The Wild Card round of the 2025 MLB playoffs wrapped on Thursday, a day after the Los Angeles Dodgers had already dispatched the Cincinnati Reds. All three other series went to a Game 3, and the likes
of the Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, and New York Yankees all advanced, with the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Guardians, and Boston Red Sox all heading to the golf courses for the winter.
That sets the stage for some pretty intriguing Division Series matchups that will begin on Saturday, October 4th.
The Cubs will head to Milwaukee to take on the Brewers in the first game on Saturday afternoon, with first pitch slated for 2:08 PM ET. It’ll be carried on TBS (and HBO Max, for whatever reason) and will feature a TBD starter on Chicago’s part opposite Freddy Peralta.
The Yankees head north of the border to take on the AL East champions in Toronto, as the Blue Jays will play host beginning at 4:08 PM ET. That game will be carried by FOX, with Kevin Gausman starting for Toronto opposite a to-be-determined New York starter.
The most star-studded matchup on the senior circuit begins at 6:38 PM ET in Philadelphia, as the Phillies play host to the Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani will make his first start of the postseason opposite breakout star Cristopher Sanchez, the lefty who just posted an MLB-best 8.0 bWAR regular season.
The nightcap will feature the Tigers on the road out west in Seattle as the Mariners try to break their own respective postseason curse. Game 1 of that series will begin at 8:38 PM ET on FS1, though starters for both clubs have yet to be named.
For the teams that have already had their seasons ended, things have been a bit more macabre.
The San Francisco Giants fired manager Bob Melvin, the Minnesota Twins axed Rocco Baldelli, both Bruce Bochy of the Texas Rangers and Ron Washington of the Los Angeles Angels were sent packing, and Brian Snitker of the Atlanta Braves got the boot, too. It’s a pretty notable exodus of long-time skippers, with each of Melvin, Bochy, Washington, and Snitker being between 63 and 72 years of age. Baldelli aside, it sure looks like front offices are leaning towards a younger changing of the guard – especially if you add in 68 year old Bud Black being canned by the Colorado Rockies earlier in the year – at the same time the Reds leaned hard into old-school Terry Francona to be their leading voice going forward.
It’s not not interesting, I think. Heck, the Nationals sacked 61 year old Dave Martinez earlier in the summer, too! That’s a lot of old guys with World Series experience out the door!
Oh, the Rockies – y’all remember that MLB franchise, right? – announced that Bill Schmidt won’t return as GM next year. It seems, at least right now, that the most insular ownership/front office in pro sports this side of Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys might finally look outside their organization to bring in a new leader, something that could, in theory, revolutionize a sleeping giant of a franchise. Seriously, they’ve got a great stadium and a 10-state fanbase with no other team close to root for in a raging sports market that’s won Super Bowls, Stanley Cups, and NBA titles in the last decade – get someone who’s actually competent atop that club and it could be something sneaky special!
The New York Mets, meanwhile, aren’t making a managerial change after their absolute collapse paved the way for the Reds to get boatraced by the Dodgers this week. They are, however, firing basically their entire coaching staff in an odd twist.
But the most important news of the day comes from Arlington, as it appears Skip Schumaker is the favorite to replace Bochy as manager of the Rangers. Skip famously led the Cincinnati Reds in grit for two years before wrapping his career and getting into coaching, and he managed a horribly underfunded Miami Marlins club to a surprise Wild Card appearance before he and that miserable front office parted ways. Skip served as an advisor in the Rangers front office during 2025, so there’s probably fire to this smoke.
Skip’s less-gritty former teammate, Albert Pujols, may well be the favorite to manage the Angels, but I wouldn’t put his managerial grittiness in the same book as that of Skip, let alone on the same page.
