Sep 12, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) warms up in the outfield before a game against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
QUEENS, NY — There has always been a certain degree of stoicism to Jacob deGrom’s game.
The veteran right-handed ace’s composure on the mound is almost as much of a trademark as his often unhittable stuff. His old teammate Brandon Nimmo even likened him to a bulldog when he’s on the mound — a smile, or any sort of showing of emotion, comes few and far between.
Mets fans saw it up close when the now-37-year-old spent nearly a decade in Queens, developing into one of the franchise’s greatest pitchers, and winning a pair of NL Cy Young Awards, too.
But Friday night hit deGrom different, even before he threw a pitch. This was his first time being back at Citi Field to face his old team since signing a five-year, big-money deal with the Texas Rangers before the 2023 season, and a tribute video the team played on Citi Vision while he was warming up pregame in center field got him.
“When they played the video, I looked at it for a second, and then I had to kind of look down, gather myself, and continue playing catch to get ready for the game… I knew if something was played, I’d probably feel some sort of emotion. I spent nine years here. Everyone was good to me.
“But once the first pitch happened, it was, ‘Alright, here we go. We gotta try to get some outs.’”
What followed was a signature deGrom performance, which heaped more pressure on his free-falling former team in the Rangers’ 8-3 win. He went seven innings, allowing three runs on four hits with two strikeouts and zero walks. Three of those hits came in succession to lead off the third inning — a frame in which he yielded all of his runs — but including the two sacrifice flies that scored New York’s second and third runs, deGrom retired the final 15 batters he faced.
It was like he never left.
“Honestly, the mound felt the exact same, so a lot of good memories,” deGrom said. “Besides the third, they hit some good pitches. I gave up a three-spot and was like, ‘Hey, we got to find a way to stop letting them score runs’… They had a good plan against me… luckily, they were hitting it right at people because there were some hard-hit baseballs.
“A lot of early contact let me go a little bit deeper in the game. We’ve been kind of monitoring innings, pitch count, but a lot of early contact let me go back out there for the seventh.”
Sep 12, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) follows through on a pitch against the New York Mets during the third inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images
It was the first time since June 25 that deGrom went seven innings, and by recording the first out of that final frame of his night, he has now pitched enough innings this season to qualify for the ERA title for the first time since 2020.
With Friday night’s gem, he ranks fourth in the American League with a 2.82 ERA — a triumphant return after injuries seemingly derailed his career even when he was still a member of the Mets.
After winning back-to-back Cy Young Awards in 2018 and 2019, deGrom didn’t start more than 15 games in a single season during his final three campaigns in Queens. While 2020 was shortened by COVID, his historic 2021 season, which featured a 1.08 ERA across 92 innings, was cut short due to forearm issues. A stress reaction in his shoulder in spring training held him out of the 2022 season until August.
Upon his arrival in Texas, he made just six starts with his new club in 2023 before the second Tommy John surgery of his career held him out until late last season, where he was able to make only three starts, but they were important ones.
“He worked hard to get back where he’s at now,” his manager and four-time World Series winner Bruce Bochy said. “It’s a long road having that kind of surgery. He knew it was going to be a while, and he got ready. I thought what was big last year was that he did get back on the mound before we started this season. That was huge.”
“When you find out you’re going to miss some significant time, at my age, there is unknown,” deGrom added. “When it first happened, you’re pretty down, but once it happened, there was only one thing to do, and that was take each day and try to get back… just do my best every day with a goal of pitching back at the major-league level.
“It doesn’t always happen, but you try not to let doubt set in. I’ve been fortunate enough to play this game for quite a while. Every day you get to put this uniform on, I’m thankful for that. We get to play a game for a living, so it’s an awesome experience.”
His 28 starts this season are the most he’s had in six years, and his undimmed dominance, despite being 37, lends a certain confidence that he can fulfill his wish of pitching well into his 40s.
“Why not?” deGrom asked. “Try to keep it going. I enjoy playing this game, and I think when you do miss that significant time [due to injury] later in your career, you really realize how much you do miss it. We’ll see what happens.”
Hopefully, it can provide a satisfying ending for one of this generation’s greatest arms, who could one day see his No. 48 lifted to the top of Citi Field along with the other retired numbers of the Mets.
