Worldwide Sports News

New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns shared parts of his offseason vision at today’s MLB GM meetings.

Stearns said improving the pitching staff and first base is the priority, and that he doesn’t expect to add at second base, per Anthony DiComo. Marcus Semien, Brett Baty, and a group of top infield prospects are expected to be in the mix at second base in 2027.

The Mets’ pursuit of Tarik Skubal is heating up, while Ty France highlights free-agent first basemen.

Stearns added that he didn’t want to shut the door on any position, but second base wasn’t a specific position the front office is targeting in free agency.

Semien got the bulk of the work at second base in 2026, playing 139 games there. Semien’s age-35 season was disappointing, with stark declines in his advanced fielding metrics, not to mention the basic eye test. Semien was in the 94th percentile or better in outs above average in 2022-25, but was in the 5th percentile in 2026. His offensive numbers were also down across the board.

Baty played at second base in 25 games last season and was also disappointing overall. Streaky at the plate and unable to lock down an everyday spot, a breakout season for Baty remains a hope and a dream.

If Semien and Baty remaining the top options at second base for the Mets in 2027 doesn’t exactly thrill you, fear not. DiComo’s reporting suggests prospects Jefferson Rojas, Émilien Pitre, and Mitch Voit could factor into the equation at second base. All three rank in the top 10 of the Mets farm system.

The 2026 Manager of the Year in the American League is Will Venable, it was announced today. The 2026 Manager of the Year in the National League is Pat Murphy.

Venable, in his second year as manager of the White Sox, received 15 first place votes, 11 second place votes and three third place votes. He narrowly edged out Kevin Cash of the Tampa Bay Rays, who received 12 first place and 12 second place votes, along with two third place votes.

Former Ranger minor leaguer Chad Tracy, who replaced Alex Cora as manager of the Boston Red Sox early in the season, finished third, with three first place votes, five second place votes and a whopping 17 third place votes, which seems kind of weird. Stephen Vogt, Aaron Boone and Joe Espada also appeared on ballots.

Texas Rangers manager Skip Schumaker did not appear on any ballots.

Manager of the Year is a weird award, generally going to a manager of a team that exceeds expectations, with bonus points if its a low payroll team. Venable was left off one ballot — that of Brendan Kuty of the Athletic, one of the two representatives from the New York chapter who voted for A.L. Manager of the Year. Kuty went Cash, Boone, and Tracy. The other Boone voter was Chris McCosky of the Detroit News, who had Boone third. Espada’s lone vote, not surprisingly, came from one of the Houston chapter voters, Angel Cantu.

The full results for the American League are here.

Murphy is in his third season as the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers, and has won his third straight National League Manager of the Year Award. He got 20 first place votes, seven second place votes, and three third place votes. Walt Weiss of the Atlanta Braves was second, appearing on 26 of 30 ballots and getting seven first place votes. Don Mattingly, who took over from Rob Thomson with the Phillies after Thomson was fired right after the Red Sox fired Cora, and after Cora passed on the Phillies job, edged out Craig Stammen of the Padres by one point. Dave Roberts, Craig Counsell, and Don Kelly also received votes.

The full results for the National League are here.

Earlier today, when addressing the media from the General Manager Meetings in Las Vegas, David Stearns told reporters that Kodai Senga will use the offseason and spring training to prepare to be a starting pitcher in 2027. In related news, Ken Rosenthal reported over at the Athletic that ‘multiple teams’ have expressed interest in trading for Senga.

Senga, who was demoted to the bullpen mid-season in 2026 and thrived in his new role, has one year, $14 million left on his contract, plus a club option for 2028.

The 33-year old right hander has been a mixed bag for the Mets, with a stellar rookie campaign, followed by two injury plagued seasons, and then this year’s bullpen transition. When he is on, he is an electric pitcher whose ‘ghost’ forkball is one of the most devastating pitches in baseball. When he’s off, he is both walk and home run prone.

The Mets’ 2027 rotation is very much in flux, with veterans like Senga and Sean Manaea under contract, Tylor Megill coming off of Tommy John Surgery, and the quartet of young starters in Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, Zac Thornton, and Jonah Tong all vying for a rotation spot. With the Mets reportedly interested in upgrading their rotation and with a meeting planned with Tarik Skubal, the team will likely look to unload a veteran starter.

LAS VEGAS — Buster Posey wasn’t quite ready to name the Giants’ new hitting coach when he met with reporters Tuesday inside the ARIA Resort and Casino on the second day of MLB’s general managers meetings. But he announced a historic internal promotion.

Taira Uematsu, whose rise through the organization’s coaching ranks began as a minor-league bullpen catcher in 2006, will replace Shane Robinson in the first-base coach’s box next season.

