Category: Baseball

The family of the late San Diego Padres owner Peter Seidler is exploring the possibility of selling the franchise.

The Padres announced the Seidler family’s decision to examine a sale Thursday. The club has hired BDT & MSD Partners, which served as an adviser on similar discussions in recent years to MLB’s Chicago White Sox and the NBA’s Boston Celtics.

John Seidler, who became the Padres’ chairman after his brother’s death in November 2023, said his family is “evaluating our future with the Padres, including a potential sale of the franchise.”

“We will undertake this process with integrity and professionalism in a way that honors Peter’s legacy and love for the Padres and lays the foundation for the franchise’s long-term success,” John Seidler added in a statement. “During the process and as we prepare for the 2026 season, the Padres will continue to focus on their players, employees, fans and community while putting every resource into winning a World Series championship. We remain fully committed to this team, its fans, and the San Diego community.”

Peter Seidler was part of a group that purchased the Padres for $800 million in 2012, and he became the team’s primary owner in November 2020 after buying out Ron Fowler’s majority stake. He quickly endeared himself to Padres fans with his aggressive spending in an attempt to win San Diego’s first major professional sports championship.

After the two-time cancer survivor died two years ago, his wife, Sheel, sued her brothers-in-law Matthew and Robert in an attempt to prevent John Seidler from becoming the team’s control person. Sheel Seidler alleged Peter Seidler wanted her to succeed him, but Matthew Seidler said Sheel Seidler’s claims were “entirely untrue, and we will vigorously defend ourselves against them.”

Peter Seidler, a grandson of former Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley, built the foundation for the longest sustained stretch of winning in Padres history.

San Diego has made the postseason four times in the past six years, winning at least 90 games in each of the last two seasons with an exciting roster built around stars Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado. The Padres continued to win despite reducing their payroll in 2024 following Peter Seidler’s death, with general manager A.J. Preller maintaining the aggressive mindset encouraged by Peter Seidler with a series of ambitious moves.

The Padres won 90 games this year before losing a tense three-game wild-card series to the Chicago Cubs. Earlier this week, Preller introduced former Padres reliever Craig Stammen as the club’s new manager.

The Padres’ large, loyal fan base and their home, the well-regarded Petco Park, would be significant assets for a potential new owner. The club has set a franchise record for home attendance in each of the past three seasons while drawing more than 3 million fans for the first three times in team history, capped by 3,437,201 in 2025 — a record average of 42,435 per game.

The San Diego metropolitan area is among the top 20 largest markets in the U.S., yet the Padres were the only major professional sports team in town between the departure of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers in 2017 and the arrival of MLS‘s expansion San Diego FC this season.

Not every consideration of a potential sale leads to an actual sale in MLB.

Los Angeles Angels owner Arte Moreno explored a sale of his franchise for several months in late 2022 before deciding to keep the team. Last August, the Pohlad family took the Minnesota Twins off the market and instead took on two limited partnership groups.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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In September, McAllen, Texas teen Ximena was recognized as Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s 2025-2026 National Youth of the Year. This puts her in a spokesperson role for millions of Club Kids, won her a $50,000 scholarship to help support her as her life after high school begins, as well as a brand new car and — along with the other five finalists — a robust shopping experience provided by Kohl’s. 

The most memorable part of it all, though, might be that Ximena was able to attend Game 2 of the World Series and meet a few MLB legends, thanks to FOX broadcasting the Fall Classic and their role as a partner with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America for this award.

“Getting to go to the World Series in general is just a really amazing opportunity,” Ximena said, “but getting to deliver the ball is even crazier.”

Ximena, who has been a member of the Boys & Girls Club of America for nine years, recounted her incredible experience attending the World Series, delivering the ball to the mound and meeting FOX MLB analysts and baseball legends David Ortiz, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez — who, along with CEO of FOX Sports, Eric Shanks, is a co-chair of the National Youth of the Year leadership committee — while speaking with the FOX affiliate in Rio Grande Valley. 

“It was actually A-Rod, and David Ortiz and Derek Jeter, all of these amazing people, they presented [this award] to me from FOX,” she said. “It was a really good opportunity, it was an amazing experience. I wasn’t expecting it, but just to hear that more kids after me will be able to get scholarships because of FOX Studios and FOX production is really amazing, so I’m really happy about that.”

Ximena, who became a youth leader in McAllen through the Clubs’ “Think, Learn, Create, Change” advocacy program and even presented to the U.S. Congress as part of her volunteer work for BGCA, is referring to how the Boys & Girls Clubs scholarship system works in practice — it’s not meant to “just” benefit the winner of the annual award. 

