Category: Sports News

The 2026 Colorado Rockies have had a better year than the 2025 Colorado Rockies.

That is not exactly a difficult bar to clear after 43-119, but the improvement has been real and the floor of the roster is considerably higher.

There are still bad performances, of course, but Colorado simply does not have as many roster spots producing the kind of extreme negative value that overwhelmed the 2025 team. Some of that has come from young players developing and holdovers taking steps forward, but a large part of the improvement has also come from subtraction.

The Rockies changed a significant portion of the roster over the course of 2025 and into 2026.

Twenty-five players who received meaningful playing time in 2025 — at least 50 plate appearances for a position player or 10 innings for a pitcher — are no longer part of the Rockies’ major-league picture in 2026.

So what has happened to them?

For the most part, 2026 has not gone nearly as well for those players as it has for the Rockies.

Who left the 2025 roster

Even that total is softened by two useful players the Rockies traded away.

Ryan McMahon produced 1.2 rWAR before being traded to the Yankees, while Jake Bird contributed another 0.5 rWAR before he was also dealt to New York.

Remove those two useful major leaguers and the other 23 departing players combined for -12.5 rWAR.

So where are those players a year later?

Where are they now?

That is a pretty revealing snapshot of the 2025 roster one year later.

A few have found better results

Ryan Rolison is the clearest success story.

Rolison posted a 7.02 ERA over 42.1 innings for Colorado in 2025. One year later, he has become a very good reliever for the Cubs, carrying a 3.02 ERA and 1.26 WHIP across 62.2 innings, with 54 strikeouts, nine wins and three saves.

Tyler Kinley has also found more success after leaving. His Rockies portion of 2025 ended with a 5.66 ERA, but he immediately went on a strong run with Atlanta and has remained a useful major-league reliever in 2026. Between Atlanta and Detroit, Kinley has worked 56.2 innings over 63 appearances with a 3.49 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 48 strikeouts.

Germán Márquez has improved somewhat from his final season in Colorado, although his 2026 has not gone entirely smoothly. After posting a 6.70 ERA over 126.1 innings for the Rockies in 2025, he recorded a 5.26 ERA in 53 innings with San Diego. The Padres designated him for assignment in August and released him three days later, after which Márquez signed a minor-league deal with Minnesota and is finishing the year with Triple-A St. Paul.

Ryan McMahon remains an everyday player with the Yankees, although his offensive production has slipped. Through 122 games, McMahon is hitting .210/.276/.352 with 11 home runs and 40 RBI, good for a .628 OPS and 75 OPS+. He is still a major-league regular, just not a particularly productive one offensively.

Jake Bird has also remained in the majors, though his results have been uneven. He posted a 5.93 ERA over 30.1 innings with the Yankees before joining Washington, where he has allowed three earned runs over 8.1 innings for a 3.24 ERA. Overall, Bird has a 5.35 ERA with 41 strikeouts in 38.2 innings between the two clubs.

Anthony Molina has also found another major-league opportunity with San Francisco. He has worked 34 innings across nine appearances and five starts, going 3-2 with a 3.97 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 31 strikeouts.

Still, this is the exception rather than the rule. Only six of the 25 have spent most of 2026 in the majors.

MLB jobs have become Triple-A jobs

The players in the largest group still have plenty of professional baseball left in them. What has changed is their role.

Michael Toglia has again shown that Triple-A pitching is not much of a problem. After signing a minor-league deal with Cincinnati, he hit .273/.373/.547 with 22 home runs for Louisville and earned a return to the majors in August. His opportunity was cut short less than two weeks later when he dislocated his right shoulder on a diving catch against Arizona on August 21. He was placed on the injured list two days later, underwent season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum, and was transferred to the 60-day injured list in September.

Yanquiel Fernández also remains interesting, especially considering his age. He has hit 27 home runs in Triple-A for the Yankees organization. That is a productive developmental season, but it comes after Fernández appeared in 52 games for the Rockies in 2025 and has not returned to the majors in 2026.

