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Bo Bichette Doesn’t Expect To Require Offseason Knee Surgery

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Bo Bichette has played through a sprained PCL in his left knee during the World Series. He’s clearly physically limited but has picked up five hits (all singles) with three RBI in 18 trips to the plate.

Of course, Bichette’s focus for the next day or two will be fully on the World Series. He did address the injury before tonight’s Game 6, telling Ben-Nicholson Smith of Sportsnet that he does not expect he’ll need to undergo offseason surgery. Bichette suffered the injury in a collision at home plate with Yankees catcher Austin Wells on September 6. He was out of action for almost seven weeks before making his return for the Fall Classic.

Bichette would clearly still be on the injured list if this were the regular season. However, he has gotten to a point where he can hit and make routine defensive plays. The Jays moved him to second base while keeping Andrés Giménez at shortstop to slightly reduce his defensive workload. They used him as a designated hitter in Game 5 after George Springer tweaked his side. However, Springer has improbably returned for tonight’s game and is back at DH. Bichette heads out to the keystone again.

The 27-year-old infielder (28 in March) is days away from becoming a free agent for the first time in his career. He’s widely viewed as the second-best player in the class behind Kyle Tucker. The knee injury might add to the already present questions about how long he can be expected to stick at shortstop. There’ll be teams that prefer Bichette as a second baseman, but he’s an annual threat to lead the league in hits and is coming off a .311/.357/.483 batting line in the regular season.

Bichette spoke with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic about his decision to play through the injury earlier this week. He acknowledged that he’s “not really expecting to make huge progress” in the healing process while he’s playing. Bichette nevertheless stated that he’d “risk it all” to win a World Series. He demurred on the free agency question this evening. Bichette admitted at today’s pregame media scrum that while he has thought about his future at times this season, he has “got a World Series to win” right now (video via TSN).

Yoervis Medina Passes Away

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Former major league pitcher Yoervis Medina has passed away. Reports out of his native Venezuela indicate that authorities believe Medina suffered a heart attack while he was driving, leading to a fatal car accident. He was 37 years old.

Medina pitched for the Mariners and Cubs from 2013-15, working 146 innings across an identical number of games. He posted a 3.08 career ERA with a 23.1% strikeout rate along with a 12.4% walk rate. Most of his success came in his first two seasons, as Medina pitched to a 2.81 ERA with a 24.3% strikeout rate and 12.6% walk rate in 125 innings for the Mariners from 2013-14. In that span, he ranked 34th out of 109 qualified relievers in ERA and ranked 21st with a 53.5% ground ball rate.

He was traded to the Cubs in May 2015 for Welington Castillo and pitched in five games for them with a 7.00 ERA, but he wound up spending most of the season in the minors. That was followed by brief stints in the Pirates and Phillies organizations in 2016, neither of which resulted in a big league call. Medina then pitched in the Venezuelan winter league from 2016-20 before moving to the Italian Baseball League in 2023 and the Czech Baseball Extraliga in 2024.

Medina was teammates in Seattle with Jesús Montero, who was tragically killed in a motorcycle crash earlier this month. We at MLB Trade Rumors send our condolences to Medina’s family, friends, loved ones and former teammates.

Pirates Claim Dugan Darnell

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The Pirates announced that they have claimed right-hander Dugan Darnell off waivers from the Rockies. He was immediately transferred to the 60-day injured list, so the Bucs didn’t need to open up a 40-man roster spot. In late August, it was reported that Darnell would be undergoing surgery to address a torn labrum in his hip, a procedure with a recovery timeline of about eight months.

There was no previous indication that the Rockies had removed Darnell from their roster. It’s common at this time of year for teams to place players on waivers, as many clubs are facing roster crunches. The 60-day IL goes away five days after the World Series, so players need to retake 40-man roster spots. Some breathing room is created by others reaching free agency but teams often need to clear space. Even if a team doesn’t need space now, having it is valuable throughout the winter for other moves, including protecting guys from the Rule 5 draft.

