The Baseball Buffet for 11/12/2025

Issue #454

The goal with The Baseball Buffet series is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day!

⚾ Welcome! ⚾

The main news yesterday was the announcement of the the Manager of the Year Awards:

• AL Manager of the Year: MIL Pat Murphy

• NL Manager of the Year: CLE Stephen Vogt

This was an interesting result in that both Murphy and Vogt have won two years in a row—and they are the first managers to win the honor in each of their first two seasons on the job with their respective teams.

The vote totals have been posted. As expected, it wasn’t close in the NL with Murphy getting 27 of the 30 first place votes, with Terry Francona of the Reds getting two, and Rob Thomson of the Phillies getting one.

In the AL it was a closer contest, with Vogt getting 17 of the 30 first place votes, while John Schneider of the Blue Jays got 10. Overall, Vogt had 113 points to Schneider’s 91, with Seattle’s Dan Wilson coming in third with 50. While I think Schneider was also very deserving, the Guardians made an incredible surge, after being down in the AL Central by 15.5 games in July, to come back and win the division. And they did this despite having the lowest team batting average in franchise history (.226), trading away Shane Bieber at the trade deadline, and losing two key pitchers (Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz) to a betting scandal.

Today’s Trivia Question

Pat Murphy is the only Brewers’ manager to win the Manager of the Year Award since its inception in 1983. Besides Stephen Vogt the past two years, which other two managers for the Cleveland Indians/Guardians have won the Manager of the Year Award?

Trivia answers are at the bottom of each newsletter.

Free Agents

I’m going to do a series that draws attention to current free agents, position by position. MLB provides a single webpage that tracks all of them, position by position, so by all means go there for the latest signings overall.

Third Base

Continuing around the infield, we come to the hot corner. Alex Bregman is the biggest name, with Eugenio Suárez being a known quantity that provides a lot of homers (if also a lot of strikeouts). Kiké Hernández is very versatile defensively, and then there are at least three from Japan and Korea who could be impact players in the majors this year.

• Alex Bregman (BOS) - 31 years old, was an All-Star in the first half with a .298/.380/.546 slash line, but then didn’t do as well in the second half .250/.341/.386, with some time on the IL limiting his season to 114 games.

• Eugenio Suárez (SEA) - 34 years old, continued to do what he always does—hit for a low average (.228), strike out a lot (196), and mash a lot of HR (49). He had 118 RBI in 159 games between the Diamondbacks and Mariners in 2025.

• Paul DeJong (WAS) - 32 years old, hit only .227 but with 24 HR in 139 games with the White Sox and Royals in 2024. Hit a similar .228, but with only 6 HR in limited playing time (57 games) for the Nationals in 2025.

• Yoán Moncada (LAA) - 30 years old, after many years with the White Sox, played about a half season with the Angels in 2025, batting .234 with 12 HR in 248 AB.

• Kiké Hernández (LAD) - 34 years old, continued to provide versatility in the field in 2025, playing 1B, 3B, 2B, LF, and CF for the Dodgers. He had 10 HR in 232 AB, but with only a .203 average.

• Luis Urías (ATH) - 28 years old, has played a mix of 3B and 2B over his career, mostly at 2B with the Athletics in 2025, with a .230 average, and 8 HR in 287 AB.

• Gio Urshela (ATH) - 34 years old, only hit .238 with 0 HR in 181 AB for the Athletics in 2025. That is a dramatic loss of power for a player who had 9 HR in 2024, and 13 and 14 HR in 2022 and 2021.

• Ildemaro Vargas (AZ) - 34 years old, hit .270 in limited playing time (115 AB), playing a mix of 3B, 2B, and 1B.

• Jon Berti (CHC) - 35 years old, had a career-low .210 average in limited playing time (100 AB) for the Cubs in 2025. Still can swipe bases though, as he had 11 SB, with 16 SB in 2023 and an NL-leading 41 SB in 2022.

• Munetaka Murakami - 25-years old, is expected to be available as a free agent after many years as a power-hitting star in his native Japan. Has had five seasons with 30+ HR, with a high of 56 HR and 134 RBI in 2022.

• Kazuma Okamoto - 29-years old, is expected to be available as a free agent after many years as a power-hitting star in his native Japan. He has played a mix of 3B and 1B in his career there, so it remains to be seen what position would be his primary in MLB. Has had six seasons with 30+ HR, including 39 HR in 2021 and 41 HR in 2023.

• Sung-Mun Song - 29-years old, is expected to be available as a free agent after playing several years in his native Korea, and doing particularly well with 19 HR, 21 SB, and a .340 average in 2024, and then 26 HR, 25 SB, and a .315 average in 2025.

On this day in baseball history…

Here is what stands out to me for this day in baseball history. Unless otherwise noted, the descriptions are from baseball-reference.com.

📅 On November 12…

• 1959: Clearly someone from the White Sox was going to win the AL MVP Award. "Chicago White Sox second baseman Nellie Fox wins the American League MVP Award. Teammates Luis Aparicio and Early Wynn finish second and third respectively."

• 1975: Tom Seaver wins his third Cy Young Award. "Tom Seaver of the New York Mets wins his third Cy Young Award. He posted 243 strikeouts with a 2.38 ERA and led the National League with 22 victories."

• 1996: Pat Hentgen barely beats out Andy Pettitte for the AL Cy Young Award. "Pat Hentgen of the Toronto Blue Jays edges Andy Pettitte of the New York Yankees for the Cy Young Award in the closest American League voting since 1972 when Gaylord Perry topped Wilbur Wood by six points. Hentgen (with a 20-10 mark), the major league leader in complete games, outpoints Pettitte (21-8) by the narrow margin of 110-104. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera finishes third in the ballot and receives one first-place vote."

• 1997: Ken Griffey Jr. is unanimous choice for AL MVP. "Ken Griffey, Jr. becomes the ninth unanimous pick for the American League MVP Award. Griffey hit .304 for Seattle, led the AL with 56 home runs, and led the majors with 147 RBI. He receives all 28 first-place votes and 392 points in balloting to become the first unanimous AL pick since Frank Thomas in 1993, and the 13th unanimous selection overall."

• 2001: Albert Pujols wins the NL Rookie of the Year Award. "One year after playing Class-A baseball, Albert Pujols, who hit .329 with 37 home runs and 130 RBI, is named the National League Rookie of the Year by the BBWAA. The St. Louis Cardinals freshman set NL rookie marks in RBI, total bases (360) and extra-base hits (88) and fell one home run shy of tying the NL rookie record of 38 established by Frank Robinson in 1956 as a member of the Cincinnati Redlegs."

• 2001: Ichiro Suzuki wins the AL Rookie of the Year Award. "Although disappointed not to win the award unanimously, Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, who led the American League with a .350 batting average, is named Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Chris Assenheimer of the Elyria, Ohio Chronicle-Telegram votes for C.C. Sabathia, who posted a 17-4 record, as his top choice, stating the nine years of professional experience in Japan made Suzuki less of a rookie than Cleveland pitcher Sabathia."

• 2012: OF phenoms Bryce Harper and Mike Trout with their respective leagues' Rookie of the Year awards. "Bryce Harper of the Nationals is named the National League Rookie of the Year while Mike Trout of the Angels wins the honor in the American League. The two young outfielders wowed observers with their prowess with the bat, Harper becoming only the second teenager to hit 20 home runs in the big leagues, and the 21-year-old Trout being Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera's main rival for the MVP Award after hitting .326 with 129 runs. Trout becomes the youngest AL winner, while Harper misses surpassing Dwight Gooden as the youngest NL winner by under a month."

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Sammy Sosa (1968)

• 18-year major league career, spanning from 1989-2007, mostly as a RF for the Cubs

• Was part of the massive offense, PED-tainted era of the late 90s and early 2000s, including the memorable HR race with Mark McGwire in 1998 when he finished with 66 HR and a .308 average, leading the NL with 158 RBI and 134 runs, and earning the NL MVP Award

• Led the NL with 50 HR in 2000 and 49 HR in 2002, also led the NL in RBI twice, and runs three times

• Had 30+ HR eleven times

• Seven-time All-Star

• Had some speed on the bases early in his career with two 30/30 seasons and five with 20+ SB

• Overall had 609 HR, 1,667 RBI, 1,475 runs, a .273/.344/.534 slash line, and a 128 OPS+

Carl Mays (1891)

• 15-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1915-1929, mostly with the Red Sox, Yankees, and Reds

