Glew: Who is Canada's team in the AL and NL Championship Series?
Chilliwack Cougars and Junior National Team grad Cade Smith (Abbotsford, B.C.) has been dominant as the Cleveland Guardians closer in this year’s MLB postseason.
October 11, 2026
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
And then there were four.
The American League and National League Championship Series are set.
And of the four teams still alive in the MLB postseason, two are certain to have Canadian players on their rosters, while the other two have Canucks working prominently in their organizations.
Here’s a summary of the remaining Canadian content in the MLB postseason:
Cleveland Guardians relievers Cade Smith (Abbotsford, BC) and Erik Sabrowski (Edmonton, Alta.) celebrate together after the Guardians clinched the AL Central title. Photo: Erik Sabrowski\X
1. Cleveland Guardians
In 2024, the Guardians became the first major league team to have four Canadians on a postseason roster.
Since then, Josh and Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) have moved on, but the Guardians will still have two Canucks suiting up for them in the American League Championship Series — and those two are arguably the team’s best relief pitchers.
It was fitting that Cade Smith (Abbotsford, BC) recorded the save for the Guardians in their American League Division Series clinching 2-0 win over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday night. Smith, who struck out four of the five batters he faced, pitched in every game of that series and has been dominant.
In five 2026 playoff appearances, he has permitted just one run on two hits and has fanned 11 batters in 6 2/3 innings.
If you couple that with his outstanding 41-save regular season, there’s an argument that Smith is now the best closer in the majors.
Left-handed reliever Erik Sabrowski (Edmonton, Alta.) hasn’t been as overpowering in the postseason. But he was excellent in the last two games of the ALDS for the Guardians.
He earned his first postseason win - and the first-ever by an Albertan - on Thursday when he tossed a scoreless inning in relief in his club’s 9-5 victory over the White Sox in Game 4 and then he followed that up by registering a hold in the Guardians’ series clincher on Saturday. Sabrowski was summoned into the game with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth inning and struck out Munetaka Murakami, the only batter he faced, in the Guardians’ 2-0 win.
In all, Sabrowski has appeared in four of the Guardians’ five games this postseason after his strong regular season in which he went 5-2 with a 2.61 ERA and had 76 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings in 60 appearances.
The Guardians will begin the American League Championship Series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Monday at 8 p.m E.T.
Players: LHP Erik Sabrowski (Edmonton, Alta.), RHP Cade Smith (Abbotsford, BC)
Minor league players: RHP Will Hynes (Mississauga, Ont.), C Deiten Lachance (Sherbrooke, Que.), 1B Riley Nelson (Toronto, Ont.), LHP Adam Tulloch (Toronto, Ont.), RHP Jacob Zibin (Richmond Hill, Ont.)
Executive: Dr. Stephen Osterer (Ottawa, Ont.), director of pitching developmen
Toronto Mets grad Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.) has been a key member of the Tampa Bay Rays since being acquired from the Miami Marlins on Aug. 3.
2. Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays are in the postseason for the 10th time, but this is the first year they have had a Canadian on their October roster.
The American League East division-winning Rays acquired catcher Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.) from the Miami Marlins on Aug. 3, and Hicks has been a key part of their offence. In 41 regular season games with the Rays, he had a .288/.379/.440 slash line with four home runs and 20 RBIs. And he had already been enjoying a breakout campaign with the Marlins.
In total, the Toronto Mets alum batted .284 with 18 home runs and 82 RBIs in 142 regular season games in 2026. He also finished the season as one of a select group of MLB hitters with more walks (56) than strikeouts (55).
Though he went just 1-for-10 in the Rays’ three-game sweep of the New York Yankees in the ALDS, he was excellent defensively behind the plate.
It has been a remarkable baseball journey for Hicks who less than two years ago was left unprotected by the Detroit Tigers in the Rule 5 draft and selected by the Marlins.
In March, he suited up for the Canadian national team for the first time at the World Baseball Classic.
Player: C Liam Hicks (Toronto, Ont.)
Minor league players: OF Slater de Brun (Bend, Ore., mom, Julie, lived in Toronto), C Nathan Flewelling (Innisfail, Alta.), INF Jack Lines (Okotoks, Alta.), INF Taj Marchand (Charleston, N.C., father, Hugo, from Montreal), OF Noah Myers (Wyoming, Ont.), OF Tom Poole (Winnipeg, Man.), LHP Jeremy Pilon (Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, Que.)
