Meet the Possible Contenders for the 2026 Topps All-Star Rookie Team

We are just a few games away from learning who will be heading to the World Series. The Brewers, thankfully(?) dispatched the Dodgers and are now waiting to see who will win the AL pennant between the Guardians and the Rays. Can the Guardians continue to prove that their late season push to the postseason was not in vain? Will the Rays show the rest of the world why they were the number 1 team in the American League??!

Well, we're not here to answer those questions.

Another one of the topics I wrote about on this humble, little blog was trying to guess which players will make Topps' All-Star Rookie Team. I even used to have a contest to go with it, having readers (I had them back then) send me their rosters, and if they successfully named 10 (or whatever number) of the players who made the ASRT, they'd get recognition and a complete set of 2005 Topps Rookie Cup which consists of the 150 base cards. I still have the set but there won't be a contest this year. While Topps has produced more "Rookie Cup" type sets, they've been mostly sold via the Topps Now program or relegated to insert sets. I'd love to see an "addendum" to the 2005 set, featuring players who've been named to the ASRT since 2006 (and maybe sneak in reprints of 2027 Topps cards like they akin to including reprints of 2006 Topps in a 2005 product). I digress.

Even with next season possibly in flux (and figures that the Cubs were announced as the hosts of next year's All-Star Game...will it even happen??!), it's worth talking about the players who burst onto the scene this year and will be making an impact in the MLB going into 2027(?) and beyond. And there are so many possible candidates, most will stir debates long after the final out is played in the World Series.

So who are the contenders. Let's review.

Perusing the MLB website, the stats page allows fans and visitors to sort players by many categories, including "qualified rookies." So what are qualified rookies? Rookie eligibility is, by definition from MLB, 

A player shall be considered a rookie unless he has exceeded any of the following thresholds in a previous season (or seasons):

• 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues.

• 45 total days on an active Major League roster during the Championship Season (excluding time on the Injured List).

The players that appear, whether on hitting or pitching statistics, are among the players MLB believes are contenders for either League's Rookie of the Year. The players can be filtered by position, including individual OF positions. Only drawback? It doesn't show which pitchers throw left-handed or right-handed. You can figure out who the rookie starting pitchers are vs the rookie relievers, which is important now that relief pitchers are included in the selection process.

I read somewhere (possibly a Topps Magazine) that the =MLB managers were the ones who chose the players for the team. I was told a while back that it is no longer the case. And while the person I talked to about this wasn't sure when the practice of asking the managers to vote stopped, based on the past few years' worth of rosters, I can only speculate when the change occurred.

The stats are final through the end of the regular 2026 MLB season (September 27, 2026):

First Basemen:
Bryce Eldridge, SFG (107 G, .269, 17 HR, 57 RBI, .825 OPS, 1 SB)*
Munetaka Murakami, CWS (127 G, 0.207, 35 HR, 77 RBI, 0.825 OPS, 1 SB)
TJ Rumfield, COL (155 G, .300, 16 HR, 73 RBI, 0.843 OPS, 0 SB)
Sal Stewart, CIN (162 G, .263, 32 HR, 112 RBI, 0.787 OPS, 15 SB)

Second Basemen:
Travis Bazzana, CLE (124 G, .245, 15 HR, 57 RBI, 0.743 OPS, 19 SB)
Alex Freeland, LAD (89 G, .234, 4 HR, 21 RBI, 0.652 OPS, 4 SB)
Hao-Yu Lee, DET (114 G, .264, 10 HR, 45 RBI, 0.746 OPS, 3 SB)
Pedro Ramirez, CHC (80 G, .261, 6 HR, 32 RBI, 0.723 OPS, 9 SB)
JJ Wetherholt, STL (139 G, .242, 17 HR, 51 RBI, 0.704 OPS, 14 SB)

Third Basemen:
Kazuma Okamoto, TOR (156 G, .232, 33 HR, 92 RBI, 0.762 OPS, 1 SB)
Denzer Guzman, LAA (87 G, .219, 8 HR, 33 RBI, 0.602 OPS, 2 SB)

Shortstops:
Konnor Griffin, PIT (80 G, .272, 6 HR, 33 RBI, .728 OPS, 23 SB)
Kevin McGonigle, DET (156 G, .278, 18 HR, 72 RBI, .806 OPS, 12 SB)
Cooper Pratt, MIL (74 G, .281, 3 HR, 34 RBI, .718 OPS, 19 SB)

