Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. ALCS continues in Seattle:
The ALCS is set to resume today after the two clubs traveled to Seattle yesterday. The Mariners will be looking to win a third straight game, while the Blue Jays will be hoping to get themselves back into the series with a win of their own. Right-hander George Kirby (4.21 ERA) is on the mound for Seattle opposite righty Shane Bieber (3.57 ERA). Bieber struggled in his lone start of the ALDS against the Yankees, where he surrendered three runs (two earned) in 2 2/3 innings of work. Kirby, meanwhile, struck out 14 Tigers in ten innings of three-run ball across two starts for Seattle in the ALDS. Tonight’s game is scheduled to begin at 5:08pm local time.
2. Could more pending free agents re-sign?
The Guardians and longtime backup catcher Austin Hedges worked out a one-year, $4MM contract for the 2026 season yesterday that will allow Hedges to avoid free agency. It’s typically fairly uncommon for players this close to free agency to decide to re-up with their current club without testing the open market, but it’s certainly not completely unheard of. Pending free agents won’t be able to negotiate with clubs besides their current team until five days after the World Series concludes. Could any other teams and players make use of the exclusive negotiation window the next couple of weeks provide in order to get a deal done, as the Royals and right-hander Michael Wacha did last year?
3. Cubs end-of-season press conference:
The Cubs were the last team to be knocked out of the playoffs before the LCS began, as they fell to the Brewers in Game 5 of the NLDS on Saturday. Now that the loss is a few days in the past, however, the club is starting to gear up for the coming offseason. That will begin with a press conference held by president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, which Patrick Mooney of The Athletic notes is scheduled for later today. Coming off their first full-season playoff berth since 2018, the Cubs are in for a big offseason with star outfielder Kyle Tucker ticketed for free agency and a complicated option structure for 2024 All-Star Shota Imanaga looming. Will today’s presser provide any hints on their plans for the winter?
Dave Roberts (or the nerd with the spreadsheet in the front office) deciding to Dusty Baker the rotation is one of the better postseason strategies in recent memory. Props to Snell and Yamamoto for throwing gems. Two to go
He almost blew it until Muncie stopped him from crossing the line for a mound visit
Mariners/Dodgers would be the first west coast World Series since 1989 (Giants/A’s)
Wonder if they’ll time the games early locally in an attempt to get eastern viewership, or just roll with good local times and say goodbye to any viewership east of the rocky mountains.
2002 was a pacific time zone World Series, and I’m pretty sure all World Series games start at 5:08, no matter the teams
You’re right, I looked back through to find the last one and somehow missed that one.
@Canuckleball
They should start the game at 8:07 Pacific time. If you’re a diehard baseball fan, it won’t matter what time it is where you’re watching. If you’re the Fairweather fan, you didn’t have an interest in the first place and we don’t need you…
“Fairweather fan… we don’t need you…”
Pretty sure MLB and all the companies paying for ad time would respectfully disagree.
Pretty sure they want every set of eyeballs they can get.
@Canuckleball
In other words… MLB selling out to casual fans who don’t care about the sport.
It’s not selling out. It’s a business. They’re trying to maximize their revenues. Any good business would do the same.
“MLB selling out to casual fans who don’t care about the sport.”
Shut up
@Canuckleball
You can maximize profits and still be a sellout.
@JuanUribeJazzHands
Why?
@Old York: So kids who can’t stay up that late don’t deserve to watch? Those in Central and Eastern time zones who have to get up early for work are all “casual fans”?
What have you got against casual fans ? Why the all in or fark off attitude ?
How about this one. If you really cared about the game, you would be wanting as many casual fans (and non fans) as possible to be watching. You know, because you care about the game.
@NashvilleJeff
Priorities, Jeff. Is going to work really more important than watching the playoffs of your favorite sport?
