Category: Baseball

On this chilly Friday in November, join me in ignoring the looming lockout as we pretend that baseball is proceeding as scheduled next season. (Alex Anthopoulos certainly is with the offseason’s first big splash with the signing of reliever Evan Phillips). Here, life is beautiful because Opening Day is in 131 days.

The Braves have announced that single game tickets are now on sale for the 2027 season, which (for now) kicks off on the road at Dodger Stadium. But we care about what’s going on at the home ballpark. And if you’re anything like me, what’s being given away at the gate may be a factor in when you plan to visit Truist Park.

More giveaways, ticket packages, and theme nights are to be confirmed as plans for the season finalize, but here’s what you can look forward to based on the current slate and schedule. More info is available on the Braves promotion page.

Friday Fireworks, Saturday Block Parties, Alumni Sundays

Nothing like a weekend series at home.

If the fireworks during the anthem/seventh inning stretch, after every strikeout (thanks, Gas South) and home runs aren’t enough, you can stick around after every Friday night home game for a Georgia Lottery-sponsored spectacular. It’s worth seeing for whatever baffling unique theme or playlist they choose to accompany the show.

The Braves Block Party returns to the Battery before every Saturday contest. Partake in live music and other entertainment before finding your seats. There’s a significant chance he Home Depot tools and Blooper and his ever-increasing horde of mascot security for roaming around for photo opps as well.

Sunday matinees are preceded by a pair of alumni showing up to sign autographs, which are TBD for now. Kids can also run the bases after the game concludes.

Gate Giveaways

The promotional gate giveaways are for the first 15,000 fans that enter the stadium. (Items in ticket packages are an entirely separate thing, more below). Depending on the item, sometimes you can rock up at closer to 7 pm and still get one. Others require some logistical magic and being in a line before most have even clocked out of work.

There will absolutely be more of these announced as we get closer to baseball being played. But for now… please enjoy the merchandising team’s best attempt at the brief: safe, apparel-forward choices that are fun enough to hopefully distract from the conspicuous absence of current player-themed items.

Magnetic Schedule (April 2 vs. HOU)

Everyone in attendance at the home opener gets one of these to slap on your fridge. Thanks, Georgia Power.

Truist Park “10th Anniversary” T-Shirt (April 3 vs. HOU)

Not sure a ton of people will be gunning for this one, but a concert-style tee celebrating your very favorite Cobb County ballpark’s 10th birthday can be yours.

BravesVision Bobblehead (April 16 vs. MIA)

Wiley erasure, unfortunately, but Brandon Gaudin and C.J. Nitkowski are getting their seventh-inning cracker jack toss immortalized in bobblehead form. How do the broadcasters get a bobblehead that looks more like them than some players? A mystery.

Phil Niekro Replica Jersey (April 20 vs. WAS)

The Braves love to do things in alumni-honoring ways, and this is the first of several giveaways featuring a Braves legend. Instead of Dale Murphy like last year, Phil Niekro gets the nod here for a replica jersey.

Mystery Hot Dog Hat (May 28 vs. PIT)

Yes, baseball and hot dogs are inextricably linked. We saw the first steps of the Braves embracing the hot dog mania that’s overtaken some other ballparks last year with the introduction of the “Build-A-Dog” challenge as mid-inning entertainment. Multiple teams have glizzys that race. Sometimes they rain from the sky in Seattle. But maybe the Braves saw their division rival Nationals have immense success with a “Bad Day to be a Hot Dog” hat giveaway and wanted to copy their homework, so here’s our version. The “mystery” is if your design will feature a hot dog with ketchup or mustard.

Tom Glavine Hockey Jersey (June 1 vs. COL)

Drake Baldwin’s hockey jersey last year was one of the most coveted giveaway items. Folks lined up as early as 3 pm (and I would know, because I was among them). Merrimack Valley’s Most Valuable Player Tom Glavine gets an hockey jersey of his own in an Atlanta City Connect flavor.

Hawaiian Shirt (August 20 vs. NYM)

Vintage baseball cards of Braves HOFers and tropical flowers intermingle in this year’s version of the Braves Hawaiian shirt. This is probably going to be up there in terms of popularity.

90’s Windbreaker (September 24 vs. MIA)

If you’re in need of a paper-thin windbreaker, this might be the giveaway for you. If I had to guess this will only really be available in L and XL sizes.

Ticket Packages/Theme Nights

These specialty items are a separate ticket and you’re guaranteed the item, unlike in a gate giveaway. These are usually accompanied by other festivities at the ballpark to make it a full theme night.

• Science Education Day (April 22 vs. WAS) meant for elementary school groups
• Girls Night Out (April 29 vs. NYM) gets the ladies a mock neck sweatshirt
• Star Wars (May 6 vs. SD) is a Braves/Star Wars jersey shirt
• Military Appreciation (May 31 vs. COL) features a Braves military appreciation t-shirt
• Braves Country 5K (June 5 vs. MIN) will have info available at a later date, but usually includes a t-shirt
• Father’s Day (June 20 vs. NYY) offers a 200minute session of catch on the field following the afternoon game
• Pride Night (June 23 vs. PHI) will have more info on the item/festivities coming soon
• Summer Camp Day (July 21 vs. PHI) is for, you guessed it, summer camps
• Deaf Awareness (August 1 vs. STL) gets you a City Connect-style jersey shirt with “Braves” spelled out in ASL across the chest
• HBCU (August 25 vs. MIL) features a jersey shirt with HBCU across the chest and 48 on the back
• Los Bravos (September 23 vs. WAS) is another jersey shirt with Latin American country flags patterned on the sleeves and jersey number

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Anything in this initial batch speaking to you? What’s a must-have or a pass? What are you hoping to see announced in the future, and is that Alan Jackson bobblehead commercial still stuck in your head? Let us know.

An offensive coordinator?

What is this, football?

Well, no, but that is where James Rowson’s inspiration was rooted when he suggested the increasingly common baseball title in his talks to join Tony Vitello’s Giants coaching staff.

“I always felt like the NFL had a good model for this,” Rowson said on a call with reporters Friday morning once his hiring had become official. “In the NFL, they have running backs coaches, they have wide receivers coaches — they have individual coaches for areas. But at the end of the day, they have an offensive coordinator who’s trying to put all that together. …

“It’s focused on scoring. And I feel like baseball can take a page from that.”

The job is a new one for a franchise that played its first ballgames when Chester A. Arthur was president, but it’s not unprecedented as coaching staffs swell in size around the league.

The Rangers, Padres, Angels, Mariners, Blue Jays, White Sox and Astros have all had coaches hold the position, which may be more associated with football but is a growing trend in MLB.

The Giants will have company next season in the Royals, who promoted their hitting coach, Connor Dawson, into the role while hiring Hunter Mense away from San Francisco to serve under him.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey said this week at the MLB general managers meetings in Las Vegas that it was Rowson’s “preference” to take on the more expansive role.

“Kind of what through his experience he feels like will give him the structure and chain of command,” Posey said. “To have the oversight on all run production.”

Rowson, who spent the past three seasons as the Yankees’ top hitting coach, wanted to expand his purview. Vitello, with his college background, was all for it.

If Rowson hadn’t suggested it, the Giants may have.

“It was an exact phrase I used with Buster and [general manager] Zack [Minasian] and some of the other guys at the end of the year,” Vitello said. “Really offense, defensive coordinator, at least mentality, and making sure we’re as structured as possible.”

One area of improvement from Vitello’s first year as a professional manager that came up in his discussions after the season with Posey and the front office was a clearer chain of command.

On the pitching side, Posey said the communication was “just a little scattered at times.” They addressed that by reshuffling the staff, keeping Justin Meccage as pitching coach but reassigning Frank Anderson to be the assistant from director of major-league pitching. Christian Wonders, the assistant pitching coach last year, will lead minor-league pitching development.

Rowson’s new, overarching title is part of cleaning things up on the offensive side.

“As the offensive coordinator, I need to bring together our hitting staff, the baserunning guys, myself,” Rowson said. He added, “Tony’s gonna be in charge of how all that comes together.”

Rowson, 50, oversaw a three-man hitting staff that helped the Yankees produce the eighth-most runs per game in the majors last season. He has also served as a hitting coach for the Twins (2017-19) and Cubs (2012-13), an assistant hitting coach for the Tigers (2023) and as Don Mattingly’s bench coach with the Marlins (2020-22).

“Not saying this was a downfall of Mense,” Posey said of the Giants’ hitting coach last season, who hadn’t held a top job before, “but I do think after last year, [we wanted to] hire a guy who’s been there and done the work. By all accounts, making phone calls to different people, I kept hearing the same thing over and over again. One of the better leaders they’ve been around.”

Rowson will oversee baserunning, game-planning, basically anything that has to do with touching home plate — something the Giants did less often last season than all but four other teams. They drew walks at the lowest rate in the league and didn’t put much into action when they reached base, last in the league in stolen bases for much of the year until a late uptick. 

Turning things around will take a multipronged approach. The Giants need to get more out of the veteran core of their lineup — Willy Adames, Matt Chapman, Rafael Devers — but it’s just as important for Bryce Eldridge, Casey Schmitt and other young players to continue to develop.

Rowson’s job? It’s right there in the title. It’s on him to coordinate it all.

“The hitting coach, just in the title, and I’ve done that through the years, it’s always focused on, ‘Do the guys get a hit? How many hits did they get?’ ” Rowson said. “It’s not necessarily focused on scoring runs. And offense is to score runs to win the game. …

“If you outhit the other team, it doesn’t guarantee you the win. You have to outscore them.”

The MLB free agent market is beginning to shake out, spurred into action during the general managers meetings in Las Vegas this week.

Reliever acquisitions have been the first wave, with Emilio Pagán landing with the Tigers for one year and $11.5 million, and Ryan Weiss with the Padres for $1.85 million during the meetings. Former Dodger Evan Phillips signed with the Braves on Thursday for three years, $35 million.

Left-hander Alex Vesia, who has been with the Dodgers for the last six seasons, is also expected to garner plenty of early interest on the free agent market.

Read more:Shohei Ohtani lost the MVP to Pete Crow-Armstrong. What he needs to do to reclaim it

On Friday, first baseman Jake Bauers added a tally to the position-player side, agreeing to a deal with the Red Sox. Fresh off a career year and World Series title, Bauers reportedly is set to sign a four-year, $58-million contract.

So teams aren’t waiting until after the impending lockout to reinforce their rosters. But that still leaves a wide range of possibilities before the current CBA expires on Dec. 1.

“We’re totally focused on business as usual, trying to make sure we’re as prepared as possible in case things happen in different ways,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said. “Whether that’s trade or free agency, continue to put ourselves in a position to be able to act if something comes up that we feel like is really important to helping our team, both short term and long-term.”

That was a common refrain from leaders of baseball operations departments around the league.

“Business as usual for us,” new Orioles GM Jared Banner said. “We’re looking to get better, and that’s our focus here. So we’ll just read and react as each day passes by.”

Business as usual, however, means a variety of things for different teams.

“We are always going to be on the front end of aggression with how we operate in the market,” Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said. “So whether the market wants to operate faster or slower than it typically does, we’re usually not listening. … Teams know that typically, if we don’t start the hot stove, we’re among the starters. So our behavior won’t change much, and my general resting place is, if our behavior is going to be unaffected, I don’t sweat too much what the other 29 teams will do, unless they’re holding us up.”

The Mariners took that aggressive approach before the last lockout too. They were one of the major contributors to an active first month of free agency, during which teams committed a whopping $1.9 billion before Dec. 2, 2021.

“It’s definitely a convenient thing to point to because there just aren’t a lot of situations that are even remotely similar to this,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said of the record flurry of activity five years ago. “I don’t think it’s going to follow the same course; I would expect it not to.”

Looming beyond this lockout is the threat of a salary cap. And though the MLB Players Assn. has made it clear that it will continue to fight the owners’ push for an overhaul of the current structure, teams also can’t completely ignore the possibility of a salary cap, or some other guardrails on spending in the next CBA.

The owners’ latest proposal reportedly included a salary cap of about $258.2 million, depending on next year’s revenue, to be implemented in 2028.

Though many around the industry expect that, in the case of a salary cap, MLB would build in a gradual rollout or specific exceptions to make the massive change a little less destabilizing, such a shift would pose a challenge to large-payroll teams such as the Dodgers.

The Dodgers have some money set to come off the books in 2028 — veteran first baseman Freddie Freeman’s contract expires after next season, and Teoscar Hernández, Max Muncy and Hyeseong Kim have 2028 club options. But the Dodgers’ current commitments for 2028 (over $275 million in CBT payroll, according to Spotrac) already put them above MLB’s latest proposed salary cap.

Read more:Relief pitcher Evan Phillips signs three-year deal to return to Atlanta Braves

“We’ll put ourselves in position to see what’s available, and then go from there because we really don’t know what any of that looks like,” Gomes said. “So we have to function with what we know right now.”

The Dodgers at least don’t have many glaring needs going into 2027. At the top of the list will be their bullpen and bench, markets that they could explore in the coming weeks.

They’ve also remained in touch with top free agent Tarik Skubal’s representatives, after a largely successful trade-deadline union this past season, and are set to meet with him. But it is still unclear just how aggressive the Dodgers will be, or whether Skubal will agree to a contract by Dec. 1.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

There’s a wind of excitement and intrigue swirling around Braves Country at the moment after the Atlanta Braves became the first team to make a big splashy signing this offseason with the addition of Evan Phillips to their bullpen. It’s a move that appears to be in line with what the Braves have usually done with their relief pitching signings since Alex Anthopoulos got the reins of baseball operations since he hasn’t been afraid to hand out relatively big money to relievers — no matter what the market may look like.

Still, it’s certainly an interesting time for Phillips himself, as he will not only be returning to the organization that drafted him all the way back in the 2015 MLB Draft but he’ll also be playing in a city that he currently calls home as well. He mentioned in his media availability on Friday afternoon that he does live in Atlanta during the offseason and he admitted that once it became clear that it was a possibility that he could join the Braves, both he and his wife were “really excited about that possibility.”

“The Braves were right there at the top of our list alongside a couple of others,” stated Phillips when he was asked by Mark Bowman of MLB.com about where he was hoping to land during this offseason. “It went the way that it did and we couldn’t be more excited.”

He also talked about how this is his first “real crack at” free agency after how things went last offseason due to his injury. In that vein, I asked Evan Phillips about how important it would be to be able to focus on just getting better and improving during the offseason rather than having to focus on rehabbing.“

“This’ll be my first offseason not having to focus on a rehab in two years,” explained Phillips. “I had the [shoulder injury] at the end of ‘24 that kept me out of the World Series…then the Tommy John rehab was a bit more intensive.”

“[It’s good to] just to be able to get home and get back with my routine for the offseason and immerse myself with the guys here in Atlanta and see what they might have for me.”

Again, it’s pretty important to note that it’s certainly a bit convenient that he’ll be able to continue focusing on what’s important while not really having to switch up his base of operations. It’s one of those things where it doesn’t seem all that important but from a human perspective, it’ll probably be huge for Phillips when it comes to being able to benefit from that convenience.

With that being said, the reality of the upcoming labor war is also sure to play a factor in just how much offseason work Evan Phillips will be able to get in with the coaching staff and overall organization here in Atlanta nd he mentioned that as he continued to answer my question to him.

“I know we’re pushing up against the deadline on December 1 so that might accelerate some of those conversations that we won’t be able to have through the rest of the winter,” admitted Phillips. “[Still,] I’m just looking forward to it. I’m so ready to get with this group and get to work and see what they might have for me.”

Indeed, it’s going to be intriguing to see just how much Braves pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and bullpen coach J.P. Martinez will be able to get out of Phillips now that they’ll be able to work with him going forward. Again, they’ll be up against the gun a bit but I’d also imagine that Phillips will be able to figure out a way to keep improving while on his own during the dark portion of the offseason — however long it may take.

Still, Phillips is excited to get going and he’s also feeling pretty confident about continuing to bring the stuff that he had in Los Angeles with him to the mound in Atlanta. “New velocity highs for me in my career at 32, I never would’ve thought,” stated Phillips when he was asked by Bowman about his results after Tommy John surgery. “It’s not something I was chasing. I’m fortunate it’s gone that way because it opens up what I’m able to do even more. I’m just really excited to maintain some of those things that I’ve learned and see if we can bridge that across the next few years.”

Phillips will (hopefully) have three years to continue proving that for the Braves going forward and hopefully they’ll be three productive years here in Atlanta’s organization. He’s coming back home in more ways than one and hopefully this second go around ends up being the one that everybody remembers, rather than another footnote. We’ll see what happens, though.

Pat Murphy wasn’t off by much. Just a couple hundred miles and five stops on the Acela train line.

The Milwaukee Brewers manager’s touching hot mic moment with star first baseman Jake Bauers after the World Series intimated that Bauers was going to be a "rich (expletive)" and implored him to remember how they got down in Milwaukee when Bauers is "on that (expletive) Yankees team and playing for yourselves."

Well, Bauers got plenty rich Friday, Nov. 13, agreeing to a four-year, $58 million deal. He’ll just be playing for the Boston Red Sox, not the New York Yankees.

Bauers' departure from the champion Brewers was somewhat expected. The club rehabilitated his career from the verge of retirement after cycling through six organizations, four at the major league level, before Bauers figured things out in Milwaukee.

Yet the Brewers remain viable by keeping it moving and not placing bigger-dollar bets on 31-year-olds who might end up platoon players. The split was amicable, and so, too, is Murphy’s relationship with the Yankees.

Pat Murphy and Yankees: No hard feelings

As many observers could ascertain, "the Yankees" were a figurative term in Murphy’s address to Bauers, the stand-in for "any team with considerably more resources than the Brewers." In this era, the New York Mets or Los Angeles Dodgers are far more spendy than the Yankees, who have not won a World Series since 2009.

So, when Murphy apologized to Yankees club president Brian Cashman, the architect of New York’s sustained success understood.

"He took the time to realize that he said something that he regretted, that he's caught on a live mic," Cashman told reporters Tuesday at the general managers' meetings in Las Vegas. "He wanted to take the time, track us down over here at the lowly Yankees to make sure he would apologize for that, so that meant a lot to me."

Jake Bauers' journey: How Milwaukee saved his career

Bauers didn’t totally break the bank. But it's a nice raise for a guy who admitted to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel that he was on the verge of retiring a couple years ago but needed health coverage for his expectant wife.

Bauers made $2.7 million in his final year of arbitration eligibility, a hard-fought journey to free agency. It took him nine years to reach six years of service time, a slog that included no major league appearances in 2020 or 2022.

Yet he found a comfort level in being uncomfortable in Milwaukee, under Murphy.

"I'm super grateful they traded for me. Super grateful to be here these last three years," Bauers told USA TODAY Sports as the season wound down. "At the same time, I think playing here can be a little bit uncomfortable, compared to some places.

"There's a lot of things that the staff, starting with Murph, and also the players in the clubhouse – we don’t let slide. That's a big key to our success. At the same time, it can be uncomfortable at times if you're not willing to face the man in the mirror."

Red Sox: What role will Jake Bauers play in Boston?

In Boston, Bauers may wear a lot of hats – and gloves.

The Red Sox already have an All-Star first baseman in Willson Contreras – brother of William, Bauers' World Series MVP teammate in Milwaukee. Yet there are plenty of at-bats to have at DH and Bauers also played 16 games in left field for the Brewers last season. He will bat somewhere in the middle of the lineup and is a nice hedge against any enduring health woes involving young left-handed slugger Roman Anthony.

The Red Sox are known to be shopping left fielder Jarren Duran, who is elite defensively but in an enduring offensive slump. Fenway Park’s tight quarters in left would be a passable place for Bauers to roam.

He'll aim to add thump – he broke out with 26 homers a year ago – to a Red Sox lineup that finished 18th in the majors in OPS. More important, he will have the gravitas that comes with being a World Series champion – and NLCS MVP.

Murphy won’t let him forget that, either.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pat Murphy said Jake Bauers would be a 'rich (expletive).' Here's how right he was

On Thursday, the Texas Longhorns signed 18 high school baseball prospects as part of the nation’s No. 2 recruiting class in the rankings by Perfect Game and Baseball America.

“We’re really excited about this group of student-athletes and what they bring to our program,” Texas head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “They are talented players who have the work ethic, character and competitiveness we look for at Texas. We believe each of them has the ability to make an impact on our program, both on and off the field. We’re looking forward to getting them to Austin and helping them grow as players and people.”

In recent years, the shorter MLB Draft has resulted in more top prospects heading to college, like right-handers Sam Cozart and Brett Crossland in the 2025 class, but the top prospects remain likely to sign — Schlossnagle’s recruiting philosophy, also employed by other top programs, is to hope a several of those players head to the Forty Acres instead of professional baseball.

Pitchers

• George Ferguson | RHP | 6’4, 218 | Abilene: A physical, frontline starter candidate, Ferguson is ranked as the No. 3 overall prospect in the class by Perfect Game. His fastball has reached 96 mph with an expected jump in 2027 that Ferguson pairs with advanced feel for his secondary offerings. Power arms ranked that highly are virtual locks to sign after the draft.
• Grant Sperandio | RHP | 6’2, 210 | Houston Memorial: A top-50 national recruit and MLB High School All-American who is graduating early to join Texas in January 2027. He stuff is instant-impact and SEC-ready, headlined by a blazing fastball that tops out in the high 90s. Getting Sperandio to campus early without having to worry about the draft is a major coup for Schlossnagle.
• Lukas Waite | RHP/OF | 6’2, 205 | San Diego (Calif.) Patrick Henry: Another All-American and explosive two-way athlete. On the mound, he works with afastball in the low to mid 90s and sharp breaking pitches. Waite’s speed — he runs a 6.22-second 60-yard dash — could complicate the decision about where he plays, but he’s listed as a pitcher here because of that explosive fastball.
• Easton Sarmiento | LHP | 6’4, 180 | Chino Hills (Calif.) Ayala: A top-100 prospect nationally, Sarmiento is one of the highest-upside left-handers in the country because he pairs a projectable, athletic frame with a low-90s fastball and a plus slider.
• Ryder Renfro |RHP | 6’3, 215 | Kingwood: A physical right-hander with a low-effort, repeatable high three-quarters delivery and a starter profile. His four-pitch mix features a fastball up to 93–94 mph with high spin (over 2600 rpm), a mid-70s sweeping slider, a curveball, and a changeup that fades. Those are attributes that will make him a prospect to watch when the draft arrives.
• Cooper Vais | RHP/OF | 6’1, 200 | Arvada (Colo.) West: The top-ranked prospect in Colorado, Vais is a high-ceiling two-way athlete, touching 92 mph on the mound with a sharp curveball and repeatable mechanics, while showing high-level exit velocities and 6.63 speed as a position player.
• Luke Armijo | LHP | 6’1, 200 | Whittier (Calif.) La Mirada: A polished California southpaw sitting just outside the national top 100. He features a quick arm with a fastball already reaching 92 mph, giving him a projection as a potential early contributor.
• Hayden Anderson | LHP | 6’5, 220 | West Des Moines (Iowa) Waukee: An imposing, physical left-hander with a classic starter’s build. He operates with a fastball up to 90 mph and a developing changeup, offering significant velocity projection as he matures in Austin.
• Beckett Berg | RHP | 6’5, 195 | Sherman Oaks (Calif.) Notre Dame: A tall and long-limbed right-with a high-upside frame, Berg may need time to boost his fastball velocity in the Texas strength and conditioning program.

Infielders and catchers

• Lubin Rincon SS/3B | 6’3, 180 | PearlandThe Bennett School: Ranked No. 12 nationally by Perfect Game and No. 1 in Texas by Prep Baseball Report, Rincon is a premier left-handed hitting shortstop and major MLB Draft follow. Rincon boasts a prototypical frame with smooth actions capable of playing anywhere on the infield. Signing with Texas will be a footnote on his professional baseball journey.
• Selvin Garrett | MIF | 5’11, 170 | Buda Johnson: A top-100 national prospect known for his high-level athleticism and consistent in-game production. He is a plus runner with clean defensive actions who projects to stick at shortstop while handling the bat with growing impact. Garrett is a player the Longhorns would really like to get to campus.
• Hank Rippy| INF | 6’2, 185 | Austin Anderson: A local standout and draft follow ranked inside the top 10 in Texas, Rippy features excellent hands defensively, a quick arm, and a simple, repeatable left-handed swing that produces huge exit velocities with pull-side power. Texas is likely to need a hometown discount to get Rippy to the Forty.
• Hudson Holt | 3B/SS/OF | 6’2, 200 | Rockwall: A versatile multi-positional athlete capable of playing third base or the outfield with an advanced all-field hitting approach at the plate.
• Matthew Fernandez | C | 5’11, 175 | Miami Lakes (Fla.) Columbus: The lone catcher in the class, Fernandez is a durable backstop who projects as longterm depth behind the dish.

Outfielders

• Grant Westphal | 6’2, 205 | Leawood (Kan.) Blue Valley: Ranked No. 65 nationally and No. 1 in Kansas, Westphal is a physical left-handed hitter with massive offensive impact — 107-mph exit velocities, 6.58 speed, and a fluid swing that drives the ball into all gaps. Those are tools that MLB scouts could fall in love with.
• Luke Gladchuk | 6’0, 185 | Aledo: An All-American ranked No. 66 nationally, Gladchuk brings some juice as a center fielder with 6.48-second speed, a 99-mph outfield arm, and fast hands from the left side that that generate hard line-drive contact. A power surge this spring could vault him up draft boards.
• JJ Utash | 6’4, 215 | Gilbert (Ariz.) Williams Field: A top-100 prospect possessing some of the loudest raw power in the entire class — prototypical SEC physicality produces posted exit velocities over 106 mph from the right side. Utash also boasts a strong arm.
• Ira Rootman | 6’3, 195 | Los Angeles (Calif.) Harvard-Westlake: A speedy outfielder from the California powerhouse has a smooth swing with effortless power and plus ability in the field. Ranked just outside the top 100, Rootman could be an instant-impact player for the Longhorns.

Los Angeles Dodgers two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani did not win the 2026 NL MVP award, snapping his streak of three consecutive MVP Awards.

While Ohtani’s 2026 campaign did not meet his lofty standards and he had more free time during the World Series than he has had in three years, his two children and beloved dog, Decoy, surely kept him occupied.

Ohtani appeared on MLB Network on Thursday and was asked about Decoy getting bigger and bigger every time he appears in public.

“Yeah. With my children getting bigger, they continue to give him more and more snacks. So Decoy tends to get bigger as well,” Ohtani said in translated Japanese while holding Decoy.

Ohtani and his wife, Mamiko, have two children together. They had a daughter in April 2025 and a son in June 2026.

It wasn’t all jokes from Ohtani during the interview.

He was also candid about how the 2026 season went, as he said, “Honestly, I thought it was a very frustrating season, to be quite honest. Obviously, we did not do that well in the playoffs. Personally, like I said, I was frustrated with my overall performance throughout the season. So in a nutshell, it wasn’t a great season personally for me.”

Injuries also disrupted Ohtani’s two-way season: left knee and right biceps issues ended his pitching work after July 3, and the Dodgers later placed him on the injured list in September.

He’ll be looking for a healthier 2027—and perhaps Decoy can join him for offseason workouts, once the kids are done feeding him extra snacks.

Orlando Patiño
Right Fielder
6´2´´
190 pounds
Age: 19
First appearance in the South Side Sox Top 100
2026 High Level DSL (rookie)
Age relative to high level +0.4 years
SSS rank among all right fielders in the system 7
Overall 2026 stats 48 games ⚾️ 2 HR ⚾️ 20 RBI ⚾️ .315/.438/.462 ⚾️ 28 BB ⚾️ 31 K ⚾️ 10-of-12 (83.3% SB) ⚾️ .944 FLD% ⚾️ 1.1 WAR

Patiño was a member of the 2025 international class for the White Sox, and was a bit of a plum pick, inking for $570,000. He hails from the lone hotbed of international talent for Chicago, Venezuela. But don’t let that make you think Patiño was a consolation prize; the White Sox swooped in late to steal him away from the Dodgers, who felt the 17-year-old was already in pocket.

The outfielder’s debut in the DSL in 2025 was mediocre, and trimmed short by injury. But his truncated debut made Patiño’s standout repeat of the DSL look even more spectacular, as he flashed four-tool talent with hopes of power to come. There was nothing about Patiño’s full season down south that disappointed.

Some of Patiño’s teammates, even those specifically roaming the outfield, who are getting more attention among prospect hounds. But, with a nod to the broad takes anyone watching has to take out of DSL play, Patiño looks as promising as any, as he heads to the U.S. for his first ACL season.

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Full 2027 South Side Sox Top 100 White Sox ProspectsStorystream

Ten different players appeared at first-base for the Diamondbacks in 2026, with eight men starting games at the position. However, more than half of all the starts were by players no longer with the organization, in Ildemaro Vargas, Pavin Smith, Carlos Santana and Luken Baker, so a lot of playing time has to be replaced. In addition, the offensive production from the spot was flat-out terrible. Arizona was dead-last in the majors by OPS, hitting .233/.282/.354 for a dismal .636 OPS. That’s the worst in franchise history by 38 points. Second-worst at 1B? Well, that would be 2025, so it’s clearly a position at which the D-backs have struggled of late.

What will Mike Hazen do to improve the spot for 2027?

Previous occupants

Four of the eight starters are still in the system, so should be considered incumbents, and credible options for next year. They are Tim Tawa (45 starts), Jose Fernandez (17), LuJames Groover (9) and Tyler Locklear (9). The first three are not primarily 1B, and there’s a strong case to be made, that pinning them down there would be a waste of their flexibility. Tawa, for example, also started games at all three outfield positions, in addition to third base, which is a useful tool to have. No reason he or the others couldn’t occasionally start at first when needed, but making them the everyday starter feels sub-optimal. I’m not sure they have the power we’d like either.

Locklear is the exception. Small sample size, but he posted an .802 OPS in the majors over 15 games. The problem for Tyler was staying healthy, as he played just 86 times across all levels this season. He has shoulder and elbow surgery last October after a collision at first, and missed the first month. Locklear then fractured his thumb in September, ending his season. In between, he had an .871 OPS across 68 games for Reno: for comparison, that’s 54 points below Pavin Smith, and does not translate well to the majors. He turns 26 later this month, so is still somewhat young. But as a comparison, in his age 25 season, Smith played 145 games in MLB.

Internal candidates

Likely the most intriguing possibility is Nolan Arenado. Now, he has never played anywhere except third in his entire professional career, since he was drafted by the Rockies in 2009. However, as he moves into his late thirties and his career inevitably winds down, the ten-time Gold Glover seems open to shifting across the diamond. GM Mike Hazen brought up the possibility last month, indicating it had been talked about with the veteran:

“We’ve talked about Nolan playing some first base, so that might be something we take a look at… I think [third base has] taken a toll on him physically a little bit. So we’re trying to be mindful of that. It could help us, depending on what’s out there in the market for available players, by giving us more flexibility. It opens the door for us, externally, to consider different ways to improve the team.”

The logic would be that would allow the team to sign a third-baseman or a first-baseman, knowing Arenado is able to fill the other position as appropriate. First base is generally considered easier to play than the hot corner, Arenado’s defensive skills should be able to adapt, if that proves necessary.

Adrian Del Castillo is another possibility for a change of scenery, since it seems the team does not have a lot of faith in him as a catcher. His last start there came on July 4: his final 13 appearances all came either as the designated hitter or off the bench. Given things like Del Castillo throwing out only 3 of 39 stolen-base attempts (and at least one of those was a trick play!), you can understand why. As a left-handed hitter, he might be a candidate to form a possible platoon with Locklear.

External candidates

For now, we’ll table the possibility of getting a third baseman, and concentrate just on first base candidates. With internal options like Locklear, Tawa and even Arenado, all being right-handed hitters, the team is likely looking for a left-handed bat. The clear top name there is Jake Bauers, but coming off a breakout season and having received a qualifying offer, he might be expensive. However, his weak track record before 2026 makes a long-term contract something of a risky bet, and so his market for a multi-year deal could be relatively weak. MLB Trade Rumors predicts Bauers might well accept the QO to stay with the Brewers. However, some do predict Arizona signing him, such as ESPN’s Paul Hembekides, who expects the D-backs to pay $54 million for three years.

A cheaper alternative from that side of the plate could be Nathaniel Lowe. The 31-year-old is coming off an 111 OPS+ season, split between Cincinnati and Cleveland. He’s a strong platoon candidate, posting an .822 OPS against right-handed pitching. Lowe also won a Gold Glove at first in 2023, and was a finalist for the award the following season. If Arizona decides to trade instead of buy, one target could be the Cardinals’ Alec Burleson. He is under team control for the next two seasons and has an OPS+ of 121 across the past three years. Burleson turns 28 later this month, so is basically in his prime. Whether or not he is available, may depend on if the Cardinals think they can compete, after going 77-85 this year.

Conclusions

Indications are that the Diamondbacks are not going to have that much money to spend, and they may be cautious to commit, due to the uncertainty currently hanging over the entire 2027 season. There are also other needs, including adding starting pitching and finding replacements for a bullpen significantly depleted by the departure of free agents like Taylor Clarke, Jonathan Loaisiga and Kevin Ginkel. But first base represents an easy opportunity to upgrade, simply because it was so terrible this year. You don’t need to pay top dollar for a stud. Just getting to average there, would make the Diamondbacks 2-3 wins better. There aren’t many cheaper ways to improve by that amount.

Ideally, we’d see Locklear blossom, and become the everyday player we want at the position. It’s certainly not too late: Christian Walker had barely 100 major-league plate appearances when he turned 28. However, nor is it guaranteed, and relying on that, or failed dumpster-dives like Carlos Santana last year, could lead to the team spending another season in the basement of production from the position. So while I’m not expecting a big move by Hazen, I do expect something significant.

Suddenly, there is a lot of smoke surrounding the Phillies and Japanese Triple Crown winner Teruaki Sato.

Numerous sources are linking the 27-year-old third baseman/outfielder to Philadelphia, a pretty incredible thing when you consider the Phils’ historical inability to have any impact in the Japanese market. Still, when NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Jim Salisbury is being this vociferous in his belief that the Phillies are a legitimate option, one must take it seriously.

Teruaki Sato is firmly on the Phillies’ radar. 👀@JimSalisbury215 says the interest is real, while stressing there’s still a long way to go. pic.twitter.com/1z0s8EDURo

— The Phillies Show (@ThePhilliesShow) November 12, 2026

“Tonight, Wednesday, I’m starting to hear more buzz about the Japanese outfielder, Sato…

…They’re trying to establish themselves in the Japanese market, and I’m getting the feel that… I’m hearing credible buzz… …that they’re on him pretty good. And this guy’s gonna sign pretty soon because he was posted on the 1st [of November], he’s got 45 days so he is likely to sign before the lockout comes in 20 days.

I’m getting more and more a credible vibe that [the Phillies] might have something going on with Sato. We’ll see.“

Sato was not on many fans’ bingo cards to start the off-season. In terms of outfield upgrades, a primary area of concern for Dave Dombrowski, it was assumed the team would primarily pursue Randy Arozarena or Seiya Suzuki in free agency. It’s possible that will still happen, but as Salisbury noted on The Phillies Show podcast, Sato is the most likely to sign before the presumed lockout that will likely begin on December 2.

Which player would be the best fit for the Phils? Let’s break it down.

We’ll start with a very basic table.

Teruaki Sato

One of the biggest issues confronting this roster is its age. Dombrowski is understandably reluctant to hand out another five-year contract to a player entering his mid-30s. Sato is five years younger than Suzuki and Arozarena, a major factor for an aging roster.

Sato is the reigning Triple Crown winner in Japan following a season in which he hit .306/.383/.609 with 39 HRs and 106 RBIs with 40 doubles. He hit 40 dingers in 2025, so his power is no fluke, and in six seasons he’s piled up 167 homers. For a team that lost a significant amount of power last year, Sato would appear to be a prime candidate to help in that regard.

His numbers are comparable to last off-season’s big Japanese import, Munetaka Murakami, who signed with the White Sox and slugged 35 homers with 77 RBIs in his rookie season. He hit just .207 and struck out 196 times but also had 92 walks, good for a .347 OBP. The numbers were Kyle Schwarber-like. In his last full season in Japan (2024), Murakami batted .244/.379/.472, with an .851 OPS, 33 HRs and just 13 doubles. He struck out 180 times in that league and walked 105. Sato whiffed 164 times last season and walked just 68 times. So, a little more contact, fewer walks, a bit more power from Sato.

Sato has primarily played third base in Japan, although most teams believe he should transition to corner outfield. It appears the Phillies have the same idea, although he could be a good fall-back option at third as well. He committed more errors at third than anyone else in the NPB in 2024 and 2026, but threw a Gold Glove season in the middle of that in ‘25. He has 260 career games in corner outfield in Japan, so this would not be a difficult transition.

The great unknown about Sato, just like every other hitter who comes to the States, is how he’ll handle Major League pitching. More specifically, velocity. There are fewer hard-throwers overseas and no one knows how Sato will be able to handle seeing more pitches in the mid-to-upper 90s.

MLBTR’s contract prediction for him is for five years, one year longer than Suzuki’s and Arozarena’s, for $80 million ($16 million AAV).

Seiya Suzuki

Suzuki, himself a Japanese import ahead of the 2022 season, has had a remarkably consistent and productive big league career, spending all five seasons in Chicago with the Cubs. He has hit between .245 and .285 every season, posted an OBP between .326 and .368 (last year), a slugging percentage between .433 and .485, and an OPS+ between 125 and 138 over each of the last four years. He banged 26 home runs last year with 86 RBIs, had among the lowest chase rates in MLB and plays a very good corner outfield defense.

He’s a right-handed, consistent, pitch-taking power hitter who would seemingly provide solid production in the middle of the lineup. He’d probably be their best right-handed hitting outfielder since Jayson Werth. There really are no flaws in his game, as evidenced by his 5.1 WAR last year, other than his age. And potentially the cost.

The Phillies really don’t need to sign another player in their mid-30s to a long contract, and MLB Trade Rumors’ predicted contract for Suzuki is for four years, $105 million. That’s $26 million AAV, which doesn’t break the bank, but locks them in through Suzuki’s age-36 season. He also received, and rejected, a qualifying offer from Chicago, meaning the Phillies would relinquish a 2nd and 5th round draft pick in this year’s draft, as well as $1 million in international bonus pool money, items Dombrowski doesn’t seem too stressed about.

Randy Arozarena

Like Suzuki, Arozarena is a right-handed power hitter that, on paper, would seemingly be a perfect fit.

He had the best season of his career in 2025, hitting .281/.381/.484, with an .865 OPS that is even more impressive given he did it all playing half his games in Seattle, one of the most pitching-friendly environments in baseball. His 148 OPS+ indicates he was 48% above average offensively for players at his position last season. His 5.7 WAR was, by far, a career high, and he led the AL in runs scored (113), with 26 homers and 79 RBIs. He’s also athletic on the bases, good enough for a sixth-straight 20/20 season.

However, as noted by MLBTR, Arozarena’s bat speed has slowed significantly:

His swings averaged 72.8 mph back in 2023 — in the 64th percentile of big league hitters. It’s dropped in three straight seasons but fell precipitously in 2026 — from last year’s 72.3 mph to just 70.9 mph in 2026. That’s in just the 31st percentile of major league hitters.

He’s also chasing more:

Arozarena’s 30.7% chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone is the highest of his career and represents an increase of five and a half percentage points over his 2025 levels. He still walked at a strong 10.1% clip, but even that number is down noticeably from its 11.8% peak in 2023-24.

I’m concerned we’re looking at someone who will fare similarly to how Nick Castellanos’ career went in Philadelphia coming off a career-best season in 2021. At 32, Arozarena is projected to earn a four-year contract worth $100 million and, like Suzuki, was also given, and turned down, a qualifying offer.

From a pure baseball standpoint, I would prefer the Phillies to prioritize these outfielders as follows:

1. Suzuki
2. Sato
3. Arozarena

While I’m wary of Arozarena, the Phillies must pursue him if they lose out on Suzuki and Sato. That said, those two players should be ahead of him in the pecking order.

All have some warts, but all three are better than anything the Phils have in the outfield as present.

Three years ago, I gave a grave warning that most dismissed as clickbait or alarmism: A lockout was coming to MLB in December 2026.

At the risk of asking the owners how many times they need to learn this lesson, I am not generally in the business of making predictions, but I will venture out on a limb and make a prediction today:

The owners are going to lock out the players (again) in December 2026 when the current collective bargaining agreement expires.

You may ask why. Well, I blame two “culprits” who frankly have not done anything wrong in a baseball context: Mets owner Steve Cohen and Padres owner Peter Seidler. 

Today is not the day to break down proposals and argue who is in the right and who is in the wrong, and why the owners are a bunch of money-grubbing morons who are going to strangle the sport when it has finally regained a measure of popularity to be the second-banana in American sports again, only behind the behemoth that is the National Football League.

Today is not the day I break down in graphic detail what I really think.

We have time for that trainwreck and to fully explore the anger and stupidity, as well as the slow march that got us here. We have time to discuss the cancers that have been allowed to metastasize and spread that we covered earlier this year.

Now, like a blip on Doppler radar that has grown scarier and angrier on the screen, the oncoming storm lumbers towards our figurative shores. It will come ashore, and it will be bad. But before the doom and gloom, we can take a second to mock the deserving.

This fact just in: I was wrong as to one solitary point. Steve Cohen did not become baseball’s boogeyman; Mark Walter and the Dodgers did. However, we’re not here to talk about the Dodgers. Even with all of the investment in Queens, and Lord, there has been a lot of investment, the New York Mets remain a laughingstock.

It’s like accidentally making a flop in the style of The Producers every year.

Now, on the verge of the imminent lockout that we are powerless to stop, we need to do three things. Today, we are going to present a prebuttal to an argument that I know will persist only to annoy me and highlight folks who are either terribly ignorant or lack any semblance of empathy.

Next time, we’ll present an idea that would make baseball stronger and better for the next century. It’s fan-friendly and would be a generational change, transforming the landscape of American sport forever. Accordingly, this idea has no chance in hell of ever being implemented. Ever.

The owners would hate it. The players would hate it. The traditionalists in the media would hate it. But the fans would probably love it.

Then, we discuss expansion: both how it would look in this new system and what we’re most likely going to get.

Controlling the Message

“It’s millionaires versus billionaires:” this framing of the coming labor dispute is so incredibly lazy.

We have extensively covered that the average player in MLB is not a millionaire, at least not yet. And even if they were, what we are dealing with here is a manufactured labor crisis where management doesn’t want to pay its employees what they are actually worth. For as conservative-leaning as baseball generally is, there’s a movement to socialize the risk for owners, which is my view of the current argument.

Certain sportswriters clearly come from some degree of privilege (guilty as charged here), and that shows in how they discuss labor issues. Invariably, a stinker from Brittney Ghiroli or Jim Bowden at The Athletic usually makes you question your sanity. Although Pedro Martinez, analyst at ESPN, unleashed a corker recently:

“Please, for the fans, both sides, figure it out, a good way to get it done, and do not lock out baseball,” Martinez said.

“I hope the commissioner can see me and hear and the players’ association hears what I have to say. I might be insignificant, but I lived it before. I experienced that before,” Martinez said. “… I was one of the most punished players at that moment because I had talent, and I needed to wait until arbitration to make my money. So I hope they don’t mess it up and they don’t mistreat the fans.”

“Back then, there was a need for other things to change, and they changed for the better. This time, there’s no excuse,” Martinez added in comparing the 1994 strike to today. “On both sides, not the PA, not the owners, not baseball. The fans do not deserve to be mistreated.”

In Boston for the Pedro Martinez Foundation’s 10th annual gala, Martinez said that “honestly speaking, I’m pissed” as he appealed to both players and owners to find a solution.

It’s as if the former Dodger planned to give the perfect segue to present the argument that I shall rebut:

The argument goes, if there is a salary cap in baseball, the owners will pass that savings along to the fans. Because really this salary cap is about the fans. Too many teams have no shot of winning at the start of the year. No one is worrying about the fans!

As to the Math

First, people have argued about trickle-down economics for about fifty years in the United States. As of this essay, this timeframe goes back to Ronald Reagan in 1980, before I was born.

The math ever since, every time it was tried, is pretty clear: it doesn’t work. At all. The richer get richer, the poor get shafted. That’s not politics; it’s math.

No one will highlight the actual regular people until it’s too late. People in operations, marketing, sales, security, and every ancillary person who isn’t a player but depends directly on baseball to operate and have a job. The tour guides, the media people, the medical personnel, the food service people, the parking attendants, the regular people who are forced to sit around or find other work because management is trying to grow their balance sheets.

Wage disparity has grown into an ever-widening chasm between the haves and have-nots, starting in the Reagan Administration and continuing almost in a straight line to now. If you think a salary cap will lower ticket prices, concession prices, or parking prices by a single dollar now, fifty years later with clear, empirical evidence in every other instance that says to the contrary, then nothing likely will sway you short of a shock to the system that breaks past dogma.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions; no one is entitled to their own facts. There are not two sides to every issue.

As to the Cap

Second, baseball already has a salary cap; it’s just a soft cap, with financial penalties. The proponents of the stoppage want a hard cap where teams are barred from spending over a set amount. What these cheapskates want is the reserve clause back in all but name, and their best players being forced to play with one team for the duration of their career in the name of parity, which does not pass the laugh test.

Under the expanded playoff format, every team but six has made the playoffs: San Francisco Giants (2021), Sacramento Athletics (2020), Washington Nationals (2019), Colorado Rockies (2018), Pittsburgh Pirates (2015), and Anaheim Angels (2014).

Also, 13 unique teams have played in baseball’s final four, but sure, the Dodgers have somehow ruined baseball.

• Arizona Diamondbacks (2023)
• Cleveland Guardians (2024, 2026)
• Houston Astros (2022, 2023)
• Los Angeles Dodgers (2024, 2025, 2026)
• Milwaukee Brewers (2025, 2026)
• New York Mets (2024)
• New York Yankees (2022, 2024)
• Philadelphia Phillies (2022, 2023)
• San Diego Padres (2022)
• Seattle Mariners (2025)
• Tampa Bay Rays (2026)
• Texas Rangers (2023)
• Toronto Blue Jays (2025)

Yes, the Tony Gwynns and Clayton Kershaws of the world stayed with their respective organizations for their entire careers. The entire notion that homegrown stars are ripped from the fans of so-called small-market teams was perpetuated by Moneyball. Yes, so-called large-market teams overpay for players all the time.

Look at Tarik Skubal. The unspoken truth about the fact that he was dealt in 2026 stems from the fact that the Detroit Tigers tried to lowball him to an absurd degree, making a midseason move all but a fait accompli. Will a player accept less to stay put? Sometimes. What a player won’t and shouldn’t accept is being paid less. A hometown discount is one thing; being paid pennies on the dollar is another, unless you’re Shohei Ohtani, which is both an accounting joke and a gross oversimplification of his contract.

