Passion MLB Roster Update: Playoffs

Every week since the start of this season, we've ranked the 30 Major League Baseball teams based on their performance. And just because the regular season is over doesn't mean we have to stop.
So without further ado, here's the very latest edition of Passion MLB's power rankings—the playoff edition this time around.
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
Honor where honor is due: the two-time World Series champions deserve the top spot on this list, even though they're entering the postseason as the secon

Phillip Danault has never stood out for his skating ability.
And I'm not saying that to take a dig at him.
It's a fact: the guy wasn't super fast even before he left the Canadiens. And playing in the West, he lost a bit of his speed… because it's not a major factor in that conference of the National League.
But since the start of camp, we've seen a difference (and Renaud Lavoie was right to bring it up on the JiC show).
The TVA Sports reporter said he thinks Danault is faster… and

The 2026 Major League Baseball playoffs kicked off this afternoon (Tuesday) with the first game of the series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Atlanta Braves at the Braves' home field. Jesus Luzardo took the mound for Philadelphia, facing off against Chris Sale for Atlanta.
And the Phillies set the tone right from the start, thanks to Alec Bohm's RBI double that brought home Kyle Schwarber. The Braves, however, tied the game in the bottom of the second inning, with Mike Yastrzemski's ti

Jazz Chisholm Jr. on the bench
He won’t be in the starting lineup tonight—Anthony Volpe will be. He must be taking it personally.The Yankees are going with Anthony Volpe over Jazz Chisholm Jr. at second base, Spencer Jones over Trent Grisham in center field, and Amed Rosario at third base in Game 1 tonight. https://t.co/DAXMqEAIlu
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) September 29, 2026Derek Jeter's message
He's encouraging George Lombard Jr.
What Derek Jeter told George Lombard Jr

Ivan Demidov is a good hockey player.
On the ice, he can work magic with the puck. We love him for that… but we also love him for his personality.
The young player seemed shy when he first arrived in town, especially since he wasn't familiar with the language. But today, it's a whole different story.
We saw it during training camp: Demidov answered reporters' questions in much better English. He's been practicing over the past year, and it really shows.
But the kid has also improved his F

Jennifer Lawrence has been a longtime ambassador for Dior, though she’s not always at the Dior shows. She’s made it to Paris Fashion Week this season though, and continues the slip dress trend that’s been so dominant all year, in an icy blue piece that’s nightgown and toga at the same time, with the blousing and the gathering and the creative draping. I f-cking love it, because it’s not clingy but not too baggy.As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, we’ll proba

All right.
It's now official: Kirill Marchenko will be in uniform tonight against the Montreal Canadiens.
He'll play his first game in the blue-and-white uniform of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It looks promising…Kirill Marchenko will indeed make his Maple Leafs debut tonight against Montreal
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) September 29, 2026Everything is in place, then, for both teams to put on a great show. On one side, the Canadiens' young players are hungry for success… an

The Digger review embargo has been lifted, and as expected, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s latest is polarising by the very definition of the word: at the time of this post, it’s at 51% at Rotten Tomatoes and 48% at Metacritic.
Digger opens on Friday alongside Verity, the latest Colleen Hoover adaptation, and while the embargoes for that film have not yet been lifted, social media reaction is buzzing after the advance screenings from last night. So far it’s

During the last offseason, the most controversial decision made by David Stearns, the president of baseball operations for the New York Mets, was undoubtedly letting Pete Alonso go.
The “Polar Bear” ultimately signed a five-year, $155 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles this winter, as the Mets were unwilling to offer him a long-term deal.
And for the first time, Stearns seemed to express regret about the situation, hinting that moving on from Alonso after last season might n

On October 25, the Canadiens will face the Jets in an away game.
The two teams will battle it out for the win as part of the National Hockey League's 2026 Heritage Game, and it's sure to be exciting.
Watching the Habs play outdoors is always a lot of fun! 
With less than a month to go before the game, the uniforms for both teams haven't been revealed yet. Except…
But the Habs' jersey has been leaked via a Lane Hutson action figure available for sale on the McFarlane Toys website. In

