We're barreling ever closer to October, and naturally everyone's attention is on the postseason picture and which teams are best positioned to go on a World Series run in just a couple weeks' time. But for the less fortunate half of the league, it's already time to start preparing for the offseason — and that means the rumor mill has already cranked into high gear.
The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal dropped his latest notebook on Tuesday, full of interesting tidbits from around the league on free agency, the trade market and even postseason roster decisions. Here's what caught our eye.
For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, subscribe to The Moonshot, our weekly MLB newsletter, and join the discord to get the inside scoop during the MLB season.
MLB Rumors: Kyle Schwarber staying put with Phillies?
There's been plenty of consternation in recent weeks (heck, recent months) about the Philadelphia Phillies' failure to sign Kyle Schwarber to a contract extension ahead of the 2025 season, and what that might mean for the team's hopes of holding on to him in free agency this coming winter. That consternation has only grown louder with each successive Schwarber home run — an NL-leading 53 in all after he went yard again during Philly's win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.
But Rosenthal is here with a bit of good news, writing that "the expectation is" that Schwarber will in fact re-sign with the Phillies when all is said and done. Schwarber is uniquely valuable to Philadelphia, a clubhouse leader who brings some desperately needed thump to a lineup that's been lacking a bit in that department this season. Also working in Philly's favor: a lack of other big-market suitors.
Schwarber is a DH only at this stage of his career. The Yankees (Giancarlo Stanton), Dodgers (Shohei Ohtani) and Giants (Rafael Devers) already have that spot permanently occupied, while the Cubs likely will as well given their outfield logjam among Pete Crow-Armstrong, Seiya Suzuki, Ian Happ and potentially Kyle Tucker. There aren't too many teams who are both willing to meet Schwarber's asking price (three or four years at more than $30 million per) and have somewhere to put him on a daily basis. If the Phillies don't seal this deal, it will be a truly colossal fumbling of the bag.
MLB Rumors: Roki Sasaki might not fit into Dodgers' postseason plans
We got some rare optimism on the Sasaki front last week, when he came out throwing in the upper 90s in his most recent rehab start at Triple-A. That's a welcome change from where he had been previously, with a fastball sitting around 94-95 causing everyone to wonder just what had gone wrong — and whether L.A. will be able to fix it.
But while the young righty looked more like the superstar he was in Japan, his road back to being a difference-maker for the Dodgers remains a perilous one. For starters, we need to see Sasaki do this multiple times in a row while working deeper into games (he lasted just 4.2 innings in that outing before his command fell apart). And even if he does start pitching up to his reputation again, Rosenthal writes that there's "only an outside chance" Los Angeles has room for him on the postseason.
The Dodgers rotation is overflowing as it is, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani all untouchable and both Clayton Kershaw and Emmet Sheehan around as well. Sasaki certainly isn't starting a playoff game for this team, and while his stuff might theoretically play up in a move to the bullpen, will Dave Roberts really feel comfortable putting him in a position he's never been in before under the brightest possible spotlight?
MLB Rumors: Could Cardinals move Brendan Donovan this offseason?
The St. Louis Cardinals should be among the more fascinating teams in the sport this winter, as Chaim Bloom takes over the front office and inherits an aging, bloated roster in desperate need of a hard reset. Things figure to get worse before they get better, at least at the Major League level, as Bloom looks to assemble pieces that will form the foundation of the next competitive Cardinals team.
That process will necessarily involve shipping out some current Major League talent that doesn't factor into St. Louis' long-term plans. Which brings us to an intriguing name: jack of all trades Brendan Donovan, whom Rosenthal writes "looms as a prime trade candidate".
It's not hard to figure out why. Donovan has been arguably the steadiest hitter in the Cardinals' uneven lineup this season, posting a 114 OPS+ while playing all over the diamond and making his first career All-Star appearance. But he also has just two years of team control remaining; it's highly unlikely that St. Louis will be ready to meaningfully contend by the time he hits free agency as a 31-year-old in the winter of 2027.
The Cardinals could hold on to him, figuring that somebody needs to be in the lineup in 2026. Or they could flip him at what is likely the height of his value, coming off a very solid season and with the knowledge that whatever team acquires him will be doing so for more than just a rental year.