Easton Cowan has been on fire to start the 2026-27 NHL season with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
In the first game of the season, the 21-year-old left winger recorded an assist on William Nylander's second goal of the game in Toronto's 3-2 loss to the Montreal Canadiens.
In the second outing against the New York Islanders, Cowan outdid himself with a pair of points. He got an assist on Colton Sisson's first goal as a Maple Leaf and scored the second on the power play, which turned out to be the game-winning goal.
To this point in the season, Cowan leads the team in scoring with three points, contributing on all of Toronto's goals but one.
Regarding Cowan's performance so far this season, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman has noted that his stock has been rising within the organization, and that might've nixed the franchise's desire to trade the youngster.
"I think there were a couple of things in the off-season that (the Leafs) were considering that could potentially have Cowan involved," Friedman reported on Thursday's episode of the 32 Thoughts podcast. "And I did hear this week that even before the puck dropped, that Cowan's stock in the organization was way up. And that it was like Toronto's desire to move Cowan has really decreased."
It's early, but Cowan has truly morphed not only into a solid NHL player but also into a difference-maker on the Maple Leafs.
"They're like, ' this guy is a player,' and then in the first two games of the season, the loss to Montreal and the victory over the Islanders, he was one of their best players, I thought."
Toronto's head coach Jim Hiller was early to spot Cowan and his positive trajectory in development during training camp. It was after the first day of training camp that he singled out Cowan as the player who stood out to him the most at practice.
He called him a puck hound, and he's certainly brought that playing style to the regular season. Cowan is fast on the forecheck and eager to strip the opposition of the puck, and has been contributing to the team's penalty kill.
"There definitely is a feeling that Cowan's stock is up even before they started playing, and I think in the first two games we all saw why," Friedman said.
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The Dallas Mavericks enter the 2026-2027 season with numerous questions, but Cooper Flagg isn’t one them.
The 19-year old enters his second season with sky-high expectations, fueled by his incredible play in the back-half of last season.
The jump from year one to year two is often massive, especially for generational talents such as Flagg. For example: LeBron James went from 20.9 points per game, to over 27 points per game, while also improving his efficiency. Obviously it is unfair to levy these expectations on Flagg, but most superstars show tremendous growth in their first real NBA offseason.
Flagg averaged 23 points, 5 assists, and 7 rebounds in his final 51 games, including multiple 40+ point games. Flagg’s comfort level and confidence grew exponentially, quickly becoming one of the most dangerous downhill scorers in all of basketball.
But at just 19-years of age, there is still ample room for growth. Flagg shot just 29% from three on the season, and often turned down open threes to settle for tougher shots. His defense was also somewhat inconsistent, as even though he averaged nearly 2 steals and blocks per game, the advanced metrics suggest he was only average on that end.
Flagg’s potential is truly limitless, and he has already shown incredible development in his young career. All of this leads me to believe that a special season is ahead for the former number one overall pick.
Big Question
SAN ANTONIO, TX – APRIL 10: Cooper Flagg #32 of the Dallas Mavericks shoots a three point basket during the game against the San Antonio Spurs on April 10, 2026 at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photos by Michael Gonzales/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
This one is easy; Cooper Flagg has to shoot the ball better in 2026.
Flagg was an all-around bad shooter last season. He shot 29% from three with only attempting 3.5 threes per game. He also took far too many “long mid range” jumpers, which are defined as two point attempts that are attempted from farther than 10 feet.
This combination of poor shot selection and poor shot-making cratered Flagg’s efficiency last season, as he was in the 25th percentile for league-wide true-shooting%.
This lack of shooting also effected his ability to get downhill, with many teams simply ignoring him on the perimeter to load up on his drives. His sheer unwillingness to attempt these shots was the biggest issue, as he would often settle for 18 footers rather than simply taking an open three.
If Flagg can extend the defense to beyond the three-point line, he becomes truly un-guardable. We even saw an example of this last season against the Orlando Magic when Flagg scored 51 points. He made six threes in nine attempts, including a barrage or tough threes in the fourth quarter.
Now I’m not going to expect a massive jump in efficiency, nor will I expect a massive jump in attempts. But if Flagg does not at least try and extend his range, his scoring potential will be capped underneath a hard-ceiling.
Best-Case scenario
Simply put, the best-case scenario for Cooper Flagg this season is joining the conversation for the best player in the world.
This may seem completely far-fetched, but Mavericks have seen this exact scenario play out before with Luka Doncic. Both players had record-breaking rookie seasons, and entered year two with sky-high expectations, with Doncic becoming a top-5 player in the world overnight.
So how could Flagg reach that seemingly impossible level?
Well it would take some significant development, but not it would not be impossible. First, Flagg would have to go from a bad shooter to a very good one. Outside of Giannis Antetokounmpo, all of the other players in the top 5 are elite shooters from either the three or mid-range. Flagg would have to double his three-point attempts while also increasing efficiency.
A similar jump was seen with Jayson Tatum, as he went from attempting 3.9 3PA at 37%, to over 8 threes per game at 40% from his second to third season.
Along with improvements in his shooting, Flagg would also have to improve his ball-handling. While Flagg did not produce many turnovers overall, he was top 10 in the league in lost balls that resulted in turnovers. These issues were exasperated when Flagg went up against the truly elite perimeter defenders in the league, as he often struggled to create space against these players.
Finally, Flagg would have to adjust to defenses having a year of film on his game, and deal with the amount of attention he will receive. I imagine defenses will try and pressure him as much as possible, throwing lots of bodies in his direction. If he has the composure to deal with this pressure consistently, defenses will be completely out-of-luck when playing the Mavericks.
Worst case scenario
The worse case scenario for Cooper Flagg is staying stagnant.
I think it’s very unlikely Flagg will regress in year 2, especially because he didn’t have unsustainable outside shooting.
If spent his entire summer at the beach this scenario could happen, otherwise, I don’t think its very likely.
Season goal
The goal for Cooper Flagg in his sophomore season should be to make an all-star team, and compete for an All-NBA selection.
This may seem like a very high bar, but it really shouldn’t be that hard for Flagg to reach. If he’s able to slightly increase his volume and efficiency in both scoring and playmaking, being an all-star should be relatively easy.
But past getting recognition from his peers and fans, another bar he needs to reach is in his leadership.
Flagg is already a vocal player who plays with a tremendous amount of energy and hustle, so becoming the leader of this team shouldn’t be that hard. Obviously Kyrie Irving is the team’s leader, but he isn’t the future of the franchise.
Flagg doesn’t need to be a perfect leader as a 20-year-old, nor does it really matter for this season. But whether wants it or not, the team will be molded in his image, both in their playstyle, and the mentality of the team.
Overall
It cannot be overstated how excited Mavericks fans should be for Cooper Flagg’s second season. He has every tool to be a superstar, and has shown the hunger to improve over his entire career.
The roster construction could hold him back from truly reaching his potential this season, as he will more than likely be forced to play another season at point guard.
DENVER, COLORADO - FEBRUARY 29: Jaime Jaquez Jr. #11 of the Miami Heat dribbles up court against the Denver Nuggets at Ball Arena on February 29, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Coming in at four in our Ranking the Roster series is the second most accomplished of the four players the Bucks got in the Giannis trade: Jamie Jaquez Jr. The former UCLA Bruin is one of the league’s most unique young players. Jaquez likely won’t develop into a star, but he’s become one of the NBA’s best glue guys. It’s rare for a player his age to be mature enough to not only understand his role, but excel at it the way JJJ has. To borrow a phrase from my friend and fellow Brew-Hooper Finn Kuehl’s blog, he’s a “Bench-Mob All-Star.” Not in the same vein as the more end-of-the-bench guys Finn generally focuses on, but in the sense that Jaquez has been an All-Star in his role in Miami. The question now is: how does he fit on a rebuilding team?
But before we answer that, let’s look back at what Jaquez has accomplished over his three years in the association. Following in the footsteps of other middle first-round picks the Miami Heat have made, Jaquez made an immediate impact, finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. Remarkably, he also added a top-10 finish in Sixth Man of the Year voting in the same season (!), averaging 11.9 PPG, 3.8 RPG, 2.6 APG, and 1.0 SPG while shooting .489/.322/.811. That said, the following year (2024-25) was a step back for Jaquez, as he played only 66 games while dealing with an ankle injury. That injury played a key role in his scoring numbers dipping into the single digits (8.6 PPG), and his shooting dropping marginally to 46.1% and 31.1% from three-point range.
