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Rangers Claim Dom Hamel

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The Rangers have claimed right-hander Dom Hamel off waivers from the Orioles, as per announcements from both teams.  Hamel has been optioned to the Rangers’ Arizona Complex League team, and second baseman Marcus Semien was moved to the Texas 60-day injured list to make space for Hamel on the 40-man roster.

A third-round pick for the Mets in the 2021 draft, Hamel made his MLB debut in the form of one scoreless inning in New York’s 7-4 loss to San Diego on September 17.  That first game kicked off a busy 11-day stretch for Hamel, who has now changed teams twice via the waiver wire.  The Mets designated Hamel for assignment the day after his debut, and the Orioles claimed him off waivers, only to DFA Hamel again on Thursday.

The right-hander now heads to the Rangers and a familiar locale, as Hamel played his college ball at Dallas Baptist University.  Hamel has all three minor league options remaining, which could help his chances of remaining on the 40-man roster throughout the offseason and making it to Spring Training to compete for a bullpen job.

Over 192 1/3 career Triple-A innings, Hamel has a 6.27 ERA.  He has had trouble keeping the ball in the park at the top minor league level, but he has decent strikeout numbers and his walk rate improved greatly in 2025.  Hamel also started working as a reliever more often this year, so a long relief or swingman role might be in the cards as the righty looks to carve out a niche as a big leaguer.

Semien hasn’t played since August 21, due to a Lisfranc sprain and a fractured third metatarsal bone in his left foot.  The move from the 10-day IL to the 60-day is just a paper transaction as Semien wasn’t going to play again anyway in 2025, especially now that Texas has been eliminated from the playoff race.

Mets Place Brett Baty On 10-Day Injured List

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The Mets placed infielder Brett Baty on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain.  Outfielder Jared Young was called up from Triple-A Syracuse in the corresponding move.  New York also announced that outfielder Jose Siri and left-hander Richard Lovelady each cleared waivers and were outrighted to Syracuse.

Baty was removed in the second inning of Friday’s 6-2 loss to the Marlins with what was described initially as side tightness.  The severity of the strain isn’t yet known, but at the very least, Baty will miss the Mets’ last two regular-season games and wouldn’t be available until partway through the NLDS, should the Mets both reach the playoffs in the first place and then advance beyond the wild card round.  Anything beyond a minimal strain will probably end Baty’s season entirely, given how most oblique injuries require at least 3-4 weeks of recovery time.

New York faces an uphill battle to make it to October, since the Reds hold the tiebreaker advantage over the Mets.  Both teams are 82-78, so if the Reds win out (or the Mets lose one and the Reds win one), Cincinnati will clinch the final NL playoff berth.

This difficult path to the postseason will be even trickier without Baty, who has hit .312/.368/.512 with seven home runs over his last 136 plate appearances.  This hot streak over the last six weeks has raised Baty’s season-long slash line to .254/.313/.435 over 432 PA, and his wRC+ is now 111.  Since Baty had only a 71 wRC+ in 602 big league plate appearances prior to 2025, this season has been a welcome step forward for a player who was once the top prospect in New York’s farm system.  Beyond his improved hitting, Baty has also been providing pretty steady glovework at both second and third base, and his work at the keystone represents Baty’s first time playing second base at the MLB level.

Baty has mostly stuck to third base over the last few weeks, and any of Mark Vientos, Luisangel Acuna, or Ronny Mauricio (who is at the hot corner in today’s lineup) could handle the position this weekend and potentially into the playoffs.  Young’s return to the active roster gives the Mets enough outfield depth to keep McNeil more or less locked at second base.

Siri and Lovelady were each designated for assignment earlier this week.  Both players have the right to reject the outright assignment in favor of free agency — Siri because he has more than three years of MLB service time, and Lovelady because he has previously been outrighted in his career.  Electing free agency would cost Siri what little remains of his $2.4MM salary for 2025, and he might prefer to stick with the Mets just in case they make the playoffs and injuries open a roster spot.  Lovelady is a longer shot to make any postseason roster, so the southpaw may prefer to become a free agent and get an early start on the offseason market.

