The Winnipeg Jets have placed forward Brad Lambert on waivers Tuesday, marking a pretty sizeable development for the organization's former first-round draft pick.
Lambert, 22, was selected 30th overall by Winnipeg in the 2022 NHL Draft and was once considered among the team's most promising young offensive prospects.
Photo by Ron Chenoy/USA Today
The Finnish-born forward has struggled to establish himself as a full-time NHL player despite showing considerable offensive upside during his time with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.
Lambert enjoyed a breakout 2023-24 campaign with Manitoba, recording 21 goals and 55 points in 64 games. However, that success has yet to translate into a permanent role with the Jets.
Lambert has appeared in 11 games with Winnipeg this season, registering one assist while averaging 9:10 of ice time. Through 42 career NHL games, he has three goals and nine points.
The move comes after Lambert was involved in trade speculation last season, with reports indicating the Jets had given him permission to seek a trade.
Lambert will now be available to the NHL's other 31 teams through the waiver process. Should he go unclaimed, Winnipeg would have the option of assigning him to Manitoba.
The Jets are in the midst of a nine-game losing streak and have not won a game since starting the year 4-1-1. They take on the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night in Quebec.
Crunch time has arrived in Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s mission to redeem themselves at next year’s ODI World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
DENVER, CO - SEPTEMBER 18: Colorado Rockies pitcher Gabriel Hughes (43) pitches in the first inning during a game between the Seattle Mariners and the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on September 18, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Welcome to the 2026 edition of Ranking the Rockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for the Rockies in 2026. The purpose of this list is to provide a snapshot of the player in context. The “Ranking” is an organizing principle that’s drawn from Baseball Reference’s WAR (rWAR). It’s not something the staff debated. We’ll begin with the player with the lowest rWAR and end up with the player with the highest.
No. 29, Gabriel Hughes (0.1 rWAR)
When the Colorado Rockies selected Gabriel Hughes 10th overall out of Gonzaga in the 2022 MLB Draft, they knew they were taking on a power arm with at least a middle-of-the-rotation ceiling. However, after Tommy John surgery cut his 2023 season short and kept him out of the 2024 season, he had to start building his stock in 2025.
Hughes had a solid season last year, despite dealing with several injuries throughout the year. Heading into 2026, it seemed like it was inevitable that he would finally reach the big leagues. He finally earned his call-up to the big leagues in early July 2026, making his Major League debut on July 3 against the San Francisco Giants.
His inaugural taste of the majors was predictably turbulent. Across 14 games (13 starts) for Colorado, Hughes posted a 6.33 ERA and an 0-8 record. On paper, those surface-level traditional figures look grim. However, a closer look under the hood reveals a far more nuanced picture of a young arm navigating his initial trial by fire.
Triple-A momentum
After a solid, albeit limited, spring training audition, Hughes was sent to Triple-A Albuquerque to start the 2026 campaign. He got off to a rough start, posting an 8.64 ERA in 25 innings across six starts. The strikeouts weren’t an issue as he had 32 against just six walks, but he was giving up a lot of contact and getting hit hard. At the end of April, he was placed on the injured list and missed most of May.
After a pair of strong rehab starts with High-A Spokane, Hughes was sent back to the Isotopes where he looked like a man possessed. Over his next three starts in June, Hughes allowed just four hits across 15.2 innings with 16 strikeouts and five walks, limiting opponents to a .080/.179/.100 slash. His best outing of the year at any level came on June 25 when he fired six shutout innings at home against the Salt Lake Bees, giving up just two hits while striking out six.
It was hard to ignore that Hughes had tapped into something while recovering from injury, and he had suddenly tamed the Pacific Coast League. As the Rockies looked for pitching reinforcements, it was hard to ignore one of their top prospects banging on the door.
The initial plan for Hughes when he was called up was to wet his feet working out of the bullpen. If the opportunity were to arise he could work his way into the rotation, but the Rockies wanted to see what he could do in a multi-inning role first before taking that next step.
In that July 3 game against the Giants, Hughes entered with an 11-run lead in the seventh inning after Ryan Feltner had cruised through six. He breezed through three innings on 53 pitches to secure his first big-league save while giving up two hits with one strikeout.
The Dodgers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning as Hughes struggled to find the zone and threw 39 pitches. However, he seemed to flip a switch in the second inning, retiring 15 Dodgers in a row before allowing a two-out double to Max Muncy in the sixth inning. Hughes threw just 55 pitches over those five innings after the first and had a first-pitch strike rate around 80% while becoming the first rookie since Peter Lambert in 2019 to record a quality start in their first big-league start.