Leon Bridges is taking risks with his new album Happiness Anytime, a sharp departure from the country/folk sound of his previous album. His transition into a more country blues direction on the previous project was effortless, but I am happy to hear a groovier effort from him this time around as he’s reverting back to the R&B sounds that he first played with in his debut Coming Home, but with a twist. He collaborated with British modern soul band Jungle – and together, a brighter

Before “talking pictures” arrived in the late 1920s, a night at the movies included musicians playing scores on instruments like the Wurlitzer theatre organ to accompany screenings. Having sound and dialogue synced to the motion picture changed the way we see and hear films. And these soundtracks have remained key to cinematic experiences.VIFF Live showcases live performances that explore the places where movies, music and more intersect in various ways.Among the events at this year

Howsare is particularly familiar with the Hamilton organization, having spent seven of his nine CFL seasons with them.He rejoined the Tiger-Cats in 2025 after two seasons with the Calgary Stampeders.
Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia believes this experience could quickly benefit Montreal as the regular season enters its final stretch.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Alouettes also added American defensive lineman Dylan Wynn. Wynn had played for Montreal over the past two seasons before participa

Jeff Chiba Stearns has been drawing his dragon for a long time.“Ever since high school, I feel like I was always doodling this kid riding a dragon — way before there was How To Train Your Dragon stuff,” said the B.C. animator, filmmaker and comics artist.Decades later, the doodle has become Ojiichan’s Dragon, Stearns’s most ambitious graphic novel yet — and a story that draws on everything from Astro Boy and Studio Ghibli to Japanese folklore, his own family

Ouch.
We know injuries are part of the game… but you have to admit that Brock Faber has really been unlucky.
The Wild's star defenseman suffered a skull fracture after being hit in the head by a puck during a preseason game last weekend.
The news is serious: Faber will be out indefinitely after undergoing surgery on Sunday. The surgery went well, which is good news.Damn. Best wishes to him for a full recovery https://t.co/9PnS18ONF8
— Tony Marinaro (@TonyMarinaro) September 29, 2026

Manuel Arnaut is head of editorial content at Vogue Arabia and posted this callout about a brand delaying a start time for a celebrity. He could be referring to Rihanna arriving late to the Matières Fécales show. That’s a choice the designer and production team made, to wait.
Some designers (like Marc Jacobs and Giorgio Armani) were known to start on time, even if VIP guests were not in their seats. I understand Arnaut’s point because editors and buyers are working at f

Jacob Elordi has been Kendall Jenner’s plus one at the recent fashion weeks. Kendall closed the Bottega Veneta show in Milan the other day. In the fashion community, this is a flex. It’s the positioning, being the final model down the runway, but it’s also the house. Bottega Veneta is now Louise Trotter, who was coming into the creative director position last year after it was vacated by Matthieu Blazy who took Bottega to a whole new level before he left for Chanel.Louise&rsquo

Kirill Marchenko is currently in Toronto. He arrived last night.
Will the Russian be able to start his season at the same time as the others—that is, tonight against the Montreal Canadiens? It's hard to say.
Right now, we know the Maple Leafs are still waiting to see if he'll get his work visa in time. But aside from that, he's ready and available to help his team.As of 11:15 a.m., there's “still no” update on Marchenko's visa, according to his agent Dan Milstein. We'll be foll

The Montreal Alouettes could soon add a top veteran to their defensive line.
As the Canadian Football League (CFL) trade deadline approaches, Julian Howsare's name is coming up more and more in discussions surrounding a potential trade with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
According to reports on Tuesday by journalist Dave Naylor, the two Eastern Division teams are in negotiations regarding the American player. CFL teams have until Wednesday at 4:59 p.m. to finalize a trade before the trade deadline clo

Here we go. The Canadiens' regular season kicks off in just a few hours in Toronto. Florian Xhekaj and Adam Engstrom have made the big team, but it would be surprising to see them in uniform tonight against the Maple Leafs. Martin St-Louis is likely to rely on experience and should start the season with the players who gave him so much last year, especially in the playoffs.
That said, the two non-starters will still be rewarded on their paychecks.
As long as they remain with the Canadiens, Flori

