Category: Baseball

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

The Perfect Role Player

Prior to joining the Padres, Dustin Harris had played in just 38 MLB games. Most of that time came with the Texas Rangers (21 games) before playing parts of 2026 with the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros. Harris was released in early August before the Friars scooped him up on a minor-league deal with San Diego. The longtime minor-leaguer had struggled to break through despite a .289/.377/.457 career slash line in the minors. His big-league breakout came the second he joined the brown and gold.

Overall Grade: A+

In 29 games with Triple-A El Paso, Harris batted .350/.422/.617 with six homers and a 1.039 OPS. That earned him a promotion to the big-league club. He promptly earned the starting left field job, but still platooned with Samad Taylor on occasion. In 28 games with San Diego, Harris batted .322 with a .422 slugging percentage.

His lack of walks (5 BB) or power (0 HR) make him an intriguing option for left field in 2027. However, for the time that Harris spent with San Diego, he was phenomenal. He knocked in 14 runners and scored 18 runs of his own all in just 90 at-bats. With that small sample in mind, Harris was one of the best role players in all of baseball for the 2026 season.

There was certainly some luck involved in Harris’ production. His .278 xBA was a good deal lower than his actual .322 batting average. There’s a question of whether Harris will be able to replicate his breakout performance in 2027. However, the Padres will certainly give him the opportunity to earn the left field spot in Spring Training. Harris could be an invaluable part of San Diego’s roster for the coming years if he can build on his success.

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

The Perfect Role Player

Prior to joining the Padres, Dustin Harris had played in just 38 MLB games. Most of that time came with the Texas Rangers (21 games) before playing parts of 2026 with the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros. Harris was released in early August before the Friars scooped him up on a minor-league deal with San Diego. The longtime minor-leaguer had struggled to break through despite a .289/.377/.457 career slash line in the minors. His big-league breakout came the second he joined the brown and gold.

Overall Grade: A+

In 29 games with Triple-A El Paso, Harris batted .350/.422/.617 with six homers and a 1.039 OPS. That earned him a promotion to the big-league club. He promptly earned the starting left field job, but still platooned with Samad Taylor on occasion. In 28 games with San Diego, Harris batted .322 with a .422 slugging percentage.

His lack of walks (5 BB) or power (0 HR) make him an intriguing option for left field in 2027. However, for the time that Harris spent with San Diego, he was phenomenal. He knocked in 14 runners and scored 18 runs of his own all in just 90 at-bats. With that small sample in mind, Harris was one of the best role players in all of baseball for the 2026 season.

There was certainly some luck involved in Harris’ production. His .278 xBA was a good deal lower than his actual .322 batting average. There’s a question of whether Harris will be able to replicate his breakout performance in 2027. However, the Padres will certainly give him the opportunity to earn the left field spot in Spring Training. Harris could be an invaluable part of San Diego’s roster for the coming years if he can build on his success.

Introduction

There are some real issues that arise when talking about relief pitching prospects, and I think it’s important we discuss them before actually highlighting the best 2026 seasons by relievers in the Diamondbacks farm system. If you’ve been around this game long enough, you’ll eventually hear a casual fan suggest a team fix their bullpen through the draft, or that they should use their first pick in a draft on some dominant college reliever.

Even in the weakest, shallowest of drafts, this is viewed as a bad idea because you’re almost always going to be leaving better players on the board. The last time the Dbacks drafted a reliever with their first round pick was when they selected reliever Dan Schlereth with the 26th overall pick in the 2008 draft, while much more notable pitchers like Gerrit Cole, Jake Odorizzi, and Craig Kimbrel, and hitters like Dee Strange-Gordon and Charlie Blackmon were still on the board.

The list of successful early draft picks spent on amateur relief pitchers that then went on to become successful relievers in the Major Leagues is an incredibly short one, headlined by such notable names as Gregg Olson and Paul Shuey. This adds to the rarity of seeing a pitcher who is explicitly a reliever at the top of top prospect list unless they have overwhelming velocity. All of the dominant relievers you can think of are almost certainly a former starting pitcher who at some point in his professional career was converted to relief.

Aside from that, we have the real issue of how are we defining what does and does not count as a reliever?” If we exclude any pitchers who started a game, that leaves out pitchers who operated as openers but were no different in usage than any other relief pitcher. For the purposes of this article, I’m defining a reliever as a pitcher who did not start a game outside of being an opener, which would be a start with less than two innings pitched. If we just used examples of guys who are likely to be converted to relief or whom I think should be converted to relief we will be hear all day, so instead, we are going for the much more narrower definition. We are also going to exclude pitchers who have made their Major League debut, which would exclude Brandyn Garcia, who had a season just as worthy of being talked about, but this same rule applied for all the other All Star Prospects, so it still applies here.

With all that said, my 2026 D-backs Minor League Reliever of the year is…

Joe Ariola, LHP

This might be a weird choice for the Dbacks Minor League reliever of the year. Joe Ariola didn’t pitch a ton of innings, just 34.2 innings total, and had just three innings in AA Amarillo before his regular season ended. With such a small sample size, I could understand why someone would feel that there are more deserving candidates.

Ariola has a quite a few reasons as to why I feel his accomplishments in 2026 are worth highlighting. For one, out of all pitchers with at least 30 IP, no pitcher across all the minor leagues struck out batters at a higher rate than Ariola’s 45.75% strikeout percentage, and only three pitchers had a higher strikeouts per nine innings (k/9) than Ariola’s 16.62 K/9. Amongst Dbacks pitchers with at least 30IP, his 2.34 FIP and 2.40 xFIP are the lowest amongst all pitchers, while his 1.54 ERA is the second lowest.