Outfielders:
Sam Antonacci, CWS (140 G, .277, 8 HR, 48 RBI, 0.766 OPS, 20 SB)
Dylan Beavers, BAL (104 G, .228, 9 HR, 44 RBI, 0.680 OPS, 5 SB)
Carson Benge, NYM (156 G, .282, 20 HR, 65 RBI, 0.776 OPS, 22 SB)
Henry Bolte, ATH (119 G, .277, 11 HR, 38 RBI, 0.764 OPS, 21 SB)
Owen Caissie, MIA (108 G, .220, 14 HR, 58 RBI, 0.700 OPS, 5 SB)
Cole Carrigg, COL (93 G, .279, 12 HR, 53 RBI, 0.818 OPS, 11 SB)
Nathan Church, STL (142 G, .247, 10 HR, 50 RBI, .654 OPS, 10 SB)
Justin Crawford, PHI (149 G, .264, 3 HR, 41 RBI, .662 OPS, 17 SB)
Chase DeLauter, CLE (133 G, .287, 16 HR, 67 RBI, .820 OPS, 11 SB)
A.J. Ewing, NYM (120 G, .252, 11 HR, 43 RBI, .700 OPS, 25 SB)
Spencer Jones, NYY (86 G, .245, 11 HR, 40 RBI, .742 OPS, 11 SB)
Wade Meckler, LAA (98 G, .300, 3 HR, 27 RBI, .760 OPS, 8 SB)
Victor Mesa Jr., TBR (79 G, .260, 14 HR, 34 RBI, .825 OPS, 9 SB)

Braden Montgomery, CWS (93 G, .279, 6 HR, 38 RBI, .662 OPS, 1 SB)
Tristan Peters, CWS (156 G, .265, 12 HR, 56 RBI, .774 OPS, 8 SB)
Esmerlyn Valdez, PIT (72 G, .232, 17 HR, 47 RBI, .855 OPS, 0 SB)
Ryan Waldschmidt, ARI (82 G, .256, 3 HR, 22 RBI, .693 OPS, 7 SB)

Catchers:
Moises Ballesteros, LAA (104 G, .215, 9 HR, 35 RBI, .612 OPS, 1 SB)
Samuel Basallo, BAL (112 G, .222, 18 HR, 54 RBI, .697 OPS, 0 SB)
Carter Jensen, KCR (149 G, .239, 27 HR, 81 RBI, .790 OPS, 2 SB)
Joe Mack, MIA (105 G, .234, 14 HR, 52 RBI, .685 OPS, 0 SB)
Brandon Valenzuela, TOR (91 G, .222, 9 HR, 23 RBI, .679 OPS, 2 SB)

Right-Handed Starting Pitchers:
Bubba Chandler, PIT (30 GS, 8-10, 4.50 ERA, 140 K, 1.40 WHIP)
Logan Henderson MIL (18 GS, 11-3, 2.47 ERA, 110 K, 0.84 WHIP)
Ryan Johnson, LAA (19 GS, 5-9, 5.04 ERA, 79 K, 1.39 WHIP)
Rhett Lowder, CIN (26 GS, 7-12, 5.74 ERA, 103 K, 1.52 WHIP)
Nolan McLean, NYM (31 GS, 12-10, 3.16 ERA, 194 K, 1.17 WHIP)
Andrew Painter, PHI (23 GS, 3-10, 5.40 ERA, 115 K, 1.41 WHIP)
Brandon Sproat, MIL (19 GS, 3-7, 5.57 ERA, 101 K, 1.44 WHIP)
Walbert Ureña, LAA (27 GS, 9-11, 2.97 ERA, 142 K, 1.23 WHIP)
Trey Yesavage, TOR (20 GS, 5-6, 3.69 ERA, 97 K, 1.14 WHIP)

Left-Handed Starting Pitchers:
Andrew Alvarez, WAS (17 GS, 3.43 ERA, 114 K, 1.30 WHIP)
Jake Bennett, BOS (19 GS, 9-7, 3.65 ERA, 91 K, 1.10 WHIP)
Shane Drohan, MIL (19 GS, 7-5, 4.19 ERA, 125 K, 21 WHIP, 2 SV)
Connelly Early, WAS (18 GS, 7-5, 94.2 ERA, 94 K, 1.23 WHIP)
Robert Gasser, MIL (27 GS, 5-5, 3.87 ERA, 103 K, 1.19 WHIP)
Foster Griffin, CLE, (31 GS, 15-6, 3.60 ERA, 158 K, 1.21 WHIP)
Gage Jump, ATH (20 GS, 6-11, 5.47 ERA, 108 K, 1.52 WHIP)
Parker Messick, CLE (32 GS, 12-9, 2.56 ERA, 193 K, 1.06 WHIP)
Connor Prielipp, MIN (22 GS, 6-7, 4.87 ERA, 128 K, 1.29 WHIP)
Zac Thornton, NYM (15 GS, 5-6, 3.42 ERA, 63 K, 1.14 WHIP)
Payton Tolle, BOS (26 GS, 9-6, 3.03 ERA, 171 K, 1.10 WHIP)

Relief Pitchers:
AJ Blubaugh, HOU (64 G, 5-3, 3.66 ERA, 94 K, 1.23 WHIP, 1 SV)
Spencer Miles, TOR (49 G, 6-2, 2.73 ERA, 93 K, 1.10 WHIP, 2 SV)

Designated Hitter:

*The only player mlb.com recognized as a DH was Bryce Eldridge of the Giants.

