MLB Player News

The 30-year-old right-hander has never played in the major leagues during his 11-year career, but he may get an opportunity with Oakland. Ferguson has put together a nice season at the Triple-A level where he holds a 2.40 ERA, 1.26 WHIP with a 24/5 K/BB ratio across 15 innings of work.

Francona took 2024 off after 11 years managing the Guardians. The Reds will be his fourth stop as a manager. Francona takes a 1950-1672 career record, two World Series and three Manager of the Year awards to Cincinnati.

Alonso had struggled down the stretch of the season, but all is forgiven after getting the biggest hit of the Mets’ season. The Polar Bear hit a Devin Williams changeup out to right field for a go-ahead three-run home run with one out in the ninth inning. He certainly gave the Mets at least one memorable moment before heading into free agency this offseason.

Edwin Diaz was already used earlier in the game so when the Mets took the lead in the ninth the team was scrambling for a closer. Peterson, having not pitched in the series to this point, stepped up and closed the door on the Brewers by inducing a Brice Turang double play. Peterson figures to start in the NLDS against the Phillies, though the Mets have a bevy of rotation options.

Williams had allowed one home run in 22 appearances this year, but after Francisco Lindor walked and Brandon Nimmo singled in the ninth inning, he gave up a big three-run blast to Pete Alonso. The Brewers couldn’t have drawn up Game 3 of the Wild Card series much better than having Williams on the mound in the ninth inning with a two-run lead, but he didn’t get the job done. He’s still a top five fantasy closer heading into the offseason.

Myers allowed two hits, walked none and struck out five. He was somewhat curiously removed from the game after only 66 pitches. Nonetheless, the 26-year-old rookie was just as impressive during the regular season as he was in his brief playoff start. Myers heads into the offseason on a personal high note.

Quintana allowed four hits, walked one and struck out five. He gave the Mets exactly what they needed in an elimination game. Quintana is sure to get at least another start in the NLDS against the Phillies.

A Game 3 starter still hasn’t been revealed yet. The reasoning for the Dodgers going with Flaherty in Game 2 now is that he would be more accustomed to pitching with regular rest in a Game 5 if necessary.

Alvarez was designated for assignment earlier this week and cleared waivers. The Mets acquired the utility man from the Red Sox in September, which was only allowed because Alvarez was on a minor league deal at the time. He has the option to refuse the outright assignment and become a free agent, which he’ll almost certainly do.

Contreras has a slight knee issue and was out running on the field before the game. He’ll be the DH with Gary Sanchez behind the dish for Milwaukee on Thursday.

There’s no question that the Diamondbacks’ pitching staff disappointed in 2024, finishing with a team ERA of 4.63 which was 27th in all of baseball. However, how much of that is on the coaches, and how much of it is that the front office used a lot of resources to bring in underwhelming free agents Eduardo Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery? Strom was the Astros’ pitching coach from 2014-21 and Houston never finished worse than 11th in the league in ERA. He has struggled to duplicate that in Arizona with the team finishing 22nd in ERA in 2022 and 20th in ERA in 2023, so the team will hope another coach can get more out of their pitching staff.