#roster-construction

#roster-construction

The quarterbacks - who will face off for the second time Monday night at Northwest Stadium - will be compared throughout their careers. But as much as their individual performances matter, what is equally as important is how their teams build around them - particularly while they're still on their rookie contracts, before they're eligible to sign lucrative extensions in the 2027 offseason.

Unfortunately, the trade deadline this summer was, uh ..... to put it as nicely as possible, something less than a masterclass. Between moving on from Quinn Priester and Rafael Devers early in the season, Breslow actually shipped out more major league talent this season than he brought in, which is nuts for a team that was in a playoff race.

Even before it landed Kevin Durant, Houston had embraced a surprising strategy for escaping the depths of despair. It paid above market value for NBA champion point guard Fred VanVleet, invested in a veteran wing in Dillon Brooks, and prioritized size and versatility from thereon out-ultimately resulting in 52 wins and the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias to discuss... Elias's promotion from general manager to president of baseball operations (1:45) Why the Orioles underperformed in 2025 (3:30) The club's lack of investment in free agent pitching (5:25) The decision making about playing time for prospects when they don't find immediate big league success (9:20)

Offensively led by Stützle, who is "knocking on the door of superstardom" according to The Athletic, the 23-year-old already has a 90-point season under his belt and is certainly primed to outpace the 78 points he scored in 82 games from 2024-25. Trailing not far behind on the scoresheet is linemate Drake Batherson, who is coming off of a career-best season with 68 points in 82 games. That dynamic duo has proven to hold up against some of the NHL's most elite competi

The Houston Rockets have one of the league's most dynamic young cores - led by Alperen Sengun and two-way star Amen Thompson - buoying them to the No. 2 seed in the West last year. However, they lost a rock fight in the first round against Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and the Golden State Warriors. Despite sporting a top-5 defense, the Rockets were a bottom-nine halfcourt offense with the eighth-worst effective field goal percentage and seventh-worst true-shooting percentage. They needed at least one other creator.

When you look back at the last few years in Leafs Land, every single season has started with a question mark. Whether it was the possibility of Sheldon Keefe, Kyle Dubas or Brendan Shanhan's contract's expiring, contract talks with Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander or the changing of the captain from Tavares to Matthews last year, there has always been a huge question-mark leading into the season.

I've had two great seasons the last couple years, and by no means do I want those to be my end point, so I fully plan on hopefully blowing that out of the water this year.

"I've been thinking about that game a lot recently, and what it can teach a person about roster construction - particularly, the perils of ever entering a season thinking 'you know what? It will probably be fine.'"