He continued to look solid through his next three starts, allowing six runs on 16 hits over 15.1 innings, going at least five innings each time. However, Hughes hit a rough patch of inconsistency that would hinder him through the rest of the season.
Over his final nine starts, Hughes posted an 8.17 ERA over 39.2 innings of work. While he continued to grit his way through at least five innings in four of those starts, Hughes saw elevated pitch counts that knocked him out of games earlier than expected, including one start in Detroit where he threw 70 pitches and lasted just two innings.
Despite knowing that Hughes was going to grind as much as he could and throw strikes, teams became more selective in the box and were fouling off pitches. Hughes had a decent first-pitch strike rate of 59.7%, but nibbling became an issue.
Despite preventing hard-hit balls and limiting opponents to a .271 AVG, Hughes still struggled to limit baserunners as opponents had a .772 OPS and a .319 BAbip. He had a league-average 8.5% walk rate alongside a 19.8% strikeout rate, but the efficiency of at-bats didn’t afford him chances to work deeper into games.
Through 13 starts, Hughes went 0-8 with a 6.33 ERA. The only other Rockies pitcher in franchise history to begin their career with zero wins through their first 13 starts was Jon Gray in 2015-16. Despite games where he pitched well enough to earn a win, the offense was often too lacking to give him any support.
The potential to come
Despite what the stat box says, there was a lot to like about Hughes during his first big league stint.
Immediately, his maturity and composure on the mound exhibited a player wise beyond his years. A studious individual, Hughes is meticulous about finding the right way to win a ballgame. He wasn’t easily rattled most of the time, living up to his alma mater’s Bulldog nickname.
What was most impressive was the potential of Hughes arsenal. Utilizing a four-seam fastball that is more akin to a cutter (fashioned after his childhood hero Mariano Rivera), Hughes complemented it with a deep mix that includes a changeup, a slider, a sweeper, a curveball, and a sinker.
He was able to command his pitches and utilize them as needed, sometimes having to rely on one more than the others because it was working. In that start against the Dodgers, catcher Brett Sullivan noticed that Los Angeles was not catching up to the fastball, so they just rode that pitch for as long as they could. Hughes was a poster child for the advantage of a deep arsenal, but you still need to have a bread-and-butter pitch, which was that cutter. Opponents hit .285/.245/.394 against it with an 18.4% whiff rate and a 15.7% putaway rate.
Out of all his starts, that one in Los Angeles and his start in New York against the Yankees are the beacons of what Hughes brings to the table at his best. Against the Yankees, he threw five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) and striking out six. He also induced 13 swings-and-misses and four groundball outs.
Hughes made a name for himself in the minors as a strike-throwing machine, and we saw that quite a bit this season. His ability to get strikeouts is also encouraging, as he had six starts with six or more strikeouts. The next step is to work on efficiency and refine both his control and command with his pitches.
Most encouraging was Hughes ability to tame Coors Field in his rookie campaign. Through seven appearances, he posted a 4.09 ERA compared to an 8.71 ERA in seven road starts. He limited opponents to a .234/.294/.363 slash at home, which is almost miraculous considering the state of the Rockies’ rotation over the last few years.
A student of the game
Ever a thinker, Hughes was sure to take 2026 as a great opportunity to learn. From everything that he experienced this season, he was able to take something into the offseason to help him improve for next year.
“I think one of the things I’ve really learned is that I have to have different starting points for a lot of my pitches when I’m here versus on the road,” Hughes said to Purple Row’s Samantha Bradfield. “It’s not something I’ve thought about too much in the past when I was in Albuquerque. But here, where the margin for error is so low, I think it’s extremely important. So that’s something I’ve continued to work on. But that’s probably the biggest thing I’ve noticed because the margin for error is so low, so you have to be sharp here and on the road.”
Having just turned 25 years old in August, Hughes has the opportunity to be a staple of the Rockies rotation for the next few years. The Rockies need Hughes to take that next step forward while they also need to prove they can continue to develop and improve players.
The future is bright for Gabriel Hughes; he just needs to continue to refine his methods.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 01: Zack Kelly #76 of the Boston Red Sox pitches against the Houston Astros during the sixth inning at Fenway Park on May 01, 2026 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Red Sox roster is now down to 40 players, but it took some work getting there. The first player to be designated for assignment was reliever Zack Kelly. That was something of a surprising choice. Kelly has been far from outstanding as he’s bounced between AAA and the Red Sox over the last few years — he’d thrown 131.1 innings for the Sox with an ERA+ of 104 and he battled frequent injuries. But he was also one of the hardest throwers in the organization and looked good in his limited innings this season. Choosing Raymond Burgos over Kelly is surprising, but the fact that Kelly is out of options may have been the deciding factor. (Anthony Franco, MLB Trade Rumors)
The other player who was DFA’d, Eduardo Rivera, has already been dealt, as the Chaim Bloom-led Cardinals picked him up in exchange for minor league pitcher Juan Carlos García. Rivera had trouble translating his AAA success to the big league level this year, while Garcia, an 18-year-old out of Mexico, is little more than a lottery ticket. (MLB.com)
In a less debatable bullpen move (a move that could be called a no-brainer, really), the Sox picked up a one-year option on Garrett Whitlock, who has been one of the league’s best relievers with the Sox. This guarantees he stays with the team for at least one more season, and the club holds an additional option for 2028. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
It’s hard not to feel good about the top of the 2027 bullpen with Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman already in the fold. But the bullpen was never going to be the main focus of this offseason. “I think we need some more offense,” Willson Contreras recently said. “That’s for [Craig]Breslow to figure out.” (Peter Abraham, Boston Globe)
But before we fully move onto 2027, there’s still some things about 2026 to wrap-up. This includes handing out awards, and the league announced that two Red Sox are finalists for a couple of the big ones. Payton Tolle is one of three finalists for AL Rookie of the Year alongside Parker Messick of the Guardians and Kevin McGonigle of the Tigers. Chad Tracy has been named a finalist for the Manager of the Year alongside Kevin Cash of the Rays and Will Veneble of the White Sox. (Ian Browne, MLB.com)
On Tuesday, the Winnipeg Jets enter a massive matchup against the Montreal Canadiens that could prove pivotal to their chances of making it back to the Stanley Cup playoffs. After losing nine straight games, their playoff odds have plummeted like few teams have seen.
Winnipeg missed the playoffs last season, so sources like MoneyPuck never gave the Jets the highest hopes, and after the trade of superstar goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, coupled with the nine-game losing skid, their chances have fallen below ten percent. At 6.6 percent, they are currently fourth-worst in the NHL. The only teams with worse odds are the Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers and Vancouver Canucks.
That doesn't mean the season is essentially over, as many teams have seen their stock swing dramatically. Last season, the Detroit Red Wings were near the top of the Atlantic Division, with odds of making the playoffs above 90 percent and a chance to end their lengthy postseason drought.
They then suffered a massive late-season fall-off, going 9-15-5 over their final 29 games, the fourth-worst record in the NHL, and missing the playoffs, which extended their drought to a full decade.
Despite their lengthy losing streak, the Jets are still just four points out of a playoff spot and are nowhere near out of the fight. They have also just come through one of the hardest stretches of their season, facing the Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes and, twice, the Canadiens, with the second meeting coming Tuesday.
So it makes sense that Winnipeg struggled and after Tuesday, the schedule gets far more favorable, with easier competition in the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Islanders over the coming weeks. The Jets will hopefully be able to start stacking wins and making gains in the standings while building up some momentum.
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PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - SEPTEMBER 27: Jhoan Duran #59 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates clinching a National League Wild Card spot after a game against the Tampa Bay Rays at Citizens Bank Park on September 27, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Yes, you can actually believe that statement. The Phillies have finalists for three major awards.
The likelihood of any of the trio actually winning the award is pretty slim. Each of them have a player in their category that dominated that category in the season, although how a manager can dominate is still befuddling to me.
Duran was one of the outstanding relievers this season. 33 saves, an ERA under two, a strikeout per nine rate over 12, the man just took down the competition during the regular season with stunning regularity. Luckily this voting was done before the postseason began.
Sanchez would maybe be the winner this year for the Cy Young award had he not been in the same season as The Miz. Sanchez’s scoreless inning streak is one of those things a pitcher can hang his hat on when contemplating the season as a whole, but he was excellent yet again. What a trade that has turned out to be.
Even with Mattingly, it’s hard to deny that the team was in the toilet when he took over following a 9-19 start. He led them to the playoffs where they put up a decent fight in the first two games before the team rolled over and showed their belly. He was rewarded with a contract extension.
Smith’s calf injury to be tested in training on Wednesday
Alex Mitchell ruled out of Nations Championship finals
Fin Smith faces a make-or-break training session on Wednesday to prove his fitness for the No 10 jersey in England’s autumn opener against Australia on Sunday, amid cautious optimism the Northampton playmaker will come through unscathed.
Smith sustained a calf injury in Northampton’s derby defeat by Leicester last month and the England head coach, Steve Borthwick, has been sweating on his fitness ever since. Smith’s Northampton half-back partner, Alex Mitchell, meanwhile, has been ruled out of England’s entire autumn campaign owing to his latest hamstring injury.
Nov 2, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green (4) bites his shirt during a Golden State Warriors free throw during the third quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
There are plenty of things in life that give people anxiety. For me, it’s being late. Or even the threat of being late. Perhaps it’s the military man in me, somebody who made the mistake of showing up late to formation during basic training and paid for it in the front-leaning rest position, beads of sweat dripping off my nose and forming a puddle beneath me on the warm pavement at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, one June morning. If you’re not early, you’re late. That’s been my mantra ever since.
Unfortunately, that familiar anxiety is beginning to build regarding the Phoenix Suns. This team is 12th in the Western Conference standings after starting 1-4, something we’ve seen before. At this point last season, the Suns were also 1-4 and were 13th. The difference then is they were only 3.0 games out of first, and due to an odd scheduling start for the Suns and the fact that they have played the fewest games in the NBA, they are 4.5 games back of the top team in the league. That team? The Rockets…
These slow starts create a significant barrier between the Suns and a proverbial train that’s already leaving the station, headed toward the postseason. That’s right, the Suns are in danger of being late for that train. Anxiety! Because with every passing day and every loss that accumulates, they find themselves falling further and further behind, making it increasingly difficult to hop on board and reach their desired postseason destination.
A season ago, we found ourselves in the same predicament, but the feeling surrounding the team was much different. A big part of that came down to expectations. Nobody really expected the Suns to be a team that could compete at a high level. The prevailing thought was to let the season play out, sell off assets around the trade deadline, and begin building toward the summer of 2026.
Following that 1-4 start, the Suns began putting things together. The sloppy basketball we’d witnessed early in the season became more organized, and the effort that was evident through those first five games finally started translating into wins. I had this to say after they lost 114-113 to the Grizzlies a season ago:
Losing still stings, but this team isn’t miles away. The execution needs tightening, and these are the aches that come with learning how to win again.
It’s tough to find moral victories in Game 5 when you’re sitting at 1–4, but I’ll say it anyway. I was entertained. Disappointed, sure. The ending wasn’t what anyone wanted. But maybe this year isn’t about wins and losses. Maybe it’s about how they respond to nights like this.
The feeling this year is different, however. Locally, expectations were higher, even if the national perception remained relatively unchanged. The roster construction was clunky, but you could at least see the vision of what this team wanted to become. Regardless, those expectations change the reality of your situation. While the effort has certainly been present, its consistency has begun to wane, and the execution remains frustratingly inconsistent.
Last season, we could talk ourselves into believing thatDillon Brooks and Jalen Green’s absence due to injury was a significant reason for the team’s struggles. And perhaps this year, we’re doing the same thing with Mark Williams. But the feeling isn’t the same. The reality of the situation is slowly sinking in, and it’s one in which hope is becoming increasingly difficult to find. This is a team that doesn’t control its own draft picks, so finding itself stuck in the middle of the standings is essentially a death sentence.
When you consider the anti-tanking rules that will be in place this year, there’s a very real possibility that the Suns could find themselves among the teams with an 8.1% chance of landing the number one overall pick. And how “Suns” would it be for Phoenix to benefit from not being completely horrendous under the league’s new draft lottery structure, only to have to hand that pick over to Houston?
Are we there yet? Are we seriously thinking about this already? (I am) When you start 1-4 and look around the standings at the other teams with only one win, seeing the Kings, Nets, Jazz, Bulls, and Bucks alongside you, it’s difficult not to get a little frazzled. Because those are the teams that were projected to be bad. It’s why we’re running to the trade machine trying to find fixes, because you have no room for a down season when there is no benefit to being bad.
I think back to a season ago and the turnaround we witnessed. What the Suns accomplished was impressive, climbing out of 13th place in the Western Conference and playing some incredibly good basketball along the way. For one fleeting night on January 22, 2026, the Suns had fought their way all the way back to the fifth seed in the Western Conference. After starting 1-4, they went 26-13 to reach that point. That is going to be incredibly hard to replicate.
Can this team reproduce any aspect of what we witnessed last year? Can they put together another impressive run that allows them to hop aboard that train headed toward the postseason?
There is hope if you look hard enough. Through their first 5 games a season ago, the Suns had a 120.5 defensive rating (28th) and -9.8 net rating (27th). This season, they are at 124.0 (30th) and -9.8 (25th). After their 1-4 start a season ago, the Suns posted a 112.3 defensive rating (8th) and a +2.1 net rating (13th). It is possible. We’ve seen it before.
Psst…I’m saying the quiet part out loud…that team can rebound the damn ball…the worst team in rebound percentage last season was the Washington Wizards at 47.1%. The Suns are currently at 45.7%…
We’ve got a long trip ahead of us, my fellow Suns fans, and we’ll spend much of that journey wondering whether this team can recapture any semblance of what it was a season ago. We’ll look for solutions in every corner, talking ourselves into the viability of overpaid players like Domantas Sabonis or Dejounte Murray as mediocre saviors. But with so many red flags surrounding the roster construction, it’s difficult to shake that familiar feeling of anxiety from being late building in the pit of your stomach.
Paul Quantrill of the New York Yankees delivers a pitch in relief during their contest against the Anaheim Angels at Angel Stadium May 20, 2004. (Photo by Steve Grayson/WireImage)
Major league relief pitchers are a lot like running backs in football. They tend to have shorter careers than players at other positions, with success arcs that resemble mountains. You never know when they will fall off the cliff and see their effectiveness disappear, fading into the abyss. That is what makes any reliever with a decade-plus of service time stand out. Paul Quantrill played 14 seasons in the show, with a little over a season of that time spent in pinstripes.
Paul John Quantrill Born: November 3, 1968 (London, Ontario) Yankees Tenure: 2004-05
Born in Ontario, Canada, Quantrill bounced around quite a bit during his childhood as his father was frequently relocated due to his job with General Motors. The family eventually settled in Okemos, Michigan, where Quantrill attended high school. The Dodgers drafted him in the 26th round in 1986, but he opted to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison instead.
Following three productive seasons with the Badgers, Quantrill was drafted again in 1989, this time in the sixth round by the Boston Red Sox. He agreed to sign and began his professional journey. Quantrill was not a flamethrower, instead he used a heavy sinker and excellent control to induce ground ball after ground ball. After working his way through their system, Quantrill made his major league debut with Boston on July 20, 1992. In 27 appearances, he went 2-3 with a 2.19 ERA across 49.1 innings.
Quantrill spent the 1993 season with Boston before returning to the Red Sox to begin 1994. In May, he and Billy Hatcher were traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Mike Sullivan and Wes Chamberlain. Quantrill spent the rest of 1994 and the entire 1995 season in the City of Brotherly Love. The Phillies moved him into the rotation in 1995, and he threw a career-high 179.1 innings while making 29 starts.
Before the 1996 season, Quantrill was traded again, this time to the Toronto Blue Jays for Howard Battle and Ricardo Jordan. This kicked off the longest and most successful run of his career, as Quantrill spent six straight seasons with Toronto.
The Jays used Quantrill as a starter in 1996 but moved him to the bullpen ahead of the 1997 season. He responded with a 1.94 ERA over 88 innings, establishing himself as a reliable option out of the bullpen. Over the next several seasons, the right-hander became a staple of Toronto’s relief corps. In 2001, Quantrill made his only All-Star team and finished the season as the league leader in appearances, with his number being called 80 times.
Toronto tried to capitalize on that success and flipped Quantrill and César Izturis to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Chad Ricketts and Luke Prokopec in December 2001. Quantrill spent the 2002 and 2003 seasons in Dodger blue. The Dodgers used him 86 and 89 times, respectively, over those two seasons, leading the National League in appearances both years. After the 2003 season, Quantrill reached free agency and signed a two-year deal with the Yankees.
The Yankees extended Quantrill’s run as the appearance king to four consecutive seasons in 2004, with skipper Joe Torre calling him out of the bullpen 86 times in his first season in the Bronx. Quantrill served alongside Tom Gordon in the Quan-Go-Mo edition of the bullpen and was mostly effective, going 7-3. His ERA sat at 3.26 at the end of July—including a 2.72 ERA across a 49-game stretch from early April through mid-July—but all those appearances finally caught up with him.
The wheels started to come off over the final two months of the season. His ERA ballooned to 4.72 by the end of September, a casualty of his ghastly 11.07 ERA across the last 22 games.
Then, in his only postseason as a player, Quantrill played a role in the infamous 2004 ALCS. In Game 4, he surrendered the walk-off home run to David Ortiz and, well, let’s not relive any more of that trauma. It was clear by the time the season ended that the 35-year-old had been overworked and was running out of gas.
Coming into 2005, the Yankees didn’t know what they would be able to get from Quantrill. The veteran struggled to a 6.75 ERA in 32 innings, and in July, he was traded to San Diego for Darrell May, Tim Redding, and cash. Like Gordon and Steve Karsay before him and Scott Proctor after, Torre ran his arm ragged.
Quantrill lasted only two months with the Padres before they released him. The Marlins signed him in September to finish out the 2005 season. Quantrill pitched for Team Canada at the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006 before officially retiring. His 14-year playing career came to an end with 841 appearances, 1,255.2 innings, and a 3.83 ERA. Quantrill appeared in 80 or more games in five different Major League seasons.
Since his retirement, Quantrill has continued to coach for Team Canada. At the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics, he got to coach his son Cal Quantrill, whom the Yankees drafted but failed to sign in 2013. Cal later became the eighth overall pick by the Padres in 2016 and has posted a perfect solid nine-year career, bouncing back from recent (relative) oblivion with a very nice 2.86 ERA in 110 innings between the Rangers’ bullpen and rotation.
In 2010, Paul Quantrill was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame — a deserving honor for the Ontario native. Happy birthday, Paul!
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
Now that we are past the day on which all team and player options have been exercised (or not), qualifying offers have been made and all players on the 60-day injured list have been returned to 40-man rosters, I thought it would be useful to have a look at where the Cubs’ 40-man roster stands.
This is especially timely right now, I think, because of the upcoming expiration of the MLB/MLBPA labor agreement on Dec. 1. While nothing major has happened so far, conventional wisdom says that there could be quite a few trades and/or free agent signings before that expiration date, while teams and players still know the rules under which the sport is currently governed.
That means a lot of things could happen in the next four weeks.
Julian Aguiar Javier Assad Ben Brown Edward Cabrera Tyler Ferguson Braxton Garrett Porter Hodge Gavin Hollowell Cade Horton Riley Martin Phil Maton Shelby Miller Jayden Murray Eric Orze Daniel Palencia Ethan Roberts Ryan Rolison Justin Steele Jacob Webb Jordan Wicks Ryan Zeferjahn
A couple of those names are likely unfamiliar to you. Aguiar was acquired on waivers from the Reds Sept. 26, and Orze was claimed on waivers from the Twins … yesterday.
It would not surprise me if either or both of those pitchers were exposed to waivers again before Nov. 1. The non-tender deadline (Nov. 20) is also a date to watch. I would not be surprised if the Cubs decided to non-tender Roberts, who is arb-eligible for the first time, and perhaps re-sign him to a minor-league deal.
Catchers (1)
Miguel Amaya
Obviously, the Cubs will need more than one catcher. Perhaps they can re-sign Carson Kelly, or someone like Ryan Jeffers. Owen Ayers, who might make his MLB debut in 2027, won’t be added to the 40-man roster until the labor issues are settled.
Infielders (8)
Gabriel Arias Alex Bregman Michael Busch Nico Hoerner BJ Murray Jr. Pedro Ramirez Dansby Swanson James Triantos
Arias is a non-tender candidate. Murray could be exposed to waivers. I think Murray’s promotion to the MLB team in September was a reward for his long service in the organization and I wouldn’t expect to see him back.
Incidentally, you don’t see Tyler Austin on this list. That’s because the Cubs outrighted him to Triple-A Iowa on Monday. He’ll have the option to accept that or free agency. The Cubs could sign him back to a minor-league deal at that point, but I suspect he’ll just move on.
Outfielders (4)
Kevin Alcántara Pete Crow-Armstrong Justin Dean Matt Shaw
The Cubs list Alcántara as a DH, which I find interesting. 2027 will be a make-or-break year for him, I believe. Either he’ll be given a real shot as a starting outfielder, or perhaps the Cubs will move on.
Dean is a useful spare part for defense and baserunning, but he does turn 30 next month. He has options remaining, which helps.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are back home for two games this week after losing in Montreal to the Canadiens 5-4 on Saturday.
They'll play a Vegas Golden Knights team that lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Boston Bruins on Monday. This will be the second half of a back-to-back with travel for the Golden Knights, so the Penguins will have the schedule advantage.
Still, this is one heck of a Golden Knights team coming into this game with a 9-5-2 record, good for second in the Pacific Division. They punked the Penguins 6-2 earlier in the season when the Penguins lost all four games on their western road trip.
Jack Eichel has been fantastic to start the season, compiling seven goals and 20 points in 16 games. He can do it all and is outstanding at shutting down the league's best players.
Mark Stone leads the team in goals with 10 and also has 18 points in 16 games. Don't forget about Mitch Marner, too. He's one of the league's best distributors, as shown by 15 of his 17 points being assists.
They also have Tomas Hertl, Trevor Connelly, Ivan Barbashev, William Karlsson, and Brett Howden, all of whom can fill the net at any time.
Defensively, Shea Theodore carries much of the load, but Noah Hanifin and Rasmus Andersson also help when they can. Adin Hill is slated to start in goal after Carter Hart played on Monday.
The Penguins will be without star forward Evgeni Malkin on Tuesday, but his injury doesn't sound serious. He was a participant during the morning skate and could return against Boston on Thursday.
Defenseman Kaedan Korczak should be good to go after also participating in the morning skate. Like Malkin, he missed Monday's practice with an injury.
Here's a look at the expected lines and pairings:
Forwards
Novak-Crosby-Rakell
Kuzmenko-Kindel-Chinakhov
Koivunen-Lapierre-Brazeau
Dewar-Lizotte-Robertson
Defense
Stastney-Karlsson
Girard-Korczak
Carlile-Letang
Arturs Silovs will start in goal after having the night off on Saturday.
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh. You can also listen to the game on 105.9 'The X.'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 08: Darius Acuff Jr. #5 of the Sacramento Kings dribbles the ball against Adou Thiero #1 of the Los Angeles Lakers in a preseason game at Crypto.com Arena on October 08, 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. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After garnering considerable praise during the offseason and training camp for his development and diligent work, Adou Thiero has unfortunately yet to suit up in the regular season as he deals with swelling in his left knee. But according to head coach JJ Redick, it sounds like the second-year forward is potentially nearing a return.
“He’s had some live exposures and I think he’s trending in the right direction,” Redick told reporters prior to the Los Angeles Lakers’ win over the Miami Heat on Monday. “Hopefully by the end of the week he’ll be available.”
Thiero’s latest injury bout marks a turbulent first year and change in the NBA. He missed considerable time as a rookie with swelling in his left knee, which sidelined him for all of preseason and the first 13 games of the regular season, before a sprained MCL in his right knee rendered him unavailable from late December to mid-February.
Fortunately, it sounds like he should be back sooner rather than later; although, swelling in the same knee a year later is undoubtedly concerning.
His point-of-attack defense and general activity, both of which popped at times during the preseason, could help invigorate the Lakers’ 18th-ranked defense. They’ve often struggled to contain the ball and looked overmatched athletically on the perimeter at times. If he can find a reliable role offensively — and playing alongside Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves increases that possibility — Thiero’s size and athleticism can remedy some of those issues.
For now, though, the focus is on Thiero becoming fully healthy and returning to the floor. Once he does that, determining whether there’s a spot for him in Los Angeles’ wing rotation, one that’s off to a pretty commendable start through eight games, can enter the conversation.
In the meantime, Los Angeles will keep relying on Ziaire Williams, Matisse Thybulle, Jake LaRavia and Quentin Grimes to hold things down at the forward spots. The Lakers will look for their seventh win of the season when they face the Sacramento Kings inside Golden 1 Center Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
ARLINGTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 15: Boston Red Sox pitcher Patrick Sandoval (43) reacts after giving up a bloop hit that scores a run during the MLB game between the Boston Red Sox and the Texas Rangers on September 15, 2026 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) | Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Another day, another set of free agent contract projections. Where might the Guardians do some shopping?
MLB TradeRumors released their top 50 MLB free agents list yesterday. You can find our review of FanGraphs’ top 50 here. Today, we are going to look at a different nine free agents (not among the ones we chose to highlight yesterday) the Guardians could look at from MLB TradeRumors’ list, including those players listed just outside their top 50.
Paul Blackburn, RHrP, 2 years/$15M, 32 years old, 1.59 ERA/3.75 FIP in 2026 Analysis: A groundball-heavy reliever, Blackburn seems like he got pretty lucky to be a reliable high leverage arm last season. I have an option I prefer below, but if Blackburn would get down to a one-year deal, he might be a Guardians’ target.
Steven Okert, LHrP, 2 years/$15M, 35 years old, 2.13 ERA/3.23 FIP in 2026 Analysis: At Okert’s age, I don’t think I’d do two years guaranteed, but if he drops to one year, give me his career 3.28 FIP vs. LHH in the bullpen combined with the career numbers he put up last season.
Joc Pederson, LHH DH, 1 year/$14M, 34 years old, 128 wRC+ Analysis: The Guardians definitely looked at Pederson in past offseasons, but were unwilling to meet his agent’s asking price (causing Pederson to call out their ownership as cheap). I don’t find this fit LIKELY, but if the Guardians are done with Manzardo, I think there would be room on their roster to run a quasi-DH/pinch-hit platoon with Pederson and Adell. Because of Adell’s ability to stand in the outfield, they can still get Jose and DeLauter DH days, and bring Pederson off the bench. Again, unlikely, but I don’t think out of the realm of possibility.
Jonathan Loaisiga, RHrP, 2 years/$13M, 32 years old, 2.42 ERA/2.88 FIP in 2026 Analysis: If Loaisiga is going at THIS low of a salary, I’d hope the Guardians would be all over that. He does not get a lot of whiffs… but he gets tons of groundballs and supresses contact. I think his groundball-heavy approach would be a nice change of pace for the backend of the Cleveland pen.
Kris Bubic, LHP, 1 year/$12.5M, 29 years old, 3.76 ERA/3.54 FIP in 2026 Analysis: I don’t want Bubic simply because he had both elbow and shoulder injuries last year. If not for that, I’d bet on the Guardians to unlike the potential he’s always had to be a mid-rotation starter.
Taylor Ward, RHH OF, 1 year/$12M, 32 years old, 102 wRC+ in 2026 Analysis: It wouldn’t be an offseason without me speculating about Ward to the Guardians. But, my passion for the former Angels’ outfielder has mostly passed. Ward had a great season for on-base percentage last season but his slugging dropped immensely. For his career, he hasn’t really hit lefties much better than right-handers. So, I’m kinda out on him… but if the Guardians see some reason for his slugging to rebound to 2025 levels, the 119 wRC+ he put up that season would be a welcome addition. I just don’t see any reason for that to happen, myself.
Shane Bieber, RHP, 31 years old, 4.37 ERA/5.15 FIP in 2026 Analysis: This would be a bet on Carl Willis to get Bieber back to where he gets strikeouts. Is that a good bet? It depends on the cost, but I don’t think there’s a single Guardians’ fan out there who would oppose trying this out.
Alec Bohm, RHH 1B/3B, 30 years old, 90 wRC+ in 2026 Analysis: Bohm will have to accept that he is a lefty-masher, not a starter, to end up in Cleveland. His 120 wRC+ vs. LHP would look great at first base and third base when Jose DH’s against southpaws at the right price.
Patrick Sandoval, LHP, 30 years old, 5.12 ERA/3.74 FIP Analysis: Sandoval never figured it out in Boston, but his underlying numbers still look solid. How about a pillow deal with one of the best pitching organizations in baseball who have been good (knock-on-wood) at keeping pitchers healthy, Patrick?
What do you think about these options? Let us know in the comments below
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners have hired Chicago Cubs farm director Jason Kanzler as manager, the team said Tuesday.
The 36-year-old Kanzler replaces Dan Wilson, who was fired after a disappointing 76-86 season that began with World Series aspirations. Seattle reached Game 7 of the American League Championship Series in 2025.
Kanzler was the Cubs’ director of player development, leading the organization’s minor league system, players and coaching staff. A former minor league player and coach, Kanzler has not managed a club at any level. He was on the big league coaching staff for the Houston Astros in 2022-23, serving as assistant hitting coach in his final season.
He will be the second-youngest manager in baseball behind Washington’s 34-year-old skipper Blake Butera.
“I am thrilled to join the Mariners organization and I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running,” Kanzler said in a statement. “This team has an immense amount of talent in all facets of the game, and my coaching staff and I are excited to access and unlock this team’s full potential.”
Kanzler was a 20th-round pick by the Minnesota Twins in 2013 and played three minor league seasons as an outfielder.
After retiring as a player, he taught high school chemistry and physics in Katy, Texas, before Houston hired him in 2019 as hitting coach for High-A Fayetteville. He worked in a variety of roles within the organization over five seasons.
Seattle general manager Justin Hollander said in a statement the organization believes Kanzler can lead the club back to the postseason.
The Mariners won the AL West in 2025, their first division title in 24 years, and came within one victory of the franchise’s first World Series appearance. But a combination of injuries and regression by the bullpen and several of the team’s top offensive stars led to a 2026 season filled with disappointment.
Slugger Cal Raleigh batted .182 with 23 homers and 69 RBIs. Center fielder Julio Rodríguez and first baseman Josh Naylor also had career-worst seasons, and the Mariners scored just 664 runs — third-fewest in the majors.
Seattle is still the only major league team that’s never reached the World Series.
“Throughout the process, Jason consistently demonstrated elite leadership skills, high-end content and an ability to connect and partner with players, staff and front office,” Hollander said.
The US Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is in the advanced stages of setting up an entity to sell a stake in the commercial rights for Team USA in return for capital, according to multiple reports.
Any deal would mark a significant shift for the USOPC, a non-profit organization that, unlike many national Olympic committees, relies heavily on sponsorships, licensing and other commercial revenue streams rather than government funding.
