The Rundown: Winter Jed Needs to Be More Aggressive, Cease Could Fall into Cubs’ Payroll Wheelhouse, Blue Jays Advance to World Series

“He wakes up in the morning. Does his teeth, bite to eat and he’s rolling; never changes a thing. The week ends, the week begins.” – Ants Marching by The Dave Matthews Band

The Blue Jays are going to the World Series and hope to take the Commissioner’s Trophy north of the border to avenge Canada’s hockey teams, who have not won a Stanley Cup since 1993. Coincidentally, or not, that was also the last time a Canadian team won the World Series, when a walk-off home run by ex-Cub Joe Carter off of ex-Cub Mitch Williams gave the Blue Jays a 4-2 win over the Phillies. Meanwhile, the Dodgers are attempting to become the first team to run the postseason table since the 1976 Reds went 7-0 against the Phillies and Yankees.

Do you have a prediction? I’ve got the Dodgers in four, though that means they will have to win Games 1 and 2 in Toronto on Friday and Saturday, a tall task. I assume Los Angeles will start Blake Snell and Shohei Ohtani in those games, so I’m giving them the edge. And how about Max Scherzer? Nobody partied harder than that guy after last night’s win. He and Daniel Palencia would be unstoppable sharing the same clubhouse during any celebration. Scherzer will earn his third ring if the Blue Jays can somehow stop the Dodgers. He won in 2019 with the Nationals and 2023 with the Rangers.

Meanwhile, Jed Hoyer and his entourage will enjoy the series like the rest of us before he begins what could be a winter of tough decisions. If you’re like me, you’ve grown tired of the Kyle Tucker extension speculation. But jeez, wouldn’t it be nice to see the Cubs break from their methodical approach to negotiating with free agents and just strike with a vengeance? Hoyer has the necessary components to create those types of options. What about moving Seiya Suzuki to right field, signing Pete Alonso to play DH, and then trading Owen Caissie or Kevin Alcántara and Matt Shaw for MacKenzie Gore? After that, Hoyer could sign Alex Bregman or Eugenio Suárez to play third base. What does an aggressive Hoyer look like? Cub fans would love to see that side of Winter Jed.

Ahh, but we don’t live in the bizzarro world, and Hoyer is not Andrew Friedman, nor does he have the never-ending supply of dollars that the Dodgers give Friedman. Besides, that type of roster building violates Ol’ Jed’s core principles. The Cubs want to win today, but don’t want to diminish their chances of winning in 2032. Call me crazy, but Friedman will probably have his team in the playoffs for the next decade, if not longer.

Chicago’s short-term strategy seems obvious to me. With Hoyer’s desire to keep his books clean while baseball prepares for a sabbatical due to a looming CBA, and with much of his core not expected to be here whenever baseball returns with its shiny new CBA, it seems like running it back with a few minor additions is probably the plan. The NL Central will be weaker if Milwaukee trades Freddy Peralta and the Reds trade Hunter Greene, and it won’t take much for the Cubs to get back to 90 wins.

With that in mind, let me repeat what I said last year at this time: The benchmark to take the division is not 90 wins, it’s more like 93-95. That should be the number Hoyer and Craig Counsell strive for. Getting to the playoffs and winning one series made for a fun season. Chicago’s 2026 goals should be to improve on 92 wins with a longer postseason run, no matter how Hoyer gets there.

Cubs News & Notes

• Hoyer still believes he was correct in not overpaying for rotation help at this year’s trade deadline.
• The president of baseball operations also admitted that a lack of pitching depth hurt the Cubs ($) in the playoffs.
• Pete Crow-Armstrong had a great season and a tough postseason. That said, he’s only 23 years old and still has room to improve his offense.
• The Cubs could consider signing Dylan Cease, whose projected contract falls within Hoyer’s parameters for acquiring starting pitchers. The issue, as always, will be the number of years Cease wants versus what Hoyer is willing to commit to.
• The Dodgers may have soured on acquiring Tucker because of his second-half slump and poor postseason performance.
• The Phillies and Giants are also expected to pursue a deal with Tucker.

Ball Four

Bryant Javier Rizzo, esq.

Everytime I see Daulton Varsho, I always like to think other kids are named after their dad's teammates, and there may be a VanLandingham Manwaring or a Saltalamacchia Middlebrooks out there somewhere.

— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) October 21, 2025

Central Intelligence

• Milwaukee: One writer deduces that trading Peralta to the Tigers would push Detroit to trade Tarik Skubal to the Cubs, which would be a bad thing for Brewers fans.
• Chicago: One trade target that may make some sense for the Cubs is Rockies reliever Jimmy Herget.
• Cincinnati: The Reds are hoping for a bounce-back year in 2026 from second baseman Matt McLain.
• St. Louis: The Cardinals expect to sell high on top starter Sonny Gray.
• Pittsburgh: The Pirates will lose left fielder Tommy Pham to free agency and will be seeking an offensive upgrade in his replacement.

World Series News & Notes

A three-run homer by George Springer electrified the home fans and sent the Blue Jays to the World Series for the first time since 1993.

Carter said Springer’s blast was “poetic justice.”

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was named ALCS MVP.

History may be on Toronto’s side in their upcoming series with the Dodgers.

That said, the Dodgers are heavy favorites to win their second consecutive championship.

Tanner Scott is hoping he will be healthy enough to be added to the Dodgers’ World Series roster.

Ben Verlander says the Dodgers have ruined baseball.

Tuesday Stove

The Red Sox are the early favorites to sign free agent outfielder Kyle Schwarber.

The Angels have removed Torii Hunter from consideration to be the team’s next manager.

Martín Maldonado has officially announced his retirement.

The city of Sacramento is making a late push to be named one of baseball’s next expansion teams. Do we really need another California team?

The NFL is more appealing to general sports fans because it is more competitive than baseball. That sounds like an article planted by an ownership stooge ahead of the next round of CBA talks.

Extra Innings

The obvious key to beating the Dodgers is to take a 3-2 series lead back to Toronto and then win on a three-run blast by Guerrero Jr. or Springer.

At Rogers Centre, the @BlueJays have hit a game-winning 3+ run HR in the 7th or later to eliminate an opponent in all 4 rounds:

1993 WS: Carter
2015 ALDS: Bautista
2016 ALWC: Encarnación
2025 ALCS: Springer

No other team has more than 1 such HR at home in their entire history. pic.twitter.com/kfoxoDI7qu

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 21, 2025

Apropos of Nothing

I’m moving next Thursday and Friday, provided construction on my new place is complete. I do not know what my internet situation will be, so apologies in advance if I am absent for a day or two. Yes, I am staying in Milwaukee for at least one more year before I move to a warmer climate, perhaps somewhere in Arizona, Texas, or Florida.

They Said It

• “It is really difficult to (add starting pitching) mid-season. Now, I think it’s becoming even more difficult with the new playoff format,” Hoyer continued. “Teams are closer together, there are fewer sellers. There are many more teams in the race that have a chance, and then even some teams that weren’t in the race that made decisions to not trade.” – Hoyer
• “When I think back on the most obvious thing that people talk about — starting pitching at the trade deadline — I haven’t really thought about that much since early August. I know what the market was and I know what the prices were, and I also know that other teams weren’t able to acquire that kind of pitching talent either.” – Hoyer

Tuesday Walk-Up Song

I rarely get on a Dave Matthews kick, but today is one of those days. The two songs I chose kind of tie in to Hoyer’s deliberate approach to winter upgrades.