Worldwide Sports News

The Guardians won both games in Chicago and now head home to see if they can solve their homefield woes and their inability to hit White Sox ace Sean Burke.

Make sure you read Jake’s great recap from last night here.

Patrick Bailey has a 145 wRC+ since I tweeted that his lack of offense probably made trading for him a mistake. (To be clear, this had nothing to do with the return for Bailey, which I always was clear was fine).

The Guardians internet sphere is going nuts about using Smith with a 5-run lead. I have to say I find that crazy as someone who has watched a lot of Matt Festa this season and who watched Espino in Chicago on Wednesday. In regards to reliever familiarity, also important to read this from Mike Petriello who does not find reliever familiarity to be that significant of a factor. I like Smith’s chances of being fresh with 48 hours of rest and Vogt went to Gavin Williams at exactly the right spot last night.

Zack Meisel has an article about the Guardians bullpen.

Jose was chirping back at a hostile White Sox crowd yesterday. He now has a 185 wRC+ in the ALDS for everyone who said he was washed and unclutch (language warning):

All of baseball now waits for game five on Saturday at 8pm ET.

Good morning, LSB.

Evan Grant says the Rangers have three options for what to do with Corey Seager in the offseason, and all of them have their complications.

Jeff Wilson sums up the disappointing season of Wyatt Langford.

MLB Pipeline lists each team’s prospect of the year.

And MLB is weighing a 154-game schedule and the ability to pick your own playoff opponent.

That’s all for this morning. Happy Friday.

The Royals made plenty of spectacular plays in the field in 2026, even as the season didn’t go the way they hoped. They finished tied for seventh in baseball in Outs Above Average with +19, with Bobby Witt Jr. standing out as a likely Gold Glove candidate, with Michael Massey, Maikel Garcia, and Kyle Isbel also standing out.

From diving catches to leaping grabs and game-saving throws, there were plenty of moments that reminded us just how much fun great defense can be. Here are the best defensive plays by the Royals in 2026.

May 5 vs. the Guardians – Bobby goes deep in the hole

We’ve almost become immune to how great Bobby is on defense now. The 2025 Platinum Glove Award winner showed why he’s the best in baseball several times this year, including this play in May where he went DEEEEEP in the hole to get Cleveland’s Rhys Hoskins.

May 31 vs. the Rangers – Carter Jensen’s sliding catch

Carter Jensen impressed in his rookie season, and will likely earn some support for Rookie of the Year. Most of his damage was done with the bat, but he had some highlights on defense behind the plate as well. On May 31, he showed his athleticism with a terrific sliding catch on a bunt attempt by Rangers outfielder Michael Helman.

June 19 vs. the Cardinals – Massey flips to Tolbert

Even when Bobby Witt Jr. takes the occasional day off, the Royals can still flash leather up the middle. Tyler Tolbert was Bobby’s understudy, and he learned a lot by watching the maestro. In June, he paired up with Michael Massey, who made an impressive diving stop, flipping to Tolbert for the out.

July 28 vs. the Twins – Isaac Collins protects the lead with a catch

The Royals were clinging to a one-run lead in the ninth against the Twins in a late July game when Luke Keaschall laced a line drive toward the line in left. Isaac Collins went all out to make the catch and preserve the lead.

Alex Lange would blow the game anyway (shocker!). But Collins did his part!

August 8 vs. the Cubs – Bobby’s jump throw

Remember Derek Jeter’s iconic jump-throw? Well Bobby Witt Jr. can do it too, only Bobby actually covers a ton of ground out there. He showed off his athleticism in an August game against the Cubs, ranging deep in the hole to retire Alex Bregman.

August 15 vs. the Angels – Tyler Tolbert full extension

Tyler Tolbert showed a bit of everything this year, from speed, to surprising power, to highlights on defense. In an August game against the Angels he was in centerfield, and went full extension to rob Denzer Guzman of extra bases.

(1-4) Glendale Desert Dogs 2, (2-3) Peoria Javelinas 10

• Isaiah Drake, DH: 1-4

box score

It was another bad day for the Glendale team all around. They have been struggling to get any sort of good play from the team. and after allowing six runs in the second inning of this game it was a quick decline to a 1-4 start. The positive for Braves fans is that Isaiah Drake is healthy and has now recorded a hit in each of his first three games this fall. Drake may be stuck down at the bottom of the Glendale order but he’s gotten substantial playing time early this season, and that’s going to be massive for him after he missed so much time at the end of the year. He has been consistent with putting up a hit and a stolen base in each game, and this most recent outing was his best of the trio as he hit the ball harder than his prior two outings. He had a 100 mph single for his lone hit and impressively has been doing a great job at making contact with everything thrown at him. He only has two whiffs in 24 swings in the first three games, and though he was a tad aggressive in his first two appearances in this game he didn’t have any bad chases. So far Drake’s presence and performance is a highlight for Braves prospects from this fall and if he continues to get this amount of playing time we should have a decent sample of games to review at the end of the year.

Good morning everyone! Happy Friday!

The 2026 League Championship Series matchups are almost set!

In the National League, the Los Angeles Dodgers will face the Milwaukee Brewers for a second consecutive October. Fans of every team except for the Dodgers will be rooting for the Brewers to spoil the defending champions’ bid for a third straight World Series title. That semifinal series begins Sunday night, with a potential marquee pitching matchup between Milwaukee right-hander Jacob Misiorowski and Dodgers left-hander Tarik Skubal

In the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays swept away their division rival, the New York Yankees, to advance to their first ALCS since the COVID-shortened 2020 season. They await the winner of the Chicago White Sox-Cleveland Guardians Division Series, which will be decided on Saturday night’s Game 5 in Cleveland. The White Sox failed to capitalize on two chances to clinch a postseason series at home, which would have been the first time since 1906.

Baseball fans should savor the final few weeks of the postseason, as the owner-imposed CBA lockout could lead to a prolonged hiatus between the end of this season and the start of next season.

While the salary cap is the main issue, it will not the only change brought up in negotiations. Ideas to shorten the season and implement an international player draft are just two of the additional topics that the league and the players union will discuss at the bargaining table.

