Oct 15, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) leaves the dugout after losing the NLCS for the 2026 MLB Playoffs against the Milwaukee Brewers at Uniqlo Field at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Only two teams can make the dance. For the first time in three years, the Dodgers aren’t one of those two teams. The Milwaukee Brewers completed a four-game NLCS sweep over the Dodgers on Thursday, reaching the World Series for the first time in 44 years.
This officially closes the book on the team’s gaudy expectations of a three peat. Although the Dodgers took ahold of an early 4-0 lead, they couldn’t muster anything else while the Brewers ran away with six unanswered runs. Dave Roberts put it simply during his post-game presser; they got beat.
“It never feels good to lose and not accomplish your goals to win the World Series. It started back in the early part of February, and I love this team… This series, I can’t give enough praise to the Brewers organization… We just got beat in four games.”
So much has to go right for a team to win the World Series, even more so for a team fixated on securing their third straight title. The last two years weren’t perfect despite the glory, and this year wasn’t any easier for an aging core. Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times delves into what glaring issues prevented the Dodgers from making it past the NLCS this year in his latest column. The biggest issue was dealing with a hobbled, slumping Shohei Ohtani, whose big moment wasn’t enough to extend the series to a potential Game 5.
Bottom line, the Dodgers could not three-peat without the full strength of their most important hitter. Ohtani is the catalyst for everything they do, everything they are. He hit a three-run homer in the second inning of Thursday’s Game 4, but it was too little, way too late.
Now the offseason has officially begun for the Dodgers, and they’ve already seen an aging veteran call it a career with Miguel Rojas announcing his retirement shortly after Game 4’s conclusion. The Dodgers will certainly have many questions to answer this offseason— one of the main ones being Shohei Ohtani’s future status as a full-time two-way player, as noted by Dylan Hernandez of the California Post.
The Dodgers might be the second-best team in baseball behind the Brewers, but they can’t return with a similar roster next season and expect the results to be any different. Farewells are in order. Farewell to long-time Dodgers who will forever be known in these parts as World Series heroes. Farewell to Ohtani hitting and pitching full-time. With how the Dodgers were thumped by the Brewers, president of baseball operation Andrew Friedman has a clear directive. Adjust – or else.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - OCTOBER 15: A general view of signage prior to game three of the American League Championship Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field on October 15, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, baseball fans!
The 2026 MLB Playoffs continue today with the league championship series. At least one of them, anyway.
As of the time this is being written, neither of yesterday’s games have concluded, though the Tampa Bay Rays have an early lead over the Cleveland Guardians. Who knows if they will keep it. Well, I guess YOU know because you’re reading this in the future. Either way, that series will continue today.
If there is any goodness left in this world, that will be the only game today because the Los Angeles Dodgers will have been swept by the Milwaukee Brewers last night. But things seldom play out the way we want them to. So that series might continue today as well.
I’m not sure how the ALCS start time would be affected if that is the only game today, so I’ll try to get in and update this in the morning if I get a chance.
In the meantime, this is what is ostensibly on deck for today:
First up, the visiting Rays will play Game 4 of the ALCS against the Guardians at 3:00 p.m. PT. As of the time this is being written, neither team has named a starter for that game. But it will be broadcast on TBS/HBO Max, with national radio coverage available on ESPN Radio.
If necessary (and I hope it’s not), the NLCS will continue in Los Angeles tonight at 6:00 p.m. PT. No starting pitchers named for that one yet either. But it will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1/Fox One, with national radio coverage available on ESPN Radio.
If there are two games today, let’s discuss the ALCS and who we’re rooting for over there. If there is only the one game today, let’s celebrate the Dodgers loss instead! Sure, it’s a little tacky, but we have to find joy where we can in this life.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JULY 11: The Baltimore Orioles select Eric Booth Jr. seventh overall during the 2026 MLB Draft at Pennsylvania Convention Center on July 11, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Orioles went into the 2026 draft with a clear candidate in mind, it seems: southpaw, speedster, outfielder. At #7, they selected Eric Booth Jr. out of Oak Grove High School in Hattiesburg, Mississippi—a high schooler, but a very toolsy one. At #46 overall, the Birds then chose Ty Head, a lefty bat with great control of the strike zone. Both Booth and Head got a taste of pro ball this summer, and in a small sample size gave us a little to chew over.
Start with Booth. A big-bodied lefty, Booth makes the rare high schooler selected with the top pick by Mike Elias. Well, considering that the other one was Jackson Holliday, it seems that the O’s don’t mind their high schoolers, but they’d like them to be pedigreed. Baseball runs in the family for Booth Jr., sort of: Eric Booth Sr. turned down the Blue Jays as a 34th-round pick in 1993, then went to Southern Miss and returned punts.
In four seasons at Oak Grove, Booth hit .441/.612/.803. MLB Pipeline had him sixth in the class and its top outfielder. He was committed to Vanderbilt, but the Orioles signed him on July 18 for $7,324,700. Will Robertson, the Orioles’ VP of domestic scouting, raved about Booth’s “huge engine” after the pick.
Booth’s best tool is his speed. Pipeline grades it a 70, and Baseball America calls him an 80-grade runner. He gets from home to first in a little over four seconds. He ran a 6.33-second 60-yard dash at the East Coast Pro showcase, the fastest time there. Pipeline gives him a 55 overall, with 55s on the hit and field tools and 50s for power and arm.
His swing is the part that gives some pause. His setup is unconventional, with his hands away from his body, so his left-handed stroke can look choppy. BA mentions a “deep hand press.” Even so, he makes consistent contact and barrels the ball. BA credits him with “elite hand-eye coordination and bat speed.” He won the home run derby at the 2025 Perfect Game All-American Classic. Pipeline thinks he could hit 20 to 25 homers a year if he smooths out the swing and lifts the ball more often. In center field, he still needs to improve his reads and routes, and the same goes for his basestealing instincts. His arm used to be his biggest weakness, but he has worked it up to average.
The Orioles took Ty Head 46th overall, in the second round, out of NC State. He was one of the better all-around players in the 2024 high school class, and is said to have had a chance to have gone in the third round but for his intentions to join the Wolfpack. Head broke out as a sophomore this spring, going on to hit .291/.460/.556 with 14 homers and 26 steals, with just 23 strikeouts to 57 walks. Baltimore went a little over slot to sign him for $2.43 million.
Head is a little harder to read as a pure prospect. Pipeline gives him 50 for hit, 45 for power, 60 for run, 45 for arm and 60 for field, with a 45 overall. On approach alone, he’s one of the most disciplined hitters in the class. He attacks strikes, rarely chases, and almost never swings and misses, especially against fastballs. But he was a career .283 hitter in college and did little damage in ACC play. Scouts blame his big leg kick, with potential to throw off his timing and produce weak contact. But if he straightens out his timing, he has the pull-side power to become a solid hitter with power, to boot. Defense is the safer part of the profile. Pipeline calls him a “no-doubt center fielder” with plus range, and BA rates him the more polished defender of the two. He has 20-20 upside.
As for the debuts, Booth signed in mid-July and was assigned to the FCL Orioles before playing his first official games at Low-A Delmarva in mid-August. He hit .284/.390/.328 in 18 games (82 PA) there. The on-base skills showed up right away, as he walked 14.6 percent of the time. The power didn’t show up yet. He had three doubles and no homers, and he struck out 23.2 percent of the time. He stole only 3 bases in 5 tries, which shows the baserunning still needs work. That’s about what you’d expect from someone who had just turned 18 and was facing full-season pitching a month after his draft.
Head made more noise, perhaps befitting his greater seasoning in college. He hit .321/.400/.491 with two homers and eight steals in 15 games at Delmarva. That was enough to get him a September promotion to High-A Frederick, where he played six games before the season ended. There he hit .278/.381/.278 and added four more steals. One thing to watch is the strikeouts. He struck out 20 times in about 82 pro plate appearances, which is a far higher rate than his college numbers. That’s very little data, but it’s worth watching for a hitter whose whole case depends on his contact skills.
Mike Elias has been nothing if not consistent in his drafts, prioritizing left handers who can play up-the-middle, especially shortstops and outfielders. Eric Booth Jr. and Ty Head fit right in this mold. Despite their relative youth, both have indicators that their talent is worth relying on. Booth has the higher ceiling; Head could move faster, with a potential ETA by 2029. If both hit their ceilings, however, the Orioles may have finally found a long-term answer in the outfield.
Today’s article is the final of a 3-part series, broadly investigating expected results for a team that can boast the kind of young talent that the Reds have in Elly De La Cruz and Chase Burns, who combined for over 10 WAR and made up roughly 1% of the team’s overall payroll. We’ll start by highlighting five teams that both had similar players in value and relative cost to the 2026 Reds.
2019 Chicago White Sox (72-89, finished 3rd in AL Central, didn’t qualify for postseason)
Top Hitter: Yoan Moncada, 5.1 WAR, $575K salary
Top Pitcher: Lucas Giolito, 5.4 WAR, $573K salary
Combined salaries: 1.3% of team payroll of $89.4M
Injuries:
Lost Carlos Rodon (a 2 WAR pitcher the year prior) for all but 34 innings in 2019.
Free agent signing Jon Jay was a way below average outfielder in 2018. He lost roughly 4 months to injuries in 2019.
