Brandon BrooksSun, November 23, 2025 at 2:00 AM UTC·2 min readBig ups to my loyal Rival Roundup readers. Feel free to start brainstorming a sort of “fandom name” for yourselves in the comments. The more provocative, the better, I’m thinking. That’s my early take here. I might change my mind after seeing some suggestions.
Let’s start with our friends atop the division, the Cleveland Guardians. This week, the Guards avoided arbitration with Matt Festa, Nolan Jones, and David Fry; their non-tenders for the year comprised of pitchers Nic Enright and Sam Hentges, as well as outfielder Will Brennan. All told, the contracts comprised less than $5 million combined, and the moves bring the Guardian 40-man roster to 38.
Old friend — sorry — “old friend” Justin Ishbia met the Pope. Your thoughts??? He invited the pontiff to come throw out the first pitch at a Sox game next season, which will either result in the horrific holy dominance of the Chicago White Sox over the next decade, or the funniest curse in baseball history.
In White Sox news that many people are calling “more baseball-related,” here are the Chicago arbitration details in lieu of the non-tender deadline.
They’ve also begun engaging in their own brand of Twinsian deck-chair shuffling, although you don’t have to be that much of a pessimist to suggest that the White Sox organization is trending in a more positive direction than ours is.
Gleyber Torres accepted the qualifying offer from the Detroit Tigers, in a year that was uncharacteristically ripe for accepted QOs. He’ll make $22.025MM in 2026.
The Royals chucked a pair of non-tenders atcha.
But, wait! Why, they’ve added a man, as well!
