WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 27: TJ Rumfield #7 of the Colorado Rockies fields the ball against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on August 27, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Meanwhile, although free agency for players will not officially begin until five days after the conclusion of the World Series, the rules are less strict for managers. This week has already seen a manager hired and another let go.
The Rockies, for their part, are not expected to see much movement among their coaching staff, but should any drastic shakeups happen elsewhere around the league, it’s possible the front office would look to swoop in to provide a landing spot for coaches that found themselves without a job.
That all being said, let’s get to the news!
Rockies News & Links
TJ Rumfield named a Gold Glove award finalist | Purple Row — Rawlings announced this seasons finalists for Gold Glove awards yesterday. TJ Rumfield was the Rockies lone player to make the cut as he was named a finalist for the National League first base award alongside Matt Olson and Ty France.
What a Successful Colorado Rockies Offseason Actually Looks Like | SI.com — Maddy Dickens comes to a familiar conclusion that the key to the Rockies offseason is addressing the teams lack of starting pitching. She offers up a couple of realistic free agent options for the front office to consider in Jordan Montgomery and Walker Buehler. Both should be within the team’s budget. The question is whether they’d like to come to Denver and how much help they would be if they did.
Early 2026-27 MLB Offseason Predictions on Free Agency, Trades and More | Bleacher Report — Hunter Goodman’s name came up continuously through the 2026 trade deadline. When the Rockies ultimately held onto him, it served only as a reprieve from those rumors not as an end to them as he remains under team control through 2029. Most recently, Zachary D. Rymer speculates that an offseason trade to the Tampa Bay Rays could make sense for both clubs.
Around Baseball
MLB makes an offer players might not refuse | Baseball Prospectus ($) — If you were still trying to parse out the motivations behind MLB’s latest proposal to the Player’s Association Marc Normandin is here for you. In the end, it all comes down to money and the expanded Division Series along with a shortened regular season, highlighted by exclusive singular Monday night games, which would mean more premium broadcast rights for the league to sell. While the proposal is presented as an offering to the players, make no mistake that it is a change the league itself actively wants to adopt as well.
Phillies name Don Mattingly as full-time manager, sign him to 2-year contract | The Athletic ($) — Just a week ago rumors surfaced that the Phillies had approached, and been rebuffed by, former Red Sox manager Alex Cora about their 2027 managerial opening. It would seem that after their first choice for the job off the board, the Phillies have pivoted to removing the interim tag from Don Mattingly. If Mattingly has any ill will about seeming to be the backup option again, it does not come across in this piece from Matt Gelb and Charlotte Varnes.
Joe Espada will not return as Astros manager | MLB Trade Rumors — In other managerial news, the Houston Astros have announced that they will not be renewing the contract of their manager Joe Espada. The Seattle Mariners have already interviewed Espada for their own managerial opening so it’s possible he will not need to wait long for his next opportunity. For the Astros, this completes what has felt like an inevitable sequence of events after general manager Dana Brown was let go in August.
So just how pissed off is Pat Murphy? | Fangraphs — Davvy Andrews uses an incredible amout of time, words, and pictures to follow the emotional rollercoaster that is managing a Major League playoff game. The piece correlates Milwaukee Brewer’s manager Pat Murphy’s expressions and mannerisms following essentially every key play of game two of the NLCS and assesses his anger level at each moment. Is this silly? Yes. Is it an incredible read? Absolutely.
DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 5: Joshua Baez #22 of the St. Louis Cardinals is congratulated in the dugout after hitting a solo home run in the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on September 5, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Coming sooner than you’d think, we’ll be voting on the top 20 prospects in the Cardinals’ system. That will be a welcome respite from the lockout that will surely be happening. In the spirit of that, I wanted to look at our very first top 20 to see how we did. I began this feature in 2023 and enough seasons have passed that we have a good idea of how well the voting stands the test of time. But it is also recent enough that a few players are still in the minor leagues. And just for good measure, I wanted to compare my rankings with the readers at large.
1. Jordan Walker (Both) There are going to be some picks that are truly out there and then there are going to be some picks that just about everyone who follows prospects agreed upon. This is the latter. The Cardinals rather dumbly had Walker make the Opening Day roster in 2023 and all things considered, he played better than reasonably expected. Not defensively of course. After two seasons in the wilderness, Walker picked up where he left off in 2026. He hasn’t quite justified his #1 ranking yet, but again everyone thought he was the #1 prospect. Hard to blame either of us.
2. Masyn Winn (Both)
If you were to re-rank the prospects according to performance, Winn would be the best prospect in the system this particular year. Winn hadn’t yet played in Memphis yet when we voted on these rankings (neither had Walker though). We didn’t know how his glove would translate even though the reports were very good. Gold Glove caliber and good is a mighty big difference. So far, so good on the rankings.
3. Tink Hence (Both)
Hence’s ranking was not based on much to be honest. He utterly annihilated Low A, striking out 41.5% of batters while walking just 7.7%. Things really didn’t start veering off the plan until the 2025 season. He ended up throwing 96 innings in 2023, making it to AA. He made 20 starts in AA in 2024 and was pretty dominant. That’s less innings than I think the Cardinals wanted, but it’s not a huge roadblock. But well he’s barely pitched the past two seasons. He turned 24 this past August, so this could still look like a good placement. It might not be for the Cardinals though.
4. Gordon Graceffo (Both)
Similar to Hence, Graceffo was going according to plan, although unlike Hence, it started veering off course in 2023 for Graceffo. Graceffo made it to Springfield in 2022, but was mediocre, but he was mediocre after 8 dominant starts in High A following his draft year. He ended up having some injury problems, and a very big fastball problem that ultimately forced his move to the bullpen. If he can craft a good reliever career out of his arsenal, this isn’t a bad outcome for the #4 prospect in the system.
5-6. Alec Burleson, Ivan Herrera (Community)
5-6. Ivan Herrera, Alec Burleson (Me)
I don’t think anybody loses in this comparison. Herrera has been better so far, but Burleson is coming off a much better season. The defensive part of both of their games have changed rather wildly since this ranking, because that was a large reason for Herrera being higher for me. I probably still choose Herrera because he is younger, but I said in my post that Herrera had more potential because he was a catcher and Burleson was a corner outfielder. But I called them pretty similar prospects. Burleson seems a bit more stable because he has a known defensive home and appears to have the better bat going forward, so I’ll give it to you guys.
