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We begin this series with a man who was a Chicago-area native (Marengo) and pitched for the Cubs more than a century ago.

Carl Lundgren, a right-hander, pitched for the Cubs for only eight seasons, 1902-09, but as you surely know, that period included some of the most significant years in franchise history, including two World Series titles in 1907 and 1908.

Lundgren, in fact, was a key pitcher for the 1907 World Series champions, posting a microscopic 1.17 ERA in 28 games (25 starts) covering 207 innings. While he walked a lot of hitters — 92 — he didn’t give up many hits, only 130, giving him a 1.072 WHIP. His 5.7 hits allowed per nine innings led MLB, and though hardly anyone hit home runs in general back then, Lundgren led all MLB pitchers by allowing none at all.

Even with all that, per his SABR biography, Lundgren wasn’t used at all during the World Series, manager Frank Chance trusting Mordecai Brown, Ed Reulbach, Jack Pfiester and Orval Overall. Each of those pitchers won a game as the Cubs won the Series.

Lundgren “mysteriously lost his stuff,” per the bio, and his performance declined in 1908. It’s entirely possible he had some sort of injury that couldn’t be diagnosed 120 years ago. He “retired” from baseball after 1909, but pitched three more years in the minors before becoming a long-time baseball coach at two Big Ten schools, Michigan (1913-20) and Illinois (1921-34). He’d certainly have continued, as he won five Big Ten titles over those 14 years, but he had a fatal heart attack Aug. 21, 1934, aged just 54.

Per the SABR bio, Lundgren is still remembered in Champaign:

On the Champaign side of the University of Illinois campus sits a student residence named Lundgren Hall in his honor. 

Lundgren is credited with 13.3 bWAR for his eight years with the Cubs, No. 100 on the list.

Three years ago, Jasson Domínguez was one of the most promising position player prospects in baseball. The 2023 campaign saw the man known as “the Martian” demolish Double-A, Triple-A, and MLB pitching, the last two in small samples following a pair of quick promotions as the Yankees’ depth depleted due to injury. Since then, however, he has been unable to truly establish himself in The Show both offensively and defensively.

In 2026, Domínguez took another step back. In 222 plate appearances, the 23-year-old outfielder slashed .225/.267/.368 with six homers, eight stolen bases, and a 76 wRC+. He wasn’t exactly a menace the year prior and his glove was rough, but the switch-hitter had at least produced against righties enough to be a league-average bat (99 wRC+). Domínguez was worth -0.2 fWAR in 2026 and now has 0.5 in 206 career MLB games.

Injuries were a factor, particularly that low-grade AC joint sprain he suffered back in May that sent him to the list, but the reality is that even after getting healthy, Domínguez didn’t impress nearly enough to give the Yankees a reason to stick with him as their overall offense sagged. Eventually, the Bombers acquired Heliot Ramos and promoted Spencer Jones, making Domínguez expendable on the active roster. He went to the minors and appeared in just four MLB games post-Trade Deadline.

This all leads to the question: should the Yankees keep Domínguez around for 2027? Has he done enough to keep getting chances? It all comes down to New York’s winter activity and his one minor-league option. That’s probably enough to keep him around as organizational depth, with at least a modicum of breakout appeal, but there are several avenues the team can opt to take with the former top prospect.

The Yankees will enter the 2027 campaign with Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Jones, and Ramos in the outfield, plus Domínguez and José Caballero, who can also play there if needed (Giancarlo Stanton is purely a DH if he returns). A new outfielder via free agency or trade can’t be ruled out, either. That’s a lot of people for just a handful of spots, and for the sake of his development, the Martian should be playing every day.

If Domínguez isn’t traded in the offseason, he will likely start the year in Triple-A unless he wins a spot in spring training (or “summer” training, whenever it takes place due to the looming lockout). It’s probably a less likely scenario at this point, but it’s certainly plausible, especially if any injuries pop up ahead of him.

Trading Domínguez when his value is this low might not be ideal—they’re not going to trade him just to trade him—but again, it will all depend on the proposed return and if he’s fitting in as the lead piece in a deal or part of a larger package. Gauging his current value against what he could offer down the road is tricky because just as he has bounce-back potential, he could also crash out even more and become older and worse.

Probably thanks to that remaining minor-league option, Domínguez will remain with the Yankees if they don’t find a trade scenario that feels appropriate. However, his time with the organization is reaching a turning point as he enters a key offseason in his development. He’s currently playing Dominican winter ball in LIDOM, but things might get messy if/when the Yanks can’t communicate with him to track his training and offseason routine because of the lockout.