In the beginning, there were only 10 spots on Topps' ASRT: 1 player for each infield position, 1 catcher, 3 outfielders (I believe regardless of position), 1 right-handed pitcher, and 1 left-handed pitcher, regardless if they were a starter or a reliever. 

In 2010, Topps instituted what I am calling the "Stephen Strasburg" rule. Strasburg, the wunderkind rookie, was added to the ASRT even though he only pitched in 12 games. Strasburg is a right-handed pitcher. But so was Neftali Feliz, who at the time was the star closer for the Rangers, and a player in most years would have been named onto the team as the RHP. So what happened? With Strasburg named as the RHP for the team, Feliz was named the team's first relief pitcher.

In 2011, Topps went back to the two-pitcher format, but instead of it being a RHP and LHP as in years past, the 2011 Topps All-Star Rookie Team included just one Starting Pitcher (the Rays' Jeremy Hillickson) and one Relief pitcher (Craig Kimbrel of the Braves). Topps returned to the three-man pitching staff in 2012, and this has been the arrangement ever since. 

The designated hitter position was first used in 1977 when future Hall-of-Famer Eddie Murray of the Orioles had split votes between first base and the outfield to make it onto the team outright, but not at either position. The DH was not utilized again until 2015, when Miguel Sanó of the Twins was named onto that year's ASRT. The slot was used on-and-off for a time, when Shohei Ohtani (2018) and Yordan Alvarez (2019) were named to the teams. But now that both leagues use the DH in games, there has been one named to the ASRT since 2022.

The day the players are selected to the team has varied from year to year, with the last few being announced in mid-December. I'll post my picks for the team soon. Feel free to share your selections in the comments, even though there isn't a contest this year.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610’s 2026 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams…The Final Rosters

Apparently, this post didn't hit as scheduled last week. That's on me, and I apologize.

After going over stats and arguing with myself as to who deserves to be on the team, I have finally finished completing my 36-man teams. I think I can say with confidence that the players who made my All-Star Teams were worthy of inclusion, not just because many of them are major superstars, but because their statistics were high enough above their peers that made them stand out from the rest. And believe me, it was tough to choose. Certain players were left off (I'll list them at the bottom for honorable mentions).

So, without further ado, here are the players who made my 2026 MLB End of Year All-Star Teams (in alphabetical order by position):

American League First Basemen Pete Alonso, Orioles Jake Burger, Rangers Willson Contreras, Red Sox Second Basemen Travis Bazzana, Guardians Jazz Chisolm, Yankees Chase Meidroth, White Sox Third Basemen Junior Caminerio, Rays Brooks Lee, Twins Miguel Vargas, White Sox Shortstops Kevin McGonigle, Tigers Zach Neto, Angels Bobby Witt, Jr., Royals Outfielders Wilyer Abreu, Red Sox Randy Arozarena, Mariners Jac Caglianone, Royals Chase DeLauter, Guardians Riley Greene, Tigers Brandon Nimmo, Rangers Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox Chandler Simpson, Rays Mike Trout, Angels Catchers Dillon Dingler, Tigers Carter Jensen, Royals Shea Langeliers, Athletics Designated Hitter Yordan Alvarez, Astros Pitchers Bryan Baker, Rays Dylan Cease, Blue Jays Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox Sonny Gray, Red Sox Nick Martinez, Rays Drew Rasmussen, Rays Tyler Rogers, Blue Jays Cam Schlittler, Yankees Cade Smith, Guardians Louis Varland, Blue Jays Gavin Williams, Guardians

National League First Basemen Alex Burleson, Cardinals Rafael Devers, Giants Matt Olson, Braves Second Basemen Ozzie Albies, Braves Brandon Lowe, Pirates Brice Turang, Brewers Third Basemen Nolan Arenado, Diamondbacks Alex Bregman, Cubs Max Muncy, Dodgers Shortstops CJ Abrams, Nationals Elly De La Cruz, Reds Otto Lopez, Marlins Outfielders Corbin Carroll, Diamondbacks Jackson Chourio, Brewers Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs Michael Harris II, Braves Juan Soto, Mets Seiya Suzuki, Cubs Fernando Tatis, Jr., Padres Jordan Walker, Cardinals James Wood, Nationals Catchers Drake Baldwin, Braves Hunter Goodman, Rockies Gabriel Moreno, Diamondbacks Designated Hitter Kyle Schwarber, Phillies Pitchers Chase Burns, Reds Jhoan Duran, Phillies Raisel Iglesias, Braves Trevor Megill, Brewers Mason Miller, Padres Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers Adrian Morejon, Padres Eduardo Rodriguez, Diamondbacks Chris Sale, Braves Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers

Most of the position players were chosen based on statistics comparing the top eight position players in each league (hits, runs, home runs, rbi's, walks, strikeouts, stolen bases, caught stealing, and batting average). In most cases, the players I had chosen earlier due to the one person per team rule made the top three.

