In his exclusive interview with the California Post this week, Dodgers owner Mark Walter came armed with an alliterative saying.

“You’ve heard about the three strikes. But what about the 3 Ps?” the billionaire businessman quipped. “Our people, our passion and our practice.”

When it comes to the future of the franchise, that’s what he cited as the Dodgers’ guiding light.

In his chat with the Post this week, Walter tried to quash speculation about potentially selling the team (saying he would remain owner “no matter what”) and drew a distinction between the Dodgers and the Lakers (a club he ultimately did sell this summer, amid a federal investigation into his business empire, after receiving a staggering offer in a phone call from venture capitalist Josh Kushner).

However, those aren’t the only questions he faces as Major League Baseball enters an uncertain offseason.

This winter could represent a profound period of change for both the Dodgers and the sport.

For the former, an aging roster needs to be retooled after a failed bid for a third-straight World Series title. For the latter, a fraught labor negotiation is threatening an extended work stoppage, as owners and players fight over the league’s push for a salary cap.

Both dynamics could mark an inflection point for Walter’s baseball club. 

After a decade-and-a-half-long run of unprecedented success, the Dodgers are now trying to resurrect their dynasty after this year’s sweep to the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series.

And, after raising their already gaudy payroll totals to record-setting levels over the last couple seasons, they might face stricter spending rules as they begin turning over the league’s oldest roster.

So, how does Walter –– who declined to state his stance on the salary cap issue –– feel about the team’s ability to remain an annual, legitimate championship contender?

“I think on any playing field, we’ll still be among the elite teams,” he said, while harkening back to his three Ps motto.

“I think our people and our passion and our practice really does matter,” he insisted.

That doesn’t mean the Dodgers are going to stop spending, either this winter (when Tarik Skubal will be the top free agent on the market) or beyond (when they’ll have to navigate the back end of long-term deals for gradually aging stars like Mookie Betts, Will Smith and even Shohei Ohtani). 

Walter said his Guggenheim group’s financial commitment “will be just like it has been in the past.”

On multiple occasions, he referenced his vision for at least another decade of dominance under his ownership.

“We’re just trying to win consistently,” he said. “And do so for not just next season, but for the next decade and decades beyond that.”

However, both Walter and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman –– who joined the team’s chairman in this week’s interview with The Post –– referred to other ways the Dodgers will have to adapt amid the sport’s ever-changing landscape.

They pointed to a crop of promising young prospects they hope to further integrate into the majors leagues next season. They highlighted the importance of maintaining a strong player development pipeline and highly-ranked farm system.

“Everything in the current system is designed for us to have a bottom-three farm system in baseball,” Friedman said, citing the draft pick penalties and limited signing bonus pools the Dodgers have incurred from their heavy roster spending in recent years. “[And instead], we’re top two.”

That, Friedman argued, “speaks to the people we have.”

“From our perspective, whatever the rules are, we don’t decide them, but we will do everything in our power to achieve the most success that we possibly can within those rules,” he added. “And I think, obviously, our spending in the last few years has been aggressive and also very fruitful in a lot of ways, but I think it diminishes a little bit from the great work by so many people on the scouting, player-development side, our baseball operations group, our coaches with the onboarding. 

“Just for us to have the farm system that we have, I think is something that gives all of us confidence in our ability to work together within whatever rules exist to be as good as we can possibly be.”

In the short term, that could signal something of a youth movement.

Walter specifically praised the performances of recent big-league breakthroughs such as All-Star center fielder Andy Pages, slugging catcher Dalton Rushing and rookie sensation Josue De Paula. He noted how “we have a wealth of talent coming up behind them, too.” 

“One area we’re focused on is integrating our best young players into the major league team,” he said, before later adding: “It’s not just spending. Our farm system is pretty strong, and that and our player development are really big things for us.”

Friedman acknowledged the difficulties that still lie ahead for the club, describing the need to balance their expensive core of current veteran players with an infusion of younger talent as “way more art than science” –– especially given the uncertainties of what a new CBA will bring.

“We know the backside of these [long-term] deals oftentimes can be challenging,” he said. “So now the tricky part … is incorporating these young talented players onto our roster with our core, that we feel like will help contribute to us maintaining a very high level of play.”

One thing Friedman expressed confidence in was that, even amid the ongoing federal investigation into Walter’s non-sports businesses, the owner would continue to green-light bigger expenditures when the front office believes they are warranted.

“The financial backing has always been there,” Friedman said. “But Mark also follows it up with a thoughtful question of, ‘What does this mean for the future?’ And I think all of us being in lockstep on that has contributed to the success we’ve had looking back, and I think keeps us well-positioned for future success.”

Exactly what that will look like, either this winter or in the future, is still unknown.

But, after reaffirming his commitment to the club, Walter was adamant about his belief in the organization’s ability to sustain what they have already built.

“We’re going to be winning for 10 years or more,” he declared. “And, you know, we don’t win every year, but we’re going to try to.”

The culling has begun.