Not for me York, but I’m retired. When I used to have to go in at 4 am I missed some Braves west coast games, although I never missed any playoff games. Anyway, just because a fan adheres to a disciplined sleep schedule it doesn’t make him a casual fan. Same w/kids. They usually don’t have a choice when it comes to bed times, lol. I used to have to sneak a transistor radio to bed to catch late Braves games when I was a kid. You know——-back in the Dark Ages of the late 60’s/early 70’s.
What about 8:06? 😄
@JMP 2
8:06:30 or we don’t play anymore and the Dodgers forfeit the game.
Don’t listen to old fart. He is a die hard Spankee fan that we all hate. He wants this to be a miserable WS for everyone. He doesn’t think it is a WS without the Spanktards. How could they possibly play it when they should be there?
I want to remind him this team he said can’t play D against a barn. They are doing to the Jays what the Jays did to them. MLB baseball would call the series 2 games against them.
I am being facetious I know we have to play and win game 4. As bad as you looked against the Yanks we are making them look worse. I know you will comeback with some obscure stat at how the M’s have no chance. Bad fielding or worse pitching. Games should start at 5:05 anyone still at worke needs to make a deal with their boss to get to a Tavern or someplace to watch the game. You will see the stands will be standing room only which they have been since mid Aug. except on mid week games. A few were sell outs but Fri Sat Sun only had ay to get a ticket was from scalpers or resellers.
“old fart…Spankee…Spanktards”
Muted
OY
“If you’re a diehard baseball fan, it won’t matter what time it is where you’re watching. If you’re the Fairweather fan, you didn’t have an interest in the first place and we don’t need you…”
Is that’s true, it’s not, of course, then they should start the games at the normal times for the Dodgers and Mariners, and the east coasters who are “diehard baseball fans” can figure out a way to watch.
Or, maybe, it’s not a test of who’s a “real fan” (anyone who says they are a real fan is a real fan) and it’s a just a business decision
@JuanUribeJazzHands
Sure, but it’s unfortunate that such a decision is being made.
As much as I hate to admit it I think resigning Geno will be a bad move. He showed he can’t get in Seattle. He can play D but in that case Williamson can come in and not hit but play good maybe better D for way less. Then you can move Colt into the spot and gain a bat. If we don’t sign (please baby Jesus sign) Naylor try Williamson at 1st. There are options out there that make the team better and it starts with Naylz.
I really love the self-contradiction of this comment
“They should start the game at…If you’re a diehard baseball fan, it won’t matter what time it is where you’re watching”
In case I need to spell it out, why “should” they start the game at any specific time if the time doesn’t matter to die hard fans?
I’m considering when they normally play weekday games in the evening. I haven’t seen too many 3am games in Los Angeles or 9am games in New York. Why is that?
Why are you considering it, if it doesn’t matter?
You’re contradicting yourself
That’s a good sign that you’re wrong
love it, that is perfect Idea.
Reward the PST fans, and all those in midwest and out East have to stay up late, for Every game.
Canuck – 80% of Americans live on the Eastern side of the US, and I’m guessing the East percentage is similar for Canada as well.
MLB will always time WS games for maximum Eastern ratings.
Besides, West Coasters typically don’t begin watching games until around the 3rd inning anyways. LOL
@Fever Pitch Guy
You Easterners breed like… Rabbits.
York – I think it’s more a case of Easterners not being brave enough to make the cross country drive, so we never migrated from the East Coast.
Except for Fred, Ethel, Ricky and Lucy.
Fever, I think a lot of us enjoy the lack of wildfires from forced building communities on chaparrals, having plenty of water, and living under somewhat less overbearing radical government.
I dont recall the last time east coasters were burning and looting their own communities or taking over city blocks of government seats with piles of tire and trash fires….
“I dont recall”
Noted
@JuanUribeJazzHands
That’s a great example of how lacking in maturity many humans are. When you take things out of context as some quote, you have already lost the debate. All you’re doing is trolling. Maybe take some time off living in your uncle’s closet and go visit outside.