It will be interesting to see how active the free agency and trade markets will be in November before the Dec 1. lockout freezes all league activity. Normally, MLB free agency is spread out, with player signings happening occasionally throughout the offseason. However, some free-agents could sign sooner this winter to secure their futures. As a result, the Athletics must give their new general manger the resources to bolster the team immediately.

What do you think will come out of the latest lockout? Of the remaining teams, which would you most like to see win the World Series?

A’s Coverage:

• Phillies, Cubs executives reportedly among top Athletics GM candidates
• Matt Kleine, Rob Cerfolio Candidates In Athletics’ GM Search
• ’Be a sponge’: No. 19 prospect leads A’s Fall League group with do-it-all mentality
• Zack Of All Trades Tries To Get One More Win: In Court
• A’s mulling a few names to fill David Forst’s vacancy as GM
• Important Dates For The Athletics This Offseason
• 12 A’s Players Out of Options Heading Into 2027
• How MLB’s Proposed Changes Would Impact the A’s
• A’s part ways with assistant hitting, quality control coaches
• After an outfield collision left him paralyzed, every gain in rehab is a big win for A’s Ryan Lasko
• Why 2027 Athletics Will Be Completely Different Team
• A’s Las Vegas ballpark cost rises to $2.1B, public funding delayed
• 2026: Year Of The “Didn’t See That Coming!”
• A’s Hoping Luis Severino Chooses to Stay
• Where the A’s Plan to Use Zack Gelof in 2027
• Devin Taylor: Athletics 2026 Minor League Player Of The Year
• Athletics 2026 MLB Draft Report Card
• Henry Bolte Is the A’s Next Budding Star
• Determining Athletics’ Offensive MVP for the 2026 Season
• Notes From Star-Studded Rockies-A’s Instructional League
• 2027 Infield Landscape Ever Changing
• “Fast Movers” Might Be Key To Contention
• Billy Beane comments on the job Mark Kotsay has done this season.
• Should Mark Kotsay return in 2027? A’s Players Weigh In
• What the A’s Hiring Mike Rizzo would Signal and the Questions it Would Raise
• Athletics Considering James Click For GM Vacancy
• Get the best of Athletics Nation on the new SB Nation app

MLB News & Interest:

• Guards ride 6-run 6th to set up winner-take-all ALDS Game 5
• MLB proposes 154-game schedule, new playoff features
• 2026 postseason schedule, results and how to watch
• Dodgers return to NLCS as Pages delivers clutch October moment
• Here we go again: Brewers advance to NLCS rematch with Dodgers
• All signs pointing to a dream Skubal-Miz showdown for NLCS Game 1
• Rays sweep their way past Yankees to reach 3rd ALCS in franchise history
• Judge wants front office to go ‘all in’ — with Boone remaining in charge
• J-Ram shows off all his tools as Guardians refuse to go quietly
• Report: Alex Cora again declines chance to manage Phillies
• Phillies Considering Keeping Don Mattingly As Manager
• Trump says he’ll award Clemens the Presidential Medal of Freedom
• MLB Sends Memo To Teams Outlining Lockout Procedures
• Report: 2026-27 Qualifying Offer To Be $23.15MM
• Here are each organization’s Prospects of the Year
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

Construction continues at the Athletics Las Vegas ballpark.

What do you think of MLB’s latest proposal?

Should Mark Kotsay get another season to lead the A’s, or is it time for a new manager in the dugout?

As all of us know, pitching was the Cubs’ downfall this year.

Not in the postseason’s two games, really — those games were largely lost because the offense stopped hitting.

Right now I’m going to share this chart yet again because, well, it points out the problem in stark numbers.

The Cubs had one of the worst pitching staffs in all of Major League Baseball in 2026. As you can see, they lapped the field offensively. If they’d had an even league-average pitching staff they likely win 100 games and we’d still be watching Cubs postseason games today.

Cubs President of Baeball Operations Jed Hoyer, in his season-ending presser, acknowledged part of this problem:

About the Cubs bullpen, Hoyer said: “I did a poor job on the bullpen this year, full stop.”

The thing is, that’s not the only issue with the Cubs pitching this year. The starting rotation, as I detailed in yesterday’s article praising Craig Counsell for doing as much as he possibly could with it, was also pretty terrible.

And so the pitching issues don’t end with the bullpen, and that calls into question the entire way Chicago Cubs pitching is put together.

I wrote an entire article on that topic here in early September. That article mostly focused on what the Cubs could do going forward the rest of the season. What I left out, and what I want to focus on now, is how Cubs pitching is put together.

You have likely noticed the long streams of pitchers throwing 98, 99, 100 miles per hour or more coming out of most other teams’ minor league systems. The Cubs don’t have that. This year’s bullpen included just two guys who can do that, and one of them (Ryan Zeferjahn) wasn’t even in the organization until the trade deadline. The other, Daniel Palencia, spent much of the 2026 season on the injured list.

Meanwhile, other teams — I’m looking at you in particular, Brewers — seem to have an endless line of guys who can throw triple digits, beginning with Jacob Misiorowski, but also including multiple guys in their bullpen.

To me, that’s an indictment of two parts of the Cubs organization. First is pitcher development. They just don’t seem to have the right infrastructure to even take guys that they do have, who can throw this hard, and make them into good MLB pitchers.

As Josh wrote in his Arizona Fall League preview, the Cubs have a guy like this right now on the Mesa Solar Sox roster. Jhon Cabral was signed after the Marlins let him go, because:

Cabral is a fireballer who can hit 100 miles per hour with regularity. He also has no idea where the ball is going, which is why the Marlins released him. In the 82.2 innings he’s thrown in his minor league career, he’s struck out 82 and walked 121. But it’s hard to give up on triple digits.

I have my doubts as to whether the Cubs have the right pitching infrastructure to fix this. They had a guy like this in the AFL last year, too, JP Wheat, who wound up walking 16 of the 37 batters he faced in AFL play. He wasn’t much better at South Bend this year, with a 30.1 percent walk rate.

