The answers here are “oh, probably not” and “almost certainly not,” respectively: A question about the Cubs has been on @MattSpiegs' mind in the aftermath of them being eliminated. "If they have Alex Bregman, do they win that series?" Spiegs asks.@LaurenceWHolmes: "I'll go deeper with that question. If they have Alex Bregman, do they win the division?" pic.twitter.com/8yW50LpWpv— 670 The Score (@670TheScore) October 13, 2025 I understand the allure of the question, especially when the Cubs offense struggled for much of the postseason (with Matt Shaw, in particular, doing just about nothing at the plate). It’s absolutely possible that Alex Bregman’s bat could’ve swung a game in another direction – you probably wouldn’t bet on it, since Shaw did hit a little bit in a couple of them, and also played superlative defense. It’s possible. The divisional question, though, is an easier one to dismiss. The Cubs lost the division by five games. For Bregman to swing five games, you’d have to replace the most PERFECT down Shaw moments with the most PERFECT up Bregman moments. Why? Because it’s not like Bregman put up 5.0 more WAR than Shaw (it was 3.5 to 1.4 at FanGraphs), so it’d have to be individual game swings that just happened to come because of this particular moment or that. It’s not impossible, but it’s the kind of thing that might happen once in 1,000 seasons. The Cubs did not miss out on the division because they didn’t have Alex Bregman. … but boy does it make you wonder whether the Cubs could take another run at him this offseason. Shaw demonstrated big league ability, particularly with the glove, at third base. But it’s not as if he was SO GOOD that pursuing an upgrade at third base would be unthinkable, particularly when you can still use Shaw as a super-utility guy, and/or let him continue to work on development. Throw in the fact that Nico Hoerner is a free agent after 2026, which could open up second base for Shaw organically – whether you want it or not – and I don’t think it’s crazy to keep an eye on Bregman and the Cubs this offseason. They obviously wanted him a great deal before the 2025 season, and just came up short on the money. Bregman, who’ll play next season at 32, hit .273/.360/.462/125 wRC+ for the Red Sox, though he did miss a month and a half with a quad injury, and, after coming back at midseason, was merely an average hitter the rest of the way. Glad the Cubs were picking this up, but bummed they couldn’t do it for Kyle Tucker’s at bat in Game 5: Pat Murphy said today that Aaron Ashby tipped his pitch (change up) to Seiya Suzuki in Game 2 last round. Said Suzuki “looked to first and saw the sign.” Suzuki homered on it. He’s hoping it’s cleaned up. Ashby starts tonight.— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) October 13, 2025 the P has a tell for a certain pitch. First base coach knows it and relays it to the batter. Could be the smallest thing. His glove. How he stands. Anything.— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) October 13, 2025 The “gee golly shucks we’re nobodies” schtick, it turns out, is somehow still the Brewers’ angle. You know, the team with the best record in baseball: Brewers manager Pat Murphy: ‘I'm sure that most Dodger players can't name eight guys on our roster. No offense to them, they shouldn't have to know the names, but these are some guys that hopefully they know their names by the time it's over. You never know.’— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 13, 2025 The Dodgers took Game One behind the kind of super-elite starting pitching performance the Cubs couldn’t quite get in the NLDS: On a scale of 1-10 Ks, how good was Blake tonight? pic.twitter.com/AMzSOmoNHx— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 14, 2025 Blake Snell is the first pitcher in postseason history with 10+ strikeouts, 1 or no hits and no walks in an outing of 8+ innings— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 14, 2025 Blake Snell with the 13th outing in postseason history of 8+ innings and 1 or 0 hits allowed First since Roy Halladay’s 2010 no-hitter First by a Dodgers pitcher 10th to also not allow a run— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) October 14, 2025 Blake Snell has now made 3 postseason starts for the Dodgers: Wild Card Game 1: 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 9 K NLDS Game 1: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 9 K NLCS Game 1: 8 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 10 K That's a 0.86 ERA. Dominant would be an understatement. pic.twitter.com/Af9kIfNP41— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) October 14, 2025 You don’t HAVE TO have that caliber of dominant starter to win some games in the postseason, but more years than not, the teams that make the deepest runs do have a guy or two like that. The Cubs perhaps should consider that this offseason. If you missed the crazy double-play see here, and also, here’s how the game ended: Brice Turang would like a re-do on these last two pitches pic.twitter.com/P19hCnVUkt— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) October 14, 2025 From a human perspective, swinging at that eye-high fastball was the much bigger mistake than not taking the pitch off his leg – the latter was just pure instinctive reaction, especially against a pitcher that nasty. You just don’t have time to process what the pitch is, where it’s going, adjust from thinking about covering the plate to suddenly wanting to let the pitch hit you. It happens sometimes, but not realistic to EXPECT a guy to do it. The fastball, though … what are you doing, guy? Brice Turang will be thinking about that sequence for a long time, especially if the Brewers lose the series. This might be overstating this one series slightly, but it’s absolutely true that there are bigger picture thematic elements at play as the Dodgers play the Brewers for a trip to the World Series: The NLCS begins tonight. And it could have a profound effect on whether baseball is played in 2027. Free at ESPN: Why Milwaukee vs. Los Angeles is a proxy for the game’s greater labor battle and how the result will be used as a cudgel in the fight ahead: https://t.co/lrWojKhUGd— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) October 13, 2025 In short, if the Dodgers were to blow out the Brewers and then march on to a back-to-back World Championship, it’ll be all the easier for smaller/mid-market owners next year to claim that the economics of the sport are too badly broken to continue without a salary cap. I certainly agree that it would be used, but I think the arguments for and against are mostly the same regardless of what happens in a handful of postseason games. Meanwhile, the Mariners beat up on the Blue Jays in Toronto, taking a 2-0 lead in the ALCS. Jorge Polanco has been RIDICULOUS this postseason for the Mariners. Jorge Polanco of the @Mariners is the first player in MLB history to have a go-ahead hit in the 5th inning or later in 3 consecutive postseason games. pic.twitter.com/OsJ0BTzbXS— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) October 13, 2025 Jorge Polanco postseason hits: 1. HR off Tarik Skubal for 1-0 lead 2. HR off Tarik Skubal for 2-0 lead 3. Single (only hit without an RBI) 4. 15th inning walk-off single 5. 6th inning single for a 2-1 lead 6. 8th inning single for a 3-1 lead— Gary Hill Jr. (@GaryHillJr) October 13, 2025 And that one was BEFORE the three-run homer he hit last night to put the Mariners in front for good. Interesting and very specific potential bonus value for certain kinds of pitchers: Little something different from me as I dig into Trajekt — MLB’s robotic pitcher hitters can face before stepping in. Home/road data shows hitters whiff less at home and pitchers with unique arm slots gain an edge. Full analysis + graphs below: READ: https://t.co/r9Zdzm1x2A pic.twitter.com/hp9d6An2wn— Dylan Tovitz (@dtovitz) October 11, 2025 Just got some early evidence from @Dtovitz showing that extreme arm angles got more whiffs at home in 2025 (where the away team has no access to Trajekt machines and their ability to preview release point information). Trey Yesavage at home again tonight. https://t.co/kVCxNsYivo— Eno Sarris (@enosarris) October 13, 2025 Immediately makes me think about how much better Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd was at Wrigley Field, and he’s certainly a guy who plays with his arm angles. I guess the implication here is that Mike Shildt was forced out? Not entirely sure where Rosenthal is going with this: "He told me in a text that he's happy with his decision, but unless he's dealing with a serious health issue, it's difficult to imagine him retiring of his own volition." @Ken_Rosenthal was surprised at Mike Shildt retiring as Padres manager pic.twitter.com/vBjz8KJk40— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 13, 2025 MORE CUBS FROM BLEACHER NATION: Go Ad Free | Subscribe to the BN Newsletter Blackhawks 3, Mammoth 1 — Three Stars, Key Takeaways #blackhawkshttps://t.co/AHwqN7N0Y5— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) October 14, 2025 Burn the Midnight Oil With Another Ben Johnson Postgame Victory Speechhttps://t.co/H66Bi5qzZL— Bleacher Nation Bears (@BN_Bears) October 14, 2025 Coby White is Now Expected to Sit Out the Entire Preseasonhttps://t.co/jGU9wTlBOQ— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) October 13, 2025