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The San Diego Padres farmhand, who has been playing for the Peoria Javelinas during the Arizona Fall League, gave the fans in attendance something to cheer for and gave the Friar Faithful something to hope for. Alex McCoy, the 6-5, 260-pound outfielder hit a 503-foot home run in the first round of the AFL Home Run Derby held at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Ariz. on Saturday night.

McCoy’s blast was one of seven first-round home runs hit by the right hander, but he was knocked out of the derby in that round by the eventual champion, Aaron Parker of the Toronto Blue Jays organization, 12-7. For McCoy, his appearance at the AFL Home Run Derby resulted in yet another headline home run from the AFL this season. The slugger has been drawing attention from fans of the Padres and baseball alike for his ability to hit the long ball.

The question for McCoy is whether or not his power can translate at the MLB level. Admittedly, he is still aways off from being called up to Petco Park, but after San Diego sent James Wood, another power-hitting outfielder, to the Washington Nationals in the Juan Soto trade, it would be nice to see a homegrown power-hitter rise through the ranks to make his MLB debut with the Padres. The knock on McCoy is his number of strikeouts, but that is to be expected with any young slugger. The hope is that the coaches throughout the San Diego minor league system can help him make adjustments so he can make his debut sooner than later.

The AFL Fall Stars Game will be played tonight at 5 pm PST.

Padres News:

• Ty France had an impressive season in his return to the Padres but did he impress Lincoln Zdunich of Gaslamp Ball? Read what grade France earned for his 2026 performance, here.

• Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors is reporting there are multiple teams showing interest in France in free agency.

Baseball News:

• Seiya Suzuki may be the top free agent on the market not names Tarik Skubal according to MLB.com.

• The New York Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate will have a new name in 2027.

For those of you who have already taken in my early bird podcast I posted through The Feed, thank you and you know where I will be headed in this article. As we attempt to figure out the best way to spread the word about our spoken content, continue to give feedback on your experience so far. Was The Feed the best way to find it? Would you still have preferred an article announcing the episode? Let me know!

*The best way to limit our interruptions plugging our podcast is to SMASH that subscribe/follow button on your platform of choice. Thanks to all that have supported us so far!*

As the reality of no baseball comes closer everyday, I still choose to live a life of ignorance and act like it is business as usual in regards to the current MLB offseason. Until December 1, most of my discussions will remain based on that narrative and a focus on 162 game season in 2027. This means I continue to focus on the spots that Chaim Bloom could take a moderately aggressive approach and see significant improvement in the win column.

At the current juncture of the offseason, I have fear that Chaim will “run it back” because of how much success many of the youngsters had. As mentioned before, I have set a 77-win baseline for Bloom now, even with the understanding that the win total does not tell the whole story of a season. This has caused my tone to be more pessimistic than I truly feel, but my standards have been raised and I expect to see a step forward made not just on the field, but in the front office.

I continue to do my best to explain viewpoints from multiple perspectives: what I would do, what they should/could do, what they will do. Currently, I think they will make decisions that keeps the big league team similar to what we saw in 2026, and if that is the case, I will be slightly disappointed and wish for more out of Bloom.

Cardinals aggressiveness, or lack thereof, will set the tone for 2027

Due to the lack of MLB news during the early winter, the conversation around the Cardinals continues to center around third base, center field, and the pitching staff. After running with the Alec Bohm possibility far longer than palatable, it seems most of the fan consensus is that the team will stick to the status quo and keep a third base platoon with Blaze Jordan leading the way.

If that is the move, I am fine with that due to my belief that Blaze could do enough to hold onto the position for a year and allow the team a longer leash to settle on the position long-term. The thought has been a holding pattern for Jesus Baez, but he has received solid reviews about his play at shortstop… at an interesting time in regards to Masyn Winn’s status with the team.

In my first what I would do, I would pursue Teruaki Sato with the aggressiveness that there is currently no solution at third base in the organization. That means a longer term, higher priced offer than we are used to seeing. Of course, Sato still has the right to choose where he lands, so even this level of contract may not even get it done. And that’s okay. For me, a true aggressive offer that got past the “due diligence” stage and made the Cardinals a true finalist for his services can do enough to show me that the commitment to winning in 2027 is there.

Center field is a spot where I do not have a preference in their action due to the lack of what I see to be realistic options as I believe Sato should be. Besides my continued desire to have Luis Robert at Busch, there is nothing sticking out to me as worth paying for as an upgrade to Nathan Church. I think Church is a fourth outfielder who can succeed in longer spurts of playing time, but for 2027, there is not enough available on the center field market that will turn the team into an immediate contender.