An even better example is Trevor Megill, who the Cubs acquired in the 2019 Rule 5 Draft. Megill pitched in 28 games for the Cubs in 2021, posting an 8.37 ERA, but striking out 30 in 23.2 innings. Gotta be something there, right? Well, the Cubs didn’t think so because they exposed him to waivers. The Twins claimed him and he pitched for them in 2022, and eventually they traded him to the Brewers for a minor leaguer.

As you know, the Brewers helped Megill figure something out and he’s posted 81 saves for them over the past three seasons, and he just doesn’t walk guys (7.5 percent walk rate in 155 innings from 2024-26).

Now what kind of secret sauce do the Brewers have? It’s clear they know something about pitching development, because they “fixed” Megill, and also graduated Misiorowski, Abner Uribe and Logan Henderson from their minor league system over the last couple of years.

Another example is Jeremiah Estrada, who had good velocity but not good results in parts of two years with the Cubs. He was let go on waivers after the 2023 season and was claimed by the Padres. Here’s how the Padres “fixed” Estrada:

Ruben Niebla, Estrada’s new pitching coach, wanted to see him throw in hopes of identifying a pitch that might complement his dynamic-yet-overused four-seam fastball.

They tried cutters, curveballs, changeups and sliders, continually altering the grips on most of them, and then Estrada unveiled the pitch that would change the trajectory of his entire career: a split-changeup, one he developed out of desperation and now sheepishly calls a “chitter.” He held it with an altered version of what’s called a “Vulcan” grip, lodging the baseball between his middle and ring fingers, and Niebla didn’t think he could command it. Then he threw it. It traveled in the mid-80s with hellacious sink and arm-side run. The first remark came from the catcher:

“Holy s—.”

Then Estrada threw another one.

“I was like, ‘Oh god,'” Niebla said. “I looked at the numbers, the characteristics, and I was like, ‘That’s actually not bad. Do it again.'”

What was initially supposed to be a 15-pitch bullpen session stretched out to about 70. By the end of it, Niebla became convinced that Estrada, 25, had identified the type of secondary offering he had spent his entire career searching for.

“He said, ‘OK, your splitter’s your f—ing pitch,” Estrada recalled. “It felt good because I worked hard for that pitch. I made that pitch.”

Now why couldn’t the Cubs have done that? Why aren’t they doing that with other pitchers in their system? Am I saying Jed Hoyer needs to dump Tommy Hottovy and the rest of the Cubs pitching infrastructure and start over? Yeah, probably so. Whatever Hottovy and Tyler Zombro are doing just isn’t working. For example, look what they did to Edward Cabrera’s pitch mix. Here’s what Cabrera threw in 2025 with the Marlins:

That produced the best year of Cabrera’s career — most starts, most innings, best bWAR. Now look at the mix he threw for the Cubs this year:

More changeups and curveballs this year and fewer sliders, and the changeup, which was supposedly Cabrera’s signature pitch, showed a drop in velocity. Did this lead to poor performance? Did it lead to more blisters, which put him out for several weeks? I don’t know the answers, but the question is: Why change something that was working?

Some of you are going to say that the way to start to fix Cubs pitching is “Sign Tarik Skubal.” Which, okay, but… who’s to say that they wouldn’t mess him up like they apparently have with some other pitchers? Sure, sign and trade for good pitchers … but also, the infrastructure needs to be overhauled.

The other part of the Cubs organization that needs to change is scouting. Hoyer absolutely needs to get a budget line back for scouting and either hire back the scouts who were let go in the recent purge, or get new ones, or both. Hoyer’s front office has become known for relying only on analytics to evaluate players. Now, let me say right now that there is absolutely nothing wrong with evaluation through analytics. They are a necessary part of modern baseball. But sometimes, there’s nothing wrong with a good scouting evaluation from a pair of human eyes. Scouting is the reason, for example, that the Cubs traded for Jake Arrieta, who had posted a 7.23 ERA in Baltimore in five starts in 2013. A Cubs scout saw something in Arrieta and helped convince Theo Epstein to make that deal. I’m pretty sure you remember how that worked out.

The bottom line here is that something’s not working with Cubs pitching, and it might be that they have to tear things down and start over. Your move, Jed Hoyer.

Just over 24 hours from being knocked out of the National League Division Series by the Milwaukee Brewers the San Diego Padres are left to wonder what might have been while at the same time changing gears to start looking toward the future. How soon that future arrives is unknown as MLB prepares for what for what appears to be an unavoidable lockout in the offseason. Work can still be done prior to a lockout and that has surely already started.

Padres fans have several questions about multiple players on their roster. Some hold all the control and have the option to opt out of contracts, while some must wait for the team to decide if they are going to retain their services. Others will have the option to hit the open market and see what other teams would be willing to pay for their services.

One of the players who will be discussed throughout the offseason up to and likely even after a lockout is resolved is first baseman Ty France. The Padres have struggled to find a reliable player at that position who can provide both offense and defense and the likely 2026 team MVP was a revelation for San Diego this season. He signed a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training prior to the season, but has earned a pay raise and a contract that will give him some piece of mind for at least a couple years. People who question whether the Padres should bring France back will say he needs to prove he can perform at the same level in consecutive seasons before they are willing to endorse his return.

According to an MLB Trade Rumors report there is mutual interest in France returning to San Diego in 2027. Do you want the Padres to bring back the former San Diego State Aztec?

Padres News:

• The top Padres to be potential free agents in the offseason say they want to remain in San Diego for the foreseeable future.

• The Padres continue to have winning seasons but they continue to struggle in the postseason.

Baseball News:

• The Cleveland Guardians used the strength of a six-run sixth inning to beat the Chicago White Sox and force Game 5.

• MLB announced the broadcast schedule for the remaining rounds of the postseason.

• MLB proposed a shortened season in latest volleyball to MLBPA.

• The Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers announced their Game 1 starters.

• Aaron Judge backs Aaron Boone and wants the front office to add to the New York Yankees roster.

It’s no secret that the Phillies have a poor defense. In fact, they have one of the worst defenses in the sport, as they ranked dead last in total defensive runs saved with -51 and their outs above average were only slightly better, coming in at 21st with -15. If you’re more of a traditional fielding stats kind of person, the Phillies 80 errors were still only middle of the pack as the 17th most in the majors.

