Kansas City Royals news: That’s all folks!

Jaylon Thompson writes how Carlos Estévez led all of baseball in saves this year.

Estévez earned his 42nd save against the Athletics on Saturday. He is the second Royal to lead the majors in saves, joining Dan Quisenberry (1980 and 1983). After the game, Estévez was celebrated in the clubhouse. He received the game ball and described how special it was to share the moment with his teammates.

“It means a lot because what these guys have been giving us the whole year,” Estévez said. “The effort, you know, playing hard behind us. That means that they feel the same way about us. Getting those saves, I know they are going to have my back, doesn’t matter what it is, and I’m glad they felt the same way.”

Noah Cameron finished off a terrific rookie campaign.

“I’m just really happy with the majority of the starts this year and being able to pitch deep to give us a chance to win,” Cameron said. “It’s all you can really ask out of starting pitchers. And thankfully it’s been really good as far as that goes.”

Anne Rogers has more.

Across 24 starts at 138 1/3 innings, Cameron posted a 2.99 ERA, becoming just the third Royals rookie (min. 20 games started) to record a sub-3.00 ERA season, following Royals Hall of Famers Paul Splittorff in 1971 (2.68) and Kevin Appier in 1990 (2.76).

“Definitely beat my expectations,” Cameron said. “Super proud of the way this season went. The leadership from vet guys, top to bottom, the coaches, it made it a lot easier on me. … Excited to go into the offseason and just continue to get better. Work on the fastball a little bit, command-wise. Come in next year strong and ready to go.”

Michael Wacha picked up his tenth win of the year.

“A career-high in starts, you know, that’s something that I’ve been striving for,” Wacha said. “Without the hiccup there toward the end of the year, you know, would’ve had another one. But definitely very grateful for the staff we have here to put in the work to stay healthy. And it’s good to be able to be reliable to go out there every five days.”

Vahe Gregorian writes that Kansas City needs to reclaim legendary manager Casey Stengel as one of its own.

Former Royals outfielder Michael A. Taylor announces his retirement.

The Guardians have a comeback for the ages and win the Central Division.

The Mets complete their collapse and open the way for the Reds to grab a Wild Card spot.

Here’s the complete playoff picture.

Clayton Kershaw won’t be on the Dodgers’ Wild Card roster.

Here is the TV broadcast schedule for the Wild Card round this week.

The Astros miss the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Cubs pitcher Cade Horton is out for the first round with a broken rib.

The Pohlad family discusses why they explored a sale of the Twins.

At the Athletic, Dennis Lin writes about the demise of the .300 hitter. [$]

The Athletics will feature “Sacramento” on alternate jerseys next year.