Ben Rice crushes 40th, 41st homers against Rays

Misiorowski is the overwhelming favorite to take home the hardware after establishing himself as the most dominant starter in baseball, forging a microscopic 1.80 ERA (2.12 xERA), 0.80 WHIP and 252/44 K/BB ratio across 174 2/3 innings. The 24-year-old flamethrower recorded 10 double-digit strikeout performances and allowed three earned runs or fewer in all but two of his 30 starts. Sale continued his remarkable late-career renaissance in Atlanta, delivering another stellar campaign with a 2.16 ERA (2.97 xERA), 0.98 WHIP and 200/31 K/BB ratio across 162 2/3 innings over 27 starts. He would have been the choice in just about any other season, but Misiorowski made the leap from hard-throwing phenom to an outright force of nature.

Harvey was limited to just four appearances due to triceps issues this past season. The 31-year-old has the raw stuff necessary to pitch in high-leverage spots, but he simply hasn’t been healthy the last couple years.

Smith has been a model of consistency since taking over as Cleveland’s closer and finished this past season with 41 saves and a 1.95 ERA across 74 innings. Baker came out of nowhere to emerge as Tampa Bay’s stopper, notching 41 saves of his own. Varland made the leap into one of the more dominant relief pitchers in the game, posting a microscopic 1.27 ERA and 97/23 K/BB ratio across 78 innings. He also finished with a career-high 35 saves.

Adams has to accept the assignment, but the other three players here are all free agents now. Stevens, 27, got into 13 games for the Rockies in May and June but went just 1-for-28. Although he hit a solid .316/.409/.464 in Triple-A, this was probably his last best chance to make it as a major league utilityman.

This one won’t be particularly close. Schlittler seems like a near-lock to take home his first Cy Young Award after posting a pristine 1.95 ERA, 0.92 WHIP and 239/49 K/BB ratio across 193 2/3 innings over 33 starts. The 25-year-old rising star will be at the front of New York’s rotation for years to come. Messick put together one of the more impressive rookie campaigns in recent years, but he’s going to finish a distant third in balloting. Cease was the only reach challenger to Schlittler in this race, posting an impressive 2.40 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 239/78 K/BB ratio across 169 innings over 29 starts in his Blue Jays debut.

Kelly had a 3.31 ERA in 16 1/3 innings last season before missing the second half with elbow inflammation. The 31-year-old has a career ERA of 4.04 in 131 1/3 innings since debuting with Boston in 2022.

The 23-year-old Rivera pitched four times for the Red Sox last season, giving up seven runs in 10 innings. He’s rather wild and he’s not viewed as having a ton of upside, but he could be at least a nice innings eater in middle relief, and since he has two option years left, some team is going to want him.

After seven years in the Reds organization, Sanmartín had a 4.22 ERA in 24 appearances for the Giants last season. If he clears waivers, he might be offered a minor league deal to stick around.

Wick, who spent all of 2026 rehabbing after Tommy John surgery, gets a $100,000 buyout of an $800,000 option. Since he doesn’t have enough service time to become a free agent, he’s still on the Giants’ roster for now, though that might change at some point.

There’s a pretty compelling case to be made for Cash after the Rays put together a remarkable 98-win season to capture the AL East division title. However, Venable should be in the conversation after helping lead the White Sox to a remarkable turnaround as they went from losing 102 games to making the postseason. Tracy took over as Boston’s interim manager in late April and managed to spark their unexpected turnaround.