In previous years, I tended to show a little more bias to Chicago players (on both sides) in cases where if I thought I could choose them over another person, I would (hey, I'm from Chicago, what can I say). But since I'm now announcing these publicly (compared to doing this privately in my mind), I thought I'd try to be as open minded as I can and pick the proper deserving players. And I was really trying to stretch, because so many more players on both the Cubs and White Sox could have easily made it on here. 

Sole player reps on teams this year include the Astros (Alvarez), Athletics (Langeliers), Orioles (Alonso), Mariners (Arozarena), Twins (Lee), Giants (Devers), Marlins (Lopez), Mets (Soto), Pirates (Lowe), and Rockies (Goodman). The Braves send a league-high six players to the NL squad. The Rays and Red Sox each have five players to the AL side. The Brewers, Diamondbacks, and Guardians each send four players onto their respective All-Star Teams.

Are there snubs? You bet. 

Notice one extremely big name absent here??! Someone who won three MVP's in a row? A guy that is a unicorn in the sport? Anyone??!

Yes. Shohei Ohtani is not listed above. It's not because of hate of the Dodgers, or the fact that he would have become a consecutive four-time MVP. But Schwarber had a great year and I only have one DH spot on each side. Yes, even MLB allows for one DH starter and a reserve to both rosters. There are 36 players on each team as it stands now. I understand the game evolves and roster priorities have changed over time. But I figure there are already 24 other hitters on this roster that could easily play the role of DH. When I was doing the SBS game simulations, the game 7 was a free for all and any "hitter" could be the DH for that game. So I believe just one actual DH is enough for each side. When I go back through 11 years of missed seasons, don't worry. Shohei will definitely be on multiple teams...Just not this one.

There are so many other players that could have been added. On the AL side, where was our guy Munetaka Murakami??! The AL outfield could have also included Julio Rodriguez, Cam Smith, Cody Bellinger. Second base could have included either Kody Clemens or Luke Keaschall (or whichever Twin could be considered the primary second baseman).

At NL shortstop, Trea Turner and Mookie Betts were considered. The NL first baseman pool included Freddie Freeman and (Chicago bias) Michael Busch. The NL outfield could also have seen Jackson Merrill, Daylen Lile, Ian Happ (Chicago bias...I did promise to be a bit more fair otherwise, EVERY Cub and White Sox player would have made this team), Andy Pages...I could keep going.

Back in 2014, I added a "Final Man" poll to this humble, little blog at the end of the final roster announcement post. This was still at the time that MLB allowed fans to vote for one more player who was snubbed during the announcements to be added to the team. MLB no longer does this now, and I was debating whether or not I do one here. While I feel that if I had not stopped blogging, a poll would have enough people voting to make it a worthy exercise. But as it stands now, as I am just returning, I don't think I have the readership to get enough responses to warrant making one.

So ends the presentation for my 2026 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams. Please feel free to comment, debate, tell me that I did a good job, or that I don't know what I'm talking about and should have put in this person for another.

I promise I will get to running the simulations (thanks to SBS baseball) once the stats are uploaded onto the website (there are people who still make the effort to do this even if it's not on any official channels). This way, we can see which of the above squads would win if they faced each other. I will also make sure images of all the cards of the players (if I have to, I'll try and make some) once the Cyber Museum uploads images of the 2026 Update Series cards on their site.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 2026 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams...Every Team Needs a Representative

With the pitching staffs set in our last All-Star Team post, the next step is to make sure that every team gets at least one representative. I believe in the All-Star rule that every team, no matter how well or how poorly they did, has at least one person they could tag as an All-Star, based on his performance on the field. If it means that another person gets snubbed, that's sadly the way it goes. It does not matter how many spots there are on an All-Star team, someone always manages to be left out.

Now the pitching staffs from both sides locked in one representative from five of the AL teams and seven of the NL teams. So that means in this post, I am going to name ten position players in the AL, and eight in the NL.

On the American League side, the Red Sox, Guardians, Yankees, Rays, and Blue Jays have representatives. These ten players will ensure that the AL has all 15 teams represented:

2026 Topps Yordan Alvarez #468

• C Shea Langeliers, Athletics (.262, 23 HR, 58 RBI, .802 OPS, #305)
• 1B Pete Alonso, Orioles (.267, 43 HR, 113 RBI .885 OPS, #400)
• 3B Miguel Vargas, White Sox (.250, 33 HR, 93 RBI, .837 OPS, #329)
• OF Riley Greene, Tigers (.280, 21 HR, 75 RBI, .844 OPS, #209)
• DH Yordan Alvarez, Astros (.316, 42 HR, 106 RBI, 1.033 OPS, #468)
• SS Bobby Witt, Jr., Royals (.281, 18 HR, 54 RBI, .800 OPS, #205)
• OF Mike Trout, Angels (.242, 22 HR, 54 RBI, .803 OPS, #350)
• 3B Brooks Lee, Twins (.253, 24 HR, 83 RBI, .728 OPS, #610)
• OF Randy Arozarena, Mariners (.281, 26 HR, 79 RBI, .865 OPS, #431)
• 1B Jake Burger, Rangers, (.228, 28 HR, 90 RBI, .723 OPS, #451)

