Sorry guys. I don’t see very much actual baseball news today.
The Guardians are facing elimination today and Yandy Diaz already thinks victory is in hand.
Arjun Nimmala continues to impress in the AFL.
Catcher Ben Rortvedt has elected minor league free agency.
Photo credit: Rex Fregosi
Keith Law, who is always a bit chary of praise for the Angels farm, likes what he’s seen on Jake Munroe in the AFL thus far:
Los Angeles Angels third baseman Jake Munroe was one of the few bright spots for the Halos this year, hitting .289/.402/.498 between High A and Double A in his full-season debut. He was the Angels’ fourth-round pick out of the University of Louisville in 2025. He has bat speed, and the swing is going to continue to produce power. I saw a homer and two doubles from him across two games, with the home run coming off a right-on-right sweeper at his knees. He’s a top-10 prospect in their system already, and trending up.
In addition to the MLB profile, Nimmala led this week’s Baseball America prospect hotsheet at #1:
Why He’s Here: .545/.667/1.091 (6-for-11), 5 R, 2 2B, 2 3B, 0 HR, 3 RBIs, 4 BB, 1 SO, 1-for-1 SB
The Scoop: Nimmala was the prize of the midsummer trade that sent righthander José Soriano from the Angels to the Blue Jays. The toolsy shortstop has tremendous upside, which he’s shown off in spades during his time in the Fall League. Four of his five extra-base hits came in the season’s second week, and he struck out just once in 15 plate appearances. That’s a marked improvement from the first week, when he racked up eight strikeouts in 17 PAs. If he can make more consistent contact, he could be a fixture of future Angels lineups. (JN)
Just had his 21st birthday last week. To be performing this well in the fall circuit is auspicious, even if 3B might ultimately be his destination. They should give him a year to see if he can clean up at short, though.
What happens to Monroe if Nimmala plays 3B?
Probably gets tested at first and in the outfield – taking on more of utility role. Not sure if 2B would be too much of a stretch for him, but the bat fits there. He’s been exclusively a third baseman since college.
I’m having a bit of a hard time watching the Rays/Guardians series. I genuinely like both teams. I am rooting for Adell and Vogt to get to the Classic but will be happy for the Rays as well.
The fire of Brewers vs. Dodgers is simply lacking.
And I’m confident I will root for Milwaukee in the Series. They brought me so much joy sweeping the Dodgers.
A coin flip for me too.
I drew the Rays in the office pool so there’s that. But I don’t think there’s really a meaningful prize.
OTOH, I’d love to see an All Cactus League World Series and Jo there too.
Same for me. The Rays and Brewers both play the game at a different level and do the small things so well. That will be a fun watch for baseball lifers but may not draw many casual fans.
Who cares about casual fans! Let them eat cake!
MLBTR lists Seattle as the only team that doesn’t currently have a manager.
A simple oversite? Probably not. Let’s throw a tantrum.
Man, it is gonna be a while till we find out what’s up with that situation. I really hope the StanK crew is allowed to kinda get in there and start working along side the old crew before the sale is approved. I know that happens a fair amount. I just don’t want them looking for a GM, and a plan, on January 17th. Then get your manager etc.
I suppose that, with the lock out and the team sucky it’s as good a year as any to have some turmoil, but I’d enjoy the off season more if there was a plan put in motion.
Ours is officially employed until the season ends.
Unless they’re just going to quickly and quietly slip in local boy Randy Flores as GM, I’d prefer they take their time and weigh lots of candidates for front office and field manager.
Under new ownership, Anaheim is the most desirable landing spot in the sport. They should have plenty of talented seekers willing to sign on.
Yeah, I can see it going one of two ways.
The easy way is to make Mo a consultant, bring in Flores and some other Cardinals talent, and hit the ground running.
Or they do a massive search and the new front office takes a while to put together.
Can argue the pros and cons of both approaches. The impatient part of me wants the former, but the logical choice is to do the latter.
I’m so happy that the 2026 WS is gonna just be a fun fest for me. Cleveland? I’ve always liked them. Scrappy. Jose Ramirez…. loves Cleveland? Jo Adell. Good stuff.
But even better is the chance for a team to win their first ever WS title. Imagine all those long suffering dairy scarfing Wisonsonianians finally getting a WS. If there is a fanbase least likely to suffer from “Red Sox Disease” and go from being people I really liked to insufferable douches it’s those Brewers fans.
Then you have the Rays… who are both a flappy sea creature full of power and grace and just, you know, the sun. A team so nice they get to be two things at once. It would be awesome if a team with self esteem so low they let the Yankees keep an A ball team in their city and even played in their stadium last year both knocked the Skanks out and then won the title.
The way the Brewers and Rays play is great. Just relentless 1985 Cardinals style assaults of offense against solid all around pitching and defense. It doesn’t look great on the back of a baseball card but it makes even low scoring games fun to watch. Like watching a boxing match instead of two guys trying to hit each other from across a parking lot with a potato gun.
Plus, fk the Doyers. Maybe Ohtani is falling apart…. though more likely he just needs a patch up and is still gonna hit and pitch some.
Life is beautiful.
I 109% agree – the least douchey people in the US reside in Wisconsin. It all just milk, cheese curds and beer. Oh and fishing and the nicest, realest people. When I’m there I feel like Homer when he’s in chocolateland. Just grinning ear-to-ear and skipping. Go Brewers.
That said, the Rays are such a trodden upon franchise – it’s like Davey and Goliath surrounded by Yanks and RedSox all the time. It would be a great story no doubt.
Ultimately for me – Wisconsin > Florida. So I’m rooting for the Brewers.
I just can’t decide. I like both teams very much.
Gotta go with the cheeseheads… now WS, cheese curds are good, nice people, beautiful state, I was born there.
Born and raised for 15 years in northeast Ohio bordering Akron. Been to the mistake by the Lake. Watched the ball off the bat of Chico Salmon go over the wall.
Gotta root for anything Ohio. But probably impossible task to beat Rays now.
It’s 3-2 and most of the games have been razor thin. Cleveland is still very much in this thing.
I’ve only driven through Ohio. Ran into one rude lady working at one of those rest stops in the middle of the highway so I just continued out. Maybe I should give it a second chance… how are the cheese curds?
I’ve probably gone to 10 Brewers spring training games and the fans are always super nice. Granted, even Dodgers fans are cool at Spring Training, but Brewers fans are nice even by spring training standards.
I’ve also gone to about half a dozen Cleveland games but it always seems that ballpark is full of a wide variety of fans. Not a ton of Clevelanders out there.
I really like a few of the Indians – but I really want to see Rays/Brewers and see how the games play out. Wouldn’t a walk off squeeze be epic?
Should it come to be, ’tis the way it always should have been. The two teams with the best records in their respective divisions, built with ingenuity, playing a classic brand of baseball.
I don’t even think Rays-Brewers defeats the premise of a salary cap. Quite the opposite – it demonstrates what baseball can look like under financial constraints, and reinforces the type of action-based play Manfred (accurately) says the fans want. Teams with too much money optimize toward expensive strikeout pitchers and HR sluggers – creating a two true outcomes game.
