Category: Baseball

The Wild Card series against the Yankees was probably the worst way for the 2026 season to end. Everything that was a problem at any point – struggles to score runs, the bullpen, injuries – all happened at the same time and within a matter of minutes. Two games in a row ended the Red Sox season. This wasn’t the plan. As all the Sox players returned from the WBC to Fort Myers, many riding hot streaks, this looked like a team ready to rocket. Yes, there were questions entering the season. But there were answers that hadn’t been fully formed yet.

After the 2025 season, the Sox were desperate for infield help. Trevor Story, not a guarantee of health or success himself, since arriving in Boston, was coming off a tremendous year, his best for the Red Sox. The rest of the infield was a question mark. Third base was more-or-less vacant after Alex Bregman opted out. Second base was going to be a battle with the future potential of Marcelo Mayer as a leading contestant. First base? Triston Casas? Maybe? Catcher, using the more generous definition of infield, was a tandem based on Carlos Narváez hitting in 2025 and Connor Wong, who couldn’t hit at all. There were at least two guys, which was more than could be said about first base.

Craig Breslow looked at the free agent market. He looked at the trade market. He looked at his own farm system. And in two phases he built the roster that he would live or die with.

We know about phase one. Caleb Durbin was acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers. Willson Contreras was acquired from the St. Louis Cardinals. Isaiah Kiner-Falefa was signed to platoon (kinda) with Mayer.

On the free agent market, the Red Sox went in the opposite direction. The promise/hope was two bats. And they passed on Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, Bo Bichette etc. Aside from Contreras there were no big bats.

What Durbin would share with Willson, besides become Mini Bowser to his Bowser, was control. Contreras was guaranteed to be in town through 2027 with an option for 2028. Durbin will not hit free agency until the 2030s. The same with Mayer. Ranger Suarez, on the other side of the ball, also was signed long-term.

As it would turn out Willson Contreras would not even sniff competition from Triston Casas, who would face a series of injuries that would cost him the season. Not that anyone was worried about having too many first basemen. Caleb Durbin would start off slow with the bat, glacial even, but provide solid defense. He’d go on to set a new career high in home runs while, likely, competing for a Gold Glove.

Marcelo Mayer would underperform and then get hurt. Carlos Narváez would revert to his reputation as a bat-second player. While Connor Wong would provide some offense in a bounce-back season, the catcher tandem as a whole was underwater.

Phase two would be at the deadline. With Durbin rounding into form as The Durbinator, Breslow and his team set their sights on second base and catcher. Turning Connelly Early into Curtis Mead gave them another second baseman with control for years to come. And while the sample size is small, Mead hit 17 home runs in just 87 games. Adding a 30-homer threat to second base would be a tremendous pillar of the offense. Mayer would be traded separately, Mead would get hurt, but the plan was in place.

Similarly, the massive all-in prospect trade for Adley Rutschman was for 2026 and 2027. Connor Wong isn’t a free agent until after the 2028 season so catcher is set for another year and they have time to evaluate Rutschman or find a replacement before 2028. For Breslow’s plan through this summer, when he didn’t know he’d be extended, that’s all that mattered. Build then best team for what could be his last season if they struggled.

Entering 2027 the Red Sox have two catchers. They have an entire starting infield, plus top prospect Franklin Arias. They have Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu (plus control of Jarren Duran, and Masataka Yoshida, and Kristian Campbell) in the outfield.

The rotation has Payton Tolle, Garrett Crochet, Ranger Suarez, and Jake Bennett. Boston holds an option on Sonny Gray that he can opt out of, but potentially the entire rotation is headed back for 2027. Starters 6-10 might be a concern, but for a healthy Opening Day major league roster, Breslow took care of that already.

We never actually got to see this team assembled together in 2026. Even if Curtis Mead came into the last game of the season while Garrett Crochet was on the mound, Roman was out. This year, unless there is a big trade to accommodate a move, the Hot Stove season won’t be the same. The roster is basically set. Did Breslow see the lockout as an obstacle? Maybe! He might have been thinking that teams would scramble to make moves before and after and he’d be set. For a team that was seeing it’s window open in 2025, it seems too intentional to put together the whole thing one year in with really only the Story to Arias transition as a big roster move to facilitate.

The performance of the team in 2026 was up and down, but overall we saw a number of good years from this group – Tolle, Abreu, Contreras, Rafaela, and Durbin all provide reasons to be optimistic. Roman Anthony had a good run around the hand injury. Six months off sure would be nice to let that heal. There’s reason to think 2027 can be fun. Maybe distributed a little better too.

Your Opening Day 2027 Boston Red Sox:

C: Rutschman, Wong

1: Contreras

2B: Mead, Sogard

SS: Story, Arias

3B: Durbin

OF: Roman, Rafaela, Abreu, Duran (if he’s not moved/non-tenderd), Campbell

DH: Yoshida

To begin their quest for a third-straight World Series this postseason, the Dodgers will turn to the one pitcher in their rotation yet to win a championship ring.

Tarik Skubal is expected to be named the team’s starter for Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, a source with knowledge of the situation told the California Post, giving the reigning two-time Cy Young Award winner and marquee trade deadline acquisition an immediate opportunity to jump-start the club’s three-peat bid.

The Dodgers, of course, had no bad options for their playoff opener.

Their rotation includes four pitchers who would be No. 1 options on most other clubs, with Skubal being joined by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow for this year’s October push.

However, Skubal is set to get the nod, as The Athletic first reported, after increasingly impressive late-season performances with the Dodgers following his blockbuster arrival from the Detroit Tigers in August.

The 29-year-old left-hander posted a 5-2 record and 2.61 ERA in 10 post-deadline starts with the club, improving upon the 7-5 mark and 2.79 ERA he had with the Tigers during a first half that was sidetracked by an elbow procedure that sidelined him for all of May.

Skubal’s best outings came in the final weeks of the regular season, when he spun a pair of scoreless seven-inning starts in two of his final three appearances of the campaign.

Prior to Friday’s news, there was a thought that Yamamoto would be the Dodgers’ Game 1 starter, given his World Series MVP heroics last fall.

