Once teams promote a country, are owned by states or have to reflect government policy, sport becomes a playground for power
High fives all round at Hamas high command. The triumphant clink of Gaza Cola tins pings across the bunker. It’s been a tough week for the lads, what with five of their members being killed in the Doha airstrike, but you’ve got to celebrate the little victories, yeah? And as they use what remains of their fragile satellite internet connection to refresh the Cyclingnews live blog for the final time, the Hamas Grand Tour Disruption Division (Vuelta Branch) can toast an operation executed to perfection: the successful mobilisation of more than 100,000 members of the Madrid battalion to force the curtailment of stage 21 of the Tour of Spain.
“They asked us to quit the Vuelta, but we did not surrender to the terrorists,” said Sylvan Adams, co‑owner of the Israel-Premier Tech team targeted by mass protests that disrupted several stages. On Sunday, huge crowds of protesters in Madrid forced the race to conclude 27 miles short of the finish. And if the rancorous and chaotic last three weeks have taught us anything, it is the sheer number of terrorists that appear to have been operating within pro cycling, albeit many armed with nothing more lethal than energy gels.
Flyhalf included despite flying to England to join new club Leicester
Coach Joe Schmidt’s preferred scrumhalf Jake Gordon returns
James O’Connor has been retained in Australia’s squad for back-to-back Rugby Championship Tests against New Zealand despite flying to England on Monday to join his new club Leicester.
O’Connor’s inclusion denies Western Force playmaker Ben Donaldson a recall following his recovery from a thigh injury, with coach Joe Schmidt opting for Tom Lynagh and Tane Edmed as his other flyhalf options in the 34-man squad named on Thursday.
In this week's Closer Report, we run down the last week in saves around the league and examine every team's closer situation as we come down to the final week of baseball.
Fantasy Baseball Closer Rankings
Tier 1
Aroldis Chapman - Boston Red Sox Andrés Muñoz - Seattle Mariners
Chapman gave up a run in a non-save situation against the Yankees on Saturday, then bounced back with a clean inning, striking out one batter for a save on Sunday. The 37-year-old left-hander has recorded 30 saves with a 1.23 ERA, 0.70 WHIP, and an 82/14 K/BB ratio across 58 1/3 innings. And Muñoz struck out two batters in each of his two clean innings of work this week, picking up his 35th save of the season against the Angels on Friday. Matt Brash stepped in on Saturday with Muñoz unavailable and converted his fourth save.
Tier 2
Jhoan Duran - Philadelphia Phillies Edwin Díaz - New York Mets Robert Suarez - San Diego Padres
Duran was busy on the mound this week with four appearances. He picked up saves against the Mets and Royals before blowing a one-run lead against the Dodgers on Monday. He recovered with a clean inning on Tuesday for his third save of the week and 31st of the season. He's already converted 15 since joining the Phillies at the trade deadline.
Díaz blew the save and took the loss against the Rangers on Saturday, giving up a run on three hits. He made two other scoreless appearances in non-save situations in the last week. The 31-year-old right-hander has converted just three saves since the start of August. He remains at 26 with an excellent 1.88 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, and an 85/21 K/BB ratio across 57 1/3 innings. Meanwhile, Suarez locked down three saves to give him an NL-leading 39 on the season.
Tier 3
David Bednar - New York Yankees Pete Fairbanks - Tampa Bay Rays Kenley Jansen - Los Angeles Angels Carlos Estévez - Kansas City Royals Abner Uribe - Milwaukee Brewers Emilio Pagán - Cincinnati Reds Cade Smith - Cleveland Guardians Raisel Iglesias - Atlanta Braves Ryan Walker - San Francisco Giants Tanner Scott - Los Angeles Dodgers Bryan Abreu - Houston Astros Jeff Hoffman - Toronto Blue Jays Will Vest - Detroit Tigers Dennis Santana - Pittsburgh Pirates
Bednar is up to 25 saves, eight with the Yankees, after converting three this week. The 30-year-old right-hander has had a tremendous bounce-back season after posting a 5.77 ERA in 2024, recording a 2.50 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and a 79/16 K/BB ratio across 57 2/3 innings.