I could be missing something very obvious so feel free to drop that in the comments for center field. Steven Kwan has gained more traction since Jake and Gabe discussed it a few weeks ago. I am personally still out on it just because it will take giving up something of value for an overall minimal upgrade from the current options. Yes, Kwan’s wRC+ was nearly 20 points better than Church, but his baseball card stats showed three homers, 32 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases… all numbers bested (or met) by Church is his rookie season.

Once again, this brings the conversation to the pitching staff as a whole. Spoiler alert for those who still have yet to listen to the 38 minute episode: this is where I will gain or lose confidence in Bloom.

As of November 7, the St. Louis Cardinals already have at least five starting pitchers on their 40-man roster who could be in a major league rotation on most teams. However, those arms would likely slot in near the back end of contending teams which is where we all want the Cardinals to be again sooner than later. This means there is potential for improvement in a major way, and that could be done via trades or buy loosening the purse strings and ponying up for an ace.

With the continued caveat that free agents have the right to choose where they play, the Cardinals have the ability to be serious suitors for some of the upper tier arms by opportunity and financial flexibility. The Tarik Skubal “rumors” where The Athletic’s reports St. Louis being a match for his services just continues to show the news outlet really needs to hire an actual Cardinals reporter again. Below him, the Cardinals could find their version of an ace to lead a rotation and allow the back half of the staff to finish their development in the minors rather than in a major league season of consequence.

I believe the Cardinals should be in on most of the Japanese free agent arms that are available this winter, as well as being serious suitors for Michael King and those in his tier. If and when they fall short, the next tier of free agents have some intrigue, but none have the same ace potential as those above.This is where the Cardinals can still make a splash and I ask for them to target a higher-floor pitcher with more control than Dustin May. If a veteran were to sign on another May-like deal, that would signal to me that the team is once again using them to flip at the deadline and not as a building block of a rotation. That would be a punt on 2027 in my eyes.

What really needs to happen for Bloom to stay in my good graces is to attack the gosh darn bullpen. You will hear it in the episode, but using the $15-20 million some fans have been asking for them to spend on position players could actually go to the relief corps and have a bigger impact than the lineup additions. We all know the bullpen was bad, seemingly on purpose, and it stayed bad due to continued refusal to improve the 11th-13th spot on the pitching staff.

If Bloom truly believes in his guys, he will supplement their talent with proven arms in relief. Of course, bullpens are a flip of the coin, but the coin too often landed on one side last year when most every pitcher was an unproven arm on a rookie deal. To me, being invested in someone like Bryan Abreu and Gregory Soto would give high-priced talent to Oliver Marmol that could help him manage his pitching staff better. This would also give fans a chance to see what Marmol could do when he is not consistently hamstrung by pitching inactivity.

As I have stated multiple times, bullpen arms are some of the lowest risk you can take (assuming you don’t sign them to a Brett Cecil deal) and if it does not work out, no harm done. Those two guys will likely have suitors this offseason and if they end up in St. Louis, they could be easy trade bait at the 2027 deadline. If the Cardinals were to spend that same amount of money on the lineup, that player would be expected to play everyday and be one of the team’s top performers. In the bullpen, all they have to do it cut bait and try something new.

Honestly, that is really all I wanted from Bloom last year.

Let me know if I am being overly pessimistic or dramatic. I do believe the Cardinals have the makings of a .500 team and could take a significant jump if the front office stays committed to winning. I am not asking for payroll to get to $250 million and spend on a second baseman and a catcher. What I am asking for is to supplement the current talent with greater talent that will still not be considered a “shortcut” for Chaim Bloom.

Thanks as always!

They have tried. Truly, they have tried to make inroads into the Japanese free agent market, but the Phillies have yet to land the plane. They threw gobs of money at Yoshinobu Yamamoto, only for him to turn them down. They offered laurels to Roki Sasaki, only for him to join the Dodgers.

Now, they are at it again.

We know that Teruaki Sato is likely the biggest fish the team is looking to snag to help with their outfield, but they’ve also been linked to 18 year old pitcher Shoki Oda. They’re likely going to be rumored to be sniffing around Seiya Suzuki, though he wouldn’t really count for this exercise as he’s already been playing in MLB for a while now. Yet signing him could help lure others from across the Pacific to sign with Philadelphia.

It begs the question: is this finally the year the team is successful in bringing a Japanese free agent to Philly? They might not get a better chance at doing so.