Change your Depends and…
Muted stupid troll
GaSox – Yeah a few months ago I was talking to someone who moved from Cali and she said wildfires was the reason. It struck me as odd, but only because I’ve never experienced it. Not even including the danger of them, the insurance premiums in Cali are supposedly insanely high because of them.
Just thought of something ….. autonomous cars can’t be carjacked, right? I guess that’s one good thing about them.
@JuanUribeJazzHands
Hilarious. I call you out on what you are and you have a hissy fit. I think that’s a sign of some troubling mental health issues.
Fever – assuredly they can, just give it time. All you need is a wifi jammer or to disable the in-car uplink and hook up a laptop.
Remember oh, must’ve been about 10 years ago, when hackers gained access to chrysler/dodge products via the OTA system update module and took over the drive by wire functions of acceleration, braking, steering, etc?
Pretty sure they did it to a Chrysler, which used the same.dodge technology. Point was, they demonstrated capability to hack into the vehicle controls remotely and take over the car function.
GaSox – Michael Hastings? That was a Mercedes though, I don’t remember the Chrysler hacking.
I will never feel comfortable in any vehicle that can be controlled by someone not in the car.
EC Canucks will make it here. How do I know? Because most Vancouverites can’t cross the border. Drunk driving takes that privilege away.
I hope the Dodgers sweep. Sorry but I take losing hard. LOL Is Hoyer going to babble on and on and say nothing or will he tell the fans what their plan is? Can’t wait he said jokingly.
When the Brewers made the bush league move of flying that “L” flag I suddenly became a temporary Dodgers fan. They should fly that flag now..
Every Cub fan knows that that wasn’t a Cubs L flag. The Cubs L flag is a blue flag with a white L. Not sure what they were showing on the field in Milwaukee. They couldn’t even troll correctly.
To those that don’t know—there really is a Cubs L flag. The tradition goes back to the 1930s when the scoreboard was built the Cubs would fly the result of the game—White W flag or Blue L flag so that the local neighborhood residents could so, or more important those returning from work on the nearby “el” would get the result of the game.
rondon – I missed this, what does the L flag mean?
I hope the Brewers fly Front Row Amy out to LA for the next couple games.
This is the correct decision, rondon. It will be more fun watching the Dodgers lose in the World Series. Double the fun for us salty Cubs fans after the Brewers are dispatched.
His plan was to make the playoffs so he could get his extension. Now he got it so does he care? Sure, but he doesn’t have that sense of aggression he had prior to the extension. Ricketts wants to win through the draft. And we dont sign enough good pitchers or dont develop them.
How can the Cubs upper management give any insight to their off season plans when they have no idea what they’re going to do? Remember POBO Jed Hoyer knowing they weren’t resigning Tucker stating that “we’re all in this year” then at the trade deadline his big acquisitions were Castro and Soroka. His biggest move and the most important one to him was getting his own contract extension. He’ll always live in Theo Epsteins shadow while being ownerships puppet
Somebody ring?
Why do big pick ups have to be at the deadline? The Cubs made a lot of off season signings that got them to where they were.
Also, why did you leave out multiple deadline pickups?
Jed is that you? Where my dry cleaning
Yeah who could forget Reese McGuire- Reese Witherspoon’s cousin
Because you don’t make an all-in trade for Tucker and not double down on it. They were in desperate need of a solid starter and his answer was injured, ineffective Soroka. Heck, they needed another starter when they had Steele. Hoyer hasn’t got the nads (or the owner) to do what is required to win a WS.
I can’t even haunt Jed for the no starter at the deadline much as I like to complain about him. I mean Shota hadn’t imploded yet, Boyd hadn’t worn down yet and Horton was dialed in. I mean yeah it all turned to sand but it happened after the deadline. I’ve always said I would have no qualms about starting Taillon in a Playoff game and he was just fine and deserved a longer leash IMO but that’s just the way they play in the Playoffs now. They won both of his starts and Boyd was OK after he imploded in the first game he pitched. They might still be playing if Horton didn’t go down. Just wondering if they’re going to pick up Shota, turn him loose and try to negotiate a new deal or just move on and reinvest that money. Rea is a no brainer P?U And I’m kinda looking to see what the bullpen plan is other than wing it. At least they now have some in house options with Hodge, Palencia, Little, and Keller hopefully. Little made some good strides with his control like Palencia did and he’s kind of intimidating. Keller is a must get. Hodge , Keller and Palencia have closed games and Little was doing it in Iowa. Maybe they don;’t need a big time closer anymore but I wouldn’t say no if i could make a super pen, depends on where else they spend their money I guess.