RosterResource projected the Rockies to have 41 guys for 40 roster spots at the beginning of the offseason, including Darnell. It seems Colorado tried to open a spot by passing Darnell through waivers but the Pirates intervened. The Pirates will face a crunch of their own, as RosterResource projects them to have 42 guys for 40 spots, not including Darnell. The Bucs will therefore have to do some clearing in the coming days.

For now, they are bringing a fresh relief arm into the system. Darnell, 28, was signed by the Rockies as an undrafted free agent in 2021. He got a very limited big league debut this year. He was called up August 1 but then left hip inflammation put him on the IL three weeks later. In that debut, he tossed 11 2/3 innings over nine appearances. He allowed five earned runs on ten hits and seven walks while striking out five.

That’s a small sample of work, so presumably the Bucs are also putting some stock in his minor league track record. He has thrown 255 1/3 innings on the farm with a 3.74 earned run average, 30.6% strikeout rate and 9.9% walk rate. That includes 53 2/3 Triple-A innings in 2025, pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, with a 3.19 ERA, 28.8% strikeout rate, 8.7% walk rate and 43.5% ground ball rate.

Given Darnell’s surgery timeline, he likely won’t be available until the middle of next year. Perhaps the Bucs will keep him on the 40-man through the winter and then put him on the 60-day IL again once it returns in spring training. It’s also possible the Bucs try to pass him through waivers unclaimed during the offseason, therefore keeping him as non-roster depth.

Photo courtesy of Isaiah J. Downing, Imagn Images

Poll: Should The Marlins Keep Their Rotation Together This Winter?

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While the 2025 season started off rough for the Marlins, things turned around in a big way once the calendar flipped to June. After going 23-33 through the end of May, Miami went 56-50 from June onward. That’s nearly an 86-win pace if maintained over the course of a full season. Coming off a year where 83 wins was all it took to secure a Wild Card spot in the NL, it’s not hard to imagine the rebuilding Marlins making the jump into legitimate contention next year.

That relative success this season came through steps forward across the roster. Liam Hicks and Agustin Ramirez provided intriguing results from the catcher position. An outfield trio of Kyle Stowers, Jakob Marsee, and Griffin Conine figures to have real potential next year. The combination of Ronny Henriquez, Anthony Bender, Calvin Faucher, Andrew Nardi, and Tyler Phillips has the look of a legitimate relief corps as well. Those areas still need reinforcements, of course. The Marlins are expected to take a look at the high leverage relief market and add a bat this winter for a reason.

The team’s rotation is the one place where there’s really no need for an upgrade. If healthy and firing on all cylinders, a starting five that features Sandy Alcantara, Edward Cabrera, Eury Perez, Braxton Garrett, and Ryan Weathers could be among the best in the majors next year. Arms like Max Meyer, Janson Junk, and Ryan Gusto offer legitimate depth behind that five as well, which will be important given the lengthy injury histories across that group. Thomas White and Robby Snelling, two of the club’s top prospects, reached Triple-A in 2025.

The combination of Miami’s questionable competitive status, that impressive pitching depth behind the starting five, and a number of exciting pitchers within the rotation itself has made the idea of the Marlins trading a pitcher for help on offense a widely-discussed possibility over the years. The team certainly isn’t opposed to the idea in theory, having already traded Pablo Lopez to the Twins to land Luis Arraez years ago and then shipping Jesus Luzardo to the Phillies for prospects last winter.

Now that the team is returning to competitiveness, however, are they really best served by dealing away someone like Alcantara or Cabrera? Alcantara is the Marlins’ only guaranteed contract on the books for next year, and they have zero guaranteed dollars on the books for 2027. Even for a small market team that routinely runs some of the lowest budgets in the league, that’s enough payroll flexibility that no hitter this side of Kyle Tucker appears to be completely out of reach. While it would be a surprise to see the Marlins make a splash for someone like Alex Bregman, it’s not hard to imagine the team being able to build out its lineup in free agency by targeting players like Ryan O’Hearn or Rhys Hoskins.

