Dan Freedman – Page 2

After A 15-Year Hiatus, “This Week in Baseball” Is Back!

Up in my attic, in an old Alta Dena milk crate, are a bunch of dusty VHS cassettes with episodes of This Week in Baseball from the 1980s. They say you become a true baseball fan between the ages of 12 and 14. For me, that was 1984-86, the golden years of TWIB. And I never wanted to miss an episode. Back then, I would crib my mom’s copy of TV Guide to get a quick look at what time NBC’s “Game of the Week” would be broadcast, and then I could back out thirty minutes, as I knew that my favorite show always preceded the game – even if it wasn’t always listed on the schedule.

My Saturday morning routine had me setting the timer on the VCR before I left for my own baseball game, to make sure that the show recorded. And then I would come home in bathe in everything that Mel Allen had to offer. “Hello there, everybody,” is a phrase that still rings in my ears even forty years later. TWIB Notes, top plays, bloopers, and oddities, and who could ever forget the “Gathering Crowds” theme song, written by John Scott. The editing of the video highlights with the chords of that song was – and continues today – to be award-worthy.

The original TWIB ran from 1977 to 1998, with a revival from 2000-2011. So, imagine my shock when I got the MLB.com newsletter the other day and they reported that TWIB was coming back. And coming back in a very 2026 way: On X (formerly Twitter), with a short-form broadcast every Friday at noon ET. The show will include highlights of the best plays from the past week, amazing moments, fun stories, and, according to MLB.com, “all while keeping the vibe that made ‘This Week in Baseball’ a hit with fans for decades.”

The new version of the show will be hosted by Kait Maniscalco, the host of “The Hot Corner” podcast that seeks to bring in a younger generation of baseball fans. The show will bring back the TWIB Notes segment. And, most importantly, the iconic music will be back as well. One can only hope that modern technology has allowed the producers to incorporate the iconic voice of Mel Allen, if, for no other reason, than to add a touch of nostalgia for the viewers who remember the original with such fondness, and to give the youngsters a taste of how the greats used to do it.

I no longer have a VCR, and most likely don’t need any recording devices to make sure I can watch This Week in Baseball on a regular basis, which, I promise you, I most definitely will.

PLAY BALL!!

Troy Glaus Was A World Series MVP Plus A Whole Lot More

Troy Glaus, a Southern California “kid,” will turn 50 this summer. It does not seem possible that he played his last game sixteen years ago, when he finished his career in Atlanta. But it also seems fitting, as the player in the game today who most resembles Glaus is the Braves’ current third baseman, Austin Riley.

Glaus grew up in Carlsbad, California, which is just north of San Diego and just south of Anaheim. The Padres snatched the slugger in the second round of the 1994 draft, but he spurned their offer to play at UCLA. Three years later, the Angels made Glaus the third pick in the draft, signing him for $2.25 million.

Just over a year later, he made his MLB debut, playing third base and batting sixth against the Boston Red Sox. True to his billing, he smacked an RBI double in his first at-bat. Glaus played in only 48 games that season, hitting just a single home run. But in 1999, he showed the promise that the Angels (and Padres before them) had hoped for. In 154 games, he slugged 29 homers and accrued 3.1 bWAR. All of which was a prelude to 2000.

The 6’5” masher had a career year in 2000, slashing .284/.404/.604, with a league-leading 47 home runs, a 150 OPS+, and 7.8 bWAR. That was enough to make him an All-Star and to get him a Silver Slugger Award.

Things didn’t fall off too much in 2001, as he cranked another 41 homers, actually drove in six more runs (108), made another All-Star team, and won another Silver Slugger.

In 2002, Glaus’ numbers fell off slightly during the regular season, but not in the playoffs. The third baseman won the World Series MVP after hitting .385 with three homers and eight RBI, including a go-ahead double in Game 6, which was the coup-de-grâce* of their five-run comeback in that game.

*People always remember Scott Spezio’s three-run homer that got the Angels off the mat, and cut the Giant’s lead to 5-3. They may even remember Darin Erstad’s leadoff homer in the eighth inning that brought the Angels within one run. But they often forget Glaus’ two-run double that flipped the score in Anaheim’s favor.

With roughly the same numbers as 2002, Glaus was an All-Star again in 2003.

Unfortunately for the SoCal native, 2004 was his walk year, and he missed most of it with a shoulder injury, playing in only 58 games. Yet, he still hit 18 dingers with a 140 OPS+. That was not enough to convince Anaheim to give him a contract when he became a free agent. Instead, he signed a four year, $45 million deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks. All he did in Phoenix was crush 37 home runs, slug .522, and have 281 total bases.

After the 2005 season, the Toronto Blue Jays came calling, looking for offensive production, and the Diamondbacks had just the guy to send north. So, Glaus found himself on the East Coast for the first time in his career. He didn’t miss a beat, putting up nearly identical numbers to those from the year before in the desert, while even playing a handful of games at shortstop. He was an All-Star again, and for the first and only time, he received MVP votes.

Foot injuries, and his named being included in the Mitchell Report, slowed his progress in 2007. And yet, he still had a 120 OPS+ and accrued another 3.3 bWAR. At the end of the year, the Blue Jays and the Cardinals completed a so-called “challenge trade,” swapping third baseman, with Glaus switching places with Scott Rolen. Glaus had a great year in 2008, slashing .270/.372/.483, with 27 home runs, 99 RBI, a 125 OPS+, and 4.4 bWAR*. Plus, he committed just seven errors and led the league with a .982 fielding percentage.

*By comparison, Rolen slashed .262/.349/.431, with 11 home runs, 50 RBI, 109 OPS+, and 3.4 bWAR.

On September 3, 2008, Glaus hit his 300^th career home run. He would hit just 20 more. In early 2009, he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder. The Cardinals expected him to be ready for Opening Day, but setbacks kept pushing back his return, and he didn’t make his first appearance until September 2^nd.

The Cardinals did not re-sign Glaus when his contract expired, so he signed a one-year, $1.75 million contract with the Atlanta Braves, which included up to $2.25 million in performance incentives. In Atlanta, he moved across the diamond to play first base, and was named Player of the Month for May, 2010 (.330, six homers, 28 RBI). But his production began to wane as the temperature started to rise. He hit .237 in June with six homers, then .182 with no dingers in July, .208 with two round-trippers in August, and went just 4-for-17 over the rest of the season. With Glaus’ production cratering, the Braves acquired Derrek Lee on August 18^th to play first base, and Glaus went on the injured list with “knee fatigue.” Glaus did start Game 4 of the NLDS against the Giants, playing seven innings at third base, and going 0-for-3. That would be his last major league appearance.

Last May Glaus returned to Angel Stadium once again, this time to serve as a pinch hitter for the Savannah Bananas. He got a base hit to left field, which feels like a much more fitting end to his unfortunately unheralded career.

PLAY BALL!!

2026 National League Preview – Reader’s Digest Version

With the 2026 MLB season quickly approaching, it’s a good time to have a little refresher about what transpired during the Hot Stove Season, what moves have been made, and what each time might expect out of the coming campaign.

There is a great deal to get caught up on, so we will try to synthesize each team in a sentence or three.

Today we will look at the National League, with the American League on tap for next Tuesday.

So, without any further ado, in alphabetical order:

Arizona Diamondbacks

Corbin Carroll had hamate surgery, but should be back by Opening Day. However, he may not have the power that we have come to expect.

Nearly 40-year old Carlos Santana will be playing first base. Nolan Arenado waived his no trade clause, came over from St. Louis, and will play third. Merrill Kelly signed for two years, and Zac Gallen and Paul Sewald are back.

Atlanta Braves

Should the Braves run incense around the stadium to rid themselves of their bad luck? Last year, everything that could go wrong did go wrong. And this season is off to a rough start. Ha-Seong Kim, signed to play shortstop, slipped on the ice in his native South Korea, which required hand surgery, and now will be out for at least the first two months. Pitchers Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep will miss at least two months because of elbow surgeries, and Joey Went tore his ACL. Catcher Sean Murphy is out for the first part of the season as he recovers from hip surgery.

And the biggest story is that after missing half of last season due to a PED suspension, left fielder Jurickson Profar will be gone for all of 2026 after getting popped again. Is this the end of his career (he has one year and $14M remaining on his deal)?

Chicago Cubs

Alex Bregman will be the Cubs’ everyday third baseman after signing a five-year/$175M contract. Shota Imanaga is back. Pete Crow-Armstrong needs to be more like his first half self (.265/.302/.544, 21 homers, 71 RBI, 27 stolen bases) than his second half self (.216/.262/.372, 6 homers, 24 RBI, eight stolen bases).

Anything less than a division title will feel like a lost season to the fans on the North Side.

Cincinnati Reds

The Reds lost out on getting Ohio native Kyle Schwarber to leave Philadelphia to hit a ton of dingers at Great American Ballpark. So, they brought back former Red Eugenio Suarez (he played there from 2015-2021), who hit 49 homers last season.

Any team with Elly De La Cruz in the lineup is worth watching. But, watch out for the final diagnosis on ace Hunter Greene, who is seeing a specialist about stiffness in his right (throwing) elbow.

Colorado Rockies

A new front office is in place to bring the team into the 21^st century. After a decade working for the Cleveland Browns, Paul DePodesta will be running the show, and after more than a decade working for the Dodgers, Josh Byrnes was hired as general manager. Regardless of their pedigree, it will take at least a few years for them to implement enough meaningful change for this team to be anything other than woeful.

Los Angeles Dodgers

When you have won back-to-back World Series titles, what do you do for an encore? You go out and get the two best free agents on the market. To do so, you simply outbid the wealthiest owner in the game, and give Edwin Díaz $69M and Kyle Tucker $60M per year(!) for four years. And to keep the fanbase happy, you re-sign Kiké Hernández.

Miami Marlins

In: pitcher Pete Fairbanks, utility guy Christopher Morel, and potential future outfield star Owen Caissie.

Out: Right-handed fireballer Edward Cabrera.

If everything breaks right, and other teams falter, the Marlins will vie with the Braves for fourth place in the division.

Milwaukee Brewers

This is a team that keeps losing players (and a star manager) and just keeps on winning. The Brewers won the NL Central last year, and are predicted to win it again in 2026.

Freddy Peralta is gone (traded to the Mets). Rookie of the Year finalist Caleb Durbin is gone (traded to the Red Sox). Fourth place Rookie of the Year finisher Isaac Collins is gone (traded to the Royals). Jose Quintana and Rhys Hoskins are gone as free agents.

But, Brandon Woodruff should be back, Jacob Misiorowski should only get better, and Chad Patrick and Quinn Priester round out a strong pitching staff.

Come October, don’t be shocked to see this motley Brew Crew back in the playoffs.

New York Mets

The off-season got off to a rough start for a team that missed the playoffs by one game, on the last day of the 2025 season. First they traded fan-favorite Brandon Nimmo to the Rangers for second baseman Marcus Semien. Then they lost Edwin Díaz to the Dodgers. Then they allowed franchise home run king Pete Alonso to sign with the Orioles without even making him an offer. Then they traded fan-favorite Jeff McNeil to the A’s for really nothing more than salary relief. Then they lost out on Kyle Tucker (to the Dodgers, again).

But, they signed Bo Bichette to play third base, Devin Williams to close, and traded for the oft-injured but amazing-when-healthy center fielder Luis Robert Jr. Will that be enough to get Steve Cohen the ring he so desperately covets?

Philadelphia Phillies

Will this be the year that age catches up to the Phils (their starting lineup will average 33 years old)? Will this be the year that this group of stars finishes the goal of winning their first World Series since 2008? With both Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto back, and with Ranger Suarez and Nick Castellanos gone, it is time to put up or get split up.

Pittsburgh Pirates

With the second-best pitcher on the planet, Paul Skenes, with phenom Bubba Chandler coming up the mound right behind him, with Marcell Ozuna as the everyday DH, with Ryan O’Hearn and Brandon Lowe covering the right side of the infield, this is a team that should be playing meaningful baseball in September, and has an outside shot of playing in October. That is something Yinzers can get excited about.

And keep an eye on potential Rookie of the Year Konnor Griffin, who may make his big league debut at shortstop as a teenager.

St. Louis Cardinals

This is the first year since 2006 that John Mozeliak has not been at the helm of the team. Chaim Bloom is now in charge after taking a year to learn every facet of the organization. He immediately traded first baseman Willson Contreras and pitcher Sonny Gray to Boston, and then ate $31M to send Nolan Arenado to Arizona.

JJ Wetherholt could be the Rookie of the Year at second base, and Masyn Winn could win his first Gold Glove at short.

The Cardinals need to do something to improve attendance, which had the largest fall off last season, down 22% (more than 7,700 fans per game).

San Diego Padres

After the death of principal Peter Seidler, the team is now for sale. But, to provide stability, president of baseball operations AJ Preller signed an extension through at least 2028.

The club lost Dylan Cease and Robert Suarez and Luis Arraez. They added Nick Castellanos (for the MLB minimum after the Phillies waived him). The lineup still boasts Fernando Tatís Jr. (who could be an MVP if he did not play in a league with Shohei Ohtani), Manny Machado (who continues to burnish his Hall of Fame credentials), Xander Bogaerts, Jackson Merrill (looking to bounce back from a sophomore slump), and Jake Cronenworth.

It may not be enough to overtake the Dodgers, but it may be enough to play baseball in October.

San Francisco Giants

The gutsiest move of the off-season was Buster Posey hiring University of Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello as the team’s manager, the first time anyone has ever gone from the college ranks to MLB skipper with no stops in between.

Maybe the second gutsiest move of the off-season was paying Luis Arraez $12M to be their second baseman when he ranked 299^th out of 311 defenders in Fielding Run Value in 2023, the last time he played there consistently.

Harrison Bader should help solidify their outfield defense and provide some occasional pop.

Washington Nationals

Unlike the Phillies, youth is the talk of the nation’s capital. New manager Blake Butera is 33 years old; new general manager Anirudh Kilambi is 31; and new president of baseball operations Paul Toboni is just 35. And no one in the projected starting lineup is older than 27.

James Wood projects to have another incredible season. Will Dylan Crews finally show the promise that made him the number two pick in the 2023 draft, right behind his LSU teammate, Paul Skenes?

Regardless of who does what, the Nationals still appear to be amongst the worst teams in baseball, with FanGraphs projecting just 69 wins.

Note: The American League review/summary will be available next week.

PLAY BALL!!

Let’s Give Mark Trumbo A Little Bit of Respect

As I scrolled through X (formerly Twitter) a few weeks ago, I came across a tweet (old habits) from the great contributor Not Gaetti. He (I am assuming from the profile picture) said the following: “Not enough people talk about Mark Trumbo.” And he listed a bunch of stats. That is right; not enough people talk about this guy.

The Anaheim Angels selected Trumbo in the 18^th round of the 2004 MLB draft out of Villa Park High School. He started 2005 in rookie ball, hitting ten home runs in 299 at-bats. He slowly worked his way through the minors, notching as many as 36 dingers (which occurred in 2010 in Salt Lake, so there may be an asterisk on that season).

Trumbo made his major league debut, striking out in the seventh inning of a game against the Mariners after his September call-up. He started his career going 0-for-14 with eight strike outs before recording his first hit, a two-out, two-run single in the Angels’ last inning of the season.

That base hit must have left a lasting impression, as he broke camp with the club in 2011, played in 149 games, smashed 29 homers, while slashing .254/.291/.477, for a 114 OPS+ and second place in Rookie of the Year voting.

The following year was more of the same, but better: 32 dingers, an .808 OPS, and a 124 OPS+. That garnered him his first All-Star appearance.

In 2013 he cranked 34 home runs and drove in an even 100.

After that season, Anaheim included Trumbo as part of a three-team trade, sending him to the Arizona Diamondbacks (as a side note, Tyler Skaggs went from Arizona to Anaheim in that deal, changing the trajectory of his career and his life).

Midway through the 2015 season, the Diamondbacks traded Trumbo to the Seattle Mariners, where he put up 1.0 bWAR in 96 games, hitting thirteen home runs.

At the end of the year, the Mariners shipped him off to Baltimore. It seems reasonable that Seattle regretted the move. Trumbo had a career year — bashing 47 homers (which led the league), driving in 108, with a 122 OPS+, earning him his second All-Star nod and his first Silver Slugger Award. He won the Comeback Player of the Year Award, to boot.

Then Trumbo came back to earth. Over the next two seasons combined, he hit just 40 homers and drove in 109 runs. Trumbo missed most of the 2019 season with a knee injury, not taking his first at-bat until September 2^nd. He ultimately played in 12 games in what would be his final MLB season.

When all was said and done, Trumbo’s career slash line was .249/.302/.459, with a 108 OPS+. He hit 218 homers. When discussing potential Hall of Fame pitchers, note that Trumbo had a 1.533 OPS against Mark Buehrle, and slashed .348/.375/.739 when facing Cole Hamels. Per Baseball Reference, his career is most similar to Pete Incaviglia, but a more modern-day comp would be Teoscar Hernández. Trumbo isn’t a Hall of Famer; he doesn’t even belong in the Hall of Very Good. But he had a solid career, earning nearly $60 million along the way.

On September 10, 2013, Trumbo became the first Angel to have five hits and score five runs in the same game. He had three doubles and a homer, for 11 total bases.

On April 15, 2016, Trumbo became the first Oriole to hit two home runs in the same inning, when he smashed a two-run dinger off Martín Pérez and then a three-run shot off Andrew Faulkner.

We tend to forget the players that come and go; those who don’t put up massive numbers, but are solid year after year. It is important to recognize the lunchpail guys who show up, do the work, produce, and leave the game and their teams better than where they found them. Mark Trumbo was just that type of player.

PLAY BALL!!

Dwight Evans Should Be Given Some Additional Hall of Fame Consideration

For a while during the mid-‘80s, the Boston Red Sox right fielder Dwight Evans, “Dewey” to the fans in the Back Bay, was always on base and always making great plays. He was the heart and soul of a Red Sox team that flirted with greatness.

Evans grew up in Southern California, and starred at Chatsworth High School on the same field where Mike Moustakas would eventually play. In 1969, the Red Sox selected Evans in the fifth round of the draft. Three years later he made his major league debut. He came in as a pinch-runner for Reggie Smith (who ended his career in Southern California and still runs a hitting clinic in the area) in the bottom of the sixth inning of a game in September, and then had his first plate appearance in the bottom of the eighth, popping out to short.

Evans got 63 more plate appearances over the final two weeks of the 1972 season, slashing .263/.344/.404, but ended the season with an 0-for-4 ten days before this writer was born.

Evans became an everyday player the following year, and won his first Gold Glove in right field in 1976 (he would go one to win seven more). He hit his stride in 1981, tying for the American League lead (with Eddie Murray) with 22 home runs, and leading the league in walks (85), OPS (.937), total bases (215), and bWAR (6.7). For all of that he became a second-time All-Star, a first-time Silver Slugger, and came in third in MVP voting (behind Rollie Fingers(?) and Rickey Henderson). He won his third Gold Glove, to boot.

The following year he played in every game and led the league with a .402 on base percentage. It was in 1981 when he got his first taste of being the team’s leadoff hitter (101 plate appearances). For whatever reason, I recall Dewey batting leadoff throughout the ‘80s, when in fact that was his calling in just 1985 (355 plate appearances). No matter, he was in top-ten in on base percentage eight years between 1981-1989. Over an illustrious 20-year career, he slashed .272/.370/.470, with 385 homers (68^th all-time) and 483 doubles (82^nd all-time).

Evans first appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot in 1997, and barely survived to fight another day, with just 5.9% of the vote (a candidate needs to receive 5% or more to remain in contention the following year). In 1998 he nearly doubled his support, with 10.4%. But in 1999, only 3.6% of the electorate checked the box next to his name, pushing him off the ballot altogether.

In 2020, the Veterans Committee heard his case, and 50% voted for his induction. Unfortunately, 75% is required. All of which begs the question: Is Dwight Evans a Hall of Famer?

This is where Baseball Reference is exceedingly helpful. Where the average Hall of Famer has 27 instances of “black ink” (i.e., leading the league in a category), Evans has only 15. According to Bill James’ Hall of Famer Monitor, where a score of 100 denotes a likely entrant, Evans is only at 70 (but, note, that this just considers his offensive production, and not his Gold Glove defense).

By James’ Hall of Fame Standards, where the average Hall of Famer scores a 50, Evans lands at 44. Per Jay Jaffe’s JAWS metric, Evans falls just shy in every category:

Career bWAR: 67.2 / Average Hall of Fame right fielder: 69.7.
Peak 7-year bWAR: 37.3 / Average Hall of Fame right fielder: 42.2.
bWAR/162: 4.2 / Average Hall of Fame right fielder: 4.9.
Evans’ overall JAWS score 52.2 / Average Hall of Fame right fielder: 56.

Does all of this advanced analysis mean that Evan is certainly not a Hall of Famer? By no means. If you are a “Large Hall” fan, you could definitely see Dewey with a plaque. If a “Small Hall” is more your speed, you think Evans probably belongs in the “Hall of Very Good.” Neither argument is incorrect. But, as we watch more and more players get further consideration for the ultimate honorific, it seems only right and reasonable that Dwight Evans get another look. And with Carlos Beltrán getting the nod this year, let’s compare the two:

Based on this side-by-side comparison, there is every reason for the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, which meets again in 2028, to give Dewey serious consideration.

PLAY BALL!!

Fred Lynn Deserves Additional Hall of Fame Consideration

It was 1973 in Bristol, Connecticut. Two outfielders from vastly different backgrounds got together to play for the Boston’s Double-A affiliate. The next year they teamed up in Pawtucket, the club’s Triple-A team. So, for those following the Red Sox closely in the mid-70s, it was not a shock when the “Gold Dust Twins” took their respective positions in the outfield at Fenway Park to start the 1975 season (to be precise, they didn’t play at home until the third game of the season, after playing the first two in Baltimore).

Fred Lynn grew up in Southern California, and played collegiately at USC. He spurned the Yankees when they drafted him in the third round in 1970, signing with Boston after being drafted in the second round in 1973.

Boston selected Jim Rice with the 15^th pick in the 1971 draft out of Hanna High School in Anderson, South Carolina. He played in the New York Penn League as an 18-year old, then in Winterhaven in 1972. Rice actually started the 1973 season in Triple-A, but was demoted to Bristol after ten games despite slashing .378/.425/.757 in that short span of time.

When Rice arrived in Bristol, he was paired up with Lynn, and it would remain that way for the next nine years, until Lynn was traded away to the (then) California Angels.

Both Lynn and Rice got cups of coffee with the Red Sox at the end of the 1974 season, playing in 15 and 24 games, respectively. Lynn collected 18 hits in 43 at-bats, while Rice got the same number of hits over 67 at-bats.

In 1975, Rice, playing left field, slashed .309/.350/.491, with 22 home runs and 102 RBI. To his left, playing centerfield, Lynn slashed .331/.401/.566, with 21 homers and 105 RBI. Lynn was an All-Star, won a Gold Glove, won Rookie of the Year, and was named the American League MVP. Rice came in second in Rookie of the Year and third in MVP voting. The future in the Back Bay was bright.

Rice was an All-Star eight times, won an MVP award in 1978*, and was top-five in MVP voting four more times in his sixteen year career.

*In 1978, Rice led the league in: bWAR (7.6), games played (163), plate appearances (746), at-bats (677), hits (213), triples (15), home runs (46), RBI (139), slugging percentage (.600), OPS (.970), OPS+ (157), and total bases (406). Rare has been a player been more deserving of an MVP award.

Lynn was an All-Star eight more times, over the course of the next eight seasons. He had one more top-five MVP year (fourth place in 1979), but didn’t truly do anything of note after 1983. That said, starting in 1983, he was still a high-quality ballplayer, with an OPS+ above 100 every season from 1984 through 1988, falling to 99 in his penultimate season, 1989.

Lynn’s reputation became that of an injury-prone player who could not stay on the field. Nicknamed “Fragile Freddy” by the Boston press, he played all-out and often suffered the consequences. From 1980 through 1990, he averaged just 114 game per season, but still had a 121 OPS+ for that decade-plus. Ironically, over roughly the same period, Rice – not labeled injury-prone – averaged just 129 games per season, with a 120 OPS+.

In 2009, on his fifteenth (and last) appearance on the ballot (this was reduced to ten years in 2015), Jim Rice was elected to the Hall of Fame. By contrast, Lynn got 5.5% of the vote in his first year of eligibility (1996), and then fell off the ballot the following year when he received only 4.7% (a player needs at least 5% to roll over to the next year’s ballot).

But when you look at these players side-by-side, they look a heck of a lot more similar than you might imagine. Where Rice outpaces Lynn, it is just by a hair.

Should Fred Lynn be in the Hall of Fame? Was his candidacy given short shrift by the votes? Should a future Contemporary Baseball Era Committee give Lynn another look? All fair questions. If Jim Rice is the barometer, I think the answer to the last question is most certainly yes.

PLAY BALL!!

Comparing The Careers and Earnings of Kiké Hernández and Jurickson Profar

There are two players who have played against each other for years. One was born in Curaçao in 1993 and the other in Puerto Rico in 1991. One was signed as an amateur free agent and the other was taken in the sixth round of the 2009 draft. One made his major league debut at age 19 as a potential phenom, while the other did so at 22 as a potential utility player.

The first player is Jurickson Profar, who came into the league as an infielder, with the hope that he would become the face of the Texas Rangers franchise. The second is Enrique (Kiké) Hernández, who came up with the Houston Astros as a utility player for 42 games before he was traded to the Miami Marlins to finish his rookie campaign. When that season ended, Hernández was traded again, this time to the Dodgers.

Now that each player has a dozen seasons in the books, let’s take a look at the tale of the tape:

As of today, they are within $8,000 of each in career earnings ($41.415 million vs. $41.423 million). Note, those figures do not include playoff shares – an important distinction.

While the stats look very similar, it is in October where their careers diverge. Profar has played in 27 post-season games while Kiké has been in nearly four times as many (103). Hernández has 80 hits, sixteen of which has been homers, while Profar has only 23 hits, with just one dinger.

Profar’s playoff slash line: .258/.340/.292; Hernández’s: .272/.339/.486.

Arguably Profar’s biggest post-season moment was when he robbed Mookie Betts of a home run – and then taunted the Dodger Stadium fans – in Game 2 of the 2024 National League Division Series.

Arguably Hernández’s biggest post-season moment was when he hit three home runs against the Cubs in Game 5 of the 2017 NLCS at Wrigley Field (including a grand slam). However, that was just one of the many times Hernández has excelled under the bright lights of playoff baseball.

There was Game 2 of the 2021 American League Division Series, while playing for the Red Sox against the Tampa Bay Rays. Kiké had four extra-base hits, including three doubles and a homer in a 5-for-6 performance with three runs scored and three knocked in.

The next game, back in Boston, he went 3-for-6 with another home run.

After the Red Sox dispensed with the Rays, in Game 1 of that year’s ALCS, Hernández – playing against the team that drafted him – went 4-for-5 with two home runs in Houston. And then he had two hits in each of the next two games of that series.

It’s not just with the bat that Kiké has proved valuable in the post-season. In the fateful fifth inning of Game 5 of the 2024 World Series, with no outs and runners on first and second and the Dodgers trailing 5-0, Will Smith hit a ground ball to the right of shortstop Anthony Volpe. Hernández made sure to line himself up in Volpe’s throwing lane to third, causing the throw to be low and offline, allowing him – and all of the runners – to be safe. We all know what happened next.

And let us not forget his glove. In bottom of the ninth inning of Game 6 of this year’s World Series, with the Dodgers down three games to two, leading 3-1, with the tying runs in scoring position, Hernández perfectly played a low liner off the bat of Andrés Giménez, thus beginning the first 7-4 double play to end a World Series game.

And we cannot forget his brain. Moments before Kiké started the aforementioned double play, he had the presence of mind to immediately throw his hands in the air when Addison Barger’s deep drive lodged under the left field wall, forcing the umpires to call it a ground-rule double. Because of the ruling, Myles Straw had to go back to third base, taking a run off the board, and Barger had to go back to second, setting up the historic double play moments later. Center fielder Justin Dean looked back over his shoulder and saw Hernández signaling the ground rule, and followed suit. Had he not seen his teammate, Dean may have tried to pick up the ball, potentially nullifying the rule, allowing the run to score and Barger to move to third with one out. Kiké’s instant processing of the rule was a decisive factor in the outcome of Game 6.

And yet, for all of his acumen, he was almost a goat. In the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7, with the game tied and the bases loaded, Ernie Clement hit a high drive to left. Hernández raced back thinking the World Series would end on a ball hit over his head, only to be run over by teammate Andy Pages, who made the game-saving catch. The near disaster turned into just another highlight on Kiké Hernández’s post-season résumé.

Now back to the comparison. Hernández is currently a free agent. He is most likely waiting on the Dodgers to complete their off-season machinations with a potential signing of Kyle Tucker or a trade of Teoscar Hernández. He played last season on one-year $6.5 million contract, after playing on a one-year, $4 million contract the season before. If he is lucky, he will match the $10 million he got from the Red Sox in 2023. And yet Profar, the player with a similar regular season pedigree but fathoms from Hernández when it really counts, still has two years and $30 million left on the three-year, $42 million deal he signed with the Braves prior to the 2025 season. Of course, Profar forfeited about $5.8 million of that while he served an 80-game suspension for the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Regardless, he still has $30 million guaranteed while, at present, Kiké has nothing.

Considering the totality of their careers, it just doesn’t seem fair.

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Somehow Andy Pages, A Little-Known Second-Year Player, Became a Main Character In 2025

Last month the Los Angeles Dodgers won their second consecutive World Series. They were led by four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, who, for the first time in the National League, worked his magic with his bat and his arm.

They also fielded former MVPs Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. The team was anchored by sluggers Max Muncy and Teoscar Hernández, and stalwart catcher Will Smith. The pitching staff included (in addition to Ohtani) Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki.

But there was one other player who found himself at the center of attention multiple times during the season. A player who failed so badly towards the end of the playoffs that he was benched. And yet, years from now, when we watch videos about the 2025 season, this guy may be the main character. I am talking, of course, about Andy Pages.

Pages made his major league debut in 2024, and he was a perfectly average. He played in 116 games, slashed .248/.305/.407, for an exact 100 OPS+. In 2025 the Dodgers named him their Opening Day center fielder, and he rewarded their faith by slashing .285/.325/.479 with 17 homers in the first half. His second half was more pedestrian (.252/.293/.435). But, no matter, he played 155 games, and jogged out to center field when the playoffs began.

Through Game 1 of the NLCS against the Brewers, the 24-year-old from Cuba was 1-for-27 with six strikeouts and no walks. He did manage a single in each of Games 2 and 3 of the NLCS, before going 0-fer in Game 4 and Game 1 of the World Series. An eighth inning single in Game 2 of the fall classic off Louis Varland would be the sum total of the offense that Pages would provide before Los Angeles celebrated their Game 7 victory at Rogers Centre.

But none of that ineptitude mattered. Here is why – and here is why Andy Pages was the Dodgers main character (non-Shohei Ohtani division) for this remarkable year.

When the story of 2025 is written, there will be four main plot points: (1) Cal Raleigh doing things no catcher and no switch-hitter has ever done before; (2) Shohei Ohtani continuing to do things no player has ever done before (including pitching six scoreless innings while hitting three home runs in the same game, which just happened to be the pennant winner); (3) the Dodgers being the first team to win back-to-back World Series this century; and (4) the betting scandal that ensnared Guardians’ pitchers Emanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz.

Let’s start with the last one. Not that anyone reading this needs a primer, but if you do, Clase and Ortiz are accused of intentionally throwing pitches out of the strike zone so that people could bet (and win) that a specific pitch would be a ball. They are alleged to have done this on numerous occasions, all to successful outcomes. Except…

On May 28^th, Clase came in to the pitch the ninth inning against the Dodgers, and he faced Pages to start things off. His first offering was a slider that bounced two feet in front of the plate – very much a ball. But Pages swung anyway. That swing cost some bettor $4,000. The entire story (including Pages’ four-figure flail) did not come out until after the World Series, so Dodger fans could not use this to ridicule the slumping outfielder, but the video of that at-bat is probably the second-most watched of his career.

The most watched at-bat happened in Game 4 of the National League Division Series against the Phillies. The Dodgers led two games to one, and were on the verge of losing their second straight game and having to head back to Philadelphia to try to win a deciding Game 5. In the bottom of the eleventh inning of a 1-1 tie, they loaded the bases with two outs against Orion Kerkering. At that moment, Pages was 1-for-18 in the post-season. True to form, he hit a soft grounder back to the mound. Kerkering fumbled the ball off the bat, and rather than throwing to first base (where catcher JT Realmuto was pointing) to record the final out and push the game to the 12^th inning, he got flustered and threw the ball to the backstop, allowing Hyeseong Kim to score from third with the game and series-winning run. All because of Pages’ weak contact. The video of that at-bat may have been removed from YouTube in the City of Brotherly Love, but it still has been watched thousands of times at this point.

And there will be no re-telling of the Dodgers World Series victory without the story of Andy Pages and Kiké Hernández in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7. Just to set the stage: After replacing Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto hits Alejandro Kirk with his second pitch, loading the bases with one out of a 4-4 game. With the bases now loaded, and the World Series-winning run 90 feet away, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts replaces Tommy Edman in center field with the recently-benched Pages, who has a better throwing arm (98^th percentile per Statcast). After Daulton Varsho’s ground ball to second resulted in an out at home (very close!), the bases remained loaded with two outs. On the next pitch, the light-hitting Ernie Clement hit a ball 101-mph and 364 feet to left-center. Hernández, playing a little shallow (as he had done the night before to great effect) turned and dashed towards the wall. He was either going to make a Willie Mays-type catch or the World Series would end – those were the only two options. That is, until Pages came out of nowhere – he covered 121 feet at 29.2 feet/second – to bulldoze Hernández and make the catch at the wall to push the game into extra innings.

A few feet to the left of where Pages made that catch Joe Carter once hit a World Series walk-off home run, and the announcer, Tom Cheek, proclaimed: “You will never hit a bigger home run in your life.” Well, Pages will never make a bigger catch in his life.

The 2025 World Series will go down as one of the greatest ever. And the Dodgers 2025 season will be remembered for a long time. It is incredible that on multiple occasions, with all of their stars and all of that star power, it was a little-known second-year player who found himself in the spotlight time and again.

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Félix Hernández and Cole Hamels Had Remarkably Similar Careers

About two weeks ago, voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of American received their Hall of Fame ballots for 2026. Here are the candidates:

Last week, on the Effectively Wild podcast, Meg Rowley and Ben Lindbergh had Jay Jaffe on as their guest. For the uninitiated, Jay Jaffe is a Senior Writer at Fangraphs, author of the book The Cooperstown Casebook, and is the creator of the JAWS statistic for quantifying a player’s Hall of Fame credentials. When you have a Hall of Fame question, Jay is the first person you go to.

Meg and Ben wanted to talk to Jay about the upcoming class, and who has a chance to make it to the podium at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, New York next July. It is a great listen.

As they were all talking, two names caught my ear: Félix Hernández and Cole Hamels. Not only are they listed consecutively on this year’s ballot, they are right next to each other in Hall of Fame qualifications. Let’s take a look:

King Félix pitched for 15 seasons, all with the Seattle Mariners. Hamels also threw for 15 seasons, but with four clubs (if you count his 3-1/3 innings with Atlanta in the Covid-shortened 2020 year, his last).

Hernández finished with a 3.42 ERA, Hamels, 3.43.

Hernández won 169 games, six better than Hamels’ 163.

From an ERA+ perspective, Hamels wins the battle 123 to 117.

Hamels struck out 36 more batters than Hernández (2,560-2,524), which amounts to a mere two additional strike outs per season. Essentially the same. And Hernández had more walks (805) than Hamels (767). But, again, over 15 seasons, it is about two per year, so…the same.

Over their 15-year careers, Hernández threw 31 more innings. So, again, about the same.

Hamels was an integral part of the Phillies rotation that won the 2008 World Series, winning both the Championship Series and World Series MVP awards. King Félix never pitched in the post-season (not his fault). But he did win a Cy Young Award (in 2010) and two ERA titles (2010, 2014), all of which eluded Hamels.

And yet, somehow, when you add all of these numbers together, Hamels ended his career with nearly nine more bWAR (59.0 vs. 49.8). But, that belies the fact that over at Fangraphs, Félix actually bests Hamels 54.0 to 51.6. If one didn’t throw with his left hand in the National League (for most of his career) and the other with his right hand in the American League, you would think they are the same pitcher.

With those stats in hand, let’s take a look at Jaffe’s Hall of Fame qualifications. As a reminder, per JAWS, the typical HOF pitcher has the following credentials:

72.9 bWAR // 49.8 seven-year peak bWAR // 61.3 JAWS score // 4.5 bWAR/162

Hamels only makes the grade in bWAR/162 (he has 4.7). As stated above, his bWAR is 59.0, his seven-year peak is only 37.4, and his JAWS score is 48.2.

Hernández fails in all of the categories: 49.8 bWAR, 38.5 seven-year peak, 44.1 JAWS, and 4.0 bWAR/162.

Using other metrics makes the case even worse. Just once did Hamels lead the league in any category (WHIP, in 2008), while Hernández did so just 28 times. That number is 40 for the average Hall of Famer. Bill James’ Hall of Fame Monitor (where 100 makes you a likely entrant), has Hernández at 67 and Hamels at 57. And James’ HOF Standards, where 50 is an average Hall of Famer, Hernández scores 31, while Hamels comes in at 33.

None of the above should in any way detract from either of their brilliant careers. They both have places in the Hall of “Very Good.” Neither ever has to buy a drink in their respective home towns. Hernández is in the Mariners Hall of Fame, and it just a matter of time until Hamels is on the Phillies Wall of Fame.

And while it would be great if players this similar could both be inducted and give speeches on the same day, that just doesn’t seem likely in this case. In fact, there is a chance that no one gives a speech this July, but more about that in another column to come.

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Dodger Stadium Has Hosted Many Of Clayton Kershaw’s Greatest Moments

Last Monday night, Clayton Kershaw entered Game 3 of this year’s World Series in the 12^th inning, with the score still tied, with two outs, and with the bases loaded. According to him – and later confirmed – it was the first and only time he had pitched in extra innings in his illustrious 18-year career. Kershaw cannot recall ever pitching in extra innings at any point in his life.

And yet, when the bullpen gate opened in left field at Dodger Stadium, the three-time Cy Young winner, eleven-time All-Star, two-time World Series winner (now three-time), one-time MVP, and soon-to-be first-ballot Hall of Famer, strode to the mound in the biggest moment of his team’s 2025 season.

The series was tied at one game apiece. The score was tied at 5, and had been that way since Shohei Ohtani’s second home run of the game evened everything up in the seventh inning. With two outs, the visiting Blue Jays had loaded the bases against Emmit Sheehan on two walks and an 85-foot slow roller to third. Manager Dave Roberts walked to the mound, took the ball from Sheehan, and motioned for the lefty who had been loose for at least four innings. In fairness, Kershaw has come out of the ’pen in years past, but never in a moment as fraught as this one, and never against a team that simply refuses to swing and miss.

Nathan Lukes dug in for a lefty-on-lefty match-up. Kershaw went with a slider, and threw it in the dirt for ball one. He tried it again and got strike one. He tried it again and barely missed the inside corner for ball two. He tried it again and Lukes watched strike two fly by. A fifth straight slider was in the dirt, running the count full. The old expression, “they sell you the whole seat, but you only need the edge,” was true for the more than 52,000 fans in attendance. Kershaw’s wife, Ellen, stood in the second deck behind home plate with her hands either in front of her face or on her head as she watched her beloved try to wiggle out of yet another post-season jam. The sixth pitch was yet another slider, slightly below the zone, but Lukes, taking nothing for granted, fouled it off. According to Statcast, on the seventh pitch of this at-bat, Kershaw threw his hardest fastball of the season – and that was just 91.9-mph – but up enough in the zone to induce Lukes to swing and foul it away. For his final pitch ever at Dodger Stadium, Kershaw went back to the slider, and it was not a particularly good one – low and away – but the left fielder offered at it and hit a slow roller to second. Tommy Edman charged in and flipped the ball to Freddie Freeman with his glove to end the inning, end the rally, and end Kershaw’s career at the only ballpark he has ever called “home.”

The one-batter, three-act, epic in the 12^th inning of Game 3 of this year’s World Series is another in the long list of memorable moments for the lanky lefty at Dodger Stadium. It joins the annals of (in chronological order):

May 25, 2008: Clayton Kershaw, age 20, wearing #54, makes his major league debut, going six innings against the Cardinals, allowing two runs on five hits, with a walk and seven strikeouts.

April 1, 2013: As the Opening Day starter against the rival Giants, Kershaw twirls a four-hit shutout with seven strikeouts and no walks. The only run of the game: Kershaw’s first and last career homer in the 8^th inning.

June 18, 2014: Kershaw throws his one and only no-hitter against the Colorado Rockies. But for a throwing error by shortstop Hanley Ramirez, it would have been a perfect game.

May 15, 2015: Kershaw goes 6-2/3 innings, gives up three runs and four hits while striking out ten Rockies to notch his 100^th career win.

October 4, 2015: On the final day of the season, Kershaw faces just 13 batters, allowing two hits, and striking out seven. The sixth K gives him 300 for the season, which is one of just nine such seasons in the 21^st century.

August 1, 2019: En route to his 10^th win of the year, with a strikeout of Austin Hedges in the 6^th inning, he passes Sandy Koufax for the most strikeouts for a left-handed pitcher in Dodger history.

April 30, 2022: After passing Koufax and Don Drysdale, Kershaw passes Don Sutton to become the Dodgers’ all-time strikeout leader when he fans Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson in the 4^th inning.

July 2, 2025: While strikeouts have become increasingly more difficult for Kershaw over the past few seasons, he entered this game needing only three to become the 20^th player to join the 3,000 K Club. A slider on his 100^th pitch of the game with two outs in the sixth inning froze the Rockies Vinny Capra, allowing history to be made.

And, of course, as referenced above, there was the eight pitch battle on October 27, 2025, that left the bases full of Blue Jays, allowed five more scoreless innings to proceed, and paved the way for Freddie Freeman to play World Series hero once again.

There may be no player in modern baseball history who has provided more highlights, made more memories, and achieved more milestones, in front of his home crowd than Clayton Kershaw. One day there will be a statue of the lefty outside Dodger Stadium, and the only question is which moment in Dodger Blue it will depict. The great news for Los Angelenos and baseball fans the world over, we can relive those highlights again and again, as we most certainly will on warm Sunday afternoon in upstate New York in the summer of 2031, when Clayton Edward Kershaw is inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Until then, there is always YouTube (see below).

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