MLB Black Monday Begins With Mariners Shake-Up

MLB’s Black Monday has begun a wave of change across the league, with plenty more moves expected. 

After the league finalized its 12-team playoff field Sunday, the other 18 teams formally began the process of regrouping for next season—if there is a next season given ongoing labor difficulties. 

Some clubs in that non-postseason group have already made leadership decisions for 2027, including the Mets, who recently removed the interim tag from manager Andy Green and signed him to a three-year contract running through 2029. Other leadership shifts made since the end of the regular season:

• The Mariners fired manager Dan Wilson and most of their coaches after a disappointing 76–86 season that marked a sizable retreat from the 2025 campaign when Seattle reached Game 7 of the American League Championship Series. 
• Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo’s contract has now expired, and he is facing an uncertain future after missing out on an NL wild-card berth on the final day. Lovullo led Arizona to the 2023 World Series, but that year represents the club’s only postseason berth in the last nine seasons. Lovullo and the team are set to discuss 2027 plans, and a decision could be imminent. “I want to win a world championship with this organization, but I want to be wanted,” Lovullo said. 

Several other clubs are expected to make similar decisions in the coming weeks and months. One club highlighting that list is the Angels, who just completed their first 100-loss season in franchise history and are about to be purchased by Stan Kroenke in a record-setting $4 billion deal. 

Four wild-card teams will see their seasons end by Thursday and could also be in line for field manager or GM changes, or both, after an early playoff exit.

Draft Odds

The finalizing of this year’s playoff field also set the 2027 draft lottery odds for the other 18 teams. Since 2022, MLB has used a lottery to establish the draft order, with the league looking to disincentivize tanking. 

The co-leaders in the odds for next year’s top pick are the Rockies, Angels, and Athletics, who each have a 19.1% chance of winning. The draft lottery is scheduled for December.

The White Sox won the lottery for the 2026 MLB draft and used the No. 1 pick to select UCLA shortstop Roch Cholowsky, who then agreed to a contract with a record $10.35 million signing bonus. 

Next year’s draft, however, could look very different as team owners have proposed a radically different structure as part of ongoing labor negotiations with the MLB Players Association. The management proposal would make all high school players ineligible, cut the event from 20 rounds to 12, and slash the overall signing bonus pool by about half. The union opposes the potential restructuring.