Worldwide Sports News

Guardians 9, White Sox 3 (BOX SCORE)
(CHW leads 2-1)

Jo Adell struck out three times in game 1 of this series, but it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. He had a mammoth game on Wednesday, driving in three runs with a triple and showing exactly why the Guardians went and got him at the deadline. His three-bagger along with another three-bagger from Jose Ramirez kept the Guardians out in front and extended their season by at least one more game as the White Sox look to put it away at home tonight at 8:00.

Dodgers 4, Braves 1 (BOX SCORE)
(LAD wins 3-1)

It truly was great seeing Chris Sale deal for at least the first portion of his outing Tuesday, even until Playoff Kiké Hernandez emerged and took him out of the park. On Wednesday, the Braves sure looked like they were going to make this series even more interesting with a run in the first inning, as they also put the pressure on Tyler Glasnow with walks and got to the bullpen in the fifth. Their own Tyler (Mahle) pitched 6 1/3 solid innings, but then Andy Pages put the game – and the series – away in the seventh. I keep seeing “this lockout going to hit hard if the Dodgers win the Series again” and I honestly think people saying that are kind of right.

Rays 4, Yankees 3 (BOX SCORE)
(TB wins 3-0, or NYY loses, 3-0)

Happy Yankees elimination day to you and yours. There are 2009 reasons to love the result of this series, but you also can’t help but wonder how good the Red Sox would have done against this dynamic Tampa pitching staff. Ryan Vilade and Victor Mesa. Jr., though, did what the Sox couldn’t; they took Max Fried out of the short porch twice. And speaking of that short outfield, Anthony Volpe hit a routine pop fly… I mean, a double straight into a fan’s hands with two men on. The crowd erupted, as they thought the game had become a tie on a play that started with the Yankees’ win probability at just 24%. That was not the case, as it was ruled fan interference (and was likely going to come about six inches short of the wall anyway) and Spencer Jones would unceremoniously strike out in the next at-bat and leave Volpe stranded. Another postseason . Cue Big Papi:

Brewers 3, Padres 1 (BOX SCORE)
(MIL wins 3-1)

Even though seeing Xander Boegarts, Nick Pivetta and Walker Buehler play in postseason ball was fun, I like this Brewers team that just finds ways to beat teams. That Misiorowski outing against the Dodgers is going to be appointment viewing. Jackson Chourio has struggled in October but his single to score Garrett Mitchell made a big difference. Aaron Ashby, who feels like he’s linked to the Red Sox due to how many rumor wires I’ve had to read in the last decade that involve him, coming out of the pen and pitching three hitless propelled the Brewers to an NLCS berth. They went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position Wednesday, but the win didn’t need to be flashy.

Team News

How well set up are the Diamondbacks for 2027?
https://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/how-well-set-up-are-the-diamondbacks-for-2027

Justin Martinez, the one successful reinforcement for the 2026 Diamondbackshttps://arizonasports.com/mlb/arizona-diamondbacks/justin-martinez-the-one-successful-reinforcement-for-the-2026-diamondbacks

Diamondbacks Pitchers Most Likely To Be Gone Before Opening Day 2027https://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/diamondbacks-pitchers-likely-gone-opening-day-2027

How Diamondbacks Will Handle Ketel Marte Differently in 2027 https://www.si.com/mlb/diamondbacks/onsi/how-diamondbacks-handle-ketel-marte-differently-2027

Other Baseball

Report: Alex Cora again declines chance to manage Phillieshttps://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/50124485/report-alex-cora-again-declines-chance-manage-phillies

MLB sends memo to owners, executives outlining how they should act, operate during looming lockout

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/article/mlb-sends-memo-to-owners-executives-outlining-how-they-should-act-operate-during-looming-lockout-134057262.html

MLB Sends Memo To Teams Outlining Lockout Procedureshttps://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/10/mlb-sends-memo-to-teams-outlining-lockout-procedures.html

Previewing The Lefty Relief Class
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/10/previewing-the-lefty-relief-class.html

Rays sweep their way past Yankees to reach 3rd ALCS in franchise history
https://www.mlb.com/news/rays-win-alds-2026

Here we go again: Brewers advance to NLCS rematch with Dodgers
https://www.mlb.com/news/brewers-win-nlds-2026

Storylines to follow as Guards, White Sox take center stage for Game 4
https://www.mlb.com/news/2026-alds-game-4-storylines

Anything Goes

This day in history:

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/october-8

This day in baseball:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/October_8

Cheese rolling is a sport in England.

