There’s no salary cap on hockey operations: Inside the NHL’s secret race for competitive advantage
If there’s one thing the NHL league office is obsessed with, it’s competitive balance. Parity rules in hockey, and the league often emphasizes that it treats its 32 teams equally. That’s fostered by a hard salary cap. There’s a fixed amount teams can spend on players — and as the league recovers from revenues lost in the pandemic, that salary cap remains largely stagnant, jumping to $82.5 million this season after three straight seasons of $81.5 million.
However there’s an unspoken secret in the NHL: There’s no salary cap on hockey operations. And behind the scenes, there’s an arms race between teams, navigating where to spend extra cash — and how much of it needs to be spent — to find a competitive advantage.
“Nobody will say it out loud,” one NHL assistant general manager said. “But the divide between the haves and the have nots in the league is quite big. Not everyone is playing with the same deck of cards. If you think teams like Arizona, Carolina or Ottawa are operating on a budget that looks like what Toronto is spending, then you’re fooling yourself.”
What does that gap look like? Two dozen front office executives, coaches, agents, players and people closest to the game shared their insights to offer a picture of what type of spending goes on behind the scenes. They help explain where money is spent (and saved). Staff size is the easiest place to start.
NHL teams are not required to register hires with the league — and it’s not something the league tracks, nor has guidelines for. There’s not even a rule for how many coaches a team can employ. The Colorado Avalanche just won the Stanley Cup with the smallest coaching staff in the league; Jared Bednar has two assistants plus a goaltending coach, video coach and skills coach.
The Philadelphia Flyers‘ new hire, John Tortorella, is tied for having the largest coaching staff (eight). Some teams are figuring out how to surround their players with even more resources. The Flyers are one of four teams in the league to have their skills coach travel on the road, along with the Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers.
But when it comes to the number of people employed in hockey ops, everyone surveyed for this story pointed to one team spending far more than the rest: the Maple Leafs.
“If the salary cap was $140 million, Toronto would have a $140 million payroll,” one agent said. “They are the Yankees or the Dodgers of our league. [GM] Kyle [Dubas] seemingly gets a blank check from ownership.” Toronto players sometimes joke that they could spend each day introducing themself to a different team staffer. Rival front office members joke that Dubas has more assistant general managers than they have ties; the Leafs technically have five AGMs, plus eight people in hockey ops with a director title.
On the low end of the spectrum is Carolina, which has the leanest front office in the league. GM Don Waddell has a small circle around him, and they are all tasked with doing multiple jobs. Waddell also holds the title of team president. Multitasking runs throughout the organization; in the playoffs, public relations manager Mike Brown was assisting on video goal reviews.
Canes owner Tom Dundon said his philosophy is to spend on players — find the best players, and pay and treat them well. But on hockey ops, he has less people with a bigger voice. “I like to run it lean, and hungry,” Dundon said. “There’s a limit to how many people you need, in my opinion. I don’t pay attention to what other people are doing. But I know that when you have too many people around, not just for hockey but in general, it creates layers and people don’t know whose job is what. I want to make it clear: If someone is there, they matter.”
Compensation for staff
Compensation varies across the league. Depends on the team and market — and how much an owner is willing to spend. General manager’s salaries have slowly risen over the past several years. Coaches’ salaries are all over the map. Assistant coaches in the NHL make between $200,000 and $750,000 — largely dependent on experience level. Head coaches are paid between $1 million and $5.5 million — more contingent on market dynamics.
Not everyone is on the same page with treatment. “We all talk, and we know what goes on in other organizations,” one assistant coach said. “The teams with the best culture value their employees.”
Some teams happily cover costs for coaches’ families to visit if they relocate for the job. Teams cited as having a good staff culture do things like pick up the tab on postgame meals and cover for things like cars, parking, work visas. The high-end teams fly their top scouts in business class; but for most teams, even the director of amateur scouting is relying on their airline status to get bumped up.
The low-end teams try to save costs on things like health benefits, offering younger coaches and staff members the same plan as part-time employees. “And that’s despite coaches working 100-plus hours a week and spending weeks on end without their families,” one executive remarked.