As much as the 2024-25 campaign was a rocky one for Jaquez, he came back strong last year, setting a bunch of career highs, including scoring (15.4 PPG), rebounding (5.0 RPG), assists (4.7), assist percentage (24%), shooting percentage (50.7%), minutes per game (28.3), and field goal attempts (12.2). He also finished the season with strong shooting from beyond the arc, shooting 39.0% on 3.5 attempts over the final 20 games. Those improved numbers propelled him to a second-place finish in the Sixth Man of the Year voting behind the Spurs’ Keldon Johnson.
Now, the question for Jaquez is: can he replicate that type of success in a totally new environment? Or, for my baseball fans, will Jaquez become the proverbial San Francisco Giants of the mid-2010s and only be good every other year? While this Bucks team has many moving parts heading into the season, Jaquez should be one of the more consistent and reliable players. Over the last few years, I’ve felt like Jon Horst has brought in too many players at important spots whose performance can vary widely from game to game (Kevin Porter Jr. and Kyle Kuzma are prime examples). Jaquez will be a steady, reliable option for the Bucks, and they sorely need that.
To answer the initial question, though, I reckon head coach Taylor Jenkins will find plenty of ways to utilise Jaquez. He’s already coached other versatile players like Jaylen Wells in Memphis. While the starting lineup will likely take the whole of training camp to figure out, I predict Jenkins will keep Jaquez where he’s most valuable: off the bench as a fantastic sixth man. How long he’s actually a Buck will be another question. Jaquez becomes a restricted free agent at the end of this season, and if he puts up a good first half, I can imagine Horst moving on to pick up more future pieces, especially if the team isn’t tracking well. Otherwise, Jaquez could be a long-term piece for the next good Bucks team, considering he’ll only turn 26 this February.
PHOENIX, AZ - SEPTEMBER 28: Miles Bridges #22 of the Phoenix Suns poses for a portrait during NBA Media Day on September 28, 2026 at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
What lies before the Phoenix Suns this upcoming season is a puzzle. With the preseason around the corner, we’re still at the point where past performance serves as the baseline for theorizing about what could come next for Phoenix. How will the lineups and rotations fit together? What is this team’s upside? What challenges will emerge along the way?
We sit around the virtual water cooler, tossing around theories and building cases for and against all of the above. It was through this conduit of conversation that I heard a comparison that immediately piqued my interest and sent me sprinting toward the computer to start digging. Erik Ruby from Phoenix Suns NOW floated an idea I had never really considered, and I’m glad he did. Because once he planted the seed, down the statistical rabbit hole I went, digging through numbers, roles, tendencies, and whatever else I could get my grubby little basketball hands on.
The comparison? Miles Bridges might not be all that far from becoming an Aaron Gordon-type player.
Could it be? Could Miles Bridges be in the process of evolving into an Aaron Gordon type of player? Is Koa Peat the Charmander, all raw power and untapped potential? Miles Bridges the Charmeleon, stronger, meaner, and beginning to understand exactly what he can become? And Aaron Gordon the Charizard, the fully evolved version of the archetype, terrorizing everything in his path? Maybe. Hell, now I need to know.
You look at Aaron Gordon and see a champion, somebody who played a vital role in bringing a championship to Denver and has become an ideal running mate for Nikola Jokic as the Nuggets have marched through the Western Conference over the past few seasons. So there’s no world where we should even be comparing these two players, right? After all, Miles Bridges spent his entire career with the Charlotte Hornets and never played a postseason game. But prior to arriving in Denver at age 25, Gordon had played in only five postseason games with the Orlando Magic.
And the more I sat with this comparison, the more I thought it might not be a terrible representation of what Miles Bridges could become as a player. Because when you look at the measurables and the deliverables, there is a case to be made that they are similar.
One thing I have to take into account as I begin this research is that Gordon plays alongside quite possibly the greatest player of the current generation. What Nikola Jokic brings to the court and how he elevates those around him puts everybody on his team in a position to succeed. It reminds me of Steve Nash here in Phoenix, when players would arrive and have career years because they received opportunities they might not have found elsewhere. The way Jokic passes and opens the floor for his teammates will always put Gordon in a different situation than Bridges.
By circumstance, Gordon is clearly in the better environment, so even as I work through the statistical analysis, some of it will naturally favor him because of the situation he’s in. He has thrived and flourished in a stable environment while being asked to fulfill essentially the same role season after season.
Bridges, meanwhile, spent his career in Charlotte as part of a team and culture in constant flux. One season he’s asked to be a primary scoring option. The next he’s asked to become a tertiary option. He has a good season, the team struggles anyway, Charlotte receives another high draft pick, and the organization shifts its priorities and roster construction around that acquisition rather than building toward Bridges’ strengths.
And through seven seasons in Charlotte, he still averaged 15.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 2.8 assists on 46%, 34%, and 83% shooting splits. So Bridges arrives in Phoenix from a much different situation. He’s joining an organization entering Year 2 of a complete cultural and strategic reset, one in which he has an opportunity to thrive in a defined role, much like Gordon did when the Orlando Magic traded him to the Denver Nuggets in 2021.
It’s also worth remembering that Gordon entered the NBA with higher expectations relative to his perceived talent. He was the fourth overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, while Bridges was selected 12th overall in 2018. Even from a career expectations standpoint, those lines run somewhat parallel. Gordon has simply been in better situations and capitalized. Bridges is entering a better situation.
My first data point is, probably to nobody’s surprise, BBall Index. This is where we can find the measurables for both players, along with BBall Index’s definitions of their advanced position, offensive role, and defensive role. The first thing that stands out is the obvious. Miles Bridges is three years younger than Aaron Gordon, while Gordon is 1 inch taller and 10 pounds heavier than Bridges.
But this is where things get interesting. Both players are classified identically by BBall Index. Their advanced position is on ball wing, their offensive role is shot creator, and their defensive role is wing stopper. So from an archetype standpoint, we’re already looking at two very similar players.
The next data point I’m going to look at, which comes to us via DataBallr, is what both players looked like during their age-27 seasons. For Miles Bridges, that was last season. For Gordon, it was the 2022–23 season, the same year he won a championship with the Denver Nuggets.
Again, circumstances dictate so much here, but there is one similarity in their respective situations. Bridges was the tertiary option in shot attempts last season with Charlotte, averaging 13.5 attempts per game, which was 0.1 more than rookie Kon Knueppel. He was also fourth on the team in scoring. Gordon, at the same age, was similarly fourth on the Nuggets in scoring while ranking fourth in shot attempts.
My point is that neither player was the second most utilized offensive option on his team, nor was either expected to be. They were tertiary or fourth options within their respective offenses. And when you look at the numbers provided, noting that RS stands for regular season in the graphic, they aren’t all that far apart. Gordon has the edge, but even when you look at the efficiency numbers, the difference isn’t drastic.
As Bridges prepares for his age-28 season, a milestone he’ll reach in March, he’ll most likely find himself operating as that tertiary option once again. The expectation is that Devin Booker will lead the Suns in shot attempts, followed by Jalen Green. From there, Bridges and Dillon Brooks will likely fluctuate depending on the night, the matchup, and foul situations.
So Bridges is a power forward who can produce from that position as a tertiary offensive option while carrying the same general archetype as Aaron Gordon.
Let’s take a look at the overall shot diet throughout their careers.
Both players primarily generate their offense at the rim or from beyond the arc, although Gordon has shown more of an affinity for the midrange than Bridges. So what you’re getting from both players, regardless of situation (seeing as we’re looking at their entire careers) are players who take nearly half of their shots at the rim while stretching the floor enough to remain viable threats from beyond the arc.
Gordon is a career 33.5% three-point shooter, while Bridges sits at 33.8%. The difference, as the chart below illustrates, is volume. Bridges attempts 5.2 three-pointers per game compared to 3.3 for Gordon. Gordon has more of an affinity for operating in the midrange, while Bridges exchanges many of those attempts for shots from beyond the arc.
We can take this a step further by comparing their shot diets through the first seven seasons of their respective careers. Once again, the similarities are evident, with both players generating their offense from nearly the same areas of the floor.
What’s interesting is how remarkably similar their overall efficiency has been. Gordon carries a career 53.6% effective field goal percentage, while Bridges sits at 53.0%. That’s important context when looking at the shot charts. Bridges’ heavier three-point diet doesn’t automatically make him a less efficient offensive player. His overall efficiency is remarkably comparable to Gordon’s, despite Gordon possessing a much more efficient profile at the rim.
What about defensively? Again, very similar players. Whether it’s pick-and-roll screener defense, rim defense, help defensive activity, or matchup difficulty, Gordon and Bridges share plenty of similarities.
Both graded out with an A in nearly the exact same percentile last season when it came to guarding opposing teams’ best players. They’re active off-ball as help defenders, and when they’re involved in high screens, both do a stellar job protecting the rim in drop coverage.
