Here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world today:
1. Wild Card Series continues:
The Dodgers bested the Reds 8-4 yesterday to complete a two-game sweep of Cincinnati and advance to the NLDS against the Phillies. The other three Wild Card matchups all saw the team facing elimination force a Game 3, leaving us with plenty of baseball to enjoy today. Things will kick off in Cleveland, at 3:08pm local time, when Jack Flaherty and the Tigers face off against Slade Cecconi and the Guardians to decide who will represent the AL Central against the Mariners in the ALDS.
In Chicago, at 4:08pm local time, the Cubs take the field at Wrigley behind Jameson Taillon as they try to advance in the playoffs for the first time since 2017 against the Padres and former Cub Yu Darvish. Finally, the Wild Card series will wrap in the Bronx, at 8:08pm local time, when the Red Sox and Yankees conclude the latest chapter in their storied archrivalry. That game will feature two rookies, with Connelly Early taking the ball for Boston in light of Lucas Giolito’s recent injury. The Yankees will turn to right-hander Cam Schlittler.
2. Rockies searching for new leadership:
Bill Schmidt is out as Rockies GM after this year’s brutal 119-loss season. He was promoted from within the organization to take over for Jeff Bridich in May of 2021, who himself was promoted to the top job from within in organization back in 2014. For a franchise that has dealt with a lot of struggles and failure over the years, this stands out as a rare opportunity for the club to bring in an outside voice and see what that sort of breath of fresh air could do to rejuvenate the organization. Perhaps that could come in the form of someone with ties to the organization like Thad Levine, who is already rumored to be in the mix for the job. Of course, it’s at least possible that owner Dick Monfort could break with his past tendencies and look for a less familiar partner to help lead the Rockies back to the postseason for the first time since 2018.
3. Managerial vacancies continue to grow:
While the Rockies likely won’t have clarity on their managerial situation until they bring in Schmidt’s replacement, there’s still plenty of intrigue surrounding the various managerial vacancies that have been created around the game in the past few days. Yesterday, Atlanta joined the pile of teams searching for a new voice in the dugout after Brian Snitker opted to retire from the dugout, though he’ll remain in the organization for a landmark 50th season in an advisory role. The Braves have a talented core and could very feasibly be back in the playoffs as soon as next year, so they’ll be one of the more attractive managerial vacancies available for candidates to pursue.
Elsewhere, the rumor mill is buzzing over the possibility that Hall of Famer Albert Pujols could take a turn as manager. He’s a strong candidate to take over for Ron Washington and Ray Montgomery in Anaheim with the Angels. The Rangers, Giants, Twins, Nationals and Orioles are each in the market for a new manager as well, and there’s always the possibility that a playoff club will look to make a change following an earlier-than-hoped-for exit from the postseason field.
I could see AP as a manager. He has the ability to communicate to a wide variety of players in addition to the years of service in baseball. I mean why not?
Agreed. The Angels have nothing to lose letting Pujols be manager…. Besides more losing.
Bochy will be welcomed back to the Bay Area if he doesn’t retire. Would be awesome to see.
Buster already turned down the possibility of Bochy coming back to SF as a manager though he left the door open for a different role within the Giants organization, if Bochy wanted to consider it.
Every Yankees/Red Sox game boils down to both managers will mess up 2/3 of any given decision they have to make, so who gets more opportunities to mess up? Last night, Boone only had like 3 opportunities (if that) to screw something up, whereas Cora had nine (at least).
They should both make a pact that if either is fired the next manager also has to be a ding bat. Varitek and Posada are out. Make the next ones Kevin Millar and Chuck Knoblauch
Troy – Great post but isn’t dingbat one word? Archie never paused when he called Edith that. LOL
If Chuck Knoblauch became a manager, would he have to pull pitchers from home plate because he couldn’t make it to the mound?
p.s. that was a managerial yips joke, for those unfamiliar with his career
p.p.s. I debated whether or not to make a yips joke about a guy whose career was ruined by them, but after looking him up, turns out he lied repeatedly about PEDs before finally admitting to taking them (even though they didn’t help, according to him) and abused several of his ex wives/gf. Not a very stand up guy, so, joke it is.
Canuck – Anybody who throws a baseball at Keith Olbermann’s mother deserves to be joked about.
Chuck Knoblauch is too busy attacking his family.
Okay Knoblauch was a bad idea.
Is Johnny Damon or Hideki Matsui busy at the moment? Damon could qualify for either. I know Manny wanted to be the hitting coach but Breslow said “Nah”
Reds should look for a new manager after wild card elimination, they were destined to the World Series.
Nice-but in all seriousness Philly seems like the only club with a decent shot of denying LAD the first back-to-back WS titles in a long time. They will use starters if they have to if only a couple BP arms are trusted.
The Sox are gonna lick Schlittler like an apple fritter.
Roki Sasaki suddenly and accidentally becoming one of the most important people at his job is the most amusing thing to happen so far. 11 pitches, 2 Ks, bare minimum number of batters faced. “Great Rivera impression. Now do it another 5 times.”
Tarik Skubal is the CYA Winner. I just realized that Crochet gave up bombs to both Anthony Volpe and Austin Hedges. Sorry, Garrett but when we have to split hairs, it ends up coming down to something as silly as that.
Also Chas McCormick, Brayan Rocchio, Eric Wegmann, and Alex Jackson. Tighten up, Garrett