7. Cooper Hjerpe (Community)
7. Matthew Liberatore (Me)
Man I would have looked a lot smarter if I did this a year ago. This is a very big to be determined still though. Liberatore seems headed to the bullpen sooner rather than later and my pessimism on Hjerpe is mostly connected to my belief that he’s headed to the pen. But Hjerpe as a reliever has a much higher upside than Liberatore. Liberatore did have an effective year out of the pen, so I think the odds lean in the community’s favor, but the race is not over.
8. Matthew Liberatore (Community)
8. Leonardo Bernal (Me)
I am however feeling VERY good about Bernal’s placement on my list. My words at the time: “I can’t stop harping on the fact that Bernal was 18-years-old in Low A and hit for a 117 wRC+. Both Yadier Molina and Ivan Herrera were 19-years-old in Low A. Nothing about his performance has any alarm bells either.” He did end up repeating Low A, and I’m not totally convinced I rank him 8th if I had known that he would spend all of 2023 in Low A, but that does not matter! I was ahead of the game on this one.
9. Michael McGreevy (Community)
9. Connor Thomas (Me)
The prospect game will humble you fast, good lord. I really bought into Thomas thanks to the reported cutter he had developed. I can’t believe it, but I cited spring training stats to support my ranking. Oh Gabe. Less egregiously, he had a very good ZiPS projection, which I’m choosing to believe was a large reason for this ranking. So Dan Szymborski, it’s really your fault that he is ranking 9th.
10. Moises Gomez (Community)
10. Michael McGreevy(Me)
Oh thank god, I had McGreevy right after Thomas at least. And…. you guys wanted to upstage my bad pick with a bad pick of your own? Very appreciated. Spoiler alert: Moises Gomez didn’t make my top 20. Connor Thomas makes your top 20. I think I win in the battle of bad picks, cause I didn’t buy into Gomez for even a second.
11. Joshua Baez (Community)
11. Cooper Hjerpe (Me)
Ignore that Baez falls off both of our lists until this most recent top 20 ranking, you guys do get some brownie points for having Baez slightly higher. Considering I think Hjerpe is a probable reliever and not only that we are three years removed from this top 20 ranking, I think 11th is a perfectly defensible placement to be honest. I stand by that one.
12. Leonardo Bernal (Community)
12. Jonathan Mejia (Me)
In my defense, I did bunch together Baez and Mejia. I really wish I would have just listed Baez first, but unfortunately that pesky position was the difference maker. Mejia (at the time) played SS, Baez was likely headed to a corner outfield spot. Also Baez is two years older than Mejia. Things really didn’t go Mejia’s way moving forward, but I feel like two years younger at SS and at the same level – I would rank them in this order again today! At least Bernal is here to make me look smarter.
13. Jonathan Mejia (Community)
13. Joshua Beaz (Me)
See, you guys had the order right, but we basically thought the same thing about Baez and Mejia!
14. Jimmy Crooks III
14. Connor Thomas
After a couple of picks that make me look dumb, the #14 pick is perfectly calibrated to make me look smart. Look, I was not alone on Thomas! Yes, I had him ranked much too high, but the community bought into the cutter too a little bit! And I’m early on Jimmy Crooks! Yes! There are a few players that I am “early” on who then break out, the community ends up ranking them higher than me, and then I have a reputation for hating on that player. There’s another one coming soon. Let the record show though that I had Crooks ranked higher than you all at first.
15. Won-Bin Cho (Community)
15. Brycen Mautz (Me)
I do not rank Cho on my list. He had only played in the complex league at this point. Had I known that he would taken an additional four seasons to make it to Springfield, I still wouldn’t have put him on my list. But retroactively, he looks like he may be a good pick. Here’s hoping. I’m pretty satisfied with Mautz here. Especially with the state of the system at the time, this is pretty clearly in reliever territory.
16. Jimmy Crooks (Community)
16. Ian Bedell (Me)
I have a very good defense of my pick. I went to Mizzou. This was an extremely biased pick. He is also a very good example of how much worse the system was in 2023, because he would never have made my list within a couple years. The top 15 players in this system are top 20 quality and in future seasons, there’d be like 30 players who I wanted to squeeze into a top 20. I simply ran out of players and went to a player from my alma mater.
17. Brycen Mautz (Community)
17. Victor Scott II (Me)
This is the player I was referring to in the Crooks section. I was early on Victor Scott. And then I was completely confused when he popped up on top 100 lists and #3 on the VEB list. Which to defend VEB, I think he was #3 here first. But yeah I made no secret that I thought he was too high. And then I sort of got known as a Scott hater. But I was early on the Victor Scott train! He was not ranked on the community list. Unfortunately 17th is about right in a weak system for Victor Scott’s career to date. So I guess I nailed it.
18. Guillermo Zuñiga (Community)
18. Kyle Leahy (Me)
I won’t give you guys any grief for Zuniga, mostly because he’s 19th for me. BUT HOW ABOUT THAT KYLE LEAHY PICK?! Boy, the system was…. real bad in 2023, because I am looking at his 2023 stats and I do not know how I talked myself into him. He had a 6.26 ERA in Memphis. He also walked 5 guys to 2 strikeouts in 1.2 IP in the majors. So special shoutout to BurlyBird (once known as LawBird), because he might be 90% of why I selected him as the #18 prospect.
19. Inohan Panigua (Community)
19. Guillermo Zuñiga (Me)
Both pitchers are still in baseball. Panigua was released by the Cardinals in the middle of 2025. He pitched in 16 games for the Detroit Tigers’ High A team and considering he was 26 the past season, he appeared to be signed entirely for depth and no other reason. Zuñiga actually made the major leagues in 2026. He’s bounced around since Cardinals let him go after the 2023 season. First it was the Angels in 2024, where he split his time between AAA and the majors. He spent time in both the Mariners and Phillies systems in 2025, but never made the majors. And this past season, he was with the Mets, but only threw 1 major league inning.
20. Reiner Lopez (Community)
20. Austin Love (Me)
Well four years later, and Lopez has barely pitched. He spent 2023 injured, and then was very bad in the DSL in 2024. In 2025, he was better, although entirely in relief and 19-years-old. He didn’t pitch in the 2026 season. Love was derailed two starts into his 2023 season with Tommy John. When he returned in 2025, he was 26 and in relief. He wasn’t very good in Memphis after finally getting a promotion, so I’m not sure he’s a Cardinal in 2027.
Well that was an interesting exercise! At the very least, it’s proof that players can rise from the dead. If you have a pet prospect who is coming off a down season or multiple down seasons, I refer you to Joshua Baez or maybe Won-Bin Cho, and while he immediately lost his prospect status after 2023, I think Jordan Walker works as a symbol of hope too. I’m mostly startled by how bad this system was, because it is a lot of teenagers far away or surefire relievers (even at the time). I feel like we won’t be ranking any pitchers we know are relievers on the top 20 in a few months.