Now that Ximena has been named Boys & Girls Clubs National Youth of the Year, FOX Sports Gamechanger Fund will set up a scholarship in Ximena’s name, allowing future Boys & Girls Club members to receive the same opportunities that she herself did. In fact, Ximena was a recipient of funds from the FOX Sports’ inaugural World Series Scholarship created in the name of 2023-2024 winner Alejandra, who was in the same Boys and Girls Club in McAllen, Texas — the idea is to give future members opportunities they might not otherwise have, and Ximena is proof of that idea working as it should.

“It’s really exciting — the more opportunities for kids and their impact through the Boys and Girls Club, and through partnerships like FOX,” Ximena said.

As Ximena said of the award to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America upon receiving the honors in September, this is about more than just the award, the car and a trip to the World Series, however. 

“Being named National Youth of the Year is an incredible honor,” she said. “My Boys & Girls Club wasn’t just a second home; it was the place where I found my voice, built confidence, and learned to advocate for my community. This recognition shows what’s possible when young people are supported and given opportunities to thrive. I’m proud to represent why America Needs Club Kids, because when we’re empowered to reach our full potential, we can change the world.”

The FOX Sports World Series Scholarship recognizes the accomplishments of Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s National Youth of the Year, the teen ambassador for more than 3.5 million Boys & Girls Club youth across the country, and is granted to future Youth of the Year representatives of their hometown Club — honoring their legacy for years to come.

FOX Sports has been a longtime supporter of Boys & Girls Clubs at the local, regional and national levels and has made the Clubs a featured beneficiary of the Gamechanger Fund since its inception in 2020 at Super Bowl LIV in Miami. Presented to Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade, the Gamechanger Fund equipped the club’s youth to explore future careers in television, digital and social media production and enabled the organization to provide needed upgrades to its four teen centers. 

At Super Bowl LVII in Arizona in 2023 and Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans in 2025, the Gamechanger Fund addressed local Clubs’ civilian and U.S. military-connected youth population’s life and workforce preparation needs while also granting the FOX Sports Super Bowl Scholarships to Arizona’s and Louisiana’s representatives for the Youth of the Year and Military Youth of the Year programs.

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So, does Paul Skenes want to play for the New York Yankees?

A Wednesday report from NJ.com detailed how a player on the Pittsburgh Pirates – who is, of course, teammates with Skenes – said that the superstar right-hander is “hoping for a trade” and has repeatedly expressed wanting “to play for the Yankees.” The report also stated that Skenes has “no confidence the Pirates ever are going to win.”

“I’m on the Pirates. My goal is to win with the Pirates. I love the city of Pittsburgh. The fans are hungry to have a winner in Pittsburgh, and I want to be a part of the group that did that. I don’t know where that came from,” Skenes said on Wednesday night about the report regarding his interest in playing for the Yankees.

“The goal is to win. I don’t know the reporter that reported it. I don’t know the player who supposedly said that, but the goal is to win, and the goal is to win in Pittsburgh.”

Earlier this week, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said that Skenes “is going to be a Pirate in 2026.”

Skenes, whom the Pirates selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 MLB Draft, is under team control through 2029. The starting pitcher for the National League in each of his first two MLB seasons, Skenes recorded a 1.97 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 7.7 wins above replacement and 216 strikeouts in 187.2 innings pitched (32 starts) last season, helping him win the 2025 NL Cy Young Award.

The Pirates are coming off a 71-91 campaign. They haven’t had a winning record since 2018, haven’t made the playoffs since 2015 and haven’t won a playoff series since the 2013 NL Wild Card Game. Meanwhile, the Yankees are coming off a 94-68 season and have made the playoffs in eight of the last nine seasons. 

Prior to Yoshinobu Yamamoto signing a $325 million deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2023, the Yankees held the record for the largest contract given to a starting pitcher, as they signed Gerrit Cole to a nine-year, $324 million deal in 2019.

Maybe Skenes and the Yankees will someday break that record together.

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How could arguably the best starting pitcher in MLB be available in a trade?

With now-two-time Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal one year away from free agency and the superstar left-hander and Detroit Tigers reportedly having a nine-figure gap in extension talks, there’s an at least greater-than-zero percent chance that a trade could happen this offseason.

Of course, any potential trade offer for Skubal – even with the risk of losing him for nothing in free agency – is going to cost a team multiple top prospects and emerging young MLB players. But if Skubal is attainable for the king’s ransom, teams will be making the call. Here are three best trade fits for Skubal should Detroit entertain such a move.

