TThe Phillies need offense. They need a lot of things but one of them is offense.

They could especially use it in the outfield, a group whose top performers by the end of the season were two short-side platoon options. The Phillies like the Justin Crawford and Derek Hill platoon in center but they shouldn’t be married to it. With Bryce Harper moving back to first base, they will need a right fielder. After Brandon Marsh’s second half, his spot in left field shouldn’t be written in pen either.

The free agent market is not robust on talent, especially in the outfield. Nevertheless, there will be guys who fans will clamor for the Phillies to sign. Randy Arozarena put together the best season of his career with the Seattle Mariners while playing half his games in the worst-hitting environment in the Majors. Seiya Suzuki was a really good hitter in a loaded Chicago Cubs lineup.

All of them will require real dollars and real term from someone. Given their past results, it’s incredibly justified.One of them may even be a Philadelphia Phillie and suiting up in red pinstripes whenever the season actually begins. 

It’s not hard to see why. The Phillies need offense, especially from the outfield and don’t have many other places to turn. Maybe they try to take a shot on a veteran looking for a bounce-back season again but this situation seems different. It feels like they could throw some money around to try and solve real offensive issues, especially since they do not have the prospect capital to make significant trades.They could go for Teruaki Sato but I’ll believe they’ll land a star Japanese player when they actually do.

With all of that said, it would be important for the Phillies to beware of paying for aging corner outfielders. The recent history suggests that the best way to play that market is to not play it at all.

Here are the outfield contracts signed since 2021 that are at least three years, at $15 million average annual value or higher, and feature players beginning their age-29 season or later. All of these qualifiers could very likely fit the Randy Arozarena and Seiya Suzuki markets.

• George Springer: 6 years, $150 million with the Toronto Blue Jays (2021)
• Kris Bryant: 7 years, $182 million with the Colorado Rockies (2022)
• Nick Castellanos: 5 years, $100 million with the Philadelphia Phillies (2022)
• Kyle Schwarber: 4 years, $79 million with the Philadelphia Phillies (2022)
• Starling Marte: 4 years, $78 million with the New York Mets (2022)
• Aaron Judge: 9 years, $360 million with the New York Yankees (2023)
• Brandon Nimmo: 8 years, $162 million with the New York Mets (2023)
• Masataka Yoshida: 5 years, $90 million with the Boston Red Sox (2023)
• Anthony Santander: 5 years, $92.5 million with the Toronto Blue Jays (2025)
• Teoscar Hernandez: 3 years, $66 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2025)
• Tyler O’Neill: 3 years, $49.5 million with the Baltimore Orioles (2025)
• Kyle Tucker: 4 years, $240 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2026)
• Cody Bellinger: 5 years, $162.5 million with the New York Yankees (2026)

Before we go over the list, it’s fair to exclude Kyle Schwarber and Masataka Yoshida from this discussion, since they weren’t true outfielders to begin with. Aaron Judge is just a different player than everyone else on here so should he really count? Brandon Nimmo was supposed to play a lot more center field. Excuse Kris Bryant with a bunch of terrible injuries too.

Even with all of that said, there are more examples of bad contracts that not. Nick Castellanos was not a complete disaster but close enough to one. Teoscar is a trade candidate because he’s declining. Santander was terrible in 2025 and did not play this year. Tyler O’Neill has been hurt but also bad. Kyle Tucker? 

George Springer has put together some very good seasons with the Blue Jays but he’s also not been very good for a decent chunk of his deal. Same for Starling Marte with the Mets.

These corner outfield, bat first types just do not age very well into their 30s. Cody Bellinger provides a lot more athleticism defensively and has more versatility than anyone else on that list which should explain why he signed for a lot more. He should be a more useful player as the bat declines.

How does this all decide how we should view the current class?

Randy Arozarena is going to command a lot of money and while it makes a lot of sense for the Phillies to do it for 2027, it might be a really tough pill to swallow, potentially even for 2027.

He traded off some bat speed to make more contact and that paid off in a career year. However, he will turn 33 for next season and he still featured below average swing-and-miss and an average strikeout rate. Once that goes, which can happen quickly for someone his age, you’re talking about a hitter that is just sacrificing power without enough other gains around it.