The team lost a bevy of relievers for large chunks of the season, but none who were significant contributors the year before.
Summary: There are stories out there about the number of injuries the ’19 White Sox had to deal with, but the data tells a story of a team that was only modestly impacted.
Dead Weight:
None that I can find.
Surprising Breakthrough:
The point of this section is to examine if the two best players on the team were projectable. In other words, was there reasonable expectation during the offseason last year that these two would be as good as they were?
Yoan Moncada played a season and a half at second base for the White Sox in 2017-18. 2018 was a full year of him hitting for a 714 OPS and contributing 1.3 WAR. He had been a consensus top 10 prospect across all of MLB for a couple of years before that. Still, I don’t think anyone would have guessed that a 2019 move to third base would have also coincided with a 200 point jump in OPS and a nearly 4 win increase in value.
Similarly, Lucas Giolito had also been an elite prospect who demonstrated a massive leap forward in 2019. The 2018 version of him allowed the most earned runs in MLB and he posted a 69 ERA+. He might have been the worst pitcher in baseball, who then transformed into one of the best, placing 6th in Cy Young Award voting in 2019, with a 134 ERA+ across 176 innings.
Position Player Depth:
The White Sox were very good at catcher (James McCann, 3.6 WAR) and shortstop (Tim Anderson, 4.2 WAR), and serviceable at second base and centerfield.
Conversely, the right field platoon of Jon Jay and Ryan Cordell was easily the worst in the league.
Overall, their position player group was a bottom-third outfit in MLB.
Starting Pitcher Depth:
Pretty bad. Giolito was the breakout star and Ivan Nova was a league average pitcher but the rest of the rotation descended quickly into madness.
Particular shout-out to Dylan Covey who managed an ERA just a shade under 8 but still was able to convince his manager to send him to the mound in 18 different games.
Relief Pitcher Depth:
Very good as a unit, anchored by Alex Colome and Aaron Bummer.
Did the 2019 White Sox fail to prepare appropriately for the combination of Yoan Moncada and Lucas Giolito?
Not even close. The team was a 62 win embarrassment the year before and Moncada and Giolito came somewhat out of nowhere, despite the heralded prospect status that both had enjoyed. This was a franchise that was very clearly in rebuild mode, and two seasons later, when the White Sox won their division with 93 wins, they still featured Moncada and Giolito, along with wunderkind Luis Robert Jr and mainstays Jose Abreu and Carlos Rodon. Moreover, they increased payroll dramatically as the youngsters matured, adding catcher Yasmani Grandal and starting pitcher Lance Lynn, who both played prominent roles in the division winning season.
***
2000 Milwaukee Brewers (73-89, finished 3rd in NL Central, didn’t qualify for postseason)
Top Hitter: Geoff Jenkins, 4.5 WAR, $282K salary
Top Pitcher: Jeff D’Amico, 5.0 WAR, $175K salary
Combined salaries: 1.3% of team payroll of $35.8M
Injuries:
Jeff D’Amico had a shoulder surgery that cost him all of 1998 and basically all of 1999. He started 2000 on the DL, didn’t appear until May and missed most of June. He was still the team’s best pitcher by far.
Starting pitcher Jamey Wright also began the year on the DL and didn’t make his season debut until late May.
Otherwise, the team appeared to be largely free from significant injuries although the data isn’t very complete/reliable on this.
Summary: Except for the part about their best pitcher only making 23 starts in 2000, the Brewers appeared to have about as good of injury luck as a team can hope for.
Dead Weight:
The Brewers traded for Jamie Navarro before the 2000 season. Navarro was in the final year of a 4 year contract and he was set to make $5M in 2000, or about 14% of the Brewers’ team payroll. He made 5 starts, to the tune of a 14.95 ERA and was released on the final day of April.
Surprising Breakthrough:
The point of this section is to examine if the two best players on the team were projectable. In other words, was there reasonable expectation during the offseason last year that these two would be as good as they were?
In 1999, 24 year old left fielder Geoff Jenkins played 135 games, hit 313/371/564 for a 135 OPS+ and was valued at 4.6 WAR. In 2000, Jenkins played 135 games, hit 303/360/588 for a 137 OPS+ and was valued at 4.5 WAR. To essentially repeat his ’99 season was easily imaginable.
As for Jeff D’Amico, his injury history has already been touched on. His prior seasons (1996 and 1997) were relatively unremarkable. He finished 7th in the ’96 Rookie of the Year voting with a 5.44 ERA. He was only marginally better in 1997. Then the shoulder injury that stole away two full seasons. There was nothing to suggest a breakout campaign in 2000.
Position Player Depth:
Outside of left field, the Brewers weren’t *good* anywhere, although they were solidly competent/average at C/1B/2B/SS/RF.
They were particularly bad at 3rd base (Jose Hernandez) and centerfield (a rapidly aging Marquis Grissom).
Overall, their position player group was a bottom-third outfit in MLB.
Starting Pitcher Depth:
Pretty bad, outside of D’Amico. You need to give your eyes a minute to adjust to the era of steroid-ball, but the staff had an aggregate ERA of 5.05, which includes D’Amico’s masterful 2.66 ERA season. But…an average ERA, adjusted for era and ballpark was somewhere just north of 4.5, so you could squint and see mediocrity. That said, more than half the team’s starts were taken by pitchers who were replacement level or worse.
This is a Reds’ article, ostensibly, so we’ll shout out Jimmy Haynes, who wowed scouts and fans with an unusual accomplishment: 199 innings, 100 walks, 88 strikeouts. The Reds liked what they saw and would sign him a couple of years later.
Relief Pitcher Depth:
10th ranked bullpen in the majors, even despite trading away closer Bob Wickman at the deadline.
Did the 2000 Brewers fail to prepare appropriately for the combination of Geoff Jenkins and Jeff D’Amico?
Let’s start with this. The 1999 Brewers won 74 games. They hadn’t been an above .500 team since 1992. And they clearly couldn’t have seen the breakout season of Jeff D’Amico coming. However, there were a couple of moves that backfired:
They traded their best player (Jeff Cirillo) and an average starting pitcher (Scott Karl) for Jimmy Haynes, Jamey Wright, and Henry Blanco. In doing so, they filled an extra rotation slot but got worse, especially given that three days later they signed Jose Hernandez to man third base. Cirillo had been excellent for three straight years, but was nearing free agency.
They traded Alex Ochoa, a solid hitting 4th outfielder still in his prime, to the Reds for Mark Sweeney, who would be worth 0.0 WAR for the Brewers over the next two years.
What I find notable is that they were budget conscious, and were willing to make difficult decisions (e.g., jettison Cirillo), but didn’t fully commit to a rebuild effort. One can almost hear the echoes of what was whispered around the Reds’ trade deadline “efforts” in 2026: they were willing to move guys but only for “major leaguers”. In sum, they didn’t fail to prepare for D’Amico because no one saw that coming, but there was a general failure to have enough solid players on the roster to take advantage of the surprise breakout. Languishing in no man’s land for years, the Brewers would reach the postseason next in 2008.
***
2008 Chicago White Sox (89-74, finished 1st in AL Central, lost in ALDS to Tampa Bay)
Top Hitter: Carlos Quentin, 5.3 WAR, $400K salary
Top Pitcher: John Danks, 6.4 WAR, $400K salary
Combined salaries: 0.7% of team payroll of $121.2M
Injuries:
3rd baseman Joe Crede lost most of the second half of the season to back injuries. He was having a solid season.
Starting pitcher Jose Contreras tore his Achilles tendon in August, ending what was basically a league average season.
None of the other starting pitchers missed a start all year and the other 8 starting position players all logged more than 500 plate appearances
Summary: The injuries they did suffer were costly, but as a team, this was a season on the fortunate side with respect to missed time.
Dead Weight:
Basically none. I’m tempted to include the fact that the Sox traded for a 38 year old Junior Griffey mid-year, paying several million dollars for the privilege, but he didn’t really hurt the team at all.
Surprising Breakthrough:
The point of this section is to examine if the two best players on the team were projectable. In other words, was there reasonable expectation during the offseason last year that these two would be as good as they were?
Carlos Quentin had been a top 20 prospect in the league, but middling seasons with the Diamondbacks caused them to give up on him, making a trade with the White Sox before the 2008 season. His 5.3 WAR in 2008 represents more than half of his career WAR. 2008 was a surprise to everyone, including Carlos’s mother.
John Danks had been a good prospect, but never cracked the top 50 in the most reputable rankings. In his rookie season of 2007, he struggled across 139 innings to the tune of a 86 ERA+. He did have over 7 K per 9 IP, however, back in a time when that meant something. He had a live lefty arm and was probably seen as projectable by the team, although it would have been folly to expect a 6 WAR season.
Position Player Depth:
Chicago was a good team for reasons almost entirely to do with their pitching. Except for the left field manned by Quentin, the Sox were league average or worse at every single position
That said, they were a league average team hitting wise (102 OPS+), and their collective health meant that they had very few automatic outs in the lineup from day to day. Their worst hitter (Orlando Cabrera) still provided enough value with the glove to be worth 2.6 WAR. There were no stars, but they were solidly professional from top to bottom.
Relative to the rest of the league, they weren’t very good at catcher, first base, or centerfield (Pierzynski, Konerko, Swisher) and the position players ranked in the bottom third of MLB.
