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For all those hooked on the Arizona Fall League baseball during the ALCS and NLCS, you can rejoice in knowing that New York Mets prospect Tim Tebow‘s drought is over. 

On Tuesday, Tebow recorded a single against Chicago Cubs prospect Duane Underwood to break an 0-for-13 hitless streak to start off his professional baseball career.

The Heisman Trophy winner at the University of Florida and former Denver Broncos and New York Jets quarterback signed a minor league deal with the Mets on Sept. 9. 

Mets general manager Sandy Alderson explained what he saw in Tebow after his showcase in August, via Adam Rubin of ESPN.com:

Any player evaluation starts with tools. From that standpoint, without grading everything out, suffice it to say Tim has been a great athlete. He has demonstrated more than rudimentary baseball skills. We think, with his commitment to success, that this is an opportunity that is worthwhile.

In terms of power, in terms of arm, in terms of foot speed, all of those things, we think he can be a baseball player. I think that is underscored by his competitiveness and his determination to succeed and to improve. From our standpoint, this is another opportunity for us to develop a player and see where it goes. We understand most players don’t make it to the major leagues.

Having not played organized baseball since his junior year of high school, Tebow originally reported to the Mets’ instructional league where he started things off with a bang in his first at-bat.

While he hasn’t found that kind of success at the plate in the Arizona Fall League, Tebow has been making plenty of headlines. 

In his AFL debut alone, he face-planted into the outfield wall and helped a seizure victim after the game, via ABC News:

Tebow isn’t expected to see time in the major leagues. At 29 years old, it’s unlikely he’ll develop his game up toward a level that can see him attain success professionally. 

But for now, he is putting fans in the seats, bringing attention to the Arizona Fall League and pursuing his dream of playing professional baseball. 

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After a dramatic 1-0 victory in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers cruised their way to a 6-0 win over the Chicago Cubs at Dodger Stadium in Tuesday’s Game 3.

The Dodgers lead the series 2-1 and are two victories away from their first World Series appearance since 1988. 

Starting pitcher Rich Hill set the tone for Los Angeles with a brilliant outing. He pitched six shutout innings and allowed just two hits with six strikeouts. The Dodgers reacted to his pressure-packed performance:

Most of Los Angeles’ offense came off Chicago starter Jake Arrieta, who pitched five-plus innings and allowed four earned runs and six hits. Yasmani Grandal and Justin Turner each took him deep with home runs, and Corey Seager finished with three hits and an RBI.

The Cubs couldn’t match that production, and Baseball Tonight painted a concerning picture for the North Siders:

Jeremy Woo of Sports Illustrated noted things seemed to be back to normal for the franchise that hasn’t won a World Series since 1908 after it notched 103 victories during the regular season:

Despite the loss, the Cubs were the first to threaten in the second inning when Anthony Rizzo walked and stole second after a handful of pickoff attempts. Jorge Soler then walked, and they each advanced a base on a passed ball, but Addison Russell continued his prolonged postseason struggles with a strikeout. Miguel Montero grounded out to end the inning.

Jayson Stark of ESPN.com pointed out Hill’s escape wasn’t all good news for the Dodgers:

However, Hill settled down after that lengthy inning and stifled the Cubs.

Los Angeles opened the scoring in the third when Andrew Toles singled, advanced to second on a groundout from Hill and scored on Seager’s RBI single. ESPN Stats & Info noted it was a rare hit in that situation for the shortstop:

The Dodgers got to Arrieta again in the fourth when Josh Reddick reached on an infield single and stole second and third base. Grandal then blasted his home run to center, and Matt Spiegel of 670 The Score in Chicago said, “Running game got to Jake. Afraid to bury that curve like he needed to. Hung one, then went with the fastball instead.”

While it was still early in the game, the three runs were enough for Los Angeles with Hill dealing and the Chicago offense mired in a slump. Pedro Gomez of ESPN underscored how dire the situation was for the Cubs after Hill retired the side in the fourth and fifth innings:

Los Angeles gave Hill and the bullpen even more run support in the sixth when Turner drilled a home run and drove Arrieta from the game. He was far from the dominant ace who won last year’s National League Cy Young, and the Dodgers lineup took full advantage with timely power.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts handed the ball to his bullpen with the four-run lead in the seventh, and Joe Blanton pitched a perfect inning in a bounce-back effort after he allowed five earned runs in Game 1.

