MLB Final Four: How to Root For One

For the first time since 2021, none of our teams are in the league championship series. It’s not a good feeling for us. While we plan on watching both LCS’s and the World Series, the interest in the rest of the season won’t be as intense without one of our dogs in the mix. Believe it or not, I can make a case to root for any one of the final teams left in these playoffs. However, once I go through my review of the Blue Jays, Brewers, Dodgers and Mariners, it is quite clear that there is only one team that gets my vote (and I venture to say that all of us will be rooting for the same team).

Christian Yelich looks to avenge 2018. Credit: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel

Seattle Mariners: They are the only team in Major League Baseball to have never made the World Series. It’s a great fanbase that plays in a beautiful ballpark. The Mariners have an outstanding starting rotation including a guy who is local to us, Rye’s George Kirby. They have a catcher who hit 60 home runs, for crying out loud. Who doesn’t love to see the Mariner Moose parade around the top of the dugout? Seattle has been talked about for years as a contender that doesn’t have a good offense. That has changed during this run.

Toronto Blue Jays: Impossible to root for since they eliminated the Yankees? Not so fast. There is an adage that says that if you lose to someone in a playoff round, you’d like it to be against the eventual champion. One of my favorite family vacations was a trip to Niagara Falls two years ago, which is only about an hour from Toronto. The Blue Jays have six players on the roster that came from the Yankees, Mets and Phillies. Their matchup against Seattle represents a meeting between teams that both entered the league in 1977.

Milwaukee Brewers: I actually saw a couple of Brewers’ playoff games in person: Games 3 and 5 of the 1981 divisional series at Yankee Stadium. Milwaukee has made one World series appearance, losing in seven games to the Cardinals in 1982. They were baseball’s best team in 2025, winning an MLB best 97 games. The league’s smallest market has also been one of its most consistent, even if the playoff ledger says otherwise. The Brewers face the Dodgers, hoping to have a different result from 2018 when they lost in seven games in this very round. Christian Yelich was the league MVP that year. He would like to be the NLCS MVP this year.

Los Angeles Dodgers: How can you root for the champs? One word: tradition. It oozes through their 100 plus year history. They are one of the winningest franchises in the sport. Other than the occasional Spanish wearing days, the uniform does not change. Dodger Stadium is still majestic, some 60 years after it was built. Peer pressure from MLB Network will force you to root for Shohei Ohtani so you might as well submit to it. We love winners. Why not cheer for the one going for their third championship in six years?

The verdict: It’s not a debate. The Milwaukee Brewers are the clear favorite in our house. There are a number of reasons why we wouldn’t be pulling for the Blue Jays and Dodgers; the losses by the Yankees and Phillies are the icing on the cake. Seattle is a little trickier, just based on the fact they have never been to a World Series. What tips the balance in favor of the Brewers is that I still remember the Yankees losing to the Mariners in the 1995 playoffs. I could get over it except that is the last time Don Mattingly played baseball. After being a small market team that seemingly has to struggle every season, it’s time for the Brewers to finally claim a championship.

Yankees Autopsy: What Is Next for the Deceased?

There are two things to observe about the debacle we just witnessed. First, the “Aaron Judge can’t perform when it counts narrative” died with every ball smacked into the field of play. Secondly, the New York Yankees were eliminated in a playoff series by an American League East rival for the fourth time in the Aaron Boone era. I don’t want to belabor what we just saw. There will be enough anger over the coming weeks to last us through Spring Training. The goal now is to try to guess what is next for a franchise that is pretty close to matching their longest championship drought.

Does Jason Dominguez fit with the Yankees in 2026? Credit: NY Post

Let’s make one assumption: both Boone and Brian Cashman will be back. That assumption will not please many fans. But rather than wasting time arguing about it (which might come in a future post), let’s figure out what they should do. This is a quick snapshot of what my thoughts are in this moment.

To me, the first order of business is deciding what to do with Jasson Dominguez. Will he get a full time gig or will he be just another Yankee hyped prospect that does nothing with the team? If we assume they are done with Dominguez, then package him to Cleveland for Steven Kwan. I am sick of the strikeouts. Do you know who doesn’t strike out? The Toronto Blue Jays. You know, the team that just sent the Yanks packing. My preference would be to keep Dominguez but trading him for Kwan is a step in the right direction. Kwan is the type of high average, low strikeout player the Yanks desperately need. If that’s the move, then re-signing Cody Bellinger (if he opts out) makes a lot of sense. Trading Jazz Chisholm Jr. and giving second base to Oswaldo Cabrera is something I would entertain. Jazz is good but in keeping with my (which should be their) philosophy, I won’t miss the 148 strikeouts. As for Trent Grisham, I don’t think we will see another season like that from him again. I believe he will want too much money and therefore, will be playing elsewhere in 2026.

The pitching staff is is 90% complete. The rotation is pretty set. Maybe the bullpen gets another arm. Not much more to do.

And so another early offseason begins. Plenty of time to complain about why Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman still have jobs. Don’t waste your time on things you can’t control. The only way moves are made is if we all made an effort to ignore the Yankees next year. That won’t happen.

Phillies Are Down 2-0 and Our Home Is Not Happy

It’s bad enough that New York Mets folded down the stretch and missed the playoffs. The New York Yankees trailing in their best of five series 2-0 is worse. Now, on top of all that, the Philadelphia Phillies have made it the wrong kind of triple play, finding themselves down 2-0 in their Divisional series. Needless to say, our household, both near and far is not doing too well in this postseason. To make matters worse, the Phillies now have to travel to Los Angeles to try and salvage their season, hopefully winning two straight and then trying to complete the comeback by winning a fifth game at Citizens Bank Park.

Rob Thomson’s face says it all. Credit: NY Post

Caitlyn just had her spirits elevated and then crushed within the span of five minutes. At least during the course of the game, she provided us with some funny comments:

“I spend enough time and energy into this team only for them NOT to spend enough time and energy to try and win the World Series”

“They are better off pulling a random fan from the stands and telling them today is your lucky day”-this as she saw the Phillies make a pitching change.

In Saturday’s Game 1 loss, it was a carbon copy of last year’s Game 1 divisional loss. We were at Siena for family weekend. The Phillies had a late lead disintegrate thanks to the bullpen. The game was at home. Matt Strahm was a part of both games. Their starting pitchers threw well enough to win. It’s amazing and painful to see how similar both games were.

Should the Phillies and Yankees lose their respective series this week, it will make the shortest playoff stints for our collective teams in four years. The Phillies would be the most painful. Two straight divisional titles, two straight divisional round exits and one unhappy daughter. The ending to the baseball season doesn’t get more depressing than that.

Yankees Win: How Long Will the Good Vibes Last?

Phase One is complete for the New York Yankees. They eliminated the Boston Red Sox and now face another American League East foe, the Toronto Blue Jays. I made the point that the Yankees HAD to win this Red Sox series or else they might undergo, as what I like to refer to as, “an organizational earthquake”. The celebration is brief as the Yanks are right back at it on Saturday in Toronto. As much as we love beating the Red Sox (Aaron Boone should be exceptionally giddy), the good vibes the team is feeling could come crashing to a halt by this time next week.

Cam Schlittler pitched the Yanks into the next round. Credit: NY Post

If the Yankees get bounced in this round, will we even be satisfied about beating Boston in the previous round? I would say no. In fact, the only thing we would remember would be Cam Schlittler‘s epic performance in Game 3 and that Aaron Judge had an excellent offensive series. Other than that, there will be the same angst, the same level of frustration among the fansbase that gripped us for a good portion of the second half. The whispers about Boone’s job security will grow to a roar and the calls for Brian Cashman to go will mount even more. Yankee fans are not supposed to celebrate making it to a Division Series, even if they knocked off their most hated rival along the way. This is a team right now that appears to be poised for a return to the World Series.

I felt before the Wild Card round that if the Yankees can beat the Red Sox, they can win it all. That hasn’t changed. My confidence is actually a little bit higher now, thanks to Schlittler’s dominant performance. Beating the Red Sox is huge and I am not going to minimize that. However, losing to the Blue Jays will make the Boston victory hollow……until we see them in 2026.

The Yankees Better Win This Series

The headline is quite obvious. Yes, the New York Yankees need to win their Wild Card series against the Boston Red Sox or else they cease playing baseball for the rest of 2025. They not only better win this series in order to continue on a quest for a championship, but they also need to do so because of the potential implications of defeat. For if the Red Sox beat the Yankees, I believe the reverberations will be felt all the way up to the front office. I like to call it an organizational earthquake.

Does Aaron Boone survive another Red Sox playoff defeat? Credt: New York Post

A loss to the Red Sox in this round in this year would be the one scenario where the jobs of Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman would be in jeopardy. To be clear, I am not calling for the dismissal for either man. Plenty of other people will do that for me. However, look at the records of both organizations over the last 20 years, beginning in 2005. Boston has won three World Series under three different managers and three different front offices. The Yankees have won the World Series just once during that time. Cashman has been the team’s chief decision maker during these last two decades. More recently, let’s compare the managers. Boone and Alex Cora each assumed the helm prior to the 2018 season. Cora’s Red Sox beat Boone’s Yankees in the divisional round on their way to winning it all. The two teams also squared off in the 2021 Wild Card game with Boston once again coming out on top. The Red Sox have been flat out better. Why do I believe a loss this year could be almost, if not more catastrophic than the 2004 meltdown?

Not only have the Sox won more recently, but they have also fallen down and gotten back up. Yes, the Yankees have been a model of consistency, with playoff appearance after playoff appearance. Cora was suspended for the 2020 season. Boston has finished last three times since 2018. The front office changed again. The Red Sox were roasted for trading Rafael Devers in May. Yet, here the Red Sox are, threatening to derail another Yankees’ postseason run. It’s bad enough they owned the Yankees during the regular season. Can you imagine Alex Cora and company once again celebrating a playoff series victory on Yankee Stadium soil? How does Yankee ownership not make wholesale changes should they lose this first round? Their arch nemesis, the one that has owned them over the last 20 years, the one that has risen, fallen and then risen again all the while the Yankees go another year without a championship is pretty humiliating.

There has to be repercussions for this specific failure. I’m afraid Boone might be the one who pays the price. If not, expect a cataclysmic meltdown from both fans and the media. If you thought last year’s World Series defeat triggered this group of people, you haven’t seen anything yet.

Let’s Go Mets

I will not be angry. We will see much of that over the coming days.

I will not vent. Talk radio will cover plenty of that.

I don’t want to minimize what happened but I also don’t want to dwell in a sea of sorrow (Thanks Alice in Chains).

The Mets in happier times. They will be back. Credit: Sports Illustrated

It’s not productive for me to go through the litany of things that went wrong.

The New York Mets are not my favorite team. However, people close to me root for them above everything. The hurt and anger doesn’t affect me like it affects them.

I feel horribly for them.

Matthew and I discussed what happens from here. The Pete Alonso decision looms above all, but that’s not the only concern.

Does Edwin Diaz opt out?

Will Clay Holmes return to the bullpen?

Will Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong and Brandon Sproat all start 2026 in the rotation?

Can the offense not be so streaky? After all, most of the core players will be there beyond next season.

I think this post is best summed up by Matthew in a message he sent to our family chat:

I AM a Mets fan

I am PROUD to be a Mets fan.

There is no other team I see myself being a fan of.

The 2026 World Series trophy will be in Queens.

LGM.

I’m proud of you, kid. Let’s go Mets!

One Weekend of Fate for the Mets

At this time 90 days ago, if you told me the New York Mets were not guaranteed a playoff spot by now, I would have laughed at you. The Mets were 48-34 on June 26, still in first place, albeit by only a half game. In my mind, the 2024 season proved that these were not the “same old Mets”; that narrative was buried. The momentum built from last year’s magical run was still fresh even as they were enduring their first real rough patch of the season. No way they were going to miss the playoffs, I thought.

In three days, I might be proven wrong.

Hopefully, we get a bigger celebration this weekend. Credit: Rising Apple

As recently as a week ago, I wrote that I was still confident in New York clinching that final Wild Card berth. Now? The confidence is wavering. Though the team is still a game ahead of the Cincinnati Reds, the tiebreaker is not on the Mets’ side. It would behoove the club to sweep the Miami Marlins and not leave anything out of their hands. Easier said than done, considering the Marlins were eliminated from contention last night. There is nothing more the Fish would like to do than shut up the multitude of Mets’ fans that will invade Loan Depot Park this weekend.

So to the players of the New York Mets, what is it going to be? Will you rally and exhibit the sort of heart and guts that exemplified last year’s team? Or, does this weekend with perhaps the most disappointing Mets team of them all? Make no mistake, missing the playoffs will be much more catastrophic than the collapse of 2007. It will be far worse than “The Worst Team Money Can Buy of 1992. The Mets of 2025 would take the worst elements of both of those black marks in franchise history. It combines the collapse of 2007 with the payroll waste of 1992. I don’t think that’s an overstatement. Although I have a more passive rooting interest, I know I would be disgusted if this weekend ends without a champagne celebration. It would have to be the most disappointing Met outcome of my lifetime.

One weekend of fate. One weekend to determine if the New York Mets have buried their narrative of rotten luck once and for all. Win, and it’s sunshine for at least a week. Lose, and go down in infamy. Your choice.

Kyle Schwarber is Making His MVP Case

Kyle Schwarber is rolling into free agency the right way. The Phillies’ designated hitter has 56 home runs to lead all National League hitters. He sits two behind Ryan Howard‘s club record of 58. Schwarber’s 132 RBI’s is nine better than his closest competitor, Pete Alonso. Most importantly, his club is all but guaranteed the #2 seed and a first round bye. Put it all together and you have a man that should be looking at a nice payday this offseason, be it from the Phillies or someone else.

Kyle Schwarber is pointing to his first MVP award. Credit: 97.3 ESPN

There is one other thing you might call Kyle Schwarber: Most Valuable Player.

The odds are long that Schwarber claims the award over Shohei Ohtani. It’s very difficult to beat out the guy that pitches and hits exceptionally well. Most of Ohtani’s stats are better than Schwarber’s. However, Schwarber has been the one constant on the Phillies, whose 93 wins are second in baseball behind the Milwaukee Brewers. People can talk all they want about the Dodgers’ injuries and underachievement. The only other player who has performed consistently for Philadelphia is J.T. Realmuto. Schwarber has not missed a game this season. Isn’t the old saying, “the best ability is availability”? No one has more ability in 2025 than Kyle Schwarber. I know it’s not necessarily an apples to apples comparison but if Cal Raleigh is the favorite to win MVP in the American League and his OPS is 180 points lower than Aaron Judge‘s, why can’t Schwarber beat out Ohtani?

I’ll have no issue if Schwarber loses out to Ohtani. I would like him to win it because I truly believe he has been slightly more valuable for the Phillies. If he gets to 60 home runs, then I do believe Kyle Schwarber will be your National League Most Valuable Player.

Trying to Convince an Aaron Judge Skeptic

Unless a meteor lands in the Bronx and halts baseball there for a month, the New York Yankees are heading back to the postseason. They have played good ball in September with a 12-7 record, and having won five of their last six contests. But it’s not September that is the critical month around here. It is October, and if the Yanks fail to win the World Series it will be looked at as a 16th consecutive failed season. No one knows that better than Aaron Judge, the best player in the game but owner of playoff statistics that are decidedly below average for a player of his stature. No one fails to remind me of this more often than my own flesh and blood.

Aaron Judge really could use a big playoff run. Credit: Yahoo Sports

Whenever the subject comes up about Judge, Ryan is always quick to point out his playoff failures. It could be a meme about his dropped flyball in Game 5 of last year’s World Series or a prediction about Judge striking out five times in two games in this year’s Wild Card round (if that is where they end up). No matter how great the regular season numbers end up, there will always be a, “yeah but” attached to his name. Judge will never be considered a true great Yankee unless he wins a title. The truth is, he is not alone in his thinking. I’ll bet there are thousands of Yankee fans, like Ryan, who see Judge as doomed to repeat underachieving postseasons. Someone between the ages of 7 and 17 will still believe that this time will be different. Or, it could be someone as old as say, me, knowing that eventually, greatness does shine through. Once upon a time, Alex Rodriguez was vilified for his playoff failures. Then, for one magical October in 2009, it all clicked for him as he was great from the Divisional round all the way to New York’s Game 6 World Series clincher. The same can happen to Aaron Judge in 2025. If he has a similar playoff run to that of Rodriguez in 2009, you can bet the Yankees will be raising their 28th championship banner.

After reading this, I doubt Ryan will change his mind. He will need to see proof before committing to saying, “Aaron Judge is great when it counts”. I don’t even think four home runs in round one will change his mind. No, for Ryan and all of the like-minded Yankee fans out there, greatness will only be considered when Judge gets a ring.

Nick Castellanos Is Making Waves At the Wrong Time

The Philadelphia Phillies should not be sweating anything right now. Their biggest worry is supposed to be lining up their rotation for the playoffs. Alec Bohm is back in the lineup and Trea Turner is scheduled to face live pitching when the team returns home. A playoff bye is in sight, and the team has a chance to claim the best record in baseball. However, one guy is threatening to send the Phils into October on a bit of a Debbie Downer. This is not the first time Nick Castellanos has made questionable comments this season as it relates to his playing time. But they do come at a point of the season when all of the focus of the team should be on winning the World Series.

Nick Castellanos seems to be unhappy. Credit: Philadelphia Inquirer

This post was originally going to be about which starting pitcher will not get a turn in the National League Division series between Ranger Suarez, Aaron Nola and Jesus Luzardo. That can still be debated in this space sometime over the next week. However, when cruising around looking for news, I came across this latest Castellanos quote, courtesy of On Pattison’s Grace Del Pizzo:

Q: Do you understand why you haven’t been playing as much as your normally would? 

Castellanos: Uh, I don’t really talk to Rob [Thomson] all that often, so that’s just … I play whenever he tells me to play. And then I sit whenever he tells me to sit. 

Q: So the coaches or Rob don’t sit down and explain to you what they want you to do in whatever role they want you to have? 

Castellanos: Uh, communication over the years has been questionable, at least in my experience. But also, I grew up communicating with somebody like my father, which is very blunt, direct and consistent. 

I attached the full transcript here. It reads like a guy who is frustrated with a deceased role. Castellanos does go on to say that him saying he was “unhappy” would be “creating a narrative”. He clearly is trying to thread a needle between stating his clear disappointment and the team’s goal of winning a World Series. Nothing else in the interview suggests that Castellanos is trying to cause a distraction (at least intentionally) for the Phillies. However, it is a bad look to be saying a week before the season ends that the manager hasn’t been a good communicator with him.

As guy who has enjoyed much success during the course of his career, Nick Castellanos is feeling hurt with a decreased role. I can’t blame Rob Thomson for employing his outfield rotation. Castellanos’s production has slipped. I also don’t blame him for his reaction to all of the questions. I just wish he could find a way to express his feelings a little differently.