The preparation continues for this impending misery of an offseason. MLB and the players union have already been lobbing proposals at each other for months, and this will no doubt continue as either side tries to position itself and lobby the fanbase in advance of the next collective bargaining agreement negotiations this winter. MLB came back with a new round of ideas on Thursday, and the reception was tepid.
Kevin McGonigle’s march to the AL Rookie of the Year award continued as Baseball America
named the Tigers’ infielder their 2026 Rookie of the Year. Their prospect tools review of the 2026 draft also had some Tigers mentioned.
Both league championship series are taking shape, and so we’ll also link you to some playoff previews as the Dodgers and Brewers prepare for an epic showdown, while the Rays await the winner of the White Sox-Guardians series. The Guardians looked cooked early in Game 4 until Jose Ramirez finally provided some of his old spark, and his teammates took it to the White Sox’s bullpen to force a decisive Game 5.
Let’s get into it.
Detroit Tigers News
- Kevin McGonigle is Baseball America’s overall Rookie of the Year for 2026. The article points to the fact that McGonigle is so good at everything, rather than having one obvious strength, as the reason he’s already thriving at the major league level.
- They also link of list of players 21 and under this season who accumulated at least 1 WAR per Baseball Reference. That is a record number of players that age putting up that kind of value.
7.1: Kevin McGonigle, SS, Tigers
3.1: AJ Ewing, CF, Mets
2.1: Bryce Eldridge, 1B, Giants
2.1: Konnor Griffin, SS, Pirates
1.7: Cooper Pratt, SS, Brewers
1.6: Samuel Basallo, C, Orioles
1.2: Max Clark, CF, Tigers
1.2: Luis Lara, CF, Brewers
1.1: George Lombard Jr., SS, Yankees
- Cody Stavenhagen of the Athletic reports that the Tigers have fired Head Athletic Trainer Ryan Eubanks, as well as Assistant Athletic Trainer Chris MacDonald. The incredible number of soft tissue, non-contact injuries suffered by the Tigers this season no doubt played a role. The Tigershave already parted ways with long-time assistant pitching coach Juan Nieves, as well as first base coach Anthony Sanders. After the way this season went there are probably more changes coming. I’ll not again that the Tigers still don’t have a director of pitching in the minor leagues almost a year after Gabe Ribas left to join the Colorado Rockies coaching staff.
- Rogelio Castillo, writing for Tigers Roundtable, considers the case of Colt Keith, who continues to be a modestly above average run producer, but still doesn’t have a defensive home.
- Baseball America did its annual look at best tools from each team’s new draft class. As you’d expect, first rounder Cameron Flukey gets the highest marks for his fastball, which is among the best in the whole draft class, as well as his pair of breaking balls. They also mention second rounder Tyson LeBlanc’s breakout with the bat this season, calling his the best hit tool in the Tigers’ draft class, while fourth rounder Dominic Pellegrin gets high marks for his speed and defensive ability. In terms of secondary pitches, Flukey’s breaking stuff draws high marks, but Florida Gulf Coast RHP Evan Dempsey (2s) also has multiple high-quality breaking balls and advanced spin capacity overall. Another option here is the screwball-like changeup that Louisiana Tech RHP Declan Dahl (5) parachutes over the plate.
- Jason Beck for MLB.com wrote about Framber Valdez’s first season as a Tiger, pointing to comments from AJ Hinch as to how the Tigers are trying to help him avoid the early game ambushes that marred numerous starts this year.
MLB News
- The big leaguewide news on Thursday was a new set of proposals from MLB to the players’ union regarding the new CBA. Those proposals include cutting the season to 154 games, planning a regular day off per week for teams as a result, while using that off day to showcase one game featuring two top teams on a national broadcast. The minor leagues and the NPB already both have Monday off for the whole league outside of special exceptions. MLB also floated the idea that top seeds in the postseason should get to pick their opponent, as well as expanding the divisional round to best-of-seven formats. Simply put, they want more lucrative postseason baseball to broadcast, and cutting back regular season games allows them to trim some player payroll as well.
- MLB also sent a memo to teams on lockout procedures that was quickly leaked, and while it’s all standard, it is also amusingly petty stuff, for legal reasons.
- Ben Whitelaw looks at the Tampa Bay Rays increased offspeed pitch usage as the club’s next evolution. The Tigers are working in this direction as well, ranking 10th in offspeed pitch usage this season, while the Rays were first.
- Aaron Judge wants the Yankees front office to keep Aaron Boone and go “all in” to win next season. I don’t know, maybe having their best player on the field in the postseason would do the trick.
- RotoGraphslooks at five hitters who broke out in 2026 to see if they can be trusted next year.
- The Oriolesare firing people left and right already this offseason, including the mascot!
- Adam Zimmer at Brew Crew Ball breaks down how Pat Murphy used the Brewers’ bullpen to take down the Padres.
- Demetrius Bell considers where the Atlanta Braves go from here after their defeat by the Dodgers for Battery Power.
- Michael Baumann, writing for FanGraphs,extolls the postseason brilliance of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Enrique Hernandez for the Dodgers.
- Lance Brodzowski looks for 2027 breakout hitters.
Finally, Manny Machado was robbed of a potential game-tying home run in Game 4 of their NLDS series against the Brewers. It was extremely reminiscent of another time Machado was robbed in right center field at Petco Park. That’s tough work from your home stadium, but those low walls do create opportunities for exciting robberies. And hey, at least there’s no roofs involved…
