Jen Pawol, Major League Baseball's first female umpire, will not join the permanent staff despite working five big league games last season. The 49-year-old umpire, who made history on August 9, 2025, was passed over for one of the two staff openings created by the retirements of Mark Carlson and Phil Cuzzi.

Tom Hanahan and Brian Walsh were promoted to fill the vacancies. Carlson, 56, who worked the 2024 World Series, will become an umpire supervisor, while Cuzzi, 70, retires after 33 years in the majors. Jordan Baker, who worked the plate in Game 7 of last year's World Series, will replace Carlson as a crew chief.

Pawol has been a minor league umpire since 2016 and worked at Triple-A since 2023. She became the first woman to umpire big league spring training games since Ria Cortesio in 2007. While she'll return for spring training games for the third consecutive year, her path to a full-time MLB umpiring position remains uncertain as she continues to break barriers in the traditionally male-dominated profession.