With two of the three 1B and 3B positions filled, it's going to be very tough to pick the player who takes the final spot. Many worthy candidates will be left out, I can sadly guarantee. The hardest teams to find a proper player rep were the Twins and the Rangers. Let's put it this way, there is only one player not shown who will absolutely get the 3B spot, his place secure long before this list was made. And while there were other deserving players at the corner infield positions, the need to fill a spot with at least one player from each team will make for great debate. Mike Trout is now the third "bridge" player, named onto multiple teams prior to the gap (2015-2025). The DH position pick was a no doubter, but will Yordan Alvarez be the only Astro on the team?

In the NL, the Diamondbacks, Braves, Reds, Dodgers, Brewers, Phillies, and Padres representatives in place. These eight players will ensure that the NL has all 15 teams represented:

2026 Topps Pete Crow-Armstrong #196

• OF Pete Crow-Armstrong, Cubs (.280, 45 HR, 107 RBI, .942 OPS, #196)
• C Hunter Goodman, Rockies, (.291, 41 HR, 88 RBI, .839 OPS, #274)
• SS Otto Lopez, Marlins (.305, 11 HR, 71 RBI, .786 OPS, #194)
• OF Juan Soto, Mets (.275, 27 HR, 68 RBI, .908 OPS, #600)
• 2B Brandon Lowe, Pirates (.260, 35 HR, 96 RBI, .824 OPS, #579)
• OF Jordan Walker, Cardinals (.269, 29 HR, 102 RBI, .793 OPS, #565)
• 1B Rafael Devers, Giants (.258, 37 HR, 98 RBI, .865 OPS, #219)
• SS CJ Abrams, Nationals (.261, 33 HR, 106 RBI, .833 OPS, #152)

First off, how could I NOT include PCA on this team. Even though I am Cubs biased (and there will be more players on both sides of Chicago making on these teams...count on it), as I didn't have a Cub yet, this pick had to be as obvious as the Yordan pick from earlier. Adding PCA, Soto, and Walker leaves six outfield spots open, which works out well considering that normally, the OF spots are usually filled by guys who wind up being the sole representative of their team. There is only one SS spot left open, and at least three players who deserve a spot, but again I needed a Marlin and a Nat, and both Otto and CJ were among the best offensive players on their team, with Otto leading the NL in hits (191) and CJ the NL leader at short with 33 HR and 106 RBI.

Now before you start to say, "Where's this guy?" or, "Why didn't my guy make the team?" Please keep in mind that I'm not done filling out the team. These 18 guys are only here so that all 30 teams have a player. The best (trust me) is still yet to come.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 2026 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams...The Starting Pitchers

Yesterday, I named the bullpens for each of my 2026 End of the Year All-Star Teams. Now it's time to name the starters.

To recap, here is my American League relief corps:

• Bryan Baker, Rays
• Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox
• Tyler Rogers, Blue Jays
• Cade Smith, Guardians
• Louis Varland, Blue Jays

and the National League bullpen:

• Jhoan Duran, Phillies
• Raisel Iglesias, Braves
• Trevor Megill, Brewers
• Mason Miller, Padres
• Adrian Morejon, Padres

So, who would they be relieving???

Starting with the American League six-man rotation, we have (in alphabetical order):

2026 Topps Drew Rasmussen #64

• Dylan Cease, Blue Jays (11-6, 2.40 ERA, 239 K's, 1.10 WHIP, #547)
• Sonny Gray, Red Sox (18-5, 2.72 ERA, 149 K's, 1.15 WHIP, #US199)
• Nick Martinez, Rays (15-6, 3.10 ERA, 109 K's, 1.09 WHIP, #US336)
• Drew Rasmussen, Rays (16-5, 2.67 ERA, 174 K's, 0.91 WHIP, #64)
• Cam Schlittler, Yankees (14-6, 1.95 ERA, 239 K's, 0.92 WHIP, #111)
• Gavin Williams, Guardians (14-8, 3.76 ERA, 248 K's, 1.11 WHIP, #254)

Honorable mentions go out to (meaning, if I had more space, I'd would have added) Taj Bradley of the Twins (12-6, 3.73, 205 K's), and Parker Messick of the Guardians (12-9, 2.56, 193 K's). I really was struggling between Bradley and Nick Martinez, but Martinez had the better year. 

