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Hello everyone! We have finally arrived at the weekend. Strangely, we are baseball-free this weekend after last night’s results. Let’s break all of that and more down for you here now...
In playoff news...
- Sixto Sánchez impressed in his postseason debut, leading the Marlins to a shutout win over the Cubs to punch their ticket to the NLDS.
- The Padres also rode the strength of their pitching staff to blank the Cardinals, helping San Diego advance. Austin Adams garnered the win in the contest.
- I don’t really know where to put this but I just noticed that every Division Series matchup features teams facing off against intra-division foes: Rays-Yankees, Astros-A’s, Dodgers-Padres, and Marlins-Braves. The AL Central and NL Central are totally eliminated from the playoffs.
In Mariners news...
- Greg Johns addresses the biggest questions facing the Mariners heading into the offseason.
Around the league...
- One of baseball’s greats — Bob Gibson — passed away yesterday due to complications from cancer.
- Baseball America unveiled its MLB All-Rookie Team. ($)
- Rob Arthur at Baseball Prospectus suspects Trevor Bauer may have been cheating in order to increase the spin rate on his pitches. ($)
- You’ve got to love this kind of stuff.
Sixto Sanchez makes his playoff debut today.
— Alexa Datt (@AlexaDatt) October 2, 2020
He has a “45” tattooed on his neck to honor @45PedroMartinez his favorite player.
Here’s Sixto and the Hall of Famer meeting for the first time. @Marlins @MLBNetwork pic.twitter.com/gkyYNe3HRr
- Tim Britton at The Athletic wrote about the postseason from a GM’s perspective, emotional agony and all. ($)
- Major League Baseball is still undecided as to whether or not the expanded playoffs will remain as a permanent fixture, reports Ken Rosenthal at The Athletic. ($)
- A controversial figure gets his name removed from an official MLB award.
After a healthy discussion earlier this year, and by a vote of 89% to 11%, the BBWAA has voted to remove the name of Kennesaw “Mountain” Landis from the MVP awards.
— Levi Weaver (@ThreeTwoEephus) October 2, 2020
It will be nameless in 2020, perhaps renamed in 2021 after we have a chance to reconvene in person again.
- With the President testing positive for the coronavirus, Kyle Schwarber now sees how serious the virus is.
- Steve Cohen has arrived on the scene in Flushing to save the day.
The Mets already are feeling the impact of incoming owner Steve Cohen’s deep pockets.
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) October 2, 2020
A source confirms that the Mets' pandemic-related paycuts — 5-30% depending on an individual's salary — end Nov. 1, as Sportico said.
Full-time employees will earn their full salaries again.
- A.J. Hinch and — surprisingly — Alex Cora top the list of potential managerial candidates in Detroit.
- Ricky O’Donnell notes the importance of Fernando Tatis, Jr. to baseball’s culture.
Anders’ picks...
- Man, this is pretty good.
How people think anchors talk at home @ABC7Robert pic.twitter.com/f5WuTGW4bK
— Jeannette Reyes (@6abcJeannette) October 2, 2020