Category: Baseball

Happy Tuesday, Camden Chatters!

The World Series is rolling on, and it’s starting to look like the Rays just can’t hang with the Brewers. The first two games were close, both one-run wins for the Brewers. But that changed last night in a big way. The Brewers had scored double digits by the fifth inning, fueled by eight two-out runs in the fifth. They went on to win 10-1.

Not only was the Rays’ pitching unable to contain the Brewers’ offense, but their own offense was unable to get anything going. They had no hits in innings two through eight! And their defense has looked much worse than I’d expect of a team that made it this far. Last night, they did not look like a team good enough for the World Series. They did look like a team that lost the season series to the Orioles.

One nice thing about the Rays being down 10-0 was that we got to see Cedric Mullins and Jorge Mateo as back-to-back pinch hitters in the ninth. Mullins got the team’s second hit, an infield single. Mateo struck out.

So now the Rays are down 3-0, and the Brewers have a shot at a win tomorrow if they can dispatch the Rays as easily as they did last night. I’m not hoping for a sweep. I want more baseball! Hopefully the Rays can figure out how to win and keep this thing going for a while longer.

If you watched the game last night, you probably noticed the crowd roaring when the Brewers did anything good. It almost felt like a Brewers’ home game. That’s because the tickets for the World Series in Milwaukee this year are the highest-priced tickets in World Series history. Those baseball fans are starved for a championship and are willing to pay for it.

According to The Athletic, the average ticket price for game one in Milwaukee was $2,338. For game three in Tampa? $556. That has Brewers fans flocking for Florida, where the baseball teams are notorious for small crowd sizes.

That article got me wondering how much I would be willing to pay to see the Orioles in the World Series. Would I pay $2,338 for one ticket? I honestly can’t say. Logically, I can’t fathom spending that much money on one ticket to anything. But I also can’t imagine the World Series coming to Baltimore and not going. It would be really cool if I had to make this decision in the near future. Like, maybe, next year?

Links

Podcast: The good and bad from the Orioles infield
Mark continued his postseason review by looking at the infield’s performance this season. Once again we all have to thank our lucky stars that we have Pete Alonso

Orioles ‘wrecking crew’ hopes to hit more homers, win more games in 2027 – Baltimore Baseball
Just win more games, regardless of homers. Ok?

Birthdays and History

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have five Orioles birthday buddies:

• Rubén Tejada (37) is best known for his time with the Mets, but he got into 41 games with the Orioles in 2017.
• Jason Johnson (53) spent five of his 11 Major League seasons with the Orioles. He made 120 starts (133 games overall) between 1999-2003.
• Pedro Swann (56) was an Oriole in 2003, with eight games and 15 plate appearances.
• Eric Bell (63) pitched for the Orioles from 1985-87. He made 29 starts in ‘89, second on the team to Mike Boddicker.
• And Del Rice (b. 1922, d. 1983) played in the Majors for five teams over 17 seasons, including one at-bat with the Orioles in 1960.

On this day in 1972, the Orioles traded Frank Estrada to the Cubs for Elrod Hendricks. They had just traded Hendricks to the Cubs two months earlier. It was their second time acquiring Hendricks; they took him from the Angels in the Rule 5 draft in 1967. They would later trade him to the Yankees, re-sign him, release him, and sign him one more time.

Also on this day in 1972, the Minnesota Twins traded Rick Dempsey to the Yankees. Dempsey would later come to the Orioles in the Hendricks trade I mentioned above.

As the Astros continue their search for a new general manager and manager, one familiar name could tell us everything we need to know about the direction of the franchise.

Astros fans, as the long, excruciating wait continues to find out who will be running your baseball team next season, a few things are becoming increasingly clear. First, it appears the Astros are determined to hire their next general manager before choosing a manager. Second, and perhaps most importantly, Jim Crane is still firmly in control of everything happening inside the organization.

And if you look closely at some of the moves already being made, along with the latest name to surface in the general manager search, you might get a pretty good idea of exactly what Crane is looking for.

The Astros have already made two interesting additions to their player development department. Connor Watson, formerly the assistant director of hitting development with the Cleveland Guardians, has been hired as director of hitting. Clayton Thompson, who spent the past three seasons in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, has also been brought aboard as assistant director of player development.

What makes these hires particularly interesting is that both men previously worked for Driveline Baseball, one of the premier data-driven player development organizations in the world. Driveline has been at the forefront of using technology, analytics and advanced evaluation methods to help players maximize their abilities.

Those additions would seem to indicate that the Astros are moving toward a younger, more analytically driven front office, perhaps one led by an up-and-coming executive who embraces the modern approach to building and developing a baseball team.

But then there’s Mike Rizzo.

The former Washington Nationals general manager has emerged as an intriguing candidate for the Astros’ opening, with reports indicating that he has significant interest in the position and could interview with the organization as early as Monday.

And when you consider everything we know about Jim Crane and the way he prefers to operate, Rizzo might make more sense than anyone else being mentioned.

At 65 years old, Rizzo brings an extensive baseball résumé and a track record of identifying, acquiring and developing talent. He was responsible for drafting franchise players like Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg and orchestrating the blockbuster Juan Soto trade that helped replenish Washington’s farm system and reshape the organization’s future.

Rizzo represents something of a perfect blend between old-school baseball evaluation and modern analytics. He’s a baseball lifer who understands the importance of scouting, player development and relationships, but he also recognizes the value of the numbers and technology that have transformed today’s game.

More importantly, he might be exactly the kind of personality Jim Crane wants running his baseball operations.

And I don’t think that should be overlooked.

We’ve seen Crane’s willingness to involve himself in baseball decisions, and there’s little reason to believe that’s going to change. While the Astros have reportedly explored younger assistant general managers around the league, including Milwaukee Brewers assistant GM Matt Kleine, I keep coming back to the same conclusion.

Mike Rizzo seems like Jim Crane’s kind of guy.

He’s experienced, established, respected throughout baseball and probably more comfortable working with an owner who wants to remain actively involved in the decision-making process than a younger executive looking to build an organization entirely in his own image.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Rizzo would be willing to surrender control or simply serve as a figurehead. You don’t build the résumé he has without strong opinions and a clear vision. But there is something to be said for hiring someone who has already experienced the highs and lows of running a major league franchise and understands the realities of working with ownership.

The next question becomes what happens with the managerial search.

You would certainly think the Astros want their next general manager to have significant input in choosing the manager he will be working alongside. That’s the logical approach, and it would explain why the organization appears focused on filling the front-office vacancy first.

Of course, with Crane involved, nothing should be taken for granted.

If Rizzo ultimately gets the job, my expectation is that he would look to keep the majority of this roster intact rather than initiate some massive overhaul. He has enough experience to recognize that the Astros still have a talented core capable of competing, even if there are obvious areas that need improvement.

I could see him making a couple of calculated moves to address weaknesses, improve roster flexibility and position this team to remain competitive over the next several seasons. He’s not someone I would expect to come in and immediately tear everything apart simply to put his own fingerprints on the organization.

And that could be exactly what Crane wants.

The Astros are at an interesting crossroads. They’re trying to modernize their player development operation while also determining who will lead the next chapter of the franchise. The hiring of Watson and Thompson suggests a commitment to analytics and technology, but the potential hiring of Rizzo would bring a proven baseball executive with decades of experience into the equation.

In many ways, that combination could make a lot of sense.

The bigger issue, as I’ve said before, is whether the next general manager will truly be given the authority and freedom to do the job the way he believes it needs to be done.

Because regardless of who gets hired, we already know one thing.

Jim Crane isn’t going anywhere, and neither is his influence over baseball operations.

The question now is whether Mike Rizzo is the man Crane trusts to help guide the Astros into their next era of winning baseball.

And based on everything we’re seeing, I wouldn’t be surprised if he is.

With Halloween just a few days away, it feels very appropriate for the moment to pull this dead body of a Cardinals 2026 roster out and start dissecting what lies beneath the skin. Get your scalpels, bone saws, and retractors out, and let’s dig into what we can find!

Offense

This past week, we learned the Cardinals had decided to part ways with hitting coach Brant Brown, and for some, that came as a shock, not only because President of Baseball Operations Chaim Bloom had conveyed that the Cardinals were “status quo” on the coaching staff, but there also wasn’t major fan pushback to have Brown removed from his position like recent previous coaches like Turner Ward or Jeff Albert. However, when you look across the board at where the team ranked in several major offensive team categories, the motivation to part ways and not renew Brown’s contract starts to make more sense. 22nd in team average, 22nd in team OBP, 29th in team OPS, 24th in Home Runs, 28th in ISO, 28th in wOBA, 26th in wRC+, and 25th in O-WAR. They finished in the bottom 10 in most statistical categories. There’s a lot of speculation around Casey Chenoweth, who was promoted this season from the Double-A squad because of his work with Cardinals breakout RF Jordan Walker, that he could wind up being the Cardinals’ next primary hitting coach. I would also expect Brandon Allen to get some serious consideration after being on the staff for several years and having an intimate familiarity with all of the Cardinals’ hitters.

So, what was the “Cause of Death” for this squad? When you have multiple organ failures occur all at once, it’s pretty difficult to identify one main cause; however, I would point to the power. It’s just an indisputable fact that teams that don’t slug the baseball consistently don’t win a ton of games on average in the modern game. When we look at the statistic ISO, or Isolated Power, which is the SLG% – BA, it tells you how often you’re generating extra-base hits and power, not just empty calories from singles. MLB average for ISO is .140, and the Redbirds had 7 players with a minimum of .140 ISO; that list included Baez, Walker, Burleson, Bernal, Urias, Crooks, and Herrera, who came in at exactly the league average of .140. The first 4 names listed are undeniably the Cardinals’ core of power producers. Urias was DFA’d in August, and Jimmy Crooks struck out 32% of his at-bats and struggled to make consistent enough contact for his power to be a relevant element in his game.

Ivan Herrera is one of the more unique cases, given that we know the power potential is real with him, but underlying metrics in terms of xSLG were down .101 points, Hard Hit% down 7.1%, and barrel% down 5%. We saw him trying to make several in-box tweaks to his setup over the course of the 2nd half of the season, and with Rainiel Rodriguez footsteps starting to get louder and louder behind him, the questions of his long-term viability in the organization, especially as he begins his trip through arbitration and his salary continues to grow, are how soon he is viewed as expendable.

Herrera was far from the lone letdown in this regard, JJ Wetherholt was impressive with the power in the 1st half of the season and the tendonitis in his wrist really zapped his impact until it was to the point where he could no longer even swing his bat competetively that the Cardinals forced Wetherholt out of the lineup and onto the IL, despite his persistent pleas to remain in the lineup daily. His and Jordan Walker’s 2nd half power fall-offs really created glaring issues with the squad’s ability to consistently score runs. Nathan Church’s .118 was 28th out of 31 CF with a minimum of 350 PA this season, and Masyn Winn’s was 30th of 33.

Potential internal boosts from guys like Jesus Baez and Rainiel Rodriguez next season should provide this group with the added thump they’re desperate for, though I don’t anticipate those guys being real options until maybe June at the earliest.

Defense

The St. Louis Cardinals have always prided themselves on their ability to play strong fundamental defense and suppress opposing offenses from scoring in lockstep with a pitch-to-contact-heavy approach. Chaim Bloom and the revamped front office group have shifted some of that approach to a more swing-and-miss-heavy dynamic among the pitchers they’re seeking through the draft, in trade, and international free agency. Pairing that with well-above-average to plus defenders on the diamond, along with playing 81 games in the offensive wasteland that is Busch Stadium, one Cardinals source posed the question, “Is run suppression and leveraging Busch Stadium really a bad way to build a ball club?” to me. The Cardinals have won a lot of games in the past with that approach, but my counter to their perspective is that fans come to the park to see offense too. That not just winning, but how you win as well, should be an important factor. Glavine and Maddux watched Big Mac hit balls out of Busch 2 and said, “Chicks dig the long ball,” and they’re right!

But getting off that soapbox, the Cardinals were a very strong team on the defensive side of the ball. The team ranked 3rd in outs above average (OAA), 18th in defensive runs saved (DRS; this one is strange to me), 3rd in fielding run value (FRV), and 5th in D-WAR. Fangraphs also has a metric, rGDP, that measures a team’s 2B/SS combo and their ability to save runs with double plays, and the Cardinals rated out as the number 1 middle infield unit at a +7 in 2026.

Side tangent number 2 on this topic. I know some Cardinals fans have inquired about the idea of moving JJ over the 3rd base, and I’m not at all, and neither are the Cardinals, inclined to consider moving Wetherholt off of a more premium defensive position up the middle. Furthermore, what he displayed this season in tandem with Masyn Winn up the middle has the potential to be incredibly special, foundationally special even.

Winn, Wetherholt, and Starting Pitcher Michael McGreevy are all Gold Glove finalists this season, and there are cases to be made for all 3 to take home hardware.

“Cause of Death” – N/A; this patient is still alive and well and should be for several years to come, barring a catastrophic accident.

Pitching

Let’s start with the rotation and call it like it is. This was a group that was mostly comprised of bridge starting pitchers and short-term placeholders for the inevitable high-upside, high-octane, swing-and-miss-generating demons that are ascending through the minor leagues at a rapid pace. Dustin May was a 1-year flier the Cardinals were able to get the most out of and flip for more high-upside young talent. Andre Pallante has 2 years remaining, and that’s right around when the Cardinals expect to be entering their next contention window. Kyle Leahy is over the age of 30, and while it’s not guaranteed to be an immediate or steep decline in his career, there are historical markers that suggest that he won’t be a focal point of the rotation by that time as well.

Michael McGreevy is a prototypical back-of-the-rotation starter. When he enters arbitration within 2 years, are the Cardinals going to pay him above the league minimum if guys like Hunter Dobbins, Richard Fitts, Mason Molina, Cooper Hjerpe, Tekoah Roby, Daniel Eagan, Teegan Kuhns, Jacob Odle, or Cade Crossland exist? That’s not even mentioning the big elite arms like Liam Doyle, Tanner Franklin, Jurrangelo Cintje, Brandon Clarke, or Yhoiker Fajardo. To go along with a Quinn Mathews who has already emerged from the farm. My answer would be no, and the smart money would be to bet against it. So, I and other Cardinals content creators have been kicking around the idea of when, not if, McGreevy eventually becomes someone the Cardinals can leverage in order to obtain the next needed piece to add to their ever-restocking farm system at a below market level rate with years of team control remaining.

This is the process the Brewers, Guardians, and Rays champion. Cycling young, inexpensive strikeout arms rather than committing 6 years at a 30 million AAV that most couldn’t stomach, with the possibility of a missed season due to TJ or any of the other laundry list of injury pitchers’ experience.

This season, the Cardinals’ starting pitchers had a bit of a mixed bag of results. 12th in ERA, 12th in FIP, 24th in K%, 11th in BB%, 26th in BAA, and 24th in WHIP. These results coincided with pitchers like McGreevy falling off in the 2nd half, Leahy having a weird April and September, Andre Pallante had 3 or 4 poor starts against the Brewers but was terrific against pretty much every other oppononent, Dustin May was dealt mid season and his spot was taken over by Hunter Dobbins whos season was derailed by injury, and then Quinn Mathews had only 1 real non competetive start in the final 2 months of the season but it wasnt enough to raise the tide, and Matthew Liberatore found a way to strike out more batters but had trouble stopping a spiraling inning from going out of control more times than not.

“Cause of Death” – It’s the strikeouts. 3 of the 4 teams that competed for the pennant this season were in the top 5 in K%, the only exception was the Tampa Bay Rays, who still came in at 13th. A lot of the earlier names I alluded to will help infuse the swing-and-miss stuff into the pitching staff over the next 2 seasons.

Now let’s move on to the bullpen, a group that, results-wise, was a bit of a night of the living dead. 20th in ERA, 19th in FIP, 23rd in K%, 26th in BB%, 19th in BAA, and 22nd in WHIP. Fundamentally, this was a bottom-10 position group in the sport, and that’s not good enough. Gordon Graceffo, armed with his new slider, really took some important strides forward this season; the emergence of Luis Gastelum was a fun jolt once he corrected the pitch-tipping issue. Justin Bruihl was solid if unspectacular and a true horse out of the pen. Riley O’Brien has closer-type stuff but clearly had moments that were less than brilliant, to put it kindly. Guys like Cade Winquest, Hancel Rincon, and Max Rajcic were able to show some things in their opportunties. Same with Ryan Fernandez though im not sure what his long term future looks like with St. Louis when they continued to not call him up down the stretch of this season.

Sandro Santana, so much of this guy’s stuff has been made such a big deal of, and for good reason. He has a real chance to make the club out of spring training, and that would instantly be a huge boost to the group going forward. I also think of all the places on the roster that Chaim Bloom might try to strike and improve with a big-league addition this offseason; it’s in the bullpen. So, I’ll be curious to see how this group is reshaped between now and opening day, whenever that is.

‘Cause of Death” – K-BB%, the strikeout-to-walk ratio was horrible, and you can get by with high walk rates if you also strike out a lot of guys, and similar with the inverse, though much tougher, that you can get by with fewer strikeouts if you don’t walk anybody. It’s really hard to have success if you walk too many and don’t strike out enough, especially for all of the high-leverage moments the bullpen has to perform in. This bullpen might as well have suffered from a gas leak because if someone struck a match (did damage), it usually resulted in a blow-up.

So, as the official VEB coroner, this Cardinals 2026 body has been on ice for over a month now, and the diagnosis would indicate that this St. Louis crew suffered significant muscle atrophy and asphyxiation, as the wind that filled their lungs in the first half of the season was quickly squeezed out of them after their failed 5-game series against Milwaukee in early July, and the thump and muscle from the offense in the first half atrophied and weakend due to injury and fatigue that ultimately slowed their offense down to a crawl in the 2nd half to the point it could no longer compensate for a less than stellar pitching staff as a whole.

I also want to add to the “notes” column of the examination chart that, though this team wasn’t expected to survive much of the season, the intention was not to do so but to see how long it could sustain itself under its own power, and we saw some important growth steps from players on the roster. I expect next season’s body of work to hold up much longer than this one was able to. It might even make it the whole season with a timely cortisone shot or 4 in the arm throughout the season to get it there. Alright, enough metaphors.

-thanks for reading

The suggestion caught Ross Newhan off guard.

The Angels had just reached the promised land, after more than four decades of wandering through baseball’s wilderness. Who better than Newhan, who had been there since Day 1, to write a first-person account of that long and winding road to their first World Series?

Newhan was reluctant. That would make the story about himself, which he despised. The editors prevailed, and within the story he delivered a sentence that struck deep within the heart of every loyal and long-suffering Angels fan.

“I can’t help but feel a sweep of emotions seep through the cynicism and dispassion that is the byproduct of being present for all or part of every Angel season,” he wrote on Oct. 14, 2002.

To this day, the Angels have one guy in the Hall of Fame: Vladimir Guerrero. The Times has two: Jim Murray, the Pulitzer Prize-winning sports columnist, and Newhan.

If Vin Scully provided the voice for the first half-century of Major League Baseball in Southern California, Newhan provided the words.

Newhan died on Sunday, at 89, after what his wife Connie called a “cardiac event.” His reporting — first at the Long Beach Independent Press-Telegram, then over 37 years at The Times — distinguished The Times as a national source for baseball coverage.

He was so renowned within baseball that the Dodgers, MLB, and the players’ union posted condolences.

Bud Selig, the former commissioner and occasional antagonist in Newhan’s columns, told The Times: “I mourn the passing of Ross Newhan. He was an excellent sportswriter, and I always had a great amount of respect for him personally and for his work.”

In his Hall of Fame acceptance speech, he reserved a special mention for a teacher at Wilson High in Long Beach, the one that envisioned a writer blossoming within a student dozing in class.

“If a high school journalism instructor named John Gartner hadn’t hollered my name and pounded my desk one day, I might still be sitting there asleep,” Newhan said, “with no real clue what I wanted to do in my life.”

In the 1990s, as a young reporter at the Riverside Press-Enterprise, I was among a small group of writers talking with Tony Gwynn, the San Diego Padres’ Hall of Famer. Newhan was there too, and as the group dispersed, he told me: “You ask good questions.”

Talk about inspiration: It was as if Clayton Kershaw had seen a kid throw a curveball and said, “Not bad.”

Behind a gruff and occasionally intense exterior, Newhan had a heart of gold. Mike DiGiovanna, the longtime Times baseball writer, called Newhan “a security blanket” for colleagues needing a fact check, a phone number or an introduction to someone famous.

“He was a giant without the giant ego,” DiGiovanna said.

Newhan trained former Times colleague Jason Reid on how to cover baseball. Reid affectionately called him “Boss Ross.” The two were such relentless reporters that, amid the wild initial days of the McCourt family ownership of the Dodgers, Reid got co-owner Jamie McCourt so frazzled that she actually said this: “This is bad because you guys remember everything and you write everything down.”

Newhan and Reid had reported on concerns with the McCourt financing before the ownership deal closed, and six years before Frank McCourt’s divorce attorney admitted in court that McCourt had put “not a penny” of his own money into the deal. That did not make Newhan and McCourt the best of friends, but neither did it make them bitter enemies.

“He seemed to take a sort of pride in being the guardian of Los Angeles baseball, for lack of a better term,” said Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch, then the Dodgers’ publicist. “He had an ability to garner respect from people even when he was writing something you weren’t happy about.”

Said Mike Scioscia, on whom Newhan reported as a Dodgers player and Angels manager: “Ross was a true gentleman and had a real matter-of-fact way of asking questions that put you at ease.”

There was nothing flashy about Newhan, not in his writing, certainly not in the way he conducted himself. He let his work and its credibility speak for itself.

Newhan is survived by his wife, Connie; his son, David, and daughter-in-law, Karen; his daughter, Sara, and son-in-law, Mike; five grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

The story about David is the one most often recalled Monday, because it really was a story about his father.

David, the kid that tagged along with Newhan when the Angels held spring training in Palm Springs, developed into a major leaguer. He had joked with reporters that he hadn’t been sure if rumors of his call-up were true because “as everyone knows, you can’t believe what’s in the paper.”

In 2004, as Newhan and I covered a game at Dodger Stadium, David appeared as a pinch-hitter for the Baltimore Orioles against the Colorado Rockies, in his first major league at-bat in three years. Newhan was glued to his laptop, where these words suddenly appeared: “In play, run(s).”

Waiting, waiting, waiting … and then I heard one of the loudest screams I have ever heard. Rawitch heard it too. Everyone in the press box heard it.

“Home run.”

The scream was out of character for a professional writer, entirely in character for a proud father. He aced both, and we’ll miss him.

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

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Phillies News:

• What prospects could help bolster the Phillies bullpen next season?
• Why Tim Mayza wanted to re-sign with the Phillies ($$)
• Alex Cora may not want to manage the Phillies, but maybe another team!
• Aidan Miller has done quite well in his limited action in the AFL

MLB News:

• MLB continues to test new rules, this time outfield shifts in the AFL
• Mets’ Francisco Lindor was named the 2026 Roberto Clemente Award recipient
• Rocco Baldelli withdraws his name Mariners’ managerial search

On October 17, 1982, the Brewers beat the Cardinals at old County Stadium by a score of 6-4, taking a 3-2 lead in the World Series and moving one win away from the franchise’s first championship and the city’s first since the 1957 Milwaukee Braves beat the dynasty Yankees to win it all. The Fall Classic shifted to Missouri, St. Louis won Game 6 in a blowout of Don Sutton, and the Cards then won Game 7 on big hits from Keith Hernandez, George Hendrick, and Darrell Porter.

That was the closest the Brewers have ever come to a championship … until today. They have a shot to sweep the Rays and end the 2026 Fall Classic right now. Maybe the Rays have a 2024 Yankees Game 4 in them to keep the series alive, but with one of the more dominant postseason performances this decade, it’s all Brewers right now. Perhaps tonight’s the night at last for Wisconsin.

Today on the site, Peter will recap the blowout in World Series Game 3, Jonathan will review the wreckage of Amed Rosario’s 2026 season, and Kevin will celebrate the 150th birthday of one of the first Yankees/Red Sox standouts (or should we say Highlanders/Americans). Later, Josh will argue against check swing replays and the dogged pursuit of perceived perfection, and Michael will name his 2026 All-Yankees Prospect Team.

Today’s Playoff Matchup:

World Series Game 4
(Brewers lead 3-0)

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Milwaukee Brewers
(RHP Griffin Jax vs. TBD)

Time: 8:00 p.m. EST

TV: FOX/FOX One/Fox Deportes

Venue: Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, FL

Questions/Prompts:

1. Do the Rays extend the World Series to a fifth game or does it end tonight?

2. Alternatively if the Brewers wrap this up tonight, who is the World Series MVP?

The Pittsburgh Pirates are coming off their best season in a decade, and yet it still wasn’t enough. A big reason the club won 82 games in 2026 was because of the work they did last offseason. If the Pirates hope to repeat that kind of success they can’t hit the brakes now. Instead they need to continue to act and have another strong offseason to continue to build on this success.

Resign Brandon Lowe

This is a no brainer, but it must be stressed… the Pirates NEED to resign Brandon Lowe! At age 32 Lowe showed no signs of slowing down as he turned in one of the best seasons of his career. His 35 homers this season were the most ever hit by a Pirate in a single season, and it was the second most in a season in Lowe’s career. His .260 batting average was also the third highest in his career and he played in a career high 150 games. Simply put there’s no legitimate reason for the Pirates to not bring back Lowe.

In his first season as a Bucco, Lowe became the team’s best power threat and it wasn’t even close. There were flashes from other players and some promise for some up and comers, but no one on the roster currently can match that kind of pop at the plate. The question now is can the Pirates give Lowe what he’s looking for? He was snubbed from the All-Star team, and that could be a result of playing in a smaller market. At this point in his career he could be chasing maximum exposure and more stable situations to win. With that being said, Lowe and the Pirates feel like a match made in Heaven, and he should be the team’s top priority heading into 2027.

Acquire another quality right-handed hitter

In 2026, the Pirates had a much improved lineup, but were still lacking a power threat in the middle of the lineup. After Lowe and Oneil Cruz there is a significant drop in pop in Pittsburgh. Ryan O’Hearn and Bryan Reynolds provide decent power, while Esmerlyn Valdez and Konnor Griffin also show some promise, but ideally the Pirates can add one more strong hitter. This move can help especially if the organization fails to resign Lowe.

Third baseman Isaac Paredes is a name that has come up in potential fits for the Pirates, as he checks several boxes. For one he has some pop at the plate. He finished 2026 with 25 homers for the Houston Astros, plus had an efficient .262 batting average and .807 OPS. Paredes also plays third base. The Pirates rotated Jared Triolo and Nick Gonzales at third in 2026, but it’s unclear as to where they will be longterm. The Pirates can kill two birds with one stone by signing Paredes.

The Pirates batted just .228 with 3.82 runs per game and had a 18-33 record when facing left-handed starters. A quality right-handed hitter could curb some of those woes and get the team back on track against southpaws.

Add a left-handed starter

The Pittsburgh Pirates have the potential to have one of the best pitching rotations in baseball if a couple of things can come together. For starters they need Paul Skenes to come into 2027 healthy and well rested. When Skenes is at his best, he’s deadly. Skenes coupled with the emerging Braxton Ashcraft and the budding Bubba Chandler and Jared Jones make Pittsburgh a formidable foe on the mound. The Pirates should seriously consider adding a lefty starter to the mix though.

With Mitch Keller having the worst season of his career and it ending due to injury, it may be time to move on from the veteran starter. That would open up space in the rotation for a new arm, and with no lefties, it only makes sense to explore that market. Aiden Stepansky of MLB.com suggests that the Pirates could pursue Foster Griffin. The 31-year-old lefty is coming off his first All-Star selection with the Cleveland Guardians after posting a 3.60 ERA and earning 15 wins in 31 appearances. The free-agent market is kind of sparse this year so the Pirates would have to act fast, but a move like this would instantly bolster their starting rotation.

What do yinz think the Pirates should do this offseason? Let us know in the comments!

The Athletic | Chris Kirschner: The Yankees haven’t won the World Series since 2009. They only time they’ve even reached it since then was the near-sweep in 2024—two years ago—but the 2025 and 2026 campaigns brought early postseason exits with them. Kirschner details 10 specific steps the Bombers need to take to return to the Fall Classic in 2027.

We won’t be giving it all away because it’s a very worthwhile read, but some of the recommendations include extending David Bednar a qualifying offer, trying Luis García Jr. in other infield positions, and bringing in a right-handed-hitting catcher. Oh, and also acquiring a certain Cleveland Guardians outfielder: Steven Kwan.

SNY | Phillip Martínez: Speaking of players the Yankees should trade for this offseason, Martínez offered a list of five, with the respective reasoning for each one of them. There’s a little bit of everything: established stars, veterans past their primes but with a chance to contribute, power guys, and more. The five listed options are all position players.

MLB.com | Brendan Samson: Yankees infield prospect Dax Kilby was one of the best players of the past week in the Arizona Fall League. He played four games in Week 3 of the AFL and went 7-for-18 with four runs, two doubles, a triple, a homer, a couple of RBI, and three stolen bases.

The homer was his second of the 2026 AFL campaign and it left his bat at 107.1 mph, traveling 419 feet. The 19-year-old middle infielder has hit a robust .311/.353/.622 through 11 contests for Salt River so far. As an aside, be sure to check out my colleague Michael’s weekly recaps of Yankees prospect AFL action!

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — You want to know why the Milwaukee Brewers have won 113 games this year?

Why they have nearly run the table this postseason, going 10-1 with eight consecutive wins to tie an MLB record?

You wonder why they are going to win the World Series, perhaps on Tuesday night by sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays into 2027?

Well, all you had to do was watch the fifth inning of their 10-1 rout over the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday night, turning Tropicana Field into a Milwaukee suburb, with about 10,00 Brewer fans screaming and cheering late into the evening until stadium security ordered them to leave.

But, oh, they’ll be back. Louder, crazier, and more raucous than ever before.

They are about to make history, becoming the first Brewers team to win the World Series in franchise history, and all of Wisconsin wants to be on hand to witness it.

“I heard they would be a lot of Brewers fans coming down here," Brewers captain Christian Yelich said, “but I never through it would be like this, man. I was doing interviews on the field, and not one of them was left. They were really loving this.

“It’s crazy."

They have been making history all month. Yet it seems like the Milwaukee Brewers re-wrote several chapters of the record books with their 10-1 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of the World Series Monday, Oct. 27 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

Milwaukee can sweep away the Rays and win its first championship in franchise history in Game 4 on Tuesday. There's at least nine more innings of baseball to pad statistics, re-set standards and get everybody's ring sizes.

But until then, a look at the Game 3 rout and the Brewers' epic October run, by the numbers:

8: Brewers' postgame winning streak

They haven't lost since Game 3 of the National League Division Series at San Diego, which seems like a lifetime ago. Now, the Brewers are shoulder-to-shoulder with the hottest October runs in this era of expanded playoffs.

Their eight straight wins tie the 2019 Washington Nationals, 2014 Kansas City Royals, 2005 Chicago White Sox and 2004 Boston Red Sox for longest postseason win streaks. All but the Royals won World Series titles.

And by winning Game 4, the Brewers would become the first team to sweep both the LCS and World Series since the former was expanded to a best-of-seven format in 1985. The 1976 Cincinnati Reds are the last team to sweep their LCS and World Series, going 7-0.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The Milwaukee Brewers are one win from the first World Series title in franchise history.

They needed one inning Monday night to get there.

Milwaukee scored eight runs with two outs in the fifth and beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 10-1, in Game 3 at Tropicana Field. No team had scored eight two-out runs in a World Series inning, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Seven Brewers in a row hit safely, a first in any postseason game, according to OptaSTATS.

The Brewers lead the series 3-0. Twenty-five teams have taken that lead in a World Series. Twenty-one finished the sweep.

None lost.

Game 4 is Tuesday night, in the same building.

Here’s who’s looking at great offseason memories and who will be reliving this series with regrets:

ST. PETERSBURG — Junior Caminero had just made a great play to start the inning, he was ready when William Contreras came to the plate. He knew the play he wanted to make.

"I already had in mind going to second base," the Tampa Bay Rays third baseman said through an interpreter. "Once I got the ground ball, I was going to second base all the way."

He didn't get the out. The Milwaukee Brewers scored eight runs before the Rays recorded another out. All eight runs came with two outs in the fifth inning and turned a two-run deficit into a 10-run hole in Game 3 of the World Series at Tropicana Field.

Milwaukee became the first team to score eight two-out runs in a World Series inning, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Brewers lead the series 3-0 and can win the first championship in franchise history Tuesday night in the same building.

Seven straight, two-out hits for eight runs across three pitchers in the top of the fifth inning carried the Brewers to a 10-1 pummeling of the Tampa Bay Rays. For the second time in franchise history, the Brewers will have a chance to win their first World Series championship in franchise history tomorrow night.

For the second time this season, the Brewers stared down their former ace, Freddy Peralta. And for the second time this season, they hung at least five runs on him to force him off the mound before the sixth inning.

Their process of getting to Peralta began much like every other game has this postseason: patience and persistence. In the top of the first inning, the Brewers offense forced Peralta to throw 20 pitches. In the midst of the large load of early throws, both Jackson Chourio and Christian Yelich collected their first of many base hits of the night.

To complement a great offense, great pitching is often needed, a recipe that the Brewers have cooked up time and time again this season. Tonight was no different for the Brewers’ southpaw Robert Gasser. With perhaps the start of the postseason so far, Gasser allowed his lone hit of the night in the bottom of the first inning on a lead-off knock from Yandy Díaz. From that moment onward, Gasser was lights out, retiring the next 15 batters he faced before allowing a lead-off walk to Victor Mesa Jr. in the bottom of the sixth.

While Bobby Diesel cooked, the Brewers offense continued to grind down Peralta, finally dishing out their first blow of the ballgame. Following a David Hamilton popout, Chourio quickly collected his second base hit of the game. After a Jake Bauers walk, Christian Yelich also grabbed his second hit of the game, this time driving in Chourio to give the Crew a 1-0 lead. On the very next pitch, William Contreras went opposite field to extend the Brewers’ lead to 2-0.

Then came the time when Brewers fans across the country said, “I’m sorry it had to come to this,” as they watched their former ace and his teammates get bullied apart. Chourio collected the team’s sixth hit with one out in the top of the fifth inning. Following Bauers’ flyout to center field, Yelich walked to put two men on. Then, Junior Caminero made a play that he’ll be thinking about moving forward, as instead of throwing out the meandering Contreras down the line, he went for the force play at second. Yelich had the manager get his foot into the bag a split second before the ball was caught. The play on the field was ruled out until Pat Murphy’s challenge said it wasn’t, which in turn loaded the bases with two outs.

Cam Booser replaced Peralta on the mound following the overturned challenge, which then sparked the first of seven straight, two-out hits. The first one came on a Brice Turang bleeder up the middle that was misplayed to score two runs. Then Garrett Mitchell singled to extend the Brewers lead to 5-0, which was followed up with the third straight hit that was a Cooper Pratt double to drive in two more. Sal Frelick got his extra-base hit after being robbed a couple of innings prior to shoot the Crew’s score up to 8-0. After David Hamilton singled to make it 9-0, Chourio conveniently bounced a double off the Culver’s sign in right-center field to cap the Brewers’ lead at 10-0.

Gasser continued to dominate in an efficient way until he was pulled after 75 pitches through six innings. Following his departure, we saw two scoreless innings from Antonio Senzatela as he worked his first innings since the San Diego series. Finally, for the first time since the 2021 National League Division Series against the Atlanta Braves, Brandon Woodruff made his return to the mound in postseason play. Many didn’t know what to expect from Big Woo, nor did they know how long he was going to last, but to be able to see a glimpse of the past in the present was enough to forget his two-out RBI single he allowed to Díaz.

With that, the Brewers complete a statistical oddity, as they will finish the year a perfect 7-0 on the 26th day of the month. During games played on the 26th of the month, the Brewers outscored their opponents, 64-10. They’re officially one win away from history, with a chance to accomplish what no team has done in the modern era: Sweep the championship series and the World Series.

Brandon Woodruff made his triumphant return to the mound, pitching the last inning of the Milwaukee Brewers' 10-1 rout against the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 3 of the World Series.

Woodruff threw 18 pitches, allowing the Rays' only run on two hits and one strikeout. But his return itself was victory enough after he hadn't pitched since July 4 due to right shoulder inflammation.

And after the Brewers took a 3-0 World Series lead, Woodruff revealed the original plan for his return: He was going to start Game 4, as an opener, and go as long as he could.

Instead, as Game 3 turned into a rout, manager Pat Murphy checked to see if Woodruff wanted the ninth.

He jumped at the chance.

"With the fans that were here tonight, it was incredible," Woodruff told reporters in St. Petersburg, Florida. "We still gotta win one more game. That's the priority. I'll soak this one in tonight.

"And maybe I'm crazy, but I'll try to be ready for tomorrow. We got one more to win."

Woodruff hadn't pitched since going 3⅔ innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 4. Once his shoulder flared up for a second time after spending nearly two months on the injured list in May and June, Woodruff was supposed to undergo season-ending surgery in August. However, he gradually started feeling better and opted for another attempt at building up his arm strength.

Miguel Rojas retired from the big leagues almost two weeks ago when the Los Angeles Dodgers were swept out of the NLCS by the Milwaukee Brewers, but he'll be taking the field one more time before officially hanging up his cleats.

Rojas and the Miami Marlins announced via Instagram on Monday that the 37-year-old infielder will suit up for los Tiburones de la Guaira in their "Choque de Gigantes" (Clash of the Giants) series against Navegantes del Magallanes at loanDepot Park on Nov. 14 and 15.

"This will be my farewell," Rojas told El Extra Base in Spanish in September. "I want to do it publicly over here (in Miami). ... Tiburones were a fundamental part of my life and my career and if it wasn't for Tiburones, I wouldn't be the Major Leaguer that I am today. I owe them so much."

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It's a homecoming on two fronts for Rojas, who played with Tiburones in the Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP), the Venezuelan winter league, for 10 years from 2009-'19 and once more in the 2023-24 winter season. During that time, Rojas played the majority of his big league career with the Marlins, arriving in Miami in 2015 after being traded from the Dodgers before LA reacquired him ahead of the 2023 season.

"It's funny because it was one of the first moves I did when I got here was trading Miggy Ro away," Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said at the team's end of season press conference. "And to look at his career and have him have a chance to come back and be such a big part of those two championship teams, and for him to go out the way he did, leaving everything on the field.

"Can't say enough about the guy, the competitor, the teammate and we look forward to are hopeful that he's impacting us in the future as well."

That last part of Friedman's sentence might already have gotten a head start as Rojas was spotted at the Arizona Fall League on Monday working with several top prospects within the Dodgers organization. He's made no secret of his goal of being a manager someday, but that journey will start after Rojas gets one last farewell.

"I want to put on the uniform one more time," Rojas said. "On the 14th and 15th, I want to put on the number 19 to say goodbye to the fans in Miami. ... in a place that's like a home away from home."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dodgers legend Miguel Rojas to play one last game for Venezuelan team in Miami