Uematsu, originally from Japan’s Chiba prefecture east of Tokyo, will become the first base coach in MLB history born in Japan. He filled in as an interim while Robinson dealt with family matters for a week this past season and has performed the role in spring training.

“History aside, Taira is one of the most dedicated, loyal people I’ve been around — one of the hardest workers,” said Posey, who was drafted by the Giants two years after Uematsu’s initial hiring. “He really grew on [first-year manager] Tony [Vitello] last year. I’m personally really excited for Taira because he’s been here longer than I’ve been here.

“To see the work that he’s put in, I know he’s going to be really excited about the opportunity.”

Under former manager Bruce Bochy, Uematsu earned the nickname “Mr. Omnipresent” for the number of tasks he took on. He was promoted to the major-league staff by Gabe Kapler and maintained his title as quality control coach last season under Vitello.

One of Uematsu’s primary responsibilities was studying opposing pitchers’ tells and times to the plate, which should make him well suited to take over at first base. The Giants finished 22nd in MLB with 88 stolen bases, but the pace picked up considerably down the stretch.

Their baserunning improved after a midseason change in the third-base coach’s box, reassigning first-year base coach Hector Borg and bringing in veteran Gary Pettis.

Pettis will return as the third-base coach, Posey confirmed. Ron Washington, who transformed Luis Arraez’s defense before he was traded, will also be back as their infield coach.

Robinson will remain in the organization on the minor-league side, serving as a roving outfield coordinator. Posey said he wanted to spend more time with his family.

On the pitching side, the Giants had already announced that the same personnel will return but in restructured roles. Justin Meccage will remain the head pitching coach, Frank Anderson will go from director of major-league pitching to assistant pitching coach, and Christian Wonders, the assistant pitching coach last season, will be the new director of minor-league arms.

Posey said there weren’t “clear lines of communication” among the pitching coaches last season.

“It never felt like, ‘Hey, I’m trying to go around your back and do something without you knowing it,’ but it was just a little scattered at times,” Posey said. “I think the players felt it some, too.”

As far as a new hitting coach, Posey said the Giants were “pretty close” to finalizing a hire. Whichever candidate emerges from the process will be San Francisco’s third hitting coach in as many seasons, following the departure of Hunter Mense for Kansas City.

LAS VEGAS — A resolution is coming to the Giants’ quagmire involving Harrison Bader, a motorized scooter, a firetruck and an after-midnight crash that resulted in a broken foot.

The Giants and MLB are expected to release a joint statement following their investigation into Bader’s late-night scooter crash in July that effectively ended his first season in San Francisco, president of baseball operations Buster Posey said on Tuesday.

“Something should be released,” Posey said when asked about the erstwhile outfielder on the second day of MLB’s general managers meetings at the ARIA Resort and Casino.

“Nothing real juicy,” he added, “so not to get your hopes up.”

A Giants official later clarified that there would be nothing coming for at least a few weeks.

Just as notably, Posey confirmed that Bader remains in the organization and in the Giants’ plans for next season, even among a crowded group of nine outfielders on their 40-man roster.

The Giants suspended Bader’s pay for the remainder of last season following the crash. He is still owed $13 million for 2027 after signing a backloaded two-year, $20.5 million contract as a free agent last winter.

At the time of the crash, Bader had already missed extended time with plantar fasciitis. In 30 games, he posted career lows in batting average (.170) and OPS (.571) while slugging five home runs — two for grand slams.

“He’s going to have to go out and play and play well to get playing time,” Posey said.

Posey indicated the plan is for Bader and Drew Gilbert to split time in center field. Bader bats right-handed, while Gilbert is a lefty with significant platoon splits. Jonah Cox, a speedy right-handed hitter, provides arguably their best defensive option in center.

“I think as a group, and [manager] Tony [Vitello] as well, is going to more open to a little bit more matchup-based stuff out there,” Posey said. “Try to take advantage of some of these younger guys that maybe defensively are ahead of other guys.”

Casey Schmitt and Jung Hoo Lee are the likeliest candidates to start in left and right, respectively, but Victor Bericoto, Bo Davidson, Turner Hill and Scott Bandura all made their major-league debuts last season and could also fit into the outfield picture.

Posey said it would be a fluid situation going into spring training, whenever that takes place once the owners and players association agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.

“Perfect-case scenario,” he said, “is you can mix and match some of these guys and give Tony different options depending on the day and if he wants to make some changes in the game.”

As the off-season moves on and the 2027 Mariners roster takes shape, it will apparently be lacking the longest-tenured Mariner. Adam Jude of the Seattle Times reports that the Mariners have informed J.P. Crawford the team doesn’t intend to bring back the 32-year-old shortstop, who just completed the final year of a five-year contract extension. He’s been a Mariner since 2019, the longest-tenured player in the clubhouse since Dylan Moore departed in 2025.