Starting Pitcher Depth:
Very good and deep. Danks had the best season, but Mark Buehrle was the established ace and he had a very good year (121 ERA+). Remaining starters Javier Vazquez, Gavin Floyd, and Jose Contreras gave very few games away.
This was the 2nd most valuable rotation in the game.
Relief Pitcher Depth:
Also very good, led by Bobby Jenks and Matt Thornton, each of whom contributed more than 2 WAR to the ledger.
Did the 2008 White Sox fail to prepare appropriately for the combination of Carlos Quentin and John Danks?
No. The 2007 White Sox only won 72 games, but they knew who they were. To wit, four-fifths of the starting rotation and the top two bullpen firemen were exactly the same, year over year. However, there were six position regulars who posted a WAR value below 1 in 2007:
Tadahito Iguchi (2B) was traded before the ’07 season ended, making way for the team to sign Cuban Alexei Ramirez.
Juan Uribe (SS) was demoted to a bench role, although he ended up filling in for the injured Joe Crede in the back half of 2008. Before the 2008 season, the White Sox traded pitcher Jon Garland (who was good!) for Orlando Cabrera.
Josh Fields (3B) played out of happenstance, namely Joe Crede’s injury troubles. Crede was healthier to start 2008 and Fields was sent to the minors.
Scott Podsednik (LF) was released, which made room for the Quentin trade that worked out beautifully.
Jerry Owens (CF) was…well, nothing really happened to him, but the White Sox traded for Nick Swisher so they wouldn’t have to play Owens. Swisher had a bad year in 2008.
Jermaine Dye (RF) stuck around and got just as much playing time. This was probably a function of a highly paid aging ballplayer being untradeable. The White Sox got a bit fortunate that he bounced back in 2008.
All told, not every move was a home run, but I find it fascinating that the White Sox were aggressive in looking to correct so many of their 2007 deficiencies. It can be noted, fairly, that the White Sox were a big payroll team at the time, ranking 4th in MLB in both 2007 and 2008, but spending money and addressing gaps are two separate skill sets and the White Sox were good at both. There’s no way that they saw the success of Quentin and Danks coming, at least not to that magnitude, but they were definitely building a foundation with a high enough floor to take advantage of the surprise breakouts. You could say that they made their own luck, to coin a phrase that has never been used before.
***
2001 Houston Astros (93-69, finished 1st in NL Central, lost in NLDS to Atlanta)
Top Hitter: Lance Berkman, 6.5 WAR, $305K salary
Top Pitcher: Wade Miller, 5.3 WAR, $241K salary
Combined salaries: 0.9% of team payroll of $60.4M
Injuries:
None to speak of, as best as I can find.
Dead Weight:
Jose Lima was paid $6.25M (or more than 10% of the Astros payroll) to throw 53 innings of 7.30 ERA baseball at which point the Astros had seen enough, sending Lima (and plenty of cash) to the Tigers for Dave Mlicki.
Surprising Breakthrough:
The point of this section is to examine if the two best players on the team were projectable. In other words, was there reasonable expectation during the offseason last year that these two would be as good as they were?
Lance Berkman had been a top 20 prospect in the league and in his rookie season in 2000, posted a 949 OPS en route to a 6th place finish in Rookie of the Year voting. I’m sure team management was expecting improvement in year 2, both due to increased playing time and familiarity with the level, but probably didn’t pencil in a 4.5 win improvement.
Wade Miller had been a good prospect, but never cracked the top 50 in the most reputable rankings. In his rookie season of 2000, he struggled across 105 innings to the tune of a 97 ERA+. He did have over 7 K per 9 IP, however, back in a time when that meant something. He had a live arm and was probably seen as projectable by the team, although it would have been folly to expect a 5+ WAR season.
Position Player Depth:
Berkman was the breakout star on an offense that was already stacked. Future Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio were no longer in their primes but they were still well above average baseball players. Moises Alou was “merely” a future Hall of Very Good candidate and he, too, was in his post-prime-but-still-very-productive phase.
The only spots the team was below average was at catcher, third base, and shortstop (Ausmus, Castilla, Lugo), but only Ausmus could be considered bad.
The overall position player ranking was 7th in MLB.
Starting Pitcher Depth:
The Astros’ rotation was 6th best in the game although they employed a boom-or-bust approach. Youngsters Wade Miller and Roy Oswalt paced the group, with veteran Shane Reynolds also contributing strongly. Those three combined to start roughly half of Houston’s games and the remainder of starts were handled by pitchers who generally ranked as bad or worse.
Relief Pitcher Depth:
The team also had the 6th best bullpen in MLB, led by Billy Wagner and Octavio Dotel.
Did the 2001 Astros fail to prepare appropriately for the combination of Lance Berkman and Wade Miller?
They did not. The Astros were division champs from 1997-99 before a down year in 2000. Their offense was essentially locked down from year to year. Bagwell and Biggio were never leaving and their other best players (Alou and Richard Hidalgo) were also brought back. The team’s main moves were to give Berkman the full time LF spot (supplanting the disappointing Daryle Ward) and to jettison pitcher Chris Holt to make room for Roy Oswalt. Oh, and closer Billy Wagner came back healthy from an injury-riddled 2000.
In short, this was a veteran team with a not-too-distant history of success who identified and gave opportunities to young prospects who had already shown quality at the big league level or, in the case of Oswalt, were near the top of the league prospect rankings.
***
2009 Los Angeles Dodgers (95-67, finished 1st in NL West, lost in NLCS to Philadelphia)
Top Hitter: Matt Kemp, 4.9 WAR, $467K salary
Top Pitcher: Clayton Kershaw, 4.7 WAR, $404K salary
Combined salaries: 0.9% of team payroll of $100.4M
Injuries:
Starting pitcher Hiroki Kuroda had an eventful year, managing an 8-7 record around an April oblique injury and an August concussion caused by a line drive to the head.
Otherwise, the team appeared to largely be healthy.
Dead Weight:
In 2006, Jason Schmidt was an all-star. That offseason, the Dodgers signed him to a three-year, $47 million contract for which they received fewer than 45 innings. He was worth roughly 15% of the Dodgers payroll in 2009 and appeared in four forgettable games.
Surprising Breakthrough:
The point of this section is to examine if the two best players on the team were projectable. In other words, was there reasonable expectation during the offseason last year that these two would be as good as they were?
Matt Kemp put up a 3.9 WAR season in 2008 at age 23, before gradually improving to 4.9 WAR in 2009. There was nothing extraordinarily surprising about his 2009 season.
Baseball Prospectus ranked Clayton Kershaw as the #5 prospect in baseball before the 2008 season. That year, as a 20 year old, Kershaw struck out 100 batters in 107 innings and posted a nearly league average ERA. He was already decent at age 20 and I can’t imagine that a 4.7 WAR season in 2009 was shocking to anyone.
Position Player Depth:
It was a really deep team. The only position LA was below average at was first base, and James Loney only barely fell below league average at that spot.
More to the point, all eight every day starters put up at least 2 WAR in 2009
The overall position player ranking was 3rd in MLB.
Starting Pitcher Depth:
The Dodgers’ rotation was 9th best in the game. While Kershaw was the best on the team, there were very few starts given to pitchers who weren’t at least league average. The team was deep with quality arms, bolstered by a couple of pickups at the trade deadline.
Relief Pitcher Depth:
The team had the 7th best bullpen in MLB, with a young trio of Jonathan Broxton, Ramon Troncoso, and Ronald Belisario anchoring the unit.
Did the 2009 Dodgers fail to prepare appropriately for the combination of Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw?
No, of course not. The Dodgers had been to the postseason in three of the previous five seasons and the addition of Kershaw and the improvement of Kemp was a re-loading of sorts. Additionally, three of the Dodgers’ worst four players in 2008 (Brad Penny, Angel Berroa, Juan Pierre, and Jeff Kent) were not relied on either in practice or theory, as Penny, Berroa, and Kent left in free agency, creating an addition-by-subtraction element to the team’s construction.
******
OK, let’s try to wrap this thing up.
The 2026 Reds got exactly 25% of the required WAR necessary to field a 90 win team from two players who accounted for a combined 1% of the team’s payroll.
They needed 42 WAR to be a “good” team. They achieved 17.6 WAR. Given that WAR replacement level is a 48 win team, we saw the equivalent of a 66 win team on the field this year. That they actually won 75 speaks to a measure of luck and good fortune that I don’t think we’re ready to honestly tackle just yet.
The math, once again, leads to the conclusion. If you need 42 WAR and you get two players contributing 10 WAR off the bat, you need 32 WAR from the remaining 24 roster spots. A bunch of those are back up catchers and bullpen arms and utility infielders that will never contribute much. Said differently, what differentiates the teams who can take advantage of young all-stars and those that can’t are the number of average-to-good players on the team. “How many 2+ WAR players do you have?” is a very useful benchmark.
In 2025, the Reds had 8 such players:
Andrew Abbott fell from 5.4 WAR to 1.4 WAR year over year. This was an extreme regression that centers primarily around a loss of control (his walk rate nearly doubled). The “why” behind this probably requires a deep dive, but this kind of drop off was genuinely surprising.
