Worldwide Sports News

Just before spring training began last January, Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong was part of a group of former Harvard-Westlake High players who returned to O’Malley Field to have their jersey numbers painted on the outfield wall. This was before PCA mania had erupted, before any MVP talk had surfaced, before anyone could have predicted the breakthrough season he would deliver in 2026.

Crow-Armstrong signed autographs for kids, met with varsity players and humbly talked about what he had learned from his high school days that abruptly ended in the spring of 2020 because of the pandemic.

Before the PCA mania, before the MVP season that will be finalized on Thursday, Pete Crow-Armstrong returned to Harvard-Westlake’s O’Malley field last January humble and ready to get to work. He deserves it. pic.twitter.com/oZkiA24mDM

— eric sondheimer (@latsondheimer) November 11, 2026

“It’s been a nice, steady progression for the first five years of my career,” he said. “I’m definitely learning a good set of patience that I didn’t have before that. It’s a slow burning sport. It takes a lot of time to try and perfect your craft. I’m going out every day and making the most of it.”

On Thursday, Crow-Armstrong ended the two-year reign of Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani as National League MVP with the announcement that he had won MVP honors during a season in which he hit 45 home runs, stole 41 bases, had 107 RBIs and batted .280.

IT’S UNANIMOUS

Pete Crow-Armstrong is your 2026 National League Most Valuable Player! pic.twitter.com/WrD7cMLaXV

— MLB (@MLB) November 13, 2026

His coach at Harvard-Westlake, Jared Halpert, left Los Angeles on Wednesday night to fly to Chicago for the celebration.

“You combine the talent and commitment of what he has and you get what we just saw this year,” Halpert said. “It was remarkable.”

Crow-Armstrong, 24, is the first Southern California product to be named NL MVP since Christian Yelich (Westlake) received the honor for the Brewers in 2018, with Giancarlo Stanton (Sherman Oaks Notre Dame) winning in 2017 for the Marlins. Jordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros was selected the American League MVP.

Harvard-Westlake had become known as the school for pitchers after producing first-round draft picks Jack Flaherty, Lucas Giolito and Max Fried. Now come the hitters. Crow-Armstrong, a center fielder, was taken in the first round in 2020 by the New York Mets before being traded to the Cubs in 2021. Infielder Bryce Rainer is working his way up the Detroit Tigers organization after being a first-round pick in 2024.

Crow-Armstrong was always known for his speed, defensive prowess and hitting skills, but this year saw Crow-Armstrong unleash a power surge as the Cubs’ leadoff hitter that energized baseball fans in Chicago and elsewhere. His speed running the bases, leaping skills in the outfield, arm strength and patience at the plate after a slow start created the perfect storm to produce an MVP season.

“I’m always willing to do whatever it takes,” he said on the MLB Network. “My coaching staff was very patient with me through my struggles early in the season.”

Earlier this week, some of the Harvard-Westlake players who met Crow-Armstrong last January offered their opinions of his MVP season.

Ira Rootman, a center fielder committed to Texas, said, “I’ve gotten to interact with him multiple times. Seeing what he did, it means it’s possible for anyone. It’s a real inspiration. He talks a lot about the mental side. I think that’s something incredibly important.”

Louis Lappe, a sophomore infielder who gained national fame with his grand slam in the 2023 Little League World Series for El Segundo, said, “He’s very good inspiration for all the Harvard-Westake people. He showed we can all do it.”

Jake Kim, an outfielder committed to UCLA, said, “It shows that our program and the standard of how we do it and the standard to win and be great speaks volumes about our coaches and how we work around here.”

Being the son of two actors, Crow-Armstrong understood what being in the spotlight looked like and even though he angered Dodger fans with comments last spring in a magazine, he’s always been known as a competitor and shown respect and appreciation for those supporting the game of baseball.

He and his parents have moved out of Los Angeles to be closer to Chicago, but the former Sherman Oaks Little Leaguer won’t forget how the talent level growing up in sunny Southern California helped give him the opportunity to be a major leaguer and reach a level few ever attain.

Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

This was one of the most expected award results of the 2026 MLB season.

Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong put together not only an MVP-caliber season, but one of the greatest single seasons in Cubs franchise history.