As great of a season as the Blue Jays had before disaster struck in Games 6 and 7 of the 2025 World Series, that campaign came with a starting rotation that was 20th in MLB in ERA (4.34). Acquiring Skubal would take this roster to the next level from a talent standpoint.

Kevin Gausman was great in both the 2025 regular season and postseason for Toronto; Trey Yesavage was a breakout star in the postseason; having a healthy Shane Bieber and Chris Bassitt (if re-signed) will be crucial for the Blue Jays in 2026. Add Skubal to the mix and Toronto has an elite starting staff that will help them fend off the New York Yankees – who finished with the same number of wins as the Blue Jays (94) – Boston Red Sox and potentially resurgent Baltimore Orioles for the American League East in 2026.

Skubal, who dominates with his changeup, four-seamer and sinker, would provide an elite pitcher in his prime who throws gas to be the backbone of Toronto’s pitching staff. Skubal’s theoretical arrival also takes some of the pressure off both Bassitt and Bieber to be 100% during the season and Yesavage to build on his 2025 postseason. The Blue Jays could make a trade proposal for Skubal that includes left-hander Ricky Tiedemann, right-hander Gage Stanifer and shortstop and 2023 first-round pick Arjun Nimmala.

Why isn’t Toronto higher on the Skubal list? Despite their inconsistencies on the hill, the Blue Jays still managed to be two outs away from winning the World Series, and there are two other teams who came nowhere close to that potential feat. Plus, Detroit would likely require Yesavage to be part of any trade involving Skubal.

One year ago, Chicago’s starting rotation was a strength. Last season, it was a mixed bag, and adding a top-of-the-rotation pitcher is of the essence this offseason. 

Matthew Boyd was tremendous for the Cubs last season, and Cade Horton (2.67 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 23 appearances/22 starts) was spectacular in his first stretch as an MLB starting pitcher. At the same time, left-hander Shota Imanaga and midseason pickup Michael Soroka are free agents, and even if Justin Steele (UCL surgery) makes a full recovery, another arm is needed on the rotation front. How about a trade for the best left-hander in the sport?

Skubal recorded a 2.21 ERA, 0.89 WHIP and 241 strikeouts in 195.1 innings pitched (31 starts) in the regular season, which he followed up by posting an absurd 1.74 ERA, 0.68 WHIP and 36 strikeouts in 20.2 innings pitched in the postseason (three starts). He’s exactly what the Cubs, who were one win away from advancing to the National League Championship Series, need: an ace.

Skubal would put the Cubs in the Milwaukee Brewers‘ ballpark when it comes to winning the NL Central. Chicago can headline a trade package for Skubal around outfielder and 2025 first-round pick Ethan Conrad, catcher Moises Ballesteros and right-hander Jaxon Wiggins. There just happens to be a team in the Northeast that needs to make a rotation splash that much more than Chicago.

If Skubal can be had, the Mets make the most sense for a trade.

A benefit to New York’s historic spending under owner Steve Cohen since the 2021-22 offseason is that there have been few blockbuster trades, outside of Francisco Lindor. Rather the Mets’ biggest moves have been signings – Juan Soto, Max Scherzer, Starling Marte and re-signing Brandon Nimmo. In other words, because the Mets have primarily done their damage on the free-agent market, they can afford to trade from the top of their farm system (e.g. a trade offer based on infielders Mark Vientos and Luisangel Acuna and right-hander Jonah Tong, among others) for a player worth doing so like Skubal.

The Mets have a top-10 offense from a talent standpoint, but their starting rotation overperformed in the first half of 2025, and it caught up to them down the stretch. David Peterson has the potential to be a plausible, top-of-the-rotation arm; when healthy, Kodai Senga is a dominant force; Clay Holmes held his own in his first starter as a starting pitcher; maybe young right-hander Nolan McLean becomes a fixture in 2026? But New York, which finished the 2025 season with a 4.13 starting rotation ERA – 18th in MLB – doesn’t have a bonafide, proven ace on its staff, a void that Skubal would fill up and overflow. 

If Skubal, who will be 29 at the start of the 2026 MLB season, anchors New York’s rotation and its club bounces back from a cataclysmic collapse – they missed the playoffs with just 83 wins despite being firmly in playoff position for the entire season against the backdrop of a $342 million payroll – the Mets are the best team in the NL East and the biggest threat to the Los Angeles Dodgers winning a third straight NL pennant.

This is a move that would make the Mets a legitimate World Series contender – and they most definitely have the coin to make Skubal the highest-paid pitcher in MLB history the following offseason.

