June 2025 - Baseball Wiretap

The Los Angeles Angels will not bring back Ron Washington as manager. Washington has been out since June after undergoing quadruple bypass surgery. Washington had recently said he expects to be fully recovered in December and that he hoped to return to the Angels' bench.

The Angels have had considerable turnover since Mike Sciocia's 19-yera run as manager ended in 2018. The Angels had have Brad Ausmus (one season), Joe Maddon (two-plus seasons), Phil Nevin (one-plus seasons), Washington (one-plus seasons) and Ray Montgomery as interim this season.

Chase DeLauter, an outfielder with no major league experience, was included on the Cleveland Guardians' roster for their wild-card series against the Detroit Tigers.

Selected 16th in the 2022 amateur draft, DeLauter hit .278 with five homers and 21 RBI in 34 games at Triple-A Columbus. He turns 24 on Oct. 8.

Six of the 12 playoff teams possess top-10 payrolls as Major League Baseball's postseason begins Tuesday, underscoring the financial disparity that threatens to spark another lockout when the collective bargaining agreement expires after next season. Only three bottom-third teams reached October, with the Milwaukee Brewers posting baseball's best record despite ranking 23rd in spending.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred identified revenue disparity as his top concern heading into the season. The current playoff field reflects that imbalance, with teams holding top-10 payrolls winning five of the past six World Series championships.

Owners have signaled intentions to pursue a salary cap system during upcoming CBA negotiations. Colorado Rockies owner Dick Monfort told the Denver Gazette in March that "the only way to fix baseball is to do a salary cap and a floor."

"This is not about competitive balance," MLBPA chief Tony Clark said at the All-Star Game. "This is institutionalized collusion."

Six of eight teams exceeding the $241 million luxury tax threshold reached the postseason. The Los Angeles Dodgers face an estimated $150.7 million tax bill, more than the entire payrolls of most Central division teams.

The Brewers ($117 million), Cincinnati Reds ($119 million) and Cleveland Guardians ($101 million) represent the only playoff teams from the bottom third in payroll. The Reds secured the final Wild Card spot over the New York Mets, who spent an estimated $336 million average over three seasons.

Nine teams declined to sign any multiyear free agent contracts this offseason, including the Brewers. Six of those nine clubs missed the playoffs entirely. 
 
"You son-of-a-guns did the little things over and over, when no one — no one! — said that the Milwaukee Brewers would be in the running to win the division," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after clinching.

Manfred has telegraphed the likelihood of owners voting to lock out players when the CBA expires. The previous lockout after 2021 lasted 99 days but preserved the regular season schedule.

Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette, sidelined since Sept. 7 with a sprained left knee, is hopeful he can return when his club opens its American League Division Series later this week.

The Blue Jays, the AL's top seeds, have a bye and are awaiting their ALDS opponent.

"It helps," Bichette told MLB.com, regarding Toronto's break. "I will do everything I can in the next four or five days to see what we can do."

Bruce Bochy and the Texas Rangers have mutually agreed to part ways. Bochy will have the chance to remain with the Rangers in an advisory capacity.

The Rangers finished the season 81-81 as Bochy finished his three-year contract. 

"Bruce Bochy is one of the greatest managers in baseball history and he will forever hold a place in the hearts of Ranger fans after bringing home the first World Series title in franchise history in 2023," Chris Young said. "Boch brought class and respect to our club in his return to the dugout and we will always take pride in being part of his Hall of Fame career. We are grateful for everything he has given to the organization over the past few seasons and hopeful he can continue to impact the Rangers for many years to come."

Despite a stunning 3½-month collapse to miss the playoffs, Carlos Mendoza will return as manager of the New York Mets for the 2026 season, president of baseball operations David Stearns said Monday.

"I believe Carlos has all the same traits and assets that I believed [he had] when we hired him two years ago," Stearns said. "And I think over the course of his tenure here, he has demonstrated that. We had a tough year this year. There's no question. We are all disappointed. We were all frustrated -- Mendy, as much or more than anybody else. But I still believe he's a very good manager, and I think he's going to demonstrate that."

Don Kelly, who went 59-65 after taking over as interim manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates after Derek Shelton was fired in early May, has received a contract extension, the team announced Monday.

A season that began with the club hoping to return to contention for the first time in a decade quickly disintegrated during a nightmarish 12-26 start that led to Shelton's firing May 8.

 The Minnesota Twins fired manager Rocco Baldelli on Monday, ending his seven-year tenure that included three American League Central titles after a second straight disappointing season.

"This is a difficult day because of what Rocco represents to so many people here," Twins president Derek Falvey said in a statement. "He led with honesty, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to our players and staff. He gave himself fully to this role and I have tremendous respect and gratitude for the way he carried himself and the way he showed up every single day."

Boston Red Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito will not be on the active roster for the American League Wild Card Series against the New York Yankees because of an elbow issue, manager Alex Cora said Monday.

The 31-year-old Giolito had been expected to start the third game of the best-of-three series on Thursday, following Garrett Crochet and Brayan Bello in Boston's rotation. Game 1 begins Tuesday (6 p.m. ET, ESPN).

"He's been battling with his elbow the last few days," Cora said. "... Hopefully it's nothing major, but he won't be ready for this [series]."

Bob Melvin, whose option for the 2026 season was picked up in July, was fired as manager of the San Francisco Giants.

The Giants were very streaky in finishing 81-81 this season, teasing fans with playoff hopes after a 13-3 run from late August into early September was followed by a 2-9 stretch from Sept. 13-23 to dash those hopes.

"After careful evaluation, we determined that making a change in leadership was in the best interest of the team," said the Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey. "The last couple of months have been both disappointing and frustrating for all of us, and we did not perform up to our standards. We now turn our focus to identifying a new leader to guide us forward."