In Tampa Bay, Fairbanks reached a new career-high with his 26th save against the Cubs on Saturday. He then tossed a clean inning in a non-save situation against the Blue Jays on Monday before converting his 27th save on Wednesday. The 31-year-old right-hander has a club option for 2026, and it's hard to imagine the team not exercising that option after Fairbanks has managed to bounce back and stay healthy all season with a career-high 57 1/3 innings.
Jensen remains at 27 saves after making just one appearance in a non-save situation this week. In Kansas City, Estévez was pulled from his appearance on Sunday against the Phillies with mild back tightness. After a couple of days off, he pitched the ninth against the Mariners on Wednesday, giving up one run while holding on for his 40th save.
Uribe came away with a win this week in extra innings against the Cardinals on Saturday. Trevor Megill appeared set to return from the injured list this week, but felt renewed soreness following a live batting practice session. Uribe stands to continue operating as the team's closer in Megill's absence.
Pagán went without a save this week, logging a scoreless inning in a non-save situation against the Cardinals on Monday. Top rookie Chase Burns was activated from the injured list this week and will pitch out of the bullpen for the remainder of the regular season.
Smith converted three saves in four days for the Guardians, then blew a save with one run allowed against the Tigers on Tuesday before falling in line for a win. He's struck out multiple batters in each of his last eight outings. The 26-year-old right-hander is up to 15 saves with a 3.10 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, and a 100/19 K/BB ratio across 69 2/3 innings.
Iglesias lowers his second-half ERA to 2.08 after logging two more scoreless appearances this week, including a save against the Nationals on Tuesday. The 35-year-old right-hander has allowed one run over his last 22 outings. He's certainly showing he has plenty left in the tank as he enters free agency this winter.
Walker tossed a scoreless inning in a non-save situation against the Dodgers on Friday, then took the loss in the ninth inning against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday before working around a pair of baserunners in a scoreless inning on Wednesday. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Scott gave up three runs in a loss against the Giants on Friday. He bounced back with two clean appearances in non-save situations against the Giants and Phillies.
Abreu hasn't been quite as sharp since stepping in to fill the closer role in Josh Hader's absence. He stranded two hits and a walk for a save against the Rangers on Monday, then picked up a four-out save Tuesday as he worked around three hits and a walk.
Hoffman struck out two in a scoreless inning in a non-save situation against the Rays on Monday, then recorded the final two outs on Tuesday for his 31st save of the season to go with a 4.64 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, and an 83/23 K/BB ratio across 64 innings.
Vest tossed two scoreless innings against the Marlins on Saturday before picking up a save Sunday in Miami. In his third outing in four days, he surrendered four runs, three earned, to take the loss against the Guardians on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Santana made one appearance in a non-save situation against the Nationals on Saturday.
Tier 4
Shawn Armstrong - Texas Rangers Jose Ferrer - Washington Nationals Keegan Akin - Baltimore Orioles Andrew Kittredge/Brad Keller - Chicago Cubs JoJo Romero/Riley O'Brien - St. Louis Cardinals Calvin Faucher/Ronny Henriquez/Tyler Phillips - Miami Marlins
Armstrong made two scoreless appearances against the Mets, picking up his ninth save on Saturday in New York. The 35-year-old right-hander has had an excellent season, posting a 2.39 ERA, 0.83 WHIP, and a 70/19 K/BB ratio across 67 2/3 innings. Ferrer also locked down his ninth save of the season against the Pirates on Friday. And Akin had a big week with three saves for the Orioles. Armstrong, Ferrer, and Akin are still widely available in most fantasy leagues for teams looking to supplement some last-minute saves as we reach the end of the season.
Both Kittredge and Keller picked up two saves apiece as they work in a committee to fill the closer role left by Daniel Palencia. Palencia could begin a rehab assignment this weekend as he works his way back from a shoulder injury. And it was O'Brien's week in St. Louis as he converted a pair of saves for the Cardinals.
