Uncustomed Heroes of 2025: Blue Jays

 

No one expected the Blue Jays to compete this year. Even less people expected them to finish the season at 1st in the AL East. And even less people expected them to make the World Series. But the Jays built an insanely efficient baseball team, with a lineup of really sturdy contact hitters, a rotation that even withstood an injury to Jose Berrios, a bullpen of young role-players, and the leadership of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., finally making his mark on Toronto. Yes, the run ended tragically in seven games of a ferocious World Series, but the Jays managed to not only fulfill the promise of a youth movement that had been building since 2019, but ensure that the infrastructure is in place to maintain this team's value going forward. The odds are that Bo Bichette might be playing somewhere else this year, unless Ross Atkins pulled whatever he pulled with Vlad and Cease, but enough people are sticking around that this team will definitely still compete.

Jeff Hoffman kept the closing position for the whole year in Toronto, despite a 4.37 ERA. It wasn't all terrible, Hoffman had 33 saves, 84 Ks and 9 wins, but the dominance Hoffman showed in a middle relief role in Philly seemed to dissipate. And despite some strong October work, the blown save to end all blown saves landed on Hoffman's shoulders, giving up a game-tying home run to Miguel Rojas of all people, and letting the game go to extras. Even if Hoffman rebounds next year, which is possible, that's gonna haunt him for a while.

2026 Prediction: A much better season. Not closing. The Jays want a proven clover, they asked about Raisel Iglesias after all. Hoffman is a set-up man, so given the opportunity to be one, he'll be much better.

Going into 2025, despite failing to sign Roki Sasaki, Willy Adames, Max Fried, Blake Snell, Juan Soto, or any of the truly high-tier free agents, the Blue Jays did land one big piece, that being Anthony Santander, the Orioles slugger who, in his age 29 season, had a 44-homer, 102 RBI year, the best of his career. Any alarm bells sounding yet? No. Thank you, Ross Atkins. Anyway, they give Tony Taters the money, and he hits SIX TATERS in his first year in Toronto. He'd just hit 44, because of injuries and a horrifying .175 average in the games he was healthy for, he only took 6 out. If he never recovers, the Jays fans are gonna look at this as grounds for running Atkins out of town on a rail. Out of EVERYBODY, they picked the one free agent with a palpable ceiling. He couldn't even do too much in the postseason. 3 hits, 2 RBIs in 5 games. 

2026 Prediction: He hits 25 homers. Will it be enough to satiate the fans? Not too sure.

After getting cut by the Guardians, y'know, the KINGS of high-defense/contact leaning little guys, Myles Straw got a job as a depth outfielder with the Jays. Then Daulton Varsho, the starting centerfielder, gets hurt and Straw becomes the everyday guy out there, reignites his career. Even though the defense is the star, Straw still hits .262, which isn't terrible. Varsho eventually comes back, gets hot, and Straw stays on as a defensive sub and depth piece. In the playoffs he was more notable for diving catches than any real plate work, but he's a big reason why the Jays made it as long as they did.

2026 Prediction: Similar role, perhaps more starts in right or left. Between him and Varsho, they've got it made out there.

Speaking of former Astros OF guys they didn't have any room for, Joey Loperfido came to Toronto last year in the deal that brought Yusei Kikuchi to LA...by way of Houston. Of the two pieces of that deal, I figured Jake Bloss would factor more into this season, but Loperfido took advantage of a midseason push and had a great second half, hitting .333 with 4 homers and 14 RBIs in 41 games. His appearances died down in September, and he didn't do much in October, but he was a great burst of energy down the stretch.

2026 Prediction: So all of the main outfield players are still in the picture next season. Santander, Varsho, Lukes, Schneider, Straw. They're all sticking around. Loperfido is the odd man out, and he still hasn't found a strong foothold in Toronto, at least not a long term one. Odds are he gets dealt this offseason. Wherever he's going, I think he makes it work there.

Ty France, after something of a comeback as 1st baseman for the Twins, wound up as a surprise trade deadline addition by the Jays, needing a power bench guy. France obliged, hitting .277 in 37 games, with 8 RBIs and 1 homer. 

2026 Prediction: Starter for a low-end non-competitor, a training wheels piece. Colorado could bite? Pittsburgh?

Also poached from Minnesota was middle relief wizard Louie Varland, who was working on a truly excellent season before the trade. After a 2 ERA with the Twins, Varland posted a 4.94 ERA with the Jays, with 2 more earned runs than in Minnesota. In the playoffs, he had a 3.94 ERA with 17 Ks and 7 earned runs, showing dominance more often than not. 

2026 Prediction: I say he settles in with Toronto, maybe gets to close.

After spending the first half of the 2024 season in Toronto and getting traded to Pittsburgh, looking to compete [?????], Isiah Kiner-Falefa found himself dealt right back to Toronto a year later, in time for a much more meaningful playoff push. IKF isn't the guy New York thought they'd be getting in 2022, but he's become a pretty handy guy to have around. IKF was mostly a fill-in for Bo Bichette, and acted as such in early rungs of the playoffs, before being shifted to a defensive sub, on account of a lack of hitting. As good as he was in the field, I fear IKF will forever be haunted by his choice of sliding strategy in a move that could have won the game in the bottom of the ninth. 

2026 Prediction: Whoever picks him up cuts him before the end of the year.

Coming Tomorrow- Unsurprisingly a ton of Atlanta Braves.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2025: Athletics

 

It's extremely ironic that, in the first year of being stripped of their national identity and having to play in a minor league park in Sacramento without a credited city while they wait for their stadium in Las Vegas to be build, the Athletics finally formed a team identity for the first time since Fisher sold the farm in 2022. I can now tell you exactly who this team is, what they're trying to do and how far along they are. I couldn't tell you that during many of their last Oakland years. 

In 2025 alone, the Athletics reaped the benefits of two separate rookie stars, Jacob Wilson and Nick Kurtz, while getting 30+ homer years from veterans Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers and a 20-20-20 season from Lawrence Butler. Yes, they also dealt Mason Miller this year, but they got Leo de Vries in return for him, which is a very good thing. 

Does that mean every big piece is gonna hit the ground running immediately for the A's? No, not even remotely. Max Muncy was an April call-up that spent the majority of the season with the team, and did so without making much of an impact until far too late. Max Muncy, not to be confused with that other corner infield guy for the Dodgers. This reminds me of when the A's gave an Opening Day lineup spot to Kevin Smith, not to be confused with Kevan Smith the catcher, and Kevin Smith bowled an absolute gutterball in the majors. Muncy was...marginally better. At the very least he had 9 homers and 23 RBIs, but aside from a June run, he was mostly ineffective, and spent a lot of time in the minors.

2026 Prediction: Seeing as he will have competition at both 2nd and 3rd [see later in the post], he'll need to get into what prospectors have been talking about. I say he gets there, but I also think if the A's are gonna trade any of their infielders this offseason, it'd likely be him.