If you missed the Braves financial release on Wednesday, it was a little unimpressive. They didn’t really cash in on the more expensive season tickets or the September playoff games. However, BravesVision is an unqualified success and so were the 2026 City Connect jerseys. Those were the highlights from the released numbers. One of the other highlights was this statement by Terry McGuirk:

I want to be clear about how I see this season. It was real progress. We went from missing the playoffs to winnings the division and a postseason series. Our core is in place. Our young players go better and our new manager’s first year was a success. Our minor league system is stocked with future major league talent. We’re pleased with where this organization is headed and will keep working to build on it in 2027.… Coming into this season, we made a deliberate decision to invest in our roster and our major league payroll was meaningfully higher as a result.

Are you sure about this, Terry? Below are the meaningful salaries that went away in 2025 and contracts and raises that were added in 2026.

OUT:

• Marcell Ozuna (-16 million)
• Jurickson Profar (-7.5 million, he played half the year in 2025 and 0 games in 2026)
• Pierce Johnson (-7 million)

IN:

• Ha-Seong Kim (20 million)
• Robert Suarez (13 million)
• Mike Yastremski (9 million)
• Joel Payamps (2.5 million)
• Mauricio Dubon (~5 million acquired via trade)
• Spencer Strider (16 million more)
• Reynaldo Lopez (6 million more)
• Aaron Bummer (5.5 million more)

The Braves added 77 million, but 27.5 of that number was due to contracts going up in value. However it got there, they had eight meaningful contracts added and three removed. The sum total of their 77 million dollars added would yield 2.4 WAR. That’s Mauricio Dubon’s total, because the other seven returned 0.0 WAR. The WAR total from players in 2025 that didn’t return was 2.9. So for all of their moves, they went backwards. The Braves had a much better season this year, but it had nothing to do with the money added. This week’s financial results really aided the argument not spending money on higher salaries just to spend money.

So did the Braves make a “deliberate decision” to buy wins in 2026? Whatever that decision was, let’s not repeat it please.

1920
For a few days, the White Sox were members of the National League.

With many owners dissatisfied with the National Agreement (governing the game, the majors, the minors, and all baseball commerce), 11 clubs hatched a plan to form a new National League — a single league including every team. Included in this “Allied Eleven” were the White Sox.

With all 16 MLB teams gathering at the Congress Hotel in Chicago, the “Allied Eleven” met in one room and “Loyal Five” (to the American League, consisting of Cleveland, Detroit, the Philadelphia A’s, St. Louis Browns and Washington) another, with Senators owner Clark Griffith shuttling between the two rooms as messenger. When agreement couldn’t be struck to keep the AL-NL MLB dynamic going, the White Sox, Yankees and Red Sox all resigned from the AL and joined the National League.

Cooler heads prevailed four days later, with the leagues remaining intact and the approval of Kenesaw Landis as baseball’s first commissioner was a key part of a redrawn National Agreement. The decisions and changes made at these 1920 meetings largely define the structure of baseball today, more than 100 years later.

1940
Joe Nossek, longtime White Sox coach over two stints in Chicago, was born, in Cleveland. He first joined Tony La Russa’s staff from 1984 to 1986, and returned for a much longer stint that represented his last work in the majors, from 1991-2003. Nossek was a bench coach during some of his second tenure with the White Sox, but was known as an “eye in the sky” coach, specializing in stealing signs from opponents.

Nossek honed his bird-dogging skills as a seven-year outfielder in the majors, suiting up for the Twins, A’s and Cardinals.

1977
The upstart South Side Hit Men, who led the AL West for about a third of the season and took baseball by storm in peaking at 25 games better than .500, were laid to rest with the loss of outfielder and folk hero Richie Zisk, who signed a 10-year, $2.3 million deal with the Texas Rangers.

Zisk was the lone All-Star for the White Sox in 1977, finishing seventh on the club with 2.7 WAR, and fifth among hitters. His 30 home runs were second on the team; among them one ball on the Comiskey Park roof and another in its center field bleachers, rare feats both.

Zisk duplicated his All-Star selection in Texas in 1978, but never again came close to the production he put up for the White Sox. He was out of baseball with four seasons still remaining on his contract.

Losing Zisk spotlighted the down side of owner Bill Veeck’sdesperate Rent-a-Player concept, as star relievers Terry Forster and Goose Gossage had been shipped out to secure just one year of the slugger.

1999
South Carolina Rep. Jim DeMint’s resolution to honor Shoeless Joe Jackson is passed in the House of Representatives, with the author saying, “it is worthy for this body to take a few minutes to stand up for fairness, and right an old wrong.” While the resolution certainly takes its spirit from Jackson’s depiction in Field of Dreams than the outfielder’s own confession as a participant in the Black Sox scandal, but it stops short of calling for Jackson’s Hall of Fame induction.