Of course, whenever you discuss the Phillies defense, Trea Turner’s name is likely one of the first ones to come up. He rebounded defensively in 2025 to turn in a very good year at shortstop, but 2026 proved it to be an aberration. Turner was one of the worst defenders at any position this season by any metric you want to use, as his 21 errors were tied for the most in baseball and his -17 defensive runs saved were also tied for the worst. There will be much discussion over this winter about where Turner should play in 2027 and whether it is finally time to move him off of shortstop and possibly shift him to the outfield.

Elsewhere, Bryce Harper regressed heavily at first base and was a below average outfielder when he returned there mid-season in the wake of the Luis Arraez trade. Impending free agent Alec Bohm was right behind Turner with -10 defensive runs saved. J.T. Realmuto continued to decline behind the plate but at least owned the best ABS challenge success rate (81%) among all catchers who issued at least 15 challenges. Rookie center fielder Justin Crawford showed his potential in the field but also showed why he’s still very much considered a work in progress.

If you’ve been watching anymore of the postseason in the week since the Phillies were eliminated, you’ll see how it’s almost a night and day difference with how most of the remaining teams play defense when compared to the Phillies. Improving the Phillies anemic offense should be priority number one this offseason, but finding a way to improve their porous defense should be a very close second. If the team is going to rely on its pitching going forward as much or even more than it has in the past, it would behoove them to make their pitchers’ lives easier by giving them a better defense to pitch in front of.

So, how would you attempt to fix the Phillies defense this offseason? Can it even be fixed in one offseason?

Going into 2026, this was clearly going to be a pivotal year where Coby Mayo had to prove that he was going to be something or else it might sink in that he will never be anything. Yet he was also stuck in a paradox, because it was not obvious when Mayo would even get the opportunity to show what he did or didn’t have. By the time the dust settled on Mayo’s make-or-break season, he did get the chance, and it ended up being part-break and part-make, with the haters and doubters being both validated and repudiated at different times.

As spring training approached, the door to actual playing time still seemed to be closed to Mayo. The team committed big money to Pete Alonso and much less money to keep around Ryan Mountcastle. This seemed to close the door to Mayo getting any regular time at first base, and even if he could theoretically play third base, that was taken up by Jordan Westburg.

Before any team workouts even started, Westburg was revealed to be injured. He had a second injury reveal itself while recovering from the first and ended up never playing a game this season. Mayo’s shot at the third base job was there for the taking. This notion gave fans anxiety in spring training, largely due to concerns about Mayo’s defensive shortcomings at the position.

These concerns were frequently reinforced over the course of the Grapefruit League schedule. Mayo was the presumptive Opening Day third baseman and you probably didn’t feel good about it. He turned out to be the actual Opening Day third baseman, and the most frequent third baseman through the end of June, and… there still wasn’t much to feel good about. Mayo wasn’t hitting and he wasn’t fielding either. It was grim enough for a while there that the Orioles were regularly chucking Weston Wilson into lineups as the third baseman.

By the time July began, Mayo was batting a putrid .190/.260/.376 for the season. He had lost regular at-bats at the position to Blaze Alexander, of all people, who had been worse than worthless through the end of April but found some productivity before Mayo did and supplanted him for a little while. Then, some idiot Royals pitcher hit Alexander in the hand, broke several bones, and knocked him out of action for a time. I hate those guys.

With how Mayo was performing up to that point in the year, it would have been a shameful circumstance for the Orioles to just keep playing him as the third baseman. They did not do so, summoning infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand from Norfolk and giving him the lion’s share of the playing time from then until season’s end.

The 26-year-old, at one time an interesting power-hitting prospect who never quite put things together in Cincinnati, was acquired for cash considerations in April and had hit 17 home runs in 61 games for the Tides. Given that big league opportunity in Baltimore, Encarnacion-Strand made the most of it, rolling to a .277/.325/.513 batting line in the 58 games that he played.

That’s pretty much what everyone from Mike Elias on down has been hoping that Mayo would be able to be, and before the arrival of CES, never had been. He even played a decent third base for the first time in his MLB career, something the Reds never gave him a chance to do because they didn’t play him there. Now, CES could be the Opening Day third baseman. Or a healthy Westburg could. Alonso, one of the reigning MLB iron men, is obviously playing at first. Where does Mayo fit in all of that?

All of this sounds like a “break” year for Mayo. And for quite a while, it was. Yet even at his worst, there were positives going on under the hood. Mayo was hitting left-handed pitching so well that he at least seemed like he could be a platoon bat of some kind. Out of 12 first half home runs, nearly every one was hit against a left-handed pitcher. That’s something you can at least hang your hat on to stick around, and if you can stick around, maybe you can change the narrative.

Changing the narrative is exactly what Mayo did from July onwards. He exploded for a .924 OPS that month and continued that strong performance for the rest of the season, posting OPS numbers of .873 and .878 for August and September. He walked more often and struck out less. By season’s end, he was even getting some licks in against right-handed pitching, the kind of thing that he absolutely had not been doing early on.

If that’s a real breakout, there’s a place for Mayo, even if Alonso keeps playing every day, Westburg is actually healthy, and CES repeats something close to what he did with the Orioles this year. If, if, if. It always comes down to if. Some guys manage to sustain the breakout. Other times, it is only a mirage, and when you think you are getting water out of the desert oasis, it’s just a mouthful of sand.

It is impossible for us to know which way it will go right now. There is a plausible story there of why it improved. Maybe Mayo did make an adjustment that will lead to durable improvement, and things clicking beginning in July was something like the new normal. None of what he did in the last three months was fueled by unsustainable batted ball luck. He was swinging the bat fast, hitting the ball hard, finding the barrel.

That’s important. It’s not just empty hopes and dreams fueling any belief in Mayo. There’s three months of continuously good MLB performance suggesting he can do the thing. If he can do the thing, the Orioles will find room for him. Even with as much as he struggled in the first half of this season, Mayo finished with a 1.1 bWAR and 2.0 fWAR for the full season. Second Half Mayo over a full season is probably a 3-3.5 WAR guy. Sign me up for that.