Tier 5
Justin Topa/Kody Funderburk - Minnesota Twins Sean Newcomb - Athletics Andrew Saalfrank/Jake Woodford - Arizona Diamondbacks Jordan Leasure/Mike Vasil - Chicago White Sox Victor Vodnik - Colorado Rockies
Blake Snell is fired up after striking out Otto Kemp to end the top of the seventh inning Wednesday. (Mark J. Terrill / Associated Press)
Dave Roberts started out of the dugout with a walk.
Once Blake Snell caught his gaze, it turned into a trot.
With two out in the seventh inning, and Snell trying to put the finishing touches on his best performance in a Dodgers uniform, Roberts appeared to be coming to the mound after a pair of walks to turn to his shaky bullpen with a three-run lead.
As he usually does when removing a pitcher, his gait was slow — at least, initially.
Once Snell saw him coming, however, Roberts picked up his pace — as he will sometimes do when electing to leave a pitcher in the game.
This time, it was the latter.
After a brief discussion between manager and starting pitcher, Snell stayed in.
Five throws later, the $180-million offseason signee rewarded the decision, striking out Otto Kemp with a 95-mph fastball to put an emphatic ending on his scoreless seven-inning start, one that lifted the Dodgers to a 5-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Entering Wednesday, all the discussion around the Dodgers had centered on the bullpen. The slumping unit was coming off two of its worst performances of the season. The majority of Roberts’ pregame address with reporters was spent dissecting how to fix it.
“Before the results, has to be confidence,” Roberts said, comparing the relief corps’ struggles to the second-half scuffles that the offense only recently emerged from. “It's just kind of trying to reset a mentality, a mindset and expect that things happen. … You can't chase a zero in an inning until you execute the first pitch, and then keep going like that. And I think that right now you can see that they're kind of trying a little too hard.”
On Wednesday night, however, Snell made their job easy.
Efficient from the start with the kind of aggressive, attacking game plan he had acknowledged was missing in his last three outings, Snell went to work quickly against the Phillies, retiring the side on eight pitches (and two strikeouts) in the first inning, en route to setting down the first eight batters he faced.
Brief trouble arose in the third, when Bryson Stott and Harrison Bader had back-to-back singles.
But then Snell froze Kyle Schwarber with a curveball, one of the seven punchouts he recorded with the pitch. He had a season-high 12 strikeouts on the night.
And after that, the Phillies didn’t put another runner aboard until the seventh, with Snell breezing through the next 12 batters.
In the meantime, the Dodgers built a lead. Freddie Freeman homered to lead off the second. Ben Rortvedt (starting his third straight game behind the plate, even with Dalton Rushing back from a leg injury) added an RBI single later in the inning, following an Andy Pages hit-and-run single that put runners on the corners.
Another run came around in the fourth, after Pages worked a two-out walk, stole second, took third on a wild pickoff throw and scored on an RBI single from Kiké Hernández (who played third base in place of Max Muncy, who still felt “fuzzy” on Tuesday from a hit-by-pitch he took to the head over the weekend).
And from there, the Dodgers watched Snell cruise, with the $182-million offseason acquisition attacking the corners of the strike zone while also inducing misses on 24 of 54 swings.
The night culminated in the seventh, after walks to Nick Castellanos and Max Kepler drew Roberts out of the dugout. In the bullpen, left-hander Alex Vesia was getting warm. For a brief moment, it appeared the game would be in the hands of the relievers.
Snell had other ideas, signaling Roberts to hurry to the mound in the middle of his walk before seemingly pleading his case to stay in.
Snell stayed on the rubber. A crowd of 50,859 roared in approval.
Against his final batter, Kemp, Snell fell behind, missing low with a changeup before pulling a fastball wide. Undeterred, he went back on the attack, getting one foul ball with a heater on the inner half, then another with a curveball that leaked over the plate. The count was 2-and-2. Chavez Ravine rose to its feet.
The next pitch — Snell’s 112th of the night — was another fastball, this time on the upper, outside corner at 95.3 mph. Kemp swung through it. Snell screamed and pumped his fist. In the dugout, Roberts raised an arm in the air, then began clapping as Snell walked off to a raucous ovation.
The next two innings were refreshingly simple. Alex Vesia retired the side in the top of the eighth. The Dodgers made it a five-run lead by scoring twice in the bottom half of the frame, including on Shohei Ohtani’s 51st home run of the season. Embattled closer Tanner Scott spun a stress-free ninth, pitching three consecutive scoreless outings for the first time since early July.
Come October, that’s the kind of blueprint the Dodgers (who maintained a two-game lead in the National League West over the San Diego Padres) will have to try and replicate.
Their bullpen still needs fixing. Their relief issues aren’t solved. But more gems like Snell’s would certainly help.
One night after their pitching piggyback was a roaring success, the Mets’ rotation reality smacked them once again on Wednesday. On David Peterson’s turn, the Mets were back to their normal starter usage – one guy, his game. Let’s just say the results were not nearly as encouraging as those delivered by the Clay Holmes-Sean Manaea combo in the opener of this series against the Padres, and now thorny questions loom about Peterson going forward.
Peterson didn’t exactly get shelled, but he didn’t exactly do anything that should make the Mets feel comfortable about giving him an October start, either. You know, if the Mets can actually make the playoffs.
Peterson allowed six runs in five innings, the big blow coming on a Manny Machado grand slam in the fifth inning that tilted a tie game. The Padres went on to win, 7-4, and the Mets bungled a chance to put more distance between them and the Diamondbacks in the race for the third NL Wild Card. Arizona had lost earlier in the day, just as the Mets’ grounds crew was taking the tarp off the diamond at Citi Field, so the Mets still own a 1.5-game lead.
Again, Peterson didn’t get mauled – the Padres loaded the bases in the fifth on a hit batsman, a walk and a bunt single by Luis Arraez before Machado’s slam. And they got a run in the second on two bloop hits sandwiched around a groundout. Still, Peterson’s final line was ugly, in line with much of his poor second half. In 11 starts since making his first All-Star team, Peterson has a 5.71 ERA.
“It’s obviously tough when you know what you’re capable of,” Peterson admitted of his struggles. “You're gonna go through times where it's not going exactly how you want it to, whether it's baseball or whether it's something that you're not necessarily executing. But you know you can't hold onto it. Look at it as objectively as possible and correct things that need to be worked on and move forward.”
With the playoffs looming, Peterson must revert back to the ace-type that he was earlier in the season if the Mets hope to reach October and go on a run similar to last season. And the Mets have to help him get there.
“When he’s at his best, he’s getting a lot of ground balls,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “He’s inducing weak contact. He’s using all of his pitches when he’s ahead and he’s able to get swings and misses with the secondary pitchers. And we haven’t seen that for quite a bit.”
Still, Mendoza said, he trusts Peterson going forward.
“We trust him and all of the guys here,” Mendoza said. “We only got, what, 10 more (games) to go in the regular season. We need him. He’s been a big part of this team. But it’s been a struggle for him. We want to do everything moving forward to put guys in position to help us win baseball games.
“We’re counting on him.”
The Machado home run came on a 3-2 curveball that Machado swatted for his 14th career grand slam. Asked how he felt about the pitch when he threw it, Peterson replied, “Felt fine about it. I shook to that pitch and felt like I threw a good, competitive pitch down and away. And he’s a really good hitter and he was able to give them a gap there in the game.”
That is where the outing spun out of control for Peterson. His season has, too. As recently as Aug. 6, Peterson had a season ERA below 3.00 (2.98). It now sits a full run higher. He was one of the few reliable sources of length in the rotation, too, a problem that’s plagued the Mets all year. Now it plagues Peterson, too.
Wednesday’s loss dropped him to 9-6 and was the third time in his last seven starts he’s given up six or more runs. Earlier this season, he was working on a since-dead streak of 56 consecutive starts in which he did not allow more than five runs, according to the Mets.
Still, Mendoza confirmed postgame that Peterson will indeed make his next start. Would Peterson perhaps be a consideration for some kind of piggybacking scenario, too, at some point?
“We just got done with this turn,” Mendoza said. “We’re already doing it with two guys.”
But, the manager added, “I mean, everything’s on the table because we’ve got to win baseball games.”
Starting soon. They had won two in a row before losing Wednesday. Was that just a quick palate cleanser before another course of losing? The sands in the 162-game hourglass of the season are rapidly running out.
In a season in which there are no behemoths in either league, it’d be a shame if the Mets aren’t able to take their chances in October. They’ve got to get there first, though. And they’ll need a better David Peterson to do that.
The Navy All-American Bowl Road to the Dome tour will visit Rocky Mountain High School in Meridian, Idaho, on September 19th to recognize Jax Tanner as a 2026 Navy All-American.
After Francisco Alvarez lifted an opposite-field homer to make it a one-run ballgame, the Mets' slugger stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh with a man on and one out, facing San Diego’s All-Star reliever Mason Miller.
Soto had already gone deep once in the ballgame, tying his career-high with 41 blasts.
After battling to a 2-2 count against the hard-throwing right-hander, the sweet-swinging lefty laced a 102.6 mph fastball for a long fly ball deep down into the left field corner that sent the Citi Field crowd into a frenzy.
It came oh so close to being a game-tying two-run blast and Soto’s signature Mets moment down the stretch in the playoff push, but upon further review, the ball dropped in just shy of the foul pole.
“I knew it had enough power behind it to go out,” Soto said. “I just didn’t how long it was going to stay fair, it was fair most of the time and then at the end it just hooked a little more -- it was just a long strike.”
Miller would get the best of Soto one pitch later, freezing him with a nasty slider on the corner.
The 26-year-old found himself with an opportunity for redemption a few innings later, though, as Brett Baty led off the ninth with a single and Francisco Lindor drew a two-out walk to again bring him to the plate as the tying run.
Soto was in another 2-2 count when he laced a 100.5 mph comebacker back up the middle at San Diego closer Robert Suarez, which he was able to glove down before throwing to first to end the ballgame.
Just like that, the Mets’ lead for the third wild card spot is back down to 1.5 games over the Diamondbacks and 2.0 over the Reds and Giants with 10 games to play.
“We just have to try to be a little bit more consistent,” Soto said. “We still have a playoff spot, so we’re definitely still in this, but we have to get going today because tomorrow is going to be too late; we have to get going right now.”
The Yankees had to make up for a lackluster starter's performance again, but Trent Grisham's two homers powered New York to a 10-5 win over the Twins on Wednesday night in Minnesota.
Here are the takeaways....
-After scoring 10 runs on Tuesday, the Yankees picked up where they left off thanks to Aaron Judge. The defending AL MVP hit a two-out double, and Cody Bellinger followed with a single that Judge was able to get home ahead of the throw from left field. Grisham's career year continued, as his second-inning solo shot gave the Yankees a 2-1 lead.
-For the second straight game, a Yankees starter could not make it through five with a big lead. Luis Gil, starting for the first time since throwing six no-hit innings against the Red Sox, was not as sharp on Wednesday. The Twins drew a one-out walk and back-to-back singles (with a throwing error on a pickoff thrown in) allowed Minnesota to push across a run in the second inning. Then, with two outs, Gil threw a wild pitch that Ben Rice should have blocked, but the Twins took advantage to take a 2-1 lead.
Bellinger would hit a two-run shot in the ninth to put the game away.
After the Yankees tied it back up, Gil unraveled again in the third. Byron Buxton led off with a double and then Gil hit Austin Martin to put two runners on with no outs. But Gil hunkered down and got a double play and a ground out to end the threat. Minnesota would get to Gil again in the fifth. They pushed across three runs on four hits and one walk, which could have been more if not for some nifty defense by Jazz Chisholm Jr. and was pulled for Fernando Cruz. Cruz got Royce Lewis to line out to end the inning.