Analytics departments
The fastest growing area in NHL front offices is analytics. It’s tough to track as many teams employ consultants or have staffers with split roles. The Flyers and the Maple Leafs are routinely cited as having the largest analytics departments in the NHL. The Seattle Kraken, already with a strong analytics staff, are expected to make even more hires this season.
“When I started [in the NHL in 2015], it was, ‘Oh, if they have one person in analytics, they’re so innovative.'” Kraken assistant general manager Alexandra Mandrycky said. “Now if you don’t have more than one person, you’re behind.”
Consider: When Pat Verbeek was named GM of the Anaheim Ducks last season, he took stock of the staff he inherited and realized it needed to be restructured to align more with his previous stops, in Detroit and Tampa Bay. The Ducks had just one full-time analytics staffer last season. This offseason, Verbeek quadrupled the department.
Scouting departments
Scouting staffs across the league fluctuate in size and assignments. Prior to COVID, some teams were already shifting to a more video-scouting focused strategy. That saves costs as they’re not flying scouts around the country. However, most of the best scouts still believe scouting live from arenas is optimal. You can notice things that don’t appear on video, like a players’ body language between shifts. Plus, video feeds for junior leagues can be wildly inconsistent in quality.
“For years, the two teams that would save the most money on scouting was Buffalo and Ottawa,” one director of amateur scouting said. “They’d have small staffs and really believed in video scouting. That was a few GM’s ago. They’re now more on par with everyone else. Toronto spends stupid money. A team like Arizona, you’d think they wouldn’t because of their reputation but they actually have a good department. It’s a priority for them right now, in a rebuild.”
Teams prioritize where they want to look for talent, and how much money they’re willing to spend looking for it. The teams with the biggest presences in Europe are the Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Rangers and Detroit Red Wings.
“I think that’s the one area where you need to cover your areas but you don’t necessarily need the most people, you just need the best people,” one GM said. “To me, that’s where Tampa is top of class. [Assistant GM and director of amateur scouting] Al Murray runs a great program; just look at their track record.”
The Lightning would not have had their recent success if not uncovering draft gems like Nikita Kucherov (second round pick), Brayden Point (third round), Anthony Cirelli (third round) or recent cap casualty Ondrej Palat (seventh round).
Player development
All teams have the ability to draft highly touted prospects every year. But once they are in their system, the approach varies greatly. “The Kings are great at being super involved with their prospects,” one agent said. “While some teams still aren’t quite there. I don’t want to name the team, but I have one player who was a second-round pick in 2020. He went the entire summer without hearing from his team once. Not even a text to check in.”
The Kings, Rangers and Maple Leafs were all consistently mentioned for putting the most resources into player development, with the Montreal Canadiens and Red Wings cited as teams “trending up” in that area.
Los Angeles GM Rob Blake said he inherited a large player development staff from his predecessor, Dean Lombardi, who was inspired by models in MLB. Today, the Kings have a seven-person player development staff, and over the season they are dispatched across the world to check in on prospects.
“We’re very structured in our visits and communication with prospects,” Blake said. “Our player development staff is never teaching them any structure or system — we leave that to the coaching staff. It’s all about cultivating the relationship and building trust, with the No. 1 goal of making them a better hockey player.”
Goaltending resources
A few teams are trying to find an edge with goaltending. “I’m honestly surprised more teams aren’t focusing on that area considering the outsized importance a goaltender can have on a teams’ success,” one NHL team analytics staffer said. According to several people interviewed, goalie coaches around the league are consistently underpaid compared to their peers — and many goalie coaches are tasked with overseeing the NHL and AHL staffs.
A few teams have honed in here. The Florida Panthers, Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights have established “goaltending departments” while the Rangers, New York Islanders and Kings have unofficial goaltending departments, as they also pour a lot of resources into the position.
Panthers GM Bill Zito said the formation of their “goaltending excellence department” was “serendipitous,” by having Roberto Luongo and his brother, Leo, in the organization to support goaltending coach Robb Talas, then finding out longtime goaltending coach Francois Allaire was living nearby in Florida. But with a $10 million cap hit goaltender in Sergei Bobrovsky and a 21-year-old in Spencer Knight, the organization views as a future No. 1, Zito said the holistic approach for individualized attention on and off the ice has been “fantastic” and helps get the most out of the position.