Jackson was never listed on a Hall of Fame ballot despite being eligible for the Hall until 1991, when the decision was made that players on the permanently ineligible list cannot be eligible for induction. Due to a reversal of status by commissioner Rob Manfred, as of 2025 Jackson is again Hall-eligible.

2000
On the basis of an unexpected Central Division championship and 95-win season, White Sox skipper Jerry Manuel was named the Manager of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America. He ran away with the award, beating out Art Howe of Oakland, 134-74. Manuel got 25 first-place votes out of a possible 28. Part of the rout stemmed from the fact that the young White Sox commanded such a paltry payroll, ranking 21st out of 30 teams.

However, Manuel wasn’t able to work any magic in the playoffs, as his pitching staff was in shambles due to injury, and they were swept out in three straight by the Mariners.

Before we begin looking ahead to 2027, OTM is looking back at 2026, highlighting some of the biggest, strangest, and most memorable moments of a memorable season. Today, we look at one of the most improbable, incredible months in baseball history.

On the final day of August, the hottest hitter in all of Major League Baseball, Mickey Gasper, returned to the Red Sox lineup after a brief, and unnecessary, detour. Upon his return, he did what he had been doing the entire month. He homered, immediately, in the bottom of the first inning to tie the game against the Mariners at 1-1. It was Gasper’s sixth home run of August, a month which he didn’t even play a game at the MLB level until the 17th. For a player who had two home runs in 92 career games entering that month.

In his next at bat, NESN flashed arguably the single craziest stat that they had ever posted on our television screens. 

Now, was there a little bit of small sample bias here? Certainly. Was Barry Bonds also the first player in history to balloon to a Size 9 hat during April of 2004? Almost certainly. You can take everything on there with a grain of salt. Gasper had 38 plate appearances in August at that moment. Ted Williams had 33 plate appearances in September of 1957. Of course, Williams also reached base in 16 consecutive plate appearances during that time; a Modern Era record that still stands today. By the way, Williams hit .453 in the second half that year.

What made this graphic all the more improbable was that Gasper had been demoted to Triple-A the day before. It was prior to the final game of the disastrous four game set at the Yankees, with Roman Anthony and Trevor Story returning from the IL at the same time. It was bad karma, and the Red Sox got what they deserved that day, losing 16-1. It wasn’t the only bad karma that week, with paying customers getting the Jedixson Paez Game just a couple of days later.

Gasper spent the day at home in New Jersey, as he wouldn’t need to report to Worcester until the next day. As he explained:

“I spent about 15 hours hanging out with my dogs and my pets, just hanging out at the house. Mom made a nice dinner,” Gasper said. “I was just relaxing, getting my mind right, just preparing for what was ahead of me. I watched the whole game, so I did see Willson come out [early]. But I was eating dinner and then I saw I had three missed calls from [chief baseball officer Craig Breslow], so I figured something was up. I gave him a call right back and got on a flight this morning.”

But, back to that 1.827 OPS. Gasper was recalled on the 17th thanks to an incredible Triple-A slash line of .337/.450/.566 with a 165 wRC+. As I wrote, for whatever reason, in a Minor Lines just three days earlier, “The guy shows up for work every day and will be ready for the call when needed. I expect to see him hitting .300 somewhere at the age of 40.” 

In his first three games, against the Diamondbacks, Gasper started as the designated hitter and he homered in all three of them. The most memorable being the third one, a three-run homer to tie the game at 5-5. 

In another surprise, Gasper’s career-long ‘stache was morphing into a goatee, which he described as a very Eck-like “chin spinach.”

A week later, at Miami, Gasper mixed in a two homer game, the only two runs that the Red Sox scored until extra innings, where they went on to win 7-3. At this point, Gasper was catching on nationally, as he was having one of the greatest eight game stretches of all-time. 

Gasper walked ten times in the month, and struck out just twice. His final hit of the month was the early home run against Seattle, as he went 1-for-4 with a walk that day, and the final month long OPS was a measly 1.671, down from the graphic’s 1.827. The full slash line over 12 games: .400/.571/1.100.

He homered on his first at bat of September as well, one of four homers that month, finishing with ten on the season before a severe biceps injury ended Gasper’s year just before the playoffs. Offseason surgery will have him out 4-6 months, but the 31-year-old deserves a chance to start the season with the big league squad, at catcher, infield, or otherwise, to prove that the third greatest OPS of all-time “modern day Ted Williams” was no fluke.

It has been 10 days since the 2026 season concluded with the Milwaukee Brewers winning their first World Series championship in franchise history. Unsurprisingly, there haven’t been any major moves that have drastically changed the landscape of the sport, and until that first spark is ignited, we must sit back and wait patiently as the offseason trudges on.