At the end of the 2026 season, Cal Raleigh talked about how seeing Mitch Haniger’s go-ahead single from Game 161 in 2021 in a video package on the big board reminded him of his first year in the big leagues, coming up and watching Crawford who was in the midst of what was at the time his best career season.

“J.P.’s been here the entire time I’ve been in this organization…he’s been a great person, a great leader, a great staple in this clubhouse. It’s been a pleasure being his teammate.”

“I love J.P. the player, I love the person. It was a little emotional seeing him walk off the field, not knowing what’s going to happen. It’s just tough. You spend so much time with these people, you invest yourself and your livelihood with them…it’s just hard. It’s hard turning that page.”

Assuming this is the end, Crawford’s 974 games rank as 10th most in team history. Crawford’s final game as a Mariner was marked by a long and loud standing ovation after he was removed from the final game of the season in the fifth inning.

“The ovation, the love that he got, there’s a reason for it,” said Bryan Woo. “He means to much to the team, the organization, the fans, everybody. He was a huge piece in the turnaround of this organization and so he got recognized for that.”

After arriving in 2019 in a major trade with the Phillies, Crawford was the face of the youth movement in the Mariners under Jerry Dipoto, memorably present for the passing of the torch at both Félix Hernández’s final game as a Mariner and Kyle Seager’s. 2019-2021 were turbulent years for the growing-pains Mariners, churning through players as Dipoto sought to overhaul an aging and expensive team, but Crawford was a steady hand, anchoring the team at shortstop, and taking home a Gold Glove in 2020.

Over his eight years in Seattle, Crawford grew into a clubhouse leader, establishing relationships with every player regardless of position or level. After signing his contract extension, he purchased a home in Woodinville that is the de facto gathering space for team parties, like the annual “Crawchella” he hosts.

“That’s my brother, man,” said Julio Rodríguez at the end of the season.

“Like, even before I got to the big league club I got to play with him and actually, we got tight. We always had a great relationship before, but after I started playing with him, he became my brother. We’re always gonna be brothers. Baseball is one thing, but the person he’s shown me that he is, that’s a special person, and that’s the least I can say here in front of the cameras. But I love him and I wish him the best. He’s my boy.”

Even as the Mariners drafted and developed Crawford’s eventual replacements – shortstop Colt Emerson and Cole Young, who slid over to second base – Crawford poured energy into the younger players. He batted away questions at spring training about whether it was strained or uncomfortable to play with his own replacements, saying he was a decent person doing what a decent person does in mentoring the younger players.

Crawford developed an especially close relationship with Young, who he played with for two seasons, although Young says their relationship started even earlier than that.

“He’s been awesome to me,” said Young. “I’m not saying just saying that to say it. Even since day one of big-league spring training camp when I was still in A ball, he was always friendly towards me – I guess knew I would be up one day – and he became a friend when I was 19 years old. So that was the first thing I saw, how humble he is and how much he cared about the organization.

And then once I got called up, he’s been a great mentor. Every day he holds me accountable to be the player I can be and the person I can be. And he’s been a really good friend, too. It’s funny because every time in the infield if I’ll say something negative, he’ll find a way to switch it back and make it positive. It just shows how much he cares about his teammates.“

The shape of the Mariners clubhouse – which consistently draws praise from players who arrive via trades or waiver claims – has undoubtedly been strongly influenced by the personality of the California-born, reggae-loving, come-as-you-are Crawford, whose example empowered other players to be themselves.

“Since I got here, I feel like he’s always had my back, and that’s something I want to continue to carry for the people that come here,” said Julio. “Some people want to put others in a box, but we’re all different. We all come from different places. And there are some people that don’t get that, and try to push whatever they want onto somebody else. But he definitely represents being who you are, representing where you come from, and that’s – I can say that about myself, too. Whoever you want to be, just make sure you’re aligned with us, and that’s fine.”

Appreciating people’s differences while making a unified whole is what Young says he’s learned from Crawford and what he plans to do going forward.

“I’ll come to the field every day and go about my business and do all my routines and play the game hard but I’ll also be a friendly person,” Young said. “I’ll take the time to get to know someone and be friends with them. Talk through every situation. Be friendly and open. Everyone approaches the game differently, and everyone is a different person, and just having that open mindset of like, okay, this person’s this way, just being open to everyone and friendly to everyone. That’s so important. In baseball you meet so many different people from so many different backgrounds. It’s so important to be open-minded and get close to your teammates and have a good vibe, especially on the field and in the clubhouse, be friends with them.”

