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It’s awards week! Plus: The trades have begun, follow-ups on our stories from Monday and Ken fills us in on the Dodgers’ interest in Willy Adames. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!
Fresh faces: Awards season continues
It’s all official except for MVP (which … it’s not like any surprises await us tonight, which will be Ohtani/Judge night). Here’s a catch-up on the BBWAA awards so far):
- Rookie of the Year: Luis Gil, Yankees (AL), Paul Skenes, Pirates (NL)
We expected intrigue this spring, but it wasn’t Wyatt Langford versus Jackson Holliday. Instead, Gil (106 points) emerged victorious over Colton Cowser (101) in the second-closest ROY vote ever.In the NL, Skenes (136 points) beat out Jackson Merrill of the Padres (104 points). Skenes earns a year of service time by winning the award, but the Pirates don’t get the draft pick they would have earned if he’d been on the Opening Day roster (like Merrill was for San Diego).
- Manager of the Year: Stephen Vogt, Guardians (AL), Pat Murphy, Brewers (NL)
No real surprises here, assuming you made your guess after the season, and not before (or maybe not even then). Both winners were first-year managers.Vogt, who was a player as recently as 2022, led the Guardians to a 92-69 record and an AL Central pennant. Meanwhile, the Brewers were expected to be in the first year of a major rebuild, having lost (or traded) a manager and many load-bearing walls of their roster. Instead, Murphy led them to an NL Central title and a 93-69 record.
- Cy Young: Tarik Skubal, Tigers (AL), Chris Sale, Braves (NL)
For Skubal, who turned 28 yesterday, it was the culmination of a meteoric rise, as he went 18-4 with a 2.39 ERA and 228 strikeouts for the AL pitching Triple Crown. He was a unanimous winner, leading the Tigers to a shocking playoff berth just a year after the team went 78-84.For Chris Sale (18-3, 2.38 ERA, 225 strikeouts — also a Triple Crown), this year’s win capped a massive comeback. His 177 2/3 innings were his most since 2017 in Boston, when he finished second in AL Cy Young voting. Sale finished in the top 10 in voting every year from 2012-2018, but this was his first time to win the award.
More BBWAA awards: Andrew Baggarly makes a convincing argument for adding a new “Reliever of the Year” award.
Ken’s Notebook: Dodgers keeping options open
From my latest notes column:
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ decision to return Mookie Betts to the infield prompted immediate speculation about the team signing free-agent shortstop Willy Adames and trading second baseman Gavin Lux.
That, however, isn’t necessarily the team’s plan.
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has long admired Adames, whom he acquired for the Tampa Bay Rays at the 2014 trade deadline as part of a package for David Price. But Friedman rarely pays sticker price for elite talent, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto standing as a notable exception last offseason, in part because he was turning 25. Lest anyone forget, the Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman contracts all include significant deferrals.
With Ha-Seong Kim recovering from shoulder surgery, Adames is by far the top shortstop in this year’s market. The demand for him at 29 should be high, and while Adames might not be as coveted as other recent free-agent shortstops, he surely expects a significant contract. And the decline in his defensive metrics last season raises the possibility that he might not be at short for the duration of his agreement.
Lux, who turns 27 Friday, is a former first-round pick to whom the Dodgers remained loyal even as he struggled coming off major knee surgery in the first half of last season. He responded with an .899 OPS after the All-Star break. His 2.0 fWAR in that period was equal to that of Matt Olson and Brent Rooker, and better than that of teammate Teoscar Hernández and free-agent third baseman Alex Bregman. And Lux remains affordable, projecting to earn less than $3 million in arbitration.
Of course, if Lux remains the primary second baseman, then Betts likely will return to shortstop, with Tommy Edman in center and Miguel Rojas serving in a utility role. Betts was below-average defensively at short last season, but most of his issues stemmed from his throwing, which he might be able to solve with a full offseason and spring training.
Another possibility is for the Dodgers to indeed trade Lux, play Betts at second, Tommy Edman at short and a combination of Andy Pages and James Outman in center. The bottom line: Friedman does not need to lock into Adames when his greater needs are in the outfield and rotation. Friedman relishes keeping his options open. And as usual, he has numerous ways he can go.
More here.
Hot Stove Watch: Trade Season II is here
It’s not as frenetic as the end of July, but as the holidays (and Winter Meetings) bear down, we’ve had a few trades of note this week.
- Mets acquire OF Jose Siri from Rays for RHP Eric Orze
It’s a match made in “The Mets!” heaven. Siri (in addition to being an elite defender) is one of the game’s bigger personalities at age 29, and not shy about mixing it up on occasion. Put him on the Mets! Yes! From a roster perspective, he more or less replaces Harrison Bader, who is now a free agent. In return, the Rays get Orze, who — at age 27 — has minimal big-league experience, but posted a 2.92 ERA in 61 2/3 innings at Triple-A Syracuse. - Cubs acquire RHP Eli Morgan from Guardians for OF Alfonsin Rosario
The Cubs needed relief pitching, and the Guardians seem to have more of that than anyone these days. Morgan (28 years old) posted a 1.93 ERA in 42 innings last year and should help solidify the relief corps in Chicago. Rosario (20 years old) hit just .230 in 383 at-bats in his first year in pro ball, but also clocked 16 home runs and has a typically strong right fielder’s arm.The Cubs also acquired recently DFA’d catcher Matt Thaiss from the Angels, sending cash to Anaheim. To make room on the roster for both players, the Cubs DFA’d infielder Patrick Wisdom and RHP Trey Wingenter.
Catching Up: Monday Windup sequel
There have been a few developments in some of the stories we told you about on Monday, so here’s a quick rundown:
Roki Sasaki will be part of the 2025 international class. Commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed this yesterday, which tracks with what we told you: A bit more money will be available if teams wait until Jan. 15. But as Ken points out, it’s not like that money is coming from nowhere. Whichever team signs Sasaki will be doing so by backing out of agreements (technically unofficial, since they’re illegal) with other international free agents. The system is clearly broken, and it’s long past time to fix it.
Rays stadium deal in peril: Sam Blum has written a more thorough story on all the factors surrounding the now-tenuous deal for a new stadium for the Rays in St. Petersburg. However it’s going to work out, it needs to be soon-ish: Manfred said this week that he expects them to have a solution in place by around this time next year. (Manfred also said that this situation does not change the league’s desire to expand in the next four years.)
MLB plans new national TV packages for 2028: In light of the recently finalized plan for Diamond Sports to emerge from bankruptcy, Manfred said on Tuesday that the league has a goal in mind: to have a new national TV package ready to go by 2028, so they can sell a blackout-free package — whether that be via the MLB’s own streaming service or to a streaming distributor. What’s standing in the way? Goodness, it’s a cornucopia of complication, ranging from existing contracts to the CBA. Fortunately, Evan Drellich is on the case.
Juan Soto’s free-agent roundtable continues: The Dodgers are the latest to meet with agent Scott Boras, joining the Blue Jays, Red Sox, Mets and Yankees. Jim Bowden takes a crack at predicting where Soto will end up.
Handshakes and High Fives
Wanna vote on the Hall of Fame? It’s not an official ballot, but you can cast yours anyway in our reader survey.
Tuesday was the deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft. Melissa Lockard runs down some of the most notable names.
Freddie Freeman’s dramatic World Series Game 1 walk-off grand slam ball is about to make someone very rich.
The baseball gum wars have begun. I don’t know, man. It’s November.
Most-clicked in our last newsletter: Tyler Kepner’s salute to the newcomers on this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.
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(Top photo: Adam Hunger / Getty Images)