The main concern for the Dodgers this offseason is the status of free agent Tarik Skubal, and they aren’t the only ones vying for his services. Teams like the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres have all expressed interest in signing the still-reigning two-time American League Cy Young award winner, but the details surrounding a potential contract are mirky.

The Dodgers have already shown over the last three years that they are willing to hand out long-term contracts with record-breaking annual salaries while also dishing out short-term deals with inflated annual values. Katie Woo of The Athletic spoke with A.J. Pierzynski of the Foul Territory podcast about what type of deal Skubal will sign, where she envisions the Dodgers giving Skubal a contract more similar to that of Kyle Tucker rather than Yoshinobu Yamamoto.

“I don’t see the Dodgers shelling out the long-term mega contract for the same reasons they didn’t to for Kyle Tucker. Andrew Friedman wants to prolong the team’s competitive window… Could we see a similar structure to what the Dodgers offered Kyle Tucker— shorter term with a much higher AAV— as their option? That’s certainly the thought process going into the GM Meetings.”

Skubal will be entering his age-30 season in 2027, and Thomas Harrigan of MLB.com writes about how pitchers with historic dominance in their 20’s have fared once they are on the wrong side of 30.

Whether Skubal’s next contract looks like a success will depend on his ability to stay on the mound. But chances are he still has at least a few Cy Young-caliber seasons ahead.

In an effort to break out of camp next year, Josue De Paula is doing everything in his power to ensure that he can be a viable defensive option in the outfield, and that includes working with former Gold Glove award winner and 2018 World Series champion Jackie Bradley Jr., reports Dylan Hernandez of the California Post.

On most days in our series profiling one Yankee per day, the player in question has seen his Yankees career come to a close. Thousands of people have donned the pinstripes, and in most cases, that period of their lives has come to an end, allowing us time to look back and reflect on their careers.

Today, we celebrate the birthday of one Giancarlo Stanton, a man whose Yankees career has not yet finished. But Stanton’s Yankee tenure has already stretched nine years, with just one guaranteed year left on his contract. The bulk of his Yankees story has been written. It’s a story with more ups and downs than I think any one of us expected, and as he stares down what could be the final chapter of his career, his Yankees legacy stands as one of the strangest among the many greats that have played for the team.

Giancarlo Cruz-Michael Stanton
Born: November 8, 1989 (Panorama City, CA)
Yankees Tenure: 2018-present

Giancarlo Cruz-Michael Stanton was born in 1989 to Mike Stanton and Jacinta Garay in Panorama City, California, a Los Angeles neighborhood that was also home to former Yankee Zack Britton. Stanton grew up a Dodgers fan and became a multi-sport star Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, excelling at football, basketball, and of course baseball.

Born Giancarlo, Stanton preferred to be called Mike for part of his childhood. “Why did you name me [Giancarlo]?” he asked his mother in high school. However he was called, Stanton was a prodigious athlete, and received scholarship offers from UCLA and UNLV, ultimately accepting a scholarship from USC to play baseball.

He would never make it to campus, as the Florida Marlins took Stanton in the second round of the 2007 MLB Draft, and Stanton decided to forgo his scholarship and accept a $475K signing bonus from the Fish. Stanton would quickly make a name for himself as a prospect, crushing 39 homers in the minors in 2008 and rocketing towards the top of industry prospect lists, thanks to his sterling performance and undeniable physical tools. 

By 2010, Stanton ranked among the top five prospects in baseball per Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus, with scouts lauding not just his immense raw power, but also his impressive mobility for a player his size, not to mention a cannon arm that helped make him a high-quality defensive right fielder. After smashing 21 homers in just two months at Triple-A, the Marlins called the 20-year-old Stanton up in June, and he quickly established himself as one of the most exciting young talents in the National League, hitting a grand slam at home against the Rays for his first career home run.

Stanton would hit 22 homers and run a 118 OPS+ as part of a strong rookie campaign in Florida. In his first full season in 2011, Stanton hit 34 bombs with a 141 OPS+ across 150 games, kicking off a stretch in which Stanton was solidified as one of the game’s premier sluggers. Between 2011 and 2016, Stanton hit 186 homers, finished runner-up to Clayton Kershaw for the 2014 NL MVP, and posted a 145 OPS+, all while continuing to play a strong right field. His level of play was so stellar and consistent that he convinced the notoriously stingy Marlins to pay up, inking Stanton to a 13-year, $325-million contract extension after the 2014 season that was at that point the richest contract signed in the history of American sports. Along the way, he took a trip to Europe and decided to embrace his old name, and started to go by Giancarlo once more.