It may sound like one of the made-up crazy facts, but cheese rolling is an actual sport in England. Citizens would gather at the top of an incline, send cheese wheels rolling down, and then run along with their cheese. The festival is held annually in Gloucester.

The Aztecs invented popcorn.

Originally, they used this as an ornament and was used in headdresses. This ornament would be used as a way to praise their god Tlaloc, the god of maize and fertility.

The praying mantis is the only insect that can turn its head.

Praying mantises are the only known insects able to rotate their heads from side to side.

ATLANTA – This was never about redemption.

Or so Andy Pages said.

“I don’t even think of what happened last year,” Pages said in Spanish. “What happened, happened.”

The way Pages viewed it, his miserable offensive performance on the Dodgers’ World Series run last year wasn’t something for which he had to make up.

The experience, Pages said, made him the player he is now.

The player he is now drove in the runs that sank the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night and sent the Dodgers on their way to a 4-1 victory in Game 4 of their National League Division Series. 

“Tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “Andy picked us up huge with a big hit.”

The best-of-five series over, Pages walked around the visiting clubhouse at Truist Field in a commemorative gray shirt that was soaked with cheap sparkling wine and beer. A pair of goggles covered his forehead.

“Special,” he said. “Special.”

The journey here started a year ago, when Pages batted just .078 in the postseason. By Game 5 of the World Series, he was on the bench.

But Pages said he considers that World Series to be a wonderful memory, and not just because he made a game-saving catch in Game 7 as a defensive replacement. 

“Because we won,” he said.

And rather than sulk over not starting the last three games of the World Series, Pages decided to use his failures to guide his training.

To be the kind of player who could be trusted in big games, Pages figured, he had to become a more selective hitter.

Improving his eye by stepping in against an artificial pitching machine called a Trajekt Arc, Pages made his first All-Star team this year.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

A broken hand in late August nearly derailed his season, but Pages did what he could to remain sharp. Before he was able to swing a bat again, Pages was stepping in against the Trajekt Arc again.

Pages returned for the final week of the regular season and batted .333, which is why what happened next was shocking.

In the first two games of the NLDS, Pages was a combined 0-for-7. What was worse than the numbers was how he looked. He looked lost. He looked desperate.

Pages’ ABS challenge privileges were revoked after a particularly unwise effort to turn a called strike into a ball.

At this point, manager Dave Roberts acknowledged he was concerned.

However, Roberts said, “This is one of those things where I’m gonna continue to give Andy leash. I believe in him. I feel that for us to win the World Series this year, we’re gonna need him to be an active part of our team.”

Pages rewarded Roberts with a two-hit performance in the Dodgers’ Game 3 win.

In Game 4, Pages stepped into the batter’s box with the game on the line.

Seventh inning. Two outs. Bases loaded. Game tied, 1-1. Fireballer Ryan Suarez on the mound.

Pages worked a full count.

Suarez threw him a 99.7-mph fastball on the inner half of the plate and Pages banged it up the middle.

Two runs scored, and the Dodgers were suddenly ahead, 3-1.

“I was waiting for that moment,” Pages said. “I prepared a long time for that moment, and thanks to God I was able to get the result.”

He prepared for the moment. He dreamed of the moment. 

But he didn’t try to visualize it.

“I think that when you think too much about something, it doesn’t happen,” he said. “You have to let things happen.”

Did he ever.

Redemption, evolution, call it whatever you want. 

Pages finally had his October moment in the batter’s box.

This could be the last MLB season with a “qualifying offer,” as it’s termed in the labor agreement between owners and players. It’s possible an entirely new system will be created.

Until then, the current labor agreement runs through Dec. 1 and so qualifying offers will be made, and accepted or rejected, under that agreement.

We now know the amount of this year’s QO:

That’s up 5.1 percent from last year’s figure of $22.025 million.

Last year, 13 free agents were given a qualifying offer. Four of them accepted the offer: Trent Grisham, Gleyber Torres, Brandon Woodruff and Shōta Imanaga. The Imanaga acceptance was said to have surprised the Cubs front office, but in the end, Imanaga produced reasonably well for the $22.025 million, making 32 starts, posting a 3.77 ERA and 1.096 WHIP, and 2.0 bWAR. The 35 home runs he allowed were a problem, of course, and whether Imanaga returns to the Cubs remains to be seen. He cannot get another QO, as a player can get only one.

