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Archives for November 2025

Gold Glove Winners Announced

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Major League Baseball announced the Gold Glove winners tonight, as selected by managers, coaches, and statistical analysis.  Twenty-five percent of the selection total was determined by SABR’s Defensive Index metrics, while the other 75 percent was determined by votes from all 30 managers and up to six coaches from each team.  The utility Gold Glove was determined in a separate fashion, via a defensive formula calculated by SABR and Rawlings.

National League winners

American League winners

Royals Decline Mutual Option On Michael Lorenzen

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The Royals have declined their end of the $12MM mutual option in Michael Lorenzen’s contract for the 2026 season, MLB.com’s Anne Rogers reports.  Lorenzen will instead receive a $1.5MM buyout and enter free agency.

The veteran right-hander first came to Kansas City in a trade from the Rangers prior to the 2024 deadline, and Lorenzen delivered 28 2/3 innings of 1.57 ball down the stretch for the Royals even though a hamstring strain kept him on the injured list for about a month.  The two sides reunited on a one-year free agent last winter worth $7MM in guaranteed money — a $5.5MM salary for 2025, and then the $1.5MM buyout.

Mutual options are almost never mutually exercised, so both sides surely viewed the contract as just a one-year pact.  Lorenzen’s numbers weren’t as sharp in 2025, as he posted a 4.64 ERA, a subpar 21% strikeout rate, and a host of other uninspiring Statcast metrics over 141 2/3 innings (starting 26 of 27 games).  Lorenzen’s 4.16 SIERA at least outpaced his ERA by almost half a run, perhaps due to a solid 6.4% walk rate that matched the righty’s career best.

Kansas City brought Lorenzen back with the idea that he could eat innings at the back of the rotation, and he ended up being particularly important given how many Royals starters missed time on the IL.  The injury bug bit Lorenzen himself in July when an oblique strain sidelined him for a month, but over the last three years, Lorenzen has quietly averaged 141 2/3 innings per season.

Lorenzen’s lack of velocity and strikeout ability will limit his earning potential, and he’ll probably get just one-year offers since he turns 34 in January.  But plenty of teams are in need of back-end rotation help or starting depth in general, plus Lorenzen’s past history as a relief pitcher makes him a candidate to be converted into a bullpen role on a postseason roster.  Kansas City has enough rotation depth that another deal with Lorenzen is probably unlikely, but the Royals could look to trade a starter and then re-sign Lorenzen to fill that void later in the winter.  This is exactly what the Royals did last offseason, in trading Brady Singer to the Reds and then signing Lorenzen about six weeks later.

The Royals’ other option decisions include a $5MM mutual option with Randal Grichuk’s services for 2026 (with a $3MM buyout), and a $13.5MM club option Salvador Perez.  It is expected that Grichuk’s option will be declined and Perez’s option will be either exercised, or the team will negotiate another multi-year extension with the longtime catcher.

Ryan Borucki, Michael Stefanic Elect Free Agency

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Left-hander Ryan Borucki and infielder Michael Stefanic have both elected free agency, as per the MILB.com transactions wire.  Both players were outrighted off the Blue Jays’ 40-man roster during the regular season and chose to accept the outright assignments rather than elect free agency at the time, but it was expected that they would opt into minor league free agency at some point after season’s end.

Borucki began his career in Toronto’s organization and spent parts of his first five MLB seasons (2018-22) with the Jays before he was traded to the Mariners in June 2022.  After a brief stint in the Cubs’ farm system, the southpaw’s next big league action came with the Pirates from 2023-25 until he was designated for assignment and released in August.  The Jays soon picked him up on a minor league contract and he got a brief run on their active roster in September, appearing in four games before being DFA’ed and outrighted.