And it turns out, all this was just an appetizer for Stanton’s historic 2017 campaign. Playing in a famously pitcher-friendly home park in Miami, Stanton made what was at the time the most spirited run at a 60-homer season in the post-steroid era, ultimately finishing with 59 dingers in a season that earned him the NL MVP award. Only Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Aaron Judge, Roger Maris, Cal Raleigh, and Babe Ruth have ever hit more in a single season.

Stanton was at the peak of his powers, and that’s when New York came calling to see if he’d want to use those powers in service of an actual pennant chase. From the moment he signed his historic deal with the Marlins, those on the outside always wondered if it was a contract meant to be traded.

Indeed, with Stanton on top of the world and in MVP form, the Marlins’ new ownership group—which included former Yankees star Derek Jeter—took the opportunity to cash out, sending Stanton (and $25 million) to the Yankees for the modest return of Starlin Castro and prospects Jose Devers and Jorge Guzmán.

It was a thunderous move, the Yankees seizing the chance to pair Judge, coming off a historic season of his own, with an equally powerful running mate. With the Bombers riding high after a surprising 2017 season, the possibilities seemed endless as Stanton came to town. The Yankees had two MVP-caliber bats in the middle of their order, a bedrock of young talent, a deep farm system and even deeper pockets. Stanton’s arrival signaled that the time was now, for the Yankees to re-cement themselves as baseball’s Evil Empire, to establish a new reign of dominance over the league.

On Opening Day, Stanton smashed two homers as the Yankees won in Toronto. The next week, Stanton, Judge, and Gary Sánchez homered in a 7-2 win over the Rays at Yankee Stadium. The new era truly had begun, the first of what would seemingly be endless nights where the Yankees’ power trio would all homer and lead the team to victory.

But no sooner did the era begin that it started to end. Judge was hit by a pitch in July and missed two months, only returning at the end of the season. Sánchez, the club’s fabulously talented catcher, struggled through an injury-plagued season and hit .186. Stanton was left to carry the lineup, and he did a fine, if unspectacular, job of it. Though he didn’t reach the heights of his 2017 MVP campaign, Stanton provided reliable production while the sluggers around him were struck down, hitting .266/.343/.509 with 38 homers and 100 RBI. The Yankees survived the injuries to Judge and others and won 100 games for the first time since 2009 thanks in part to Stanton’s steady presence, though their postseason run ended in a disappointing ALDS loss to the Red Sox.

Stanton and the Yankees returned in 2019, looking forward to a healthier year from their stars that would allow their sluggers to click at the same time. Little did they know that Stanton’s body was entering a period of unreliability that lasts until this day.

When the Yankees had acquired Stanton, his injury record was long, but perhaps not too worrisome. Although Stanton had missed significant time in multiple seasons with the Marlins, much of that could be attributed to freak accidents, such as when he hurt his wrist on a swing in 2015, or the scary incident in 2014 that saw Stanton get hit in the face by a Mike Fiers fastball (soon becoming one of the league’s first stars to wear a more protective helmet). But the signs were there. In 2013, Stanton missed six weeks with a hamstring strain. He missed a few weeks at the end of the 2016 season with another hamstring problem. Just two soft-tissue injuries, but they hinted at what would prove to be Stanton’s biggest foe in the second half of his career.

In April of 2019, Stanton hit the IL with a biceps strain. He’d return in June but go back on the IL with an injury to a ligament in his knee. He posted a 138 OPS+ for the season in just 18 games. Stanton played only 23 games (with a 145 OPS+) in the COVID-shortened 2020 season thanks to another hamstring strain. He strained his quad early in 2021, and when he returned, the Yankees largely used him as a designated hitter. The decision paid dividends, as Stanton enjoyed a relatively clean bill of health the rest of that year, posting a 136 OPS+ in 139 games.

Although injuries had already ravaged his body by this point and relegated him to DH duty, there was hope that now, with Stanton focused on providing value with his bat and staying off the outfield grass, the slugger would be able to stay productive and in the lineup. The first half of 2022 lent credence to that hope, as Stanton and Judge blitzed opposing pitchers; both hit at least 10 homers in the season’s first 32 games, just the third time in franchise history two players had done so. Stanton ran an OPS near .900 for the first two months of the season, but injuries struck again. While Judge would keep up his early-season pace and set a new AL home run record, Stanton started to have ankle issues in late May, issues that would plague him for the rest of the year. Stanton would miss 52 games and post the worst batting average, OBP, and OPS+ figures of his career even when he was on the field. 

