Jake Bauers and the Milwaukee Brewers have already clinched a World Series spot, and the ALCS could still wrap up this weekend. Inclement weather postponed the Cleveland Guardians’ Game 4 home clash with the Tampa Bay Rays to Saturday night, and a potential series-ending Game 5 will instead occur Sunday night.
As for the other 27 teams, they’re busy holding their end-of-season press conferences and belated coaching moves. Houston dismissed manager Joe Espada earlier this week, while the Phillies removed the interim tag from Don Mattingly and gave him the full-time job. As of Oct. 17, only the Astros and Mariners have managerial vacancies, though we imagine they’ll address the issue long before a possible work stoppage.
Here are the latest MLB rumors as the World Series inches closer.
The New York Yankees aren’t expected to give Jazz Chisholm Jr. the qualifying offer
The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reported on Thursday night that the Yankees likely will not extend the qualifying offer — which is essentially a fully guaranteed one-year, $23.1 million contract — to All-Star second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. As if it weren't clear already, New York is looking to make a change at second base coming off of Chisholm's nightmare 2026 campaign, and unlike with Trent Grisham last winter, they won't take the chance of him accepting the offer.
We previously discussed Chisholm’s situation and identified multiple possible landing spots, including the Braves and Blue Jays. Although the Tigers’ Gleyber Torres is a pending free agent, we’re still skeptical the Tigers will aggressively pursue Chisholm; ironically, the latter replaced Torres in New York following the 2024 season.
Heyman added that the Yankees are expected to give veteran closer David Bednar the QO ahead of the mid-November deadline. The 32-year-old Bednar had a 2.47 ERA and 35 saves for the 93-win Yankees, and he pitched three scoreless innings during the postseason.
Will the Seattle Mariners hire Rocco Baldelli as their next manager?
Given how quickly the Mariners fired Dan Wilson upon season’s end, you’d think they’d be close to finding his replacement. That’s not quite the case, partly because Seattle waited to interview Espada … but Houston let him meet with the Mariners before firing him. Remember when Jim Crane had turned the Astros into one of baseball’s more competent organizations? Oops.
Heyman also shared that the Mariners are interested in Baldelli, who led Minnesota to three playoff berths in seven seasons. Most notably, the 2023 Twins won their first playoff series in over 20 years, taking down the Blue Jays in the 2023 Wild Card Round.
We like the fit, and it is unclear whether the Mariners have met — or intend to meet with — any additional candidates. Wilson, who took over in August 2024, has not yet announced his plans for next year.
Shohei Ohtani still wants to pitch in 2027 (good luck with that)
The normally quiet Ohtani met with reporters following Thursday’s season-ending loss to the Brewers, and he unsurprisingly said he plans to pitch next year. According to The Athletic’s Katie Woo, the four-time MVP also acknowledged it’s “hard to tell” whether he’ll need knee or bicep surgery after battling injuries with both this season.
Ohtani wants to pitch, but we personally advise the Dodgers to look elsewhere for rotation help. He’s already had two elbow surgeries, and losing him to another IL stint isn’t worth the risk to your increasingly fragile lineup. The future Hall of Famer might not be pleased if Dave Roberts and Andrew Friedman put their foot down, but tough luck. Winning a championship is all that matters, even if it means going against their superstar’s wishes.
The Dodgers will obviously attempt to re-sign veteran lefty Tarik Skubal, who recorded 1.9 bWAR in 62 regular-season innings. We also suggested targeting the Angels’ Reid Detmers or the Rangers’ Jacob deGrom, though the latter has a no-trade clause.
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