October 27, 2025
St. Louis Cardinals president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom said that outfielder
Lars Nootbaar (heels) isn't guaranteed to be ready for Opening Day in 2026 after having surgery on both of his heels. The Cardinals will not rush Nootbaar through the rehab process, but if he does miss time at the start of the season, it would be a "limited amount of time." The 28-year-old outfielder had surgery on both of his heels on Oct. 7 and could be delayed in the early going next season. Despite playing in a career-high 135 games for the Red Birds in 2025, Nootbaar wasn't able to improve on his counting stats as a hitter. The former eighth-round pick in 2018 out of USC slashed .234/.325/.361 with a .686 OPS, 13 home runs, 68 runs scored, 48 RBI, and four stolen bases in his 509 at-bats. At best, Nootbaar will be a late-round flier for outfield depth in fantasy drafts next spring.
--Keith HernandezSource: Matt Pauley
October 27, 2025
Philadelphia Phillies first baseman
Bryce Harper said he felt "uncomfortable" by recent comments made by president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, when Dombrowski wondered aloud about whether Harper could return to an elite level in 2026. "I have given my all to Philly from the start," Harper said. "Now there is trade talk? I made every effort to avoid this. It's all I heard in D.C. (with the Nationals). I hated it. It makes me feel uncomfortable." Harper added that he was "hurt" by Dombrowski's original comments. Dombrowski said it "couldn't be further from the truth" that the Phillies are considering trading Harper this offseason, and that "we love him." The 33-year-old former MVP is signed through the 2031 season, but he posted an .844 OPS in 2025, his lowest mark since 2016. Still, Harper was a productive hitter for the Phils, hitting 27 homers in 132 regular-season games. Harper has a full no-trade clause in his contract, but he didn't negotiate an opt-out clause into his 13-year, $330 million deal.
--Keith HernandezSource: The Athletic - Matt Gelb
October 27, 2025
Los Angeles Dodgers utilityman
Tommy Edman (ankle) has been a strong contributor once again for the Dodgers in October despite playing through a lingering right-ankle injury that he's dealt with for the last two seasons. It's an injury that has caused Edman to miss significant time this year, landing him on the injured list two separate times. The 30-year-old had another setback with his ankle while playing in the final week of the regular season, which hasn't made him an option to take over in center field for the struggling
Andy Pages. Edman has been limited to second base in the postseason. Edman said his ankle is "healthy," but he could need surgery this offseason to clean it up. The switch-hitting utility man hit a disappointing .225 during the regular season with 13 homers and 49 RBI, but he's picked things up in the postseason, going 11-for-42 (.262) with two homers and six RBI in 11 games.
--Keith HernandezSource: DodgersBeat.com - Cody Snavely
October 27, 2025
The Baltimore Orioles are finalizing a deal to hire Craig Albernaz as their new manager on Monday, sources told Jeff Passan of ESPN. The 42-year-old was previously an associate manager with the Cleveland Guardians and was a widely sought-after candidate for other open managerial jobs. Albernaz will try to turn around an Orioles team that is coming off a 75-87 (last in the American League East) season in 2025. Baltimore fired previous manager Brandon Hyde in the middle of May after the team started 15-28, and they named Tony Mansolino as the interim manager for the rest of the year. Albernaz has a reputation for forging strong relationships with young players, which the Orioles have plenty of. He was a finalist for Cleveland's managerial job in 2023 and joined the team as a bench coach after
Stephen Vogt was hired. Albernaz had a nine-year catching career that topped out at the Triple-A level.
--Keith HernandezSource: ESPN.com - Jeff Passan
October 27, 2025
Toronto Blue Jays infielder
Bo Bichette will return to the starting lineup for Game 3 of the World Series on Monday against Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander
Tyler Glasnow, according to manager John Schneider. Bichette will be back at second base and will most likely hit cleanup again, like he did in the team's Game 1 win on Friday night. The All-Star shortstop missed over seven weeks with a knee sprain suffered in early September, but he was included on the World Series roster and made his return in Game 1, picking up a single and a walk in the 11-4 blowout win. He did not play in the Game 2 loss on Saturday, although he did have a plate appearance off the bench late in the game. Bichette will make his second start of the World Series against a pitcher he has struggled against, as he's gone 2-for-16 with an RBI, three walks, and four K's in his career against Glasnow.
--Keith HernandezSource: Sportsnet.ca - Arden Zwelling
October 26, 2025
The Chicago Cubs are expected to add reinforcements to their starting rotation this offseason. According to Bruce Levine, the Cubs are planning to pursue free-agent right-hander
Dylan Cease. This doesn't come as a surprise considering Cease is going to be one of the top arms in free agency. The 29-year-old is coming off a down year where he posted a 4.55 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, and a 215/71 K/BB ratio across 32 starts with the San Diego Padres this past season. Despite a down year, Cease figures to get a hefty payday this offseason. The Cubs originally drafted Cease in the sixth round of the 2014 draft, but eventually traded him and
Eloy Jimenez for
Jose Quintana in 2017. This would be a nice full circle story, but there figures to be plenty of suitors for Cease.
--Andy WebbSource: Bruce Levine
October 26, 2025
Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher
Max Scherzer has been tasked with taking the ball for Game 3 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Scherzer will look to keep the good times rolling after tossing 5.2 innings, allowing two runs, and striking out five batters during Game 4 of the ALDS. That was his only work of the postseason, but Scherzer has plenty of experience, including two World Series championships. He'll be looking to help give his team a 2-1 lead in this series. The organization also announced that
Shane Bieber would take the ball for Game 4.
