MLB Player News

The veteran was placed on the IL at the end of May and will have missed about four weeks. Wade has a tremendous on-base percentage and will return to an everyday role against right-handed pitching. That will send David Villar back to the bench.

Posey takes over for Farhan Zaidi, who led the Giants to a sub-.500 record in five of the six seasons while he was at the helm. Posey was the face of the Giants franchise for years after he was drafted 5th overall in 2008. He was the 2012 NL MVP and a seven-time All-Star catcher, helped usher in the most successful era in Giants history He retired following the Giants’ remarkable 2021 season and joined the Giants’ ownership group in September 2022. “We are looking for someone who can define, direct and lead this franchise’s baseball philosophy and we feel that Buster is the perfect fit,” said Giants chairman Greg Johnson. “Buster has the demeanor, intelligence, and drive to do this job, and we are confident that he and Bob Melvin will work together to bring back winning baseball to San Francisco.”

McCormick fractured his left wrist on September 11th but has been working hard to get back on the field. The 29-year-old had a down year and has not been a full-time starter for the Astros, but he was 9-for-23 in seven games in September before fracturing his wrist, so maybe he can keep up that hot streak when the playoffs begin.

Last week, Breslow mentioned that the Red Sox would likely need to trade away a left-handed hitting outfielder or middle infielder this offseason due to a roster crunch, but it appears that any player could be traded for the right return. While that likely doesn’t include players like Rafael Devers or Brayan Bello, who signed long-term contracts this season, but other big names like Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu, or Masataka Yoshida might be available if the Red Sox can get help for their rotation or bullpen, which Breslow admitted was a major priority this offseason.

All players were set to be minor league free agents at the end of the season, so they would most likely have moved on anyway. Now they will all hope to find another opportunity somewhere else.

The team had just extended Zaidi through 2026 after last season, which was surprising at the time since the Giants had been over .500 just once in his five-year tenure coming into this year. As it turns out, one more sub-.500 season was the last straw. Zaidi was hired away from the Los Angeles Dodgers after the 2018 season and while his first year wasn’t tremendous, the Giants won a franchise-record 107 games in 2021. He drew some ire for his preference for intense platoons and the Giants’ inability to consistently land big-name free agents, but he was principally responsible for many shrewd signings, like acquiring Mike Yastrzemski, LaMonte Wade Jr., and Thairo Estrada for little-to-nothing. Sadly, those moves couldn’t push the Giants into playoff contention this season, and yet Zaidi still didn’t sell off many assets at the trade deadline, which led to more fan ire. The Giants will be switching gears pretty drastically by handing the reins over the Buster Posey, who was the franchise’s starting catcher for a long time and just recently retired. What his vision is for the team remains to be seen.

The first baseman has been out since the end of August with a broken thumb that was expected to keep him out for 4-6 weeks. Over the weekend, he took batting practice on the field multiple times, and the team must feel good about his ability to manage the pain while swinging. No final decisions have been made yet, but it seems like things are tracking for the 26-year-old to be in the lineup in the Wild Card round.

It’s about time. The specially designed All-Star jerseys have drawn a lot of ire from fans over the last few years and have not been major hits with sales either, which likely has a lot to do with this decision. Regardless, it won’t be anything for fans to worry about moving forward.

Even with the Braves throwing a right-handed pitcher, the Mets will still go with Tyrone Taylor in right field and will now start Harrison Bader in center field. It gives the Mets their best defensive lineup, and Winker has also been hitting .071 in 18 games in September, so the decision does make sense in that regard.

With two games on tap, it’s highly likely the Braves will have Sean Murphy catch game two, but it will be d’Arnaud, who hit a walk-off home run on Saturday night, who gets the start in game one. The rest of the Braves lineup is exactly as it has been for the last week.

Jasson Domínguez went 0-for-3 today, as both played with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto resting. That won’t happen in the postseason, of course. We’re guessing the Yankees will favor Verdugo in the ALDS, in part because of Domínguez’s defensive issues. Still, we’ll have to wait and see. Verdugo ends the year at .233/.291/.356 in 621 plate appearances. A free agent this winter, he’d benefit as much as anyone in the league from having a strong October.