News Rays Team Notes

[Tampa Bay Rays]

Matt Silverman, Brian Auld To Step Down As Rays’ Team Presidents

The incoming group led by real estate developer Patrick Zalupski is expected to officially purchase the Rays from Stuart Sternberg’s ownership group within the next few weeks, and some big organizational changes are on the horizon. Longtime team presidents Matt Silverman and Brian Auld will be leaving their current roles, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Auld is staying on in an advisory capacity throughout the ownership transition period, while Silverman’s only remaining involvement will be as part of an advisory board representing Sternberg’s group in team business, as Sternberg’s group will still own 10 percent of the Rays.

Though the two executives shared the “president” title without any modifiers, Auld’s focus was more on the business side of the operations, while Silverman was more focused on baseball operations side. Silverman has been the team’s president since 2005 (when he was just 29 years old), except for a three-year hiatus that saw him act as the president of baseball operations following Andrew Friedman’s departure to the Dodgers. Once Erik Neander was promoted to the head of the baseball ops department following the 2016 season, Silverman moved back upstairs to the president’s role.

Silverman first started working with the Rays in 2004, coming aboard just slightly before Sternberg (his former Goldman Sachs colleague) bought the team. Auld joined the organization in 2005 as the director of planning and development, and worked in a variety of roles before being promoted to president 11 years ago. The ties between Silverman and Auld also existed before their time in Tampa Bay, as the duo first met while in high school.

It seems that Silverman’s departure is somewhat of his own volition, as Topkin writes that Silverman “had extended conversations with the incoming owners about a likely significant role, but chose instead to leave the team.” Silverman said he wasn’t departing due to another job opportunity, but rather it was “just a simple personal decision that for me it’s a good time to put down the pencil, take a breath and figure out what might be next….Before conversations about a future role really developed, I expressed my preference to serve on this ownership board and they welcomed that participation.”

For his part, Auld is looking forward to getting some more time with his family and away from the day-to-day grind, while still helping the Rays in this next chapter in team history.

“My hope is that we have a long partnership together where I can be a counselor to [likely incoming CEO] Ken Babby and whoever else needs it along the way,” Auld said. “Major League Baseball in Tampa Bay is not a simple enterprise, and to the extent that I can be helpful, I’m really looking forward to doing so….I’m looking forward to some different styles, and to learning from a new group. And I think that’s one of the reasons that a significant change was needed. I wasn’t sure this was going to be what I wanted to do, and getting to know this ownership group, and Ken specifically, it’s felt really good. It felt like it could be a nice, positive thing for a good amount of time.”

Past reports had indicated that Zalupski wasn’t planning to make any significant changes to the team’s structure, so the loss of over 40 years of organizational experience is certainly a departure from that initial thought. Given the longstanding connections between Sternburg and the Silverman/Auld combination, it might not be a surprise that Zalupski is looking to fill the president’s role with his own hire, or hires if he continues the trend of having separate presidents for the baseball and business ends.

As such, the change in the presidents’ office shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as a hint that Zalupski might be looking at a larger scale shake-up. Neander and manager Kevin Cash each signed contract extensions prior to the 2024 season that run through at least 2028 in Neander’s case, and through 2030 in Cash’s case. Eating the significant amount of remaining money on those contracts may be a factor for Zalupski, yet the larger issue is that Neander and Cash are both highly regarded around baseball, and both are widely viewed as two of the chief reasons why Tampa Bay has remained competitive despite perpetually modest payrolls.

That tradition of competitive baseball really began under Silverman, whose hirings of Friedman, Neander, and multiple other executives have helped establish the Rays as something of a talent factory on and off the field. Multiple teams have hired ex-Rays executives, coaches, and advisors over the years in an attempt to try and capture a bit of Tampa’s low-budget magic for themselves, with somewhat mixed results overall. Perhaps Silverman’s most obvious legacy is the “Rays” name itself, as he was behind the team’s move away from the “Devil Rays” name and well as the new uniforms and colors associated with the rebrand.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...uld-to-step-down-as-rays-team-presidents.html

 

[Tampa Bay Rays]

MLB Approves Patrick Zalupski As New Rays Owner

Major League Baseball owners have officially approved a group led by Patrick Zalupski as the new owners of the Rays, reports Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. Topkin notes that the official transfer is still pending the formal closing of the sale, which is expected later this week. Previous reporting has indicated that the team is being sold for somewhere around $1.7 billion. “It’s good to go,” MLB commissioner Rob Manfred says.

It was originally reported back in June that Sternberg was in “advanced” talks about a sale to the Zalupski-led group which will soon take over the majority stake of the team now. Those negotiations came on the heels of Sternberg receiving pressure to sell from both the commissioner’s office and other owners throughout the league. Sternberg will retain a minority stake in the Rays but will take a backseat after owning the club since purchasing it for $200MM back in 2004.

Zalupski is the CEO of Dream Finders Homes, a publicly traded, Jacksonville-based developer that has built more than 31,000 homes across ten states. Back in June, Forbes estimated his net worth at $1.4 billion, while his company’s valuation rested at $3.4 billion. It’s not entirely clear how many other investors are a part of the group. Sportico reported over the summer that Ken Babby, who owns multiple minor league teams and is the son of a prominent NBA agent, and Bill Cosgrove, CEO of the Union Home Mortgage Group, are among the others involved in the incoming ownership group.

The new ownership group is expected to keep the Rays in the Tampa Bay area, though Zalupski’s vision is for an eventual stadium in Tampa proper, rather than the Rays’ longtime home in St. Petersburg. That’d mean a move from Pinellas County to adjacent Hillsborough County and would also mean negotiating with a different collection of local government officials than the Pinellas County officials who regularly clashed with Sternberg throughout his quest for a new stadium.

For the time being, of course, the Rays are playing in Tampa. They’ve temporarily relocated to George M. Steinbrenner Field — the spring facility and Class-A home for the Yankees — in the wake of massive damage to Tropicana Field at the hands of Hurricane Milton last offseason. The Rays are hoping that they’ll be able to return to Tropicana Field for the 2026 season. They still have another three seasons remaining on their prior lease there, and now that new ownership is all but in place, that period could serve as a bridge to the construction of a new stadium — though there will obviously be numerous hurdles to clear as the new management commences talks with the requisite governmental bodies in Tampa and looks to secure funding.

Broader questions about what the change in ownership means for the Rays will persist for the foreseeable future. Longtime fans will dream of larger payrolls helping to fuel a club that’s managed to be near-perennially competitive despite spending less than the vast majority of the league. However, new ownership is not always a path to exponentially larger payrolls. That may be the case for Steve Cohen’s Mets, but one need only look at the Marlins, Royals and Orioles to find recently sold teams that have yet to significantly invest in bolstering player payroll. An eventual new stadium could be a major step in that direction, but that’s years down the road.

Presumably, there will be some other turnover within the organization. Rays presidents Matt Silverman and Brian Auld are departing once the sale is finalized, but it’s not at all clear what, if anything, a sale might mean for the baseball operations or dugout staff. (Silverman was once Tampa Bay’s head of baseball operations but has been on the business side of operations since 2017.) President of baseball operations Erik Neander is signed through at least the 2028 season, while manager Kevin Cash’s most recent extension carries him all the way through 2030. That pair is among the most respected in the industry at their positions, and one would presume that their presence is a selling point for incoming ownership. Other changes could still ensue, but until the deal is official and Zalupski first meets with the media, there will be at least some level of uncertainty regarding matters of this nature.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/09/mlb-approves-patrick-zalupski-as-new-rays-owner.html

 

[Tampa Bay Rays]

Rays Sale To Patrick Zalupski’s Group Officially Completed

The Rays officially have a new owner. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the sale from Stuart Sternberg to a group led by Patrick Zalupski is now rubber stamped with the sale officially closing today.

“It’s an incredible honor to become the stewards of the Tampa Bay Rays, a franchise with a proud history and a bright future,” Zalupski said in a news release. “We are especially privileged to have been chosen by Stu Sternberg as his successors, and we’re all energized by the responsibility to serve Rays fans everywhere and this great game.”

This development was largely a formality. The reported $1.7 billion sale price was agreed to back in July and it was approved by Major League Baseball owners last week. It was noted that the time of that approval last week that the sale still needed to formally close, though that box is now ticked and the keys have changed hands.

Now that the new ownership group is in place, the attention will turn to the unanswered questions surrounding the franchise. The Rays had to play in a minor league park this year due to the extensive hurricane damage done to Tropicana Field. It is hoped that The Trop can be repaired and playable in time for the start of the 2026 season. The club’s lease originally ran through 2027 but the lost year in 2025 has extended that through 2028.

There isn’t a formal plan in place for 2029 and beyond. Zalupski is expected to explore building a new stadium in Tampa itself, as opposed to St. Petersburg, where The Trop is located. That process will take time, as the Rays will have to work out all the particulars with government officials to get the new venue designed, approved, funded, etc.

As Zalupski works on that, president of baseball operations Erik Neander will work on making the club as competitive as possible. Topkin reports that Neander will stay in his job. That’s not especially surprising, as the Rays have generally performed well on tight budgets throughout his tenure. In early 2024, he and manager Kevin Cash were extended through at least 2028.

However, the Rays are currently in a bit of a downswing. They just finished 77-85 after posting an 80-82 record last year. The last time they had losing records in consecutive seasons was back in 2016 and ’17. Amid the uncertainty away from the roster, it’s unclear what kind of resources Neander will have to work with this winter. Topkin notes that there is an introductory press conference scheduled for October 7th, at which point the new owners might shed more light on the next steps for the franchise.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025...ick-zalupskis-group-officially-completed.html

 

[Tampa Bay Rays]

Rays To Look For Catching Help

The Rays acquired two catchers at this year’s trade deadline but are apparently not content with them. President of baseball operations Erik Neander told Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times that both backstops did good things but “we’re going to keep looking.”

The catching position in Tampa has been a revolving door for many years now. Mike Zunino got the majority of the playing time back there in the 2019 to 2022 stretch but his performance tailed off in the final year of that span. In 2023, the Rays used Francisco Mejia, Christian Bethancourt and René Pinto without any of those three taking firm hold of the job.

Last year, Ben Rortvedt got most of the playing time and had a decent year but the Rays didn’t want to rely on him, so they signed Danny Jansen to a one-year deal for 2025. Rortvedt’s results backed up and he was outrighted off the roster in May. He was later flipped to the Dodgers as part of a three-team deadline trade which brought Hunter Feduccia to the Rays. Jansen was also sent out at the deadline, going to the Brewers, as the Rays acquired Nick Fortes from the Marlins.

As of today, Fortes and Feduccia are the only two backstops on the 40-man roster. Fortes has caught 2,708 2/3 innings over five big league seasons with strong defensive numbers. However, his offense is lacking, as he has a .224/.280/.345 line and 72 wRC+ in his career. Feduccia has a much shorter track record, with just 119 plate appearances in the majors and a .170/.286/.220 line in those. Prospect Dominic Keegan could get a 40-man spot this winter since he will be eligible for the Rule 5 draft, though he’s a bat-first catcher who didn’t hit much in his first taste of Triple-A this year.

Given that those are the top in-house options, it’s understandable that they would be open to bringing in reinforcements. Both Fortes and Feduccia are still optionable, so adding another catcher from outside the organization and bumping one guy down to Triple-A as depth could be a sensible path to consider.

Looking to the free agent market, there are a few options. J.T. Realmuto is the biggest name but it would be a surprise if he didn’t return to the Phillies on a new deal. Re-signing Jansen is something the Rays could consider. Victor Caratini is coming off a respectable two-year run with the Astros. There are a few other decent veterans like Elias Díaz and Luke Maile.

The trade market could have some names of interest. The Cardinals are going into a rebuild and could perhaps consider moving Iván Herrera, though they mostly used him as a designated hitter this year. The Twins just did a big deadline sell-off and have Ryan Jeffers under control for one more season. The Rangers might be looking to make some changes and control Jonah Heim for one more year. The Pirates have four catchers on their 40-man and someone might get crowded out.

Elsewhere on the roster, Neander also provided Topkin with a number of injury updates, noting that most of the players who finished the season on the injured list are expected to be ready for spring training. That includes left-hander Shane McClanahan, though Neander also is quick to point out that there’s loads of uncertainty for the southpaw.

“This has been a tough injury. You feel the most for Shane — just about ready to take the ball opening day and then have an injury that there’s virtually no precedent for it. And then not knowing your timeline — might be a few weeks, might be a few months. High confidence it’s going to heal, but the timeline has kind of been up in the air. … ” Neander said. “He is doing everything a human being could do and more to try to be ready. This has been really difficult on him. We’re doing everything we can to support him. Our hope is that by the time we get to camp this is fully resolved, he’s on the appropriate throwing program going into camp, and we go from there.”

McClanahan hasn’t pitched in a big league game since August of 2023. He required Tommy John surgery at that time and missed the entire 2024 campaign. The Rays were hoping to have him healthy for 2025 but he suffered some triceps tightness in spring training. This was later revealed to be a nerve problem, which landed him on the injured list to start the year. He began a rehab assignment in July but that lasted only three appearances. He underwent a season-ending radial nerve decompression in August.

It puts the Rays in a tough spot. Given that the issue is apparently so unprecedented, it makes it tough to map out a plan for 2026, especially since McClanahan has now missed more than two full seasons.

“Obviously, missing (from) August 2023 through the end of ’25, that’s a lot of missed time,” Neander said. “So you get into kind of, ‘All right, what’s best for him?’ and how you build him up and how you do all that responsibly. But our expectation from a health standpoint is this at some point here will turn into a normal winter, and the normal build-up in the camp, and we can go from there.”

Neander listed two pitchers who aren’t expected to be healthy by spring training: Manuel Rodríguez and Brian Van Belle. It was reported in July that Rodríguez would require some kind of elbow surgery, though the full extent wasn’t clear at that time. Per Topkin’s piece, Rodríguez underwent flexor tendon surgery and is targeting a June return. Van Belle is more up in the air right now, as he may have an ulnar collateral ligament sprain and is going to visit Dr. Keith Meister to decide on his next steps.

Photo courtesy of Patrick Gorski, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/rays-to-look-for-catching-help.html

 

[Tampa Bay Rays]

MLBTR Podcast: Mike Elias On The State Of The Orioles

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias to discuss…

• Elias’s promotion from general manager to president of baseball operations (1:45)
• Why the Orioles underperformed in 2025 (3:30)
• The club’s lack of investment in free agent pitching (5:25)
• The decision making about playing time for prospects when they don’t find immediate big league success (9:20)
• How Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo can co-exist on the roster (12:35)
• Getting six prospects from the Padres in the Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano trade (14:50)
• Trading Bryan Baker to the Rays for a draft pick (16:55)
• Seeing the potential in O’Hearn before his breakout (18:45)

Plus, Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors joins the show to discuss…

• The Cardinals going into a rebuild, which should put a bunch of interesting names on the trade block (21:50)
• The Rangers parting ways with Bruce Bochy with questions about how aggressively they will be trying to contend in 2026 (33:20)
• The Mets just missing the postseason with Pete Alonso becoming a free agent again (42:10)
• The Nationals hiring Paul Toboni as their new president of baseball operations (52:45)
• The Blue Jays putting Alek Manoah on waivers, who is claimed by the Braves (1:00:55)

Check out our past episodes!

• The Tigers And Astros Try To Hang On, And Brewers’ Rotation Issues – listen here
• The Struggling Mets, Bryce Eldridge, And Trey Yesavage – listen here
• Talking Mariners With Jerry Dipoto – listen here

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!

Photo courtesy of Tim Heitman, Imagn Images

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/mlbtr-podcast-mike-elias-on-the-state-of-the-orioles.html

 

[Tampa Bay Rays]

22 Players Elect Free Agency

Now that the season is over, we’ll start seeing several players choose to become minor league free agents. Major League free agents (i.e. players with six-plus years of big league service time) will hit the open market five days after the end of the World Series, but eligible minor leaguers can already start electing free agency.

To qualify, these players must have been all outrighted off their team’s 40-man rosters during the 2025 season without being added back. These players also must have multiple career outrights on their resume, and/or at least three years of Major League service time.

We’ll offer periodic updates over the coming weeks about many other players hitting the market in this fashion. These free agent decisions are all listed on the official MLB.com or MILB.com transactions pages, for further reference.

Catchers

• Matt Thaiss (Rays)

Infielders

• Sergio Alcantara (Diamondbacks)
• Keston Hiura (Rockies)
• Vimael Machin (Orioles)

Outfielders

• Jordyn Adams (Orioles)
• Connor Joe (Reds)
• Jose Siri (Mets)

Utility Players

• Scott Kingery (Angels)
• Terrin Vavra (Orioles)

Pitchers

• Scott Blewett (Orioles)
• Noah Davis (Twins)
• Kevin Herget (Mets)
• Nick Hernandez (Astros)
• Brooks Kriske (Twins)
• Richard Lovelady (Mets)
• Corbin Martin (Orioles)
• Darren McCaughan (Twins)
• Triston McKenzie (Guardians)
• Cionel Perez (Orioles)
• Jose Ruiz (Rangers)
• Jordan Weems (Astros)
• Bryse Wilson (White Sox)

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/22-players-elect-free-agency.html

 

[Tampa Bay Rays]

Curt Casali Retires

In a move that wasn’t publicly reported earlier this season, longtime catcher Curt Casali retired and took a job in the Reds front office, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Casali signed a minor league deal with the Braves last winter but was released before the end of Spring Training, and he didn’t play at all in 2025.

At age 36 and after 11 Major League seasons, it appears as though Casali decided to call it a career and move onto a new phase of his baseball life. The nature of his duties with the Reds isn’t specified, but Slusser wonders if Casali could emerge as a future managerial candidate….even as soon as this winter as the Giants look for a new dugout boss. That would continue the trend of catchers moving into managerial jobs, and Slusser notes that Buster Posey (obviously a former backstop himself) seems to be looking at ex-catchers in the early stages of San Francisco’s managerial search.

Casali has plenty of links to the organization, as he played with the Giants in 2021-22 and again during the 2024 season. In the first year of Casali’s time in San Francisco, he was Posey’s backup during what ended up being Posey’s final big league campaign.

A 10th-round pick for the Tigers in the 2011 draft, Casali was dealt to the Rays in March 2013, and he made his MLB debut in a Tampa uniform in 2014. Casali was mostly a part-time over his four seasons with the Rays, but he received the bulk of the catching duties in 2016, playing in 84 games and making 256 plate appearances. He didn’t hit much during that extended look, however, and Casali left the Rays organization and bounced around to a few teams on minors deals, including a return to Tampa Bay before the Rays dealt him to the Reds in May 2018.

Casali spent the next three seasons in Cincinnati, and his bat came alive to the point that he moved into a virtual timeshare with Tucker Barnhart. Casali hit .260/.345/.440 over 485 PA during the 2018-20 seasons, but the Reds still chose to non-tender Casali during the 2020-21 offseason, paving the way for his next contract with the Giants.

At the 2022 trade deadline, San Francisco dealt Casali to the Mariners as part of a noteworthy trade that also sent Matthew Boyd to Seattle’s bullpen for the stretch run. Casali backed up Cal Raleigh for the remainder of the 2022 campaign before entering free agency again, and his final two MLB seasons were spent revisiting old haunts in Cincinnati (in 2023) and San Francisco (in 2024). While Casali’s big league playing time during those two seasons was spent with the Reds and Giants, he also was briefly part of the Marlins and Cubs organizations on minors deals.

Overall, Casali will finish his career with a .218/.312/.369 slash line and 48 home runs over 1579 PA and 543 games across his 11 seasons in the Show. Beyond that modest offensive production, Casali was well-regarded for his ability to handle pitchers and call a game. If Slusser’s report is any indication, Casali’s knowledge of the game might well develop into coaching or managerial jobs if he wishes to pursue that direction.

We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Casali on a fine career and wish him the best in his post-playing career.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/curt-casali-retires.html

 

[Tampa Bay Rays]

Brett Phillips Retires

Outfielder Brett Phillips has announced his retirement after seven Major League seasons. In an Instagram reel released today, Phillips credited his career to his family, his faith, and to many people in and out of baseball that helped him achieve his success. Beyond those named in his speech, the 31-year-old Phillips also had a whiteboard full of names of many former teammates and executives who played key roles in his career.

Phillips hit .187/.272/.347 with 31 homers over 971 plate appearances and 393 games during his MLB career, while playing for five different clubs at the big league level. Phillips’ speed was his chief offensive weapon, as he stole 39 bases on 45 career attempts. That speed also helped him deliver outstanding defense at all three outfield positions — over his 2321 1/3 innings as a big league outfielder, Phillips amassed +41 Defensive Runs Saved, +31 Outs Above Average, and a +13.0 UZR/150.

The Astros made Phillips a sixth-round pick in the 2012 draft, though before he could make his debut in the Show, Houston dealt Phillips as part of the huge trade at the 2015 deadline that brought Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers from Milwaukee. Phillips was one of four pieces of the very prominent trade package acquired by the Brew Crew, as Josh Hader, Adrian Houser, and Domingo Santana were the other members of the haul. Not to overshadowed at the time of the trade, Phillips was drawing top-100 prospect attention heading into the 2016 season and for a couple of years afterwards.

Phillips got his first taste of the majors in 2017, and he appeared in 52 games for the Brewers over the next two seasons before the outfielder was moved to the Royals in another notable deadline deal that saw Mike Moustakas shipped from K.C. to Milwaukee. This tenure in Kansas City stretched over parts of three seasons before Phillips was dealt again to the Rays partway through the abbreviated 2020 season, which set the stage for the most memorable moments of Phillips’ career.

Tampa Bay won the AL pennant that year, with Phillips chipping in as a defensive specialist during the rest of the regular season and then as a defensive sub and pinch-runner throughout the playoffs. He had just three plate appearances during the postseason, and his one hit during that stretch couldn’t have been bigger. With the Dodgers holding a 7-6 lead over the Rays with two outs in the bottom of the ninth of Game 4, Phillips lined a single that tied the game, and ended up as the walkoff hit when Randy Arozarena also on the play due to a Will Smith catching error. Beyond the hit itself, Rays fans will always remember the image of Phillips’ celebratory airplane-style sprint around the outfield.

The following season saw Phillips deliver his best year at the plate, as he hit .206/.300/.427 with 13 homers and 14 steals (out of 17 attempts) in 292 PA while playing in a part-time outfield role in Tampa Bay. His numbers dropped off sharply in 2022, however, and the Rays designated him for assignment and then dealt Phillips to the Orioles.

Phillips moved on to play 39 games with the 2023 Angels in what proved to be his last MLB campaign, as subsequent minor league deals with the White Sox and Yankees didn’t result in any more calls to the Show. His stint with the Yankees saw the start of a new career path for Phillips, as he attempted to convert to pitching. Phillips’ final stop of his career came with Kane County of the independent American Association this year.

Beyond his energy and contributions on the field, Phillips became a fan favorite and social media darling due to his outgoing personality. “Baseball Is Fun” became Phillips’ unofficial catchphrase, and he finished his retirement announcement by repeating his mantra one more time. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Phillips on a fine career and we wish him plenty of more fun in his post-playing endeavors.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/brett-phillips-retires.html

 

[Tampa Bay Rays]

AL East Notes: ALDS, Rodriguez, Weaver, Orioles

The Blue Jays hold a 2-0 lead in the ALDS after a 13-7 win over the Yankees today. Toronto has torched the Yankees for 23 runs over the two games, with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3-for-5 with a grand slam) and Daulton Varsho (4-for-5 with two homers and two doubles) doing the most damage today with four RBI apiece. Max Fried was charged with seven earned runs over three-plus innings in a disastrous outing for the Yankees ace.

New York’s lineup came to life with seven late runs against Toronto’s bullpen, after Jays starter Trey Yesavage was nothing short of dominant. In just his fourth career outing in the majors, Yesavage allowed only a walk over 5 1/3 hitless innings, with 11 strikeouts — the most K’s from any Blue Jays pitcher in a postseason game. The decision to pull Yesavage after 78 pitches seemed to be based on a desire to keep Yesavage from facing Yankees batters a third time, and to potentially keep Yesavage fresh for usage later in the series. Of course, the Yankees can only hope that there will even be a “later in the series,” as the Jays are just one win away from advancing to the ALCS. Game 3 is on Tuesday at Yankee Stadium.

More from around the AL East…

• Rays assistant general manager and VP Carlos Rodriguez officially announced on Wednesday that he is leaving the organization. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that Rodriguez “had been talking about [departing] for a while,” so the move has nothing to do with the Rays’ new owners, as it is believed that the incoming ownership group won’t be making any major changes to the baseball ops group. Rodriguez was one of four AGMs under president of baseball operations Erik Neander, and Topkin believes the club will fill Rodriguez’s spot by promoting from within. Rodriguez has been in his VP/AGM role for the last four seasons, and a member of Tampa’s organization for the last 15 seasons. Beginning as a scout, Rodriguez had many roles as he worked his way up the front office ladder, including multiple years running the Rays’ Latin American scouting and international scouting operations.
• Luke Weaver retired the only batter he faced in a mop-up appearance for the Yankees today, providing some small hope that the right-hander is turning things around. After an inconsistent regular season, Weaver has had a nightmarish postseason, as he hadn’t recorded a single out from six batters faced in two prior outings against the Jays (in Game 1 of the ALDS) and Red Sox (in Game 1 of the wild card series). Weaver discussed his struggles with MLB.com’s Jake Rill and other reporters before today’s game, suggesting that he may have been over-correcting in an attempt to keep from tipping his pitches. “I’m at a point where I’m just, ’Full send,’ and none of that’s going to matter anymore. So I’m going to be what I think is best for me, and I’m going to go out there and attack the way I need to do,” Weaver said.
• After a disappointing season for the Orioles and their core of young players, MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko opines that the team should go big in adding both experience and quality by signing Cody Bellinger this winter. To be clear, this is a speculative opinion on Kubatko’s part, rather than a suggestion that Bellinger might be on the Orioles’ radar this winter. Baltimore hasn’t been linked to Bellinger when he has been a free agent or trade candidate in the past, and signing Bellinger would represent far and away the team’s biggest financial splash of the Mike Elias era. Tyler O’Neill’s three-year, $49.5MM contract from last winter is the only multi-year free agent signing Elias has made, though the Orioles’ eight-year, $67MM extension with Samuel Basallo from the summer indicates that the club may be getting a bit more comfortable with larger spending.

Source: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/10/al-east-notes-alds-rodriguez-weaver-orioles.html