--Andy WebbSource: Bob Nightengale
October 25, 2025
The Minnesota Twins have reportedly narrowed down their search for a new manager down to four candidates. It sounds like Derek Shelton, James Rowson, Scott Servais, and Ryan Flaherty are the final candidates for the vacant manager job. Between the bunch, Shelton and Servais have the most experience considering they both managed teams for five-plus seasons. Rowson has been the Yankees hitting coach and served as the bench coach for the Miami Marlins through 2020-2022. Flaherty was the bench coach with the Chicago Cubs for the last two seasons. It'll be interesting to see who the Twins decide to replace Rocco Baldelli going forward.
--Andy WebbSource: New York Times
October 25, 2025
Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher
Tyler Glasnow will get the starting nod for Monday's Game 3 of the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Dodgers will look to even the series on Saturday after dropping the opener. Glasnow has been nearly impossible to touch during the postseason. He struck out eight batters across 5.2 innings of work during Game 3 of the NLCS. Overall, Glasnow has a 0.68 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 18 strikeouts over 13.1 innings during the postseason. Following Game 3,
Shohei Ohtani will get the ball for Game 4 of this series.
--Andy WebbSource: Sonja Chen
October 25, 2025
Toronto Blue Jays infielder/outfielder
Addison Barger will slide into the starting lineup ahead of Saturday's Game 2 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Barger blasted a pinch-hit grand slam during Game 1 of this series. He has been on fire this season, Barger is slashing .324/.405/.622 through 42 plate appearances. As a result, Barger will take over in right field and bat seventh versus right-hander
Yoshinobu Yamamoto on Saturday.
Myles Straw will head to the bench after starting in right field to begin the series.
--Andy WebbSource: Blue Jays
October 25, 2025
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop
Bo Bichette is out of the starting lineup ahead of Saturday's Game 2 of the World Series. Bichette made his first appearance of the postseason during Game 1 of this series. He went 1-for-2 with a walk during Friday's win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Considering the injury, it's not shocking to see the Jays' being cautious with Bichette. In his absence,
Isiah Kiner-Falefa will cover second base and bat eighth versus right-hander
Yoshinobu Yamamoto. It wouldn't be shocking to see Bichette come in as a pinch-hitter at some point during this game.
--Andy WebbSource: Blue Jays
October 24, 2025
Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made it clear on Friday that he has no plans to trade first baseman
Bryce Harper this offseason. "Bryce Harper's not getting traded," Dombrowski told Jon Heyman of the New York Post. "He's a great player. He's a future Hall of Famer. He's a cornerstone of our franchise, and we look to have him be with us a long, long time." Next season will be Harper's eighth with the Phillies since the former Washington National signed a then-record 13-year, $330 million deal in free agency before the 2019 campaign. Although a World Series title has eluded the Phillies during the Harper era, they won the pennant in 2022 and have earned four straight playoff berths. Harper was not at his best in 2025, the Phillies' second consecutive NL East-winning season, but the two-time MVP was still solidly above average. He slashed .261/.357/.487 with 27 homers, 75 RBI, 72 runs scored, and 12 stolen bases over 132 games and 580 plate appearances.
--Connor ByrneSource: Jon Heyman - New York Post
October 24, 2025
Toronto Blue Jays right-hander
Kevin Gausman will start Game 2 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. He'll oppose Dodgers righty
Yoshinobu Yamamoto. In his most recent appearance this past Monday, Gausman came out of the bullpen in an ALCS-clinching win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 7. The 34-year-old overcame three walks (including an intentional pass to
Cal Raleigh) to toss a scoreless seventh inning and earn the victory, sending the Blue Jays to their first Fall Classic since 1993. Despite an underwhelming 12:9 K:BB, Gausman has recorded a sparkling 2.00 ERA while yielding just 10 hits over 18 innings this postseason.
--Connor ByrneSource: Sportsnet
October 24, 2025
San Francisco Giants catcher
Logan Porter has re-signed with the club on a minor-league contract, Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports. Porter's deal includes an invitation to spring training. Since signing with the Kansas City Royals as an undrafted free agent in 2018, Porter has appeared in just 16 games in the bigs. The 30-year-old played in five contests with the Giants in 2025 and went 1-for-7 with a walk and a hit by pitch. Over a much larger sample of 73 games and 286 plate appearances with Triple-A Sacramento, Porter hit .212/.346/.316 with six home runs. He'll likely return to Sacramento next season. The Giants have
Patrick Bailey as their starting catcher, while either
Andrew Knizner or
Jesus Rodriguez will open 2026 as his backup.
--Connor ByrneSource: Bob Nightengale - USA Today
October 24, 2025
The New York Mets announced on Thursday that they signed free-agent left-hander
Richard Lovelady to an undisclosed one-year deal. Lovelady was with the Mets to end the 2025 regular season before electing free agency just after the conclusion of the season. The 30-year-old veteran southpaw is now back with the organization and will attempt to win an Opening Day roster spot out of the bullpen next year. Lovelady allowed 12 runs (11 earned) on 12 hits (three home runs) while walking six and striking out 12 in 11 2/3 relief innings with the Mets and Toronto Blue Jays during the 2025 campaign. However, he had an ERA under 2.00 on the farm in 38 innings pitched. Lovelady will most likely open the 2026 season at Triple-A Syracuse if he remains in the Mets' organization.
--Keith HernandezSource: New York Mets
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