said than done against Yamamoto, but to be fair the same thing could have been said about Blake Snell. Winning the game tonight would give the Braves a chance to do what many likely thought was impossible, and that is clinch the series at home tomorrow. Tonight’s game is huge.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:00 pm EDT.

Game Info

Game Time: Tuesday, October 6th, 6:00 pm EDT

Location: Truist Park, Atlanta, GA

Watch: FS1 / FOX ONE

Radio/Audio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan and ESPN Radio

After bursting onto the scene in the late 1980s, Rubén Sierra went on to play for nine franchises over the course of his 20-year Major League career. The Yankees got to see two different stints from him over all those years, and had two very different experiences.

Rubén Angel Sierra Garcia

Born: October 06, 1965 (Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico)

Yankees Tenure: 1995-1996, 2003-2005

Born in Puerto Rico, Sierra lost his father when he was just four years old. Growing up in the Jardines Selles projects inspired Sierra to do one thing: get him and his family out of there. Excelling as a multisport athlete in high school, Sierra was signed by the Texas Rangers in 1982 and started his professional journey at just 17 years old in 1983.

Sierra, an outfielder who batted from both sides of the plate, quickly climbed through the Rangers system. So quickly that in 1986, the barely-not-a-teenager found himself on the doorstep of the majors in Triple-A. Later that summer, the Rangers called the kid up, and he homered in his second big league at-bat. Sierra went on to play in 113 games, launching 16 homers to go along with 13 doubles and 10 triples, for a baseball triple-double, if you will, good enough for a sixth-place finish in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.

That performance his rookie season was good enough to make him stick with the big league club moving forward. Sierra followed up his rookie campaign by hitting 30 home runs in 1987 and had a decent season again in 1988. The 1989 season would go down as one of Sierra’s best. He batted .306 with 29 big flies and led the major leagues with 14 triples and RBIs with 119. For the first time, he was selected as an All-Star and finished second to Jeff Kent in the MVP race. Sierra cried and argued he deserved the MVP in a moment that would have been meme’d and gone viral if it had happened 30 years later.

Following the meltdown, Sierra had a down season. However, the still-young rising star rebounded in 1991. Making his second All-Star team, he hit 25 homers with 116 RBIs while batting .307 on the year. Following the season, Sierra fought with the club over salary and eventually won in arbitration. However, Sierra took the process very personally. An already rocky relationship with manager Bobby Valentine finally came to a head, and a frustrated Rangers front office fired Valentine. Sierra was then traded, a few weeks after his third All-Star appearance, to the Oakland A’s on August 31, with Jeff Russell and Bobby Witt for Jose Canseco.

Sierra played in Oakland for the rest of the 1992 season and into the 1995 season. While in Oakland, Sierra clashed with another manager, this time Hall of Famer Tony La Russa. The two openly fought in the sports pages, with Sierra bashing the get-on-base approach La Russa wanted. Despite playing well enough to be an All-Star again in 1994, the club had soured on Sierra to the point where they traded him with Jason Beverlin to the Yankees for Danny Tartabull.

The first stint in the Bronx for Sierra started in 1995 and ended almost a year to the date in 1996. The reason for the short stint was manager conflict again. Sierra clashed with Buck Showalter after he started using Sierra in a platoon role with Darryl Strawberry. Sierra had his agent call Showalter to complain, which set off Showalter. Joe Torre took over the Yankees in 1996, and Sierra again found a way to immediately get off on the wrong foot with the skipper. Torre would later say Sierra was the hardest player he ever had to coach and said he only cared about statistics and did not understand baseball. After one calendar year, the Yankees had enough and traded him with Matt Drews to the Detroit Tigers for Cecil Fielder.

Following his trade to Detroit, Sierra embarked on a four-year stretch playing for five different clubs. His production plummeted during this journeyman phase, eventually forcing him into a brief hiatus from the major leagues to completely retool his swing. Sierra found himself playing in Mexico, and over this stretch, his attitude changed and he started showing maturity, reaching out to mend a lot of broken relationships, including burying the hatchet with Torre.

Sierra got his swing back on track and was given a chance to revive his career back with the Rangers. In his comeback season, he won the 2001 American League Comeback Player of the Year award. Sierra then made a one-year pit stop in Seattle before bouncing back to the Rangers for the 2003 season. In June of 2003, he was traded by Texas back to New York for Marcus Thames.

The second stint in the Bronx saw a reinvented Sierra. He was selfless and a productive veteran bench piece who became a beloved clubhouse presence. Sierra delivered a few clutch moments for the Bombers, most famously hitting a game-tying three-run home run off Francisco Rodriguez in Game 4 of the 2004 ALDS. By the time his second stint concluded after the 2005 season, Sierra had rewritten his legacy in New York. Across five seasons in pinstripes, Sierra hit 45 home runs while batting .254 over the span of 383 games.

Over his twenty-year career, Sierra got 2,152 hits and had a .268 career batting average. He hit 306 home runs and drove in 1,322 RBIs across 2,186 games. After his playing days, Sierra started focusing on his lifelong love for salsa music. He has released several salsa albums and spent much of his retirement actively touring, performing, and singing at live music venues and events. Sierra was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2009.

Happy birthday, Rubén!

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ franchise and fan base woke to sad news on Tuesday.

Former General Manager Fred Claire died on Monday, on what was his 91st birthday.

Claire served in numerous roles in the Dodgers’ front office for nearly 30 years, including serving as the team’s general manager from 1987 to 1998.

Claire is best-known for being the man who put the Dodgers’ 1988 World Series roster together.

He acquired outfielders Kirk Gibson and Mike Davis, shortstop Alfredo Griffin, plus several impact pitchers like Jay Howell and Jesse Orosco after Los Angeles’ 1987 campaign to set them up for their first World Series win in seven seasons the next year.

The most notable of those acquisitions was Gibson, whose legendary walk-off home run in Game 1 of that World Series is still one of the most iconic moments not just for the Dodgers’ franchise, but in all of baseball history.

The Dodgers have a great opportunity to honor Claire’s memory on Tuesday, as they face the Atlanta Braves in a pivotal Game 3 of their best-of-five NLDS series this evening.

If the series comes back to Dodger Stadium for a winner-take-all Game 5 on Friday, fans can likely expect the Dodgers to pay tribute to Claire in some way.

Dodgers designated hitter has won the Hank Aaron Award, the honor given annually to the top offensive player in his league, in each of the previous three seasons, in 2023 with the Angels then in 2024-25 in his first two years with the Dodgers. Ohtani won’t win it this season, but he’s a finalist again, and deservedly so.

Now the Dodgers need Ohtani to find something, anything at the plate as they try to break a 1-1 tie in the National League Division Series against the Braves.

Ohtani has two singles in eight at-bats during the NLDS, and since returning from the injured list on September 23 has seven hits, including a double, in 29 at-bats, with one walk and a strikeout. There was the September 24 game against the Padres in which he consistently hit the ball hard, but other than that Ohtani hasn’t gotten any real results at the plate for seven weeks.

He last homered on August 18 at Coors Field, and in 94 plate appearances since is hitting a paltry .160/.277/.198.

Ohtani was clearly diminished at the plate just before landing on the injured list four weeks ago, after dealing with left knee inflammation and a right biceps injury. All sides seem to agree Ohtani is not 100 percent, but when asked if his injuries would require offseason attention, Ohtani didn’t offer much in response.

“I haven’t been able to get a good grasp of the root cause of all this. I think that process is going to happen during the off-season when I’m going to have a little bit more time to be able to address it,” Ohtani said, through interpreter Will Ireton, last Friday on the eve of the NLDS. “But as of now, it’s something I’m just going to have to manage.”

We probably won’t know the full extent of Ohtani’s maladies this season until some Instagram post with a considered-font graphic detailing whatever procedure he might have had once the season is done. But for now, if we take Ohtani and the Dodgers at their word and he is healthy enough to play, he hasn’t helped himself by chasing. Ohtani swung at seven pitches outside the strike zone in Game 2 alone on Sunday.

“I think that the amount of at-bats leading up to it, it was, I think, five games, I think you still — I felt good about having some at-bats to finish the season, the at-bats that he took in the bye week,” manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Monday in Atlanta on the workout day at Truist Park. “But at the end of the day, he can still do a better job of staying in the strike zone. I don’t think that that has anything to do with — he had the five games. He had the at-bats in between. I think that’s something that — it’s hard to have success when you’re out of the zone.”

Roberts in that same media session on Monday said he would even consider moving Ohtani even further down in the lineup. Ohtani batted second in two of his five regular season games after getting activated from the injured list and batted second in both NLDS games to date.

In three years with the Dodgers, Ohtani has only batted first or second, with his last time in another lineup spot coming in 2023, with 59 starts batting third for the Angels.

“I think moving him from 1 to 2 — but going further than that? I’m open to it,” Roberts said Monday. “And it’s something that if I do, I would obviously have the conversation with Shohei to explain why.”

While most of the last month and a half focused on what Ohtani hasn’t done, his overall numbers in 2026 were solid, and among the best in the sport. They just happen to pale in comparison to his 54-homer, 59-steal campaign followed by 55 home runs in his first two years with the Dodgers.

Ohtani hit .275/.377/.512 with 30 home runs, a 139 wRC+, 89 runs scored, 81 RBI, and 81 walks in 135 games. He’s one of 10 finalists for the National League Aaron Award, which will almost certainly go to Pete Crow-Armstrong.

2026 NL Hank Aaron Award finalists

• CJ Abrams – Washington Nationals
• Jake Bauers – Milwaukee Brewers
• Pete Crow-Armstrong – Chicago Cubs
• Elly De La Cruz – Cincinnati Reds
• Shohei Ohtani – Los Angeles Dodgers
• Matt Olson – Atlanta Braves
• Kyle Schwarber – Philadelphia Phillies
• Sal Stewart – Cincinnati Reds
• Fernando Tatis Jr. – San Diego Padres
• Jordan Walker – St. Louis Cardinals

The Aaron Award, which has existed since 1999, is decided by a panel of “MLB legends and past recipients of the prestigious award” plus fan voting that accumulates into one vote on the panel. The Hank Aaron Award winners in each league will be announced during the MLB awards show on November 11.

A former ESPN host has lost his longtime play-by-play gig.

Steve Berthiaume, the former “SportsCenter” and “Baseball Tonight” host, is out as the Diamondbacks’ television voice after 14 years.

“His contract is up and we felt it was a good time to take a step back and re-evaluate our broadcasts,” Diamondbacks president Derrick Hall told the Arizona Republic. “He was here 14 years and was a great DBack.”

Berthiaume said he was “surprised and disappointed” by the decision.

“As I told the Diamondbacks, I’m very appreciative to have had the opportunity to connect with our fan base these past 14 years. I’ve always tried to put the club first. I enjoyed my Arizona experience and I’m grateful to all my friends and colleagues in our broadcast group,” Berthiaume told the Republic.

“I’m quite proud of how hard our group worked to raise the production level on our shows. MLB Local Media is an outstanding partner and I’m sure will continue to be. I’m looking forward to what’s next.”

Berthiaume began his Diamondbacks gig with the 2013 season and worked alongside the team’s World Series-winning manager, Bob Brenly.

The team does not yet have Berthiaume’s replacement lined up, but its radio play-by-player, Chris Garagiola, is expected to be a candidate, according to the Republic. He’s the son of former Diamondbacks GM Joe Garagiola Jr. and grandson of the late Joe Garagiola Sr., who was an MLB catcher and broadcaster for the D-backs.

Berthiaume had replaced Daron Sutton, who was suspended in June 2012 for insubordination — reportedly because he preferred to wear suits on the air, while the Diamondbacks wanted him to wear polo shirts with the team’s logo — and never returned.