You could nearly rinse and repeat with Nick Lodolo, dropping from 4.7 WAR to 1.1 WAR, driven by a more-than-doubled walk rate and innings missed due to a recurring blister problem.
Hunter Greene had 4.2 WAR in 2025 and then his arm fell off.
Elly De La Cruz added 2 WAR to his 2025 figure of 3.6.
Brady Singer was a 3 WAR player in 2025 and then sub-replacement in 2026. This time the culprit was a home run rate that nearly doubled.
Tony Santillan contributed 2.9 WAR in 2025. In 2026, he was the kind of pitcher for whom injuries helped limit how bad his stats would be.
TJ Friedl was a 2.4 WAR player in 2025 and then sub-replacement in 2026.
Finally, Nick Martinez contributed 2.2 WAR in 2025 and became a free agent after the season.
One way to look at the above is to lament the bad luck. They brought back seven of the eight quality players from 2025 and all but one got worse. And a lot of them are young! This isn’t a story of older players falling predictably off the cliff.
As it turns out, 8 players at 2+ WAR is exactly the right benchmark. Of this season’s playoff teams, the average number of 2+ WAR players is 8.4.
So, back to the Reds. They had 8, lost one to free agency, but signed Eugenio Suarez, who was over 3 WAR last year. Mission accomplished!
Let’s look at last year’s 8 players through a slightly different lens:
This, in a short little table, basically demonstrates the difference between bWAR and fWAR. fWAR, particularly for pitchers, is calculated on stats that are more projectable. A significant portion of the 2025 Reds success was based on numbers that were highly unlikely to repeat.
Did anyone in the front office see this coming? Who knows. Did the 2026 Reds get unlucky? Yes. Were they designed to fail? Also, yes.
The 2026 Reds had two breakout stars to whom they paid relatively little. They had $140M of additional payroll with which to build around De La Cruz and Burns. They finished in last place, yes. But why?
The team failed to anticipate obvious negative regression. The team had obvious spots of weakness at 2nd base and 3rd base and failed to adequately address either. The team has been bad in the outfield forever and at present do not employ a single outfielder who can be projected to even sniff league average.
The two most relevant teams in the five that I examined earlier are the 2000 Brewers and the 2008 White Sox. The ’00 Brewers were caught in a pattern of trying to not bottom out while not having a discernible plan. Call it “banking on hope”. The ’08 White Sox aggressively addressed their weaknesses from a year before while integrating young talent at the same time. Call it “having a strategy”.
Did the 2026 Reds fail to prepare appropriately for the combination of Elly De La Cruz and Chase Burns?
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 22: Shane McClanahan of the Tampa Bay Rays looks on from the dugout during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field on September 22, 2024 in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mark Taylor/Getty Images) | Getty Images
We take a break from your regularly scheduled playoff baseball to talk about 2027. Assuming there is no lockout and baseball proceeds as usual, MLB Trade Rumors have dropped their projections for salary arbitration results for players next season, of which the Rays currently have a whopping 17 eligible.
Tampa Bay Rays Player (years.days of service): Salary projection
Shane McClanahan (5.158): $6.6MM
Nick Madrigal (5.137): $1.1MM
Tyler Wells (5.132): $4MM
Cole Sulser (5.096): $1.9MM
Taylor Walls (5.092): $3.5MM (Rays hold a $3.1MM club option)
Griffin Jax (5.091): $5.7MM
Garrett Cleavinger (5.060): $3.7MM
Nick Fortes (4.149): $3.4MM
Bryan Baker (4.049): $4.1MM
Ryan Pepiot (4.005): $3.1MM
Kevin Kelly (3.156): $2.6MM
Richie Palacios (3.156): $2MM
Edwin Uceta (3.150): $1.5MM
Manuel Rodríguez (3.139): $900K
Jonny DeLuca (3.085): $1.7MM
Jesse Scholtens (3.032): $900K
Jonathan Aranda (3.030): $4.1MM
In total, this is just over $50 million in player salaries. It seems likely not all of these Rays players will make it to the 2027 roster, as the Rays could move on from various names through dismissal or trade, but it’s a helpful projection in considering what new ownership might want to do in their second year paying players.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 14: Shohei Ohtani #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on from the dugout during the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers in game three of the National League Championship Series at Dodger Stadium on October 14, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning!
The Dodgers are done in 2026.
After winning back-to-back World Series titles, the L.A. streak is over. It doesn’t mean the dynasty has ended, but it’s definitely damaged and aging.
The Milwaukee Brewers are going to the World Series for the first time since 1982 and will be playing the winner of the Rays-Guardians ALCS series for what could be their first World Series win.
A new team representing the National League — what a beautiful thing.
On the home front, the Rockies made a change to their coaching staff on Thursday. It’s too soon to know if there will be more changes on the horizon, but it will be interesting to keep an eye on.
The Colorado Rockies made their first offseason change on Thursday when they fired pitching coach Alon Leichman. The Rockies still finished with the worst ERA in MLB at 5.59. The starting rotation was even worse at 6.28 ERA — also dead last. As of Thursday night, the Rockies hadn’t made the move official and there is no word on who will replace him.
This video highlights the work of Edwin Perez, who serves as an interpreter for the Colorado Rockies. When members of the media interview Spanish-speaking players, Perez helps interpret the questions and answers. Perez has been with the Rockies for two years. He grew up playing baseball, but he changed directions in high school when he realized he didn’t have what it takes to be a pro baseball player. He switched to broadcast journalism, but really found his home when he found the Rockies and could use his bilingual skills.
Scott Roche breaks down Cole Carrigg’s impressive rookie season in the context of being named the Rockies best player under age 25, according to Bleacher Report. Roche also mentions the breakout season of another rookie, TJ Rumfield, who is 26 years old. Carrigg turned 24 in June and had an impressive season at the plate and defensively in center field.
Although this is an indirect Colorado Rockies story, it’s a good one nonetheless. Kaleb Geiger grew up in Colorado playing baseball and dreaming of playing for the Rockies. He played in college, but changed gears when it didn’t look like his path to playing professionally would come to fruition. After learning he had the athleticism to possibly excel in another spot, he grabbed a rugby ball and played for the American Raptors in Glendale, Colo. He now plays for the New England Free Jacks of Major League Rugby and has also kitted up for the USA Eagles.
Jake Bauers is having the best season of his career and he put an exclamation point on it with this award. He drove in six runs and was clutch in Thursday’s win to complete the sweep. The craziest part of this story is finding out that the Brewers haven’t had a LCS MVP before despite winning the ALCS 44 years ago. Even though they beat the Angels in that series, Angel Fred Lynn was named MVP.
Petey Halpin hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to help lead the Guardians to a 3-2 victory on Thursday over the Rays to take a 2-1 lead in the ALCS. Cleveland starter Gavin Williams continued to be a strikeout machine as he recorded nine strikeouts in five innings.
There really aren’t enough praying mantises in baseball stories. One landed on Jackson Chourio’s shoulder during Milwaukee’s NLCS game against the Dodgers on Wednesday. Chourio made a great diving catch and then noticed his new friend on his shoulder. The praying mantis stayed with Chourio for a bit. It’s worth watching the video.
It’s not a very flashy free agent class this offseason, so Tim Britton looked back at the top free agents, as well as the worst and best deals for the last 10 years. The Rockies made the list for two of the worst deals in the last 10 years and I’m confident you all could guess which players own that. The Rockies also gave up some of the best free agents when they couldn’t or wouldn’t re-sign them.
Anthony DiComo breaks down Bo Bichette’s upcoming decision about the opt-out clause in his contract, and like the rest of us, he concludes that it’s likely that Bichette will opt in.
Lauara Alabnese takes us behind the scenes for a look at the people who orchestrate all of the various things that Mr. and Mrs. Met wear and use during games at Citi Field.
The Brewers completed a sweep of the Dodgers with a thrilling come-from-behind 6-4 win in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series in Los Angeles.
Speaking of thrillers, if you’re into well-pitched, low-scoring playoff games, the Guardians’ 3-2 win over the Rays in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series yesterday afternoon was tailor made for you.
Petey Halpin, an outfielder who got just 195 plate appearances in the big leagues this year in Cleveland, hit a decisive two-run home run in the fifth inning, turning the Guardians’ one-run deficit into a one-run lead.
Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers was named NLCS MVP, a well-earned honor after he put up a .986 OPS in the series and came through with multiple big hits.
Despite their reputation for small ball in the regular season, the Brewers walked, struck out, and hit home runs very frequently in their NLCS victory.
Miguel Rojas, who began his major league career with the Dodgers before spending eight years with the Marlins and returning to the Dodgers for the past five seasons, announced his retirement following the Dodgers’ loss.
Shohei Ohtani, who led off for the Dodgers last night despite his recent struggles and hit a three-run home run in the second inning, isn’t sure if his knee and biceps injuries will require surgery this offseason, but he plans to return to pitching next year.
Jayson Stark took a look at Ohtani’s struggles, which began in July and, three-run home run last night aside, continued throughout the Dodgers’ playoff run.
Before the Dodgers’ elimination, Max Ralph took a look at how their pitching would line up if they were to pull off a comeback after trailing 3-0 in the series.
Two years ago today, the Mets were blown out and shut out by the Dodgers in Game 3 of the NLCS, but on this date in 1969, the team won the World Series for the first time.