Aloha uncle, I feel pitching is very important this off season. Both in trying to retain certain arms like Keller. Possibly Pomeranz if reasonable. But also a starter like a Cease, King or Bieber to name a few. So I hope the organization can come to grips with the Tucker rental season and let him go. Take the comp pick in next year’s draft and move on. They will have many options to get offensive help if needed and cheaper in the long run over Tuck. Take care now. Mahalo!
Asking prices for the few available pitching pieces were INSANE this year.
Part of the problem with the expanded playoffs means you’ve got to get used to the new normal – few high impact trades at the deadline, and what you do get, has at least tripled in prospect cost.
Yep, they could have traded for Charlie Morton. He was not only healthy, but he had playoff experience.
Ahh, yes, because the Brewers and Dodgers had such a successful trade deadline, bringing in (checks notes) Shelby Miller, Brandon Lockridge, Danny Jansen, the ghost of Jordan Montgomery, Brock Stewart and Alex Call.
The only team in the championship round that was considered a trade deadline “winner” is the Mariners. At the end of the day, if you’ve built a solid team, you just need your players to play and get hot at the right time.
Making light of the executive managerial acumen of the Brewers and Dodgers who (checks notes) are still playing playoff baseball on TBS while the Cubs (checks notes) are not.
I’m not making light of those teams or their organizations at all. Did you even read what I wrote? I’m commending them. I’m saying too much stock is put into “going all in” by fans, especially at the trade deadline. You don’t have to consistently sacrifice your organizational vision or resources to be competitive, nor should you.
The answer from most fans always tends to be “they should have made more moves”. And then these same people complain when actual moves are made. Cubs needed an impact player. They traded for Kyle Tucker. Then the narrative shifts to giving up too much. Then the narrative shifts to it still wasn’t enough. So, then what? You leverage more resources and give up more assets to get more rental players? There has to be a balance. It can’t always be one extreme or the other. Maybe the answer is Kyle Tucker shouldn’t have gotten hurt and looked like a shell of his former self. Maybe the answer is the offense should’ve gotten hot in October rather than April/May.
My point is you do the best you can to build a solid roster, but ultimately the players you assemble have to perform. The Dodgers “underperformed” by their standards all season, and they battled high profile injuries all season, but they are putting it all together when it matters most. The Brewers consistently overcome their own inherent small market obstacles and find a way to win, but it’s not through big spending or high profile acquisitions.
A lot of teams “win” the trade deadline, and only one team wins the World Series, and those winners don’t always correlate.
I’m not sure it was all about the injuries with Tucker. Certainly they were part of his poor performance, but probably not all. If you look at his stats over his career and his game-by-game, you come away thinking that the characterization of him as a top-5-in-the-game type, a true difference-maker, might always have been inaccurate. He is good but not that good. His next team will get the same guy we Cubs fans saw. That’s who he is.
And please don’t throw the bWAR numbers at me as a response. I know all that. But WAR is only one measure, and, as its adherents themselves acknowledge, not a definitive one. There are some players whose WARs are better than they are. Tucker is one
I think the “real” Kyle Tucker is somewhere between what the Cubs saw in the first half and what they saw in the second half, and that’s still a very good player. Maybe not top 5 in baseball, but definitely a difference maker.
To fear the, uncle, mike127, rondon – I’m just curious how you folks view the 3B situation for 2026. Shaw really played well defensively. But personally I’m a bit concerned about his upside with the bat.