• Had 20+ wins five times, including leading the AL in wins with a 27-9 record in 1921 when he completed 30 of his 38 starts, and also pitched 11 games in relief while posting a 3.05 ERA overall

• Was nicknamed "Sub" because he threw with a sidearm and often submarine delivery

• Was an important part of the 1918 Red Sox World Series champions, both going 21-13 with a 2.21 ERA during the regular season, and then winning two complete games with a 1.00 ERA in the World Series

• Was an above average hitter for a pitcher, with a .268 average, and 5 HR, 21 triples, and 32 doubles in 1,085 AB

• Tragically, on August 16, 1920 he threw a pitch which struck Ray Chapman of the Indians in the head, fatally injuring him (the only MLB player to die as a direct result of an on-field injury).

• Overall had 207-126 (.622) record, a 2.92 ERA, and a 119 ERA+

Marcell Ozuna (1990)

• So far has played 13 years in the majors, for the Marlins, Cardinals, and for the past six seasons, the Braves

• Has had 20+ HR nine times, with a high of 40 HR in 2023. Also led the NL with 18 HR and 56 RBI during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

• Three-time All-Star, he played CF early in his career, then switched to LF, and mostly recently has been almost exclusively the Braves' DH

• Overall so far has 296 HR, 948 RBI, a .269/.336/.469 slash line, and a 119 OPS+

Charlie Morton (1983)

• 18-year major league pitching career, spanning from 2008-2025, mostly with the Pirates and Braves, but with some time spent with five other clubs

• Announced his retirement at the end of the 2025 season

• Two-time All-Star, including in 2018 for the Astros when he had a 15-3 record and 3.13 ERA, and in 2019 for the Rays with a 16-6 record, a 3.05 ERA, and a career high 240 strikeouts

• Had 200+ strikeouts four times

• Early in his career he relied on a sinker as a key pitch, but then later developed a very effective curveball. Given his first name, he earned the nickname "Uncle Charlie," as that is baseball slang for the curveball pitch.

• Overall had a 147-134 record, a 4.13 ERA, and 2,196 K over 2,267.2 IP

Joe Hoerner (1936)

• 14-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1963-1977, as a reliever for the Cardinals, Phillies, and five other clubs

• Was an All-Star in 1970 for the Phillies, part of a very effective six-year run from 1966-1971 during which he had 77 saves, a 2.16 ERA, and a 163 ERA+

• Overall had 98 saves, a 2.99 ERA, and a 121 ERA+

Jody Davis (1956)

• 10-year major league career, spanning from 1981-1990, mostly as a catcher for the Cubs

• Two-time All-Star, and was good defensively, winning a NL Gold Glove Award in 1986

• Had some pop, hitting 17-24 HR each year from 1983-1987

• Batted .389 (7-18) with 2 HR and 2 doubles in the 1984 NLCS

• Overall had 127 HR but only a .245 average and .307 OBP

In addition to Marcell Ozuna, other currently active players who were born on November 12 include PHI Matt Strahm, TOR Addison Barger, and MIN Ryan Kreidler.

Baseball Quote of the Day

One of the new features I’m starting up during the offseason is a baseball-related quote of the day. These will include quotes by players or managers that are insightful or funny, and interesting quotes from others about the game itself. I’ll try to mix it up over time.

Today I’ll go with an inspirational one:

"Never allow the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game." - Babe Ruth

⚾ I hope you enjoyed the newsletter today! ⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

Other winners of the AL Manager of the Year Award for Cleveland have been Terry Francona for the Guardians in 2022 and the Indians in 2016 and 2013, and before that Eric Wedge for the Indians in 2007

Good Reads

Here I am providing one or more links to baseball articles I’ve enjoyed recently, whether by writers at MLB.com or elsewhere.

• Central skippers' back-to-back wins a first for Manager of the Year Award, by Anthony Castrovince at MLB, 11/11/2025

• MLB executives debate if Skubal gets traded this offseason, by Mark Feinsand at MLB, 11/11/2025

See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!

Did you know? I wrote a 600+ page book with the same title as this newsletter/blog? Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises was published in early 2019, by ACTA Sports. It is available at Amazon and most other major booksellers.

This newsletter was produced with beehiiv, an outstanding platform for creating email newsletters and blogs. If this might be of interest for your own creative work, get a 30-day trial and 30% off your first three months!