Five years into his Yankee tenure, Stanton had become a strange and polarizing figure in Yankee lore. When healthy, he was still great, if not as great as his peak with the Marlins. He also authored nigh-countless signature moments in the playoffs, always finding a way to contribute come October no matter how banged up he’d been from March to September, smashing a home run in the 2018 Wild Card Game against Oakland, one in the 2019 ALCS versus Houston, and going deep four times in the 2020 ALDS against the Rays.

That was the strange paradox of Giancarlo Stanton as his Yankee tenure developed; he felt indispensable at times, but he was also the most unreliable player on the roster. The story continued in 2023 and 2024; Stanton suffered another hamstring in 2023 as he limped to the worst season of his career with an 87 OPS+, and in 2024, he strained his hamstring again. This time, though, he healed in time for the playoffs, almost single-handedly leading the Yankees to their first AL pennant in 15 years and earning 2024 ALCS MVP honors. Stanton bombarded Cleveland with four homers in five games; Guardians pitchers had no answers.

That preceded a career renaissance. In 2025, Stanton, of course, got injured, but he returned midseason and put together the best stretch of regular-season performance in his Yankees career. His 155 OPS+ on the year was his highest as a Yankee, but he went through an unholy midsummer stretch during which Aaron Judge was dealing with an elbow injury, carrying the Yankees with a 1.253 OPS and nine homers in August.

The renaissance was oh-so brief. Stanton revealed after the year that he’d been dealing with injuries to both his elbows, and after a so-so start to 2026, Stanton hit the IL with a calf problem with a seemingly minor lower-leg injury that ended up scuttling the rest of his regular season. Stanton returned to pinch-hit in the playoffs, but ultimately struck out twice in two plate appearances after playing just 24 games during the regular season.

That is where we stand with him today. Say the name “Giancarlo Stanton” and the first thing that should come to mind is his immense power, the laser-beam home runs that only he can hit. The towering grand slams, the signature playoff moments that he’s authored in pinstripes. But also at the front of mind is everything that’s been missing. Stanton is both a towering figure in Yankee history and an absence.

For all the great moments he’s created, he’s also missed so many, and at the end of the day, after hitting 267 homers with a 147 OPS+ in eight years as a Marlin, he’s hit 189 homers with a 123 OPS+ in nine years as a Yankee — though that doesn’t include the 18 career playoff blasts in 50 games, as many as Mickey Mantle in 65 games.

Stanton is a walking, mighty contradiction. He’s a player whose fingerprints are all over many of the Yankees’ most memorable moments from the last decade, and yet his absences loom just as large. He’s the most physically imposing human to ever play Major League Baseball, and the most fragile. The man gifted with some of the greatest physical tools in the game’s history is opposed and thwarted almost entirely by his own body.

Today, we wish him a happy 37th birthday as he and the Yankees stare into the unknown. He has one year left on his deal, and reports say he’ll come to spring training next year with a chance to show what he’s got left. He could have a 2025 miracle run left in him, or nothing. He’s just 44 homers from 500, a Hall of Fame-caliber figure that’s so close and yet so, so far. We will all be so lucky if, at age-37, Stanton finds just enough of the elixir of youth to stay on the field for some stretch of time, long enough to swat a few more mythical home runs and create a few more memories.  

See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.

Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope you’ve all had a lovely and relaxing weekend. It’s been a good weekend for the Cubs, as both Pete Crow-Armstrong and the Cubs themselves have walked away with some new hardware and accolades. We’ll also take a look at some hot stove rumblings, and also where some Cubs might end up playing next season.

Let’s jump into it and gear up for the week ahead.

• Make that Platinum Glove winner, Pete Crow-Armstrong.

• And the entire team were honored collectively.

• The Cubs need pitching help this offseason. It’s no secret that this has to be one of their top priorities over the winter, and of course this being hot stove season, the rumor mill is going hot and heavy with suggestions as to which free agent pitchers the Cubs could target. And for once, it’s not just about Tarik Skubal. Three additional pitchers who are being connected as potential targets for the Cubs are Freddy Peralta (but who doesn’t want Freddy Peralta), Michael King, and also a possible reunion with Clay Holmes.
• Jed Hoyer is admitting his bullpen moves for 2026 didn’t pan out, saying, “I did a poor job in the bullpen this year, full stop… The guys we acquired this winter didn’t produce nearly as well as they did a year ago.” Whether Hoyer will actually learn anything from this going into the new year is another question entirely, of course.
• Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne thinks the Sox could consider adding Shota Imanga to their rotation, but it would probably depend on what happens this offseason with Sonny Gray. Browne said of the potential move, “Even if the rotation looks to be a strong suit, you can never count out Breslow from adding more rotation depth, particularly if Gray signs elsewhere. One name that intrigues me? Shota Imanaga. Breslow was really fond of him when he was scouting him for the Cubs three years ago. The Cubs wound up signing him, but Breslow was in his early stages with the Red Sox at that point.”