Of course I know Céline Dion isn’t Paris, officially, but for the last several weeks, she’s become the symbol of the city – and I don’t think the city would object to this. Céline has brought so many people to Paris for her residency. She has brought music to the streets and joy to the block. Her exuberance is infectious and undeniable, and we need it more than ever.Last night Céline was the best surprise at the L’Oréal Paris show to kick

The big question heading into the Wild Card Series between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox was whether Aaron Judge, who is currently injured, would be in the Bombers' lineup or not.
And now we've just gotten the answer: Judge isn't on the Yankees' roster for their Wild Card Series, according to Jack Curry of the YES Network.
Aaron Judge is not on the Yankees' Wild Card roster. We predicted this on our postseason preview show. https://t.co/OUY4oAdFNH
— JackCurryYES (@JackCurryYE

Kirill Marchenko is in the news right now because of the trade between the Maple Leafs and the Blue Jackets. That's perfectly normal, of course.
But in reality, he's been in the news for the past few months.
Everyone knew he wanted to leave and didn't want to sign a new contract in Columbus. That alone was already a hot topic of conversation in the NHL.
But it went deeper than that.
His (former) coach's comments about him—regarding his desire to have players who wanted to be in the city&md

The NFL's ticket pricing policy for the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Washington Commanders, scheduled for Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, is sparking strong reactions among British fans.
While tickets were initially priced as high as 245 pounds (approximately 460 CAD) when they first went on sale, the league has since lowered its prices. Some seats are now available for as little as 79 pounds (148 CAD), a decision that comes as ticket sales have been slower than for previous

The Canadiens let Kirill Marchenko slip away. And for the next seven years, he'll be in their division.
We can all agree that the #1 reason the Russian is in Toronto is because the Maple Leafs had a player of Matthew Knies' caliber to trade.
The Habs would have gotten him if the 2026 trade deadline had been pushed back by a minute—ah, never mind.
All that to say that the Canadiens were in the mix. They wanted to land the Blue Jackets player, but they didn't have the resources to make it ha

Dear Gossips,Trigger warning for sexual assault.Jane Doe’s lawsuit against Cornell University and the men now known as the Cornell 7, who allegedly drugged and raped her for several hours in a frat house, and were in the group chats bragging about it and encouraging others to participate, was filed a couple of weeks ago and steadily picking up awareness.
Then, this past weekend, Florence Pugh brought even more attention to it when she posted about Jane Doe’s trauma on Instagram and t

With more than 160 feature films to pick from, this year’s Vancouver International Film Festivalhas something for everyone.The festival , which runs from Oct. 1-11, includes a few buzzy films destined for awards season chatter. This year’s titles include: the VIFF opener The Debut from director Jesse Eisenberg; Cannes Palme d’Or winner Fjord, directed by Cristian Mungiu; Mike Leigh’s Tender Loving Care; Wild Horse Nine from Martin McDonagh; Cannes Best Director winner Pa

Samuel Montembeault will serve as Jakub Dobes' backup at the start of the season.
We didn't expect to be writing this a few months ago, but the situation has changed. Kent Hughes's inability to find a trade partner for the Quebec native and the goalie's strong play have turned the tables.
And here we are.
We agree that, in the long run, this doesn't change Jacob Fowler's potential. The young man was the Canadiens' No. 2 goaltender in the playoffs, and we know that, eventually, the Habs see him a

Right now, there's only one official opening among Major League Baseball managers: Seattle. We'll see if any others open up.
If there's one name that just won't go away as a candidate to manage the Mariners, it's Torey Lovullo. The current Diamondbacks manager has been mentioned by several people.
Jim Bowden, in a podcast on Foul Territory, says that Jerry Dipoto knew him in Boston and has a lot of respect for him.
And since few believe he'll keep his job as manager in Arizona, he remains an opt

Kirill Marchenko is now, for better or worse, tied to the Maple Leafs.
The Toronto team chose to trade the only top-tier player who could truly adapt to playoff hockey for a highly talented player who will earn a higher salary.
Will it pay off? Because right now, it's the Blue Jackets (the team that was in trouble, as we recall) who are being praised by just about everyone.
There's a good chance we'll see Kirill Marchenko face off against the Canadiens tonight—he's likely just arrived in t