Chicago relief pitchers Travis Wood and Justin Grimm kept the game at 4-0, and Los Angeles turned to Grant Dayton to start the eighth. He retired two but allowed a double to Dexter Fowler, so Roberts went to closer Kenley Jansen for the four-out finish.

Yahoo Sports’ Big League Stew noted Roberts wasn’t going to risk a late comeback from the Cubs:

Jansen struck out Kris Bryant, and the Dodgers offense put the game on ice in the bottom of the eighth with two more runs off an RBI double from Joc Pederson and an RBI groundout from Grandal. Jansen responded with a scoreless ninth, clinching a 2-1 series lead for the Dodgers.    

What’s Next?

Game 4 is Wednesday in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers have the opportunity to close this series out without ever having to go back to Chicago with two straight home wins. Clayton Kershaw looms as a potential option in Game 5, so a victory Wednesday would be a critical blow to the Cubs.

Los Angeles will start Julio Urias in Game 4. The 20-year-old pitched two shutout innings against the Washington Nationals in the Division Series but has never made a postseason start. He finished his rookie season with a 3.39 ERA and 1.46 WHIP.

The Cubs will counter with John Lackey. The playoff-tested veteran has 24 postseason appearances on his resume with a 3.22 ERA and 1.25 WHIP in those outings. However, he lasted just four innings in his Division Series start against the San Francisco Giants and allowed three earned runs.

He will need to be better Wednesday for the Cubs to avoid a daunting 3-1 hole.

Postgame Reaction

Hill summarized his outing after the win, per Dodger Insider: “It was the biggest game of my career.”

He also praised his catcher for helping him battle through the second inning, per Dodger Insider: “Yas did a great job of getting me back on track.”

On the other side, Cubs manager Joe Maddon said, “It’s about putting this in the waste basket and coming back tomorrow,” per 670 The Score in Chicago.

Maddon described how that can happen, per 670 The Score in Chicago: “We just need to get a couple hits and runs early to kind of get that feeling back.”

Bryant still had confidence after the loss, per Carrie Muskat of MLB.com: “We’ve done it all year. We’re here for a reason. Belief is very powerful, and I think we all have that.”

If that belief doesn’t translate to actual runs, the NLCS will end quickly for the struggling Cubs.

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The Toronto Blue Jays are trying to go where only one team has gone before. They took an important first step in Game 4 on Tuesday.

Facing a 3-0 deficit to the Cleveland Indians in the American League Championship Series, Toronto played its second win-or-go-home game this month. It had the same happy ending as the AL Wild Card Game. The Blue Jays walked away with a 5-1 win, earning the right to play another day.

And now for some obligatory words of caution.

The Blue Jays are still three wins short of joining the 2004 Boston Red Sox as the only teams to ever come back from a 3-0 hole in a best-of-seven MLB series. And while winning four in a row is something they did seven times in the regular season, losing four in a row is something the Indians did zero times.

But there aren’t many other words of caution worth diving into following Toronto’s entry into the W column in this series. A 3-1 deficit is less daunting than a 3-0 deficit, and the Blue Jays looked the part of a team coming alive in Game 4.

Nobody deserves more credit than Aaron Sanchez and Josh Donaldson. Sanchez limited Cleveland to two hits and one run in six innings. Donaldson set the tone early when he put the Blue Jays up 1-0 with a solo homer off Corey Kluber in the third inning:

Donaldson was also heard from on defense in the fifth, making a diving snag and throwing to first to rob Carlos Santana of a single that likely would have tied the score at 2-2. This was the reigning AL MVP putting his money where his mouth is.

“I let the boys know I was coming to play today,” Donaldson told Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet Magazine, recounting what he said at a team meeting before Game 4.

He wasn’t alone. The Blue Jays collected nine hits en route to their five runs in Game 4. Edwin Encarnacion got the other big hit, scoring a pair on a bases-loaded single in the seventh following an intentional walk to Donaldson—highlighted by CBS Sports’ R.J. Anderson as Cleveland manager Terry Francona’s first misstep this October.