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 15: David Hamilton #6 of the Milwaukee Brewers rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the ninth inning during Game Four of the National League Championship Series between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Los Angeles Dodgers at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium on Thursday, October 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The League Championship Series round rolled on Thursday with a slightly modified schedule. MLB had to preemptively move the third game of the ALCS up from a 6 p.m. ET start time to 1 p.m. ET due to ominous weather in Northeast Ohio and that slightly tweaked the start time of the NLCS as well (though that remained a clear night game). It’s important for MLB to get these games in without messing with the offday schedule too much, and while it was unfortunate that some fans in Cleveland likely couldn’t go to the third game with the new time, it’s hard to count on weather for the rest of this week near Lake Erie, too.
Hopefully ALCS Game 4 goes off without a hitch tonight! I would definitely like to see that LCS continue as soon as possible. Here’s what went on yesterday though.
National League Championship Series Game 4
Milwaukee Brewers 6, Los Angeles Dodgers 4 (Brewers win series 4-0)
Man, I can’t believe that happened. I thought that despite the mismatch in people’s minds, the Brewers were a lot closer in talent level to the Dodgers in 2025 and simply played like dogs for a week while getting swept in a mostly uncompetitive series. And yet even I didn’t think that the Brew Crew had a vengeance sweep in ‘em.
The Hall of Famer has it right. That’s the word to describe these Brewers: relentless. They played a tough series with the Padres to send them home in the Division Series, only to get matched up with a Dodgers team that is extremely similar to the one that dusted them in 2025.
Their response was to drop a hammer on ‘em and return the favor, even with the Dodgers throwing great starter after great starter at them. Two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal lost a 2-1 nailbiter in the opener. Already-established playoff legend Yoshinobu Yamamoto got grounded into submission, departing after recording just eight outs in Game 2, a 7-4 Milwaukee win. Back in LA on Wednesday, the Brewers shook off mostly excellent work from another two-time Cy in Blake Snell, blasting back-to-back homers against him in the seventh immediately after the Dodgers had taken a 2-1 lead. This damn team was resilient, and the 6-2 win had them up 3-0 in the series.
So why would the Brewers be intimidated in Game 4? Sure, Tyler Glasnow was sharp early on, and sure, Shohei Ohtani had at last broken out of his injury-affected slump to belt his first homer since August 18th, a 428-foot tank off former teammate Dustin May.
Milwaukee trailed, 4-0, and Dodger Stadium was in a frenzy. If they survived Game 4, then they could at least dare to dream with Skubal, Yamamoto, and Snell lined up for the next three and it at least being unlikely for all three to again falter.
The four-run lead looked safe … until it wasn’t. (Ask the 2024 Yankees about seemingly comfortable leads vanishing on the brink of elimination.) The Brewers began to chip away in the fourth, when Brice Turang’s one-out walk was followed by consecutive automatic doubles from William Contreras and Jake Bauers. Glasnow might have stranded Bauers by getting Christian Yelich and Garrett Mitchell to ground out, but the lead was sliced to 4-2.
Glasnow was then knocked out in the fifth following a manufactured run created by a Sal Frelick walk, a stolen base, and an RBI single by David Hamilton. Evan Phillips came in to walk the bases loaded, and when Alex Vesia tagged in, he didn’t have the plate either. Bauers battled him for a walk to bring home the tying run.
JoJo Romero relieved May with a scoreless fifth, and in the sixth, Dave Roberts turned to one of his high-leverage relievers early to keep the game knotted. Instead, Mitchell took Tanner Scott yard 409 feet away.
The Brewers were in front, and even with chances, LA was kept off the board. Kyle Tucker hit a one-out double in the sixth; Romero got Teoscar Hernández to ground out and fanned Max Muncy. Aaron Ashby took over in the seventh, allowed a leadoff double to Andy Pages, and stranded him. Kiké Hernández bunted Pages to third, Ohtani went down on three strikes, and Mookie Betts bounced to short.
The Dodgers had a third consecutive inning with a two-bagger in the eighth, courtesy of Will Smith. Ashby was nails, with Tucker lifting a shallow fly to center and Teoscar striking out. When Teoscar went down, it was truly the last gasp. Hamilton homered off Edwin Díaz in the ninth for an insurance run and Ashby polished off his three-inning save, getting Kiké to line out to Jackson Chourio to end it. He threw shutout ball in 5.2 innings across five days of the sweep.
With that, the Brewers have won their first National League pennant and first flag since winning the 1982 ALCS over the Angels with “Harvey’s Wallbangers.” The 2023 Yankees legend Bauers was named NLCS MVP for his excellent at-bats across the sweep, and Milwaukee will now be looking to end its drought as one of five franchises to never win it all. They’ve been around for nearly 60 years without a trophy and Milwaukee hasn’t seen a title since the Braves beat the Yankees in 1957 before moving to Atlanta.
Also hey, in addition to Bauers, old friend Gary Sánchez gets to take in the World Series stage! He’s the Brewers’ backup catcher and an occasional pinch-hitter. Good for El Gary, I still love that guy.
Maybe this year is finally the year for the Brew Crew. No matter what, with the Dodgers done and dusted, we’re guaranteed to either get a first-time champion (Milwaukee or Tampa Bay) or the end of the longest current championship drought (Cleveland, 78 years). Congrats to the Brewers, and bye-bye, Dodgers. They must reckon with an aging offense that hit a paltry .185/.270/.250 in the series, with Freeman, Betts, Smith, Teoscar, and Muncy combining to go 11-for-70 with no homers and 17 strikeouts (plus Ohtani dead quiet until Game 4). The three-peat dream is over, Skubal is a free agent, and they’ll just have to see what’s next.
American League Championship Series Game 3
Cleveland Guardians 3, Tampa Bay Rays 2 (Guardians lead series 2-1)
The Guardians got off to a fast start in the ALCS against the favored Rays by swiping home-field advantage away from Tampa Bay with a win in Game 1. After the Rays countered by taking Game 2 to split the first two at the Trop, the setting shifted to Progressive Field in Cleveland. I don’t know if I’d necessarily predict the Rays dropping three in a row to the Guardians, but by taking Game 1, Cleveland at least created the possibility of ending the series in front of their own fans with wins in Games 3, 4, and 5.
Outside of the Tampa Bay clubhouse, no one really wants to return to the Trop, and credit to the Guardos for getting that dream started on the right foot with a narrow 3-2 victory in Game 3. They entered with the pitching advantage of American League strikeout king Gavin Williams against Griffin Jax, so regardless of the outcome of the next two games in Cleveland, it was important for them to take this one.
Williams was heavily used in the ALDS against the White Sox with two starts and a relief appearance, so manager Stephen Vogt said that he would be using him carefully in Game 3. That proved to be the case, as while Williams looked sharp in five innings of two-hit ball with nine strikeouts and just one walk, his afternoon ended after just 70 pitches. It probably didn’t help that both of the hits he allowed came in the same inning, when he nearly worked around a leadoff double by Yandy Díaz. Williams fanned Jonathan Aranda and Junior Caminero; indeed, he struck out the side in that inning, but not before Victor Mesa Jr. walked and Chandler Simpson laced a two-run triple into the right-field corner.
Cleveland had taken a 1-0 lead in the second when Nathaniel Lowe doubled in Jo Adell after the latter’s leadoff walk, but the Simpson triple made it 2-1, Tampa Bay.
Although the Guardians had their chances against Jax, they went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, stranding Lowe in the second and José Ramírez in the third. The game changed, however, on one bad pitch from Jax. Patrick Bailey led off the fifth with a Baltimore chop for an infield single. Next up was the unheralded Petey Halpin, and on a 2-2 pitch, Jax threw a sinker that caught way too much of the zone:
Halpin didn’t miss the mistake, taking it 385 feet deep to right-center field for a go-ahead, two-run bomb.
The score was 3-2, Cleveland, and there it stayed thanks to dynamite work from the much-used Guardians bullpen. There was no margin for error and some dangerous hitters in Tampa Bay’s lineup who the Yankees unfortunately understand can take anyone out (OK maybe not Simpson, but he did his specific job yesterday anyway). Daniel Espino blew Caminero and company away in the sixth, Erik Sabrowski pitched a perfect seventh of his own, and while Hunter Gaddis allowed a double to Richie Palacios among the three batters he faced in the eighth, rubber-armed Cade Smith entered and struck out Díaz in a 10-pitch battle.
The Rays did Smith and Vogt a favor with a pretty uncompetitive final frame. The Canadian righty did less work in that inning than he needed in one at-bat against Díaz, retiring Aranda, Caminero, and Mesa on eight pitches. Game 4 is supposed to be tonight at 8 p.m. ET, but again, we’ll see how the weather cooperates. Nick Martinez is aiming to even up the series for Tampa Bay, while a possible bullpen game will try to put Cleveland a win away from its first Fall Classic in a decade.
Happy Friday, everyone! As we enter the weekend, we will soon know which team will join the Brewers in heading to the World Series. In the meantime, we look at how Shohei Ohtani busted his HR slump at the exact perfect time. We also look at how Jake Bauers pulled through for the Brewers with an incredible at-bat in a clutch moment.
We’re also starting to see some of the early moves of the postseason as the Astros part ways with Joe Espada, and other teams make additional moves to their managerial staff and teams start to make contracts with players.