Bridges actually has the slight edge in pick-and-roll screener mobile defense, highlighting his ability to defend on the perimeter when switched onto ball handlers. It’s another area where his versatility stands out, and one where he graded better than Gordon last season.
My last point of emphasis reinforces a couple of points I’ve been making this offseason as I attempt to predict how Bridges will ultimately generate opportunities within the confines of this offense.
With Devin Booker and Jalen Green serving as the primary offensive threats, Bridges needs to be a viable enough threat himself that his on-ball gravity creates secondary and tertiary opportunities for both Booker and Green. The theory is relatively simple. When Bridges has the ball, secondary defenders have to respect his ability to get to the rim. That forces them to shade away from their assignments, creating opportunities elsewhere if Bridges can penetrate and distribute the ball effectively.
When you look at the career trends over the past three seasons, with the obvious gap in 2022-23 following Bridges’ yearlong suspension, you see that he’s remarkably similar to Aaron Gordon in both his on-ball gravity, off-ball gravity, and his playmaking ability.
Then there’s Bridges’ off-ball gravity. While that number has trended downward over the past two seasons, likely due in part to his circumstances, he still ranked in the 79th percentile last season.
Defenders can’t simply sag off Bridges and devote their attention elsewhere because he possesses enough offensive gravity to punish them when they do. And on a team built around Booker and Green, creating advantages, that gravity could be one of the most important aspects of what Bridges brings to the offense.
Do I believe Miles Bridges is the next Aaron Gordon? No. There are too many variables, too many circumstances, and too many factors involved for anybody to truly be the next anybody. Everything is situational.
I do find the comparison fascinating from an archetype perspective. Look at what they have been asked to do, how they operate, and how they weaponize their physicality and aggression, and there are plenty of similarities worth exploring. Where that ultimately takes Bridges in Phoenix is anybody’s guess.
How that translates to Phoenix’s schematic approach night in and night out, on both the offensive and defensive ends, will ultimately determine who Miles Bridges becomes in this new situation and with this new opportunity. He’s not the next Aaron Gordon. He’s the first Miles Bridges. And at 27 years old, entering his prime, what that ultimately looks like will be determined by him and him alone.
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - MAY 20: Anthony Edwards #5 of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander #2 of the Oklahoma City Thunder look on during the game during Game One of the Western Conference Finals on May 20, 2025 at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images A gorgeous view of downtown Oklahoma City
Ah, the historic Northwest Division. Home of storied rivalries, hallowed tradition, and elaborate fight songs. Why the first thing I think of when I hear the word “Northwest” are the jagged peaks of the Cascade mountain range and the … dust bowl environs of Oklahoma City suburbs…that are about a 33 hour drive away from the nearest Douglas Fir.
Scratch that. Let’s try again.
The first thing I think of are soaring orca whales breaching the frigid Puget Sound and the … green bean hotdishes… baked on the eastern shores of the Mississippi?
Goddamn it! How many teams has the league relocated away from the Pacific Northwest already? Adam Silver might as well be honest and rename this thing the “Portland Better Pony Up for a New Stadium, Or We’ll Take Everything You Love” division.
Geographic quibbles aside, the Minnesota Timberwolves are in for a much improved, and dare I say, exciting race in a division full of upstarts and crumbling dynasties. Let’s look at the rest of the division and divine what the 16 divisional games on the schedule have in store for us.
Each team will receive a rivalry score based on how annoying it will be to play them (on a scale of one to five Aaron Rodgers-es).
Portland Trailblazers
Portland has a type
True to their path-scorching team name, Portland’s new owner is pioneering a fan-experience initiative where fans need to bring their own seats to the games. Is this because Tom Dundon is a cheapskate who won’t pay for playoff T-shirts or for hotel late fees? No, no, not at all. How can you say that? Saving money is just a nice side benefit. The new arena rule where all fans are required to donate plasma that Tom Dundon can sell is about money.
Who’s out: Jeremi Grant, Matisse Thybulle
Who’s in: Ja Morant. Jeremy Sochan. Micah Nori wearing a potato sack. What, you expected Mr. Dundon to BUY a suit for his coaching staff???
Prognosis: Ja Morant and Elliot Smith have more in common than you might think. Great indie debuts (Murray State; Roman Candle), incandescent introductions to the majors (2020 Rookie of the Year; releasing XO on DreamWorks), and a serious self-destructive streak. What are the chances Ja regains his form in PDX? I’d say about the same as finding a needle in the haaaaaaay.
Last year, the feisty Blazers overperformed thanks to a gritty coaching job by Thiago Splitter, a ball-dominant Deni Avdija, and growth from youngsters like Donovan Clingan. This year…I don’t see it. Should this team be finding time for both Ja and post-Achilles surgery Damian Lillard when they have Jrue Holiday, Scoot Henderson, and Shaedon Sharpe (who is out for the year) on the roster? Come home, Micah.
What should Wolves fans worry about?: If Dundon moves the team from Portland, Minnesotans will need to give up naming rights for Lake Itasca to keep the Wolves in town.
Rivalry meter: 1 Aaron Rodger. Pretty annoying, but I feel bad that their fans need to put up with this garbage.
Denver Nuggets
If you thought the cheap owner jokes were done after the Portland preview, buckle up, baby! Here comes Denver Nuggets basketball. Seriously, the Kroenke family approached the offseason like your aunt on Temu. Look–DeMar DeRozan is 70% off!
Who’s out: Peyton Watson, Tim Hardaway Jr., Jonas Valanciunas, Nikola Jokić’s title window
Who’s in: DeMar DeRozan, Marvin Bagley III, Lonnie Walker IV…wow and I thought their Russell Westbrook signing was desperate
Prognosis: Pray for Aaron Gordon’s calves. Jokić guarantees this team a playoff spot, but not much more. Jamal Murray played his best year ever last year, and they still got beat by Jaden McDaniels in round one.
Jokić needs instinctive cutters and credible deep threats to maximize his otherworldly court vision…and the Nuggets signed Marvin Bagley III.
What should Wolves fans worry about?: Jokić’s prize stallion, Dream Weaver, gets Serbian Horse Flu on the eve of the playoffs, sparking the Joker into a John Wick-style revenge frenzy.
Rivalry meter: 3 out of 5 Aaron Rodgers. For old time sakes.
Utah Jazz
Why can’t the lives of Mormon wives stay secret? The Utah Jazz are finally ready to compete for a playoff spot this season after committing a multi-year tank job so disgraceful it made Joseph Smith’s third, fourth, and eighth wives blush. Unfortunately for our Wolves, the Jazz’s assemblage of sweet-shooting bigs and talented young guards could catapult them back to levels of relevance last seen when Memhet Okur roamed around in a purple mountain jersey.
Who’s out: Walker Kessler, Will Hardy’s excuses
Who’s in: Darryn Peterson, Jaxson Hayes, the GOAT Josh Okogie
Prognosis: Count me among the deranged Darryn Peterson true believers. I know he struggled with creatine cramps in Kansas…but my lord, he has a beautiful mid-range package. The footwork, my friends, is smooth as elevator jazz. Peterson is lucky he landed in Utah, a state so supportive of people with mental health issues that they elected Senator Mike Lee. Led by Lauri Markkanen’s best season, I’d predict Utah to grab the sixth seed in the West.
What should Wolves fans worry about?: Ace Bailey learns about the power of teamwork from the big band stylings of Cab Calloway and finds his footing as a microwave scorer off the bench. skibbidy-doo-oop-ah-doo-wop-yeah!
Rivalry meter: 2 out of 5 Aaron Rodgers. Tell Danny Ainge he can’t leer at our draft picks like that!
Oklahoma City Thunder
Man, it hurts to write this. I hate this team. But I can’t lie–the Thunder are just stacked. If any of these players were added to the Timberwolves’ roster, I would lose my mind with joy: Ajay Mitchell, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Jared McCain, Isaiah Hartenstein, Bennett Stirtz…and these are just their role players. I’m depressed.
Who’s in: Bennett Stirtz, Aday Mara, an invite for Chet Holmgren to serve as official ball boy for the French national team
Prognosis: Lou Dort was holding this team back. With Ajay Mitchell and Jared McCain providing better offensive guard play, the Thunder will be even better than last year.