The Cubs tinkered with his stance, which I definitely thought needed to be addressed. But that probably should have been worked on, before he got to Wrigley. I’d definitely try to get a viable option who is capable of handling 3B as well as the OF, should Shaw not get better.
Would Eugenio Suarez hit a lot of bombs in Wrigley; I’m thinking he could.
Shaw was way better defensively than I thought he would be. The inconsistency offensively was frustrating, but he did show promise. For it being his first big league experience, I think it was promising. If he can build off 2025 and hit more consistently, he can be a real contributor. But all the tinkering and ups and downs had to affect him. Maybe a full offseason will help him recalibrate and make the next step in his development.
I think you still need a backup plan, though.
Wrigley has been an offensive nightmare lately, so who knows.
What they need is a bench for Counsell. They’ve needed one for 3 years and Jed has drop kicked the ball every year. Shaw will be more than adequate a 3B but could be the bench guy CC needs 2 as he can play a lot of places. So I guess I’m saying if a better option came along I’d look into it but I wouldn’t go hog wild in other words no Arenado, Bregman or Japanese imports. And the 3B market looks pretty poor this year. I say roll with Shaw and Long can play 1B, 3B and some OF and replace Justin Turner. His days as a spirit animal have come to an end.
Dogbone—I’m a little (or a lot) old school when it comes to this stuff. I still follow the Theo path of you can’t make a decision on a player until 1500 plate appearance in the big leagues.
After just over 400 Shaw is about as average as you can be (98 OPS+) and batting ninth that’s pretty acceptable, especially with his defensive ability.
Personal opinion only—the playoffs were too big for him and he look way overmatched despite getting a handful of walks.
I think a ton of what happens at third base depends and how they actually view second base post 2026. Nico’s contract is up after next season and if he isn’t extended that will could be Shaw’s landing spot.
I’m a little older than most so I still grapple with the notion that the corner guys need to be home run hitters and I have a hard time seeing Shaw hitting 35+.
The situation for 2026 is “OK”—let him play and see where he is as the season gets deeper.
Well then the idiot who makes that decision shouldn’t have traded the ONE GUY who could have done exactly that for a bad 1 year rental. That’s why he’s bad at his job.
I saw like 2 minutes of Hoyer’s Press Conference and immediately my brain went numb and I had to consult a map because I forgot where I was and how I got there. No need to watch the rest. I can’t spare the brain cells.
There are plenty of low-end free agents-to-be that would love to grab a firm commitment now rather than have to brave the open market, especially since there probably won’t be many multi-year deals out there for marginal guys on the eve of a lockout. If there’s not going to be a 2027 option out there then you may as well get the easy money now.
Hedges is a 34 year old catcher with an excellent defensive reputation who hasn’t hit over .280 anywhere but El Paso in his entire life. (EDIT: Forgive me, he hit .313 in 22 ABs in rookie ball.) This contract will put him close to his ten years towards the MLB pension, so good for him and I hope the Guards are as happy about this as Austin should be. Seriously, the back half of the catching duo is one place where non-analytic things can happen to a pitching staff. So as fun as it can be to laugh at his hitting, I think he’s part of Cleveland’s special pitching sauce.
Nothing much is going to happen before early December FA wise or trade wise until the GM meetings. Just the way it is these days. I’m not seeking specifics, Just a general idea of what they think they need. It’s not much to ask. One thing I know they don’t need is any more Tucker. Take the draft pick.
Hey Uncle—surely there won’t be any specifics—gonna get the “never can have enough pitchers” line. Obviously, missed 40+ starts from Steele, Shota and Taillon this year and survived with having multiple arms.
Worked magic in the pen with a multitude of arms–but I was more impressed that they weren’t afraid to pull the rug right away this year—Wicks ineffective–down. Little ineffective—down. Roberts, Pearson, etc gone. Merryweather had a little longer leash probably because he was out of options and needed to be exposed.