Over 256 1/3 innings in the Show, Borucki has a career 4.28 ERA, 19.7% strikeout rate, 8.9% walk rate, and 48.3% grounder rate.  Those numbers included a 4.63 ERA in 35 combined innings with the Pirates and Blue Jays in 2025.  Borucki is the type of specialist reliever whose career was heavily impacted when MLB instituted the three-batter rule for relievers in 2020, as Borucki has struggled badly against right handed-hitting batters but dominant against left-handed bats.

Between those splits, his low strikeout totals, and the natural variance involved with being a grounder specialist, Borucki will very likely again have to settle for a minor league contract as he enters his age-32 season.  He is bound to land somewhere since so many teams need bullpen depth and/or left-handed relief help, but Borucki may be facing another round of DFA and outrights unless he can both earn a look in a big league bullpen and start producing consistent results.

Stefanic began his pro career as an undrafted free agent with the Angels in 2018, and broke into the majors by appearing in 90 games with Los Angeles over the 2022-24 seasons.  He inked a minors deal with Toronto last winter and had his contract selected for a nine-game cup of coffee in May when the Jays were in need of infield depth.  Stefanic produced a .462 OPS over 25 plate appearances in 2025, and he has hit .227/.314/.267 in 289 career PA in the Show.

This uninspiring slash line is a far cry from the impressive numbers Stefanic has posted in Triple-A, as he has batted .332/.427/.454 over 1884 PA with the Blue Jays’ and Angels’ top affiliates.  Between these stats and his ability to play all over the infield, Stefanic should catch on somewhere on another minors contract, but he is out of minor league options.

Tony Beasley, Bret Boone Expected To Leave Rangers’ Coaching Staff

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Veteran pitching coach Mike Maddux has already left the Rangers to become the Angels’ new pitching coach, and now some other members of the Texas staff are on the way out.  Third base coach Tony Beasley and co-hitting coach Bret Boone aren’t expected back with the team in 2026, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News.

Replacements may come from within, as Grant writes that first base coach Corey Ragsdale will change roles and take over from Beasley as the third base coach.  Justin Viele was splitting the hitting coach duties with Boone, but Viele will now become the Rangers’ lead hitting coach.  In a separate item, Grant said that the Rangers view former Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron “as a very strong candidate” for the job of assistant hitting coach, and it isn’t clear whether or not current assistant hitting coach Seth Conner will head elsewhere or remain in his position.

Beasley was the longest-tenured member of the Texas staff, having been hired as a coach back in 2015 and working in a few different roles under multiple managers.  One of those roles was as an interim skipper himself, as Beasley stepped in as manager for the last 48 games of the Rangers’ 2022 season after Chris Woodward was fired.  Beasley then returned to third-base coaching duties under Bruce Bochy and won a World Series ring with the club in 2023.

According to Grant, Beasley is expected to look for a job with another team.  It isn’t clear if Boone will continue to pursue his coaching career or if he might return to retirement and his podcasting job.  When hired in May, Boone made it clear that he was eager to work with his former manager and longtime friend Bochy, so it could be that Boone is now moving on since Bochy won’t be back as the Rangers’ skipper.

Even though new manager Skip Schumaker has been working as an advisor to the Rangers front office for the last year, it isn’t surprising that he’ll want to shake things up a bit and put his own stamp on the coaching staff.  Beyond Beasley, Boone, and Maddux, catching coach Bobby Wilson announced last month that he is also departing after six years in the organization.

Michael King Declines Mutual Option With Padres

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Right-hander Michael King has declined his mutual option with the Padres, according to a report from Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He’ll head into free agency and collected a $3.75MM buyout rather than stay with the Padres on what would have been a $15MM salary for next year.

King’s decision was entirely expected. Mutual options are virtually never exercised, and King will need to top just $11.25MM in free agency in order to come out ahead in making the choice to decline his option. That’s a number he’s essentially guaranteed to clear, both due to the high price of starting pitching in recent free agent classes and thanks to King’s own success in recent years. After moving to the rotation as a member of the Yankees in late August 2023, King fired off eight starts where he posted a 1.88 ERA with a 31.4% strikeout rate to end the season. After being shipped to San Diego as part of that offseason’s Juan Soto trade, he turned in a 2.95 ERA in 173 2/3 innings of work during his first full-time season as a starter and finished seventh in NL Cy Young award voting last year.

