The MLB postseason is here, but for the vast majority of teams, it's time to start over. Only 12 teams are lucky enough to make the playoffs. The other 18 hope to join them in 2026. Thus far, the biggest news of the young offseason has been the surprising number of managerial openings, including the Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies, Texas Rangers, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals, Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles. With this sort of coaching carousel comes and abundance of rumors, so please proceed with caution.
MLB free agency and trade season won't truly begin until after the World Series, but until then, it is the job of every front office to establish a clear directive for offseason activities. Whether that means developing their young core, or going all-in on the open market, clarity is better than being stuck in the middle. Teams like the Braves, Pirates and Orioles know their intentions, though some front offices are more flawed than others.
The Baltimore Orioles need to spend on pitching, but don't tell Mike Elias that
The Orioles refused to spend on starting pitching this past winter and their rotation suffered as a result. Baltimore let Corbin Burnes walk, and instead signed Charlie Morton, who lasted until the deadline before being dealt to Detroit for a bag of baseballs. While the Orioles have plenty of questions to answer this offseason – including whether they should trade former No. 1 overall pick Adley Rutschman.
The first item on the Orioles to-do list will be to hire a full-time manager. Interim manager Tony Mansolino coached well down the stretch, but given this team's timeline, it'd be surprising if he received the job.
“I've told [Mansolino] that we are going to utilize the opportunity of having the permanent chair vacant to talk to other people and learn and see who is available, who's interested and figure out who the right fit is for this team for 2026,” Elias said. “That process is going to include him, and he will be a real candidate. But I expect we are going to talk to other people, and we're initiating that process imminently.”
Most concerning for Orioles fans, though, is how Baltimore chooses to spend its money. Elias admitted that the O's don't want to take spending big on a starting pitcher "off the table" but that it's not necessarily at the forefront of their winter plans. This leads to another essential question: Have the Orioles learned anything?
The Pirates fired their pitching coach
It was another rough season for the Pittsburgh Pirates, whose only real strength was its pitching staff. Considering the Pirates tendency to do the opposite of what they should, Pittsburgh opted to fire pitching coach Oscar Marin, a decision which reportedly came with player input, per Jason Mackey.
Led by the duo of Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller, the Pirates ranked seventh in baseball in team ERA, fifth in team WHIP, ninth in walks per nine innings and tenth in strikeout-to-walk-ratio. Again, the Pirates didn't have much go right in 2025, but their pitching wasn't a problem. The lineup all too often kept them from winning games their pitching kept Pittsburgh in.
The most likely reason Marin was let go is because he was originally hired in 2019 as a member of Derek Shelton's staff. It's normal for a new manager to want to build out his own coaching staff, but as Mackey's report noted, this move was made with player approval.
“[General manager] Ben [Cherington] and I, today, started talking through that,” Kelly said Monday. “I know we’re going to have more discussions, dig deeper on that. Not sure exactly where that’s going to go, but we’re currently beating that up today and then I’m sure over the next couple days as well.”
Kelly was impressive in his own right after taking over for Shelton, and earned the benefit of the doubt this offseason. Hopefully, ditching a good pitching coach won't come back to bite him.
Why the Atlanta Braves are unlikely to hire Ron Washington as manager
Brian Snitker left his post with the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday. While Snitker was a respected baseball mind who formed an impressive duo with Alex Anthopoulos, his time had come. The Braves need a new voice, and it's not 2021 anymore. Atlanta's coming off a disappointing 2025 campaign. Snitker himself shouldn't be blamed for that alone, as the Braves dealt with a ton of injuries, but he's not entirely blameless.
One plausible replacement could be former Los Angeles Angels manager Ron Washington. Prior to being hired by the Angels, Washington was a member of Snitker's coaching staff. Washington's Angels tenure was a bad one, as he lasted just two seasons. Yet, much like Snitker, there's only so much he can be blamed for. The Angels were bad prior to Washington's arrival, and they won't get much better this winter no matter who takes over.
While Washington would be a valuable addition to the Braves coaching staff in some regard, he should not be the manager. Snitker wasn't the right fit in Atlanta anymore in part because he's 69 years old. Washington is even older. Whatever route Anthopoulos goes to replace Snitker, he'd be best-served taking a serious look outside the organization.
The Braves are an attractive job. They won't have to settle on a 73-year-old coming off heart surgery.