Arozarena also does not play a very good left field and that is likely only going to get worse as he ages. You need everything in the offensive profile to stay as he heads into his mid 30s and that is just not something you should expect.

Seiya Suzuki turns 33 and put together his best defensive season in 2026 (although some of that could be impacted by not playing with Pete Crow-Armstrong anymore). There is potential impact off the field if he is willing to sign in Philadelphia. The Phillies have been trying to land a prominent Japanese star but have failed over the last few years. Suzuki has at least played in Philadelphia a few times over the years so theoretically, there is less of an adjustment to make. Especially since he’s spent the last few seasons in America.

With that said, he saw sharp declines in his damage rate from 2025, and his hard-hit rate went down by nearly ten percent. There might already be some examples of a declining profile with an aging outfielder.

This is not to say that signing either player is some guaranteed failure. It’s to say that you probably need either of them to be an exception to the rule for it to work out on a long-term deal for significant money.

Given the Phillies’ position, with an aging roster and not wanting to waste the last few great years of Zack Wheeler, Bryce Harper, and Kyle Schwarber, it’s understandable. However, potentially digging the grave further is not going to be ideal for the long-term health of the franchise, which needs to take priority at some point.

Isaac Collins was supposed to be the big offseason acquisition for the offense, that would help put the team over the top and shore up some of the nonexistent outfield offense, that has plagued the Royals.

Well, the now 29-year-old outfielder did not do that. On the season, Collins played in 145 games and finished the year with a slash line of .213/.320/.321. Uh, yikes. Collins had 70 more at bats than he did in 2025 with the Brewers and posted 4 less hits. His extra base hit numbers were the same, he hit 24 doubles, a career high, 3 triples and 6 homers.

Collins walked 64 times, which was 7 more times than in 2025, but he struck out 120 times, which was 27 more times than the year previous. Comparing his final slash lines, his average dropped by 50 points, on base percentage by 48 points, slugging percentage by 90 points and his OPS by 138 points. Collins left 213 guys on base this season.

The switch hitter was better against righties, slashing .216/.333/.327 in 306 at bats, compared to when he was facing lefties, where he slashed .206/.288/.309 in 136 at bats. Like many Royals, his home numbers were better than his road numbers. Remember he started like 0-30 on the road or something crazy like that?

Collins at the midway point of the season, had decent numbers. In the first half, he slashed .240/.345/.363 in 267 at bats. Not bad for a bottom third of the order hitter. However, the back half of the season was downright atrocious. In 175 at bats, Collins slashed .171/.281/.257. He was 4-54 in the month of September with 19 strikeouts.

Collins did still do some positive things this season, I know there was a lot of bad, as you can read above, but he had some moments.

Collins had 11 outfield assists this season, which led the MLB for left fielders. He had just two errors this season, one in left and one at second base. So, I know it felt like he was questionable in left field at times, but he was rather reliable. Because of mainly his defensive numbers, Collins finished the season with a 0.4 WAR, which honestly surprised me.

His Outs Above Average was -2, but his arm value was a +2, so they essentially cancel each other out in my opinion.

Isaac Collins will get another chance this upcoming season, but honestly, with some of the guys in the minors, waiting in the wings, he better produce. I am rooting for him like every other Royal.

How would you rank the first year of Isaac Collins as a Royal?

On October 30th of 2019, the Washington Nationals won their first ever World Series title. In the nearly 7 years that have passed, a lot has changed. There are no members of that roster still on the team, at least in a playing capacity. I wanted to take a look at where the starters from game 7 of the World Series are now.

Catcher: Yan Gomes

As is the case for most of the starters, Yan Gomes is now retired. The Nats were the oldest team in the league back in 2019. Only three of the nine hitters in the game seven lineup actually played in 2026. 

Gomes was part of a catching tandem with Kurt Suzuki in 2019, but the Brazilian got the nod in game seven due to his defense. After an All-Star campaign in 2018, Gomes was traded to the Nats. He was not great with the bat in 2019, but he played very good defense. Gomes did not have many memorable moments in the Nats playoff run, but he was a steady hand behind the plate.

