The Final Week: What's at stake
 

Here are the standings and leaders as we head into the final week of the 2031 season:

https://i.imgur.com/WRnvklu.png

I scrolled past the Rays so I could fit in the AL Wild Card Race. The AL Central is up for grabs with the loser (and the Angels) needing to hold off Detroit for a wild card. The White Sox host Detroit on the final weekend but for the Tigers to remain relevant they're going to have to negotiate a tough 3-game series in Texas, ironically the team that beat them in the playoffs the last three years. So most likely the AL wild cards will be the Central loser and the Angels.

In the NL there are a couple of divisions at stake with Washington looking to hold off Columbus and the Dodgers and Diamondbacks neck-and-neck. The stakes are much higher in the East as the loser of that race will not have a wild card to fall back on.

September 28-30, 2031: vs Columbus (3)
 

Just realized I goofed the dates above, should be September 30-October 2, 2031. Don't know any way of editing the post title.

Game 1: The Publix Park crowd witnessed MLB history being made tonight as the Rays downed the Lightning 8-3 to set the MLB wins record with victory #123, breaking their own record of 122 set in 2028. As Jose Alvarado struck out Mathieu Nelson to end the game, the crowd gave the team a 5-minute standing ovation even though some of the players were quoted later as saying they hadn't won anything yet as the culture around this team is World Series or bust. The winning pitcher for this historic victory was a rookie, Jon Soranno, as he went an impressive 6 7 1 1 0 9 to improve an equally impressive 6-1, 3.09 as he lays down his marker to be in the 2032 rotation. Tim Siqueiros and Evan Godwin combined for a scoreless 7th & 8th, and with history on the line Alvarado was given the ball in honor of his 15 seasons with the team. It wasn't quite as storybook as hoped as he allowed 2 runs on 3 hits to Columbus but he got to be on the mound when it ended. Offensively, Nate Clark got things started in the 1st, hitting a Christian Rodriguez (not to be confused with their slugging All-Star 3B, Cristhian Rodriguez) 3-0 pitch into the RF bullpen for HR #37 to make it 2-0. Clark added a fielder's choice RBI as he hits the 140-RBI mark for the second straight season. Jasson Dominguez had a big day, going 3-4 with HR #30 and Connor Kirkley and Luis Corpus were each 2-4 with an RBI. The loss wasn't as costly for Columbus as it could have been with Washington losing and staying 1 game ahead but the Phillies won to pull into a tie with the Lightning so we have a legit 3-team race in the NL East.

Also this happened tonight:

https://i.imgur.com/WJ156Ei.png

A truly impressive outing from the Rangers righty who also achieves a rare 100+ game score at 101. The loss was big for Detroit as they are 2 out of the second AL wild card.

From the league office:

https://i.imgur.com/ATm5jL3.png

Jon Hayes and Aparicio continue to tag-team this award for five months running, Hayes won it in June and August and now AA has taken it in May, July and September. The Angels' Trent Black, who won in April, kept the Rays staff from clean-sweeping this award.

Game 2: Andy Aparicio made his final regular-season start and it was a summation of his season to date as he hurled 7 shutout innings in a 2-0 Rays win over Columbus. AA was dealing again, although he had to get out of a bases-loaded, 1-out situation in the 2nd with a pair of whiffs, going 7 4 0 0 3 9 to finish his first season as a starting pitcher 22-2, 1.59 with 38 walks and 247 strikeouts in 226 IP. The 22 wins ties the team single-season record just set a few days ago by Jon Hayes (who can claim it as his own in his final start coming up) and the 1.59 ERA is the lowest since Greg Maddux's 1.56 in the strike-shortened 1994 season and the lowest in a full season since Dwight Gooden's 1.53 in 1985. He also finishes with an MLB-best 9.4 WAR, so he's earned Cy Young and MVP in my book. Evan Godwin had a 1-2-3 8th and Jordan Diaz likewise in the 9th for save #25, but there was some bad news I'll get to in a second. The two runs came via homers with Eloy Jimenez, who hit only 1 in all of September launched #56 for the year and #13 as a Ray in the 2nd inning, and Jakob Runnels, from whom I was hoping for 8-10 homers in part-time play based on his track record, hit his 3rd in the 5th. Now about that bad news:

https://i.imgur.com/2p9pUOl.png

Ouch. That one might hurt more than the Witt loss. The injury came on the final pitch of the game as he struck out Freddy Zamora. So Jose Alvarado goes from job-share to full-time closer and Tim Siqueiros is promoted to late-game righty. Not sure if I'm going to promote Eric Carter or Chris Hicks to take his place or maybe bring up Malachi Benford, who's been a starter the last couple years with Durham, to pitch relief.

MLB Playoff Race Update: Things are really wild in the NL East now as in addition to Columbus losing, Washington lost but Philadelphia won, meaning the Phillies and Nationals are now tied for the division lead with the Lightning one game behind. Cleveland has retaken the AL Central lead from the White Sox by 1/2 game, and Detroit pulled to within 1 game of the Angels for the 2nd AL wild card. The Dodgers now lead Arizona by 1 game in the NL West, although both teams are assured of at least a wild card.

October 2: Placed P Jordan Diaz on the 15-day IL with a sprained elbow, purchased the contract of P Chris Hicks from AAA Durham.

I ended up going with Hicks as he seemed the best short relief option with 75 stuff and 50 movement (but only 45 control) as opposed to Carter who is 80-40-40 and Benford who's 65-50-55 as a reliever. I was eyeing Hicks as a possible addition to the 40-man this offseason and now he's on it.

Game 3: Alec Sachais closed out his regular season in brilliant fashion as the Rays beat Columbus 5-2 to sweep the series and effectively eliminate the Lightning from playoff contention, as both Washington and Philly won today to open up a 2-game lead on Columbus. Sachais was nearly unhittable, allowing only an infield single in a 7 1 0 0 1 8 outing which concludes his regular season at 17-8, 3.14 with a 36/217 BB/K ratio in 189 innings, good for 4.5 WAR. In a normal year on a normal team, he might be considered a Cy Young contender with those numbers; here, he's the 4th starter. Jon Whiteleather pitched an effective 8th with 2 whiffs to bounce back from a couple of shaky outings, but shaky was the kindest adjective to describe Brad Ballmann, who entered the 9th with a 5-0 lead and proceeded to allow 2 hits and 2 walks without getting anyone out as he pitches himself off the playoff roster. Newly-minted right-handed closer Tim Siqueiros came in to bail him out, and although Siqueiros wild-pitched the man on 3rd home and then issued a walk to re-load the bases, he got a whiff and a double play to end the game and pick up his 3rd save of the year. All five of the Rays' runs came in the 4th inning, with the big blow a 3-run blast from Joe Barker, his 30th of the season. Barker's at 95 RBI so it will take a big final weekend for him to hit the century mark. Jasson Dominguez is at 97 RBI so he has a slightly better shot, although he didn't get one today as Luis Corpus's double and a GIDP accounted for the other two runs. Dominguez does have a shot at the batting title, though, as he's at .331 and Houston's Alex Padilla leads at .333.

Team record: 125-34. Next up: We close out the regular season with a weekend set at home against Toronto. Hopefully nobody else gets hurt.

MLB Playoff Race Update: In addition to the goings-on in the NL East chronicled above, Arizona and the Dodgers are once again tied atop the NL West. In the AL, Cleveland is 1/2 game up on the White Sox while the Tigers trail the Angels by 1 1/2 games for the second wild card. I just discovered that the schedule has shorted Detroit and Cleveland by a game so I have tentatively scheduled a game for the two to play on Monday if it means anything, which it probably will at least for the Central race.

October 3-5, 2031: vs Toronto (3)
 

Game 1: Jon Hayes failed in his bid to become the Rays' first-ever 23-game winner, so he'll have to settle for a tie with Andy Aparicio on 22 wins for the team record after a 5-4 loss to Toronto. Hayes was not very good today, going 3.2 9 5 5 2 5 with Danny Ceja allowing the last two runs to score off him on a double. He finishes the regular season at 22-5, 3.00* with a 43/202 BB/K ratio in 210.1 innings (*his ERA is actually 2.995 so he finishes below 3 even if it gets rounded up), good for 6.3 WAR. Again, a Cy Young-worthy season but he has about 2/3 the WAR Aparicio accumulated. Ceja pitched well after giving up that double, going 3 1/3 scoreless and Chris Hicks made his MLB debut in impressive fashion with 2 scoreless innings, whiffing a pair and allowing only one hit. The offense consisted of a makeshift lineup, and until the 9th inning all they had was a Rodolfo Rivas solo homer in the 4th. But they nearly came all the way back when Rivas led off the 9th with his second solo homer (#20), and they put a couple of more on who Dane Ayers doubled in to cut the lead to 5-4. But Dayle Jenkins grounded out against Eric Woodliff, who blew the save last week against us and nearly did again, to end the game.

MLB Playoff Race Update: A big night for Detroit as they beat the White Sox and LA and Cleveland both lost, keeping Cleveland 1/2 game up in the Central but allowing Detroit to pull within 1/2 game of the Angels for the second wild card. That Monday makeup game between Detroit and Cleveland is looming large. Over in the NL the Diamondbacks and Dodgers both won to stay tied atop the West, and for some reason the Nationals and Phillies were both off today and will play doubleheaders tomorrow.

Game 2: Some late-season drama at Publix Park as Nate Clark's walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the 9th scored Dayle Jenkins to give the Rays a 7-6 win over Toronto. It was a back-and-forth game with Christian Little struggling in his final regular season start, going 5 8 4 4 1 7 although he was still in line for the win before the bullpen blew a 6-4 lead. He finishes the year 17-7, 3.64 with 292 in 197 innings and 5.4 WAR. Mike Mooney and Jon Whiteleather conspired to allow a couple of runs between them although Whiteleather's was unearned when Jenkins dropped a fly ball. Nate Thompson struck out the side in the 9th to pick up win #5. Clark had earlier homered (#38) and Jenkins was 3-5 with 2 RBI while Rodolfo Rivas added a 2-run single. One scare tonight: Jasson Dominguez had to leave in the 1st inning with a sprained elbow, but it's considered minimal and will bother him for about a week so he'll rest tomorrow and be ready for the ALDS.

MLB Playoff Race Update: The Tigers beat the White Sox and the Angels lost while Cleveland won. This means Cleveland has pretty much clinched the AL Central - they'd have to lose tomorrow and the game on Monday with Detroit and the White Sox would have to win to force a tie - and Detroit has moved ahead of the Angels by 1/2 game for the second wild card and the White Sox are only ahead of Detroit by 1/2 game for the first wild card so it's wide open there. In the NL the Nationals swept their doubleheader with the Mets while the Phillies split theirs with Columbus meaning Washington is ahead by a game going into the final day and simply needs to win or the Phillies need to lose. It's the same story in the NL West where Arizona won but the Dodgers lost meaning they lead the division by a game.

Meanwhile... https://i.imgur.com/XiTDFWd.png

I think he's ready. Gonna be interesting to see what we do with Connor Kirkley.

Game 3: The Rays closed out their record-setting regular season with win #127, a 10-0 rout of the Blue Jays. Jon Soranno was brilliant in his 5 innings of work, retiring the first 14 Jays he faced until Gabriel Moreno singled. But after getting the final out of the 5th he had to leave with a calf strain and will miss 3 weeks which is a shame because he was going to be on the playoff roster. Still, his 5 1 0 0 0 5 performance got him the win and he finished an impressive 7-1, 2.80 in his 9 starts with the big club, earning 1.2 WAR in the process. Brad Ballmann closed the regular season on an actual positive note going 3 1 0 0 1 4, and Chris Hicks loaded the bases in the 9th with nobody out but got out of it with a whiff and a double play ball to keep the team shutout intact. The offensive came primarily via the home run with five balls leaving the park and coming from some unlikely sources. Jakob Runnels hit #4 with a man on in the 2nd and then Rylan Bannon went back-to-back with him for his 1st and only homer in his Rays reunion. Victor de Jesus (#23) and D'Andre Hodges (#4) hit 2-run homers in the 6th before Eloy Jimenez connected on #14 as a Ray and finishes his overall season with 57 HR, 143 RBI and 8.7 WAR between Houston, Colorado and here.

Final regular season team record: 127-35, the best in MLB history. Next up: The ALDS against an opponent to be determined.

MLB Playoff Update: So yeah, we have a bit of a mess with the AL Wild Card. Cleveland clinched the Central with a win today so that's settled, but the two wild cards remain wide open among 3 teams. Detroit beat the White Sox which means if Detroit wins their makeup game against Cleveland, they clinch a wild card. But the White Sox and Angels are tied for the second one and will have to have a playoff. And if Detroit loses the makeup game, well then we have a 3-way tie for the two wild cards and playoffs galore. So right now as it stands in the AL, Cleveland will go to Texas for one ALDS and the Rays will play whoever survives the wild card playoff(s) and the wild card game.

In the NL, the Diamondbacks and Nationals each won to clinch their respective divisions, meaning Washington will travel to Arizona in one NLDS and Cincinnati will play the winner of the Cardinals-Dodgers wild card game.

UPDATE: Detroit won the make-up game 7-3 over Cleveland so they have clinched the first wild card in the AL and will host the winner of the Angels-White Sox tiebreaker game in the wild card game.

October 7-10, 2031: Tiebreaker & Wild Card Games
 

Well the Rays will be facing either the Angels or the Tigers after LA won their one-game playoff with the White Sox for the second wild card in the most dramatic of fashion with Rich Gil's homer breaking a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the 9th:

https://i.imgur.com/6mri4PF.png

Also congrats to Mike Harms, yet another guy we're going to have to find room on the roster and playing time for:

https://i.imgur.com/yn80IbV.png

PLAYOFF ROSTER SET: A couple of guys who haven't been up with the big club made the playoff roster thanks to injuries to Jordan Diaz and Bobby Witt Jr. Malachi Benford, who had been up briefly in 2029 and 2030 as a reliever but has been part of Durham's rotation the last two years, will pitch in long relief if needed, and 3B prospect Bo Angeac will back up Dane Ayers at the hot corner and likely only see action in the event Ayers gets hurt.

The NL Wild Card Game:

https://i.imgur.com/EXcDctL.png

Great game from Leo Ortega, one of the top pitchers in the NL and the Cards put this one away early. They will now take on the Reds in the NLDS.

And the AL Wild Card Game:

https://i.imgur.com/PWQTKGM.png

Bring on the Tigers! The last we played them in the playoffs was in 2024 in an epic 7-game ALCS which saw the Rays come back from 3-1 down in the series to win on a walk-off in the bottom of the 9th in Game 7 after blowing the lead in top of the inning.

2031 Final Regular Season Standings & Stats
 

Forgot to the do this post before the playoffs started since I lumped the regular-season tiebreaker into the previous post. The final standings and leaders:

https://i.imgur.com/4I0aHNP.png

The final Rays team stats:

https://i.imgur.com/xknptXD.png

Just about perfection, with the only blemishes being 2nd in baserunning (we had an inordinate # of guys thrown out on the basepaths which had to be it), and of course the defensive #s (BABIP, Efficiency, Zone Rating). Our DE was actually pretty good but way out of whack with our zone rating. And I'm especially pleased to see the team ERA coming in under 3, an almost unheard-of accomplishment in this day and age.

The final offensive stats:

https://i.imgur.com/rpwKSPR.png

I wonder how many teams in history can boast 5 players with 6+ WAR? Or 12 players with at least 13 HR?

And the final pitching stats:

https://i.imgur.com/gowfaUf.png

What a rotation, what a bullpen, and Brad Ballmann with his final-day 3 shutout innings even got his WAR into positive territory, meaning we had nobody negative.

October 11, 2031: NLDS Game 1
 

https://i.imgur.com/rR576L0.png

Former Rays all around as Matt Manning pitched a dominant game to give the D-backs a 1-0 series lead, outdueling another ex-Ray Dustin May in the process. And Jack Leiter started for Cincinnati but had to leave in the 4th inning with a mild shoulder strain after going 3.2 1 0 0 0 6. The Reds jumped all over Jack Flaherty, who is no longer the ace he had been in previous years as his stuff has plummeted to 35. Also the Cardinals' only run came on an Isaac DeLeon homer, he had 33 for them playing about 2/3 of the games.

October 12, 2031: ALDS Game 1 & NLDS Game 2
 

It's Andy Aparicio's world, we're all just living in it:

https://i.imgur.com/fReJPpE.png

It's not often people can say the best player in baseball is a pitcher, but Andy Aparicio has staked a claim to that distinction with an incredible season that has carried over to the postseason as he dominated Detroit with a complete game 3-hitter in a 4-1 win to give the Rays a 1-0 lead on Detroit in the ALDS. Carter Young stunned the crowd in the 2nd inning with a homer off Aparicio to give the Tigers a brief 1-0 lead, but the Rays ace gave Detroit nothing after that. The Rays' bats weren't exactly hitting the cover off the ball either but they made the most of their opportunities as in the 3rd inning Luis Corpus led off with a walk, Ricky Widmar doubled him to 3rd and Dayle Jenkins took one into the LCF seats to make it 3-1 Rays. Widmar then followed with a solo shot of his own to almost the same location in the 5th, but they only managed 5 hits for the game. In a somewhat controversial move I benched long-time starter Joe Barker in favor of Victor de Jesus as the latter really outperformed the former over the course of the season, accumulating 3.5 WAR to Barker's 2.3 in substantially fewer at-bats. It's no secret Barker will be dealt this offseason as we also have Rodolfo Rivas and Mike Harms at the position, and Barker will cost big bucks in arbitration. Anyway back to the present Jon Hayes will get the ball tomorrow in Game 2.

The other games:

https://i.imgur.com/vhxnI5W.png

Texas closer Jim Connors blew a 2-run lead in the 9th and then allowed an Austin Hendrick homer in the 10th as Cleveland came from behind to take Game 1 of their ALDS, the Reds shocked the Cards with 3 late runs off former Ray Jeremy Bienick to take a 2-0 lead in their NLDS, and the Nationals evened things up with the Diamondbacks in the other NLDS.

October 13, 2031: ALDS Game 2
 

Welp...

https://i.imgur.com/9zgbzS3.png

Hate to say it, but the Jordan Diaz injury loomed large tonight as Tim Siqueiros couldn't get the job done in a critical situation and the Rays lost Game 2 to Detroit 5-3 to fall into a series tie. Jon Hayes survived some early ineffectiveness to settle in and hold the game at 3-3 until the 8 when with one out he walked a man. With some righties due up Siqueiros got the call and walked a man himself, putting 2 on with one out. He got former Ray Spencer Torkelson (who had homered off Hayes in the 1st) to fly out, but Blaze Jordan blazed a double into the corner in right, scoring both runners and putting the Tigers ahead for good. The offense once again was largely AWOL. It didn't hurt him last night thanks to Andy Aparicio's gem but it cost them tonight as they only managed 6 hits off Detroit starter Alek Manoah and nothing off rookie closer Alex Olmos. Jasson Dominguez was the offense tonight, singling and coming around to score on a Connor Kirkley single in the 2nd, and blasting a 2-run homer to tie the game in the 4th. Nate Clark had to leave the game in the 3rd with neck stiffness making a throw, but it's minimal so he'll be back in the lineup for Game 3, which will have Christian Little trying to restore the series advantage to the Rays.

In the other ALDS:

https://i.imgur.com/o2Ym6Rq.png

Cleveland is one game away from the ALCS after getting to Texas ace Wil Diaz for 5 runs in a 7-3 win, a game in which they turned 4 double plays to stymie several Ranger rallies.

October 14, 2031: NLDS Game 3
 

https://i.imgur.com/nZh1JYE.png

Congrats to the Reds, who backed up their best record in the NL this year with a 3-game sweep of St. Louis in the NLDS behind rookie pitching sensation Chris Martin. Meanwhile Arizona took the advantage in the other NLDS thanks to Darryl Collins' 3-run homer off Yusuke Matsuda in the 8th inning to give the D-backs a 7-4 win. The homer capped a 5-RBI day for Collins.

October 15, 2031: ALDS Game 3 & NLDS Game 4
 

This was not in the script:

https://i.imgur.com/Ie8NEFi.png

So once again in the postseason against Detroit the Rays find themselves on the brink of elimination. Back in the 2024 ALCS they fell behind 3-1 to the Tigers before winning the next three. This time they only have to win two straight, but even being in this situation is foreign to most of this group, who haven't lost consecutive postseason games since dropping the first two games of the ALCS in 2027 to the Angels, the last playoff series they've lost. In fact a loss in either of the next two games would represent their earliest elimination in nine years, when Toronto beat them in 5 in the 2022 ALDS. Today the story was the almost-complete ineffectiveness of Christian Little, who just didn't have anything tonight and whom I probably (no, definitely) left in too long. As you can see from the box above Little only had 2 strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings, an unheard-of amount for him. We were killed again by Levi Usher and Mike Harper at the bottom of the Detroit lineup as they went 7-for-7 combined and drove in all 6 Tiger runs. For a brief while it looked like the Rays might take this game, especially after Jasson Dominguez (a 474-ft shot to dead center) and Connor Kirkley took Tigers ace Kumar Rocker deep in the 4th. Even though Rocker wasn't at his best, Little was worse, and the Rays couldn't get anything off the Detroit bullpen as once again the offense was a no-show outside out of those homers, held to 6 hits or fewer for the third time in three games in this series. So it's up to Alec Sachais to save the season tomorrow or "the greatest regular season team ever" is going to end up a playoff flop.

In other games, the Rays can hopefully take inspiration from the Rangers and Nationals who both won tonight with their backs to the wall. Edwin Harty, who pitched a perfect game a couple of weeks ago, was almost as brilliant tonight going 8 1 0 0 2 10 in the Rangers' win, and the Nationals got a strong start from Seth Romero to force a deciding Game 5 in that series:

https://i.imgur.com/MZ030yD.png

The news wasn't all good tonight for Texas, though, as Wander Franco tore his groin and is done for the playoffs.

October 16, 2031: ALDS Game 4
 

Time to exhale...

https://i.imgur.com/EQjw1Ha.png

It wasn't pretty, but the Rays managed to eke their way past Detroit 3-2 to even up their ALDS and force Game 5 at Publix Park with Andy Aparicio on the mound. With one out in the 9th Dayle Jenkins singled, stole second, went to third on Sam Huff's throwing error and scored on a Nate Clark single to break a 2-2 tie and keep the Rays alive. The win came despite an almost complete lack of offense once again as they were held under 6 hits (5 today) for the 4th time in 4 games. Luckily a couple of those hits were homers, including a 472-foot shot from Victor de Jesus which gave the Rays a brief 1-0 lead and a much-shorter homer from Jenkins which barely cleared the wall in the 6th and tied the game up. For the second straight night a Rays starter really didn't have it, and Alec Sachais was fortunate to have only allowed 2 runs in his 4 innings after giving up 9 hits (Jasson Dominguez did throw a runner out at the plate which proved big). But the story of the game for the Rays was the bullpen, which held Detroit to 1 hit and 1 walk over 5 innings with Jon Whiteleather pitching a scoreless inning in his MLB playoff debut, Evan Godwin getting some big outs, Tim Siqueiros making up for giving up the game-winning hit in Game 2, and Jose Alvarado nailing it down in his first appearance of the postseason. The Rays dodged a huge bullet tonight and they've got the one guy going they'd pick to win a decisive Game 5 for them in their home ballpark, but they still have to play the game.

Also I'm seriously considering benching Eloy Jimenez for Game 5 as he is 0-16 and hasn't reached base once in the 4 games. Another great trade deadline acquisition!

Meanwhile, Texas too stayed alive and forced a Game 5 with a 9-3 rout:

https://i.imgur.com/QgbGwM5.png

October 17, 2031: NLDS Game 5
 

Since this was a deciding game, I'll go with the full box here:

https://i.imgur.com/lbk6Gpl.png

So it'll be the Diamondbacks against the Reds in the NLCS as we'll have a different representative for the NL in the World Series for the fifth straight season after the Cardinals appeared in 2026 and 2027.

October 18, 2031: ALDS Game 5
 

You can't win 'em all....

https://i.imgur.com/hM77n2q.png

Shock is the operative word in Tampa Bay, shock that Andy Aparicio was hit for 5 runs in the first 2 innings and 7 overall, and shock that the 127-win Tampa Bay Rays' season is over before it barely started in playoffs with a 9-5 loss to Detroit. It's well-known that anything can happen in the playoffs, especially in a short 5-game series, but the Rays had been immune to that gravity for several years now so it seemed like they'd never be subject to it. But they ran into an incredibly hot team in Detroit, which went 14-2 down the stretch to grab a wild card and win the wild card coming in, and well as the saying goes you can't predict baseball. In retrospect the series was lost in Game 2, when the Tigers broke a 3-3 tie in the 8th inning to keep the Rays from going up 2-0. As for today's game there isn't much that can be said. Aparicio getting tagged in the first two innings was something that hadn't happened all year in 32 regular season starts and 1 in the playoffs, but it looked like they might come back after cutting the lead to 5-4 in the 3rd and having two golden opportunities to tie or go ahead in the 4th and 5th when two men on and less than two out but they failed to convert both times. And then the dagger came in the 6th when Aparicio put the first two on and Evan Godwin poured gasoline on the fire by walking a man and then giving up a bases-clearing double to Enrique Bradfield. I tried shaking things up by bringing Joe Barker back in the lineup to replace the 0-16 Eloy Jimenez but that didn't help as Barker went 0-5 and fittingly made the final out in his final at-bat as a Ray as he'll be dealt this winter. Nate Clark had to leave again with a minor injury, so I put Jimenez in to replace him and on the first batter of the 4th Jimenez strained his hamstring making a diving catch and he too had to leave the game as his acquisition proved useless in the end (thankfully the cost wasn't much). So it's on to the offseason while fans across the country who were sick of seeing the Rays win it all every year finally get to see a new champion.

And who will the Tigers be playing in ALCS? None other than their nemesis the Texas Rangers who came back from 0-2 down to win the next 3. Texas has beaten Detroit the last three years in the playoffs in the ALDS, and now they meet one step beyond in the playoffs:

https://i.imgur.com/eLN8J2D.png

The 2031 LCS Round, Part One
 

With the Rays eliminated I'm not going to do daily posts of the playoffs; instead, I'll have a couple of posts for the LCSes and a few for the World Series.

October 19
NLCS Game 1

https://i.imgur.com/NQWm0uk.png

Unlike his former teammates Jack Leiter is still alive in the playoffs and pitched well today (2 runs in 6 1/3) but his bullpen blew it for him as Arizona took Game 1.

October 20
ALCS Game 1, NLCS Game 2:

https://i.imgur.com/7Xmhy35.png

The Rangers are learning that these are not the Tigers they thumped the previous 3 years, and they're getting a taste of what the Rays had to deal with as Levi Usher and Mike Harper picked up where they left off killing the Rays by going 6 for 7 with 2 RBI combined. Meanwhile, the D-backs go up 2 games behind 7 strong innings from Cayden Wallace.

October 21
ALCS Game 2:

https://i.imgur.com/zCWDHPl.png

The Rangers unload for 6 in the first inning and hold on to even up the series with Detroit.

October 22
NLCS Game 3:

https://i.imgur.com/eAkQddg.png

Rookie sensation Chris Martin continues to sensate, going 7 3 1 1 1 7 to get the Reds back into a series the home team has to yet to win in.

October 23
ALCS Game 3, NLCS Game 4:

https://i.imgur.com/ZwvyGRn.png

Nico Hoerner's RBI single in the 8th gave Texas a win at Detroit and a 2-1 lead in the ALCS as Tigers fans have to be thinking "here we go again" after 3 straight years of elimination by the Rangers. Meanwhile, the Reds took a 5-0 lead and held on for a 6-4 win in Arizona to even up their series at 2. The winning pitcher for Cincinnati was Jeff Baker, whom we traded them last season for Danny Medina, an excellent prospect who pitched well in relief in Durham and will probably be part of our 2032 staff.

The 2031 LCS Round, Part Two
 

October 24
ALCS Game 4, NLCS Game 5:

https://i.imgur.com/uOG5kJQ.png

Texas is on the verge now of making their first World Series since consecutive appearances in 2010-11 thanks to a win over the Tigers and thanks to the Tigers themselves who knocked off the Rays, who had beaten Texas the last 3 years in the ALCS. Edgar Medina's 2-run double in the 10th was the winner. And the Reds routed the Diamondbacks behind Jack Leiter's 6 2/3 shutout innings and a barrage of runs in a series that recalls the 2019 World Series as the home team just can't win it. Arizona will have to hope that trend continues as the series shifts back to Cincinnati for Game 6.

October 25
ALCS Game 5:

https://i.imgur.com/UCLLRj0.png

The Tigers stay alive with a tight win behind their ace Kumar Rocker in a battle against the Rangers' ace Wil Diaz. They'll still have to win two more in Texas if they want to pull this out, though.

October 26
NLCS Game 6:

https://i.imgur.com/rdqQihn.png

The Cincinnati Reds are in the World Series for the first time since 1990, when they shocked the Oakland A's, as the home team finally won a game in the series. This time around, they'll probably be the favorites as they had an NL-best 101 wins.

October 27
ALCS Game 6:

https://i.imgur.com/xdw2CK0.png

We've got a Game 7 on our hands! Carter Young homered and drove in 3 to lead Detroit to the Game 6 and force a deciding game. The Tigers, who were victimized the last time they were in the ALCS after taking a 3-1 series lead on the Rays, will now hope to do the same to Texas, which doesn't want to lose a fourth consecutive ALCS.

October 28
ALCS Game 7:

https://i.imgur.com/ps0KAvb.png

They did it! The Tigers came back from 3-1 down in the series to win Game 7 and advance to their first World Series since 2012 where they'll play the Cincinnati Reds. For the second straight series Detroit had to beat a Cy Young winner (or Cy Young-elect) in the deciding game as they took care of likely 2031 winner Andy Aparicio in the ALDS and beat the reigning winner Victor Presas today. A 2-run, 4-hit rally in the first was all that Sergio Alvarado and Derek DeGolyer would need as the combined the shut out the Rangers. Alvarado had to be in particular frustrating for them as they continually made contact, striking out just once, but couldn't get anything going against him.

The 2031 World Series, Part One
 

October 30, Game 1:

Not sure why we keep getting the wrong win probability charts in these games, so ignore 'em.

https://i.imgur.com/NONmaOn.png

Game 1 of the 2031 World Series was a matchup of former Vanderbilt teammates Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, but it turned out not to be a great day for either one of them. Less so for Rocker, who although he had to leave in the first inning, suffered only a mild abdominal strain and will make his next start, and of course his team won. Leiter pitched well but his offense and bullpen didn't help out as Detroit continues its magical run through the playoffs with a Game 1 win.

October 31, Game 2:

https://i.imgur.com/EudkaPz.png

We know now we're going at least 5 games as the Reds rallied in the 7th for 5 runs to take a 6-3 win. Andy Ferber's bases-clearing double was the big hit of the game for Cincinnati.

November 2, Game 3:

https://i.imgur.com/CBHBrHb.png

The Tigers overcame a great performance from rookie sensation Chris Martin to come back from 4 runs down in the 7th against the Cincinnati bullpen and then won it in the 10th on a Mike Harper (who killed the Rays in the ALDS) 2-run homer off Frandy Cuevas in the 10th inning to give Detroit a thrilling a 7-5 win and a 2-1 series lead.

The 2031 World Series, Part Two
 

November 3, Game 4:

https://i.imgur.com/138ldhz.png

Assuming the Reds don't come back to win the next three games, their World Series post-mortem will be short and sweet: the bullpen stunk. Once again they blew a healthy lead going into the late innings and once again they lost as Detroit now leads the series 3-1. Former Rays farmhand Jeff Baker pitched a great 6 innings for Cincinnati but his relievers failed him as Blaze Jordan capped a 3-run 9th-inning rally with a walk-off RBI single. Jordan's having a big postseason with 5 HR and 12 RBI, even if he is hitting .212. The Tigers now look for their first title since 1984 with a win tomorrow (or in 3 or 4 days).

November 4, Game 5:

https://i.imgur.com/W1Uu4vg.png

Congratulations to the Detroit Tigers, World Series winners for the first time in 47 years thanks to a 4-0 win and 4-1 series win over the Cincinnati Reds. Kumar Rocker pitched like the ace he's been with 7 strong shutout innings, outdueling former Vandy teammate Jack Leiter. At least the team that knocked out the Rays went on to win it all.

2031-32 Offseason: November
 

Well 2031 was a strange year with a record-setting regular season and some incredible standout performances, but an ALDS exit in the playoffs did sting after having won the previous 3 World Series titles, 5 in the previous 6 and 6 of the previous 8. But such is the playoffs. As we had to 2032, much of the core of the team is now eligible for arbitration so if we do nothing the payroll goes up from $95M or so to $154M. Even though Stu Sternberg has allowed me a payroll of $180M as he did last year, I'm going to continue to try to hold it down, perhaps to the $120-125M range.

Oh and I got this message:

https://i.imgur.com/GmKzQoj.png

I'm looking at trading 3 players in particular: Joe Barker, who frankly is no longer as good as our other 1B options (Rodolfo Rivas, Victor de Jesus), Connor Kirkley (it pains me after his 6-WAR breakout season) as Jaiden Hardaway is more than ready (and getting long in the tooth as a prospect at 26), and Marc Wagner (out for 2032 and eligible for arbitration). They could all go in one big deal for something - what exactly I'm not sure yet as we have no glaring needs. 3B could be a consideration: Bobby Witt Jr remains under contract at $20M and is "wrecked". Dane Ayers could play there but I like having him as a supersub more. I'm not sure if there's a truly elite 3B out there worth trading for, and we also have Bo Angeac on the way but his contact issues make him not a sure thing.

I might be in the market for another catcher as Jakob Runnels was a disappointment backing up Luis Corpus, but again Will Quintana is more than ready to move up. Our only free agent is Evan Godwin, whom I may or may not try to bring back. I'm also not sure what to do with Brad Ballmann, whose underlying skills remain great but haven't translated into production. The starting rotation should remain intact (with Jon Soranno as the 5th starter) but this is the last year of arbitration for Christian Little and Jon Hayes, and my philosophy remains not to sign big-ticket pitchers over 30 to long-term contracts.

November 10: Time for our first big trade:

https://i.imgur.com/WEaxk5g.png

Bye Bye Barker, and bye bye Wagner. The return is a premium CF prospect in Valdez, he's the #71 prospect in baseball and he's only 19, which means he isn't going to jam us up in the next couple of seasons since we have Jasson Dominguez and Omar Rodriguez behind him. (Alex Buitrago is in there too but he likely gets dealt this winter). Here are his ratings, which are pretty impressive:

https://i.imgur.com/R1u0Cf0.png

Like you, I have no idea what that blurb under "Personality" is supposed to mean.

Connell is an interesting bullpen arm, a sidearmer who probably will be more of a middle reliever than a closer, but we'll see. Needless to say this deal was not popular with the fans with two big names, especially Barker who was a playoff hero in the past.

November 14: Gold gloves were awarded, and Alec Sachais got one for the second straight season.

November 15: The ageless wonder gets his due recognition (he should have won a few more of these):

https://i.imgur.com/4pEYph1.png

Talk about getting better with age, notice he's lowered his ERA each of the last 5 seasons despite advancing well into his 30s.

November 16: Ricky Widmar (SS) and Nate Clark (LF) won the Platinum Stick Award at their respective positions.

November 18: Not a surprise, but still nice to see:

https://i.imgur.com/LIZ2auS.png

Aparicio stated in response to the award that he'd trade it for a better outing in Game 5 of the ALDS, but he was humbled to have won it. This returns the Cy Young to Tampa Bay after spending the last two years in Texas with Wil Diaz and Victor Presas. In fact Lucas Giolito of the White Sox in 2022 was the last non-Ray or non-Ranger to win it, with Tyler Glasnow taking it in 2023 and 2026, Matt Manning in 2024, Shane McClanahan in 2027 and Christian Little in 2028 for the Rays. Texas's Tarik Skubal won it in 2025.

And in the NL the award went to another guy who pitched with McClanahan, Little and Aparicio in recent years: none other than Jack Leiter, so in a way it's kind of a Rays win over there too.

November 20: HE DID IT!

https://i.imgur.com/QZSfDla.png

Andy Aparicio completes the double, winning MVP & Cy Young. It was much-deserved as his WAR was well above the rest of the league but I still don't believe a pitcher will win it until it happens. He becomes the second MVP in Rays history after Wander Franco in 2024, and the first pitcher to win the award since Justin Verlander 20 years ago. Aparicio also breaks Vlad Guerrero Jr's strangehold on the award as the Yankee 3B had taken it the previous three seasons and seven of the previous nine.

And it was a clean sweep of the two big awards in each league by Rays or former Rays as Gavin Lux took the NL MVP off a great season with Arizona.

2031-32 Offseason: December
 

Took the better part of 3 hours to import this save into OOTP22 this morning, but we're in the new game now and made a deal:

https://i.imgur.com/byLtfzF.png

Benford deserves to start somewhere but he was down our pecking order, so I turned him into Baez, a slick-fielding shortstop with some pop:

https://i.imgur.com/IU3soZH.png

(Yes, I'm using the dark colors for the game, I'll likely switch back to the classic woodgrain)

Also I've made the decision that I'm gonna keep Connor Kirkley, he was too good to trade. What this means is that either he or Jaiden Hardaway will be the DH, with a lot of rotation going on with him, Victor de Jesus and Rodolfo Rivas again. So this is my current roster projection for 2032:

C-Corpus, Runnels (I may deal Runnels and go with Will Quintana)
1B-Rivas
2B-Kirkley
SS-Widmar
3B-Witt
IF-Ayers
LF-Clark
CF-Dominguez
RF-Jenkins
DH-Hardaway
1B/OF-de Jesus
OF-Hodges
SP-Aparicio, Hayes, Little, Sachais, Soranno
MR-Ballmann, Thompson, Mooney, Medina(?)
SU-Siqueiros, Whiteleather
CL-Alvarado, J.Diaz

Medina is Danny Medina, a very similar pitcher to Nate Thompson, could be an electric starter but will pitch middle relief, he's out of options so he'll have to be kept.

December 7: Eloy Jimenez signs a 3/45.6 deal with the Columbus Lightning, as they make their biggest free agent splash in recent memory. He'll give them a fearsome middle of the order with Victor Mesa Jr. and Cristhian Rodriguez.

December 8: I'm thankful we'll be only be seeing Joe Allen in two series/year rather than six as the former Yankee slugger signed a 5/73.4 deal with Cleveland.

December 14: Matt Manning re-upped with Arizona on a 5/95 deal, while Mookie Betts moved across town (technically out to Orange County) to the Angels on a 3/49.2 deal. Although Betts is 39, he's still a top-notch player as he's coming off a season where he went .305-24-98 with 5.1 WAR.

December 17: Two big-name starters signed with new teams. Jack Flaherty, up until recently the best pitcher in the NL before his stuff took a dive off a cliff (now 35), signed a 3/52 deal with Houston. He was 13-11, 4.29 with only 104 whiffs in 201 IP so I kind of doubt that deal with hold up. Forrest Whitley, who bounced back to have a great season with the Yankees last year (15-7, 3.26, 4.7 WAR) inked a 4/72.8 pact with division rival Toronto.

December 18: The Astros remained active, going all-in on veterans. First they signed the top C on the free agent market, Bo Naylor, to a 5/54.8 deal, and then they acquired old friend Austin Meadows from the Dodgers, a shell of the player he was in his Rays days. Meadows is now "wrecked" and accumulated only 1.1 total WAR the past two seasons, playing in 168 games. The Angels acquired 37-year-old Andrew Benintendi from the Mariners, who keeps doing his 270/340/410 thing earning about 2.5-3 WAR per year. And the Yankees gave up on Jamie Oberton, the #1 overall pick in the 2026 draft who's been a mediocre middle reliever for them the last couple of years, shipping him to Washington for a relief prospect.

December 21: Added Ps Kevin Lovetere, Jeremy Allen and Gil Wayne, and OFs Omar Rodriguez and Nate Boesel to the 40-man roster.

The Rule 5 Draft is tomorrow, and these were all easy adds. Who might we lose? I predicted Chris Hicks last year but Washington gave him back and now he's on our 40-man. This year the leading candidates seem to be SP Mike Champagne, RP Ian Haley, RP Felix Bejerano,1B Jose Escobar, OFs Brandon Applebee, Devon Tuley and Emilio Mireles. A vet like Osmy Gregorio could also go.

December 22: Well that was a bust of a Rule 5 draft, only two players were taken and neither are worth mentioning.

December 30: The Angels continue to be MLB's old folks' home; after signing the 39-year-old Mookie Betts today they came to terms with 38-year-old SS Francisco Lindor on a 3/60.6 deal. After a 5.8 WAR season in 2030, Lindor kind of fell off a cliff last year, only generating 1.1 WAR on a 250/331/411 season with 19 HR and 62 RBI. Also Miguel "have bat, will travel" Andujar signed a 1/8 deal with the active Houston Astros where he'll try to replicate his typical 25 HR, 75 RBI season once again.

December 31: The Yankees were busy shoring up their bullpen today, re-signing Joe Jimenez to be their closer on a 2/14.8 deal and bringing in the top Korean import this winter, reliever Ji-Hoon Yoo, who has 80 stuff but 40 movement to a 2/12.8 deal. The big signing of the day was Arizona coming to terms with longtime Boston 1B Ryan Mountcastle on a 4/73.6 pact. The 34-year-old is coming off a bit of a down year, slipping to 2.5 WAR with a .281-15-79 season.

2031-32 Offseason: January-March
 

January 2: The Phillies signed Austin Hendrick to a 7/168 deal to return to Philadelphia. The former Cleveland slugger was traded there by Philly in 2026 after they had originally drafted him in 2020. He'll take the place of former Ray Judson Fabian, who is a free agent.

January 4: After spending the last couple of years in Kansas City, former Rays reliever Daniel Espino signed a 1-year, $7.2M deal with the White Sox where he'll presumably be their closer.

January 5: Speaking of former Rays relievers, Evan Godwin is now one after spending the last 6 1/2 seasons with us. He's taking his five rings to Cleveland on a 1-year, $2.6M deal. We could have afforded it and he was still good last year, but it was time to move on.

January 7: Former Rays farmhand Matthew Liberatore signed a 3/27.5 deal with the Mets. He's been an adequate starter for several years, nothing special but a good back-of-the-rotation guy.

In the big news of the day, the Hall of Fame voting came in and nobody was elected this year. Joe Mauer came agonizingly close at 74.5% in his 9th year on the ballot, one would think he'd make it over the top next time in his final year. A couple of first-timers had big shares, with Jacob deGrom getting 70.2% and Craig Kimbrel 69.3%. (I voted for deGrom but not Kimbrel). Among holdovers, Joey Votto is up to 65.2% on his 4th ballot and Giancarlo Stanton 53.1% on his 2nd.

January 10: Pesky leadoff hitter non pareil Enrique Bradfield got paid today, signing a 7/102 deal with Oakland. Bradfield gave us fits over the years with Boston, and then did again last season with Detroit in the playoffs.

January 15: The Tigers signed a former Ray reliever who spent the last couple of years at Durham, Romulo Canelon for a 1-year, $2.16M deal. UPDATE (1/21): They waived him, guess the AI forgot to add him to the 40-man roster.

January 18: Speaking of former Rays, Dustin May stayed in the NL East with a 4/59.2 contract with Philadelphia.

January 31: Longtime Dodgers star Cody Bellinger signed a 3/17.9 deal with Philadelphia, a pretty good bargain for the Phillies. Bellinger has been injury-prone and has only played about 2/3 of each of the last two seasons with LA, but he's produced 6.1 WAR combined over those two years so he should more than earn the deal.

https://i.imgur.com/JeYqcjE.png

Usurpers!

Time for a trade:

https://i.imgur.com/yDkLLbb.png

There really wasn't going to be any room for Danny Ceja, so he was dealt along with top SS prospect Ramon Ruiz to the Cardinals with the key being Dutch 3B prospect Kjeld Visser:

https://i.imgur.com/52hFysK.png

We really needed a top-quality 3B prospect in the pipeline ready to take over in a few years when Bobby Witt Jr's contract (or body) runs out. I like that at 19 he's already a 50 3B. And Ruiz was a little more expendable thanks to the Jeff Baez acquisition to keep us well-stocked at SS in the minors. And Gomez is a decent power-hitting OF prospect who was a supplemental 1st round pick in 2030. Johnson was a throw-in to get the deal done, he doesn't look to have that much of a future.

March 6: An old friend is on the move as the Phillies dealt Jasseel De La Cruz to St. Louis for a minor league reliever.

March 12: A couple of former Rays outfielders found new homes as Spencer Torkelson signed a 3/41 deal with the Giants and Judson Fabian went for 2/34 to the Cubs.

March 14: I usually don't report on Spring Training games but the Rays won their opener against the Angels 15-0, with Rodolfo Rivas drilling 2 HR and 5 RBI to go with homers from Dayle Jenkins, Bobby Witt Jr and Ricky Widmar.

March 17: The Mets signed a couple of interesting players to minor league contracts: longtime former Rays 2B Vidal Brujan and OF Dylan Carlson, both of whom spent time with the Angels last year.

March 18: Our first spring training injury and it's a significant one: Dane Ayers will be out a month with chronic back soreness. We have an open 40-man spot after trading Danny Ceja and we may either sign a veteran FA middle infielder or add Melvin Gutierrez to the roster. Gutierrez has been Durham's regular SS the past couple years and isn't much of a hitter but he's a 75 defender.

March 27: Signed IFs Xavier Edwards and Austin Martin to minor league contracts; invited both to Spring Training.

We need some middle infield depth and who better than our old friend Xavier Edwards as well as Martin. Both are off their mid-late 20s (age and calendar year) peaks but will help out at Durham.