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Last week, Rawlings announced their 2026 Gold Glove Finalists. Perhaps surprising to some (but not Colorado Rockies fans) was the inclusion of Rockies first baseman TJ Rumfield along with Matt Olson and Ty France.

“It’s not easy to do in your first year,” said Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer via a phone call last week.

Of Rumfield’s defense, Schaeffer said, “It was impressive, and it was steady.”

Rumfield became one of five rookies since 1901 to have a season with at least 1,150 innings at first base and have seven or fewer errors, joining Todd Helton (1998), Travis Lee (1998, ARI), Freddie Freeman (2011, ATL), and Nolan Schanuel (2024, LAA).

It’s worth considering, then, how he compares defensively with his fellow finalists as well as what he brings to a rebuilding Rockies team.

Considering the competition

As a reminder, Rumfield was acquired by the Rockies via trade from the New York Yankees.

“TJ, I think, has always been a fairly underrated prospect,” said Amir Mamdani, Rockies director of baseball operations, via text message. “I think in part because he doesn’t meet the archetype of a typical 1B slugger.”

He continued, “I think TJ’s gift, which we were fortunate to see on display for 155 games, is the fact that he has a tremendous feel to hit. Has always put the ball in play at an impressive rate, and while the power has been more modest (15-20 HR a season), he’s always held his own offensively as he moved up through New York’s system, and ultimately seemed pretty blocked there, behind Ben Rice, Paul Goldschmidt, and others.”

The Rockies were happy to take advantage of the Yankees surplus.

In 2026, Rumfield saw his first year of MLB play, and he made the most of it. Matt Olson of the Atlanta Braves is 32 and is already a three-time Gold Glove winner. San Diego Padre Ty France, also 32, has won a Gold Glove as well.

Rumfield is the only newbie of the group, and while he did win an MiLB Gold Glove for first base in 2023, this announcement is another way to announce the rookie’s arrival.

Now to the numbers.

Here’s how the three finalists compare defensively in terms of standard defensive metrics as shown by FanGraphs:

Olson has played significantly more defensive innings (1424.0) than Rumfield (1156.1), and both are well ahead of France (1030.1). Although Olson has one more error than Rumfield, given the number of innings he logged, it’s difficult to hold that against him. Olson also started and finished more double plays than either of the other finalists. By this metric, Olson has clearly made a case for his fourth Gold Glove.

Consider, then, what the advanced defensive metrics show, again, per FanGraphs:

Although France leads the trio in defensive runs saved, Olson again has the better numbers in terms of outs above average and fielding run value.

Rumfield had a 2026 that placed him (rightfully) in the Rookie of the Year conversation, but the numbers indicate that he is not a Gold Glove front runner.

Still, it’s been a tremendous season for the Rockies first baseman.

“For him to be mentioned among Matt Olson and Ty France,” Schaeffer said, “those are two really good defenders, and I’m proud of TJ for the work he put in every day to get there.”

Considering what he brings to the Rockies

Schaeffer is quick to acknowledge what Rumfield means for Colorado.

“For a big man over there, which a lot of first basemen are, his hands are soft,” Schaeffer said, “and he makes pretty much every play over there — difficult plays.”

And it’s not just the plays that Rumfield makes; it’s also how he anchors his infield teammates.

“He’s got the athletic ability to read hops,” Schaeffer said, “and for me as an infielder myself, the the biggest thing for a first baseman was giving the rest of the infielders confidence that you can make a great play and not make the best throw, and your guy’s going to pick you up over there, and TJ does that on a consistent basis.”

Schaeffer added, “I think he makes life easy, way easier for [Ezequiel] Tovar and for [Kyle] Karros, and for whoever was playing second base — Willi Castro — and they know that. So they can try to make more difficult plays because they know that he’s going to pick them up on the backside.”

Rockies general manager Josh Brynes agrees.

“I thought receiving throws, like the wingspan picks, all that stuff, it felt like he saved a lot of errors or converted outs,” Brynes said over the phone, adding, “Just the infielders, their freedom of making any kind of throw is enhanced.”

Although the rebuilding Rockies are coming off a less-than-stellar season defensively, Rumfield was a stalwart at first, which Schaeffer sees as key for any successful defensive unit.

“I mean, (if) you have a really good first baseman, you can do more things. Kyle Karros can try more crazy plays where you have to be free to do it. And if you have any inkling that your first baseman isn’t going to catch the ball, you can’t make those plays. And same thing with Tovar on that side of the on that side of the diamond,” Schaeffer noted.

He pointed to other MLB first basemen to illustrate his point.

“When Christian Walker was in Arizona, he anchored that good infield that they had. Matt Olson anchors that infield. Even Freddie Freeman in L.A — they throw it over there, and they know he’s going to catch everything. So you see really good infields anchored by first basemen that receive every throw.”

Mamdani concurs.

“Defensively, I think it’s a credit to him and all the work he’s put in,” Mandani said.

“He and Andy González worked a lot this year, whether it be the red machine, or other defensive drills, and I think if you look at his contribution both from a statistical standpoint with range and defensive runs saved, but even in terms of his receiving at first base. The number of plays he made, even anecdotally, to make scoops, or catch balls as a big target that other first basemen wouldn’t be able to get to, he was just incredibly steady over there, and I’m happy for him that that’s being recognized.”

It would not be unreasonable to consider Rumfield’s season “Helton-esque.”

Even if Rumfield isn’t a Gold Glove winner in 2026, that’s some high praise, and he’s set himself up to build on this year going forward.

“It’s a testament to him and the work that he put in, because I think (with) defense, there’s skill involved certainly, but a lot of it is sort of effort and practice and focus,” said Ian Levin, Rockies assistant general manager of baseball operations, over the phone.

“And he puts in the time, he puts in the effort, and he’s done it throughout his career prior to coming to us, and then we see it with us. So, just the the ability for him to to do that, put into action, and now actually become a Gold Glove finalist for it, I think is huge credit.”

“Just to be a finalist, that’s awesome as a rookie to be among those (players),” Schaeffer said. “TJ, he set a high bar for himself in his first year.”

The Gold Glove winners will be announced on November 1, 2026.

This story was updated to include comments from Rockies general manager Josh Byrnes.

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Shohei Ohtani kept his message to fans short.

“Thank you,” he wrote in an Instagram caption.

The 2026 season was by far Ohtani’s most disappointing campaign in a Dodgers uniform. His first two seasons in LA ended with World Series titles, but Ohtani’s third year ended in collapse.

There’s plenty of blame to go around for Dodgers’ early exit in the postseason, but the team’s mismanagement of Ohtani will remain a focal point in why one of the best rosters to ever be assembled in baseball fell overwhelmingly short of the Fall Classic.

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Ohtani dealt with multiple injuries in 2026 and could have very well been shut down in the summer to ensure better health come October. But that never happened.

Instead, the Dodgers let Ohtani continue playing until it became painfully clear the injuries had derailed his offensive production.

The 2027 season will be a key turning point for the Dodgers as the offseason is sure to bring changes in LA. But Ohtani has made it clear that he intends on remaining a two-way player next year.

The Dodgers will have to create an efficient plan for the aging Ohtani to do so, especially considering the implications his workload will have by October.

Ohtani hit 30 home runs and sported a sub-2.00 ERA, but his season ended in catastrophe because of the way his health was managed throughout 2026.

Dodgers fans are inevitably disappointed with the results as a three-peat seemed feasible given the star power on the roster. But the talent wasn’t enough to even muster a win over the Brewers in the National League Championship Series and that’s something the Dodgers will have to wrestle with in the coming months.

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Cardinals on My Time is back for the winter in a little different capacity! With the offseason and winter looking questionable at best and the Cardinals sitting in an awkward spot, I decided to take the opportunity to expand my podcast a little bit.

Since writing all things St. Louis Cardinals for the past few seasons, my attention around the league has significantly dwindled and I cannot have that happen. Rather than just reading through articles or trying to find new podcasts, I decided to bring the external talent to me and then share it with those of you who are in the same boat. I am fortunate enough to do that through the platform called MILLIONS, which is where I will be hosting my LIVESTREAM podcasts before publishing them later on normal platforms.

In my MILLIONS debut, I was joined by Jessica Kleinschmidt who was previously of MLB.com and NBC Sports covering the Athletics. Through our conversation, I quickly realized she was the perfect person to have one and discuss the impending winter of negotiations and hearsay. Jessica is a self-proclaimed CBA professional, so it was great to hear information from someone with ties to players and owners while also discussing what could happen this winter.

CBA talks are going to go to an interesting place during the MLB offseason

In the episode, we covered plenty but I really wanted to get into comparing the make up of both the A’s and Cardinals. The more Jessica talked, the more it seemed like these are teams sitting at a similar point in their building for the future. The Cardinals obviously have Chaim Bloom as POBO, but yesterday the Athletics also announced their own POBO, Taylor Smith, who had similar lineage to Bloom and is probably going to do things that look like what we saw in St. Louis.

When we spoke CBA, we got into what the lockout will mean for the fringe 40-man players and the Rule 5 draft. Jessica and I are both smitten by Rule 5 stories and hope that the process stays in some capacity, but it will be interesting to see how teams around the league handle their player protections by the 40-man deadline. The negotiations will probably get messy with a lot of players vs. owners conversations happening beyond the salary cap commercials we are already seeing during game broadcasts.

Finally, Jessica teased that she is going to be diving deeper into her Athletics coverage in some capacity, but could not announce the full details just yet. By the end of the episode, I was glad to have expanded from rehashing the same Cardinals conversations we hear every week and get some more look around MLB. If you enjoyed the episode, make sure you drop a like, comment, and/or subscribe on your favorite platform!

On Thursday at 6pm, I will be having Double-A pitcher Michael Watson on MILLIONS and prospect guru Kareem Haq will help me lead the conversations. I will be posting a link to that stream on my socials but if you follow on MILLIONS, you will get notified when we go live.

I hope to have plenty more for you all in the near future. Thanks for sticking with me!

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

The Guardians are not in a World Series, so a certain number of Guardians fans are playing everyone’s favorite game, “Blame the Manager.” Is that fair?

First, I think we should all acknowledge a couple truths. Stephen Vogt has won three division titles in three years, leading two striking comebacks to do so the past two years. He has led his team to two ALCS appearances in three years. He has done so with limited resources on the roster through no fault of his own. If you would like the Guardians to fire Stephen Vogt or trade him to Seattle, please, and I say this as respectfully as possible – touch some grass, find a God of your choosing, and learn ball.

Now, just because Vogt is a great manager does not mean he is incapable of mistakes. Let’s take a look at the four most common objections I have heard to Vogt’s managing this postseason:

Objection 1: He Overused Cade Smith, Hunter Gaddis, Erik Sabrowski, Daniel Espino and Shawn Armstrong:

Cleveland pitchers threw 97 innings this postseason – This group of pitchers who made up Vogt’s circle of trust threw 42 of those innings. In those 42 innings, they put up a 2.57 ERA, a 3.05 FIP and a 9.64/2.14 K/BB/9. Let’s be clear – if a given pitching staff puts up those numbers for any playoff series, you would expect to win that series. However, if we stop the count before last night, this same group of players threw 36.2 of the teams 89 innings and put up an incredible 1.72 ERA, 2.34 FIP and 10.31/1.96 K/BB/9.

Guys, we all know that Smith, Gaddis, Sabrowski and Armstrong were overused. We know that Espino probably saw Caminero one too many times. But, the reason it happened was because it was still Vogt’s best shot at winning this series. He recognized his best weapons and put them in position to carry him over the top. Smith and Gaddis ran out of gas at the very end (notably, Armstrong and Espino remained extremely effective), but this is because Vogt was lacking the weapons he needed to reduce their usage, not because he was attempting to run them into the ground.

Aside from the disappointment of Parker Messick being unable to provide something like his regular season output (likely due to some combination of inexperience and fatigue), I find myself left with the most regret that Colin Holderman was hurt. I would very much like to try this Tampa Bay series again with a healthy Holderman able to take some of the innings that ended up going to Hunter Gaddis and/or Cade Smith. But, that’s something we will never know. For 2027, I have hopes that the team can make Slade Cecconi a high leverage option and that Daniel Espino will take another step forward as a high leverage guy, as well as counting on a full recovery for Holderman. If the group that is currently here can stay reasonably healthy (and, probably replace Tim Herrin with a veteran lefty), I really like their chances of not running Smith, Gaddis and Sabrowski into the ground to try to advance in a round of the playoffs.

Note that many of us armchair managers on social media were predicting disaster having Armstrong pitch for a fourth time against the Rays… and he said through the top of the order again. If pitchers execute, reliever familiarity doesn’t help much. And, that was the plan in going to the Guardians’ best pitchers so often.

Bottom line – this group of pitchers pitched a ton of innings because, even with the risk of fatigue, they were Vogt’s best chance at winning baseball games given the options he had. The one area I would like to see Vogt and the team experiment with, here, is trying to make sure their best relievers face different parts of the order when entering… but this often conflicts with the handedness advantage. I’m not convinced the idea of reliever familiarity penalty trumps the handedness advantage… or the idea of putting the guys with the best stuff in the game as much as possible. Vogt’s moves here, thus, track with a good process leading to an, unfortunately, bad result.

Objection 2 – He Should Have Started Angel Genao Over Brayan Rocchio:

Angel Genao finished the season from mid-August through September with a 40 wRC+. Brayan Rocchio is now an established major league player, while still young, and has to be counted on to put up a good at-bat and come through with a hit in a big spot at some point, leaning on his usually solid contact skills. Brayan Rocchio failed at almost every juncture. He was successful at almost every juncture as a hitter in 2024. That’s baseball for ya. But, Vogt had no option on the roster clearly better than Rocchio at shortstop, both fielding and hitting. I would like Genao to get a shot to win the shortstop job in spring training (which will probably be in MAY, but, whatever…), but for right now, sticking with Rocchio was the best choice.

Some folks will point out that Vogt pulled the rip cord on Angel Martinez. Vogt, rightly, recognized that Martinez is a lefty-masher option and that Petey Halpin is more of a threat vs. LHP than this current version of Angel. It also allowed him to get the benefit of Kwan’s defense in left and the potential benefit of good centerfield defense from Halpin (Halpin did not provide particularly excellent defense, but the potential was worth a shot). Genao has not proven himself against either LHP or RHP, so going with the established and experienced option to take those at-bats in Rocchio was the right choice, for now. Should the team have been more aggressive about pursuing a right-handed hitting veteran to play shortstop against LHP and take the bench role from Genao for these playoffs? I think so, but I also barely even raised the possibility of that at the trade deadline. I can understand why it wasn’t a priority, but the options Vogt was left with led to sticking with Rocchio.

Objection 3 – He Should Have Given Tanner Bibee a Start:

Why didn’t Bibee get a start? The answer is simple: Bibee had a 4.36 ERA/4.52 FIP, a 7/2.4 K/BB/9 and gave up a 12% home-run/fly-ball rate in 2026. In September, Bibee had an ERA of 7.36 and a 4.83 xFIP. He was giving up a lot of loud contact. The team decided that Bibee would become their “break-glass-in-case-of-emergency” pitcher for a game that went into extra innings. At that point, relying on his veteran moxie and experience would be the best option available, despite his inability to miss bats and penchant for surrendering the long-ball… but not before then.

Folks, I simply can’t argue with the reasoning. It’s statistically sound. Now, would I have, personally, objected to handing Bibee the ball for game six and saying, “Give us all you got?” Absolutely not. I would have appreciated the boldness and dealt with the consequences. But, it’s incredibly likely those bombs off the bat of Diaz and Caminero just would have happened earlier in the game. Maybe it would have been easier for me, emotionally, to see Bibee competing and getting smacked around than Smith or Gaddis running out of gas after great performances these playoffs… but that doesn’t mean my feelings should have guided the process. Also, the bullpen game for game six was actually more effective than it seems. Herrin gave up an 85 mph sure fly out that beat an outfield shift and a bad jump from two outfielders for a double, Cantillo gave up a 69 mph fly out to Caminero that would have avoided any damage in his outing, and, heck, Caminero hit a foul-pole homer off a splitter six inches inside off the plate. The Rays deserve credit for all this… but I don’t think game six was a disaster in terms of pitching plans from Vogt and the Guardians AT ALL.

Objection 4 – He Should Have Stuck with Foster Griffin Longer in Game One and Four of the ALCS:

We have now come to the one objection I find to be of the most merit in criticizing Stephen Vogt, and the place where I think he and the team’s decision-makers probably find themselves with the most regret this morning. Griffin pitched 10.1 innings in these playoffs and put up a 3.48 ERA/0.78 FIP with a 13/0 K/BB/9. Folks, those are ace-type underlying numbers, to be honest. Yet, repeatedly, Vogt only allowed Griffin to face a lineup approximately one time through the order. Why? During the season, Griffin had a 2.35 ERA first-time-through-an-order and a 4.41 ERA second-time-through-an-order. I promise you that this data is exactly what was on Vogt’s mind when he would remove Griffin… as well as mentioned above, his knowledge that his five best options to navigate a lineup outside of Gavin Williams resided in his bullpen.

I think we can now say, after seeing the bullpen on fumes in game six, that it would probably have been a good risk for the Guardians to allow Foster Griffin to go deeper into games in these playoffs, specifically in game four of the ALCS to try to save wear and tear on the bullpen (specifically avoiding a second inning from Matt Festa later in the game). With that said, this would have required Griffin, with his issues second-time-through, facing Yandy Diaz again. Griffin had a 4.04 FIP against right-handed hitters this season and Diaz has a career 145 wRC+. Junior Caminero, quickly coming up after Diaz, has a career 152 wRC+ against LHP. Griffin vs. these two players second-time in a game is a very bad matchup. However, if you can give yourself a chance at avoiding the second Matt Festa inning, it is a risk you might take and see if Griffin can work around these two. At the same time, if it goes extremely well, all you do is probably give yourself a reason to use Smith, Gaddis and Sabrowski in game four when they actually got rest. So, I don’t think the outcome of this series changes, but I do think Vogt and the Guardians need to steel themselves to try to get a little more from their starters the next time they make the playoffs, consequences be darned. May fans who watch a Guardians’ starter get lit up second-time through an order in the future remember Matt Festa for two innings and Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis on fumes. There is a damned if you do, damned if you don’t aspect to this decision.

Some folks feel similarly about Joey Cantillo. Friends, Cantillo had a 3.6/10.8 K/BB/9 in the playoffs. He was perpetually one pitch from disaster and Vogt did well keeping him from making that pitch. Exposing him to more opportunities would not have made sense.

Bottom Line:

There are, of course, other potential objections: should the team have bunted more? Attempted more steals? More hit-and-runs? It’s hard for me to argue that this offense should have intentionally put themselves at risk for making more outs. Should Jo Adell have made more starts in right field? Both Adell and DeLauter are not good fielders at the moment. Should Patrick Bailey have caught Messick in game two of the ALCS? Maybe? I can find good logic and sound reasoning behind every decision Stephen Vogt made this series, even in the places where I might have wanted a different choice. …That’s all you can ask of a manager.

In summary, my argument is that the Guardians have a very good manager, not only of the clubhouse but of in-game decisions. We just need to give Vogt more weapons in his arsenal to avoid another disappointment next time he puts this team in position to make a World Series run. Dolan and Blitzer, do whatever you can to keep this man helming the ship here forever.