Lockout or not, Domínguez needs to take a step forward in the plate discipline department after posting an awful 4.5-percent walk rate in 2026. That’s where it all should start. A quick look at his Savant page, however, tells us that the raw tools are there for Domínguez to be better than he has been to this point:

Upper-echelon bat speed, but subpar contact metrics. Elite arm strength, but subpar defense and range. He has excellent speed, too, so athleticism doesn’t seem to be the problem.

Domínguez needs to hit the ball with more authority, but above all things, he needs to gain consistency with both swings. This year, he posted a 58 wRC+ hitting from the left side of the plate and 105 from the right side, which is baffling because the split was reversed in each of his previous three MLB campaigns.

There’s a very good chance that Domínguez is part of the Yankees organization as teams enter play in 2027. But if so, there’s no longer any margin for error. His spot in the team’s future plans is unquestionably in jeopardy.

Two members of the pennant winning 2026 Rays are finalists for the Silver Slugger, one no surprise and one quite a big one!

Junior Caminero

One of two finalists at third base for the American League, this should be an easy win for the MVP Finalist after his second consecutive 40+ HR season at just age-22. He had 100 runs scored, 101 RBI, a 148 wRC+, and was the 2026 leader in bat speed (79.4 MPH). The other candidate, Miguel Vargas of the White Sox, had 33 homers and a 134 wRC+ which is respectable and worthy of recognition, but Caminero should take this honor handily.

Chandler Simpson

Making a bid to be just the third silver slugger in history with zero homeruns (Ozzie Smith – ‘87, Pete Rose – ‘81), the speedy Simpson is on a short list of some incredible hitters, some of them former Rays players:

Wilyer Abreu, Red Sox
Randy Arozarena, Mariners
Cody Bellinger, Yankees
Jac Caglianone, Royals
Chase DeLauter, Guardians
Riley Greene, Tigers
Tristan Peters, White Sox
Chandler Simpson, Rays
Mike Trout, Angels

According to the announcement, Abreu, Arozarena, Caglianone, DeLauter, Peters and Simpson would all be first-time winners, while Trout is bidding to be the third ever ten-time SS winner (Bonds – 12, Piazza – 10).

By wRC+ the league leaders among qualified hitters are Arozarena (151 wRC+), Greene (136), the not nominated Dom Canzone (134), DeLauter (131), and Caglianone (129).

Using the same perspective Trout is sixth (129) and Simpson is 20th (93), emphasizing the hilarity of the nomination, but Simpson is notably the league leader in AVG (.306) with Caglianone second (.289).

Simpson is also the league leader in stolen bases among outfielders (46) with the second highest being Arozarena (26).

Welcome to the 2026 edition of Ranking theRockies, where we take a look back at every player to log playing time for theRockies 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. 27, Eiberson Castellano (0.1 rWAR)

Eiberson Castellano had a memorable 2026 within the Colorado Rockies system. His 2027, however, will come with another team.

The Venezuelan right-handed pitcher signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018 as an international free agent. After skipping the 2019 season and with no minor league season in 2020, he began playing in the Venezuelan Winter League and Dominican Summer League in 2021 before getting some Single-A playing time within the Phillies organization in 2022. He mainly worked within the Philadelphia system for the next few years (with the exception of an offseason stint with the Minnesota Twins after being selected in the Rule 5 draft).

He eventually made his way to the Rockies in December 2025. Castellano’s Rockies career lasted just the 2026 season, but he rapidly progressed through the system. In his time in Double-A, he went 4-2 through 10 starts with a 2.72 ERA.

Castellano had a stellar June. Early in the month, he was promoted from the Double-A Hartford Yard Goats to the Albuquerque Isotopes, where he pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit with seven strikeouts in his Triple-A debut. For that, he was named the Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week.

President of baseball operations Paul DePodesta spoke highly of him following that stretch: “(He) made his first start last night in Triple-A. He had done really, really well in Double-A, had a terrific start last night, went six shutout in his first Triple-A game.”

The good times kept rolling. About a week later, the Rockies selected his contract, paving the way for his major league debut. He took the mound in the seventh inning of the wild 23-9 win over the Athletics, hosted at Las Vegas Ballpark. He closed out the game with three innings of work, allowing four hits and no runs with two strikeouts. He was optioned back to Albuquerque the next day.

Although the sample size is limited to just 35 pitches in his lone MLB outing, Castellano brought an arsenal of a curveball with good movement, a four-seamer averaging over 95 MPH, and a sinker, with a couple changeups mixed in.

In his time with the ‘Topes, Castellano served mostly in a bulk reliever role, appearing in 15 total games with just three starts. There, he posted a 4-5 record, a 6.49 ERA, and 57 strikeouts over 59.2 innings.

Just days ago, Castellano cleared waivers and became a free agent after being outrighted by the Rockies.