Signing a player in that tier would hardly be a major financial burden and it would allow them to reshape their offense without having to trade from their strong rotation group. With that being said, it’s unclear what sort of spending Marlins ownership might give the green light to this winter. If there isn’t room in the budget to add, then it would certainly be better to trade from the rotation.

It’s also possible that, in a class of starters that lacks a true shutdown ace like Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, or Yoshinobu Yamamoto from recent years, teams will be hungry enough for starting pitching that the Marlins receive an offer they can’t refuse. As much as this rotation is a strength if kept together, would it make sense to do so if they could get a legitimate upgrade in a trade?

The majority of contending clubs will be likely to pursue starting pitching help this winter. Many of those will have young infield prospects or players they could offer the Marlins in exchange for a starter. If the Marlins see any of those players as a potential anchor for their lineup, giving up a member of a rotation that would remain full of quality options even after a trade might wind up looking like a relatively small price to pay.

How do MLBTR readers think the Marlins should handle their rotation this offseason? Should they hold their starters and try to upgrade the infield through free agency, or would they be better off trading a starter to restock their infield? Have your say in the poll below:

Gleyber Torres Undergoes Sports Hernia Surgery

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October 31: Torres underwent the hernia procedure today, according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. He is expected to be cleared for baseball activities in four weeks.

October 11: With the Tigers’ season now over, Gleyber Torres is planning to undergo sports hernia surgery, the second baseman told reporters (including the Detroit News’ Tony Paul) in the aftermath of the club’s loss in Game Five of the ALDS.  Torres revealed that he has been dealing with the injury for several months, and praised the Tigers’ training and medical staff for helping him keep playing.

“It was not good from the [start of the] second half,” Torres said.  “It was a lot of pain.  But we do a really good job keeping me playing….It’s not about the numbers, it’s just about playing every day.”

A look at Torres’ numbers, however, clearly reveals something was amiss.  Torres hit .281/.387/.425 over 359 plate appearances in the first half of the season, and was performing well enough to earn a starting nod as the American League’s second baseman in the All-Star Game.  Once the All-Star break was over, however, Torres hit only .223/.320/.339 over his final 269 PA of the regular season.  He seemed to rediscover his stroke over Detroit’s first seven postseason games, but an 0-for-6 showing in yesterday’s 15-inning marathon with the Mariners dropped Torres’ playoff slash line to .235/.316/.382 over 38 PA.

Torres’ slide mirrored the Tigers’ own fortunes.  One of baseball’s better clubs for much of the season, Detroit went 9-22 over its last 31 games and barely squeaked into the postseason field in the final AL wild card slot.  If the Tigers had retained their healthy AL Central lead, Torres likely would’ve gotten more opportunity to rest down the stretch, and yet the mutual struggles of player and team led to the Tigers led to an unfortunate Catch-22 situation.  The Tigers still needed Torres in the lineup as much as possible as their top-choice second baseman, yet Torres’ struggles kept adding to the team’s woes (though Torres was far from the only Detroit player to under-perform in September).

The injury adds context to Torres’ second-half decline, and adds a wrinkle to his upcoming free agent market.  Firstly, sports hernia surgeries usually take at least two months of recovery time and closer to 12 weeks on the longer end, so the procedure shouldn’t impact his readiness for the start of Spring Training.  Interested suitors might now wait until Torres is fully recovered before diving too deeply into his market, so it is possible he might not sign until late December or early January.

For the season as a whole, Torres hit .256/.358/.387 with 16 homers over 628 PA, with below-average glovework (though better public defensive metrics than his 2024 work as the Yankees’ second baseman).  This works out to 2.6 fWAR, which was still eighth-best among all second baseman in 2025.  Looking at the free agent second base market, Torres is still arguably the best option available, since Jorge Polanco’s time at second base was also impacted by injury.

Torres’ reps at Octagon will clearly make the case that their client’s first-half performance is a better reflection of what a healthy Torres can bring.  Detroit signed Torres to a one-year, $15MM contract last winter that was essentially a pillow deal for the second baseman, as he was looking a shorter-term deal and a better platform year in 2025 that would allow him to re-enter the market with a stronger set of numbers.  Torres hit .257/.330/.378 with 15 homers over 665 PA (with a 105 wRC+ and 1.8 fWAR) for New York in 2024, so while he did improve in Detroit, it wasn’t the leap ahead he was hoping to achieve.

Could a return to Motown be possible?  Torres is open to it, saying “hopefully we get a really good conversation here.  I feel really good with this group….It was really special this year.”  Retaining Torres would be a logical way for the Tigers to keep a right-handed hitting bat within their lefty-tilted lineup.  On the flip side, a longer-term deal with a second baseman might not appeal to a Tigers team that has some notable minor league infielders (Hao-Yu Lee, Max Anderson, and star prospect Kevin McGonigle) nearing MLB readiness.

Jorge Alfaro Clears Waivers, Elects Free Agency

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The Nationals announced today that catcher Jorge Alfaro has cleared outright waivers and elected free agency. Alfaro had the option to reject an outright assignment as a player with more than five years of service time. He has now done just that and is free to sign with any club.

The 32-year-old joined the Nationals in early September after opting out of a minor league contract with the Brewers. He had spent the entire year to that point at the Triple-A level, and his time with Washington represented his first big-league action since 2023. In 39 plate appearances across 14 games, Alfaro only batted .256/.256/.308 with a 54 wRC+. He struck out an alarming 35.9% of the time and did not draw a single walk. That came in a small sample size, of course, but they are consistent with Alfaro’s career metrics. Across nine seasons in the majors, he has struck out 34% of the time and posted a walk rate of 4.1% with an 86 wRC+. While catching is generally a weaker offensive position, Alfaro’s output still grades out as below average.

Alfaro’s defense also left a lot to be desired. Although he had an above-average pop time, Statcast rated his framing, throwing, and blocking negatively in 2025 (albeit in just 91 2/3 innings behind the plate). Alfaro has never been much of a blocker, but he did grade out positively for his framing and throwing as recently as 2021 with the Marlins. Defensive metrics are tricky, particularly in small samples, but it looks as though his current output both offensively and defensively limits Alfaro’s ceiling to that of a backup. His numbers at Triple-A this year, including an 88 wRC+ in 326 PA, are not much better.

Alfaro now joins a relatively thin group of free agent catchers, headlined by J.T. Realmuto, Victor Caratini, and Danny Jansen (whose mutual option will be declined). Realmuto will be 35 at the start of the 2026 season and is showing signs of decline, posting a 94 wRC+ and -2 Defensive Runs Saved for the Phillies this year. Caratini was an average hitter for the Astros in 2025 but was valued at -5 DRS despite only catching 49 games. Jansen, who also posted roughly average offense, was a 98th-percentile blocker this year, but well below-average as a framer (ninth percentile). It’s a thin group, and teams are always in need of catching help, so Alfaro figures to latch on somewhere as a depth option — likely on a minor league deal.

Photo by John Jones, Imagn Images

Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript

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Anthony Franco

  • Good afternoon everyone, hope you've had a good week! Another one that I'll keep around an hour as we put the finishing touches on offseason prep, let's get rolling

Guest

  • The Yankees need both rotation and bullpen help but I believe the offense is their biggest need.  I would love to see them sign Tucker but find that unlikely. So, if not Tucker then who?  Thanks as always for the chats!

Anthony Franco

  • I don't see why Tucker wouldn't be in play unless you're assuming they re-sign Bellinger before Tucker comes off the board. I wouldn't rule them out on any free agent hitters really
  • First base might be tough because they've got Rice internally and can't use the DH spot. Beyond that, any outfielder seems viable. They could make a run at Bichette and trade Jazz, or just roll with a Bo/Jazz middle infield tandem for a year and make Volpe play his way back into an everyday role

Snelling

  • Snell said the Jays got lucky. Was he just making excuses for a unsuccessful performance?

Anthony Franco

  • I mean, it obviously wasn't a great performance. He gave up homers on two of the first three pitches and issued four walks. It's also true that he would've had 6 2/3 innings of three-run ball with seven strikeouts if Edgardo Henriquez had done his job behind him, which doesn't look nearly as bad as five earned runs do

Yes. Savage.

  • 12Ks. No walks. Still a rookie next year. How amazing was that outting? Also, does make Trey the default prediction for rookie of the year next year?

Anthony Franco

  • Of course it would not have mattered because this was happening on the other side of the ball
  • I don't know that I'd pick Yesavage to win ROY over Kevin McGonigle or something, but yeah, incredible performance. Insane that the dude was in A-ball a few months ago

DJ Clutch

  • How would you resolve the weird roster jam the Astros are facing for position players?  Is it ridiculous to think Correa could handle 2nd if Paredes can't?

Anthony Franco

  • I don't see why Correa couldn't play second base.  It'd still be a weird logjam because you need Paredes at third with Yordan/Altuve splitting LF without the fallback of moving Altuve back to second if he's still bad in the outfield
  • I think they just need to eat part of the Walker deal and move on

Dipoto

  • I'm wondering how you see the 1st base market developing in free agency this offseason.  Will I be able to keep Naylor?  If I can't, how will the two Japanese 1B/3B coming over impact the marketplace and what's a reasonable cost estimate for Okamoto?

Anthony Franco

  • Yeah I don't think they'd be so openly putting out there that they want to keep Naylor if they weren't serious about making a competitive offer. Payroll's going to be up a little bit from where they opened last season (as it should be) and they could hear teams out on Castillo again
  • I can't imagine they'd pay Murakami. I think we're going to end up with Okamoto at four years in the $60M range. Tim seems open to the possibility that he pushes to five years, which I don't see at his age. If Okamoto turns out to be a four-year deal guy, Seattle should probably just pay the few extra million annually to get Naylor done

Michael

  • Gleyber Torres to Washington make any sense?

Anthony Franco

  • Eh, they need to do better than García but I don't think Gleyber's netting them much at the deadline and they're still rebuilding
  • If he takes something similar to this year's 1/15, I'd rather just spend that money on a starter who has a better shot to be an in-demand trade chip. You'll be able to pitch starters to almost every contender in July but there'll only be a couple teams that want a second baseman without defensive flexibility
  • And if Gleyber commands three-plus years, I wouldn't be a fan of it for any team

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Nationals Hire Blake Butera As Manager

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Just weeks after hiring Red Sox assistant GM Paul Toboni as their new president of baseball operations — thus making the 35-year-old the youngest front office leader in MLB — the Nationals announced the hiring of 33-year-old Blake Butera as their new manager. Butera had spent the past two seasons as the Rays’ senior director of player development. Like Toboni, he’s the youngest in the sport at his position.

“I’ve always believed that you win with people, and from our very first conversation, it was clear that Blake is the right person and the right leader for this role,” Toboni said in a press release. “Blake comes into this position with experience in a variety of roles in player development, including as a successful manager, making him uniquely qualified to get the most out of the players in the clubhouse and help us reach the next level. He possesses a strong baseball acumen and has a reputation for building strong relationships with players and staff, making him a great fit for us in Washington, D.C. We’re so excited to welcome him to the Nationals family.”

Butera, who’s already spent four years as a minor league skipper, will be the youngest manager since Frank Quilici in 1972. It’s been a theme for the former Rays farmhand. After a couple of seasons as an infielder in the low minors, he moved to the coaching side, taking over as skipper of High-A Hudson Valley in 2018. At 25 years old, Butera was the youngest manager in organized baseball that season, per Baseball Reference.

After two seasons with Hudson Valley, Butera became the manager of Single-A Charleston. After winning a league title in 2021, he was named Low-A East Manager of the Year. Tampa Bay promoted Butera to Minor League Assistant Field Coordinator in 2023.

Butera also has coaching experience at the international level. He worked for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League from 2019 to 2020. He served as a quality control coach with Leones del Escogido in the Dominican League in 2021. Butera was also a bench coach for Italy in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Washington fired manager Dave Martinez in July. He had been at the helm since 2018. Martinez won a World Series with the team in 2019, but the team had struggled since then. The Nationals had lost 90+ games in four straight seasons heading into 2025. They were 37-53 when Martinez was dismissed.

Bench coach Miguel Cairo took over as interim manager. He was a candidate to take over full-time in 2026, but was removed from consideration earlier this week. Cairo, Brandon Hyde, and Craig Albernaz were the only three candidates known to have interviewed for Washington’s vacancy. Albernaz ended up landing the Baltimore job.

Washington also moved on from longtime president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo during the season. Assistant general manager Mike DeBartolo took over as interim general manager to close the year. The Nationals then hired former Red Sox assistant general manager Paul Toboni as their president of baseball operations in late September.

With Butera now installed in D.C., seven of the offseason’s incredible ten managerial vacancies have been filled. Colorado, San Diego, and Atlanta are still in the market for a new skipper. Minnesota (Derek Shelton), Baltimore (Albernaz), San Francisco (Tony Vitello), Texas (Skip Schumaker), and the Angels (Kurt Suzuki) have all filled the position this offseason.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported that the Nationals had chosen Butera and were finalizing a contract.

Angels Hire Mike Maddux As Pitching Coach

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10:10am: The Angels have confirmed that Maddux will be their new pitching coach, per Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.

9:38am: Pitching coach Mike Maddux won’t return to the Rangers in 2026 and will instead be hired to new Angels manager Kurt Suzuki’s staff in Anaheim, reports Jeff Wilson of DLLS Sports. It’s expected to be a one-year deal. The Angels haven’t formally announced the hiring, but Wilson adds that the Rangers have confirmed they were unable to reach a new deal with Maddux. Texas granted its division rival permission to speak to Maddux but also made an offer to retain him even after the Halos had inquired about his availability, per the report.

Rangers president of baseball ops Chris Young tells Wilson that his club is “forever grateful” to Maddux, who “played a major role” on the team’s first-ever World Series victory during the 2023 season and oversaw a dominant Texas pitching staff in 2025. Rangers starters led the majors with a 3.41 ERA this past season. Their bullpen’s collective 3.62 mark placed fifth in MLB despite being composed almost entirely of short-term free agent acquisitions from the prior offseason.

Following the season, Young expressed interest in retaining Maddux, whether in a new contract as pitching coach or another role within the organization. Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News adds that the team indeed discussed alternative roles in addition to extending an offer to return as pitching coach. Instead, he’ll head west and join the fifth team of his lengthy coaching career.

Maddux, who turned 64 in August, had a 15-year career as a big league pitcher but has had an even more notable run as one of the most prolific pitching coaches in the league. He pitched for nine teams during his decade and a half in MLB, compiling a 4.05 ERA in 861 2/3 innings while working both as a starter and a reliever.

Lengthy as his career was, Maddux has now been a big league coach for an even longer stretch of time. He’s spent the past 23 seasons as a major league pitching coach, beginning with a six-year run in Milwaukee from 2003-08. Maddux then jumped to his first of two stints in Texas, spending the ’09-’15 seasons as pitching coach in Arlington, primarily under Ron Washington (who only just departed the Angels’ managerial role). That was followed by two years in D.C. as Nationals pitching coach and a five-year run in St. Louis. Maddux returned to the Rangers in 2023, Bochy’s first year on the job, and guided the staff en route to that year’s World Series championship.

Maddux will have a tough task ahead. The Angels don’t boast nearly the same level of pitching talent as their division rivals. Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Soriano are solid arms locked into the rotation, but the rest of the starting staff is a question mark. Former first-rounder and top prospect Reid Detmers will move back to a rotation role after a successful 2025 in the bullpen, and the Halos will hope that former top prospect Caden Dana can break through this season. Other rotation candidates include Mitch Farris, Sam Aldegheri and prospect George Klassen, but starting pitching figures to be a focus for GM Perry Minasian this winter.

In the bullpen, things are even shakier. Flamethrower Ben Joyce underwent shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum in May. Robert Stephenson, the team’s big-ticket addition in free agency two winters ago, missed all of 2024 due to Tommy John surgery and pitched just 10 innings late in the ’25 season. Lefty Brock Burke had a nice season, but closer Kenley Jansen is a free agent and the rest of the staff is lacking in both experience and sustained MLB success.

Of course, Maddux is one of many voices who’ll be working with the staff. The game has evolved in many ways since the pitching coach was the primary influence on a team’s staff. Maddux may be the lead voice for the group, but he’ll have assistant coaches, advance scouts and input from the team’s analytic department as well in trying to reshape a Halos staff that posted MLB’s third-worst ERA (4.89) in 2025.

The Opener: World Series, Managerial Vacancies, Trade Candidates

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Here are three things for MLBTR readers to keep an eye on as we head into the final weekend of the 2025 season:

1. World Series comes to a head:

The World Series will wrap up this weekend, with Game 6 scheduled for this evening and Game 7 scheduled for tomorrow if necessary. As the clubs head back to Toronto, the Blue Jays are up 3-2 and need just one more win to secure their first World Series championship in more than 30 years, while the Dodgers will need to win both games if they’re going to successfully defend their title from last year. Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2.49 ERA) is set to take the mound for L.A. tonight as he goes for his third consecutive complete game this postseason. Those sterling outings lowered his ERA this postseason to just 1.57 across four starts, though his three runs surrendered to the Phillies across four innings in the NLDS show he’s not invulnerable. Yamamoto’s opponent tonight will be Blue Jays veteran Kevin Gausman (3.59 ERA), who has a 2.55 ERA this postseason but did take the loss when he last matched up against Yamamoto in Game 2.

Neither team has announced starters for a hypothetical Game 7, although Tyler Glasnow and Max Scherzer would be in line to take the ball for the Dodgers and Blue Jays respectively. Of course, with the Dodgers fighting for their playoff lives tonight it will surely be all hands on deck if Yamamoto doesn’t dominate like he did during Game 2. That could involve Glasnow, although manager Dave Roberts teased the possibility that Shohei Ohtani could be available in relief if needed as well. Will the full force of the Dodgers dynasty be enough to beat the Blue Jays in back-to-back games on their home turf?

2. Managerial vacancies dwindling:

After an offseason where a third of the league’s teams had managerial vacancies to fill, only a few remain. The Padres appear to be the closest to a decision of those remaining, as they’ve narrowed their search down to a small group of finalists headlined by future Hall of Famer Albert Pujols. While there’s been plenty of transparency about the search in San Diego, the same can’t be said for Atlanta as the Braves have kept their plans close to the vest. Dodgers bench coach Danny Lehman, Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty, and Tigers bench coach George Lombard have been floated as possible options, but it’s unknown what stage in the process the club is at or even if any of those potential candidates have interviewed. The third managerial vacancy left unfilled is that in Colorado, but that search for a new manager won’t even begin until they have a new front office boss to lead it.

3. Top 40 Trade Candidates list:

The end of the World Series will mark the start of the 2025-26 offseason, and here at MLBTR we’ll be celebrating by publishing our list of the top 40 trade candidates for the offseason the day after the World Series concludes. More than half the league has at least one player who they could consider dangling on a list that digs deeper than the most obvious rebuilding clubs and midseason trade candidates, so be sure to check back in the day after MLB crowns its next champion to prime yourself for what could be a busy winter all around the league!

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