There are three Cubs who might get qualifying offers this year, so let’s look at each of them.

The first is obvious. Seiya Suzuki has been an outstanding player for the Cubs for five seasons and had another productive year in 2026, batting .270/.368/.473 with 26 home runs and a career high 5.1 bWAR. His right field defense was improved both by the numbers and by the eye test.

Suzuki will get a QO and almost certainly reject it to test the open market. There have been reports that the Cubs aren’t likely to re-sign him, which would be a mistake. They should do everything possible to keep him.

Ian Happ, who’s also been a productive Cub for many years, will get a QO as well. Happ’s 2026 season wasn’t quite as good as his previous years, with a slash line of .218/.326/.412 with 24 home runs and 2.9 bWAR. The .218 figure was a career low. He did continue to play good defense and likely wins another Gold Glove, but the batting line was that low largely because he just stopped hitting left-handers. He batted just .145/.217/.267 in 144 PA against RHP and by season’s end, was being platooned.

The Cubs will still likely give Happ a QO. It’s not that much more than the $20 million he made in 2026. And he just might take it, trying to rebuild his value before hitting free agency again next winter — possibly under a new FA system.

The only other Cub who might rate a QO is Matthew Boyd. Boyd was injured for much of 2026, making only 22 starts, but was reasonably productive for much of the time he was healthy. His year was only worth 1.0 bWAR and he’ll turn 36 in February, so he probably should not be given a QO, in my view. There’s also a mutual option for $15 million for Boyd or a $2 million buyout, and the Cubs will almost certainly pay the buyout.

There aren’t any other Cubs pending free agents who would rate a QO. Some are ineligible because they received one in the past (Imanaga) or were traded during the year (Clay Holmes, David Peterson, among others). As a reminder, teams have until five days after the World Series ends to extend a QO, and players then have about 10 days (the date will be officially set later) to decide whether or not to accept.

Of Suzuki, Happ and Boyd, who would you give a qualifying offer?

This site discussion was sparked by a couple of posts on BlueSky by Mike Petriello and Céspedes Family BBQ. Mike pointed out that this year’s .206/.286/.341 hitting line in the playoffs is, while atrocious, somehow not the worst postseason hitting line by OPS in the divisional era – it’s 5th after some truly wretched seasons of hitting in the 70’s and 80’s.

CFBBQ posted some recent close historical comps to the this year’s postseason slash line, featuring none other than Your 2024 Mitch Garver (.172/.286/.341). Is this good?

Lookout Landing staffers met to discuss whether this something that merits action from MLB, and what steps could be taken to remedy the balance of the modern game. -NV

Ezra: Maybe they should move the mound back a little bit.

John: I genuinely think so, and I think they should shrink the allowed glove sizes significantly. It’s a much less visible change, but is something they’ve done before on a couple occasions and has a positive impact without being quite as obvious from a viewing perspective.

Ezra: Interesting, I’ve never heard that before but I’d be intrigued to see that implemented.

John: For pitchers, I do think there’s merit to a slightly larger glove so they can’t have their pitches tipped, but also…I kinda think that’s fine.

Here’s an article on it being a big issue during the early 90s and the positive impact it had that kinda got washed out (or at least became impossible track) due to the rise of steroids. In 2016, MLB allowed an expansion in glove size from 12 to 13 inches, which is, as far as I know, still the rule. Going down to 11 or 12 incheas would be really beneficial and also allow truly elite athletes to shine even more in the field.

Ezra: Since I saw the rise and fall of Tim Anderson I’ve come around more on moving the mound back. Bat speed is so important to being a good hitter these days, and all it takes is a little bit of skill deprecation and your career could be over, whereas for pitchers, Tommy John isn’t the death sentence or crapshoot it used to be, throw as hard as you want, sit for a few months and potentially come back throwing harder. I know it’s not that simple, but I feel like ya’ll get what I’m saying.

Nick: In that vein, I’ve heard that moving the mound back actually made breaking stuff even harder to hit, with another foot to move.