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - OCTOBER 13: Steven Kwan #38 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrates after hitting a single against the Tampa Bay Rays during the seventh inning in game two of the American League Championship Series at Tropicana Field on October 13, 2026 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The annual Rawlings Gold Glove Nominees were announced yesterday. Two Guardians were nominated for their respective positions.
Tanner Bibee received a nomination for AL Pitcher.
The full list of finalist for both the AL and NL can be found here.
As the Gold Glove nominations kick off the MLB award season, the MLBPA announced their player chosen nominations as well. Parker Messick was nominated for AL Outstanding Rookie alongside two of his fellow AL Central Rookies. The full list of MLBPA Players Choice Finalists can be found here.
Congratulations to the AL & NL Outstanding Rookie Players Choice Awards Finalists!
AL 🔷 Kevin McGonigle 🔷 Parker Messick 🔷Munetaka Murakami
Much to everyone’s dismay, the game time for today’s ALCS Game 3 had to be moved up to 1PM today from the original 8PM start time. It is unclear if tomorrow’s Game 4 will also be affected by the forecasted precipitation. Unfortunately this means that a lot of people who were previously able to attend the game likely can not attend. Here’s to hoping that the impacted attendance doesn’t bring a negative atmosphere to the ballpark. If you are going to the game, look forward to a first pitch from Cleveland Cavaliers star Donovan Mitchell, another well designed rally towel, and hopefully another masterclass day game start from starter Gavin Williams.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 24: Tyler Glasnow #31 of the Los Angeles Dodgers delivers to the plate against the San Diego Padres at Dodger Stadium on September 24, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Dodgers are one loss away from getting swept in the postseason for the first time since the 2023 NLDS against the Diamondbacks. No matter how you want to slice it, they’ve looked inferior in every facet of the game in this series, from situational hitting to defense, bullpen work, and so on—now it’ll be up to Tyler Glasnow to at the very least delay what appears to be an unavoidable postseason exit for the reigning back-to-back champs.
Although the Brewers have yet to formally announce a starter, all signs point towards Dustin May taking the ball in Game 4 of this series—it might be with an opener, or it might be with him as a starter; either way, the bulk innings role will belong to the former Dodger.
When it comes to lineup decisions, Max Muncy figures to regain a starting role at third base, and you have to wonder if Will Smith remains in the seventh spot—the Dodger catcher was responsible for the only big hit the home team had in a Game 3 loss. Speaking of hitters who moved down in the order, although it amounted to very little, Shohei Ohtani reached safely in three of his four plate appearances in a 6-2 defeat.
Neither Evan Phillips nor Roki Sasaki had especially lengthy appearances off the bullpen, so apart from Justin Wrobleski, there’ll be no one else unavailable in the bullpen for Game 4. With nothing to lose and following the seventh-inning debacle of leaving Blake Snell in too long, expect potential aggressive calls to the bullpen at the first sign of trouble for Glasnow.
CLEVELAND, OH - SEPTEMBER 16: First base coach Sandy Alomar Jr. #15 of the Cleveland Indians celebrates with Yandy Diaz #36 after Diaz hit an RBI single during the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Progressive Field on September 16, 2018 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images) | Getty Images
In 2008, the Tampa Bay Rays dropped the first game of the American League Championship Series to the Boston Red Sox. The offense couldn’t muster anything against Daisuke Matsuzaka and the team suffered a 2-0 shutout.
The next day, the bats woke up and the two teams engaged in a forgotten classic with Tampa Bay coming out on top thanks to a BJ Upton sacrifice fly and the blazing speed of Fernando Perez.
After two games, the series was split and the Rays lost their home field advantage.
It didn’t matter as the Rays decimated the Red Sox in games three and four and were a few outs from winning game five. They eventually took the series in seven games.
The two games couldn’t not have been more different from the current ALCS but the stage remains the same as the Rays head from the comfy confines of Tropicana Field and head up to Ohio where the weather will be a factor. Bad weather in the postseason quickly brings back painful memories of the 2008 World Series, but MLB is attempting to be proactive during the ALCS as they have already moved up the first pitch for Game 3 to 1:00pm.
Currently, the forecast for the Cleveland area shows to be an overcast cool today with the rain not expected to develop until later in the night, thus allowing the two teams ample time to complete the game.
Tampa Bay will have a tough task ahead of them as 27-year old Gavin Williams take the mound. The four-year veteran of the Guardians staff has been solid throughout his career but broke out during the 2026 campaign with a newfound ability to generate strikeouts. Entering the season, the former 2021 first round pick Williams had a 24.1 K% over 325.2 IP. Williams soared to new heights over 184.1 IP in 2026 as he struck out 33.2% of opposing hitters. Gavin Williams had the highest BB% of qualifying starting pitchers 2025 (11.8%) but he managed to drop that to 8.2% in 2026 wihich is in the middle of the pack. Thanks to his high strikeout totals and improvement in command, Williams ranked 3rd among starting pitchers in K-BB%.
Overall for the 2026 season, Williams finished with a 3.76 ERA | 3.47 FIP with the aforementioned 33.2 K% & 8.2 BB% over 184.1 IP.
There will be an immovable object versus unstoppable force energy going as Williams is among the best in baseball in getting whiffs. Among 178 pitchers with at least 80 IP in 2026, Williams had the 4th lowest contact% with hitters only connecting 69.3% of the time. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Rays as a whole were elite at making contact, easily leading the MLB with a 18.3 contact%.
Williams has already made three appearances this postseason, pitching in three games of the ALDS against the Chicago White Sox. He carved through the South Side hitters with ease, striking out 52.2% of the opposing hitters over 11.2 IP. Williams was an integral to Cleveland’s game five victory as he hurled 5.2 shutout innings, while allowing just one hit, walking two, and striking out 12.
Going to the mound for the Rays will be Griffin Jax, making his first start since September 26th when he pitched three innings against the Philadelphia Phillies during the final weekend of the regular season.
The former reliever turner starter has shown flashes of brilliance during his outings this season but has also been infuriatingly inconsistent. Over 34 appearances – 23 starts – Jax has compiled a 3.53 ERA | 3.76 FIP with a 25.3 K% & and 7.6 BB% over 112.1 IP. Jax’s most recent outing game during game three of the ALDS against the New York Yankees where he allowed a run on one hit, while he struck out four over two innings pitched.
The Rays have managed to win four of their five games this postseason, despite an overall lackluster showing from their offense. The team has averaged just over three runs a game and currently opposing pitching staffs have a 2.14 ERA against them. Yandy Diaz is currently hitting just .238 over 22 PA while Jonathan Aranda is hitting .222 over his 21 PA. As a whole, the team is hitting .215/.271/329 during the playoffs.
A bright sign is the team’s K% is roughly the same as the regular season (18.6% postseason compared to 18.8% regular season). The Rays BABIP luck from the regular season has failed to transfer to October thus far as the team maintained a .296 BABIP over the 162 schedule to a lowly .246 over their 5 playoff games.
Just letting you know I came across two new articles about the outfield positioning experiment. The first one is a good, thorough article with a lot of interesting info, and it also led me to the following item: The author of the second article noticed something weird happening on the field, asked questions and even went onto the field after the game and tested it. Cool article, and probably has the best way to approach this change for now.
I appreciate your reading.
*means autoplay on, (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. The powers that be have enabled real sarcasm font in the comments.
The Change MLB is Considering That Would (potentially) Damage Baseball, Part 2:
Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Maybe Tarik Skubal to the Cubs Isn’t ENTIRELY Out of the Question? “The Cubs SHOULD be involved on Skubal, given how obviously he fits their needs. I could argue there’s no single team in baseball more improved by adding Skubal than the Cubs.”
Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball): 5 Impending Free Agents Cubs Fans Should Watch Closely During Championship Series. “The Cubs have been left with their noses pressed to the window during the League Championship Series round for nine straight seasons. There’s plenty to see there, at least, for a team that knows a big shopping spree lies ahead.”
Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): The Top 7 Cubs Free Agents to Target for 2027. “Go nuts, Tom and Jed. If you don’t, we’ll just be in the same position (or worse) again next year.”
Michael Cerami (Bleacher Nation): The Top 17 Cubs Trade Targets for 2027. “Although the 2027 Chicago Cubs will this offseason, it is absolutely not time to let off the gas.”
Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball): The Cubs Have Most of the Pieces of a Good 2027 Bullpen On Hand. “There’s so much the Cubs have to accomplish this offseason that it’s tempting to think they’re starting from scratch, outside their key, high-dollar position players. They do have the bones of a better bullpen on the roster, though.”
Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Our Expectations for Pitcher Command Are Probably Too High. “We think of these things as in competition with each other, but a lot of times, analytics merely confirms what a player’s gut was telling him anyway!”
Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball): Matt Shaw, Pedro Ramírez and the Cubs’ Shaky 2027 Outfield Plans. “The Cubs will have to fill at least one of their corner outfield spots from within next season. They have two young, controllable players with prospect pedigree in position to take the job, but it’s not clear that either can handle it.”
Randy Holt (North Side Baseball): Did Miguel Amaya Do Enough in 2026 to Be Cubs’ Main Catcher in 2027? “Miguel Amaya was above-average at the plate for a second straight year and roughly average behind the plate. Did he do enough in 2026 to get a shot at the No. 1 gig next spring?”
Matthew Trueblood (North Side Baseball): The Cubs Need to Find the Next Carson Kelly, But This Winter, That Player Doesn’t Exist. “From the moment the Cubs agreed to signed Carson Kelly in December 2024, it was fairly clear that they’d found the perfect fit. Now, Kelly is an impending free agent, but re-upping with him isn’t the right move. They need this winter’s Carson Kelly. Good luck with that.”
Brett Taylor (Bleacher Nation): Why the Ideal Bat Path is the Ideal Bat Path. “I really loved this visualization of a good bat path from Eric Kozak, the Hitting Coordinator at Driveline.”
(The following article was linked in the one above. I don’t believe I caught it at the time, so I’m linking it separately just in case.)
Born and raised in Mississippi, Eddie Cotton Jr. is a modern torchbearer of the blues, blending soulful vocals, masterful guitar work, and deep-rooted tradition. His passion for music was sparked in the church, where his father was a preacher, and it was there that he honed his signature style—one that seamlessly fuses gospel influences with the raw energy of the blues. Cotton’s journey into the blues world was shaped by the legends who came before him, including B.B. King, Albert King, and Buddy Guy. His breakout moment came in 2015 when he won the prestigious International Blues Challenge, cementing his place among contemporary blues greats.
Cotton delivers a sound that is both fresh and timeless, filled with electrifying guitar riffs, heartfelt storytelling, and a groove that keeps audiences coming back for more. Whether performing on festival stages or in intimate venues, his music resonates with both seasoned blues lovers and new listeners alike. Eddie Cotton Jr. isn’t just playing the blues—he’s living it, breathing new life into a genre that remains as powerful as ever.
Please be reminded that Cub Tracks and Bleed Cubbie Blue do not necessarily endorse the content of articles, podcasts, or videos that are linked to in this series.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - SEPTEMBER 13: Chase Burns #26 of the Cincinnati Reds throws a pitch in the second inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field on September 13, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images) | Getty Images
In part 1 of this series, I looked at the past 30 years or so of teams and what we might generally expect based on little more than knowing how good a team’s best two players. Today, in part 2, we’ll pick up with a question that wonders if it should matter that De La Cruz and Burns were paid so little, relative to the overall team payroll.
Question #5: What does the percentage of payroll represented by a team’s top two players tell us about their win expectancy?
To answer this question, I first narrowed the set of teams to include. In short, I pulled only those teams from the past 30 years for which both their top position player and top pitcher ended the year somewhere between 4.5 and 6.5 WAR. This is meant to give an approximate range that we can suitably compare against the performance of Elly De La Cruz and Chase Burns. There are 129 such teams in this data set and while the range of wins from these teams spanned from 62 to 107, we can still see a general trend line within this specific subset:
Incidentally, there were five teams with such a profile in 2026 (Reds, Braves, Guardians, Dodgers, and Rays). Four of them won their respective division.
The relationship is not terribly strong, however, and I posited that the variance within this group could be better explained by how much of a team’s payroll is assigned to those two players.
A quick data note here to say that historical team payroll data is probably not the most reliable information in the baseball universe. Sites that do track payroll, most notably Spotrac, don’t include data that goes back as far as 1996. I was able to find payroll data that stretches back that far from The Baseball Cube, and I was reasonably satisfied that the payroll data is directionally accurate, if not perfectly so.
Nonetheless, data does exist and I used it to create a new point of comparison: For the 129 teams graphed above, how do team wins compare against the proportion of payroll paid to just the top position player and top pitcher?
The answer: nothing.
Within this data range, the amount paid to the top hitter and top pitcher explains none of the variance in wins.