‘The extra amenities’
And then there are budgets for the “extra amenities” that create positive environments — and are used as part of college free agent and veteran free agent pitches. “I’m not sure if that’s ever the sole reason someone is going to sign, there’s so many factors that go into guys’ decisions,” a veteran player said. “But it might be what puts a team over the edge. And in general, guys talk around the league.”
A few years ago, players complained that the towels weren’t big enough in Carolina and Arizona locker rooms, and some amenities weren’t up to snuff. Those issues have been amended, and largely the standards are solid across the league.
Some teams go above and beyond. It’s not stipulated in the CBA that teams must offer breakfast, but the high-end teams have omelet and smoothie stations as soon as players arrive. The Rangers have always taken pride in how they treat players. For example, New York organized a bonding retreat for players in Rhode Island during training camp; at events like the All-Star weekend, where the league has a bus for all players and their plus-ones, the Rangers have arranged separate accommodations for their players. Toronto hires a babysitter for its family room, so wives and girlfriends can watch games from the stands.
Said a veteran player who has played for multiple teams, including the Maple Leafs: “Everything Toronto does is class. Sure, there’s a lot more pressure to win there, but you hear stories of the way guys are treated there and the resources they have there — then you get there, and it’s unreal. Even better than they say.”
What’s next
Perhaps the biggest arms race is just beginning now. Teams who have built new arenas or training facilities over the past decade have begun offering players amenities like underwater treadmills and cryogenic chambers. And with access to the facility year-round, teams can sell players on the convenience of sticking around in the offseason. While they’re not allowed to be coached, players can have access to the team trainers and equipment staffs, and can organize informal group skates.
“It’s been ever evolving to watch, and it’s not cheap, with the good [practice facilities] costing close to $100 million,” said Tim Leiweke, the longtime NHL executive and current CEO of Oak View Group. “But economically it’s a great investment. Almost everyone has one now, with the Golden Knights and the Kraken taking it to the next level.”
Leiweke has been heavily involved in the Kraken’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, who he believes will be revolutionary for the sport.
Between buying an expansion team, building the arena, the training center and infrastructure (parking and road and utilities), the pre-operating cost of the Firebirds is just short of $500 million.
“They have their own permanent training center, a locker room they get to themselves, equipment and physical therapy resources – you’re spending money to create your culture and create the right environment for players,” Leiweke said. “This will change the way NHL GM’s and coaches and team presidents look at developing their talent, and reimagine how to not just get value out of their assets, but take that value to the next level. This is the next arms race, the resources put into AHL franchises. Two or three years from now, I think everyone will be saying the Firebirds reinvented the business.”
Everyone’s chasing the same goal — the Stanley Cup. There’s no magic formula to tell teams how to get there, but teams will always try to look for an edge. The irony is not lost on anyone that the team that routinely tops the board in terms of spending is the Maple Leafs — the team that can’t get out of the first round of the playoffs.
“People will make fun of how much Toronto spends,” one front office executive said. “But that’s just because they’re jealous. Too often in this league we cater to the lowest common denominator. Sure it hasn’t led to playoff success for them yet, but it will — because they’ve created a forward-thinking culture. We should be celebrating that, and hope they’re raising the bar for the rest of the league to follow.”
HOUSTON — Astros starter Framber Valdez said he apologized to catcher Cesar Salazar after hitting him in the chest with a pitch Tuesday night, but the left-hander insisted it wasn’t intentional.
Valdez appeared to shake off Salazar on a 1-0 pitch with the bases loaded and Trent Grisham of the New York Yankees at the plate in the fifth inning. Salazar then urged Valdez to step off the mound, but he proceeded with the pitch, which Grisham launched to deep left field to give New York a 6-0 lead in an eventual 7-1 win.
On the second pitch to the next batter, Valdez hit Salazar in the chest with a 93 mph pitch, raising questions about whether he was upset about what happened in the Grisham at-bat and if it was intended.
Valdez said it was not.