The scouting world has always thought Mayo would end up in right field, where his strong arm would play and where he might do better at reacting to line drives from the outfield grass than how he sometimes does from the infield dirt. This perspective was recently endorsed by no less than Hall of Famer Jim Palmer.

The Orioles, for unclear reasons, have steadfastly avoided ever trying this. They did not put Mayo in the outfield even one time on his way up the minor league ladder. I am skeptical that they will suddenly decide that now is the time to try it. Maybe they will surprise me.

I have been hoping to get a star breakout from Coby Mayo on the Orioles since the moment they drafted him, when, knowing nothing more than his name, it was apparent that he has a great Baltimore accent name. Unfortunately, the amount of fun that I would have saying, “Coby Mayo, three-run home run, hon!” has zero impact on his success as a professional baseball player. That’s just not how it works.

The Orioles control the rights to Mayo through the 2031 season. He does not even reach arbitration until 2028. He hit 24 home runs this year while only being good for half the season. There could be some 30+ home run seasons for a few years to come if he puts it all together for a year. Again, the if. I want to believe. Elias would be wise to have a backup plan.

Unlike the Yankees, who couldn’t muster enough grit after falling behind two games to none, the Guardians have scratched and clawed their way back from the brink of elimination to force Game 5. They won both games in Chicago in decisive fashion, scoring nine runs on consecutive nights to send the series back to Cleveland where the winner will take all on Saturday.

ALDS Game 4

Cleveland Guardians 9, Chicago White Sox 4

(Series tied, 2-2)

You want your stars to shine on the brightest stage, and while Aaron Judge couldn’t recover from a calf strain in time to make the ALDS roster, José Ramírez has almost single handedly dragged his team from certain elimination to parity in the series. 2026 was by far the worst full season for the consistently excellent Ramírez. It was the first year he posted below league average production since putting up a 72 wRC+ in 97 games in 2015, his 92 wRC+ more than 40 points below the 135 mark across the last ten seasons, while his 12 home runs were his fewest since he hit 11 in 2016. One of the league standards when it comes to posting, Ramírez missed 37 games after fracturing the hamate bone in his left hand in June, and his production never recovered in the regular season.

The White Sox held him hitless in the first two games in Cleveland, but he has looked a man possessed in these last two games at Rate Field. Wednesday night, he spearheaded the Guardians’ first win of the series, going 2-for-4 with a double, a triple, a walk, two RBIs, two runs scored, and a stolen base. In Game 4, he went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs to make sure his team’s season stayed alive for at least one more game.

Chicago used yet another opener and it almost backfired spectacularly, Hagen Smith walking the bases loaded in the first while recording just two outs. That forced Will Venable to call on Erick Fedde earlier than he would have liked, but the 33-year-old journeyman stranded the bases loaded and gave the White Sox 3.2 innings of two-run ball to stabilize what looked like a rapidly sinking ship.

The Guardians handed the ball to phenom rookie starter Parker Messick. The hard throwing lefty finished the year 12-9 in 32 starts, with a 2.56 ERA (161 ERA+), 3.07 FIP, and 193 strikeouts in 186.1 innings, his 4.9 fWAR trailing only Kevin McGonigle among all rookies and eighth among all qualified pitchers as he will likely finish second behind the Tigers infielder in AL Rookie of the Year voting.

Messick cruised through the first two innings before running headfirst into the White Sox’s uber-patient approach in the third. Colson Montgomery singled to lead off and advanced to third on a Chase Meidroth double. Back-to-back walks drawn by Miguel Vargas and Munetaka Murakami loaded the bases and then forced in a run to drive Messick from the game after just 2.1 innings. Reliever Shawn Armstrong immediately surrendered a sac fly to Sam Antonacci to make it a 2-0 game before retiring Brayan Rocchio to stand runners on the corners.

The Guardians responded to Chicago’s small ball with some fireworks in the fifth. Patrick Bailey crushed a pinch-hit, leadoff home run, and Steven Kwan singled with one out to end Fedde’s night. That brought J-Ram to the plate against flame-throwing reliever Jordan Hicks, and Ramírez launched an elevated 100 mph heater over the wall in right-center for the go-ahead two-run homer.

Chicago’s disciplined approach yielded an immediate response in the bottom half. Stephen Vogt opted to use starter Tanner Bibee out of the bullpen, but he lasted just three batters after walking Meidroth and Vargas. Tim Herrin’s first act out of the ‘pen was to yield a single to Murakami to load the bases. Antonacci finished second with 29 hit-by-pitches and he wore the most important one of the season to force in the game tying run. Brenton Doyle then lifted a sac fly to right to restore the White Sox lead, 4-3.

Things truly came off the rails for the Chicago in the sixth as starter Anthony Kay and reliever Grant Taylor combined to cough up six runs. Kay plunked Angel Martínez with one out, who then stole second before scoring the tying run on a Travis Bazzana double to right. Bailey then drove in the go-ahead run with a single off Taylor, and then the floodgates opened. Rocchio and Kwan drew back-to-back walks to load the bases. Ramírez hit an RBI infield single as the runners went station to station. Chase DeLauter followed with an RBI single of his own before Jo Adell blew the game open with a two-run single to make it 9-4, Cleveland.

If the White Sox do indeed become the fourth team in playoff history to squander a 2-0 lead in a best-of-five where they won the first two games on the road, then their pitching strategy is going to come under quite a bit of scrutiny. Part of it is just that they don’t have the horses and that’s why they were such an unlikely success in 2026 after three consecutive 100-loss seasons, but that’s just how it goes.

After Cleveland failed to increase their lead in the ninth stranding runners on the corners, the White Sox had one last gasp effort at a rally. Facing Cleveland’s ace closer Cade Smith (who had already pitched the eighth), Vargas led off the bottom of the ninth with a home run to cut the deficit to four. Smith then walked Murakami and allowed an Antonacci single as the White Sox had the tying run in the on-deck circle, but starter Gavin Williams entered to slam the door by retiring the next three batters to seal the Guardians victory, 9-5.

Cleveland lives to fight another day, the series returning to Progressive Field where the winner will advance to the ALCS to take on the Rays. First pitch of Game 5 is scheduled for 8:00 pm ET Saturday night. The Guardians will attempt to become the first team to rally from down 0-2 in a Division Series to win it since the 2017 Yankees did the same trick to them.