What should Wolves fans worry about?: The Los Angeles Clippers still have picks in 2039 that they can trade to OKC
Rivalry meter: 5 out of 5 Aaron Rodgers. Ugh. So annoying that even Pat McAfee asked if Jordan Love could do a segment instead
TORONTO, CANADA - JANUARY 26: Scottie Barnes #4 of the Toronto Raptors, Kawhi Leonard #2 of the LA Clippers, and Bruce Brown #11 of the Toronto Raptors wait for a rebound during the game on January 26, 2024 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2024 NBAE (Photo by Mark Blinch/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
ESPN has named two Raptors forwards as making their list of the top-20 players in the NBA. It’s great to see Toronto finally standing amongst the big dogs of the league, both from a media perception perspective, and a roster construction one. The front office is doing the right things, and the outlets are in agreement.
The Kid and the Klaw
Scottie Barnes and Kawhi Leonard were ranked at 17th and 15 best in the league, overall, by ESPN, both ahead of players like LeBron James, Tyrese Haliburton, and Devin Booker. This is chalked up to Barnes’ two-way play, and Leonard’s scoring, with both players able to contribute significantly on both ends of the ball, unlike some of the players ranked below them.
They both saw massive upticks in their ranking compared to those from last year’s list: Barnes jumped 13 spots, from 30th in the league to 17th, while Leonard leapt up five, from 20th to 15th.
LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 15: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the USA Stripes Team handles the ball as Scottie Barnes #4 of the USA Stars Team plays defense during the game during the 75th NBA All-Star Game as part of NBA All-Star Weekend on Sunday, February 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Kyusung Gong/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Their placement in this list is almost perfect, though it may seem strange to see a two-time All-Star ranked higher than four-time MVP LeBron James. But, this list is tracking the ascension of Barnes into a franchise cornerstone, a fact that after his playoff performance last year, cannot be ignored. They call Scottie a “do-everything engine”, which sums up his place on the Raptors, and in the NBA, extremely well. Barnes’ versatility is one of his key strengths, and especially in the postseason, having someone who can score, guard, rebound, and pass is key to surviving some of the league’s tougher matchups, especially on a team without a top-tier centre.
What Kawhi brings to the table is, of course, a little different. Centrally, Leonard is someone who the Raptors need to score without being a defensive liability, a role he should take to like a fish to water. ESPN puts an asterisk on Leonard’s placement, noting that he “hasn’t advanced past the first round since 2021,” and “must prove he can still crank it up in the playoffs.”
Fighting for position
Kawhi is ranked just below Jaylen Brown and Kevin Durant in the list, two big stars who have had notable playoff struggles in recent years as well. No one is doubting the performances of any of the three, but ESPN even point to Brown potentially fighting for touches in a stacked Philadelphia roster as a potential drain on his output going forward. The “too many cooks” situation is a reality for Philadelphia, with a number of ball dominant players all together on one roster, something that Kawhi Leonard will not face in Toronto.
INGLEWOOD, CA – DECEMBER 23: Kevin Durant #7 of the Houston Rockets and Kawhi Leonard #2 of the LA Clippers during the game on December 23, 2025 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2025 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The article also points to Durant’s combination of leadership and consistent output over the past seven years, facts than cannot be ignored. Durant is many things, but inconsistent is not one of them. What the Slim Reaper brings to the table is something that should be be ignored, but for roster construction, Kawhi Leonard is undoubtedly the better fit for Toronto.
Nevertheless, ESPN’s article isn’t necessarily about team success, rather, about which individual players are the “best”. And maybe, if the Larry O’Brien went to the winner of a 1V1 tournament, Kevin Durant would have ten of those things. But, thankfully, while basketball is a star dominated sport, it’s also one where players succeed as teams and fail as individuals. It’s five guys out there on the court every night, and if Kawhi Leonard and Scottie Barnes and two of those five, odds are that they’re going to beat you. By a lot.
Still, it’s gratifying to see both Scottie and Kawhi climb the ranks, with the young star ascending in the eyes of the public, and the older veteran getting to relive his glory days yet again. After a playoff push this year, the two Raptors might jump up even higher in the rankings, but ultimately, that’s for the guys on the court to decide.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 30: Trent Grisham #12 of the New York Yankees makes a catch for an out on a ball hit by Jahmai Jones #37 of the Boston Red Sox during the sixth inning in game two of the American League Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium on September 30, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Caleb Bowlin/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Yankees outfielder Trent Grisham has been nursing right hamstring issues since the summer. Two injured list stints and many missed games later, the problem appears to be mostly behind him, as he was activated on time for the AL Wild Card Series against the Boston Red Sox. We say ‘mostly’ because, even though the Yankees have deemed him healthy enough to play, we have no idea if he’s actually close to 100 percent, and the one thing we know for sure is he didn’t seem fully himself in the first series of the postseason.
He was fine at the plate, notching two hits and a walk in Wednesday’s Game 2, but he didn’t look the part in center field. He has been far from his 2020 and 2022 Gold Glove-winning versions in the last two seasons, but the image he projected in the Wild Card round was much, much worse.
The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner noted that Grisham’s sprint speed when attacking and fielding that ball was 23.5 ft/s. He was so slow that Nate Eaton took advantage and turned it into a double when it should have been a single. For reference, Kirschner reported that just three players had a slower average sprint speed than that this season, and all of them are what you would consider slow catchers: Christian Vázquez, José Trevino, and Sandy León.
Of course, the fact that he was so slow to the ball doesn’t necessarily mean that he can’t run faster. Maybe he was too confident and didn’t think Eaton would go for it. Or, perhaps, he was still tentative when running because he didn’t want to risk aggravating an injury that was already deemed a Grade 2 hamstring strain just over a month ago.
In any case, it’s definitely cause for concern. The Yankees would be better off handing regular center field duties to rookie Spencer Jones, who is younger and more athletic, and only using Grisham sparingly at the position if needed. This is not to say he should or shouldn’t be on the AL Division Series roster, but he is just not a starting center fielder at the highest level anymore. Not with two straight years of subpar performance there, not with a bum hamstring, and certainly not against the Rays.
When you face a team like the Rays, used to maximizing its strengths and attacking the opposing squad’s weaknesses, every little detail counts. Having a well below-average defender cover the most important outfield position regularly is, at this point, in this series, and against this particular rival, malpractice.
Grisham used to be a very, very solid defensive center fielder. The two aforementioned awards prove it. However, his decline started in 2025, when he finished with -11 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and -2 Outs Above Average (OAA) in center field. The 2026 campaign wasn’t much better. He posted -8 DRS and -6 OAA this year, in 961.1 innings. Evidently, he doesn’t have the range he used to have, and the hamstring(s) could be behind his regression with the glove. This season, Grisham ranked in the 18th percentile in Fielding Run Value, even worse than last year’s 30th percentile. His lousy range (OAA) had him in the 10th percentile.
The fact that he’s about to turn 30 — center fielders tend to decline relatively quickly with the glove — plus his injuries, have led to Grisham not being the defensive player he used to be. He suffered a left hamstring issue last year and experienced countless setbacks with the right hamstring in 2026.
Grisham’s bat and, especially, his power can still make an impact against top competition. The same can’t be said about his glove, and the Yankees should act accordingly.
DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 16: Colorado Rockies fans hold a sign referring to "Rocktober", or a Rockies playoff run, during a game between the Colorado Rockies and the San Diego Padres at Coors Field on September 16, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, Rockies fans!
Back in 2007, the Rockies did the unthinkable. They punched their postseason ticket after a remarkable winning streak at the end of the season. They rode that winning streak all the way to the World Series. Then it all came crashing down.
After a losing season and surrounded by other teams celebrating advancing to the Division Series, it’s helpful to think about the good times occasionally. And no one tells the story better than the manager who helped make it happen:
19 years ago today, we played Game 163.
Two weeks before that, the Rockies were buried in the standings.
We won 13 of our last 14 regular season games to force it. Won it on a play at the plate in extra innings that people still argue about.
After that lovely trip down memory lane, it’s time to return to the present. Here’s the Rockies news and information from around MLB. At least some of it is happy.
When Hunter Goodman hit two homers to help the Rockies beat the White Sox on Sept. 25, it directly led to the Cleveland Guardians winning the American League Central. The Cleveland fans found a gracious and creative way to say thank you to the Rockies All-Star catcher. Over 700 fans combined to donate $22,000 to Clothes to Kids of Denver.
It’s hard to square four straight 100-loss seasons with an increased price for tickets. Citing lower ticket prices than other mid-market teams and increased costs, Walker Monfort told Troy Renck that the Rockies had to “narrow the gap” to justify the 12% jump. It’s a hard case to make with the terrible ending to the 2026 season. Walker might soon find himself in the company of his father when it comes to drawing the ire of Rockies fans.
It’s rare to find Rockies in best-of-MLB lists, but 20-year-old RHP Sandy Ozuna did. The prospect, who the Rockies signed out of the Dominican Republic in June of 2023, is No. 1 in most added fastball velocity.