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The small-market Brewers are all-in on their competitive window after a sensational 97-win season. The Cubs made it as far as the National League Division Series with their new lineup that featured (most likely) only one season of Kyle Tucker. Will Chicago take another big swing on top talent this winter?

Then there’s the Reds offense, which has a slugging problem. The Cardinals are starting a new era and going back to the foundational basics. And the Pirates, with the fourth-lowest payroll in baseball, have to prove they’ll be aggressive enough to build a significantly stronger lineup that could actually support their star ace.

After unpacking the American League Central, we look at the NL Central. Here are the biggest needs for a division that this year featured three teams competing in the postseason:

Teams are listed in order of their records, best to worst, in the 2025 season.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS

Biggest need: Starting pitcher(s)

Milwaukee made an uncharacteristic move when it extended a one-year, $22 million qualifying offer to right-hander Brandon Woodruff. The homegrown Brewer declined his $20 million mutual option, becoming a free agent, and then the front office gave him the opportunity to come back on a one-year deal. Though we don’t yet know Woodruff’s decision, which very well could involve seeking a multi-year deal with another top contender, it was surprising to see the low-revenue Brewers go all-in for the starting pitcher. Woodruff missed the 2024 season with injury and returned this year to make 12 starts and record a 3.20 ERA before missing the postseason with a different injury. That the Brewers extended the qualifying offer to Woodruff suggests that they believe his health issues are behind him, and they’re confident he will put up excellent numbers in 2026.

If Woodruff walks away from Milwaukee, the Brew Crew will need an established starting pitcher to lead what is otherwise a young and thin rotation. They picked up the club option on Freddy Peralta, making him a steal at $8 million next season, but the Brewers are said to be shopping the right-hander before he enters free agency next offseason. The Brewers are in a competitive window, and with two huge question marks in the rotation, they’ll need to acquire quality starters this winter, depending on the futures of Woodruff and Peralta.

CHICAGO CUBS

Biggest need: Replenishing the bullpen

Brad Keller, Ryan Brasier, Aaron Civale, Drew Pomeranz, Taylor Rogers, Michael Soroka, and Caleb Thielbar have all entered free agency. That means the Cubs lost seven relievers – nearly their entire bullpen, except Daniel Palencia — this offseason. The front office not only has to restock its relief corps, but the Cubs need high-leverage arms as their top priority. They’ll have to get creative, through both free agency and trade, to replenish a bullpen that ranked 11th in ERA (3.78) and flashed the lowest walk rate (7.9%) in the majors. 

Still, Cubs relievers deeply struggled to induce swing-and-miss. Chicago’s bullpen had the fourth-highest contact rate this year, better only than the Giants, Tigers, and Royals. They’ll have to do better than that to remain competitive in a Kyle Tucker-less world, since they’re not expected to bring back the highly coveted free-agent outfielder. While they could still be in the market for an outfielder, they seem comfortable with their in-house options (Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong, top prospect Owen Caissie) filling out their vacancies.

CINCINNATI REDS

Biggest need: Power hitters, more offense

The Reds had the fifth-worst offense in baseball this year, and thanks to the Mets’ collapse, they still managed to make the playoffs as the final wild-card team before being swept by the Dodgers in the first round. But the true fabric of Cincinnati’s lineup needs some major retooling. The Reds’ .391 slugging percentage was ranked 21st in the majors, and Elly De La Cruz’s second-half slump didn’t help. The offense needs a consistent power hitter to help improve those numbers, but they’ll have to spend big in free agency, or dip into the more attractive pieces in their farm system, to land a top-tier slugger who could make any sort of difference. 

The Reds front office was encouraged by the team’s first postseason appearance since 2020. But the organization still has not advanced beyond the Division Series since 1995, when the Reds lost to the Braves in the Championship Series. Their rotation, led by All-Star Hunter Greene, is ready to compete. Cincinnati must capitalize on that starting-pitching strength by building a better offense.

ST LOUIS CARDINALS

Biggest need: Set the groundwork for a better future

For the first time in nearly 20 years, the Cardinals have a new front-office leader in Chaim Bloom. The new president of baseball operations will begin this new era of St. Louis baseball by focusing on building a talent base for the long-term, and that starts by trading away some, if not all, of these top veteran players: Sonny Gray, Nolan Arenado, and Willson Contreras. That’s just the baseline; there could be more 40-man players on the move. The Cardinals want young and controllable players in return, particularly starting pitchers, to shape future rosters. They want to focus on drafting and developing star players again. 