To review the numbers: .280/.372/.570 (175-for-626) with 31 doubles, eight triples, 45 home runs and 41 stolen bases, becoming the first Cub to join the 40/40 club. He also walked 83 times, nearly tripling the 29 he had in 2026. He led the NL in SLG, OPS and OPS+ and led all of MLB in runs (119), home runs and total bases (357). He is just the fourth Cub position player ever to have a 9.8 bWAR season or better (also Ron Santo, 9.8 in 1967; Ernie Banks, 10.2 in 1959; Sammy Sosa, 10.3 in 2001; and Rogers Hornsby, 10.6 in 1929). Fangraphs had PCA at 10.6 fWAR.

For all of this and more, PCA was today named, unanimously, National League Most Valuable Player. He’s the first Cub to win the award since Kris Bryant in 2016. In addition to those two, here are the other Cubs who have been named NL MVP:

1911: Frank Schulte
1929: Rogers Hornsby
1930: Hack Wilson
1935: Gabby Hartnett
1945: Phil Cavarretta
1952: Hank Sauer
1958: Ernie Banks
1959: Ernie Banks
1984: Ryne Sandberg
1987: Andre Dawson
1998: Sammy Sosa

What’s most remarkable about PCA’s season is that he got off to a mediocre start. After going 0-for-3 against the Brewers May 20, he was batting .225/.302/.357 with five home runs in 50 games. Over his final 112 games, he batted .302/.400/.658 (134-for-444) with 26 doubles, six triples, 40 home runs, 87 RBI, 29 stolen bases, 93 runs scored and 68 walks. Those numbers alone might have won him MVP — and that’s only two-thirds of a season.

PCA doesn’t turn 25 until March. He’s hit 86 home runs, good for 35th on the Cubs career list. If he hits 40 in 2027, that would put him in the top 20. He has 105 stolen bases, which ranks 32nd. Another 40-steal year would move him up to 22nd. A healthy and productive PCA over the next few years would likely make him one of the greatest Cubs ever.

There are so many highlights to PCA’s season that it’s hard to pick just one that sums him up, but I’d like to nominate what he did in the 3-2, 10-inning win over the Blue Jays Aug. 6. After Alex Bregman tied that game up 2-2 with two out in the bottom of the ninth and no one scored in the 10th, PCA led off the 11th with a single, but placed runner Carson Kelly was thrown out at the plate. PCA took second on the throw and immediately took off for third. You know what happened next [VIDEO].

That, I think, sums up everything PCA is. He read the situation, didn’t hesitate, drew a wild throw and won the game.

There is, obviously, a lot more to his game than that — power and defense in particular. Here are 25 minutes worth of highlights from his MVP season.

Congratulations to Pete Crow-Armstrong. May this MVP award be the first of many. Here’s the BBWAA vote for NL MVP. Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman finished ninth.

Pete Crow-Armstrong didn't just earn National League Most Valuable Player honors in 2026. He also put together one of the greatest MVP seasons the league has seen in the past half-century.

PCA swept to NL MVP honors in unanimous fashion, earning all 30 first-place votes in balloting released Thursday, Nov. 12 by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. The coronation seemed a formality, as "MVP!" chants grew louder in Wrigley Field and anywhere the Cubs took their five-tool center fielder on the road.

And by season's end, it was almost unfathomable what this 6-foot, 184-pound center fielder produced.

He led the major leagues with 45 home runs – and also topped every fielder at every position with 26 outs above average.

He led the NL with a .570 slugging percentage and .943 OPS - and also stole 41 bases in 48 attempts, becoming the seventh member of baseball's 40-40 club.

He led the majors with 119 runs scored as the leadoff man for an 89-win club, and his adjusted OPS was 56% higher than league average.

Add it all up, and Crow-Armstrong produced a major league-leading 9.8 WAR, as calculated by Baseball-Reference.

That's the most impactful NL MVP season, by that metric, since Barry Bonds accrued 10.6 WAR in 2004, the third time in four years he produced double-digits in that category. Before Bonds, Colorado's Larry Walker posted a 9.8 WAR, equal to PCA, in winning the 1997 MVP.

And to find a superior MVP season not moored in the high era of baseball's performance-enhancing drug scandal or played at altitude (though WAR partially bakes that in), we have to go back to Bonds in 1993 (9.9) and Joe Morgan way back in 1975, when he posted 11 WAR on the strength of a .466 OBP and 67 steals.

At 24 years old, PCA stands shoulder to shoulder with those greats.

Shohei Ohtani, the two-way superstar reduced to hitting only in the second half of the season, finished second to Crow-Armstrong, earning 26 of 30 second-place votes; it ended his streak of consecutive NL MVPs at two and his overall streak at three, as he was 2023 AL MVP with the Los Angeles Angels.

Milwaukee Brewers second baseman Brice Turang finished third, while Cincinnati Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz and Cy Young Award winner Jacob Misiorowski rounded out the top five.

For Crow-Armstrong, it's been a meteoric rise, from 19th overall pick by the New York Mets, to his 2021 trade to the Cubs in exchange for Javier Báez, to his year-over-year gains in less sexy but crucial categories like contact and walk rate, all of which have coalesced to make him arguably the game's best all-around everyday player.

And now, National League MVP, perhaps the first of more to come as he becomes the ninth Chicago Cub to win an MVP award, first since Kris Bryant in 2016.

"I immediately think back to Ryno," Crow-Armstrong said of 1984 NL MVP Ryne Sandberg in an interview on MLB Network after the announcement. Sandberg passed away in July 2025. "He made himself available to a lot of us the last few years. He was hugely important to the last few years of my life. I just saw Andre Dawson the other day in New York. Sammy (Sosa) was a big part of this year. KB and I just talked today.

"I don’t know where to put myself in that. I’ve been so fortunate to be around so many great Cubs. I’m happy to carry on their legacy and be able to continue to have their names brought up in conversations like this."

NL MVP voting results

• Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs: 420 points (30 first-place votes)
• Shohei Ohtani, Dodgers: 264 points
• Brice Turang, Brewers: 190 points
• Elly De La Cruz, Reds: 173 points
• Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers: 158 points
• Gabriel Moreno, Diamondbacks: 132 points
• Fernando Tatis Jr., Padres: 121 points
• Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies: 68 points
• Alex Bregman, Cubs: 63 points
• Matt Olson, Braves: 40 points
• Kyle Schwarber, Phillies: 31 points
• Chris Sale, Braves: 22 points
• Otto Lopez, Marlins: 17 points
• CJ Abrams, Nationals: 12 points
• Bryce Harper, Phillies: 12 points
• James Wood, Nationals: 9 points
• Brandon Lowe, Pirates: 6 points
• Ozzie Albies, Braves: 5 points
• Michael Harris II, Braves: 5 points
• Andy Pages, Dodgers: 5 points
• Jordan Walker, Cardinals: 5 points
• Sal Stewart, Reds: 4 points
• Jake Bauers, Brewers: 2 points
• Alec Burleson, Cardinals: 2 points
• Jackson Chourio, Brewers: 2 points
• Ty France, Padres: 1 point
• Hunter Goodman, Rockies: 1 point

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pete Crow-Armstrong is one of the greatest NL MVPs in history. Here's why.

The Toronto Blue Jays have apologized for Anthony Santander's Islamophobic Instagram posts that criticized U.S. Senator-elect Abdul El-Sayed.

On Thursday, Nov. 12, the club posted a statement attributed to President and CEO Mark Shapiro to their social media channels. Toronto said it had conversations with members of the city's Muslim community to reflect on the incident, which happened after national elections in the United States.

"The Blue Jays are deeply sorry to the Muslim community and our fans for the pain and harm these Islamophobic posts have caused," the statement said. "We will work with leaders in Muslim communities to fight against all forms of hate."

The statement continued by saying the incident was an "opportunity to listen and learn" that "reaffirms our beliefs and values as an organization."

"We condemn Islamophobia and all forms of hate."

Two days earlier, at the General Managers Meetings in Las Vegas, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins expressed concern over the right fielder's actions.

“There really aren't words to express my level of disappointment with him making those comments. I've expressed that to him," he said, according to Sportsnet reporter Ben Nicholson-Smith, "... anything exacerbating some level of anti-Islamic hate is just extremely concerning, extremely disappointing."

The official apology comes after the club released a previous response to Santander's Instagram stories that criticized El-Sayed, who won a highly contested race for U.S. Senator in Michigan and in doing so became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Senate. Screenshots of a video showed a caption that read, "America voted for Sharia (law) last night!" Another post seen in screenshots had a caption on the video that said, "Islam is not peaceful."

“Baseball is for everyone," said the initial statement, which was attributed to a team spokesperson, "and the Blue Jays have created an inclusive experience where all fans feel welcome at our ballpark. Individual comments do not represent our organization’s values and beliefs.”

The previous response received criticism for not apologizing and not taking a strong enough stance against Islamophobia.

Santander has yet to comment publicly.

The 32-year-old did not play for Toronto last season as the Blue Jays went 79-83 and failed to make the playoffs. He has been struggling with shoulder injuries and had surgery in February.

The Venezuela native was limited to just 54 regular season games in 2025, the first year of a five-year, $92.5 million contract, due to a left shoulder subluxation. He returned in time to play in five playoff games, but a back injury forced his removal from the ALCS roster, ending his season. The Blue Jays made it to the World Series, where they lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.

Contributing: Gabe Lacques

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Blue Jays apologize for Anthony Santander's posts, condemn Islamophobia

By virtue of them not being announced as finalists, we knew that neither Cam Schlittler or Ben Rice were going to win the 2026 American League Most Valuable Player Award. However, we had a pretty good feeling that the Cy Young and the slugger were going to finish high in the voting. On Thursday night, the announcement came, and Schlittler and Rice finished in fourth and ninth place respectively.

The Astros’ Yordan Alvarez took home the award over fellow finalists Junior Caminero and Bobby Witt Jr. Alvarez ended up being the unanimous winner, receiving all 30 first place votes. Caminero was a clear second, receiving all but three second place votes.

One of the three second-place votes that didn’t go to Caminero did go to Schlittler — shout out to Dave Skretta of the Associated Press. The rest of his votes range somewhere between third and 10th. He only just narrowly missed being named a finalist, as he finished only seven points behind Witt for third. While a pitcher winning MVP has happened in recent memory, it can often be hard for them to get close considering that they have an award for themselves in the Cy Young. Finishing fourth matches Shane Bieber in 2020 — although there’s quite a big caveat on that one — for the best finish for a pure pitcher (sorry, Shohei) since Clayton Kershaw’s National League win in 2014.

As for Rice, he received two third-place votes himself, but all the rest of his ranged between fifth and 10th place. I think if I were voting, I would’ve had him higher up in ninth, but I am somewhat biased in the fact that I watch him every day.

Those were the only two Yankees to receive votes, which isn’t particularly shocking. You can view the full list here. For those curious, the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong was unsurprisingly named the unanimous winner in the NL.

There were certainly plenty of aspects to the Yankees’ 2026 season that were disappointing, but Schlittler and Rice certainly weren’t the reasons.

Junior Caminero can now officially be said to have been a candidate for the Most Valuable Player as he placed 2nd among all players in the American League for the prestigious award. Yordan Alvarez received the honor as the league’s Most Valuable Player for his incredible season.

It was another terrific season for Caminero in his second full year at the big league level as the now 23-year old third baseman hit .276/.360/.524 with 42 HR over 702 plate appearances, registering a 142 wRC+ and accruing 5.3 fWAR over 162 games.

Caminero possesses the fastest bat speed in the game and is among the upper echelon when it comes to xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, Avg Exit Velo, Barrel%, and Hard-Hit%. This past season, Caminero’s offensive game went up a notch as he honed his plate discipline. This led to a drop in strikeout and nearly doubling his walk rate.

Since the start of the 2025 season, Caminero is second in all of baseball in homeruns (87) while he ranks 8th in wRC+ (136) and 10th in fWAR (9.9). He is the only player in franchise history to have multiple 40 homerun seasons as well. Caminero joins Eddie Matthews, Alex Rodriguez, and Juan Gonzalez as the only players to accomplish this before their age 24 season

To add to his honors this offseason, Caminero has also been named to the All-MLB First Team as the top third baseman in the game; Teammates Drew Rasmussen were named to the All-MLB Second Team as a top starting pitcher while Bryan Baker was also named to the team as a top reliever.

With his 2nd place finish, Caminero became the closest player in franchise history to be named the MVP; Evan Longoria placed 6th in 2010 and 2013.

After nearly a decade as one of baseball's most powerful and productive hitters, Yordan Alvarez is finally getting his due.

Alvarez was named the unanimous 2026 American League Most Valuable Player by the Baseball Writers' Association in polling released Thursday, Nov. 12, as the Houston Astros slugger earned a just reward for a season in which he dominated the circuit.

Alvarez, 29, earned his first MVP after two previous spots in the top 10, most recently a third-place finish in 2022, when he led the Astros to a World Series title. Since his 2019 debut, only Aaron Judge's 1.037 OPS outranks Alvarez's .975 mark in that span.

And with Judge felled by injury for all but 66 games this season, Alvarez more than ably filled the void left by the New York Yankees' three-time MVP.

Alvarez duplicated Judge's 2025 feat in winning AL MVP, leading the major leagues in all three slash categories - a .316 batting average, a .432 on-base percentage and a .601 slugging percentage. All the while, he slammed 42 home runs and drove in 106, threatening for the traditional Triple Crown before Baltimore's Pete Alonso eclipsed him with 43 homers and 113 RBIs.

Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, who equaled Alvarez's 42 home runs, finished second with 267 points, while Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was third with 188 - after finishing second and fourth in 2024 and 2025.

Alvarez joins Judge and former Detroit Tigers great Miguel Cabrera as the lone AL players since 1970 to win a batting title and hit at least 40 home runs. He's the third Houston Astro to earn MVP honors, joining Jose Altuve (2017) and Jeff Bagwell, who was honored in the National League in 1994.

All the while, Alvarez kept the Astros afloat during a year in which they got off to a 16-27 start. Ultimately, they made history of a dubious sort, winning the AL West at 81-81 but becoming the first playoff participant in a full season with a non-winning record. His 6.8 WAR trailed only Tigers rookie Kevin McGonigle (7.1) among position players.

2026 AL MVP voting, results

• Yordan Alvarez, Astros: 420 points (30 first-place votes)
• Junior Caminero, Rays: 267 points
• Bobby Witt Jr., Royals: 188 points
• Cam Schlittler, Yankees: 181 points
• Pete Alonso, Orioles: 144 points
• Miguel Vargas, White Sox: 129 points
• Kevin McGonigle, Tigers: 109 points
• Randy Arozarena, Mariners: 95 points
• Ben Rice, Yankees: 92 points
• Willson Contreras, Red Sox: 67 points
• Dylan Cease, Blue Jays: 20 points
• Wilyer Abreu, Red Sox: 17 points
• Parker Messick, Guardians: 10 points
• Dillon Dingler, Tigers: 7 points
• Steven Kwan, Guardians: 5 points
• Munetaka Murakami, White Sox: 5 points
• Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox: 4 points
• Ezequiel Durán, Rangers: 3 points
• Drew Rasmussen, Rays: 3 points
• Isaac Paredes, Astros: 2 points
• Cade Smith, Guardians: 2 points

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Astros' Yordan Alvarez supplants Aaron Judge as AL MVP after eerily similar season

Scott Boras' phone rang in the middle of his press conference at the MLB GM meetings in Las Vegas on Tuesday. The super agent looked down at the screen for a moment and put his phone on silent.

"Just another owner begging to meet with Skubal," he quipped to reporters.

Even if it was a joke, Boras probably wasn't too far off on that one. As the best arm in free agency by far this winter, Tarik Skubal has no shortage of suitors. The New York Mets, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays -- and yes, the Los Angeles Dodgers -- have all confirmed appointments to meet with the two-time Cy Young Award winner. He's widely expected to command a record-shattering payday exceeding $325 million, according to Bob Nightengale, that would make him the highest paid pitcher in MLB history.

So where do the Dodgers fit into that picture?

Dodgers projected 2027 rotation

• Yoshinobu Yamamoto
• Blake Snell
• Tyler Glasnow
• Roki Sasaki
• Shohei Ohtani

Skubal seems like a luxury, but Snell and Glasnow both battled injuries that kept them out for an extended period of time in 2026 and ended up creating a need for the trade in the first place. There's also uncertainty as to what Shohei Ohtani's season on the mound will look like next year. Friedman expects the four-time MVP to be ready to go by spring training, but added that he'll need to have an ongoing conversation with Ohtani as the season goes on to better manage his workload and keep him injury-free moving forward. General manager Brandon Gomes told reporters at the GM meetings that they're still trying to figure out that plan, and it may not be in place until they have a clearer picture of what the roster will look like.

“Whatever it is, there’s just a lot of different avenues, and I think for us to unilaterally decide that doesn’t make sense," Gomes said. "So it’s really bringing him into the conversation and figuring out how to navigate a full season.”

Given the amount of unknowns within a rotation that normally gets heavily impacted by injuries year after year, bringing Skubal back to LA should be a top priority.

The Dodgers have given no indication that they'll have any less resources than normal, even in the midst of owner Mark Walter's ongoing federal investigations. Boras expects a deal to get done before the current collective bargaining agreement expires on Dec. 1, after which comes financial uncertainty around the league as owners and the MLBPA square off over a proposed salary cap.

Still, the Dodgers have more than enough room to flex their bank account, but the question remains of how deep into their pockets they'll be willing to go. The Athletic's Katie Woo reported that Friedman and Co. want Skubal back, but on a short-term deal and may be willing to offer a higher AAV to compensate, similar to Tucker's four-year $240 million deal inked last winter. Whether or not Skubal will be willing to take that and leave years on the table remains to be seen.

“It's very clear that there is a dominant and strong 'Sku-bull' market," Boras told reporters. “That's one thing you know it's pretty clear teams are not devoid of pursuing their championship fortunes, and they understand there's only one tarot card, no doubt.

“I think that if you look into the deep waters of talent treasure, teams are there. There's no time to come up for air, and so teams have filled their tanks, and they're all clearly ready for the scuba dive, no doubt."

Tarik Skubal's fit with Dodgers

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has been aggressive the last few winters in trying to maximize the team's current championship window. Rather than running it back after two consecutive World Series championships in 2024 and '25, he added more firepower by signing Kyle Tucker and Edwin Díaz -- the top two free agents in last year's class -- for a combined $310 million. Underwhelming 2026 campaigns by both, and the team's failed bid for a three-peat, don't appear to give Friedman any more second thoughts when it comes to how he'll go about building next year's roster.

"That's never our mindset, to say, 'Okay, we're good enough," Friedman said at his end of season press conference on Oct. 21. "We're going to work hard to figure out how we can improve in different areas. ... We feel good about our jumping off point of where we are. That being said, to the extent that we can keep raising the bar, raising the talent level and increasing our championship odds, we're going to be aggressive to do so."

That much was on full display when the Dodgers acquired Skubal from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline in August for their No. 5 prospect Zyhir Hope, River Ryan and Brady Smith to seemingly put a stacked rotation over the top. Skubal ended up keeping that rotation afloat amid injuries to Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani as he posted a 2.61 ERA with 70 strikeouts and a 1.048 WHIP in 10 starts in LA.

Friedman commended what Skubal was able to do in his short time as a Dodger, acknowledging how hard it is to move cities in the middle of the season. Routines get disrupted, and adjusting to a new clubhouse, a new environment, takes time. The 29-year-old Kingman, Arizona native's transition in LA was seamless. He instantly had the respect of the entire pitching staff and formed close friendships with many of his teammates, Snell in particular. Several players noted that Skubal never once talked about free agency during his time with them.

"I can't say enough good things about the impact that he made in such a short period of time," Friedman said in October.

Now, the ball is in Skubal's court.

Dodgers pitchers already on the move

Right-handed reliever Evan Phillips signed a three-year, $35 million contract with the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, putting an end to his six-year run in LA. In that time, Phillips was one of manager Dave Roberts' most trusted bullpen arms, and for good reason. The 32-year-old has pitched in five of the last six Octobers for the Dodgers, missing only 2025 after undergoing Tommy John surgery that May, and has not allowed an earned run in 17 career postseason outings. He pitched well in 26 innings after returning in July, posting a 1.08 WHIP with a 3.26 ERA and 33 strikeouts.

There's also a robust market for Alex Vesia, another go-to high-leverage guy. The New York Mets, New York Yankees and Miami Marlins are among the teams that are reportedly interested in the 30-year-old's services, along with the Dodgers.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Should the Dodgers re-sign Tarik Skubal? What we know from GM meetings

Generally, how do we feel about Scott Boras’ player puns? I think they’re unfortunately corny.

Anyways. Hot stove, Braves edition. ICYMI, we signed Tyler Freeman to a minor-league deal but the big blue box of the day goes to reliever Evan Phillips. Yes, I did specifically hunt for a picture of him at Truist Park for the thumbnail. Welcome, Evan!

Otherwise, take a gander at the rumor mill and things abrewin’ in our Feed:

Taking stock of the current rumors surrounding the Atlanta Braves: Let’s talk about Ronald Acuña Jr., Jurickson Profar and Ha-Seong Kim.

What’s on your mind? What else might AA cook with the stove on? It’s just kinda nice to see someone acting like there will, in fact, be baseball next year.