“What happened with us, we just got crossed up,” Valdez said in Spanish through an interpreter. “I called for that pitch, I threw it and we got crossed up. We went down to the dugout and I excused myself with him and I said sorry to him and I take full responsibility for that.”
Valdez was then asked directly if he did it on purpose.
“No,” he said. “It was not intentional.”
Valdez and Salazar were talking when reporters entered the clubhouse after the game, and Valdez said they had sorted things out.
“We were able to talk through it,” he said. “We spoke after the game … at his locker and everything’s good between us. It’s just stuff that happens in baseball. But yeah, we talked through it and we’re good.”
Salazar also was asked about what happened on the pitch where he was hit.
“The stadium was loud,” he said. “I thought I pressed the button, but I pressed the wrong button. I was expecting another pitch, but it wasn’t it.”
Salazar said Valdez didn’t hit him on purpose.
“No, me and Framber we actually have a really good relationship,” he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
-
David Schoenfield
With each postseason expansion throughout MLB’s history, the value of division races has diluted. In the wild-card era, you can finish in second place — or even third or fourth — and still win the World Series.
Does that make September less exciting? There’s no doubt it brings more teams and more fans into the mix. And a big game is still a big game, even if there is slightly less tension in a Red Sox-Yankees or Mets-Phillies series than there otherwise might be if both teams already know they’re going to make the playoffs.
Thus, we’re mostly left with wild-card races and battles for seeding to occupy our time and scoreboard watching. That still offers plenty of fun, still makes September the best month on the baseball calendar, and there’s still a lot of sweating going on when your closer walks two batters in the ninth trying to protect a one-run lead. The 12 postseason slots aren’t completely locked up, so if you’re a fan of the Mets or Mariners, you can’t breathe easily just yet — not until a playoff spot is clinched and the champagne uncorked.
September is here, believe it or not. We have races to decide. Let’s rank their potential excitement level over the final month.
1. National League West race
Standings: Los Angeles Dodgers up 2 games on San Diego Padres
What’s at stake: This is the best rivalry going on in the majors right now. The teams don’t like each other, the fans don’t like each other, and there’s still that element of David trying to knock out Goliath as the Padres seek their first division title since 2006 and their first World Series title ever. The teams have met three times in the NL Division Series since 2020 — with the Dodgers winning in 2020 and 2024 and the Padres victorious in 2022 — and with another rematch possible, home-field advantage could be key.
Do the Dodgers need to win the division? No, they will still be more focused on getting the pitching staff healthy and ready for October than on getting consumed in the race to win the division. It would probably mean more to the Padres, who want to finally beat their I-5 rivals in something besides that one playoff series. On the other hand, San Diego is probably a little better equipped for a short wild-card series, as it can ride its bullpen for the two or three games.
Series to watch: Somehow, the schedule-makers thought it would be a good idea to not have the Dodgers playing the Padres in September. The Dodgers finish with a road trip to Arizona and Seattle while the Padres end at home against Milwaukee and Arizona. The Dodgers won the season series, so they own the tiebreaker.
Dodgers player to watch: Blake Snell has been a notable second-half pitcher in his career and has a 2.54 ERA since returning from the injured list in August, but he hasn’t been quite as dominant as when he gets on one of his patented hot streaks (such as the second half last year, when he had a 1.45 ERA and .130 average allowed). The Dodgers won last season despite a beat-up rotation that wasn’t even all that effective in the playoffs. But the bullpen has been nowhere near as strong this season as in 2024, so they’ll need that dominant version of Snell down the stretch and in October.
Padres player to watch: Ramon Laureano has been the team’s best hitter since he was acquired at the trade deadline, slashing .305/.354/.581 with seven home runs and 23 RBIs in 28 games. He helped keep the offense afloat in August as Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr. each hit just one home run on the month and Jackson Merrill has been injured. Laureano’s production has been great, but the Padres need more power from their big two.