As Matt Gross pointed out yesterday, a weird quirk of the Red Sox 40-man roster is forcing Craig Breslow’s hand as the offseason gets underway: he has to cut four players loose before free agency even begins. With a couple of minor trades yesterday, he’s at two down with two to go, as utility man and speed demon Nate Eaton was sent to the Athletics, while Tsung-Che Cheng will head to Detroit.

It goes without saying that these are two players the Red Sox can afford to lose. Eaton is a useful player whose speed and versatility gives him the type of profile that often leads to becoming something of a fan favorite. And I wouldn’t be shocked if he finds a way to contribute to the A’s in the next year or two. But with limited-to-no power to go with otherwise meh contact/on-base abilities, he’s never going to be a starter on a 95-win team (which, of course, should the Red Sox’ target). He was out of options and likely be to released for nothing, so getting anything in return for him is nice. He’ll get a real shot at sticking on a big league roster with the A’s and I’m sure most Sox fans would be thrilled if he does.

It’s going to be hard to say goodbye to Cheng, too. That’s kind of a crazy thing to say about a player who only got 39 at-bats with the big league club but, improbably, Cheng was the starting shortstop during most of the team’s historic 15-game win streak. He even made arguably the biggest defensive play of the season: a leaping catch to end the game when the Orioles had runners on second and third in the 9th, sealing the 14th win a row:

As for the return, Cheng only brought back cash, while Eaton brought back the definition of a lottery ticket: an 18-year-old Nicaraguan pitcher named Jareth Rayo who put up an ERA in the mid-5s and walked 20 batters in 36 innings in the Dominican Summer League last year. There probably is something that the research fellows in Craig Breslow’s pitching lab like about him, but there’s a good chance that this is the last time you ever read his name.

Major League Baseball faces a precarious position as a potential lockout looms on Dec. 1 when the sport's collective bargaining agreement is set to expire.

Before that happens, some business still needs to be taken care of, as dozens of players have options on their 2027 contracts and will need to get those situations squared away for whenever the union and the owners decide that next season can be salvaged.

Teams face big decisions, and players must decide where they want to play the 2027 season by Nov. 2. Those include team, player and mutual options, as well as opt-outs for players who want to test the market and become free agents.

Some players who want to maximize their contracts can also accept a team's qualifying offer, which can be extended starting Nov. 2. The value of a 2027 one-year qualifying offer is $23.15 million, and free agents who decline a qualifying offer and sign with a new team will do so, as their old team will receive draft pick compensation as a result of their departure.

Here are the contract options that have been exercised and declined for the 2027 season:

A familiar smile made a somewhat unlikely return to the big leagues with the Atlanta Braves behind the plate, as a spate of injuries caused the Braves to reach deep into their catcher depth chart before Memorial Day.

How Acquired

The Atlanta Braves first acquired Chadwick Tromp off waivers from the San Francisco Giants on September 21, 2021. In the seasons since, Tromp has been on the fringes of the big league roster as the proverbial fourth catcher on the depth chart. Seriously, the roster moves involving him have been legendary in length: DFAed in 2022 (and re-added), minor league free agency and a re-signing after the 2023 season, a DFA in early 2025, a stint with the Orioles, a stint with the Red Sox, re-added by the Braves in November 2025… you get the idea. All in all, Tromp had been a depth mainstay, spent part of the 2025 season elsewhere, but the affable Aruban played with the Braves for a fifth consecutive season in 2026. (And was part of the organization for a sixth consecutive season.)

What were the expectations?

Coming into 2026, Tromp had appeared with the Braves in every season since 2022 – beginning the the legendary “Chadwick Tromp Game” when he went 3-for-4 against the Tampa Bay Rays – but had only 28 games of action across four seasons to show for his Atlanta Braves tenure.

With catcher Sean Murphy recovering from surgery coming into 2026, Tromp’s addition made him one of two veteran options, with Sandy León, to back-up Drake Baldwin to start the season should Murphy not be ready. But, with the organization bringing in Jonah Heim in February 2026 to be Baldwin’s back-up, Tromp was relegated to the third or fourth option in the organization’s depth chart until Murphy’s return, which would have pushed him back further.

Performance-wise, Tromp has had the career of a quintessential third catcher: he can’t hit at all (career 63 wRC+, which is the result of substantially outhitting an unplayable .234 xwOBA), but he provides solid catcher defense (career +3 Statcast-based catcher runs above average in under 460 innings). That actually adds up to over 1 WAR per 600 PAs given how valuable catcher defense is, but Tromp came into 2026 with just 0.4 fWAR in 67 career games, given that no one really wants to give a bunch of playing time to a guy that can’t hit.

All of that is to say that Tromp was expected to be a staple in Gwinnett and an emergency option should something go unexpectedly wrong in Atlanta.

2026 results

Like 2021, something did go wrong, as the Braves dealt with a cacophony of injuries, leading to Tromp sharing time with León as the catcher tandem for several weeks in May.