Denzel Clarke got a special award during Awards Week for the big 'web gem' of the year, which could have been any of his incredible catches in the outfield. The Toronto native may not have had the contact hitting part down during his rookie season, but his defense made him a crucial piece of the team's development. Even in games where the A's got embarrassed, I'd hear something insane Clarke did in center. He also stole 6 bases in 47 games, meaning if he gets a starting job next year, him and Butler could be a fun, speedy duo.

2026 Prediction: The A's wouldn't have released J.J. Bleday if they didn't think they had something in Clarke. I think if the A's build themselves up enough, they can use Clarke in the same way the Jays used Myles Straw this year, as a defensive substitution with the occasional contact perk. As for who'll get the majority of the offensive starts in center, uh...well, see a little below.

So...the wild idea Fisher had of getting Luis Severino and Jeffrey Springs on contracts to start, uh...didn't really work. Springs flirted with greatness but was mostly fine. Sevvy struggled all year. Even J.P. Sears wound up getting dealt anyway. So a lot of local guys and scrubs had to start games for the A's, and one of the more prevalent ones was J.T. Ginn, who came up towards the end of last season. Ginn made 23 appearances, 16 of them starts, in 2025, and went 4-7 with a 5.08 ERA and, importantly, 99 Ks. The A's are gonna try to make sense of this rotation next year, with Jacob Lopez, Luis Morales and Gunnar Hoglund impressing in late months, and Ginn may be one of their most reliable rotation arms remaining.

2026 Prediction: A surprisingly great season that's a great audition for a better team to trade for him.

The Red Sox used Sean Newcomb as an Opening Day rotation guy this year, in case you've already forgotten. Because it's no longer 2018, that didn't especially work. So they cut him, and the A's picked Newcomb back up and used him, once again, in long relief. Somehow, this move led to Newcomb becoming one of the A's best relief pieces this year, posting a 1.75 ERA in 36 appearances, leading to a 1.7 WAR.

2026 Prediction: I actually think relief is the way to go. Somebody like the Reds or the Brewers is gonna pick him up and he's gonna be really useful. 

Two years ago, Zach Gelof was thought of as one of the foundational prospect pieces for the A's. He was brought up with Tyler Soderstrom, and was joined by Lawrence Butler some time later, and the idea was that they'd lead the team to greatness. Last year was...passable for Gelof, but he still led the league in strikeouts with 188. This year he missed almost the entirety of the year with injuries, and only made it up for 30 games, in which time he hit .174 with 46 more Ks. Either he's cooked or he's getting this out of his system.

2026 Prediction: Gelof will be higher in the depth chart than Muncy, and I think the A's will give him 2nd from the start, and some great games will follow. However, if he gets injured again I don't think the team will give him another chance.

The A's also had rookie Colby Thomas in the outfield mix, primarily in right field. Thomas seems like a decent piece, with some power perks, hitting .225 with 6 homers and 19 RBIs in 49 games. Thomas could be the missing piece to the outfield formula on offense, between Soderstrom and Butler.

2026 Prediction: Yeah, will get tons of starts at RF/CF with Bleday gone, will come into his own next year. Assuming the guys who broke out this year stay great, he could be a part of a great A's lineup next year.

Coming Tomorrow- Not sure if you heard, but the Blue Jays made a World Series this year. Here's a few people on that squad that I didn't get to during the year.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2025: Astros

 

For the first time since 2016, the Houston Astros failed to make the playoffs. What a great thing to say after all the hell they've put me through. Stealing signs, making it to the end every year, beating both my teams, not getting penalized enough. And this year, they finish 87-75, after being one of the best teams in the AL during the middle months, and are taken out in the final moments of the season by a Tigers win. They absolutely collapsed in August and September, and saw the Mariners overtake them for the division and go deeper than they could have. It was, in a word, satisfying.

Now, would this have happened if the big pieces hadn't gotten injured? Maybe. You also have to remember that Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman left, and more might be leaving this offseason. And knowing how the Astros handled Tucker's injury last year, by downplaying it to the point of inaccurately leading fans on, seeing them do it again this year with Yordan Alvarez just confirms how much of a sinking ship this team is now. Plugging Jose Altuve into left field while giving his position to Brendan Rodgers, then getting confused when that doesn't work, and then panicking when Cooper Hummel sucks in left as well and Jesus Sanchez hits .199 there. MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T PISS OFF YOUR LEFT FIELDER. He's gonna be making lots of money this offseason, as well Bregman, and if you'd have actually stayed on good terms with them it'd be for your team! Jeez!

Anyway, Yordan Alvarez only played 48 games this year, because he got hurt early, the injury was downplayed, he came back after the All-Star break and then got hurt again. So much is said about how well the Astros builds their organization, but not enough is said about how terribly they treat players once they're up. This could have been avoided, man. 

Alvy's year was...I mean I guess it was fine, for 48 games. Hit .273, 27 RBIs and only 6 homers. I reckon if he stays healthy and isn't screwed over by the team, they win that 88th game.

2026 Prediction: 2025 was the only full season of Alvarez's career that didn't give him over 30 homers. Next year will ensure this stays the case. An All-Star nod to follow.

Something else the Astros really don't like talking about is that since Yuli Gurriel left, they've had the absolute worst luck at 1st base. Similar to the Mariners' black hole at 2nd, the Astros have fired sure thing after sure thing into that position and they've all struggled. Trey Mancini gutter-balled, then Jose Abreu burned millions on a deal that could have gotten them the stars. And now it's Christian Walker's turn. The former Diamondback signed a pretty cool deal last offseason, for 3 years and 60 million, and the Astros must have forgotten the small detail that Walker was 33 when he signed it. This season was...certainly a season of baseball played by a 34-year-old. Despite barely missing any time, Walker was shockingly average, with the first under-average defensive work of his career, a negligible WAR figure and a career high 177 Ks. Granted, Walker also hit 27 homers and had 88 RBIs [the team leader in both!], but this was not his best work. He'd lost a dimension or so, and that's not what the Astros signed.

2026 Prediction: I'd like to think there's an improvement, but he'll be 35, and he's no Paul Goldschmidt. So there may be more of the same. The power numbers will be the same though.

After a phenomenal 2024, Ronel Blanco was one of several Houston starters, including Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers, Spencer Arrighetti, Luis Garcia, J.P. France and Hayden Wesneski, to miss copious amounts of playing time this year. I think of that group, Blanco had the best sample size, and quality, while he was healthy, with a 4.10 ERA and 48 Ks in 9 starts. Unfortunately, the injury came right after I picked him up in fantasy, and that was his season.

2026 Prediction: Um...something tells me Hunter Brown might not make all his starts. So I figure Blanco will at least be healthy enough to make up the work for him. A much better season, if not 2024-first-half levels.

For the second time with Houston, Mauricio Dubon won a gold glove as a utility infielder. For someone who struggled to find a place with both the Brewers and Giants, it's been very cool to see Dubon come into his own as a super-ute, and in a year with SO MANY INFIELD INJURIES, there was no shortage of playing time for the guy. And of course, Dubon was exceptional in the field, with a 17 fWAR figure, and the occasional contact moment as well. Even if so much is in disarray for this team, the Astros can still rely on Dubon, which is fantastic [I drafted this in early November]. 

