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Archives for September 2025

Rays Sale To Patrick Zalupski’s Group Officially Completed

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The Rays officially have a new owner. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the sale from Stuart Sternberg to a group led by Patrick Zalupski is now rubber stamped with the sale officially closing today.

“It’s an incredible honor to become the stewards of the Tampa Bay Rays, a franchise with a proud history and a bright future,” Zalupski said in a news release. “We are especially privileged to have been chosen by Stu Sternberg as his successors, and we’re all energized by the responsibility to serve Rays fans everywhere and this great game.”

This development was largely a formality. The reported $1.7 billion sale price was agreed to back in July and it was approved by Major League Baseball owners last week. It was noted that the time of that approval last week that the sale still needed to formally close, though that box is now ticked and the keys have changed hands.

Now that the new ownership group is in place, the attention will turn to the unanswered questions surrounding the franchise. The Rays had to play in a minor league park this year due to the extensive hurricane damage done to Tropicana Field. It is hoped that The Trop can be repaired and playable in time for the start of the 2026 season. The club’s lease originally ran through 2027 but the lost year in 2025 has extended that through 2028.

There isn’t a formal plan in place for 2029 and beyond. Zalupski is expected to explore building a new stadium in Tampa itself, as opposed to St. Petersburg, where The Trop is located. That process will take time, as the Rays will have to work out all the particulars with government officials to get the new venue designed, approved, funded, etc.

As Zalupski works on that, president of baseball operations Erik Neander will work on making the club as competitive as possible. Topkin reports that Neander will stay in his job. That’s not especially surprising, as the Rays have generally performed well on tight budgets throughout his tenure. In early 2024, he and manager Kevin Cash were extended through at least 2028.

However, the Rays are currently in a bit of a downswing. They just finished 77-85 after posting an 80-82 record last year. The last time they had losing records in consecutive seasons was back in 2016 and ’17. Amid the uncertainty away from the roster, it’s unclear what kind of resources Neander will have to work with this winter. Topkin notes that there is an introductory press conference scheduled for October 7th, at which point the new owners might shed more light on the next steps for the franchise.

Astros Notes: Brown, Espada, Rotation, Caratini, Hader

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The Astros’ streak of consecutive postseason appearances ended in 2025. A poor second half, highlighted by a late sweep at the hands of the eventual division-champion Mariners (in Houston, no less), left the ’Stros on the outside looking in for the first time since 2016. Despite a disappointing finish to the season, it doesn’t seem like major changes are coming to the organization’s leadership. Speaking to reporters at a season-end press conference, general manager Dana Brown suggested both he and manager Joe Espada would return in 2026.

Brown declined to definitively comment on his own status, stating only: “I’m the GM of the Astros, and that’s what I would expect to be tomorrow, the next day and the next day” (audio link to the full 27-minute press conference, courtesy of SportsTalk 790). On Espada, he provided a clearer answer, stating: “Joe is the manager. Joe is under contract [for 2026].”

Any change up top would be at least somewhat surprising. Brown was hired as general manager in Jan. 2023 and has only had three full seasons and two full offseasons at his current post. Espada was elevated to the manager post for the 2024 season, following Dusty Baker’s retirement. While we’ve seen occasional instances of executives and managers having leashes that short, most are provided a lengthier runway after coming aboard with a new organization.

It’s possible there’ll be some changes further down the ladder. Brown vowed Sunday to conduct a “full assessment” and to “think about the entire operation.” Changes in the coaching staff and/or on the player development front haven’t decisively been ruled out. “The season ended 48 hours ago,” said Espada. “We are trying to have conversations and see how we’re going to move forward. That’s where we’re at right now.”

With regard to the roster itself, there’ll be clear turnover. Framber Valdez and Victor Caratini are free agents. Houston has a massive class of 14 arbitration-eligible players. Mauricio Dubon, Bryan Abreu, Ramon Urias, Luis Garcia, Steven Okert and Isaac Paredes are all eligible for the third time this winter (Paredes as a Super Two player who’ll be eligible once more after the ’26 season). Jesus Sanchez, Jeremy Pena, Chas McCormick and Jake Meyers are all eligible for the second time. Hunter Brown, Yainer Diaz, Bennett Sousa and Hayden Wesneski are eligible for the first time.

Not everyone from that group will return, of course. Garcia suffered another significant elbow injury late in the 2025 season. Urias and Sanchez struggled badly after being acquired at the trade deadline. McCormick tallied just 116 plate appearances and turned in his second consecutive poor year at the plate.

Possible non-tender/trade candidates aside, the most consequential departure will be Valdez — a rock in the Houston rotation since 2020. The Astros won’t outright close the door on a reunion, but Valdez figures to command the type of long-term contract that the Astros have reserved for position players only under Jim Crane’s ownership. Houston hasn’t gone beyond $95MM guaranteed to any pitcher under Crane, and that was to reliever Josh Hader. Lance McCullers Jr.’s ill-fated five-year, $85MM extension is the largest pact Crane has given to a starting pitcher.

“I think it’s going to be headed up with [Hunter] Brown,” the GM said when asked about his rotation. “We’re going to have some conversations, like we’ve had in the past, with Valdez. We’ve got some young guys. We’re going to see what they can do, and we’re going to have some other guys coming back off the IL.”

Both Brown and Espada praised the work Cristian Javier did in his return from Tommy John surgery and spoke of him as an important piece of the 2026 rotation. Righty AJ Blubaugh was also mentioned as a potential factor on next year’s staff. McCullers drew praise for making it back to the field after an arduous rehab process spanning more than two years, but Brown suggested only that McCullers will compete for a job in camp next year. The GM also suggested he’ll be on the hunt for additional starting pitching: “We’re going to probably be in the market to trade for an arm.”

Again, nothing within Brown’s comments expressly rules out the return of Valdez, but specifically calling out the possibility of addressing the rotation via trade is notable. Houston already has a bit more than $159MM on the 2026 books, per RosterResource, and that’s before accounting for any of the arbitration class. Their 2025 payroll finished at just under $225MM.

In addition to the rotation, catching help will be a priority. Brown noted that the Astros “definitely” have interest in bringing Caratini back after a successful run in Houston. The switch-hitting 32-year-old signed a two-year, $12MM deal prior to the 2024 season and wound up appearing in 201 games over his two seasons, slashing .263/.329/.406 in 660 turns at the plate.

“If you don’t bring him back, you definitely need a backup catcher,” said Brown. ” He’s been one of the best backup catchers in the league. … He’s going to be a free agent, so if he decides to go somewhere else, we have to be in the market for a backup — but we definitely have interest in talking to him.”

It’s a thin class of catchers in free agency this winter, with Caratini, 35-year-old J.T. Realmuto and Danny Jansen standing as the most notable names on the free agent market. The Astros don’t need a starter behind the plate. Yainer Diaz, 27, was terrific in 2023-24, hitting .293/.318/.478 with 39 homers in 996 plate appearances. He slipped in ’25, batting “only” .256/.284/.417 with 20 homers, but that’s plenty productive for a catcher. He figures to see a significant portion of the workload behind the plate again in 2026, regardless of who stands as the other half of the catching tandem.

Given the thin supply of backstops and Caratini’s success with the Astros, it’s possible catching-needy clubs could offer Caratini more playing time than Houston. That’d leave Brown and his staff searching for help behind the plate, as he alluded to; Cesar Salazar, who’ll turn 30 next March, is the only other catcher on Houston’s 40-man roster and turned in a tepid .213/.353/.353 batting line in Triple-A this season.

One other notable storyline for Astros fans to track this winter will be the progress of Hader, whose season ended in mid-August due to a capsule injury in his shoulder. Brown revealed that the team has “consistently” had imaging performed on Hader’s shoulder and that the closer is feeling better and appears to be “moving in the right direction.” Hader, however, has yet to resume throwing, and the Astros won’t have a clear picture on his timetable for a return until he takes that step and they can gauge how his shoulder responds. It’s not yet clear when Hader might pick up a ball.

Matt Strahm Passes Physical, Guarantees 2026 Option

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Phillies left-hander Matt Strahm is now officially on the books for 2026. According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, the southpaw has passed the requisite end-of-season physical to lock in a $7.5MM salary next year.

The Phils and Strahm agreed to an extension in March of 2024. He was already under contract for the 2024 season, with the new pact adding a $7.5MM salary for 2025. It also included a club option for 2026 with a $4.5MM base salary. Strahm could increase the value of that option by $1MM by getting to 40 innings pitched in 2025, then another $1MM for 50 innings. If he got to 60 innings, it would bump by another $1MM to $7.5MM. It would also become guaranteed, as long as he passed an end-of-season physical.

Strahm went on to toss 62 1/3 innings for the Phils this year, allowing 2.74 earned runs per nine. He struck out 27.3% of batters faced while only giving out walks at a 7.8% pace. He recorded six saves and 22 holds, his fourth straight season getting to double digits in the latter category.

Given his solid production, the Phils were probably going to trigger Strahm’s option regardless, but he has now made it official. He’ll return to the club next year and should serve as a key lefty reliever in the Philadelphia pen once more.

As for the other lefties in the bullpen, the Phils will face a decision on José Alvarado, who can be brought back for next year via a $9MM club option or be bought out for $500K. He had a solid performance when on the mound this year, with a 3.81 ERA, 28.1% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 45.8% ground ball rate. However, he was limited to 26 innings due to an 80-game PED suspension and a September forearm strain. Tanner Banks had a 3.07 ERA this year and can be retained for next year via arbitration. Tim Mayza is an impending free agent.

Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images

Will Smith, Justin Dean Make Dodgers’ Wild Card Roster; Michael Conforto Left Off

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Catcher Will Smith and outfielder Justin Dean are on the Dodgers’ Wild Card roster for their series against Cincinnati. Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reported Smith is expected to be used as a pinch-hitter off the bench. Notable absences from Los Angeles’ 26-man squad include outfielder Michael Conforto and lefty reliever Anthony Banda. Clayton Kershaw will also be watching the Wild Card series from the sidelines.

Smith was placed on the injured list in early September after taking a foul ball off the hand. Follow-up testing revealed a hairline fracture that ultimately kept him out of game action for the rest of the regular season. Manager Dave Roberts said Smith would take live at-bats this week to determine his availability for the postseason. Apparently, Smith showed he was capable of contributing in the Wild Card round, at least as a hitter. The Dodgers are also carrying catchers Ben Rortvedt and Dalton Rushing.

Having Smith’s bat in the mix, even as just a pinch-hitter, should be a big boost for the Dodgers. The 30-year-old backstop put together a career year at the plate, slashing .296/.404/.497 with a 153 wRC+. Smith was hitting over .300 beyond the All-Star break until a sluggish August brought down his numbers. Rortvedt is a glove-first option, and Rushing hasn’t lived up to his prospect pedigree as a rookie, so both could cede at-bats to Smith if they come up in a big spot. It’s unclear when Smith will be able to return to the lineup in a defensive capacity.

Conforto put together a solid September to make a late bid for the Wild Card roster, but came up short. He finished the regular season with a .199 batting average and just 12 home runs. Conforto put together a strong season in San Francisco last year, earning him a 1-year, $17MM deal to stay in California with the rival Dodgers. He was signed to provide a left-handed complement to LA’s righty-heavy outfield group, but fell well short of expectations.

The Dodgers opted for a more dynamic player in their final outfield spot, with Dean making the team. The 28-year-old spent seven seasons in Atlanta’s minor league system before joining Los Angeles via minor league free agency. He made 18 appearances with the big-league club, all of which came as a pinch runner or defensive sub. Dean went 1-for-1 as a base stealer and showed plenty of prowess swiping bags in the minors. He’s posted three separate minor league seasons with 35+ steals, including a career-high 61 swipes across two levels in 2024.

Kershaw is the most prominent name to be left of the Dodgers’ Wild Card roster, but another lefty might be the biggest snub. Banda was a solid contributor in LA’s bullpen for a second consecutive year. He finished the regular season with a 3.18 ERA across a career-high 71 appearances. The Dodgers have coaxed an extra tick on the fastball out of Banda, and the results have been the best of his tumultuous MLB career. Banda’s handedness seems to be the main culprit for his exclusion from the roster. The Dodgers will carry four lefty relievers in the first round, with closer Tanner Scott joined by Jack Dreyer, Alex Vesia, and Justin Wrobleski. The bullpen has been a frequent talking point this season after the unit finished with an ugly 4.27 ERA.

One new face among the LA relievers will be Roki Sasaki. The right-hander rejoined the team last week after missing four months with a shoulder injury. He transitioned to a bullpen role near the end of his rehab assignment and made a pair of effective relief appearances following his return to the MLB squad. Sasaki’s fastball velocity was up considerably in his two relief outings. After sitting at 94.8 mph in his final start back in May, he averaged over 99 mph out of the ’pen. Sasaki could be a real weapon in shorter stints this postseason.

Marlins Could Be Active In Bullpen Market This Offseason

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The Marlins’ 2025 season marked a step forward. The rebuilding Miami club finished just four games under .500, thanks largely to a 56-50 record from June 1 onward. The Fish went 14-11 in September and won 13 of their final 17 contests. A fair portion of those wins came against last-place teams in Washington and Colorado, but Miami also won series against the Tigers and Mets, swept the Rangers and won a pair of games against the Phillies during that blistering finish.

With those improvements fresh in mind, they’re expected to be more active in free agency than in recent offseasons, per Craig Mish of FanDuel Sports Network Florida & Sun (video link). Specifically, Mish highlights the bullpen as a likely area of focus, noting that the Marlins seem poised to target late-inning arms with closing experience and/or left-handed relievers.

The Miami bullpen was a below-average unit in 2025, ranking 22nd in the majors with a 4.28 ERA on the whole. Marlins relievers ranked 24th in strikeout rate (21.2%) and 18th in walk rate (9.3%). Only six teams saw their bullpens give up more home runs per nine innings pitched than Miami.

That’s not to suggest that there were no bright spots. Waiver claim Ronny Henriquez was outstanding in his first full season in the majors (2.22 ERA, 32.3 K%, 73 innings), and other low-cost pickups like Lake Bachar, Calvin Faucher, Anthony Bender and Tyler Phillips all pitched well, too. Homegrown lefty Cade Gibson had a nice rookie showing as well, but other Marlins draftees/signees like George Soriano and Josh Simpson struggled.

Relief pitching is the most volatile commodity in the game, and it should be noted that the vast majority of the Marlins’ success stories in relief this year carried rate stats that were less encouraging than their earned run averages. Bender, Gibson and Phillips all had well below-average strikeout rates. Bachar, Bender, Gibson and Faucher all had walk rates that were worse than the league average.  Gibson (.260), Phillips (.253), Bachar (.250) and especially Bender (.213) each benefited from BABIP marks that were well shy of the league-average .289.

The extent to which Marlins ownership will allow president of baseball ops Peter Bendix and his staff to spend is an open question, but it’s worth noting that Miami’s payroll is exceptionally clean. Sandy Alcantara is the only player with a guaranteed salary for the 2026 season ($17MM). They still owe the since-released Avisail Garcia the $5MM buyout on his 2026 option and owe the Yankees $10MM as part of the Giancarlo Stanton trade, but those are their only notable expenditures.

The Marlins also have a small arbitration class featuring Bender, Faucher, Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett, Ryan Weathers, Max Meyer and Andrew Nardi. Each of Faucher, Weathers, Meyer and Nardi is eligible for the first time, meaning their salaries will be small. Bender, Garrett and Cabrera all earned under $2MM in 2025.

Suffice it to say, there’s ample room for the Fish to spend on some bullpen help if the market presents offers to their liking. That could include buy-low opportunities for star relievers like Devin Williams and Ryan Helsley, or short-term deals for older veterans like Raisel Iglesias and Kenley Jansen. It’s not likely that they’d shell out the money needed to sign a prime-aged reliever who’ll command a notable multi-year deal (e.g. Edwin Diaz, Luke Weaver), but they’ll have plenty of opportunities to consider both in free agency and potentially via trade, where names like Pete Fairbanks, JoJo Romero and Dennis Santana will be among the potentially available names.

Report: NPB’s Hanshin Tigers Considering Potential Posting Of Hiroto Saiki

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The Hanshin Tigers of Nippon Professional Baseball are weighing whether to make their ace, Hiroto Saiki, available to MLB teams via the posting system, according to a Japanese-language report from Yahoo! Japan. The report notes that the 26-year-old Saiki (27 in November) has previously expressed a desire to pitch in MLB by his late 20s. The Tigers have not made any announcements, and it is not guaranteed that a posting — even if one does eventually occur — would happen this offseason.

NPB players do not qualify for international free agency until they’ve reached nine years of service time. (They can reach domestic free agency and sign with a different NPB team after eight years.) In order to make the move to MLB before reaching the nine-year service mark, players require their NPB team to make them available through the posting system. That ensures the NPB club financial compensation tied to the player’s MLB contract. The Japanese team needs to weigh that against the roster hit that comes with losing the player.

Saiki has pitched in parts of seven NPB seasons but wasn’t fully established at the top level until 2023. He’s reportedly still four years away from international free agent eligibility. The Tigers could wait another offseason or two to post him. Different NPB teams have varying levels of willingness to honor players’ posting interest. Some teams more highly value the reputational boost that could come with that.

There’s also a financial benefit to posting a star player while he’s in his mid-late 20s. They’re likelier to command a long-term deal with a larger guarantee that raises the proportional fee that the MLB signing team owes to the NPB club. The posting fee is calculated as 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM, and 15% of spending above $50MM. Saiki is old enough (older than 24) and has enough professional experience that his contract would not be capped by MLB’s amateur bonus pool restrictions the way that Roki Sasaki’s was last winter.

Saiki, a 6’2″ right-hander, is coming off his third consecutive season with a sub-2.00 earned run average in Japan’s extremely pitcher-friendly league. He tallied 157 innings of 1.55 ERA ball across 24 starts. That run prevention isn’t matched by huge swing-and-miss stuff. Saiki’s 19.2% strikeout rate is an almost exact match for the Central League average and a few points below the typical MLB mark. Former big league depth pitchers Jon Duplantier (1.39 ERA, 32.4% strikeout rate) and Anthony Kay (1.76 ERA, 21.5% strikeout rate) have posted similar or stronger rate metrics to those that Saiki has turned in this season.

Still, that doesn’t mean Saiki wouldn’t draw plenty of attention from MLB evaluators if he were available within the next year or two. He faced the Dodgers in an exhibition start at the Tokyo Dome in mid-March. Saiki fired five scoreless innings of one-hit ball while recording seven punchouts (including fanning Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernández and Freddie Freeman). His fastball sat in the low-to-mid 90s and he showed a swing-and-miss splitter that landed around 85 mph. Saiki’s mid-70s curveball was a clear third pitch. After the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts opined that the righty showed “major league stuff” (via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic).

Regardless of Hanshin’s decision on Saiki, there’ll be a few intriguing NPB players who make the jump this offseason. Slugging corner infielder Munetaka Murakami and back-end starter Kona Takahashi will be posted. It’s expected that infielder Kazuma Okamoto and right-hander Tatsuya Imai could also be available. NPB teams generally don’t make postings official until early December, so it’s possible there’ll be a few other candidates who emerge over the next couple months.

Guardians Promote Chase DeLauter For Wild Card Series

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The Guardians are carrying top outfield prospect Chase DeLauter on their Wild Card series roster against the Tigers, the team announced. Zack Meisel of The Athletic first reported yesterday that the Guardians were considering that possibility. Guardians Prospective reported overnight that DeLauter would indeed be on the roster. Cleveland already had an opening on the 40-man roster, so they didn’t need to make another move to select the former first-rounder’s contract.

If he gets into a game, it’ll be the 23-year-old’s first MLB action. It’s rare but not entirely unheard of for top prospects to get a postseason roster spot before making their regular season major league debut. The Twins went that route with Alex Kirilloff in 2020, while the Royals had Adalberto Mondesi make his first appearance during the 2015 World Series. DeLauter is not in the starting lineup for this afternoon’s Game 1. Cleveland is going with Steven Kwan, Angel Martínez and Johnathan Rodriguez in the outfield against Tarik Skubal.

It’s certainly feasible that DeLauter finds his way into a game, of course, be it in the later innings this afternoon or tomorrow, when Detroit sends righty Jack Flaherty or Casey Mize to the mound. The lefty-swinging DeLauter is on the bench at least in part due to the presence of a southpaw on the mound. DeLauter posted much better numbers versus lefies than righties in a small sample during an injury-shortened 2025 season, but he’s historically been better against righties. Beyond that, left-handed batters have slashed a putrid .214/.235/.269 against Skubal in 2025.

DeLauter, the Guardians’ first round pick out of James Madison University in 2022, opened the season on the shelf after undergoing sports hernia surgery and was sidelined for two months later in the season after suffering a hamate fracture when he was hit by a pitch. That pair of health troubles limited him to just 42 games and 177 plate appearances, but the touted young outfielder lived up to his reputation when on the field, slashing .278/.383/.476 in Triple-A. DeLauter is a career .302/.384/.504 hitter in the minors since being selected 16th overall in 2022.

While DeLauter won’t gain any big league service time for days spent on the postseason roster, his ascension to the 40-man roster and the fact that the organization is entrusting him with a spot on the playoff roster is a clear sign that he’ll be in the mix for an Opening Day roster spot next year

Kwan is locked in as Cleveland’s left fielder, but other two outfield spots are far less certain. DeLauter has more than 300 professional innings in center and over 600 innings in right field. He’ll be an option in either spot, depending on other moves the front office makes over the winter. The Guardians can control DeLauter through at least the 2031 season, and assuming he breaks camp with the club in ’26, he can gain the Guardians a future draft pick depending on award voting during his pre-arbitration seasons.

That’s a matter for another day, though. For the time being, the focus for DeLauter and the organization will be on advancing as deep into the playoffs as possible. Cleveland just wrapped up one of the most stunning late-season comebacks in modern baseball history, erasing a 9.5-game deficit over the final two and a half weeks of the season, usurping the Tigers as division champions in the American League Central.

The Opener: Wild Card Series, DeLauter, Bloom

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Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:

1. Wild Card Series to begin:

Each of the four Wild Card matchups are scheduled to have their first game today. Things will kick off in Cleveland with Gavin Williams on the bump for the Guardians. He’ll be facing Tigers ace Tarik Skubal. The reigning AL Cy Young winner will be looking to redeem Detroit after their shocking slump, paired with Cleveland’s surge, caused the Tigers to fall out of the top spot in the AL Central. Two hours after first pitch in Ohio, the NL’s first game will start with Nick Pivetta on the mound for the Padres at Wrigley Field, where the Cubs and Matthew Boyd will be looking to secure the franchise’s first win in a playoff game since 2017. Three hours later, attention will turn to the east coast, where one of baseball’s most storied rivalries will add a new chapter when Garrett Crochet and the Red Sox take the mound in the Bronx against Max Fried and the Yankees. That battle of aces will be followed by another on the other side of the country, when the Reds and right-hander Hunter Greene visit the reigning champion Dodgers, who send southpaw Blake Snell to the mound for Game 1.

2. A potential MLB debut in the postseason?

Guardians outfield prospect Chase DeLauter has not yet appeared in an MLB game. That might change this week, as Zack Meisel of The Athletic writes that DeLauter is on the club’s taxi squad and participated in Cleveland’s workouts at Progressive Field yesterday. That leaves him at least potentially in the conversation to make the roster, and as a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport who hit .278/.383/.476 at Triple-A this year, it’s not hard to see why a Guardians team light on offense might be interested in seeing if the 23-year-old can provide a spark. Daniel Schneemann, George Valera, Johnathan Rodriguez, and Angel Martinez are all presently mixing and matching in the Guardians outfield alongside Steven Kwan, so there’s plenty of flexibility to fit DeLauter into the mix if the club so desires.

3. Bloom to be formally introduced:

In news not related to the postseason, the Cardinals are set to hold a press conference at 10am local time where, as relayed by Katie Woo of The Athletic, owner Bill DeWitt Jr. will introduce Chaim Bloom as the club’s new president of baseball operations. Both DeWitt and Bloom will discuss the future direction of the Cardinals. Bloom has already been in the Cardinals organization for a couple years, having joined the club as an advisor to the front office in 2023 before it was announced late last year that Bloom would be taking over for longtime baseball operations president John Mozeliak following the 2025 season. Now that Mozeliak has stepped aside, Bloom will now fully step into his new role and fans in St. Louis will have the opportunity to hear more of what this changing of the guard means for the franchise.

Torey Lovullo Will Return As D-Backs’ Manager In 2026

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The Diamondbacks are bringing back manager Torey Lovullo for what’ll be his 10th season, as first reported by Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic. Lovullo was already under contract for one more year after signing an extension shortly after the team won the National League pennant in 2023.

While the Diamondbacks aren’t making a managerial change, it seems they’ll keep Lovullo in a lame duck setup. John Gambadoro of 98.7 FM reports that the 60-year-old Lovullo is not expected to sign an extension this offseason. Teams generally shy away from having managers and top front office personnel on expiring deals, but it seems leadership in Arizona is content with that arrangement heading into 2026.

The D-Backs have come up short of the playoffs in each of the two seasons following their league championship. Last year’s team won 89 games and finished on the outside on the final day of the season. They backed up to an 80-82 finish that placed fourth in the NL West this year. The Mets’ collapse helped keep the Diamondbacks mathematically alive into the final weekend, but they finished with their first losing season since 2022.

They’ve dramatically ramped up spending in each of the last two winters. They’ve focused most of their free agent activity on the rotation. None of the deals for Corbin Burnes, Eduardo Rodriguez or Jordan Montgomery have worked out. All three pitchers have been some combination of ineffective or injured. The Snakes signed each of Ketel Marte, Brandon Pfaadt, Geraldo Perdomo and Justin Martinez to extensions last winter.

With all that mind, owner Ken Kendrick told Gambadoro on Sunday that he’d “never been more disappointed in a season than this one because (their) expectations were so high.” Kendrick expanded on that comment during an appearance on the Burns & Gambo show this afternoon, saying it’s rooted largely in the injuries that wrecked the pitching staff. Losing Burnes to Tommy John surgery was the biggest blow, but the Snakes were also left with a patchwork bullpen for four-plus months by season-ending injuries to Martinez and A.J. Puk.

The Diamondbacks sold impending free agents Merrill Kelly, Eugenio Suárez, Josh Naylor, Shelby Miller and Randal Grichuk at the deadline. It’s to their credit that they didn’t phone in their last two months. The Snakes went 29-24 after the deadline. It ended in disappointing fashion with a five-game losing streak, but they improbably remained on the postseason periphery with a bullpen comprising mostly rookies or journeymen depth pickups.

Lovullo came under some fire in the middle of August when reports emerged that some players were frustrated with Marte for taking too many games off. The manager defended his star second baseman, who subsequently apologized for missing the first few games of the second half after returning to the Dominican Republic following the All-Star Break. Marte later said he was upset upon learning that his home in Arizona had been burglarized while he was attending the All-Star festivities. D-Backs’ ownership and the front office are evidently confident that Lovullo handled the situation well enough to not lose the clubhouse.

General manager Mike Hazen is also headed into his tenth season. Lovullo had worked with Hazen with the Red Sox and followed him to the desert not long after the GM’s hiring. The D-Backs have made two postseason berths in their nine seasons. They won 93 games and were bounced in the Division Series in 2017. The ’23 NL championship season is their only other playoff berth during that stretch. The D-Backs have a .490 regular season win percentage under Lovullo.

Francisco Alvarez To Undergo Thumb Surgery In Coming Days

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Francisco Alvarez has been known to be dealing with an thumb injury over the final six weeks of the season that he was capable of playing through but would eventually require him to go under the knife. That eventuality has now arrived, as Anthony DiComo of MLB.com relayed today that Alvarez is set to have surgery to repair the UCL in his right thumb “in the coming days.” 

An exact timeline for Alvarez’s return to regular baseball activities won’t be known until he undergoes the procedure, but the surgery should not be expected to impact his 2026 campaign. The typical timeline for recovery from the procedure is between six and seven weeks; Mike Trout famously underwent the procedure back in early June of 2017 and was back in the lineup when the Angels returned from the All-Star break. A similar timeline would put Alvarez in line to return to his regular offseason activities before the new year, assuming no setbacks.

Once he’s recovered from the procedure, Alvarez will prepare for a 2026 season where he’ll look to build on a brilliant second-half performance. After scuffling badly throughout the first half of the season, Alvarez was optioned to Triple-A in late June. Since being recalled near the end of July, however, he’s been one of the better hitters in baseball with an incredible .276/.360/.561 slash line. That tear came across a sample size of just 41 games and 139 plate appearances, but the hot stretch still inspires some confidence in the longtime top prospect’s bat after his first two years in the big leagues saw him post results that generally hovered around league average.

Once a consensus top-10 prospect in the sport and still just 23 years old, there’s plenty of reason for optimism about Alvarez’s future even as he receives mixed grades for his work behind the plate and has not yet found consistency with the bat. In both areas, Alvarez has shown flashes of greatness at times, such as his aforementioned hot streak in the second half of this year at the plate and his phenomenal defensive numbers in 108 games behind the plate back in 2023. If the youngster manages to find the consistency necessary to offer even a facsimile of that production over a full season, he’ll be on the shortlist for the very best catchers in baseball.

That would surely be a welcome development for the Mets, who relied on the well-regarded defender Luis Torrens behind the plate when Alvarez was in the minors or injured this year. Strong as Torrens is with the glove, he hit just .226/.284/.345 in 92 games this year. That won’t cut it for a primary catcher, especially for a team that figures to risk losing star slugger Pete Alonso in free agency this winter after his recent announcement that he’ll be opting out of his contract this November. Alvarez figures to be a core piece of the club as they look to get back into the postseason next year, and if all goes well it’s not impossible to imagine him joining Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto as a middle-of-the-order threat for the Mets next year.

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