2. American League East
Standings: Toronto Blue Jays up 3 games on New York Yankees, 3.5 games on Boston Red Sox
What’s at stake: This has been the wildest division race all season. The Blue Jays were eight games back in late May when they fell under .500 but have now held first place since July 3. The Yankees fell as many as 6.5 games back in August before cleaning up against the Washington Nationals and Chicago White Sox this past week to draw closer. The Red Sox were 41-44 on June 30, but only the Brewers have a better record since that date. The Yankees have a plus-134 run differential, whereas it’s plus-56 for the Blue Jays and plus-102 for the Red Sox, so you wonder why they’re even in this position. However, New York is 5-8 in extra-inning games (the Blue Jays are 8-4) and hasn’t played well against Toronto and Boston (5-15).
Series to watch: Blue Jays at Yankees (Friday-Sunday); Red Sox at Blue Jays (Sept. 23-25); Yankees at Red Sox (Sept. 12-14). All three season series have already been clinched: The Blue Jays over the Red Sox and Yankees and the Red Sox over the Yankees. That will leave the Yankees on the short end of any tiebreaker.
Blue Jays player to watch: Toronto acquired Shane Bieber at the deadline even though he was still completing his minor league rehab from Tommy John surgery. He has allowed three runs in two starts for the Blue Jays, striking out 15 with no walks in 11⅓ innings. It’s just two starts, but he looks like he did when he was the Cleveland ace, plus he has allowed the Jays to go to a six-man rotation. Don’t be surprised if he ends up as the Game 1 starter in the postseason.
Yankees player to watch: Aaron Judge is still probably the MVP favorite, but after missing 10 days with a flexor strain in his right elbow, he hasn’t been quite the same, hitting .241/.417/.506 with six home runs and 12 RBIs in 24 games in August. Though those are still good numbers, it seems fair to call it a slight slump by Judge’s recent historic standards — and it’s not the same level of production as before his injury. He also still hasn’t played the field, which limits the red-hot Giancarlo Stanton to pinch-hitting duties when the Yankees are on the road (manager Aaron Boone has been willing to play Stanton in right field at Yankee Stadium, where there’s less ground to cover).
Red Sox player to watch: Sixty-nine games into his career, 21-year-old rookie Roman Anthony has made it clear: He’s going to be a big star. Sure, he can cut his strikeout rate a bit, but he already has A-plus plate discipline and has the second-highest hard-hit percentage in the majors behind only Kyle Schwarber. And Anthony is also quickly learning to lift the ball, slugging six home runs in August after hitting one each in June and July.
3. National League race for No. 2 seed
Standings: Milwaukee Brewers hold No. 1 seed with 5.5-game cushion; Philadelphia Phillies up 1 game on Dodgers, 3 games on Padres
What’s at stake: The Phillies hold a comfortable lead over the Mets in the NL East, so they have about a 90% chance of winning the division, but Philadelphia is neck and neck with the pair of NL West rivals for the second-best record in the NL. Home-field advantage isn’t a must to win a World Series — we’ve seen wild-card teams take it all, such as the Rangers in 2023 when they were the fifth seed in the AL — but the Phillies have an extreme home/road split this season, going 45-23 in Philadelphia and 34-35 elsewhere. They’re hitting .275 with an .808 OPS at home, .239 with a .693 OPS on the road.
Series to watch: Phillies at Dodgers (Sept. 15-17). The Phillies finish with a six-game homestand against the Miami Marlins and Minnesota Twins, which looks like a favorable way to end the season.
Phillies player to watch: Kyle Schwarber, of course, and Cristopher Sanchez as he takes over the role of staff ace from the injured Zack Wheeler. But the bullpen has been the issue the past two postseasons for the Phillies, which puts Jhoan Duran on the spot as well. Acquired from the Twins at the trade deadline to take over as closer, Duran has mostly done the job, but he blew one save against the Nationals, picking up the loss, and then lost another game against the Mets when he allowed four straight hits without getting an out.
4. American League race for top two seeds
Standings: Detroit Tigers hold No. 1 seed and are up 0.5 games on Blue Jays, 3.5 games on Yankees, 4 games on Red Sox and 4.5 games on Astros
What’s at stake: Bragging rights? Momentum heading into the postseason? Home-field advantage? Sure, all those things are nice, and the Tigers have a notable home/road split (44-25 versus 36-33), so securing that top seed, which they’ve held much of the way in the AL, would be the final touch on an excellent regular season. Still, if you’re manager A.J. Hinch, you’re not going to burn out your rotation in September just to get that top seed. If the Astros climb closer to the Tigers and Blue Jays, however, it will get more interesting as teams want to avoid that wild-card series if possible.
Series to watch: Tigers at Yankees (Sept. 9-11); Tigers at Red Sox (Sept. 26-28); Yankees at Astros (Tuesday-Thursday); Astros at Blue Jays (Sept. 9-11)
Tigers player to watch: The Tigers have been searching for a No. 2 starter behind Tarik Skubal all year. Jack Flaherty has been inconsistent all season and had three starts in August where he allowed five or more runs. Casey Mize has a 7.20 ERA over his past eight starts. Chris Paddack? No. Maybe it’s 41-year-old vet Charlie Morton, who has a 4.61 ERA in his five starts with Detroit, as he has mixed in three excellent outings with two bad ones (although he fanned 10 in one of the bad ones). No matter what, there are going to be a lot of bullpen games for the Tigers in the playoffs when Skubal isn’t pitching, especially since the pen was much better in August after struggling in June and July (and adding some depth at the deadline).
5. American League West
Standings: Houston Astros up 2 games on Seattle Mariners
What’s at stake: The Mariners haven’t won a division title since … hold on here, scrolling through the years on Baseball-Reference.com … that’s right, the 116-win season in 2001. The Mariners made some weird pact with the baseball gods that season, which for some reason didn’t include them making the World Series after their historic regular season but did include them not making the postseason again until 2022. That’s right: They remain the only franchise never to appear in the Fall Classic. Winning the division would increase their odds just a bit and allow them to set their rotation for the ALDS.
Series to watch: Mariners at Astros (Sept. 19-21). The season series is tied 5-5, so the winner of this series gets that crucial tiebreaker edge. Of note: The Mariners have lost five consecutive road series and are 1-6-1 (they split a four-game series) in their past eight. The Astros have managed to keep their grip on first place despite going 12-13 in July and 13-15 in August. They’ve won every full-season AL West title going back to 2017.
Astros player to watch: Yordan Alvarez returned last week after being out since early May with a hand injury. He homered in his second game back and didn’t strike out in his first five games. The Astros have even started him twice in left field, allowing them to give Jose Altuve a DH day. Bottom line: If Alvarez is producing, a below-average offense suddenly looks at least like an average — or better-than-average — offense. With Alvarez, Altuve and Carlos Correa, it’s 2019 or 2021 all over again, two seasons that ended with the Astros playing in the World Series.
Mariners player to watch: How much does Cal Raleigh have left in the tank? He’s sitting on 50 home runs but also hit .194 in July and .173 in August. He’s still doing damage with the long ball and has had 17 home runs and 36 RBIs over the two months, but he’s not carrying the offense as he did in the first half.
6. American League Wild Card
Standings: Mariners hold third wild-card spot and are up 2.5 games on Kansas City Royals, 3 games on Texas Rangers and 4 games on Cleveland Guardians
What’s at stake: By no means are the Mariners out of the AL West race against Houston, but they also haven’t played well enough to pull away in the wild-card fight, even after everyone declared them a sure-thing playoff team following the acquisitions of Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor at the deadline. But given Seattle’s recent history of just missing the playoffs — two wins short in 2021, one short in 2023 and 2024 — Mariners fans are understandably nervous about blowing it, especially with the Royals and the Rangers refusing to go away.
Series to watch: Mariners at Royals (Sept. 16-18); Royals at Guardians (Sept. 8-10); Rangers at Guardians (Sept. 26-28). The Royals finished one game ahead of the Mariners for a wild-card spot last season, so this looks like the key series. The Mariners have one three-game series in Houston starting Sept. 19. If they can survive this current road trip — they just went 1-2 against Cleveland and now head to Tampa and Atlanta — that series looms large as well.
Royals player to watch: Is it too late to toss Bobby Witt Jr. into the Judge/Raleigh MVP debate? He’s making a late run with his outstanding all-around game and just had his best month of the season. With Vinnie Pasquantino mashing home runs and some trade acquisitions chipping in, Kansas City is peaking at the right time. The Royals have played well for two months now and have a pretty soft schedule for the final month.