In the National League, my All-Star six man rotation includes:

2026 Topps Jacob Misiorowski #10

• Chase Burns, Reds (15-3, 2.86 ERA, 185 K's, 1.17 WHIP, #312)
• Jacob Misiorowski, Brewers (16-5, 1.80 ERA, 252 K's, 0.80 WHIP, #10)
• Eduardo Rodriguez, Diamondbacks (16-7, 2.89 ERA, 143 K's, 1.24 WHIP, #417)
• Chris Sale, Braves (14-9, 2.16 ERA, 200 K's, 0.98 WHIP, #427)
• Cristopher Sánchez, Phillies (18-7, 2.91 ERA, 231 K's, 1.20 WHIP, #325)
• Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers (14-9, 2.53 ERA, 182 K's, 0.87 WHIP, #90)

After the year he had, how could you NOT put The Miz onto this All-Star Team??! Sale was also on the 2014 AL team, so he's the second bridge player between the 11-year gap (along with Aroldis Chapman). Honorable mentions go out to Braxton Ashcroft of the Pirates (14-6, 3.65 ERA, 173 K's), and Jesús Luzardo of the Phillies (14-5, 2.86 ERA, 221 K's). 

So the pitching staffs are done. Next, we'll get to the position players. The first step is to ensure that every team has a representative, regardless of what position he plays. At this point, ten AL teams and eight teams from the NL need to have a player. I have a few people in mind. Who will they be? Tune in some time tomorrow and find out.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

bdj610's 2026 End of Year MLB All-Star Teams...The Relief Pitchers

It's been forever and a day since I last did one of these (I believe the last one I did was in 2014). The reason? As ridiculous as it sounds, I lost my spreadsheets saved on a flash drive and it was too much work (from 1988 to 2014, so 26 years worth of work) to get it up and running again. So I stopped. A childhood dream that grew with me was somehow lost. 

I plan on making up for that. Eleven seasons worth of it. Eventually.

But I digress.

But for now as the first set of wild card playoffs go into full swing tonight, why not resurrect what was my favorite time of the year, the naming of bdj610's End of the Year All-Star Teams.

If you want to know what the heck I'm talking about and why I have created All-Star Teams for both leagues since I was 12 years old, please review the introduction and brief history (ahem...brief???) as to why I did this every year for the 26 years.

Quick rules on how I comprise the teams:

• Two teams, one American League team, and one National League team
• There are 36 spots on each team (three first basemen, three second basemen, three third basemen, three shortstops, nine outfielders, three catchers, six starting pitchers, four relief pitchers/closers, one relief pitcher/set-up, and one DH)
• Every team gets a representative. No exceptions. If a player gets snubbed by a guy who is only there because a team needed a rep, then that's sadly the way it goes.

Things that happened when I last did this (in 2014):

• The Cubs won a World Series!!!
• The Cleveland Indians were renamed the Cleveland Guardians
• The Oakland Athletics existed (they're currently just the Athletics until they move to Las Vegas)
• The DH is now in both leagues (When I last did this exercise, only the AL had a DH position, and the player I selected as the DH for the NL was the best hitter who didn't make the team at any other position).
• Some guy managed to hit 50 home runs and steal 50 bases in a season (and in 1988, 40-40 was a relatively new concept).
• I could go on and on, but...

Back to the point.

This is going to be a four-post process. Today, I will announce the bullpen staffs for each team.

Why start with the bullpens?

Because it's relatively simple. The top four guys with the most saves are automatically on the teams. Usually.

So let's start with the American League closers. On this year's team are (with their 2026 Topps cards...including Update Series):

• Bryan Baker, Rays (4-2, 1.44, 41/44 in saves/opportunities, #US287)
• Cade Smith, Guardians (1-3, 1.44, 41/46 saves/opportunities, #622)
• Aroldis Chapman, Red Sox (3-4, 1.92, 35/37 saves/opportunities, #656)
• Louis Varland, Blue Jays (5-6, 1.27, 35/37 saves/opportunities, #US210)

2026 Topps Cade Smith #622

These four players led the American League in saves, (the fifth was David Bednar, who had 35 saves as well, with a 7-3 record, and a 2.47 ERA). Chapman was on my 2014 NL All-Star team, so he's a bridge between the last time I made one of these and now. Others I had considered were actual 2026 All-Star Jacob Latz of the Rangers (3-4, 2.13 ERA, 30/34 saves/opportunities, 0.73 WHIP) and Josh Hader of the Astros (4-2, 1.01 ERA, 26/26 saves/opportunities).

The National League closers for the 2026 team are:

• Mason Miller, Padres (5-2, 1.67, 38/41 saves/opportunities, #179)
• Raisel Iglesias, Braves (1-2, 2.55, 34/37 saves/opportunities, #396)
• Jhoan Duran, Phillies (2-6, 1.82, 33/35 saves/opportunities, #83)
• Trevor Megill, Brewers (3-3, 2.63, 30/33 saves/opportunities, #141)

2026 Topps Mason Miller #179

These four have a combined WHIP ((walks + hits)/innings pitched) of 0.964! When given the opportunity to save games, these guys were almost unhittable). Others almost considered were Riley O'Brien of the Cardinals (3-9, 4.08, 38/46 saves/opportunities), Tanner Scott of the Dodgers (1-6, 2.69, 25/29 saves/opportunities), and Emilio Pagán of the Reds (5-1, 3.38, 25/28 saves/opportunities).