Although it wasn’t an offensive explosion reminiscent of the hurtings the Blue Jays put on the Texas Rangers in sweeping the ALDS, Toronto’s offensive output in Game 4 is a start for this series. The Blue Jays scored only three runs in the first three games, hitting just .177 as a team.

There’s a disembodied voice saying “Well, actually” and pointing out that the Blue Jays got five of their hits and three of their runs off three Cleveland relievers not named Andrew Miller or Cody Allen. The Blue Jays earned the chance to do that, though. Making his first-ever start on three days’ rest, a not-too-sharp Kluber was worked for 89 pitches in five innings. 

And now, Toronto’s passing of the Kluber test has ramifications beyond just Game 4.

It was easy to think along with Francona when he decided to start Kluber on short rest. It was either go for the kill or roll the dice on an anonymous left-hander named Ryan Merritt. Easy call there.

But since it backfired, Francona now has no choice but to trust Merritt, who has all of one major league start to his name, to perform well enough in Game 5 on Wednesday to prevent a 3-2 series. The Blue Jays are already champing at the bit.

“With our experience in our lineup, I’m pretty sure he’s going to be shaking in his boots more than we are,” said Jose Bautista of Merritt, via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca.

If the Blue Jays do what they should against Merritt in Game 5, they’ll get Josh Tomlin in Game 6. He’s more of a challenge, but the Blue Jays could be optimistic about exploiting his chronic homeritis the second time around after failing to do so in Game 2.

If this series goes to a Game 7, Kluber would have to start on three days’ rest once again. He wasn’t especially sharp in one start on three days’ rest. He probably wouldn’t be any sharper in a second straight start on three days’ rest.

It’s not an ideal outlook for Francona, but he has no choice. Trevor Bauer was supposed to be a big part of the team’s plans for this series. His drone mishap put that on thin ice, and that thin ice broke open the same time his stitches did in the first inning of Game 3.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays are sitting pretty with a rotation loaded with able bodies and healthy fingers. Sanchez did his part by silencing Cleveland hitters in Game 4, and now things are flipped back over for Marco Estrada in Game 5 and, if necessary, J.A. Happ in Game 6 and Marcus Stroman in Game 7. 

Asking the Blue Jays to get it done with offense and starting pitching isn’t asking too much. It’s how they won games all season. And if Game 4 was a wake-up call for the Blue Jays offense in particular, it will be difficult for an Indians team that hasn’t been tearing the cover off the ball and is now light on pitching to close out this series. 

There should be no mistaking that the odds are still against the Blue Jays. We know where history stands on them completing a 3-0 comeback. The digital bean-counters aren’t more optimistic. According to FanGraphs, Toronto has just a 7.2 percent chance of winning the ALCS.

But if Game 4 did anything, it turned a fool’s hope into a fighting chance. Now all the Blue Jays must do is abide by the words veteran reliever Jason Grilli shared with Nicholson-Smith.

“If we’re in this position we may as well make history.”

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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History says the Cleveland Indians have already made the World Series; all that’s left is the final blow. Just don’t tell that to the Toronto Blue Jays.

Aaron Sanchez threw six innings of one-run ball and Josh Donaldson hit a home run and made a sparkling defensive play as the Blue Jays pulled away for a 5-1 win over the Indians in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series at Rogers Centre on Tuesday. The Indians lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 with Game 5 set for 4 p.m. ET Wednesday in Toronto.

Facing Cleveland ace Corey Kluber, the Jays showed no signs of wilting. Kluber worked five innings while pitching on three days’ rest, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks while struggling with a high pitch count.

Richard Griffin of the Toronto Star highlighted the right-hander’s issues:

Donaldson broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning with a 402-foot home run to left-center field. It was his first of this postseason, though the MVP candidate was 13-for-29 with six doubles and had been Toronto’s offensive anchor entering Tuesday.

Actor Stephen Amell thought it was Donaldson’s Rocky moment:

Donaldson finished the game 1-for-3 and was involved in two more critical moments that helped seal the game for Toronto. He made a diving stop on a hot shot off the bat of Carlos Santana that would have scored Cleveland’s second run in the fifth inning, preserving the Jays’ 2-1 lead.

