Category: Baseball

The Mariners made the hires of bench coach Tanner Swanson and hitting coach CJ Gillman official today, continuing a theme that started when the hiring of manager Jason Kanzler was officially announced last week: the youth movement is coming back to Seattle.

In Dipoto’s first season, the Mariners trended towards conservative hires or retaining coaches who had already been in the organization. Dipoto brought over several people he’d worked with during his time with the Angels – Mike Micucci, Ethan Katz, and Zac Livingston – and retained most other staff members rather than cleaning house organizationally from top to bottom.

But by 2016, Dipoto and then-Director of Player Development Andy McKay were ready to take some bigger swings. One of the biggest was hiring a 32-year-old Mitch Canham to manage their A-ball affiliate, the Clinton LumberKings. At the time, Canham was well-known to Northwest baseball fans as a standout star at Lake Stevens high school and then Oregon State, but an unknown quantity in the broader coaching world, lacking any official managerial experience before being handed the reins at a full-season affiliate.

Canham’s hiring was part of an organizational philosophy shift that emphasized quality of leadership over depth of experience – as McKay put it, “better people make better baseball players”, which starts with them being led by the best people available. Joining Canham in Clinton was pitching coach Pete Woodworth, who had more official coaching experience but was just 28 years old at the time.

Those hires sparked an influx of young coaching talent, often from non-traditional coaching backgrounds, into the Mariners organization. The next few years would see the hiring of at the time relatively unknown names, many of whom who have since moved on from Seattle to build impressive coaching resumes elsewhere: Tony Arnerich, Carson Vitale, Hugh Quattlebaum, Max Weiner, Jarret DeHart, Rob Marcello, Sean McGrath, just to name a handful. Those coaches oversaw the transition of the Mariners farm system from one of the worst in baseball to a consistent solid performer, and the pitching coaches especially helped the Mariners earn a well-deserved reputation as one of the sport’s best in developing pitchers.

But the Mariners paid the price – or rather, didn’t – for that innovation, losing many of their young coaches to better opportunities (and/or better salaries) elsewhere. Two that stung the most were the losses of Canham and Weiner, both of whom moved on to high-profile (and high-paid) jobs at the college level. The annual turnover started disrupting the chain of development, and the ties that bound the minor-league process to the big-league results-oriented product weakened until the cracks showed through clearly in 2026: an organization that seemed to drift without an identity or plan.

Jerry Dipoto was frank in his end-of-season presser about acknowledging the disconnect between the process the organization worked so hard to implement at the minor-league level and the big leagues, and the necessity of hiring someone who can get things back on the right track.

“We will find someone through this process who comes in and is in alignment with what we see as the direction this team needs to head in, and then guides us in a way that we get better,” said Dipoto, prior to Kanzler’s hiring. “Because obviously the performance on the field this year has made us question a lot of the things that we’re doing at the major-league level, and I will say multiple of our major-league players who came through our system have referenced what they learned in player development that got abandoned in the big leagues this year…We need to get back to what we believe is a Mariners baseball process.

In the press conference introducing Kanzler, Justin Hollander concurred with what Dipoto had said a month earlier.

“We need to be better about connecting what we believe in organizationally to what we do in the big leagues. That’s something that was identified by Jerry, myself, our baseball operations staff, and most importantly, our players as we went through the end of the season,” said Hollander.

“We also need to push ourselves, try new things that maybe hadn’t been on our radar. So finding someone with Jason’s skillset that can develop while we’re in the big leagues, that can connect an organization from top to bottom, was a huge part of this.”

The Mariners of the last few years of the 2010s weren’t afraid to push the envelope, to make out-of-the-box hires, and to try new things – at least as far as development-wise. Now, with hiring Kanzler, Gillman, and Swanson – ages 36, 37, and 44, respectively – they’re pushing the envelope on the top rail of the dugout.

But for all the seeming risk, it’s still a calculated one. Rather than make the clubhouse fit the skipper, the Mariners have chosen a skipper who fits the clubhouse.

“The uniqueness of [Kanzler’s] developmental path is going to go a long way with modern players,” said Jerry Dipoto.

For all the foofaraw around Kanzler’s age and experience, though – or that of his bench coach or hitting coordinator – when Kanzler talks, it feels like an echo of the process the Mariners used to hire Canham a decade ago: getting the best out of players by putting the best, bigger-picture focused people in front of them.

“It’s important to have connection with the players,” said Kanzler in his opening presser. “It’s most important to have connection throughout the entire thing. The entire organization needs to be connected towards the common goal of winning the World Series…I like to think that the sign of things going well is when people start using the word ‘we’ more than ‘me’ or ‘I.’ When the group starts talking in ‘we’, then I know that things are going well.”

1908
Roy Schalk, unrelated to White Sox Hall-of-Famer Ray but still with a distinctive playing career, was born, in Chicago.

Schalk’s distinction was the enormous gap between his first and second seasons in the big leagues. While the 12 years between his debut with the New York Yankees in 1932 and his return to MLB in 1944 is not a record, no player has ever been out of the majors for a decade or more and then returned to the bigs to play at least 100 games.

Schalk benefited from the exodus of big-leaguers to the armed forces during World War II. He played poorly in his return from exile in 1944, with -1.4 WAR as Chicago’s starting second baseman and missing only eight games all year. In 1945 he was again a full-timer, and his play “improved” (-0.3 WAR) so much, he finished 19th in AL MVP voting.

With the regulars returning home at war’s end, the 37-year-old Schalk saw his MLB career end. Yet he pressed on for four more seasons in the minors. He would finish his career with 2,005 MiLB games over 20 seasons, playing until age 41.

2005
After a season that saw the White Sox win their first World Series title since 1917, the Baseball Writers Association of America named Ozzie Guillén Manager of the Year. Guillén, the former Sox All-Star shortstop, guided the team to a wire-to-wire Central Division title with 99 wins; they then went 11-1 in the postseason, capping it off with a four-game sweep of Houston in the World Series. 

Ozzie picked up 17 first-place votes and 105 total points to beat out Cleveland’s Eric Wedge. Wedge got six first-place votes and 71 points, while New York’s Joe Torre was third with 43 points.

2009
Norge Luis Vera, father of future White Sox farmhand Norge Vera, suffered serious facial injuries while trying to break up a fight in Santiago, Cuba. The Cuban National Series veteran needed facial reconstruction and, at 37, could have seen the end of his career. However, Vera returned in just two months, and was in Cuba’s starting rotation for the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

2016
Toledo stormed back to beat Northern Illinois, 31-24, in the “Chi-Town Showdown” — the first football game ever played at the new Sox Park. The Huskies, who dropped to 3-3, had led for the first three quarters of the game.

2020
Rookie Gold Glove winner Luis Robert Jr. found himself much less successful in the Rookie of the Year voting. Robert didn’t receive a single first-place vote for Rookie of the Year while another center fielder, Kyle Lewis, won unanimously. Lewis was not a superior hitter in 2020, and in fact Robert had the better WAR, 1.8 to 1.6.

2023
After eight years working his dream job as a lifelong White Sox fan, play-by-play broadcaster Jason Benetti left the club, taking the same role for division rival Detroit.

Almost certainly the most popular broadcaster on air for the White Sox over the prior two decades, it became known that owner Jerry Reinsdorf disliked Benetti’s jovial style, peppered with pop culture. But most damning was the disrespect show Benetti by marketing head Brooks Boyer, who left the impression the Homewood native was a diva.

In Benetti’s first season in Detroit, the Tigers when on an incredible hot streak to end the season and made it to the ALDS. The White Sox lost a modern-record 121 games.

Kevin McGonigle got on base 266 times this season, more than any rookie in Detroit Tigers history. On Monday, Nov. 9, that earned him the 2026 American League Rookie of the Year award.

"Growing up, loving this game from a young age, just believing in myself, having the confidence to see myself playing at the highest level of baseball one day, and to see it all pay off, it's just hard to put into words," McGonigle told MLB Network. "I wouldn't be able to do it without my family, of course."

The 22-year-old infielder received 28 of 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America to beat out Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Parker Messick, who finished second, and Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Payton Tolle.

McGonigle is the sixth Tiger to win the award and the first since Michael Fulmer in 2016.

The trophy comes with a draft pick.

Baseball now rewards teams that put elite prospects on the Opening Day roster and keep them there. Under MLB's Prospect Promotion Incentive, McGonigle's win gives the Tigers an extra pick after the first round of the 2027 draft. Picks like that have landed between No. 26 and No. 32 about where Detroit drafted McGonigle in 2023.

Not bad for a guy who was supposed to start the 2026 season in the minors.

McGonigle had 46 games of Double-A experience when he reported to spring training. He skipped Triple-A entirely. Then he hit .278 with a .376 on-base percentage, tallying 18 homers, 72 RBIs and 97 runs. His 7.1 WAR, by Baseball Reference's measure, led the entire American League, pitchers included.

The first big-league pitch McGonigle saw, he drove for a two-run double.

That was March 26 in San Diego, with the bases loaded. He finished the day with four hits. At 21, he was the youngest Tiger on an Opening Day roster since Omar Infante in 2003. ESPN found that no one that young had four hits on Opening Day since Ken Griffey Jr.

Seventeen games into his big league career, Detroit gave him an eight-year, $150 million contract.

He joked Monday night that though he did not own a suit to wear to the signing ceremony for that extension, he's recently bought one - and a tuxedo that he can wear to accept the award in New York at the BBWAA dinner in January.

"I got some weddings to go to, so I had to get prepared for that," McGonigle said. "I have one now. All fitted to me. Not the one I was wearing at my signing."

McGonigle played 156 games and came to the plate 707 times. He drew 95 walks and struck out 100 times. In July he started at shortstop in the All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, about 15 miles from where he grew up.

The last rookie to reach 97 runs, 28 doubles, 18 homers, 72 RBIs and 95 walks in a season was Ted Williams in 1939.

No rookie had led his league in WAR since Mike Trout in 2012.

Messick made it a race. He had a 2.56 ERA in 32 starts and is a finalist for the AL Cy Young Award, which will be announced Wednesday, Nov. 11. Tolle posted a 3.03 ERA in 26 starts for the Red Sox.

Kevin McGonigle stats and Tigers rookie records

Harvey Kuen reached base 260 times as a Tigers rookie in 1953. It stood as a franchise record for 73 years.

McGonigle passed it in September and finished with 266 on 168 hits, 95 walks and three hit by pitches. He also beat the 262 Barney McCosky put up for Detroit in 1939.

Since 1990, three other rookies reached base that many times: Aaron Judge Ichiro Suzuki and Albert Pujols.

Each of them won Rookie of the Year.

McGonigle's 95 walks tied for fifth most by a rookie since 1947, and no rookie had drawn more since Judge took 127 in 2017. He reached base at least twice in 86 games, the same as Kuenn.

His 7.1 WAR ranks sixth all-time for a rookie, according to MLB.com, behind Trout, Dick Allen, Judge, Fred Lynn and Carlton Fisk.

Who is Kevin McGonigle?

He grew up in Delaware County outside of Philadelphia as a Phillies fan who idolized second baseman and World Series champion Chase Utley.

McGonigle played high school ball at Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Predergast in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. The Phillies picked 27th in the 2023 draft and took another infielder, Aidan Miller. Ten picks later, Detroit took McGonigle, who passed on a commitment to Auburn to sign with the Tigers.

In 2025, he was the MVP of the Arizona Fall League. By spring, he was ranked baseball No. 2 prospect.

Tigers Rookie of the Year winners

• Harvey Kuenn, shortstop, 1953
• Mark Fidrych, pitcher, 1976
• Lou Whitaker, second baseman, 1978
• Justin Verlander, pitcher, 2006
• Michael Fulmer, pitcher, 2016
• Kevin McGonigle, infielder, 2026

AL Rookie of the Year winners, past 10 years

asterisks denote a unanimous vote

• 2025: Nick Kurtz, first baseman, Athletics*
• 2024: Luis Gil, pitcher, New York Yankees
• 2023: Gunnar Henderson, shortstop, Baltimore Orioles*
• 2022: Julio Rodriguez, outfielder, Seattle Mariners
• 2021: Randy Arozarena, outfielder, Tampa Bay Rays
• 2020: Kyle Lewis, outfielder, Seattle Mariners*
• 2019: Yordan Alvarez, outfielder/designated hitter, Houston Astros
• 2018: Shohei Ohtani, pitcher/designated hitter, Los Angeles Angels
• 2017: Aaron Judge, outfielder, New York Yankees*
• 2016: Michael Fulmer, pitcher, Detroit Tigers

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kevin McGonigle wins AL Rookie of the Year. Tigers get a bonus, too

He’s done it. After one of the better rookie seasons by a 21-year-old in the sport’s history, Detroit Tigers infielder Kevin McGonigle has been named the Jackie Robinson American League Rookie of the Year for 2026. He won the award with 28 of 30 first place votes. Guardians left-hander Parker Messick got the other two votes to finish second.

Despite skipping Triple-A and being one of the youngest players in the league, McGonigle served immediate notice on Opening Day, when he racked up four hits in a stellar major league debut. He went on to slash 278/.376/.430 with 18 home runs, 12 stolen bases, with nearly identical walk and strikeout rates. He posted a 129 wRC+ for the year while grading out as an above average shortstop and third baseman per defensive runs saved. His 5.4 fWAR was fourth in the American League, while his 7.1 rWAR was first in the American League and fourth in the major leagues. He’s just getting started.

The Detroit Tigers promoted McGonigle to the major league roster on March 24, 2026, ensuring that he would be eligible to earn the Tigers a Prospect Promotion Incentive (PPI) pick if he won Rookie of the Year, or if he finished top three in MVP voting over his first three seasons in the major leagues. By promoting him early, and then waiting until into the season to sign a 10-year extension, the Tigers both kept him eligible for the PPI pick and got him locked up for a decade. He cannot earn another PPI pick going forward.

The plan has come together perfectly, as McGonigle’s Rookie of the Year award earns the Tigers an extra draft pick in the 2027 amateur draft next July right after the first regular round. In addition, the Tigers will have roughly $3M added to their bonus pool in the draft. So on top of their normal first round pick, the Tigers will have the PPI pick, and then they’ll also have their Competitive Balance pick in the A round next summer, giving them three of the top 40 picks in the draft.

McGonigle’s skills and ongoing development, along with excellent poise and leadership ability for a player so young, all say this is just the beginning for him. The raw power to hit a lot more home runs is already present, and he has the hit tool to do it without selling out for power very often. He’s already tracking like a regular MVP award contender for many years to come, and Tigers fans are going to love watching him anchor the club for the next decade or more.

The Cleveland Guardians’ LHP Parker Messick was the runner-up, with Boston Red Sox lefty Peyton Tolle finishing third. Both made outstanding debuts, and Messick in particular finished strong enough to really challenge McGonigle in the voting, and made a good case for the AL Cy Young award, to be announced on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. ET, as well.

Congratulations to Kevin McGonigle on a truly special season that took a bit of the sting out of the Tigers’ failings as an organization this year. The best is yet to come.

2026 stats:46 G — .202/ .268/ .341, 5 HR, 13 RBI, 71 wRC+, -5 FRV, -0.5 fWAR

Boy, there was a moment when fans really felt like Osleivis Basabe was going to be a real spark. He was 8-for-24 with 3 homers and 8 RBI in his first 8 games. But then he went 18-for-105 over the rest of the season and in due time we were all reminded of why he’s been a fringe roster candidate since the Giants picked him up last season.

To dig a little deeper into the numbers — just for fun — let’s look at his Win Probability Added. Through those first 8 games it was +0.637. And those three home runs were significant.

The first tied a game:

And in the same game, he smacked a double off Mason Miller with the hardest contact a Giant had registered on a hit in the Statcast era:

His second home run cut another deficit:

And the third tied a game late and breaking up a shutout in the 7th inning:

Those final 105 at bats and 38 games, though? A -1.057 Win Probability Added. Statistically, he cost the Giants a full in the majority of his time. Confusingly, he had reverse platoon splits (.747 OPS vs. RHP, .406 vs. LHP) and more productive on the road (.712 OPS road, .489 OPS home). He thrived when the stakes were low. None of those three home runs came in Giants wins. And utility as a fielder was seriously lacking. After that initial barrage of offense, among the silent hitting spell, he had key errors.

But Basabe was one of those players who got some love as gratitude for giving fans a little bit of hope in a bad season. I think Giants fans are always hoping the next Gregor Blanco is around the corner. A Juan Uribe in waiting. He has yet to translate that MiLB career batting average of .288 into MLB success (.208 in 216 AB), though, which means at the end of the day he was a warm body the Giants turned to once Casey Schmitt was lost for the season. Because of Schmitt’s absence and the Luis Arraez trade, he was definitely called upon to play more often than he should have been, to the extent that at some point it could be argued that it’s hard to imagine what the team might’ve seen in him. Did they see another Donovan Solano? An Otto Lopez type?

Does he have the skills to be an MLB backup? Possibly. The pedigree is certainly there. At one point, he was a top 30 prospect in both the Rangers and Rays systems. He’s still just 26 years old so there’s always a chance he could catch on with another organization, but some aspect of his game needs to improve against world-best competition. A middle infielder who can’t hit or field against big league competition doesn’t really warrant a roster spot, and the Giants were in a position where they needed to see if any of his Triple-A work (.268/.344/.388) could translate.

It did not.

With Schmitt, Marcelo Mayer, Jonah Cox, Christian Koss, Maui Ahuna, Diego Velasquez, Gavin Kilen, Jhonny level, Josuar, Luis, and Joniel all in the mix, it was a runway to show off his utility and it just didn’t happen, so the Giants released outrighted him and he declared himself a free agent.

Will he be remembered in a couple of years as one of these bridge players between eras?

Happy Monday, folks. It’s been a day of some good Braves-related news and some funny Braves-related news.

On the good front, MLB Network reported that the Braves have no intention on hearing out any potential trade offers for star slugger Ronald Acuña Jr.

On the funny front, the Philadelphia Phillies are interested in Ha-Seong Kim for what is being reported is an important and versatile role? No doubt HSK’s 2027 season (lockout depending) will go better than his 2026 in Atlanta did. But I’m still skeptical of him stepping into an important role heading into next season.

On the eve of MLB’s annual General Managers Meetings, the Dodgers made their first acquisition of the offseason.

The team announced Monday that it claimed infielder Christian Cairo off waivers from the Mets, adding a 25-year-old former fourth-round draft pick who has yet to make his MLB debut.

A career-long minor-leaguer who spent most of last year in the Philadelphia Phillies’ organization –– hitting .227 with a .676 OPS in 128 games with their triple-A affiliate –– Cairo was a late-season waiver addition for the Mets, who subsequently re-signed him to a one-year contract on a split MLB/minor-league deal earlier this month.

However, the Mets tried to quickly pass Cairo through waivers after that signing, in hopes of keeping him in the organization but saving space on their 40-man roster.

Instead, the Dodgers decided to strike, scooping up the Bakersfield-born product in a move that will bolster their own organizational depth chart.

Cairo was originally drafted out of high school by Cleveland in 2019, and reached their triple-A affiliate in 2024. But he hasn’t produced much offensively since then, owning a .233 average and .675 OPS in three seasons at that level. In seven minor-league seasons overall, he also has just 21 home runs.

Cairo is an on-base threat, though, coming off a 2026 campaign in which he drew 92 walks and struck out only 76 times.

And while he will likely have a limited pathway to any sort of big-league role with the Dodgers, he is at least joining the club at the start of an offseason in which versatile bench depth is a need (thanks to Miguel Rojas’ retirement and Kiké Hernández hitting free agency). 

With Cairo’s addition, the Dodgers now have only two open spots remaining on their 40-man roster.

LAS VEGAS — To account for the loss of Tanner Swanson, the Yankees are promoting another top coach from their catching department.

The club is adding run prevention and catching coordinator Aaron Gershenfeld to the major league coaching staff, a source confirmed on Monday, after Swanson left to become the Mariners’ bench coach.

Gershenfeld had been heavily involved with the organization’s catchers, which Swanson led as the director of catching and major league field coordinator.

And while Swanson’s departure hurts, the club believes it is well equipped to maintain its success in coaching its catchers to become some of the game’s best framers, thanks in part to Gershenfeld.

It remains to be seen if there will be any further changes to Aaron Boone’s staff, most notably with the hitting coaches whose seats got warm when Hal Steinbrenner blamed the offense for another early playoff exit.

Pitching coach Matt Blake will be back after signing an extension, while bench coach Brad Ausmus interviewed for the Astros’ manager, with a resolution expected soon on that front.

Swanson, whose new job with the Mariners gets him back home after living across the country from his family during his time with the Yankees, played a major role in helping his catchers become elite framers — including Austin Wells turning into a Gold Glove finalist this season.

But Gershenfeld was a key part of that process as well, working with both major and minor league catchers. Now the former Louisville catcher will get a chance to do that full-time in the big leagues.

Jaylen Brown the latest in long line of former Boston athletes facing old teams originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Sports in Boston are … a big deal. That’s not breaking news, of course.

And part of that deal is that the bonds that form between fandoms and athletes are strong. So much so that even when some Boston athletes move to other cities — whether that be for good, bad, or ugly reasons — the locals don’t always move on. And in some cases, it leads to a rather grand spectacle.

That’s relevant this week because Jaylen Brown will be playing as an opponent of the Celtics when his 76ers take the court on Tuesday night in Philadelphia, after Brown spent the first 10 years of his career in Boston.

This particular reunion appears to be of the icy variety, as Brown told reporters Sunday night that he has no plans to talk to longtime former teammate Jayson Tatum, despite Tatum stating publicly that he’s reached out to try to talk to Brown since the trade went down this summer.

Tatum’s done his part to downplay the dramatics of this matchup, saying, “In the words of Brad Stevens, they all count as one.”

This one, though, clearly will have a lot of juice and draw quite a bit of attention. It may not quite be the same as when Brown actually returns to Boston in January, but it’s still a regular-season game that qualifies as having “event” status in early November.

And it won’t be the first such case, as a whole parade of great Boston athletes have moved on before facing off against their former teams.

Roger Clemens

The grandaddy of them all, Roger Clemens’ return to Boston as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays was one for the ages. After then-GM Dan Duquette had declared Clemens to have been in the “twilight of his career,” The Rocket took things personally.

Clemens ascended the Fenway mound in the bottom of the first inning and promptly loaded the bases on back-to-back singles by Nomar Garciaparra and John Valentin and a hit-by-pitch on former teammate Mo Vaughn. He even spotted Boston a run on a Reggie Jefferson groundout to first, but recorded two strikeouts to get out of the inning without further damage.

From there, Clemens was dominant: Eight innings, four hits, just the one run with 16 strikeouts and no walks.

By the end of his outing, he had the Fenway crowd roaring for him as he struck out Vaughn to end the eighth inning.

Clemens, as we know, was decidedly not in the twilight of his career, as he went on to win 162 more games, strike out 2,082 more batters, and win four more Cy Young Awards and a pair of World Series trophies over 11 years after leaving Boston.

Ray Bourque

Nobody knows when fans started wearing jerseys to games, and nobody can pinpoint the genesis of the split jersey. But Ray Bourque’s return to Boston as a member of the Colorado Avalanche might have been the day that concept came to life.

Bourque’s departure from Boston was as amicable as possible, as the Bruins sent him to Colorado to give him a chance to win a Stanley Cup at age 39. The Avalanche came up short after that trade in 2000, but Bourque returned to the Avs for the 2000-01 season. Doing so meant he’d play against the Bruins for the first time after spending the previous two decades on the blue line for Boston.

Bourque’s first game as a Bruins opponent came in February of 2001, and he helped the Avalanche pull away with a pair of second-period assists in what ended up being an 8-2 Colorado win.

A month later, Bourque played his first game as a visitor in Boston, once again registering two assists in an Avalanche victory. Bourque was named the game’s No. 1 star and was given an ovation by the Boston crowd.

Three months later, Bourque returned to Boston with the Stanley Cup in tow for a rally at City Hall Plaza. The four major teams in Boston hadn’t won a championship in 15 years at the time, so that celebration — for a player, not the team — represented the epitome of pre-2000s Boston sports.

Pedro Martinez

The Boston Red Sox, quite famously, did not win a World Series for 86 years. It was a well-covered story. Some people wrote books on the matter.

But the fortunes of the franchise began to change in the late ’90s, when the Red Sox acquired Pedro Martinez at the peak of his powers. Pedro only spent seven seasons in Boston, but it was a stretch that included some of the best pitching in history. From 1998-2003, Martinez went 101-28 with a 2.26 ERA and a 0.942 WHIP while striking out 1,456 batters with 248 walks.

He wasn’t the same dominant pitcher in 2004, but he helped the Red Sox break that curse and win the World Series. And then, once the confetti was cleared off the streets of Boston, Pedro was … a New York Met.

Martinez didn’t face the Red Sox in 2005 but made his return to Fenway in June of 2006. What followed was one of Martinez’s worst starts of the year, as he allowed eight runs (six earned) and struck out just one batter while lasting three innings.

Joe Thornton

Still considered one of the worst trades in Boston sports history, the Bruins hastily traded captain Joe Thornton to San Jose, receiving Marco Sturm, Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau in return.

It didn’t take long before Thornton returned to Boston, as the Sharks visited the Bruins just six weeks after the trade. Despite the Bruins’ losing record, it was a tough ticket to get into the Garden that night for the return of Jumbo Joe.

Fans who shelled out money to be there, though, were left stunned just five minutes into the game, when Thornton was given a game misconduct for hitting Hal Gill from behind. Thornton had just 2:31 of ice time before getting the gate, but the Sharks still went on to win, 6-2.

Adam Vinatieri

Despite being a kicker, Adam Vinatieri was a Boston sports icon. Drilling a pair of kicks in a blizzard before sending a picture-perfect kick through the uprights two weeks later to win the first Super Bowl in Patriots franchise history will have that effect. Kicking another Super Bowl-winner two years later and scoring the winning points on a field goal in a third Super Bowl in 2004 only worked to reinforce that status.

Yet after the 2005 season, Bill Belichick’s desire to no longer pay Vinatieri coincided with Indianapolis going through their own kicker struggles with Mike Vanderjagt, leading to Vinatieri making the move to the rival Colts.

Vinatieri returned to Gillette in prime time in his first season with the Colts, a Week 8 Sunday Night Football matchup. Patriots fans greeted Vinatieri with boos, and the kicker uncharacteristically missed two field goals. But Tom Brady was even more off his game, finishing the night with no touchdowns and four interceptions, allowing the Colts to win at Gillette for a second consecutive year.

Vinatieri would then go on to help Peyton Manning and the Colts get over the hump and win the Super Bowl later that season.

Johnny Damon

If fans felt hurt by Adam Vinatieri joining the Colts, then they felt downright betrayed by Johnny Damon jumping ship and joining the Yankees.

Coming off an All-Star season with the Red Sox in 2005, Damon signed a four-year, $52 million deal with the Yankees. Just a month into his Yankees tenure, Damon made his return to Fenway Park. And though the reaction when Damon dug in to lead off the game was primarily negative — fans would later dump fake money onto the warning track when Damon trotted out to play center field — Damon made the decision to remove his helmet and salute the crowd.

“I heard a lot more cheers than jeers. Regardless, I wanted to do it because these fans meant so much to me,” Damon explained.

Damon went 0-for-4 on a night where his return was overshadowed by the acquisition of and subsequent police escort for Doug Mirabelli, who arrived at Fenway in dramatic fashion to catch Tim Wakefield.

Mookie Betts

While the Joe Thornton trade held the crown for 15 years as the worst in Boston sports since Babe Ruth, the Red Sox recaptured that ignominious title when they forced new chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom trade Mookie Betts in 2020.

The return for a homegrown, generational talent was underwhelming to say the least, and the reality of that situation had fully set in by the time Betts finally played a game against his former team in 2023. He walked in the seventh and came around to score what proved to be the winning run in a 7-4 Dodgers victory.

Lawyer Milloy

In retrospect, Bill Belichick’s decision to essentially swap out Lawyer Milloy for Rodney Harrison in the summer of 2003 was clearly the right one. At the time, though, Belichick’s decision to cut the veteran safety just before the season started was certainly one of the most controversial moves of his tenure.

And while it paid off in the long run, it immediately backfired, as Milloy signed with the Bills and helped Buffalo put a beatdown on the Patriots in Week 1. Milloy recorded a sack, a tackle for a loss and a pass defense as the Bills rolled the Patriots 31-0. That game spawned this now-famous television moment:

But things turned out just fine for the Patriots, who won 34 of their next 36 games, including two Super Bowls.

Drew Bledsoe

Lawyer Milloy’s teammate in Buffalo was quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who made his own debut as a Patriots opponent the year prior in 2002.

Bledsoe lost to the Patriots 38-7 in that game, throwing for 302 yards with one touchdown and one interception while taking four sacks. His second crack at the Patriots — and his first game at Gillette Stadium — didn’t go much better, as his Bills lost 27-17. Bledsoe threw for 328 yards and two touchdowns … but also four interceptions in that game.

Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett

Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett own the rare distinction of helping the Celtics during their time in Boston and through their departures, as Danny Ainge was able to acquire the picks that would turn into Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum from a Nets team that was desperate to gain relevance.

Pierce’s first game against the Celtics was quiet, as he was playing in his first game back after missing four games due to a broken finger. He went 0-for-4 from the field in just his fourth-ever game coming off the bench. Garnett had 11 points and nine assists as the Nets beat the Celtics in Brooklyn.

Rajon Rondo

While on the subject of 2008 champs who moved on, Rajon Rondo was traded during the 2014-15 season. Just weeks later, he faced off against the C’s and put on a rare shooting display for the Mavericks.

Rondo, who was averaging less than one 3-point attempt per game through the first nine-plus seasons of his career at that point, went 5-for-7 from deep and 12-for-19 from the field for a 29-point night (along with six rebounds and five assists) on the Garden parquet.

Brad Marchand

Following the second-lost captaincy in Bruins history with Zdeno Chara, the Bruins had a couple of relatively quick runs with Patrice Bergeron (three seasons before retiring) and Brad Marchand (a little over a season and a half before being traded to the Florida Panthers).

It worked out great for Marchand and the Panthers, who went on to win the Stanley Cup in 2025.

Though Marchand hadn’t been gone for long, his return to TD Garden was an emotional one, as he fought through tears while a tribute video played on the scoreboard.

Marchand picked up an assist just 61 seconds into the game and added another one in the third period of a 4-3 Panthers win.

Ray Allen

To say Kevin Garnett was upset when Ray Allen left the Celtics to join the rival Heat would be an understatement. It took Garnett about a decade to finally welcome Allen back into his life.

So when the Heat and Celtics squared off on opening night, Garnett wasn’t exactly up for catching up with his former teammate.

Allen scored 19 points off the bench that night while LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh combined for 74 points in a 120-107 Heat win.

Curtis Martin

Losing Bill Parcells after the 1996 season was bad for New England. Losing Curtis Martin to the Jets a year later was arguably worse.

The steal of the 1995 draft, Martin played just three seasons in New England, rushing for 3,799 yards and 32 touchdowns with 117 receptions for 890 yards and five more TDs. But he left as a restricted free agent to reunite with Parcells in New York. In Week 7, he’d begin what would end up being a Hall of Fame career of reminding the Patriots of what they lost.

Martin ran for 107 yards in a 24-14 win at Foxboro Stadium on Monday Night Football. He went over 100 yards in the regular-season finale vs. the Patriots, too.

That would become a bit of a habit, as Martin averaged 104.1 yards per game in his first eight games against New England.

Manny Ramirez

The deadline day trade of Manny Ramirez in 2008 caught many people by surprise, but by the time Ramirez returned as a visitor in 2010, the shock had surely worn off.

Ramirez’s return to Fenway wasn’t notable for what he did — he went 1-for-5 with a pair of strikeouts — but for what his former running mate David Ortiz did.

Ortiz launched a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning, which moved him into a tie for fifth-most in Red Sox history, appropriately tying him with … Ramirez.

Ortiz was well on his way to finishing at No. 2 on that list, behind only Ted Williams.

Wes Welker

The Patriots undoubtedly got the best years out of Wes Welker, but he still had plenty of gas left in the tank for his first year in Denver with Peyton Manning. Bill Belichick was able to limit Welker when the Broncos visited Gillette for a Sunday Night Football matchup in Week 12 of 2013, holding him to just four catches for 31 yards. (He had been averaging six receptions and just under 65 yards per game.)

Welker made a game-changing gaffe in the game, too, when the Patriots punted with 3:11 left in overtime. Welker backed away from the landing spot but was late to signal that to his teammates, leading to Tony Carter running directly into the ball. The Patriots recovered and kicked the game-winning kick shortly thereafter.

That night, the Patriots also climbed out of a 24-0 halftime hole to force overtime, where Belichick won the coin toss and took the wind. That decision paid off, as Manning could not throw into the biting wind, and the Patriots eventually won the game.

Phil Kessel

The fifth overall pick in the 2006 draft, Phil Kessel was tabbed to be the next great goal scorer for the Bruins. Instead, he was traded after just three seasons, netting Boston the picks that landed Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton.

Kessel returned to Boston with the Maple Leafs in December of 2009, and the Bruins blew them out. Boston had a 7-0 lead before Toronto finally scored in the final five minutes of the game. Kessel, who was booed every time he touched the puck, was a minus-3 on the night.

Rafael Devers

Of the more recent vintage, Rafael Devers faced the Red Sox just five days after he was shockingly traded to the Giants.

Devers went 0-for-5. He did homer the next day, and he also homered when he returned to Fenway Park more than a year later:

Tom Brady

Of course, the biggest one we’ll ever see, Tom Brady visited Foxboro as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer to take on Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots in October of 2021. Ticket prices were astronomical, and the game had a Super Bowl-type of feel around it for the weeks leading up to kickoff.

Brady was — as you’d hope — greeted with a roar from the fans who cheered for him for 20 years when he first jogged across the field. Yet when he took the field on offense, those fans let him know where their allegiances lay when they rained boos down upon the GOAT.

Brady didn’t play great, completing just over half of his 43 passes for 269 yards with no touchdowns or picks, but the Bucs squeaked out a win when Nick Folk’s 56-yard field goal clanked off the upright.

Brady and Belichick — despite their rough ending — shared a long conversation in the Bucs’ locker room after the game, closing the book on the most fascinating and successful story in NFL history.

The Dodgers on Monday claimed Christian Cairo off waivers from the New York Mets, a week after the utility player was designated for assignment.

Cairo played all last season in Triple-A, 128 games with Lehigh Valley in the Philadelphia Phillies system and two games with Norfolk in the Mets system after New York claimed him off waivers in September. Cairo hit .230/.381/.300 with a 95 wRC+ last season in the minors with 92 walks against 76 strikeouts in his 413 plate appearances, plus 25 stolen bases in 37 attempts.

The Mets designated Cairo for assignment last Monday amid various moves on the edges of the 40-man roster.

The bulk of Cairo’s time in the minors has come in the infield, with 160 starts at second base, 159 starts at third base, and 149 starts at shortstop, plus 54 starts in left field, 13 in center field, and four starts in right. It was more of the same in 2026, with 58 starts at shortstop, 26 at third base, 17 at second base, 16 in left field, and eight starts in center field.

Born in Bakersfield, Cairo was drafted by Cleveland in the fourth round in 2019, and played six seasons in the Guardians’ system before signing with the Phillies as a minor league free agent last offseason. Cairo exercised an upward-mobility clause in his contract and was added to Philadelphia’s 40-man roster before opening day, but was optioned to the minors and has yet to play in the majors.

Cairo, who turns 26 in June, has two option years remaining. He’s the son of longtime major league infielder Miguel Cairo.

With this move, the Dodgers have 38 players on their 40-man roster, including 17 position players.

Delco's own Kevin McGonigle takes home AL Rookie of the Year honors originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

What a year it was for Delaware County’s own Kevin McGonigle.

The Tigers infielder won American League Rookie of the Year on Monday, receiving 28 of 30 first-place votes. He became Detroit’s first winner since Michael Fulmer in 2016 and its first position player to receive the award since Lou Whitaker in 1978.

The Aldan native and Bonner-Prendie product hit 18 homers, drove in 72 runs and produced a .278/.376/.430 slash line over 156 games. His 7.1 Baseball-Reference WAR led every player in the American League, not just rookies.

McGonigle faced his hometown team for the first time in July, going 2-for-12 with a walk, a homer and two RBIs during a three-game series at Comerica Park. His 414-foot, two-run shot off Aaron Nola helped Detroit win the opener before the Phillies took the final two games.

Two days after the series ended, McGonigle played in his first All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park. He became the first Tigers rookie selected to the Midsummer Classic since Matt Nokes in 1987.

McGonigle grew up attending games at the ballpark as a diehard Phillies fan. During batting practice, he finally met Chase Utley, his favorite player growing up.

During All-Star week, McGonigle reflected with NBC Sports Philadelphia on how playing baseball in the Philadelphia area helped shape him.

“It was all about winning,” he said. “It wasn’t really about our personal stats or what you did that day. It just all mattered about if we won or not. I think that’s what really helped me get better and get me to where I’m at today.”

McGonigle will not have to wait long for his next homecoming. The Tigers visit Citizens Bank Park for a three-game series from April 6-8, the Phillies’ second home series of the 2027 season.

Gabriel Moreno just completed the best season ever by a Diamondbacks catcher. Before this year, nobody had reached even five bWAR, the highest figure by a full-time player at the position belonging to Miguel Montero’s 4.5 bWAR, back in 2012. [Daulton Varsho did reach 4.9 in 2022, but he was very much an outfielder by this point, with only eighteen starts as a catcher] Montero blew that away, reaching 6.7 bWAR. Never mind at catcher, since the end of 2015, only Ketel Marte and Gerardo Perdomo have posted a higher figure, and Moreno ranked fourth among all National League position players. He’s likely to become only the second ever catcher, after Joe Mauer, to win the batting title, Golden Glove and Silver Slugger in the same season.

However, great though this success was to enjoy as a fan, it poses a really hard question for the team. Moreno’s current contract expires at the end of 2028. The topic of an extension has certainly cropped up between the team and the player. Speaking back in July, team president Derrick Hall said, “We love Gabi, and we’ve had those conversations in the past with him and I’m sure we’ll continue to have conversations with him about his future because he has become a mainstay.” But it is notable that, while Brandon Pfaadt and Geraldo Perdomo have both signed long-term deals, Moreno has remained on a year-to-year basis, now about to enter his second year of arbitration.

That, alone, is going to be expensive enough compared to his current salary. Moreno earned just $2.55 million this year, and on the back of that historic season MLB Trade Rumors is currently projecting more than double that, at $6.1 million. Though that would still represent a real bargain for 2027, providing he continues the same level of production (and taking the season as read, obviously). A major plus was Gaby largely remaining healthy this year. His 130 appearances was easily a career high, surpassing the 111 made in 2023. Interestingly, both campaigns saw him play the same number of games at catcher (104). The big difference was the 25 appearances at DH this season, compared to just one in 2023.

Unpalatable as it is to say so, Moreno’s trade value will never be higher. Two years of control left, coming off what feels deserving of a top five MVP performance, at a premium position? That would fetch a real haul, restocking several other areas of necessity. However, the obvious problem is, who would play catcher? The team does have a couple of good catching prospects, in Ryder Helfrick and Carlos Virahonda. But Helfrick was only drafted in June, and is only 21 years old. Virahonda is younger still, though is more advanced – he got a cup of coffee at Double-A last season. Still, 2028 is the earliest we should expect to see him.

Trading Moreno right now, would only make sense if the team was in tear-down mode, and the six wins lost wouldn’t matter. For an 86-win team with the misfortune to be in the wrong league, it’s less logical. But do they want to splash out for an extension either? To get an idea of what it might cost, let’s look at some recent contract extensions for catchers. The obvious point of comparison is Cal Raleigh, who signed one with the Mariners in March 2025, before his epic, 60-homer season. He was coming of his age 27 season – a year older than Gaby – where he posted 4.6 bWAR and had two arb years remaining like Moreno. Raleigh got a 6-year, $105 million extension, with a full no-trade clause.

In Cal’s favor, he had proven himself more durable than Gabriel. Over the two seasons prior to the extension, Raleigh averaged 149 games, with 120 starts per year at catcher. Even including his career-high playing time in 2026, Moreno has been considerably less durable, averaging 106 games and 82 starts per season. On the other hand, the factors which make this the best time to trade Gaby, make it the worst time to extend him, coming off what could well end up being his career best. Moreno may not have hit 60 homers, but a Gold Glove and a batting title balance that. The two catchers’ overall production in those season was quite close: 7.2 bWAR for Raleigh, 6.7 for Moreno. Imagine the Mariners trying to extend Raleigh after last year.

Should the D-backs back up the armored car to Casa Moreno? The good thing is, he is still young. A six-year deal, covering the two arb season and four in free agency, would still only run through Gaby’s age 32 season. There are plenty of cases of catchers remaining productive to that point – maybe not 5-6 wins, but certainly 2-3. Over the past decade, thirteen catchers have been worth 2.5 bWAR or better at age 32+. But, the reality is that the team will still be paying over the odds for a player who will be well onto the down side of the aging curve by that point. Younger, cheaper and possibly better alternatives, perhaps in the shape of Helfrick and Virahonda, may be available.

Long-term deals for catchers can work. Buster Posey’s 9-year, $167 million deal with the Giants was expensive, but worth 32.4 bWAR. On the other hand, the Twins signed Joe Mauer, to an 8-year, $184 million contract in March 2010. The years covered, 2011-2018, he averaged 128 games, and put up 22.4 bWAR. But he had to stop playing catcher less than half-way through it, and the math is rather different for a first-baseman. Or there’s Sean Murphy with the Braves. Over the past three years, he has earned $39 million, but been worth below four bWAR. There’s still two years and $30 million more to go on that, and the signs aren’t good.

To some extent, it depends on broader factors. The D-backs contended until the final weekend this year, and will hope to remain a contender in 2027. But who knows when that season might start, and 2028 is even less predictable, never mind 2029-2032. If the team believes their window of contention stretches several seasons ahead, then extending a core position would make sense. But if not, then maximizing Moreno’s value may involve trading him for prospects who can help in the next window. There are no easy answers, and no matter what is decided, it’s very likely we won’t know if it was the right choice for years.

Not that this will stop anyone from reacting, of course! So let’s get ahead of the curve. Here’s a poll with some options of ways to handle Moreno. I largely expect “back up the truck” to win, simply because history shows us that fans are very good at spending other people’s money. 🙂 But feel free to explain your reasoning in the comments.

Jimmy Slagle, who was the Cubs’ center fielder on their first three pennant-winning teams of the 20th Century (1906, 1907, 1908), was acquired by the Cubs from Boston in a bit of subterfuge, as noted in his SABR biography:

In Boston he impressed Frank Selee, the Hall of Fame manager who won 1,000 games with the Beaneaters before leaving Boston for the Chicago Orphans (soon to be the Cubs) in 1902. In 1901, when Jimmy had suffered a broken finger, Selee released him outright, but anticipating becoming Chicago’s manager in 1902, he told him not to sign with anyone for the next year. As planned, Selee convinced Cubs’ co-owner James Hart to sign Jimmy. He would play for Chicago for the rest of his major league career, batting leadoff and playing center field.

Almost immediately, Slagle became a star player, playing a strong center field and drawing tons of walks in the leadoff spot — 53 in 1902, good for a .386 on-base percentage, and maxed out at 97 walks in 1905. The 454 walks he drew in only seven Cubs seasons ranks 25th in franchise history.

In addition, Slagle was a good base-stealer, stealing 41 in his first Cubs season in 1902, the first of six straight years with at least 25 steals. In the fourth game of the 1907 World Series, Slagle stole home in the seventh inning, the third run in a key rally that broke open a tight 2-1 game to that point; the Cubs eventually won 6-1.

Arm injuries limited Slagle’s playing time in 1908, his last major league season. After playing two years for the then-minor league Baltimore Orioles, Slagle retired from baseball and settled in Chicago, where he died May 10, 1956, aged 82.

More than 50 years later, Slagle was remembered in his hometown of Worthville, Pennsylvania. From the SABR bio:

On October 19, 2007, a century after Chicago swept the Detroit Tigers in the World Series, a memorial to Jimmy Slagle was erected in his home town of Worthville. A bronze plaque mounted on a 600-pound sandstone rock, the memorial listed his accomplishments and noted that it was “dedicated to the memory of a country boy who made his mark on the world.”

Jimmy Slagle posted 14.4 bWAR in his seven years with the Cubs. This series will continue on Monday.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 12-year, $325 million deal with the Dodgers was the largest total dollar value given to a MLB pitcher at the time when it was signed in 2023. Joel Wolfe of Wasserman negotiated the historic Dodgers deal as his agent.

He is back in the news on Monday, and has been very outspoken about the proposed MLB salary cap.

“Over our dead bodies are we going to accept a cap and further restraints on salaries,” Wolfe said to The Athletic.

Wolfe, who is also the agent of Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki, is one of many representing players to speak out regarding the league’s handling of the looming lockout.

The current CBA expires on Dec. 1 and MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred is guiding the negotiating process between the league and the Players Association.

With MLB’s general managers meetings beginning Tuesday in Las Vegas, discussions are sure to remain heated with the clock ticking. Based on Wolfe’s comments, players appear firm in their stance to keep MLB without a salary cap.

If that remains true, the lockout feels like a near guarantee with no real end in sight.

The next few weeks will be pivotal as both sides continue negotiations.