“That would be a huge honor,” deGrom said. “Every time I took this mound for the Mets, I felt like I left it all out there. Obviously, there were some times when I got injured, but you can’t really control that. So when I was on that mound, I felt like I left it all out there.”
For more on the Mets and Jacob deGrom, visit AMNY.com
Aaron Judge, Carlos Correa and Trea Turner combined for almost $1 billion in contracts. Xander Bogaerts, Jacob deGrom, Dansby Swanson, Carlos Rodón, Brandon Nimmo and Willson Contreras added up to another billion.
And that’s just nine players. Just one lucrative slice of baseball’s December spending spree.
What a difference a year makes.
It has been an epic holiday season already for several teams and players — a year after Major League Baseball locked out its players in an ugly labor dispute that delayed spring training.
Judge decided to stay with the New York Yankees for baseball’s biggest free agent deal ever, a $360 million, nine-year contract. Correa has a pending $315 million, 12-year agreement to join the New York Mets, and Turner signed a $300 million, 11-year contract with Philadelphia.
Including Wednesday’s transactions, big league teams have handed out more than $2.8 billion in finalized contracts to major league free agents this offseason. That dwarfs the winter spending at this point in each of the last five years.
Through Dec. 20, 2021, that number was $1.9 billion. It was $187.4 million in 2020 — when teams were coming off the abbreviated season caused by the coronavirus pandemic — $1.6 billion in 2019, $655.95 million in 2018 and $413.25 million in 2017.
“Whether it’s ownership, whether it’s teams that fell short in the playoffs, teams that did well in the playoffs, teams that are ready to take a step from maybe a three-, four- or five-year rebuild, you look up and there’s few teams that are taking a step back,” Padres general manager A.J. Preller said during baseball’s winter meetings.
“Almost everybody (is) looking to advance forward. And that, along with some really quality players, is why it’s a very aggressive market.”
HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?
The March labor agreement that set industry rules through 2026 is one factor behind the increased spending, but there are several more forces at play.
The labor deal included an expanded playoff format, leading to more TV money for owners, and cleared the way for advertising on uniforms and helmets for the first time.
Under the five-year agreement, the luxury tax threshold rises to $244 million by the final season and tax rates remain unchanged at the initial, second and third thresholds. A new fourth threshold was added — supposedly aimed at Mets owner Steve Cohen — but it looks as if the billionaire views that hefty tax bill more like a nuisance as he pushes his team’s payroll to near $400 million.
If a more punitive threshold system, like a salary cap, had been instituted — almost certainly a popular concept among some owners — the spending likely would have been more muted this offseason.
Labor peace, of course, is good for business in general, but MLB also is in the process of dispersing the $900 million it received from The Walt Disney Co. for its remaining share of a streaming service technology company. That money is expected to go out to clubs before the end of the year.
MLB had new streaming network packages on Apple TV+ and Peacock last season, and it announced in October that fans watched more than 11.5 billion minutes of game action on MLB.TV during the regular season, a record for the streaming package.
This year’s World Series had lackluster TV ratings, and in a cord-cutting era, there are major questions about the viability of the regional sports networks that carry baseball games. Attendance was down 5% from its pre-pandemic level, but the spending indicates at least some optimism about baseball’s health.
It’s also reflective of an unusually deep free agent class. Judge is the reigning AL MVP, and Turner, Correa, Bogaerts and Swanson are All-Star shortstops. Justin Verlander won the AL Cy Young Award with Houston last season, and then signed an $86.7 million, two-year contract with the Mets.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Looming over all this spending is Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani, who can become a free agent after the 2023 season. If Ohtani gets to free agency, he likely would smash each of baseball’s financial records for player contracts.
Ohtani, who turns 29 in July, hit .273 with 34 homers and 95 RBIs this year. He also went 15-9 with a 2.33 ERA in 28 starts.
San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado can opt out of his $300 million, 10-year deal after the upcoming season, giving up $150 million over the final five seasons, and he almost certainly is monitoring all the money being handed out this offseason.
“People are discussing who are the free agents in ’24 and ’25 now because it’s like all a big puzzle,” San Francisco manager Gabe Kapler said. “So what happens this offseason is definitely going to impact what happens two offseasons from now.”
Machado’s decision is likely one reason why San Diego gave Bogaerts a $280 million, 11-year contract.