With the season over, rosterbation is the only recourse as far as Braves baseball is concerned. Of course, the pending lockout will put a damper on offseason proceedings for a while, but leaving that aside… which pending free agent(s) do you think the Braves will bring back?

Let’s start with Ha-Seong Kim. He was super-bad. He’s probably looking at a small pillow deal, if he even sticks around in MLB. On the one hand, the Braves don’t really need anything to do with him given how bad he was. On the other hand, the lower that price gets, the more it becomes a “why not?” I don’t think it’ll happen, though — easier for him to get a new start elsewhere.

Raisel Iglesias is interesting, at least insofar as the Braves not immediately hitting the “sign” button on a costly reliever can be. The Braves gave Robert Suarez a multiyear deal, possibly to protect against an Iglesias decline (and eventual departure). But, Suarez was the one that ended up getting hurt and missing a bunch of time, and Iglesias was pretty good (and only missed a bit of time): 61/76/82 ERA-/FIP-/xFIP-, which is basically identical to his career composite of 68/76/80. If the Braves were willing to re-add Iglesias last offseason, I don’t see why they wouldn’t this year, since he basically did the thing he does. He’s definitely aging, but he did some interesting things with pitch sequence and location this year, too.

Mauricio Dubon is, I think a tough discussion. He’s definitely a clubhouse fit and I think the other guys would rejoice if he were brought back. But, it’s unclear what kind of deal he would be looking for, to add to the overall uncertainty of what free agent spending even looks like if and when the lockout ends. On top of that, Dubon didn’t hit well (.304 xwOBA, outhit it a fair bit), and his style conflicts with a lot of the rest of the roster. (It’s not necessarily meaningful, but kind of funny, that Dubon had a monster June as the rest of the team fell apart offensively.) I think the Dubon question is partially subsumed by the “what kind of team do the Braves want to be in 2027?” question. In theory, if the Braves add legitimate full-timers at short and left field, then Dubon really can be the ultimate handcuff for a bunch of guys with not-so-great outlooks (including Austin Riley and Ozzie Albies), but I don’t see them adding two legitimate regulars and Dubon, so… I dunno.

There’s a bunch of non-factors, like Joe Jimenez and Kyle Farmer, that would technically be “brought back,” so have at discussing those if you want. Lane Thomas, sure, throw his name in — he’d neither cost much nor be a huge impact either way at this point. Brent Suter is super-fun, but would not be a major move. This is the low stakes rosterbation corner, and you can be here for it if you want.

And then we come to Tyler Mahle, who has already said he’s interested in continuing his great run after being traded to Atlanta over the summer. Lots of guys say stuff like this, especially before the bidding opens. The market for free agent starting pitching has been a head-spinning whirlwind for years. Mahle got $10 million coming off a half-season where he benefited from a low HR/FB. He’s now coming off a full-ish season where he pitched decent in aggregate but amazingly well as a Brave. Does that move his price point outside of where the Braves are comfortable, like pretty much every other free agent starter? I imagine Mahle would take something like $26M/1 to sign, at least under the current paradigm. The Braves could do that, but if some team just adds more years at the same or a similar, not-very-diminished annual price point, they’d probably bow out.

On a scale of 1 (Harry Frazee) to 5 (Theo Epstein), how would you rate Craig Breslow’s last 12 months?

3. Breslow did something which is more than the nothing we endured for several years. Maybe that something isn’t the something you wanted, but it’s more exciting than nothing.

— Jacob Roy

4. Caleb Durbin brings elite defense, a little power, and speed on the base paths to third base. However that does mean you need to “replace” the traditional third base bat. If Curtis Mead can bring that to second base you might have done it. Same with Adley Rutschman at catcher. He’s literally doing the Moneyball “replace in the aggregate” meme. Ranger Suarez remains a strange signing but he made early and the other pitching prospects expendable. 

— Mike Carlucci

4. I give him an extra point for getting out there and doing something, as Jacob already said. He didn’t do all the things he said he was going to do, but these past 12 months have been an improvement, and I’ll take it.

— Maura McGurk

Can’t believe I’m typing this. But it’s at least a low 4 for me. The guy simply knows how to dumpster dive in a way his predecessor didn’t. And he brings in All-Star level talent. Even when he’s not bringing in All-Stars, he’s trading guys that kind of suck to give away but bringing in guys that really rule to have on the team. The Jake Bennett trade looks incredible so far. In a vacuum, trading away Kyle Harrison sucks. But Caleb Durbin is a good return and a guy who could possibly stick around for years to come.

— Dean Roussel

3.5. The pitching and defensive infrastructure in place now provides a good bedrock going into 2027, and I like that a lot of the core is under team control. The outfield logjam situation continues to be something that could hamper the team moving forward considering that one of those guys—either the one with a hand that’s currently busted or the guy who’s OPS was just 10 points higher than the area code of the city he plays in—was/is slated as the designated hitter. For a team that plays at hitter-friendly environments for the majority of its games, the pop in the lineup was not up to snuff. Still, I don’t hate what I’ve seen.

– Fitzy Mo Peña

2. “It would be fair to look at some of those other teams [still in the playoffs] and say that they hit the ball out of the ballpark a little more than we do,” said Craig Breslow on October 6th, 2025. Sure, Breslow found a way to put a very strong product of pitching and defense out on the field in 2026. I would argue that when you spend 29 of your 41 draft picks on pitching in your first two years running the show, and then pivot last offseason from spending on free agent hitting to spending on free agent pitching, you better have a great pitching staff. Unfortunately, that’s only half the game, and Breslow admitted as much a year ago but never came close to fixing the problem with hitting for power. The in-season, intra-division overpay for Adley Rutschman, with just one year remaining on his contract, was curious and has left the team with a below-average farm system. If the Red Sox didn’t make the playoffs in 2026, I would’ve been in favor of moving on from Breslow. Instead, because of a fantastic 37-game stretch in the mid-summer, the team inexplicably picked up all of his options, and he is now signed through 2030.

