Dugout Diary by Joe Boesch

Happy Hot Stove League and Happy Turkey Day! It seems like only yesterday was Opening Day—time goes by so fast! Baseball, for all intents and purposes, is America's Pastime and puts fresh air into life (a baseball game a day keeps the doctor away). Now that the Hot Stove League is in full swing, all eyes will be on the trades that will make headlines and winners for the 2026 baseball season. Many underlying questions will swirl around the brain over the winter: Will the Dodgers repeat as World Champions? Will the  Yankees  make it to the  World Series  in 2026? Will the whole  Mets  situation be figured out? Who's involved in the blockbuster deals? Who are the top free agents that teams will go after? As these questions and many more are answered, let's keep in mind one thing — Spring Training is not that far away. With that, the Hot Stove and all the trades that take place will keep the winter short and the baseball season long. So, with that, have a Happy...

Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are two of the best in baseball and have been bestowed back-to-back MVP awards. There was much talk that Cal Raleigh had a shot at the MVP, but ultimately Judge was awarded it again, his third in his career. Here's what the Topps Now card has to say about their storied careers: Baseball superstars Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge are clearly in a league of their own. Combining for 108 homers and 216 RBI, both sluggers solidified their elite status with a second straight League MVP Award in 2025. Ohtani and Judge are the first players in MLB history to enter a season as reigning MVP Awards winners and earn the honor again the following campaign.  Until then, see you at the park. — Joe Boesch 

The Cy Young Award winners have been announced and two of the best have won it — Paul Skenes (NL) and Tarik Skubal (AL). Two of the most dominating pitchers in the league, well deserved for a great 2025 season by both of them. Here's the verbiage on the back of their Topps Now card: Anytime a League award is earned, it calls for celebration. Paul Skenes rode an impressive MLB-leading 1.97 ERA to his first-ever NL Cy Young Award. Tarik Skubal, winning the AL Cy Young Award in 2024, returned for an encore for a second straight accolade. It's only the third time ever that both MLB All-Star Game starters won a Cy Young Award in the same season. Until then, see you at the park. — Joe Boesch 

The votes are in and your A.L. and N.L. Rookie of the Years are: Nick Kurtz and Drake Baldwin. With that, they also have their own Topps Now card and their story on the back goes like this: Proving their value all year for their respective Clubs, Drake Baldwin and Nick Kurtz each secured the 2025 Rookie of the Year Award. Baldwin, with an NL-leading 80 RBI, is the second Atlanta Braves catcher to win the honor. Kurtz led all AL rookies in homers (36), RBI (86), and slugging percentage (.619) to become the first Athletics player to add the accolade since 2009. Until then, see you at the park. — Joe Boesch 

Clayton Kershaw has decided to hang up his cleats and call it a storied career, as he went out with another World Series under his belt and another ring to add to his collection. One of the best pitchers to have played the game, he will be missed, but the memories of what he did as a Dodger will forever be etched in the minds of everyone. With that, here's a tribute from his Topps Now card that was released right after the Dodgers clinched the World Series. Here's the verbiage on the back of his card: Clayton Kershaw is ending his storied Los Angeles Dodgers career on top. The franchise icon has achieved just about everything imaginable throughout the course of his 18-year run, but following a 5-4 win against the Toronto Blue Jays in one of the wild World Series Game 7 matchups of all-time, Kershaw got the storybook ending he deserved, earning his third World Series ring. Until then, see you at the park. — Joe Boesch 

The deciding factor came in the 11th inning for the Dodgers, who upset the Toronto Blue Jays to win their second consecutive championship. A good, hard-fought series; now it's time for baseball to go into hibernation and let the other sports take center stage. This means now that the long, cold winter is near and the holidays are around the corner, which brings joy and spirit to everyone. For this baseball scribe, it's time to think about the Hot Stove League. Until then, off to the Hot Stove. — Joe Boesch