The real issue is the low inning total, which I think we can address by just going into the details of Ariola’s season. Ariola started his season by tossing two scoreless innings for Low A Visalia on April 5th. It was a very solid outing, he gave up just a hit and a walk while striking out three batters. Unfortunately, Ariola would hit the injured list the next day and he wouldn’t pitch again until July 4th, when he was activated for a three game rehab stint in the Arizona Complex League. Ariola was impressive in the first two games back, putting up two scoreless innings, while striking out a pair of batters in each, but walking a batter in the second game back. The third game Ariola struck out the side, but would give up a run on a pair of hits, which both came around to score after he had been taken out of the game with just an out. In his time in the complex Ariola struck out 53% of batters he faced while walking just 7.7% of batters he faced. He’d leave the complex with a 2.70 ERA, and the 1.60 FIP and a 2.05 xFIP show how he easily could have had even better numbers.

Ariola would be activated for Visalia and wouldn’t allow another run until the middle of August, after he’d been promoted and was already in his fourth outing with High A Hillsboro. Which gets us to his numbers in Low A Visalia, which are absurd. Six games, twelve scoreless innings, an ERA of zero, and a still very impressive 2.08 ERA and a 2.90 xFIP. He also struck 50% of batters he faced there, though his walk percentage ticked up a bit to 13%.

As far as his numbers in High-A Hillsboro, they weren’t quite as absurd, but they were still a very good. Across ten games, he’d pitch 16.1 innings pitched with a 2.76 ERA, a 2.93 FIP, and a 2.25 xFIP. Those numbers were impressive enough that it earned him a promotion to Double A Amarillo, for the last two games of the regular season. In the penultimate game of the season Ariola pitched two perfect innings, and would strike out three batters while working around a pair of hits in the season finale. Overall across all levels Ariola put up a 1.56 ERA and a 2.34 FIP and a 2.40 xFIP, though as a I said earlier, it is a small sample size of 34.2 innings.

That WASN’T the end of his season though. Ariola played a key role in Amarillo’s bullpen after that during their postseason run, tossing six scoreless innings across three games, allowing just a hit and three walks while striking out nine batters. Ariola currently has a zero ERA in AA regardless of including their postseason.

He was then sent to the Arizona Fall League, and in six games so far playing for the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League, Ariola has given up a just a pair of runs on six hits, while walking none and striking out eight. Despite the lack of walks his control wasn’t exactly perfect as he did hit a batter and uncorked a pair of wild pitches. Since he’s a reliever, the fact that he’s earned at least a hold in each one of his appearances makes the pair of runs completely forgivable, especially pitching this late in the year.(Don’t mind the fact that these are the first runs he’s allowed to score in a month.) If we’re including the extra 12 innings from Amarillo’s postseason and the Arizona Fall League, his stats just get better, and that puts him at a more reasonable innings total for a relief prospect. _{No I will not be calculating FIP and xFIP}

Over on Fangraphs.com, Eric Longenhagen recently had this to say about Ariola:

Ariola looks like a standard middle reliever who could be ready fast.. has a riding 93-94 mph fastball and hammer curveball, pretty standard lefty fare in the Caleb Thielbar mold.

Not the most thrilling of endorsements, but considering the complete lack of a solid LHP relievers in the Dbacks bullpen in recent years, I’ll take it.

Honorable Mentions

I actually have two pitchers that I think are worth mentioning, as they also were well above average throughout their seasons and dominated multiple levels of the minor leagues.

Sandro Santana would be a very strong contender for reliever of the year, but unfortunately he was traded at the deadline in the Nootbaar trade. In 64 innings split between the Dbacks and Cardinals organization between High A and AAA, he put up a 1.97 ERA with a 2.68 FIP and 2.90 xFIP.

For a player actually still in the organization, I think the next best candidate is Luke Dotson. Dotson pitched 45 innings split between Low A Visalia (12.2 IP) and High-A Hillsboro, putting up a 3.00 ERA with a 3.01 FIP and 3.52 xFIP.

Conclusion

I think between Ariola’s rapid ascent and domination of multiple levels of the minor leagues from Low A to AA Amarillo, while also having to overcome the adversity of a three month IL stint, and then continued performance after the regular season ended makes him the obvious pick for reliever of the year. Do you agree or disagree? Is there some other reliever you think should be the Diamondbacks Minor League Reliever of the year? Who else stood out to you in the D-backs farm system this season? Let me know in the comments!

The Mets have not removed 1B Eric Wagaman, OF Cristian Pache, LHP Philip Abner, and RHP Cameron Weston from the team's 40-man roster, according to SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes.

Wagaman played in 26 games for a Mets team that had issues finding a reliable first baseman in 2026, posting a .588 OPS and hitting two homers in 52 plate appearances.

As for Pache, he joined the Mets last offseason on a minor league deal, but played in just 15 games in 2026, struggling to unseat any of the Mets' outfielders for playing time.

Abner and Weston did not appear for the Mets in 2026, and neither have spent a significant amount of time pitching at the MLB level.

Pache was designated for assignment on Thursday, making space to claim INF Kyren Paris, formerly of the Los Angeles Angels.

MLB teams have until Monday, Nov. 2, to cut down their 40-man rosters to 40 players or less. Additionally, that date serves as the deadline for teams to exercise contract options and extend qualifying offers to pending free agents.