He made 12 appearances for the Braves, including six starts, after the team traded Heim to the Athletics. Of course, that trade only happened because the Braves activated Murphy, but Murphy went right back on the shelf after a bat broke his hand on a catcher’s interference snafu… and Baldwin followed suit a week later with an injury of his own.

With the Braves, Tromp slashed a paltry .200/.192/.240 with Atlanta (11 wRC+), with surprisingly poor tiny-sample, no-meaning defense, leading to -0.1 fWAR in 27 PAs.

Tromp also had a similar lack of playing time with the Orioles, totaling 24 PAs and -0.3 fWAR; his defense “rebounded” but his bat was even worse (-39 wRC+). It was not a banner year for Tromp.

What went right?

Tromp picked-up a hit in his first 2026 at-bat with the Braves, and followed that up with another hit in his first start of the season a couple of days later. But, the highlight of his time with the Braves came on May 22, 2026 against the Washington Nationals — in what is now the new Chadwick Tromp Game. He went 2-for-3 after entering the game in the seventh inning, had a run-scoring hit in extra innings after the Braves fell behind 4-2 in the top of the tenth, and then proceeded to get the game-winning, walk-off hit for Atlanta in the 11th inning.

This performance earned him 0.46 WPA, and the walkoff hit alone was worth .392 WPA given that it came with two out. The WPA was the seventh-highest by a Braves hitter this season for a single game, and the walkoff hit itself was 12th.

Also, after he departed the Braves, he gave us this hilarious sequence with Matt Olson, featuring multiple ABS challenges and smiles all around.

What went wrong?

After his heartwarming effort against the Nats, Tromp only managed one hit — a double in a shutout loss against Boston — in his final nine games with Atlanta. Sadly, his heroics were short-lived: two days after his huge game, the Braves had the bases loaded with one out while trailing the Nationals by a run. With no other options, Tromp was up to face new pitcher Orlando Ribalta… but he struck out on four pitches.

Atlanta designated Tromp for assignment on June 4, and the veteran inked a deal with the Baltimore Orioles, just as he did in an identical situation in 2025. After nine games with the Orioles, and an IL stint, Tromp was let go by Baltimore and landed a minor league deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he ended the season at Triple-A.

2027 outlook

If the 2027 season starts on time, Tromp will turn 32 days before the regular season starts. As a veteran option who would likely play at Triple-A and give an organization depth as a third or fourth catcher, he seems likely to continue to have options for at least another five seasons.

Could that include Atlanta? Possibly. Perhaps even probably.

With Baldwin and Murphy expected to be on the big league roster in 2027, the Braves will likley need one or two veteran options in the system. Maverick Handley and Chuckie Robinson, both of whom have had cups of coffee in the big leagues, along with 2021 13th round draft choice Adam Zebrowski, are all catching options as well. That shouldn’t close the door to Tromp in ‘27, should both parties want to be dance partners again. Maybe there’ll even be a new Chadwick Tromp Game eventually.

We are roughly two-thirds of the way through the 2026 Arizona Fall League schedule, with the regular season having begun on October 3, and ending on November 11. The Surprise Saguaros, for whom the Rangers prospects play, is currently 12-8, a half-game back of the Peoria Javelinas for first place.

Let’s take a look at how the Rangers prospects have been faring.

Sebastian Walcott, #1 prospect in the Rangers system and consensus top prospect in the AFL, has been solid. Walcott has slashed .300/.362/.460 in 56 plate appearances over 12 games, striking out 13 times and walking 6 times. Walcott has just one homer, but does have five doubles. Also, notably, he is tied for the team lead in stolen bases, with nine, having been thrown out just once.

Paxton Kling, the Rangers’ 2025 7th rounder who spent most of the season at Hub City before moving up to Frisco for the last week of the season and the playoffs, has also performed well for Surprise. He’s slashing .326/.446/.413 in 56 plate appearances over 12 games, with 10 walks and 10 strikeouts. And remember how I said Walcott was tied for the team lead in stolen bases? Kling, who is also 9 for 10 in stolen base attempts, is the guy he is tied with.

Catcher Julian Brock has an interesting .212/.400/.273 slash line in 43 plate appearances, with 10 walks against 11 Ks. An even more fascinating slash line has been generated by second baseman Casey Cook, who is slashing .136/.457/.136 in 33 plate appearances, with 11 walks against 6 Ks.

The Rangers pitchers have had a rougher go of it. Mason McConnaughey has allowed 7 runs in 11.1 innings over four appearances, although with 18 Ks against 5 walks. The 2025 4th rounder only threw 20 innings during the minor league season in 2026, as he was recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Jacob Johnson, a 20 year old righthander who split the 2026 season between the complex league and low-A, logging 43 innings in all, has also made four appearances. He’s allowed 10 runs in nine innings of work, walking nine and striking out nine. Its kind of an ugly line, but this was a challenging assignment for Johnson, given his limited pro experience and the fact he’s never faced players of this caliber.

J’Briell Easley has thrown 5.2 innings over five appearances, allowing six runs, walking five and striking out six. Jesus Gamez has allowed eight runs in 3.2 innings over five appearances, walking five and strking out four.