2026 Prediction: WELL APPARENTLY THE ASTROS DON'T NEED HIM THAT BADLY ANYMORE. I honestly think Atlanta's a great place for him. He can play the infield on a daily basis or be a utility piece like in Houston. Plus, with all the injury turnaround they might need him a lot.

Victor Caratini has become one of the more respected backup catchers in the game, alongside Austin Hedges and Jacob Stallings. Unlike those guys, Caratini was able to hit this year. In 114 games, Caratini hit .259 with 46 RBIs and 12 homers, which, in this cursed year, was the 6th most on the Astros. Caratini's a very good guy to have around, and he's found a nice home in Houston.

2026 Prediction: Houston re-signs him, he becomes defacto starter midyear, does well.

So here's the story with Brandon Walter. Dude went to UDel, was drafted by the Sox, mostly minor league guy, gets a taste in 2023. Keeps kicking around, gets cut by the Sox, the Astros pick him up. This year, due to the lack of healthy options, Walter, at 28, gets a shot, and does well in a starting role. In 9 games, he has a 3.35 ERA, 52 Ks, and a 1.3 WAR. Then he gets hurt and is out for the rest of the year. Not sure who's unluckier, him or the Astros.

2026 Prediction: Even if he does come back, he's like ninth in the depth chart. I see him mostly as a triple-A guy.

So then after that, with little to no other healthy options, the Astros go with career swingman Jason Alexander, brother of Scott and not, as previously assumed, the star of 'Dunston Checks In'. Alexander began the year as a middle relief guy in Sacramento, and after one too many heckle of 'SERENITY NOW' from one of the dozens of people in attendance, he was cut and picked up by Houston. Where he soon found himself...starting games. In all honesty, for a while Alexander was one of the Astros' best players. From July 29th to September 15th, all of Alexander's starts culminated in wins, only allowing a high of three runs in any of them. Of course, then he got clobbered by Seattle, and there went the 1st place hopes, but Alexander still finished the year with a 4-2 record and a 3.66 ERA.

2026 Prediction: Well, he SHOULD be kept as a long man and relief piece, but with the injury turnover in Houston who even knows at this point? You know we're LIVING IN A SOCIETY.

Aside from nabbing Carlos Correa at the deadline, the Astros also tried to solve their left field issue by bringing in Jesus Sanchez, who'd been good, if not world-destroying, for Miami. Sanchez had some high highs, with 12 RBIs and 4 homers in 48 games, but the .199 average, despite some decent defense, made it more of a puzzling add. Sanchez is fundamentally a good player, but he couldn't meet this moment for the Astros.

2026 Prediction: I think he mellows out a produces a better full-season effort but he still has the potential to be a Dan-Vogelbach-sized thorn in the side of a fanbase who are expecting the world of him.

With Chas McCormick no longer an option and Jake Meyers oft-injured, the Astros brought up Zach Cole to potentially be the next great Astros outfielder. In 15 games, Cole hit .255 with 11 RBIs and 4 homers. He's got a high contact ceiling and hit over .300 with the Space Cowboys. Might be something here.

2026 Prediction: If the Astros don't deal him for Brendan Donovan or somebody like that, he makes his way up the depth chart and is the next Kyle Tucker, something the Astros desperately need.

And most surprisingly, the Astros brought in Craig Kimbrel after he proved he was useful, if low on options, for the Braves. Kimbrel is 37, and I think he just needs some seasons out of the spotlight, a lot like Aroldis Chapman, so he can find himself again. In 13 games, Kimbrel had a 2.45 ERA and 16 Ks. Not as poisonous as his Orioles or Phils numbers, and a lower key year. I'm not sure if this is the last we'll see of Kimbrel in the bigs, but at least if that's the case he doesn't go out completely undignified. 

2026 Prediction: I think he makes camp with somebody, has some middle relief appearances and one last save. And then hangs it up.

Coming Tomorrow- The A's didn't make the playoffs either, but at least I can see what direction they're headed.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2025: Angels

 

As per usual, we spend December on the blog knocking out customs of every memorable, or notable, season that didn't get one during regulation. We go in alphabetical order, which means once again, we start with the Los Angeles Angels.

At this point, the Angels have to be aware that the usual tactic isn't going to work. The past several seasons have consisted of Mike Trout having an amazing start, getting injured after a month and the season effectively ending for them. The issue is that they're spending so much time focusing on Trout that they can't build an effective team, and are baffled when this doesn't work. So this season, not only did they build a much better team with multiple a new WAR leader and two 35+ home run guys, they actually had 130 games of Mike Trout, his most since his last MVP season in 2019. And STILL, despite all that, the Angels finished in last place, behind the A's, with 90 losses. Wash didn't work, Maddon didn't work, Ausmus didn't work, here they are.

This was a season of baseball from Mike Trout that, while healthier, was not exactly elite. Trout hit .232 with 106 hits, 64 RBIs and 26 homers, and a 1.5 WAR. Exceedingly average. He's 34 years old, he's been injured every year for the past several years, and now he's past his prime and just trying to perform at all. The Ken Griffey comparisons are real, man. A decade of dominance and a lot of empty space afterwards. And you can tell he hates letting people down, too. But yeah, Trout was at least somewhat reliable this year, at least from a power standpoint, but it was his most mediocre season yet.

2026 Prediction: An improvement statistically, though perhaps not appearance-wise.

Luis Rengifo is another one of those guys who seems to jump into the action with the Angels and perform great as a backup, then immediately gets injured and halts the momentum. Last season he hit .300 but in only 78 games. So here he got to start from the getgo, and like Trout, was healthy for most of the year, and played in 147 games. Unfortunately they were not his best work. Despite 119 hits and 43 RBIs, Rengifo's OPS went below 7 for the first time since 2021, and had a blistering -17 bWAR figure. Defensively he was average. Perhaps he's just not a great choice to start.

2026 Prediction: He's a free agent, and I don't think the Angels need to re-sign him considering that they have Christian Moore. Makes camp as a utility guy with a contact team, think the Brewers or Guardians.

After splitting 2024 between San Francisco and Atlanta, the Angels brought on Jorge Soler, thinking he'd boost their power game. Unfortunately, for the first time since his first year in Miami, Soler had some injury troubles, and only made 82 games this year, and not some of his best ones, with a .215 average, 34 RBIs and 12 homers.

2026 Prediction: Crosses 30 longballs again. 

For most of this season, the Angels settled on a compact rotation of Tyler Anderson, Yusei Kikuchi, Kyle Hendricks, Jose Soriano and Jack Kochanowicz, eventually bringing in Mitch Farris and Caden Dana down the stretch. All of this to say that the Angels did not have room for Reid Detmers in their rotation, making 2025 a year without Detmers, Sandoval or Canning, the once promising young core. Detmers moved to the bullpen, and in 63 innings had a 3.96 ERA with 80 Ks. This might be the way going forward.

2026 Prediction: Leads team in appearances, perhaps notches the odd save.

The Angels actually brought on two staples of the Renteria/LaRussa White Sox teams this year, though Tim Anderson didn't go especially well for them. Yoan Moncada, yet another guy who makes waves then immediately misses 5 months, fit right in with this team. As the primary third baseman [in Rendon's absence], Moncada made only 84 games, and hit .234 with 12 homers and 35 RBIs. It's upsetting to realize just how much time Moncada lost after being set up for success in the Boston farm system.