MLB free agency officially begins at 5 p.m. on that same day.

In case you haven’t noticed, clocks went back an hour. Hello, 4 pm darkness.

Some actual Braves-related news from the weekend:

And BravesVision starts bringing you some evening programming:

Just like we all expected.

The Arizona Cardinals would fall behind by two scores, look completely lost on offense once again and then make a change at quarterback.

And, as we all expected, Gardner Minshew would but up 30 points in a little over one quarter and lead the Arizona Cardinals to one of the most improbable wins in the 2026 NFL season.

Now, the Cardinals with Gardner Minshew likely starting, even if Mike LaFleur wants to play coy, have the Seattle Seahawks in Seattle.

On the one hand, the Seahawks are way, way better than the Cowboys.

On the other hand, the Cardinals are on the road, where they clearly are better at playing football.

However, our friends over at FanDuel Sportsbook have the Cardinals as big time 10.5-point underdogs before net weeks game.

The Cardinals are part of an amazing stat where at least one touchdown plus underdog has one every week the first eight weeks, and the Cardinals three wins coincide with three of those weeks.

Can they make it four? With the injuries mounting it feels unlikely, but hell… Minshew Magic, baby!

Aaron Judge was in attendance supporting his wife, Samantha, once again at the New York City Marathon Sunday, this time holding their 1-year-old daughter, Nora.

According to one video on social media, Judge snapped a picture of Samantha and Nora while standing at the corner of 88th Street and First Avenue, and he donned a Yankees pullover.

As Samantha ran toward where Judge was positioned with the spectators, he waved at his wife and pointed so Nora could see, too, and when the pair met Samantha near the finish, he was wearing an Air Jordan shirt.

Judge has supported Samantha at marathons before, as she also ran the NYC Marathon in 2025, 2023 and 2022, too. She finished this year’s race with an unofficial time of 3:29:44.

The pair met in high school, attended Fresno State together and were married in 2021.

This has become an offseason tradition of sorts for Judge, though the 2026 edition of the NYC marathon followed an injury-filled campaign for the Yankees’ captain.

He was limited to 66 games, 18 homers and 41 RBIs during the regular season before not playing at all in the playoffs.

Judge, who has five years remaining on his $360 million deal with the Yankees, was sidelined with a stress fracture in a right rib before returning, playing seven games and sustaining the right calf strain in September that ultimately ended his season.

He desperately tried to return for the postseason and make a case to be on the Yankees’ ALDS roster, but the decision, which came down to the final day, ultimately ended up erring on the side of caution.

Following the Yankees’ season-ending loss to the Rays last month, Judge sent a message to the front office about going ‘all in’ during the offseason — with another year added to the Yankees’ drought since their last World Series title in 2009.

“We’re the Yankees. I feel like they should go all in and do what they need to do,” Judge said at the time. “If we’ve got holes, if it’s finding certain players or personnel, whatever we need, you got to go out there and get it. That’s why I signed back here to play with the Yankees is to fight for a championship every single year and to go all in. That’s what I do every offseason is get ready to give this team and this city everything I’ve got, so I expect them to do the same.”

Andreas Almgren of Sweden and Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya won the men’s and women’s races Sunday with times of 2:06:01 and 2:24:36, respectively.

It marked the second time that Chepkirui won the women’s division for the marathon, as she also took the race in 2024.

Aaron Judge was in attendance supporting his wife, Samantha, once again at the New York City Marathon Sunday, this time holding their 1-year-old daughter, Nora.

According to one video on social media, Judge snapped a picture of Samantha and Nora while standing at the corner of 88th Street and First Avenue, and he donned a Yankees pullover.

As Samantha ran toward where Judge was positioned with the spectators, he waved at his wife and pointed so Nora could see, too, and when the pair met Samantha near the finish, he was wearing an Air Jordan shirt.

Judge has supported Samantha at marathons before, as she also ran the NYC Marathon in 2025, 2023 and 2022, too. She finished this year’s race with an unofficial time of 3:29:44.

The pair met in high school, attended Fresno State together and were married in 2021.

This has become an offseason tradition of sorts for Judge, though the 2026 edition of the NYC marathon followed an injury-filled campaign for the Yankees’ captain.

He was limited to 66 games, 18 homers and 41 RBIs during the regular season before not playing at all in the playoffs.

Judge, who has five years remaining on his $360 million deal with the Yankees, was sidelined with a stress fracture in a right rib before returning, playing seven games and sustaining the right calf strain in September that ultimately ended his season.

He desperately tried to return for the postseason and make a case to be on the Yankees’ ALDS roster, but the decision, which came down to the final day, ultimately ended up erring on the side of caution.

Following the Yankees’ season-ending loss to the Rays last month, Judge sent a message to the front office about going ‘all in’ during the offseason — with another year added to the Yankees’ drought since their last World Series title in 2009.

“We’re the Yankees. I feel like they should go all in and do what they need to do,” Judge said at the time. “If we’ve got holes, if it’s finding certain players or personnel, whatever we need, you got to go out there and get it. That’s why I signed back here to play with the Yankees is to fight for a championship every single year and to go all in. That’s what I do every offseason is get ready to give this team and this city everything I’ve got, so I expect them to do the same.”

Andreas Almgren of Sweden and Sheila Chepkirui of Kenya won the men’s and women’s races Sunday with times of 2:06:01 and 2:24:36, respectively.

It marked the second time that Chepkirui won the women’s division for the marathon, as she also took the race in 2024.

Teruaki Sato, the 27-year-old star of the Hanshin Tigers in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), has been posted to free agency, per multiple reports.

Sato won the NPB's MVP award last season, recording a triple crown with a .306 batting average, 39 homers, and 106 RBI.

The lefty slugger is a natural third baseman who also featured sparingly in both left field and right field in 2026 and has never played a game of professional baseball at first base.

However, it's been rumored that the Mets are among a few teams interested in signing Sato to play first base to solve their well-documented issues at that position.

The Yankees, meanwhile, will no doubt be looking for an upgrade at third, with the poor hitting of Ryan McMahon preventing him from nailing down an everyday role at the hot corner.

All 30 MLB teams will have a 45-day window to negotiate with Sato. Additionally, once he signs to an MLB ballclub, the Hanshin Tigers will receive receive a to-be-determined “release fee” based on the value of Sato’s contract.

Sato joins SP/RP Kaima Tara, SP Hiromi Itoh, and 3B Roh Si-Hwan as international free agents who were posted by their respective teams in the NPB and KBO League (South Korea's professional baseball league).

Roh, just 25, is another intriguing option for both the Mets and Yankees to consider if they're seeking to boost their offensive production from a corner of their infield. In the last four KBO seasons he's spent with the Hanwha Eagles, has hit 116 homers in 538 games played.

In order for Roh to join an MLB team, however, that ballclub would need to match or exceed the $21.3 million annual value of his current contract with Hanwha.

It is the 10th year of Top Prospect voting at South Side Sox!

First, let us review past years:

• Here is how 2018 wrangled out — all 42 picks. Also, here is an archive of every article in the 2018 series.
• Here is how 2019 came together, all 50 picks, and the archive as well.
• Now 2020, with the archive.
• Here is the 2021 wrap-up of just 35 picks due to flagging participation, along with the full archive.
• Here is the 2022 link to the 27-pick wrap, along with the full archive.
• Round 24 of voting was the last of 2023 (we did not do an actual wrap for the voting, but Jordan Sprinkle ended up being our final pick), and the full archive.
• In 2024 Abraham Núñez was our 34th pick to end the series, and here is the wrap-up post and full archive of each profile.
• In 2025, we did 31 picks, ending with Eric Adler. Here is the wrap and full stream, of every article.
• And last year, we got through 37 picks, ending with Reudis Diaz. Here is the wrap, and full stream of every article.

We are starting the Top 100 Prospect countdown on the same day as our first poll, with the goal of running a new poll every day. At that rate, we should get through 35 Votes before the Top 100 meets our polling, giving SSS readers 35 chances to weigh in on our Top 100. From there, we will stop the polling and run through the remaining players, finishing up as all players report to camp in mid-February.

As of now our countdown will start with Jarold Rosado as our Mr. 100 this year. We’ve customarily turned over the Prospect Vote to the next round as soon as the top vote-getter seems to have an insurmountable lead, but if there’s a rout, we’ll call it in a day. In order to get as many votes as possible in, we’ll try to wait no longer than two days before the next round.

For 2027, after the White Sox had a top overall pick for the first time in almost 50 years, our staff ballots were almost unanimous in picking one player as the top White Sox prospect. Do you agree?

Four players from last year’s Top 10 Prospects have lost their prospect status due to MLB service (Braden Montgomery at No. 1, Noah Schultz at No. 3, Hagen Smith at No. 4 and Sam Antonacci at No. 7). As an indication that there is some continuity in the system, four players on last year’s initial ballot appear in this year’s as well. With Mason Adams having been traded, that means just one player, Christian Oppor, performed poorly enough to drop off of our initial ballot.

Six of the 10 players on this first 2027 ballot played in the White Sox system in 2026, including two who made their major league debuts during the season. As to be expected drafting so early, we have four 2026 draft choices rounding out on the first ballot.

This year, the grandfather of our Top 100 is Tanner McDougal, marking his sixth year on our list and having moved from No. 21 to 22, 26, 63 and 6 so far. If all goes well, it will be his last, as he’ll see significant MLB time.

All right, let’s have some fun. And get voting!

What presumably would be a cakewalk for No. 1 overall draft pick Roch Cholowsky took a quick turn, as immediately Caleb Bonemer built an insurmountable edge in the voting. While eight of our nine votes on the masthead opted for Cholowsky, you have all dealt that preference a firm rebuttal, awarding him 46 of 65 votes (71%):

Bonemer was our No. 2-voted prospect in 2026, and came in at No. 26 in 2025, his first year on the ballot.

A year ago, our top-voted prospect was Braden Montgomery, and given his early promotion in 2026 that Vote turned out to be prescient. In 2025, Brooks Baldwin won in a massive upset, drawing 37% of the vote. In 2024, Colson Montgomery took the crown. In 2023, Oscar Colás was the winner. In the 2022 vote, it was Norge Vera in the top spot. In 2021, Andrew Vaughn was our top pick. Luis Robert Jr. took the honors in our initial 2020 vote.

After calling it early, resurgent infielder Javier Mogollón is the first player to join the ballot. Bring on Round 2!

South Side Sox Top-Voted White Sox Prospects for 2027

1. Caleb Bonemer — 71% (Cholowsky 25%, Fauske 3%, Prosek 2%, Bergolla Jr./Carlson/McDougal/Sandlin/Thome/Volchko 0%)

William Bergolla Jr.
Shortstop
Age 22
2026 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 15
2026 high level Charlotte (AAA)
Age relative to high level -5.1 years
Overall 2026 stats (ACL/AAA) 11 games ▪️ 0 HR ▪️ 9 RBI ▪️ .444/.524/.556 ▪️ 2-of-4 (50.0%) SB ▪️ 5 BB ▪️ 4 K ▪️ 1.000 FLD%▪️ 0.6 WAR

The epitome of a “Chris Getz player,” Bergolla offsets his Punch-and-Judy bat with deft baserunning, a killer glove and incredible plate discipline. Well young for his level, this legacy player (dad, also William Bergolla) has cut through the White Sox system like butter since his acquisition at the 2024 trade deadline (from Philly, for Tanner Banks). After getting some heavy run in Spring Training 2026, Bergolla was on the fast track to Chicago before a collision with left fielder Sam Antonacci in an April game for the Knights gave him a serious bone bruise in his leg; after a lengthy stint on the IL, Bergolla broke his injured leg in his first rehab game in the ACL.

Billy Carlson
Shortstop
Age 20
2026 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 7
2026 high level Kannapolis (Low-A)
Age relative to high level -1.3 years
Overall 2026 stats (ACL/Low-A) 60 games ▪️ 0 HR ▪️ 21 RBI ▪️ .252/.380/.335 ▪️ 14-of-16 (87.5%) SB ▪️ 41 BB ▪️ 59 K ▪️ .976 FLD%▪️ 1.5 WAR

It was a star-crossed pro debut for the 2025 first-rounder, who broke his left thumb in May and was later shut down for the season with a skin infection on his left leg. Let’s hope Carlson can get right for 2027, as the crush of blue-chip shortstops in the system (led by, of course, 2026’s overall No. 1 pick, Roch Cholowsky) could end up drowning him. Positives? Honestly, in his cameos at the plate Carlson flashed more pop to the gaps and on-base ability than expected.

Roch Cholowsky
Shortstop
Age 21
2026 high level Winston-Salem (High-A)
Age relative to high level -1.0 years
Overall 2026 stats (NCAA) 60 games ▪️ 21 HR ▪️ 60 RBI ▪️ .320/.452/.636 ▪️ 36 BB ▪️ 36 K ▪️ 3.2 WAR

The first overall No. 1 pick for the White Sox in almost 50 years saw his debut at Winston-Salem cut short, to just nine games, by right wrist tendinitis and soreness. The White Sox shut him down on August 22, which is somewhat of a setback for a player regarded as “majors-ready” out of the draft. A bit dismaying was his sloppy defense (five errors in those nine games), betraying his rep as the obvious choice to man short once he makes it to the South Side.

Jaden Fauske
Center Fielder
Age 20
2026 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 11
2026 high level Kannapolis (Low-A)
Age relative to high level -1.3 years
Overall 2026 stats 118 games ▪️ 4 HR ▪️ 48 RBI ▪️ .250/.388/.360 ▪️ 46-of-56 (82.1%) SB ▪️ 94 BB ▪️ 125 K ▪️ .948 FLD%▪️ 2.8 WAR

A year ago, we were not certain where Fauske would play, as a high school catcher announced at the draft as an outfielder-only. That proved to be the case in his first professional season, but what ho, Fauske saw more time in center than right field. And with quicks that saw Jaden snatch 46 bags in 118 games, the youngster might well stick in center.

Tanner McDougal
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 23
2024 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 33
2025 SSS Prospect Poll ranking N/R
2026 SSS Prospect Poll ranking 6
2026 high level Chicago (MLB)
Age relative to high level -6.2 years
Overall 2026 stats (High-A/AAA/MLB) 2-3 ▪️ 27 games (7 starts, 3 finishes) ▪️ 50 IP ▪️ 4.86 ERA ▪️ 53 K ▪️ 34 BB ▪️ 1.480 WHIP ▪️0.2 WAR

The good news is that McDougal was enough of a core piece to be promoted to Chicago in the second half of 2026. The bad news … well, where to start. McDougal’s presumptive march to the South Side rotation was stopped dead early in the season, when he was sidelined for weeks with forearm tightness. While the injury was thankfully not severe enough to necessitate a second TJS, Tanner was a relief arm for the rest of the season and not a stable one at that. His brief cameo in Chicago saw him rack up one out along with three walks.

Javier Mogollón
Second Baseman
Age 21
2026 high level Winston-Salem (AA)
Age relative to high level -2.0 years
Overall 2026 stats (Low-A/High-A) 91 games ▪️ 14 HR ▪️ 57 RBI ▪️ .262/.368/.448 ▪️ 36-of-44 (81.8%) SB ▪️ 53 BB ▪️ 123 K ▪️ .965 FLD%▪️ 2.5 WAR

The diminutive (5´8´´, 160) infielder wowed in rookie ball and though his climb has slowed, Mogollón has steadily risen up our ranks, from No.62 in our 2024 Top 100 to the cusp of the Top 10 today. That said, he’s seen two straight seasons shortened by hamstring issues. At least in 2026, Mogollón was able to return before season’s end, providing a clutch bat coming that provided a .313/.389/.813 slash and eight RBIs en route to sweeping to a SALLY title.

Cole Prosek
Third Baseman
Age 19
2026 High Level Magnolia Heights (H.S.)
Overall 2026 stats (H.S) 41 games ▪️ 18 HR ▪️ 79 RBI ▪️ .545/.678/1.177 ▪️ 62 R ▪️ 7 SB ▪️ 31 BB ▪️ 12 K

Coming to Chicago as a second-rounder, Prosek seems more highly-regarded by evaluators than the guy picked ahead of him by the White Sox, low first round choice Landon Thome. That’s a curious thing, but Prosek dominated his prep competition even more thoroughly than Thome. Plus, while the White Sox regard Prosek as a second baseman, his prep time was spent significantly at the hot corner, and he has experience behind the plate as well.

David Sandlin
Right-Handed Starting Pitcher
Age 26
2026 high level Chicago (MLB)
Age relative to high level -4.2 years
Overall 2026 stats (High-A/AAA/MLB) 7-2 ▪️ 24 games (22 starts) ▪️ 1 CG ▪️ 1 SHO ▪️ 109 2/3 IP ▪️ 3.36 ERA ▪️ 115 K ▪️ 48 BB ▪️ 1.231 WHIP ▪️ 1.8 WAR

Sandlin entered the season late to the White Sox organization after coming over from Boston as the “real piece” of the Jordan Hicks deal. And it didn’t end up mattering much that he was perhaps the No. 10 starter in the organization as the balls rolled out for play in March, because Sandlin was the sole reliable starting pitcher to be promoted throughout 2026, and his numbers were scalded a bit (-0.3 WAR) by being the reliever who had to wear it when Will Venable’s gaffe saw Noah Schultz prematurely pulled from a game back on August 7. As much hype as there will be to wedge Hagen Smith, Noah Schultz or Grant Taylor into the 2027 rotation, Sandlin should have the inside track for a spot.

Landon Thome
Shortstop
Age 19
2026 High Level Nazareth Academy (H.S.)
Overall 2026 stats (H.S) 7 HR ▪️ 29 RBI ▪️ .545 AVG ▪️ 49-of-50 (98.0%) SB

How crazy is it to have two high school teammates (Thome and Jaden Fauske) on our first ballot of the voting year … or any ballot, ever? The White Sox were so hot to dip back into Nazareth’s roster that they dealt promising 2023 first-rounder Jacob Gonzalez to Pittsburgh to acquire the draft pick to snag him; clearly the club was not confident Thome would drop into the second round. Unlike his father, Hall-of-Famer and White Sox adviser Jim, Landon is better regarded for his speed and defense than his ability to put the ball over the fence. Slugging will come in time for junior, however.

Joey Volchko
Right-handed starting pitcher
Age 21
2026 high level University of Georgia (NCAA)
Age relative to high level +0.1 years
Overall 2026 stats 11-2 ▪️ 18 starts ▪️ 1 CG ▪️ 95 1/3 IP ▪️ 3.68 ERA ▪️ 119 K ▪️ 46 BB ▪️ 1.343 WHIP ▪️ 2.1 WAR

This big-armed righty can touch 100 mph with his fastball, but wildness concerns might have precipitated Volchko’s drop to the White Sox in the third round in spite of MLB ranking him as a second round (68th-best) talent. He’s a big-game pitcher who dragged the Bulldogs to their first College World Series win in 18 years with a complete-game effort over the University of Texas. There’s a chance Volchko ends up as a high-leverage bullpen arm, but he will get every chance to stick as a starter.

The 2026 season has come to a close with a flop that will likely only be remembered in Milwaukee. Locally, the 2026 NLCS will be seen as the end of an era, as cracks papered over for a couple of years finally burst open in a way that probably felt cathartic by proxy in Toronto and the Bronx.

Today is not a day for that postmortem examination of what went wrong. Today we don’t cry that it’s over; we smile because it happened at all. No one is guaranteed a tomorrow, but one can look and wonder at the joys of yesterday. Although it never hurts to laugh at ourselves.

Mild spoilers for Lanterns, but I was trying something new from a bit of the show that made me chuckle.

On the anniversary of arguably the greatest game ever played, we return to that fateful night through the penultimate game of the regular season, when my mother wanted to visit Oracle Park for the first time.

By Timely Ferry

As someone who has lived in this part of the Bay Area for almost two years, after a year-long sabbatical near Fresno, I admit I don’t take as much public transit as I used to. But one way to get to Oracle Park I had always wanted to try was by ferry. A dedicated game-service ferry arrives about an hour before game time and leaves exactly twenty minutes after the last pitch for about $30 round trip.

The selling point for this ferry is that it drops you off and returns from a port literally right by Oracle Park. There is regular service between Vallejo and San Francisco, but San Francisco’s ferry terminal is about a twenty-minute walk from Oracle Park.

As for ferries, I have been on two in my life: a slow ferry that went from Belfast to Glasgow and back for a day trip I took after my job at The Parades Commission was essentially completed, where I had haggis for the first time (I liked it). Did I get up to any Catherine Breillat-esque shenanigans on the brief crossing? No, as it was too brief a crossing.

Here, we have an hour-long ride where, if you arrive soon enough, you get a seat on calm water and the chance to buy snacks.

Guess how I know about the exactly twenty minutes part? Yeah, we missed the return trip. For future reference, for best results with the special Vallejo ferry service, either try to leave the ballpark early or sit in the bleachers. If you miss that special return ferry, you will need to get to the Ferry Terminal by local train or by walking the Embarcadero.

As for the game, Mom wanted to go because she knew of the impending lockout and wanted an excuse to come see me, and by extension, Oracle Park. For anyone keeping track besides me, she’s now at seven ballparks and hopes to go to Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore next year, assuming we get some semblance of a schedule.

She would have liked more time to explore the stadium, but we had fun seeing bits of San Francisco that she wouldn’t have seen otherwise. When I first moved to the Bay Area, I lived on Harrison St., about a ten-minute walk to Oracle Park. It’s funny how things go full circle sometimes.

My buddy from law school, Louie, joined us, and we had a good time. Louie was with me that very first game in Oakland back in 2021, which ended up starting this entire baseball adventure. Nowadays, we just go to a game in San Francisco when the Dodgers are in town.

One Year Out

One year ago today, arguably the greatest baseball game ever played was started. It didn’t finish until 1 am local time. I tried to soak in as much of the atmosphere as possible by getting to the ballpark three hours early after a nap.

For the first time, I have included the playlist I have created of the major moments I recorded from Game 7 of the 2025 World Series. It’s funny, considering how stressful this game was for everyone involved, I was generally calm throughout, determined to have a good time.

The kicker is that the only thing I feared last year was a result similar to Game 3 of the 2026 World Series: a game that snowballed into a laugher in a hurry. Whereas Tropicana Field was rocking with away fans, a shocking development I know, the thing that stands out at Rogers Centre that night was how quiet things got at the end.

Not “Tokyo Series quiet,” where you felt like you were committing a sin if you were talking to your seatmate, but the answer to a question: what does a domed stadium sound like when all the air gets let out?

One thought I had on the tarmac when I flew back to San Francisco the next day was: how could baseball top what I just witnessed? The short answer: it couldn’t. My adventures in 2026 were personally memorable, but unlike other years, the memory of a game from a different season took up all my mental bandwidth.

If pressed, the Yamamoto almost no-hitter stands out, as does the first game after the All-Star Break: the duel between Roki Sasaki and Gerrit Cole in New York. Unlike other years, this season melded good and bad, and it carried its own weight.

Game 7 feels like yesterday and years ago at the same time. Nothing has measured up since, and that’s okay because generally nothing could measure up like that. Yamamoto throwing a perfect game would have been an interesting discussion, but Mookie Betts and Tristan Peters made that point moot.

No nightmare trip where everything went wrong, and no blissful romp where everything went right. There are worse ways to describe a campaign. I get the temptation to try and cling to this moment, but all things must pass.

What’s Next

With the upcoming MLB lockout and the completion of my first complete trip around the MLB circuit, starting in 2021, the most frequent question I get is what’s next. The short answer is wait and see, but I think I have come up with something interesting for 2027. Regardless, my travels will be limited to what I have in mind and my annual trip with Mom, hopefully to Baltimore.

On a programming note, I usually publish my annual update of On the Road with Eli (zondo) and Adric around the start of the year, which serves as the omnibus update containing all the Guide entries in one place. Generally, we publish a new entry when the Dodgers return to a place I have been.

So far, we have 26 MLB entries, plus an extra entry for Sutter Health Park.

In a normal year, one would expect two entries: Philadelphia and Arlington (first visit since I went in 2025). But with the pending lockout, I am going to tweak the formula, and I need your help. Four entries remain to finish the Guide: Arlington, Houston, Philadelphia, and the Bronx.

For the next 30 days, please vote in the comments for which of the four remaining cities you want to see next. The city with the most votes on December 1 will be the next entry, most likely out by Christmas; then we’ll release another entry every three to four weeks, starting with the second-most votes, until we finish. The goal is to publish the final ranking once baseball returns.

Please leave your votes in the comments. As always, thank you for coming along virtually with me on my travels in 2026.

The Arizona Fall League gives minor league players another chance to hone their craft against top competition, with all 30 clubs sending prospects and those players split into 6 teams. Last year’s AFL standout for the Nationals was Seaver King, who posted a 1.030 OPS in 79 plate appearances, foreshadowing a huge breakout in 2026. The Arizona Fall League is also where King credits current Tigers shortstop Kevin McGonigle for helping him simplify his approach at the plate.

This year, the Nationals have 9 players who have been participating in the Arizona Fall League as part of the Salt River Rafters. I want to take a look at 3 of these players and why their current performances in the AFL are worth paying attention to:

RHP Jarlin Susana

The hot ticket prospect for the Nats in the AFL, Susana has been lighting up the radar gun as he often does for the River Rafters, touching 102 MPH consistently. In 16 innings so far, Susana has posted a 4.50 ERA, not the best by any means, but the underlying metrics all support Susana being one of the toughest pitchers to face in the minor leagues.

Susana’s Stuff+ of 113.7 is the 3rd best among all AFL pitchers, and the best of all pitchers with at least 25 hitters faced. His swing-and-miss stuff looks as sharp as ever as well, with his 30% whiff rate and 36.4% chase rate ranking near the top among all AFL pitchers. His command hasn’t been an issue either, with his 12.5% walk rate being above average among all AFL arms.

Susana has gotten into trouble when hitters make contact, with a rough 45.5% hard-hit rate currently, but his stuff is so good he makes it hard for hitters to hit the ball how they want to, as shown by Susana’s barrel rate of 0% currently in the AFL (barrel rate considers both how hard the ball was hit and the launch angle of the hit, for reference). If Susana pitches like this at Triple-A to begin 2027, he’ll find himself in the big leagues rather quickly.

C Kevin Bazzell

The Nats’ third-round pick in 2024, Bazzell had a rough 2025 campaign, posting an 87 wRC+ in 84 games at Low A, but 2026 was a nice rebound for the backstop from Texas Tech, as he posted a 125 wRC+ in 66 games across High A and Double A. Bazzell has now picked up in the AFL right where he left off during the season, as he has a 1.078 OPS in 45 plate appearances for the River Rafters.

Power has never been the strongest part of Bazzell’s game, but it’s been showing up some in the AFL, with a .181 ISO and .545 SLG. Bazzell’s calling card is his on-base ability, and he’s shown why so far in the AFL, as he currently has a .364 AVG and .533 OBP. The 23-year-old catcher will likely open next season at Double-A, and has a chance to be knocking on the door of the big leagues by year’s end if he can continue to hit as he has in 2026.

OF Teo Banks

The Nat’s 18th-round pick in the 2024 draft out of Tulane, Banks hasn’t shown much so far in his minor league career, with a 29 wRC+ in 65 games in 2025 and a 90 wRC+ in 92 games at High A in 2026, but he’s shown up big time so far in the AFL, with a 1.064 OPS in 71 plate appearances.

Banks’ struggles often stem from his plate approach, as he currently has a 30.9% chase rate in the AFL, but all his other tools are looking sharp, with a 16.1% whiff rate and an 88.1 MPH average exit velocity. When Banks is able to keep the swing-and-miss in check, his raw power allows him to do damage, and he’s doing that so far in the AFL for the River Rafters. 2027 will be a critical year for Banks to prove he can hit professional pitching consistently, and his performance so far in the AFL is encouraging

As promised on Wednesday, the SnakePit Awards get under way today, beginning with the Play of the Year. This is always fun to put together, because I basically get to spent a couple of days assembling highlight reels. However, there are bound to be examples which escaped my attention, and that’s why we have this pre-ballot thread. As well as filtering down the nominees, it’s also your chance to make a pitch (pun, for once, not intended!) for any candidates which may have escaped my attention. Typically, we will have five nominees, and these usually include one home-run, two infield plays, and two outfield plays. But I am prepared to hear arguments to the contrary! Here’s how this will work.

• Go to the comments section.
• If your choice is already mentioned there, give it a “rec”.
• If your choice is NOT mentioned, copy paste the FULL description, and leave that as a new comment.
• If it’s not listed, I’d recommend posting a link to a video. The MLB Video Search tool will be very helpful: here are 186 plays for your consideration!
• Duplicate nominations will get deleted.
• Mid-week, I’ll tally up the recs, and use those as a guide towards a list of five or so nominees.

Home-runs

1. Ketel Marte walks off the Giants – May 19
2. Ketel Marte blasts one 452 ft. At night. In San Francisco – May 26
3. Geraldo Perdomo gets an inside the parker – July 19
4. Ryan Waldschmidt walks off the Dodgers – August 7
5. Ryan Waldschmidt walks off the Cubs (WP +85.5%) – August 25

Infield

1. Jose Fernandez’s catch in the netting – May 1
2. Nolan Arenado’s crafty double play – May 12
3. Ketel Marte’s barehanded play – May 12
4. Kevin Ginkel picks off Luis Arraez at 2nd – May 27
5. Nolan Arenado’s nifty play for the third out – June 12
6. D-backs turn 6-2 double play – June 23
7. Ketel Marte’s defensive play in the 6th – July 17
8. Gabriel Moreno throws out Shohei Ohtani at second – August 7
9. Geraldo Perdomo’s jump throw to second – August 10
10. Ildemaro Vargas nabs Bryce Eldridge at the plate – August 29

Outfield

1. Alek Thomas’ diving catch – April 3
2. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. throws out Myles Straw at second – April 18 [for some reason, MLB wouldn’t let me include this one in the reel below – you can see it here]
3. Tim Tawa’s incredible backhanded running catch – May 1
4. Tommy Troy robs Jacob Young of extra bases – June 6
5. Jordan Lawlar makes a stellar play in center – June 12
6. Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s home run robbery – July 3
7. Ryan Waldschmidt’s great leaping catch – July 27
8. Corbin Carroll ROBS a home run! – August 7
9. Ryan Waldschmidt’s rolling grab in the 4th – August 14
10. Lars Nootbaar’s leaping catch at the wall – August 19

See you all in the comments!

Former All-Star pitcher Jerry Koosman, one of the aces on the 1969 World Series champion New York Mets, has died at the age of 83.

The Mets announced Koosman's death in a post on social media Sunday, Nov. 1.

The left-handed workhorse made his major-league debut with the Mets in 1967 and was an All-Star the following year and in 1969 as the "Miracle Mets" defeated the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

"Kooz" played 12 seasons with the Mets before he was traded to the Minnesota Twins in a deal that sent 22-year-old reliever Jesse Orosco to New York. Koosman later pitched for the Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies before ending his career after the 1985 season at age 42.

We are saddened to share the news that Jerry Koosman has passed away. We send our thoughts and prayers to his family. pic.twitter.com/8zriJmxCBe

— New York Mets (@Mets) November 1, 2026

Over 19 seasons in the majors, Koosman posted a record of 222-209 with a 3.36 ERA and 2,556 strikeouts in 3,839⅓ innings.

In the postseason, he won both of his starts in the 1969 World Series against the Orioles − going 8⅔ innings in Game 2 and throwing a complete game in the clinching Game 5.

He also went 2-0 as the Mets returned to the World Series in 1973, winning Games 2 and 5 again. However, it came in a losing effort as the Mets were defeated by the Oakland A's.

He is still the winningest left-hander in Mets franchise history. He is a member of the team's Hall of Fame and had his jersey retired in 2021.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former Mets World Series hero Jerry Koosman dies at 83