Prospects that added the most fastball velocity in 2026 🔥
Following the requirement that a player had to throw at least 50 fastballs in 2025 and 100 in 2026, and comparing average velocities, Ozuna bumped up his fastball 9.5 mph. More Rockies made the list as well, including Yanzel Correa (+4.2 mph), Onofer De La Cruz (+3.5 mph), Gleiderson Mendoza (+3.4 mph), Efrain Cubilla (+2.9 mph), Sean Sullivan (+2.8 mph), Victor Castellano +2.4 mph), Nick Frasso (+2.1 mph), Odarlin Cruz (+2 mph) and Eric Veras (+2 mph).
Arizona signed Torey Lovullo to a two-year contract on Thursday. Lovullo is the Diamondbacks all-time winningest manager with a 750-768 record. He’ll be back in 2027 after Arizona just missed the playoffs in 2026.
October doesn’t seem to be bringing fall. With records in the 80s in Denver expected for the next week, it will be even hotter in Los Angeles. The Dodgers and Braves will play at 1 p.m. Pacific Time when it is expected to be 98 degrees. Even worse, the “RealFeel” heat index is forecast to be 105 degrees for Saturday.
The Rockies, the rest of the NL West and most MLB fans, I would expect, are really hoping the answer is yes. Katie Woo got really good quotes from Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, who point to last chances and closing windows. The stars are in their mid-30s, like many on the team. While the pending post-primes and retirements could point to signs of hope, we all know how good the Dodgers farm system is.
AKRON, OHIO - JULY 12, 2026: Brandon Butterworth #4 of the Chesapeake Baysox bats during the fifth inning against the Akron RubberDucks at 7 17 Credit Union Park on July 12, 2026 in Akron, Ohio. (Photo by George Kubas/Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
During the Orioles’ frenzied trade deadline selloff in 2025, one of the last deals to come in under the wire was the biggest of them all: a seven-player swap that sent Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano to the Padres for five prospects.
It was a trade that, even in a lost season for the Birds, brought grumbling from a large swath of the fan base. O’Hearn and Laureano were two of the Orioles’ most productive bats, and while O’Hearn was a pending free agent, Laureano was under team control for another season, irking O’s fans who wondered why the club would give up on a potentially valuable piece for 2026. (It didn’t quite turn out that way, as Laureano struggled to a .660 OPS for San Diego this year before suffering a season-ending labrum injury in May.)
Still, Mike Elias found the package of prospects the Padres offered as a deal too good to pass up. The headliner was the towering lefty Boston Bateman, now one of the Birds’ best pitching prospects, whom we’ll discuss in a separate article. Two others, infielder Cobb Hightower and righty Tyson Neighbors, won’t appear on many prospect lists. Hightower played just 18 games this season before undergoing ACL surgery, while Neighbors bombed to an 8.82 ERA in 33 minor league games this year.
Then there’s the other two prospects from the trade. Victor Figueroa and Brandon Butterworth aren’t household names, and they don’t possess the kind of high-ceiling potential that Bateman does. But both of them delivered performances in 2026 that put them on the radar as possible future big leaguers.
Let’s start with Butterworth, who has shown himself to be more than just the guy whose name reminds me of pancakes. The Padres’ 12th-round pick in 2024 out of NC State, Butterworth was having a solid season offensively in High-A when the O’s acquired him last July, posting a .782 OPS and ranking third in the league with 155 total bases. Still, it wasn’t his bat that made him intriguing.
FanGraphs, which ranked Butterworth as the Orioles’ #27 prospect in May, praised him as a “plus glove” with “great hands and a strong arm.” The article’s co-authors, Eric Longenhagen and Brendan Gawlowski, wrote, “He has plenty of range for the position, but what really stands out is the speed with which he gobbles a grounder, transfers, and fires accurately from any angle.”
Butterworth is a versatile defender, too. In the minors this season, he started at least eight games apiece at five different positions: second base, shortstop, third base, left field, and center field, with shortstop (33 games) being his most frequent one. “Whatever gets me in the lineup, I’ll catch if you guys need me to, it doesn’t matter,” Butterworth told PressBoxOnline. His defensive prowess was enough for Longenhagen and Gawlowski to project him as a future utility infielder, but they cautioned, “Butterworth isn’t going to hit much.”
Maybe he’s not. But you wouldn’t know it from his 2026 performance at the plate. Starting the season at Double-A Chesapeake, where he’d posted just a .677 OPS in 34 games last year, Butterworth erupted. In 52 games, he posted a .269/.377/.497 line — all career highs — and bashed 10 home runs and 22 extra-base hits.
Butterworth’s season was interrupted by a knee injury in early May that sidelined him for two months. Once he returned to the Baysox, he was more locked in than ever. During his first 27 games back from the IL, Butterworth his .294 with a .953 OPS. That hot streak earned him a promotion to Triple-A Norfolk, where, at 24, he was more than three years younger than the average player. He struggled to acclimate there, batting .208/.296/.396 in 28 games.
Because of Butterworth’s extended IL stint this season, the Orioles are sending him to the Arizona Fall League to get some more reps. There doesn’t seem to be much question that his glove is major league ready, but the 5-foot-9 utility man will need to prove he can hit enough to be worthy of a bench spot in the bigs. He’s held his own, and occasionally thrived, at every rung of the minor league ladder so far. Triple-A will the next task for him to conquer, with an eye on a potential late-2027 big league debut.
Butterworth’s fellow trade acquisition, Figueroa, is a very different type of player. His defense isn’t his ticket to the majors. Nor is he going to slap-hit the ball with a contact-oriented approach. The 6-foot-5 first baseman does one thing above all else: mash lots of dingers.
Figueroa’s 27 home runs this season were the most of any Orioles minor leaguer. He blasted 22 of them for High-A Frederick before a late-July promotion to Chesapeake, where he hit five more. It was a dramatic improvement over his 2025 performance, when he went homerless in 98 PAs after joining the O’s organization.
The 22-year-old, an 18th-round Padres pick in 2024 from Florida SouthWestern State College, clocked in at #33 in FanGraphs’ rankings in May. “Figueroa has real thunder in his hands and enough juice to hit for power the opposite way, which he must because his swing’s length causes him to spray most of his well-struck contact that way,” write Longenhagen and Gawlowski. “He’s a stiff-legged guy and below-average athlete, a one-tool player with enough power to carry some value despite his issues.”
Chief among those issues: the strikeouts. Figueroa fanned in more than 30% of his plate appearances this year, racking up 155 Ks in all. Anyone striking out that much in the minors is going to have a very difficult path to the majors, so Figueroa will need to cut down the swing-and-miss to have a future as anything more than an organizational player.
The lefty-swinging Figueroa also had rather drastic splits. He crushed right-handers to the tune of a .935 OPS, hitting 24 homers against them. Versus southpaws, Figueroa’s OPS was nearly 300 points lower (.638), and he totaled only three roundtrippers in 109 PAs.
Let’s be clear here. Neither Figueroa nor Butterworth represents a star in the making for the Orioles. The odds are against either of them having an extended major league career, if they make it to the bigs at all. But if you squint, you can make out a scenario where one or both of them contributes in some way, Butterworth as a useful utility guy and Figueroa as a bench bat with some pop.
It may not be sexy, but every team needs a few players who can serve as complementary pieces to the team’s biggest stars. Now the Orioles need to work on actually getting big stars, but that’s a story for another time.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 01: Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies walks to the dugout against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning in game three of the National League Wild Card Series at Truist Park on October 01, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Edward M. Pio Roda/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Meet the Mets
Tim Britton spoke to other executives around the league as he broke down what’s gone wrong for David Stearns in his time with the Mets and what he might be able to do to turn things around.
Gray wasn’t the only player on Boston’s roster to express frustration after that game, as the team’s in-game decisions and use of data were questioned by Willson Contreras.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 7: General view of Dodger Stadium during the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Cincinnati Reds on September 7, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, baseball fans!
The 2026 MLB Playoffs continue this weekend, as the National League and American League Division Series begin tomorrow.
As of the time this is being written, the final game of the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves series has not yet been played. I will try to update that information if I get a chance to but as of right now I don’t yet know who will be playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Also, as with the rest of the games so far, national radio coverage will be available on ESPN Radio.
