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We didn’t even get 24 whole hours to bask in that post-World Series glow before the Angels kicked off the trade market, the White Sox hired a manager and the Cardinals started their youth movement. Baseball is over; long live baseball. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!
Fresh Moves: Angels acquire Soler from Braves
When Atlanta acquired OF/DH Jorge Soler from the Giants at the deadline, I remember thinking: “What are they going to do with two Marcell Ozunas?”
We have our answer: trade one to the Angels for RHP Griffin Canning.
It’s a long-standing tradition in Anaheim: “We made a big move, do you believe in us now?” It began a little early this year — barely 12 hours after the last out of the World Series — but as Sam Blum points out, the Angels will have to do more than just this if they want to transcend beyond flashy moves and into legitimate contention.
Soler will be 33 in February. His bat should still benefit an Angels lineup that finished 28th in the league in runs scored last year, but it’s worth noting that he dipped from 36 home runs in 2023 to 21 in 2024.
- For the Braves, Canning turns 29 in May and has had an up-and-down track record in Anaheim. Elbow inflammation limited his first few years before a stress fracture in his back cost him the entire 2022 season. Since returning in 2023, Canning is 13-21 with a 4.82 ERA in 56 games (53 starts).
- For Atlanta, the deal makes sense. Soler was perhaps simply a stopgap measure to account for injuries to Ronald Acuña Jr. and others, but by season’s end, injuries to their pitchers had mounted. Canning gives them depth, should that become an issue again — especially with Max Fried entering free agency.
Pure speculation, but I also wonder if this is a quick flash of the team’s cards in regard to whether they plan to exercise their $16 million option on Ozuna.
Ken’s Notebook: The moment that makes it all worth it
The end of the season always brings a certain sadness — wait, there’s no baseball? For how many months? But every year, I also experience one of my favorite moments, sometime after the final out of the World Series.
No, I’m not talking about the champagne and beer celebration in the winning clubhouse, a ritual players love, but reporters abhor. (Yep, reporters often get soaked, too.) In fact, anyone who stays dry for any period of time becomes an immediate target to have some kind of alcoholic beverage dumped on his or her head.
Boys will be boys. It is what it is. But the moment I’m talking about actually takes place after the insanity in the clubhouse starts to fade, and players return to the field to greet their families. It is then you realize the sacrifices everyone made.
The players who, starting with spring training, are consumed with their jobs for eight months. The wives and children who miss their husbands and fathers when they are away. The parents of the players who always seem particularly exultant, knowing the investments in their sons, in both time and money, led to them fulfilling their dreams.
By the time the players emerge from the clubhouse, the stadium is almost quiet, particularly if the Series is won on the road. Oh, a few hundred fans might still linger, but it’s mostly the players and their families taking photos, engaging in genial conversation, celebrating in their own ways.
The season is a grind. By the time the Series ends, almost all players are dealing with nagging aches and pains. Everyone is drained, if not exhausted. And yet, in the glow of victory, a certain bliss comes over the players, a sense of peace and, of course, accomplishment.
The parade comes next, a day or two later, before the players and their families go their separate ways. And then they do it all over again, with a new celebration taking place in approximately one year. Maybe the Los Angeles Dodgers again will hoist the commissioner’s trophy. More likely, they will not. Baseball has not had a repeat champion since the New York Yankees won three straight titles from 1998 to 2000.
Taking in the scene on the field, conducting a few final interviews, my feeling is always the same: All players should get to experience this. It is a moment of pure joy. Or, as former New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles manager Davey Johnson once told me, “It’s what we wreck our lives for.”
In Other News: More on new White Sox manager
For a few years now, it has seemed like any time there has been a managerial vacancy, Will Venable’s name has come up as a top candidate. In fact, as Jon Greenberg reminds us, Venable turned down interviews with the Guardians and Mets for their openings in 2024.
Both teams, you no doubt recall, made it to their respective Championship Series, which means — if nothing else — that both had rosters that were constructed well enough to allow a first-year manager to succeed. Further, it seemed like Venable’s role in Texas was not only that of an associate manager, but a manager-in-waiting, behind Bruce Bochy (who will be 70 in April).
So, why did Venable finally choose to take his first managerial job with a team that set a modern-era record last year with 121 losses?
For starters, there is familiarity with Chicago, where Venable coached with the Cubs. And he was also familiar with White Sox GM Chris Getz; both debuted in the big leagues in 2018, and Venable played just two years longer (2015-16) than Getz.
Beyond that, Venable was less specific. From Greenberg’s article:
When it came to possible managerial jobs, Venable … said he and his wife Kathryn had “a set of criteria” to consider. He won a World Series ring with the Rangers in 2023. Next season, Texas missed the playoffs.
“It just was one of those things last year where some of the opportunities that I had just didn’t really fit the criteria for me and my family,” he said. “No knock on the opportunities and it wasn’t anything going on with Texas, it was just kind of my personal criteria that I had. And this year, it was different.”
Given the White Sox’s recent track record, “different” feels like the right word. But hey, it can only go up from here.
Decisions, Decisions: Cards’ rotation youth movement
In a blow to fans of Wilco, yard work and craft beers everywhere, the Cardinals have decided to move on from two of the starting pitchers that made up their Rotation of Dads last year.
St. Louis did not exercise the contract options of Lance Lynn (37 years old, $11 million) or Kyle Gibson (37, $12 million). In the link above, Katie Woo points out that while both pitchers were effective last year, the decision reflects a desire to “shed payroll when appropriate as they pivot toward a transition period next year.”
Gibson and Lynn are not the only two contracts coming off the books. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt, who made $26 million each of the last five years, is also hitting free agency. With the subtraction of those three players, plus Keynan Middleton (whose $3 million option the team also chose not to exercise), that gives the Cardinals $52 million in salary flexibility for next year.
Cardinals fans, I can hear what you’re thinking. But for what it’s worth, our team of writers has St. Louis in the “Doubt It” tier when it comes to Juan Soto. One reason? As Woo points out, Lynn and Gibson might not be the only moves. Three other veterans — Sonny Gray, Miles Mikolas and Steven Matz — make a combined $54.6 million. Gray is signed through 2027, the other two through next year.
With a slew of prospects on the way, and since “(t)he Cardinals have already publicly admitted their intentions to compete will be paused, at least for next year,” it wouldn’t be a surprise to see more moves. That doesn’t completely rule out a long-term deal for Soto, but it doesn’t seem the likeliest outcome, either.
Handshakes and High Fives
What did we learn from the World Series? Grant Brisbee is here to count the lessons, while Chad Jennings gives us the All-Postseason Team.
Britt Ghiroli looks at Juan Soto’s free agency. It looks a little familiar, with shades of Manny Machado and Bryce Harper.
Speaking of free agents, here’s Keith Law’s top 50 list.
After 44 years of calling baseball games, Bob Costas is retiring.
So are Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson, and Alex Kiriloff of the Twins. Kiriloff is just 26 years old, but has endured an injury-plagued career.
The Giants have a new GM to work under Buster Posey: Zack Minasian. If the last name sounds familiar, it’s because he and his brother Perry (Angels) are now the first pair of brothers to both work as MLB GMs at the same time.
Most-clicked in yesterday’s newsletter: Many of you were interested in what Tommy Pham had to say about the Game 4 fan interference incident, apparently.
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(Top photo: Rhona Wise / Imagn Images)