Will try to key on his comments on the offense. His thoughts on why the offense really slowed in the second half. How did the Tucker injury(ies) affect he and the entire lineup? Is the plan Caissie/Alcantara to relace him. (probably too early to tip a hand).
How does playing in Wrigley with the wind blowing in almost all the time affect his plans—we are now three years in to Wrigley being a bottom 2 or 3 offensive park in the game. The sample size is growing.
Still way to early to get any meat on the bone—but sort of appreciate the openness of the organization….even if it is all coach spoke or corporate line stuff.
I’m getting excited about the Free Agency Contest. I’m excited to get at least 1 or 2 right before bombing on the rest…
I think i went 1 for 50 last year 🤣
83 wins for the Cubs in 2026.
83 wins made the playoffs this year!
Yes, it did, so, maybe a 10% chance it happens again. But I just feel there’s a lot of decline that will happen. We’ll see how the offseason goes, but it looks like no Tucker, another revamped bullpen, growing pains with the prospects shuttling back and forth from Iowa, etc.
83.5
I gotta say the first 2 rounds of the Playoffs were some of the best baseball I’ve seen played in a long time. All of the games were close and well played. I guess it’s only fitting that the League series are a big boring turd so far.
Pretty sure all those Mariners’ fans are not finding it boring!!! Also most of us Jays fans are excited for a big come back in Mariners land!!! Not really anything boring about that!!!
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Uncle—game two of the AL series got a little out of hand–but the other games were far from boring.
Game one NL—bases loaded, two outs, down one in the ninth…not boring.
Game two NL—you have to be able to appreciate the pitching effort in that one—not boring.
Game one AL—tight game–Jays in it until the end—again, another pitching gem
If you think about it, the Jays were in both games…all the way on Game 1 and until Schneids went to Louie Varland in the 5th inning of Game 2. I feel bad that the BJ’s are without Bichette, I think he could have really helped out that lineup. But they did fine without him versus New York.
Bring back daytime baseball
With all the criticism he gets, I think it’s worth mentioning that Hedges is a Boras Corp client.
You can be sure that the compulsively evasive Hoyer will not say anything substantive in his press conference today. Like many MLB executives nowadays, he seems annoyed that people care about his team, and want to know what is going on with it.
You can also be sure that the Cubs won’t re-sign Tucker. Nor should they. It just didn’t work out for him in Chicago. He was not the lineup-transforming presence that he was supposed to be. He seemed uncomfortable playing at Wrigley Field; he might be the kind of player who likes playing in the controlled environments of domes or places with very consistent weather. (His two best games this past season were in Houston and Anaheim.) He rarely drove in important runs, or runs, period, after the first month or two of the season. He walked a lot, and sometimes that was useful, but often it was unhelpful. He had good “plate coverage,” but it was the kind that often resulted in easy flies to center–so it was not really that good. And some of us nicknamed him Beethoven, with apologies to the late Chuck Berry, because he “rolled over” so many pitches and grounded out to the right side.
He is not the first Cubs acquisition who seemed like a good idea but just didn’t work out, wasn’t a good fit to be successful here. Good luck to him elsewhere.
What is more interesting is that apparently someone in the Cubs front office has been leaking the idea that the Cubs might not pick up Imanaga’s option, or manipulate the contract situation so that it is just for one season, via a Qualifying Offer. That is probably a good idea; he regressed a lot over the season.
I think the Cubs are clearing the books as much as possible ahead of the 2027 lockout.
Well since Ricketts flat out said that he was doing exactly that I’ll take him at his word.
I keep wanting to ask this but it never really comes up. What are people’s take on the Ms Trident or the Fire helmet? Some have been good try’s but the follo through has wanted. Like the Chinese thing the Angels had when Ohtani was there. Looked like a cheap toy. The Jays jacket is kind of dumd. Can’t think of any others right now. What do you think like them hate them. Which are good which falls short?
I also think we should have a blog like this. One that if it goes off track you can delete those posts only. Keep it clean and fun but one we can discuss anything.