2026 Prediction: Oh how the hell am I supposed to know? Hits .300 for the Twins, then gets clotheslined by the groundskeepers and tears his aorta. I cannot predict this man.

People are already calling Kyle Hendricks's 2025 season, his final one and his only one in a uniform not belonging to the Chicago Cubs, an oddity. I wouldn't go so far. Tim Lincecum on the Angels was an oddity. Jered Weaver on the Padres was an oddity. Brandon Crawford on the Cardinals was an oddity. Kyle Hendricks actually had some nice material in a full season in Anaheim. In 31 starts, he went 8-10 with a 4.76 ERA, 114 Ks and a 1.7 WAR. Considering how unreliable Hendricks had been in the last few seasons for the Cubs, the fact that he was consistent, healthy and had some nice moments is admirable. Dude pitched 11 years strong, did his job and hung it up when it didn't spark joy. Gotta respect it.

Coming Tomorrow- A lot of people who were promised October in Houston and couldn't get past September. 

Puzzlingly Warming the Stove

 

Well. Primitive of me to assume the offseason can ever start gradually. It's never a subtle, slow burn. Always just a bang. Josh Naylor re-signed with Seattle the other day, the qualifying offers went through today, and now I suppose it's on. Cause the O's and Angels just did something pretty crazy.

Okay, let's see here. Taylor Ward is one of the longest-tenured Angels aside from Mike Trout, he's okay on defense but his power ceiling's very high, and he just had his biggest year at the plate with 36 homers and 103 RBIs. This is the kind of year the Orioles would deal away someone for having, not deal for. Ward is gonna be 32, he's been healthy the past two seasons, and is still definitely a suitable lineup piece. Therefore, the Orioles trading for him is a very big move to adorn their still-young lineup with a veteran presence. 

Next year, the Orioles will be relying on Samuel Basallo, Dylan Beavers, Gunnar Henderson, Colton Cowser, Jordan Westburg, Jackson Holiday, Jeremiah Jackson and possibly even Adley Rutschman if they decide to keep him. That's a stacked roster, but it's also very young. A Taylor Ward type is a very good add-on, and one that could lead to a surprise Trumbo-in-2016 or Cruz-in-2014 type success. So I like this move from the O's perspective, just on the grounds that the Orioles need a bat like Ward, and he's better off there than in Anaheim.

However...I'm not quite sure about what they gave up for him.

So. Going into 2026, the Orioles' rotation is looking like it'll be some combination of Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer, Tyler Wells and Cade Povich if he decides to show up. Eflin and Sugano have left in free agency. It's not a deep bench, and four members of it have recently missed large swaths of time due to injury, leaving the only actual proven consistent guy for 2026 as...Dean Kremer. And I'd like to remind you that the Orioles do plan on competing next year. So even if Rogers, Bradish, Wells and Povich do manage to figure out A.) how not to get hurt and B.) how not to entirely shit the bed given the opportunity, looking at you Cade, that's not the kind of rotation that strikes fear into the heart of competitors. That's assuming Trevor Rogers plays like he did this year, Kyle Bradish plays like he did in 2023, and Tyler Wells plays like he's done in partial seasons. All at the same time for at least 32 games. You're probably understanding why I'm concerned.

The Orioles were going to get Grayson Rodriguez back next year after missing 2025 with arm surgery. And they just traded him to Anaheim. 

Now. MAYBE. Possibly. Mike Elias has something else up his sleeve in regards to bringing in starting talent. I really want to believe this. I'm also hesitant, because when he gives the idea that he's going to do this, all he brings in is a year of Tomoyuki Sugano, and a year of Charlie Morton. That's not trending upwards, that's treading water. In 2024, this rotation had Corbin Burnes. Now it doesn't even have Grayson Rodriguez. So I really hope he's got some other ideas on how to repopulate the rotation. There's guys out here who can make this look more impressive. Because if he doesn't, and Bradish, Wells and Rogers all go down again and all they can muster is Brandon Young, George Soriano and a barrel of hammers, he isn't allowed to play the 'well we triiiiiiied and it's haaaaaard' game. If you don't want to run a baseball club's roster, pick another vocation. 

Grayson Rodriguez will probably be fine for the Angels. I sincerely hope he's able to stay healthy there, because if he does he'll finally reach the potential he was [sigh] supposed to with Baltimore. Yeah, remember that? Around the same time as Rutschman, Henderson and Holliday were big prospects, Grayson Rodriguez was talked about in the same breath. His MLB material, especially in 2024, was worth it. I was in Baltimore this year, getting in early enough to see people walking home from a game, and they were carrying Grayson Rodriguez bobbleheads. It was his bobblehead day. Injured, yes, but he got one. Because there was that much promise. And to throw that away, even when you NEED a guy like him to keep the rotation in any way suitable...that's suspect.

Who knows, maybe this works out and Elias is a genius. I just have a funny feeling that they're gonna regret paring down the rotation shelf. Unless the return for Adley is an Opening Day rotation guy [or two], I'm gonna be baffled by them parting with Rodriguez for a little bit, Ward and all.

MVPs: Like Nothing Even Happened

 

There's gonna be a lot of talk in the next couple years about how Rob Manfred is trying to make baseball palatable to everyone while also robbing it of the aspects that help the majority of people enjoy it. And one of the things that the opposition party will point out is that the two richest teams were able to buy the two best players in the game and then they won consecutive MVPs, after competing for MVPs in the same league for several years. 

The last time someone who was not Judge or Ohtani won an MVP was 2020, the year that the voters had only 2 months of sample size and gave awards to two guys in their 30s who were hot. The last two seasons, despite valid opposition in both leagues, Judge and Ohtani have won MVPs. Last year Francisco Lindor honestly should have won an MVP, but Ohtani's 50/50 year put that out of the question. This year, Aaron Judge won it over Cal Raleigh, which is a very controversial decision, one that even I don't really agree with. But again, these two are the stars of the game, they're both in their prime, they're both having incredible seasons and by-and-large nobody's surpassing their greatness.

Judge's season was still a great one, but it's very clear that the second half took some of the wind out of its sails. That first half he hit .355 with 35 homer and a 1.194 OPS, and in the second half he only hit .286 with 18 homers and a 1.051 OPS. He slowed down tremendously, and despite the odd postseason moment he just couldn't ride it out to the end. And while statistically Raleigh did also buckle in the second half, with an .859 OPS as opposed to his initial 1.011, he still produced enough of a power surge to lap Judge and finish the season with 60 homers [not counting the postseason ones]. There's a lot of people who talk about the sentimentality of the sport, and there's something very cool about a switch-hitting catcher leading the league in homers with 60. I'd absolutely commemorate that. Saying that it doesn't matter if he didn't hit .265 is short-sighted, because we've given Giancarlo Stanton awards for power nonsense. 

Aaron Judge still managed to hit for power and contact in a season, and led the Yankees to the postseason almost single-handedly, yet again. He also has three of these. If Cal Raleigh goes his whole career without an MVP, sportswriters are gonna retroactively go 'maybe he should have gotten it here'. But y'know. Nobody knows anything. 

Anyway, remember how people were convinced that Judge was over the hill going into the contract and now he's won 2 straight MVPs? Amazing.

Not really much to say on the subject of Ohtani, though. He's just the best. Having as good of an offensive season as last year, plus getting to pitch, and being just as good? Yeah, give it to that man, for sure. I dunno what else to say, even Schwarber'd agree that there was no shot. 

But yeah, again the season is defined by two guys getting paid the works, while a guy making much less just scrapes underneath. Tony Clark, I hope you're taking notes. 

Cy Youngs: Uncontroversially Yours

 
Here is how good of a pitching year 2025 was. We still have two very obvious Cy Young winners, while also having insanely worthy runners-up that could have won in another universe and a Zack Wheeler season that could have qualified had the injury not happened. It's not like a year where there was a clear standout performance and the writers went with Rick Porcello or some shit. No, Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal were the two best pitchers in baseball this year, and they deserve these. 

Paul Skenes getting a Cy Young in his first full season in the bigs and immediately after winning Rookie of the Year while still finishing 3rd in the Cy Young voting should tell you everything you need to know about his chops. We are still in the era where every Skenes start is must-see TV, and that's probably gonna be the case for a while. This year, Skenes' age-23 season, he posted a 7.7 WAR, a 1.97 ERA and 216 Ks, while leading the league in WHIP with 0.948. No wonder it was unanimous. Cristopher Sanchez had an amazing year, but it wasn't this good. At this point, nobody's topping Paul Skenes, because from LSU onward, Skenes has been doing shit that pitchers just cannot normally do. Now, granted, Bob Nutting, idiot that he is, doesn't seem to have any plans to sign him long-term. So this may all be just a preview for the Yankees or Dodgers to trade or sign somewhere down the road. But at the very least, he's giving Pirates fans a reason to care for the time being. It may not culminate in a full-team effort for 1st, but they've still got a one-of-a-kind pitcher, and they're savoring every moment.

Tarik Skubal's in a similar boat, where the Tigers' GM is also floating the possibility of dealing him, foolishly. If anyone's worth the money, it's Skubal. Two straight years he's been the best pitcher in the AL, and this year he even outdid a phenomenal Garrett Crochet season by plugging in even more, with a 2.21 ERA [lower than last year], 241 strikeouts [more than last year] and a 0.891 WHIP [lower than last year]. Skubal, after some injury plagued years, has found that sweet spot, and has become the ace this Tigers team desperately needs. I don't see them going as far without Skubal, because both postseasons to date have greatly relied upon Sku getting up there every 3 days and being unhittable. Dude made 3 starts this postseason, had a 1.74 ERA 36 strikeouts. THIRTY SIX STRIKEOUTS IN THREE GAMES. Just efficient as hell, and I'm happy to see it. 

If this was a just league, with just CEOs [heh, what an oxymoron], both these guys would be getting the money that Samuel Basallo, Jackson Chourio, Michael Harris and Lawrence Butler have gotten without proving themselves anywhere near as much. But y'know...just can't find that money, right?

The MVPs are a little hazier. Well, one of 'em is. How weird is it that I'm honestly rooting for the outcome where the Yankee doesn't win?

Rookies of the Year: Sentimental Value

 

Just because I called both of these doesn't mean that I agree with them.

Of any of these awards, the Rookie of the Year award is the most likely to vex me, because the MLB has managed to make so many rules to classify what makes a 'great rookie', which they don't always follow. Like, a rookie can debut midway through the year and not get a Topps rookie card until the following year yet still qualify for the award, yet if they appear in games in one season that isn't full and make a definitive impact while they're there, they can't qualify. Luis Gil and Randy Arozarena did not deserve Rookie of the Year awards because they weren't rookies. Luckily, both Nick Kurtz and Drake Baldwin made the cutoff for Topps Update, and played almost the entire season in the majors, so there's no loopholes or anything there.

It really comes down to nuance. Can you definitively say that this player made the most impact of any first-year player in the league? One of these, I say absolutely. The other is more complicated. 

Nick Kurtz is the one I agree with, because for a month and a half he was one of the single best hitters in baseball, and finished the year with a 1.002 OPS. Kurtz hit 36 home runs and 86 RBIs in 117 games, the majority of those homers coming in an unbelievable midyear stretch. Said stretch also included an absolutely wild four-homer game against the Astros. The A's are a rebuilding team putting down a ton of great young players they can build on, and Kurtz is absolutely one of them. It's even to the point where Kurtz lapped Jacob Wilson, an early-season ROY candidate who started the All-Star game for the AL but struggled after getting hurt in said game. Wilson and Kurtz were both important to the A's season, but Kurtz is the next step for the A's towards competing again, and you can see it already. So him I completely agree with. That's absolutely the Rookie of the Year in the AL.

It's Drake Baldwin that is confusing me. Because I don't know what he really represents in regards to shifting the story of the season.

Let's look at Drake Baldwin in context of the 2025 Atlanta Braves. Baldwin is the 3rd-best Brave statistically, after Matt Olson and Chris Sale. Sale was limited by injuries for about a month or so. The majority of the Braves that would have lapped Baldwin's 3.3 WAR, such as Ronald Acuna, Spencer Schwellenbach or even Jurickson Profar, Reynaldo Lopez or Spencer Strider, were all limited by injuries. Most crucially, the team's starting catcher, Sean Murphy, who is the highest paid catcher in baseball by the way, missed some time due to injuries early, then only hit .194 the rest of the season, despite continuing to be an excellent defensive catcher. 

It comes down to this: if the Braves do not have an absolutely cursed year, Drake Baldwin does not get chances to start, and does not become a major player for this team. Further, even with the opportunities given to him during this cursed season, Drake Baldwin was only an ensemble piece of this Braves team. The Braves were not the Drake Baldwin show this season, like the A's were the Nick Kurtz show, because the Braves still relied on Matt Olson, Ronald Acuna, Grant Holmes, Michael Harris and Hurston Waldrep. Baldwin was, at the very least, reliable, hitting .274 with 19 homers and 80 RBIs, with slightly-below-average defensive numbers. He was a solid piece of a Braves team that was doomed from the start, and Baldwin made them only slightly less doomed than they already were. Considering the fact that Sean Murphy is still on this team, and is better defensively, I genuinely do not know if the Braves will get 5 to 10 more years of Drake Baldwin behind the plate, or even if that's something they want.

To me, the NL's Rookie of the Year this year was Cade Horton. Dude popped into the Chicago rotation midyear, went on an incredible run, became one of their most indispensable pitchers, and made them the low-key wild card juggernaut they became. To the point where they honestly struggled without him in the playoffs. Cade Horton is a big piece of why the Cubs made the playoffs, and a big piece of why they didn't make it to the World Series is that Cade Horton wasn't there every three games. That guy made or broke a season of a major competitor, and that's a more accurate ROY to me. Baldwin was very good for a mediocre team, and took full advantage of the opportunity given to him. 

I knew he'd win Rookie of the Year because sportswriters love that sentimental stuff. Baldwin appeals to the idea in many writers' association guys' heads of 'the guy that pops in unexpectedly and saves the team'. And they don't think it through enough to ask if he really actually saved the team. The people who voted Drake Baldwin to win the Rookie of the Year fell in love with the idea of Drake Baldwin over what Drake Baldwin actually was. And yes, there are lots of Braves fans who can speak to how Baldwin excelled this year, and how he was one of their best pieces, but even they'll admit that he has his limitations, and even they'll admit that they're not sure how much of a ceiling he has. So it's really a vexing outcome.

I could be very wrong, and Cade Horton could be the flash in the pan I was thinking Baldwin would be. But just from where I'm sitting, I think this is a move that won't age well. Still, congrats to both winners. May the glory never end. 

Topps Cards That Should Have Been: 1999 Harold Baines

 

It always amuses me which short-term stops Topps misses. 

Harold Baines played for only five teams over the course of his career, and it feels like more because he played for the White Sox and Orioles multiple times in a 20 year period. The last several years of Baines' career was a constant volley back and forth between Chicago and Baltimore, oftentimes both in the same year. Not that Baines' material was an issue, as Baines routinely hit loads of RBIs and a bunch of 25-homer years along his lengthy career. It was mostly just one team losing momentum and the other getting him for a playoff spot, and then back again.

The only time from 1993 til 2001 that Harold Baines played for a team that wasn't the Orioles or the White Sox was the tail end of the 1999 season, a season that began with some of the last great numbers of Baines's career, a .322 average, 24 homers and 82 RBIs in 107 games in Baltimore. And let's be clear, Baines did all of this as a 40-year old. However, during the waiver wire period in August, the Indians, still needing a surefire DH bat in the years since Eddie Murray's departure, took a chance on Baines for a stretch run, and traded two never-to-develop minor leaguers to the O's to get him. 

Baines's time in Cleveland was short but somewhat memorable. The regular season didn't add a whole lot to his full season effort, he hit .271 with 1 homer and 23 RBIs, at the very least enough for his third 100+ RBI year, and his first since he was 26 years old. Not quite Orioles hot, but still productive. The postseason is where Baines really hits his stride for the Indians. In 4 games, over the course of a contentious ALDS that the Red Sox would eventually win in 5 games, Baines hit .357 with 1 homer and 4 RBIs in 14 at-bats. Somehow, a 40-year-old DH was enough to keep the Indians alive until Game 5. Even if it was futile, the Cleveland massive would not forget this. 

After the season, Baines would re-sign with Baltimore, then be dealt back to Chicago, where he'd finish his career a year and a half later. Topps only had time to make a card of Baines in a Cleveland uniform in 2000 Stadium Club; there would be no luck for the flagship set, not even for a Traded set. Despite the lack of true photo options, I did manage to make a fitting 1999T issue for Baines, filling in the gap of a career that has otherwise been well documented on Topps cards.

Second Wind for a Second Win

 

My initial takeaway from last night's game is that nobody wanted that World Series to end. Everybody wanted the win, and everybody wanted to do whatever necessary to make it happen. Every pitcher gave everything they had left, from the starters, Scherzer and Ohtani, to every past starter who made a relief appearance, like Glasnow, Bassitt, Bieber, Snell, Yesavage and especially Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who stamped his ticket to an MVP by being as good last night as he was Friday night [somehow]. Nobody wanted this to be easy.

But then you think of the outcome, and the way we got there, and you're handed a different idea entirely: everybody wanted the World Series again because everybody, bar the few that made it a game, was absolutely exhausted. The Jays put up a graphic midway through of Max Scherzer and Bo Bichette, the two that made this a 3-1 Jays lead for most of the game, and both of them had substantial missed time in between the regular season and part of the postseason. Scherzer had the bye and didn't make the ALDS roster. Bo was out for a couple months and didn't get here til the World Series. Both had big moments last night, Bo with his 3-run bomb and Max with his dominant start. A lot of other Blue Jays did not rise to the occasion, and Vlad, Kirk and Barger were given moments to win it and couldn't. Even on the Dodgers' side, the big pieces, like Ohtani, Freeman, Muncy and Betts, didn't factor into this as much.

Cause they were all absolutely fried from seven months of this shit. And it had finally gotten to them. Remember back in the day, when hitters didn't swing on every pitch and pitchers didn't throw hard on every pitch, when the postseason only lasted like a week and a half? This shit is not sustainable anymore.

But because this season now lasts that long, the guys who were cold have enough time to get hot again and be the heroes in the last moments of the season. That explains Andres Gimenez, who was listless for a while, having a hero moment. That explains Yamamoto, whose Cy Young case fell off expediently as the season went on, becoming unstoppable in October. And that explains Miguel Rojas, who hadn't hit a home run in over a month, and had barely gotten any hits in the postseason, being the man to hit the game-tying home run off of Jeff Hoffman in the ninth, as the Jays were two outs away from hoisting the trophy themselves. Rojas had the game of his life last night, and for a career workhorse who always keeps his head down and does his job, and is a favorite to manage after his career, Rojas being the hero is a very cool thing. It's not a flash in the pan guy, it's not the obvious choice. It's a reliable, hardworking guy who needed recognition. 

There were so many incredible moments in that game. Pages making the catch in center field after subbing in. Vlad turning a double play. That insane moment where it looked like Will Smith could have blown the game by lifting his cleat off the plate for a millisecond. Then Smith getting to be the hero. And then the Kirk GDP that ended the game. I was exhausted in the seventh inning but I needed to know how this ended, and even if I'd have preferred a Jays win, I cannot stay too mad at that outcome. The Dodgers won by never giving up and continuing to pound a team that was inches from taking it themselves.

Now...there's a lot about this that I'm very concerned about. Like the fact that we only got this game because of a very dubious dead ball moment in Game 6 that could have tied the game. And the fact that this is the exact outcome that Rob Manfred wants, because it strengthens the case in favor of a salary cap, which will no doubt lead to an avoidable standstill, the likes of which we already have enough of at the moment. And the fact that I literally wrote a post when the Dodgers got Roki Sasaki, saying 'there's no need to play the season at all, as they just bought a ring', and literally no one else could stop them despite obvious flaws. The Dodgers' bullpen could have lost them this Series, and they gamed the system so that they barely had to use it at all. 

The way to stopping the Dodgers is not stopping the Dodgers. The way to stopping the Dodgers is encouraging the other 29 owners to do exactly what the Dodgers have been doing to win. This season proved that that's how you win World Series, you outspend the competition and reward players. Nobody else wants to do that. Especially guys like John Fisher and Bob Nutting and the Pohlads and...and I could go on. These people have no desire to actually spend money on their baseball teams, and Manfred has no incentive to make them, because of the amount of leverage he has over the players' association because of this Dodgers win. And hey, people watched! They watched cause a lot of them wanted the other outcome, but they sure watched. The only thing that may not be in Manfred's corner heading into a potential lockout  in a year or so, is that, uh...somebody that famously enjoys rewarding billionaires may not be too keen on a California team being that good at winning right now. 

It is absolutely true that this outcome can be both a very good, and exciting one, and also a disastrous one for the future of the game. I'm mostly saying this because I genuinely don't know what's going to happen next year, and there's a lot of doomerism out there where people are convinced there isn't gonna be a 2026 season, let alone a 2027 one. Maybe I'll be able to enjoy this more in hindsight then.

Anyway. Congratulations to the Dodgers, and Dodgers fans. A lot needs to be fixed for me to enjoy this more, but I definitely enjoyed this World Series. Now to the waiting. Hopefully it's not that long.

World Series Game 5: Say Goodbye to Hollywood

 

This isn't even the first World Series this decade to have a heroic game from a guy from Southern New Jersey with an iconic mustache. Cause we already had Zac Gallen a few years ago, he's from Somerdale, which is two towns over from me. I go to Somerdale to get my tomato plants at the beginning of the season, there's a nice place there. And now we've got Davis Schneider, who's from Berlin [not that Berlin, that's Max Kepler I think], which is like 3 towns from me, and went to Eastern Regional H.S., which isn't far from me at all. In fact, Schneider apparently did a clinic for a family friend's kid when he was in high school. This kid's currently a D3 college athlete, and Schneider, being local and all, helped out and gave some pointers during the offseason. Apparently he's a great dude from a great family. 

And tonight he hit a leadoff home run in the World Series against Blake Snell, followed swiftly by another homer by his teammate, Vladimir Guerrero. Far from Eastern, right? Far from...okay I was gonna name some defunct Voorhees area landmarks and then it dawned on me that Schneider won't remember any of them cause he's four years younger than me. No use digging up the spirit of Echo Pizza, or the old diner across the street from Office Depot [which is now an Urgent Care, and the Office Depot is now a pickle ball court]. He probably doesn't even remember back far enough to when the Ritz Plaza had two record stores instead of just the one. Damn, I am getting old, even as one of the youngest bloggers still blogging. 

But yes, Schneider got to be a hero tonight against a tough Dodgers team, which is a testament to the Jays' mentality of, being, to quote Ernie Clement paraphrasing Herb Brooks, 'a team of uncommon men'. And that's the perfect way of putting this Jays team, they are UNCOMMON. It would be common if the team that slugged the most, or had the most stars, or paid the most money, triumphed. That's a common ending. But what would be uncommon is if the team that had the most players specifically made for this moment, and the most performers at the absolute best time to strike, ended up winning. If a championship could be won by guys like Davis Schneider and Trey Yesavage and Addison Barger and Ernie Clement and, yes, Vlad and Bo and Bieber and Scherzer. Sometimes the best man for the job isn't the best player in baseball. Sometimes it's better to be useful and timely than it is to be 'the best'. And this is a very efficient, and timely, Jays team. 

And tonight, Trey Yesavage was once again right on time, having a terrific start, going 7 strong with 12 Ks, including a golden sombrero for Tuesday's hero Freddie Freeman, and only allowing 1 run on a solo shot from Enrique Hernandez. Naturally. Yesavage is showing all of the ace qualities of someone 10 years his senior, and he's doing it right now, before any rookie cards of his can be released. It'd be incredible if he has an entire career of performances like this, but it'd be just as incredible if everything lined up for him to be this good for a short enough stretch to net the Blue Jays a ring. 

So now, the Jays have the leverage once more heading back to Toronto. They win, it's over. They just need to get through Yoshinobu Yamamoto, which will not be easy whatsoever, especially with the prospect of Kevin Gausman taking the start for Toronto. This could go to 7 if they can't crack Yamamoto. But if they somehow can...that'll be a really satisfying ending to this series, and this season. 

World Series Game 4: Your Latest Trick

 Game 4 was the one game, of any of them, that the Blue Jays needed to win. If they couldn't win a Shohei Ohtani game there was no point showing up. Shohei as a starter was the one thing the Dodgers have used that has always worked this postseason, and the Jays needed to strike against him if they wanted to stand any chance in the rest of this series.

So getting through this game while handing Ohtani the loss? A very, very good development.

Everything that has worked for this Jays team before worked tonight. The exceptional defense. The strong starting pitching, tonight coming from Shane Bieber and Chris Bassitt. The contact free-for all mentality, which exploded in the 7th. And Vlad Jr., who took one yard early. Let's not forget how crucial Bo Bichette was tonight, even if he's not at 100%. Dude kept the contact machine rolling in the second and paved the way for Barger to make it 6-1. Bo has been exactly what the Jays have needed in this series, a serious boost both offensively and defensively. He was having a terrific season before the injury, and he'd made up for a lackluster 2024. To see Bo become the multifaceted, versatile, multi-dimensional player that his father wasn't has been really satisfying. Like, unlike Dante, Bo scores positive WAR. He's been a major reason why this team has stayed competitive in the last few years, and him sticking around made them a World Series threat.

So now we're tied again. Confirming just how evenly matched this series is. When the Jays win, they win big. When the Dodgers win, they squeak through. I'm still not sure who has the leverage, though with the knowledge that there is a Yoshinobu Yamamoto game up ahead, I have this...sneaking suspicion this thing could go all 7 if the Jays aren't careful. Or even worse...if they don't win Game 5, it could be over after Yoshi. I'm still pulling for Toronto, but they need to move like they did tonight against a formidable starter. Or else, again, it's curtains. 

World Series Game 3: Marathon Man

 

Once again, I gave myself a set out for a playoff game this season. I said 'if they make it go to thirteen, I'm goin' to bed'. And they did, and so I just gave up. I wasn't gonna stay up til like 2 or 3 after all of this. 

That shouldn't take away from how great the game was. This is a very evenly-matched World Series of two great defensive teams that know each other's weaknesses. It just means that sometimes there are 18-inning games. Somebody did the math and said that Brad Paisley has performed the National Anthem at four different instances of the Dodgers going to extras in the World Series. Brad, buddy, you've gotta stop picking up the phone. 

There was a lot to be impressed with in this game, like Alejandro Kirk hitting a 3-run bomb off of Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani having a 2-homer night like it's absolutely nothing, Max Scherzer once again absolutely slaughtering Dodgers hitting, and some of the most impressive defensive plays in some time. For 8 innings, every cutoff man got hit, every infield drill got accomplished, and every close play got done. After some initial sloppiness in regulation that allowed for some runs, it was really cool to see. But when the right defensive subs go in, and when people like Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Myles Straw get plugged in, that's what you're trying to accomplish. Outlasting the other guys no matter what. 

The MVP of this game has been crowned, and somehow it is not Freddie Freeman, who hit the game-winning bomb after everybody got tired. No, it is Will Klein, a guy who bopped around the minors the last couple years, made it to the Dodgers as a roster sub for injuries, then got named to the World Series roster when Alex Vesia had to duck out. Quietly he's been a very underrated bullpen arm for the Dodgers, and was excellent in September appearances. Last night, he went 4 very strong innings, struck out 5 and only allowed 1 hit and 2 walks. It should be noted that Eric Lauer also had a strong 4 inning run, but he didn't get the win. Klein proves that you can be a nobody making scale and still be the hero, even on the Dodgers. And that's pretty incredible.

The Dodgers have the ultimate leg up right now. They're up 1 game, at home, with both rosters absolutely exhausted and both bullpens absolutely depleted. But they have Shohei Ohtani on the mound tonight. 

World Series Game 2: No 'Pen, No Problem

 

This is exactly the way I figured the Dodgers would get their leverage back. Blake Snell had a nice start in Game 1, but they chased him in the 6th, and that's where the trouble began. If they could get a starter to throw 8, like earlier in the playoffs, there'd be more of a chance they could just chip away at the Jays' worse starting pitching.

Well, instead they got a CG out of a starter. So it went better than expected.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto's been in the MLB for two seasons and is acing his second World Series as a starter. This guy was made for MLB action, in a way that may not come immediately to Roki Sasaki because he's younger. Yamamoto was a veteran ace in Japan, then came over here and transferred everything over perfectly. And now, once again, he's unstoppable in the World Series. He rocked a rare complete game in the World Series, struck out 8, and only allowed 4 hits. The only run was scored on a sac fly by Alejandro Kirk. Meanwhile, Kevin Gausman, as the more imperfect starter, gave up more runs, including some solo homers from Will Smith and Max Muncy. The Jays' pen had to strike earlier tonight, and that led to some runs in the eighth. 

This sort of thing is why even with the shellacking the Jays gave the Dodgers in Game 1, you cannot count the Dodgers out. They have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and they have Shohei Ohtani, and so far neither has shown any mercy in the postseason. I reckon the Jays have better luck against Tyler Glasnow, unless he decides to lock in as well. 

We get a day off from debauchery and head to LA on Monday. I doubt we're gonna get an overwhelming favorite here for a little while.

World Series Game 1: That Would Be The Issue

 

I was watching the Fox broadcast tonight, and somewhere around the sixth inning, Joe and John were talking about how, as evenly matched as this World Series was, there were definite categories where one team was better than the other. Dodgers had the better rotation, Jays had the better defense, Dodgers had the better contact, Jays had the better power, etc etc. And the one area that Joe Davis mentioned might be a contentious point was the bullpen, they said Toronto barely edged out LA with a better 'pen. They acted like it was close. They did mention, 'well the Dodgers really haven't been in position to USE theirs cause all their starters have gone long and they've put in other starters in relief'. 

Anyway, right after that Blake Snell got taken out and the Jays scored 9 runs in the 6th. 

It really is that simple, as we all thought it would be. It can be the Shohei Ohtani show and the story of the Dodgers rotation, and that's all well and good for six or seven innings, but once you have to put in Emmett Sheehan, Jack Dreyer and Anthony Banda, then the head start evaporates. That sixth inning shows you everything you need to know about where the Jays have the edge, cause they can put in Mason Fluharty or Braydon Fisher or Louie Varland and it'll go fine, and the Dodgers...don't have that kind of luck. Tonight, they loaded the bases, walked a runner home, singled two runners home, grand slammed four home and homered two home. In one inning. Anthony Banda is going up against Addison Barger, one of the hardest hitting guys on the team, and what d'you think is gonna happen? It's Anthony Banda against the power part of the power lineup. And yes, the next inning they give up a homer to Ohtani, but...it's 11 to 4. Yay, Ohtani did something, but it's gonna take more than that.

I dunno if Blake Snell just has this luck, that no matter how much he can do in a World Series start, it'll never be enough because even with 100 pitches he still had to come out and the Dodgers' pen had to mop things up. And they did a terrible job. The Barger homer was the icing on the cake, and then the Alejandro Kirk homer was fondant! This was the thing you knew could happen, in a game with a ferocious home crowd, and you still let it happen. The Dodgers may be the Dodgers, but they still have a flawed team this year. They can't just use Ohtani for everything and expect that to get them an easy ring.

The Jays worked a clinic tonight. Trey Yesavage was excellent, even among outstanding pressure. Guerrero and Bichette had crucial contact moments. Barger and Lukes cemented themselves as huge parts of this team. Even IKF and Schneider had nice moments. This was what they needed to do to get the leverage early, and they should be super proud. I dunno if every game is gonna be this easy, or will be as easy as just hitting the known puncture point over and over like tonight. All I know is the Jays made a statement tonight. They're not gonna keel over like the Brewers and Phillies did. They're gonna be a challenge. 

Remember...this was just the game where Addison Barger had the big power moment. Vlad Jr. hasn't really woken up yet. 

I Guess I'll Watch

 

This is not the most fun matchup of the several we were promised. It was looking like it could be Mariners-Brewers, or Tigers-Phillies, or Cubs-Mariners. And ultimately, we have Dodgers-Jays. The two teams that beat my favorite teams, squaring off in a World Series.

If anything...I kinda wanna see how this goes down.

Because there's two real outcomes here. There's the boring outcome, where the season-long fear that the Dodgers could buy a World Series comes to fruition anyway and we're left with a locked-out 2026 because no rich person ever learns their lesson. Or we get the fun outcome, where a team led by a native son trying to prove himself, backed up by a murderer's row of fun role-players and rookies, outdoes the Goliath. That's really where we're at, overspending vs. overbuilding. This Jays team is the culmination of a farm system build that began in 2019, nearly failed, was nearly split up THIS YEAR, and suddenly hunkered down and became truly great. If Guerrero leaves, then Bichette leaves, and this team never gets past the Yanks and Sox. Maybe Schneider gets fired, maybe Springer never has the comeback season, maybe Scherzer doesn't lock in. So much of this season was a chain reaction of events leading directly back to the team listening and re-signing Guerrero. It seemed like an odd move at the time, but deep down they knew that a World Series was still possible.

And that's how the Blue Jays made it to a World Series without Bo Bichette, Jose Berrios or Anthony Santander. They locked in so hard that they outdid even a hot-as-hell Mariners team. Vlad Jr. and George Springer dug deep and got them here. And everything that had struggled before, like Scherzer, the rotation, the outfield defense, even Jeff Hoffman, locked in even further. 

That is a fantastic story. The Jays, in a different draw of cards, could have been out in August. But they made it to a World Series. It's a much better story than 'the Dodgers bought a ton of contracts, then they all got hurt, then they all got healthy and suddenly a team with 9 starters, three hitters that specifically only do well in October, and the best player in baseball history, is in the World Series'. If the Dodgers win, great, they deserve it, it's incredible...but you understand how that's way less interesting, right? 'Well they were the best team, so of course they won'. What kind of story is as simple as that? Where's the conflict? Yes, the middle of the season was still kind of rough, but they only lost 1st place for a couple seconds because the Padres absolutely gave up every time they were in position to overtake first. The Jays, meanwhile, blew past the Yankees for the division, stayed ahead of them in September and embarrassed them in October. THAT is a story.

This is going to be a very cool World Series, one that could have a very fun outcome. The Dodgers winning would cement this organization as Belichick levels of unfair, even if you can call them the next great baseball dynasty. But a Blue Jays win, after all this? Wouldn't that be something?