When I first started naming players to All-Star teams, I only considered closers for the bullpen roles. Since then I've added middle relievers, the guys who barely ever get any baseball cards, to the squads. They've been an important part of any All-Star bullpen (and even in the World Baseball Classic, bullpens consist of really good middle relievers to go complement the closers). So many great pitching performances this year by so many different players, it's just so hard to choose just one player to fill this spot. But one spot is available on both sides for a middle reliever. When all was said and done though, the two players I selected were more than qualified to make it onto the respective teams.

The AL Middle Reliever for the 2026 team is Tyler Rogers of the Blue Jays (#US117). He tied for the AL lead n holds with 33, earned a 2-3 record, had an ERA of 1.77, struck out 40 batters, and even saved 4/8 games in 71 innings of work. Others up for consideration included Rays reliever Kevin Kelly (6-4, 2.44 ERA, 63 K's, 0.90 WHIP, 33 holds), and Hunter Gaddis of the Guardians (6-3, 2.98, 57 K's, 32 holds).

The NL Middle Reliever for the 2026 team is the Padres' Adrian Morejon (#US154). His 28 holds were good for second in the NL, but a 9-3 record (which also means that he kept opposing teams down before the Padres would rally), along with a 2.83 ERA, 107 strikeouts, 3/8 in saves/opportunities, and a 1.08 WHIP was more than enough to get him added as the middle reliever. The only other pitcher in consideration for this spot was Dylan Lee of the Braves (6-1, 3.09 ERA, 77 K's, league leading 31 holds).

So right now, we've named the bullpens for each team. Who will fill out the rest of the rosters? Tomorrow, I will name the six starting pitchers that will round out the pitching staffs on each team.

By Thursday, every team will get a representative as I announce just some of the players who will take spots on both leagues' rosters.

And finally on Friday, I will round out the rest of the rosters and introduce the complete American and National League teams.

Wait and see. It's going to look good I promise.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

2026 Topps Update...Ready for Round 3??!

 

Image of the 2026 Topps Update Series Retail Box

It won't be long now before the 2026 MLB season comes to a close and the hype over the Update Series begins. And there is a lot to unpack.

2026 Topps Update Travis Bazzana #US75

The checklist for the end-of-the-year set came out earlier this week, and well...

The player selection is great, I'm not against that. Topps is even bringing back the update series SP cards, akin to the SP rookie additions in series 2, in the form of Tarik Skubal and Adley Rutschmann (definitely will get my hands on these once they hit the Bay). What I don't get, however, is the format of the base checklist.

To wit...

The checklist, for the first time ever, is broken down into categories:

• Veterans I
• Veterans II
• Rookies
• Rookie Debut
• Veteran Combos
• Season Highlights

The Veterans I section, includes (doing a quick count...) 96 players. Veterans II consists of (doing another quick count, which is just me copying and pasting the .pdf to an Excel spreadsheet) 99 players. Going down the line, you have 85 Rookies, 40  Rookie Debut cards, 16 Veteran Combo cards, and 14 Season Highlights cards. That's 350 cards in the base set. Which is great and all...but...

What's the difference between Veterans I and Veterans II??!

2026 Topps Update Walker Buehler #US213, part of the Veterans II group.

I had first thought that the Veterans I section included players who were in either Series 1 or 2, and the Veterans II section consists of players who wasn't in either series. But that isn't true because while players such as Mauricio Dubón (191 in S1, US8 in Update) and Alex Bregman (135 in S1, US25 in Update) appeared earlier on cards earlier in the year, players such as Miguel Amaya, Antonio Senzatela, and even Zac Gallen did not. 

The 99 players in the Veterans II section? Just from a sampling based off the 2026 MLB All-Stars who didn't have cards prior to the game in July, Max Mayer, Bryan Baker, Jacob Latz, and Louis Varland all are part of this group. Later additions such as Iván Herrera and Nick Martinez are part of this group as well. But both Willson Contreras and Tristan Peters are in this group as well, and they had cards in the main set (under different teams, so it's no surprise they're here too). 

So that can't be it. With that said, was there a real reason why the 195 veterans were grouped off in this way? Maybe someone who has knowledge way above my pay grade can explain. 

Or maybe I'm making too much of a big deal out of it...I don't know...

Beyond the base set, let's go over the insert sets whose cards will be distributed throughout the packs and boxes of Update Series.