Saturday
10:00 a.m. PT – Chicago White Sox vs. Cleveland Guardians – TBS/HBO Max
1:00 p.m. PT – Atlanta/Philadelphia vs. Dodgers – Fox/Fox One
3:30 p.m. PT – New York Yankees vs. Tampa Bay Rays – TBS/HBO Max
5:30 p.m. PT – San Diego Padres vs. Milwaukee Brewers – Fox Sports 1/Fox One
Sunday
1:00 p.m. PT – Padres vs. Brewers – Fox Sports 1/Fox One
5:00 p.m. PT – Atlanta/Philadelphia vs. Dodgers – Fox Sports 1/Fox One
DENVER, CO - AUGUST 02: A detail shot as Salvador Perez #13 of the Kansas City Royals signs an autograph on a Nike shoe prior to the game between the Kansas City Royals and the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Sunday, August 2, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Casey Paul/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
They will not become a playoff team merely by getting healthier. (And shouldn’t this season prove there is no guarantee they will get healthier anyway?) The Royals were indeed decimated by injuries, to be clear, but they decimated their own season long before the injuries took the wheel. They were 22-37 through May, back when everyone they expected to be part of the lineup was still part of it, other than Jonathan India…
Think of this: In games in which Witt, Pasquantino and Garcia all appeared, the Royals went 30-44. Two numbers should stand out there. They only had 74 games with all three players healthy — and they won just 40.5% of them…
There are three perceived locks for next year’s rotation — Michael Wacha, Noah Cameron and Seth Lugo. When they were on the mound, the Royals were 36-59 this season.
“I was still a little bit intimidated by Mr. K, but he … said you’re going to have other opportunities, and you’re going to have decisions to make as you work your way through this business, and he said, you have to weigh them carefully, and then you’ll make a decision,” Matthews recalled.
“He said, ‘We like the way you do the games, and you can stay here as long as you want.’ And I thought, ‘Wow, this is just after my third year, so that’s pretty strong.’ And again, there was no reason for me to move because I was very comfortable. I love the city, I love the organization and everybody in it. And if you’re unhappy in your job, you’re probably looking to move. I’ve never been unhappy in my job. Period. So here we are, 58 years later. But I had no idea. Chicago, St. Louis, oh boy, let’s go. That’s my dream job. Still is. I could still do it.”
While it’s technically a blog, I think I’ll add Joel Goldberg’s blog entry to the “official” section of today’s Rumblings. He reflects on the finished season:
My son Mason may have described it best. He spent his first season working on the Royals television home production crew and told me he was sad it was over. He compared it to the last day of school when you realize you’re not going to see that same group of people all together for a while…
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve also learned that my post-season evaluation goes beyond the actual job. Taking better care of myself physically and mentally is critical to the stamina that baseball season demands, and that becomes even more important as I shift gears into speaking. My natural tendency is to fill the void left by baseball with another schedule, another goal, and another list of things I want to accomplish.
Tired of complaing about the Royals? Now you can do something about it! Join the Royals analytics staff (2 positions open):
Job Summary: The Kansas City Royals are seeking a highly motivated and creative analyst to join the organization. Working under the direction of the Director of Research & Development, Christine Harris, the analyst will be fully integrated into the Major League clubhouse to provide resources, answers, and ideas to the Major League Pitching group. The successful candidate will combine analytical expertise and clear communication skills to translate baseball data into insights that give The Royals an edge when our pitchers step onto the mound.
Carlos Estévez, RHP: $13MM club option ($2MM buyout)
2026 was a nightmare season for Estevez. He made one bad appearance to start the year, allowing six earned runs in a third of an inning. He spent the rest of the season on the injured list, meaning he finished the campaign with an awful ERA of 162.00. He underwent shoulder surgery last month and has an unclear timeline. Even before this injury-marred year, there were concerns. While he posted a 2.45 ERA in 2025, his strikeout rate was way down at 20.1%. It’s an easy call for the Royals to let Estevez walk.
Tony Gonsolin, RHP: $2.5MM club option (no buyout)
Gonsolin has been in the injury wilderness for a while. Due to various woes, including Tommy John surgery, he only made eight appearances over the 2024-26 seasons. That includes one outing for the Royals late this year. Gonsolin was a steady rotation member for the Dodgers once upon a time, with a 2.51 ERA in 572 2/3 innings from 2019 to 2022. The option price is modest but it’s hard to know what to make of Gonsolin after so much time off. It’s a reasonable gamble if the Royals think he’ll be healthy next year.
How about some news around the league?
Braves/Phillies Game 3 finished after I finished writing this. So we’ll just mark it as “LATE” and you can check out the score on your own.
After rumors of MLB investigating a potential Grand Teton game leaked out, Manfred says it’s not happening.
A number of major Royals blogs looked back at the season.
David Lesky ($) put the end-of-year presser in perspective with previous years:
You might remember that at the 2023 press conference, we learned that the Royals planned to sign multiple relievers and two starters. They did just that. The bullpen additions didn’t work out great, with Will Smith and Chris Stratton struggling, though John Schreiber did work out for a while. The starting pitching additions were pretty spectacular, at least in 2024 when it comes to Seth Lugo and for the last three years when it comes to Michael Wacha.
This year, I thought the answers were a little less definitive, but that doesn’t mean there wasn’t plenty to take away from the comments, which came mostly from JJ Picollo, with some from Matt Quatraro. There was a lot of talk about processes, about winning in 2027 and beyond, and about some staff changes that we’ve discussed in this space quite a few times. Let’s just take it in order.
Picollo opened the presser noting that not only would Zumwalt not be returning to the dugout, but almost the entire major league medical staff—Head Athletic Trainer Kyle Turner, Assistant Athletic Trainer Chris DeLucia and Major League Rehab Coordinator Jeff Blum—would be leaving the club. Also moving to a minor league role is Melissa Lambert who was Director of Behaviorial Science.
This feels pretty seismic. Turner had been with the Royals for 17 years. DeLucia was with the team for 20 years and Blum was here for 19 years. The trio had all been in their current positions for five seasons. Lambert is returning to a focus on the minor leagues after four seasons in her role in the dugout. She’s been with the team since 2020.
Much like they did with Rooker and O’Hearn, the Royals have gotten back to whiffing on player evaluation. They shipped off Jonathan Bowlan for Matt Strahm just to watch Bowlan become a key piece of the Phillies bullpen. They sent Evan Sisk to acquire Bailey Falter. Sisk pitched to a 3.04 ERA for the Pirates this season across 44.2 IP. Two relievers worth an fWAR or so aren’t franchise altering players, but they’d surely have helped this team more this season than either player they were traded for.
Trade deadlines have shifted back to snoozefests in true Dayton Moore fashion. When the Royals should be capitalizing on any value possible, they instead cling to any chance at 81-81 they can get. It’s just an extension of the player loyalty that’s become two sides of a coin for the Royals. On one-hand, it helps to attract a certain type of free agent. On the other hand, it gives you the current version of Seth Lugo. Picollo has preached loyalty when choosing not to trade aging veterans like Seth Lugo or Michael Wacha. That loyalty led to a Lugo extension that has become one of the worst moves in the entire J.J. Picollo era.
According to Picollo, the move wasn’t due to Zumwalt’s performance, but to the team’s confidence in assistant hitting coaches Dawson and Thames moving forward. Both coaches replaced Keoni DeRenne and Joe Dillon last offseason, and the Royals offense improved from ranking 24th in wRC+ in 2025 (93) to 19th this season (98).
Rumors suggested Dawson and Thames took on greater responsibilities during the season, likely in preparation for Zumwalt’s eventual move back to Minor League player development. Zumwalt found success in this role with former colleague Drew Saylor, but Saylor struggled solo in the Director position after Zumwalt moved up to the Majors. The position has remained vacant for the past year, suggesting the Royals may have been eyeing Zumwalt to return regardless of how the team fared offensively.
Picollo praised Zumwalt’s work and noted that his tenure as hitting coach was never meant to be long-term.
I’m going to try something different today. I liked the idea when I came up with it, but it’s been sitting in my queue for a couple of months as I’ve struggled with how to refine it. If it works out, I have another idea that is similar-ish and I’ll trot it out sometime next year. But if you don’t like it, well, it’s the offseason and you’re not going to see me the next two weeks and your refund check is in the mail.
Today’s topic is “shoes”. I’m a very light sneakerhead, with a heavy emphasis on the “light” part. I typically have 6 pairs of shoes at any given time, depending on how you’re counting: the current pair, the next pair I’m breaking in, the old pair for lawn work, a nice pair, sandals, and rain boots. Do the rain boots count? I don’t think they should. I also usually have 2-4 pairs in reserve in my closet, which are in line to become “the next pair”.
Why do I have “shoes in reserve”, as my wife calls them? Well, it’s hard for me to find shoes. What sizes are easy to find? Up to 12. Grumble: it used to be up to 13. Second grumble: somewhere in the last 5-10 years, Nike started vanity sizing so that everything went down about a half size. My feet that used to fit in a 13 now require a 14. Sure, feet flatten with age, and it’s not uncommon to gain a size. However, I don’t think I’m there yet. A pair of old 13s at my parents’ house still fit me decades later and I can wear 13s in some other brands. Regardless, since 13s /and/ 14s are hard to find now, it doesn’t matter.