Gil went just 4.2 innings (85 pitches/54 strikes), allowing five runs (four earned) on nine hits, two walks, while striking out just two batters.
-Aaron Boone had an unconventional lineup on Wednesday. With Judge DHing, Giancarlo Stanton was relegated to the bench as Jasson Dominguez took over in left field. The young outfielder went 1-for-3, with two stolen bases but his RBI double in the fourth gave the Yankees a 3-2 lead. His steal of second in the eighth and getting to third on the throwing error led to a much-needed insurance run.
Jose Caballero started at short in place of Anthony Volpe, who went 2-for-4 on Tuesday, and went 0-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base and a run scored.
-Grisham has 33 home runs and 70 RBI for the season. It's his eighth long ball in his last 19 games and 10 in his last 22.
-In relief of Gil, the Yankees' bullpen was solid. The combination of Cruz, Devin Williams, Luke Weaver and Camilo Doval went 4.1 innings without allowing a run on two hits and striking six batters.
Game MVP: Trent Grisham
Grisham's two blasts and four RBI helped the Yankees clinch the series win.
The Mets were defeated by the San Diego Padres 7-4 on Wednesday night at Citi Field.
Here are some takeaways...
- David Peterson's struggles continued, as he was knocked around by the Padres in just five innings of work. The left-hander was hurt by some soft contact in the early innings, allowing a run on a sacrifice fly in the top of the first and then another on an RBI single in the second.
He appeared to settle into a bit of a groove, putting together back-to-back scoreless frames, but things caved in on him in the fifth. After loading the bases on a single, a hit-by-pitch and a walk, Manny Machado crushed a go-ahead grand slam to deep left.
Peterson escaped the inning without further damage but his final line still closed with an ugly six runs allowed on six hits and three walks while striking out just one batter -- bringing his ERA to 3.98 for the season.
- The Mets' three runs off of San Diego right-hander Nick Pivetta all came via solo blasts. Pete Alonso got them on the board in the bottom of the first, Starling Marte evened things up at the time with one of his own in the fourth, then Juan Soto lifted one to right in the fifth.
Alonso's left the bat at a whopping 112 mph as he's now homered in three straight, Marte snapped a 16-game homerless drought to give him eight on the season, and Soto tied his career-high, which he set last year while with the Yankees (41).
- Dom Hamel entered, making his MLB debut behind Peterson; he was the 46th different pitcher used by the Mets this season, which is a new league record. Hamel was helped out by some shoddy Padres base-running to escape the sixth with no runs against.
- The Mets were able to chip into the lead against the high-powered Padres bullpen. Francisco Alvarez took a second-pitch slider from right-hander Jeremiah Estrada and lifted it the other way just over the right field fence, cutting it back down to a two-run ballgame.
After Cedric Mullins walked and stole second, Soto appeared to have lifted a game-tying two-run shot off of hard-throwing All-Star Mason Miller, but it hooked just inches foul -- Miller got the best of both Soto and Alonso representing the tying run, then put together a 1-2-3 eighth.
- Soto would have one more opportunity to even this thing up in the bottom of the ninth. After Ryne Stanek allowed a solo homer in the top half, San Diego's Robert Suarez put two on with two outs in the ninth, but he got the All-Star slugger to line into a comebacker to end the game and secure the save.
- Brett Baty did enjoy himself another strong day at the plate, reaching three times with two singles and a double. The left-hander hitting slugger entered play with a .297 average, 12 extra base-hits, 17 RBI, and a .854 OPS in 47 games following the All-Star break.
- With an announced attendance of 41,783 on the night, Citi Field officially reached a total of 3 million fans for the season for the first time since the stadium opened its gates for the first time back in 2009.
- New York's lead for the final wild card is back down to 1.5 games over the Diamondbacks, Reds, and Giants.
Game MVP: Manny Machado
Machado's grand slam was the big blast that sunk Peterson and the Mets in this one.
Highlights
Pete Alonso homers in his third-straight game and ties things up!
