The Week That Was: October 28 – November 3

Let’s keep up on baseball news this offseason.

Welcome to the 2024-25 offseason, friends! While baseball (at least MLB baseball) is over for the next few months, that doesn’t mean there’s not baseball news. So this offseason, we’ll be doing a weekly recap of the major bits of baseball news and notes that you might have missed. This way you can stay up to date with baseball even if you don’t read a dozen different websites to do it.

So let’s get into what went down last week (I hear there was this little thing called the World Series?)

World Series

The 2024 World Series was meant to be a veritable clash of the titans as the top teams in the AL East and NL West went up against each other. However, it seemed evident very early on that the Dodgers had the upper hand, taking the first three games in the series handily before the Yankees claimed game four at home.

By game five, the Dodgers claimed victory on the road, winning their second World Series in four years. This might seem like a foregone conclusion after the historically large amount of money the Dodgers spent in last year’s offseason, but they also failed to win 100 games this season, so it was never going to be a sure thing.

The real standout of the series, though, was Freddie Freeman, who could simply not stop hitting home runs, despite batting against injury the whole time. Freeman very rightly was awarded the World Series MVP, and making history for his consecutive postseason home run record.

• Jay Jaffe wonders if this is the start of a Dodgers postseason dynasty .
• Naturally, Decoy Ohtani stole the show at the Dodgers’ victory parade .
• In typical Los Angeles fashion, the Dodgers’ parade bus got stuck in traffic almost immediately .
• Shohei Ohtani gave a thank you speech to Dodgers fans in English and everyone was delighted .
• Actor Wendell Pierce of The Wire shared his negative experience at the World Series thanks to some obnoxious Yankees fans .

Slumping Aaron Judge

A surprising story out of the World Series was the underperformance of one particular superstar: Aaron Judge. Judge, while unstoppable over the course of the regular season, Judge’s bat was silent for much of the postseason, going 6-for-43, hitting .140 through game three in the World Series . He did manage to bust that slump right in the nick of time, blasting a home run in the Yankees’ epic game four win.

Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be enough to help the Yankees stage a comeback for the rest of the series, but at least he was able to end the season on a high note.

Cole Opts Out

Gerrit Cole wants to get paid, and he doesn’t particularly want to get paid the value of his current contract. Cole had an injury-shortened 2024 season, but he’s still the pitcher who won the 2023 Cy Young. He originally had a 4-year, $144 million deal. The likely move that most experts think will happen is that the Yankees will exercise their option to add one year to Cole’s contract at an additional $36 million .

However, some wonder if the Yankees might feel gunshy about going all-in on Cole when they could opt to spend on a younger up-and-coming ace. Time will tell, as the Yankees have until Monday night to offer Cole the additional money on his contract.

• Bryan Hoch looks at how the Yankees can keep Gerrit Cole in the Bronx . (Hint, it involves opening their wallets)

Trade Season is Upon Us

This will be short and sweet, no massive intro needed. The hot stove is heating and moves are starting to be made. We’ll just touch on some of the bigger moments of the last week.

• Michael Baumann breaks down the entirely too-soon start of hot stove season .
• The Royals have brought Michael Wacha back on a three-year deal .
• Could Devin Williams be on the trade block?
• The Yankees have declined the 2025 option for Anthony Rizzo .
• Joey Gallo has declined his option with the Nationals to try free agency instead .

What’s My Age Again?

Oh boy. After MLB has come under fire in the past for their habit of signing and developing teenage players in foreign countries, the move might have come back to bite them. Apparently an unnamed player had made a verbal agreement with the Padres to sign when he turned 16. The player used an assumed name and presented himself as being 14, when in actuality he was apparently 19 at the time. Had the deal gone through, the player would have received a $4 million signing bonus.

The use of falsified birth certificates is becoming more common with international signings, and this is not the first instance of a player lying about their age. But this will likely cause more scrutiny to fall on the practice of signing teenagers to such massive deals.

• Patrick Andres has more on the surprising story.

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