CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 18: PitcherDrew Rasmussen #57 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates at the end of the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians in game five of the American League Championship Series at Progressive Field on October 18, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Happy Monday, everyone! We could know as soon as tonight who will be heading to the World Series against the Brewers, or whether we’ll get a nail-biter Game 7 in the ALCS. Today we’ll check in on how the Rays have managed to turn things around when they needed it the most, and how pitcher Drew Rasmussen came in clutch precisely when his team needed him. We round things up with some postseason chatter as well as some offseason and free agency overview. Plus, the Tigers have added a new member to their coaching staff, and it’s a reunion of sorts for A.J. Hinch from his Astros days.
Let’s get right into it.
Detroit Tigers News
Happy Willie Horton Day!
One of the greatest to ever wear the Olde English D and #RepDetroit
Join us in celebrating Willie Horton’s 84th birthday and Willie Horton Day in the state of Michigan! 👏 pic.twitter.com/JWyh5IXClE
Longtime MLB catcher Martín Maldonado is in agreement to join the Detroit Tigers coaching staff, sources tell @CodyStavenhagen and me – https://t.co/QLAEbAkoCv
PHILADELPHIA, PA - SEPTEMBER 22: Luis Arraez #4 of the Philadelphia Phillies warms up during batting practice prior to the game between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday, September 22, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Denis Kennedy/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
If the Cardinals want to compete next season, it would be wise to shore up their positions of weakness. The bullpen is a clear weakness, but it’s also the part of the team I would probably focus on last personally. An argument for the best closer in baseball is Bryan Baker of the Tampa Bay Rays, a 31-year-old with 3 career saves entering this season. Baker was drafted by the Rockies, traded as the player to be named later in a package for a year and a month of Seung Hwan Oh, selected off waivers by the Orioles a few years later, and finally traded for a draft pick last deadline. Meanwhile, Edwin Diaz got paid $17 million to allow nearly a run per inning in his 21 appearances for the Dodgers. Neither of these are unusual stories for relievers.
So most of my offseason talk will be focused on finding someone for either third base, center field, or starting pitcher. There is a very big, unfortunate issue with this however: the free agent market at those positions kind of suck. It’s why my very first free agent profile was focused on someone who has barely played 3B (JP Crawford). Any true 3B upgrade will either have to come via trade or someone at a different position. Which brings me to today’s post.
In theory, anybody who plays second base can play third base. And while that is literally true, the two positions require different strengths so they are likely not going provide the same quality of defense. But the truth of the matter is that the 2B market is significantly stronger than the 3B market. At the very least entertaining the better second basemen on the market is worth exploring to improve 3B. You could also move JJ Wetherholt to 3B, but I am opposed to that, so I would make it clear to these free agents that they would have to play 3B. It’d be an easier argument because Wetherholt is indeed better defensively than every other 2B. So if for no other reason than to eliminate them as real targets, let’s look at the 2B who might make sense at 3B.
The Tampa Bay Rays are one win away from the World Series. They also, at least as of now, made an extremely bad trade involving Brandon Lowe. They traded one season of Lowe, getting paid $11.5 million, 5 seasons of Mason Montgomery (2.2 fWAR out of the bullpen), and Jake Magnum (who isn’t very good) for 25-year-old Jacob Melton (who missed most of 2026 to injury and never saw the majors) and Anderson Brito, a mediocre prospect who only pitched in 8 games in 2026 at a level he had already pitched before (and he was worse at that level in 2026).
With all that said, Brandon Lowe has more warning signs than a radiation plant. He will most likely receive a qualified offer, and that is not a good start. In his previous four seasons prior to 2026, he averaged under 2 WAR per season. He was randomly great at defense after a career of not being very good defensively. The first year of his deal will be at 32-years-old. And he has never played an inning of 3B at pro ball. Also his arm is 11th percentile according to Statcast, though 2B hold back more than 3B as we will soon see.
The arm is the big one because frankly, a career of being not great defensively is actually a very good argument for someone to move to 3B. But I wanted to take a one-year game on Crawford defensively, and you would likely be taking a 3-4 year gamble on Lowe (his QO could very much hurt his market to an extreme degree though). On the positive side, his power wouldn’t be that terribly affected by Busch. He hit 35 homers for the Pirates. It would have been 32 at Busch.
But unfortunately, I have even more warning signs. For as good of a season as he had, there are so many reasons to not sign this guy. My last warning sign is that his offense looked to be on the luckier side. He had his highest K% since 2019 and he had his highest BABIP also since 2019. That’s not a great combo. His xwOBA was .331, which was his lowest since 2022 in his injury-shortened season. His actual wOBA was .354.
I’m going to be completely honest. I think I would avoid Lowe even if the Cardinals had a hole at 2B. A 32-year-old who probably didn’t actually get better last season but saw a career year saddled with a QO? And we have to move him to 3B, a position he hasn’t played professionally, and he has a weak arm?
Expected Contract: I don’t think I can even guess, I have no idea
The great big mystery of Arraez is how does the league value Arraez? Coming off a 0.9 fWAR season, Arraez signed for $1 year, $12 million. That is honestly more than most 0.9 WAR players will get, maybe all of them, so I’m not necessarily taking it as a given that the league doesn’t value Arraez like anti-stats people like to say. He will be 30-years-old and will likely get a multi-year deal.
With that said, his offense did not really get that much better, he was a significantly better player because he was suddenly great at defense. I have not looked into why, but unlike Lowe who was generally below average before 2026, Arraez was straight up awful defensively. Even with genuine improvements, it’s very hard to buy into his 2026 level of defense. You just don’t really see that kind of jump defensively, ever, and if it was hitting that did it, everyone would be similarly skeptical. When a sudden jump happens, you don’t assume the same level, you go somewhere in between where he used to be and his career year.
Arraez has played 3B, although very little, and like 2B and like 1B, he was awful defensively. I don’t think his arm is an issue. It’s 25th percentile, but I think he has more in the tank. When he last played significant innings at 3B, he threw it four miles per hour harder at 3B than when he played at 2B. And his arm at 2B this past season was very similar to how hard he threw at 2B in the year he also played 3B. He was actually dead average the year he played 400 innings at 3B, for some reason he was -7 OAA in 40 innings the very next season and nobody’s tried him at 3B since.
His bat is more reliable, although not near as good as the batting average people think. He doesn’t walk and he has no power, so he’s an above average hitter, but definitely not elite. He also hits into a lot of double plays. He hit into 15 double plays last season and has averaged just about that in the last four seasons. He somehow hit into 18 double plays when he batted .354.
As I said in the beginning, I don’t really know how the league values him. My interest in him is entirely dependent on his next contract. Is he valued like an All-Star, because I’d definitely avoid that contract. Like the 1 WAR player he was in 2024 and 2025? That means short-term and that’s more interesting.
Chisholm is kind of the opposite of our first two choices. His 2026 season stats are him coming off a down season and he’s very likely good on defense, despite his blunders. His numbers at 3B are a bit of a mixed bag – he was very good in 2024 and not good in 2025, and then the Yankees stopped playing him at 3B. He’s similar to Arraez in that he threw it harder at 3B than he does at 2B and most of his 9th percentile arm is related to that fact. He threw it 85.6 mph at 3B last year, 78.5 mph at 2B. So he must be really having his fair share of lobbing it over at 2B. It’s not really possible to lob it over at 3B (despite it looking like that’s what Matt Carpenter did).
We also saw in the 2026 playoffs that he likes to play hero ball and will likely continue to do so given his postgame comments, and I can see how that could potentially affect you more at 3B than 2B when you simply have more opportunities to make errors from trying to land on a top ten list. Couple that with the high standard he sets at 2B and the 3B version of Chisholm is probably a worse player than the 2B version.
On top of that, he had a down year with the bat. His xwOBA was a career low .294 and his 98 wRC+ was only a little bit better than his career low his rookie season. His power took a huge dip despite the bandbox he got to play in. Like his offensive stats are concerning.
Of course he’ll be 29 and the reporting is indicating he will not receive a qualified offer. They didn’t actually want Trent Grisham and he accepted, and I don’t think they want to repeat that risk. And Chisholm is firmly in his prime years so a bounceback offensively wouldn’t be the craziest thing. Chisholm would be a bit of a swing and it doesn’t seem like he’d be a fan favorite, but at least by value…. I mean he makes sense.
Conclusion: If you can get him for a good deal, frankly, I might take that swing
Torres is an interesting case, because he has not played 3B since 2018 and he has a grand total of less than 200 innings there in his entire pro career. But he’s also a former SS who has spent his fair share of time on the left side of the infield. Of course, he was bad defensively there and had to move to 2B. He has also been bad there. It’s clear range is not his thing which means there’s some theoretical upside to him defensively at 3B. Like he sets a low enough standard at 2B that I’m not real sure his defense would actually be worse at 3B. And like the others, once he moved from SS to 2B, his arm strength magically got weak. So I feel like his arm wouldn’t be an issue.
He also will 100 percent not have the qualified offer saddled on him. He already accepted it for the 2026 season and can’t get it again. He’ll be 30. He is fairly consistent as an above average hitter. And his batting profile is walk-heavy, not a ton of strikeouts, not reliant on power at all, so a move to Busch shouldn’t really hurt him. I’d actually be very curious on what kind of deal he would get, coming off a down year.
Conclusion: I’d be very tempted if less than my proposed contract
I could talk myself into Jazz Chisholm or Gleybar Torres. I assume the Cardinals have a much better way of figuring out how each player’s defense would translate at 3B. It’s entirely possible them at 3B is just a nonstarter. Kind of an important part of this whole process. So the estimates would have to work out, the contract would have to work out, they’d have to be willing to play 3B, I wouldn’t say any of these are likely.
Oct 15, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick (10) celebrates in the clubhouse after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in game four of the NLCS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Good morning.
The Rays beat the Guardians yesterday to take a three-games-to-two lead in the American League Championship Series. Here are some takeaways from Game 5.
Assuming Díaz is correct, the Rays will take on the National League Champions Milwaukee Brewers. Eric Longenhagen has a review of the NL Championship Series.
Jayson Stark writes that with the Brewers win, the “gamers” beat the Hall of Famers. (The Athletic sub. req.) Stark also tries to put the Brewers win in historic context and has the kinds of obscure facts that we’ve come to expect out of Stark.
PORT CHARLOTTE, FL - MARCH 18: Nate George (11) of the Baltimore Orioles runs in from the field during a minor league spring training game against the Tampa Bay Rays on March 18, 2026 at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte, Florida. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
On the surface, it might feel like Nate George and Enddy Azocar are an unlikely pairing for our prospect review series. And it’s true, their 2026 seasons had very different trajectories. But they are both talented outfielders who weren’t heralded signings when they joined pro ball in 2024. They are both above-average defenders, which is always exciting after watching the Orioles’ current defense. And they both played for the High-A Frederick Keys, though not at the same time.
These two had almost opposite arcs over the course of the season. George’s year was highly anticipated after he shot up the prospect lists with his 2025 performance. Azocar, however, struggled in 2025 and was looking to get into the top prospect discussion (spoiler: he did). Now the two sit back-to-back on the Orioles prospect list at MLB Pipeline; Azocar is #6 and George is #7.
Nate George
At the end of 2025, Nate George was a star on the rise. The Orioles drafted him in the 16th round of the 2024 draft. By the end of the next season, everyone was taking notice. He was awarded the team’s Minor League Prospect of the Year in 2025, was named a top 100 prospect by Baseball America, and was at the top of Orioles’ prospect lists.
He did so by spending his 19th year laying waste to the Florida Coast League and Low-A, then finishing off the season with a .380 OBP in 21 games with the high-A Aberdeen IronBirds. His full 2025 numbers: .336/.413/.483 with 50 stolen bases. He is also an above-average fielder with a ton of speed, making him perhaps even more enticing than Enrique Bradfield, Jr., who has the defense but struggles offensively.
When the 2026 minor league rosters were announced, the High-A Frederick Keys had an enviable lineup. George joined fellow prospects Ike Irish and Wehiwa Aloy to make a formidable threesome. But it didn’t last long.
George was off to a pretty good start when, after 20 games, he was put on the injured list with a non-baseball-related medical condition. George was hitting .293/.372/.366 with 15 SB when he left the team. He did not play for the rest of the year.
There have been no real updates on George since he was removed from the active roster at the beginning of May. It hurts for a prospect to lose so much development time, but more than that, I think we can agree that we just hope he’s doing ok as a person. I expect we’ll get news of some sort as we approach spring training.
Enddy Azocar
The same year that Nate George was drafted #489 overall, the Boston Red Sox signed Enddy Azocar out of Venezuela for just $40,000. Azocar made his professional debut that year in the Dominican Summer League, then started strong in 2025 in the Florida Coast League. After just 14 games, the Red Sox promoted him to low-A Salem.
Unlike George, Azocar struggled in low-A. Over 71 games he failed to get on base (.273 OBP) and failed to hit for power (.315 SLG). He was young for the league, about 2.5 years younger than the average player. It was a struggle he apparently learned from, because 2026 was much different.
Azocar began 2026 with the same team he finished 2025 with, the low-A Salem Red Sox. Same team, but he appeared to be a different player. He started strong at the plate, OPS’ing .868 in May and .907 in April. His power jumped up, too. By the end of May, Azocar had seven home runs. He hit only six in all of 2025.
His improved numbers earned him a promotion to high-A, and he stumbled against the higher competition. June was his worst month of the season, but he adjusted. In July, he hit eight home runs and OPS’d 1.046 in 19 games.
On August 3rd, Azocar was traded to the Orioles in the package that sent Adley Rutschman to the Red Sox. He debuted with the Frederick Keys the next day and made a very good first impression. Azocar had three hits in his organizational debut and 10 hits over his first five games. He finished out the year with the Keys and hit .327/.372/.529 in 25 games.
At just 19, Azocar was still young for the league he played in. But this time around, he thrived. Between the two orgs, he played well at High-A for 71 games. I expect he’ll start 2027 with the Double-A Chesapeake Baysox.
Azocar has played multiple outfield positions, but on all three teams in 2026 he spent the majority of his time in center field. Per MLB Pipeline, he has good instincts and average range in center, but is much better suited to a corner outfield position. Luckily for him, the Orioles need defensive help at all positions.
George and Azocar are both young, talented outfielders in the Orioles’ system. They had different paths in 2026, but we hope to see them both continue to succeed in 2027.
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - JULY 17: Carter Jensen, center, is mobbed by his Kansas City Royals teammates after his two-RBI single gave them the win over the San Diego Padres at Kauffman Stadium on July 17, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Reed Hoffmann/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Brooks Sherman, president of real estate and development for the Royals, said on Thursday that master planning for the ballpark district is getting started now as the team looks to hire a master planner. “Right now our focus is on the stadium,” he said.
Sherman said there have been no decisions about any demolitions in Crown Center and that there are great tenants already on site whom officials look to keep and add to.
“That’s when we begin to look at the entirety of the rest of the district to understand what kind of buildings we would have, an entertainment venue, the retail, the food and beverage and so forth, so there have been no decisions about any destruction on any building.”
Sherman said there are a lot of great tenants at Crown Center, and they want to keep all of them. One of those, just north of 25th Street and the Hallmark-owned Kaleidoscope, is the Sea Life Aquarium. That entity told us to reach out to Hallmark about demolition.
“The development will reimagine Crown Center and revitalize the city’s original live-work-play neighborhood while strengthening our business community and creating new opportunities,” one of the spokespeople for Hallmark said. “We remain in the early phases of planning the district beyond the ballpark. We are committed to maintaining open communication with our tenants and business partners as plans progress.”
Dobnak excelled in limiting hitters to a 3.7% barrel rate and inducing ground balls at a 51.2% rate. While this is a good recipe for limiting home runs and extra-base hits, Dobnak struggled with striking out batters, and batters were too easily able to make contact off him. One of Dobnak’s biggest weaknesses was his inability to miss bats. Hitters made contact on 91% of their swings at pitches in the strike zone (league worst), leaving him heavily reliant on his defense to record outs. His 4.22 FIP, more than a run higher than his ERA, suggests his results could be difficult to sustain.
“I’m just continuing to get better,” said Tolbert, whose .246 batting average and .693 OPS while coming up through the Royals system didn’t exactly portend his recent level of success. “Each season you just try to find what works for you, and try to get into a groove. I’ve had good hitting years and I’ve had average hitting years. I don’t really chase numbers, though. I just trust my routine and my process. If you’re focusing on the process, the numbers are going to be the numbers.”
CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 18: Bryan Baker #47 and Junior Caminero #13 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrate the 3-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians in game five of the American League Championship Series at Progressive Field on October 18, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Tampa Bay Rays won Game 5 against the Cleveland Guardians, putting them one win away from potentially winning their first World Series. The Guardians will look to spoil that tonight and force Game 7, which would put them in the World Series for the first time since 2016 and once again within striking distance of their first win since 1948.
It was a relatively slow weekend in Rockies land, but here’s what folks had to say about the team as well as others around the league:
While there are plenty of Major League roster questions, Thomas Harding offers three prospects for fans to keep an eye on in 2027 (especially if there is a lockout) — Mason Adams (No. 17 PuRP), Charlie Condon (No. 2 PuRP) and Jackson Cox (No. 11 PuRP).
We all know that the Rockies fired Alon Leichman after a rookie season that saw a lot of experimentation with the rotation. Nobody quite knows why the Rockies let Leichman go, but Thomas Harding provides more details as to potentially what went wrong between the two parties.
Banana Ball is returning to Coors Field in 2027, but it won’t feature the Savannah Bananas this time. It will feature the Party Animals and the Loco Beach Coconuts, which feature old friend Will Ethridge. Enter the lottery here if you haven’t already. Have you been to a Banana Ball game yet?
The Dodgers are out of the playoffs! Tyler Kepner makes his predictions for what will happen now that the three-peat (and maybe the lockout??) is out of the picture. He identifies all of the things that he thinks will happen:
MLB will try to stop them
They will keep winning … except in October
Other powers will emerge
They will take on other teams’ big contracts (Hey Dodgers, can we interest you in Kris Bryant??)
Speaking of the Dodgers, Brandon Day from our Tigers’ sister site does an excellent job of showing how the LA Team was built and now how MLB is trying to stop them after enabling them for years by putting the onus on the players during the CBA negotiations:
Between that exemption, and the Dodgers being allowed to defer a billion dollars in salary as of this writing, the league had a big hand in creating this monster. And the league’s bottom line loves the Dodgers dynasty. Now they say they want the players to agree to a salary cap, which the players union has always resisted, and bail the league out of its own mess.
DYERSVILLE, IOWA - AUGUST 13: A detailed view of a Netflix camera prior to a game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Minnesota Twins at Field of Dreams on August 13, 2026 in Dyersville, Iowa. (Photo by Tyler Clouse/Getty Images) | Getty Images
I didn’t watch a single game of MLB’s Wild Card Series. I listened to it on the radio.
Is that weird? I think so.
I’m not part of the analog movement; I’m not out to prioritize tactile experiences over digital ones. You could even argue that I was lucky to be spared the images of our Sox falling at the hands of the Yankees. That’s a valid argument as far as it goes but I would have far preferred to watch the games anyway.
I listened to the ALWCS on the radio as though it’s 1955 because I didn’t have access to NBC.
What’s a Cable Cutter Supposed to Do?
I am a longtime streamer; I cut the cable on my TV subscription almost ten years ago. It was supposed to be a savvy move, saving money and riding the wave of the streaming technologies that are now completely baked into our daily lives.
So how did I fall so far behind that in the 2026 postseason, I followed my team the same way my grandfather did?
Being an out-of-market baseball fan like me is supposed to be easy in the digital era. There are a number of apps and plentiful clips all over the internet to watch live games, condensed games, recaps, highlights, and more. However, my location in Seattle makes me ineligible for the Red Sox own NESN 360, even though I’m part of Red Sox Nation, because I don’t live in New England. (And those New Englanders who are Sox fans but happen to live in Fairfield County, CT are out of luck too, the poor bastards.) But I have my MLB.TV subscription, and you would think that would be enough to watch baseball all season long. Isn’t that kind of promised in the name?
Not really, because today’s baseball fan actually finds it tough to catch all their games without:
Attending in person (clearly, this amounts to a small fortune and is impractical on many levels)
Obtaining multiple subscriptions (still a small fortune)
Navigating an elaborate calendar based on which outlet is offering the broadcast
Listening on the radio
Watching Gameday’s slightly time-delayed simulation of each at-bat
Resorting to illegal means
Missing out entirely
None of that sounds appealing, or makes any sense, or fits with MLB’s stated intentions of growing the fanbase, does it?
In 2025, When announcing MLB’s new broadcast deal with ESPN, NBC, and Netflix, Rob Manfred said it was “a great opportunity to expand our reach to fans.” MLB executive vice president and chief marketing officer Karin Timpone has also said, “The number one thing we’re trying to do is invite everybody to be a fan.”
And yet, when I’ve fired up the MLB app on a Friday night, I’ve been told the Red Sox (or other interesting games) are locked behind an exclusive Apple TV+ paywall. On other days of the week, at different times in the season, I find that a different national media deal has shut me out. I’m not paying less for my MLB.TV subscription, either, even though it now offers fewer games. I’m being asked by MLB to pay more, for an ever-growing list of streaming options: Apple TV+, Netflix, FOX, NBC, TBS, ESPN. And if I don’t pay up, I have to tune out.
Some of these broadcasters are very familiar, from the olden days of watching sports on cable. Could I watch more baseball if I simply gave in and rekindled my relationship with a cable TV provider? My MLB app locks me out of some games because I don’t have one of those. How does this make sense?
I’ve tried subscriptions to Fubo, YouTube TV, and Peacock. They offer introductory rates but those expire, and none of them provide complete coverage anyway.
And that’s just the regular season! When October arrives, MLB dials up the frustration to an entirely new level.
Once the postseason begins, the MLB.TV app goes dark (unless you already have a cable provider, and reside in the US). To watch a single pitch of the most meaningful games of the year, fans are forced into a multi-tiered corporate gauntlet. Want the Wild Card? Open Peacock. Want the ALDS? That’s HBO Max (I got lucky, since I happen to have that one already!). Need the World Series? You’ll have to get a live TV bundle like YouTube TV, Fubo, or Sling. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, though. For just one example, Fubo doesn’t carry the ALCS. By the time you string together the necessary subscriptions, you’ve essentially recreated that pricy monthly cable bill, just to watch four weeks of sports.
And the headache! How long have I spent mapping all this out? First to find out what I can squeeze into my budget, and then the day-to-day planning of which provider is broadcasting which game. It’s exhausting, and frankly, ridiculous.
I’m not the first person to log this complaint. Outlets as varied as NJ.com, Consumer Reports, Awful Announcing, and many more have all covered this before me. And I feel like when Consumer Reports is weighing in on baseball, a line has clearly been crossed, right? At the beginning of the 2026 season, Kiplinger (known for their personal finance and related advice) looked into the costs a modern baseball fan could expect to incur by watching a season’s worth of games on TV. In their analysis, this model of decentralized streaming has pushed the annual cost of following baseball to roughly $500–$600. For a league trying to grow, this is an incredibly steep barrier to entry. That doesn’t even include a trip to the ballpark, or buying a jersey, or any of the “extras” that following a team might inspire.
Even Congress has gotten involved. Rep. Tammy Baldwin introduced legislation this year called the For The Fans Act. The bill seeks to improve the fan experience by ending regional blackouts within league-owned subscription services like MLB.TV, and requiring pro sports leagues to offer free access to broadcasts of local games.
The Baseball Toll (not Tolle)
I’m a longtime, dedicated fan. I write about baseball. I’m a nerd. For all these reasons, I pay the toll. That is, I navigate the apps, I hunt down clips, I use Gameday, and I do what my grandfather did: I tune into the radio. But as I listen to an audio feed or watch a Gameday at-bat in this era of high-definition broadcasting, a glaring question emerges: How on earth does MLB expect to win over new fans like this?
The league is currently trapped in a massive paradox. They talk extensively about “growing the sport” by expanding globally and capturing new demographics (among them: women, international fans, and potential fans who are Gen Z aged or younger). Yet, their distribution model does the exact opposite.
I lived with a Gen Z teen until just three weeks ago when he became a college freshman, and the truth is, if he can’t watch something, it may as well not have happened. He’ll watch a highlight on TikTok (he doesn’t watch baseball as far as I know; I’m speaking more generally) but I don’t believe that’s how baseball will find its way into more hearts, or grow from a highlight into an abiding interest, even a passion. By making it difficult to get invested—to even find the games—MLB is preventing casual fans from becoming more than casual.
In the last two years alone, MLB has made serious attempts to expand into Japan, Mexico, South Korea, and the UK. Even now, Red Sox Nation is full of global citizens; it’s not just a New England thing. You could argue that about any team. But if a potential fan in Tokyo, Mexico City, Seoul, or London can’t click a single app on their phone to watch a game, they simply won’t watch it. As an out-of-market fan myself, I understand what it takes to get that game, and MLB isn’t making it easy.
A Hydra With Many Heads
To understand why it is so difficult to follow baseball, you have to look at the sheer number of corporate entities slicing up the broadcast rights. There is no longer anything like a “baseball package;” instead there is a completely decentralized, sprawling entity that is not only difficult to navigate, but it seems to keep growing. Every time another deal is signed, there’s another head on this monster that needs to be fed—by fans’ subscriptions, of course.
Consider what it takes just to follow the regular season:
Apple TV+ regularly streams Friday Night Baseball.
Netflix has moved into the space and owns exclusive rights to high-profile events like Opening Night, the Home Run Derby, and the iconic Field of Dreams game.
Traditional broadcasters like Warner Bros. Discovery (via TBS and truTV) and Fox Corporation still command massive chunks of the schedule.
NBCUniversal expanded its MLB footprint by buying rights to Sunday Night Baseball, as well as the entire MLB Wild Card round. I’ve heard quite a bit of lip service as to how NBC’s “storied” legacy with baseball (one that seemingly ended when Bob Costas signed off in 2000) will continue and grow. Honestly, as a fan, it felt like bad news because it put up another hurdle to navigate.
Fragmentation Fatigue
The result is a sports media landscape where the fan can never keep up. According to recent data from the Sports Business Journal, “fragmentation fatigue” (which is not limited to sports) is widespread: nearly 28% of active sports streamers juggle three or more separate, paid apps just to follow their teams.
When the postseason arrives, the financial absurdity truly sets in. The league’s flagship app, MLB.TV, explicitly requires “Pay TV provider authentication” to stream postseason games live in the United States. If you cut the cable to save money, October forces you to buy your way back in. And that’s only in the US! When I was in France three years ago, my MLB.TV app didn’t work (without a VPN) so what will happen to all the international fans that MLB is trying to cultivate?
If a fan wants to watch every single playoff game, legally, without cable, they essentially have two choices:
Subscribe to an all-in-one provider like YouTube TV, Hulu+Live TV, or DirecTV Stream to get FOX, FS1, and TBS, plus a separate subscription to Peacock (or Fubo) for the Wild Card series. It’s especially wild to me that fans can’t watch either the Division Series or Championship Series on a single provider; the National League was covered this year by FOX, with TBS handling the American League. This is also why there are so many “How to Watch” articles because it’s that damn complicated! The cost for this nonsense? Upwards of $100 for one month.
Create a patchwork quilt of apps. There are a number of ways to do this, depending on what streamers you already have. This gentleman on Instagram who researched the options promised that it could be done for just under $52. But note the fine print: “Heads up: Peacock Select and the HBO Max plan with ads do NOT include live sports. Pick the wrong tier and the game stays locked at first pitch.”
I have a friend—let’s call her “Laura”—who is a baseball fan and sportswriter. She watches games but wants to watch more, as in, all the Red Sox and postseason MLB games. Friends and colleagues have suggested other ways to stream these games, ways that may exist somewhere on the spectrum from “certainly shady” to “for sure illegal.”
VPNs that might fool an app into unlocking blackouts also require a paid subscription. Laura says she might have tried even less legal means; however, even though she’s pretty tech-savvy, she couldn’t get them to work due to never-ending popups that didn’t allow her to reach the actual game. Besides, I hear that there was too much porn to wade through, which added yet another layer of unpleasantness to this whole dilemma.
In the spring, she learned about a “Media Hub” box, which has since been pulled from legit American retailers due to legal rulings regarding copyright. Depending on where you look, it costs somewhere between $300-$600 and can only be purchased from overseas retailers. Laura is a pretty law-abiding citizen and certainly supportive of the right of copyright holders to protect their creative work (MLB broadcasts are copyrighted). That she has even considered this probably says a lot, right?
So even if fans wanted to go another route, it’s costly and difficult, and steeped in moral quagmires.
Follow the Money
The owners and league executives aren’t blind to this frustration, but they are following the money. Contracts provide exclusive broadcast rights. That allows media companies to use baseball as leverage to gain streaming subscribers. Platforms are willing to pay astronomical fees because having two million people download an app and enter a credit card number is a huge business victory—even if it means drawing fewer total eyeballs for baseball overall. Those same contracts slice up the postseason (separating American and National Leagues within the same series, for example, or allowing only one series to be broadcast per streamer before moving on to the next streamer). If the media company gets their subscriber, they don’t care what happens with the other league, or the rest of the postseason; their work is done.
That’s a win for the streamers, but not for MLB.
The windfall of all that money, earned by allowing those streamers to bid against each other for the joy of broadcasting fragmented parts of the MLB season, creates an existential threat for MLB and baseball itself. When games are partitioned off behind a maze of different paywalls, casual channel-surfers (along with the rest who can’t or won’t pay) are completely shut out. No one can be accidentally drawn into an exciting game. We’ve seen how much work has to generally be done to catch a postseason game at all; this time of year should theoretically offer the most intense and exciting games of the whole season. If that theory holds up, it’s also when new fans might become most invested. Awful Announcing has written about the number of viewers in 2026 and compared those numbers to past postseasons, and while there’s a lot of slicing and dicing to this analysis, non-Dodgers games drew fewer viewers and overall, there was a drop of 3% in total viewership for the 2026 Division Series. How much of this might be because fans simply can’t get the game in front of them?
MLB is betting that short-term television revenue is worth ignoring the next generation of fans—and right now, the fans are the ones losing.
Radio Days
The financial reality is clear: Major League Baseball is making billions by letting corporate giants use our fandom as a customer acquisition tool for their own companies, not for the greater good of baseball or fans. And the cultural cost is crazy. When MLB makes it this expensive and this exhausting to watch a pennant race, it isn’t just squeezing the wallets of diehard baseball nerds like me. It is actively turning away the next wave of fans who will never experience the magic of October baseball—and not even realize what they’re missing—because they can’t find the game.
So, as this postseason rolls on, I will likely find myself continuing to do what I’ve been doing. Maybe others are forced to do it too. More and more, I will turn off the TV entirely and somewhat reluctantly listen to the game on the radio.
There is a beautiful, poetic nostalgia to listening to baseball but relying on a technology developed in the late 19th to early 20th century in order to bypass 2026 corporate paywalls isn’t a romantic tradition. It’s a systemic failure. MLB might be winning the battle for short-term broadcast revenue, and it seems fine with that. But if it keeps allowing the most exciting part of the season to be locked away behind those paywalls, it is going to be broadcasting to an increasingly quiet, and shrinking, fanbase.
CLEARWATER, FL - MARCH 14: Aidan Miller #21 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks on during batting practice prior to the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Philadelphia Phillies at BayCare Ballpark on Friday, March 14, 2025 in Clearwater, Florida. (Photo by Mike Carlson/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Tampa Bay has a 3-2 lead in the ALCS and is heading home to finish it off. It has been a very good series for both teams so far and is tough to see it end either way.
Though both are probably getting steamrolled by Milwaukee.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 17: Bryan Baker #47 of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrates after defeating the Cleveland Guardians in game four of the American League Championship Series at Progressive Field on October 17, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
The MLB playoffs continue on, with nothing for Orioles fans to do except watch forlornly as former O’s castoffs play critical roles for successful teams. Such was the case last night as the Rays took a 3-2 series lead over the Guardians with a win in Cleveland, putting Tampa Bay one win away from the franchise’s third World Series appearance.
In yesterday’s 3-1 victory, the Rays entrusted their last four outs to two recent Orioles relievers, Tyler Wells and Bryan Baker. In the eighth, Wells, summoned with two outs and a man aboard, got arguably the biggest out of the game, striking out future Hall of Famer José Ramírez, who represented the potential tying run. And the ninth inning belonged to Baker, who has become a lockdown closer in less than two seasons with the Rays after the O’s dumped him in July 2025. He worked past a leadoff walk to retire the Guardians with ease, earning his 34th consecutive save dating back to mid-May. (It’s still wild to me that Baker had only two losses the entire season, and both came against the Orioles.) Cedric Mullins and Jorge Mateo also briefly appeared in the game.
You can’t blame O’s fans if they’re feeling conflicted about the former Orioles’ success. On the one hand, it’s nice to see some familiar faces finding success, especially fan favorites like Mullins. On the other hand, in Baker’s case especially, it makes you wonder why the Orioles couldn’t unlock the same kind of success from these players that the Rays have. Baker was an erratic middle reliever for the Orioles, and the Rays almost instantly turned him into one of the best closers in the game. And all the O’s got in return for him was a draft pick, which turned into Slater de Brun, whom they ended up trading back Tampa Bay anyway. It’s almost as if — and try to stay with me here — the Rays are a much better-run organization than the Orioles. Who knew?
If the Rays seal the deal tonight or tomorrow and punch their ticket to the World Series, we’ll be seeing a bevy of former Birds in the Fall Classic, including Tampa Bay’s quartet and the Brewers’ DL Hall and Joey Ortiz (and Gary Sánchez, not that he counts as one who got away.) All of these guys were on the Orioles within the past few years, and now they’ve achieved something that the current Orioles are nowhere close to doing. Good for them. Bad for us.
It’s hard to get excited about Holliday when one of the “positives” from this season is that he didn’t have a platoon split, OPSing .643 against righties and .632 against lefties. Neither of those is good!
The Orioles may have whiffed on Bryan Baker, but they’ve had a few of their own mild successes in grabbing other teams’ castoffs and turning them into useful relievers. They got productive 2026 performances from some pitchers who I didn’t know existed a year ago.
Roch Kubatko fields questions about (among other things) why it’s incredibly dumb to say that a reporter doesn’t have the right to record you during a press conference. As if somebody would spout something so foolish.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! Five former Orioles were born on this day, including All-Star Anthony Santander (32). The switch-hitting outfielder developed from a raw Rule 5 draftee into a premier slugger, ending his O’s career with a 44-homer, 102-RBI season in 2024 before signing a five-year, $92.5 million free agent deal with the Blue Jays. Because it’s his birthday, I won’t talk about how his Blue Jays tenure has turned out so far.
Other former Orioles with Oct. 19 birthdays include longtime Blue Jay and notable irritant José Bautista (46), right-handers Jordan Lyles (36) and Oswaldo Peraza (64), and the late catcher Vic Roznovsky (b. 1938, d. 2022).
On this date in 1959, the Orioles acquired Jim Gentile, a little-used outfielder for the Dodgers, in exchange for shortstop Willy Miranda. It ended up being a great piece of business for the Birds. Gentile spent four years in Baltimore and crushed 20+ homers each season, including a sensational 1961 campaign in which he collected 46 homers and tied Roger Maris with an AL-leading 141 RBIs. Gentile was a three-time All-Star, the 1960 AL Rookie of the Year runner-up, and third-place finisher for the 1961 AL MVP. Miranda, meanwhile, never played another major league game.
Happy birthday to Mordecai Brown*, and a mighty host of others.
Today in baseball history, in 2016 – The Cubs tie the NLCS at two wins apiece with a 10-2 beating of the Dodgers as they tee off on two rookie pitchers, Julio Urias and Ross Stripling. Addison Russell and Anthony Rizzo both end long hitting droughts with homers,and other stories as well.
2004 – Curt Schilling, pitching on a dislocated ankle tendon held down by three sutures put in the day before, gives up one run over seven innings as the Boston Red Sox beat the New York Yankees, 4-2, to save their season for the third day in a row and force a winner-take-all Game 7 in their American League Championship Series.
2019 – The Astros punch their ticket to the World Series with a 6-4 win over the Yankees in Game 6 of the ALCS. With both teams using an opener after losing a travel day due to a rainout before Game 4, the Astros take an early lead on a three-run homer by Yuli Gurriel off Chad Green in the 1st, but the Yankees claw their way back, tying the game on a two-run shot by D.J. LeMahieu off closer Roberto Osuna in the top of the 9th. With two outs in the bottom of the inning, Jose Altuve ends the game with a walk-off two-run homer off Aroldis Chapman. Altuve is named the winner of the ALCS MVP Award.
2024 – The Yankees win Game 5 of the ALCS, 5-2 over Cleveland, to punch their ticket to the World Series. The game is tied until the 10th inning, when Juan Soto hits a three-run homer off Hunter Gaddis to provide the winning margin. Giancarlo Stanton, who hits his fourth homer of the series in the sixth inning, is named ALCS MVP.
1492 – Christopher Columbus sights the island he names “Isabela,” believed to be present-day Fortune Island (Long Cay) in the Bahamas.
1781 – British forces under General Charles Cornwallis sign terms of surrender to George Washington and Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown at 2 p.m., effectively ending the American Revolutionary War.
1870 – First African Americans (four) elected to the US House of Representatives.
1961 – Mayor J.W. Snider of Medford, Oregon, delivers a check for $1.96, covering the County of Jackson, Oregon’s estimated portion of cost of the tea lost during the Boston Tea Party of 1773.
1999 – Cher releases the single “Believe” (Billboard Song of the Year, 1999; Grammy Award Best Dance Recording, 2000).
2007 – Patrick Kane scores his first NHL goal against José Théodore of the Colorado Avalanche.
2010 – Decca Records releases “The Union,” a collaborative album between Elton John and Leon Russell, in the US, and it becomes the highest-charting album for both artists in over 30 years.
2025 – Thieves disguised as construction workers force open a Louvre museum upper floor window, smash display cases, and flee with eight pieces of Napoleonic jewels worth over $100M; daylight heist occurs 30 minutes after opening, with visitors already inside.
Irving Cota of the Binghamton Rumble Ponies delivers a pitch during a Minor League Baseball game at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, United States, on May 15, 2026. (Photo by Dan Squicciarini/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 19: Jeremiah Estrada #56 of the San Diego Padres pitches during the game against the New York Mets at Citi Field on August 19, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images) | Getty Images
NY Post | Joel Sherman: The Yankees have long eyed San Diego Padres relief pitcher Jeremiah Estrada, according to Sherman. The righty is entering his first year of arbitration and, of course, wouldn’t be easy to acquire given his 3.47 career ERA and 34.2 percent strikeout rate. He would come with some injury-related questions, though, having missed time with knee and shoulder issues this year. It isn’t clear when the Bombers’ interest became a thing, or if there were even discussions of a trade.
MLB Trade Rumors | AJ Eustace: The Yankees didn’t really get much from the third base position in 2026, with their 74 wRC+ tied for fifth-worst in the league. That was in large part the result of playing Ryan McMahon and his 78 wRC+ in 124 games. Eustace believes it is ‘increasingly hard’ to envision the former Rockie having a prominent role in 2027, and names Teruaki Sato, Alec Bohm, J.P. Crawford or bringing back Jazz Chisholm Jr. as free agent options, and Isaac Paredes, Royce Lewis, and Nolan Gorman as potential trade targets.
Newsday | Erik Boland: The Yankees have plenty of needs this offseason, and a lot of players on their 2026 roster are also hitting the market. Boland examined 10 of those players and their likelihood of returning to the Bronx. It’s definitely worth a read, but we’ll give you a hint: most of them are unlikely to call New York their home come 2027.
Savannah, GA - July 3: The Savannah Bananas play Banana Ball against the Catawba Valley Stars at Grayson Stadium in Savannah, GA on July 3, 2021. Banana owner Jessie Cole leads a dance party after the game. (Photo by Stan Grossfeld/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | Boston Globe via Getty Images
The Brewers defeated the Dodgers and upended the narrative supporting the salary cap going into the offseason. Will this actually impact CBA negotiations?
James Attwood: I don’t really see how. Sure, the Brewers are a smaller market than the Dodgers. They have a much smaller payroll. But, if anything, the Brewers advancing is only going to fuel the MLBPA to get even stickier about trying to control salaries in any way, shape, or form. Also, even though plenty of fans and pundits like to give MLB front offices a hard time about making stupid decisions, those offices are by and large, stacked with incredibly intelligent people. Those people are going to be able to take a step back and recognize that one season’s playoff picture is hardly a sample size large enough to be called indicative of the sport moving forward. There were questions after Arizona went to the World Series in 2023 about whether or not MLB had done enough to create obstacles for Wild Card teams in the playoffs, all because Arizona steamrolled the Brewers and Dodgers. This year, pundits are calling for the entire seeding system to be blown up because there was a team with a .500 record that not only made the playoffs, but won their division outright. Single seasons may bring some oddities, but they are usually not indicative of the reality of the game’s overall health.
I suspect, both the ownership side of things and the MLBPA have already drawn their battle lines and have already started crafting their arguments. This outcome in the playoffs will do more to feed the online debates between fans and pundits than it will do for or against the CBA negotiations.
C. Wesley Baier: I think it will impact the CBA negotiations, but how much is the real question. I would be shocked if the MLBPA didn’t use this as evidence against a salary cal, but I cant say if it wil be all that successful of a tactic.
Spencer: Nope. Anything can happen in a small sample size. Owners are greedy and want to abuse their employees/customers for profit still. Players are greedy and only care about the uppermost tiers of earning power. Fans will quiet down a little, but fan opinion and outrage has never been a driving force for either side.
Justin27: FTD
Makakilo: In half of the last ten seasons, the Dodgers reached the World Series. Three times they won the World Series. Their frequent success remains a problem.
1AZfan1: I doubt it. The owners were asking for a salary cap before the Dodgers lost. The Players were adamantly against a cap before the Dodgers lost. It’s going to be ugly. It was always going to be ugly.
ISH95: I think it’s going to be a rallying cry for the MLBPA in their Court of Public Opinion negotiations, but I don’t think it’s going to have a huge effect. The problem with this loss is that, without a salary cap, it really sets them up for another similar explosion like we saw after 2023. Their current core is slipping and aging, and if there is no salary cap, they’ll just replace them and move on. Trade what salary they can, dump what they can’t. It’s what they’ve done before. The owners know this, so do the players but that’s a different story. Nothing has actually changed other than a random, broken clock situation.
The Diamondbacks moved on from Brian Kaplan, but kept Joe Mather. Was this the right call?
James Attwood: Time will tell. I was a bit surprised by the team moving on from Kaplan. But, the team looks like they are trying to get new voices into the pitching development pipeline and maybe they thought this newer approach might unlock even more success among the numerous arms trying to make the final leap to the Majors. As for Mather, I think he’s been fine. I don’t think he has been particularly good or bad. But, some struggling players were successful in making in-season adjustments, including Nolan Arenado. If the team was going to move on from Mather, I would either want to see how his approach is falling on deaf ears, making his coaching a waste of time, or see the team line up a highly regarded hitting guru to replace Mather. Since neither of those things are happening, retaining Joe Mather seems fine.
C. Wesley Baier: I think they should have let Mather go as well, and I wasnt impressed other than how revitalized Arenado was at the plate.
Spencer: I assume so. Seems to me like Kaplan was a lame duck all year and the new pitching coach will be chosen with Bleich’s input. As for Mather? Meh. I don’t think coaches matter all that much on a major league team. They are sounding boards. Most true star players have personal coaches and anyone below that level is always going to be fighting for their roster spot anyway.
Justin27: I am not sure. We were all wanting Kaplan to move on after last season, I think. It seems maybe he learned from his mistakes or gained experience this season, though. If it were up to me I would move on from both. Who would I take to replace them? I don’t know, but whomever Wes, James, etc would hypothetically want is who I would go with lol.
Makakilo: Yes because of one word: sustainability. Ignoring pitching performance (which was a problem for some pitchers), in 2026 about 70% of total salary was for pitching compared to 30% for position players. That is not sustainable.
1AZfan1: If it had to be one or the other, Mather was the one to keep in my opinion. The Diamondbacks offense fell short compared to last season’s team, but that loss was almost entirely due to a collective step back from the “Big 3” of Domo, CC, and Ketel. Last season, the team tallied 805 Weighted Runs Created (wRC) per FanGraphs. This year they had 723, about an 11% drop. Last year, the Big 3 accounted for 320 wRC and this year they fell to a combined 261, a 23% drop. The rest of the lineup had a more modest 4% drop in wRC, and when you’re replacing Bambino Geno Suarez with rookies and a clearance-rack purchase of Nolan Arenado, a 4% overall drop in offense is pretty good.
The pitching staff was the strength of this team this year for sure, but I’m fine pressing the “I Believe” button and allowing Jeremy Bleich to pick his guy.
ISH95: 12 months ago that’s an easy question to answer. His changes seemed to lead to far more injury last season, regression from those that weren’t, and a bullpen that wasn’t great. This year, though, injuries were curtailed to a reasonable amount, the bullpen was solidly average, and we got some overperformance from some pitchers. Like other’s have said, however, we have a new Maester of pitching, so he probably wants his own.
Similar answer for Mather, as well. The offense had a couple of really good seasons with him at the hitting helm, and then one bad one. As a general rule, I’m hesitant to make knee jerk reactions when we have multiple seasons of good data and only one of bad, so I’m okay keeping him. However, if we continue to see struggles from the offense by the second month of next season, then it probably should be time for a change.
Kendrick went on Arizona Sports and announced they would be cutting payroll. Do you believe this will all come from low cost pre arb players replacing veterans, or should we expect salary moving trades?
James Attwood: I expect that most of the salary saving likely comes from allowing the likes of Lourdes GurrielJr. and Zac Gallen to drop off the books. That alone will account for $26.025 million in savings. Michael Soroka, Ryan Thompson, Kevin Ginkel, and A.J. Puk are all also likely to depart along with Jonathan Loaisiga, Taylor Clarke and Pavin Smith. That adds another $21.575 million in savings. With all of those players departing via free agency, there won’t be much in the way of contracts left to trade off. The team could potentially explore an Eduardo Rodriguez trade, or perhaps a Ketel Marte trade. But, given that the team will be in need of 3-4 more starters as it is and that Marte has 10/5 no-trade rights, I don’t see much in the way of moving contracts to clear salary.
C. Wesley Baier: I think we’re going to see both as part an effort to maximize the value coming out of the payroll.
Spencer: Wait. Again? How many seasons in a row has he said this now? Two? Three? I think it will mostly come from letting free agents walk. Gallen, Soroka, Gurriel alone account for significant money who won’t be back. Of them only Soroka needs to be replaced/retained. I expect some trades to fill the “holes.” While I don’t really expect “big” money to be moved, Erod, Kelly or Marte moving wouldn’t blow me away either. In true Hazen form, I think it will be a little bit of everything. I could see a medium/big free agent/trade splash (like a $20M/yr committment for who knows how many years) and dumpster diving for bullpen arms.
And I can see him buying a young MLBer or prospect with some upside as well. Despite all the bruhaha people want to give him for McCarthy and Blaze last winter, those are the type of deals he tends to excel in. And one strength of the farm (FINALLY) is having depth for hitters capable of filling emergency holes on an MLB team. Your Blazes and Groovers and Fernandezes of the world. Not stars, or even true starters, but capable filler. If he can find the right trade target who’s current team needs some depth, I can absolutely see him packaging some of those “lesser” Arizona prospects to obtain the necessary MLB piece.
All this is meaningless though since one other near surety of Kendrick saying he’s cutting payroll is Kendrick spending money on a pitcher no one had as a target for Arizona. So I predict Skubal signs with Arizona hours before the Lockout begins at $50M/yr and immediately becomes a pumpkin. But man, three years from now? He’s going to have such a pretty not-terrible year!
Justin27: To me, “from low cost pre arb players replacing veterans” sounds like a rebuild. Given those two options, and that I cant come up with a third, I will go with that though.
Makakilo: Expect less salary for pitchers, more salary for position players.
1AZfan1: I actually have an article in draft for (hopefully) later this week looking at trade candidates to open up financial room, but I looked at it more through the lens of opening up payroll space to spend in FA instead of straight cutting talent. I suppose it is a possibility that ownership’s vision was to not add anything of value in free agency and just let rookies and castoffs fill the roster holes created by free agency, but I don’t think the cost cutting will be that drastic.
ISH95: I suspect that most of it will come from expiring contracts. Just replacing Gallen with a pitching machine would lower payroll by 22 million (and the team ERA by about .75). I also could see a salary clearing move or two as well. Sitting Marte down and figuring out what three teams he wouldn’t veto a trade to, and then figuring out a package with one of them regardless of the return wouldn’t really surprise me either at this point. That would clear another 19 million or so, and suddenly you’ve already cut 40 million off the payroll, plus the other expiring contracts not mentioned. Cutting the salary isn’t the question. The real question is how much of the savings they’ll be able to reinvest and fill some holes.
Banana Ball is coming to Chase Field. Will you be putting your name in the lottery?
James Attwood: Probably. I’m supposed to discuss that with the Mrs. this weekend.
C. Wesley Baier: Would love to but I don’t think the trip up to Phoenix, a hotel for the night, food, and everything else is in my budget, even if I did manage to score some tickets.
Spencer: I will not. Because I live in Ohio. But I will be for their performances in Cleveland and Cincinnati. I’m going to need some sort of baseball next season afterall! MLB can’t be counted on for that anymore, so I’ll take my measely, pathetic, poor-man’s dollars elsewhere.
Justin27: No. The drive up to Phoenix and back at night is terrible. I can kind of see why ST left. [Ed. Note bookmarking this for later use :-)]
Makakilo: Banana Ball will be in Honolulu on April 30 to May 1, 2027. I entered the lottery for Honolulu.
1AZfan1: Not in the area so no I will not, but I wouldn’t mind taking the kids at some point in the future when they visit our area. I’m not sure Banana Ball is something I want to drop money on to attend in person, but I know my boys would get a kick out of it.
ISH95: Nothing like a question like this to remind me that basically none of the writers live in Phoenix lol but yes, both my wife and I have put in for the lottery. It would be our second time going to a Bananas game, and we are both hopefully that we’ll make it.
Tampa Bay’s Jonny DeLuca figured it was going to be a quiet day for the outfielders with Drew Rasmussen on the mound for Game 5 of the AL Championship Series against the Cleveland Guardians
With the way Rasmussen quieted the Guardians offense on Sunday, that made for a perfect evening.
“It gets kind of boring out there because it’s incredible the stuff he has,” DeLuca said. “But you like that because he’s your teammate.”
Rasmussen allowed one run over seven innings for his second postseason win in a 3-1 victory that gave the Rays a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out six.
“The way he limited anything was really, really impressive,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “He got in rhythm with the fastball. A lot of power to everything. Then the depth on the changeup throughout the outing was a big pitch for him.”
Tampa Bay has won the last two games and will try to capture its third AL pennant and first since 2020 on Monday at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Since the ALCS expanded to best-of-seven games in 1985, road teams winning Game 5 for a 3-2 lead have won the series four of five times.
“It’s a great opportunity. All of us are thinking of it. But it all ends tomorrow. We’re going to win tomorrow,” said designated hitter Yandy Díaz, who had three hits.
Game 7 if needed would be Tuesday. The World Series starts Friday at NL champion Milwaukee.
Rasmussen had given up two runs over six innings in the opener. After Chase DeLauter’s two-out single in the first, the 31-year-old right-hander retired nine straight batters and allowed only one other baserunner through the sixth.
Rasmussen is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA in three postseason starts, striking out 23 and walking three
He used his changeup only 12 times in the opener but threw it 27 times on Sunday, including 21 for strikes.
“We were able to attack with the changeup a lot more tonight,” he said. “The ability to drive the cutter to the top I thought was also another strength.”
Cleveland finally threatened in the seventh when Steven Kwan and José Ramírez singled to put runners at the corners, and DeLauter grounded an RBI single between first and second.
Cam Booser and Tyler Wells worked the eighth, with Wells striking out Ramírez to strand a runner.
Bryan Baker came in for the ninth and converted his 35th straight save chance, his fifth of this postseason. Jo Adell was on second base when Travis Bazzana hit a game-ending groundout.
Rays take advantage of early opportunities
Tampa Bay scored single runs in each of the first three innings, the first two off Parker Messick and the third against Tim Herrin.
Tampa Bay’s leadoff hitter reached base in the first four innings — scoring in the first three frames — and six times overall. Rays’ leadoff batters have reached in 10 of 14 innings dating to Saturday.
Díaz scored on a bases-loaded walk by Messick to DeLuca in the first inning. Díaz led off with a line-drive double over center fielder Petey Halpin that bounced on the warning track and off the wall.
Jonathan Aranda’s single drove in Ben Williamson for a 2-0 lead in the second, and Liam Hicks looped a curveball from Herrin to center to score Chandler Simpson in the third.
“I think we took advantage of getting ourselves in some favorable counts and getting some big hits,” Cash said. “We probably left some opportunities out there, and then they go to the bullpen, and it’s really challenging to piece together big innings when they’re mixing and matching from the third or fourth inning, whatever it was, on.”
Kwan helps keep Cleveland close
Kwan had two of Cleveland’s five hits and the four-time Gold Glove winner made two fine defensive plays: He threw out Walls trying to score from second base on Aranda’s fourth-inning single to left and made a leaping catch at the center-field wall on Victor Mesa Jr.’s eighth-inning drive, saving a run.
Messick had the shortest outing of his big league career and didn’t make it past the third inning for the second time in four postseason starts. The 25-year-old left-hander went two innings and allowed two runs, five hits and three walks, throwing just 34 of 57 pitches for strikes.
Cleveland has not won an ALCS when trailing 3-2 while the Rays are 58-27 at home this year, including the postseason.
The Guardians are seeking their first World Series title since 1948.
“We know we’ve got our work cut out for us. It’s a really good team and a really good team when they play at home, especially,” manager Stephen Vogt said. ”We know this is going to be tough but if there’s a group I’m betting on to get this done, it’s our guys.”
Up next
Tampa Bay will start right-hander Freddy Peralta (1-0, 0.79 ERA postseason), who will make his third appearance of the series. He threw six scoreless innings in his Game 2 start and pitched two-thirds of an inning in relief on Saturday. Cleveland has not announced a starter, and Vogt ruled out using right-hander Gavin Williams.
One of the three teams left standing in the 2026 Major League Baseball season, the Cleveland Guardians have the game's smallest payroll at $74.2 million.
Ranking 30th out of MLB's 30 teams in payroll, the Guardians are in the postseason for the third year in a row and making a second trip to the American League Championship Series in three years. In this ALCS, they're facing the Tampa Bay Rays – whose $98.3 million is 25th.
The payroll figures obtained by USA TODAY Sports are the MLB Labor Relations Department's present-day salary calculation. The LRD numbers include the player’s actual salary plus his pro-rated signing bonus options – and the Dodgers' heavy use of deferrals and bonuses is why the New York Mets have the highest payroll according to these metrics.