NOTE: I think I’ve also complained here that the same thing happened to t-shirts: some old 2008 XLs are now larger than some 2026 2XLs and almost all 2008 XLs are larger than any 2026 XLs. But I digress.
Growing up, clothes were generally cheap for me. I’ve always been a t-shirt and jeans guy. Really, though, growing up in Houston, I was a t-shirt and shorts guy. One year in high school, a girl counted the number of days I wore long pants – it was less than 20. I thought it was because I was a curiosity; my wife thinks it might have been something more and I was cutely naive as I’ve always been. The long and short (that’s two bad puns already) of it is – because my clothes were cheap and I am not fashionable, my parents indulged me ever so slightly on shoes.
A couple of words of warning about today’s post. First off, there are going to be a lot of pictures and social media posts. It’s going to be a lot easier to show than to tell for this OT. I’m going to try and use as many embedded pictures from our standard Getty/USA Today archives, but some pictures were only available on social media. Also, there’s not a lot of shoe talk in “mainstream” news sources, Wikipedia, or the like. I’m relying a lot on blogs and fansites, so these sources aren’t quite as vetted as my usual standard. Finally, a lot of these shoes are pre-internet or early internet so there just aren’t many sources to link to.
You’ve been warned. Let’s dive in!
The first “big name” sneakers I remember wearing were the Air Tech Challenge III. I didn’t know their name at the time. But I knew they were the awesome neon shoes that Andre Agassi wore. Look at those beauties! They just scream early 90s. We had just moved to Houston, I was starting middle school, and wanted something to help fit in. Spoiler: I was a big nerd then just like I am today and nothing was going to help that. However, the shoes didn’t hurt and they were comfy. I liked them so much I got a second pair the next year when I wore out/outgrew these. This was a shoe faux pas, apparently. Whatever – I liked them. We’ll talk more about Nike and re-releases later, but it looks like the last time these were available was 2015.
This isn’t meant to be a comprehensive history of shoes, just of my shoes. But if we can take a detour through some sneaker history, so much the better. Near as I can tell, Converse was the first major athletic shoe company, with the Chuck Taylor All-Stars dominating in the 60s and 70s. Chucks never fit me – I needed more ankle support – but there’s no denying their iconic shoe status. However: “Converse lost its athletic shoe monopoly from the 1970s onward, as new competitors, including Puma, Adidas, and Nike, grew in popularity.” FYI: Converse is now owned by Nike.
In the 80s and 90s, Nike and Reebok battled for the crown: “By mid-decade, Reebok’s sales were about $1 billion, and it overtook Nike, Inc. as the largest athletic shoe manufacturer in the US before losing the top position in 1988”.
In 1989, Rebook released the Reebok Pump and they were one of the major shoes of the early 90s: ”In February 1991, Dee Brown inflated his Reebok Pumps in front of a national audience before scoring a title-winning dunk during the 1991 NBA Slam Dunk Contest”. Shaq’s explosion onto the NBA scene further popularized the brand before it got stale later in the decade. I don’t remember which Pumps I had – it might have even been the Omni Lites in the picture above. I’m not familiar with “That Good Dubai”, which described itself as a society/culture magazine and now appears defunct. But they had a nice retrospective on the Pump back in 2014.
We live in the insane age of Shohei Ohtani. I can’t imagine how giddy that adolescent me would be if I told him there would be another Babe Ruth in our lifetime: a player good enough to win MVPs for hitting while also being a great pitcher when healthy. Heck, adult me is pretty giddy about that. Though much less so now that he’s with the Dodgers juggernaut.
Then again, growing up, there were a number of players who were in both the MLB and the NFL, which seems unfathomable today. Of course, everyone remembers the iconic Bo Jackson, his career(s) cut short by injury. Not many remember DJ Dozier or Chad Hutchinson. Brian Jordan played a lot more baseball than football. And then there was Deion Sanders.
I didn’t really care for Deion the player, but his Air Diamond Turf was my second favorite shoe of all time. Ignore the cleats in the picture above. Nike made a wildly popular cross-trainer version, too. I loved the shape of those 90s cross-trainers, though they have mostly fallen out of fashion. Low tops didn’t have enough support for me, high tops were too heavy, but the 3/4 or mid-tops were just right. Not only were they comfortable, but they were also stylish with a little gold mesh “window” on the side that looked cool. I liked the red and black colorway shown there. Later, I would also get the “emerald” colorway, which looked even better, replacing the red accents with absolutely gorgeous emerald green ones. They even re-released them last year, but now cost more than $200 on the secondary market.
I looked through our entire picture archive and couldn’t find a clear picture of the Air Max Penny 1. Thankfully, Sneaker Freaker has a full writeup, including a discussion on the Lil’ Penny ad campaign. I had those exact ones featured at the top of the page and they were gorgeous. A great balance of black and white, just enough blue accent to give it color, a beautiful jeweled swoosh, the giant air max air pocket, a little air “porthole” on the bottom, and a new logo. Those were some great shoes and I had forgotten all about them until I went digging through old shoe sites to try and remember which shoes I had owned.
In the picture above, but Shaq and Penny were in the process of being dispatched by my beloved Houston Rockets in the 1995 NBA Finals. NBA Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon did not have a high-profile shoe for his fans. In fact, he went the other direction, as chronicled in this 2015 article from The Guardian: “How Hakeem Olajuwon tried and failed to stop the 90s sneaker killings”. Hakeem released a $40 shoe from Spalding because “a mother with four children can’t afford to spend $400 on shoes that will wear out in a couple of months”. Unfortunately, without a massive advertising push from the likes of Nike or Reebok, it bombed. In Houston, they were harder to come by: I only saw them out in the wild once or twice and never got them, sadly. Olajuwon would later buy up a mansion in southeast Houston and turn it into a high-end boutique store, featuring a high-end luxury shoe. However, the mansion is now gone, and I can’t find anything about DR34M brand. (NOTE: Frustratingly, I ran across a bunch of garbage stories with unverifiable information about Hakeem’s shoes that appeared to be written by AI. Finally, I stumbled upon Spalding as the manufacturer and I started making headway on this part of the story.)
I don’t remember a lot about my shoes of the late 90s and early 00s, when I went off to school and had to buy shoes with my own money. One memory I had from that time was the Eastbay catalog. This 2019 walk down memory lane from Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times gives you a sense of what it was like if you weren’t around or it wasn’t your scene:
Lakers forward Lance Stephenson, a former Brooklyn streetball legend, studied the Eastbay texts just as Tucker did, marking up his favorite pairs in pen even if he knew he’d never get his hands on them. Now a nine-year veteran who has earned more than $30 million, designer shoes and limited releases spill out of Stephenson’s locker.
“I would circle all the shoes I liked but I never got them,” Stephenson said. “I was a sneakerhead; I always liked sneakers. When that book would come out and you could see all the sneakers before they even come out, it was like you were seeing [the future].
When I started working in IT, I started with casual dress shoes. But I soon realized that The Shawshank Redemptionhad it right: “Neither did I… I mean, seriously, how often do you really look at a mans shoes?” Then I started looking for comfortable shoes. If I was going to be driving to customer sites and walking around all day, I needed to be comfortable. That’s when I started cheating with my work shoes: they could be athletic shoes, so long as they were mostly black. If I could splash on some subtle color, so much the better. In 2009, I found the perfect shoe.
The Nike Air Griffey Max 1 is one of the best shoes of all time. It’s extremely comfortable and durable. It’s been re-released in a multitude of color, ranging from the two original Mariners colorways to a Los Angeles sunset-inspired colorway to an HBCU colorway to his all-white Hall of Fame induction colorway. A Cincinnati Reds colorway is set to re-release next week. But the one that worked for my work was the 2010 Triple Black colorway. I bought one pair and beat them up for a couple of years before getting another on sale and doing it all over again. If they want to re-release them again, I’ll go buy them again (if I can find them – but complaining about intentional scarcity in modern shoe releases is a rant for another day). I went this same route with the Kyrie 4 Blackout colorway in 2018. I also really liked those shoes – they were less comfy than the Griffeys, but also lighter.
Honestly, I don’t like the Air Jordan 1. I can’t deny its place in history or its iconic look. But it’s made with a lot of old tech, before the sneaker wars really pushed technology forward in the early-mid 90s. Give me an 11 or an 8 (Aqua!) or a 13. Maybe that’s why I landed on the Jordan 6 Rings shoes sometime in the mid 2010s: “The Jordan 6 Rings (aka Jordan Six Rings, Or Montells) is a combination of the seven Air Jordan shoes that Michael Jordan wore during his 6 championship seasons. That includes the Air Jordan 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13 and 14.”
It’s hard to know what will be an “iconic”shoe going forward and I’ve been shopping more in the bargain bin, of late. Really, it’s not even the bargain bin so much as what Nike, Adidas, Reebok, et al., have available in size 14 in mid/high top at their outlet stores. We have a half dozen Nike Factory stores around the Houston area. However, my favorite is the Clearance store in Pasadena – this is where the excess shoes from all the other Factory stores go to die. If you go when the store opens, you’ll have to fight through sneakerheads and scalpers, grabbing armfuls of rare finds to resell or add to the collection. Me, I’m just looking for something that fits and, often, I have to ask an employee to go into the back and just bring out whatever they have in 14 that’s mid or high top. It’s a relaxing experience for me and something I like to do on my birthday.
Here’s what I’ve been wearing the last few years:
I liked the look and feel of these Giannis Zoom Freak 4s, but they didn’t have enough ankle support and I wore through the bottom of the shoes. My best-fitting shoe of the last few years is the LeBron Witness VII. They take a little time to break in, but, once you do, they’re comfy and breathe well. They’re just a good, all-purpose shoe and they can be found for around $50 on a good day, so long as you’re not picky about colorways. My current dress shoe is the previous version, the Witness 6, with the “Black Volt” colorway. It’s not as comfortable as the VIIs (yes, they are named the “6” and “VII”), but they’re the perfect color balance for my dress shoes: mostly black but with a splash of color. Looping back around to where we all started, the “next shoe” that I’m starting to break in is a pair of KD17s in a promotional colorway called “Game Royal”. It’s awfully blue and it taking a little bit to get comfortable in, but I think it’ll be a good shoe and it was reasonably priced at the Outlet store.
The Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is just about a month away. I might have scored tickets to one of the Zelda 40th anniversary concerts this week, too.
Happy Friday, everyone. I know this week hasn’t gone the way we had hoped, and that October baseball is now over for the Cubs, but the postseason rolls on, and we’ll still be keeping an eye on its progress as the month goes on. Today, we look at how the Astros fans turned on their own club as the disappointment of being swept out of the postseason got the best of them. We see how the Yankees proved they could win even without Aaron Judge, and how their ability to avoid rigid lineups might have helped them best the Red Sox. We also share takes from several players who were none too pleased with how the postseason turned out for them.
Willson Contreras has some feelings about Big Data.
Willson Contreras: "It's not enough when you have talent, or you have data, or you have computers telling you what to do, because this is baseball. The data is here to help us, but at the end of the day, you need experience and veteran guys to win games. There's a lot of stuff I… pic.twitter.com/MS7u5yy96y
OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 11: Fans make fun of the "celery caps" in baseball on the eve of a Major League Baseball strike before the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on August 11, 1994 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has a rule: don’t talk about negative subjects or collective bargaining topics (one and the same, really) until after the trophy in his name is hoisted. Sorry Rob, but to paraphrase the Clown Prince of Crime: “the only sensible way to live in this world is without rules—and tonight I’m gonna break your one rule”.
Over the course of this 2026 MLB season, I checked in on some key topics regarding the upcoming labor negotiations (especially as they relate to the salary cap/floor issue)…
In April, I analyzed team franchise values and how rising valuations haven’t solved widespread financial inequity within MLB
August brought a straight-up poll (taking a lockout/strike off the table) that showed an overwhelming majority of Twinkie Town readers supporting a cap/floor salary structure in MLB
We’ve now reached the final phase of this series: how much Major League Baseball are you willing to lose for cap/floor progress? Per Hamlet: “Therein lies the rub”. One one hand, it’s clear the sustainability of baseball’s economics is heading in the wrong direction. On the other hand, MLB just saw its first four-year attendance growth period since 2004-2007. It is somehow both the perfect time and worst time for a lockout or strike.
One final thing to get out of the way: the worst possible lockout/strike scenario is a prolonged absence where nothing materially changes (see: 1994). I’m not even including the option in this poll because of how depressing that would be. So, assume in all choices that progress was made on a cap/floor salary structure.
I think all the qualifications are on the table now. Without further ado…
The NBA has a couple new points of emphasis every year when it comes to the officiating, and the top focus ahead of the 2026-27 season could have a big impact on some of the best players in the world. The NBA intends to give defenses more of a chance to actually play defense this season, and superstars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jaylen Brown are going to have to adjust their games quite a bit … if the officials actually stick to calling it all season.
The NBA’s first point of emphasis this year is outlawing off-arm push-offs for drivers. This has been a weapon for star scorers dating back to Michael Jordan’s series-clinching shot in the 1998 NBA Finals, but it seemed to get more egregious this past season with players fully extending their off-arm to gain separation from their defender. This move has been particularly effective for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and I’d go as far as to say that it has helped fuel his rise to a 2x MVP that absolutely no one saw coming when he entered the league out of Kentucky.
The league dropped a video explaining their points of emphasis for this season, and even though SGA isn’t included in the examples, he feels like the main person who will be under the spotlight on this. Check it out here:
See below for Part 1 of the 2026-27 Points of Emphasis video (narrated by SVP, Head of Referee Development and Training Monty McCutchen), which provides examples and guidance regarding Off-Arm Push Offs by Offensive Players and Freedom of Movement – Screens: pic.twitter.com/zMMmOK3Kxq
The league’s other early point of emphasis is banning push-off screens, which is another big potential boost for defenses around the league. The on-ball push-offs feel more interesting, and I’m fascinated to see how it’s officiated throughout the regular season.
The video above has examples of proper and improper off-arm contact. The difference looks pretty minimal to the naked eye. Essentially, the league is saying players can’t fully extend their off-arm, but that’s not the only criteria. If the contact is a) initiated by the offensive player, b) forceful, and c) impacts the primary defender’s ability to defend the play, then it’s supposed to be called an offensive foul. Offensive players are allowed to “firm up” at the point of contact, but if the refs think they’re pushing off, the possession will be going the other way.
How will officials determine what’s “forceful” beyond a full extension? Your guess is as good as mine. I just know that this could be very bad for Gilgeous-Alexander if the refs are willing to call it all year.
I’m a big SGA fan — and I know I’m probably on an island on that one outside of OKC. I was really high on him in the 2018 NBA Draft, but obviously not even his biggest fans would have predicted he’d eventually become the 16th player ever to win multiple MVP awards. As someone who has watched SGA dating back to college, I really believe his mastery of the off-arm rules is what took him to the next level. That’s not to discount his awesome three-point shooting improvement, absolutely nasty handle and footwork, and improved ability to read defenses. He has gotten better in so many ways, but his ability to create separation with his off-arm without getting called for it is really what unlocks his game.
He’s a classic example of an SGA push-off. When you combine his mastery of this move with the fact that he has a 7-foot wingspan and deadly mid-range shooting touch, it makes him almost impossible to defend.
It seems like this move will be called an offensive foul for the upcoming season. Right? Or is the push-off not “forceful” enough? You can see why this is going to be very difficult to legislate.
Here’s another example of an SGA push-off that’s more of a shoulder bump than a full extension. I assume this is still within the rules of acceptable contact, but I’m not totally sure. The contact is forceful in my view, but it’s more of a shoulder thump than a push-off. I’d call this a chicken wing. The chicken wing is still, cool?
It seems like the officials actually started to make this adjustment during the playoffs. Gilgeous-Alexander was called for push-offs throughout his playoff run, including in the Western Conference Finals. Jaylen Brown was called for multiple push-offs in the first-round against the Philadelphia 76ers.
As John Voita at Bright Side of the Sun notes, the NBA has set a point of emphasis in the past and only called for them for the first couple weeks of the season before going back to business as usual. Will they actually see these rules all the way through the year? It was already going to be hard for Gilgeous-Alexander to win a third-straight MVP just because of voter fatigue, but it’s going to be even more difficult if the refs stick to their plan entering the year.
A 'Sharp' Anthony Stolarz, Easton Cowan In The Spotlight, And More Takeaways From Maple Leafs' First Win Of 2026-27 Against IslandersHere are the main takeaways from the Toronto Maple Leafs' first victory of the 2026-27 NHL regular season and Jim Hiller's first win as the team's head coach.
'He Was A Puck Hound': Maple Leafs' Jim Hiller With High Praise On Easton Cowan, Reveals Standouts For First Day Of CampToronto Maple Leafs head coach Jim Hiller was pleased with how his group performed on the first day of training camp. He revealed who his standouts were, including some high praise for Easton Cowan.