In 2017, the Arizona Diamondbacks operated with a payroll of a little over $90M. They paid Paul Goldschmidt $8.75M and received 6.1 WAR in return. They paid Zack Greinke $31M and received 5.8 WAR in return. Basically 12 WAR for 44% of the team’s payroll. The team won 93 games.
In 2001, the Houston Astros operated with a payroll of a little over $60M (coincidentally, both teams’ payrolls were right around half of the highest team payroll from those respective seasons). Their best players were Lance Berkman (6.5 WAR) and Wade Miller (5.3 WAR), who the team paid $305K and $241K, respectively. Basically 12 WAR for less than 1% of the team’s payroll. The team won 93 games.
These two examples are emblematic of the overall data. Moreover, when I look at different ways to measure payroll, I see only marginal improvements to the predictability of win totals. Here, for example, are those 129 teams graphed so as to compare team wins to how close each team’s payroll was to the highest in the league:
Yeah, it’s better to be a high payroll team than not…but you won’t make a ton of money betting strictly on that info.
So, then: if the payroll attributed to the best two players is not a predictor of success, what categories might make sense to view the 2026 Reds through? And what historical teams had similar situations to what the Reds had with Elly and Chase and what might we learn from their examples?
Here are seven categories that we should examine these teams through, starting with the 2026 Reds:
Injuries:
Hunter Greene pitched just five games in 2026 due to assorted arm troubles. While he has yet to appear in more than 26 games in a season, Greene contributed 4.2 WAR in 2025 and 6 WAR in 2024.
Nick Lodolo had blister issues at the beginning of the season, limiting him to 20 starts and 103 innings for the year. He was coming off a 4.7 WAR, 131 ERA+ season, but managed just 1.1 WAR and 83 ERA+ in 2026. Obviously, it’s tough to know how much of the sharp decline is injury related.
Closer Emilio Pagan missed most of May and all of June. His 2026 has been serviceable, (1.2 WAR, 119 ERA+), but is a downgrade from 2025 (1.9 WAR, 152 ERA+).
Third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes missed more than 40 games from May to July. He was barely above replacement level in his Reds tenure in 2025 and has been below replacement in 2026. It would be a stretch to suggest that Hayes’s injury has hurt the team.
Utility player Spencer Steer missed the final two-plus months of the season. He ended the year with 0.2 WAR.
Summary: Greene was a huge loss, clearly. The timing of his March elbow surgery precluded any robust contingency moves by the team, to the extent that they would have pursued one. That injury, plus Lodolo, put a strain on the pitching staff throughout the year. In general, the team was not especially cursed with bad injury luck, although the pitching was certainly impacted.
Dead Weight:
Jeimer Candelario, released midway through the 2025 season, still made up 10% of the Reds payroll in 2026.
Surprising Breakthrough:
The point of this section is to examine if the two best players on the team were projectable. In other words, was there reasonable expectation during the offseason last year that these two would be as good as they were?
Elly De La Cruz was entering his 3rd full time season in 2026 and posted WAR totals of 5.2 in 2024 and 3.6 in 2025. He definitely exceeded expectations in 2026 but his season was not outside a reasonable projection range.
Chase Burns was a prospect with a high pedigree and he pitched 43 innings at the big league level in 2025 after dominating at the AA and AAA levels. It’s not like no one saw him coming, but a 5 WAR season would have been deemed unlikely by all but the most supportive of relatives.
Position Player Depth:
The Reds were disastrous at 2B, 3B, and all three OF positions. Matt McLain has been a tantalizing but ultimately disappointing second baseman since a shoulder injury in 2024. Ke’Bryan Hayes is widely seen as the worst every day player in baseball. An assortment of flotsam and jetsam in the outfield combined to be 29th out of 30th in terms of Wins Above Average.
First baseman Sal Stewart has had an excellent counting stat season, but doesn’t register well in the WAR category. He’s young and has a good hitting profile though.
The Reds were not above average at any position but shortstop.
Starting Pitcher Depth:
Other than Burns, no starter had an ERA+ above 90. Andrew Abbott and Brady Singer both fell short of expectations, with Singer bordering on unpitchable.
Hunter Greene’s injury-plagued year forced Rhett Lowder and Brandon Williamson into more innings than would have been normally expected. Both were sub-replacement level.
Relief Pitcher Depth:
A below average outfit overall, the Reds had some OK-to-decent pieces to rely on (Pagan, Brock Burke, Tejay Antone, Julian Garcia), but nearly all other arms in the pen were flat out bad.
The bullpen inefficacy was compounded by the lack of quality arms in the rotation. The bullpen threw more innings than average relative to the rest of MLB.
Did the 2026 Reds fail to prepare appropriately for the combination of Elly De La Cruz and Chase Burns?
We’ll come back to this one. In part 3, we’ll look at some five historical teams which had similar top hitter/pitcher combinations and payroll impacts as the 2026 Reds and will wrap up with some final thoughts and conclusions.
Oct 3, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; A view of the MLB Postseason logo on the field before the game between the Cleveland Guardians and the Chicago White Sox in game one of the ALDS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Thursday brings us two games on the postseason schedule, both of which had their start times altered due to bad weather in Cleveland.
Game 3 of the American League Championship Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians was originally slated for a 6 p.m. local start at Progressive Field in Cleveland (3 p.m. PT), but on Wednesday was moved to a 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) start in an effort to get ahead of a storm coming through.
The ALCS is tied at one game apiece, and Gavin Williams starts for Cleveland, after two starts with double-digit strikeouts during the Division Series, plus a scoreless inning of relief mixed in between. The right-hander has a 1.54 ERA with 24 strikeouts in his 11 2/3 innings this October.
Right-hander Griffin Jax will be first on the mound for Tampa Bay.
Fox Sports has the NL playoffs this year, with TBS televising the AL side.
Thursday Championship Series schedule
10 a.m. PT: Rays at Guardians Series tied 1-1 ALCS Game 3: Griffin Jax vs. Gavin Williams TBS (Brian Anderson, Ron Darling, Jeff Francoeur & Lauren Shehadi)
5:08 p.m.: Dodgers vs. Brewers Milwaukee leads, 3-0 NLCS Game 3: Tyler Glasnow vs. TBA Fox (Joe Davis, John Smoltz, Ken Rosenthal, Tom Verducci)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 25: Pete Alonso #25 of the Baltimore Orioles in action against the New York Yankees during their game at Yankee Stadium on September 25, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Hello, friends.
There are now 160 days until the next scheduled Orioles game. Will there be a game on March 25, 2027 between the O’s and Rays? Only labor negotiations in December, January, and February can answer that question.
