The Buzz · November 1, 2026
The Buzz — Sunday, November 1
The offseason opened and five conversations started at once — a champion's ace, a shortstop Cincinnati might move, an opt-in that pays for itself, a two-way plan built on rest, and a Gold Glove decided tonight. Under each name, the number that settles whether the noise is earned.
Jacob Misiorowski
The take Young Brewers ace buzz after dominant year and WS clinch
A 24-year-old in his first full MLB season does not usually lead baseball in ERA — but the number on the page is 1.80, and it is what makes every piece of the offseason buzz make sense. He struck out 252 in 174.2 innings, held the league to a .157 average, and then started the game that won Milwaukee its first title: 5.2 scoreless before a calf cramp pulled him, and the Brewers won 4-1.
What puts the buzz above a hot streak is the fastball. He averaged 100.5 mph on it, a record for a qualified starter, and threw at least 104 on 22 separate occasions. That is not a pitcher getting hot for two months. It is a starter doing something the position has not seen — and carrying it into October, where he went 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA across four postseason starts.
Jacob Misiorowski cards on eBay →(paid link)
Elly De La Cruz
The take Reds trade rumors swirl after star's big year
The 30-30 season — .283 with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases — is what put his name on the market's mind, and the crowd is right that it is moving. But the Reds control him through 2029. He turned down an extension in spring 2025 that would have topped Joey Votto's $225 million deal, and the Red Sox made an offer at this year's deadline that Cincinnati rejected because they wanted young major leaguers, not prospects. The talk is real; the sale is not forced. He is not a free agent until after 2029, and any trade is a club maximizing from a position of control.
Elly De La Cruz cards on eBay →(paid link)
Bo Bichette
The take Bichette opts into Mets deal, skips free agency
The opt-in was the only move the math allowed. A 96 wRC+ — 4% below league average — is what a .260 season with 18 home runs and a .702 OPS in 160 games looks like, and it is a long way from the hitter the Mets traded for. The early switch to third base cost him; a .213 line through June 2 drew the boos the crowd remembers, and the full-year slash of .260/.312/.390 with 78 RBIs did not fully erase the gap.
Walking away would have triggered a $5 million buyout and sent a below-league-average third baseman into a market that was not going to pay him $42 million a year. He still holds another $42 million option for 2028, so the Mets get roster certainty and he keeps his leverage. The opt-in is the deal doing what it was designed to do.
Bo Bichette cards on eBay →(paid link)
Shohei Ohtani
The take Health clearance for two-way 2027 amid lockout intrigue
Rest, not surgery — that single word from Andrew Friedman is the load-bearing fact under all the 2027 two-way planning. The right biceps and left knee injuries that ended his pitching after July 3 are not structural, and both Friedman and Ohtani have committed to him pitching next year.
The case for believing it is the same case that makes the caution necessary. He hit 30 homers with an .889 OPS and went 8-2 with a 1.79 ERA across 14 starts — dominant on both sides, until the shutdown and the offensive drop that carried into October, where he hit .192 in the postseason with one extra-base hit as the Dodgers were swept in the NLCS. The two-way sample was never complete, and the version that reached the playoffs was running on less than full.
The lockout is the shadow over all of it. Owners are expected to impose one when the CBA expires Dec. 1, which would freeze the offseason and suspend rehab coordination with team staff. ESPN already ranks him No. 1 at DH/SP for 2027, and the talent says that is right — but the path from here to there runs through rest, a labor stoppage, and a body that stopped pitching in early July.
Shohei Ohtani cards on eBay →(paid link)
Bobby Witt Jr.
The take Gold Glove finalist before tonight's awards show
The +24 Outs Above Average led all shortstops and ranked third in all of baseball, and that is the metric case for why Witt is the favorite tonight. He won the previous two AL Gold Gloves at shortstop in 2024 and 2025 and is going for a third straight. His 7.0 fWAR led the American League. The winner is announced on ESPN tonight at 8:30 ET, and the numbers say it is his.
Bobby Witt Jr. cards on eBay →(paid link)
What December does to November
Four of these five are settled or will be by tonight — Misiorowski's season is a fact, Bichette's opt-in is signed, Witt's glove gets its verdict at 8:30 ET, and Ohtani's two-way plan is a question for spring. The De La Cruz rumor is the live wire, because a 30-30 shortstop under control through 2029 is exactly the asset that keeps teams calling. But every one of these stories runs into a Dec. 1 lockout that could freeze the sport, and the clubs that moved early — the Mets, the Dodgers — are the ones who will look prepared when nobody can pick up a phone.