Cade Horton To Miss At Least One Playoff Series Due To Rib Fracture

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The Cubs will be without one of their top starters for at least the first round of the playoffs, as Cade Horton has been placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to September 25) due to a non-displaced right rib fracture.  Left-hander Jordan Wicks was called up to take Horton’s roster spot for the final two games of Chicago’s regular season.

Horton made an early exit from his last start on Tuesday due to back soreness, and a follow-up MRI revealed an unspecified issue in his ribcage, as manager Craig Counsell told reporters earlier this week.  Horton threw in the outfield yesterday and was slated to throw a bullpen session today, yet those positive signs have now been abruptly overshadowed by the news of the IL placement.

In the best-case scenario, Horton is now out of action until at least Game 5 of the NLDS, should the Cubs make it that deep into the second playoff round.  Given that narrow window for activation, it doesn’t seem likely that the Cubs would include him on an NLDS roster, so a more realistic scenario would see Horton return as part of the NLCS roster if he can get healthy.

Of course, Chicago’s chances at such a deep postseason run will be a lot more difficult without the rookie who has emerged as a key rotation piece.  Horton figures to get plenty of NL Rookie of the Year votes in the wake of a debut season that has seen the right-hander post a 2.67 ERA over his first 118 innings in the bigs.  A 4.26 SIERA reflects Horton’s underwhelming 20.4% strikeout rate and the good fortune he has enjoyed in the both of both a 78.3% strand rate and a .258 BABIP, but Horton’s 6.9% walk rate is very solid.

There’s also the fact that Horton (the seventh overall pick of the 2022 draft) was getting better as he gained more experience.  He posted a 4.45 ERA across his first 56 2/3 innings, but then delivered just a 1.03 ERA over his next 12 starts and 61 1/3 frames.  This was seemingly a good omen for Horton and the Cubs as the playoffs loomed, as the rookie had locked up a spot in Chicago’s postseason rotation.

The Cubs should have enough starting pitching options to get by, even if their depth chart has now been shortened.  Shota Imanaga, Matthew Boyd, and either Colin Rea or Jameson Taillon will be the starters for the best-of-three Wild Card Series, and that quartet should line up as the rotation for the remainder of the postseason.  Javier Assad is also in line to be at least a multi-inning reliever in October, and Counsell has indicated that he’ll use his entire pitching staff to navigate the playoffs, perhaps outside of traditional starter/reliever roles.

With two games left in the regular season, the Cubs are two games ahead of the Padres for the top NL wild card slot.  Unless the Cubs go 0-2 and the Padres go 2-0 the rest of the way, their NLWCS will be played in Chicago, with Game 1 set for Tuesday.

Yordan Alvarez Won’t Return During Regular Season

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Friday marked the first day Yordan Alvarez was eligible to be activated off the Astros’ 10-day injured list, but manager Joe Espada instead closed the door on Alvarez’s participation in the team’s final series.  Espada told the Houston Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara and other reporters that Alvarez will remain on the IL for the remainder of the regular season, though it is still possible Alvarez could return for the playoffs if Houston makes the bracket.

Should the Astros sneak into the postseason, the first game of their Wild Card Series is set for Tuesday.  That would seemingly still allow little time for Alvarez to be game-ready, as he hadn’t yet started any hitting or running drills as of late Wednesday.  Espada indicated that Alvarez was showing improvement since Wednesday but “as much as he’s [progressed] the last two or three days, I just don’t think that it would be the best for him to be able to come here and play.  We’re just not there.”

Alvarez suffered a left ankle sprain on September 15 while scoring a run in the Astros’ 6-3 win over the Rangers.  There was immediate concern that the injury could be season-ending, though Alvarez raised some hope last weekend about the potential of returning for this closing series with the Angels.  Given the import of these final two games, it is safe to assume that Alvarez would be playing if he was at all physically able, as his absence creates yet another problem for the struggling Astros.

A 1-6 record in their last seven games has pushed Houston under the playoff line, as the Astros are a game behind the Tigers for the final AL wild card slot.  Houston loses tiebreakers to both Detroit and Cleveland, so the Astros will need to win both of their remaining two games and hope that at least one of the Tigers or Guardians lose both their remaining games in order for Houston to reach the playoffs.

Between this ankle sprain and a hand injury that was eventually revealed as a finger fracture, Alvarez played in only 48 games this season.  After missing the better part of four months on the IL, Alvarez hit well after returning to action in late August, and brought his season numbers up to .273/.367/.430 and six homers over 199 plate appearances.  This 118 wRC+ is respectable, yet a far cry from the spectacular 166 wRC+ Alvarez posted across his first six Major League seasons.

Alvarez’s injury was one of many notable absences faced by the Astros this year, and yet it wasn’t until this past week that the club finally seemed to wilt from such an overloaded IL.  To add another setback, Jake Meyers was a late scratch from Friday’s game due to right calf soreness, costing Houston another regular in a 4-3 loss to the Angels.

Mets Designate Kevin Herget For Assignment

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The Mets announced that right-hander Kevin Herget has been designated for assignment.  This move opens up space on the 28-man and 40-man rosters for Dylan Ross, whose contract has now been officially selected from Triple-A.  (Ross’ promotion was reported yesterday.)

This is the third time Herget has been designated during a season that has seen the reliever go from the Mets to the Braves and then back to New York.  These transactions came on the heels of several other DFAs when Herget pitched with the Rays, Reds, and Brewers from 2022-24, and since Herget has been outrighted in the past, he can elect free agency if he clears waivers here and is outrighted off the Mets’ 40-man roster.  While a team could make a claim on Herget just to control his rights heading into the offseason, the likelier scenario is that the 34-year-old will clear waivers and then get released to give him a jump start on free agency.

Now a veteran of five different teams over his four MLB seasons, Herget has a 4.20 ERA over 55 1/3 career innings.  He received his most playing time (24 1/3 IP over 14 appearances) with Cincinnati in 2023, and the 2025 campaign has seen Herget post a 2.77 ERA over 13 combined innings with New York and Atlanta.

Herget didn’t make his big league debut until he was 31 years old, finally breaking through with the Rays in September 2022.  A 39th-round pick for the Cardinals in the 2013 draft, Herget spent most of his career in the St. Louis organization before his carousel of moves over the last five years, beginning with a stint in Cleveland’s farm system in 2021 and two stints in independent ball.  He has a career 3.97 ERA over 522 innings in Triple-A, with good control and a respectable strikeout rate to show for his work as a multi-inning reliever and swingman.

Kyle Hendricks Undecided On Pitching In 2026

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The Angels’ 4-3 win over the Astros yesterday marked Kyle Hendricks’ final start of the 2025 season, and it might also be the last outing of the right-hander’s big league career.  Hendricks told MLB.com’s Andres Soto and other reporters that he will take some time after the season to decide whether to hang up the cleats or to explore returning for a 13th season in the Show.

Beyond just his own feelings, Hendricks cited the need to consult with his family and the “lot of people involved” in his career.  “I’ve been so lucky with the support group I’ve had behind me,” Hendricks said.  “It takes an army.  You can’t do this by yourself, so it comes down to all their opinions and just taking some time away and seeing how you feel.”

Hendricks made similar statements earlier this week, seemingly pushing back against a report from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, who last weekend wrote that Hendricks “has informed friends that he expects to retire after the season.”  In a statement to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times last Wednesday, Hendricks implied that Nightengale hadn’t spoken to him before publishing the item.

Hendricks turns 36 in December, and he is re-entering free agency after signing a one-year, $2.5MM deal with the Angels last winter.  For that modest sum, he posted a 4.76 ERA over 164 2/3 innings, and in some ways delivered what has become his prototypical set of numbers over his lengthy career.  Hendricks displayed strong control (6.2% walk rate), an excellent 34.3% hard-hit ball rate, and his typically strong curveball spin rate and chase rate.

Despite the 31.7% chase rate, however, the right-hander’s 16.4% strikeout rate and 18.3% whiff rate both ranked near the bottom of the league.  Never a hard thrower, Hendricks has ranked within the second percentile of all pitchers in terms of velocity in each of the last nine seasons, and his fastball sat at only 86.5mph this year.  While batters had trouble squaring up against Hendricks in general, they made it count when they did make hard contact, as Hendricks allowed 25 homers and had only a middling barrel rate.

This is more or less the same level of production Hendricks has kept up since the start of the 2021 season, and he has a 4.79 ERA over 697 2/3 frames during the last five seasons.  Before this downturn, Hendricks had a 3.12 ERA over 1047 1/3 innings with the Cubs from 2014-20, becoming a staple in the rotation and a major part of the team’s 2016 World Series championship team.  Hendricks posted a league-best 2.13 ERA in 2016, finishing third in NL Cy Young Award voting.

Hendricks had spent his entire big league career in Chicago up until last offseason, when the Mission Viejo native signed with the Angels.  Ending his career with his hometown team is perhaps fitting from a narrative standpoint, though the righty hasn’t yet closed the door on pitching in 2026.  One would imagine that the Angels would have interest in a reunion on another low-cost contract, as the Halos have holes to fill in the rotation and Hendricks can both eat innings and continue his off-the-field role as a clubhouse mentor.

Yankees, Mets Discussed Grisham-For-Baty Trade At Deadline

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Prior to the trade deadline, the Yankees and Mets had some talks about a swap that would’ve generated a ton of headlines in both the Big Apple and around baseball.  According to SNY’s Andy Martino, the two New York teams explored a one-for-one deal that would’ve sent Trent Grisham to Queens in exchange for Brett Baty.

Aaron Judge’s health situation was a major component in these trade discussions, and the Yankees’ entire deadline direction.  Judge hurt his elbow while making a throw from right field on July 22, and the discomfort continued when the star outfielder was clearly having some issues throwing in the Bronx Bombers’ 12-5 loss to the Phillies on July 25.  A trip to the 10-day injured list followed, and Judge was limited to DH duty for over a month after returning from that fairly minimal IL stint.

Importantly, however, Judge’s elbow issue was minor a flexor strain that came without any UCL damage.  The initial fear was that Judge’s UCL was damaged to the point that a season-ending Tommy John surgery would’ve been required, and obviously losing their superstar would’ve completely altered the Yankees’ deadline plans.  As Martino put it, the Yankees had “a thought about selling” in the few days when Judge’s health situation was uncertain, which would’ve translated as the Bombers shopping pending free agents.  An NL scout told Martino in late July that the Yankees were at least open to offers for Grisham, Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, and Cody Bellinger (who is expected to opt out of the final season of his contract to test the market).

It shouldn’t be overlooked that the Yankees had a losing record (25-27) over June and July, so even with Judge firing on all cylinders, the club was in the midst of an extended slump as the deadline approached.  Losing their first five games in August added to the team’s woes, but the Yankees fully righted the ship by mid-August, going 28-11 over their last 39 games.  With two days left in the regular season, New York can still both capture both the AL East and the top overall seed in the AL playoff bracket, if the team can finish with a better record than the Blue Jays (since Toronto holds the head-to-head tiebreaker).

Grisham has been a big part of that surge, continuing what has been a career year for the 28-year-old outfielder.  Grisham is hitting .238/.349/.469 over 573 plate appearances, along with a total of 34 home runs that far exceeds his previous career high of 17.  In a strange reversal of his career norm, Grisham has gone from being a defensive standout with an average-at-best bat to being a slugging center fielder whose glovework (-11 Defensive Runs Saved, -2 Outs Above Average) has been a minus.

Even if the Yankees had sold some rental players at the deadline, it wasn’t going to be a fire sale.  The team was still looking to win and upgrade the 2025 roster, just in a way that perhaps focused more towards the future than making a direct all-in push towards a World Series this year.  Landing a controllable former top prospect in Baty would have fit the bill, and the Bombers viewed him as an answer at third base, even though he has gotten a lot of time as the Mets’ second baseman this year.

Now in his fourth MLB season, Baty’s 110 wRC+ represents a career best, and he has hit .254/.313/.435 with 18 home runs over 432 PA.  Baty has come about these numbers in inconsistent fashion, and the Mets even demoted him to Triple-A early in the season after an ice-cold start.  While these may not yet be the numbers Queens fans expected given Baty’s lofty prospect status, becoming a solid big league regular is no small feat, and Baty’s latest hot streak has quietly made him one of the more productive hitters in baseball over the last six weeks.

The Mets were reportedly open to trading from their young infield depth at the deadline, with Baty, Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio, and Luisangel Acuna all available for the right offer.  As it turned out, the Mets ended up primarily trading from their minor league pitching depth when making their pre-deadline moves, though infield prospect Jesus Baez was a prominent part of the trade package sent to the Cardinals for Ryan Helsley.

Rather than Grisham, the Mets addressed their outfield by acquiring Cedric Mullins from the Orioles in a trade that simply hasn’t worked out.  Mullins (who is also a free agent this winter) has hit only .183/.286/.283 over 142 PA in a Mets uniform, playing as the regular center fielder against right-handed pitching.  As for the Yankees, they held onto their impending free agents, and brought in a collection of veterans at the deadline to bolster the roster.  For third base in particular, Ryan McMahon was brought over from the Rockies and has at least stabilized the position from a defensive standpoint, even if McMahon isn’t hitting.

Naturally every deadline season goes by with countless eye-opening trades that didn’t come to fruition, so there’s no shortage of 20-20 hindsight that can be applied to any of these proposed deals.  In this particular Grisham-for-Baty swap, there’s some additional interest just due to the fact that the Yankees and Mets rarely trade with each other, not to mention the sliding-doors nature of what this trade might have done to each team’s season.

While the Yankees have been rolling in September, the Mets’ struggles have now reached critical mass, as the Amazins sit outside the NL postseason picture with two games remaining.  The Reds have a magic number of 2 for clinching the final NL wild card slot, since Cincinnati holds the tiebreaker over New York should the two teams finish with the same record.

With just a 20-31 record since August 1, the Mets’ deadline approach has already come under fire, even if Mullins’ struggles are far from the only reason the club has slumped.  It can be argued that in the world where Baty was dealt for Grisham, the Mets might still be in this same position, given Baty’s recent contributions and the fact that pitching has been the larger issue in Queens.  Hanging onto Baty may prove fruitful in the long run, but it won’t do much to ease the immediate dismay of Mets fans (or the organization itself) since their record payroll may not even result in a postseason trip.

Braves Claim Alek Manoah

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The Braves have claimed right-hander Alek Manoah off waivers from the Blue Jays, according to announcements from both clubs. Toronto designated him for assignment earlier this week. To open a 40-man spot for Manoah, Atlanta transferred infielder Ozzie Albies to the 60-day injured list.

Manoah, 27, has been trending down for a few years but is a former Cy Young contender. In 2022, he made 31 starts for the Blue Jays, tossing 196 2/3 innings with a 2.24 earned run average. That ERA was probably a bit misleading. Manoah’s 6.5% walk rate was good but his 22.9% strikeout rate was only about average and his 37.5% ground ball rate was subpar. He benefited from a .244 batting average on balls in play and 82.6% strand rate. Adjusted metrics like his 3.35 FIP and his 3.85 SIERA thought he was more good than great. Regardless, Manoah finished third in American League Cy Young voting, behind Justin Verlander and Dylan Cease.

A major correction came in the following season. Manoah was optioned to the minors in early June of 2023 after posting a 6.36 ERA in his first 13 starts. His strikeout rate had dropped to 17% while his walked rate had climbed to 14.9%. He came back up to make a few more starts in the second half but finished the year with a 5.87 ERA over 19 starts.

Going into 2024, there were some trade rumors surrounding Manoah but he ended up staying with the Jays. He missed the start of the season due to some shoulder soreness. He was able to come off the IL in May and made five decent starts, with a 3.70 ERA, 25.2% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate. However, he then required Tommy John surgery, putting him out of action for the rest of the year.

Here in 2025, Manoah has been working to get back on track but it hasn’t been an encouraging return. He has thrown 38 2/3 innings in the minors this year, mostly on rehab but the Jays also eventually reinstated him from the IL and optioned him. His 3.96 ERA in those minor league innings isn’t bad but his 19.6% strikeout rate and 12.8% walk rate are both poor. He has only been averaging 91 miles per hour on his fastball, whereas he was around 94 mph in that great 2022 season.

This was Manoah’s first of three arbitration seasons and he is making $2.2MM. Since he hasn’t pitched in the big leagues this year, he should be in line to make the same salary next year. The Jays recently needed a 40-man spot to reinstate Anthony Santander from the 60-day IL and they bumped Manoah off. That seems to suggest they weren’t planning to tender Manoah a contract and keep him around for next year.

He’s a sensible flier for another club to take. A salary between $2MM and $3MM is tiny by modern starting pitching standards. Soft-tossing veterans like Kyle Hendricks and Wade Miley each signed for $2.5MM last offseason. If Manoah can regain some of his lost velocity next year, there would be the added upside of him being controllable in 2027 as well. He also still has options, meaning he could be stashed in Triple-A as depth if he still isn’t back on track by March of next year.

That makes it somewhat surprising that a few clubs passed on Manoah. Waivers go in reverse order of the standings and are not league specific. With Atlanta winning the claim, it can be concluded that the Rockies, White Sox, Nationals, Twins, Pirates and Angels all passed. Some of those clubs have decent pitching, despite their poor records. But a few of those teams are desperate for arms, particularly the Rockies, who have a 6.02 ERA this season. Given their difficulties in convincing free agents to pitch at Coors Field, it’s a bit startling to see them shrug here.

Atlanta came into 2025 with championship aspirations but it turned into a Murphy’s law season. A mountain of injuries, some poor performances and a PED suspension for Jurickson Profar all combined to produce a dreadful campaign. As they have been playing out the string, president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos has been trying to take advantage of any opportunity to grab players who might help the club bounce back next year.

In the past two months, Atlanta has claimed Ha-Seong Kim, Jake Fraley, Joey Wentz, Vidal Bruján, Brett Wisely, Joel Payamps, Chuckie Robinson, Alexis Díaz and now Manoah off waivers. Presumably, the club is comfortable tendering Manoah a contract for next year, though they don’t have to decide on that today. Perhaps they will have Manoah report to one of their facilities to throw some bullpens as they take a close-up look at him. If they want to, they could always walk away before the deadline to tender contracts to arbitration-eligible players, which is usually in late November.

Going into 2026, Atlanta’s rotation projects to potentially include Chris Sale, Hurston Waldrep, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo López, Spencer Schwellenbach, Grant Holmes, Bryce Elder and others. That’s a lot of names but there are lots of question marks in there. Sale has had plenty of injuries over the years and turns 37 in March. Waldrep may be having a nice breakout but still has less than 70 big league innings pitched. Strider returned from his own surgery absence this year and hasn’t been his usual self. López missed almost this entire season due to a shoulder injury. Schwellenbach has been out almost three months due to an elbow fracture. Holmes probably needs UCL surgery but is trying non-surgical rehab for now. Elder has an unimpressive 5.30 ERA this year.

Assuming Manoah is tendered a contract, he cheaply adds another name into that mix and gives the club some more rotation depth. As mentioned, he has options and can be sent to Triple-A Gwinnett if he doesn’t earn a rotation job out of camp. If he is able to return to form, Atlanta could control him for the 2027 season as well.

It’s also possible they tender him a contract and then try to pass him through waivers later. Manoah will finish this year between four and five years of major league service time. That means he has the right to reject outright assignments but has to walk away from his remaining salary commitments in exercising that right. Players in that spot sometimes find themselves making a few million, which decreases the chances of them being claimed, allowing the club to stash them as non-roster depth.

As for Albies, he suffered a hamate fracture a few days ago and was going to miss the remainder of the season. He’ll spend the rest of the campaign on the 60-day IL but will need to be reinstated for the offseason, as the IL goes away five days after the World Series and doesn’t come back until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

Photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski, Imagn Images

Rockies Notes: Front Office, Marquez, Halvorsen

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The Rockies are concluding one of the worst seasons in MLB history. They’ll come up just shy of 120 losses and are the only team since 1900 to be outscored by more than 400 runs. It led the historically loyal organization to fire manager Bud Black after a 7-33 start to the season. They’ve gone 36-84 under interim skipper Warren Schaeffer.

Walker Monfort, son of Rox’s owner Dick Monfort, was promoted to executive vice president in June. The team announced at the time that chief operating officer Greg Feasel would step aside at the end of the season. The team did not make any in-season changes to the baseball operations staff, yet that could happen in the next few weeks.

Buster Olney and Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported on Thursday that the Rox are “likely” to make changes to the front office. That may extend to the top of baseball operations. Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post wrote a couple weeks back that “it appears likely that (GM Bill Schmidt) will be fired or reassigned” at season’s end.

Schmidt has led baseball operations on a full-time basis since the 2021-22 offseason. He inherited a below-average roster from previous GM Jeff Bridich, but the results have gotten progressively worse. They lost 94 games during his first season and have lost 100+ games in each of the past three years — the first such seasons in franchise history.

No team has a worse record than Colorado’s 231-415 mark over the last four years. Schmidt had been in the organization for more than two decades before ascending to the GM role. He has been in the charge of the team’s amateur drafts since 2000. The Rox had brief runs of success during that time — highlighted by the National League pennant in 2007 — but only have five postseason appearances in a franchise history that dates back to 1993.

Whether they make a change atop baseball operations or not, the Rockies will need to decide whether to stick with Schaeffer as their permanent manager. They’re also likely to see the departure of one of their longest-tenured players. Germán Márquez made what’ll probably be his final start as a Rockie this evening. The impending free agent gave up six runs over 4 1/3 innings and took the loss. He finishes the season with a grisly 6.70 earned run average over 26 starts.

Márquez had much better seasons earlier in his career. He had a pair of sub-4.00 ERA seasons at Coors Field in 2018 and ’20 while securing an All-Star nod in 2021. Márquez has spent nine-plus seasons in Denver but is unlikely to return in free agency. Saunders wrote this evening that Colorado doesn’t intend to re-sign him.

The righty reflected on the run after making his final home start last weekend (link via Thomas Harding of MLB.com). “It was very, very emotional. It may have been the last game that I throw as a Rockie at Coors Field. I don’t know,” he acknowledged. “I was thinking about that the whole game. This is my home. I’ve been here for my whole career. I feel happy. I feel free here. But it’s baseball, and I need to see what’s going to happen.”

Márquez might well have been traded at this summer’s deadline had he not been placed on the injured list with biceps tendinitis in late July. The Rockies were more willing sellers than they’d been in previous seasons. They traded Ryan McMahon, Jake Bird and Tyler Kinley while at least hearing teams out on controllable relievers Seth Halvorsen and Victor Vodnik. They ended up holding both late-game arms.

Vodnik finished the season as the closer. Halvorsen went down immediately after the deadline with a mild flexor strain. That ended his season, but the fireballing righty has progressed to throwing off a mound as he prepares for the offseason (via the MLB.com injury tracker). He’s an unlikely offseason trade candidate coming off a season-ending elbow injury when he’s still under club control for five seasons. If he’s healthy, he’d have a good chance at beginning next year as the closer.

Guardians’ Sam Hentges Undergoes Knee Surgery

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Guardians left-hander Sam Hentges underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, reports Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. That comes with a 3-4 month rehab timeline that’ll delay his offseason. Hentges was already out for the entire 2025 season after undergoing shoulder surgery in September ’24.

The 29-year-old Hentges was a solid reliever for the Guards before the shoulder injury. He combined for a 2.93 earned run average across 138 appearances from 2022-24. The former fourth-round draftee punched out 27% of opponents while holding them to a .220/.282/.312 batting line. He hasn’t thrown an MLB pitch in more than 14 months.

Cleveland will need to activate Hentges from the injured list at the beginning of the offseason. They’ll decide whether to carry him on the 40-man roster throughout the offseason or non-tender him. Hentges made $1.337MM this year in his second season of arbitration as a Super Two player. He’d make the same amount next year if Cleveland offers him a contract. He’s under club control through 2027.

The Guardians’ bullpen is stronger from the right side than the left. Erik Sabrowski is their best lefty reliever. He has plus stuff and bat-missing ability but has walked nearly 18% of opposing hitters. Sabrowski has turned in a 1.86 earned run average across 29 innings, yet that’ll be hard to maintain while issuing free passes at that rate.

Tim Herrin has had a rough year. After posting a 1.92 ERA a season ago, he has allowed nearly five earned runs per nine while walking 15.5% of batters faced. Kolby Allard has provided the club 63 innings of 2.71 ERA ball. He’s working with a 90 MPH fastball and has a career-low 15.4% strikeout rate. The Guardians ran him through waivers in July before re-signing him to work in low-leverage situations.

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