Indians manager Terry Francona later made the decision to intentionally walk Donaldson to load the bases in the seventh inning, which backfired when the next batter, Edwin Encarnacion, hit a two-run single up the middle to make it 4-1. A number of analysts commented on Donaldson’s heroics and Francona’s decision:

Also helping the cause was Sanchez, who was borderline unhittable for most of the afternoon. The righty allowed just one run on two hits and two walks and struck out five before ceding the game to the bullpen, which did not allow a baserunner over three innings of work. Sanchez’s only real trouble came in the fifth, when Roberto Perez doubled home Coco Crisp, who had walked with one out.

Barry Davis of Sportsnet noted Sanchez was just the second pitcher in franchise history to pitch six or more innings and give up two or fewer hits in a playoff start. Brett Cecil, Jason Grilli and Roberto Osuna each pitched an inning to close it out, with Cecil and Osuna recording two strikeouts apiece.

Encarnacion, Michael Saunders and Ezequiel Carrera each notched a pair of hits for Toronto, and Carrera’s eighth-inning triple set up Kevin Pillar’s sacrifice fly for the game’s final run. Carrera had singled in the fourth inning to account for Toronto’s second run.

The Jays offense, having scored three runs over the first three games, appeared back in form despite the continued struggles of Jose Bautista. Hitting leadoff, Bautista went 0-for-5. He is hitless in five of his last six games.

Bautista even seemed occupied with other matters after the game:

The Indians, meanwhile, have up to three more games to close the series. The 2004 Boston Red Sox are the only team in MLB history to come back from a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series.

Ryan Merritt will start Game 5 for Cleveland, while Marco Estrada will take the hill for Toronto. If the Blue Jays can send the series back to Ohio, the sweat might start piling up on the Indians’ brows.

Postgame Reaction

Grilli discussed the success of the bullpen with reporters: “We go about our business the same way, and it’s working. Our job is to put our hitters at the plate as much as possible. Keep the momentum on our side because I know we have every bit of confidence in them.

“If we do that, we’ve got a really good chance to win every ballgame.”

Donaldson talked about his message to teammates before the game, per the Associated Press (via the Guardian): “I’m not going to give too much away of what I had to say, but just more so getting everybody’s attention and focus and understanding. I mean, everybody knew coming into today how important today was. But at the same time, I just wanted to kind of reiterate that and let the boys know that I was coming to play today.”

Of his defensive gem, Donaldson said: “I was locked in. It helps when you have a guy like Sanchez in the zone, where you can really focus in on a certain area of the strike zone. And I was able to get a really good read off the bat, and I was fortunate enough to be able to make the play.”

Kluber said pitching on short rest didn’t affect him: “I felt fine. I don’t think it physically affected me. I made a mistake to Donaldson. We’re one win away from the World Series, and that’s what we’re focused on.”

Follow Tyler Conway (@jtylerconway) on Twitter.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers have taken control of the National League Championship Series, seizing a 2-1 lead after blanking the Chicago Cubs 6-0 on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium.

The Dodgers spread 10 hits and scored in four different innings, getting a two-run home run from Yasmani Grandal in the fourth inning and a solo shot from Justin Turner in the sixth. Grandal had three RBI while Corey Seager and Joc Pederson also had run-scoring hits for Los Angeles, which has won two straight after losing the opener 8-3.

Rich Hill held the Cubs to two hits over six innings, with Chicago managing only four hits in getting shut out for a second consecutive game. Chicago starter Jake Arrieta was chased after allowing four runs in five-plus in his first start in Dodger Stadium since his 2015 no-hitter.

Game 4 is set for 8 p.m. ET Wednesday, with the Cubs sending John Lackey against Los Angeles’ Julio Urias.

Scroll down for all of our updates, analysis, statistics, pitchers, tweets and anything else worth noting from L.A.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.

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The MLB season continues on Tuesday, with both the NLCS and ALCS featuring crucial games for different reasons. In the NLCS, both teams will be looking to take control of the series. In the ALCS, things might come to a close on Tuesday.

Below, we’ll break down the remaining schedules of the series, all of the viewing information and preview the contests on tap.

