*arm twisted*
Okay, let’s talk a little about Trey Yesavage.
The narrative on Yesavage is relatively well-known by now (if you were watching the World Series broadcasts during his starts, it was brought up in some manner every few innings without fail), but let’s get a little more nuanced (because I can’t help myself).
After spending his Freshman season working out of the bullpen (setting a school record with 34 appearances), the right-hander was among the most dominant pitchers in the NCAA over the next two seasons following a move to the rotation. He was 11-1 with a 2.03 ERA and 145 strikeouts over 93.1 IP as a Junior in 2024 and was named a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award (which eventually went to Georgia’s Charlie Condon). A partially collapsed lung in May left him hospitalized for several days and caused him to miss the conference tournament, but he’d return in time for the Regionals (7.1 IP, 1 ER, 6 K against Wake Forest) and to attend the MLB Draft Combine.
Still, the injury was believed to give some organizations pause when the draft came around. Yesavage “slipped” to the 20th-overall pick — the fourth pitcher selected, after Wake Forest’s Chase Burns, Arkansas’ Hagen Smith, and Mississippi State’s Jurrangelo Cijntje — where the Blue Jays, who had heavily scouted him throughout the season, pounced.
While some draft analysts felt that Yesavage could be the first from his draft class to reach the majors, few expected he’d do so this quickly — or have this kind of impact.
Yesavage made 25 starts in the minor leagues this year, pitching at four different levels, with a 5-1 record, 3.12 ERA, and 160 strikeouts over 98.0 IP. By mid-September, the Blue Jays were fighting to win the AL East and opted to bring the 22-year-old up to Toronto. An injury to Jose Berrios opened the door for a handful of starts down the stretch, and Yesavage impressed — he was 1-0 with a 3.25 ERA over 14.0 IP, keeping opposing hitters to a .236/.323/.273 line — enough to earn a spot on Toronto’s postseason roster.
Yesavage’s start in Game 5 of the World Series on Wednesday was historic for several reasons.
He was just the 12th pitcher in WS history with 12 or more strikeouts. The last was Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez in 2000.
He is the first of the 12 to not issue any walks.
He became the second pitcher with 10 or more strikeouts through the first five innings, joining Sandy Koufax (Game 1, 1963).
He broke the record for strikeouts by a rookie, topping the old mark of 11 by Don Newcombe with the 1949 Brooklyn Dodgers.
He became just the third pitcher to strike out every batter in the opposing lineup, joining Randy Johnson (Game 2, 2001) and Bob Gibson (Game 1, 1968).
His 23 whiffs are the most by any pitcher since the pitch tracking era began in 2008.
Yesavage’s performance makes for a great story — and what he did on the mound will go down as one of the best WS outings of all time — but it’s important to remember this is still an unproven rookie. As tempting as it might be to anoint him as Canada or Toronto’s savior (or future ace, even) would be premature.
MLBPA under federal investigation
Federal investigators are investigating a Florida-based youth baseball program owned by the MLBPA called Players Way. The business has “barely generated six figures in revenue since its founding in 2019” and is viewed by executives in the union as a “financial black box,” according to a report from ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Jeff Passan.
The MLBPA claims it invested $3.9 million in Players Way, at the original pushing of executive director Tony Clark, while sources ESPN spoke with suggest the amount is closer to $10 million.
An anonymous whistleblower complaint was filed last fall with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn, which initiated the investigation. Allegations were made accusing Clark and other senior union officials of “excessive spending on international and domestic trips”.
Several complaints were also made about Clark’s hiring of family members to union roles.
This marks the second time this year ESPN has reported on an investigation into the union’s financial dealings. In May, Justice Department officials were looking at the relationship with OneTeam, “a group-licensing firm” the MLBPA co-founded with the NFL Players Association in 2019.
Players Way was something of a pet project for Clark, by most accounts. Some of the inspiration for the efforts centered on what Clark was seeing from his son’s experience playing youth travel ball; he wanted to see a better system put in place and thought the MLBPA and its growing collection of former players could be fundamental to that process. Clark’s efforts never included a proper business plan. This left union officials and former players questioning the company’s purpose.
Players Way operated a sparse schedule in 2025, hosting just a handful of events that included “a mix of camps and showcases for those aspiring to play in college.” Just one included any involvement from a current player (Rangers third baseman Josh Jung). Collectively, they drew fewer than 500 attendees.
Nationals and Twins select new managers
Derek Shelton was announced as the new manager of the Minnesota Twins on Thursday. The team will hold a press conference with the media early next week to formally introduce Shelton, but he is already fairly familiar with that landscape. Shelton served as the Twins’ bench coach during the 2018 and 2019 seasons.
He left the Twins to become the manager of the Pirates for the 2020 season, leading the franchise to a 306-440 record before being fired last May with the team off to a 12-26 start.
Yankees hitting coach James Rowson, Cubs bench coach Ryan Flaherty, and Padres special assistant Scott Servais were the other finalists for the job.
Minnesota is making a somewhat curious choice. Shelton does have experience working with a younger, rebuilding roster from his time in Pittsburgh — which suits where the organization currently sits after last summer’s unloading of half the roster at the trade deadline — but he has generally struggled to help younger hitters advance their development. None of the Pirates’ big offensive prospects has taken significant steps forward in recent years. The Twins must be hoping that trend can change.
Meanwhile, the Washington Nationals also went an unusual route in selecting their new manager. Newly hired president of baseball operations Paul Toboni, who at 35 is the youngest front office executive in baseball, has chosen 33-year-old Blake Butera as the team’s next manager, making him the youngest manager in the sport in more than 50 years.
Butera’s playing career was brief. An infielder drafted in the 35th round (2015) after four years at Boston College, he spent just two seasons in the minor leagues in the Rays’ system (hitting .235/.342/.327 in 317 PA) before shifting to coaching.
Butera’s first year coaching involved working as an assistant to Rookie League Princeton hitting coach Craig Albernaz (who was just hired as the Orioles’ new manager last week). It was Albernaz’s promotion to High-A Bowling Green that opened the door for Butera to be named the manager of Class-A Short-Season Hudson Valley for the 2018 season. At just 25, he was the youngest manager in the minor leagues.
He spent two seasons in Hudson Valley before moving up to Charleston, winning a league title and Manager of the Year honors in 2021. Tampa Bay promoted him to senior director of player development in October 2023, where he leads their entire farm system.
Butera also served as the bench coach for Italy (under Mike Piazza) during the last World Baseball Classic.
Butera’s age should help him connect with the youthful roster in Washington. Just one player currently on the club’s 40-man roster is older, right-hander Trevor Williams.
Toboni has now made two significant hires (he also stole scouting director Devin Pearson away from the Red Sox to serve as his assistant general manager) since taking the job in Washington. Next, he will turn his attention to putting his stamp on a roster that has arguably underperformed the last few seasons, even being in a rebuilding process.