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.
Are all the red Sox’s young prospects and graduated prospects products of blooms drafting. Specifically Roman Anthony, Kristen camble, Rafaela, Jaren Duran, the password? I’m asking because all I see here is hate for bloom but he seems to have left the Sox’s farm system pretty well stocked. What am I missing here?
chapo – No, I did a complete breakdown recently …. Rafaela and Duran and Password were Dombrowski,
Yes Bloom gets credit for Roman and Kristian (I don’t think he’d appreciate being called Kristen LOL).
Bloom was great at drafting, but not as a GM. Same way an excellent OC in football may suck as a head coach
chuck – Keep in mind the farm system was the team’s top priority. Bloom had high draft picks because his teams sucked. He traded MLB talent for prospects. He was awarded draft picks for losing good free agents. He avoided losing draft picks by not signing free agents. And he retained international pool money by staying under the CBT threshold and not signing free agents that declined QO’s.
So he was good at developing the farm, but not great.
Password Garcia was NOT a Dombrowski guy. he as signed in 2020.
Not sure if this is right, but I believe that’s ALL he did. He filled the coffers, but didn’t help the big league team win at all.
I think he was here five years and three of those we finished last.
Gary – You are 100% correct!
Actually he was here 4 years and finished last 3 of those 4 years.
Well, here we go. Let’s see if the Red Sox can get something done for a change.
Right now is the time because I think looking forward to a big jump next year is a mistake. Perhaps they add another starting pitcher like a number 3 guy and maybe another bat. But I don’t see the Red Sox doing anything of “major” significance in the off-season because they’re so loaded with youth right now.
So really this is it.
Sox have to make noise right now.
There is no savior next year in the form of a huge trade or signing.
I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the upcoming offseason. First there is the Bregman opt-out issue to resolve. Even assuming Bregman is with the team in ‘26, there remain at least two other major issues—1) a thumper who forces workarounds by opposing pitchers, someone who can be penciled in for 30+ homers, whether Schwarber, Alonso or someone else; 2) a reliable #2 starter, whether one of the free agents (Framber Valdez?), or a Ryan or another available arm (Alcantara?) via trade. That will mean parting with one of the outfielders most likely, which creates other needs. Anthony and Mayer and Casas will all hopefully return healthy, but one of Breslow’s tasks will be to build in redundancy to protect against the likely unpredictable injuries—something that he didn’t attend to last winter or this summer. I give him a pass, because what he did bring the team was magnificent (leadership via Bregman) and took some cojones—dealing two great prospects (plus two other ok prospects) for Crochet, who lifted the team on his broad shoulders to the playoffs. Anthony and Mayer, in addition to Bregman, should have been add-ons to Devers, rather than replacements. Thus the need for a bopper.
Hoping for the best for these Cubs. Like many teams, they’re limping into the post-season, but their typically streaky offense seems to have come to life again.
This’ll probably be their best shot for the next few years. Tucker, Happ, and Suzuki all likely to be gone by end of season 2026 (if not sooner), replaced by Alcantara and Caissie. Plus Ballesteros at catcher/DH. Swanson likely to be traded not long after. Ownership will sell it as a youth movement, but mostly they just want to go the cheap route and they’ll use the Tucker trade as cover, saying, “Hey, see? We tried to Go Big in 2025.”
And if all that comes true, I really can’t be disappointed. They *did* go big in 2025, which isn’t something they’ve done much in my lifetime. And, also, I am pretty excited to see the Cubs youth movement these next few years.
So, this is the year we need good things to happen! It’s been a very fun season to watch the Cubs- and that’s not something I’ve often been able to say- but I definitely want more.
Some fun matchups today I look forward to Hunter Greene shutting down the dodgers
Bloom is good at drafting but he will forever be hated for the Betts trade in Boston got nothing for 1 of the best players in MLB so the Cardinals win not win anything but have a good farm system.