Food For Thought:

Last night I watched a Hallmark Christmas movie themed around the Chicago Bears. This is the third of the NFL-themed holiday movies that Hallmark has done. The first was an ode to the Chiefs (no real surprise there as Hallmark is based out of Kansas City) and the second was structured around the Buffalo Bills. As someone who is a regular viewer of Hallmark movies, Holiday Touchdown: A Bears Love Story was charming, and less about Christmas than it was about a family’s connection to the Bears and to football in general.

I’m also not much of a football person, so watching the movie got me to thinking: why hasn’t Hallmark partnered with MLB? There’s a real lack of original Hallmark content over the summer months, and baseball fandom seems like an ideal backdrop for a charming summer love story.

Anyway, I realize I’m in the minority of people who are viewers of both sports and Hallmark movies, but I feel like the crossover really writes itself.

If you’re at all curious about the Bears-themed movie (there are some fun cameos for Bears fans, which is always a highlight of the NFL tie-in movies), here’s a trailer. Admittedly, I felt like the Chicago background could have been more Chicago-y, but also Hallmark rarely films in the cities they’re set in, but it would be fun to see more of the city.

Would you watch a Cubs-themed Hallmark movie? I feel like I’d enjoy that a lot.

As the off-season trudges ever onward, we here at Purple Row wanted to try something new (inspired by our friends over at the AZ Snake Pit) with our readers in mind. Therefore, we are kicking off the first annual Purple Row Awards! Here’s how it works:

• For the next several Sundays in our “This Week in Purple” post, we will reveal the award category and provide a few nominations from our staff here on the site.
• If you have a nomination of your own, post it in the comments section. Please include a link to the video if possible from MLB.com’s Film Room.
• On Wednesday, we will post a poll on The Feed for readers to select their winner for the award. The finalists will be determined by rec’s in the comments, and the poll will close on Friday. Make sure to rec your favorites!
• We will reveal our winner on Saturday!

So without further ado, allow us to introduce the first award category and staff nominations!

The Purple Row Awards, 2026: Best Defensive Play

Jordan Beck’s home run robbery: April 11th at San Diego

Cole Carrigg turns an 8-5 double play from center field: June 17th at Chicago

Carrigg into the Wrigley Field ivy: June 16th at Chicago

Never forget that Doyle rules: April 6th vs Philadelphia

Ezequiel Tovar gets Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first: March 30th at Toronto

You’ll believe TJ Rumfield can fly: September 20th vs Seattle

While you consider some our nominees, or think about adding your own, here’s what our staff here at Purple Row had to say this week:

To Read: Scaling the Rocks

• Monday:Crazy things are happening in the outfield at Salt River Fields | Sam Bradfield
• Tuesday:Ethan Katz is the Rockies new pitching coach | Renee Dechert
• Wednesday:Rockies return RJ Petit to the Tigers | Skyler Timmins
• Thursday:Hunter Goodman wants to be a complete catcher | Cory Cohen
• Friday:The Rockies-Virginia Tech connection | Joelle Milholm
• Saturday:Projecting Charlie Condon’s MLB production | James Riggenbach

To Read: Rockpiles

• Monday:Pair of Rockies pitching prospects working on commanding new pitches in the Arizona Fall League | Sam Bradfield
• Tuesday:Plantiga technology gives the Rockies useful player data | Renee Dechert
• Wednesday:A pair of free agent starters who could fit the Rockies | Skyler Timmins
• Thursday:What we know about the Rockies competing pitching philosophies | Cory Cohen
• Friday:Rockies need more homers. Could Joc Pederson or Josh Bell be a solution? | Joelle Milholm
• Saturday:The Rockies have a free agency problem | James Riggenbach

To Read: Ranking the Rockies, 2026

• No. 30:Victor Vodnik | Renee Dechert
• No. 29:Gabriel Hughes | Skyler Timmins
• No. 28:Welinton Herrera | Joelle Milholm
• No. 27:Eiberson Castellano | Zeke Perez Jr
• No. 26:Jimmy Herget | James Riggenbach

To Read: News

• Colorado Rockies News:Colorado Rockies hire Ethan Katz as Major League Pitching Coach | Evan Lang
• Colorado Rockies News:Hunter Goodman named Silver Slugger finalist | Sam Bradfield

Please keep in mind our Purple Row Community Guidelines when you’re commenting. Thanks!