The Buzz · November 6, 2026
The Buzz — Friday, November 6
A manager's chair in Houston, the winter's prize arm, two rosters being redrawn, and a third baseman who just gave his club one fewer problem — five names, and under each, the number that tells you whether the noise is earned.
Albert Pujols
The take Pujols in-person Astros manager interview this week
The interview is Thursday at Daikin Park, Brad Ausmus is also in the mix, and Randy Flores called the hire "immediate." That word matters — it means the search is moving now, not that Pujols has the inside track. The connection is real: Flores and Pujols were Cardinals teammates, and that bridge is what got the conversation started. But the résumé under the name is what the Astros have to weigh.
Zero MLB or affiliated-minors managing experience. A Dominican Winter League title in 2024-25, a WBC third-place finish, and two prior interviews — with the Angels and Padres — that did not produce offers. The 10-year, $10 million personal-services contract with the Angels is friction a buyout can solve, not a wall. He is interviewing for the job, alongside others. The correct read is considered, not chosen.
Albert Pujols cards on eBay →(paid link)
Tarik Skubal
The take Top free agent chasing record deal from big clubs
He is expected to set a new record for a starting pitcher contract — well in excess of $300 million, with $400 million-plus in play. The 2026 line is the entire case: 12-7, 2.72 ERA, 186 strikeouts, 0.96 WHIP, 155 ERA+, 5.2 fWAR in 158.2 innings. That came after roughly six weeks lost to elbow surgery, and the numbers held anyway.
The Dodgers traded prospects to Detroit at the 2026 deadline for rental control and now compete to keep him. The Mets have the payroll and the rotation need. Those are the two obvious suitors, and they are obvious because they are the two clubs that can reach this number without flinching. The Cubs want him badly enough to say so and skeptically enough to doubt they will match the price. The Yankees are "thinking about" it, which is the posture of a team with a stocked rotation testing whether a splash creates a trade downstream.
The Dec. 1 lockout compresses the timeline, and the expectation is Skubal signs before it arrives. This is not noise chasing the market. Two Cy Youngs and a season that survived elbow surgery are the reason the number starts at $300 million and climbs — and the market knows it.
Tarik Skubal cards on eBay →(paid link)
Pete Alonso
The take Orioles sole untouchable is Alonso amid trade openness
Forty-three home runs and 113 RBIs in 161 games is what Alonso gave Baltimore in year one of a five-year, $155 million deal, and it is the reason the front office drew one line and put him behind it. Everyone else is available in conversation; he is not.
The Orioles went 79-82 and missed the playoffs for the second straight year, and Mike Elias said rotation upgrades are "absolutely on the menu." The trade openness is the path to pitching, not a fire sale. Alonso's .885 OPS and league-leading home run total earned the untouchable tag — a club that paid for a bat, got the bat, and is now trying to build the pitching around it.
Pete Alonso cards on eBay →(paid link)
Bo Bichette
The take Bichette opts in, locks Mets 3B and offseason focus
Bichette exercised his $42 million option for 2027, and the smart play was always going to be this one. His .260 average and .702 OPS in 160 games landed 4% below league average, and a weak free-agent class plus a looming lockout made the guarantee cleaner than the market. Third base has been a hole since David Wright; now it is set. The Mets can point their winter at the rotation and bullpen, which is where the actual work is.
Bo Bichette cards on eBay →(paid link)
Drew Rasmussen
The take Prime trade target despite Rays vowing to retain him
The $20 million option is a franchise-record single-season salary, and the Rays exercised it — which is a different posture than their usual playbook with expensive arms. Erik Neander said every intention right now is thinking about Ras anchoring the rotation, and the language is not hedged.
The crowd files that next to Tampa Bay's history of trading impending free agents, and the instinct is fair. But the numbers make this harder than the usual Rays trade calculus: 16-5, 2.67 ERA, a league-leading 0.91 WHIP, 174 strikeouts in 172 innings, and a 2.20 ERA across five postseason starts. That is a rental ace, not a reclamation project. The Rays said what they meant. Whether they hold that line through the winter is what the market will test.
Drew Rasmussen cards on eBay →(paid link)
The one that bends the rest
Four of these five resolve on their own schedule — Bichette is signed, Rasmussen's option is exercised, Alonso is not going anywhere, and Pujols interviews Thursday in a multi-candidate field. Skubal is the one that sets the ceiling for every other conversation this winter, and the Dec. 1 lockout will not let him wait. The bet here is Los Angeles — the club that traded for him at the deadline did not ship prospects to Detroit for a rental, and the payroll that can reach $400 million-plus is already in the building.