John: I’ve heard people make that case, I remember Kyle Boddy saying it. I think there’s some logic to it, but I think the tradeoff is if that were the case, curveballs would be nastier than sliders, and we’ve just spent like 15 years seing sliders take over for big breaking curveballs. And firmer changeups taking over for bigger breaking ones. Now, there are sweepers and splitters that’ve come into some vogue and use, but to me that’s agian more just natural ebb and flow, and reduced effective velocity is ultimately a help for everything.

Nick: That’s a good point. But, counter-counterpoint, sliders taking over for curveballs may not indicate that less movement+more velocity is inherently better, but something else about pitch shape and arsenal construction strategy. Plus, with an extra foot to move, the hard slider gets the benefit of a more difficult-to-hit shape while also benefitting from the extra velo. I’ be curious to see if lowering the mound again isn’t more effective.

John: I could see it being the case, but I think more time to make the decision on the swing and to calibrate the flight path is going to always be easier for a hitter.

Note: The Atlantic League tested a 61’6” mound in 2021. Any effects were of little note.

Ezra: I don’t think MLB will change anything though, because it’s the home runs that sell tickets and as long as they got guys going 30-30, 20-40, 50-50, or hitting 60+ they’re probably not going to are.

John: I think that this doesn’t inherently damage homers. Teams aren’t gonna put the lid back on understanding homers are exponentially better than other hits mathematically, but making it more viable to have a high average is what makes the game more compelling (specifically the ball being interestingly in play more).

Nick: I agree, the surge in homers has way less to do with selling tickets and way more to do with MoneyBall.

Ezra: Yeah, I think the image of having multiple .300+ hitters on the All-Star Team could be really valuable in terms of raising interest among the more dedicated fans.

John: I honestly think beyond just highly dedicated fans, it’s a valuable showcase of the sport’s variety that draws people in. It’s fun to watch hits and steals, and correspondingly, great defense (or bad defense get exposed!).

Nick: I’ve seen more than enough of bad defense being exposed this year, personally.

Earlier this year I took a look at two positive examples of teams that had been in the Colorado Rockies position and seemed to have turned things around. The Miami Marlins turned a 100-loss team in 2024 into an almost .500 squad in each of the last two seasons while the Chicago White Sox have taken their team to the playoffs just two seasons after losing 121 games in a single season.

Coming into the season, the Athletics looked like they were perhaps on a similar upwards trajectory. Coming off an abysmal 50-112 record in 2024, the A’s had won more games in each of the past two season. They had what looked like a young core of exciting hitters and a shiny new ballpark being built in Las Vegas. It appeared as though the franchise was on the upswing.

Instead, the Athletics fortunes took a dive back into the same lowly tier of teams that the Rockies currently occupy and lost 98 games.

As important as it is to diagnose what has caused teams to have success and emulate them, it’s equally as important to consider the circumstances that have led other teams to continued failure.

So, which portions of the Athletics troubles can the Rockies learn from?

Don’t abandon your fanbase

First, we have to get the obvious factor out of the way since it has little bearing currently on the Rockies. The largest factor looming over the Athletics organization is unique to their franchise.

Owner John Fisher chose to move the team away from Oakland, its home for decades, after failing to secure a sweetheart deal with the local government. This has left the team in a transitory period for the past two seasons where they have been playing in a minor-league ballpark in West Sacramento.

In theory, they only need to stay there for one more season until they move to their currently under construction, new ballpark in Las Vegas.

This doesn’t change the fact that they have sacrificed all good will they had with the people who had previously attended their games. Fisher cut off decades of attachment from the people of Oakland in order to move somewhere that he wouldn’t need to pay as much of the construction costs for a new stadium.

Ultimately, this transitional period may come to pass, and the team’s new roots in Las Vegas could eventually prove strong. It is, however, a wild gamble that has had clear negative effects on the team in the short term before even considering the emotional cost to the people of the Bay Area.

The team’s temporary ballpark in Sacramento has been a frequent source of complaints from players accustomed to Major League-style accommodations. There have been rumblings for the past two offseasons that the ballpark has been a stumbling block in attempting to convince free agents to sign with the team.

Beyond the players, the lack of seating at the small ballpark has meant that their attendance numbers have been dramatically lower than all other teams for the past two seasons.

These are not factors that directly result in wins and losses on the field, but they are certainly additional hurdles to overcome in attempting to put together a winning roster. This has been, and remains, an entirely self-inflicted problem.