For now, there are the playoffs. The Rays and Guardians will play their third game today, while the Dodgers and Brewers play their Game 4 in Los Angeles. The ALCS game begins at 1pm, with the start time moved up due to the forecast for rain in Cleveland. Tough luck for anyone who paid excessive costs for those tickets and has to change their plans on short notice. They’ll probably feel better about it if they get to watch their team win. I would like to see the Guardians win in that series.
The Brewers mounted a comeback on the road against the Dodgers last night to put the two-time defending champions on the brink of being swept out of the NLCS. I can only guess that the other 29 teams fans are pulling for the Brewers to finish off the Dodgers today. It’s time for somebody else to get a turn.
In Orioles news, or rather non-news, the top three finishers for this year’s Gold Glove awards were announced on Wednesday afternoon. There were no Orioles on the list. At most positions on the diamond, this isn’t surprising, as O’s defense was chaotic, bad, or both just about everywhere. One notable exception was at first base, where Pete Alonso played some pretty darn good defense. I don’t know what more he would have had to do to end up in the top 3.
The actual top 3 at the position are Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Kansas City’s Vinnie Pasquantino, and Houston’s Christian Walker. The winners will be announced on November 1.
Anybody who spent time watching the Orioles this year knows that the defense needs to be better next year. Will the only person whose opinion matters – that is, Mike Elias, in his capacity as the president of baseball operations – take the actions that need to be taken to shore it up? We cannot know at this juncture, only hope.
If the post-mortems of the 2026 Orioles that have trickled into Orioles media are to be believed, manager Craig Albernaz wants to clean things up next year. I am skeptical that there is anything he didn’t try this year that is left to be tried next year. Somebody can probably clean it up even if most of the same roster comes back. I just have no confidence Albernaz is the guy, or that Elias is the guy who is going to prioritize it in his roster construction.
It’s not just how frequently it was bad – although, frequently, it was – but that it was so often unbelievably stupid, like how can a major league player do something that dumb. I will be thinking about “lose a fly ball in the sun while the sunglasses are on their hat instead of their face” for a long time. And that happened more than one time, and it wasn’t the same player each time it happened!
Orioles stuff you might have missed
Pete Alonso passed the eye test. Should he be a Gold Glove finalist? (The Baltimore Banner) The Banner’s Andy Kostka looked at the common public defensive metrics and concluded that Alonso would probably not have been a deserving finalist. We can, of course, still be happy that the Orioles signed him, and don’t need any validation from Rawlings to have that feeling.
Looking at Orioles through the eyes of opposing scouts (School of Roch) This one appeared in yesterday’s Bird Droppings too, so if you’ve already seen it, sorry! Slim pickings this time of year, and they’re going to get slimmer in December. I wonder what the real level of interest is for Heston Kjerstad and Jeremiah Jackson to have been mentioned as having gotten basic inquiries on trade availability.
Birthdays and Orioles anniversaries
Today in 1970, the Orioles beat the Reds in Game 5 of the World Series, taking down the team’s second championship in its history. It was a 9-3 victory in what ended up being the final game. Brooks Robinson was the MVP for the series. Maybe some day we’ll see the Orioles win it again.
In 1997, the Orioles lost an ALCS game to the then-Indians by a 1-0 score in 11 innings, with the lone run scoring as a solo home run hit off Armando Benitez in extras. Bummer. The lack of offense wasted eight brilliant innings from Mike Mussina.
There are a few former Orioles who were born on this day. They are: 2023 pitcher Jack Flaherty, 2018-20 pitcher Cody Carroll, 2004 outfielder Chat Mottola, 1982-83 infielder Glenn Gulliver, and Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Palmer. Today is Palmer’s 81st birthday. Happy birthday to him! Hopefully Albernaz sends him a birthday text.
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday to you as well! In addition to the franchise legend, your birthday buddies for today include: Russian author Mikhail Lermontov (1814), philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844), author P.G. Wodehouse (1881), actress Penny Marshall (1943), and musician Tito Jackson (1953).
On this day in history…
In 1529, forces of the Holy Roman Empire broke an Ottoman siege of the city of Vienna after two weeks, blunting a period of European expansion for the Ottomans.
In 1888, a letter supposedly sent by mass killer Jack the Ripper, dubbed the “From Hell” letter, was received by those investigating the killings.
In 1956, the first computer programming language, FORTRAN, was shared with the public, or at least the very small part of the public that was interested at this time.
**
And that’s the way it is in Birdland on October 15. Have a safe Thursday.
SEATTLE, WA - AUGUST 24: Philadelphia Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly (8) is in the visitors' dugout during the MLB game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Seattle Mariners on August 24, 2026 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Leslie Plaza Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
In case you somehow missed the news yesterday, the Phillies have a “new” manager. The team announced yesterday that they removed the interim tag from Don Mattingly and named him their permanent manager with a new two-year contract. Later last night, it was reported that they will have a new hitting coach and infield coach, as Kevin Long and Bobby Dickerson will not be back under Mattingly. With that news the team also finally scheduled their end of season press conference for today at 10:30 am. There we will be able to hear from Dave Dombrowski himself for the first time since the Phillies season ended two weeks ago.
BUFFALO, NEW YORK - AUGUST 16: Teoscar Hernandez #37 of the Toronto Blue Jays swings during the fifth inning of an MLB game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Sahlen Field on August 16, 2020 in Buffalo, New York. This game is a continuation of last night's rain delay. The Blue Jays are the home team and are playing their home games in Buffalo due to the Canadian government’s policy on coronavirus (COVID-19). (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Today is Teoscar Hernandez’s 34th birthday.
When Teoscar arrived from the Astros, few could have predicted he’d develop into such a powerful slugger.
During his six seasons with the Jays, he posted a .263/.320/.503 slash line with 129 home runs. He ranks 13th in franchise history for home runs and 24th in RBIs.
The trade that sent him to the Mariners was unexpected. Erik Swanson excelled in the bullpen for us in 2023, though he struggled in 2024. Adam Macko made 16 starts for New Hampshire and one for the Bisons this year, tallying 105 strikeouts and 35 walks over 93.1 innings, with a 3.63 ERA.
Teoscar joined the Dodgers ahead of the 2024 season. Over his three seasons in Los Angeles, he has hit .262/.320/.462 with 74 home runs and collected two World Series rings. However, unless the Dodgers stage an impressive comeback against the Brewers, a third ring seems unlikely this year.
Happy Birthday, Teoscar. I wish you the best, but I hope your team loses. Sorry.
Today is Carlos Garcia’s 59th birthday.
You might recall that Carlos had a particularly rough season with the Jays. In November 1996, Toronto traded for Garcia, Orlando Merced, and Dan Plasac from the Pirates. Initially, we sent Brandon Cromer, Jose Pett, and Jose Silva to Pittsburgh, followed by Mike Halperin, Abraham Nunez, and Craig Wilson in December to complete the deal. For the record, I was never a fan of then-GM Gord Ash.
In 1997, Garcia batted .220/.253/.309 over 103 games, primarily at second base. He managed 3 home runs, 29 runs, 23 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases. Unfortunately, his defense was also underwhelming, and the Jays paid $2.55 million for that performance. By WAR, it was one of the worst seasons by a non-pitcher in team history.
Following that season, Garcia signed with the Angels as a free agent but hit only .143 in 40 at-bats. He then moved to San Diego, where his struggles continued, and soon after, he was out of baseball.
Garcia’s lone solid year in the majors came as a rookie with the Pirates, when he hit .269/.316/.399. He did have 12 home runs and 47 RBIs in 1993, making it difficult to understand what the Jays expected from the trade.
As for the players the Jays sent to Pittsburgh:
Craig Wilson went on to have a respectable MLB career, playing seven seasons—six with the Pirates—and hitting .262/.353/.474 with 99 home runs. His best year was 2004, when he played 155 games and posted a .264/.354/.499 line with 29 homers.
Abraham Nunez enjoyed a 12-year career, spending eight seasons with the Pirates. Over 1,030 games, he hit .242/.313/.314, primarily as a utility infielder.
Jose Silva pitched seven MLB seasons, finishing with a 25-28 record and a 5.41 ERA over 154 games, including 53 starts.
Happy Birthday, Carlos.
Today marks Chad Mottola’s 55th birthday.
Chad was an outfielder who appeared in just 59 MLB games over five seasons, 13 of them with the Blue Jays.
He spent much of his playing career in the minors. In 2007, his final minor league season, he played Triple-A for the Jays and hit .267/.324/.467. At 35, he began transitioning into coaching.
In 2008, he became the hitting coach for the Gulf Coast League Jays. By 2009, he was the roving minor league hitting coach, and from 2010 to 2012, he coached hitters for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s. In 2011, he earned the Bobby Mattick Award for excellence in player development.
In 2013, he was promoted to the Blue Jays’ major league staff, but was let go at the end of the season. One year he was praised as a miracle worker, the next he was out—the unpredictable life of a coach.
The Rays hired him as a roving instructor, and in 2017, he became their major league hitting coach—a role he still holds today.
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 14: Jake Bauers #9 of the Milwaukee Brewers rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run in the seventh inning during Game Three of the National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday, October 14, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Nicole Vasquez/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Holy moly, that was some kind of playoff game last night in LA. A first-pitch homer by Jackson Chourio was the only scoring until an Abner Uribe meltdown allowed the Dodgers to jump back in front, 2-1. But Jake Bauers—yes, the same 2023 Yankees legend—put in his second epic at-bat of the offseason to win an 11-pitch battle with Blake Snell on a two-run blast that turned the game upside down. Garrett Mitchell immediately followed with a lefty/lefty homer of his own.
Now suddenly the Brewers are on the verge of avenging last year’s NLCS sweep at the hands of the Dodgers by giving LA a taste of its own medicine. It would be the first World Series appearance since 1982, when they were still in the American League. They have never won it all. They’ll get multiple shots at it, but best to just step on the Dodger blue-shaded cockroach now and not give it a chance at survival, right? Here we go Brew Crew, here we go. (Oh, and don’t forget to root for Cleveland to take a series lead on Tampa Bay now that they’re back in Ohio, too.)
Our eyes are mostly focused on the day/night playoff action today, but we still have material for you! Peter will recap NLCS Game 3 in greater detail, Dani will discuss Joe Girardi’s recent appraisal of his successor as Yankees skipper, and Jonathan well celebrate the birthday of the man known as “Babe Ruth’s Legs” (no, really).
Today’s Playoff Matchups:
American League Championship Series Game 3 (Series tied 1-1)
Cleveland Guardians vs. Tampa Bay Rays (RHP Gavin Williams vs. RHP Grifin Jax)
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST [they pushed the start time back due to bad weather in the forecast]
TV: TBS/HBO Max/truTV
Venue: Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH
National League Championship Series Game 4 (Milwaukee leads 3-0)
Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Milwaukee Brewers (RHP Tyler Glasnow vs. TBD)
Time: 8:00 p.m. EST
TV: FOX/FS1/FOX ONE
Venue: Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, CA
Questions/Prompts:
1. Does the Brew Crew finish off the sweep tonight or do the Dodgers survive?
2. What do you think of the Phillies’ decision to bring back Don Mattingly for another two years as skipper?
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani singles during the eighth inning of Game 3 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
You probably don’t believe the slumping Dodgers can come back from this gaping 3-0 deficit to beat the surging Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series.
And you probably didn’t believe that manager Dave Roberts should continue penciling in Shohei Ohtani — flailing and failing and having gone three for 20 this postseason entering the Dodgers’ 6-2 loss in Game 3 — as his designated hitter.
Because Ohtani is an athlete whose belief in himself knows no bounds.
Exactly the kind of guy a team on the brink of elimination needs.
Remember back in 2018, most of baseball’s foremost brainiacs thought there was no way the 23-year-old hot-shot prospect from Japan would actually be able to do what no one in nearly a century had: both pitch and bat in the big leagues.
The majority of major league scouts believed Ohtani’s swing was flawed in balance and mechanics, that his bat-to-ball skills weren’t going to be good enough.
And last year he gave us the greatest game ever, striking out 10 and hitting three home runs in Game 4 of the NLCS, sending Milwaukee home and the Dodgers back to the World Series, on the way to a second consecutive championship.
This is someone for whom the impossible is probable. Someone who’s made us all believe in unicorns. An audacious, delusional, radical optimist.
And with Wednesday’s defeat having backed them into the corner, the Dodgers should be glad to have Ohtani, for whom all things are possible, still working and tinkering and trying his best.
Ohtani drove the Struggle Bus into Game 3, having struck out seven times in 22 playoff at-bats, with only three singles and no extra-base hits and no RBIs.
But he wasn’t dissuaded: “It’s a constant, ongoing process that’s headed in the right direction,” he said Tuesday, through interpreter Will Ireton, adding several times in an impromptu interview: “I take full responsibility.”
Ohtani stayed late Tuesday night working on his swing, Roberts said: “Out with the guys, talking about things on how we’re going to beat these guys … and I will say this, this was a different look from Shohei. Determined, and that’s an understatement.”
And then, while the debate around him raged — should he or shouldn’t he play — Ohtani clocked in and got to work.
The superstar who deferred most of his record 10-year, $700 million salary so as to enable — to obligate — the Dodgers to build a championship roster around him reached base in three of his four plate appearances Wednesday.
As a team, the Dodgers went one for six with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base — including Ohtani those three times.
He took one for the team, getting hit by a pitch on the backside in the fourth inning. He drew a Josue De Paula-esque five-pitch walk in the sixth. And then in the eighth, Ohtani knocked a single up the middle that came off his bat with an exit velocity of 113.5 mph, one of his four hardest balls of the whole season.
Ohtani didn’t, however, pop one out of the park; he hasn’t homered since Aug. 18.
The live-by-the-slug, die-by-the-slug Dodgers have hit zero home runs in the NLCS. But the small-market Brewers known for their small-ball approach have hit five — including three off Blake Snell on Wednesday.
As a team, the Dodgers have much of their massive $415 million payroll going to hitters who are collectively batting .188 this postseason. They’re three for 32 with runners in scoring position.
Call it quiet-quittin’ hittin’, because the Dodgers’ bats and their stadium got so quiet you could hear “Let’s Go Brewers!” chants in the Ravine — and probably from as far away as Racine, Wisc.
And if it appears that L.A.’s hit baseball show is about to go on hiatus, its main actors are telling us they still believe in miracles.
“At the beginning of this year, we set out to do something historic,” Max Muncy said. “It looks like we’re going to have to make a little more history along the way if we want to accomplish that.”
“It’s certainly possible,” said Roberts, MLB’s only manager to have experienced a 3-0 postseason series comeback as a player when his Boston Red Sox did it against the New York Yankees in the ALCS.
“I’ve lived it, and I think the thing is that our guys have been battle-tested, as was that team I was a part of … it’s just you’ve got to win tomorrow. It’s an elimination game. We’ve played in a lot of elimination games. We’ve just got to get a win.”
Four wins, actually. In a row.
Does that seem impossible? Seems like Ohtani’s type of challenge.
On the 595th Sporticast episode, hosts Scott Soshnick and Eben Novy-Williams discuss some of the biggest sports business stories of the week, including the latest in the baseball playoffs, where the Milwaukee Brewers have an early NLCS lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers. They also consider a ticketing thought experience.
The hosts discuss Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, who is a poster child for the type of young star that the Major League Baseball Players Association might point to as being short-changed by the sport’s current pay structure. Misiorowski throws harder than anyone in the sport’s modern history and may win the NL Cy Young Award, but he’s only in his second MLB season, which means he’s one year away from being arbitration eligible and four years from free agency. Given the taxing nature of hard-throwing pitching, he’s potentially at risk of being underpaid through the most effective and healthiest years of his career.
The hosts talk about how some teams are choosing to lock up young talent earlier than ever, including some instances of contracts signed before the player even reaches the major leagues. That’s yet to happen for Misiorowski. Is that because of the Brewers’ approach? The injury risk? Or does the looming labor battle play some role?
Next the hosts talk about baseball attendance. In the ALCS, the Tampa Bay Rays had thousands of empty seats during Game 2 of their showdown with the Cleveland Guardians. The hosts debate whether every team in baseball would play at capacity if they gave tickets away for free.
They close by talking about the WNBA Finals, which will be played between the Atlanta Dream and Golden State Valkyries. The league just solved a logistical problem when it was able to relocate some Dream home games from the team’s roughly 3,500-seat traditional home venue to State Farm Arena, home of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.
(You can subscribe to Sporticast through Apple, Spotify, or wherever else you get your podcasts.)
HARTFORD, CT - MAY 27: Lonnie White Jr. #3 of the Altoona Curve runs onto the field during the game between the Altoona Curve and the Hartford Yard Goats at Dunkin' Park on Wednesday, May 27, 2026 in Hartford, Connecticut. (Photo by Ryan Desantis/Minor League Baseball via Getty Images)
The Pittsburgh Pirates finished with a top-15 farm system in baseball after opening up the year as the preseason third-best farm system in Major League Baseball. Throughout their minor league ranks there were several standout players and names to be looking for as their careers progress.
Triple-A Indianapolis
Ronny Simon was named the Indianapolis Indians official team MVP for the 2026 season as he was one of the best hitters in the International League. He ranked first in batting average (.334), hits (141), second in doubles (33), on-base percentage (.426), sixth in OPS (.898), stolen bases (35) and tenth in total bases (199). Simon was an all-around star for the Indians as he appeared in 115 games for the club before a brief stint with the Pirates to end his 2026 season at the Major League level.
Pitcher Beau Burrows was also recognized as the team’s pitcher of the year. The team’s closer led the league in saves with 14. He also had a dominant 16-game stretch where he had a 0.83 ERA and 23 strikeouts. He also converted all nine of his save opportunities in that span.
Double-A Altoona
The Altoona Curve named Lonnie White Jr. their team MVP this season. White Jr. hit 26 homers in 2026, 19 of them being with Altoona. It’s the most home runs he’s hit in a single season in his career and it ranked third among Pirates’ prospects in 2026. He also had a career high 67 RBIs and had a team leading 23-game on base streak.
Connor Wietgrefe took home pitcher of the year honors for the Curve as he was one of their best arms all season long. He had a 3.51 ERA with Altoona this year and had a 4-1 record with the club before being promoted to Indianapolis. Wietgrefe won four straight starts with the Curve and finished his year with 127 strikeouts. He finished his time in Altoona with 18 straight scoreless innings.
High-A Greensboro
Very few players at the lower minor league levels within the Pirates’ organization were as exciting in 2026 as Wyatt Sanford. The 20-year old shortstop played 72 games with the Greensboro Grasshoppers and proved to be a dynamic blend of speed, athleticism and power. He hit 17 home runs with the club (19 overall) and had 33 stolen bases. He finished the year with a .292/.423/.551 slash line and had a .974 OPS. Sanford was invited to play for the Glendale Desert Dogs in the Arizona Fall league.
Low-A Bradenton
In just his first season since being drafted sixth overall by the Pirates a year ago, Seth Hernandez has come on the scene firing on all cylinders. Hernandez was named the Florida State League player of the year after just six games with Bradenton before being promoted to Greensboro in May. He recorded 50 strikeouts in 28 innings, then finished the year with 118 strikeouts and a 2.43 ERA over 74 innings across both levels. With the Marauders he had an incredibly low 0.96 ERA, a 3-0 record and only allowed three earned runs during his time in the FSL.
Seth Hernandez turned in a stellar pro debut season:
