FanGraphs Weekly Mailbag: October 4, 2025
The playoffs are off to a thrilling start, with three of the four Wild Card Series lasting the full three games and seven of the 11 games being decided by no more than three runs. We saw excellent defense in Chicago, an offensive outburst in Los Angeles, and a handful of great starting pitching performances.
The best part is we’re just getting started. Today, all four Division Series begin, which means we have another marathon day of baseball ahead of us. First up, we’ve got a pair of divisional foes squaring off, with the Brewers and Cubs set for 2:08 p.m. ET in Milwaukee, followed by the Blue Jays and Yankees at 4:08 p.m. ET in Toronto. In the third game of the day, Shohei Ohtani makes his postseason pitching debut against the Phillies; before he takes the mound, though, he’ll step into the Citizens Bank Park left-handed batter’s box as the Dodgers’ leadoff man at 6:38 p.m. ET. And then to cap it off, the Mariners host the Tigers at 8:38 p.m. ET. As always, we’ll be covering all the action here at FanGraphs.
Before we get to this week’s mailbag, I have one quick programming note to remind everyone of. We’ll still be doing our weekly mailbag during the postseason, but we might move around the specific day it runs depending on the playoff schedule. Our plan is to do one before every postseason round, as we are today. Also, I’d like to remind all of you that this mailbag is exclusive to FanGraphs Members. If you aren’t yet a Member and would like to keep reading, you can sign up for a Membership here. It’s the best way to both experience the site and support our staff, and it comes with a bunch of other great benefits. Also, if you’d like to ask a question for an upcoming mailbag, send me an email at mailbag@fangraphs.com.
Matt is the associate editor of FanGraphs. Previously, he was the baseball editor at Sports Illustrated. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Men’s Health, Baseball Prospectus, and Lindy’s Sports Magazine. Follow him on Twitter @ByMattMartell and Blue Sky @mattmartell.bsky.social.
I am sure there are baseball players out there who are delusional enough to want to be a player-manager, but chances are they are not good enough to make that demand and have a team accept. If JT Realmuto wants to be player-manager, teams will just move on to another catcher.
Some of this is just that there are a lot more players in MLB who aren’t big stars rather than those who are. But I would also guess that younger players are probably less likely to want to manage, and so it’s probably veterans in their decline phase who would pitch something like this. But it’s going to be hard enough for those guys to find work.
A more realistic scenario would be aging star wants a shot at managing. Think Babe Ruth signing with the Boston Braves. If someone had enough name brand recognition to draw a few percent more people to the gate, and they had enough left in the tank to be a roughly league average DH/pinch hitter, and they had the charisma and mental acumen required to handle players, front office and media – then you could see a player/manager happening again. Would sweeten the deal if it was a small market team bringing a hometown kid back to the fold.
I can’t think of a player today that would fit the bill in the next (or past) five years.
If Kris Bryant or Anthony Rendon had been secretly serving as player manager for their teams since they signed their current contracts, would we have even been able to tell?
So this is the real reason why the Mets are still paying Bobby Bonilla!
Late stage Nelson Cruz maybe?
The problem is the who would actually fit what you described are signed to longer term deals, like Mike Trout or Jose Altuve. They would probably the closest thing to what you’ve described. Not that they would be interested in that. It would have to be a player who really, really wants it.
Maybe Pete Alonso or Freddie Freeman or Christian Yelich. Maybe.
You can put a player into a couple of different categories where this wouldn’t work. One is “not a big enough star” the other is “not hitting well enough to be worth the trouble.”
In category 1 you have Yandy Diaz, Max Muncy, George Springer, and Kyle Schwarber. These are all productive players who aren’t going to draw fans the way Mike Trout would.
In category 2 you have Paul Goldschmidt and Andrew McCutchen. These are really big names who just aren’t hitting well enough to take them on.
Ooh, if Joey Votto wanted to manage, and his contract was such he was a FA a year or two earlier, and if Toronto was stuck in a Rockies or Pirates type doom cycle, that’s the kind of situation that could breed another player/manager.
Or, think Alternate Universe Votto again, late season firing of Reds manager, they slide Votto into skipper role and if it works maybe he gets a player/manager shot the next season too (or becomes full time manager).
Yes, not that he wants to I’m sure, but the answer is absolutely Cutch. Exactly enough in the tank to be a bench bat, beloved star in the city, as far as I can tell everyone else likes him too, and unlike Goldschmidt he’s with the team that would want him.
Pete Rose fits your description too, and I think he and the similarly situated Frank Robinson were the last player-managers. Both played sparingly and devoted most of their energy to managing – well, Rose had other interests, too.
I could imagine Ichiro doing it!