Diamondbacks News
Recapping moments that defined D-backs’ 2026 season by Steve Gilbert [DBacks.com]
Every year I promise myself I’m going to keep a running list of memorable moments from the season so, at the end when I write about them, I’ll have them ready to go instead of having to rely on memory and the notes made in my scorebook.
And yet, it always gets lost in the shuffles of airline/hotel reservations, expense reports and other parts of the chaotic baseball season.
I say all that as a setup for the list below.
Instead of Top Moments or Best Moments, let’s just call it moments I thought were important during the season. Feel free to reach out to me with thoughts on what I might have missed
The Diamondbacks Tried to Fix This Problem all Year. It Didn’t Work. by Alex D’Agostino [SI]
It wasn’t a secret. The 2026 Arizona Diamondbacks could not hit right-handed pitching at the clip they would have preferred; they struggled to get much production out of any pure left-handed bats not named Corbin Carroll.
The Diamondbacks were acutely aware of that deficiency. They tried to address it with a variety of in-house and external options. None of them truly panned out to the level GM Mike Hazen and the D-backs front office likely would have hoped.
Trade Candidate: Ketel Marte by Mark Polishuk [MLB Trade Rumors]
Hindsight being 20-20, it is fair to wonder if the Diamondbacks regret not moving Marte last winter when they had freer reign, as Marte’s previous contract had only a five-team no-trade list (the A’s, Cardinals, Giants, Pirates, and Yankees were the clubs on Marte’s list last winter). Or, if the D’Backs hadn’t signed Marte to that last contract extension, 2027 would’ve been the final guaranteed year of Marte’s old deal, with a $14MM salary for 2027 and a $3MM buyout of a $13MM club option for 2028.
This wouldn’t have necessarily made a trade this offseason any easier, as Marte still would’ve had his 10-and-5 trade protection and might’ve insisted on an extension from a new team or at least a guarantee of the 2028 option as a condition for approving a swap. The discord from August 2025 also surely had impact on Marte’s trade market last winter, and only Hazen knows if any team offered anything even remotely worth consideration. It would’ve been a big risk in selling low on Marte last winter, as he was coming off an excellent 2025 campaign that included All-Star and Silver Slugger honors.
Around the League
Rays finish off Guards to set up World Series clash vs. Crew by Keegan Matheson [MLB]
The Rays are headed to the World Series, champions of the American League after a night this team and these fans will never forget.
It was 18 years ago on this exact date — Oct. 19, 2008 — when the Rays punched their ticket to their first World Series, and Monday’s 7-3 win over the Guardians in Game 6 of the ALCS is sending them back for another shot at their first title in franchise history.
The 2026 World Series will crown a first-time champion either way as the Rays face the Brewers, who swept the back-to-back defending champion Dodgers in the NLCS. The Brewers have never won the World Series since joining MLB in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots and the Rays, who joined MLB in ’98, are in the same boat. Coming off the Dodgers’ dominance, a new day will dawn.
Japanese slugger Teruaki Sato, 27, seeking a move to MLB through posting system [ESPN]
Teruaki Sato of the Hanshin Tigers is aiming to be the next Japanese slugger to move to American baseball.
Sato, who hit 39 home runs this season with 106 RBIs and an average of .306, is looking for a move to Major League Baseball through the posting system, the Japanese news agency Kyodo has reported.
He won the triple crown in Japan’s Central League.
“I am grateful to the team for respecting my wishes,” Sato said in a statement from the Tigers.
How I Voted for the 2026 Fielding Bible Awards: Infield by Ben Clemens [FanGraphs]
Shortstop
1. Masyn Winn
2. Taylor Walls
3. Bobby Witt Jr.
4. Geraldo Perdomo
5. Dansby SwansonPerdomo and Swanson are longtime good defenders who both had good seasons this year, but they aren’t capable of the same incandescent brilliance as that top trio. I also considered Andrés Giménez, Otto Lopez, and Mookie Betts for this spot; they’re all in the same tier as Perdomo and Swanson for me. I’d be happy to have any of them as my shortstop, and I bet they’d all contend for the top spot if they shifted down to second base, but right now, the three W’s of Winn, Walls, and Witt are head and shoulders above the rest.
Aaron Boone To Return As Yankees’ Manager In 2027 by Mark Polishuk [MLB Trade Rumors]
Boone has a 790-565 record during his managerial tenure, with winning records in all nine seasons. The Bronx Bombers have won three AL East titles and made the playoffs eight times under Boone, with that 2024 pennant marking their deepest postseason run. Boone ranks seventh all-time in both wins and total games amongst Yankees managers.
Of course, the biggest knock against Boone is that the first six managers on that list all won at least one World Series title. The Yankees’ lack of championships since 2009 counts as a major drought by their franchise standards, and New York’s lone pennant under Boone saw the Dodgers summarily dispatch the Yankees in five games. The team is 1-2 in three trips to the ALCS under Boone, and the last two seasons have seen the Yankees eliminate the Red Sox in the Wild Card Series before falling to the AL East champs in the ALDS (a four-game loss to the Blue Jays in 2025, and a three-game sweep to the Rays this October).
