But What Do I Know? . . . Cade Smith, Tristan Peters, Gary Carter, Abraham Toro, Cam Castro

November 15, 2026

By Kevin Glew

Cooperstowners in Canada

Some Canadian baseball news and notes:

Smith honoured

Cleveland Guardians closer Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) was named a relief pitcher on the All-MLB Second Team on Wednesday.

This came the same day he was edged by Toronto Blue Jays closer Louis Varland for the American League Reliever of the Year Award that was voted on by baseball writers. Varland finished with 146 points to Smith’s 133.

Smith also garnered two fifth-place votes to finish seventh in the AL Cy Young Award voting. The award was won by New York Yankees starter Cam Schlittler.

And finally, Smith received two 10th place votes for the American League MVP Award, won unanimously by Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez on Thursday.

According to Canadian Baseball Network statistician Neil Munro, this made Smith the sixth Canadian pitcher to receive an MLB MVP vote and the first since John Axford (Port Dover, Ont.) with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2011. Other Canadian pitchers to receive MVP votes are Phil Marchildon (Penetanguishene, Ont.) with the Philadelphia A’s (1942, 1946-47), Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.) with the Chicago Cubs (1967 to 1972) and with the Texas Rangers (1974), John Hiller (Toronto, Ont.) with the Detroit Tigers (1973-74) and Eric Gagne (Mascouche, Que.) with the Los Angeles Dodgers (2002 to 2004).

In his dominant season as the Guardians’ closer, Smith registered 41 saves, which tied him with Tampa Bay Rays stopper Bryan Baker for the most in the majors. Smith went 6-1 with a 1.95 ERA and fanned 107 batters in 74 innings and completed the campaign with a 2.9 bWAR (Baseball Reference WAR). He also topped the American League in games finished (60) and was named the American League Reliever of the Month for September.

He continued to be overpowering in the postseason, posting a 2.38 ERA and fanning 14 in 11-1/3 innings in nine appearances. For his efforts, he was selected to pitch in his first MLB All-Star Game and was named to the MLB All-Postseason Team.  

Peters finishes eighth in American League Rookie of the Year voting

In his first full season in the majors, Chicago White Sox outfielder Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.) was selected to play for the American League in the MLB All-Star Game and was named a Silver Slugger Award finalist. So, it’s somewhat surprising that he didn’t finish higher than eighth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.

The voting results were announced on Monday.

Peters received two third-place votes, a fourth-place vote and four fifth-place votes.

Tigers shortstop/third baseman Kevin McGonigle was the rightful winner of the award while Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto finished seventh.

Peters batted .265 with 12 home runs, 31 doubles and a .437 slugging percentage in 156 games for the White Sox. He also had 116 hits, 56 RBIs, eight stolen bases and a 3.6 bWAR.

On July 10, he became just the second Canadian major leaguer since 1900 to hit for the cycle (George Kottaras (Scarborough, Ont.) did it for the Milwaukee Brewers on September 3, 2011). On August 22, Peters began a streak in which he homered in five straight games.

According to Munro, Peters is the 15th Canadian to receive MLB Rookie of the Year votes. Here’s the list:

Lopez received MVP votes

Miami Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez, who spent part of his youth in Montreal, finished 13th in the National League MVP voting.

He received one seventh-place vote, one eighth-place vote, two ninth-place votes and six 10th-place votes. Chicago Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong was the unanimous winner.

Lopez topped all major leaguers with 191 hits in 2026. He also finished third in the National League with a .305 batting average and tied for third with nine triples. His 6.1 bWAR was fourth among NL position players.

The 28-year-old infielder, who suited up for Canada in the World Baseball Classic, was also selected to his first MLB All-Star Game and has been named an NL Silver Slugger Award finalist.

Carter returned to Expos 35 years ago today

On this date 35 years ago, the Montreal Expos claimed Gary Carter off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers.

This enabled the 37-year-old catcher to play his last major league season with the team he started his MLB career with. In 95 games with the Expos in 1992, Carter batted .218 with five home runs and 29 RBIs.

In total, Carter spent 17 years with the Expos, including three seasons in the minors, 11 in the majors and three as a broadcaster. Nicknamed “Kid” for his boyish enthusiasm for the game, Carter belted 220 home runs as an Expo (third on the Expos’ all-time list) in 1,502 games with the club (second on the Expos’ all-time list) and was named the team’s Player of the Year four times.

Three years ago, Toro dealt to A’s by Brewers

It was three years ago today that infielder Abraham Toro (Longueuil, Que.) was traded to the Oakland A’s by the Brewers for right-handed pitcher Chad Patrick.

Just two days after he was acquired by the A’s, Toro signed a one-year, $1.275-million contract with the club. He proceeded to bat .240 with six home runs and 26 RBIs in 94 games with the A’s in 2024. The switch-hitting infielder had 39 hits for the A’s in the month of May that season, which was the most in the major leagues. It was also more than any A’s player had collected in May since 1989 when Carney Lansford had 39 hits.

New A’s GM Castro spent time in Canada

On November 4, Cam Castro was announced as the new general manager of the A’s.

The 36-year-old Lorain, Ohio native was hired a week after he helped the Brewers to their first World Series win as their senior vice president of player development and performance.

In total, Castro spent eight seasons with the Brewers and was primarily responsible for their minor league skill development strategies.

Before joining the Brewers, he coached for several seasons at the collegiate level with Defiance College and Lake Erie College. He graduated from Lake Erie College with a bachelor’s degree in legal studies and then obtained a master’s degree in sports management from Defiance College.

In 2011, Castro was employed north of the border, as an assistant coach with the Ontario Blue Jays, an elite baseball program located in Mississauga, Ont. He was with the Ontario Blue Jays from May 2011 to August 2011.

Remembering Jerry Johnson

Jerry Johnson, who was the Toronto Blue Jays’ winning pitcher in their first-ever game, died five years ago today after a long battle with Lewy Body Dementia and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).

He was 77.

Johnson had already spent parts of nine seasons in the big leagues when the Blue Jays acquired him from the San Diego Padres on February 16, 1977 in exchange for catcher Dave Roberts.

In the Blue Jays’ first game, played in the snow at Exhibition Stadium, Johnson relieved starter Bill Singer with one out in the fifth inning with his club leading the Chicago White Sox 5-4. Singer had permitted back-to-back singles to Brian Downing and Ralph Garr before Johnson entered and got Alan Bannister to line out to third base and Jorge Orta to ground out to first to preserve the one-run lead.

Johnson went on to allow one run in 2 2/3 innings in relief in the Blue Jays’ 9-5 win. The Blue Jays would continue to use the 33-year-old right-hander primarily as a middle reliever for the rest of the season. In all, Johnson posted a 4.60 ERA and recorded five saves in 43 appearances, spanning 86 innings.

That 1977 season would prove to be the last of his 10-year MLB career that also included stops with the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros and Padres.

Trivia question

This week’s trivia question: Who is the only Canadian-born player to have won the National League Rookie of the Year Award? Please share your answer in the “Comments” section below.

Last week’s trivia question answer

The answer to last week’s trivia question (Only two Canadian-born pitchers have won a National League Cy Young Award. Can you name them?) was Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.) with the Cubs in 1971 and Eric Gagne (Mascouche, Que.) with the Dodgers in 2003.