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Joey Loperfido Replaces Anthony Santander On Blue Jays’ Playoff Roster

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Major League Baseball has officially approved the substitution of Joey Loperfido for Anthony Santander on the Blue Jays’ playoff roster. Manager John Schneider told reporters (including Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet) this evening that Santander was dealing with back stiffness. His season is over.

Teams set their postseason rosters at the beginning of each series. They can only make changes mid-series in the event of an injury. A player removed midway through a series is ineligible for the following series if his team advances, so Santander could not participate in the World Series if the Jays come back to beat the Mariners.

Injuries essentially ruined Santander’s first season in Toronto. He was out between the end of May and the middle of September with a left shoulder issue. He didn’t return until the final week of the regular season. Santander has appeared in five of the Jays’ seven postseason games. He missed Game 2 of the ALCS with lower back soreness. Santander returned to the lineup for Game 3 but was replaced by Myles Straw as a defensive substitute in the fifth inning. He finishes his postseason with a 3-15 showing with a pair of runs batted in.

While Davis Schneider drew into the lineup when Santander was out for Game 2, it’s Isiah Kiner-Falefa who picks up the extra playing time tonight. He’s in at second base and batting eighth against Luis Castillo. That pushes Ernie Clement to third base and Addison Barger from the hot corner to right field.

The Jays have carried the same 13 position players for their Division Series and the ALCS. Loperfido had been inactive for both series despite hitting .333/.379/.500 across 41 games during the regular season. He was the only real candidate to join the roster as a left-handed bench bat in Santander’s place. Bo Bichette and Ty France are injured and weren’t ready to go for the beginning of the series. Leo Jiménez finished the season on the Triple-A injured list, leaving light-hitting outfielder Jonatan Clase (who spent the entire second half in Triple-A) as the only other healthy position player on the 40-man roster.

Mitch Bannon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported that Santander would be removed from the roster. Nicholson-Smith was first to confirm that Loperfido would be the replacement.

MLBTR Podcast: Murakami To Be Posted This Offseason, Managerial Vacancies, And More!

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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 Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

  • Munetaka Murakami to be posted for MLB clubs this offseason (2:20)
  • Ten teams will go into 2026 with a new manager, with eight of those jobs currently vacant (18:50)

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • Can the Mets get Tarik Skubal from the Tigers? (29:55)
  • Would Pete Alonso return to the Mets if they offered $150MM over five years? (38:20)
  • The White Sox have a lot of #4 or #5 starters. Which other teams might be interested in them? (40:00)
  • The Nationals have lots of outfielders, one of whom is 6’7″ tall, and no first baseman. Is it stupid to consider James Wood for first base? (44:20)
  • Will this finally be the Mariners’ year and can they keep Josh Naylor? (49:20)

Check out our past episodes!

  • Rockies’ Front Office Changes, Skip Schumaker, And ABS Talk – listen here
  • Mike Elias On The State Of The Orioles – listen here
  • The Tigers And Astros Try To Hang On, And Brewers’ Rotation Issues – 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 Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Mariners Add Bryan Woo, Miles Mastrobuoni To ALCS Roster

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The Mariners announced the 26 players who will be part of their American League Championship Series roster against the Blue Jays.  After using a complement of 14 pitchers and 12 position players against the Tigers in the ALDS, the M’s will use an even 13 pitchers and 13 position players to navigate their series with Toronto.  The full list…

Catchers: Harry Ford, Mitch Garver, Cal Raleigh
Infielders: J.P. Crawford, Josh Naylor, Jorge Polanco, Leo Rivas, Eugenio Suarez
Outfielders: Randy Arozarena, Dominic Canzone, Victor Robles, Julio Rodriguez
Utility player: Miles Mastrobuoni
Left-handed pitchers: Caleb Ferguson, Gabe Speier
Right-handed pitchers: Eduard Bazardo, Matt Brash, Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, Emerson Hancock, Luke Jackson, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, Andres Munoz, Carlos Vargas, Bryan Woo

The biggest story is Woo’s return, as the right-hander hasn’t pitched since suffering pectoral tightness in a start against the Astros on September 19.  Woo’s ramp-up work didn’t quite allow him to be ready for Seattle’s ALDS roster, but president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto said on Friday after the Mariners’ Game 5 clinch that Woo would likely be part of the roster against Toronto.

Dipoto specified that Woo wouldn’t be available until closer to midway through the series, which would seemingly line him up for a start in Game 4.  Because Gilbert and Castillo were both needed in the 15-inning finale against Detroit, the Mariners’ rotation plans over the first two ALCS games in Toronto are very much up in the air.  Miller will start Game 1 on short rest and it can be assumed that Kirby will start Game 3 on regular rest, but it remains to be seen if Castillo and/or Gilbert will be involved in Game 2, and in what capacity.

Woo takes the roster spot of rookie infielder Ben Williamson, who didn’t see any action in the ALDS (and hasn’t played in a big league game since July 30).  Williamson’s inclusion on the ALDS roster was largely as a hedge against Josh Naylor potentially missing time on paternity leave, so the Mariners wouldn’t be left short-handed in terms of infield depth.  As it happened, Naylor played in all five games against Detroit and was still able to welcome his first child into the world.

Seattle’s other change comes on the bench, with one left-handed utilityman in Mastrobuoni replacing another in Luke Raley.  Mastrobuoni doesn’t have Raley’s offensive upside, but brings more to the table in pure versatility.  Raley can play first base and all three outfield positions, but Mastrobuoni saw work at both corner outfield slots and at first base in 2025, as well as time as a second and third baseman.  Essentially, Mastrobuoni’s inclusion allows the Mariners to replace Raley and Williamson in one fell swoop.  Raley came off the bench in four games of the ALDS, with one hit-by-pitch over six plate appearances.

Poll: Who Will Win The League Championship Series?

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The postseason field has been narrowed down to four teams, in mostly chalk fashion.  Each member of the final four is a division winner, and three of the clubs received first-round byes.  The Dodgers were the only club who had to advance through the wild card round, and the reigning World Series champs aren’t exactly underdogs.  In fact, all of the Brewers, Mariners, and Blue Jays had a lot more questions to answer about their playoff readiness given a recent lack of postseason success, yet all three teams were up to the task in winning their League Championship Series matchups.

Only the Yankees have reached the World Series more times than the Dodgers, who are vying for the franchise’s 23rd trip to the Fall Classic.  Los Angeles is the defending champion aiming for its third ring in six seasons, against three teams with much less of a postseason resume.  The Blue Jays are a perfect 2-0 in the club’s only two World Series appearances, but they last reached the Series in 1993.  The Brewers’ lone Series appearance was so long ago (in 1982) that the club was still in the American League, and Milwaukee fell to the Cardinals in a seven-game nail-biter.  The Mariners can get a big albatross off their backs just by winning the AL pennant, as Seattle is the only team in Major League Baseball to have never reached a World Series.

The ALCS between the Mariners and Blue Jays carries some added historical import since the two teams both joined MLB in 1977.  The only previous playoff series between the two expansion cousins took place in 2022, when Seattle swept Toronto in two games in the best-of-three wild card series, and made an epic comeback from an 8-1 run deficit to capture a 10-9 win in Game 2.  That crushing loss was part of the 0-6 playoff record the Jays carried during the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. era, before Toronto broke out with a dominant win over the Yankees in this year’s ALDS.

Blue Jays hitters erupted for 34 runs and a collective .338/.373/.601 slash line over the four games against New York.  While that level of an explosion came as a surprise, Toronto led the league in both batting average and OBP this season, while also finishing near the top of the table in runs and OPS.  Seattle’s season-long numbers weren’t quite as impressive, yet the club has been one of baseball’s best offensive teams since Josh Naylor and Eugenio Suarez were acquired at the trade deadline.  Led by these two big bats, Julio Rodriguez, Jorge Polanco, and the all-around brilliance of MVP candidate Cal Raleigh, the Mariners’ powerful lineup will provide the Jays’ pitching staff with a huge challenge.

In terms of run prevention, the Blue Jays have a significant edge on defense.  Toronto had a collective +51 Defensive Runs Saves and +14 Outs Above Average in the regular season, in comparison to Seattle’s +9 DRS and -30 OAA.  This could potentially help the Jays counter the Mariners’ deeper rotation, as with Bryan Woo expected to return from injury in the ALCS, all five of the M’s regular starters will be available in some capacity.  How exactly those starters will be deployed is still a matter of debate, as George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, and Luis Castillo all had to pitch during Seattle’s 15-inning marathon with the Tigers in Game 5 of the ALDS.

The Blue Jays held a 4-2 edge in the season series with the Mariners this year, and have the homefield advantage as the AL’s top seed.  That is a significant point for a Jays team that is 56-27 at Rogers Centre during the regular season and playoffs, plus the Mariners’ road record is only 40-43.  Turning to the National League, the Brewers and Dodgers each had identical 52-29 home records in the regular season, and Milwaukee was an impressive 45-36 away from home, while the Dodgers were only 41-40 on the road.

The other eye-opening statistic is Milwaukee’s perfect 6-0 record in head-to-head play against Los Angeles this season.  As daunting as the Dodgers’ star-studded roster may be, the Brewers have had their number in 2025, and will now have to try and do it again in the postseason.  L.A. has won the only two prior postseason series between the two franchises, including a seven-game win in the 2018 NLCS.

That 2018 season marked the last time the Brew Crew won a playoff series until their five-game win over the Cubs in this year’s NLDS.  The series as a whole was a demonstration of the kind of quality pitching and timely hitting that the Brewers have enjoyed all season.  A relative lack of power is basically the only flaw for a lineup that posted tremendous numbers, but Andrew Vaughn’s career turn-around since being acquired by the Brewers in June has added a new dimension to the offense.

A pair of shaky starts from Freddy Peralta and Quinn Priester at Wrigley Field could be red flags for the Brewers against L.A.  Peralta pitched well enough in Game 1 that his Game 4 performance might just be a hiccup, yet if Priester can’t get on track, the Brewers will have to lean even harder on a bullpen that has already logged a lot of innings in the NLDS.  Milwaukee is as creative as any team in getting the most out of its pitching staff, so expect plenty of unconventional pitcher usage as the Brewers will try to keep the Dodgers at bay.

After a somewhat underwhelming regular season by their high standards, the Dodgers may have flipped the switch for October, sweeping the Reds in the wild card series and then dispatching the Phillies in a four-game NLDS.  Even with several stars (Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and an injury-diminished Will Smith) yet to get rolling at the plate, the Dodgers have been aided by a red-hot Mookie Betts and contributions from up and down their seasoned lineup.

Roki Sasaki’s emergence as the club’s seeming first choice at closer has been huge for Los Angeles, and perhaps addresses the team’s biggest weakness.  If Sasaki is now a high-leverage option late in games and the excellent L.A. starting rotation remains in form, the Brewers have a pretty narrow window to strike against the rest of the struggling Dodger bullpen.

Seven Players Elect Free Agency

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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.

Infielders

Outfielders

Pitchers

Bryan Woo Expected To Be Part Of Mariners’ ALCS Roster

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After an epic 15-inning win over the Tigers in Game Five of the ALDS, the Mariners are advancing to their first AL Championship Series since 2001.  The club’s hard-worked pitching staff will likely be getting some major reinforcements, as M’s president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto told reporters (including the Seattle Times’ Adam Jude) that right-hander Bryan Woo is expected to added to the Mariners’ roster for the next round.

Woo probably won’t pitch until closer to the midpoint of the series, Dipoto said.  This means Woo is being lined up for a start when the ALCS shifts to Seattle for Games 3-4 and (if necessary) 5.  It also leaves open the question of who exactly will be starting for the Mariners in the first two games in Toronto, as the M’s used starters Logan Gilbert and Luis Castillo out of the bullpen during last night’s 15-inning marathon.  Gilbert threw 34 pitches over two innings of relief, and Castillo threw 15 pitches over 1 1/3 frames.

Dipoto told Shannon Drayer of Seattle Sports 710 radio last night that “probably Bryce [Miller] and friends” would be the plan for Game 1, “but for a couple of days we may have to be creative…simply because so many guys had to pitch in today.”  Miller would be working on three days’ rest if he started Game 1, so as Dipoto implied, the bullpen may be leaned on again in what would probably be a limited start for the righty.  Castillo is probably the favorite to go in Game 2 with Gilbert’s availability also a question, and in theory, this could line up Gilbert for Game 3, George Kirby in Game 4, and Woo in Game if the M’s chose to deploy their full rotation.  This assumes that Woo will be used in a normal starting capacity, and holding him off until the middle of the series would give the right-hander more time to fully ramp up.

Woo posted a 2.94 ERA over 186 2/3 innings during the regular season, but he developed pectoral tightness in a start on September 19 that forced him out of the game after five shutout innings.  Woo hasn’t pitched since, though he wasn’t placed on the 15-day injured list, and he was able to throw a bullpen session and a simulated inning prior to the start of the ALDS.  Jude wrote prior to Game 5 that Woo threw close to 30 pitches during a bullpen session on Friday, and “appeared to be throwing at roughly 75 percent effort” before kicking things up “closer to 100 percent” for the final few pitches of the session.

Seattle and Toronto don’t have to reveal their ALCS rosters until tomorrow, so we’ll get the final word then on Woo’s involvement and whose spot he’ll be taking on the 26-man.  The move to a seven-game series likely means the Mariners will carry an extra pitcher after using 14 position players and 12 pitchers in the ALDS, so a rookie like Ben Williamson or Harry Ford could be the odd man out.

Tigers, Mariners Announce ALDS Rosters

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The Tigers and Mariners get their AL Division Series underway tonight in Seattle, with rookie Troy Melton starting for Detroit against former All-Star George Kirby.  Both teams will go with 14 position players and 12 pitchers on their 26-man rosters for the series….

Tigers catchers: Dillon Dingler, Jake Rogers
Infielders: Colt Keith, Trey Sweeney, Spencer Torkelson, Gleyber Torres
Outfielders: Kerry Carpenter, Riley Greene, Jahmai Jones, Parker Meadows, Wenceel Perez
Utility players: Javier Baez, Andy Ibanez, Zach McKinstry
Left-handed pitchers: Tyler Holton, Brant Hurter, Tarik Skubal
Right-handed pitchers: Kyle Finnegan, Jack Flaherty, Brenan Hanifee, Tommy Kahnle, Troy Melton, Casey Mize, Keider Montero, Rafael Montero, Will Vest

Mariners catchers: Harry Ford, Mitch Garver, Cal Raleigh
Infielders: J.P. Crawford, Josh Naylor, Jorge Polanco, Leo Rivas, Eugenio Suarez, Ben Williamson
Outfielders: Randy Arozarena, Dominic Canzone, Victor Robles, Julio Rodriguez
Utility players: Luke Raley
Left-handed pitchers: Caleb Ferguson, Gabe Speier
Right-handed pitchers: Eduard Bazardo, Matt Brash, Luis Castillo, Logan Gilbert, Emerson Hancock, Luke Jackson, George Kirby, Bryce Miller, Andres Munoz, Carlos Vargas

Keith and Hanifee are newcomers to the playoff roster, replacing Paul Sewald and Justyn-Henry Malloy.  Right ribcage inflammation has kept Keith from playing since September 18, and he wasn’t quite ready to go for the Tigers’ wild card series against the Guardians.

As MLB.com notes, Keith isn’t feeling 100 percent but he is good enough to hit, so it is possible he might be limited to pinch-hitting or DH duty in the series.  Since the Mariners are heavy on right-handed pitchers, the Tigers’ bench should benefit by adding a left-handed bat like Keith, who hit .267/.346/.439 over 422 plate appearances against righties this season.

The biggest developments on Seattle’s roster were reported earlier today, as Bryan Woo remains sidelined due to a pectoral injury.  Josh Naylor’s impending paternity leave is also a major storyline for the series, though the M’s would get to make a mid-series substitution if Naylor did have to depart for the birth of his first child.

Bryan Woo Left Off Mariners’ ALDS Roster

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Right-hander Bryan Woo won’t be part of the Mariners’ AL Division Series roster, according to the Seattle Times’ Adam Jude.  “The club is optimistic Woo will be available in the ALCS if they do advance,” Jude writes, though Seattle’s path to the next round will be trickier without their most consistent pitcher from the 2025 season.

Woo’s postseason status has been a question mark since September 19, when the righty left a start after five innings due to pectoral tightness.  The M’s didn’t place Woo on the 15-day injured list, which was viewed as a sign that the injury wasn’t overly serious, and that the team was just being cautious in shutting Woo down in advance of what became an increasingly likely playoff berth in the final stretch of September.  The fact that the Mariners won the AL West and secured a first-round bye only added to the hope that Woo would be ready once the postseason got underway.

A Thursday bullpen session and a simulated inning marked the first time Woo had thrown off a mound since his injury.  Despite initial reports that the bullpen went well, it could be that Woo felt some discomfort the day after his throwing sessions, or perhaps he simply wasn’t close enough to 100 percent for the Mariners to pull the trigger on a roster spot.

More details should become available when manager Dan Wilson speaks with reporters later today, but the bottom line is that the Mariners’ rotation is missing a very important arm.  In a season when the usually excellent Seattle pitching staff was more solid than great, Woo took a step forward to lead the pitchers in fWAR (3.6), innings (186 2/3), and ERA (2.94).  Woo augmented those numbers with a 4.5% walk rate that ranked among baseball’s best, as well as a very strong 27.1% strikeout rate.

These numbers came on the heels of a very good 2024 season for Woo that was marred only by injuries, as a pair of IL stints limited him to 121 1/3 innings.  The full and healthy version of Woo made his first All-Star team in 2025 and established himself as another important frontline piece of the Mariners’ deep rotation, though this pec injury now threatens to bring a sour ending to this breakout campaign.

George Kirby will be the Mariners’ Game 1 starter today, and Luis Castillo will start Game 2.  The club hasn’t announced their Game 3 starter once the series shifts to Detroit for at least once game, though Logan Gilbert seems like the logical choice.  If a Game 4 is necessary, Bryce Miller will likely start, though it’ll probably be an all-hands-on-deck situation if the Mariners are facing elimination (or if they want to throw everything to try and eliminate the Tigers in four games, with an off-day to rest up the staff before a Game 5 in Seattle).

The Mariners’ full ALDS roster will be announced later today, but Jude reports that rookie catcher Harry Ford and rookie infielder Ben Williamson have made the cut.  Williamson’s presence gives Seattle some depth at third base if Eugenio Suarez has to move to first base.  Josh Naylor’s availability for the series beyond Game 1 is in question due to an impending paternity leave, as Naylor’s wife Chantel is on the verge of giving birth to the couple’s first child.

14 Players Elect Free Agency

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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

Infielders

Outfielder

Pitchers

Photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images

Mariners Notes: Woo, ALDS Roster, Raleigh

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No, Ichiro Suzuki isn’t coming out of retirement to be part of the Mariners’ playoff roster.  The Hall-of-Famer played six innings in the outfield during a split-squad tune-up game yesterday at T-Mobile Park, adding some extra fun to the proceedings as the M’s got ready for the start of their ALDS matchup with either the Tigers or the Guardians on Saturday.

The final calls on the 26-man playoff roster won’t be announced until a few hours before Saturday’s game, and as Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times notes, some of the Mariners’ decisions will likely depend on whether they’re facing Detroit or Cleveland.  Perhaps the biggest roster question revolves about Bryan Woo’s status, but manager Dan Wilson said Woo is set to toss a bullpen session today.

“It seems like things are going according to plan,” Wilson told Divish and other reporters.  “He’ll get off the mound on Thursday, and so getting a chance to hear how he comes back from that on Friday and whatnot….We’ll just a continue to take it day by day and assess.  And I do believe that we’re in a good spot with that.”

The bullpen session will mark Woo’s first time throwing off a mound since September 19, when pectoral tightness forced him out of a start after five innings.  The injury wasn’t severe enough to merit a placement on the 15-day injured list, though naturally the M’s are being as cautious as possible with a pitcher who has been Seattle’s most reliable starter in 2025.

No announcement has been made about the Mariners’ playoff rotation, as Wilson said those decisions will wait until they team knows their opponent and has more input on Woo’s availability.  Assuming Woo is able to pitch, however, Divish doesn’t think the right-hander will work in either of Seattle’s first two games of the series.  Based on mound work during Wednesday’s warm-ups, George Kirby and Logan Gilbert (in some order) could be the favorites to start Game 1 and Game 2.

The Mariners have long envisioned the idea of these two homegrown arms headlining a playoff series, ever since Kirby was drafted 20th overall in 2019 and Gilbert was the 14th overall pick of the 2018 draft.  As MLB.com’s Jim Callis writes, team scout Rob Mummau played a big role in convincing the M’s to select Gilbert, whose stock had somewhat dropped after an ill-timed bout of mononucleosis during the spring before the draft.

The focus of Callis’ piece is on Mummau’s real find of the 2018 draft, as the scout’s glowing reports led the Mariners to take Cal Raleigh with their third-round pick (90th overall).  Raleigh wasn’t a complete diamond in the rough, as the M’s had to pay Raleigh $221.3K over the slot value of the 90th overall pick to convince Raleigh to leave Florida State after his junior year.  However, while Raleigh was coming off a big season at FSU, his draft stock had fallen due to an unimpressive sophomore year.

Mummau (who had some past ties to Raleigh’s family) knew that Raleigh had been dealing with a thumb injury that season.  As a result, Mummau’s grades on Raleigh’s offensive and defensive tools were notably higher than other scouts, who projected Raleigh as a part-time starting catcher at best.  It was enough for the Mariners to make the pick and the rest has become history, as Raleigh has exceeded all expectations to become a superstar on both sides of the ball.

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