It’s all up for grabs between the Chicago Cubs and the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the series tied at one game apiece and shifting to Los Angeles for the next three contests. 

The Cubs will be pleased to avoid Clayton Kershaw in those contests (though he likely would make an appearance in Game 5 if the Dodgers drop the next two contests and find themselves facing elimination). After all, the Dodgers are 4-0 in games Kershaw has pitched in this postseason and 0-3 in games where he hasn’t made an appearance.

A lot of talk surrounding the Cubs has been based on the pressure they face as they try to end the organization’s long championship drought, but the Dodgers are under immense pressure against a loaded Cubs lineup, too. Yes, Anthony Rizzo, Ben Zobrist and Addison Russell have struggled. But Javier Baez and Kris Bryant have carried the Cubs in their stead, and it’s hard to imagine the team’s bats staying quiet for long.

“We haven’t hit to our capabilities,” manager Joe Maddon told Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News. “However, we won a series against a really good October-tested team, and now we’re 1-1 against a very good team coming back here. So you try to balance it out.”

Maddon added:

There’s only so much you can possibly do when it comes to manipulating your lineup. These are the guys that got you here. These are your guys. We’ve got a bunch of All-Stars out there. When you get to this point, you’ve got five games left to really make it right as opposed to 75 to make it right. There is a difference with that. There are certain things you’d do in the middle of the season in order to move something along, just not during the playoffs.

With neither team hitting particularly well, Game 3 should feature a doozy of a pitching duel between Chicago’s Jake Arrieta and L.A.’s Rich Hill. And Tuesday’s game is pivotal. Win, and the Cubs will guarantee the series returns to Chicago (unless they win all three games in Los Angeles, that is). Lose, and the possibility remains that the Dodgers could end the series at home. 

A lot is on the line Tuesday night. The Cubs will be glad Kershaw doesn’t have a say in the matter.

While everything is up for grabs between the Cubs and Dodgers, Cleveland appears to have things wrapped up in the ALCS. The team took a 3-0 lead on Monday night and is now a perfect 6-0 this postseason, continuing a dominant run despite having to overcome a number of injuries late in the season. 

What has been even more impressive against the Blue Jays, however, has been how dominant Cleveland’s pitching has been. Against a Toronto offense that finished third in the American League in home runs and fifth in runs this season, Cleveland has given up just three total runs in three games.

That’s in contrast to the 22 runs and eight home runs the Blue Jays hit in three games against the Texas Rangers in the ALDS.

The trio of Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and Troy Tulowitzki are a combined 4-for-31 in the series and haven’t managed to score a run or produce an RBI. And now the team’s struggling offense now has to face Cleveland ace Corey Kluber in Game 4.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Toronto manager John Gibbons told Ian Harrison of the Associated Press (via CBC Sports). “That’s an understatement.”

Outfielder Kevin Pillar added: “It’s obviously tough. We got some big hits in the wild-card game and that kind of carried over to the Texas series. It’s that simple. We just haven’t been able to execute when we need it.”

They’ll need to execute to stay alive in Game 4, and they’ll need starter Aaron Sanchez to do better in his second postseason start after he gave up six runs in 5.2 innings against the Rangers on Oct. 9. 

The Blue Jays are running on fumes at this point. But given their loaded and dangerous lineup, they are still capable of slugging their way back into this series. They’ll have to wake up against Kluber, however, who has struck out 13 batters and hasn’t given up a run in 13.1 postseason innings.

So yes, things look bleak for the Blue Jays. 

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.

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The Toronto Blue Jays got just what they needed against the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday, finding a way to remain alive in the American League Championship Series.

The Blue Jays took the lead for the first time in any game in the series when Josh Donaldson launched a home run off Corey Kluber in the third inning, and the Jays did a good job of building on that lead.

Edwin Encarnacion had a two-run single in the seventh inning to help Toronto pull away.

The Jays also got excellent pitching from starter Aaron Sanchez and their bullpen to emerge with a 5-1 win at the Rogers Centre.

The Indians still lead the series 3-1.

Sanchez was credited with the victory, as he gave up just one run on two hits and two walks in six innings. Kluber took the loss after surrendering two runs on four hits and two walks in five innings of work.

Game 5 will be played at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday afternoon, pitting Cleveland’s Ryan Merritt against Marco Estrada.

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Former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling announced his intention Tuesday to run for the United States Senate as a Republican against Massachusetts Democrat Elizabeth Warren in 2018.

Speaking on The John DePetro Show on Rhode Island’s WPRO-AM (h/t Tim Hill of the Guardian), Schilling added he still needs to clear the decision with his family.

“I’ve made my decision,” he said, per Hill. “I’m going to run. But I haven’t talked to Shonda, my wife. And ultimately it’s going to come down to how her and I feel this would affect our marriage and our kids.”

Schilling pitched for the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox, finishing his career 216-146 with 3,116 strikeouts, a 3.46 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. He was a six-time All-Star and three-time World Series champion, and he finished second in Cy Young Award voting three times, though he never won the honor.

He’s been a more controversial figure in his post-baseball career, however.

In 2012, his video game studio, 38 Studios, went bankrupt two years after receiving a $75 million taxpayer-based loan from the state of Rhode Island, per Hill. The state ultimately sued, and Schilling and Rhode Island agreed to a $2.5 million settlement.

Schilling has also raised eyebrows with a number of public statements. In 2015, he was suspended by his then-employer, ESPN, after a tweet that compared the number of Muslim extremists to German Nazis. A year later, ESPN fired him after he shared an anti-transgender Facebook post that supported North Carolina legislation that made it illegal for transgender persons to use bathrooms that didn’t match the sex on their birth certificate.

Along with sharing the Facebook post, Schilling wrote: “A man is a man no matter what they call themselves. I don’t care what they are, who they sleep with, men’s room was designed for the penis, women’s not so much. Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic.”

Per Hill, Schilling has been hinting at running against Warren for some time.

“I thought about it, and one of the things I would like to do is be one of the people responsible for getting Elizabeth Warren out of politics,” Schilling said in August, according to Hill’s report. “I think she’s a nightmare and I think that the left is holding her up as the second coming of Hillary Clinton, but Lord knows we don’t even need the first one.”

You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.

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Even with the MLB playoffs ongoing, many MLB fans are beginning to look ahead to the offseason and speculate where the biggest stars might land.

Justin Turner, Kenley Jansen and Edwin Encarnacion are three of the most talented players available. They’re all still playing in the postseason, but that hasn’t stopped a flurry of rumors regarding their respective futures.

Below are updates on Turner, Jansen and Encarnacion‘s impending free agency.

Justin Turner

Turner had the best regular season of his career in 2016. Even at 31 years old, he’s poised to receive a hefty contract when he enters free agency in the offseason.

Rather than being excited about his future payday, Turner said in September he’ll be happier when it’s over, according to the Orange County Register‘s Bill Plunkett:

I guess everyone’s cut from a different cloth. I personally don’t look forward to it. Obviously, I’ll be excited when it’s over with. But that whole process is the part of baseball I could do without. The process of playing the game, the preparation of getting ready for the games—that’s what I love about it. The process of the off-the-field stuff is not very fun.

In the same interview, Turner confirmed he had had preliminary contract talks with the Dodgers but didn’t make any long-term commitment to Los Angeles: “There’s been some dialogue back and forth, but it didn’t go anywhere. I was open to it to see what they had to say. I let my agent do most of it. I’m not trying to worry too much about it.”

On Sunday, Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball reported the signs point to Turner hitting the open market.

For the right price, re-signing Turner makes sense for the Dodgers. He tied for the team lead in home runs (27) and runs batted in (90). According to FanGraphs, he also finished sixth among qualified third basemen in defensive runs saved (seven) and first in ultimate zone rating per 150 games (17.2).

Los Angeles will have to think long and hard about for how much and how long it’s willing to commit to Turner, though. His performance shouldn’t drastically decline in 2017, but he’s unlikely to improve significantly over the next few years.

The Dodgers weren’t willing to match the Arizona Diamondbacks’ contract for Zack Greinke, and it looks like they dodged a major bullet. Although bidding for Turner won’t reach Greinke-like levels, it’s easy to see Los Angeles opting against re-signing him if he’s receiving significant offers elsewhere.

