Issue #461
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! ⚾
Yesterday evening was the non-tender deadline, which is when teams needed to offer their pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players a contract for 2026. Those not offered a contract are now considered non-tendered, and become free agents. There were several dozen such players across all 30 teams, but here are some of the more recognizable names (former team in parentheses):
OF Adolis Garcia (TEX)
C Jonah Heim (TEX)
OF Christopher Morel (TBR)
OF Jake Fraley (TBR)
OF JJ Bleday (ATH)
OF MJ Melendez (KCR)
RP Evan Phillips (LAD)
1B Nathaniel Lowe (BOS)
SP Alek Manoah (ATL)
IF Ramón Urías (HOU)
OF Mike Tauchman (CHW)
RP Mark Leiter Jr. (NYY)
C Yohel Pozo (STL)
C Reese McGuire (CHC)
OF Will Brennan (CLE)
RP Dauri Moreta (PIT)
1B/OF Michael Toglia (COL)
This article at MLB has the complete list of non-tendered players, in order by team.
On the other hand, many players were tendered contracts, and some will now go to arbitration. Some other players also signed deals yesterday, including the following:
AZ C James McCann
MIL 1B Jake Bauers
KCR 2B Jonathan India
NYM OF Tyrone Taylor
And finally, I noticed two trades yesterday also:
The San Francisco Giants have acquired OF Joey Weimer for cash from the Marlins. Weimer is 26 years old, and last year hit .236 with 3 HR in 55 AB for the Marlins. He also had 11 HR and 13 SB at AAA, but with a low .203 average.
The Minnesota Twins traded minor-league 2B Payton Eeles to the Baltimore Orioles for C Alex Jackson, who is 29 years old and last year had 5 HR and a .220 average in 91 AB.
Today’s Trivia Question
The 2025 season continued several recent trends from the past few years, and overall set a few records. Which two of the following were new overall MLB-wide records in 2025?
Lowest % of runners caught stealing
Fewest fielding errors per team, per game
Fewest % of complete game shutouts by starting pitchers
Highest pitching strikeout rate
Fewest sacrifice bunts per game
Lowest overall batting average
Most HR per game
Fewest triples per game
Trivia answers are at the bottom of each newsletter.
2026 Team Wall Calendars!
Its that time of year… I know wall or desk calendars aren’t for everyone, but as a kid in the 1980s it was a tradition in my house to get a new calendar for the new year. And most years, my theme was baseball.
Turner Sports produces attractive 12×12” Team Wall Calendars. I think they produce them for all 30 MLB teams, but I could only find some teams available at Amazon. Looks like Calendars.com has a broader selection, but here are the ones I found at Amazon:
Again, those are the teams I could find at Amazon so far. Other teams seem to be available at Calendars.com.
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 22…
1954: The Pirates acquire Roberto Clemente. “The Pittsburgh Pirates draft outfielder Roberto Clemente from the AAA roster of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Although Clemente hit only .257 for the Montreal Royals in part-time duty last season, he will become a Hall of Fame member with the Pirates.”
1957: Mantle tops Williams in the AL MVP vote. “In a controversial vote, Mickey Mantle barely edges Ted Williams, 233 to 209, to win the American League MVP Award. Mantle batted .365 with 34 home runs for the first-place New York Yankees, while Williams, of the third-place Boston Red Sox, led the AL with a .388 average and 38 home runs, as well as a stunning .731 slugging percentage. Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey fumes at the news, noting that two Chicago writers listed Williams in the ninth and tenth places on their ballots.”
1967: Rod Carew nearly unanimously wins AL Rookie of the Year honors. “Minnesota Twins second baseman Rod Carew wins the American League Rookie of the Year Award. Receiving 19 of 20 first place votes, Carew easily outdistances Reggie Smith of the Boston Red Sox.”
1968: Johnny Bench becomes the latest Reds player to win NL Rookie of the Year. “Cincinnati Reds catcher Johnny Bench edges out New York Mets pitcher Jerry Koosman to win the National League Rookie of the Year Award. Bench becomes the third member of the Reds in six years to be named the top rookie, after Pete Rose in 1963 and Tommy Helms in 1966).”
1972: Johnny Bench wins NL MVP Award over Billy Williams… again. “Future Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench of the Cincinnati Reds wins his second National League MVP Award in three years. Bench beats out Chicago Cubs outfielder Billy Williams, who also ran second to Bench in the 1970 MVP balloting.”
1977: Andre Dawson wins the NL Rookie of the Year Award… barely. “Andre Dawson of the Montreal Expos wins the National League Rookie of the Year Award by one vote over Steve Henderson of the New York Mets. Dawson hit .282 with 19 home runs and 65 RBI, while Henderson had a batting line of .297, 12, 65. The voters prove prescient as Dawson will have the much better career, ending up in the Hall of Fame.”
1982: Steve Sax becomes fourth consecutive Dodgers’ player to secure NL Rookie of the Year honors. “Second baseman Steve Sax of the Los Angeles Dodgers is named National League Rookie of the Year, becoming the fourth consecutive player from the Dodgers to win the award. Sax hit .282 and stole 49 bases as the replacement for Davey Lopes in the Dodgers' infield.
🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉
Joe Nathan (1974)
16-year major league pitching career, spanning from (1999-2016), mostly with the Twins, Giants, Rangers, and Tigers
After being a SS in high school and college, became a pitcher once drafted by the Giants. Struggled early on as a starter, but then found great success as a reliever.
Six-time All-Star
Had 35+ saves nine times, and had impressive ERA marks in many seasons, including 1.62 in 2004, 1.58 in 2006, 1.88 in 2007, 1.33 in 2008, and 1.39 in 2013.
Overall had 377 saves, a 2.87 ERA, and a 151 ERA+
Lew Burdette (1926)
18-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1950-1967, mostly with the Braves but also spent time with five other clubs
Had 17-21 wins in six consecutive seasons, including in 1959 when he led the NL in wins with a 21-15 record
Led the NL with a 2.70 ERA in 1956, and in complete games with 18 in 1960
Overall had a 203-144 (.585) record and a 3.66 ERA
Greg Luzinski (1950)
First-round draft pick (11th overall) by the Phillies in 1968
15-year major league career, spanning from 1970-1984, mostly as a LF with the Phillies and then his final four seasons as a DH for the White Sox
Had 25+ HR five times, including career highs of 39 HR and 130 RBI in 1977
Four-time All-Star, including in 1975 when he led the NL with 120 RBI
Overall had 307 HR, 1,128 RBI, a .276/.363/.478 slash line, and a 130 OPS+
Dick Bartell (1907)
18-year major league career, spanning from 1927-1946 (missing 1944-45 for military service), mostly as a SS for the Giants, Phillies, and Pirates
Two-time All-Star
Capable batsman with a career .284 average and .355 OBP, but only modest power with two seasons with 14 HR, but none others with 10 or more
Had 100+ runs three times, and 40+ doubles three times, including highs of 118 runs and 48 doubles in 1932
Was a good defensive SS, and received down-ballot MVP votes in six seasons
Currently active players who were born on November 21 include Drew Pomeranz (free agent), Adam Ottavino (free agent), TBR Griffin Jax, and TEX Kumar Rocker.
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.
Here are a few fun quotes from one of today’s Birthday Boys, Lew Burdette:
"I exploit the greed of all hitters."
"Let them think I throw it [the spitball]. That gives me an edge because it is another pitch they have to worry about."
"My best pitches were a sinker and slider. I'd move the ball in and out. I always tried to keep it down. I was always being accused of throwing at the hitters. Early Wynn always said that he was the meanest pitcher in the American League, and I was the meanest in the National League."
And then here are two I dug up from another of today’s Birthday Boys, Greg Luzinski:
“I’ve been traded in the last month about 30 times by the writers and the commentators on the radio.” - Greg Luzinski
“I watch the game on television in the clubhouse, and I get a much better look at the pitcher than I get from the dugout. I can see how the ball is moving and how he’s pitching the rest of our hitters.” - Greg Luzinski, on what he does when he’s DHing
Today’s Trivia Answer
All of the items listed in the question have been trending in a certain direction in recent years. But the three indicated in bold below set new overall all-time MLB records in 2025:
Lowest % of runners caught stealing
Fewest fielding errors per team, per game
Fewest % of complete game shutouts by starting pitchers
Highest pitching strikeout rate
Fewest sacrifice bunts per game
Lowest overall batting average
Most HR per game
Fewest triples per game
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.
A comprehensive 5-tiered look at the free-agent class, by Mark Feinsand at MLB, 11/21/2025
Breaking down the market for the 4 free agents coming from Japan, by Mark Feinsand at MLB, 11/21/2025
Was Reese Really Better Than Rizzuto?, by Paul Semindinger at Here's the Pitch: the IBWAA Newsletter 11/22/2025
See recent issues of The Baseball Buffet for more recent good reads!
How did you like this edition of Now Taking the Field?
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.
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