Eubank Jr makes allegations against Matchroom at press conference
Hearn rejects claims and threatens legal action unless boxer apologises
Eddie Hearn has threatened to sue Chris Eubank Jr, after the boxer fired the first shots during a press conference ahead of his rematch with Conor Benn by accusing his opponent’s team of dirty tricks and “sabotage”.
Eubank Jr, who won their first bout by unanimous decision in April, claimed an ambulance taking him to hospital afterwards was stopped – and appeared to point the finger at Benn’s promoters, Matchroom Boxing.
On Wednesday night, the Chicago Blackhawks announced that they have agreed to a contract extension with defenseman Wyatt Kaiser.
Kaiser was an RFA with the hopes of getting a deal done before training camp began, and the two sides were able to come together successfully. The deal is a two-year contract with an average annual value of $1.7 million.
Kaiser set career highs in goals with four, points with 8, and games played with 57 during the 2024-25 season. He also managed to be a contributor in blocked shots and hits, which is part of what makes him a solid young defensive defenseman.
Despite the Blackhawks starting to build some nice depth on the back-end, they are mostly young players, so a good rotation will be necessary in 2025-26. Kaiser will be a part of the mix on the left side.
When the rosters came out for training camp, Kaiser's name did appear on it with the designation that he was without a contract. Now, he will be able to report to camp with no issues.
After taking a major step in the right direction in 2024-25, the Montreal Canadiens followed that up with a busy off-season. They notably brought in star defenseman Noah Dobson from the New York Islanders in a big trade. They also acquired a young forward in Zack Bolduc from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for defenseman Logan Mailloux.
While Dobson and Bolduc are the Canadiens' newcomers that are being talked about most, the Habs also brought in an interesting veteran forward who should not be ignored: Sammy Blais.
The Canadiens quietly signed Blais to a one-year, $775,000 contract back in July. This was after the 6-foot-2 forward spent all of the 2024-25 season in the AHL with the Abbotsford Canucks, where he recorded 14 goals and 40 points in 51 regular-season games. He also made a big impact during Abbotsford's championship run this spring, recording six goals, 19 points, and 77 penalty minutes in 23 playoff games.
Now, after a successful season in the AHL, Blais will be looking to get back to the NHL level with the Canadiens. When looking at the Habs' group, it is fair to wonder if the 2014 sixth-round pick could make the Habs' roster as an extra forward with a strong training camp. His hard-nosed style of play and versatility could get him some consideration for their fourth line.
Blais last played at the NHL level with the St. Louis Blues in 2023-24, where he recorded one goal, seven points, and 194 hits in 53 games. It will now be interesting to see if he can claw his way back to the NHL with the Canadiens from here.
Benge was named the organization’s Minor League Player of the Year as part of their player development awards on Monday afternoon.
Then on Wednesday night, the 22-year-old former first-round pick crushed a solo homer in Syracuse’s playoff victory over the Leigh Valley IronPigs.
With the mini-Mets trailing by two in the top of the fourth, Benge stepped to the plate against Phillies top pitching prospect Andrew Painter and crushed a solo shot 355 feet over the right field fence.
It was Benge’s second long ball in Triple-A, and his 14th of the season.
Austin Warren, Alex Carrillo, Ty Adcock, and Oliver Ortega combined for five strong innings of one-run ball to close out the 4-3 victory.
While Benge has gotten off to a bit of a slow start since being promoted to the new level, the Mets have loved what they’ve seen from him in his first full year in the organization.
“He’s a guy that’s really found his stride,” Senior VP of Player Development Andy Green said. “The stride started at the end of last season and he put on a lot of weight this winter to help him get through his first full pro season.
“I melted at the end of my first year, it’s a credit to the performance group -- he just worked incredibly hard, he did two things people really struggle to do, and he is just moving the needle positively.”
Benge, SNY's Joe DeMayo’s third-ranked prospect, is projected to debut during the 2026 season.
Bend it (over the wall) like ... Benge?@Mets top-ranked prospect Carson Benge gets the @SyracuseMets on the board.
