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.
Source on that? Sox Prospects has him as a July 2019 signee. That absolutely would’ve been Dave’s front office.
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.
Mostly true. He did make a few important moves outside of the draft though.
Trading for Pivetta, trading for Schwarber, taking Whitlock in the Rule 5, trading for Wilyer, and signing Story were all moves that played an important role in 2021’s postseason run and 2025’s return to the postseason.
I still think he was mostly an unmitigated disaster and they were right to fire him, but credit where credit is due for those moves.
Dirty – Agreed, even the worst POBO’s get it right sometimes.
Schreiber, Martin, Kenley and Wacha were also good moves.
As great a season Story has had, overall that contract was still a huge mistake. Can’t count that signing as a win when it was a big loss the past 3 years.
Agreed on Story. I have always been extremely vocal about my preference having been to keep Xander. Had they not screwed around with his opt out and free agency situation they could’ve kept him for something around 6 years in the $140-160 million range which would’ve been a perfectly reasonable contract. They were smart not to try and top the insane offer SD gave him but it was 100% their fault they even had the chance to give it to him to begin with.
But it has been nice to finally get a full, productive year from Trevor. I know he’s been as unhappy about his unavailability as anyone, so it’s not like he’s a Rendon who is content to just cash checks and do absolutely nothing. So I am happy for him that he’s finally had a nice year in Boston.
Dirty – I totally agree.
Sale was in virtually an identical situation as Story. He was very unhappy about all the time he missed and wanted to remind Red Sox fans how good he is when healthy. It’s unfortunate he never got that chance because of the trade.
Say what you will about bloom, I’d be willing to bet he would have got more for devers than a bag of magic beans and Dustin may lol
Pete – For sure!
Bloom wouldn’t have made a Revenge Trade like Breslow did.
Look how bad it’s been.
Hicks – Awful
May – Awful
Harrison – Awful
And I can’t wait to see how Breslow spends the remainder of the “Raffy Savings”. He’s probably already got his list of free agent pitchers with a 5+ ERA coming off TJS.
Just a minor clarification but May came over at the deadline from the Dodgers, not part of Devers deal.
For James Tibbs who was a key piece of the devers deal. I know how it happened dude
Tibbs is so low key. Giants got fleeced….
Ha ha. 135 wRC+. Yeah mate. They got fleeced.
Doubtful
Based on what? A bag of magic beans would’ve been an upgrade over what he got for Mookie Betts.
While obviously the betts trade worked out very poorly with the benefit of hindsight, based on the information available at the time, the red Sox got a top 50 overall prospect in jeter downs (yes I know he busted), 4 years of control on alex Verdugo, coming off a strong season and Wong as a lottery ticket 3rd prospect. As well as shedding half of the money they owed David price, for a star they had determined they.would not be able to extend.
Now compare this to the current value return on the devers trade. Tibbs, while not without prospect pedigree, is not nearly.as well regarded as downs was at the time and they made a baffling decision to flip him for a mediocre at best rental pitcher at the deadline. And that’s arguably the best prospect they got. Then you have jordan hicks and his money, when it’s rather easy to envision the Sox could have gotten a better relief arm at the deadline, an obscure teenaged lottery ticket pitching prospect and Kyle Harrison who hasn’t been able to establish himself in mlb pitching in sf for the better part of two seasons. For a homegrown star they actually did extend only to destroy the working relationship due to preventable mistakes in managerial approach.
As poorly as the betts trade worked out, one can at least see a somewhat defensible approach to targeting real upside in the return on blooms part after having been put in a difficult position by ownership to move betts come hell or high water. The devers trade was as lazy and ham fisted as any I’ve seen and imo grows from the same ownership dysfunction that gave you the betts deal, only worse.
If he did his JOB so well then why isn’t he with the Redsox anymore? Bottom line he crapped the bed. And btw he wasn’t responsible for drafting those players. It was the director of amateur scouting
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.
Excellent breakdown. Yes I hadn’t considered the Bregman decision to cause waves of uncertainty with the rest of the roster. Absolutely true that one thing could lead to another, which affects other positions.
Gary – Management has said they will try to win in 2026, when have they ever lied? Okay you got me there, but still ….
Even if Bregman stays (hopefully not) and Story stays (hopefully so) you’ve still got 4 OF’ers who need to play nearly every day, none of which should become a fulltime DH. So a trade needs to be made.
Who plays first base? The hope is KC or Casas, but who knows what their status will be next spring.
The team needs power, signing a guy like Suarez would be a perfect fit.
And how about trading for Skubal? You don’t think him and Crochet could form the best 1-2 in MLB? I think if the Tigers have a quick postseason exit there’s a decent chance they trade him.
Regardless, the chance of a big jump next year is high if they can get full healthy seasons from Roman, Marcelo, Casas, Early, etc.
Roman alone could provide 10 wins since he won’t be having his service time manipulated anymore. Just imagine, the Sox would have won the division if he hadn’t been kept down for nearly half a season.
So fever with all this youth in place and the Sox perhaps a little heavy in some positions, you’re saying they could parlay a couple youngsters and form a package to bring in a stud or maybe even two ? Yep sounds good to me.
Gary – Yeah I think a package of Tolle, Garcia, Abreu or Rafaela, and 1 or 2 of Dobbins and Fitts could get it done. I’d consider subbing Arias too if necessary.
Skubal has one year remaining on his contract, he’s not gonna get a massive haul.
You guys want to trade all of that for one year of Skubal ??
Serious? He wouldn’t?
Tigers will not trade Skubal, especially after a 2nd cy young
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.
Been fun—pretty sure those contracts all ending in 2026 is by design with the economic future of baseball in the balance starting in 2027.
Very little on the books for the Cubs post 2026. That will open back up once the hopefully new structure presents itself in 27 or 28 or whenever.
But the Cubs need to be one of those franchises that compete year after year, getting into the playoffs every 7 out of 10 years or so. They have the fanbase and revenue streams to support that kind of perennial winner. There should be no fallow period of multiple years after what just happened in 2025. That would truly be a shame.
Completely agree with you, ISOAB. Cubs should be entering every season with a pragmatic expectation to contend in the post-season. Unfortunately, we both know this ownership group (like so many others) will find any excuse they can to run operations with a light payroll and one absent any kind of long-term commitment to a top-tier player(s). And with all of the youngsters ready to start showing what they can do full time at the major league level, I’m expecting the Ricketts to use that as an excuse to pass on Tucker or any other kind of top-tier free agent. They’ll keep signing the third or fourth best free agent options at positions of need.
I think the only reason they even went after Tucker in the first place is because they had a bunch of pieces with no place on the board that they were able to entice Houston to take in trade. Paredes wasn’t of use to the Cubs with Shaw coming up, they’d given up on Wesniewski and would’ve DFA’d him were he still around in 2025, and with all the outfielders waiting to move up to the majors, they figured Cam would make an outfield crowd a little less crowded.
P.S. Cubs win! Go, Cubs, Go!
Some fun matchups today I look forward to Hunter Greene shutting down the dodgers
Boy was I wrong. Teo and Ohtani came to play. Oh well that’s why you play the games congrats 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.
If he gets them a good farm system then gets moved along for someone to take the team to the next level, then fine.
Minor detail but David Price was also included in that trade as a salary dump. He was owed $96M and the Red Sox sent half that money to the Dodgers. Price did sit out the 2020 season but he didn’t give the Dodgers much value afterwards.
These pitching matchups today are fire. All across the board, the highest ERA is like 3.27 or something.
Links to the wrong Ángel Martínez.
Hopefully Bloom’s first role of business is to announce that Marmol is not coming back.
CuddyFox —- Cardinals Nation agrees with you!!!! If there is going to be a “reset” or “rebuild” —— it’s only “Common Sense” to dump the manager who has been “The Center of Turmoil” ever since he took over for the Cardinals!!!
Yes — his first year was a winning season, but those were Mike Schildt’s players and they were basically still playing under Schildt guidelines. They did make the play-offs.
However —- Marmol used his own philosophy in the playoffs!!!!
That was embarrassing and sickening how he handled his players in an “Extremely Quick Exit”!!! In a minimal amount of time!!
Marmol doesn’t use good common sense, nor does he use any tact when he throws his players under the bus to the Media before he attempt to solve their differences in privacy before he throws it to the Public!!!
How can Chase DeLauter make his debut if he wasn’t on the 40 man before September 1st?
Corrosive, he only needs to be in the organization, the 40 man is not relevent.
Bloom’s draft strategy in Boston was “We only draft guys who can hit!” He only took like 3 or 4 pitchers total in 5 years.
Meanwhile, every other team’s strategy was to draft guys who could hit, and field, and run the bases.
Not holding my breath in St Louis. I feel bad for the Cardinals until proven otherwise….
Troy – It was Bloom’s first gig as head of baseball ops, he was bound to experience growing pains. If he learned from the experience, he should improve. Not too many HOF front office guys started off great, no different than managers who struggled early and then became HOF’ers (Torre, Tito, etc).
Bloom’s draft strategy in Boston was “We only draft guys who can hit!”
=================≈======
Not true. In Bloom’s drafts:
2020: 2 of 4 picks were pitchers and 12 of 16 undrafted players signed were pitchers
2021: 8 of 20 picks were pitchers and 1 of 2 undrafted players signed were pitchers
2022: 13 of 21 picks were pitchers and 0 of 2 undrafted players signed were pitchers
2023: 12 of 22 picks were pitchers and 1 of 2 undrafted players signed were pitchers
Don;t let players become FA’s untill they’re 30. Pay the younger players less than their worth. don’t trade prospects for established players. It’s entertainment after all. Making money is so more important than winning anything.. When the people stop showing up. then the owners will change their tune.
Hearing the Dodgers talk about saving Ohtani makes me want them to lose even more.
Phillies/Mariners Phillies in 6
Bloom will be in much better shape because he won’t have Cora backstabbing him at every turn
Indians, Yankees, Padres, Dodgers, Play Ball
Well, tonight with the pitching matchups in the yanks and Sox game we’ll test if that playoff experience is as much a factor as the talking heads make it out to be.
There don’t (yet) seem to be posts on the announced playoff rosters, so here’s a note.
For the Dodgers (I think)
On: Smith, Justin Dean
Off: Conforto, Banda, Kershaw, Knack
Banda is the biggest surprise, I think, he has been effective for the last couple of months.
Great start to the playoffs. Love a good ol’ nail-biter….
Marmol is coming back. Bloom is el stupido
Well, that was a typical Cubs win. Solid starting pitching, stellar bullpen relief, a spurt of offense, and some excellent defense. Only thing missing was a couple stolen bases by the Cubs and Boyd picking off a Padres baserunner.
Go, Cubs, Go!
@Razor Ramon I know your weak a** muted me but how about Hunter Greene?