Ontario Blue Jays and Junior National Team alum Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) was acquired by the Milwaukee Brewers on Aug. 1. Photo: Brewers
3. Milwaukee Brewers
When Doug Melvin (Chatham, Ont.) was the general manager of the Brewers from 2002 to 2015, and Gord Ash (Toronto, Ont.) was his assistant GM, the Brewers seemed to consistently have the most (or close to the most) Canadian players in their system. This changed under more recent regimes, but it has rebounded somewhat in the past five years when thanks to input from the club’s director of international scouting and player personnel, Taylor Green (Comox, BC), and area scout Pete Orr (Newmarket, Ont.), the Brewers selected Tyler Black (Stouffville, Ont.) 33rd overall in the 2021 MLB draft and INF Dylan O’Rae (Sarnia, Ont.) 102nd overall in 2022.
The Brewers also added catcher Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.) from the Guardians on August 1. Naylor played with the Brewers’ triple-A Nashville Sounds in August before being called up and going 2-for-7 in three games with the Brewers in September. With catchers William Contreras and Gary Sanchez ahead of him, Naylor is not on the Brewers’ National League Championship Series roster.
Also, former Okotoks Dawgs right-hander and ex-Brewers closer Jim Henderson (Calgary, Alta.) is the Brewers’ pitching coordinator.
The Brewers finished with 103 wins during the regular season - the most in MLB - and they will play the reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in the National Championship Series starting tonight at 8 p.m. E.T.
Player: Bo Naylor (Mississauga, Ont.)
Minor league Players: INF Tyler Black (Stouffville, Ont.), INF Dylan O’Rae (Sarnia, Ont.), LHP Rob Zastryzny (Edmonton, Alta.)
Coach: Jim Henderson (Calgary, Alta.), MLB pitching coordinator
Executives: Doug Melvin (Chatham, Ont.), special assistant to the general manager; Gord Ash (Toronto, Ont.), vice-president, baseball projects; Taylor Green (Comox, BC), director of international scouting and player personnel
Minor league coaches: Brad McKay (Fredericton, N.B.), lead strategist, skill acquisition
Scouts: Tyler Hollick (Calgary, Alta.), Doug Mathieson (Langley, BC), Pete Orr (Newmarket, Ont.), Taylor Frederick (Ottawa, Ont.)
Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman played for Canada at the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics. Photo: Baseball Canada
4. Los Angeles Dodgers
The two-time reigning World Series champion Dodgers don’t have a player born in Canada on their roster, however, first baseman Freddie Freeman’s parents were born north of the border, and he played for Canada in the 2017 and 2023 World Baseball Classics.
Prior to the 2022 season, Freeman inked a six-year, $162-million contract with the Dodgers. And he certainly hasn’t disappointed. He has been an All-Star in each of his five seasons with the club and a huge contributor in the postseason. This year, he socked two home runs in the National League Division Series to help the Dodgers eliminate his former team, the Atlanta Braves, in four games. With that, Freeman has 19 career postseason home runs - which is tied for seventh all-time - heading into the National League Championship Series against the Brewers.
The Dodgers also employ Beeton, Ont., native Ellen Harrigan, who is one of Major League Baseball’s most respected executives. After beginning her career with the Blue Jays as an administrative aide in player development in 1981 and later becoming the general manager of the club’s New York Penn League affiliate in St. Catharines, Harrigan moved on to the Dodgers and has risen through the organization’s ranks to hold a number of key executive positions. Now in her 27th season with the club, she is currently the team’s vice-president, baseball administration.
Player: Freddie Freeman (Villa Park, Calif.), WBC eligible
Executive: Ellen Veronica Harrigan (Beeton, Ont.), vice-president, baseball administration
Minor league players: OF Charles Davalan (St-Bruno-De-Montarville, Que.), RHP Cam Leiter (Bayville, N.J., lived for part of his youth in Vancouver, BC), RHP Lucas Wepf (Georgetown, Ont.)
Doctor: Dr. Keith Pyne (Niagara On The Lake, Ont.), medical consultant