The separator for Crawford, his teammates say, is the genuine care he shows for his teammates, on and off the field.

“I think it’s a different outlook than most people,” said Young. “Like it’s more person-based, which is very unique. A lot of people just look at the numbers, all that stuff. But I think J.P. just really cares about the person in the clubhouse. I’m not just saying that.

The way that J.P. has interacted with me, he’s just a good friend. Not just someone you come to the field with and see them for whenever you’re on the field and then never talk to them after that. He’s an actual friend. And when you come to the field and have that – especially when you first get called up – you feel more welcome. You feel like you have someone in your corner.”

Now Young and his teammates will have to move on without J.P. in their corner – literally, there will be a notable absence in the clubhouse where Crawford’s locker (and nearby lockers that occasionally get annexed) has been a fixture for the past eight years. But Young will take the lessons he learned from Crawford – about including younger players from the jump rather than hazing them, showing genuine care and friendship for teammates, and treating everyone equally while also letting them be themselves – into the next iteration of the Mariners clubhouse.

“Yeah, you carry the speaker because you’re a rookie, but it’s just fun. It’s fun stuff,” said Young. “He’s just always been a good friend. There are a lot of things I’ll take from him, but that’s one of the biggest takeaways. No matter who you are, how established you are, he’ll treat you the same and show you respect, and even if you’re not established at all, he’s still going to be friends with you. It just shows how good of a person he is.

That’s what I learned from J.P., how important it is to know your teammates and be a good person. That’s what I’m going to do, lead by example, the same way that he did.”

LAS VEGAS — The Dodgers have been in contact with Tarik Skubal’s representatives already this offseason. They expect to meet with him “at some point” soon, according to general manager Brandon Gomes.

How their pursuit of the two-time Cy Young Award winner will unfold after that, however, remains unclear.

As MLB’s offseason slowly kicks into gear, the industry is still waiting to see exactly how aggressively the league’s biggest-spending franchise will go after the sport’s biggest free-agent prize.

On Tuesday, at least, Skubal’s free agency was the biggest topic of conversation as Gomes met with reporters during the annual General Managers’ Meetings at the Aria Resort and Casino.

The Dodgers executive said all the expected things: About how much they enjoyed having Skubal after his arrival at the trade deadline this year, about how highly they think of him coming off a fourth straight season in which he posted a sub-3.00 ERA, and about how much he could bolster their chances of recapturing a World Series title in 2027.

But Gomes also stopped short of guaranteeing an all-out effort to re-sign the 30-year-old left-hander, noting that “you kind of have to let things play out to understand what [his free agency] looks like, and if it’s something that we’re gonna ultimately execute.”

Entering the winter, the Dodgers were seen as consensus co-favorites (along with the Mets) in the Skubal sweepstakes, especially after the way he quickly assimilated with the club following his blockbuster trade to Los Angeles in August.

However, there has been a growing sense more recently that the Dodgers might be wary of breaking the bank for the All-Star ace — or, at the least, giving him the kind of long-term, potential $400 million guarantee that he has been widely projected to receive — and could instead prefer something shorter term amid the backdrop of an uncertain CBA negotiation and possible implementation of a salary cap.

Gomes did little to dispel that notion on Tuesday. 

He reiterated that the Dodgers are “continuing to see what this all looks like” regarding Skubal’s free agency, “as far as what does our team need? What does the contract look like? Where does he end up? I don’t know.” 

He sidestepped a more general question about the club’s comfort level with adding another lucrative long-term contract to their already-bloated future payroll; which, as of now, is projected to be well above the proposed salary cap the league is aiming to introduce in 2028.

“It is always easy to say, at this point in time, what is best for the team,” Gomes said. “But then as you look at the construction of your roster [in the future, it’s about] making sure you’re balancing and not setting yourself up to potentially hit a slow point, or making sure you’re not doing things that disrupt what could potentially be, and what we want [to be], a very long window, and making sure that stays open.”

The only thing Gomes was adamant about was the confidence the Dodgers have in their returning core for 2027, including a starting rotation that will still be headlined by Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and, in some yet-to-be-decided capacity, Shohei Ohtani.

“The floor right now is really high,” Gomes said of the Dodgers’ current starting staff, further touting the growth they expect to see from younger arms like Roki Sasaki, Justin Wrobleski, Emmet Sheehan, and finally healthy Gavin Stone.

“We do have a good amount of depth in our pitching,” he added.

That’s why, for now, the Dodgers seem likely to wait and see how Skubal’s market develops leading up to an all-but-certain Dec. 1 lockout, still weighing how aggressive they will be (or how large of a contract they will be willing to offer) in pursuing a potential reunion with this winter’s top target.