Austin Gomber’s 2025 season was shortened by a shoulder injury, but after returning in June he still made 12 starts for Colorado before being released in August. In 2026, he has bounced through the Triple-A rotations of Texas, Atlanta and Detroit and has not made it back to the majors.

Kyle Farmer has gone from 300 plate appearances with Colorado to a much more marginal role with Atlanta. His season has included a forearm injury, a July release and re-signing on a minor-league deal, and a September return to the majors after spending time with Triple-A Gwinnett.

Orlando Arcia has hit well in Triple-A but has received only a brief look with Minnesota.

Bradley Blalock was designated for assignment by Colorado in January and then traded to Miami for right-hander Jake Brooks. He has spent most of 2026 at Triple-A Jacksonville while earning a pair of September recalls with the Marlins.

Carson Palmquist opened 2026 in the Rockies organization but did not return to the majors with Colorado. He was designated for assignment in May and traded to Washington for cash, where he has received two major-league looks and is finishing the season with Triple-A Rochester.

Ángel Chivilli has made a stronger case with the Yankees. Acquired from Colorado in the January trade that sent TJ Rumfield to the Rockies, Chivilli has posted a 3.78 ERA over 16.2 major-league innings. That number was inflated by one six-run outing just before he was optioned in August; before that appearance, he had allowed only two earned runs in 15.2 innings. Still, he has spent most of the season with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Luis Peralta and Scott Alexander have also spent 2026 as upper-level organizational depth.

There is still talent in this group.

What has disappeared is the regular major-league playing time.

Others are playing elsewhere

Several former Rockies are continuing their careers outside affiliated baseball.

Thairo Estrada has gone to the Mexican League and has hit well there, while Nick Martini has split his season between independent ball and Mexico. Warming Bernabel, who received 146 plate appearances for Colorado at age 23 in 2025, has appeared only briefly outside affiliated baseball this season.

Blaine Crim has taken a more circuitous route. He opened 2026 in the Rockies’ minor-league system, was designated for assignment in May and claimed off waivers by Texas. The Rangers released him about a month later, and Crim is now continuing his season in Korea with the NC Dinos, where he is hitting .255 with 10 home runs and 43 RBI.

He is not the only former Rockie to end up in the KBO.

Sam Hilliard has easily had the biggest year of anyone in this group. Playing for the KT Wiz, Hilliard is hitting .305/.374/.586 with 39 home runs, 122 RBI and a .960 OPS through 130 games.

Hilliard is having an excellent year, and Estrada has been productive in Mexico, too. But none of the five has occupied an MLB roster spot after receiving meaningful playing time for Colorado a year earlier.

And for a few, there has been no 2026 season

Jacob Stallings and Sean Bouchard have not played in 2026.

Nick Anderson went to spring training with Oakland before retiring in May.

Dugan Darnell signed with Detroit but spent the spring injured and was released without appearing in a regular-season game.

The overall picture is pretty simple.

Of the 25 players who received meaningful time for the 2025 Rockies and are out of Colorado’s major-league picture this year, only six are spending 2026 primarily in the majors. Ten are mostly in the high minors or have received only brief MLB opportunities, five are continuing their careers elsewhere and four have not recorded regular-season game action.

But most have not left Colorado and become more established major-league players.

Raising the floor

That helps explain one of the biggest differences between the 2025 and 2026 Rockies.

The floor is much higher.

Not every holdover has improved, and not every replacement has worked. But there simply is not another collection of players producing anything close to the -12.5 rWAR left behind by those 23 departures.

There is less extreme negative value on the roster, and that is a big part of why the 2026 Rockies are substantially better than the team that came before them.

It also means the next step gets harder.

There are still roster spots that could change this winter, and there should be plenty more movement. But this time the decisions will be more targeted. There is not another giant pile of obvious negative value waiting to be cut away.

The Rockies have benefited from aggressive turnover once.

There is no reason to stop now.

So, who stays? Who goes? And which current Rockies deserve another year before Colorado starts looking for an upgrade?

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks! 

A season ago, the Red Sox finished third in the American League East, winning 89 games. This season, depending on the result of a final game at Tropicana Field against the Chicago Cubs (a real sentence), the team will win 87 or 88 games.