Rangers player to watch: The Rangers looked out of it, and they’re going to be without Nathan Eovaldi for the rest of the season — and likely Marcus Semien as well — and Corey Seager for some period of time following an appendectomy. But they just won three series in a row. Without Eovaldi, Jack Leiter has to continue to pitch well: He has a 2.88 ERA over his past 11 starts and just tossed back-to-back excellent games.
Guardians player to watch: Cleveland is barely hanging in there, taking two of three against the Mariners as Kyle Manzardo hit big home runs in wins Friday and Saturday. He’s hitting .273/.362/.545 since July 12, giving Cleveland a much-needed power source other than Jose Ramirez.
7. National League East and NL Wild Card
Standings: Phillies up 6 games on Mets in division; Mets up 4 games on Cincinnati Reds in wild card
What’s at stake: The Mets temporarily made the division race interesting again after sweeping Philadelphia early last week but then lost three of four at home to the Marlins. That’s unacceptable if you want to win the division. The Reds continue to falter, so the Mets’ wild-card spot looks reasonably safe, though they are just .500 since May 1.
Series to watch: Mets at Phillies (Sept. 8-11); Mets at Reds (Friday-Sunday). With next week’s four-game series, the NL East remains in play even though it would take an epic New York comeback combined with a Phillies collapse for the Mets to win the division. They’ve already clinched the season series over the Phillies with a 7-2 advantage. Meanwhile, the Reds have a chance to put pressure on the Mets with a three-game series in Cincinnati before New York’s trip to Philadelphia.
Mets player to watch: Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong. The Mets’ rotation has scuffled for a while, so suddenly the season rests heavily on their two prized rookie starters. McLean won his first three starts, allowing just two runs in 20⅓ innings. Tong, who led minor league starters in ERA and strikeouts, beat the Marlins in his debut Friday, striking out six in five innings with no walks while showcasing the changeup that allowed him to dominate the minors.
Reds player to watch: What’s happening with Elly De La Cruz‘s power? He hasn’t homered since July 31 and has just one in his past 58 games.
8. National League Central
Standings: Brewers up 6.5 games on Chicago Cubs
What’s at stake: This is another David vs. Goliath matchup. Milwaukee, of course, is Goliath. The Cubs won the NL Central in the COVID-shortened season of 2020 but haven’t taken a full-season division title since 2017. Given the Brewers’ lead with no signs of faltering, the odds are slim that Chicago can chase them down.
Series to watch: The two teams are done for their season series, and the Cubs took it 7-6, so at least they own the tiebreaker.
Brewers player to watch: Closer Trevor Megill landed on the IL a few days ago with a flexor strain in his elbow after blowing three saves since mid-August, so Abner Uribe takes over. If the Cubs have a chance to catch the Brewers, it might be because the Milwaukee pen, which has been worked hard, burns out in September, especially with the Brewers in the midst of playing 19 games in 18 days.
Cubs player to watch: Kyle Tucker slumped as he played through a hairline fracture in his right hand for two months. He finally broke out with three home runs in two games and has hit over .400 his past nine games. The Cubs’ offense was horrid in August — Pete Crow-Armstrong also struggled — and they’ll need Tucker and the rest of the lineup to rebound in September.
9. American League Central
Standings: Tigers up 9.5 games on Royals
What’s at stake: This one is all but over — though, it’s not impossible for the Royals. The Mets blew a seven-game lead in 2007 with 17 games to play. The 1995 Angels entered September with a 7.5-game lead and lost the division in a tiebreaker game. The 2009 Tigers were up seven games on Sept. 6 and blew it. The 2011 Braves had an 8.5-game lead in the wild-card race at the start of September and missed the playoffs. And during that same season, the Red Sox were leading the Yankees in the AL East and nine games up on the Rays — who would catch them on the final day of the season to win the wild card. So … you never know.
Series to watch: The Tigers and Royals are done playing each other, with Detroit winning the season series 9-4.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment11 months agoHere are the best electric bikes you can buy at every price level in October 2024