2025 wasn’t quite as strong as 2024, as King was limited to just 15 starts by a nerve issue in his throwing shoulder and a subsequent knee issue. King did return to the mound late in the year, but didn’t look like his usual dominant self with a 5.74 ERA across 15 2/3 September innings. He looked much better in a scoreless inning of relief work against the Cubs, however, and struck out all three batters he faced without issue. That’s good news, since prior to the injury King looked as dominant as ever with a 2.59 ERA and 3.26 FIP across his first ten starts of the year. While he finished the year with a 24.7% strikeout rate against an 8.4% walk rate, those figures were 28.4% and 7.6% prior to his injury.

Thanks to King’s dominance when healthy, he enters free agency with a real chance at a strong multi-year deal so long as suitors are convinced that this year’s shoulder woes are behind him. King is marketing his age-31 season, so between that fact and his shoulder problems this season it’s possible he’ll be boxed out of the five-, six-, or seven-year offers that top of the market aces have gotten in recent years. Even so, he should have the opportunity to clean up fairly handsomely on the open market in a way that would’ve been hard to imagine when looking at his first few years in the league as a middle reliever for the Yankees.

In the short-term, the Padres seem all but certain to extend King a Qualifying Offer, which King seems equally likely to reject. That process will leave King tied to draft pick compensation this winter. Last month, MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk took a look at what each team would receive if they lose a qualified free agent, and the penalties they’d pay to sign one. If King departs San Diego, the Padres would receive a compensatory pick after the fourth-round in the 2026 draft. Of course, that would only come in to play if King doesn’t re-sign with the Padres. The team’s clear needs at the top of the rotation mean that a reunion can’t be entirely ruled out, but in recent years San Diego has eschewed giving out large paydays to free agent starters in favor of a more creative approach.

Chris Bassitt Interested In Return To Blue Jays In 2026

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After last night’s heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the Dodgers, the Blue Jays have been thrust into the offseason on a far more somber note than they were hoping when they headed back to Toronto one win away from a World Series championship. For several of the team’s players, however, yesterday also marked their last official day as a member of the organization before they became free agents earlier today. One such player is right-hander Chris Bassitt, but the veteran told reporters (including MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson) that he hopes he’ll have another chance to play with this group of Blue Jays.

There’s certainly room in the Toronto rotation mix for Bassitt to return. Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, and Jose Berrios all figure to enter Spring Training with locked-in rotation jobs next spring, but that still leaves two spots open for reunions or external additions. Internal options exist to fill those holes. Eric Lauer and Bowden Francis both started plenty of games for the Jays this year, while the farm system boasts youngsters like Adam Macko and even rehabbing top prospect Ricky Tiedemann, both of whom could impact the big league club next year in theory.

The Jays will likely want more certainty than those internal options can provide for their rotation next year, however, and Bassitt can offer that. He’s made at least 30 starts in four consecutive seasons now, pitching to a 3.77 ERA with a 4.01 FIP in that time. Three of those seasons came with Toronto as part of a three-year, $63MM deal signed prior to the 2023 season. It was more of the same from Bassitt this past year, as he offered the Blue Jays 170 1/3 innings of work while posting a 3.96 ERA and 4.01 FIP. He didn’t slow down much in the second half, either, despite an injury that limited him in late September and cost him spots on the Jays’ Wild Card and ALDS rosters. After posting a 3.69 ERA after the All-Star break in the regular season, he went on to move to the bullpen for the ALCS and became one of the club’s most important arms throughout the final stages of the playoffs with a 1.04 ERA, 1.52 FIP, and 33.3% strikeout rate across seven appearances.