The most extreme version of this problem is not one the Rockies have come close to matching. Their ownership has not made any public rumblings of being dissatisfied with their home in Denver or Coors Field. If anything, the team’s yearly attendance has seemed relatively immune to their poor play on the field throughout much of their history.

That being said, the Rockies attendance has started to dip over the past few seasons. After ranking ninth in all of Major League Baseball as recently as 2021, the Rockies have slipped in the attendance rankings every season since. In 2026 they ranked 18th in the league.

They have a long way to go to reach the utter lack of fan support that John Fisher A’s currently have, but they should be careful not to take that for granted in the long term.

Don’t underestimate the importance of depth

In 2025, the Athletics lineup was one of the most exciting in baseball:

• Veteran slugger Brent Rooker played all 162 games and hit 30 home runs for the third straight season.
• Catcher Shea Langeliers proved that his breakout 2024 wasn’t a fluke by hitting 31 home runs of his own.
• Tyler Soderstrom finally made good on his prospect pedigree with a 120 wRC+ while learning a position entirely new to him.
• Rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson hit the ground running and was both second in the Major League batting title and American League Rookie of the Year races.

Second, that is, to the A’s other rookie star Nick Kurtz.

The fourth overall pick in 2024 (one after the Rockies selected Charlie Condon), Kurtz rocketed through the minor leagues and made his debut at the end of April the following season. In his rookie season, Kurtz was not only unanimously voted Rookie of the Year but also his .290/.383/.619 slash line earned him American League MVP votes.

With all five of these players and bounce-back candidate Lawrence Butler under team control through at least 2028, the A’s had an offensive core to envy at the conclusion of the 2025 season.

So what happened in 2026? Injuries exposed a lack of depth.

Every player named above other than Butler spent at least some time on the injured list in 2025. To make it worse, Langeliers was the only one of these players to avoid an elongated stay on the 60-day injured list.

Without a consistent showing from this offensive core, the rest of the team’s faults were on full display. Their lack of pitching talent could not be papered over by mashing home runs the way the front office had drawn it up. A lack of major league baseline talent available in their depth chart was exposed as soon as the their core started going down.

Essentially, they had no fallback options to keep them afloat.

For the 2026 A’s, the plan was to let the exciting lineup core mash and hope that would be enough. As soon as a couple of the key players went down, there was no one else on the team to keep it from sinking back to a nearly 100-loss season.

The Rockies roster is a bit different than the Athletics was heading into last season.

The Rockies have managed to cultivate someexiciting potential core offensive players in Hunter Goodman, TJ Rumfield, and Cole Carrigg, but they don’t yet have anyone that will factor into the MVP race. The Rockies have not been able to cultivate nearly the ceiling that the Athletics did over the past two seasons.

On the flipside, the Rockies front office has made it a point since they were installed last offseason to “raise the floor” of the roster. The additions of players like Willi Castro, Mickey Moniak, Troy Johnston, and Connor Norby are the sort of depth moves that the Athletics failed to make.

While the front office looks to find more upside, they would be wise to also continue adding even more complementary pieces lest they fall into the same trap as the 2026 A’s.

Spend some money

Many of the 2026 Athletics roster problems could have easily been solved in the offseason had they been willing to do one thing: Spend money on free agents.

The team entered last offseason having had their pitching staff put up the 22nd worst fWAR in the Majors despite having employed Mason Miller for the first half of the season.

How did they address this obvious roster weakness? They signed notable aces Aaron Civale, Mark Leiter Jr., and Scott Barlow all for a total of less than $10 million.

That’s not to take anything away from those specific players — a team can never have enough competent big leaguers. (See the first section about not having enough depth.) If the team had already been fielding an expensive roster, simply supplementing it with small deals around the edges like those is both understandable and commendable.

The A’s, on the other hand, only spent a total of $95 million dollars on their 2026 payroll.

With the fifth-lowest payroll commitments in the league, the Athletics decided that the best way to bolster their feeble pitching staff was to sign a handful of depth arms and hope that their small collection of highly touted prospects would be able to make the leap sooner rather than later.

It wasn’t an impossible plan. All of the Athletics most highly rated pitching prospects (Gage Jump, Kade Morris, Jamie Arnold, Wei-En Lin, and Braden Nett) started the season in Double-A or higher.

The future core of their rotation was on the cusp of the majors, so why spend money on high-priced free agents just to block those young players?

Pitching prospects, as it turns out, are not guaranteed to remain healthy, much less live up to their potential. Jump and Morris both made their Major League debuts in 2026, but neither managed an ERA below 5.47. Arnold only just made it to Triple-A to end the season. Lin and Nett both missed significant time to injury. (Lin is still out recovering from Tommy John surgery.)

All told, the youthful wave of reinforcements to an abysmal pitching staff failed to materialize fast enough to matter for the 2026 season.

Had they simply spent money to bring in a handful of short-term stopgaps via free agency, perhaps their team as a whole could have weathered the injuries on the lineup side a bit more. Given that their division was won by the .500 Houston Astros, they would not have needed much to become legitimate contenders.

Instead, they sat on their hands during the winter and continued their modus operandi of moving forward with the cheaper internal options.

The Rockies, heading into this offseason, face a similar choice, albeit within a different specific context. They can either pump money into addressing an abysmal starting rotation, or they can play around with some marginal upgrades and wait for a wave of pitching prospects.

The problem for the Rockies is that they really don’t have an identifiable wave of pitching talent in the minor league system anywhere near what the A’s had coming into 2026. Ensuring that Chase Dollander has a spot in the rotation when his arm is healthy is not reason enough to avoid bringing in outside talent.

If there are quality starting pitchers willing to come to Denver for just money, the front office shouldn’t be scared of spending.

Conclusions

While the 2026 Athletics and the 2027 Rockies aren’t exact mirrors of one another, there are enough similarities to learn from.

Ultimately, the Athletics rise to prominence was stymied by ownership level decisions that hamstrung their front office. For the Rockies to avoid taking a similar step backwards it is on ownership to not settle for good enough. They should instead continue to empower the front office to make whatever moves they believe will improve the team and not take half measures.

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

Happy Thurday.

We only get one playoff game today, the Guardians and White Sox play game four. White Sox are up two games to one. It is an 8:00 Eastern start.

The Rays beat out the Yankees in three games. Yay Rays.

The Dodgers beat out the Braves in four games. You disappointed me Braves.

The Brewers beat out the Padres in four games. Please, Brewers, beat the Dodgers.

We have a couple of days left in the Haiku voting. Get your votes in.

There isn’t much for Blue Jays news.

The Athletic has a story saying the Yankees should fire Aaron Boone.

But the symbolism was hard to ignore. Boone has spent his entire Yankees existence coming up short in October, and here he had inadvertently planted his main attraction in an Aaron Judge-less cast 37 feet away from a potential Hollywood ending.

The complaint is that Boone had Ben Rice batting second and then he was one batter away from hitting at the end of the game, when he would have been the tying run. I’m a bigger fan of blaming the players than the manager.

Aaron Judge said:

“He puts us in the right position to succeed,” Judge maintained, “especially in a season like this where I am banged up missing 100 games.” Judge mentioned all the other injuries Boone had to work around and said, “He’s definitely had our back and is the guy.”

Judge turns 35 near the start of next season (if there is a start to next season). He spent most of this season injured. And he doesn’t have a World Series ring. I’m ok with him never getting one.

Shi Davidi wrote about Kazuma Okamoto and how big a star he is in Japan. I can attest to that. I wore a Blue Jays cap in Japan and people wanted to talk about him all the time (expect for when they wanted to talk about how we lost the World Series to the Dodgers.

The story suggests that Okamoto will make it easier for the Jays to sign other Japanese players. I’m not sure that is true, but ok. I’d imagine Japanese players will sign with the team that offers them the best deal, like anyone else.

The Jays do have some questions to answer before next season:

• Is Ernie Clement an MLB second baseman, or do they need to find someone else?
• Do they count on Anthony Santander to play outfield next year?
• Is Spencer Miles a starter or reliever?
• Is Ricky Tiedeman a starter or reliever? Likely reliever I’d guess.
• Do they want to sign a full time DH, or do they want to use the spot to rest players?
• And, of course, can Vlad be Vlad again?
• Do they take Myles Straw’s option? That’s an easy one, no. Do they try to sign him again?
• The Jays, and all the other teams, will be wondering what the salary cap (or tax, or whatever they call it) will look like next year?

Getting swept at home had the Yankees devastated in the clubhouse. 

Yankees manager Aaron Boone described a dejected group Wednesday night after losing 4-3 in Game 3 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium to complete a sweep at the hands of the Rays.

“The ending is terrible,” a solemn Boone said after the game. “There’s no easy way. It’s a broken clubhouse. What you go through as a team, as a family over the last eight, nine months getting ready for this. It’s just the worst.”

Boone shook up the Game 3 lineup, choosing to sit Jazz Chisholm Jr. in favor of Anthony Volpe, who played well, including hitting what appeared to be a game-tying home run that was called back for fan interference. 

The manager also put Trent Grisham in the leadoff spot despite being ice-cold with the bat over the last month.

Grisham went 0-for-5 in the decisive Game 3, and 0-for-11 in the ALDS, and was nursing an injury for much of September. 

The final out of the game wound up being a Grisham strikeout with Jazz Chisholm Jr. stranded on second base representing the tying run. 

They enter the offseason with loads of decisions to make, including Chisholm Jr., who is due to be a free agent this offseason. 

The Bronx Bombers will need to replace his production as his season ended uncomfortably, with him being benched to start Game 3 before he took over for Jose Caballero. 

“No comment. Next.” Chisholm Jr. said when asked how it felt to be benched. 

The Rays move on to the ALCS to face the White Sox and Guardians for the right to face the winner of Dodgers vs. Brewers/Padres in the World Series. 

Meanwhile, general manager Brian Cashman has a lot of work to do, though baseball also has its own problems as the sport deals with a potential lockout.

Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher Tarik Skubal didn’t pitch in his team’s NLDS-clinching Game 4 win against the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night.

But he still stole the show postgame, given his beer-soaked celebration tactics during two live interviews.

In one interview with Dodgers reporter Kirsten Watson, Skubal was asked about the celebration to come and said, “I can’t f****** wait.”

Then he chugged the two beers he was double-fisting, most of which missed his mouth and ran down his chest.

The celebrations continued moments later, when Skubal did a wild interview with Dodgers SportsNet LA reporter David Vassegh.

“I’ve got another beer in a place where it shouldn’t be,” Skubal said to Vassegh. Their interview paused so that beer could be thrown and poured on everybody in the vicinity, Vassegh included.

As Vassegh struggled to re-gather himself, Skubal said, “The game is speeding up on you, it is speeding up on you.”

Then Skubal got another beer poured down his back and said, “What’s running down my pants right now is so cold.

“It’s because these f****** guys!” he added before turning to throw more beer at the teammates behind him.

After Vassegh and Skubal gathered themselves once again, Skubal was asked how much the Dodgers meant to him and said, “It’s a great team. The culture they have here, the preparation, the expectation to win, I love being a part of it.”

Everybody associated with the Dodgers loved Skubal being a part of it, as well.

If this is how wild celebrating the NLDS is, it will be fun to see how Skubal would celebrate a World Series championship.

After the Yankees were eliminated in the ALDS by a division rival for the second straight season, Aaron Judge delivered a message to Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman.

“We’re the Yankees. I feel like they should go all in and do what they need to do,” Judge, who did not play in the playoffs due to a calf strain, said after the Yankees’ 4-3 Game 3 loss to the Rays in The Bronx Wednesday night. “If we’ve got holes, if it’s finding certain players or personnel, whatever we need, you got to go out there and get it. That’s why I signed back here to play with the Yankees is to fight for a championship every single year and to go all in. That’s what I do every offseason is get ready to give this team and this city everything I’ve got, so I expect them to do the same.”

Judge, the three-time MVP who turns 35 in April, has five years left on the nine-year, $360 million contract he signed after testing free agency following his historic 62-homer season in 2022.

Asked if he feels the front office has gone all in enough, Judge turned more diplomatic.

“It’s tough to say,” Judge said. “I want to trade for everybody, sign everybody every single year, but I know that’s not realistic. They give us a winning team every single year, but that’s not good enough here in New York. We’re the Yankees. You’ve got to go out there and expect championships and go all in every year. So I’m excited to see what they do.”

The likelihood of a work stoppage, with the players and owners locked in bitter CBA negotiations, looms over MLB’s offseason, but the Yankees have major questions on some free agents and others.

Jazz Chisholm Jr., David Bednar, Trent Grisham, Paul Goldschmidt and Paul Blackburn are among the Yankees players whose contracts are up.

The Yankees will also have to decide if they’ll stomach one final year of Giancarlo Stanton, where Anthony Volpe, Spencer Jones and Jasson Dominguez fit in, and whether to move on from third baseman Ryan McMahon.