The ALCS has put one of Cleveland’s most painful front-office swings right back in the spotlight.
The trade that sent Junior Caminero to Tampa Bay in November 2021 keeps looking worse for the Guardians. Cleveland got right-hander Tobias Myers back in the deal, but he never threw a big league pitch for the club. Myers was moved to the Giants in July 2022, and his rise as a quality reliever with the Brewers in 2024 only sharpened the sting for the Guardians, who “couldn’t believe they lost the trade twice,” according to The Athletic’s Zack Meisel and Will Sammon.
Meisel and Sammon revisited how that Caminero-for-Myers swap came together, noting that the Rays considered Xzavion Curry and three other prospects before landing on Caminero. None of those other players are still with Cleveland.
Caminero, then an 18-year-old prospect who had signed with the Guardians out of the Dominican Republic in 2019, was not especially well known at the time. Tampa scout Eduardo Sanchez earned credit for being particularly convinced by Caminero’s makeup, while other Rays evaluators were drawn to the swing and the bat speed.
The result was a major win for Tampa Bay, and with the Guardians holding a 2-1 lead in the ALCS, this is one trade they’d rather not see decide anything else.
There was better news out of Detroit on Troy Melton. The right-hander landed on the Tigers’ 15-day injured list on September 21 with right forearm tightness, but the team told reporters today that there is no structural damage and that Melton should have a normal offseason.
He was also slowed earlier in the year by elbow inflammation that cost him the first two months of the season. Even with that interrupted workload, Melton still put together a solid year, logging 114 1/3 innings with a 2.76 ERA over 20 starts in 2026.
His strikeout rate was just 20%, but he got help from a .248 BABIP, and Detroit still projects him as part of next year’s rotation.
In Chicago, White Sox GM Chris Getz said the club expects to bring back its coaching staff in 2027. Speaking at the team’s season wrap-up press conference, Getz pointed to the work done in last offseason’s hiring process and suggested the staff has become a real strength.
“I think about the last offseason and the amount of interviewing and hires that we made, and that certainly has paid off,” Getz said. “Now to have really talented coaches…in our locker room is something that is perhaps a separator for us.
And now to really stabilize that, to have that going forward, I think is going to benefit us.”
And back to Cleveland: right-hander Colin Holderman had right wrist surgery today, but the procedure is not expected to affect his normal offseason throwing plan or his availability for the start of Spring Training, according to MLB.com’s Tim Stebbins. Holderman had said two weeks ago that surgery was coming.
The update matters for his future with the Guardians, since he’s arbitration-eligible and projected to make $2.3 million in 2027. Cleveland non-tendered him last offseason, then brought him back on a one-year, $1.5 million deal.
That move worked out well, as Holderman posted a 2.73 ERA over 52 2/3 regular-season innings, but wrist issues sent him to the injured list on September 4 and kept him out of the postseason.
In Other News...
Blake Snell Just Reopened A Kevin Cash Debate Rays Fans Know Well
Blake Snells latest postseason outing brought back an old Rays talking point in a hurry. In a recent National League Championship Series game, the Dodgers left-hander worked deep enough to face the heart of Milwaukees order again, and Jake Bauers and Garrett Mitchell made him pay with back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning that swung the game to the Brewers.
For Tampa Bay fans, the sight probably felt familiar because the larger debate around Snell has never really gone away. The numbers have long pointed to the danger of letting a starter keep navigating an order too many times, and Snells career has been one of the clearest examples of that tension between trust in a frontline arm and the matchup realities that usually catch up to him. [Read more 🡒]
Rays Stadium Fight Nearly Took Another Brutal Turn In Tampa
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A later shift changed everything when an absent council member rejoined remotely, turning the standoff into approval and keeping the stadium effort alive. The timing only added to the drama, since the council was making its decision while the Rays were in the middle of a postseason game, a reminder that the franchises on-field and off-field futures are still moving together. [Read more 🡒]
Rays ALCS Outlook Suddenly Hinges On A Decision Off The Field
Major League Baseball already showed a willingness to get ahead of the weather in this ALCS, moving the start of Game 3 up five hours and getting the contest in under clear skies. For the Rays, the early first pitch at least removed one variable before a critical postseason game, and manager Kevin Cash and Guardians manager Stephen Vogt both had to navigate the practical side of a series that has already been shaped by the forecast as much as the lineup card.
The next decision may be even bigger for Tampa Bay. Officials are weighing whether Game 4 should be pushed back because of the kind of conditions that can turn a playoff day into a scheduling headache, and any delay would ripple beyond one night by compressing the rest of the series and forcing both clubs to rethink how they handle their pitchers. Griffin Jax, coming off his Game 3 outing, said after the loss that the focus has to stay on execution, but the Rays may soon find out how much the weather can alter that equation. [Read more 🡒]