A lot of the discourse surrounding Skubal at the deadline largely missed the mark. Much was said about the Dodgers trading for Tarik Skubal. Some of it was insightful and thought-provoking. However, most of the discourse was devoid of rational thought, said with the emotional maturity of a sleep-deprived toddler.

While other hypotheticals were publicly being bandied about, it’s important to remember that Dave Roberts previously mentioned acquiring Skubal and, for the Dodgers, per Fabian Ardaya:

Dave Roberts: “It was Skubal or nothing.”

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 2, 2026

At the time, there was plenty of excellent coverage here at True Blue LA to sort through that needs no repetition here, only citation.

The default argument that the Dodgers bought Skubal was just silly and a declaration that one does not understand how trades work. Skubal did not have a no-move clause, unlike the also-traded Kevin Gausman. Skubal no more chose to be in Los Angeles than Kyle Tucker chose to arrive in Chicago last year after being traded from Houston.

Skubal was in the last year of his contract, costing about $10 million for the remainder of the year, and any team could have afforded that financial cost.

The Dodgers gave up some prospect depth in Zyhir Hope and River Ryan, but the system retained its prospect depth, particularly in the outfield. The trade of River Ryan for Skubal felt oddly kismet because I had worked on a trade proposal essay in 2024 about that basic deal I had to spike due to Ryan’s injury. A 2024 Dodgers’ team that had a rotation of Skubal-Yamamoto-Buehler-Knack likely would have had a much easier postseason run.

Yes, the Dodgers had Skubal and bowed out with alacrity in October. It happens. It seems likely Skubal will be playing elsewhere next year.

Yes, the Brewers tried to get Skubal with public reports about the packages they proffered to Detroit to no avail. “The Tigers, though, wanted a controllable Major League pitcher in the deal. None of the sources would say who they favored, but Logan Henderson was among the names teams were asking for most often.” In most years, the Brewers’ frugality is their downfall. This year, they won in spite of that trait. Good for them.

As to the Fans

Third, the fans shouldn’t have a say in this dispute. Imagine if, in your work, your customer tried to intervene in how much you got paid at work, arguing you should just take what you get; you wouldn’t stand for it.

That said, the fans do have a way to voice their opinion in these proceedings, once baseball returns: if you’re truly that unhappy with baseball, don’t go, don’t watch. We have a dispute between management and labor. If the customer doesn’t like the price of the service, the customer can stay home, which leads to the unspoken truth: baseball’s antitrust exemption.

If you want baseball, MLB is the only game in town. Even the Savanna Bananas and their ilk are something else. Baseball is a legal monopoly. And frankly, it is long past time for the exemption to die.

Everyone tends to forget that MLB pruned minor league baseball with a figurative ax over the last few years. The MLB draft is a shell of itself, as rounds 21 through 40 no longer exist.

Given the proposals from the league that seeks to further prune the avenues for people to enter the sport, it seems apt to point out the Hall of Famers and other notable players who were fortunate enough to make it when they did, because they are currently out of luck in the current system.

• John Smoltz (Round 22, 1985, inducted 2015)
• Andy Petittitte (Round 22, 1990)
• Mike Piazza (Round 62, 1988, inducted 2016)
• Roy Oswalt (Round 23, 1996)
• Brett Butler (Round 23, 1979)
• Mark Grace (Round 24, 1985)
• Paul LoDuca (Round 25, 1993)
• Dusty Baker (Round 26, 1967)
• Dave Roberts (Round 28, 1998)
• Kevin Kiermaier (Round 31, 2010)
• Mark Buehrle (Round 38, 1998)

The average fan will not be affected one iota by the strike, as they, we, just lose an entertainment option. Most writers will have to find something else to drive traffic and generate interest in baseball. Most will have to learn or relearn to love the art of long-form essay writing.

Note, I say fan, because there is a segment of regular people who will be deeply affected by the lockout.

I’m shining a light on the people who are already losing their jobs, those people who are caught in the crossfire of management’s unfettered greed: the support staff people in baseball. And the cull has already started.

No one will highlight the actual regular people until it’s too late.

People in operations, marketing, sales, security, and every ancillary person who isn’t a player but depends directly on baseball to operate and have a job. The tour guides, the media people, the medical personnel, the food service people, the parking attendants, the regular people who are forced to sit around or find other work because management is trying to grow their balance sheets.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten or missed someone, and that failure is one of imagination rather than intent.

This oncoming storm is appropriate for the age we are in. The retroclassic ballpark age ended a while ago. We now live in the Faux-Wrigleyville / The Battery Era, where the goal is creating an entertainment/mixed use district that keeps dollars flowing to organizations every day of the year, regardless of whether baseball is in season or not.

The utter rage I feel at these regular people being screwed is the genesis of this essay. Because there is a better way, and baseball will likely never do it. So next time, we’re going to describe the layout ourselves as we engineer the future.

Fourteen years ago, Pedro Guerrero thought his baseball career was ending.

Seven seasons into his minor-league career in the Dodgers’ organization, the utility infielder was 23 years old, still stuck in A-ball and, during a road trip to South Bend, Ind., with the club’s Great Lakes affiliate, coming off what he described as the worst game of his life.

The day before, the Dominican-born prospect got word from back home that his father had nearly died after suffering a stroke. Guerrero, however, kept the tragedy to himself, deciding to quietly play through the adversity as he chased an unlikely big-league dream.

“I can do this,” he told himself.

Disaster unfolded instead. 

In that night’s game, he dropped a routine pop-up with the bases loaded. After an emotional outburst in the dugout, he was benched for the rest of the evening. And the following day, he was informed that the team’s manager, longtime Dodgers minor-league coach John Shoemaker, was waiting to talk to him at the ballpark.

As he walked over from the hotel, Guerrero prepared himself for the worst.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, boy, this is it,’” he recalled. “My career is over.”

Turned out, it was just getting started.

Rather than cutting Guerrero, Shoemaker had summoned him to ask what was wrong, sensing something was off with his typically levelheaded, hardworking minor-league veteran. 

Taken aback, Guerrero finally opened up.

“I didn’t want to say, ‘I can’t play today’ or anything like that,” Guerrero recounted in an interview with the California Post this week. “But the fact he just listened to me, gave me a hug, and said, ‘I knew something was up, I’m sorry, I’m here for you,’ it just showed me that he cared enough to notice.”

“I told myself, ‘If I’m ever a coach, I want to be like that,’” Guerrero added. “That’s when I saw how to really make an impact on the player.”

A decade-and-a-half later, the moment has continued to guide Guerrero through a second chapter in his baseball life, inspiring him to pursue a coaching career of his own that, this week, came full circle when he was hired as the Dodgers’ new co-hitting coach in the wake of Aaron Bates’ unexpected departure.

“I can tell you how to change your swing, your bat path, your posture. I can give you drills, whatever it is,” he said. “But a lot of times, it’s not about that. It’s more like, ‘What’s going on in your head?’ What’s happening from the neck up?”

That philosophy has served Guerrero, now 37, well during his unlikely rise through the coaching ranks.

His playing career ultimately fizzled out in 2013, after he hit .236 with 23 home runs in 411 minor-league games. For the next couple of years after that, he worked odd jobs in construction (working on cell towers) and on a factory production line (making airbags for cars) to support his growing family.

But then, ahead of the 2016 season, he received a call from then-Dodgers farm director Gabe Kapler. The club was looking for a bench coach for its rookie-ball affiliate in Ogden, Utah. Guerrero had been recommended by several longtime staffers in the organization.

Ever since, his career has been on the ascent.

After two seasons in Ogden, Guerrero was hired as an assistant MLB hitting coach in 2018 by the Phillies, joining Kapler after he’d been tabbed as the club’s new manager. Following a four-year stint there, Guerrero reunited with Kapler again in 2022, becoming the assistant hitting coach on his Giants’ staff for the next three seasons.

In 2025, Guerrero got his first chance to be a lead hitting coach, hired by the Marlins after Kapler had joined their front office.

And though he wasn’t retained in Miami following this past season, his work with the club’s young offense (which ranked just 18th in scoring but top 10 in batting average, on-base percentage and OPS) had caught the attention of Dodgers officials, who had already begun pursuing him for an unspecified role when a contract impasse with Bates led to his unexpected departure last week.

“This is kind of something we’ve been talking about for a bit,” general manager Brandon Gomes, who was a pitching coordinator in the Dodgers’ farm system during Guerrero’s initial coaching stint with the club a decade ago, said after Guerrero’s hiring became official on Tuesday.

“[At first], it was independent of Aaron, to be honest. Thinking about how could we bring him on in some role. And then as things shaked out, we figured we would make it official and bring him on board, and then kind of see where we’re at from there.”

Now, Guerrero is preparing for his biggest opportunity –– and challenge –– yet, joining fellow co-hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc in overseeing a star-studded-but-steadily aging Dodgers lineup.

This year, the team ranked top five in scoring, batting average and OPS. But it also endured a prolonged second-half slump and hit .195 during a failed World Series three-peat bid in the playoffs.

Even before Guerrero’s hiring, Gomes said the Dodgers were planning to “take a step back to reevaluate and understand what are some of the things that we can do better?” 

That process will be complicated for Guerrero this offseason by MLB’s looming lockout. He will have just 2 ½ weeks to begin making connections across the roster before the league’s collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1 –– at which point, all communication will be barred between team staff members and big-league players.

“It’s gonna be a little bit challenging,” he acknowledged.

That, however, is where he hopes his long-term familiarity with the franchise will help. 

He still vividly remembers learning from club icons including Tommy Lasorda, Don Newcombe, Maury Wills and Manny Mota during his spring trainings as a player in Vero Beach, Fla. In his past coaching stops, he has tried to model the Dodgers’ modern-day success at swinging at strikes, limiting chase and grinding pitchers down with consistently tough at-bats.

“I like to think of it as building the player, not the swing,” he said, explaining how, especially with a roster as established and talented as the Dodgers, “the swings are kind of built at this point, so it’s going back to … are we having team at-bats? How do we execute [with runners in scoring position]? How are we gonna make it really tough for the starter?”

In other words, honing everything above the neck as much as everything below it –– just as he learned when the darkest day of his playing career turned into a launching point for his rise as a coach.

“Are you actually in the present when you have a job to do, like when it’s runners on first and third and you have to hit a sac fly to bring a run in?” he said. “Where’s your mind at? Are you focusing on what you got to do? Or [are other things] taking you away from the present, which is seeing the ball and trying to execute? Those are the things I like to talk about.”

Today, the Houston Astros formally introduced Brad Ausmus as the 21st manager in franchise history.

Brad Ausmus Press Conference https://t.co/TJwMxxA7M7

— Houston Astros (@astros) November 13, 2026

Notes:

Ausmus will wear number 12.

Ausmus stated he interviewed for the GM position before Randy Flores was hired. Said he didn’t think he would be the GM but thought he was very much in play as manager.

Stated he wants to win over fans who doubt his hire, and he wants to win.

“The goal is and should be every single year to win the World Series.”

Brad Ausmus addresses the media for the first time as manager of the Astros. https://t.co/dZYcHdMzIApic.twitter.com/FGLaGWeK4o

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 13, 2026

Brad Ausmus is back in an @Astros uniform! pic.twitter.com/k5TJv68PMp

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 13, 2026

More from Brad Ausmus, including which former Astro player reached out with advice pic.twitter.com/XZkPqKssJv

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) November 13, 2026

It’s been a while since we got a good ol’ fashioned bolt out of the blue straight from the Atlanta Braves, themselves, when it comes to a player acquisition. The idea of the Braves front office never leaking is more of a myth nowadays than it used to be but it’s still possible, as we saw yesterday when the signing of Evan Phillips basically came out of nowhere.

For all the focus that there’s been on Atlanta potentially adding to their rotation or possibly getting another bat into their fold, it made sense for the Braves to also focus on fortifying their relief corps this offseason. With Raisel Iglesias currently a free agent, there’s no guarantee that he’d be returning to re-form that one-two punch with Robert Suarez that we rarely saw deployed into action during the 2026. If Iglesias does come back (and I’d have to imagine that it’d likely be on a one-year deal if he did return) then now he’s going to have yet another high-leverage arm to sit beside in that bullpen.

In fact, the Braves could be entering into elite territory when it comes to their bullpen if they can figure out a way to get Iglesias to return or if they continue to splash the cash for some other relievers on the market. For now, having Dylan Lee, Evan Phillips and Robert Suarez at the end of your bullpen is a very nice way to live baseball life — especially if guys like Dylan Dodd, Ray Kerr and probably Reynaldo López as well can help to round out the rest of the bullpen as well. I’m not going to say that the relief pitching for Atlanta is set because, really, it’s never going to be set due to the general volatility of relievers and the inevitable injuries that are bound to happen in any given baseball season but I will say that Atlanta’s going to be in a pretty nice place heading into 2027 now that they’ve got Phillips in the fold.

The main question concerning Phillips is whether or not he’d be able to return from the various ailments that caused him to mist most of 2025 and 2026. Fortunately, it appears that he’s still got it in terms of velocity — he came back in 2026 throwing 97 mph, which placed him in the 85th percentile when it came to fastball velocity and he did so while racking up an impressive 31.1 percent strikeout rate compared to a 5.7 percent walk rate.

His sweeper was at 86 mph (three miles above the average for right-handers), his cutter was at 93 mph (again, three miles above average) and his rarely-thrown sinker was at 97 mph (two miles above average). Despite the injuries (which was “headlined” by his Tommy John surgery back in 2025), Phillips’ stuff is back to where it was before he went down with the injury and from that point alone, it’s pretty exciting to think about what he can do in the back of Atlanta’s bullpen.

What makes this even more interesting is the money. By now, it’s pretty much an established pattern that if Alex Anthopoulos is going to splash some cash on a free agent, it’ll likely be on a high-leverage reliever. This front office did it with Kenley Jansen, they gave Aaron Bummer a multi-year deal, Reynaldo López was signed based on his work as a reliever and just last offseason they did the same with Robert Suarez. Now, Evan Phillips is the latest name to be added to this list.

At this point, it’s just something you can expect from the Braves. They’re going to place a premium on high-leverage relief pitching and honestly, it makes sense. The one thing that’s been a bit consistent about this team since they returned to being a perennial contender in the 2018 season is that they’ve had a bullpen that’s never been lower than middle-of-the-road. Over the past nine seasons, seven of those seasons have seen Atlanta finish at least 16th in fWAR among relief pitchers and it’s probably not a coincidence that one of those seasons where they didn’t finish that high was in 2025 when the entire pitching staff basically just had a revolving door.

So yeah, if the money is jarring to you then maybe that’ll explain why in terms of what the Braves have done in the past, it’s not really all that jarring. This is just how the Braves operate under Anthopoulos and it’ll likely continue for however this window stays open. Plus, it’s not even completely out of the realm of imagination that he would’ve signed a multi-year deal in this neighborhood of AAV. MLB Trade Rumors had him at two years and $24 million, NBC Sports had him at two years and $20 million while Yahoo! Sports also had him signing a two-year deal with an unspecified number — though I’m sure the AAV there would’ve been in the neighborhood of 10-12 million as well. The only thing that appeared to be shocking here is the fact that the Braves added on an third year but again, it also lines up with how the Braves themselves have operated in the past.

There’s certainly risk that comes with such a three-year commitment — especially considering that we’re still talking about a guy who will be entering his age-32 season after having spent the past two seasons dealing with injuries. With that being said, he clearly showed enough to where he was a pretty attractive free agent option on the market and the Braves liked him enough to hand him such a contract. If he stays healthy, then Phillips should serve as a very reliable option out of the bullpen for high-leverage innings and it’s easy to envision Phillips closing games at some point down the road.

Having such reliable options at that point of the game coming out of their bullpen is clearly priceless to Alex Anthopoulos and the Braves and now they’ve ensured themselves of once again having at a strong set-up man-and-closer combination at the end of their games.