In terms of his next possible destination, this could be a chance for the Atlanta Braves to make a statement, similar to when the perennially mediocre Washington Nationals inked a 31-year-old Jayson Werth to a seven-year, $126 million deal.

The Braves are moving into SunTrust Park next year, so it’s important for the team to show fans that it’s taking steps in the right direction. Another 60-win season will quickly blunt the excitement of the new ballpark.

Signing Turner wouldn’t make the Braves a contender overnight, but he’d be a massive upgrade at third over Adonis Garcia. His arrival would also be a sign from ownership that it’s willing to spend what’s necessary to turn Atlanta around.

Prediction: Turner signs with Braves.

Kenley Jansen

Ever since Guggenheim Baseball Management took ownership of the Dodgers from Frank McCourt in 2012, the group has spared no expense to bring a World Series to Los Angeles.

Here’s a look at where the team’s total payroll ranked each year from 2013 to 2016, per Spotrac:

According to Heyman, though, the Dodgers may be looking to trim their spending slightly in the years to come, which could mean allowing free agents such as Turner, Jansen, Josh Reddick and Rich Hill to walk in free agency:

Anyway, it’s reasonable to think that the Dodgers, with their emphasis on youth, their collection of top prospects and their consideration to be below the threshold in the future, could be outbid for one or more of their top free agents. One rival official who has some familiarity with their inner workings predicted they could wind up re-signing none of them, though in a later conversation seemed to amend that, saying, ‘I don’t know who’s going to close if they don’t keep Kenley.’

Between the regular season he had and postseason he’s having, failing to re-sign Jansen would be a mistake for the Dodgers.

Beyond his 47 saves, Jansen averaged 13.6 strikeouts per nine innings and posted a 1.83 earned-run average. His 1.44 FIP was second-lowest among qualified relievers behind Aroldis Chapman, per FanGraphs.

The 29-year-old melted down in Game 3 of the National League Division Series, which was a non-save situation. In his 15.2 innings outside that appearance, he has allowed zero runs in the 2016 playoffs.

Of course, the importance of an elite closer can be overstated at times. It’s also fair to question how much longer Jansen can continue pitching like he has this season. Craig Kimbrel’s last few seasons are evidence as to how quickly things can take a turn for the worse for a top-end closer.

With that said, the Dodgers will be a World Series contender again in 2017, even if they plan on relying on some of their talented prospects. As such, Los Angeles will need to have somebody upon whom it can rely in the ninth inning.

Failing to re-sign Jansen would force the Dodgers to find a replacement who in all likelihood would be a major downgrade.

Unless another team comes in with a crazy offer for the 2016 All-Star, Los Angeles should do everything it can to ensure he remains with the team for the long term.

Prediction: Jansen re-signs with Dodgers.

Edwin Encarnacion

This will be an interesting offseason for the Toronto Blue Jays. Both Encarnacion and Jose Bautista are free agents. The former is 33 and the latter is 35.

In June, the New York Post’s Joel Sherman reported Toronto doesn’t plan on re-signing either player to long-term deals in the offseason.

If the past is any indication, both sluggers will be playing elsewhere in 2017.

During his time with the Cleveland Indians, Blue Jays team president Mark Shapiro routinely traded or declined to re-sign the team’s priciest veterans. According to TSN’s Rick Westhead, Shapiro was upset then-general manager Alex Anthopoulos offloaded so many top prospects in trades to acquire David Price and Troy Tulowitzki.

While Shapiro is unlikely to want a complete rebuild in Toronto, he may instruct general manager Ross Atkins—another Indians transplant—against spending extravagantly on two hitters in their mid-30s.

Should Encarnacion hit the open market, he may not have to change divisions. The Boston Globe‘s Nick Cafardo reported on Oct. 8 the Boston Red Sox could make a push to sign the first baseman/designated hitter.

On Saturday, Cafardo pictured a future in which Boston used Encarnacion to supplement Hanley Ramirez:

When [president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski] said at his postmortem press conference last week that [Ramirez] could play both first base and DH, that’s probably because [Encarnacion] can do the same. You could have this pair alternate between DH and first base. Encarnacion likes to play the field. Like Ramirez, he’s a below-average first baseman but serviceable. The important thing is both are powerful righthanded bats, especially at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox couldn’t find a better replacement—at least in the short term—for the retiring David Ortiz. Over the last five years, Encarnacion has averaged a little over 38 home runs and 110 RBI a season. According to Baseball-Reference.com, he’s also a .286 hitter with 14 homers and 41 RBI in 50 games at Fenway Park.

Dave Dombrowski has rarely shied away from making major moves to help his teams in the present, which is how he turned the Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers into World Series contenders. Last offseason, he signed off on committing $217 million to David Price.

Should the Blue Jays turn down the chance to bring Encarnacion back, the Red Sox will likely be first in line to sign him.

Prediction: Encarnacion signs with Red Sox.

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The Cleveland Indians continue to shock the baseball world. 

Even though starting pitcher Trevor Bauer had to come out of Game 3 with a bleeding pinkie finger in the first inning, the Cleveland Indians came through with a 4-2 win at the Rogers Centre, and they are on the verge of knocking out the Toronto Blue Jays and advancing to the World Series.

It was a surprise that the Indians beat the Boston Red Sox in the American League Division Series. Repeating the task in such a straightforward fashion against the Blue Jays is an even bigger shocker.

Bauer had cut his finger while repairing a drone that he owned, and his start was pushed back from Game 2 to Game 3. That change turned out to be ineffective, as Bauer’s injured finger started bleeding almost immediately, and manager Terry Francona had to remove him after two outs.

Rules prevented the pitcher from putting anything like a bandage on the injury, which forced the Indians to make it a bullpen game.

That should have helped the Blue Jays, but the Indians led 1-0 and 2-1 before finally taking the 4-2 lead that would serve as the final score. The Indians got home runs from Mike Napoli (who also had an RBI double) and Jason Kipnis, while Michael Saunders hit one for the Blue Jays.

Relievers Dan Otero, Jeff Manship, Zach McAllister and Bryan Shaw combined for 5.1 innings before Francona brought in closer Cody Allen and superb relief weapon Andrew Miller for the final three innings.

This time, Francona used Allen in the seventh and into the eighth, while Miller closed out the game by striking out three batters in 1.1 innings.

“That wasn’t the way we drew it up, but [our] bullpen—that’s one of the most amazing jobs I’ve ever seen,” Francona told reporters after the game (h/t Paul Hoynes of Cleveland.com). “I mean starting with Otero to Manship to McAllister to Shaw. If anybody has a hiccup, we probably lose.”

The Indians will start Corey Kluber in Game 4 on Tuesday afternoon at 4:08 p.m. ET, and their ace will have a chance to complete the triumph and sweep the ALCS. Kluber has thrown 13.1 scoreless innings in the postseason and has a 2-0 record. He beat the Red Sox in Game 2 of the ALDS and the Blue Jays in Game 1 of the ALCS. 

He is starting on short rest for the first time in his career.

The Blue Jays have a formidable task in front of them, as they now must win four straight games if they are going to advance to the World Series. That’s a near-impossible task, as only the 2004 Boston Red Sox were (famously) able to climb out of such a hole in MLB history.

The Blue Jays will send Aaron Sanchez to the mound for his second career postseason start. He also started against the Texas Rangers in the ALDS and was not effective in that effort, giving up six earned runs on three hits and four walks.

Sanchez was 15-2 during the regular season with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.167 WHIP. He hopes to have a more even-keel performance against the Indians in this start.

“Hopefully just to keep my emotions in check,” Sanchez said, via CBSSports.com, of what his previous start taught him. “I’ve been there before, last year, but it was out of the ‘pen. The roles were a little bit different.”

Prediction

A Cleveland sweep certainly was an improbable result before the start of this series, but not any longer.

The Indians are sending their best starting pitcher to the mound at the Rogers Centre, and Kluber has shown he can make his best pitches in critical situations.

Sanchez is a talented pitcher, but he did not pitch well in his only postseason start. Combine that with the 0-3 hole and it seems unlikely the Blue Jays will solve Kluber and his remarkable bullpen.

Look for the Indians to win another low-scoring game and sweep the previously hard-hitting Jays out of the postseason.

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