He was on the team in 2020 and 2021, where his offensive production actually improved. Gomes was one of many Nationals who was shipped out at the 2021 trade deadline. He spent half a season in Oakland before playing the last three years of his career with the Cubs. Gomes was never a star, but he was a solid catcher for a long time.

For the most part, Gomes seems to be spending his time as a family man. However, we did see him as the catching coach for Team Brazil at the last WBC. Maybe he follows the same path as fellow 2019 Nats catcher Kurt Suzuki and becomes a manager one day.

First Base: Ryan Zimmerman

The first baseman for the 2019 Nats was none other than Mr. National himself. Ryan Zimmerman is a National through and through. He was the team’s first ever draft pick and debuted only months after being selected as a 20 year old. As we all know, Zimmerman went on to be the Nats first ever homegrown star. For years, he was DC’s hidden gem.

Zimmerman was around for the bad times and the good times. At this point in his career, Zimmerman was an injury prone 34 year old who was past his prime. He missed most of 2019 due to foot injuries. However, he came back in September and his bat heated up. The veteran provided several big post season home runs, including a shot against Gerrit Cole. In game 7, Zimmerman went one for three with a walk.

Following 2019, Zimmerman sat out the 2020 Pandemic season before having one last dance in 2021. Employee number 11 went off into the sunset after that. He is still very involved with the organization, making public appearances and occasionally joining the broadcast team. Getting Zimmerman a World Series title truly cemented his status as a Nats legend. Number 11 will never be worn by a National again.

Second Base: Asdrubal Cabrera

Asdrubal Cabrera is a bit of an unsung hero for the 2019 Nats. After an underwhelming spell with the Rangers, Cabrera was cut loose. The Nats picked him up and the veteran infielder found new life. In 38 games with the Nats, Cabrera drove in 40 runs while hitting .323 with a .969 OPS. He was not as impactful in October, but his hot run helped the Nats lock up a Wild Card spot.

Like many of these guys, Cabrera was in his 30’s and on the back 9 of his career. However, he had enough gas in the tank to make one more run. The Nats brought back the veteran second baseman for 2020, where he was solid but nothing special. After that, Cabrera played one more season before hanging up the cleats.

I have not heard much from Cabrera since then. He got into a crazy brawl in a Venezuelan winter league game, which earned him a long suspension. Since then, Cabrera has gotten into coaching.

Cabrera was the manager for a Venezuelan League team this past season. Just this past week, he was named the manager of Guerreros de Oaxaca in the Mexican League. Good luck to Asdrubal in his coaching journey!

Shortstop: Trea Turner

Now we are getting to a heavy hitter. Trea Turner is the first player here who is still an active player. The Nats shortstop was in his age 26 season at the time, and had a very good year despite playing through a finger injury. However, Turner’s best years came after the World Series.

In 2020 and 2021, Turner became an MVP caliber performer for the Nats. However, the Nats were unable to remain competitive during that time. That meant Turner was shipped to LA along with Max Scherzer at the 2021 deadline. We have talked about that trade at length on this site. Keibert Ruiz and Josiah Gray have had their moments, but neither have developed as expected.

Turner continued to be a star with the Dodgers. In a bigger market, Turner began to get the recognition that he deserved. After the 2022 season, Turner signed an 11-year $300 million contract with the Phillies to reunite with old teammate Bryce Harper. 

Turner has had his up’s and downs in Philly. He started very slowly before a red hot finish in 2023. Turner was one of the best shortstops in the game in 2024 and 2025 before having an abysmal year this season. At 33 years old, was this a blip on the radar or the beginning of the end for the speedy shortstop?

Third Base: Anthony Rendon

Anthony Rendon was the best National in 2019. He was third in MVP voting and posted an OPS over 1.000. In the playoffs, Rendon was a hero for the Nats. Whenever the Nats needed a big hit, Rendon would deliver. He was cool as ice and the moment was never too big for him.

In game 7 of the World Series, Rendon hit the home run that got everything started. He also ignited the Nats’ rally in game 5 of the NLCS. The impending free agent had about as good of a walk year as you could imagine. After the World Series, Rendon signed a 7-year $245 million contract with the Angels.

It is easy to forget now, but the first year of that deal went very well. Rendon was top 10 in AL MVP voting and played 52 of 60 games. However, the deal was an absolute disaster from there. Rendon’s play fell off a cliff due to injuries and questionable commitment. He never played more than 58 games in a season with LA. 

Rendon was never the most passionate about baseball, but that was no problem because he was producing. With age and injuries getting the best of him, that commitment became a massive issue. He became one of the villains of the league and his legacy outside of DC is pretty tarnished. However, he will always be remembered fondly by Nats fans. Nowadays he is living with his family and out of the spotlight, like he always wanted.

Left Field: Juan Soto

The Nats young phenom turned 21 during the World Series. On an old Nationals roster, he was the young star. After breaking out as a 19 year old rookie, Soto continued to establish himself as one of the game’s elite hitters at 20 years old. He hit 34 homers and posted an OPS of .949. Soto also had several huge playoff moments that Nats fans will never forget.

In the seasons that followed, Soto only got better. He finished top 5 in MVP voting back to back seasons in 2020 and 2021. However, with the Nats in a deep rebuild, they had to make a choice with Soto. First they tried to extend the generational talent, but after that failed, they made the painful decision to trade him.

The Juan Soto trade to the Padres gave the Nats their young core of the future, but it came at the cost of a future hall of famer. It sucked, but it turned out to be the right move with the Nats acquiring CJ Abrams, James Wood, MacKenzie Gore and more. 

Soto only lasted a year and a half in San Diego before being traded again, this time to the Yankees. He had the best year of his career in the Bronx, forming a dynamic duo with Aaron Judge. Those two powered the Yankees to the AL Pennant before falling short to the Dodgers.

After that, Soto entered free agency where he signed an historic 15-year $765 million deal with the Mets. He has been highly productive in Queens, but the team has not made the playoffs in either of Soto’s first two years. Soto, who turned 28 yesterday, remains one of the game’s shining stars.

Center Field: Victor Robles

When they were coming up as prospects, Victor Robles was actually more highly touted than Juan Soto. Scouts valued his 5 tool skillset very highly. Robles had cups of coffee in 2017 and 2018, but 2019 was his first full big league season. He was actually very good, showing about average hitting ability with elite center field defense, which gave him a 4.2 WAR season.

During the playoffs, Robles and Michael A. Taylor split time due to the Dominican suffering a minor injury. However, it was Robles who got the start in game 7. He got a hit in game 7, but he was not a huge offensive factor in October. However, he did look like a future building block for the Nats.

Robles was a really frustrating player after 2019 though. His 2020 season was ruined by an attempt to pack on muscle. The former top prospect was ineffective on both sides of the ball in 2021 and made a lot of boneheaded mistakes. His defense bounced back in 2022, but the bat remained very poor.

By 2024, it was clear he needed a change of scenery. Robles was cut by the Nats and signed with Seattle. He had a resurgence in Seattle after getting picked up, hitting .328 that season. Robles has been a mediocre 4th outfielder the past couple years though. We will see what the future holds for Robles, who enters free agency as a 29 year old.

Right Field: Adam Eaton

Adam Eaton was actually one of the Nats best hitters in the World Series. That included game 7, with Eaton’s two run double giving the Nats insurance. In that 2019 season, Eaton was the definition of solid, with 15 homers and a .792 OPS.

The Nats paid a big price to bring Eaton over from the White Sox. Mike Rizzo gave up Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and more to acquire Eaton, who was coming off a career year in 2016. However, after a knee injury in 2017, his athleticism was never the same. He could still hit, but his elite defense went away. Eaton remained a solid player in 2018 and 2019 though.

However, Eaton suffered an inexplicable fall-off in 2020 and 2021. After a dreadful 2020 season, Eaton was off the Nats. He only played one more season before retiring at just 32. 

Like many of these players, Eaton went into coaching. He was the director of player development for Michigan State, before becoming Kurt Suzuki’s first base coach with the Angels. With Suzuki gone, we will see what the future holds for Eaton in Anaheim.

DH: Howie Kendrick

Finally, we will discuss the hero of Game 7, Howie Kendrick. Of course, it was his 2-run homer that banged off the foul pole that gave the Nats a lead they would not relinquish. Kendrick also hit the series deciding grand slam in the NLDS. He also won NLCS MVP, so it was a great playoff run for Howie.

Like so many of these guys, this was Kendrick’s last great season. After an achilles injury ended his 2018 season, Kendrick came back better than ever in 2019. He hit .344 with a .966 OPS in 121 games. At 35, Kendrick had the best offensive season of his stellar career. He was just a hitting maestro that year.

After that magical season, age caught up to Kendrick. He was mediocre in 2020 before hanging up the cleats. It is crazy how many of these old guys had just enough gas in the tank to get over the line in 2019.

Kendrick is still involved in baseball. He is a special assistant to the GM for the Phillies. There are a lot of former Nats in Philly, but Kendrick is one you might now know about. He was not in DC for too long, but Howie Kendrick’s 2019 season made him a Nats legend.

Welcome to another week everyone!

The A’s have their President now after the hiring of Taylor Smith. The young front office executive is set to begin filling out his ranks and install trusted advisors around him. He’ll certain need them since he’s younger than most POBO’s in the sport ever were when they got the big job. Fingers crossed that lack of experience doesn’t come back to bite us. Of course it might all be boot for the foreseeable future if there is indeed a lockout, which would begin December 1st. That’d give Smith just about one month to execute any trades or deals before getting sidelined.

While Smith is still preparing for his first offseason at the helm, the Brewers and Rays are in Tampa Bay to continue the World Series tonight. Milwaukee is up 2-0 in the series and could essentially clinch the series tonight with a win. Tampa Bay’s season is suddenly on life support after dropping a pair in Milwaukee but they’re back home. With their backs up against the wall expect to see a desperate Rays squad this evening.

For Tampa, they have veteran Freddy Peralta getting the ball for this critical contest. Peralta has looked like a completely different pitcher than the guy playing with the Mets earlier this season. He’s just the latest in a long line of pitchers that suddenly put everything together once in Tampa Bay (hopefully Taylor Smith brought some of those ideas with him to Boston and then to us). Tonight is the biggest start of his career and the Rays will ask him one more time to get them to the sixth inning with at least a tied game.

The Brew Crew meanwhile will ask a rookie tonight to put them one win away from their first championship. Lefty Robert Gasser is getting the call for his third postseason start and though he’s a rookie he hasn’t looked overmatched or unprepared in the postseason. After an overall solid season Gasser has stepped up his game, allowing just one run on a solo home run against the Padres in the NLDS. That said, manager Pat Murphy has demonstrated he’s not scared to go to the early hook when his starter doesn’t have it.

Runs could be at a premium tonight. First pitch is at 5:00 Pacific time, where we’ll have the Game Thread ready for you guys. Who do you want to see taking tonight’s contest? Personally I’d love to see the Rays mount a comeback and make this a series again. And one thing that players are suddenly realizing? The ball is the same color as the Rays’ roof. Will that come into play over the next couple games?

Have a great start to your week A’s fans.

A’s Coverage:

• Optics vs. Infrastructure: Taylor Smith’s First Dilemma
• Athletics Hire Taylor Smith As Next President of Baseball Operations
• A’s bring in Taylor Smith to run baseball operations
• On New PBO Taylor Smith: What’s In A Number?
• A’s Considering Hiring GM Under Taylor Smith
• Trade Candidate: Shea Langeliers
• The five biggest questions facing the A’s this offseason
• Inside the A’s State-of-the-Art Las Vegas Ballpark
• Pitching prospect Huggins growing his game with the help of this A’s Hall of Famer
• ’Be a sponge’: No. 19 prospect leads A’s Fall League group with do-it-all mentality
• A’s LHP prospect Richardson shows off health and resiliency during Fall League homecoming
• Zack Of All Trades Tries To Get One More Win: In Court
• Important Dates For The Athletics This Offseason
• 12 A’s Players Out of Options Heading Into 2027
• How MLB’s Proposed Changes Would Impact the A’s
• A’s part ways with assistant hitting, quality control coaches
• After an outfield collision left him paralyzed, every gain in rehab is a big win for A’s Ryan Lasko
• Why 2027 Athletics Will Be Completely Different Team
• 2026: Year Of The “Didn’t See That Coming!”
• A’s Hoping Luis Severino Chooses to Stay
• Where the A’s Plan to Use Zack Gelof in 2027
• Drafting The Top AL Graduated MLB Prospects From 2026
• Devin Taylor: Athletics 2026 Minor League Player Of The Year
• Athletics 2026 MLB Draft Report Card
• Henry Bolte Is the A’s Next Budding Star
• Determining Athletics’ Offensive MVP for the 2026 Season
• 2027 Infield Landscape Ever Changing
• Get the best of Athletics Nation on the new SB Nation app

MLB News & Interest:

• Brewers-Rays World Series Game 3 FAQ (Monday, 8 ET, FOX/FOX One)
• How the Rays can send the World Series back to Milwaukee
• Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski sets WS velocity record on first pitch
• Rocco Baldelli Withdraws Name From Mariners’ Managerial Search
• Stephen Vogt back to Guardians in ’27, shuns Mariners rumors
• Manfred: Rays-Brewers World Series good for game, but salary cap still needed
• Hideki Matsui hired as manager of Japan’s Yomiuri Giants
• Quinn Priester On Track In Recovery From Thoracic Outlet Surgery
• Today in Baseball History

Best of X:

If the wallet really does open up, we’ll be adding lots of pitching:

Due to CBA negotiations & the looming lockout…the #Athletics will be forced to increase their payroll! 🤑

Put the money into an elite closer – Our offense is already doing its part.

What will be Taylor Smiths first move? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/O3O0kGaEAn

— SleeperAthletics (@SleeperAth) October 25, 2026

ICYMI:

🟢🟡 THE NEXT GENERATION OF A'S BASEBALL!

Everybody knows about the top-ranked prospects. But what about the players nobody is talking about?

Premiering Tommorow Night at 7:00 PM on https://t.co/cTCd48WxWH

A's Farm Editor-in-Chief Bill Moriarty @AthleticsFarm joins Booney for…

— The House Always Wins Media Network/Las Vegas A's (@lasvegasaspod) October 25, 2026

Update from the AFL:

A’S IN THE AFL TODAY (10/24)
C Davis Diaz: 0-3, BB, SB
RHP Jay Dill: 1.1 IP/2 H/1 ER/0 BB/0 K
Mesa Solar Sox win 7-3

— Bill Moriarity – A's Farm (@AthleticsFarm) October 25, 2026

How different would things been if the A’s had taken Lance Berkman in the 1997 Draft?

1997 MLB Draft – 1st Round Picks pic.twitter.com/5R1c4RfVKO

— OldTimeHardball (@OleTimeHardball) October 25, 2026

This season was an interesting year for Kyle Isbel. The Royals’ primary center fielder since the 2023 season, he took a step back at the plate after a career year in 2025. The defense was still borderline elite.

Kyle Isbel lost nearly two months of the season when he suffered a left plantar fasciitis injury in early June. He didn’t get back to the big-league squad until early August. I think that is a somewhat important caveat before grading his season in totality.

We will start where Isbel has always seemed to shine, with his glove. Despite missing nearly two months of the season, Isbel still had a +7 in Outs Above Average, which indicates elite range. His arm value is still subpar at -2. His jumps on balls are also still elite, so his first steps are great. Isbel did have an uncharacteristic four errors this season.

OK, Isbel is awesome in the field. We’ve known that. Let’s move to the offensive side of things. Through 100 games and 294 at-bats this season, Isbel’s final slash line was .224/.268/.323. He hit nine doubles, a triple, and six homers. Isbel struck out the same number of times this season as last season, 74, but in 74 fewer at-bats. He also walked just 15 times, which was down by eight from the previous season. He was 6-for-6 stealing bases this season.

After having a career year at the plate in 2025, when Isbel slashed .255/.301/.353 with 16 doubles, four triples, and four homers while driving in 33 runs, the soon-to-be 30-year-old outfielder took a step back. It was Isbel’s worst batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage since the 2022 season.

His sacrifice numbers were down, and he hit into a career-high eight double plays. For the first time in his career, Kyle Isbel was a negative-WAR player. He finished at -0.4, whereas in each of the last three seasons, Isbel had been worth 1.6 WAR or more. Again, he missed a lot of time with a painful injury, but it wasn’t a good output.

Isbel, who has been a platoon-type bat in his career, slashed .248/.296/.356 against righties in 222 at-bats. Against lefties, his slash line was .153/.176/.222 in 72 at-bats. Going back to the injury, Isbel slashed .244/.298/.354 in 56 games in the first half. In the 44 games he played after returning from injury, he slashed .200/.228/.285.

With the 2018 third-round pick aging and his production down last season, do the Royals move on? Do they try to flip him, sending him somewhere else to be a fourth outfielder? Or do they keep him as the fourth outfielder here in Kansas City and give guys like Tyler Tolbert or Carson Roccaforte the keys?

I could see the Royals doing either of those things. Heck, I won’t be surprised if Isbel is pretty much the everyday starting center fielder for the first couple of months. I’ll always like Kyle Isbel, but his time in Kansas City might be over.

How would you grade Kyle Isbel’s 2026 season?

Hayden Senger’s major-league tenure was brief in 2026. He remained on the 40-man roster all season; however, he was only recalled from Triple-A one time. On May 13, Francisco Alvarez tore his meniscus, which resulted in Luis Torrens taking over as the starting catcher and Senger becoming his backup. Senger played in seven games over a period of 27 days, making his stats and metrics somewhat irrelevant due to such a small sample size.

However, a couple notable things happened in those seven games. In his first game this season, on May 14, he dropped down a bunt for a safety squeeze to score a run. Senger also hit his first major-league home run on May 30. The same day, he was Christian Scott’s battery-mate for Scott’s first major-league win. The two had worked together in lower tiers of the Mets organization for quite a while, and it was nice to see them enjoy success together.

Overall, though, Senger’s time with the Mets was brief and somewhat unmemorable, in the best possible way. He did his job, covered for an injured teammate, and did not stand out as terrible on a team that was pretty bad. His walk-up song was “Hold the Line” by Toto, and he did that when he was asked to play. He was sent back down to Triple-A when Alvarez returned from the IL on June 9, but it’s still worth noting his big-league stint, given the difficulty the Mets had in replacing injured players this year.

Carson Kelly has to be one of the best value free-agent signings by the Cubs in recent memory.

Signed to a two-year, $11.5 million deal before the 2025 season (that was two years at $5 million each plus a $1.5 million buyout), Kelly batted .249/.333/.428 with 17 home runs in 111 games last year, producing 3.5 bWAR, his best MLB season. He was also excellent defensively, throwing out 34.1 percent of runners trying to steal.

In 2026, Kelly was still very good, though not quite as good as in 2025. He batted .258/.336/.376 with 10 home runs in 120 games, good for 1.9 bWAR. As noted in my recent article summing up the first year of ABS challenges, Kelly was also one of the best catchers in those challenges in 2026.

Kelly and the Cubs have a mutual option for 2027 for $7.5 million (or that $1.5 million buyout). Kelly is 32 (turns 33 next July) and might not have a better choice than to return to the Cubs for another season. Mutual options are almost always turned down by either team or player, but this is one where it might benefit both parties for another year of Kelly paired with Miguel Amaya.

Why is this? Amaya turns 28 in March. He had a pretty good year with the bat and throwing out runners (28.9 percent) but I don’t think he’s quite ready to take on the role as full-time catcher with (perhaps) Owen Ayers as his backup. Ayers, I believe, still needs more Triple-A development time. The Cubs did have Ayers join the team for the final week of the 2026 season just to observe and learn, but that doesn’t mean he’d be ready to become a MLB backup catcher right away in 2027.

So my feeling is this: Bring back Kelly on that $7.5 million option, if he’s willing, or perhaps tear it up and offer him a bit more, with some sort of vesting option/buyout for 2028.

Would you do that?