You would be right to think this is a rebuild, even if there’s no bulldozer tearing down the entire roster. Just don’t expect their payroll for 2026 to be among the top in the sport. The Cardinals are allocating any financial flexibility toward improving internal systems before spending money on a roster that’s for sure not going to contend next year. They’re aiming to set the groundwork for a better future this offseason. The return pieces on trade packages will be crucial to their goals. Keep an eye on the players the Cardinals will get back.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES

Biggest need: Major offensive boost

The Pirates’ numbers on offense this year were downright ugly. Spencer Horwitz (118 wRC+) and Joey Bart (101 wRC+) were the only hitters to perform better than league average. Not even Bryan Reynolds, Andrew McCutchen or Tommy Pham cracked that mark. They hit the fewest home runs in baseball, and it wasn’t even close, as well as recording the third-worst batting average in MLB. It was a real shame, because the Pirates pitching staff recorded the seventh-best ERA (3.76) and the fourth-best fWAR (19.1) in the major leagues, wasting away a Cy Young season from Paul Skenes. 

With a dominant ace leading the rotation, the Pirates actually have a chance at contending for the postseason. But they have major work to do to improve the offense to get there, and it remains a long shot that they’ll boost the lineup enough to be considered competitive all in one offseason. McCutchen and Pham are free agents, so they’re looking to fill at least a corner-outfield vacancy. Will Oneil Cruz finally take a significant step forward in his age-27 season? Either way, expect the Pirates to make moves to try and give their pitching staff some level of run support. 

Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

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Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal won his second straight American League Cy Young Award on Wednesday, joining elite company after another spectacular season in which the left-hander helped propel Detroit to a playoff berth.

The 28-year-old Skubal became the 12th player to win baseball’s top pitching honor in consecutive years, joining a group that includes Hall of Famers Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez.

Jacob deGrom was the previous pitcher to win consecutive Cy Youngs, pulling off the feat with the New York Mets in 2018 and 2019. Martinez was the last American League pitcher to do it, in 1999 and 2000.

Skubal posted a 13-6 record with an American League-leading 2.21 ERA and 240 strikeouts in 195 1/3 innings for the Tigers during the regular season, then went 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA in three playoff starts for Detroit, which was eliminated by Seattle in the Division Series.

Skubal received 26 of 30 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. The other four went to runner-up Garrett Crochet of the Boston Red Sox. Crochet led the American League in innings (205 1/3) and strikeouts (255). Hunter Brown of the Houston Astros came in third.

A year after taking a massive step forward by winning the pitching Triple Crown in the American League on his way to being a unanimous Cy Young Award winner, Skubal backed it up by serving as the anchor for the Tigers during a volatile season in which Detroit squandered a 15 1/2-game lead in the AL Central and was caught by Cleveland down the stretch.

The Tigers got a bit of revenge in the wild-card round, beating the division-champion Guardians in three games thanks in large part to a 14-strikeout gem by Skubal in the series opener.

Skubal’s historic run comes with him set to enter free agency after the 2026 season. Considering the massive contract Skubal could command on the open market, it’s uncertain whether he’ll stay with the Tigers beyond next season.

Reporting by The Associated Press. 

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The Oklahoma City Spark are one of two teams that have been added to the Athletes Unlimited Softball League.

Another new team, the Cascade, will join the defending champion Talons, Bandits, Blaze and Volts to round out the six-team league for the 2026 season, the league announced Wednesday.

Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt said the move for the Spark further establishes Oklahoma City as a softball hotbed. The city hosts the annual Women’s College World Series and will be the site for the sport during the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“The AUSL is putting the right pieces in place to represent the next evolution of professional softball, and the Spark have worked hard to build that foundation in OKC,” Holt said in a statement. “It makes sense for OKC, this team and this league to come together to take professional softball to the next level. I commend everyone involved for getting us to this day, and I’m excited to see where it leads.”

The Spark are the only team attached to a city so far. The league used a touring model in its first season this year, but will be city based next year.

Spark leadership will remain with the team. Founder Tina Floyd will be the team’s executive director. Destinee McElroy will be the chief operating officer. Amber Flores will remain head coach and former Oregon State head coach and UCLA assistant Kirk Walker will be the general manager. Walker was associate coach for the Talons last season.

The Spark, who operated independently last season, have existed for three years. Floyd said she’s been looking for this kind of fit since she started the team.

“We both align,” she said. “Our mission, our core values and what we want for these athletes is in complete alignment, and that’s something that I’ve been searching for these three years that we have played — to make sure that our ladies are playing a professional game with people that are in it for the right reasons.”

Floyd said the Spark likely will draw heavily from nearby college programs. The powerhouse Oklahoma and Oklahoma State college programs play within roughly an hour of downtown Oklahoma City.

While the Spark name will not change, the contracts of those who played for the team last season will expire, so there will be a new roster. Current players will be eligible for the AUSL’s allocation draft on Dec. 1. The expansion draft will be the same day.

AUSL commissioner Kim Ng, who took on that role in April of this year, believes the expansion is another step towards the goal of helping Team USA bring home Olympic gold.

“These players, not only will they be playing against just incredible quality, but now they’ll be getting all of these repetitions prior to ’28, and Team USA will be able to build off of that,” she said. “So we’re incredibly excited.”

In March, Major League Baseball made a “strategic investment” north of 20% in Athletes Unlimited. “This is something we’re really excited about,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told The Associated Press. “We studied the space hard. We think it’s a real opportunity and we’re excited to be involved.”

Manfred stated that MLB’s “goal is to get a softball league into the same position of stability that the WNBA has found,” per The Athletic. Expansion of the league would seemingly play a key role in achieving that goal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Want a potent, left-handed hitter with postseason experience who’s also great with the glove? If so, then you’re in luck, because outfielder Kyle Tucker is a free agent.

The soon-to-be 29-year-old Tucker is among the best all-around players in the sport. He has a long, powerful swing from the left side, seldom strikes out and is a terrific right fielder.

After acquiring him from the Houston Astros last fall, one figures that the Chicago Cubs will try to keep Tucker in the Windy City. At the same time, Tucker will likely have a dozen, if not more, teams trying to lock him down on a long-term deal. Here are three best fits for Tucker should he depart Chicago.

Cleveland needs power wherever it can get it, and Tucker would be a substantial pickup for its sake.

At the moment, the Guardians’ outfield rotation is choppy. Steven Kwan is a steady, Gold Glover in left field, but Lane Thomas is a free agent; Jhonkensy Noel and David Fry are coming off injury-plagued seasons; Angel Martinez has had his moments but still hit just .224 last season. Tucker would provide Cleveland with its new everyday right fielder, likely moving former first-rounder Chase DeLauter to center field when he’s a full-time member of the Guardians’ roster.

With the bat, Tucker would add an elite hitter to an offense that was last in MLB in hits (1,199), 29th in on-base percentage (.296), tied for 28th in slugging percentage (.373) and 28th outright in runs (643) last season. Moreover, Tucker would give manager Stephen Vogt somebody who can do major damage in his lineup outside of Jose Ramirez. Tucker’s a proven, well-rounded hitter with reputable plate discipline who’s battle-tested in postseason play. He’s precisely what Cleveland needs.

The hindrance in Cleveland’s way of potentially signing Tucker? The Guardians, who have been in the bottom-third of MLB in payroll in each of the last five years, have never dished out a nine-figure contract that begins with the No. 2, with a five-year, $124 million extension given to the previously mentioned Ramirez in 2022 being the largest total contract in franchise history.

A team that’s been more than willing to throw nine-figure contracts at players? The Rangers – e.g. Corey Seager, Jacob deGrom and Marcus Semien – who would benefit greatly from Tucker’s theoretical arrival.

The Rangers’ offense needs help across the board, as they were 26th in slugging percentage (.381), 24th in hits (1,275) and 22nd in runs (684) last season. Left fielder Wyatt Langford is coming into his own, but Adolis Garcia‘s offensive production has dipped over the past two years, and Texas received scattered production from its outfield rotation in 2025.

Tucker would provide an element of stability and arguably give new manager Skip Schumaker his new best all-around player. deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi and Jack Leiter, among others, headlined a Texas starting rotation that posted the best ERA in baseball last season (3.41). With a mere mid-level offensive attack, the Rangers can contend with the Seattle Mariners and Astros for the American League West.

Now, Tucker’s arrival would likely mean that Garcia would have to move from right field to center field, but the latter has 130 MLB starts at the position under his belt and the opportunity to add a proven hitter of Tucker’s caliber is difficult for Texas to pass up on.

Tucker could lift Texas back into playoff contention. There’s just a team that’s more desperate than the Rangers.

On June 15, the Giants acquired star third baseman Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox. Six weeks later, they were sellers at the MLB trade deadline. In other words, San Francisco has flip-flopped on a dime of late, but it has shown more willingness to operate as a contender than a rebuilding team, also exemplified by giving Willy Adames a $182 million contract last offseason. Tucker should be the next major addition to the Giants’ depth chart.

Outside of Heliot Ramos, who has become one of the faces of San Francisco’s operation, the Giants’ outfield is severely lacking in production. Tucker would take over in right field, with Ramos in left, Jung Hoo Lee in center and Drew Gilbert, a 2022 first-round pick who was acquired as part of San Francisco’s return from the New York Mets for reliever Tyler Rogers, as the team’s fourth outfielder.

Throw Tucker in a lineup that includes Devers, Adames and Matt Chapman and the Giants have something cooking in the batter’s box. They’ve already gone down the rabbit hole of making substantial investments in the aforementioned hitters; they might as well keep going.

On that note, the Giants’ division, the NL West, includes the back-to-back World Series-champion Los Angeles Dodgers, a perennial playoff contender in the San Diego Padres and the competitive Arizona Diamondbacks; San Francisco is closer in talent to those teams than the Colorado Rockies, who won just 43 games in 2025, and adding Tucker would make it reasonable to place playoff expectations on the Giants in 2026.

The Giants need the star bat, and Tucker presumably wants the bag. This is a match.

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For anyone up in arms wondering how World Series champion Dave Roberts wasn’t even a finalist (again) for Manager of the Year in the National League and how Blue Jays skipper John Schneider didn’t run away with the award in the American League, a reminder is warranted. 

The awards are based solely on the regular season, and votes are cast before the playoffs. Postseason performance does not factor in. 

Again: Postseason performance does not factor in. 

This feels especially important to reiterate when discussing this particular award compared to others voted on by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, considering how subjective it is and how much the postseason can understandably shape fan perception of a manager’s performance. 

Unlike other awards, you can’t look at WAR or OPS or ERA to determine the credentials for the best manager in baseball. In addition, front offices increasingly have a role in decisions on the field, and we can’t possibly know how much one manager is involved over another or all the conversations taking place behind the scenes. 

What we can see, especially in October: Did the game speed up on the manager in the biggest moments? Did he let his starter ride where others might have turned to the bullpen? Did it work out? Did he pick the right relief matchup in the right spot? Did his pinch-hit decision work out? How did gut calls pay off? All of that can separate a good manager from a great one and a great season from a championship one. 

But, as one of the 30 BBWAA members who voted on the AL Manager of the Year Award this year, we only have the first 162 games to make a decision. So we look at wins and losses, and we look at which teams outplayed expectations, and we look at the managers who got the best out of their players and kept the ship afloat through hazardous seas. 

Schneider, who took the Blue Jays from worst to first in the always formidable AL East, had a strong argument to win the award even before guiding the Blue Jays to their first World Series since 1993. 

He would have been my vote a couple of weeks before season’s end, and he would still be a perfectly reasonable choice. 

But Cleveland’s historic finish to the year, during which Vogt kept the belief of a Guardians team that ultimately overcame a 15.5-game deficit — the largest ever to win a division — was enough to sway my vote for AL Manager of the Year. 

My final ballot: 

1. Stephen Vogt, Guardians
2. John Schneider, Blue Jays
3. Dan Wilson, Mariners

That’s how the BBWAA voting ultimately panned out, as well, with Vogt earning 17 of the BBWAA’s 30 first-place votes. Schneider received 10, Wilson got two and Boston’s Alex Cora got one. Cora finished fourth in the voting followed by Detroit’s A.J. Hinch in fifth and Houston’s Joe Espada in sixth. 

The Guardians were more than 15 games out of first place on July 8. By then, starter Luis Ortiz had been placed on administrative leave amid an MLB gambling investigation. Weeks later, Cleveland lost star closer Emmanuel Clase to the same investigation. Neither pitcher would throw another pitch for the Guardians in 2025, and both would later be indicted on charges tied to allegedly rigging pitches. 

At the deadline, no help arrived. 

In fact, Cleveland’s path forward was made even more challenging when the Guardians traded away former Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber to Toronto as he approached his return from Tommy John surgery. 

It would have been easy to pack it up. 

The Guardians had a bottom-five payroll and an offense that lacked what appeared to be the requisite star power to mount a stunning comeback. José Ramírez could only do so much to lift an offense that finished the year ranked last in the AL in on-base percentage, slugging and OPS. 

Ramírez and first baseman Kyle Manzardo were the only Guardians players who hit above league average on the season. Ramírez and outfielder Steven Kwan were the only Guardians players worth at least 2 WAR. 

Meanwhile, the pitching wasn’t as overpowering as it was the year prior. The bullpen was missing Clase, and the rotation entered September ranked 18th in ERA and 19th in strikeout rate. 

On the morning of Sept. 5, with only 23 games left to play, the Guardians were still 11 games back in the AL Central. No team had ever overcome even a nine-game deficit in September to win a division. 

To his credit, Vogt kept the belief. 

“We can’t control the 11 games,” Vogt told me after winning the award. “The only way you can overcome a deficit like that is to win each individual game. We preached it and tried to live it every day.”

Certainly, the Tigers’ collapse down the stretch played a significant role in loosening Detroit’s season-long stranglehold in the AL Central, but that shouldn’t minimize what the Guardians accomplished, against all odds. 

They went 48-26 from July 7 through the end of the season, compiling more wins than any team in MLB during that time. And they finished the year winning 19 of their last 23 games, including a 5-1 mark against the Tigers team they were chasing, to ultimately capture their second straight division title under Vogt. 

He became the fourth skipper to win Manager of the Year in consecutive seasons, joining the Rays’ Kevin Cash (2020-21), the Braves’ Bobby Cox (2004-05) and the Brewers’ Pat Murphy, who was also named his respective league’s winner for the award for the second straight season on Tuesday. 

“I leaned on everyone around me,” Vogt told me. “I leaned on the coaching staff. I leaned on the front office. I leaned on the players. We were all in that together.”

Schneider and Wilson both mounted strong arguments. The Blue Jays, with a top-five payroll, a star in first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a resurgent year from designated hitter George Springer and a bevy of depth pieces who took a massive leap forward, had a 20-win improvement and held off the Yankees to win their first division title in 10 years. The Mariners, bolstered by some major deadline additions, made a five-win improvement and won their first division title since 2001. 

Either would be fine choices, but neither overcame the odds of a Guardians team that everyone had counted out. It is the resilience of the Guardians that Vogt, who became the first skipper ever to win Manager of the Year in his first two big-league seasons at the helm, will remember most from the 2025 season.

“And that we actually got it done,” Vogt said.

Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.

Link to Original Article - on Fox Sports

Cleveland’s Steven Vogt won his second straight AL Manager of the Year award and Milwaukee’s Pat Murphy repeated for the NL honor.

Vogt received 17 of 30 first-place votes in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, beating out Toronto’s John Schneider and Seattle’s Dan Wilson. Voting was conducted before the postseason, and results were announced Tuesday night.

Murphy got 27 first-place votes. Cincinnati’s Terry Francona was second, followed by Philadelphia’s Rob Thomson.

The last AL manager to win the award in consecutive seasons was Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash in 2020 and 2021. The previous NL manager was Bobby Cox for Atlanta in 2004 and 2005.

The Cy Young Award winner for each league will be announced on Wednesday, and the MVPs are revealed on Thursday.

Vogt led Cleveland to a second straight AL Central title in his second year in charge. The 41-year-old played in the big leagues for 10 years, then retired after the 2022 season. He had a one-year stint as Seattle’s bullpen coach and was hired by the Guardians in November 2023.

Cleveland trailed Detroit by 15 1/2 games in early July and by 11 games in early September before storming back to clinch the division title on the final day of the season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was the largest in-season comeback in Major League Baseball history.

The Guardians also became the fourth big league team to reach the playoffs despite having a losing streak of at least 10 games during the regular season, joining the 2017 Dodgers, 1982 Braves and 1951 New York Giants. Vogt’s club dropped 10 in a row from June 26 to July 6.

Cleveland went on its big September run after closer Emmanuel Clase and starting pitcher Luis Ortiz were placed on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of a MLB investigation into sports betting.

Murphy directed Milwaukee to a major league-best 97-65 record this year, setting a franchise record for wins. The Brewers were in second in the NL Central in early July before overtaking the Chicago Cubs with a remarkable 29-4 stretch that included a 14-game win streak, another franchise record.

Milwaukee eliminated Chicago in a memorable NL Division Series before it was swept by the Dodgers in the NLCS. The five-game victory over the rival Cubs was the Brewers’ first postseason series win since sweeping Colorado in a 2018 NLDS.

The folksy Murphy, who turns 67 on Nov. 28, was Milwaukee’s bench coach for eight seasons before he was promoted after Craig Counsell left for the Cubs in November 2023. The Brewers also won the NL Central in Murphy’s first season in charge, finishing with a 93-69 record.

“This is a tremendous and well-deserved honor for the second year in a row,” Brewers president of baseball operations Matt Arnold said in a release.

Murphy had a long coaching career at the college level, including stints at Notre Dame and Arizona State, before serving as a special assistant with the San Diego Padres for the 2010 season. He went 42-54 as the interim manager of the Padres in 2015.

Reporting by The Associated Press.

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