Miguel Vargas was named the American League Player of the Week for his work over the last seven games, during which he hit .348/.500/.783 and achieved nice round numbers like 100 runs scored and 20 stolen bases. It's his second such nod this year, and it comes as he's trying to put the finishing touches on a surprisingly stout case for MVP votes.
Prior to this final push, it wouldn't have been a surprise to see Vargas get some down-ballot support for his breakout season on a breakout team, but between this late-September surge and a cluttered AL WAR position player leaderboard, he now has a chance for considerable up-ballot consideration.
| Player | bWAR | Player | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bobby Witt Jr. | 6.6 | Kevin McGonigle | 6.7 |
| Yordan Alvarez | 6.4 | Bobby Witt Jr. | 6.5 |
| Junior Caminero | 5.2 | Yordan Alvarez | 6.4 |
| Miguel Vargas | 5.2 | Wilyer Abreu | 5.7 |
| Kevin McGonigle | 5.1 | Junior Caminero | 5.6 |
| Randy Arozarena | 5.1 | Miguel Vargas | 5.4 |
Cam Schlittler is in the mix as well, ranking first in bWAR and fourth in fWAR if the electorate is willing to consider pitchers. Otherwise, Alvarez is threatening to win the Triple Crown, and Caminero is the only one getting in his way, with 41 homers to Alvarez's 40 while serving as the best player for the league's best team. After that, you start getting into the whole debate about whether a player can be valuable on a losing team, and for once, the White Sox are in a position where a guy like Vargas can use team success to his advantage.
Spare Parts
Chase Meidroth is a 4 WAR player himself against considerable odds, but unlike Vargas' uptick in power, you can't trace it to bat speed. In fact, he's deploying a lot more slow swings than he did last year, which caused Davy Andrews to investigate.
The way it normally works is that gearing up for the fastball causes you to be way too early against soft stuff, but Meidroth seems to have avoided that trap by just swinging really slowly. Somehow, it seems like his preternatural feel for contact is helping him game the system.
Will Venable's experience on a Texas Rangers coaching staff that won the World Series one year and missed the postseason the next tells him that he can't count on the White Sox's DNA staying the same, even if there are no big external changes.
At 73-83, the Twins fared better this season than I thought they would, which maybe suggests how stale leadership had gotten between the front office and Rocco Baldelli. But they had enough surprises where they could have fared better, had they not neglected a bullpen they stripped for parts at the 2025 deadline, or treated primary defensive positions for so many players as an afterthought.
Comerica Bank was acquired by Fifth Third Bank earlier this year, and now the naming rights for Detroit's ballpark has followed suit. It's the second Fifth Third Park in baseball, as that's what the South Atlantic League's Hub City Spartanburgers call their home.
Cease was running alongside Schlittler in the AL Cy Young race before a rocky September that featured a big dip in velocity and a whole bunch of walks. Now he may not get a chance to see it all the way through due to a shoulder inflammation.
I'd been vaguely aware of how much turnover the San Francisco Giants had experienced when seeing this post from McCovey Chronicles:
The Giants current 26-man roster contains 2 players who were on the Opening Day roster
— McCovey Chronicles (@mccoveychronicles.bsky.social) 2026-09-21T23:19:52.851Z
But I did not realize they had 16 players on the 60-day injured list. The White Sox have six after reinstating Drew Thorpe, and that feels like a lot. Now add 10 more.