While Bassitt is certainly a useful pitcher even as he looks ahead to his age-37 season, it’s fair to wonder if the Jays might have their sights set higher in free agency this winter. There’s a plethora of quality arms available this winter ranging from Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez, and Dylan Cease at the top of the market to other intriguing options like Zac Gallen, Michael King, and Tatsuya Imai. Meanwhile, hurlers like MacKenzie Gore, Joe Ryan, and Sandy Alcantara could be available on the trade market. For a Blue Jays team that saw how valuable a true ace can be after facing Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the playoffs, it would be understandable if a front-of-the-rotation arm was at the top of their wish list this winter.

That’s not a profile Bassitt can fill, and trade deadline acquisition Shane Bieber could be much more reasonably expected to provide that sort of production if the Jays want to bring back a newly-minted free agent from the 2025 team. With that said, it’s possible the Jays will aim lower as they fill out their rotation or pursue multiple starters. In those cases, a reunion with Bassitt would make much more sense. If Bassitt doesn’t end up returning to Toronto, there’s a number of teams that figure to be on the lookout for pitching help this winter, and he should have little trouble securing a rotation job somewhere even if his age seems likely to limit him to one-year offers.

Latest On Rockies’ Front Office Search

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1:00pm: Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports this afternoon that there’s “no truth” to rumors that the Rockies’ search for a new front office leader have stalled or that they have begun looking at alternative candidates. That doesn’t necessarily mean a deal with Sawdaye or Forman is close or even expected, of course, but it suggests that the team’s search continues with the same group of finalists they had narrowed the field to in recent weeks. While Sawdaye and Forman are the only two names known to be in that group, it’s possible that additional finalists have been in the mix throughout the entire process who simply haven’t been named publicly.

11:50am: The Rockies have been on the hunt for a new head of baseball operations ever since GM Bill Schmidt departed the club at the beginning of October. With the offseason now officially upon us, the pressure to find the next person who will lead Colorado’s front office is growing significantly.

While Diamondbacks assistant GM Amiel Sawdaye and Guardians assistant GM Matt Forman both emerged as finalists for the job in recent weeks, today a report from Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggests that, at least for the time being, neither Sawdaye or Forman appear poised to be named the Rockies’ head of baseball operations. Thomas Harding of MLB.com adds that conversations with both Sawdaye and Forman have been “productive,” but the Rockies are still in the midst of their search and “the feeling was” that other candidates were still in the mix despite Sawdaye and Forman being the only two publicly identified finalists.

It’s not clear if Sawdaye and/or Forman are still in the running for the job or if they’re no longer under consideration, but at the very least it seems as though the Rockies will spend at least the first few days of the offseason without a proper head of baseball operations. That’s not completely unheard of, as the Astros famously parted ways with James Click early in the 2022-23 offseason and didn’t hire a new head of baseball operations until late January, with club chairman Jim Crane running baseball operations in that interim period.

As previously mentioned, Sawdaye and Forman are the only two names who have been confirmed as finalists for the role. Click and Royals assistant GM Scott Sharp were once part of the search but are reportedly no longer in consideration. Former Twins GM Thad Levine was connected to the position immediately after Bill Schmidt’s departure, but has never been confirmed to have even spoken to the Rockies about the role to this point.

Whoever ultimately ends up taking the reins of baseball operations in Colorado, their first decision will be one that becomes less flexible the longer the search drags on. The Rockies finished the season with interim manager Warren Schaeffer at the helm of the dugout, but his future in the role as well as the futures of the rest of the coaching staff in the organization are set to be determined by the club’s eventual baseball operations hire. If the team’s search for a new baseball operations leader drags deep into the offseason, the continuity offered by keeping Schaeffer and much of the Rockies coaching staff in the fold could become more valuable as other candidates settle into roles elsewhere around the league.

Max Scherzer Plans To Play In 2026

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The 2025 season ended in heartbreak for the Blue Jays and their fans last night, but future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer made it clear that yesterday’s somber note isn’t the one he intends to wrap his career up on. Scherzer was asked about his future and, while he avoided specifics, made clear that he’s not yet ready to call it quits.

“The only thing I can say is,” Scherzer told reporters, as relayed Jesse Rogers of ESPN in the aftermath of last night’s game, “it’s going to take some time to give a full answer to that, but there is no way that was my last pitch.”

Scherzer turned 41 back in July, and it’s fair to wonder if the current season could be a player’s last even when he enters his late thirties. Fellow future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw wrapped up the final season of his career last night, having announced prior to the postseason that he wouldn’t be returning in 2026 for what would have been his age-38 campaign. Questions regarding Scherzer’s future were especially understandable given the health issues he’s dealt with in recent years. While the three-time Cy Young award winner was once among the most durable pitchers in the entire sport, nerve issues in his hand and thumb have contributed to him making just 26 starts over the past two years. His performance has slipped over that time as well, with a 4.77 ERA and a 4.72 FIP in 128 1/3 innings of work since the 2024 season began.

Even if Scherzer isn’t the surefire ace he once was, he’s still a valuable pitcher and one many teams would be happy to have on their roster. The veteran added 14 1/3 innings of 3.77 ERA baseball to his postseason resume during Toronto’s run and, while his regular season run prevention numbers may have been lackluster, his peripherals indicate that he’s still a solid starter. Scherzer’s 4.26 SIERA puts him in line with the performance of solid mid-rotation arms like Mitch Keller, Robbie Ray, and Yusei Kikuchi. His 16.5 K-BB% was on the same level as players like Carlos Rodon, Casey Mize, and Kris Bubic. His 12.4% barrel rate this year is certainly a potential red flag, but a team that believes they can help Scherzer keep the ball off the barrel next year would surely see Scherzer as a solid addition to their pitching staff.

Even so, it’s likely that Scherzer’s ceiling in free agency figures to be the one-year, $15.5MM contract he signed with Toronto last year, coming off a nine-start 2024 campaign with the Rangers. It’s possible he’ll need to come down from that price tag after a second injury-shortened season, though fellow future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander secured a similar one-year, $15MM guarantee from the Giants last winter coming off a season where he posted a 5.48 ERA in 17 starts quite similar to Scherzer’s 5.19 ERA in that same number of starts. At this stage in his career, Scherzer is sure to prioritize competing in October as he looks for his next team. That could well mean a return to the Blue Jays, as both Scherzer and teammate Chris Bassitt’s departures will leave room for the club to pursue additional rotation help.

Toronto is far from the only contender in need of starting pitching this offseason, however. The Cubs, Padres, and Red Sox all made the postseason this year and have already been linked to the starting pitching market. Meanwhile, teams like the Braves, Astros, and Giants that missed the playoffs this year still figure to try and contend next year and could pursue Scherzer from a similar position to the one the Blue Jays found themselves in this offseason. All of those clubs would be new to the veteran, but reunions with any of the Mets, Tigers, and Diamondbacks are at least plausible as well in addition to a return to the Jays.

The 2025-26 Offseason Begins

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A thrilling World Series came to an end in Game 7 last night. The Dodgers won in an extra-inning affair after Miguel Rojas hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning, while World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto came out of the bullpen to finish off the Blue Jays despite starting Game 6.

The offseason is officially underway. Last year, the Braves and Angels lined up on the Jorge Soler deal within the first few hours of the reopened trade window. Another Day 1 trade of that significance might be too much to ask, but the moves will be flooding in before long. There’ll be a host of waiver claims as clubs clear space from their 40-man rosters, largely in tandem with the necessary reinstatement of injured players from the injured list. Clubs and players have five days to decide whether to exercise any contractual options.

Free agency technically opens today, but there’s a five-day window for exclusive negotiation between teams and their own free agents. We’re not getting a Kyle Tucker signing anytime soon, but we could see a smaller extension or two as teams try to keep players from testing the open market. The Royals and Michael Wacha worked out a three-year, $51MM contract within this five-day period last winter.

MLBTR’s winter coverage will kick off later today with our preview of the Top 40 Trade Candidates. We’ve already released projected arbitration salaries from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz and taken a position-by-position look at the upcoming free agent class while previewing the qualifying offer decisions for pitchers and position players. MLBTR’s Offseason Outlook series for Front Office subscribers is also nearly complete. We’ll publish the entries for the two World Series teams within the next few days, while we’re awaiting the Rockies’ GM hire before finalizing the Colorado version.

Our Top 50 Free Agents post will be published on Thursday evening after the finalization of option and QO calls.

NOVEMBER 2: Free agency begins for eligible players, but they aren’t permitted to sign with other teams for at least five days. Free agents no longer count against their previous teams’ 40-man rosters. Trades of players who were on the 40-man roster reopen for the first time since last summer’s deadline.

NOVEMBER 2: Gold Glove winners announced.

NOVEMBER 6: Free agents are eligible to sign with any team. All players or teams with contractual options/opt-out clauses must make their decisions by this evening. Teams have until 4:00 pm Central to decide whether to issue qualifying offers to eligible free agents.

NOVEMBER 6-7: Silver Slugger winners announced. The National League winners will be revealed on the 6th, while the American League honorees will be awarded on the 7th.

NOVEMBER 10-13: General managers meetings in Las Vegas, Nevada. The GM Meetings typically lay the groundwork for the offseason rather than spurring much roster movement in themselves. They’re nevertheless significant as an opportunity for media to speak with high-level executives, which can shed some light on teams’ goals for the winter.

NOVEMBER 10: Rookie of the Year award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 11: Manager of the Year award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 12: Cy Young award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 13: MVP award winners announced.

NOVEMBER 13: Reliever of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year and Hank Aaron award winners announced. All-MLB teams revealed.

NOVEMBER 18: Players have until 3:00 pm Central to decide whether to accept the qualifying offer. If they accept, they’ll return to their previous team on a one-year, $22.025MM contract. Players who accept a QO, like all major league free agent signees, cannot be traded without their consent until June 15. Those who decline the QO are tied to draft compensation. MLBTR’s Mark Polishuk recently covered what each team would receive for losing a qualified free agent and the penalties that teams would pay to sign a player who declined a QO.

NOVEMBER 18: Rule 5 protection deadline. Teams have until this date to add players who would otherwise be eligible for the Rule 5 draft to their 40-man roster to keep them out of the draft.

NOVEMBER 18-20: Quarterly owners meetings in New York. Commissioner Rob Manfred typically speaks with reporters at this time.

NOVEMBER 21: Non-tender deadline at 7:00pm Central. Teams must decide whether to offer contracts to the arbitration-eligible and pre-arbitration players on their 40-man roster. They do not need to agree to salaries by this date, but there’ll be a flurry of salary agreements as players who might otherwise be non-tender candidates often lock in deals at slightly lesser than projected salaries to avoid being cut loose. Players who are non-tendered immediately become free agents without going through waivers.

DECEMBER 7-10: Winter Meetings in Orlando, Florida. The Winter Meetings are the offseason’s busiest few days and annually feature ample free agent and trade activity.

DECEMBER 7: Hall of Fame Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee announcement. Formerly known as the Veterans Committee, the 16-person panel votes on eight candidates who were not previously inducted into Cooperstown by the Baseball Writers Association of America. The eight candidates under consideration are usually announced in early November; those who receive at least 12 votes on December 7 are elected to the Hall of Fame. This year’s committee will consider only players whose greatest contributions came in the 1980s or later.

DECEMBER 9: Amateur draft lottery. The White Sox have the best chance of securing the first overall pick at 27.8% (h/t to Baseball America). The Rockies, Nationals and Angels are not allowed to pick higher than 10th. The CBA prohibits teams from having lottery picks in three straight years, which rules out Colorado. Clubs that do not receive revenue sharing cannot pick in the lottery in consecutive seasons, ruling out Washington and Los Angeles.

DECEMBER 10: The Rule 5 draft will conclude the Winter Meetings. Players selected must stay on their new teams’ active rosters for the entire ’26 season or be offered back to their original organization.

DECEMBER 15: Closing of the 2025 signing period for international amateurs.

JANUARY 8: Teams and arbitration-eligible players exchange salary filing figures. They’re free to continue negotiating beyond this date, though virtually every team treats this as an unofficial deadline to avoid an arbitration hearing unless they sign a multi-year contract.

JANUARY 15: Opening of the 2026 signing period for international amateurs. The majority of the international signings for the year will be announced on this date, as virtually all the top prospects have reached handshake agreements by this point.

JANUARY 21: Baseball Writers’ Association of America Hall of Fame announcement at 5:00 pm Central.

EARLY FEBRUARY TBA: Arbitration hearings. Arbitrators must choose either the team’s or player’s filing figure, not a midpoint.

FEBRUARY 11: Voluntary report date to Spring Training for pitchers and catchers.

FEBRUARY 15: Voluntary report date to Spring Training for other players.

FEBRUARY 20: Mandatory report date. Spring Training play begins.

MARCH 5-17: 2026 World Baseball Classic.

MARCH 25: Yankees @ Giants standalone game on Opening Night.

MARCH 26: Opening Day for the other 28 teams.

Dodgers Win World Series

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The Dodgers are champions. Los Angeles outlasted Toronto in an epic Game 7 showdown. Will Smith delivered the game-winning swing, homering in the 11th inning to give the Dodgers their first lead, which they wouldn’t relinquish. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, pitching on no rest after throwing 96 pitches on Friday, closed out the win. Unsurprisingly, the all-time performance earned Yamamoto the Series MVP award.

LA becomes the first team to repeat as champions since the Yankees in 2000. New York won three straight titles (1998-2000). It’s the Dodgers’ ninth World Series title, moving them into a tie for third with the Athletics and Red Sox. It’s their third title in the past six seasons.

Miguel Rojas, an unlikely World Series hero, rescued LA’s season in the ninth inning. The light-hitting shortstop yanked a Jeff Hoffman slider over the left field wall to tie the game. Rojas joined Bill Mazeroski as the only players in World Series history to hit a game-tying or go-ahead home run in the ninth inning or later in a winner-take-all game (h/t Jesse Rogers of ESPN).

Rojas’ heroics allowed Yamamoto to do something just as special. After a complete game win in Game 2 and a quality start in Game 6, the ace entered in the bottom of the ninth inning with two runners on. He hit Alejandro Kirk with a pitch to load the bases, but wiggled out of the jam. Defensive sub Andy Pages leaped over teammate Enrique Hernandez to reel in an Ernie Clement drive to send the game to extra innings. Yamamoto then cruised through the 10th inning in order before getting into trouble in the 11th frame. With runners on first and third and one out, he coaxed a double play grounder from Kirk to seal the game.

Toronto was in control for much of the game. Shohei Ohtani, pitching on three days’ rest, labored through the first two innings. After George Springer singled to start the third frame, Nathan Lukes sacrificed him to second. Ohtani then intentionally walked Vladimir Guerrero Jr., before hanging a slider that Bo Bichette deposited into the center field stands for a three-run homer. The Blue Jays had multiple chances to extend their lead, including a leadoff double in the eighth inning, but failed to cash in.

The Blue Jays came out swinging in the Fall Classic, exploding for nine runs in the sixth inning to win Game 1 in blowout fashion. A dominant Yamamoto performance evened the series, then LA took a 2-1 lead after Freddie Freeman walked off Game 3 in the 18th inning. Toronto bounced back, winning Game 4 and Game 5 behind strong starts from Shane Bieber and Trey Yesavage, respectively. Yamamoto cruised again in Game 6, pushing the series to its limit. Game 7 delivered an instant classic.

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