MLB News Today: Albert Pujols lauds Aaron Judge; Dodgers waive Jason Heyward and more
On Thursday, MLB again went up and down as teams refined themselves for the impending postseason. A manager was fired, a star slugger got one home run closer to breaking his own record and one player, for no fault of his own, was assigned to the minors.
Got you interested? Let's check this top news out.
1) Albert Pujols lauds Aaron Judge as Yankees captain gets closer to another 60-home run season
For the last week and so, the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals fans were at odds with each other, comparing Aaron Judge and Albert Pujols. While the former Cardinals first baseman had a marvelous career, the Yankees captain is stitching one.
On Thursday, he extended his major league home run lead, smoking his 48th home run to the stands against the Cleveland Guardians. On "MLB Tonight Show," the former Cardinals star raved about Judge's historic season.
"He's locked in. I mean, from what I've seen over the last three years, he's not chasing that much. He's taking his walks. And for a guy to be hitting over .335 with 48 homers in this era, it's pretty special," Pujols said.
"You know, when you see a power hitter like that, you think, OK, this is just a pull guy. But he hits the ball all over the park. There's no ballpark on this earth that can hold this guy in."
This season, Aaron Judge has a chance to break his own record (62 home runs) set in 2022 for most home runs in a single season in the American League.
2) Dodgers DFA'd Jason Heyward
In a sharp move made by the LA Dodgers on Monday, the club designated Jason Heyward for assignment, replacing him with Chris Taylor on the roster. This likely means the end of the tenure for Heyward, who hit .208 with six homers and a .682 OPS in 63 games this season.
After being released by the Chicago Cubs despite being owed a $22 million salary for the 2023 season, the Dodgers signed him on a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. In 2023, he hit .269 with 15 homers and an .813 OPS, extending his contract to one more year for a $9 million salary.
However, his last at-bat with the Dodgers was a clutch go-ahead three-run homer in a 6-3 win over the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday.
3) Seattle Mariners fire Scott Servais
On Thursday, the Mariners let go of Scott Servais, who had been the club's manager since the 2016 season. The club replaced him with former catcher Dan Wilson in a full-time role.
This comes after Seattle couldn't make the most of the early-season opportunity when both the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros were skidding. At one point, the club even had a lead of 10.0 games over its rivals in the division.
However, Servais and his men couldn't sustain the lead as the team is outside of a postseason spot by 5.0 games with over a month to go.
In his nine years at the helm, the Mariners could only make the postseason once, resulting in the front office finally pulling the plug.