– Bob Osgood

3. Breslow rates at a midpoint of extremes. The pitching development and identification is about as good as we’ve ever seen with this franchise. The problem of course is the offense looks about as bad as we’ve ever seen. They not only ranked dead last in September in runs scored, but they were 17 runs below the 29th ranked team. You could argue Breslow deserves a 4 if turns out he just had horrible injury luck. It’s not impossible we’re sitting here next September and (hopefully) October with pieces of the same general lineup raking (Contreras, Anthony, Rutschman and Mead come to mind). However, an argument could also be made for a 2 with how utterly unprepared this team looked for a series in New York they were apparently studying up on for about a month. That and no playoff baseball at Fenway Park for five years and counting is a massive failure!

For now I land in the middle, but there’s pretty strong forces pulling from both sides.

– Matthew Gross

3 — I’m with Matt in the middle. Here’s something kind of nuts: Only 2(!) of the top-10 Red Sox players by fWAR this season were brought into the organization by Breslow’s predecessor Chaim Bloom (Wilyer Abreu and Garrett Whitlock). And the 7 who were brought in by Breslow (Dombrowski brought in the 10th player, Ceddanne Rafaela) were all acquired within the last 2 seasons. That’s the only stat you need to understand just how much damage Bloom did to the overall talent base in the organization, and just how big of a hole Breslow had to dig this team out from. The fact that he brought in so much talent so quickly and ruthlessly, especially on the pitching side, is a credit to Breslow.

But Breslow not only fell totally flat in achieving what was his stated goal at the outset of the 25-26 offseason (adding power to the team), but the failures that are on his resume are of the spectacular variety, e.g., Rafael Devers and Alex Bregman would have finished second and third on this team in wRC+.

— Dan Secatore

On a scale of 1 (Bobby Valentine) to 5 (Terry Francona) how would you rate Chad Tracy’s performance?

3. I don’t know how much a manager really influences wins on a day-to-day basis, and I don’t love how he managed the first playoff series of his career, but he was in charge during a historic turnaround, so he deserves some credit.

— Jacob Roy

2. This is really hard and I dislike 1-5 scales because 3 feels like cop-out but I see him at just a tad under 3 on a 1-4 scale. These were his first two playoff games and the roster was on fumes. Going to Erik Miller after taking out Tolle? Ok, we all saw September, but it wasn’t not the worst call ever given the rest of the bullpen. Miller again in Game 2 and then not having anyone warming up from the moment he brought in Garrett Crochet — who was not 2025 Garrett Crochet — really sank the ship. What was the point? I get that if you used Chapman or Whitlock in that moment Crochet might have to be the setup guy, but that’s playoff weirdness.

— Mike Carlucci

2.5. Maybe the recency bias of the Wild Card is looming too large right now, and unfairly canceling out the historic summer this team pulled off. But he looked like he was in completely over in his head in the playoffs. I didn’t love the way he managed throughout September either, resting guys and taking it easy. (Part of that was the math of the playoff system, and he rested guys because he could.) But I kept thinking, well, he knows what he’s doing; he must be getting them ready behind the scenes, gearing them up for what’s coming. But they never stepped on the gas again, and I think he owns a lot of that.

— Maura McGurk

3.5. I was not an Alex Cora fan, and the proof is in the pudding with multiple last place finishes. The “we just have to play better” retort drove me crazy to no end and it was getting more prevalent as his tenure went on. Tracy buys half a point simply by describing what went wrong in losses. But this isn’t about Cora, and Tracy turned around a team that looked awful and gave them spark. I am a bit sour on Tracy, as I’m sure much of this writing team is, for inexplicably pulling Gray in the game that decided the Red Sox’s fate, especially when it came to allowing Erik Miller to implode for the second time in 24 hours. I said this about another manager last year: when Aaron Boone out-manages you, you’ve done something direly, direly wrong. But, if management decides that having platoon guys on the roster in an everyday capacity is something that needs to happen, there was no better move than making Chad Tracy, Triple-A manager and a guy with experience with a lot of these young guys, the manager for the 2026 season. Jury’s out on 2027 and beyond.

— Dean Roussel

3. That was a really bad Wild Card series in New York for Tracy, but I still think he’s the guy moving forward. He’s got a good amount of experience with the young core dating back to his time in Worcester, and he was clearly doing something right during the summer. Maybe that stinker in the Bronx is the best way for him to adapt. To quote the modern day philosopher Bigtime Tommie, “In school, you are given the lesson first, then the test. But in life, you are given the test, and then you learn your lesson. That’s the old school way.”

– Fitzy Mo Peña

3. This felt closer to a 4 after the regular season, but it was not a good postseason for Tracy. Whether the pitching decisions would have mattered due to the Red Sox ineptitude at the plate is beside the point. Tracy went 77-58 at the helm after Alex Cora was fired, which has to count for something, and he still feels like the right guy for this somewhat younger team. With some postseason experience under his belt, hopefully he is more prepared the next time around.

– Bob Osgood

3. I loved most of Tracy’s regular season and how he works with the guys in the clubhouse in general! At the same time though, I detested everything about those two games in New York and all the BS that led up to it. The energy level around the team going in, the decisions to pull both Gray and Tolle when they were a strength of the team all year, the decision to lean so heavily on the bullpen when injuries, slumps, and general wear and tear made it as weak as it had been all year, and the fact he kept putting Roman Anthony in the lineup every single day down the stretch when we now know he was still fighting through his hand injury. All of that was disgusting! It’s funny, when Tracy first came up from Worcester after Alex Cora was fired, many people expected him to look like a guy who couldn’t handle moving up a level so abruptly. That never really happened in terms of regular season games, but it sure as hell did happen when the abrupt change was getting ready for a postseason game.

– Matthew Gross

Are you confident in the overall direction of the club?

I’ll say yes, but only because I’m giving grace for the amount of injuries sustained this season. With a deeper bullpen and a healthy lineup, maybe things go better. If next year plays out the same way and a hapless offense rolls into a road Wild Card series unable to score runs, I’ll be the first to say it’s time to clean house and go another direction.

— Jacob Roy

Yes. I don’t think the roster is perfect but it’s not a group that will go out and lose 9-0 every night. They’ll be fine in 2027.