Also worth watching are baseball’s small-market owners, most of whom have been standing quietly off to the side since the end of the season. There is undoubtedly some private grousing going on behind the scenes, especially over some of the longer deals that dilute the intended effect of the sport’s tax system.
“We have a level of revenue disparity in this sport that makes it impossible for some of our markets to compete at some of the numbers we’ve seen,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said during the winter meetings.
———
Lisa Lorey in New York contributed to this story.
———
Follow Jay Cohen at https://twitter.com/jcohenap
———
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports
ARLINGTON, Texas — Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom sees the vision of what the Texas Rangers want to do, not their streak of six consecutive losing seasons and being more than a decade removed from their only World Series appearances.
“The Rangers did a great job with constant communication and making me feel like they really wanted me here,” deGrom said Thursday during his introduction in Texas. “The vision was the same, build something great, and win year in and year out.”
DeGrom is the latest big-money add — on a $185 million, five-year deal — for the Rangers as they try to turn things around. They nabbed deGrom last Friday before baseball’s winter meetings had even started. After completing his physical and the contract in Texas, he was even able to make it home for a previously planned Christmas outing with his wife and two small children at Disney World, which is where he was when his signing with Texas was announced last week.
The 34-year-old right-hander spent the first nine years of his career with the New York Mets, who won 101 games last season. His arrival comes an offseason after the Rangers made a pricey, long-time commitment to middle infielders Corey Seager ($325 million, 10 years) and Marcus Semien ($175 million, seven years) and then went 68-94.
DeGrom said Seager and Semien played a significant role in his decision and that, while he had been in contact with the Mets, he was excited about Texas after his conversations with the Rangers — including new manager and three-time World Series champion Bruce Bochy, general manager Chris Young and owner Ray Davis.
“They showed a ton of interest right at the start, and the feelings were mutual,” deGrom said. “I want to play this game for a long time and want to win.”
Young said the addition of deGrom is a big step toward the Rangers’ goal of building a world championship organization, and the full expectation next season is to compete for a playoff spot.
“I’m ecstatic. To win in our game, you need pitching,” said Bochy, who was sitting to deGrom’s left. “We couldn’t have a better guy to head up this rotation. We’ve added to the rotation. So don’t tell me we can’t win. … We’re a much better club right now than just a few weeks ago.”
DeGrom joins a Rangers rotation that also includes Jon Gray, the right-hander whose $56 million, four-year deal last winter was overshadowed by Seager and Semien.
All-Star left-hander Martín Pérez this offseason accepted a $19.65 million qualifying offer to stay with the Rangers, who also acquired former All-Star right-hander Jake Odorizzi from Atlanta in a trade last month. Left-hander Andrew Heaney agreed this week to a $25 million, two-year deal with Texas.
Before having to miss the final three months of the 2021 season with right forearm tightness and a sprained elbow, deGrom had a career-low 1.08 ERA over 92 innings. He was then shut down late in spring training this year because of a stress reaction in his right scapula and didn’t make his first big-league start until Aug. 2.
He went 5-4 with a 3.08 ERA in 11 starts, then opted out of a $30.5 million deal for 2023 to become a free agent for the first time.
“Last year’s was a weird injury, but finished the year strong and the goal’s to go out there and take the ball every fifth day for the Texas Rangers,” he said.
Rangers team physician Dr. Keith Meister was one of the doctors who reviewed deGrom’s scapula last season since he had experience with that type of injury, but didn’t personally examine him. Meister told deGrom it would heal completely, and the pitcher said he felt great when he came back.
He is now ready for another full season, after making only 38 starts the past three years.
“The goal is to make 30-plus starts and I truly believe that I will be able to do that,” he said.
DeGrom is 82-57 with 1,607 strikeouts in 1,326 innings in his career. He gets $30 million next year, $40 million in 2024 and 2025, $38 million in 2026 and $37 million in 2027. The deal includes a conditional option for 2028 with no guaranteed money.
———
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP
ARLINGTON, Texas — Free-agent ace Jacob deGrom and the Texas Rangers agreed to a five-year contract Friday.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner leaves the New York Mets after nine seasons — the past two shortened by injuries.
After making his first start last season in early August, deGrom went 5-4 with a 3.08 ERA. He helped the Mets reach the playoffs, then opted out of his contract to become a free agent.
Texas announced the signing Friday night after the 34-year-old deGrom passed his physical.
———
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports
NEW YORK — Mets ace Jacob deGrom couldn’t help but ponder his future on Saturday night. With free agency looming and the San Diego Padres taking Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series, deGrom said he went into his start in Game 2 knowing that if he didn’t pitch well, it could be the last time he pitched at Citi Field as a Met.
“That went into my mind, but the hope was that we would win a baseball game and continue to keep playing,” deGrom said.
He came through, going six innings and allowing five hits and two runs on two walks with eight strikeouts in a 7-3 Mets victory. The win guaranteed that deGrom would have at least one more day to put on a Mets uniform, on Sunday night when the Padres and Mets will play Game 3.
DeGrom set the tone early, starting off the game throwing 12 pitches over 99 mph and seven over 100 mph. He retired the top of Padres’ lineup in order, striking out slugger Juan Soto and Manny Machado swinging. Throughout the evening, deGrom primarily relied on his fastball — which topped 100 mph on 19 of his 99 pitches — and slider, throwing his curveball just twice and his changeup six times. Sixty of his pitches were strikes.
The Padres scored two runs off deGrom, the first coming on a home run from Trent Grisham, his second in as many nights.
“I gotta tip my hat to Trent, that homer, I felt like that was a good pitch, and he just got to it,” deGrom said.
The second run came after deGrom walked Grisham to lead off the fifth inning before Padres outfielder Jurickson Profar hit a game-tying RBI single down the right-field line. DeGrom threw five consecutive sliders in the six-pitch at-bat.
“That’s the one I wish I would’ve went fastball,” deGrom said on the Profar at-bat. “Felt like I had a good feel for it; I just threw too many in a row to him and he kept one fair.”
DeGrom said he felt he hit a groove in his last inning on the mound.
“Slider was good and fastball, actually to [Padres first baseman Brandon] Drury, I threw one down and away where I wanted,” deGrom said. “Early on, they were just a little bit off and not quite the height I wanted them. I felt like I made an adjustment there, and the sixth inning, I felt the best.”
After deGrom left the game, Mets manager Buck Showalter made an unusual choice to bring in closer Edwin Diaz in the seventh inning. With Grisham hitting two homers against the Mets during the first two games of the series, Showalter wanted to challenge the Padres outfielder with the team’s toughest reliever before the top of the San Diego lineup came up in a 3-2 game.
Against Diaz, Grisham grounded out before Padres catcher Austin Nola singled up the middle. Diaz then got Profar and Soto to ground out to end the seventh inning.
Diaz returned for the eighth inning. After getting Machado to ground out, he walked Josh Bell and struck out Jake Cronenworth. Showalter then came to the mound to replace Diaz with reliever Adam Ottavino, who struck out Drury to end the inning.
Showalter said he had no intention to have Diaz pitch three innings and finish the game.
“Where they were in the batting order, we had trouble with Grisham. I wasn’t planning on pitching a third inning with him,” Showalter said of Diaz. “There were things that would have changed that; if he had two eight-pitch innings, I would think about it.”
Diaz asked to stay in the contest to finish off Drury, but Showalter said he needed him to be available for Game 3 on Sunday.
“I was feeling great. I thought I could get Drury out, but he told me that he needed me tomorrow and this was enough for today,” Diaz said. “So, I said let’s win the game tomorrow.”
The regular season is officially in the books (OK, maybe there is still a game or two trickling slowly to its finish as you read this) and the 2022 MLB playoffs are set to start Friday — and this year’s postseason could be epic.
In addition to a new format that features 12 teams and a three-game wild-card round that is guaranteed to bring drama to October from the very start, there are so many storylines to follow throughout that it has a chance to be an all-time great month of baseball.
Below, we highlight the 12 themes that will dominate the entire sport as the new 12-team format begins.
I think baseball finally nailed it. Yes, there are those who will always favor the old setups of two pennants or four division winners, but the 12-team arrangement is an improvement over 10 teams (which had been the norm for the past decade). The do-or-die wild-card game, which had been around since 2012, never felt right and, frankly, never really turned into the must-see drama that the sports world stopped everything to watch anyway.
As we saw with the temporary 16-team bracket in 2020, these quick, three-game series are fun. They’re still plenty pressure-packed, but they feel more like baseball than a winner-take-all matchup.
Crucially, this format still rewards the best teams with a first-round bye and the opportunity to rest a pitching staff and line up a rotation. My only nit with where baseball landed this year is that a seven-game division series would be better than five — maybe next year, when the start of the season won’t be delayed by a lockout.
2. There’s a 111-win superteam and nobody is sure what to make of its World Series chances
The Los Angeles Dodgers won 111 games — the most ever for a National League team in a 162-game season and a total topped only by the 2001 Seattle Mariners and 1998 New York Yankees. If they win it all, they go down alongside that Yankees team as one of the greatest of all time; if they don’t win it all, they’re relegated to the back pages of history alongside those Mariners.
Since 2017, the Dodgers have had four 104-win seasons, a remarkably long period of domination … but just one World Series title. Their sole championship came in the shortened 2020 season, with playoff games played in front of empty stadiums or at neutral sites. It counts — or as a friend of mine who is a longtime die-hard Dodgers fan told me, it counts as one-third of a title. And don’t forget that teams were allowed to play with 28-man rosters that postseason, which allowed the Dodgers to use starters as relievers and relievers as starters and do things they might not have been able to do with a 26-man roster.
Alden Gonzalez had a good breakdown of the pressure the Dodgers face this October. In a sense, they’re playing for two championships: 2022 and a validation of 2020. While manager Dave Roberts told ESPN he “absolutely” considers the Dodgers a dynasty — and four 104-win seasons certainly back that claim up — two titles would definitely secure their place in history as one of the greatest teams of all time.
3. We’ve got a real chance of a repeat
After winning the World Series in 2021, the Atlanta Braves lost Freddie Freeman to the Dodgers — and got younger and better, winning 101 games and their fifth straight division title. No team has repeated as World Series champs since the Yankees won three in a row from 1998 to 2000; the Braves have the power, the pitching and the momentum — after stealing the NL East in the final week with a three-game sweep of the New York Mets — to do it.
And it’s not just a repeat, the Braves might be on their way to a dynasty here. Their turnaround from a 10½-game deficit to the division title began when they called up Michael Harris II to play center field in late May and moved Spencer Strider to the rotation. From June 1 — the first win in a 14-game winning streak — to the end of the regular season, they went 78-34. Strider’s injured oblique might keep him out of the playoffs, but they still have Max Fried, 20-game winner Kyle Wright and October hero of the past Charlie Morton, plus a lineup that led the NL in home runs.
4. Speaking of dynasties … what do we make of the Houston Astros?
You might have noticed by now, but there are a lot of good teams at the top of this year’s playoff bracket. We have four 100-win clubs in the Dodgers, Astros, Braves and Mets, with the Yankees finishing at 99 wins. The you-can’t-predict-baseball nature of the postseason doesn’t guarantee we’ll see two of these teams in the World Series, but if we do, there’s a good chance we’ll see a classic series. The last matchup of 100-win teams in the World Series was 2017, when the Astros beat the Dodgers in seven thrilling games. Before that, you have to go all the way back to 1970 to have two 100-win teams in the World Series.
The Astros also have four 100-win seasons since 2017, including 107 in 2019 and 106 this season. Sign-stealing scandal or not, if they win the World Series, perhaps they go down as the dominant franchise of this era. And an added bonus? After 25 years of managing in the big leagues and making his 12th trip to the postseason, manager Dusty Baker is hoping to finally win that final game of the season.
To make matters more interesting, the Astros appear on a collision course to meet the Yankees in the American League Championship Series for the third time since 2017. Remember the war of words in the spring between Astros owner Jim Crane and Yankees general manager Brian Cashman after Cashman cried that the only thing that had stopped the Yankees in previous seasons from reaching the World Series was “something that was so illegal and horrific.” A Yankees-Astros ALCS would be an epic battle — even if it is one Evil Empire versus another.
5. New York baseball is B-A-C-K
This is now the Yankees’ 13th season since last appearing in a World Series in 2009 — an unacceptable length of time for baseball’s richest and most historically successful franchise with 27 titles in a sport where the wealthiest teams have a decided advantage. Longtime fans will note the Yankees are closing in on the infamous World Series drought from 1982 to 1995, the reign of terror era under George Steinbrenner when he cycled through 13 managers and seven general managers.
On the other side of town: The Mets won 100 games for just the fourth time in franchise history and first time since 1988, but they enter the postseason with the bitter taste of defeat after losing that final series to the Braves. Everyone knows that Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer can carry a team through a postseason — but deGrom allowed 14 runs and six home runs in 21 innings over his final four starts, so the Mets will need him to find that groove where he posted a 1.66 ERA over his first seven starts after returning in August. Still, this is hardly a two-man team: Pete Alonso led the NL in RBIs, Francisco Lindor might finish in the top 10 of the MVP voting, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker are solid 3-4 starters and Edwin Diaz has been a lockdown closer. The Mets have had their moments since that run of success in the 1980s, including two World Series appearances, but it’s been 36 years since their iconic 1986 team won it all.
6. Did you really think we forgot about Aaron Judge?
Yes, both teams have made New York baseball interesting all season, but nobody has been more at the center of that than the man who just finished up a 62-home run campaign — and has fans of both New York teams envisioning his free agency will end with him signing with their club.
Now, we have Judge trying to cap off what might be arguably the greatest season of any player in history — by that, I mean a historic regular season, a great postseason and a World Series title. Ted Williams in 1941? Didn’t even win the pennant. Carl Yastrzemski in 1967? The highest single-season WAR for a position player other than Babe Ruth, but the Red Sox lost the World Series. Bob Gibson in 1968? A 1.12 ERA and a record 17 strikeouts in one World Series game, but he lost Game 7. Dwight Gooden in 1985? The Mets missed the playoffs. Pedro Martinez in 1999? The Red Sox lost in the ALCS. Barry Bonds in 2001? The Giants didn’t make the playoffs. Bonds in 2002? He had a great postseason, but the Giants lost Game 7 of the Fall Classic. Mookie Betts in 2018? A 10.7-WAR season that matches Judge and the Red Sox won the World Series, but Betts had a lackluster postseason (.210/.300/.323).
7. Can the GOAT go out on top?
Let’s not forget the other slugger who made home run history this season — Albert Pujols. Every player would love to go out on top, either still playing well or with a dogpile on the field. Almost none of them do. Pujols and Yadier Molina have a chance to do that — and maybe Adam Wainwright joins them in retirement as well (he’s yet to officially announce his status for 2023).
The three St. Louis Cardinals legends reunited this season when Pujols returned after a 10-year exile, and all three will play a key role in what happens to the club in October. As will Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, two of the greatest players of their generation who will likely finish 1-2 in the MVP voting in the NL — and who both seek their first trip to the World Series.
8. The playoff drought-busters
While the Cardinals come into this postseason with loads of October experience, there are two franchises about to get their first taste of the playoffs in a long, long time. The Seattle Mariners and Philadelphia Phillies ended the sport’s two longest playoff droughts in securing wild-card spots, although both teams will be on the road for the first round — Seattle at Toronto, Philadelphia at St. Louis.
When Cal Raleigh hit his pinch-hit walk-off home run to clinch a wild-card spot, the Mariners celebrated like they had won the World Series. Can you blame them? Twenty-one years is a long time between playoff appearances. Sure, they had plenty of terrible teams along the way, but also several near misses: 93 wins in 2002 and 2003, 88 wins in 2007, one win short in 2014, three short in 2016, alive until the final day last season. They aren’t even guaranteed a home playoff game if they don’t beat the Blue Jays, although you can bet the watch party at T-Mobile Park will have a playoff-like atmosphere.
The good news is Julio Rodriguez returned from his back problem to play a couple of games at the end of the regular season (and homered in the season finale). The bad news is second-half spark plug Sam Haggerty and outfielder/DH Jesse Winker both just landed on the injured list. The rotation and bullpen are healthy, however — Luis Castillo looks like a legitimate ace when he’s on, while Logan Gilbert had a 2.00 ERA in September, allowing one run or less in five of his six starts. If you like a good underdog story, believe in the Mariners.
Meanwhile, the Phillies had the majors’ second-longest playoff drought, making it for the first time since 2011. They have Bryce Harper, back in the postseason for the first time since 2017, and power-hitting Kyle Schwarber, who led the NL in home runs. Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler and Ranger Suarez (2.95 ERA since July 16) are a strong rotation trio. I wouldn’t bet on them in the tough NL, but there are similarities here in roster construction to the 2019 Nationals, who went from the wild card to World Series champs.
9. The World Series curses we don’t talk about enough
The Cleveland Guardians are trying to win their first World Series since 1948. The San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays are trying to win their first one, while the aforementioned Mariners remain the only franchise never to play in a World Series.
The Guardians’ World Series drought has never received as much attention as the ones for the Red Sox and Cubs did, but it’s now been 74 years since the Cleveland franchise won it all — longer than the 1986 Red Sox had gone (68 years) when they lost to the Mets. How about winning it all in the first season with the new nickname? They might make a movie out of that given this list of Cleveland’s postseason heartbreaks:
1995: The best team in baseball that year, but they lost the World Series to the Braves.
1997: Blew a ninth-inning lead in Game 7 of the World Series to the Marlins and lost in extra innings.
2007: Lost the ALCS to the Red Sox after being up 3-1.
2016: Were up 3-1 on the Cubs in the World Series and lost Game 7, again, in extra innings.
2017: Lost the division series to the Yankees after being up 2-0.
And then there’s the team that’s been around since 1969 — and never won it all. The Padres made World Series appearances in 1984 and 1998, but this is just the seventh postseason trip in franchise history.
But these aren’t your older brother’s Padres. This is a team that has spent the past three seasons acquiring an All-Star squad of talent while playing with a brash style that could make it very popular this postseason — if the Padres can stick around long enough for national fans to get familiar with their stars. They’ve gone all-in to dethrone the Dodgers in recent seasons — only to fall well short. But they squeaked in, and anything can happen in the playoffs, right? Especially with Manny Machado and Juan Soto and Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish and a suddenly rejuvenated Blake Snell (1.76 ERA over his final seven starts). The Mets-Padres wild-card series is the one to watch — with the winner facing the Dodgers in a colossal division series showdown.
10. The redemption stories
Let’s see here. We’ve got Justin Verlander, who after missing 2021 with Tommy John surgery, came back and went 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA while leading the American League in wins, ERA, WHIP and lowest batting average allowed. His status as future Hall of Famer is secure, but with a big October and another World Series championship for the Astros, his legacy becomes that of an inner-circle Hall of Famer. DeGrom and Scherzer missed some time, and deGrom sputtered at the end of the season, but that dynamic pair could carry the Mets to their first title since 1986. And then of course, there is Clayton Kershaw. Yes, he got his ring a couple of years ago, but he was injured last October, and he hasn’t won a ring in a full season with a normal postseason. How will he perform?
11. The October introduction of some legit young stars
As my colleague Kiley McDaniel pointed out recently, this is the best rookie class since Pujols and Ichiro Suzuki debuted in 2001 — and most of the biggest names will be playing in the postseason (sorry, Adley Rutschman). We’ve got Rodriguez leading the Mariners and Harris and Strider on the Braves.
But it’s not just the rookies who will remind us how bright the future of baseball is this postseason …
While we often think of the Rays as a parade of bullpen arms, they also have two budding young superstars in Wander Franco and Shane McClanahan who could power another small-market success story this postseason. And across the AL East, Alek Manoah, Alejandro Kirk, Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. form a young core that makes the Blue Jays a team nobody wants to face this postseason. Of course, the question we’ll all be waiting to see answered is how these young stars will handle the bright lights of October … or should we say November.
12. It’s an October so great — it could take part of November to finish it
That’s right, thanks to the combination of the new format and the MLB lockout pushing back the start of the season, Game 7 of the 2022 World Series would take place on Nov. 5, the latest date of a playoff game in MLB history.
If every series goes the distance, we’ll get 53 postseason games with all of these incredible storylines fueling the possibility that any given night can become a must-see moment for baseball fans. Of course, in the end we need great games to have a great postseason.
That’s what still makes 1986 the gold standard for all postseasons. There were just 20 playoff games that October — the seven-game ALCS between the Red Sox and Angels, the six-game NLCS between the Mets and Astros, then the seven-game World Series when the Mets beat the Red Sox. Five of the 20 games went extra innings. Eight were decided by one run. Several are all-time classics, including Game 5 of the ALCS; Games 3, 5 and 6 of the NLCS; and Games 6 and 7 of the World Series.
The stage is set. I’m going with the Dodgers over the Astros. I’ll take Kershaw versus Verlander in Game 7 of the World Series, thank you very much.