Last year, Boston was the 5-seed playing at the New York Yankees, losing the series in three games. This year, they are the 5-seed playing a three-game series at the New York Yankees, beginning on Tuesday.

A year ago, the Sox limped into the playoffs without Roman Anthony, and Wilyer Abreu returning from a calf injury and not at full strength. This season, the status of Willson Contreras, arguably the team’s MVP, is unknown due to pain in his hand. His potential replacement, Mickey Gasper, will be out with “a pretty significant biceps injury.” Last year’s Game One starter, Garrett Crochet, is attempting to return in a relief role for the Wild Card series and isn’t at full strength.

It sure feels similar, and for me, going out in the Bronx would not be a successful season, whether the American League bracket format is “fair” or not. It’s been five years since the Red Sox won a playoff series, and expectations need to be higher around here.

This 2026 result was enough for management to pick up Craig Breslow’s options in 2029 and 2030, as well as sign Chad Tracy to a three-year contract, following this season.

What would make this Red Sox season a success for you? Discuss in the comments and be good to each other.

With both the Mets and Nationals having nothing to play for in the dog days of the season, it gives both clubs an opportunity to shake it up and test some things out with an eye towards next year. 

That's why the Mets will be giving Brett Baty a look at shortstop in Saturday afternoon's contest. 

"Where the season is right now, for us, this serves a purpose for 2027," manager Andy Green said. "Brett has been incredibly valuable bouncing around the field from a roster-construction prospective, as you look towards the future his ability to defend at short when Francisco [Lindor] needs a day off gives us flexibility if it's a viable solution.

"These games don't have playoff implications for either team, so we don't feel like we're necessarily shorting the industry by doing it at this point in time, and it serves a purpose for us towards the future."

Baty has appeared at shortstop three times this year, but this will be his first career start at the position. 

The 26-year-old infielder has continued taking groundballs out there throughout this season, and that's something that Green and the Mets expect to carry into spring training next year.

"Very much so," the skipper said. "I've had the privilege of coaching a lot of really good big-league infielders, [bench coach] Kai [Correa] has, and [third base coach] Tim Leiper has as well -- we all see in him the athleticism necessary to defend the field there on a fill-in basis -- Brett's incredibly athletic." 

Baty will also continue to see reps in the outfield, despite the emergence of Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing really digging into his playing time out there. 

"Brett very much could still slide to the outfield depending on what happens," Green emphasized. "You look around baseball and the best teams have someone like this who has the athleticism to do all of these things -- he's found a great measure of comfort at that as the year has gone on and we've seen his bat wake up and get loud.

"A loud bat for someone who can defend all over the field is incredibly invaluable -- you never know what hole you are going to have fill from different injuries in a season, so him being prepared to fill as many holes as possible for us could set us up really well heading into next year."

Baty has now added 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, and RF to his toolbox. 

Mets lineup

Francisco Lindor – DH
Juan Soto – LF
Bo Bichette – 3B
Carson Benge – RF
Mark Vientos – 1B
Brett Baty – SS
Francisco Alvarez – C
A.J. Ewing – CF
Ronny Mauricio – 2B

SP: Jonah Tong (RHP)

Nationals lineup

James Wood – RF
Abimelec Ortiz – DH
Dylan Crews – CF
CJ Abrams – 2B
Brady House – 3B
Daylen Lile – LF
Yohandy Morales – 1B
Keibert Ruiz – C
Nasim Nunez – SS

SP: Connelly Early (LHP)

Broadcast info

First pitch: 12:35 PM EDT
TV: SNY
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App, 92.3 HD2

When it comes to making roster moves, the Mets are unmatched. On the penultimate day of the season, the team has optioned left-handed reliever Jefry Yan to the minors and called up right-handed reliever Chayce McDermott to take his place on the active roster.

Known for his enthusiastic and elaborate strikeout celebrations, Yan made his major league debut with the Mets this year and wound up throwing 20.1 innings with the team. In that time, he had a 4.87 ERA and a 4.82 FIP with 26 strikeouts and 15 walks.