Castellano showed promise in both his minor league career (primarily in a solid 2026) and his MLB debut, and his promotion path was encouraging. However, as the Rockies retool their pitching depth, the two parties will go their separate ways.

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Let's open up the mailbag to discuss some of the Mets' top prospects and SNY's latest top 30 list...

If you could choose the most underrated prospect in the system, who would that be? - @BrianC___

I’ll go with left-hander Daviel Hurtado, who ranked No. 19 in my offseason top 30. He was a mid-level international signing out of Cuba in 2023 for $500,000. The 21-year-old split his season between 21 games (18 starts) for Low-A St. Lucie and High-A Brooklyn, posting a combined 2.93 ERA with 89 strikeouts against 27 walks in 86 innings.

He is a pitchable left-hander who has some velocity. He will touch 96 mph with two above-average breaking balls in his slider and curveball. Hurtado's changeup is his fourth offering and could use some work.

Hurtado is still a distance away from major league consideration, and he has things to improve on, but this was a seldom talked about prospect at the beginning of 2026 -- and he looks the part of a potential back-end starter who could climb the top 30 list in future iterations.

Who is the most likely prospect to break out in 2027? - @MrChicken234556

Well, thank you for the question, Mr. Chicken. I like answering both an underrated prospect as well as a potential breakout.

I will stay in the same range on the top 30 list, and I will pick the No. 17-ranked prospect, right-hander Luke Gabrysh, as an arm to break out. He was acquired by the Mets from the Phillies in the Brooks Raley trade at the deadline.

If you were just scouting the stat line, Gabrysh wouldn’t jump off the page, though he did miss a lot of bats (121 strikeouts in 93.1 innings). But he grades out excellently in Stuff+ models and is the type of arm that this Mets pitching development staff has maximized over the past handful of years.

His fastball sits in the mid-90s and touches 98 with a plus slider, and he throws a sweeper and a changeup. Gabrysh could stand to refine his command and secondary offerings, but with some tweaks, he could be a future big league starter, though it would be disingenuous to not acknowledge there is a risk he can wind up in the bullpen if the command and secondaries don’t take that next step. 

Gabrysh should start the 2027 season with Double-A Binghamton.

Can you explain your reasoning for putting Sammy Stafura over Elian Peña? - @gabrielleraucci

I have been open that I am likely the "high" person in the community on Stafura, whom the Mets acquired from the Pirates for Luke Weaver, and I am OK with that.

This is not at all a ding on Peña, who is an excellent prospect that I ranked No. 5 in the Mets system in the offseason top 30. He is someone both the Mets and I are very excited about heading into his second full professional season in 2027. But there have to be differentiating factors that play into a ranking.

I look at Stafura as having the loudest tools of anyone in the Mets' system (with an honorary mention to No. 6 ranked prospect Wandy Asigen). He has above-average, bordering on plus raw power that finally made it into game action in 2026, notably hitting 14 home runs in the month of July. The power is backed up by exit velocity (an average of 91 mph exit velocity would put him right around the top 40 in the major leagues), and bat speed figures that would put him inside the top 44 hitters in the majors.

From an athletic and defensive standpoint, he is both a plus runner and defender. His sprint speed numbers match up with Elly De La Cruz and he is a potential 30-plus stolen base threat at the next level. 

Defensively, his range and instincts are plus, and I could not find an evaluator who thinks he could not handle shortstop at the major league level, though he does have experience at second base, and he is athletic enough to handle playing the outfield if needed.

Stafura does not come without flaws, and there are things he needs to do to take these raw tools to the next level. Stafura has a power-over-contact approach with plenty of swing-and-miss, though he will take his walks.

In the small sample of 21 games with High-A Brooklyn, Stafura walked 11.2 percent of the time and managed to trim his strikeout rate to 24.5 percent from 28.6 percent with the Pirates' High-A affiliate. However, he did hit for less power in that small sample with the Mets organization. His strikeout rate has generally hovered closer to that 30 percent number throughout his minor league career. If the Mets can get Stafura’s strikeout rate to reside more consistently in the 24-26 percent range and not sacrifice his approach, that would be a strong outcome.

On the defensive side, while there is little question about range or instincts, Stafura's throwing arm grades around average. Good enough to play shortstop, but not exactly a howitzer.

I don’t think Peña has the same power and athletic profile that Stafura does. He is more of a contact-over-power approach with an advanced plan at the plate. His athletic profile looks more like that of a third baseman. Both are strong prospects, but with differing profiles, I leaned toward the tools and higher upside that I believe Stafura possesses.

The Mariners have landed on their latest good idea.

The Mariners introduced Jason Kanzler as their next manager on Tuesday. He’s 36 and has never been manager before. Jerry Dipoto said he was far and away the most impressive candidate they interviewed, noting his clear communication style as a standout trait.

“Experience is good,” Dipoto said. “In this case, we didn’t think it was good enough to dissuade us from all the traits that Jason brings to the table.

I am… skeptical. I don’t trust Kanzler. I could list some reasons, from that lack of experience, to a projected image that looks and sounds enough like Mariners Brass to make me question if this is really an external candidate. But boil down my initial reactions and anything I might say proves shallow — judging a person I’ve never met, against a job I’ve never witnessed in action. 

No, I don’t trust Kanzler simply because I don’t trust the Mariners front office to make this decision. The team has fired two managers in two years, and plenty of assistant coaches. I don’t think they know what they want, or how to identify it. I don’t think their strategy of passive, middling success is attractive to the very best candidates, nor the fact that this is a potential one-year, do-or-die gig. I see no reason to confer the benefit of the doubt. It’s not you, Jason, it’s the Mariners.

Of course, I also question whether any of this matters. Dan Wilson was hired without competition, with no experience, with worse media chops, with a lesser image, and following an unpopular firing of a more popular predecessor. Nevertheless, Wilson ended his first season as the most successful manager in Seattle in two decades. The job is either not that hard, or not that important, or not something we’re good at judging from our sofas. I see no reason why Kanzler can’t be just as successful just as quick, even if the org’s biennial enlightenment has worn thin.

Kanzler’s success will ultimately come down to the quality of the players he leads. The roster at the moment is fine. They’re projected for the sort of 86-win season we’ve become accustomed to in this era. I don’t suspect that will change by spring. It’s the bare minimum talent threshold, meaning their aspirations are not so much in Kanzler’s hands, but their opponents.

Still, there does appear to be a small twist on this latest “going for good” squad. The actual WAR produced last year by the active roster would make them one of the five worst teams in the majors next year. Some of that is the down years from Julio Rodríguez, Cal Raleigh, and Josh Nalyor. Some of that is the departure of Randy Arozarena. But a lot of that is because the Mariners figure to give significant playing time to at least four rookie-ish players: Colt Emerson, Kade Anderson, Michael Arroyo, and Lazaro Montes. Each of these players are projected for solid contributions next year, but none have any sort of track record to lean on. If they collectively flop, the path to the postseason is narrow, perhaps nonexistent.

In other words, the front office is staking their “do-or-die” season on the immediate success of the next development wave. And, well, it just so happens their new manager is the former Director of Player Development for the Cubs. If there’s one thing Kanzler is uniquely qualified for, it’s working with young players to help them “be the best they can be” (or however he’d put it in player-dev parlance). Setting lineups and changing pitchers and talking to the press are the most visible and controversial parts of the job, but I suspect the things that matter are the soft skills we cannot see, and where Kanzler supposedly excels.

Justin Hollander alluded to this at Wednesday’s press conference. Remember, one of the criticisms that came about at the end of 2026 was that young players called up to the majors were no longer receiving the same instruction or set of expectations that they’d had for years throughout the Mariners system.

“When you go through a process like this, you learn a lot about other people. You also learn a lot about yourself and what you believe in as an organization,” Hollander said. “We need to be better about connecting what we believe in organizationally to what we do in the big leagues. I think that’s something that was identified by Jerry, myself, our baseball operations staff, and most importantly, our players. As we went to the end of the season, we also need to push ourselves to try new things that maybe hadn’t been on our radar.

“Finding someone with Jason’s skill set that can develop while we’re in the big leagues that can connect an organization from top to bottom was a huge part of this,” Hollander said. “And he was by far the most impressive candidate when we talked to people about where development starts and stops, and really believe that he’s going to help drive our staff, which will help drive our players to reach the absolute apex of their potential.”

And so I find myself trapped between thinking this makes a lot of sense, and finding it a bit frustrating that we’re still doing this. I’m tired of watching the org hire and fire their next great philosophy, while never truly committing to that philosophy with their WAR chest. There’s only so much a manager can do to stave off disaster when the baseline talent is bare minimum. I am more impressed with Kanzler than I thought I would be, but my expectations are that of anybody who agrees to flip the Mariners coin.

I’ll leave you with this. Just as the Mariners exist at the edge of a cliff, they remain at the bottom of the mountain they’ve tentatively circled for years. If this is it, if Kanzler is the guy to finally connect the great work they do in the minors to their middling performance in the majors, then the org absolutely could still ascend to the “apex of their potential,” or whatever. Every year I write essentially the same season preview, and essentially the same season recap, that the org is positioned for greatness, if only they’d reach for it. Maybe this is finally the year we say, Yes We Kanzler.