The Baseball Buffet for 11/3/2025

Issue #445

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! ⚾

Another fun season is in the books. We now have the offseason, those few months until pitchers and catchers report and we do it all over again.

Somehow I made it through this first season of writing The Baseball Buffet every… single… day. I have a full-time job, and stuff happens in life… so early in the year I just assumed I’d miss a few days here or there. But nope… I’m pleased to have gotten it published every day—including 10 days while I was on a vacation with my wife in Europe! (Some readers noticed the newsletter came out much earlier in the morning for a stretch in mid-September!)

I’ll have more to share about what is coming next in the coming days and weeks, but here are a few quick things on what to expect for November-February:

• The Baseball Buffet will continue during the off-season! Obviously there are no games to provide summaries or previews of, but many other standard daily features are still relevant, such as On This Day in Baseball History, The Birthday Boys, and the Daily Trivia Question.

• I’ll also focus on covering the typical off-season news as it arises, from 2025 awards, to hot-stove action like free agent signings and trades, and so on.

• New features? Yes, I have ideas… and many readers have made suggestions over time, especially in my recent reader survey (thank you to the nearly 600 readers who participated!).

Stay tuned… I’ll have more news and updates in the coming days and weeks!

Today’s Trivia Question

As noted below, Detroit catcher Dillon Dingler won the 2025 AL Gold Glove Award at the position. Who are the three other Tigers’ catchers who have won Gold Glove Awards while with Detroit?

Trivia answers are at the bottom of each newsletter.

Important Offseason Dates

As the MLB offseason gets underway, here are some key dates to be aware of:

• 11/2: Trading can resume, and players can become free agents (though they can’t sign with new teams for five more days.)

• 11/2: Gold Glove winners are announced

• 11/6: Contract option decisions by clubs and players

• 11/6: Deadline to make qualifying offers. This is a a one-year contract worth the average of the top 125 salaries, or $22.025 million this offseason. To be eligible for the qualifying offer, a free agent must have spent the entire 2025 season with one team and have never received a QO previously.

• 11/6: Free agency truly begins, in that free agent players can now negotiate and sign with other teams.

• 11/10: Rookie of the Year Awards are announced

• 11/11: Manager of the Year Awards are announced

• 11/12: Cy Young Awards are announced

• 11/13: MVP Awards are announced

• 11/11-11/13: GM meetings in Las Vegas

• 11/18: Qualifying offer decisions. Players must accept or reject any such offers by 4pm on this date.

• 11/18: Deadline to file reserve lists, i.e., deadline for teams to add eligible minor leaguers to their 40-man rosters, thereby protecting them from the Rule 5 draft.

• 11/18-11/20: Owners meetings in New York

• 11/21: Non-tender deadline, which is when teams need to offer their pre-arbitration and arbitration-eligible players a contract for 2026. Those not offered a contract are considered non-tendered, and become free agents.

• 12/7: Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Baseball Committee voting results announced

• 12/7-12/10: Winter Meetings in Orlando

• 12/9: 2026 Draft lottery, where the top six picks in the next amateur draft are determined. All 18 non-playoff teams are eligible, but the teams with lowest record during the 2025 season have the best chances. Exceptions are that teams that pay into revenue sharing cannot select in the lottery in back-to-back years, and teams can’t get a lottery pick in three consecutive seasons. As a result, the Nationals, Angels, and Rockies are not eligible. Therefore, the White Sox have the best odds for the #1 pick at 27.73%, while the Astros have the worst odds at 0.34%. See this article by Joe Trezza at MLB for the full list of teams that are in the mix this year.

• 12/10: Rule 5 Draft

• 1/9/2026: Arbitration filing deadline

• 1/15: International signing period opens

• 1/20: Hall of Fame class is announced

• 1/26-2/20: Arbitration hearings

• Mid-February: Spring training begins!

• 3/15-3/17: World Baseball Classic

• 3/25: Opening Day… sort of. The Yankees will play a night game against the Giants at Oracle Park.

• 3/26: Full Opening Day!

2025 Gold Glove Award Winners

Last night MLB announced the Gold Glove Award winners, and three were nine first-time winners, along with others who have now won it twice or more (shown in parentheses):

American League

• C - DET Dillon Dingler

• 1B - MIN/TOR Ty France

• 2B - TEX Marcus Semien (2)

• SS - KCR Bobby Witt Jr. (2)

• 3B - KCR Maikel Garcia

• LF - CLE Steven Kwan (4)

• CF - BOS Ceddanne Rafaela

• RF - BOS Wilyer Abreu (2)

• P - NYY Max Fried (4)

• U - Mauricio Dubón

National League

• C - SFG Patrick Bailey (2)

• 1B - ATL Matt Olson (3)

• 2B - CHC Nico Hoerner (2)

• SS - STL Masyn Winn

• 3B - PIT/CIN Ke’Bryan Hayes (2)

• LF - CHC Ian Happ (4)

• CF - CHC Pete Crow-Armstrong

• RF - SDP Fernando Tatis Jr. (2)

• P - SFG Logan Webb

• U - MIA Javier Sanoja

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 3…

• 1926: Ty Cobb resigns as player/manager of the Tigers. “Ty Cobb resigns as Detroit Tigers manager after leading his team to a record of 79-75 and a sixth-place finish. Umpire and former Tigers infielder George Moriarty replaces him. Moriarty is the first man to hold baseball's four principal jobs: player, umpire, scout and manager. Cobb will sign a playing contract with the Philadelphia Athletics and will bat .357 during the 1927 season.”

• 1942: Joe Gordon is controversially chosen as AL MVP over Ted Williams. “Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams was the Triple Crown winner in the American League, but the Baseball Writers Association of America selects Joe Gordon as AL Most Valuable Player. Williams finished with a .356 average, 36 home runs and 137 RBI. Gordon of the New York Yankees led the AL in strikeouts (95), most ground balls hit into double plays (22) and the most errors at second base (28). St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Mort Cooper, who posted a 22-7 record with 152 strikeouts and a 1.78 ERA, gets the National League MVP honors.”

• 1987: Mark McGwire is the unanimous AL Rookie of the Year. “Oakland Athletics first baseman Mark McGwire, who hit 49 home runs with 118 RBI, wins the 1987 American League Rookie of the Year Award. McGwire is the second player to win that league's award unanimously. Carlton Fisk of the Boston Red Sox was the first to do it in 1972.”

• 1997: Nomar Garciaparra is the unanimous AL Rookie of the Year. “Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra becomes the sixth player to be the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year. Garciaparra, at age 24, led the American League in hits (209), triples (11), and multi-hit games (68), while also setting the AL rookie-record with a thirty-game hitting streak.”

🎂 Today’s Birthday Boys 🎉

Bob Feller (1918)

• Hall of Famer

• 18-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1936-1956, all with the Cleveland Indians

• Eight-time All-Star

• Led the AL in wins each year from 1939-1941, including in 1940 when he won the AL Triple Crown with a 27-11 record, 2.61 ERA, and 261 strikeouts

• He then missed nearly four full years for military service, but returned to lead the AL in wins again in 1946, 1947, and 1951.

• Led the AL in strikeouts seven times, including a career high of 348 K in 1946

• Pitched three no-hitters and 12 one-hitters (a record he shares with Nolan Ryan)

• Overall had a 266-162 (.621) record, 2,581 strikeouts, a 3.25 ERA, and a 122 ERA+

Dwight Evans (1951)

• 20-year major league career, spanning from 1972-1991, almost all with the Red Sox

• Three-time All-Star, and won eight Gold Glove Awards as a RF

• Had 20+ HR eleven times, had 100+ RBI four times, and 100+ runs four times, including a league-leading 121 runs in 1984

• Let the AL in walks three times

• Overall had 385 HR, 1,470 runs, 1,384 RBI, a .272/.370/.470 slash line, and a 127 OPS+

Jim McCormick (1856)

• 10-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1878-1887, with six seasons for Cleveland in the National League and the rest spread across five other clubs

• An early pitching star, he completed 466 out of 485 starts and had 500+ IP five times

• Overall had a 265-214 (.553) record, a 2.43 ERA, and a 118 ERA+

Bob Welch (1956)

• First-round draft pick (20th overall) in 1977 by the Dodgers

• 17-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1978-1994, with the Dodgers and Athletics

• Had 14-17 wins in eight seasons, and then one breakout year in 1990 when he won the AL Cy Young Award with a 27-6 record and a 2.95 ERA

• Overall had a 211-146 (.591) record, a 3.47 ERA, and a 106 ERA+

Ken Holtzman (1945)

• 15-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1965-1979, mostly with the Cubs, Athletics, and Yankees

• Pitched two no-hitters for the Cubs (1969 and 1971)

• Had between 17-21 wins six times, including his two All-Star campaigns in 1972 and 1973

• Generally did well in the postseason for the Athletics from 1972-1975, with a 2.30 ERA over 70.1 IP

• Overall had a 174-150 (.537) record, a 3.49 ERA, and a 105 ERA+

Armando Benítez (1972)

• 15-year major league pitching career, spanning from 1994-2008, with ten years for the Orioles and Mets, and the rest spread across five other clubs

• Two-time All-Star, including in 2004 when he had a 1.29 ERA and an NL-leading 47 saves for the Marlins

• Had 20+ saves seven times

• Overall had 289 saves, a 3.13 ERA, and a 140 ERA+

Kyle Seager (1987)

• 11-year major league career, spanning from 2011-2021, all as a 3B for the Mariners

• Was an All-Star in 2014 and also won a Gold Glove Award that year

• Consistent power hitter, with 20+ HR in nine seasons

• Older brother of Texas Rangers SS Corey Seager

• Overall had 242 HR, 807 RBI, a .251/.321/.442 slash line, and a 112 OPS+

Currently active players who were born on November 3 include LAD Roki Sasaki and SDP Randy Vásquez.

⚾ I hope you enjoyed the newsletter today! ⚾
 

Today’s Trivia Answer

Dillon Dingler now joins the following past Tigers’ catchers in having won a Gold Glove Award while with the team:

• Iván Rodríguez (2004, 2006, 2007)

• Lance Parrish (1983-1985)

• Bill Freehan (1965-1969)

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.

• 10 of the top moments from an exhilarating 2025 postseason, by Anthony Castrovince at MLB, 11/2/2025

• 9 first-timers highlight 2025 Gold Glove winners, by Manny Randhawa at MLB, 11/2/2025

• Who will drive the free-agent market? Top 30 names to eye, by Mark Feinsand at MLB, 11/2/2025

• The Greatest Game I've Ever Seen?, by Joe Posnanski at JoeBlogs, 11/2/2025

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.

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