McDermott had brief stints with the Orioles and Dodgers before the Mets picked him up this year, and he’s thrown 5.1 innings with the team at the major league level. In a total of 7.2 innings with the Mets and Dodgers this season, he has a 5.87 ERA and a 6.49 FIP. In 41.1 innings in the minors, he has a 3.92 ERA and a 3.82 FIP.

Jefry Yan's season has officially comes to an end. 

The Mets optioned the left-hander to the minors to bring in Chayce McDermott for Saturday's game. 

Yan joined the big-league roster midseason after they dealt all of their big bullpen arms.

The reliever showed some of the positives he put on display with Syracuse but ultimately faltered, being optioned back to the minors after allowing runs in each of his last four appearances from late-August to early-September. 

He eventually rejoined the squad and enjoyed some success, putting together 5.1 scoreless innings before allowing a pair of runs while serving as the opener for the first time in his career on Friday. 

Yan finishes his season with 4.34 ERA and 1.67 WHIP over his first 17 MLB appearances. 

It's a bit tough to see him back pitching for the Mets in meaningful games early on next season, but perhaps he'll be able to compete for a spot with the state of their bullpen. 

This is McDermott's second stint with the Mets since being acquired from the Dodgers at the deadline. 

I missed that one in the Chinese New Year list of animals. I remembered the sheep, rabbit, and snake, and then completely overlooked the “didn’t see that one coming” creature (possibly symbolized by a dead chicken in the road who crossed not noticing the approaching Toyota).

When anyone refers to baseball as “the most unpredictable of games,” 2026 provides a fine template. It also offers a useful reminder of the limited value pre-season predictions, projections, and prognostications hold. You may not have cared for the last sentence but please, give p’s a chance.

Exhibit A: The AL West

Much has been made of the AL West’s mediocrity and it reached a crescendo Friday night when both the Astros and Rangers lost (to teams with over 90 losses). Each club suffered its 81st loss in the process, ensuring they will not finish the season with a winning record.

What one of them will finish with, however, is a division crown. This means had the A’s been able to assemble a .500 team they would lining up their post-season rotation as we speak.

Exhibit B: The Sunken Mariners

Missing from the AL West showdown are the Mariners, who were practically unanimously picked to waltz away with the division title. Most projections had them winning somewhere between 88-94 games and had they gone, say, 91-71, they would have taken the division by 10-11 games.

Instead Seattle sputtered, treaded water, and sunk like the Holey Mariner, entering the final weekend 74-86. Inexplicably, Cal Raleigh followed up his historic 60 HR season by batting .169/.271/.310 in the first half of 2026, including a woeful May in which he hit .056/.128/.056 (2 for 36 with 2 singles) and a 41% K rate.

Exhibit C: The AL East

Today’s secret word is “Oops.” Check out ESPN’s analysis before the season ranking playoff odds and offering projected season records. Some highlights:

#2: Seattle Mariners (90 wins)
#4: Toronto Blue Jays (88 wins)
#6: New York Mets
#8: Detroit Tigers
#12: Baltimore Orioles (86 wins)
#15: Kansas City Royals
#17: San Francisco Giants (83 wins)

#21 on the list with a projected record of 79-83? That would be your Tampa Bay Rays, predicted to finish in the AL East cellar and offered a 23% chance of making the post-season at all.

In fact the Rays hold the American’s League’s best record at 97-63, sitting 18.5 games ahead of the Orioles and 19 up on the Blue Jays — the team ESPN figured would win 9 more games than the Rays). So they were only off by 28 games.

Individual anomalies also abound. I could have made quite the fortune had I been gutsy, flown to Vegas, and put my life savings on Carlos Cortes out homering Vlad Guerrero Jr. I mean there’s still 2 games left but the A’s LFer/reliever is leading 10-9. That’s partly because Guerrero Jr. is getting “out homered at home” 2-1 by Alika Williams.

So next spring, or whenever MLB and MLBPA cry “PLAY BALL!!!”, don’t be too quick to assume you know what’s going to unfold in 2027. Expect the unexpected and only then will you be right. It might just be the Rockies’ year.

We are all aware of the reputation Philadelphia has when it comes to underperforming athletes in this city. There are “boo birds” out en masse if a player does something that the city thinks isn’t up to their standards. Last night, against Tampa Bay, the fans were restless as scoring chance after scoring chance went wasted, frittered away by an offense that is so clearly pressing it’s barely funny.

When that ire is thrown from the stands, the suspects are usually the ones that have underperformed seemingly since the day they arrived. Trea Turner has been the subject of many a negative comment both in these parts and at the stadium in person. Alec Bohm frequently hears from the people when one of his cold streak appears out of nowhere. Much people’s current distaste has been directed at the currently 0 for his last 32 J.T. Realmuto, all of that completely justified.

However, there needs to be some criticism lobbed at the leadoff hitter. Kyle Schwarber has not just been ineffective lately, he’s been pretty ineffective for a while now.

The supposed fulcrum of the Phillies offense has been off for not just a little bit now. If we’re looking at recent runs, Schwarber’s last 14 days has seen him hit .143/.345/.262 with one home run. Stretch that back even 28 days and the line doesn’t really get all that much better (.185/.333/.380). His basing his entire offensive profile on hitting home runs is great and worth all the accolades he has been given in the past, but his dry spell is costing the team dearly.

Now, the entirety of the offense is currently to blame for their predicament. Meant to clinch a playoff spot earlier this week, they have found themselves in the position where missing the playoffs entirely is truly on the table and the cluster of the roster to blame is the offense. They have simply disappeared. When an All-Star starter disappears from the planet as far as production at the plate (Brandon Marsh’s wRC+ since 7/1 is 33), that is going to have an effect on the offense. When the catcher joins him in offensive ineptitude (Realmuto’s during that same time is a very not nice 69), that’s two hitters of nine that are just anchors on a lineup and what they can do.

But having a leadoff hitter that doesn’t do what he’s supposed to do is also a weight that is hard to ignore. Schwarber since 7/1 has hit .205/.336/.413, a paltry amount compared to what we have seen from him in the past. He’s hit 15 home runs in that time frame, which is great since the rest of the lineups has seen little power outside of him, but again, it’s not up to his standard.

And there are the strikeouts.

Holy cow, the strikeouts. He’s not nearly as strikeout prone as someone like Colson Montgomery, the young White Sox slugger that just whiffed his way to the MLB strikeout record for a season. But Schwarber truly looks lost at times at the plate, that he’s just unable to make contact when it is needed most. Two things that have been noticeable is that he’s not squaring the ball up

and he’s hitting the ball on the ground a lot more often.

It’s enough to make one wonder if there is something deeper at play, some kind of injury that he has been hiding that will require something done in the offseason.

There could be a few changes in mind to help with the malaise of the offense as a whole. Batting order changes, substitutions, something that can be used to shake up what looks to be a dormant group of hitters. Something in these final two games that maybe kickstart something drastic. Panicking? Maybe, but panic mode is probably in order right now.

What would really help is a leadoff hitter that was doing his job and right now, Kyle Schwarber is not doing that.

“But it turned out awful nice, I’ll tell you that — 16 years. You know, I lasted more than I thought I would. Boy, what a life. I really enjoyed every minute of it. Even when I was horseshit, I still liked it.”

As he approached his 100th birthday in 2025, Bobby Shantz took the opportunity to reflect on his career in baseball. More than 60 years since he’d hung up his cleats, he still had the mind of a ballplayer, reminiscing about the legends he played with and against with vividness and vibrancy. But he also had the perspective of a man who’d been on a long journey — and was grateful for every stop along the way.

Robert Clayton Shantz
Born: September 26, 1925 (Pottstown, PA)
Yankees Tenure: 1957-60

Shantz grew up in the suburbs in Pennsylvania. A small kid (his height peaked at 5-foot-6 as an adult), the young Bobby distinguished himself through pinpoint control and all-around athleticism. After his high school coach refused to let him pitch due to his size, a youth baseball manager saw Shantz working out his curveball and decided to give him a shot on the mound. He joined the Army in 1944 and continued to hone his craft on Army baseball teams while stationed in the Philippines, competing against big-leaguers and building confidence in his ability to go pro.