— Mike Carlucci

Yes. There was a real run of bad luck injury-wise, and there’s still work to do on the roster, but this year showed me that there is a desire to work on it.

— Maura McGurk

I’ve always been sour grapes on this question, but yes. I think there’s some questions that loom large, as well as a lockout that looms larger, but for the first time in half a decade, I am confident in this team’s ability to field a playable team next year.

— Dean Roussel

Generally speaking, I think I am. This sentiment can absolutely shift if the proper levers are not pulled in the winter, though. Good pitching is in place, yes. Good defense is in place, yes. A fair chunk of guys can get on base, yes. But man, we have GOT to improve the power in this lineup. Hopefully Curtis Mead can offer a shot in the arm, but one Curtis Mead does not solve all of the issues. I’m gonna need more on top of that. What it is…well, I’m not paid to figure that out, now am I?

– Fitzy Mo Peña

Sorry for all of the negativity, but no. With $269M already committed in salary in 2027, it’s hard to see a top-of-the-market free-agent bat (in a pitiful free-agent class) coming in, and Breslow has traded quite a bit of the farm system out already. He’s going to have some tough calls with non-tender candidates (Jarren Duran?) and will need to get creative with improving the lineup. I’m very excited about watching Franklin Arias play in 2027 but am tentative after seeing how things have unfolded with Roman Anthony, Kristian Campbell, and Marcelo Mayer, albeit for various reasons. Between the Tim Healey article from June outlining club dysfunction and then listening to how the veterans spoke in the moments after the postseason ended, things feel pretty chaotic behind the scenes, and I’m not confident that anyone cares about “beating the Yankees” anymore.

– Bob Osgood

No! Compared to this time a year ago, I’m less confident in Garrett Crochet’s ability to stay on the field and be a reliable ace. I’m less confident Roman Anthony is going to win his battle with the injury bug and take his rightful place as the next exceptional Boston outfielder. And I’m less confident in the organization’s ability to specifically identify supporting cast members who are built for October pressure. Add in how much the farm system has been cleared out with so few results, and the future starts to look a whole lot dimmer. If the question is if I’m confident about the Sox’ ability to be mildly competitive going forward, or if the next five years will be better than the last five, then yes, I’m confident of the buoyancy in that boat. But given how poorly the club played outside of the 32-5 stretch this summer when 2026 was supposed to be THE year they took a huge leap, and my confidence evaporates. They need enormous gains internally to ascend to a championship level. Some of that will likely come from better health, but probably not enough.

– Matthew Gross

I am confident that the Red Sox are finally operating with a sense of urgency. But until we can be confident in Roman Anthony, it’s hard to be confident about the Red Sox future overall. Everything this organization has done since 2020 has been done with an eye towards developing at least one homegrown superstar. If Anthony’s wrist prevents him from reaching that level, they’re screwed.

— Dan Secatore

Ten Years Ago Today

Josh Donaldson raced home from second base on a grounder to shortstop, clinching Game 3 of the ALDS for the Blue Jays and completing a sweep of the Rangers.

With the game tied in the 10th, Donaldson led off against Matt Bush—whose name keeps coming up for all the wrong reasons—with a double. The Rangers then intentionally walked Edwin Encarnacion, who was red-hot in the series. Jose Bautista struck out on a full count, capping a tough 0-for-5 night. Next, Russell Martin hit a double-play ball to Elvis Andrus at shortstop. Andrus tossed to Rougned Odor, but Odor’s throw to first was wild. Mitch Moreland managed to block the errant throw, but Donaldson never hesitated, sprinting home and beating the play at the plate.

The Rangers challenged Encarnacion’s slide at second, but even Joe West got the call right.

For the second straight year, the Rangers’ infield miscues helped the Blue Jays win.

It was a thrilling, back-and-forth contest.

Aaron Sanchez got the start for Toronto, surrendering a single to Carlos Gomez, who swiped second and came around to score on a pair of groundouts, giving the Rangers an early lead.

The Blue Jays answered with three runs in the second. Ezequiel Carrera led off with a single, then, after one out, Edwin Encarnacion launched a home run. Russell Martin followed with another homer after the next out.

The Rangers trimmed the deficit in the third when Elvis Andrus belted a solo home run.

Toronto tacked on two more in the bottom half. Carrera again led off with a single, stole second, and scored on Donaldson’s ground-rule double. Donaldson then came home on an Encarnacion single.

In the fourth, Carlos Beltran walked and Rougned Odor followed with a two-run shot, narrowing the lead to 5-4.

The Rangers surged ahead in the sixth. With two outs, Sanchez walked Odor and allowed a single to Jonathan Lucroy, ending his night. Joe Biagini entered but gave up a two-run double to Moreland, putting Toronto behind 6-5.

Sanchez finished with 5.2 innings pitched, allowing 3 hits, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts, and 2 home runs—charged with 6 earned runs, two of which scored after he exited.

Toronto tied the game in the bottom of the sixth. Troy Tulowitzki singled with one out, advanced to third on Melvin Upton’s double, and after an intentional walk to Kevin Pillar, reliever Keone Kela uncorked a wild pitch.

The bullpen stepped up: Jason Grilli tossed a scoreless inning, and Roberto Osuna delivered two more shutout frames.

Matt Bush provided two scoreless innings for Texas, but faltered in the tenth.

There was a certain satisfaction in seeing Odor’s error seal the series for Toronto.

Several Blue Jays stood out in the series:

• Ezequiel Carrera hit .333/.429/.583 and drove in four runs.
• Josh Donaldson hit .538/.471/.846, hit four doubles, and scored four runs. He shined defensively and, of course, provided the game-winning dash.
• Edwin Encarnacion posted a .417/.500/.917 line, with two home runs, four runs, and four RBIs.
• Troy Tulowitzki hit .462/.462/.846, adding a triple, a home run, and five RBIs.
• Marco Estrada worked 8.1 innings of four-hit ball in his start, continuing his playoff brilliance.
• Roberto Osuna tossed 3.2 scoreless innings, surrendering just one hit and striking out four.

Facing the Rangers in the ALDS for the second consecutive year, the Blue Jays created memories to last a lifetime.

Relive the iconic play: