Category: Baseball

Major League Baseball on Tuesday revealed portions of its labor negotiations with the MLB Players Association, four weeks before the current collective bargaining agreement expires. Chief among the changes in the latest proposal is not implementing a salary cap until the 2028 season, making 2027 a year of transition.

MLB’s latest proposal called for a salary cap of $258.2 million, with a salary floor of $180.2 million. MLB’s previous proposal with actual numbers, on June 25, including a salary cap of $245.3 million in 2027 and a floor of $171.2 million.

Using competitive balance tax payroll for 2026, the Dodgers, Cubs, Mets, Yankees, Phillies, Blue Jays, Padres, and Red Sox all spent more than that.

Twelve teams — the Marlins, Brewers, Guardians, Cardinals, Rays, Nationals, White Sox, Twins, Rockies, Pirates, A’s, and Reds — were this year all under that proposed $180.2 million floor. MLB says the additional spending by those 12 teams to reach the floor would add a combined $636 million in salaries, while the eight teams cutting spending to get under the proposed cap would subtract $528 million, for a net gain of at least $108 million.

Considering the total competitive balance tax payrolls in 2025 for all 30 teams were just over $6.06 billion, and this year’s were undoubtedly higher, a $108 million increase by 2028 is less than a two-percent increase over three years earlier. It would require other teams to spend more than just reaching the floor for the players to realize any real gain, especially compared to revenues in the sport.

Understandably, the Players Association does not think this proposal does enough. In a statement from the MLBPA:

Despite MLB’s proposal to delay implementation to 2028, at its core, the negative impacts of the owners’ salary cap remain the same:

-Massive reduction in player compensation

-Elimination of fundamental player rights, including guaranteed contracts

-Gutting of domestic and international amateur entry systems

-Replacement of market-based fundamentals with a zero-sum system that harms the middle class and pits player against player

“Even with a so-called ‘transition year’ in 2027,” MLBPA’s statement continued, “The owners’ latest offer would result in rejection of dozens of player proposals on issues from minimum salaries to revenue sharing to rosters and transactions, and many more; immediate restrictions to player contract rights; stagnant luxury tax thresholds; a $400M reduction in amateur signing bonuses, stripping current competitive advantages for smaller market teams.”

Other parts of MLB’s proposal

Tuesday’s proposal by MLB owners also would increase the minimum salary in 2027 to $1 million for players with at least two years of service time, and $900,000 minimum for players with fewer than two years. Dodgers not yet eligible for arbitration with two years of service time include Bobby Miller, Kyle Hurt, Ben Caparius, Jack Dreyer, and Roki Sasaki.

MLB says the 28.2-percent increase over the 2026 minimum salary of $780,000 would be the largest year-over-year increase in league history. In our offseason roster breakdown in October, we looked at previous recent CBAs, with the 22.7-percent increase from 2021 ($570,500) to 2022 ($700,000) the previous high.

MLB as part of its proposal accepted two items the Players Association proposed in May — the elimination of the qualifying offer and thus draft pick compensation for losing free agents; and allowing players age 30 or older to reach free agency with five years of service time instead of six, with the caveat that clubs have the right to sign said player for that sixth year at an average of the top 125 salaries for the previous year (that’s how the qualifying offer is currently calculated).

Owners also proposed reducing the number of times a player can be optioned to the minors within one season from five to four, and the elimination of the current fourth-option-year rule. The rule as currently stated is this:

Players typically have three option years, but those who have accrued less than five full seasons (including both the Major and Minors) are eligible for a fourth if their three options have been exhausted already. For the purposes of this rule, spending at least 90 days on an active Major League or Minor League roster during a given season counts as one full season. Players also earn a full season if they spend at least 30 days on an active Major League or Minor League roster AND their active-roster and injured-list time amounts to at least 90 days in a given season.

Brock Stewart, who was drafted in 2014, used his fourth option year in 2019, for instance.

MLB in previous negotiations this year proposed the idea of weekly rosters, and in its proposal on Tuesday added language prohibiting optioning or outrighting a player during the week, and also restrictions on a team being able to continually cycle a player on and off the 40-man and active rosters throughout the season. This is to combat roster churn, something we saw with the Dodgers in 2026 with both Jonathan Hernández (sent outright to minors three different times, signed twice by Los Angeles during the season) and Charlie Barnes (sent outright to minors three times, optioned three other times), among others.

MLB proposed a few tweaks to the current Rule 5 Draft setup, including making players eligible for the Rule 5 Draft one year earlier than presently. The also proposed allowing teams who select players in the Rule 5 Draft be able to option said players to the minors immediately, which would encourage teams to add players to the 40-man roster to protect from losing them.

“We recognize that clubs will need a full offseason to prepare to operate within the cap and floor system. Therefore, with this offseason already underway, we proposed today to begin the cap and floor systemin 2028. This proposal would allow a smoother transition into the cap and floor system without delaying key player benefits, including earlier free agency, a $1 million minimum salary, a 30% increase to the pre-arbitration bonus pool, and transactional reform that will reduce roster churn,” MLB spokesperson Glen Caplin said in a statement. “The projected salary cap and floor for 2028 continues to provide more money for major league players while leveling the playing field and giving more teams the ability to participate in the free agent market and retain their homegrown stars so that every fan believes their team has a fair chance to win it all.”

“Coming off another incredible season of baseball, MLB owners continue to propose blowing up the current system and replacing it with one designed to line their pockets and increase their franchise values,” the Players Association said in a statement. “Players stand ready to negotiate in good faith toward a new CBA that will capitalize on our sport’s unprecedented momentum and benefit players, clubs, and fans alike.”

Cooper Pratt didn’t need a home run to help deliver the Milwaukee Brewers their first World Series championship. The 22-year-old rookie drove in two runs with an RBI single and sacrifice fly, helping Milwaukee defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-1 in Game 5.

In fact, the Brewers didn’t hit a single home run in their championship-clinching victory last week.

Milwaukee hit just 13 home runs during the entire postseason, including three in the five-game World Series. Instead, the Brewers relied on timely hitting, aggressive baserunning and an ability to manufacture runs without waiting for someone to send a baseball into the seats.

The championship provided a revealing comparison with the Chicago White Sox, whose offense produced considerably more home runs but fewer runs during the regular season.

Chicago finished fifth in Major League Baseball with 211 home runs, while Milwaukee ranked 28th with 154. Despite hitting 57 fewer home runs, the Brewers scored 832 runs compared with Chicago’s 776. Milwaukee finished with 103 victories and a World Series championship; Chicago went 84-78 before falling in the American League Division Series.

Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy acknowledged that his team’s approach required more than swinging for the fences.

“We’re choosing hard,” Murphy told MLB.com in September. “We’re certainly trying to hit home runs.”

The numbers demonstrated how differently the two offenses operated. Milwaukee batted .258 compared with Chicago’s .236, collected 140 more hits and drew 79 more walks. The Brewers also stole 162 bases, compared with 93 for the White Sox, while striking out 111 fewer times.

Those differences helped Milwaukee score 56 more runs despite hitting considerably fewer home runs. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Milwaukee scored just 32.1% of its regular-season runs on home runs, the lowest percentage in Major League Baseball.

Brewers second baseman Brice Turang emphasized that the team’s success came from more than one offensive approach.

“Home runs come, and they’ll help you win games,” Turang told The Associated Press. “And so do stolen bases. So do walks, playing defense. All that matters as well.”

Chicago’s power production was impressive, particularly with three players surpassing the 30-home run mark. Munetaka Murakami led the team with 35 home runs, followed by Miguel Vargas with 33 and Colson Montgomery with 31. Together, the trio accounted for nearly 47% of Chicago’s home runs.

However, their batting averages revealed some limitations. Montgomery hit .197 while striking out 227 times. Murakami batted .207 with 196 strikeouts, although his 92 walks helped him maintain a .347 on-base percentage. Combined, Montgomery and Murakami struck out 423 times. Montgomery acknowledged his struggles with situational hitting during an August interview with the Chicago Sun-Times.

“I should be driving in more runs or just a little better situational hitting,” Montgomery said. “But I don’t know. It’s just baseball, you know?”

Vargas provided a more balanced offensive profile, batting .250 with 93 RBIs, 101 walks and a .363 on-base percentage. His 22 stolen bases demonstrated that power and offensive versatility could coexist.

Meanwhile, Chase Meidroth and Sam Antonacci offered examples of the contact-oriented approach Chicago could develop further. Meidroth batted .276 with 156 hits, while Antonacci hit .277 with a .370 on-base percentage and 20 stolen bases. Antonacci struck out just 82 times in 480 at-bats.

Milwaukee built its offense around a different combination of skills. Jake Bauers led the Brewers with 26 home runs while batting .266 with a .389 on-base percentage. Jackson Chourio contributed 25 home runs, a .291 average and 23 stolen bases.

Turang added 21 home runs, 100 RBIs and 90 walks, while William Contreras hit .270 with 18 home runs and 94 RBIs.

Former White Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn offered perhaps the most revealing comparison, batting .306 with a .390 on-base percentage despite hitting only six home runs in 104 games for Milwaukee.

The Brewers weren’t necessarily playing traditional small ball. Their success came from combining walks, doubles, stolen bases and consistent contact to create scoring opportunities. Murphy explained that Milwaukee’s philosophy wasn’t about deliberately avoiding home runs but finding ways to score regardless of how the ball was hit.

“It’s offense. It’s a commitment to offense,” Murphy said during an October news conference. “Our relentless way helped us score runs because guys are interested and they know how to win baseball games.”

That versatility became particularly important in October. Chicago batted .211 during seven postseason games, collecting 48 hits and scoring 28 runs. The White Sox managed just four home runs while striking out 96 times. Milwaukee, meanwhile, batted .272 through its first 11 postseason games, collecting 100 hits and scoring 52 runs. The Brewers scored 25 runs during the World Series despite hitting only three home runs.

The White Sox weren’t an ineffective offensive team. Their 776 regular-season runs ranked among baseball’s best totals, making it difficult to blame home run dependence alone for their postseason elimination.

There was also a significant difference in pitching. Milwaukee allowed 618 runs during the regular season, compared with Chicago’s 720. The Brewers posted a 3.51 ERA, while the White Sox finished at 4.12.

Chicago’s challenge entering 2027 isn’t necessarily finding more power: Murakami, Vargas and Montgomery have already demonstrated they can produce home runs at an elite level.

Instead, the White Sox need to develop an offense capable of sustaining rallies, getting runners on base ahead of their power hitters and producing runs when opposing pitchers prevent the long ball. Milwaukee’s championship demonstrated that hitting home runs remains valuable, but relying on them isn’t the only way to build a championship-caliber offense.

As Murphy explained when discussing whether Milwaukee’s offensive philosophy could succeed in October, the goal remained straightforward.

“They’re built to win games,” Murphy said. “What’s the difference?”

Major League Baseball made a proposal on Tuesday that could have major implications for the Dodgers.

Amid ongoing, and already fraught, negotiations with the MLB Players Association over a new collective bargaining agreement, the league amended its polarizing proposal for the creation of a salary cap –– offering to delay the implementation of what would be a $258.2 million cap (and accompanying $180.2 million salary floor) until the 2028 season in order to give clubs “sufficient time to manage their payrolls into the proposed Payroll Range and avoid a significant disruption to the free agent market.”

Whether a salary cap comes to fruition, of course, is anyone’s guess.

The MLBPA has been staunchly against the idea since the league officially proposed it earlier this year. The standoff is likely to lead to a lockout this offseason, once the current CBA expires on Dec. 1, that could threaten the 2027 season.

But if a cap is to be eventually instituted, the Dodgers will now have more time to become compliant.

This past season, their $432.8 million payroll (for luxury tax purposes) was an MLB record. For next year, they already have a projected $388.4 million payroll –– even before making any free agent or trade acquisitions. 

Had a cap been introduced for 2027, it could have forced the Dodgers to drastically slash payroll this winter.

Now, at least, they know they will have a longer period to reshape their roster (and future financial commitments) in preparation for a potential salary-cap system. 

Currently, they are projected to have $302.6 million in salary obligations for 2028, per Cot’s Baseball Contracts, leaving them $44.4 million above MLB’s proposed cap line.

“We recognize that clubs will need a full offseason to prepare to operate within the cap and floor system,” MLB spokesperson Glen Caplan said in a statement released by the league.

Tuesday’s proposal will do little to quell the uncertainty surrounding the sport this offseason. 

Free agency officially opened on Monday night. But the unknowns of what a new CBA will bring have left the state of this year’s market unclear, forcing players and teams to navigate what is expected to be a flurry of hot stove activity leading up to the likely Dec. 1 lockout –– at which point all major-league transactions will be frozen –– without clarity on what the future financial structure of the league will look like.

This past season, the Dodgers were one of eight teams with a payroll that exceeded MLB’s proposed salary-cap ceiling. Twelve other teams, meanwhile, had payrolls below the league’s proposed salary-cap floor.

If the cap/floor system were to be enacted, it would force all such clubs to maneuver within the league’s salary thresholds.

For the Dodgers, such a reality would likely necessitate the trade of veteran players on lucrative, long-term deals.

The club has 10 players under contract for 2028: Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Mookie Betts, Will Smith, Tommy Edman, Tyler Glasnow, Blake Snell, Tanner Scott, Edwin Díaz and Kyle Tucker (though he will have the ability to opt out after the 2027 campaign).

They alone account for almost $282 million of projected payroll for that year. And that total will further rise significantly when including salaries for arbitration-eligible and pre-arb players, as well as pre-arb bonus pool and player benefit payments.

The club has been preparing for a potential salary-cap world. Even last offseason, they operated under the expectation that the league would allow for a salary-cap transition period, which factored into their preference for shorter-term deals when negotiating their free-agent signings of Tucker (on a four-year pact with player opt-outs after Years 2 and 3) and Díaz (on a three-year agreement).

Tuesday’s proposal offered a more specific vision of what that transition could look like. MLB also said it “is willing to discuss additional appropriate phase-in timeline & procedures for implementation of the Salary Cap and Floor.”

Still, much remains to be determined as this offseason rolls along –– and the spectre of a potentially elongated lockout nears.

MLB has been hoping to entice players to agree to a salary cap system by offering other concessions, including earlier access to free agency (after five years of team control, as opposed to the current six-year period), the elimination of draft-pick penalties for free agents who decline a qualifying offer from their previous team (a dynamic that has dragged down the markets for star players in recent years) and substantial increases to minimum player salaries across the board.

However, the MLBPA has thus far rebuffed such efforts, with a wide range of players (including several big-name Dodgers stars) publicly declaring this year that the union would never acquiesce to a salary cap system (MLB is the only major professional sports league in North America with no such hard cap currently in place).

That impasse has left big-spending teams like the Dodgers in a pickle this winter, as they try to bolster their rosters while also accounting for the potential need to become cap-compliant.

For now, at a bare minimum, the league has offered to delay its most drastic proposed changes to spending rules until after next season.

Whether it actually results in the implementation of a salary cap, or gives a team like the Dodgers more clarity while making roster decisions in the meantime, remains to be seen.

The Seattle Mariners have hired Jason Kanzler as their new manager, it was announced today.

I do not believe I had ever heard of Jason Kanzler before today. Well, I had probably heard of him, because he was the Houston Astros’ hitting coach in 2022 and 2023, and so I presumably saw his name during that period of time. But it didn’t stick in my memory.

I think I would like a clarification as to the appropriate use of the phase “I have not heard of…”. Is it only to be used in instances when I am sure I have literally never encountered this in my life? Or is it okay to use when I may have heard of or encountered this bit of information in the past, but that’s not definite, and either way, I don’t remember?

I think those situations are distinguishable from things that you have forgotten about, but you realize you probably were aware of at one time in the past — for example, I just went to the 1993 Texas Rangers B-R page, and saw that Steve Balboni was a member of the team. Three minutes ago, I would have bet my life that Steve Balboni never played for the Rangers. But, no, he was on the team, and appeared in two games.

I was drinking a lot and generally being an unsavory character at the time, but I was still following the Rangers very closely, getting the Dallas Morning News daily and reading all the baseball stuff. I was watching the games on TV, or listening to them on the radio. So I would have been aware, in September of 1993, that Steve Balboni was on the Rangers. I would have thought to myself, most likely, hey, I remember when he was good and hit a bunch of homers for the Royals! It would have entered my consciousness.

But at some point thereafter, it left my consciousness, and so seeing him on the 1993 roster prompted a feeling of surprise. Hey, I’d forgotten Steve Balboni played for the Rangers! But not, hey, I had no idea Steve Balboni played for the Rangers.

Anyway, Kanzler played in the minors for a few seasons after being drafted in the 20th round in 2013 by the Minnesota Twins — the same year the Rangers drafted Isiah Kiner-Falefa in the 4th round, and the Yankees’ drafted Aaron Judge in the supplemental first round. After leaving baseball he was a physics and chemistry teacher at Katy High School, as well as coaching their baseball team. He joined the Astros as a minor league hitting coach in 2019, joined the major league staff as hitting coach for 2022, and after the 2023 was hired by the Chicago Cubs as their farm director.

He does not appear to be related to Andrew Knizner.

Kanzler the Millennial is not the youngest MLB manager — that honor goes to Blake Butera, manager of the Nationals, who just turned 34 in August. He is the second youngest MLB manager, however.

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA) announced finalists for the major categories on Monday night, and the World Champion Brewers unsurprisingly had a finalist in four of the five categories, as Brice Turang, Jacob Misiorowski, Pat Murphy, and Trevor Megill will all look to take home a trophy.

Leading the way is Turang, who was named as one of three finalists for NL MVP alongside Cubs’ outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong and Dodgers’ pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani. While PCA is expected to take home the hardware, even being in the top three is a big step forward for the Brewer second baseman, as he received down-ballot votes to finish 14th in the NL voting last season.

Turang batted .268/.366/.450 with 21 homers, 100 RBIs, 102 runs scored, and 19 steals this season, turning in 7.3 bWAR, good for the second-best mark by a position player in the majors behind Crow-Armstrong (9.8). He also finished second in dWAR at 2.9, behind only Tampa Bay’s Taylor Walls (3.0).

Brewers’ ace Jacob Misiorowski paired his incredible velocity with much improved command in 2026, making himself the NL Cy Young favorite early in the year and building on that as the season progressed. He was named a finalist alongside the Braves’ Chris Sale and the Phillies’ Cristopher Sánchez.

Miz made 30 starts this year, going 16-5 with a 1.80 ERA, 2.17 FIP, and 252 strikeouts across 174 2/3 innings. He led the league in ERA, FIP, strikeouts, WHIP, H/9, and K/9, and he finished fourth in bWAR among pitchers behind only Sánchez, Cam Schlittler, and Jesús Luzardo.

Murphy, in his third year as manager of the Brewers, is a finalist for NL Manager of the Year for the third consecutive season. He took home the award each of the first two times, joining Kevin Cash (2020 & 2021) and Stephen Vogt (2024 & 2025) as the only managers to win the award in back-to-back years. He’ll look to become the first to win it three consecutive times this year, as he helped guide the Brewers to a franchise-best 103 wins this year en route to their first World Series title. He’s competing against the Phillies’ Don Mattingly, who stepped in as interim manager after a 9-19 season and led the team to a 79-55 record to earn an NL Wild Card spot, and the Braves’ Walt Weiss, who helped Atlanta bounce back from a 76-86 season to finish 94-68 with the third-best record in the NL.

Megill, who had a dismal start to his 2026 season, turned things around in a major way, finishing 30-for-33 in save opportunities with career-best marks in bWAR (1.8), appearances (63), innings (61 2/3), FIP (1.85), and strikeouts (69), turning in a 2.63 ERA, second only to his 2.49 mark a year ago. The 32-year-old closer is up against two of the more dominant closers in the game in the Phillies’ Jhoan Duran and the Padres’ Mason Miller.

The only category Milwaukee didn’t have a finalist in was the NL Rookie of the Year, as the Mets’ Carson Benge, the Reds’ Sal Stewart, and the Cardinals’ JJ Wetherholt were named finalists. To view the full list of finalists, click here.

The awards will be announced over the course of next week, with Rookies of the Year kicking things off on Monday, November 9 followed by Managers of the Year (November 10), Cy Youngs and Relief Pitchers of the Year (November 11), and MVPs (November 12). In addition to those major categories, All-MLB Teams, the Hank Aaron Awards, the Comeback Player of the Year Awards, the Outstanding DH Award, and the Executive of the Year Award will also be announced on Wednesday, November 11.

Jazz Chisholm’s fate with the Yankees seems to be decided.

The Bronx Bombers extended a $23.15 million qualifying offer to closer David Bednar on Monday, but did not offer one to the free agent infielder — neither move coming as a surprise considering the way 2026 panned out. 

The campaign was a rough one for Chisholm, who didn’t produce the results the organization or he expected, and could result in the second baseman signing a pillow contract. 

Chisholm’s talent has been displayed at times, but has been overshadowed by the lack of consistency and concentration, which is likely part of the reason for the expected split. 

The Yankees could still re-sign him as a free agent, but that appears unlikely. 

Chisholm has expressed a desire to remain with the Yankees going forward. 

Following the Yankees’ loss in the ALDS, he told reporters, “This is where I want to be.” 

If it is the end of his tenure in The Bronx, it came with boos from Yankees fans, which seemed to confuse Chisholm. 

“It doesn’t hurt, it’s just confusing because it’s the playoffs and we’re trying to win games,” he said after the Yankees were swept by the Rays in the ALDS. “So you’re booing a guy that’s playing currently trying to help the team win. You’re hearing boos instead of trying to hype guys up. But at the end of the day, it didn’t hurt me because I’ve seen Aaron Judge get booed here too.”

And one former major league general manager believed that the “baggage” was too much for the Yankees to want to bring Chisholm back. 

“[Ketel Marte] and free agent Jazz Chisholm, I love both their talents, don’t get me wrong,” Jim Bowden said Monday on Foul Territory. “But I put them kind of in that box where I’m just not sure that’s what I want to win with. I’d rather go younger, rather go with less baggage, rather go with more hard-nosed consistent players that come to the ballpark every day and play the game the right way, where I don’t have to have all the issues come involved.

“I don’t have to worry about teammates guiding them, I don’t have to worry about lollipops being licked at second base. … I just don’t want any part of that. These jobs are hard enough as it is, it’s hard to win games as it is. So I’d probably pass on both.”

Brewers manager Pat Murphy called Brian Cashman following his comments about the Yankees after Milwaukee won the World Series. 

The Brewers skipper was speaking with The Post’s Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman when he was asked about the comments that got caught on camera and circulated on social media. 

“I called Brian Cashman right away when I heard it got out,” Murphy said on the latest episode of “The Show with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman.” “I picked up a phone and called Brian right away, and had a good conversation. And the best I could try to explain that I wasn’t talking about the 2026 Yankees.” 

Murphy explained that his comments to Brewers star Jake Bauers, who is a soon-to-be free agent, in the wake of Milwaukee’s first World Series title had been a long-running joke between the star and team skipper, related to his pending free agency and how he would forget everything he had learned with the Brewers. 

“After every celebration, I’d shake his hand. I’d say, ‘You rich so-and-so, you’re going to leave us,’ ” Murphy explained. “We’re not going to be able to pay you. You’re going to leave us and you’re going to forget all about how we did things. … I would just give him this rhetoric every time.” 

But the comments were not meant to be directed at the Yankees or claim this year’s squad was selfish, Murphy said. 

“I was just referring to the teams that have a lot of high-paid, long-contract players,” Murphy said. “That sometimes it’s harder to get all those guys together to play together. And I used the Yankees because I knew Jake was with them before. … I regret saying it, but that was Jake and I’s humor behind the scenes and I got caught.” 

It didn’t appear that Murphy realized he was being recorded during that moment on the field after Bauers had presented the Brewers manager with the game ball from the final out. 

Brewers closer Trevor Megill suggested that Murphy regretted the comments during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” last week. 

Murphy did not go into detail about the conversation between himself and the Yankees general manager, but called Cashman a “good guy.” 

The Brewers manager was caught on camera while celebrating the Game 5 World Series win on the field at Tampa Bay. 

“You’re going to be a rich f–ker. Just remember when you were on that horses–t Yankees team and you guys were all playing for yourself? Just remember, say, ‘This is the way we used to do it,’ ” Murphy is heard saying in the now-viral clip. 

Bauers appeared to enjoy the comments in the video and was laughing as he hugged Murphy after giving him the game ball. 

Bauers played one season with the Yankees in 2023 before he was traded to the Brewers in November 2023.

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Cardinals fans and fans across the country.

Happy Tuesday one and all.

The Arizona Cardinals are now 3-5 and their offense found their footing for one quarter and a little more on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys.

In doing so they benched Jacoby Brissett and moved to Gardner Minshew for the time being.

Now the question is, does this change the confidence you have in the direction of the Arizona Cardinals?

Also, should the Cardinals at 3-5 and not completely out of the NFC Playoff picture be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline?

I gave one caveat to being sellers still, keeping Budda Baker, because I know that is a contention for some in the fanbase still.

Looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks.

Should the Cardinals still be sellers?

Are you confident in the Cardinals?

Major League Baseball proposed Tuesday, Nov. 3 that a salary cap would be delayed by a year and implemented in 2028, permitting teams to operate knowing what the proposed rules would be in the upcoming Collective Bargaining Agreement, which was immediately scorned by the players union.

MLB proposed a $258.2 million salary cap and a $180.2 million floor, with MLB projecting that it would require 12 teams to increase payroll by $636 million to reach the floor, and eight clubs to decrease their payroll by $528 million to abide by the cap. MLB says that would net an additional $108 million payroll increase league-wide.

MLB also proposed increasing the minimum salary to $1 million for players with at least two years’ major-league service and $900,000 for those with less service; a $30 million increase to their pre-arbitration bonus pool, while also agreeing to the union’s proposal of lowering free agency from six years to five years for players 30 and older, while eliminating the qualifying offer system for free agents.

“We recognize that clubs will need a full offseason to prepare to operate within the cap and floor system,’’ MLB said in a statement. “Therefore, with this offseason already underway, we proposed today to begin the cap and floor system in 2028. This proposal would allow a smoother transition into the cap and floor system without delaying key player benefits … and transactional reform that will reduce roster churn.

“The projected salary cap and floor for 2028 continues to provide more money for major league players while leveling the playing field and giving more teams the ability to participate in the free agent market and retain their homegrown stars so that every fan believes their team has a fair chance to win it all.”

The MLBPA fired back in a response later Tuesday afternoon.

“Coming off another incredible season of baseball, MLB owners continue to propose blowing up the current system and replacing it with one designed to line their pockets and increase their franchise values,’’ the union said in a prepared statement. “Despite MLB’s proposal to delay implementation to 2028, at its core, the negative impacts of the owners’ salary cap remain the same."

“Even with a so-called 'transition year' in 2027, the owners’ latest offer would result in: immediate restrictions to player contract rights; stagnant luxury tax thresholds; a $400M reduction in amateur signing bonuses; stripping current competitive advantages for smaller market teams; rejection of dozens of player proposals on issues from minimum salaries to revenue sharing to rosters and transactions, and many more," the union said.

“Players stand ready to negotiate in good faith toward a new CBA that will capitalize on our sport’s unprecedented momentum and benefit players, clubs, and fans alike.’’

If the salary cap and floor are implemented, the 12 teams that would have to increase payroll would be: the Miami Marlins, Cleveland Guardians, St. Louis Cardinals, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals, Chicago White Sox, Minnesota Twins, Colorado Rockies, Pittsburgh Pirates, Athletics, Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers.

The clubs that would have to lower their payroll: Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs.

MLB also said it would agree to allocate the players’ share of the 2026 CBT proceeds to players as a bonus based on service accrued in 2026 ($285,000 to each player that received a full year of service, $213,400 to any player with three-quarters of a year of service, $142,300 to any player with a half-year of service, and $71,100 for any player with a quarter year of service.

MLB agreed to accept the union’s proposal to lower the number of times a player can be optioned to the minors in a season from five to four; exclude foreign professionals when determining whether an eligible prospect will receive a full year of service for finishing first or second in the Rookie of the Year voting, and prohibiting clubs from optioning or outrighting a player during the playing week by implementing weekly rosters.

The current collective bargaining agreement expires at 11:59 p.m. ET, Dec. 1. If no agreement is reached, MLB is expected to implement a lockout, which happened during their last negotiations in 2021, lasting 99 days.

Follow Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Which MLB teams would have to cut payroll in latest salary cap proposal?

Joe DeMayo and guest co-host Sal Licata deliver the latest episode of The Mets Pod, as free agency has officially begun for the Mets and MLB. 

Joe and Sal do the weekly dive on Tarik Skubal's free agency and make their predictions on where they think the ace will land. 

The guys also discuss other free agent arms, starters who could be trade targets, and the beginning of the race for Japanese star Teruaki Sato. 

Later, The Mets Pod Answering Machine brings up the debate over mid-tier free agent spending by the Mets, Down on the Farm goes long on Joe's all-new Top 30 Mets Prospects List, and the Mailbag poses questions about Jorge Polanco, Marcus Semien, finding more offense at first base, and more. 

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

The Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball PAC donated $5,000 to former All-Star Mark Teixeira's congressional campaign on June 8, 2026, according to Federal Election Commission filings USA TODAY Sports reviewed. Teixeira's campaign confirmed receipt on June 12. That evening, the San Francisco Giants hosted a Pride Night event, which Teixeira forcefully condemned in the following weeks.

Teixeira, running as a Republican in Texas' 21st District, criticized a warning MLB sent to some Giants players who protested the evening by writing bible verses on their Pride Night hats. MLB said the players violated league uniform policies. Teixeira called the warning an attempt to "silence" Christian athletes.

"I played in the major leagues for 14 years," Teixeira told Fox News on June 30. "We play 162 games a year, we don't have these conversations. We don't take political stances. It's a hard job playing baseball and bringing something like a pride night and forcing players to wear a cap. Whether that was the rule or not, that's what it looked like."

MLB did not respond to USA TODAY Sports' request for comment.

More: 5 sports figures running for office in 2026 election. Who's funding them?

The league has a long history of political contributions and has previously requested candidates return donations. In 2018, MLB requested the return of $5,000 it gave to the campaign of Mississippi republican Cindy Hyde-Smith. That request came two weeks after she appeared in a video joking about attending "public hangings."

After the controversy, Manfred said the league office would review all donations before "any checks are cut."

"It's hard when you have an organization as large as ours, with as many issues that are impacted by the political process, to be completely out," Manfred said after the Hyde-Smith donation. "We are very cognizant, however, that in today's world, those kind of donations run the risk of being controversial with segments of our society."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB backed Mark Teixeira's congressional campaign before his Giants' Pride Night criticism

Each year, in addition to its standard Baseball Writers Association of America voting, the National Baseball Hall of Fame extends an olive branch to those either passed over by or ineligible for that process. The Hall gathers what it calls an Era Committee to evaluate these cases through a separate, more limited voting system. Notable Yankees to gain enshrinement through the committee system include everyone from Joe Torre and Casey Stengel to Phil Rizzuto and Lefty Gomez.

The Era Committee rotates between three groups: players whose primary contributions came before 1980; players whose primary contributions were made from 1980 onwards; and managers, executives, pioneers, and umpires from any era. This year, the non-players are up. If that seems like the least exciting of the three options, wait until you hear all the household names and legendary contributors among the eight nominated Monday.

I’m going to break down the worthy cases for each as well as their likelihood for selection, concluding with the three hopefuls that have deep Yankees connections. Before we dive in, some quick housekeeping. Like everything in baseball, the Era Committee process boils down to some crucial math:

• The committee gets eight names to review. These names are selected in advance by a separate Historical Overview Committee comprised of 10-12 baseball historians.
• The voting block consists of 16 baseball luminaries. While this year’s committee has yet to be announced, as a point of reference, last year’s group contained seven Hall of Fame players, six MLB executives, and three veteran journalists.
• Nominees must receive votes from at least 12 of the 16 voters to gain enshrinement.
• Voters can only vote for up to three of the eight nominees.
• This effectively caps the number of inductees through this process at three, though it is often fewer. Last cycle, Jeff Kent was the only selection of the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee.
• If a nominee receives four votes or fewer, they will be ineligible for the next cycle, meaning they’ll have to wait another six years for consideration.
• If a nominee receives four votes or fewer on a second ballot, they will be permanently ineligible for Hall consideration. (Of note here: the “permanent” comes with the major caveat that the Hall has changed its committee process before and certainly could — nay, likely will — change it again at some point in the future.)

One other important, more qualitative, point of order lies in the Era Committee’s rules for election. While the individuals lumped into this group are here because their primary influence on the game was determined to come as a manager or executive, their entire career in baseball is in play. As the rules state:

Those whose careers entailed involvement in multiple categories will be considered for their overall contribution to the game of Baseball.

During Torre’s 15 years on the BBWAA ballot, the voters, required to consider only his playing career, never put him on more than 22.2 percent of ballots. But when he came up for consideration on an Era Committee ballot in 2013, the voters were expected to weigh not only his four championships as manager but his nine All-Star appearances as a player in making their decision (he was ultimately selected on all 16 ballots). This provision could prove impactful for some names on this list.

Dusty Baker

Let’s start with one of the big guns on the ballot. Baker recorded 1,981 hits, 242 home runs, and 1,013 RBI — alongside a championship and a pair of Silver Sluggers — in an exemplary, 19-year playing career that fell just a bit short of the Hall’s standard. He then went into coaching, where he made an even bigger mark. Baker is the only man to lead five different clubs to the postseason, picking up three Manager of the Year Awards along the way. The eighth-winningest skipper in MLB history finally clinched his first managerial title with the Astros in 2022, putting the cherry on top of what was likely already a Hall of Fame career. He was among the first Black men to accomplish many of his achievements, staking him to a legacy as a trailblazer as well. For goodness’ sake, the man co-invented the high five; you could make a quirky Hall case out of that alone. Despite the intricacies of the Era Committee process, Baker’s candidacy seems to be as slam dunk as they come.

Bruce Bochy

Next up is another manager with an unimpeachable CV. After a nine-year playing career as a backup catcher, Bochy helmed the Padres for 12 years, leading them to what is still one of only two pennants in franchise history in 1998. He then moved to the Giants, where his 13-year tenure included three championships, the closest the game has seen to a true dynasty since the Yankees of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. In 2023, he came out of semi-retirement to join a Rangers team in transition and was richly rewarded, leading Texas to their first title in franchise history. The only other two managers to win a title in both leagues: Sparky Anderson and Tony La Russa, who both have plaques in Cooperstown.

Only five other managers have four rings and only five other managers have 2,200 wins; everyone ahead of him on both lists is in the Hall. This year’s field is crowded, and the fact that Bochy is the second-youngest on the ballot might lead some to weigh whether he’ll have more opportunities for enshrinement in the future if he’s passed over this cycle. Still, it’s difficult to imaging leaving Bochy off your ballot.

Joe Maddon

The third championship manager on the list, the biggest feather in Maddon’s cap is leading the interminably moribund Cubs to their first championship in 2016. He was also the progenitor of Rays ball, leading that nascent franchise to its first pennant in 2008 and helping establish the small-market ethos that Kevin Cash has turned into a cottage industry since succeeding Maddon in 2015. Over the course of his career, he won three Manager of the Year Awards, one of nine managers to do so (alongside Baker). He had a painful third act at The Big A, though, leading the Angels to a 130-148 record during parts of three seasons at the helm before he was shown the door, which might leave a bad taste in voters’ mouths. Maddon certainly had a distinguished and impactful career, but his résumé falls a bit short of the Hall standard—especially among this group—and I don’t expect him to get serious traction here.

Sandy Alderson

Moving from managers to executives, Alderson presents a strong case for consideration. As GM of the A’s from 1983 through 1997, he led the team to three straight pennants and one championship. He also became one of the pioneers of “Moneyball” philosophies during his mentorship of future A’s executive Billy Beane. Alderson then moved to the league office, serving as executive vice president for baseball operations during the heart of the steroid era and into its fallout. Following a seven-year stint in the commissioner’s office, Alderson joined the Padres as CEO in 2005, helping the team to consecutive division titles before jumping to the Mets, who developed a horde of arms and won the 2015 NL pennant under his watch. It will be interesting to see how his multi-generational case plays among this group — as remarkable as his career was, a single championship for an executive might hold him back on such a decorated ballot.

Ted Turner

A maverick businessman who bought the Braves in 1976, Turner helped usher in the team’s run of excellence in the ‘90s and ’00s, a period in which Atlanta won 14 straight division titles, five pennants, and one championship. But his largest contribution to the game of baseball writ large was his vision for media.

Turner’s TBS station broadcast Braves games around the country on cable TV, creating not only a legion of fans far from Atlanta but a new model for growing the game. It is completely fair to argue that MLB would not be the same behemoth it is today had it not been for Turner’s efforts. Turner was a controversial figure whose self-promotion and outsized personality rankled some within the game, a factor that could complicate his case. He also passed away on May 6th, which could either garner momentum to memorialize his contributions to the game in this manner or lead to less urgency for his induction compared to living nominees (I suspect the latter).

Brian Sabean

Sabean has a long history with the Yankees, dating back to his tenure as director of scouting for the club from 1986-90 and vice president of player development and scouting from 1990-92. He rejoined the team in 2023, serving as executive advisor to Brian Cashman until he was shown the door last month. In between, he spent 29 years in San Francisco, serving as GM during both the Baker and Bochy eras and twice earning Baseball America Executive of the Year honors. In a twist of fate, the two managers who served under Sabean almost certainly doom his chances on this ballot; while he would have a strong case most other years, it would be a surprise to see him gain momentum over either.

Lou Piniella

Piniella had a long and distinguished playing career, winning Rookie of the Year honors with Kansas City in 1969 and earning two rings during 11 years with the Yankees.

He was the team’s hitting coach while still on New York’s active roster in 1985 and eventually served as manager for two brief stints in George Steinbrenner’s tumultuous heyday — first from 1986-87 and then again to finish out 1988 following Billy Martin’s last stand.

Piniella then embarked on something of a managerial odyssey. He won his only managerial title during his first year in Cincinnati, 1990, but was out after three seasons. His longest tenure was in Seattle, where he won two of his three Manager of the Year Awards during 10 years in charge of a ridiculously talented club and oversaw both the 1995 squad that saved baseball in Seattle and the 116-win 2001 team. Wanting to manage closer to home in Tampa, Piniella moved to the Devil Rays before finally wrapping up his career with the Cubs, where he won a couple more division titles and took home his third Manager of the Year for a 97-win 2008 campaign. “Sweet Lou” ranks 17th all time with 1,835 managerial wins and is in both the Mariners’ and Reds’ Halls of Fame.

Piniella has had a heartbreaking run with the committee system. Each of his last two times on the ballot (in the 2018-19 and 2023-24 cycles), he fell just one vote short. The famously cantankerous former skipper was magnanimous last time around, thanking the Hall of their consideration in a statement. At 83, despite a crowded ballot, there may be growing momentum to get Piniella over the top. Which leads us to our final nominee.

Bill White

I’d like to redirect our attention to Clause B of the Era Committee’s rules for election. If ever there was a candidate whose “overall contribution to the game of Baseball” need be considered, it’s White. He began his baseball life as a ballplayer, earning eight All-Star berths and seven Gold Gloves at first base during an exceptional career that was too brief to warrant enshrinement on its own. He then embarked on a trailblazing broadcasting career that led him to New York, where he became the first Black play-by-play man for an MLB team. Alongside Rizzuto, White helped form one of the most iconic broadcast duos in Yankees history for 18 seasons. He then served as National League president, the first Black person to hold a comparable title in the major North American sports.

One of White’s final acts in baseball was serving on Veterans Committees (an earlier iteration of Era Committees), working alongside Yogi Berra and Pee Wee Reese to get his old friend, Rizzuto, enshrined. White received the Hall’s Buck O’Neil Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2026 — a worthy honor, but one that could ironically stunt his momentum for full enshrinement.

White fell two votes short of induction on the 2023 ballot and, at 92, must be considered a priority case. While he’s not as much of a household name as several others on the ballot, when evaluating his baseball life in totality — player, broadcaster, executive, and elder statesman — and his remarkable legacy as a trailblazer, you could make the case that he’s at least as deserving as any of his fellow nominees.

Still, if Baker and Bochy are locks, the math for either Piniella or White to show up on 12 ballots gets narrow, especially with other strong candidates like Alderson, Turner, and Sabean potentially in play to siphon votes away. While it’s a reaffirmation of the need for Era Committees that this year’s group of nominees is so deep, at least one of these two legendary Yankees figures will likely be left out in the cold yet again.

In the MLB draft, you usually have to wait multiple years to see players reach the big leagues. Even successful first rounders often take many years to reach the MLB and establish themselves. However, I think 2026 first rounder Chris Hacopian has the chance to be an exception to that rule.

Thanks to his unique skillset, I believe the 11th overall pick will be in the big leagues by early 2028. It is unlikely, but honestly there is an outside shot that Hacopian could be a September call-up in 2027. That is how advanced I think his bat is. When you look at the history of advanced college bats, that is not a crazy ETA.

Hacopian’s ability to make contact, hit the ball hard and have a good approach is the foundation of his game. Usually, those traits translate well to professional baseball. There is a reason that Baseball America said that Hacopian was the best pure hitter and closest to the big leagues out of Nats draft picks.

Back in 2024, we saw a crop of polished college bats in the draft. Just over two years later, many of these players are already standout contributors. Jac Caglianone, Nick Kurtz, Cam Smith and Christian Moore all reached the big leagues in their first full pro seasons. Meanwhile, JJ Wetherholt, Travis Bazzana, Carson Benge and Braden Montgomery all made impacts this season. The Nats took Seaver King, who has been a slower burn, but nobody would have been that surprised if he debuted last season.

These college bats are reaching the majors quicker than ever. We also saw this play out in the 2023 class as well, with the likes of Dylan Crews, Jacob Wilson and Wyatt Langford. The 2025 college bats were not as strong, so they have not moved as quickly.

I think Hacopian will fall into that quick moving category. He has never struck out more than he walked at any level he has played. Even in his 13 games in pro ball, he had 8 walks to just 8 strikeouts. His natural feel for hitting will help him shoot through the minor leagues. Hacopian has tremendous batted ball and contact metrics across the board.

If there was one thing that would slow Hacopian’s progress, it would be his batted ball angles. Hacopian makes a ton of hard contact, but he hits the ball on the ground quite a bit and does not pull it much. In Wilmington, Hacopian had a 48.4% ground ball rate, which is on the higher side, but not alarmingly so. His pull percentage was only 12.5%, which is insanely low. For context, James Wood’s pull percentage for his career is 31.7%, and he is not exactly a dead pull hitter.

Of course, this is a small sample size, but he was more of an up the middle and the other way guy in college as well. I can guarantee you that the Nats are working to get Hacopian to pull the ball more. This regime has shown the ability to help hitters pull the ball more and elevate more.

I think their confidence in helping hitters do that is a big reason why they took Hacopian. If he can do those things, he will be an insanely complete hitter. We could be talking about a hitter that flirts with .300 and hits 25+ homers. Even though he is not much of an athlete and is an average defensive second baseman at best, that profile would still play.

On the occasions we did see Hacopian pull it in the air, good things happened. He only hit one pro homer, but it was an absolute bomb to the pullside. Assuming the Nats can get Hacopian to do that more consistently, the sky is the limit.

In those 13 games, Hacopian hit .275 with a .396 OBP and a .746 OPS in High-A. He might start the season back in Wilmington, but I would bet that he goes to Double-A Harrisburg. His bat is advanced enough to at least hold his own. If he gets off to a fast start, he could even reach Triple-A before too long.

With CJ Abrams future in question, there could be spots available on the Nats infield by the end of the 2027 season. However, I think a 2028 arrival is more likely. It is a small sample, but Paul Toboni has been pretty patient with promoting prospects. I think Hacopian and Eli Willits will be on a similar trajectory and both will be knocking on the door late in 2027 but make their full debuts to start the 2028 season.

Hacopian is a home town kid, who should move through the system quickly. That means we should be hearing a lot about him and I will be writing a lot about him. I can’t wait to see how Paul Toboni’s first draft pick performs in his first full season of professional baseball.

Welcome to the 2026 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2026. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.

No. 29, Gabriel Hughes (0.1 rWAR)

When the Colorado Rockies selected Gabriel Hughes 10th overall out of Gonzaga in the 2022 MLB Draft, they knew they were taking on a power arm with at least a middle-of-the-rotation ceiling. However, after Tommy John surgery cut his 2023 season short and kept him out of the 2024 season, he had to start building his stock in 2025.

Hughes had a solid season last year, despite dealing with several injuries throughout the year. Heading into 2026, it seemed like it was inevitable that he would finally reach the big leagues. He finally earned his call-up to the big leagues in early July 2026, making his Major League debut on July 3 against the San Francisco Giants.

His inaugural taste of the majors was predictably turbulent. Across 14 games (13 starts) for Colorado, Hughes posted a 6.33 ERA and an 0-8 record. On paper, those surface-level traditional figures look grim. However, a closer look under the hood reveals a far more nuanced picture of a young arm navigating his initial trial by fire.

Triple-A momentum

After a solid, albeit limited, spring training audition, Hughes was sent to Triple-A Albuquerque to start the 2026 campaign. He got off to a rough start, posting an 8.64 ERA in 25 innings across six starts. The strikeouts weren’t an issue as he had 32 against just six walks, but he was giving up a lot of contact and getting hit hard. At the end of April, he was placed on the injured list and missed most of May.

After a pair of strong rehab starts with High-A Spokane, Hughes was sent back to the Isotopes where he looked like a man possessed. Over his next three starts in June, Hughes allowed just four hits across 15.2 innings with 16 strikeouts and five walks, limiting opponents to a .080/.179/.100 slash. His best outing of the year at any level came on June 25 when he fired six shutout innings at home against the Salt Lake Bees, giving up just two hits while striking out six.

It was hard to ignore that Hughes had tapped into something while recovering from injury, and he had suddenly tamed the Pacific Coast League. As the Rockies looked for pitching reinforcements, it was hard to ignore one of their top prospects banging on the door.

So, that’s when he got an 11:30 pm call while in his hotel in Round Rock, Texas, from Isotopes manager Pedro Lopez telling him he was headed to the big leagues.

A strong pair of debuts

The initial plan for Hughes when he was called up was to wet his feet working out of the bullpen. If the opportunity were to arise he could work his way into the rotation, but the Rockies wanted to see what he could do in a multi-inning role first before taking that next step.

In that July 3 game against the Giants, Hughes entered with an 11-run lead in the seventh inning after Ryan Feltner had cruised through six. He breezed through three innings on 53 pitches to secure his first big-league save while giving up two hits with one strikeout.

Hughes’s ability to hammer the strike zone was immediately evident, but his poise on the mound would shine in his next appearance, which came in his starting-pitching debut against the defending World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, on July 8.

The Dodgers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning as Hughes struggled to find the zone and threw 39 pitches. However, he seemed to flip a switch in the second inning, retiring 15 Dodgers in a row before allowing a two-out double to Max Muncy in the sixth inning. Hughes threw just 55 pitches over those five innings after the first and had a first-pitch strike rate around 80% while becoming the first rookie since Peter Lambert in 2019 to record a quality start in their first big-league start.

A rollercoaster ride

He continued to look solid through his next three starts, allowing six runs on 16 hits over 15.1 innings, going at least five innings each time. However, Hughes hit a rough patch of inconsistency that would hinder him through the rest of the season.

Over his final nine starts, Hughes posted an 8.17 ERA over 39.2 innings of work. While he continued to grit his way through at least five innings in four of those starts, Hughes saw elevated pitch counts that knocked him out of games earlier than expected, including one start in Detroit where he threw 70 pitches and lasted just two innings.

Despite knowing that Hughes was going to grind as much as he could and throw strikes, teams became more selective in the box and were fouling off pitches. Hughes had a decent first-pitch strike rate of 59.7%, but nibbling became an issue.

Despite preventing hard-hit balls and limiting opponents to a .271 AVG, Hughes still struggled to limit baserunners as opponents had a .772 OPS and a .319 BAbip. He had a league-average 8.5% walk rate alongside a 19.8% strikeout rate, but the efficiency of at-bats didn’t afford him chances to work deeper into games.

Through 13 starts, Hughes went 0-8 with a 6.33 ERA. The only other Rockies pitcher in franchise history to begin their career with zero wins through their first 13 starts was Jon Gray in 2015-16. Despite games where he pitched well enough to earn a win, the offense was often too lacking to give him any support.

The potential to come

Despite what the stat box says, there was a lot to like about Hughes during his first big league stint.

Immediately, his maturity and composure on the mound exhibited a player wise beyond his years. A studious individual, Hughes is meticulous about finding the right way to win a ballgame. He wasn’t easily rattled most of the time, living up to his alma mater’s Bulldog nickname.

What was most impressive was the potential of Hughes arsenal. Utilizing a four-seam fastball that is more akin to a cutter (fashioned after his childhood hero Mariano Rivera), Hughes complemented it with a deep mix that includes a changeup, a slider, a sweeper, a curveball, and a sinker.

He was able to command his pitches and utilize them as needed, sometimes having to rely on one more than the others because it was working. In that start against the Dodgers, catcher Brett Sullivan noticed that Los Angeles was not catching up to the fastball, so they just rode that pitch for as long as they could. Hughes was a poster child for the advantage of a deep arsenal, but you still need to have a bread-and-butter pitch, which was that cutter. Opponents hit .285/.245/.394 against it with an 18.4% whiff rate and a 15.7% putaway rate.

Out of all his starts, that one in Los Angeles and his start in New York against the Yankees are the beacons of what Hughes brings to the table at his best. Against the Yankees, he threw five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and striking out six. He also induced 13 swings-and-misses and four groundball outs.

Hughes made a name for himself in the minors as a strike-throwing machine, and we saw that quite a bit this season. His ability to get strikeouts is also encouraging, as he had six starts with six or more strikeouts. The next step is to work on efficiency and refine both his control and command with his pitches.

Most encouraging was Hughes ability to tame Coors Field in his rookie campaign. Through seven appearances, he posted a 4.09 ERA compared to an 8.71 ERA in seven road starts. He limited opponents to a .234/.294/.363 slash at home, which is almost miraculous considering the state of the Rockies’ rotation over the last few years.

A student of the game

Ever a thinker, Hughes was sure to take 2026 as a great opportunity to learn. From everything that he experienced this season, he was able to take something into the offseason to help him improve for next year.

“I think one of the things I’ve really learned is that I have to have different starting points for a lot of my pitches when I’m here versus on the road,” Hughes said to Purple Row’s Samantha Bradfield. “It’s not something I’ve thought about too much in the past when I was in Albuquerque. But here, where the margin for error is so low, I think it’s extremely important. So that’s something I’ve continued to work on. But that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve noticed because the margin for error is so low, so you have to be sharp here and on the road.”

Having just turned 25 years old in August, Hughes has the opportunity to be a staple of the Rockies rotation for the next few years. The Rockies need Hughes to take that next step forward while they also need to prove they can continue to develop and improve players.

The future is bright for Gabriel Hughes; he just needs to continue to refine his methods.

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