Upon his return to the States, Shantz continued to impress in semipro ball but struggled to find any takers among MLB teams due to his stature. Finally, after a couple of teammates with connections in the Philadelphia A’s organization put in a good word, Harry O’Donnell, a scout with the team, signed him to an A-Ball deal. He immediately impressed, winning 18 games in 28 starts and striking out nearly a batter an inning. The next year, at the age of 23, he made the leap all the way to the big leagues, where he would be managed by none other than Hall of Famer and baseball lifer Connie Mack.

In his first three seasons in Philly, the southpaw established himself as a strong contributor, pitching around league average and making his first All-Star team in 1951. But it was the following year that would be Shantz’s campaign for the ages. Seemingly out of nowhere, he emerged as the best pitcher in baseball, winning 24 games, posting a 152:63 K:BB ratio, recording a 2.48 ERA, 9.4 rWAR, and taking home the AL MVP. The career year was aided in part by the use of a knuckleball Mack had forbade him from employing but his new manager, Jimmie Dykes, encouraged.

In the ‘52 All-Star Game, Shantz struck out the side in his only inning of work, including punchouts of Jackie Robinson and Stan Musial. His newfound stardom even netted him a guest spot on the Ed Sullivan Show.

As is so often the case after a superlative season like Shantz’s ‘52, the pitcher took a step back in the years that followed. As he struggled with injury and inconsistency, he went 13-26 with a 4.42 ERA over the next four years, failing to recapture his peak form on floundering A’s teams as the franchise moved to Kansas City. After the ‘56 campaign, the A’s traded their former MVP to the Yankees as part of a 13-player trade. Shantz was a man reborn, leading all of baseball with a 2.45 ERA in ‘57 and earning his first All-Star berth since his MVP season.

Shantz also took home the very first AL Gold Glove for a pitcher, his first of eight such awards earned between both leagues. The man’s legacy as one of the greatest fielding pitchers has never been in question. “I’ll occasionally hear a guy introduce me and say, ‘He was the best fielding pitcher in baseball,’ and I’ll say, ‘No, Bobby Shantz was,’” said Jim Kaat, winner of 16 Gold Gloves himself. “He didn’t win a Gold Glove until ’57. Had they given them out starting in ’50, he would have had 16 or 17 as well.”

Shantz made the only World Series start of his long career that October, taking the ball in Game 2 against the Milwaukee Braves. He struggled, allowing four runs (three earned) in three innings, but rebounded well in Game 4, tossing three scoreless innings in relief to keep the Yankees in a game they’d eventually tie up in the ninth.

Shantz spent three more years in pinstripes, eventually transitioning to a bullpen role, where he pitched well as a proto-closer. Despite finding his greatest individual success in Philadelphia, Shantz would later recount that his time with the Yankees—who won a championship in 1958 and the pennant in three of his four seasons there—was the most rewarding of his career.

After the ‘60 season, the Yankees left him exposed in an expansion draft. Shantz was selected by the Washington Senators, who flipped him to the Pirates. He’d spend the final four seasons of his career in a state of perpetual motion, pitching for five different teams as a trusted reliever. After the ‘64 season, at the age of 39, Shantz retired. The 5-foot-6 non-prospect who was rejected repeatedly at the start of his career had stuck around for 16 years in the big leagues.

Shantz retired back to Pennsylvania, where he managed a restaurant and co-owned a bowling alley. In 2010, Pottstown High School renamed their baseball park Bobby Shantz Field in honor of their famous alumnus.

As the years have gone on and he’s passed the century mark, Shantz has increasingly become the “oldest living” designee in many areas — oldest living MLB MVP, oldest living A’s player, and on down the line. He’s accepted this status with grace and humor, giving colorful interviews and staying connected to the game he loves.

On the occasion of his 101st birthday, we celebrate the oldest living Yankee, Bobby Shantz. We’ll let him take us out in his own words: “I had a great life. Jesus, great life. Boy, I’d like to do that all over again.”

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.