The league-wide batting average this postseason is .212. The average fastball is 96.2 mph. Hitting is hard. In the postseason, it's Sisyphean. To better understand why, we spoke with Joey Votto and Alex Bregman, two of the purest hitters of this generation, for their insight. pic.twitter.com/F47YD2dcU8
(Photo by William Purnell/Getty Images) | Getty Images
At long last, the 2026-27 NBA season is nearly upon us, and with so much anticipation surrounding the official tip-off, awards predictions are hot in the search engine optimization world.
Some categories are easy to narrow down. Victor Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Luka Doncic will all have something to say about the Most Valuable Player award. Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren will swat their way into Defensive Player of the Year consideration.
But others are far more wide-open. Like, you guessed it, the Sixth Man of the Year award. To be considered for this honor, you not only have to be one of the best players coming off the bench in the league, but you also need the cards to fall in a way where you don’t end up having to start so many games that you are omitted from contention.
Projecting this race can be a tall task. But never fear, there is a way to narrow down the playing field, so long as we follow the lead of all great philosophers, and let history be our guide.
Who Usually Wins Sixth Man of the Year?
From looking at past winners, you realize that there are two key ingredients to a 6MOY year candidacy. First, you need to score a lot of points. And second, you need to play on a team that wins a lot of games.
To put some color on these two elements, since 2001-02, every player who has taken home the award has eclipsed the 13 points per game mark, even last season’s winner (Keldon Johnson, 13.2 PPG). And of those 25 winners, 20 of them (80%) played on a team that ended the season with a top four record in their respective conference.
With these parameters in place, let’s look at a couple of names that could fall under this description.
[Sidebar:The exceptions to this second point are Lou Williams (twice), Jason Terry (2008-09), Mike Miller (2005-06), and Antawn Jamison (2003-04), who all still played on teams that made the playoffs.]
Ajay Mitchell (+490, 16.9%)
We’re going to do this in order of their odds on FanDuel Sportsbook. As of right now, Ajay Mitchell is the leader in the clubhouse, which makes sense since he plays for one of the best teams in the Western Conference (the Oklahoma City Thunder) and averaged 13.6 PPG last year. For what my money’s worth, he was the best bench player in the league last year, but his candidacy took a hit because he missed 25 games. If he can stay healthy this year, he’s got as good of a chance as anyone. But if you want better odds for a Thunder player, Jared McCain (+3000) could be a nice pick if injuries force Mitchell to start too many games.
Dylan Harper (+600, 14.3%)
Dylan Harper should be a starter. In his inaugural postseason run (23 games), Harper averaged 14.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.7 APG, and 1.0 SPG on 61.1% true shooting. But the politics of De’Aaron Fox’s reputation and contract make that switch easier said than done. So, the least the San Antonio Spurs can do is reward Harper for his sacrifice by helping him follow in the footsteps of the franchise’s most famous Southpaw: Manu Ginobili.
Ayo Dosunmu (+1800, 5.3%)
After an offseason makeover, the fully-realized version of the Minnesota Timberwolves have a chance to be the third-best team in the Western Conference behind the Thunder and Spurs. Despite all the changes they made, they decided to keep Ayo Dosunmu, who thrived after coming to the team in a midseason trade. In 24 games (15 coming off the bench), Dosunmu averaged 14.4 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 3.5 APG, and 1 SPG on 61.9% true shooting. The only worries with Dosunmu are whether Jonathan Kuminga will be good enough to keep him on the bench and the Timberwolves don’t take too long to find their footing in a loaded West.
Sam Merrill (+5000, 2%)
Even if Peyton Watson continues his improved shooting from last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers new starting five of him, Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Jarrett Allen, and Evan Mobley is going to be sorely lacking in that department. This means that Sam Merrill, who will start the season coming off the bench, is going to have a big part to play in helping to balance their lineups. Head coach Kenny Atkinson has always valued Merrill’s ability to space the floor (he shot 42.1% from three last season) while also connecting the dots of their offense, so expect the seventh-year guard to factor heavily into the rotation. Plus, in the past, we’ve seen white-hot marksmen make a serious bid for this award in the past – just look at Malik Beasley, who finished as the runner-up just two seasons ago.
Sandro Mamukelashvili (+7500, 1.3%)
On paper, it seems like Collin Sexton will be the team’s sixth man. However, on a recent episode of the Dunc’d On Podcast, Lakers insider Jovan Buha compared Sandro Mamukelashvili’s projected role on the team with that of the one Naz Reid played in his time with the Timberwolves (a tenure that included a 2023-24 6MOY award). I just can’t quit that possibility. Mamukelashvili is probably one of the team’s five best players, but the lack of lateral quickness from Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic will likely forbid him from joining the opening group. And since the team doesn’t have a viable backup big, this leaves Mamukelashvili to act as both the team’s second power forward and center. With the Lakers finally fielding an appropriate team around Doncic, Mamukelashvili could emerge as a surprise contender for this award.
Miles McBride (+7500, 1.3%)
The New York Knicks are trying to become the first back-to-back champion since 2018. To do this, they need to balance winning guys with also making sure their top five guys (Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns) don’t get run into the ground. But how to do this? Rely on your depth. And with Mitchell Robinson now gone, their most productive bench player is Miles “Deuce” McBride. Injuries limited him to just 41 regular season games, but when he did play, he was averaging 12 PPG. If McBride can boost that number up a bit and the Knicks can continue their dominance of the Eastern Conference, he has the exact type of microwave, bucket-getter profile that we’ve seen win this award so many times in the past (Jamal Crawford, Williams, Terry, etc.).
Right now, we’re targeting players who will be on teams that project to be at the top of their conference. So, naturally, we should avoid those guys whose teams we don’t believe in.
Looking at the current top ten in odds, there are four guys who come to mind. The Portland Trail Blazers had to participate in the play-in tournament last year, and their main additions this offseason are two players (Damian Lillard and Ja Morant) who don’t really make sense for this roster. Both of those guys are perceived candidates for this award, but even if one of them sucks it up and comes off the bench, I doubt Portland will be good enough for them to get serious consideration. The Denver Nuggets were the third-best regular season team in the Western Conference, but they are another year older and shed some key depth pieces (Watson and Tim Hardaway Jr.) this summer. Nikola Jokic is a wins machine, but with the Timberwolves, Lakers, and Utah Jazz all taking steps forward, regression could be in their future. Beware of DeMar DeRozan. Lastly, I’m personally fading the Philadelphia 76ers (the superteam model is antiquated), so I think Anfernee Simons is getting too much love from the books.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - MARCH 15: Ivica Zubac #40 of the Indiana Pacers dribbles the ball against Myles Turner #3 of the Milwaukee Bucks during the first quarter at Fiserv Forum on March 15, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 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 Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Milwaukee Bucks venture to Gainbridge Fieldhouse to take on their mid-west rival Indiana Pacers in both sides’ preseason finale tonight. The Bucks have looked expectantly up and down this preseason, as Taylor Jenkins tries to find cohesion within an essentially brand new roster—11 of the 19 rostered players weren’t with the team to begin last season—and determine the right rotations heading into the regular season. Following their blowout loss to the Chicago Bulls, the Bucks are now 1-3 in their preseason games.
The Task Ahead
Last season, with franchise point guard Tyrese Haliburton recovering from a torn Achilles, the Pacers tanked played not to win—and they did a great job at it, winning just 19 games. This season, with Haliburton back, the Pacers are expected to contend for postseason play, if not make it outright. To help their cause, they added free agents Kelly Oubre Jr. and Larry Nance Jr., who will provide depth and athleticism that will suit Rick Carlisle’s up-tempo game.
During preseason play, the Pacers have gone 1-2. They beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in their opening matchup on the back of lights-out shooting overall—53% from the field and three, 91% from the line—and in particular from Aaron Nesmith (7/9 FG), along with unexpected playmaking from Jarace Walker (10 assists). They followed that up with a two-point loss to the Atlanta Hawks, where seven players scored 10-or-more points despite no one playing more than 22 minutes. So, despite some names changing, Indiana is very much back to the deep roster it had when it went to the NBA Finals less than a year and a half ago. More promising signs emerged in their two-point overtime loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder, with Halliburton looking like his old self, posting 24 points and three assists in just 18 minutes. For the Bucks, this all spells trouble.
Injury Report
As is the case with preseason play, there is no official injury report—and with this being both sides’ final game before the regular season it’s well and truly anyone’s guess who will suit up. Still, here’s who we have more of an idea about.
Bucks:
Nate Ament: doubtful (ankle)
Pacers:
Aaron Nesmith: out (hamstring)
Johnny Furphy: out (ACL)
T.J. McConnell: questionable (undisclosed)
Jarace Walker: questionable (undisclosed)
Andrew Nembhard: questionable (undisclosed)
Player to Watch
Myles Turner struggled in four games against his old team last season, averaging just 10.3 PPG on .395/.280/.667 shooting splits. He also totaled more turnovers (6) than assists (4). This offseason, Turner stepped up off the court, embracing a role as a veteran leader for the young Bucks. But his leadership is needed on the court too—he needs to produce. He played well against the Oklahoma City Thunder—19 points, five rebounds, two blocks—but was largely invisible against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Charlotte Hornets. What better time to put it all together than the preseason finale against his old pals in Indiana?
Projected Starters
Bucks
Position
Pacers
Ryan Rollins
PG
Tyrese Haliburton
Tyler Herro
SG
Andrew Nembhard
Jaime Jaquez Jr.
SF
Kelly Oubre Jr.
Kyle Kuzma
PF
Pascal Siakam
Myles Turner
C
Ivica Zubac
Who: Milwaukee Bucks (record) vs. Indiana Pacers (record).
The Bucks have been chucking up the three ball throughout the preseason—a third-in-the-league 45 attempts per game!—but have largely been inaccurate doing so, shooting just 30.6%. Tonight, they’ll find the bottom of the net, hitting 40% or better on their way to 20+ threes. Turner will make five of ‘em.
LOS ANGELES — They couldn’t move at first, almost in a state of shock, then looked around at one another, gasped and finally started making their way to the middle of the field.
It happened.
Really, it happened.
The Milwaukee Brewers, the Lil' Team that Could, pulled off one of the most stunning four-game sweeps in baseball history Thursday, ousting the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, and ending their title dynasty at Dodger Stadium with a 6-4 victory.
The Brewers, for the first time in 44 years, are going to the World Series, with Brewers play-by-play announcer Jeff Levering screaming over the air: "The Brewers win the pennant! OH MY God, the Brewers win the pennant! The World Series will go through Wisconsin."
Bauers was quitting baseball just two years ago, returning only to get health insurance coverage for his pregnant wife, and now he was the best player on a field littered with all-stars and future Hall of Famers in Dodgers uniforms.
Then, there was Brewers manager Pat Murphy, a collegiate coach at Arizona State and Notre Dame, who spent eight seasons as Brewers bench coach under Craig Counsell, only to be promoted when Counsell bolted for the Chicago Cubs’ riches. Now the two-time NL manager of the year, is standing on the stage holding the NLCS trophy, grabbing the mic and addressing the frenzied Brewers' fans.
"They have a bunch of Hall of Famers," Murphy said, “but we have a lot of gamers.
"And the gamers won."
Mic drop.
Oh, did they ever, beating the mighty Dodgers in every facet of the game, in front of 49,104 stunned fans at Dodger Stadium, the site where their season abruptly ended last year, a story made in the shadows of Hollywood.
"To do that at Dodger Stadium, against a team that good, that poised, that rooted in tradition, the Hall of Famers they have on the team, the types of people they have on the team," Murphy said, "that’s no easy task.
"But we just did."
Believe it, Milwaukee, for the first time since the days of the Harvey’s Wallbangers, you’re going to the World Series.
"I think they’re drinking," he said, laughing. "They’re drinking just like us. I kid you not. They’re drinking."
Hey, you better believe it, with all of Wisconsin celebrating as if the Green Bay Packers just won the Super Bowl, never believing this could actually be a reality.
Not against the mighty Dodgers, a team with more than twice the Brewers' payroll and enough hardware to fill a Milwaukee brewery.
"Let's be honest," Murphy said, "nobody had us coming in here doing it. Then, the fashion that we did it, got behind and won. You know that thing for me. That's that tells the character of a team."
The Dodgers were up 4-0 in the second inning when Shohei Ohtani hit a three-run homer, and Dodger Stadium was literally shaking, believing that Ohtani found his superman cape again, and would ignite a historic comeback from their three-games-to-none deficit.
"I thought, 'Oh my God, we just woke up a giant,' you know what I mean?" Murphy said. "You don’t wake the giant up, and we woke up the giant. I’m like, wow, we’re going to have our hands full. He’s one of the greatest players that ever lived.
"Most teams would lay down. But these guys wouldn’t be denied."
Not a soul on the Brewers bench panicked, knowing they had come back against the Dodgers all series, so why not again?
"There was never a doubt we were going to come back and win the game," said Bauers, who answered with a two-run double in the fourth inning. "Not a single one. We’ve been doing it all year."
Said DH Christian Yelich: "This place was going crazy, and we’re like, 'Hey, just stay together. Let’s chip away. This is going to be a great story when we win it.'"
While the Dodgers never scored another run the rest of the game, the Brewers got two runs in the fourth, two more in the fifth, a solo homer by Garrett Mitchell in the sixth inning – his second off a left-handed pitcher in two nights after hitting only two off lefties all season – and another solo by No. 9 hitter David Hamilton in the ninth.
Now, with the Brewers on the verge of completing the stunning sweep, the Dodger Stadium security informed Brewers owner Mark Attanasio, GM Matt Arnold and the rest of the front office staff to start making their way down to the field before the start of the ninth inning. Sorry, they weren’t about to jinx anything. They stayed put, watching 22-year-old Jackson Chourio catch the final out.
It was over, and the only sound at Dodger Stadium was the shrieks and celebration of thousands of Brewers’ fans, including one of their most famous alumni, outfielder Ryan Braun, a Brewers Hall of Famer.
"It was incredible to witness," Braun said. "I mean, we went against one of the greatest teams in history, right? Like, that is an incredibly talented team with arguably the best starting rotation ever assembled. They have countless Hall of Famers. Guys that are among the best players that have ever played the game. We have a lot of guys that nobody had probably ever heard of until they started watching our nationally-televised games this series.
"And to sweep that team, I don’t think anybody believed that it was a possibility. I’m thrilled for them, man. I couldn’t be more excited. I couldn’t be honored to have been a Brewer. Watching this team play, just brought me and all the former Brewers so much pride…
"This means so much."
Braun, who spent his entire 14-year career with the Brewers and went to the postseason five times, got to the NLCS twice (2011 and 2018). Milwaukee pushed the Dodgers to Game 7 in the 2018 NLCS, but it was L.A. that went to the World Series, while the Brewers stayed home. Again.
Now, here Braun was, watching history unfold before his eyes.
"I mean, 44 years of hope,," Braun said. "Forty-four years of heartbreak. Forty-four years of believing that we would have our moment. And that moment has arrived."
Former MLB commissioner Bud Selig, whose family owned the Brewers for 35 years before selling the franchise to Attanasio, and will throw out the ceremonial first pitch in Game 1 of the World Series, was ecstatic watching from his home in Milwaukee. Hall of Famer Robin Yount, who will also throw out the first pitch, was elated watching from his home in Phoenix, and will also throw out a Game 1 ceremonial first pitch. There were tens of thousands of Brewers fans celebrating on the streets and at watch parties.
But perhaps the night meant the most to Yelich, the Brewers’ team captain, who joined Milwaukee in 2018 and signed a franchise-record extension in 2020. Now here he was, watching all of his dreams and aspirations spectacularly arrive on one glorious night in his hometown.
He was the one, according to Murphy, who told this young team, filled with 15 players with three or fewer years of service, early this season: "You better start believin’, because you know we’re going to the World Series."
"I mean, Yeli changed the culture here," Bauers said. "This is the better part of 10 years of work for him to really change this organization. I’m sure this is surreal for him."
Yelich, who was being ushered from different TV sets with FOX and ESPN after the game, finally was alone with his family, soaking it all in and celebrating the greatest night of his career.
"We’ve had our season end here on this field a couple of times," Yelich said. "And we just knew coming into spring training that if we wanted to accomplish our ultimate goal, that we were going to have to play this series against this team. It didn’t catch us by surprise that we were here. We just didn’t wake up and find ourselves here. We were ready for it.
"Obviously, the regular season and the postseason are two different things, but we proved to ourselves all year that when we played our version of baseball, and played the way that we were capable of, we were a really hard team to beat and capable of making a deep postseason."
Now, the Brewers are bracing themselves for a glorious welcoming reception when they return to Milwaukee on Friday, with the city already in a frenzy, and the World Series starting a week later.
"I don’t know if you told me as a kid that this would be a thing that happened," Yelich said. "I don’t know if I’d believe you. It’s pretty crazy. It’s just an awesome moment. I haven’t even taken it all of the way in. It’ll be something that probably hits me later.
"But it’s cool to see the crowd, giving people memorable life moments. We understand who we’re playing for, what it means to the city, and know they’re going to be stoked. The atmosphere has just been amazing. We still got a ways to get to the ultimate goal, but man, it’s going to be awesome."
This is a story that will be told for generations in Wisconsin, with Brewers' fans celebrating this team’s accomplishments for years, just like Cubs fans with their 2016 team, Royals fans with their 2015 team, White Sox fans with their 2005 team and Dodgers' fans with this dynasty.
It’s a beautiful rags-to-riches story, but how in the world can you possibly explain it?
"You can’t," Murphy said. "You just can’t. People that are interested will look into it, and see it for themselves.
"Hopefully, they write about it, and get it right."
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - OCTOBER 12: Asa Newell #14 of the Atlanta Hawks reacts against the Oklahoma City Thunder during a game at State Farm Arena on October 12, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. 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 Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Asa Newell is coming into Year 2 of his career, and there’s a good chance that he’ll have a bigger role when looking at the frontcourt. In his rookie season, Newell was fighting for minutes with players such as Mouhamed Gueye and Jonathan Kuminga, but with the former currently rehabbing from injury and the latter on a different team, it opens up the door for more playing opportunities.
Newell showed growth throughout his rookie season, and that was thanks to the College Park Skyhawks, where he spent most of his time. When he was with the Hawks, he was usually at the five, where he struggled defensively, but he was able to work on that when he went to the Skyhawks during his stints.
At Media Day, Newell shared the things that he worked on during the summer, and his defense was one of them.
“My defense. I’ve been working on that all summer, trying to move my feet. Also my dribbling, I feel like where I came from, from college into year one, I just been a gym rat. My shooting ability, too. Those three are the main keys,” Newell said.
The Hawks mostly want Newell at the four with a center beside him, but he still has the ability to interchange if he has to. This season specifically, he should be seeing a lot of minutes when Jalen Johnson is off the floor.
The one thing that will help Newell get consistent minutes this season is not only his defense but also his shooting. That was an area where he definitely grew during his rookie season, as he shot 38.7% from the 3-point line and had a nice feel on the perimeter. When the Hawks needed more offense on the floor and Newell was available, Quin Snyder put him in the game over Gueye, who was better defensively.
It’ll be interesting to see how things pan out for Newell when Gueye does return from his rehab, and whether he can lose minutes during that time. That’s why it may be crucial for him to get off to a fast start to the season.
Again, defense will be the No. 1 key for Newell if he wants to see an increase in minutes this season. Throughout the preseason, he’s had his ups and downs on that side of the floor, but he’s been able to maintain some consistency on offense at times.
Coming into his second year, the Hawks definitely want to see improvements from Newell across the board, and he could be on the way to being a solid rotational player for the Hawks this season.
Kirill Marchenko delivered the kind of night the Maple Leafs envisioned when they acquired him from the Columbus Blue Jackets just before the season. The 26-year-old scored three times, including a highlight-reel between-the-legs power-play goal, in his 300th NHL game. It was not enough.
The Buffalo Sabres erased a 4-2 deficit with two third-period goals and Owen Power finished it 3:14 into overtime, beating Sergei Bobrovsky for a 5-4 Toronto Maple Leafs loss at Scotiabank Arena. Jack Quinn added two goals and two assists. The Leafs (3-3-2) outshot Buffalo 15-8 in the first period and held a two-goal lead late in the second, yet managed only four shots in the third while the Sabres generated 11. Final shot totals were 34-30 in Buffalo’s favour. Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 34; Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 26 saves on 30.
The result left familiar questions about defensive structure, third-period execution, and how the coaching staff can bungle the usage of their No. 1 overall draft pick from the 2026 Draft.
Marchenko’s arrival finally looks the part
Marchenko’s first goal came 13:10 into the opening period on the power play. John Tavares worked the puck from the slot; Marchenko slid it between his own legs and lifted it past Luukkonen. He added a second at 11:13 of the second on a feed from Tavares and completed the hat trick at 16:51 with a one-timer set up by Colton Sissons and Easton Cowan. It was Marchenko’s fifth career hat trick and his first multi-goal game in a Leafs jersey after scoring once in his first seven games following the trade that sent Matthew Knies the other way.
Coach Jim Hiller called the goals “big time” and noted the “dynamism” the Leafs had been waiting on.
“You can’t be that talented and not score,” Hiller said. “So it’s going to come like we saw tonight.”
Marchenko himself described the goals as pure skill and pointed to his long reach. He framed the night as a lesson rather than a celebration.
“You either win, or you have a lesson to learn and get better,” he said. “I think it was a good lesson for us. I think we give up lots of chances, 5-on-5… We still give up a little too much in the third.”
The between-the-legs finish generated the most immediate reaction of the night. As replays of the goal were shown at Scotiabank Arena, the crowd gasped in amazement each time they saw Marchenko put his stick between the legs to score. The sequence also underscored why the organization prioritized him over Knies in the pre-season deal. Early-season shot metrics with Marchenko on the ice had already looked stronger than those without him in several accounts; Thursday provided the finishing touch that had been missing.
Third-period passiveness and the missing shutdown presence
The Leafs led 4-2 with less than four minutes remaining in the second. From roughly the 11-minute mark of the third onward, Hiller said, Buffalo simply started coming and Toronto had no answer.
“We made some mistakes. In those moments, I know it’s hard when you’re on your heels. You just have to be able to have a little poise and somebody to make a play… We just couldn’t make two plays in a row.”
Hiller added that the team has looked more passive in its own zone over the last three or four games than it did earlier in the season. Auston Matthews offered a slightly different view of the process. He thought the Leafs took care of the puck for the most part in the third and that the goals against stemmed from a point shot with traffic and a miscommunication on a three-on-two or three-on-three.
He’s literally in the locker room too, so it’s a big loss for us, definitely,” Marchenko said.
The Leafs dominated the shot share through 40 minutes, including a 66 percent dominance over Buffalo in th second period. The Sabres dominated in the third period with a 78 percent shot share according to NaturalStatTrick.com. Toronto controlled the early share of shots and scoring chances; the third period reversed it. Face-off percentage favoured the Leafs (roughly 56 percent), and they went 1-for-3 on the power play while Buffalo was 0-for-2. Those edges were not enough once Buffalo pushed.
Matthews said the team has to keep playing and that lines will be shuffled, but the concern is obvious. Tavares has been a stabilizing presence and, at times this season, a mentor figure for the younger forwards. His early exit coincided with the period in which Toronto lost its structure.
Tavares started the game on the left wing, a role he had not been slotted in since the 2022-2023 regular season.
McKenna’s limited minutes and the long-term view
Gavin McKenna, the 2026 first-overall pick, played 6:36 and did not see the ice after the midway point of the second period. Hiller said it was his decision. McKenna sat through penalties, the coach did not get him back out before the intermission, and by the third Hiller was unwilling to insert an 18-year-old after such a long layoff.
“I’ll talk to him for sure… I haven’t talked to him yet.”
"That was my decision... I probably should have gotten him out there early in the third."
Jim Hiller addresses Gavin McKenna's ice time in the Maple Leafs' OT loss to the Sabres. pic.twitter.com/sLOJJUeIGx
Hiller described McKenna’s game to that point as “okay” and “fine,” and said he has not seen a pattern of the teenager taking things too personally.
“He’s usually ready to go. There’s been other times I haven’t played him as much… and you know, he’s responded.” Matthews reinforced the message that the group has McKenna’s back and that a night like this can make him hungrier.
The ice-time decision and explantion was puzzling. In the broader context of an 18-year-old getting his first regular NHL minutes, the episode is one data point. Hiller’s stated comfort with McKenna’s maturity and the plan to speak with him directly suggest the organization is treating it as a manageable moment rather than a larger issue.
As a coach, do you talk to him about that?
“Yeah, yeah. I'll talk to him for sure. Yeah, but I haven't talked to him yet.”
This type of mistake so early puts the confidence of the head coach into question. How do you forget about one of your more talented players. When Tavares got hurt, it should have been an easy call. The Leafs looked tired on this night, having just flown home from Utah the day before. Perhaps you could use the young energy.
McKenna, despite being requested, was not made available for comment due to a team decision. His thoughts on this won’t be known until Saturday when the club host the New York Islanders.
What the night revealed
The Leafs have the talent offensively and it’s certainly been their strength. But they have issues on the back end. Outside of Darren Raddysh, the rest of the defense looked tired and slow and couldn’t lock it down when needed. Toronto has offense. Scoring four goals should be enough to win the game. And given McKenna was on the bench to watch most of it, just forgetting about putting the player out there is inexcusable unless he was covering for some other undisclosed reason.
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The Philadelphia Flyers are already off to the worst, and worsening, start in franchise history, stumbling to an 0-6-3 record through their first nine games, and with one more loss to add to the streak, head coach Rick Tocchet will make an unenviable piece of NHL history.
Ten-game losing streaks aren't something Tocchet has never experienced before. Back in the 2017-18 season with the Arizona Coyotes, Tocchet guided the club to an 0-9-1 start through their first 10 games, and they finished the season 29-41-12.
Nine other groups also achieved the feat over the years; Arizona under Andre Tourigny did it again in 2021, and San Jose, under David Quinn, was the most recent team to start a season winless through 10 games, going 0-9-1 back in 2023.
San Jose's reward for a grim 19-54-9 season was Macklin Celebrini in the 2024 draft, but that's besides the point here.
On Saturday night, the Flyers will host the 6-2-0 Ottawa Senators, and with a 10th consecutive loss, Rick Tocchet would become the only coach in NHL history to lose 10 or more games to start a season twice.
The Flyers' previous franchise-long six-game slide to start a season has already been shattered, so the Flyers by extension would be the latest franchise to continue that slide into the double-digits.
Arizona, as mentioned above, has started a season with 10 straight losses twice, as have the Sharks. The only other franchises to have done so in the history of the NHL would be the Atlanta Thrashers, Calgary Flames, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota North Stars, New York Rangers, and Pittsburgh Pirates.
You'll notice that several of those franchises no longer exist, a testament to how truly unprecedented the Flyers' losing streak is.
Further to that point, a 10-game losing streak has only happened four times since the start of the 2000s, and only three times since 2002.
Any way we slice it, the Flyers and Tocchet are on the verge of cementing themselves in the historically bad section of NHL history, barring a major turnaround that sees them scrap away a win against a vastly superior opponent on Saturday night.
Multiple reports over the last week have indicated that Tocchet's job with the Flyers is safe, but many coaches, over the years, have been dismissed for less, and it's a situation worth monitoring, especially if things continue to get worse before they get better.
