Category: Baseball

Good morning everyone, and happy Thursday!

The World Series is concluded and the offseason has begun. Let’s get to all of that and more.

MLB Postseason scores…

• The Brewers became World Series champions for the first time in their franchise history, winning last night’s game against the Rays by a 4-1 margin to capture the series 4 games to 1.

In Mariners news…

• The Mariners appear to have entered the “decision” stage of their managerial search and are expected to make an announcement as early as today and as late as this weekend, with Joe Espada and Jason Kanzler as the two options. The team is hoping to introduce their new skipper in a press conference early next week.
• Kate Preusser continued her round-up of intriguing coaching candidates around baseball by diving deep into the NL East.

Around the league…

• It was almost even better for the Brew Crew this postseason…

• The Contreras brothers have made their mark on MLB history.

• The Astros are reportedly interviewing former Houston front office member Oz Ocampo for their assistant general manager opening.
• Jarrett Seidler at Baseball Prospectus wonders if the Brewers should consider giving Aaron Ashby another shot at the starting rotation next year. ($)
• Some interesting data to contextualize what we saw in the World Series.

For the first time in franchise history, the Milwaukee Brewers are World Champions. They defeated the Rays in five games to take the World Series and secure the first title, as well as the first title for the city of Milwaukee since the Braves won in 1957. They went 11-2 during their postseason run and won eight straight games at one point. Here’s how they won the World Series.

Game 1: Brewers 3, Rays 2

Recap

For the first time since 1982, the Brewers were hosting a World Series game. The excitement was high in Milwaukee, and ticket prices were through the roof. 43,250 fans gathered at American Family Field for the first game, and it did not disappoint.

The Brewers wasted no time as they scored right away. On the first pitch for the offense, Jackson Chourio singled to right to give the Brewers a baserunner. Two batters later, Christian Yelich hit a ball to right-center and just out of Jonny DeLuca’s reach, ricocheting deeper into right field. Chourio scored and Yelich had a triple, putting the Brewers up 1-0. The next batter, William Contreras, added a single just out of shortstop Taylor Walls’ reach, increasing the lead to 2-0. It was a fast start for the Brewers.

Meanwhile, Jacob Misiorowski got to work. The first inning was shaky for him as he allowed two singles, but a double play ended the inning. Misiorowski settled in for the next two innings, retiring the side in order in each one. In the fourth, the Rays broke through. Jonathan Aranda drew a walk, then Junior Caminero moved him to third with a double that Mitchell misjudged and sailed just over him. Liam Hicks brought in Aranda on an RBI groundout, cutting the lead to 2-1.

Misiorowski got through five innings, allowing just the one run on four hits and a walk with three strikeouts. On the other side, Nick Martinez also pitched five innings, but allowed two runs on five hits and no walks with five strikeouts. Even though both pitchers were under 80 pitches, both managers chose to go to their bullpens, with the Brewers leading 2-1.

The Brewers added on one more run in the seventh inning. Cooper Pratt led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a David Hamilton groundout. Chourio then brought him in with an RBI single, increasing the lead to 3-1.

In the bullpen, Abner Uribe came out first and provided 1 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out two while allowing a hit. Aaron Ashby was next, and he pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings with three strikeouts. The game then went to the closer, Trevor Megill, with a two-run lead. After a leadoff groundout from Yandy Díaz, back-to-back singles by Aranda and Chandler Simpson put two runners on base. Jorge Mateo was brought in to pinch-run for Aranda, and both runners stole a base. Megill walked Caminero to load the bases with one out.

Hicks was up next, and grounded into what looked like a routine double play to end the game. The celebration was on for the first World Series win since 1982; fireworks had fired off, and postgame handshakes were starting. However, manager Kevin Cash decided to challenge both outs. The out at first was easily confirmed, but the replay of the out at second was much more divisive. The replay showed that when Pratt caught the ball at second, his foot was barely off the bag. It was possible that a spike from his cleats was still on it. The umpires in New York reviewed it and ruled Pratt was off the bag, and Caminero was safe at second. That also allowed Mateo to score, closing the gap to 3-2.

That could have been a disaster for the Brewers and completely changed the game, but Megill would not let that happen. He remained composed and struck out DeLuca on five pitches, officially securing the first World Series win since 1982.

Contreras led the game with a 2-for-3 day with a walk, driving in one run as well. He also played a big part on defense, throwing out two runners who tried to steal second. Chourio also had a two-hit day with an RBI and a run scored.

Game 2: Brewers 5, Rays 4

Recap

The Rays came out swinging against Logan Henderson in Game 2. A Cooper Pratt throwing error allowed Díaz to reach base to lead off the game and put him in scoring position. Two batters later, Simpson singled to center and scored Díaz, giving the Rays an early 1-0 lead. After Simpson stole second, Caminero singled to left and made it a 2-0 game. Hicks followed that up with a home run to right-center, increasing the lead to 4-0 with only one out in the top of the first inning.

However, as the Brewers had proven a week and a half earlier in Game 4 of the NLCS, a four-run deficit was not insurmountable. They cut that deficit in half in the bottom of the inning, hitting four singles off Rays’ starter Drew Rasmussen to make it a 4-2 game.

Though Henderson made it through the next two innings scoreless, it was not his day, and it came to an end after just three innings pitched. He allowed four runs (only three were earned) on three hits and a walk with four strikeouts. As for Rasmussen, he settled in for a couple of innings and made it through the next two innings scoreless as well.

The Brewers chased Rasmussen from the game in the fourth. It started with a one-out walk from Pratt, then a single by Sal Frelick put runners at the corners. Next up was David Hamilton, who hit a sharp ground ball to Aranda at first base. It deflected under his legs and behind him, and there was no chance to get Hamilton speeding to first. Pratt scored to make it a 4-3 game. Chourio moved both runners up with a groundout, and Jake Bauers drew a walk to load the bases, which ended Rasmussen’s day. The Brewers made him throw 89 pitches in 3 2/3 innings, scoring three runs off of him with six hits and two walks, while he struck out four.

After Cam Booser got the Rays out of the fourth inning, it was officially a battle of the bullpens with the Brewers down 4-3. JoJo Romero started it with a scoreless fourth for the Brewers, then Dustin May added a scoreless fifth and DL Hall a scoreless sixth. Booser got through the fifth scoreless as well.

Frelick led off the sixth inning against new reliever Ian Seymour and made him work with a nine-pitch at-bat. It ended with a home run off the batter’s eye in center field, and the Brewers had completely erased the deficit and tied the game at 4-4. Seymour responded with two strikeouts before leaving the game after Bauers walked and Yelich singled. Tyler Wells finished off the sixth for the Rays.

Uribe took the seventh and worked around a walk for a clean inning. Wells remained in for the seventh, and Turang began the inning with a double to center. After Mitchell flew out to move Turang to third, Cash went to Kevin Kelly out of the bullpen. Pratt countered with a single to right field over a drawn-in infield, giving the Brewers their first lead of the game, 5-4.

After Uribe got Caminero to ground out to start the eighth, Ashby was in again to finish up the game. He finished the eighth with a strikeout and groundout. The offense tried to give him some breathing room as they used a Chourio single, Yelich walk, and three stolen bases to put runners at second and third. Unfortunately, Chourio was out at the plate when he tried to score on a fielder’s choice, but couldn’t get in before the tag (which was upheld on review).

Ashby had his hands full to finish off the game in the ninth. DeLuca led off the inning with a double, putting the tying run in scoring position right away. Ashby struck out Victor Mesa Jr., then got pinch-hitter Ben Williamson to ground out, but that also moved DeLuca up to third. With the tying run knocking, Ashby finished off the game with a strikeout of Díaz, and the Brewers had a 2-0 series lead.

Once again, Chourio and Contreras had two-hit days. Every Brewer except Hamilton had a hit, with Frelick also adding a two-hit day. Five different Brewers also had an RBI, with Pratt recording the big one that put the Brewers up for good.

Game 3: Brewers 10, Rays 1

Recap

The series moved to Tampa Bay for Game 3, and the Rays hoped that they could capitalize on home-field advantage. Many of the Brewers had not played in Tampa Bay before — their previous visit in 2025 happened at Steinbreiner Field while Tropicana Park was being repaired. While the Rays may have had their advantages with a tricky roof and an unfamiliar turf field, Brewers fans took over a significant portion of the ballpark.

The game began with both starters — Robert Gasser and former Brewer Freddy Peralta — holding the offenses off the board for two innings. Then, the Brewers started pecking away in the third. Chourio singled with one out, Bauers drew a walk, and Yelich singled to drive in Chourio and make it a 1-0 game. Contreras followed that with another single, and even though he was caught trying to stretch it to a double, Bauers scored, and it was a 2-0 game.

The floodgates opened for the Brewers in the fifth. It started with a Chourio single (his third hit of the game) and a Yelich walk. With two outs, Contreras hit a ground ball to Caminero, who went to second to get the force out there. Yelich was initially called out for the final out of the inning, but Pat Murphy challenged it. Replay confirmed that Yelich beat the throw to second, and the call was overturned. It was a big break for the Brewers because, had Caminero thrown to first, Contreras would have been an easy out. Instead, he was credited with a single.

That chased Peralta out of the game, and Booser came in with the bases loaded and two outs. What followed was a barrage of Brewers’ hits: Turang single, Mitchell single, Pratt double, and Frelick double. The Rays went to Cole Sulser, but the barrage didn’t stop: Hamilton single and Chourio double. Bauers flew out to end the inning, but the Brewers had scored eight runs. It was a 10-0 game. Peralta was charged with five of those runs in 4 2/3 innings, Booser was charged with four, and Sulser had one.

Gasser didn’t need most of that. He put together what was the Brewers’ best start of the postseason. In six innings, he allowed just one hit and one walk. At one point, he retired 12 batters in a row. Thanks to a caught stealing from Contreras and a double play, he faced the minimum 18 batters in those six innings of work. He only needed 75 pitches to make that happen.

Antonio Senzatela worked two scoreless innings (also facing the minimum), then Brandon Woodruff made his return in the ninth inning. It wasn’t his best day — he allowed a run on two hits — but finished the game with an inning of work to secure the win.

The offense collected 16 hits as a team. Every starter was on base at least once, and all but Bauers had at least one hit and one RBI. Chourio had four hits, Contreras and Turang had three hits, and Yelich had two. The Brewers had a 3-0 series lead and were just one win away from their first World Series title.

Game 4: Rays 4, Brewers 3 (12 Innings)

Recap

It was the first chance for the Brewers to clinch a title, but both teams were ready to put up a fight to the end. May got the start in Game 4 and faced Griffin Jax of the Rays.

Both teams traded scoreless first innings before the Rays got on the board first. Simpson drove in DeLuca with an RBI double, and the Rays were up 1-0. In a twist from previous games, the Brewers did not respond in the next half-inning. It took them two innings to respond. Pratt drove in Frelick with an RBI double in the top of the fourth, tying the game at 1-1.

After May allowed a single to Caminero to start the bottom of the fourth, he was replaced by Romero. Caminero moved up to second on a groundout, then a lapse in the Brewers’ defense hurt them. DeLuca hit a ground ball right to Hamilton, who decided to try to tag Caminero running to third. Hamilton could not tag him, but tried to throw to first for the out. His throw was off, and DeLuca reached safely, and the bad throw allowed Caminero to score. The Rays were up again, 2-1.

That lead was erased again in the next half-inning. Hamilton made up for his miscue on defense with a solo home run to right-center field, tying the game at 2-2. That chased Jax from the game, officially turning it over to both bullpens. Both starters allowed two runs, with May going three-plus innings and Jax four-plus.

The bullpens on both sides were rock solid for the next several innings. Romero, Uribe, Hall, Megill, Ashby, and Senzatela combined to throw eight scoreless innings for the Brewers, with just three baserunners (two hits and a walk) allowed and seven strikeouts. For the Rays, Kelly, Martinez, Baker, Wells, and Booser combined for eight scoreless innings of their own, allowing just four baserunners (two hits and two walks with four strikeouts).

The game went into extra innings, and both teams kept matching scoreless innings until the 12th inning. Seymour was brought in, and he faced Pratt to start the inning. On a 2-2 pitch, Pratt had the biggest swing of his life to that point, hitting a home run into the left-center bleachers. It was his fourth hit of the game, and it put the Brewers up 3-2. Chourio added a two-out double, but they couldn’t add on, and they were just three outs away from a championship.

However, the Rays would not go down quietly. The bottom of the inning started with Caminero hitting a ground ball to Ortiz, who had entered the game as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning. Ortiz made a terrible throw to first, Bauers couldn’t pick it, and the Rays had a baserunner. Murphy brought in Shane Drohan, and the Rays responded with their own version of pecking away. Back-to-back singles by Hicks and DeLuca tied the game. Simpson hit a third straight single to load the bases, and Williamson ended the game with a walk-off single. The Rays took Game 4 by a score of 4-3.

All of a sudden, the euphoria in the fanbase of a potential championship was replaced with an absolutely crushing loss. Not only that, but there was not much time to think about it. Game 5 was less than 20 hours away, and there was still work to do.

Game 5: Brewers 4, Rays 1

Recap

If there was any concern that the crushing defeat in Game 4 would affect the Brewers, they put those feelings to rest quickly. Both teams sent out their aces, with the Brewers starting Misiorowski on four days’ rest and the Rays starting Rasmussen on three days’ rest.

Both starters traded scoreless first innings, then the Brewers offense got going. Turang got the first hit of the day with a one-out double. After a scary moment where Frelick was hit by a pitch, Pratt continued his blazing hot streak. He recorded his fifth-straight hit, an RBI single to center that scored Turang. Pratt was caught trying to stretch it into a double, but the Brewers had a 1-0 lead.

Three innings later, Rasmussen was out of the game (a planned short start due to the short rest), and Kelly was first out of the bullpen. Pratt recorded his sixth straight hit with a one-out single, then moved up to third on a Mitchell single. Hamilton drove in Pratt with the team’s third straight single, and the lead was up to 2-0.

The next inning, Yelich was hit by a pitch from Garrett Cleavinger, giving the Brewers a leadoff runner. Contreras instantly cashed in the run with an RBI double that was just short of the wall, increasing the lead to 3-0. Contreras moved up to third on a Turang single before Wells was brought in from the Rays’ bullpen. Two batters later, Pratt’s streak of at-bats with a hit came to an end, but he made it count. On a fly ball to deep right field in foul territory, Vilade chose to catch it and try to throw out Contreras at home. It was too deep, and Contreras scored to increase the lead to 4-0.

Meanwhile, Misiorowski was cruising through most of this game. In 5 2/3 innings, he had allowed just two hits and a walk. He only had two strikeouts, but was efficient with most of his pitches. Unfortunately, his night came to an early end when he had another case of cramps in his legs. Romero was brought in to replace him, and he finished the sixth with just one pitch.

Romero and Uribe got through the seventh scoreless, working around a Contreras throwing error to keep the Rays off the board. Megill was then brought in for two innings of work after a quick night in Game 4. He sat the Rays down in order in the eighth on 10 pitches.

Once again, the Brewers were three outs from a championship, but the Rays would not end it quietly. Hicks hit a one-out double to right, and Simpson hit a two-out double to give the Rays their first run. With the tying run in the on-deck circle, the game started to feel a little tense. The last batter was Richie Palacios. He hit a routine ground ball to Turang, who threw to Bauers covering first. The Brewers won, and they have their first championship in franchise history.

There were plenty of great performances in this World Series. Chourio had 11 hits in the World Series. Pratt had six straight hits between Games 3 and 4, and recorded seven RBIs in the series. Ashby had one of the most dominant postseasons ever by a reliever, pitching 18 straight scoreless innings, including 5 2/3 in the World Series. In the end, the MVP went to William Contreras, who not only went 8-for-21 with four RBIs in the five-game set, but also threw out four baserunners and had several successful ABS challenges. He shared this moment with his brothers, who had traveled to cheer him on in the series.

In the immediate aftermath of the game, several players were interviewed on the field. One of those was Yelich, who has been with this team since 2018 when the turnaround fully began. He made sure to shout out Bob Uecker on the field, dedicating this one to him.

Jacob Misiorowski — perhaps the king of showing emotion on the field — also broke down in tears during his postgame interview.

The party was in full swing in Milwaukee. At American Family Field, where the Brewers held interactive watch parties for three straight days, there was pure joy when the Brewers recorded their final out. That was also present in the Deer District, which also hosted a watch party in downtown Milwaukee.

In his speech before the celebration fully kicked off, Murphy addressed the team. He thanked many people, both past and present. From the ownership of Bud Selig, who brought the Brewers to Milwaukee, and Mark Attanasio, the current owner. He acknowledged the past and Robin Yount, who was present for the celebration. He thanked the management led by Matt Arnold for their work. He then “passed on” one more message from Bob Uecker, saying that while he may have helped in the past rounds, this one was all their work. Then, the celebration began with one final statement: “You boys ought to be awfully proud to know that you’re the first-ever Milwaukee Brewers team to be World Champions.”

Congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers on winning the 2026 World Series, the first World Series title in their 58-year franchise history.

With that, baseball’s offseason commences. Here’s a handy calendar to help you fill your fall and winter until Opening Day 2027.

Presuming, that is, that there’s no interruption in the 2027 season due to a likely lockout by MLB team owners of MLBPA members when their collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1. How long that lockout goes will determine whether and/or when some of the things listed in this calendar will actually happen. I’m listing dates as scheduled as of the date of this post, October 29, 2026. As always, we await developments.

The day after the conclusion of the World Series (today): All players with at least six years of service time who are not under contract for the 2027 season will automatically become free agents (in fact, officially were as of earlier this morning, 8 a.m. CT). Minor league players with six years of service will also become free agents if not added to a 40-man roster. For the first five days after the World Series there is a “quiet period” when clubs can talk to free agents but can’t sign them, although players can re-sign with their original team during this period.

At the end of the quiet period (Monday, Nov. 2at 4 p.m. CT), clubs must decide whether or not to extend one-year qualifying offers to their free agents. The qualifying offer for 2027 is $23,15 million, up 5.1 percent from $22.025 million last year. The Cubs will certainly give Seiya Suzuki a qualifying offer. Two other Cubs, Ian Happ and Matthew Boyd (who has a mutual option that will likely be declined), might get a QO as noted in this article here last month. Players who receive a QO then have to decide whether or not to take it — note the deadline below. If they don’t, they are immediately eligible to sign with another team. Last year, 13 players were given a QO and four accepted, including, as you know, Cubs left-hander Shōta Imanaga, who is now a free agent. Players can only get a QO once, so Imanaga is now an unrestricted free agent.

Other Cubs who are unrestricted free agents: Kevin Gausman, David Peterson, Aaron Civale, Tyrone Taylor, Michael Conforto, Tyler Austin and Trent Thornton.

The end of the five-day quiet period is also the deadline to settle 2026 contracts with opt-out clauses, player options, club options and mutual options.

Here are the Cubs players with those clauses/options.

Besides Boyd, three other Cubs have mutual options for 2027: Hunter Harvey, Carson Kelly and Caleb Thielbar. Mutual options are almost always declined by the player; in Harvey’s case the Cubs will likely decline and they almost certainly will decline with Thielbar as well. With Kelly, I’d like to see the Cubs work out a deal for another year.

Two Cubs have team options: Colin Rea ($7.5 million) and Jacob Webb ($2.5 million). I’m not sure what the team will do with Rea, but they’ll almost certainly pick up Webb’s inexpensive option.

One Cub has a player option: Clay Holmes ($12 million). We discussed that here a few weeks ago.

At the same time, teams are required to move all players on the 60-day injured list back to the active roster. The Cubs have quite a few players currently listed on the 60-day IL (in addition to Austin and Harvey, mentioned above): Ben Brown, Porter Hodge, Cade Horton, Riley Martin, Phil Maton, Shelby Miller and Justin Steele. With all the free-agent departures noted above, there will be plenty of room to add back all those players.

Here are all the players who officially became free agents this morning, listed by position. There could be others after various contract clauses are exercised, or not.

Here are some other dates to note this fall and winter.

Sunday, Nov. 1: Rawlings Gold Glove winners will be announced live on ESPN at 8 p.m. CT.

Monday, Nov. 2: The National Baseball Hall of Fame announces its eight-person Contemporary Baseball Era Players ballot for managers, executives and umpires.

Monday, Nov. 2: BBWAA award finalists announced on MLB Network at 5 p.m. CT.

Thursday, Nov. 5: Silver Slugger finalists announced at 10 a.m. CT by Louisville Slugger.

Friday, Nov. 6: MLB Players Alumni Association (MLBPAA) announces its Heart & Hustle Award winner live on MLB Network.

Friday, Nov. 6: Rawlings Gold Glove Dinner in NYC and announcement of Platinum Glove winners.

Sunday, Nov. 8: Arizona Fall League Fall Stars Game on MLB Network at 7 p.m. CT.

Monday-Wednesday, Nov. 9-12: General managers meetings in Las Vegas.

Monday, Nov. 9: The Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award winners will be announced for the National and American Leagues live on MLB Network at 6 p.m. CT.

Tuesday, Nov. 10: Manager of the Year awards will be announced for the National League and American Leagues live on MLB Network at 6 p.m. CT.

Wednesday, Nov. 11: AL and NL Cy Young awards will be announced live on MLB Network at 6 p.m. CT.

Wednesday, Nov. 11: The Hank Aaron Award winners, Comeback Players of the Year, Mariano Rivera & Trevor Hoffman Relievers of the Year, Edgar Martinez Outstanding Designated Hitter of the Year, selections for the All-MLB First and Second Teams, the MLB Executive of the Year Award, and several AUSL (Athletes Unlimited Softball League) awards will all be announced live from Las Vegas on MLB Network at 8 p.m. CT.

Thursday, Nov. 12: MVP awards for the NL and AL will be announced live on MLB Network at 6 p.m. CT.

Saturday, Nov. 14: Arizona Fall League Championship Game on MLB Network at 7 p.m. CT

Monday, Nov. 16: The 2026 BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot will be released, with voting taking place through December 31.

Tuesday-Thursday, Nov. 17-19: Owners meetings in New York.

Tuesday, Nov. 17: Players who have received qualifying offers must accept or reject them by 3 p.m. CT. Players accepting the offer, obviously, remain with their previous team. Players who reject the offer become free agents attached to draft pick compensation. Last year, 13 players received the $22.025 million QO, and four accepted: Imanaga, Gleyber Torres, Brandon Woodruff and Trent Grisham.

Tuesday, Nov. 17: Teams must add eligible minor leaguers to their 40-man rosters by 5 p.m. CT or risk losing them in the Rule 5 Draft. Players 19 or older drafted or signed no later than 2023 and players 18 or older drafted no later than 2022 are Rule 5 Draft eligible this year, as well as players signed internationally no later than 2022.

Tuesday, Nov. 17: Silver Slugger Awards will be announced for each position by Louisville Slugger.

Friday, Nov. 20: The MLB non-tender deadline (7 p.m. CT). All teams must offer their pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players a contract for 2027 by this date. Players who do not receive a contract offer are considered “non-tendered” and become free agents. This date was moved up from early December to the Friday immediately before Thanksgiving in the current CBA. The following 12 Cubs are arb-eligible this year (projected salary estimates here): Justin Steele, Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett, Javier Assad, Tyler Austin, Miguel Amaya, Gabriel Arias, Ryan Rolison, Ethan Roberts, Michael Busch, Ben Brown and Daniel Palencia. Here’s how I see all those players resolving their arb deals for 2027; it’s possible that Arias and Roberts could be non-tendered.

This brings us to Dec. 1 and the likely lockout. Some of the events listed below might not happen, or be rescheduled. The Hall of Fame announcements should proceed regardless of the lockout.

Sunday, Dec. 6: The Contemporary Baseball Era Committee of the Hall of Fame will meet, with the results of their vote announced live on MLB Network at 7 p.m. CT. Anyone elected will be inducted in Cooperstown Sunday, July 27, 2027.

Monday-Wednesday, Dec. 7-9: MLB’s annual Winter Meetings in San Diego.

Tuesday, Dec. 8: The winner of the Hall of Fame’s 2025 BBWAA Career Excellence Award (for writers) will be announced.

Tuesday, Dec. 8: The MLB Draft lottery will take place. The 18 teams that did not make the postseason all have a shot at the No. 1 pick, though the worst teams have the highest odds. As a postseason team in 2026, the Cubs aren’t part of the lottery and will pick 22nd. The lottery will be held at 3 p.m. CT and the results will be televised on MLB Network at 4:30 p.m. CT.

Wednesday, Dec. 9: The winner of the Hall of Fame’s 2025 Frick Award (for broadcasters) will be announced.

Wednesday, Dec. 9: The Rule 5 Draft is the final event of the Winter Meetings. It will begin at 1 p.m. CT. Players taken in the Rule 5 Draft must remain on their new team’s major league roster all season or be offered back to their original team, although sometimes trades are arranged so teams can keep the player in their minor-league system. The Rule 5 Draft is usually streamed live on MLB.com.

Monday, Dec. 15: The 2026 international signing period closes at 4 p.m. CT. The 2027 signing period opens next month (see below).

Friday, Jan. 8: Teams must exchange salary figures with arbitration-eligible players by this deadline. The two parties can avoid arbitration by reaching an agreement any time prior to the beginning of an arb hearing. In many cases, players and teams agree to a contract before filing salary figures.

Friday, Jan. 15: The 2027 international signing period begins at 8 a.m. CT. Since MLB and the MLBPA couldn’t agree on an international draft for the CBA that expired in December, amateur players from countries outside the US, Canada and Puerto Rico can still sign with any team.

Friday-Sunday, Jan. 15-17:The Cubs Convention. Hotel room packages are on sale here and you can get weekend passes without the hotel stay here.

Tuesday, Jan. 19: The Hall of Fame announces its 2027 class in a live MLB Network broadcast at 5 p.m. CT. Any players elected from the BBWAA ballot will be inducted in a ceremony in Cooperstown on Sunday, July 25.

Late January-early February, dates TBD: Arbitration hearings for eligible players who have not reached agreement on contracts with their teams.

Wednesday, Feb. 10: Pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.

Friday, Feb. 19: The Cubs open their 2027 Spring Training schedule against the A’s at HoHoKam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona. The next day, they will play their first 2027 spring home game at Sloan Park against the Reds.

Friday, March 19-Monday, March 22: MLB Spring Breakout tournament at various spring parks in both Arizona and Florida. Minor leaguers not on 40-man rosters can participate. Details will be announced later. This tournament will take place regardless of the status of any lockout.

Thursday, March 25: The Cubs open their 2026 season at Wrigley Field against the Cleveland Guardians, time TBD (but likely 1:20 p.m. CT). All 30 teams are scheduled to play that day.

In the aftermath of the trade that sent longtime franchise stalwart Brandon Nimmo to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Marcus Semien, David Stearns publicly expressed optimism for how the three-time All Star could contribute in 2026. While acknowledging the down year that the veteran second baseman had in 2025, Stearns argued for the possibility of an offensive rebound while also noting the contributions the organization expected him to provide in the field and on the bases.

Perhaps he wasn’t entirely lying, but he probably wasn’t being 100% truthful, either. Indeed, if you injected Stearns with truth serum, he’d probably acknowledge that the trade had much more to do with offloading Nimmo onto another team (thus securing both an open corner outfield spot and long-term salary relief), and accepting Semien in return was merely the price he had to pay for that to happen. I’m sure the team would not have been at all surprised if they looked into the future and saw that the offensive downturn that started over the previous couple years would continue—but they also probably hoped that A) he would continue to provide Gold Glove caliber defense (or at the very least well above-average, even if that aspect of his game declined as well), and B) the rest of the team would be strong enough to overcome one below-average bat in the lineup. And if all else failed, the other factor in justifying the trade may well have been that it would be easier to cut ties with Semien sometime before his contract expires at the end of the 2028 season than it would have been with a homegrown veteran like Nimmo (whose two extra years would also have provided a barrier for moving on).

We’ll get to the long-term considerations a little later. But looking solely at 2026 contributions, it’s hard to imagine how Semien’s performance could have been much worse, and he ended up becoming one of the most prominent faces for the team’s dramatic underperformance.

From the very beginning of the season, Semien looked every bit his 35 years of age—a player with declining bat speed and exit velocities whose degrading skills simply are not coming back. The 74 wRC+ that he put up for the whole year was the worst of any of his season of his major league career, and a further decline from the previous year when he was still a below average offensive player, but at least only marginally so (90 wRC+ in 2025). One of the things that stood out about Semien’s poor performance was how consistent it was—as in, he was pretty much bad all year without any notable hot stretches to speak of. Looking at his monthly splits, his best month with the bat came in August when he put up a measly 88 wRC+, meaning he was well below-average all the way from April to September. Even in his poor 2025 season, he at least had stretches where he resembled the player he once was. But no such glimpses could be seen in 2026.

And that included his once sterling defense as well. Semien won his second career Gold Glove in 2025, despite the advanced stats saying his defensive downturn had already begun. Well, that downturn turned into an outright cratering in 2026. The advanced defensive stats paint an ugly picture for how precipitous his decline was, and it seems the primary reason for that was a significant loss in range:

That certainly matches by what the eye test told us, as there were plenty of ground balls that the Semien of a couple years ago probably reaches without much difficulty which instead trickled past him. And this is probably the one thing that did actually catch the Mets off-guard internally in their internal evaluation of the player they traded for. A continued gradual defensive decline was always inevitable, and that still left open the possibility that he could be at least a neutral player if he continued to be just slightly below average with the bat. But taking such a significant step backwards with the glove along with his continued offensive decline meant that it was pretty much impossible for Semien to provide any kind of value to the team. But hey, look on the bright side: his -0.5 fWAR wasn’t even enough to make him the least valuable position player on the team, as Mark Vientos and Jorge Polanco both somehow beat him in that department. Your 2026 New York Mets, ladies and gentlemen.

What did perhaps make the Marcus Semien experience more frustrating than that of guys like Vientos and Polanco was that—as is often the case with players of his ilk—his veteran status meant that he continued to be in the lineup pretty much every single day, even after it became very clear that his performance did not warrant it. Even with a three-week IL stint thrown into the mix, he still ended up with 547 total plate appearances on the season—the third highest amongst Mets players. Granted, maybe the team would not have been inclined to continue giving him that much playing time down the stretch if they were still in the hunt for a playoff spot. Still, while one bad player can’t be assigned all the blame for a team’s underperformance, Semien was at least one of the prime reasons for why the Mets weren’t in the postseason race late in the season to begin with.

If there’s one silver lining to look at in this trade, it’s this: its effect of opening up a spot in the outfield did in fact prove to be valuable. Over in Texas, Nimmo didn’t have a terrible year, per se, but it certainly wasn’t a great one, as he ended up being just a slightly above-average player while continuing to decline with the glove. He certainly did not look like a player you would want to have signed for four more years. And back in Queens, the Mets saw their outfield buoyed by the youthful additions of Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing, and even having the ability to move Juan Soto to left field helped to improve the overall team defense. So despite Semien’s dramatic underperformance, there did prove to be some short-term benefits from making the trade, in addition to the potential long-term ones.

And now we return to the other underlying argument in favor of the trade: the unspoken notion that the Mets would be able to either release him or relegate him to the bench prior to the end of his contract if his performance warranted such a move. It is certainly worth noting that Stearns declined to commit to Semien being the starting second baseman on the 2027 team. And it’s not difficult to understand why. It’s hard to imagine that the Mets couldn’t upgrade at the position fairly easily—whether that be by exploring the free agent or trade market or giving runway for one of the team’s young infield prospects (such as Jefferson Rojas or Émilien Pitre) to win the job early in the season, much like they did for Benge.

The only question then would be what the team would subsequently do with Semien. Would they indeed demote him to a bench role? Would a veteran player who has expressed a strong desire to play every day be willing to spend the next two years in that role? The Mets could also see if they can find a trade partner for him, though such a move would almost certainly require them to pay the majority of the money on his remaining contract. If they are not able to do that, would they be willing to simply cut him and eat the entirety of the $46 million still owed to him? Steve Cohen has done it before with Robinson Canó; would he be willing to do it again?

If none of these potential outcomes play out and Semien ends up getting the lion’s share of the starts at second base next year, then the argument for trading Nimmo away will suddenly become a little bit less favorable. But if they do end up being able to either get him off the roster or relegate him to a more minor role, it is likely that, in spite of everything, the Mets would still do the trade all over again, even knowing how poorly Semien would play. The reasons for it remain sound enough. Nevertheless, the long-term benefits still won’t quite remove the bad taste in the average Mets fan’s mouth for having to endure watching such a disappointing performance on such a disappointing team in 2026. Semien will be remembered for having an excellent career when he eventually hangs up his cleats, but whether his time with the Mets ends now or in another year or two, it seems inevitable that his New York tenure will not be looked upon fondly.

Welcome to Friday Junior everyone!

Firstly, congrats are in order to the Milwaukee Brewers after securing their first championship in team history. They’ve consistently been one of the best teams in the league over the past decade but finally have some hardware to show for it. Now there are only four teams still looking to win their first: Colorado, Seattle, San Diego, and the losers in this series the Tampa Bay Rays. So close.

Now the offseason truly begins for everyone else. With the end of the World Series comes a five-day clock for free agency to open up. Unlike in other sports there’s not usually a major rush of signings on the first day, and that’s unlikely to change this year. That being said, with a looming lockout just one month and two days away, teams might want to lock in some of their top targets before December 1st to have peace of mind. New A’s President Tyler Smith has some room in the payroll to add. Could we possibly see a quick strike to add a reliever to get a head start on bolstering a beleaguered bullpen? Or are we going to see every front office hold their fire until they know the exact terms of the next CBA?

Along with free agency beginning, it’s time for official decisions regarding option decisions. For the Athletics, they have two options to decide on in the next five days: whether to pick up Jeff McNeil’s $15.75 million option, as well as deciding on starter Jeffrey Springs’ own $15 million option. Both are likely to be declined since neither had good years and are aging veterans. McNeil was one of the better hitters for the team in the second half and there’s a scenario where the A’s could bring him back, but not at that price tag. Springs meanwhile has made it known his fly ball style of pitching isn’t conducive to success at Sutter Health Park and it’s likely this is an easy divorce for both sides.

Then there’s Luis Severino. The right-hander has his own option to decide on, a $22 million deal to stick around in Sacramento for one more year. It’s highly likely he’s going to accept that since there’s no way he’d get more than that on the open market. While he’s been solid during his two years with the Green & Gold, he also missed a lot of the second half with a shoulder injury. Maybe there’s a chance he opts out simply because he’s 33 and wants to compete for the playoffs, but that’s a hefty payday to walk away from.

If things go as expected, McNeil and Springs will hit the free agent market while Sevy signs up for one more go-around with the A’s. The A’s will likely replace McNeil from within someone like Zack Gelof or Joshua Kuroda-Grauer at the keystone. Springs’ spot in the rotation is ripe for an outside addition to reinforce a weak rotation, which would have Sevy, JT Ginn, and likely Gage Jump. So start looking at free agent starters about to hit the open market and imaging which one you’d like on next year’s squad. Here we go folks. The offseason begins. Let’s hope it’s a good one for our A’s.

Have a great Thursday A’s fans.

A’s Coverage:

• Q&A: Smith discusses his new role as youngest head of baseball ops in MLB
• Optics vs. Infrastructure: Taylor Smith’s First Dilemma
• Athletics Hire Taylor Smith As Next President of Baseball Operations
• A’s bring in Taylor Smith to run baseball operations
• On New PBO Taylor Smith: What’s In A Number?
• A’s Considering Hiring GM Under Taylor Smith
• Trade Candidate: Shea Langeliers
• A’s Max Muncy Undergoes Knee Debridement
• The five biggest questions facing the A’s this offseason
• Inside the A’s State-of-the-Art Las Vegas Ballpark
• How technology will shape fan experiences at the A’s Las Vegas ballpark
• Pitching prospect Huggins growing his game with the help of this A’s Hall of Famer
• ’Be a sponge’: No. 19 prospect leads A’s Fall League group with do-it-all mentality
• A’s LHP prospect Richardson shows off health and resiliency during Fall League homecoming
• Zack Of All Trades Tries To Get One More Win: In Court
• Important Dates For The Athletics This Offseason
• 12 A’s Players Out of Options Heading Into 2027
• How MLB’s Proposed Changes Would Impact the A’s
• A’s part ways with assistant hitting, quality control coaches
• After an outfield collision left him paralyzed, every gain in rehab is a big win for A’s Ryan Lasko
• Why 2027 Athletics Will Be Completely Different Team
• 2026: Year Of The “Didn’t See That Coming!”
• A’s Hoping Luis Severino Chooses to Stay
• Where the A’s Plan to Use Zack Gelof in 2027
• Drafting The Top AL Graduated MLB Prospects From 2026
• Devin Taylor: Athletics 2026 Minor League Player Of The Year
• Athletics 2026 MLB Draft Report Card
• Henry Bolte Is the A’s Next Budding Star
• Determining Athletics’ Offensive MVP for the 2026 Season
• 2027 Infield Landscape Ever Changing
• Get the best of Athletics Nation on the new SB Nation app

MLB News & Interest:

• Mighty Brewers prove they’re an unbeatable crew, capture first World Series!
• Brewers’ William Contreras eighth catcher to earn World Series MVP honors
• How will the Giants resolve their 40-man roster predicament?
• Owner Mark Walter says he’ll keep Dodgers, ‘no matter what’
• Astros Interview Oz Ocampo For Assistant General Manager Role
• Super Two Status Set At 2.133 Years Of Service
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

AFL update:

That means we’re better than the Brewers, right?

Could be, but we’ll have to wait and see:

Not especially shocking:

Congrats to the Milwaukee Brewers on winning their first championship! The offseason is officially upon us, and brother, the Royals have some work to do. They lost 93 games last year, making for a disappointing season despite another great performance from All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. There should already be a sense of urgency with Witt in his prime, but this offseason may carry even more urgency as labor negotiations loom over the game. The collective bargaining agreement expires in December, and if there is no resolution by then, baseball transactions could be frozen until a deal is reached.

That could make for a sprint out of the gate as teams look to reshape their rosters. With a flurry of moves potentially on the horizon, here’s what you need to know about the offseason calendar.

What does the 40-man roster currently look like?

The Royals currently have 35 players on the 40-man roster.

Catchers (2): Carter Jensen, Salvador Perez

Infielders (6): Maikel Garcia, Nick Loftin, Michael Massey, Vinnie Pasquantino, Tyler Tolbert, Bobby Witt Jr.

Outfielders (5): Jac Caglianone, Isaac Collins, Kyle Isbel, Matthew Lugo, John Rave

Pitchers (22): Ryan Bergert, Spencer Bivens, Noah Cameron, Steven Cruz, Jose Cuas, Randy Dobnak, Carlos Durán, Carlos Estévez, Lucas Erceg, Tony Gonsolin, Anthony Gose, Nolan Hoffman, Ben Kudrna, Seth Lugo, Daniel Lynch IV, James McArthur, Nate Pearson, Mitch Spence, Connor Thomas, Michael Wacha, Beck Way, Steven Zobac

Teams need to activate players from the 60-day Injured List within five days and add them to the 40-man roster. For the Royals, that includes Luinder Avila, Stephen Kolek, Nick Mears, and Cole Ragans.

Which players become free agents?

Four players automatically become MLB free agents today – Jonathan India, Craig Kimbrel, Luke Maile, and Josh Rojas. The Royals will have an exclusive five-day negotiating window with them, but after that, they are free to sign with any team. Pitchers Alec Marsh, Connor Seabold, and Easton McGee elected free agency when they were outrighted off the 40-man roster last week. Alex Lange can also elect free agency after he was outrighted.

Which players have contract options?

The Royals have a $13 million club option on closer Carlos Estévez that they will almost certainly decline after he missed most of the season with an injury. Instead they will pay a $2 million buyout and he will become a free agent. J.J. Picollo has said the team plans to exercise the $2.5 million club option on former All-Star pitcher Tony Gonsolin, who the Royals signed late in the year. The former Dodgers All-Star pitched in one game near the end of the season for the Royals, but he should be in the mix for a rotation spot next spring.

Which players must be added to the 40-man roster?

The Royals will likely add outfielder Carson Roccaforte and pitcher Lucas Braun, although adding them to the 40-man roster will prohibit them from contact with the team as long as their is a work stoppage. The team could also add first baseman Brett Squires, outfielder Gavin Cross, or pitcher Felix Arronde, among other eligible players.

The Rule 5 Draft is scheduled for the week after the collective bargaining agreement expires on December 1. Unless the owners and players agree to move it up, the major-league portion could be canceled if a lockout occurs. That happened during the last lockout in 2021, when the Rule 5 draft was postponed indefinitely before ultimately being canceled in March 2022.

Who could be non-tendered by the Royals?

Players with at least three years of service time (and sometimes those with two years) but not yet eligible for free agency are eligible for salary arbitration. If the player and team can not agree on a salary, each side submits a number to go to a hearing with an arbiter siding with one party.

Teams have until November 20 to decide whether to “tender” a contract to a player, making them eligible for the arbitration process, or “non-tender” a player, effectively releasing him and making him a free agent. The Royals have nine arbitration-eligible players – Randy Dobnak, Lucas Erceg, Anthony Gose, Kyle Isbel, Daniel Lynch IV, Michael Massey, James McArthur, Nick Mears, and Nate Pearson.

How much will the Royals spend?

Picollo insists he does not have a hard number on payroll, but owner John Sherman said in August the team has about $30 million coming off the payroll that can be invested in players.

The Royals have seven players under contract for next year.

• Seth Lugo $21.5 million
• Bobby Witt Jr. $20.111 million
• Michael Wacha $14 million
• Cole Ragans $7.583 million
• Maikel Garcia $7.26 million
• Vinnie Pasquantino $6.9 million
• Salvador Perez $6.5 million

Those players, combined with arbitration-eligible players and remaining players on the roster, amounts to around $120 million. The Royals fielded an Opening Day payroll of $142 million in 2026.

What will the Royals do this offseason?

In his end-of-the-season press conference, J.J. Picollo said the team would be “aggressive in acquisitions”, although that does not necessarily mean they will pursue high-priced targets. Picollo has identified the bullpen as the top priority, although he hinted that spending on relievers hasn’t worked on them before. Instead, the team could pursue lower-cost options, following a model used by teams like the Brewers, Rays, and Guardians. Sherman said the team could “cobble” together a bullpen. In 2026, Royals relievers had a 5.07 ERA, second-worst in baseball, and a league-worst 6.65 ERA in the ninth inning. 

Another top priority will be to add starting pitching depth. The Royals had 13 different pitchers start a game for them this year after injuries to Kris Bubic, Cole Ragans, Ryan Bergert, Stephen Kolek, and Luinder Avila decimated their rotation. Picollo would also like to upgrade the outfield, preferably with a right-handed bat. That may pose a challenge as there is a record-low number of quality right-handed outfield bats in baseball right now.

Who are the top free agents?

The free agent class is headlined by Tarik Skubal, who leads a solid group of starting pitchers available such as Trevor Rogers, Freddy Peralta, Sonny Gray, Nick Martinez, Clay Holmes, and Michael King. There are several quality second basemen available like Brandon Lowe, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Luis Arraez, and Gleyber Torres. The outfield market features Randy Arozarena, Seiya Suzuki, Taylor Ward, and Ian Happ, but falls off significantly after that. The reliever market is deep, but with few big names. You can find a list of MLB free agents here.

What happens if there is a lockout?

At midnight the night of December 1, the current collective bargaining agreement expires. At that point, all MLB business with players will cease until a new deal is worked out. That means no trades and no free agent signings. Teams are not even supposed to have conversations with players, so no offseason workouts at the stadium and no medical rehab with the team, as outlined by a memo MLB issued in October.

“Club officials are supposed to avoid players ‘to the greatest extent possible,’” wrote Evan Drellich in The Athletic, “because ‘the line between permissible and prohibited conversations is not always clear.’”

That could lead to a mad rush to get deals done before the transaction freeze. Picollo told reporters last month that “the aggressiveness in November is going to be important for us, as we expect the entire industry to be fairly busy.”

What are some dates to know?

The entire offseason calendar is subject to change or cancellation, depending on labor talks. Here is the tentative schedule.

October 29 – Eligible XX(B) players – those with six years of MLB service time – become free agents.

November 2 – Exclusive negotiating window for free agents ends at 4 p.m. CT

Deadline for most contract options

Deadline to make a Qualifying Offer to a free agent

Players on the 60-day Injured List need to be reinstated to the 40-man roster

MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, Silver Slugger Award finalists announced

Gold Glove Awards announced (7:30 p.m. CT, ESPN)

November 9 – Rookie of the Year Awards announced (6 p.m. CT, MLB Network)

November 9-12 – General Manager Meetings in Las Vegas

November 10 – Manager of the Year Award announced (6 p.m. CT, MLB Network)

November 11 – Cy Young Award announced (6 p.m. CT, MLB Network)

MLB Awards show (8 .m. CT, MLB Network)

November 12 – MVP Awards announced (6 p.m. CT, MLB Network)

November 16 – Hall of Fame announces its 2027 BBWAA ballot

November 17-19 – Owners meetings in New York

November 17 – Deadline for players to accept the Qualifying Offer

Deadline for Rule 5-eligible players to be added to the 40-man roster.

Silver Slugger Awards announced

November 20 – Non-tender Deadline

December 1 – Collective Bargaining Agreement expires at 10:59 p.m. CT

December 6 – BBWAA announces Contemporary Baseball Era Hall of Fame inductees

December 7-9 – Winter Meetings in San Diego

December 8 – Draft Lottery

December 9 – Rule 5 Draft

January 15 – International Signing Period opens

January 19 – Hall of Fame announces BBWAA voting results and 2027 inductees, 5 p.m. CT (MLB Network)

February 19 – Royals spring training opener against the Texas Rangers in Surprise, Arizona

March 25 – Royals season opener against the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium

The Rays fell short of winning a World Series, and manager Kevin Cash faced plenty of questions afterwards.

Cash made a few questionable World Series calls involving ace Drew Rasmussen, who on three days of rest was yanked after four strong innings on Wednesday night, allowing a run on four hits and throwing 48 pitches in an eventual 4-1 series-deciding loss in Game 5.

“We had gone into the game saying it was 60 pitches or four innings. Stuck to that. That was the easiest call in the world to take him out of the ball game,” Cash said postgame.

The decision instantly backfired, as he went to reliever Kevin Kelly for the fifth inning with the hope that he could make quick work of the bottom of Milwaukee’s lineup, though the Brewers got three consecutive hits to extend their lead to 2-0.

In the sixth inning, Garrett Cleavinger coughed up two more runs to balloon the deficit to 4-0 as things had completely unraveled for the Rays. 

Cash arguably should have gone with Rasmussen in the first game of the series, but instead pushed him back a day in favor of Nick Martinez despite Rasmussen being on normal rest for Game 1. 

“We prioritized Drew getting an extra day. He’s had a pretty thick workload here,” Cash said before the series, defending his Game 1 decision. “We’ve relied on him heavily. We know when he takes the ball, we’re trying to get the full pitch allotment out of him.”

But in Game 5, just days after these comments, he was forced to send Rasmussen out without getting the full pitch allotment. 

Pushing Rasmussen back a day put him on short rest for Game 5 when he would have had normal rest if the wheels hadn’t been set in motion in Game 1. 

Rasmussen was the team’s best pitcher all year, and Tampa Bay was steadfast in protecting his arm, given he’s had two Tommy John surgeries and an internal brace put in his right arm in 2023. 

The Rays offense also deserves plenty of blame, scoring one run with their season on the line — and putting just six total up in the final 38 innings of the series.

As a player who arrived in the organization in the 2016 draft, Keegan Akin is one of the longest-tenured Orioles. We have been hearing about him as a prospect and then seeing him as a major league player for more than a decade. After all of that, Akin came into 2026 as a platform year heading into free agency. His up-and-down Orioles tenure is likely ending on a down note after a season where he was pretty bad until a June injury turned out to require season-ending Tommy John surgery.

One thing that I take as a given when considering relievers in general is the concept of year-to-year volatility. At least one guy is going to be better than people thought, and at least one guy is going to be worse than people thought. You might be able to make an educated guess which ends up being which, but you never really know. The same guy can fit both of these descriptions across multiple seasons.

Akin, over his time with the team, has embodied this about as well as anybody. After he failed his way out of the rotation in 2021, he was a speculative reliever conversion heading into 2022. He was pretty good! Then, out of nowhere, he was terrible in 2023, all while keeping pretty good peripheral stats. Akin returned to good results in 2024 – though the team had zero trust in him and was almost fanatical in only using him in low-leverage situations – and was also good in 2025, with concerning peripherals last year making him more of a question mark heading into 2026.

The alarm bells that were sounding in his under-the-hood metrics a year ago turned out to be for real. Akin missed the first month of the season due to a groin strain, then as he made his way back from the injured list, he showed how his season was going to go by giving up six runs in the span of an inning during a 17-1 blowout loss to the Red Sox on April 25. That was the first that we saw of Akin this season. What a disaster.

Every fan has their guys where what you mostly remember about them are the times that they stunk. I’ll be honest with you: Akin is one of those guys for me. The idea that Akin had three separate seasons where he had an ERA of 3.41 or lower escapes from my brain every time it goes in. I remember all of the times that he was bad. Akin giving up six runs in an inning is basically what I expected every time. He did it again this year, turning a close contest against the Nationals on May 16 into a 13-3 laugher by giving up six runs while getting only one out.

In a classic of the “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?” genre, Akin was fine if you take out those two outings. He pitched 22 other games and allowed just four earned runs in those games. Maybe if he had July, August, and September to keep pitching, he would have been able to turn around the unsightly 5.68 ERA.

The Orioles probably would have given him chances to do that, following the pattern they established over multiple years with Cionel Pérez, who bombed early on only to keep sticking around on the roster and salvage his numbers somewhat. There are some good things on his Statcast page, namely that batters weren’t hitting the ball hard off of him because they were so infrequently squaring him up. There are also some not-so-good things: Akin was not making batters swing and miss, posting the lowest K/9 of his career, just 6.0. Some relievers can do well without that many strikeouts; teammate Albert Suárez is one of them. Many do not do so well.

Akin did not get to pitch the last three months to see whether he could improve things. His season was cut short when he injured his elbow at the end of June. This led to mid-July Tommy John surgery that will probably knock him out of action for nearly all, if not all, of the 2027 season as well. Akin will be 33 years old by the time he gets to seriously pitch again.

The injury in combination with the poor 2026 performance probably means that Akin will not end up ever getting the opportunity to get a real free agent contract. That was rough luck for him. Even one year for a few million would have been better than he got for most of his arbitration seasons.

Some team will probably at least extend Akin a minor league contract with a spring training invitation when 2028 rolls around. Maybe it will even be the Orioles. If he really liked it here, he might take it. There’s not much risk in handing out spring training invitations to see whether a guy has something left in the tank, as long as you correctly assess what he’s got in the tank before potentially giving him a big league roster spot again.

By season’s end, the role that the Orioles went into the season thinking would be Akin’s had been taken over by a completely different age-31 lefty, Josh Walker. Camden Chat colleague Andrea wrote about Walker yesterday. Somebody stinks or gets hurt or both and the roster moves on. Akin ended up on the wrong end of that for 2026 and that may be the final memory that we have of him as an Oriole.

Ryan Yarbrough’s four-seam fastball averaged 87.1 mph in 2026, in the 1st percentile of all major leaguers. His strikeout and whiff rates are also mediocre. Chase and groundball percentages? Also blue in Statcast. Yet the left-hander managed to post a 3.69 ERA in 63.1 innings for the Yankees in 2026.

Yarbrough got a much-deserved B in our Report Cards this season, although it arguably could have been a bit higher because it was also a B in 2025 when he posted a 4.36 ERA and a 5.04 FIP. The southpaw is who he is at this point, but he has found a home with the Yankees as the organization has encouraged him to pitch to his strengths. And it has worked.

Grade: B

2026 Stats (Overall): 38 games, 63.1 IP, 3.69 ERA, 3.45 FIP, 4.81 xFIP, 18.3 K%, 8.6 BB%, 0.7 fWAR, 0.2 rWAR

2027 Contract Status: Free agent

Despite limited velocity and bat-missing ability, Yarbrough excels at one thing: contact management. Hitters just can’t find the barrel of the bat against him with any semblance of consistency.

Yarbrough ranked in the 96th percentile with his 3.6 percent barrel rate this year, and led the league with his 25 percent hard-hit rate. A whopping three-quarters of his batted balls left the bat at 94 mph or lower and, as you can imagine, it’s much easier to field an 84 mph soft liner than a 102 mph line drive.

The contrast between his average fastball velo (and percentile ranking) and his average exit velocity is one of the funniest things you will see today:

How does Yarbrough get away with such an underwhelming repertoire velocity-wise? Smarts. Command. Pitching know-how. Good coaching. A plan and perfect execution. A varied arsenal. And so on.

The left-hander uses five pitches almost evenly: a cutter (28.7 percent), changeup (22.7 percent), sweeper (19.8 percent), four-seamer (15.6 percent), and sinker (13.1 percent). The one chosen for every occasion will depend on a number of things, but only the ‘heater’ had a wOBA over .312 at .446, and it had a much lower .352 xwOBA. Every offering serves its purpose, and nothing goes to waste. That sums up his pitching philosophy of maximizing resources to get hitters out.

As things stand today, Yarbrough will enter the 2026-27 offseason as a free agent after the one-year, $2.5 million deal he signed before the 2026 campaign expires following the conclusion of the World Series. It will certainly not be a normal winter in baseball, but regardless of the looming lockout and what happens with the next CBA, a reunion makes sense for both the pitcher and the organization.

Will they reach a new agreement to extend Yarbrough’s stay in the Bronx? Nobody knows, but the Yankees should entertain the possibility. He is New York-proven, cheap, and highly effective in his multi-inning relief role. He is also highly versatile, having shown through the years the ability to adapt to various roles ranging from starter to a traditional one-inning bullpen piece.

Yarbrough won’t get you a strikeout per inning or triple-digit velocity. Heck, he won’t even crack 90 mph on the radar gun. But he performs, and he delivers when needed. That kind of profile deserves a spot on the roster.

See more of the Yankees Roster Report Card series here.

In 2026, the San Diego Padres’ starting rotation was the roster’s weakest link. The group ranked 21st in the majors after posting a 4.40 ERA, a 1.335 WHIP, and 37 quality starts. Among the Padres’ top starters was Randy Vasquez, who emerged with a breakout season. 

Vasquez exceeded expectations

The right-hander recorded his first double-digit win total, finishing 10-6 with a 3.90 ERA in 32 appearances. The biggest difference from prior seasons was a rising strikeout rate and a declining walk rate.

Vasquez raised his strikeout rate from 13.7% in 2025 to 14.8% this season. This shift allowed the young starter to shave his walk rate from 9.1% to 6.3% in 2026. The result left his strikeout-to-walk ratio at 2.35 for the season.

Becoming a more complete starting pitcher

Another area of growth for Vasquez was shifting away from a cutter-heavy pitching approach to throwing more high-velocity four-seam fastballs. He paired it with a heavy sinker; together, they accounted for 50% of the pitches thrown in starts.

The starter’s four-seamer became his go-to out pitch to end potential scoring threats. A velocity jump (mid-90s) convinced him to rely on the pitch more frequently. Still, Vasquez found himself in tight scoring jams when the velocity of his four-seamer waned. His sinker was terrific in bailing him out and limiting damage.

It turned into a dominant secondary pitch, inducing ground balls at a 39.1% rate in 2026. His baserunner strand rate was strong (81.5%) at the start of the 2026 campaign, but it dipped to 77.4% by season’s end. 

He scaled back his cutter usage but found great success throwing the pitch away and outside the strike zone. The sharp movement kept hitters out in front, consistently yielding strikeouts or weak ground-ball outs.

The lone negative was that opposing teams’ batting average against him rose from .247 to .262 in 2026. However, Vasquez kept the ball inside the park. His home run rate went from 2.8% to 2.7% this season. Both numbers are well below the major league average of 3.1%. 

His breakout 2026 campaign has vaulted Vasquez into a primary role for the Padres’ starting rotation next spring. To prove last season was no fluke, he must sustain this level of consistency on the mound.

Padres News:

• Freddy Fermin came to the Padres as a much needed upgrade at the catcher position. However, in 2026 he struggled at the plate and became a defense-only backstop. See how Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball graded Fermin’s season.

• With the World Series over and a potential lockout on the horizon, the business of baseball takes center stage over the coming weeks for the Padres.

Baseball News:

• The Milwaukee Brewers dominated the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 of the World Series to win their first championship.

• Brewers catcher William Contreras was named the World Series MVP.

• The Rays had a solid season that ended in disappointment after they struggled in the World Series.

Signing free agents is the easiest way to fill holes on a team, and the Yankees have plenty of them.

However, with most of the starting positions on the 2027 roster locked in, where can the Yanks look to improve? The bench needs a boost, and there are still questions surrounding second base and third base.

Not to mention the annual bullpen rebuild New York has become known for. 

While the Yanks should be looking to bring back some of their own free agents, like David Bednar and Paul Blackburn, we'll make this list more interesting by including only players who were not in pinstripes this past season, starting with the bullpen, then catcher and finally the infield.

Raisel Iglesias

The Braves' closer for the last four seasons, Iglesias would make a great Bednar replacement if he were to get away.

Despite putting up 30-plus saves every season as Atlanta's closer, he was a first-time All-Star in 2026 while pitching to a 2.55 ERA -- his third sub-3.00 ERA in the last four seasons -- with 34 saves and a 1.08 WHIP. 

The 36-year-old did miss some time this past season with shoulder inflammation, which isn't great, but he finished strong, helping the Braves win the NL East and make it to the NLDS. 

Adrian Morejon

The name seemingly on every team's lips. Morejon has dominated in his time with the Padres, especially most recently setting up for Mason Miller.

Morejon pitched his third consecutive season with a sub-3.00 ERA and while he wasn't as unhittable as he was in his lone All-Star season in 2025, he had a career-high in strikeouts (107) and in K/9 (11.2). 

With Brent Headrick already in the bullpen, Morejon would be a luxury as a southpaw, but would serve nicely as the setup man for whoever closes for the Bombers in 2027 and beyond. 

Alex Vesia

A pursuit of Vesia should not be impacted by potential pursuits of Blackburn and Bednar. 

Tim Hill, the once lockdown lefty specialist in the 'pen, is going to hit the market and Vesia would be an upgrade. Vesia pitched to a 2.64 ERA and struck out 74 batters across 58 innings for the Dodgers in 2026. The one bugaboo about him is his walk rate, as he averaged five walks per nine in 2026 and has a career walk rate of 4.3 per nine. 

But the Yankees could perhaps overlook it, especially if you consider his postseason numbers. Vesia pitched 3.1 scoreless innings this postseason and was dominant in 2024, allowing just two hits and two walks across 5.2 scoreless innings, en route to a World Series title over the Yankees. 

Pete Fairbanks

This would be a reclamation project. Fairbanks had a down 2026 with the Marlins, pitching to a 6.31 ERA (4.42 xERA) and a 1.35 WHIP after a magnificent 2025 with the Rays, when he locked down 27 saves and pitching to a 2.83 ERA. 

The right-hander was also injured, missing a few weeks due to a shoulder issue, but he should be looking for a prove-it, one-year deal and the Yankees could use him after the departures and question marks surrounding some of their relievers. 

Fairbanks' velocity was still in the 90th percentile per Baseball Savant, and he struck out batters at a 31.1 percent clip, so the stuff is there -- he just needs to execute. His 11.5 percent walk rate was his highest since 2020.

Tyler Stephenson

The former first-round pick of the Reds is heading to free agency. While Cincinnati could extend the qualifying offer, the Yankees should still do their due diligence and see if Stephenson would be right for their club.

Stephenson's overall offensive numbers have declined, but he is still elite when he barrels up the ball. In 2026, he was in the 82nd percentile in barrel percentage, 80th in exit velocity and 71st in hard-hit percentage. 

The 30-year-old is a good blocker behind the plate, but he isn't great at framing or holding runners on. It may be a necessary trade-off to get a competent bat. 

Ryan Jeffers

The biggest name among the free agent catchers, the Yankees looked into acquiring Jeffers at the deadline, but the Twins weren't willing to trade him. Now with Jeffers on the market, the Yanks can pursue Jeffers to bring that pop from the right side.

Although Jeffers, like Stephenson, isn't the strongest behind the plate, the offense is a must. If the Yankees can get him at a reasonable deal, it would be worth it. 

Alec Bohm

Made the pitch in our third base candidates list, but Bohm gives the Yankees a right-handed bat to play the hot corner on most days -- with McMahon coming in for late-game situations for defense -- and could replace Paul Goldschmidt, who is also a free agent,as the right-handed first base option. 

Bohm is durable, playing in at least 140 games in four of his last five seasons, and has been solid at the plate. He's one of only seven right-handed hitters to drive in at least 85 runs in three of the past four seasons. 

While his defense leaves a lot to be desired (-11 OAA playing third and first in 2026), it may be a worthy sacrifice to round out the lineup.

Eugenio Suarez

Another third base candidate from our list, Suarez could be the power option the Yankees could grab on the cheap after the veteran had a down season with the Reds.

Suarez's 2026 was so down that no team wanted him when he was put on waivers toward the end of the season. Perhaps that can motivate Suarez to recapture some of his prolific power. Suarez hit 26 bombs a season after smashing 49, but slashed .212/.307/.433 with an OPS of .740. It could be worth the risk for the Yanks if the money is right.

Like Bohm, Suarez's defensive metrics are not great. He played 50 games at third base in 2026 and had -7 OAA. His arm strength is also in the bottom 25 percent in the league, so a straight platoon with McMahon would be a must.

Luis Arraez

Speaking of players who can round out a lineup, Arraez is a hit machine, one the Yankees can surely use.

Arraez has improved defensively at second base, so that would be the only worthwhile position for him, so admittedly, this would be a luxury signing. His left-handed bat would replace Jazz Chisholm Jr.'s, but his market could be more robust than in years past. 

If the Yanks can swing a one-year deal for Arraez's services, it can change the lineup and even influence other hitters to be more contact-oriented.

Brandon Lowe

Lowe was arguably one of the best acquisitions last offseason. Coming from the Rays after an All-Star 2025 season, the veteran infielder helped the Pirates become one of the more prolific offenses in baseball in 2026.

Now a free agent, Lowe could be the low-key steal of the offseason for the Yankees. 

His offensive numbers were better across the board from his All-Star season, as he slashed .260/.331/.493 (.824 OPS) to go along with his 35 home runs and 96 RBI. And his defense is pretty solid at second base. He posted a career-best +12 OAA, playing 138 games at second in 2026. While not as athletically gifted as Chisholm, he has proven he can handle the position. 

Lowe's career splits against left-handers (.220/.274/.410) are similar to Chisholm's, so the same pitfalls that made the Yankees susceptible to southpaws are there. But it could be worth it for the production Lowe brings, especially if they feel Luis Garcia Jr. isn't a fit to play second base. 

Well, the Brewers won the final game of the 2026 MLB season. Now, it’s the offseason.

What does that mean for you?

Maybe you’re looking forward to pre-lockout free agency and similar activities. I imagine they’ll be very muted as teams await a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that they anticipate reshaping spending, but I could be very wrong and maybe there’ll be a flurry of meaningful pre-lockout activity.

Maybe you’re a sicko who loves MLB labor relations discourse. I can’t help you if that’s the case.

Maybe you need a break from baseball.

Maybe you’ve been dreading the lockout and related stuff so much you’re happy that it’s now rushing upon us in a way that will ultimately, eventually, get resolved.

Anyway, you tell me: now what?

One of the first lessons you learn as a fan of sports is that you can’t win em’ all. It’s become a hackneyed phrase, but it is an unalienable truth one must accept if you’re going to emotionally invest yourself in a team, especially in a sport like baseball where even the best teams still lose roughly 60 games a year. That doesn’t mean that certain losses don’t sting, and some may even leave emotional scarring that could take years to heal if ever.

But what if you could undo the result of one of those games that still haunt you to this day. There are of course numerous examples from Phillies history, with perhaps the most famous being Game 6 of the 1993 World Series. Who knows what would have happened if Mitch Williams successfully locked down the save and forced a decisive Game 7 over the Blue Jays? Maybe the Phillies would have ended their Cinderella season with a ring. At the very least, an entire generation of Phillies fans would have been spared trauma.

There are some more recent examples too. The 2023 NLCS will go down in infamy in Philadelphia, but what if the Phillies were able to close it out in Game 6 or even in Game 7 to win their second straight NL pennant? It’s not hard to see them possibly going on to win their elusive third championship in their franchise history and making it easier to look back on this era fondly.

So, if you could change the outcome of one Phillies fame, which would it be? Would you undo Joe Carter? What about making it so that you never have to think about Kevin Ginkel again? Or maybe there’s one particular regular season loss that has lived in your head for your own personal reason.

With the Mets seemingly set at all three outfield positions, shortstop, third base (if Bo Bichette opts in), and catcher -- and with the long-term answer at second base likely coming soon in the form of one of their top prospects -- it's not the worst thing in the world that this year's free agent market is quite weak when it comes to position players.

If the Mets pursue a full-time first baseman, the selection will be limited. But it's possible the biggest noise by New York this offseason will be made with starting pitching additions -- whether they come via free agency, trade, or both.

On the free agent market, one of the best starting pitchers in recent memory is available. There are also a handful of strong rotation anchors a tier below that, and plenty of middle of the rotation starters as well.

There are some high-upside relievers available, too, and the Mets could certainly use one of them.

With free agency set to begin soon, there's every reason to believe there will be a spending frenzy over the next month with the lockout looming on Dec. 1 when the CBA expires. So the Mets, and every other team, could be in a race to that theoretical deadline.

Here are the 10 players the Mets should have highest on their list of targets, ranked:

10. Bryan Abreu, RHP

Abreu has been a stalwart in the Astros' bullpen since 2022, with a 2.56 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and 12.4 strikeouts per nine over 344.1 innings. In addition to generating strikeouts at a huge clip, Abreu has been adept at limiting hits, with a H/9 of 6.8 or better each of the last five seasons.

Walks were an issue for Abreu in 2026, but that might have been a one-year blip given his steady walk rates in recent seasons.

9. Alex Vesia, LHP

With Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter set for free agency after this season, the Mets traded both of them ahead of the deadline as part of their bigger summer sell-off. Once Raley and Minter were gone, left-hander Nate Lavender made his MLB debut and excelled, showing that he deserves a spot in the 2027 bullpen. But New York should be seeking another left-hander to pair with him.

To that end, Vesia -- who has spent the last six years dominating for the Dodgers -- would be a strong fit. Vesia will be entering his age-31 season in 2027 and is coming off a year where he posted a 2.64 ERA and 1.06 WHIP while continuing to miss bats at an elite rate. In addition to his effectiveness, Vesia has been extremely durable, pitching in 56 games or more five seasons in a row, including a career-high 72 appearances in 2026. 

8. Ty France, 1B

As is noted above, the group of position player free agents is not terribly strong. That includes the first base options, which feature some platoon guys (Paul Goldschmidt among them) and two players who are coming off late-career breakouts. One of them is Jake Bauers, who had a .675 OPS in eight seasons as a part-time player before erupting to smack 26 homers with an .874 OPS this season for the Brewers. The other player who had a breakout is France.

Unlike Bauers, France had excelled in a regular role before, from 2020 to 2022 with the Padres and Mariners. Following a few down seasons offensively, France slashed .295/.363/.502 (.865 OPS) in 133 games in 2026. France, who won the Gold Glove award at first base in 2025, continued to excel defensively this season, landing in the 93rd percentile in OAA.

France also hits from the right side of the plate, which could be a plus for a lefty-heavy Mets lineup that includes Juan Soto, Carson Benge, and A.J. Ewing as key cogs.

7. Jonathan Loaisiga, RHP

After becoming one of the key pieces  in the Yankees' bullpen, Loaisiga's seasons in 2023 and 2024 were seriously impacted because of Tommy John surgery. He returned for the Yanks in 2025, but didn't round back into form until this past season.

In 67.0 innings for the Diamondbacks in 2026, Loaisiga had a 2.42 ERA (2.88 FIP) and 1.03 WHIP while allowing just three homers all year and walking a minuscule 1.7 batters per nine. Loaisiga relies mainly on a sinker that averages a tick under 98 mph and a changeup that averages 91 mph. He doesn't strike out a lot of batters, but is phenomenal when it comes to limiting hard contact and generating ground balls.

In 2026, Loaisiga was in the 93rd percentile or better in average exit velocity allowed, chase percentage, barrel percentage, hard-hit percentage, and ground ball percentage.

6. Kevin Gausman, RHP

After back-to-back seasons where the Mets were done in mainly because they ran out of reliable starting pitchers, they should be aiming to add two legitimate starters this offseason, as well as additional rotation depth.

One of those two main rotation adds should be an ace, with the other filling more of a mid-rotation role -- something that Gausman profiles in at this point of his career. Gausman's ERA was a tick high in 2026 (4.51), but his FIP (3.74), WHIP (1.27), walk rate (2.4 per nine), and strikeout rate (9.3 per nine) indicate he's still a quality starter. He is also one of the most reliable pitchers in the majors, having pitched 174.2 innings or more six seasons in a row.

Ahead of his age-36 season, Gausman -- who has hinted at retiring soon -- could possibly be had on a one-year deal.

5. Clay Holmes, RHP

Holmes is one of David Stearns' biggest free agent hits, with him excelling in the rotation after the Mets signed him and transitioned him back to being a starting pitcher. Before he was traded to the Cubs at the deadline in the deal that brought top infield prospect Jefferson Rojas to New York, Holmes was viewed as one of the clubhouse leaders.

Given Holmes' ability, clubhouse presence, and familiarity with the New York market, it should be a no-brainer for the Mets to consider a reunion -- something SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes recently reported Holmes would be open to.

Since Holmes is about to enter his age-34 season, it's possible he can be snagged on a two- or three-year deal.

4. Michael King, RHP

It feels likely that King will opt out of the final two years of his deal with the Padres and attempt to cash in this winter -- something that would be wise coming off a huge 2026 season.

In 32 starts over a career-high 185.0 innings, King had a 3.21 ERA and 1.17 WHIP while allowing just 148 hits. King's strikeout rate was down this past season, but his stuff -- a five-pitch mix that includes a sinker, changeup, and sweeper -- graded out near the top of the sport.

There have been some serious injury issues during King's career, including a thoracic nerve issue that impacted him in 2025, but he was healthy for all of 2026. And a healthy King is a top of the rotation starter.

Another plus is that King grew up in the Northeast and has familiarity with the New York market, having played with the Yankees from 2019 to 2023. 

3. Adrian Morejon, LHP

The Mets' bullpen situation is solid, but there are huge questions at the back end given Devin Williams' mediocre 2026 (and 2025) and the uncertainty surrounding Kodai Senga's role and future.

But even if the Mets are confident Williams will bounce back and envision Senga back in the bullpen, they should still be attempting to bring in a dominant force to close -- or to at the very least step in for Williams if it's deemed he's best suited for a setup role.

Enter Morejon, who will be in his age-28 season in 2027 and has been pretty much injury-free since 2023. Over the last three years, Morejon has a 2.58 ERA (2.46 FIP) and 1.08 WHIP in 223.1 innings while striking out 248 (a rate of 10.0 per nine). In 2026, Morejon was in the 90th percentile or better in hard-hit percentage, xERA, average exit velocity against, xBA, fastball velocity, chase percentage, whiff percentage, strikeout percentage, barrel percentage, and ground ball percentage.

One downside here is that Morejon will almost certainly be saddled with the qualifying offer.

2. Teruaki Sato, INF/OF

Speaking shortly after the season ended, Stearns said the expectation was that the team would look externally for first base help.

Whether that means a platoon partner to share time with Jared Young or someone who profiles as a full-time player remains to be seen. But if the Mets are searching for a regular first baseman whose presence would slide Young to a bench role (they should be), Sato would be the most logical choice.

The Mets haven't made a splash with a Japanese position player since they signed Kaz Matsui ahead of the 2004 season, and the club didn't seem terribly interested in either Munetaka Murakami or Kazuma Okamoto last offseason. So a strong pursuit of Sato would be a bit of a surprise. But that doesn't mean it wouldn't make sense.

Primarily a third baseman in Japan, the belief of many experts is that Sato profiles as a first baseman in the majors. And he has thunder in his bat, having won the Central League MVP in 2025 and the Triple Crown in 2026. In 143 games this past season for the Hanshin Tigers, Sato hit .306/.383/.609 with 39 home runs, 40 doubles, 100 runs scored, and 106 RBI.

There are some strikeout concerns with Sato, but his upside is sky high, the Mets have a glaring need at first base, and it's time for them to take a swing.

1. Tarik Skubal, LHP

Surprised?

With a young starting staff that includes Nolan McLean and Christian Scott, and could also feature Zac Thornton and eventually Jonathan Santucci, the Mets need a finishing piece -- a true ace who slides in at the top of the rotation. Skubal should be that guy.

And it can be argued that the stars are aligning for Skubal to the Mets.

There's the aforementioned need, the fact that Skubal won't be attached to a qualifying offer, the fact that the Mets have a huge chunk of money coming off their payroll after 2027, and the likelihood that there will not be another starting pitcher like this hitting the free agent market until after 2029 -- when Paul Skenes could theoretically be available.

Put that all together and the question becomes this: If Stearns isn't willing to make an exception for Skubal, it's fair to wonder if the Stearns-led Mets will ever bend their philosophy when it comes to megadeals for "older" starting pitchers. And if they don't, they'll continue to be left out in the cold.

LOS ANGELES — The World Series ended on Wednesday, which brings the official start of the offseason. First up was 6 a.m. PT on Thursday, with scores of players across the sport now officially free agents. Nine Dodgers are free agents, headlined by ace pitcher Tarik Skubal.

Miguel Rojas is also a free agent, though he’s retiring as a player to move into a role in the Dodgers front office. Other Dodgers free agents as of Thursday morning are Kiké Hernández, Alex Vesia, Evan Phillips, Blake Treinen, Brusdar Graterol, Kris Bubic, and Eric Lauer.

Skubal was the Dodgers’ prized acquisition at the trade deadline, with the two-time Cy Young Award winner coming to Los Angeles on August 2 with River Ryan, Zyhir Hope, and Brady Smith headed back to the Detroit Tigers.

The left-hander had a 2.61 ERA in 10 starts down the stretch, with 70 strikeouts and 13 walks in 62 innings, and allowed three runs with 14 strikeouts and four walks in 11 innings in two postseason Game 1 starts. Skubal got the win over Atlanta in the National League Division Series and took a 2-1 loss in Milwaukee in the National League Championship Series.

Because Skubal switched teams during the season, he’s not eligible to receive a qualifying offer from the Dodgers. Same goes for Eric Lauer and Kris Bubic, but they weren’t going to get a qualifying offer anyway.

The Dodgers got Lauer from the Toronto Blue Jays in May to fill in once Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell made their annual stops on the injured list. Lauer lasted six innings in seven of his first 11 games with the Dodgers, and didn’t allow more than three runs in each of his first nine appearances before fading. In all, Lauer had a 4.50 ERA in 14 games, including 12 starts, with 46 strikeouts and 19 walks in 72 innings with the Dodgers.

Bubic was an All-Star starting pitcher in 2025 with the Kansas City Royals, but this year missed three and a half months on the injured list, first with elbow soreness then with shoulder soreness suffered while on rehab, and was acquired by Los Angeles on August 3. The left-hander joined the Dodgers in September and pitched 5 2/3 scoreless frames in his six appearances. Bubic pitched twice in the postseason and gave up a run both times, taking the loss in Game 2 of the NLDS and surrendering the tying run in Game 2 of the NLCS.

Bullpen mainstays now free

Vesia led the Dodgers with 72 appearances and put up a 2.64 ERA and 2.68 xERA with three saves, 74 strikeouts and 32 walks in 58 innings. After appearing in five games for the Miami Marlins in 2020, the Dodgers acquired Veisa that offseason and he’s spent the last six years as a stalwart in the back end of their bullpen, with a 2.66 ERA while averaging 61 innings, 54 2/3 innings, and 73 strikeouts.

“Looking back, getting drafted was a very big goal for me, and obviously Miami took a chance on a kid in the 17th round, and then the Dodgers liked what they saw. I definitely give a lot of credit to the coaching staff and the players and personnel in this room,” Vesia said on October 15. “I would not be where I’m at if it wasn’t for all of them. I’ve had very hard conversations, very happy conversations, a lot of great conversations that molded me into who I am and how I go about my business. The standard that is set here, to be great day in and day out is something that’s very motivating, and it’s been a great journey.”

Treinen has been with the Dodgers for seven years, with each of the last five years interrupted by injuries. In 2026 Treinen missed two and a half months with elbow inflammation, then suffered a shoulder injury during the last weekend of the regular season that removed any possible temptation for manager Dave Roberts to use Treinen in key situations this October. In between, Treinen had a 3.64 ERA and 5.07 xERA in 36 games, with 31 strikeouts and 13 walks in 29 2/3 innings. He turns 39 next June.

Phillips was acquired on a waiver claim from the Rays in August 2021, and spend most of the last five-plus years as one of the best relievers in baseball. This year, Phillips finished his rehab from 2025 Tommy John surgery and debuted with the Dodgers in July. He put up a 3.64 ERA and 4.37 xERA in 31 games, with 33 strikeouts against six walks in 26 innings. In the postseason he made five more scoreless in October to keep his lifetime postseason ERA at 0.00, and he notched his first postseason save in Game 1 of the NLDS.

Brusdar Graterol has been with the Dodgers since 2020 but hasn’t pitched since 2024, missing most of that time after shoulder surgery. This year Graterol made four rehab appearances in May before getting shut down with a back injury that eventually required surgery.

Treinen, Graterol, Vesia, and Phillips were the four longest-tenured pitchers on the Dodgers 40-man roster. With all four now free agents, that distinction currently belongs to Gavin Stone, who debuted three weeks earlier than fellow 2020 draftee Bobby Miller.

October maven

Acquired during the 2014 winter meetings, Kiké Hernández has played for the Dodgers during 10 of the last 12 seasons, and was a part of all five pennant winners of the Dave Roberts era in Los Angeles. 2026 was injury plagued for Hernández, who missed the first 53 games of the season after offseason elbow surgery, then missed another 51 games with an oblique strain. He hit .222/.271/.400 with a 83 wRC+ in all of 96 plate appearances.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen to me personally moving forward for next year, but this team is well-positioned to keep winning, keep competing until October,” Hernández said on October 15. “Not only is this locker room very talented, but there are a lot of guys in the minor league system that can really be impactful players. The organization is in good hands.

Hernández, the all-time Dodgers leader with 98 postseason games played, was reacquired at the 2023 trade deadline from the Boston Red Sox, then signed one-year deals latein each of thenext three offseasons.

“I love this place. I’ve played for three other teams, but every time I look at my career, I kind of obviously go back to this place,” Hernández said. “I hope I get back, I feel I have a lot left to serve.”

With these nine players now free agents, the Dodgers have 37 players on their 40-man roster.