But Yamamoto threw extensively in a simulated game on Wednesday, during the club’s bye week workouts. That kept him on his customary once-per-week pitching schedule (his regular-season finale came on the Wednesday before that) and might line him up to pitch in Game 3 in Atlanta next Tuesday instead. Of note: Yamamoto has notably better splits on the road (1.77 ERA) than at home (3.13 ERA) this year.

Snell, who has followed Skubal in the Dodgers’ rotation lately, seems like the logical candidate to start Game 2 on Sunday. Glasnow, who pitched in another simulated game Thursday, figures to go in Game 4, and could be an option out of the bullpen this weekend.

While Skubal –– who will be the sport’s top free agent this winter –– has yet to win a World Series, he does have a sterling postseason track record.

In six playoff outings over the last two years with the Tigers, he pitched to a 2.04 ERA while striking out 56 batters in 39 ⅔ innings. Those numbers would be even better if not for his one October clunker, when he gave up five runs in a winner-take-all loss in Game 5 of the 2024 American League Division Series.

That failure has become a motivator for Skubal in the two years since. It has left him with a feeling of unfinished business as he begins another playoff campaign amid new surroundings now.

“Once the months change and the playoffs start, nothing matters,” he said last week. “It’s just about winning that game, and that’s how I treat every single start. Because I’m just trying to put our team in a position to win a baseball game. That won’t change from today, and whenever my next start is.”

The potential downside of being rusty after a long time off pales in comparison to the very real strain an extra series can put on a team’s pitching staff. The protagonists of the only Wild Card round to go all three games, the Atlanta Braves, advanced to face the Dodgers but did so, paying a high price with a pitching staff that went all in for its survival.

In what was quite the opening test against Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and company, the Braves’ starting rotation made a statement that any perceptions that it is too Chris Sale-reliant are an exaggeration. With Sale taking the ball in Game 1, Tyler Mahle in Game 2, and the left-hander Ray Kerr in the winner-take-all Game 3, the Braves’ rotation allowed just four earned runs in 16 2/3 innings—with the bulk of those runs coming off Sale, believe it or not.

When the Braves acquired Mahle at the deadline, they clearly saw something in him past the horrendous results he had been putting up for the Giants. Mahle has done better than anyone could have guessed, proving how much the organization matters for some players in certain moments, taking adjustments Atlanta has helped him with—including but not limited to a higher usage of splitters, his primary off-speed pitch—to dominate with a 1.99 ERA in nine regular-season starts.

Nine starts were all it took for Mahle to jump to the front of the line as the number two behind Sale—a position that had been sorely lacking for a Braves team that has seen Spencer Strider never be the same following his injuries, the latest of them taking him out for the year in June, and the same availability issues plague the promising Spencer Schwellenbach. Against the Phillies, Mahle might not have earned the win, but he did everything possible to lead his team there—Mahle held the Phillies to just one run in seven innings, the best start by a pitcher on either side of this three-game set.

Postseason baseball is filled with stories of players who take on a hot stretch and let that carry them to dominance through multiple series. But after one start, it might be too soon to be overly scared of a matchup against Mahle, regardless of how dominant he has been. He is the X-factor for the Braves, who’ll not only need him to perform well but also like an ace if their pitching is to line up with the Dodgers in any way.

From number two to number one, what Sale does goes without saying, but his aggressive usage out of the bullpen in Game 3 of the Wild Card round could potentially affect his rhythm for a Sunday Game 2 start at Dodger Stadium. And more importantly, whether it affects him, the fact that the Braves felt compelled to give him the ball while up 6-2 with only four outs to go tells you all you need to know about their pitching depth.

As far as Sale is concerned, Dodger fans don’t need reminding of his dominance—having witnessed it firsthand when the left-hander put out a vintage performance in a complete-game shutout of Los Angeles back in Atlanta during the regular season. And while Sale may not have yet pitched against the Dodgers in the playoffs as a Brave, there are wounds there from his time in Boston, on the mound for the final pitch of the 2018 World Series at Dodger Stadium.

Projecting how the Braves rotation will line up against the Dodgers, it is clear that Sale gets the ball in Game 2, while Mahle goes in Game 3. The plans for the opening game of the series, though, are unclear as of now, partially because the Braves utilized their next two best starting options in Game 3 of the Wild Card round. Left-hander Ray Kerr looked solid for three-plus innings, and Grant Holmes provided key outs in a multi-inning role out of the bullpen.

For a shorter series against the Phillies, the Braves took only 11 pitchers, meaning an A.J. Smith Shawver could earn the nod for the NLDS and make this first start, or Atlanta could simply look to a bullpen game. Even if Shawver were to get the ball, considering he has come out of the pen near the end of the regular season, it’d be with a short leash.

Walt Weiss will speak this afternoon. I’m not sure if he’ll announce who will start against the Dodgers tomorrow. Right now, I’m guessing we’ll see another lefty opener followed by Grant Holmes, who threw just two innings (28 pitches) last night.

— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) October 2, 2026

Based on who the Braves have lined up for Games 2 and 3 of the NLDS and how much certain relievers had to work against the Phillies—including their most utilized setup man, Didier Fuentes, who got the ball in all three games—the opener for the NLDS will be their most challenging game in the entire series. Those of us accustomed to the Dave Roberts method of managing wouldn’t be surprised to see him punt such a game early on if given this set of circumstances. We shall see how Atlanta approaches it: is it able to throw caution to the wind as the underdog or lean into the hand it was dealt?

Moving on from the rotation and on to Fuentes and the rest of this bullpen, Robert Suárez’s recent return from injury gives them a bit more depth in the backend, but the circle of trust is smaller than you’d like—and its propensity to get bitten by the long ball has already come into play in this series. Dylan Lee and Fuentes, two of Atlanta’s most trusted relievers, were responsible for the loss in game 2, with Lee giving up two solo bombs to Harper and Schwarber. While the number four in ERA in the regular season, the Braves’ bullpen was only 19th in HR/9.

Already a very good closer in his time with the Reds and Angels, Raisel Iglesias has raised his game to a new level with the Braves, including earning his second All-Star nod this season. As with the rotation, though, the comparison with the Dodgers is worse when you bring depth to the conversation.

Hopefully you all follow along and have seen the Game 162 Heroes and Goats and you already knew how the final standings ended up, at least at the top and bottom. Kudos to you if you knew by the end of the first inning on Sunday that Alex Bregman had likely secured the Rizzo. In reality, it was probably the second homer that did it. But either way, Bregman wins the closest finish in the 13-year history of the award.

For a reminder of that history of this award, here are the previous 12 years of Rizzo Award finalists. Alternatively titled: “Tom doesn’t make clearly readable/decipherable charts.”

Heroes:

• 2014 Rizzo 47.5 Arrieta 30 Castro 20.5
• 2015 Rizzo 65.5 Arrieta 51 Bryant 39
• 2016 Lester 51.5 Hendricks 37 Rizzo 34.5
• 2017 Rizzo 38 Contreras 34 Bryant 23
• 2018 Strop 22 Hendricks 20 Baez 19.5
• 2019 Rizzo 35 Bryant 34.75 Schwarber 19.25
• 2020 Darvish 19 Hendricks 18 Happ 14.5
• 2021 Schwindel +30 Bryant 26 Wisdom 26
• 2022 Robertson 22.5 Morel 18 Effross 17
• 2023 Bellinger 35 Happ 21.5 Alzolay 18
• 2024 Imanaga 23.5 Suzuki 20.5 Taillon 18
• 2025 Tucker 27 Taillon 24 Boyd 20

Goats:

• 2014 Lake -24 Schierholtz -27.5 Jackson -37
• 2015 Russell -19.5 Ross -21.5 Castro -24
• 2016 Baez -19.5 Russell -21.5 Heyward -48.5
• 2017 Heyward/Baez -19 Lackey -20 Zobrist -21
• 2018 Almora -26.5 Russell -42 Contreras -44
• 2019 Quintana/Almora -15.5 Strop -19.5 Heyward -20
• 2020 Rizzo -8.5 Bryant -10 Baez -22
• 2021 Bote -19 Arrieta -19 Davies -25
• 2022 Ortega -11.5 Gomes -14.5 Heyward -15.5
• 2023 Smyly -18 Mancini -20.5 Taillon -23
• 2024 Mastrobuoni -12 Paredes -14 Morel -20.5
• 2025 Swanson -22.33 Kelly -26 Suzuki -27

And with that, here are the final H&G standings for 2026. Bottom to top, the way it should be done.

Heroes and Goats: (full/final standings)

• Nico Hoerner -18
• Caleb Thielbar -17.5
• Dansby Swanson -17
• Seiya Suzuki -17
• Jameson Taillon -13
• Edward Cabrera -12.5
• Phil Maton -10
• Ryan Zeferjahn -8.5
• Jacob Webb -8
• Ethan Roberts -8
• Pedro Ramirez -8
• Ryan Rolison -7
• Corbin Martin -5
• Michael Busch -4
• Jordan Wicks -3
• Jake Woodford -3
• Justin Dean -2.5
• Matt Shaw -2
• B.J. Murray -2
• Antoine Kelly -2
• Hunter Harvey -2
• Hobie Milner -1.5
• Colin Rea -1
• Miguel Amaya -1
• Gabriel Arias -1
• Drew Pomeranz -1
• Scott Kingery -1
• Tyler Ferguson -1
• Moises Ballesteros -0.5
• Clay Holmes 0
• James Triantos +0.5
• Ty Blach +1
• Braxton Garrett +2
• Bryse Wilson +2
• Cade Horton +2
• Gavin Hollowell +2
• Daniel Palencia +3
• Kevin Alcantara +3
• David Peterson +4
• Matthew Boyd +5.5
• Tyrone Taylor +8
• Ian Happ +8.5
• Trent Thornton +10
• Aaron Civale +10
• Michael Conforto +10
• Javier Assad +11
• Carson Kelly +11.5
• Ben Brown +13.5
• Shōta Imanaga +15
• Pete Crow-Armstrong +25.5
• Alex Bregman +26

At a quick glance here, Alex Bregman was obviously able to make the most impact among free agents, Pete Crow-Armstrong among returning players, Ben Brown was the most unfortunate of the injuries, Javier Assad the most impact of the Iowa shuttle players, Aaron Civale the most impact of the in-season acquisitions, Tyrone Taylor of the deadline day acquisitions, Bryse Wilson the most of the in season waiver wire pickups (and eligible to be on the Milwaukee Brewers postseason roster).

So there you have it. It was a thrilling chapter to add to Heroes and Goats. We’ve had a few boring finishes, but 2026 becomes the year of the last game being decisive and the smallest ever margin of victory. It is fitting and enjoyable to me that the two men most responsible for the on field performance of this team finished number one and two. That doesn’t mean it is homogenous. There are a number of players near the bottom of the standings who I think are largely irreplaceable on this team. And if you go back up and browse history, some amazing Cubs have graced the bottom three in the past.

It feels safe to say that PCA will emerge once again as the favorite to capture this award in 2027, but here’s to hoping that Bregman keeps him honest again and that a few pitchers get more actively into the race.

Thank you everyone for reading. Thank you everyone who took the time to comment. We tend to have a very insightful group here and I appreciate that.

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The 2026 Arizona Fall League schedule kicks off tomorrow, October 3. There are six teams involved in AFL play, and all three teams will be playing on Saturday. The Surprise Saguaros — the team that the Texas Rangers’ prospects will be playing for — play their first game at 5:30 p.m. Central against Scottsdale in the middle game of the tripleheader.

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You can see the full Surprise roster here. We did a write up back in mid-September when the initial rosters were announced, and the Rangers contingent that was announced at the time was fairly underwhelming. The best prospect out of the eight members of the organization announced at the time was either pitcher Jacob Johnson, pitcher Mason McConnaughey, or outfielder Paxton Kling.

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Since then, though, it has been announced that Sebastian Walcott will also be participating. Walcott — who is #8 on the MLB Pipeline top 100 prospect list that came out this morning — is the Rangers’ top prospect, and the highest-ranked prospect (per MLB Pipeline) who is currently on an AFL roster for this fall.

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Walcott was briefly part of the 2025 Surprise Saguaros squad, but appeared in just one game before being sidelined with an elbow injury. He ultimately ended up undergoing elbow surgery in February, which put him on the injured list for the majority of 2026, and limited him to DH duties for most of the year. Having just logged 187 plate appearances in the minors in 2026 (with a .325/.401/.590), primarily at AA Frisco, this gives Walcott the opportunity to make up some of the reps that he missed.

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Something to keep an eye on is where in the field Walcott plays for Surprise. Walcott has primarily played shortstop in the minors, with some games at third base, though he played just two of his 41 games this past season at DH, with two appearances at shortstop.

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Walcott could be ready to be a major league regular at the start of the 2027 season, in which case, the Rangers will have to decide where in the field he would play. Corey Seager is the team’s shortstop, and is still quite capable there, so Walcott would presumably not be an option at shortstop unless Seager is trade this offseason (which I sadly acknowledge is not out of the question). Third base and right field, however, are viewed as Walcott’s most likely long-term home in the majors.

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The Rangers have Josh Jung at third base, though his defensively metrics have not been good at the position, particularly in 2026. Putting Jung at first base, with Walcott taking over at third, would seem to be the most viable solution. The Rangers could then decide if they wanted to keep Jake Burger around in a DH role or as depth — and given Jung’s injury history, it isn’t unreasonable to think that they need a quality Plan B behind Jung, regardless of what position he plays.

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Alternatively, the Rangers could look at putting Walcott in right field, where Brandon Nimmo played in 2026. That would allow them to either have Nimmo get the bulk of his plate appearances at DH, while also picking up some playing time in the outfield when one of the regular outfielders sits or gets a DH day, or put Nimmo in left field, with Wyatt Langford moving to center field.

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Where Walcott gets his playing time won’t necessarily tip the Rangers’ hand in regards to their 2027 plans with Walcott — shortstop is the most challenging defensive position (other than catcher) in the field, and moving from there to another position farther down the defensive spectrum is easier than the other way around. If Walcott gets most of his reps there, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Seager is gone, or that Walcott is destined to start the 2027 season at Round Rock.

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However, if we see Walcott getting a bunch of starts at third base or right field, it would potentially hint at where the Rangers view him most likely contributing in 2027.

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Which Phillies are headed for free agency as pivotal offseason looms? originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

On Friday, after the Phillies fell in the National League Wild Card Series, Bryce Harper said he expects the team to look “a lot different” next year.

He later clarified that he was referring, at least in part, to the number of players who can reach free agency this offseason.

And there are plenty.

Seven players from the Phillies’ 2026 roster are set to become free agents: Alec Bohm, Luis Arraez, Adolis García, Edmundo Sosa, José Alvarado, Brooks Raley and Tim Mayza. Three of them — Bohm, Sosa and Alvarado — have been around since at least the Phillies’ 2022 run to the National League pennant.

How aggressively Philadelphia approaches replacing or retaining them comes with another layer of uncertainty. The league is heading toward an unsettled offseason with the current collective bargaining agreement set to expire after the 2026 season, creating questions about how teams will operate financially.

The Phillies do have significant salary coming off the books. Nick Castellanos and Taijuan Walker, both released before reaching the final seasons of their contracts, account for $38 million alone. If none of the seven impending free agents return, roughly $78 million in 2026 cash salary would no longer be committed.

A good portion of that relief is already spoken for.

Kyle Schwarber, Jesús Luzardo, Brad Keller and Cristopher Sánchez are all due raises in 2027, combining for roughly $38 million in additional salary. Jhoan Duran, Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh are also arbitration-eligible again as they enter their final seasons of team control.

So there will be flexibility, but perhaps not as much as the raw number initially suggests.

Here’s a look at each of the Phillies’ seven impending free agents:

Alec Bohm, 3B/1B, age 30

2026 stats: 155 G, .249/.315/.383, 15 HR, 88 RBI, .698 OPS
2026 salary: $10.2 million

Bohm represents the most significant homegrown decision of the group. The Phillies’ first-round pick in 2018 remains a premium run producer at a time when productive right-handed hitters are increasingly difficult to find. He is one of only seven right-handed hitters to drive in at least 85 runs in three of the last four seasons.

His final numbers also don’t completely reflect the hitter he was for most of 2026. After a difficult offseason off the field and a rough opening month, Don Mattingly gave Bohm two days out of the lineup to reset. From May 9 through the end of the season, Bohm hit .274 with 14 homers, 73 RBI, 41 extra-base hits and a .773 OPS over 120 games while batting .347 with runners in scoring position. Prorated over 162 games, that’s a 19-homer, 99-RBI pace.

And he had quite the Wild Card Series, hitting the would-be game-winning homer in Game 2.

The complication continues to be where he plays. Bohm moved from third to first after the Arraez trade, but finished with minus-11 Outs Above Average and ranked in the first percentile among MLB fielders. His right-handed bat has value, but he reaches free agency without one obvious long-term defensive home.

Luis Arraez, 2B, age 29

Phillies stats: 46 G, .278/.309/.369, 2 HR, 21 RBI, .678 OPS
2026 salary: $12 million
Approx. salary with Phillies: $3.5 million

The Phillies acquired Arraez and right-hander Caleb Kilian from San Francisco at the deadline for pitching prospects Marty Gair and Ramon Marquez. The three-time batting champion arrived hitting a league-leading .324, but his production dipped considerably after joining Philadelphia.

His influence went beyond his batting average. Arraez gave the Phillies a hitter who rarely swung and missed, while his arrival triggered several positional changes: Bryson Stott moved to third, Bohm shifted to first and Bryce Harper returned to right field. The defensive alignment improved, with Stott in particular showing how much value his glove could provide at third.

Arraez’s absence late in the year also showed why the Phillies wanted his skill set in the first place. He sprained his left ankle on the final Thursday of the regular season and never played again, missing the Wild Card Series while Philadelphia again struggled with chase and consistent contact.

Adolis García, RF, age 33

2026 stats: 67 G, .195/.270/.329, 7 HR, 21 RBI, .599 OPS
2026 salary: $10 million

The Phillies took a one-year flier on García hoping a change of scenery could help revive some of the power that once made him one of the American League’s more dangerous hitters. It never came together consistently. García continued to swing and miss at a high rate, striking out 84 times in 259 plate appearances while hitting below .200.

What he did provide was some of the best right-field defense Philadelphia has seen since Harper moved to first base. García’s arm remained a weapon, he covered ground and brought stability to a position that had been a defensive weakness for years.

He also quickly became a respected presence inside the clubhouse. His season ended in June after he tore his right latissimus dorsi while making a throw home, requiring surgery and cutting short any chance for the Phillies to see whether his bat could come around over a full season.

Edmundo Sosa, INF/OF, age 30

2026 stats: 84 G, .242/.280/.410, 8 HR, 43 RBI, .690 OPS
2026 salary: $4.4 million

Sosa’s season-long numbers were a little deceiving considering how strongly he finished. Over his final 50 games, he slashed .275/.313/.493 with 16 extra-base hits and an .806 OPS in 149 plate appearances.

A large portion of his offensive value again came in key situations. Sosa hit .323 with a .923 OPS with runners in scoring position, with that OPS ranking in the 89th percentile among the 298 hitters with at least 70 plate appearances in those situations. He also ranked in the top 16 percent of MLB players in Outs Above Average and sprint speed.

Sosa played through discomfort late in the season and remained available wherever the Phillies needed him. He has been with the organization since the 2022 trade deadline, becoming a fan favorite while filling just about every role imaginable across the infield and outfield. His versatility and right-handed bat could make him attractive to several teams looking for more than a traditional bench player.

José Alvarado, LHP, age 31

2026 stats: 68 G, 5-4, 5.86 ERA, 58⅓ IP, 70 K, 1.65 WHIP
2026 salary: $9 million

Few players have experienced more of this Phillies era than Alvarado. He joined the organization before the 2021 season and, at his best, developed into one of baseball’s most overpowering left-handed relievers.

But 2026 was a significant step backward. Alvarado continued to miss bats, striking out 70 in 58⅓ innings, but his 5.86 ERA and 1.65 WHIP pushed him away from the high-leverage role he once owned. The Phillies exercised his $9 million option for 2026 after his 2025 season was interrupted by an 80-game PED suspension, but the dominant version of Alvarado never returned consistently enough.

That makes this offseason different from previous ones. Philadelphia is no longer simply planning around Alvarado as one of its late-inning fixtures. It has to decide whether there is still enough upside to keep him in a bullpen that already figures to undergo changes.

Brooks Raley, LHP, age 38

Phillies stats: 16 G, 7.94 ERA, 11⅓ IP, 11 K, 1.94 WHIP
2026 salary: $4.75 million
Approx. salary with Phillies: $1.4 million

Raley looked like one of the safer bullpen additions available when the Phillies acquired him from the Mets at the deadline for outfielder John Spikerman and right-hander Luke Gabrysh. He arrived with a 1.96 ERA in 45 appearances for New York.

Almost none of that success followed him across the division.

Raley allowed 10 earned runs and four home runs in only 11⅓ innings with Philadelphia, finishing with a 7.94 ERA after the trade. His struggles eventually pushed him far enough down the bullpen pecking order that the Phillies left him off their Wild Card roster.

At 38, Raley reaches free agency after two completely different halves of a season: one that made him an appealing deadline target and another that kept him from being usable when the Phillies reached October.

Tim Mayza, LHP, age 34

2026 stats: 60 G, 6 GS, 3-4, 3.48 ERA, 67⅓ IP, 64 K, 1.13 WHIP
2026 salary: $1.75 million

Mayza quietly became one of the steadier pieces in an otherwise volatile Phillies bullpen. He gave them 67⅓ innings, handled six opener assignments and finished with a 3.48 ERA and 1.13 WHIP.

He was never deployed as a traditional late-inning reliever, but his ability to handle left-handed hitters, cover multiple innings and occasionally open games gave Mattingly useful flexibility over a long season. For a club that will once again have bullpen holes to fill, Mayza provided considerable value relative to his $1.75 million salary.

The Phillies now have to decide whether that reliability is worth bringing back or whether the bullpen needs a more significant overhaul after another season in which the rotation carried a disproportionate share of the pitching load.

Dylan Crews’ first two seasons with the Nationals fell short of the expectations that followed him into professional baseball. He hit .218 with three home runs in 31 games after his 2024 debut, then posted a .208/.280/.352 line with 10 home runs in 85 games in 2025. There were flashes of power and speed, but little sustained production from a player expected to become a cornerstone of the rebuild.

There were circumstances worth considering. His 2024 season was a brief introduction to major league pitching, while a left oblique strain cost him nearly three months in 2025. Those interruptions made development difficult, but they did not erase the concerns surrounding his bat.

Entering his third major league season, 2026 offered a fresh start. Blake Butera took over as manager, and a new hitting staff led by Matt Borgschulte, with Andrew Aydt and Shawn O’Malley, brought different perspectives to a young lineup. Crews seemed like an obvious candidate to benefit from the new perspective of the analytically minded coaching staff.

The preseason optimism made sense. A healthy season and new coaches offered hope that the former second overall pick could begin translating his talent into consistent production. After two disappointing years, a breakout would have helped establish his place alongside the Nationals’ emerging core.

It was clear from the beginning that a Dylan Crews breakout wasn’t going to occur right away, as on March 20, the Nats optioned Crews to Triple-A Rochester after he hit .103 through his first 12 spring games. A season that was supposed to establish him in the majors would begin with him trying to earn his way back. The decision was controversial, but the fact of the matter was Crews had areas he needed to improve if he was going to have consistent success as a big league hitter.

His time in Rochester eventually produced encouraging results. Crews hit .258/.345/.432 with five home runs in 41 games. Over his final 17 games there, he hit .308 and slugged .585 while lowering his strikeout rate to 22.5 percent. He earned himself another opportunity in the bigs, getting called back up in mid-May.

Through his first 25 games back with the Nationals, Crews hit .189 with a .567 OPS. The return to the majors did not immediately bring the breakthrough fans had hoped for, and his offensive struggles continued. He was hitting the ball harder than ever, but also swinging and missing at a career-high clip.

July finally offered a glimpse of a more complete hitter. Crews drew 14 walks and finished the month with a .372 on-base percentage and an .801 OPS. The improved patience was significant. He was finding ways to contribute beyond hits, giving himself better opportunities to reach base and do damage.

Then August brought another reversal. His OPS dropped to .558, and he hit one home run in 28 games. Just when his approach appeared to be coming together, the production disappeared again.

September supplied some renewed encouragement. By September 9, six of his previous seven hits had gone for extra bases, including five doubles. He also homered and scored three runs in the Nats’ September 25 win over the Mets.

Crews finished with a .223 average, 13 home runs, 44 RBI, 12 stolen bases and a .663 OPS. It was a slight improvement over his 2024 and 2025 numbers, but nowhere near close enough to guarantee Crews a starting spot on the 2027 Nationals, a team that in all likelihood will be aiming to compete for a playoff spot.

So where do the Nationals go from here with Dylan Crews? The draft pedigree and the flashes of success make him a tantalizing player that you want to give regular playing time to see if he’ll break out, but the struggles, especially against right-handed pitching, make it difficult to play him every day when better options may be available.

The Nationals coaching staff showed a lot of faith in Crews in the back half of 2026, hitting him near the top of the lineup even against righties, who he struggles mightily against. Paul Toboni has also said they view Crews as a key piece of their competitive rosters in the future. But through 225 big league games over the course of 3 seasons, Crews is not growing at a rate that suggests he can flip a switch and be an above-average regular one day, and he is creeping closer and closer to reaching arbitration, where he will receive a sizeable pay increase compared to his current salary.

I’d like to see the Nats give Crews one more shot to prove himself as a big league regular in 2027, but if they were to consider other options, such as a trade this offseason or turning him into a platoon hitter only against lefties midseason, I wouldn’t be opposed. If the Nats plan on taking another leap in 2027 into contention, they need to be maximizing value everywhere they can on the roster, and that starts with Dylan Crews proving he’s worth giving everyday at bats.

This is a slow time of year for baseball news, if your team isn’t in the playoffs. MLB doesn’t like teams to make news during the playoffs, because they want the focus to be on the playoff teams, which is fair.

Jameson Taillon is going to have elbow surgery next week. He’s had Tommy John twice but says ‘there is a good chance’ he can get by with the internal brace this time. He’ll be a free agent this off-season, and likely won’t be getting the $18 million he got last year.

And Ross Atkins talked to the press the other day. I used to be interested in the ‘end of season’ questions and answers thing, but I’ve come to realize that they don’t tell you anything. I used to make fun of Alex Anthopoulos talking a lot and saying nothing. I figured he knew the longer he talked the fewer questions he would have to take.

But Ross said all the things you have to say, Ernie Clement isn’t guaranteed the second base job. They are putting together a plan for Vlad. They need to find some power. And they need to find some starting pitchers who can make 30 starts a year. And “everything needs to be assessed”.

Anyway, use the thread to talk about the Wild Card round or the Jays off-season or anything you’d like.

The 2026 MLB playoffs are in full swing and every division series is now set.

Eight teams remain in the hunt for a World Series title after the conclusion of the wild-card round, with best-of-five matchups on tap to determine which teams make the American and National League Championship Series later this month.

In the American League, the New York Yankees swept the Boston Red Sox to advance to an AL Division Series against the AL East champion Tampa Bay Rays. The Chicago White Sox will face the Cleveland Guardians after winning their first MLB playoff series since 2005 over the Houston Astros.

In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers will start their postseason quest for a third-straight World Series win against the NL East champion Atlanta Braves. The Milwaukee Brewers take on the San Diego Padres in the other NL Division Series.

Print out a bracket and let the division series begin!

Printable MLB playoff bracket: 2026 Division Series update

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: MLB playoff bracket 2026: Printable bracket for every division series

The long offseason is upon us. The A’s have lots to do this offseason. First things first, the team needs to decide on a new General Manager, one that’ll lead the team into Las Vegas and hopefully build a winning playoff team before long. Whoever gets the job will be given the bones of a quality position player group, but with lots to fix on the pitching side of things. It won’t be an overnight fix and the new voice will want to build the team in his or her imagine, but the sooner we pick a person to lead us the better.

Turning to the schedule this offseason, there’s a few critical dates that we should all have on our calendars. A lot of this will obviously depend on the possibility of an impending lockout. If the owners and players can’t agree to a new deal before December 1st (which seems likely), then that’ll throw a huge wrench in the plans of every team in the league, including the A’s. Nothing we can do about that though.

• End of the World Series

The day after the Fall Classic is over, the rest of baseball is technically able to begin trades and sign their own players to contracts or extensions. There isn’t usually any big moves or news during this time but it’s always a possibility. Teams and agents can talk to each other during this time, but only the previous team can come to terms with an official contract.

During this time teams and players also need to decide on their options for next season. This year the A’s have a couple decisions to make, both of which should be easy. Jeffrey Springs and Jeff McNeil will both see their options for next year declined, sending them to free agency. On the other side of the coin starter Luis Severino is almost certain to pick up his $22 million option for next year, rejoining the club for a third year.

• Five Days After The World Series: Free Agency Begins

Once the shock of the World Series subsides, the rest of the league can begin turning their attention back to their own organizations. Free agents are now able to sign with whoever they want but unlike in other sports there’s not usually a sudden rush of signings. Still, this is the day where any big contract announcement can come at any moment the rest of the winter.

• Mid-November: Award Season

Once baseball is over it’s time to start handing out the end-of-year awards. The A’s won’t have anyone take home any trophies this offseason but there might be some honors. Langeliers could win the Silver Slugger for AL catcher even with the missed time. And while he won’t win the award, it’ll be interesting to see where Henry Bolte finishes in Rookie of the Year voting.

• Friday, November 20th: Non-tender Deadline

This is a big date for the Athletics this offseason. The team will need to decide which players they want to keep paying, and which they’re comfortable cutting and letting hit the free agent market. Cornerstone guys like Shea Langeliers and Zack Gelof are clearly not going to be non-tendered, but there are players under the knife. Is it time for the A’s to move on from guys like Darell Hernaiz and Joey Estes instead of giving them raises? Lots of decisions to make before this date.

• Second Week of December: Winter Meetings

If there is a deal in place, this year’s Winter Meetings would likely take place between December 7th and 10th. During this time there’s lots of deals and trades being made, as well as plenty of groundwork for later deals and trades that come later on. The A’s haven’t been especially active at these meetings and that’d be unlikely to change with a the new GM still likely getting their sea legs under them.

Another event that usually happens during the Winter Meetings is the Draft Lottery. The A’s are tied with the Rockies and Angels for the best odds to win the top pick at 16.5%. The lottery hasn’t gone the Athletics’ way in recent years but they’ve made it work (Jacob Wilson, Nick Kurtz, Jamie Arnold). One way or another there’ll be a lottery, it just may be delayed if there’s no deal.

• Last Day of Winter Meetings: Rule 5 Draft

Again, this could be one of the first casualties of a lockout. The 2022 lockout didn’t cost games but delayed the season and the Rule 5 draft was cancelled altogether. That’s an entirely possible outcome again this time around, which is especially disappointing for the teams at the bottom like the A’s. Since we ended the year with one of the worst records the Athletics would have one of the top picks. No guarantee of getting a good player, but the A’s need all the opportunities to add talent and the Rule 5 draft being cancelled would deprive them of one more path to adding a potential piece.

• January 15th: International Signing Period Begins

The A’s have always dipped their toes into the international market but have yet to have much success on that front. Lots of teams and players have already come to handshake agreements for contracts but this would be the date they put pen to paper. The A’s will likely have around $7-8 million to spend on a lottery ticket so to speak.

• Arbitration deadline: Mid-January

Assuming all goes normally this offseason (a massive hypothetical), the deadline for arbitration-eligible players and teams to file their proposed salary figures is roughly around this time. The A’s have a small arbitration class this year headlined by Langeliers. The other four are Zack Gelof, lefty Hogan Harris, and righty Luis Medina. The A’s should be able to wrap those four contracts up without the need to go to a hearing.

• February 9th/10th: Pitchers & Catcher Report

While it hasn’t technically been announced, pitchers and catchers generally arrive to camp 10 days before the first spring training game. That’d mean we’re looking at around February 9th or 10th for when the first players arrive to camp.

• February 14th/15th: First full squad workout

Five days later the position players will arrive to camp and the full team will be together for the first time. They’ll be with these guys for the better part of the next seven months.

• February 19th: First Spring Training Game

And then we finally get our first game action on the 19th, a Friday afternoon matchup against the Chicago Cubs. Only 140 days to go!

Well, the playoff field is set and the Red Sox are no longer in it. We’ve got White Sox-Guardians and Yankees-Rays in the American League. Braves-Dodgers and Padres-Brewers in the NL.

So the question is: who are your pulling for to win the World Series? A Brewers or Rays triumph would be a delicious entry into an offseason in which the owners are going to spend months lying about competitive balance. But maybe you want to get weird and pull for the White Sox. Maybe you’re a contrarian who thinks a 28th Yankees ring is what John Henry and FSG deserve.

As or me, the choice is easy. The Padres have been one of the most interesting and fun teams in baseball for years now. They are run by a front office that has been steadfastly dedicated to putting a winning team on a field. They are enthusiastically supported by an engaged fanbase in what is now definitively a baseball town. They’ve got Xander Bogaerts, who is still making magic in October. They’ve got Don. Let’s go, Friars.

Talk about the playoffs and whatever else you want in this space and, as always, be good to one another.

Even the players seemed to realize it this time.

Following their 6-2 loss in Game 3 of the Wild Card series in Atlanta last night, Bryce Harper voiced a reality that he, and his teammates, were trying to avoid with one, last, deep playoff run (quotes via MLB.com).

“I’d imagine this team is going to look a lot different next year,” Harper said. “The guys that are leaving this clubhouse. We’ll see.”

Alec Bohm, Edmundo Sosa and Jose Alvarado are key free agents who are likely to leave. Others could, and should, leave in trades.

It will look different.

One could almost understand why Dave Dombrowski decided to bring back most of a roster that won 95 games, their second straight NL East title, and fell in a very close series to the eventual World Series champions. Many didn’t agree, but there was an argument to be made it was the correct decision.

That argument cannot be made any longer.

The 2026 Phillies got another year older and the team is going backwards. After running out of gas in the 2022 World Series and choking away a return trip by losing Games 6 and 7 of the 2023 NLCS at home, this group failed to get past the NLDS in ‘24 and ‘25, and now lost to a superior Atlanta Braves team in this year’s wild card series.

The reason fans are feeling less anger and more resignation following their three-game loss to the Braves is the realization that the roster simply wasn’t good enough.

They won just 88 games this year, a 7-game drop-off, their +15 run differential, only 7th-best in the National League, meant their expected won-loss record was 83-79.

They were lucky to win even 88.

They were 19th in runs scored, 22nd in OPS and dead last in OPS+. Their team-wide Wins Above Replacement (Fangraphs) among their non-pitchers was just 12.0, 26th in MLB. Only the A’s, Reds, Angels and Rockies got less from their non-pitchers. Those teams finished with 64, 75, 62 and 58 wins, respectively. The two teams ahead of them, the Giants and Mets, won 65 and 74 games. The playoff team closest to the Phillies in this metric were the Braves, whose 17.5 non-pitcher fWAR of 17.5 was 21st. They played terrible defense all season long and lacked athleticism on the bases. They also finished tied for 16th in home runs, with only two players (Schwarber and Harper) finishing with 20 or more. No team hit fewer homers in September.

But the bullpen was also a disaster. Dave Dombrowski tried to do things, like signing Brad Keller to a free agent contract as a set-up man, and added Caleb Killian and Brooks Raley at the trade deadline. Two of those guys got hurt and one was an abject failure. Returning relievers Orion Kerkering and Alvarado became utterly unusable by year’s end, and Jonathan Bowlan ran out of gas. Their 4.43 ERA ranked 21st in baseball, consistently a bottom-10 unit all season.

Still, the Phillies tried to paper their way through October masking all these deficiencies and, had they not frittered away the final week of the season, might have pulled off at least a first round upset in Atlanta.

They would not have needed Zack Wheeler to start Game 162 if the lineup hadn’t gone ice cold. Had Wheeler been able to start Game 1, perhaps Jesus Luzardo could have been employed as a reliever, and Jhoan Duran wouldn’t have been asked to come up with a 50-pitch, two-inning hold/save. Perhaps that Austin Riley homer never happens and the Phils sweep the Braves in two games.

Perhaps Aaron Nola isn’t asked to pitch on two days rest in Game 161. No one can be sure how that affected his performance in Game 3 last night, but it couldn’t have helped. And the Luzardo injury itself came at the worst possible time, forcing Don Mattingly into the Nola decision on the final Saturday of the season, jamming up the roster for the wild card round. Luis Arraez’ injury in the final week also didn’t help, although he was not very impactful during his two months with the Phillies anyway.

Dombrowski cannot fool himself into thinking his team is better than it is. He has a remarkably good starting rotation, and that is a great place to begin to rebuild a roster. The floor is already pretty high when you have Wheeler/Luzardo/Cristopher Sanchez/Andrew Painter as your 1-4. But when you’re sporting a bottom-third bullpen and the 5th-worst group of position players in the entire sport, the numbers on the paper match the psychological need to shake things up.

The players realize it, too. The team needs to be different, and it almost doesn’t matter how it happens at this point.

Dave Dombrowski is not a creative general manager. He doesn’t pull rabbits out of his hat. He’s also not great at building farm systems. Both those areas of weakness have shown up as he’s tried to cobble this roster together. This past year, almost every major move he made failed.

He failed to add a new bat to the lineup, with Bo Bichette signing with New York. He re-signed J.T. Realmuto to a three-year, $45 million contract, then watched as he turned into one of the worst hitting catchers in baseball. The Keller signing was a disaster, although not entirely his fault, and none of his trade deadline acquisitions appeared in the wild card round at all.

So what does he do? What can he do?

Everything should be on the table. Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Trea Turner all cannot be traded without their permission, and it’s unlikely they would give it. But, Dombrowski should be open to it if an offer comes through and the player is intrigued enough to consider moving on. Should they offer one of their big-time starting pitchers for multiple pieces at multiple positions that might help? Bryson Stott may be the best overall position player on the team, but is inconsistent at the plate and has a career .181 batting average and .515 OPS in 142 career post-season plate appearances. He may be the guy most teams ask about in trade conversations.

Brandon Marsh should be traded. Turner should be moved to center field if he can’t be moved (and he can’t). Justin Crawford looks like a solid bench outfielder, but not a big league, everyday starter. The rest of the outfield is an utter mess.

The MLB lockout that will begin on December 1 will delay all these decisions. It’s likely Alex Cora becomes the new manager before that happens (likely right after the World Series), but in terms of player changes, we’re all going to have to wait. And when the season does officially begin, it’ll be a sprint to get things done, with little time for creativity.

The Phillies will be hard-pressed to spend their way to a solvent roster, unless they move on from players who have proven that, together, they are not good enough to get it done.

The psychology of so many playoff defeats together necessitates drastic change. This was actually true last off-season, but Dombrowski didn’t want to hear it.

At least these Phillies gave us one last thrill in Game 2. And at least they made their ending quick and relatively painless with a non-competitive effort in Game 3. No hand-wringing, no what-ifs, just the hard, cold reality that they simply weren’t good enough.

The “fake it until you make it” masquerade simply couldn’t hold up any longer.

In recorded MLB history, no team has ever followed a streak of postseason performances like this, with the same roster largely intact, and gone on to win a World Series afterwards.

So, changes are coming.

For real, this time.

Two teams in the NL East battled it out over a three-game stretch to see who would be lucky enough to get in the Dodgers’ way. Ultimately, the Atlanta Braves got the best of the Philadelphia Phillies in a three-game Wild Card series, and the stage is set for a 2021 NLCS rematch beginning on Saturday in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers have thrice previously experienced a first-round bye, having come away successful only once. Once again, the team has taken this time to prepare for the quest of a third consecutive championship. For some players, such as Miguel Rojas, he has used this time to study for the U.S. citizenship test, as well as reflect on what could be his final postseason run, per Sonja Chen of MLB.com.

“I feel like I wouldn’t play for another team that is not the Dodgers. That’s something that I have control over,” Rojas said. “You have to meet with the organization and know what their plans are for the future and all that, and see if you fit in on the plans. … That’s the reason why I feel like this might be it, and at the same time, I don’t want to be a distraction to the whole group for what we want to accomplish.”

The Dodgers have two options for which player could serve as the team’s left-handed bat off the bench, those being outfielder Josue De Paula and catcher Dalton Rushing. It’s still a toss-up as to whom the Dodgers will pick, but, as Jack Harris of the California Post notes, it’d be a surprise to not see the 21-year-old outfielder’s name on the postseason roster come Saturday.

At this point, though, it would be a surprise if the 21-year-old slugger wasn’t active for the best-of-five series.

“He’s just a special hitter,” manager Dave Roberts said last week. “[His skill set] lines up in the postseason. And no moment is going to be too big for that kid.”

The last time the Dodgers faced against Atlanta in October, their quest for a repeat came to a scratching halt after a six-game series, with the latter laughing their way to a World Series win over the Houston Astros. Once again, the Dodgers have the upper hand on paper, and they are well aware that they have a target on their backs, writes Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times.