Among the basic insert sets coming to Update will be the 25-card Stat Stars, a newly-titled 35-card playoffs-themed set called Autumn Ascensions (I think...only because rookie card subjects Munetaka Murakami, Travis Bazzana, and JJ Wetherholt are in this set and as far as I can tell have yet to make the playoffs in MLB), Topps Black Gold returns for another end-of-the-year appearance, 25 cards in all. The Hobby/Jumbo exclusive Mystical set returns as well with another 25 subject set. Fifty players from the All-Star Game are featured in the annual All-Star Game insert set. Which is great and all, but if Shohei Ohtani wasn't even in Philly for the festivities, why is he part of this set? Same for Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

First Pitch concludes with five more celebrities, including someone many Filipinos outside of the Hobby will jump at the chance to acquire, boxing legend (and senator) Manny Pacquiao. The celebration of 1991 Topps baseball also concludes with another 50-card set. The ever popular Stars of MLB set concludes with another 26 cards (funny enough, no Titans of the Game in this one).

2026 Topps Update 1991 Topps Munetaka Murakami #U91-22

The Costco sets will return for the first time in Update Series. So expect another 90-card Flagship Collection and 10-card Bulk Order to appear in bonus packs. There is also a 10-card Rookie Sensations set that is exclusive to the "Club Box", but there is at this time, no way to tell if this is going to be an SP insert set or a basic one.

The product goes live on October 14, 2026, less than four weeks from the day this post goes live. I can't wait to get back into the swing of things.  The chase for 593 cards will begin then. As of now, the 6-inch binder is 2/3rd's full and just needs the SP Rookie Variations (Kevin McGonigle, JJ Wetherholt, Carson Benge, and Justin Crawford) to finish out Series 2. 

Then the fun will begin.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama

Twenty-Five Years Ago Today...

I wrote this post on September 11, 2018. It is now eight-years later. The memories of where we were and what my wife and I were doing on what had started as a regular Tuesday morning with a newborn daughter are still there. Faded due to time, but still there.

It's almost an afterthought.

I say almost because for many, the memories are still fresh in their minds. They're haunting. And I can only imagine that some still do not look forward to this day on the calendar.

It's Tuesday. The same day it happened seventeen years ago. Most seniors in high school now weren't even born when it happened. For most of us, life has definitely moved on. We knew where we were when it happened. I was on my way to work, my wife and daughter were getting ready for another day at home...maybe going shopping. We had the news on as we normally did before switching to PBS kids when images of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center first appeared...then the second. Let's just say not much work was going to be done that day...and we were preparing for a food show.

But I think about today. My daughter, just over a year old when it happened, starts college next week. I am typing this up while on break from orientation now. My son, now a junior in high school, wasn't even born.

In school, they learn about the events of September 11, 2001. It's a history lesson for them. They learn about what happened based on what is written on a page, what they see on a video, what they read online. It is sad yes. The chain of events, the heightened awareness, security at the airport, the news, all of it, is normal to them.

But prior to what happened seventeen years ago, it wasn't.

We weren't always at war. We didn't need to take our shoes off at the airports. We didn't have to worry about our safety to that extreme.

I wrote the words below in 2011. For that article, and when I re-ran the story since, I used the total number of people I had heard to have died due to the events of that day, not including those who heinously perpetrated the attacks. That number was 2,974. Depending on where you read it, it could have been 2,977. Tallies since then have brought the number up to 2,980. But regardless of the number, that's too many lives lost.

Every year, I try to come back and honor the memories of the people for whom this country still mourns, and think how the events on that fateful day changed the course of American history, seventeen years since. By the time this posts goes live, it is nightfall...seventeen years after that the final plane crashed in a field somewhere in Pennsylvania.



Two thousand nine hundred seventy-four.

2,974.

That's the number of people who lost their lives when everything was finally taken into account. Countless lives were affected by this national tragedy. Even if you didn't know anybody on those planes, at the World Trade Center, or the Pentagon, you grieved along with those who did. You stood there in shock, in a daze, just glued to the television or radio.

Our lives have not been the same since. My daughter, now eleven, asks what we (her parents) were doing that morning. "We were just going about our lives," was my reply. "We watched the morning news, getting ready for work, and couldn't believe what we were seeing on the screen." She was just over a year old. She couldn't have understood what was going on then. But she will learn that what she sees as "normal" now, really wasn't before that Tuesday morning.

Two thousand nine hundred seventy-four. It is the number of reasons why we never forget what happened seventeen years ago today.

On this day, the seventeenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, my family and I send our prayers to those who lost loved ones that Tuesday morning. We pray, and will continue to pray for:

the children who lost their parents that day.

the children who would never meet their fathers because of the events of that day.

the firefighters and policemen and women who risk their lives doing their jobs, running into the face of dangers as many are running in the opposite direction.

those servicemen and women fighting for our freedoms away from home, whether or not we agree with the conflicts they battle.

for our leaders, regardless of their affiliation, that they make the right choices to keep the citizens of our country, and others, safe.

And finally, we pray for peace. Peace amongst ourselves as family, as a community, as a nation.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama