Around Baseball 2026

[jaysblue]

35 minutes ago, hanton said:

 it didn't work lol

Max Kepler Receives 80-Game PED Suspension

This is why Barry Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame. 

MLB players have taken steroids and PED's for how many decades. Have they really made a huge difference in a players skillset? Kepler couldn't even crack a 90 wRC+ while on PED's. 

Bonds, regardless, was always a Hall of Fame talent, not because of steroids/PED's. 

 

[Spanky__99]

3 hours ago, jaysblue said:

This is why Barry Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame. 

MLB players have taken steroids and PED's for how many decades. Have they really made a huge difference in a players skillset? Kepler couldn't even crack a 90 wRC+ while on PED's. 

Bonds, regardless, was always a Hall of Fame talent, not because of steroids/PED's. 

 

That's always been the argument for all these guys. Shoeless Joe is a shame, as is Pete Rose. Barry's in another stratosphere.

[Stangstag]

3 hours ago, jaysblue said:

This is why Barry Bonds should be in the Hall of Fame. 

MLB players have taken steroids and PED's for how many decades. Have they really made a huge difference in a players skillset? Kepler couldn't even crack a 90 wRC+ while on PED's. 

Bonds, regardless, was always a Hall of Fame talent, not because of steroids/PED's. 

 

We also can’t say for certain that half the guys in the hall weren’t taking some form of banned PED when they were playing.

Bonds also never failed an MLB drug test and was never suspended for PED use.

Moving the goalposts after he retired is BS

[Spanky__99]

1 minute ago, Stangstag said:

We also can’t say for certain that half the guys in the hall weren’t taking some form of banned PED when they were playing.

Bonds also never failed an MLB drug test and was never suspended for PED use.

Moving the goalposts after he retired is BS

Amphetamines.

 

[The_DH]

I tend to see the HoF as nothing more than a high school popularity contest.  Who should really care what happens within it.  

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, The_DH said:

I tend to see the HoF as nothing more than a high school popularity contest.  Who should really care what happens within it.  

Yep. Bonds and Arod aren’t in the hall because they were dickheads to media.

[max silver]

9 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

Yep. Bonds and Arod aren’t in the hall because they were dickheads to media.

Are any of the guys who were so strongly implicated in the Balco scandal in the hall of fame? I don't think it's only the poor treatment of members of the media at play here.

[Pendleton]

https://www.mlb.com/amp/news/front-office-executives-poll-for-farm-systems-2026.html 

 

Front office executives polled on the strength of minor league systems, teams drafting ability, development systems etc. The Jays received some nods on the development side 

[Stangstag]

8 minutes ago, max silver said:

Are any of the guys who were so strongly implicated in the Balco scandal in the hall of fame? I don't think it's only the poor treatment of members of the media at play here.

Ortiz is an obvious one that everyone turns a blind eye to

[max silver]

1 hour ago, Stangstag said:

Ortiz is an obvious one that everyone turns a blind eye to

With Ortiz I find it feels a little different than Bonds and Arod. He very well may have been doping prior to 2003 when it was technically against the rules but wasn't enforced due to lack of testing, but once MLB started actually testing he never actually failed any tests afterward at any point. With Bonds and Arod they were both directly implicated in the Balco scandal and were actively utilizing an elaborate scheme to avoid detection whereas Ortiz was never mentioned at any point.

[John_Havok]

37 minutes ago, max silver said:

With Ortiz I find it feels a little different than Bonds and Arod. He very well may have been doping prior to 2003 when it was technically against the rules but wasn't enforced due to lack of testing, but once MLB started actually testing he never actually failed any tests afterward at any point. With Bonds and Arod they were both directly implicated in the Balco scandal and were actively utilizing an elaborate scheme to avoid detection whereas Ortiz was never mentioned at any point.

The final nail in giving a s*** about the Hall of Fame for me is if they vote Pettitte in. His stats are not exactly mind blowing as is, but the fact he admitted to using HGH - if the writers allow him in while blacklisting the other guys...that's it. 

[L54]

Open the flood gates let’s gooo

 

[R.O.]

 

[glory]

5/175 after signing essentially 1/40 last winter after the opt out. Boras master class. 

[Jimcanuck]

Cubs are gonna be a force

[Jays24]

Holy s***... this is exactly what Bo needed.  Im scared

[L54]

Tucker to Toronto 

Bo to Boston 

Belli to NYM 

Moncada to NYY 😂 

[max silver]

1 minute ago, Jays24 said:

Holy s***... this is exactly what Bo needed.  Im scared

This is what we all needed to finally get free agency moving again. 

[Jays24]

27 minutes ago, L54 said:

Open the flood gates let’s gooo

 

Devers can finally go back to 3B... oh wait lol

[Brownie19]

Wow - nice to have him out of the AL East and I love it for the Cubs.  But that is a haul.  Bregman got his coin. Bo is going to get north of $200M - maybe $240M +/-

[Laika]

Will be funny to see Boston dump Devers at $29m aav and then turn around and pay someone like Bo more money annually 

[jaysblue]

13 hours ago, John_Havok said:

The final nail in giving a s*** about the Hall of Fame for me is if they vote Pettitte in. His stats are not exactly mind blowing as is, but the fact he admitted to using HGH - if the writers allow him in while blacklisting the other guys...that's it. 

Statistically, Andy Pettitte has a strong Hall of Fame case, highlighted by a career 68.2 WAR. In another thread, we were discussing several pitchers who deserve to make the Hall with significantly less WAR, which only strengthens his argument. He also brought rare longevity and durability - two traits I personally value highly. Pettitte debuted at 23 and remained an effective MLB pitcher until age 41, consistently taking the ball year after year.

Are his numbers eye-popping? Not quite, especially when stacked against truly dominant arms like Randy Johnson or Pedro Martínez. Pettitte wasn’t a strikeout machine, and his lower K rate doesn’t jump off the page. He also benefited from pitching for Yankees teams that dominated the late ’90s and early 2000s, which undoubtedly inflated his win totals. And, of course, his admitted HGH use complicates the conversation.

That said, his sustained excellence, workload, and overall value place him firmly in the Hall of Fame discussion - even if he doesn’t fit the traditional “overpowering ace” mold.

[jaysblue]

Hopefully we start seeing guys like Bo, Tucker and Bellinger sign this week. Already in the middle of January, and ST is just around the corner! 😁

[Jays24]

[jaysblue]

I actually like the Cubs signing Alex Bregman. Even if he’s past his absolute peak, he still brings elite plate discipline, solid power, and postseason experience to a lineup that needed a steady middle-order bat.

He’s also a clear defensive upgrade at third base and adds veteran leadership from years on winning teams. For a Chicago Cubs roster trying to compete now rather than rebuild, this move raises the floor of both the offense and the clubhouse. Not risk-free, but a smart bet if the goal is winning.

[John_Havok]

3 hours ago, jaysblue said:

Statistically, Andy Pettitte has a strong Hall of Fame case, highlighted by a career 68.2 WAR. In another thread, we were discussing several pitchers who deserve to make the Hall with significantly less WAR, which only strengthens his argument. He also brought rare longevity and durability - two traits I personally value highly. Pettitte debuted at 23 and remained an effective MLB pitcher until age 41, consistently taking the ball year after year.

Are his numbers eye-popping? Not quite, especially when stacked against truly dominant arms like Randy Johnson or Pedro Martínez. Pettitte wasn’t a strikeout machine, and his lower K rate doesn’t jump off the page. He also benefited from pitching for Yankees teams that dominated the late ’90s and early 2000s, which undoubtedly inflated his win totals. And, of course, his admitted HGH use complicates the conversation.

That said, his sustained excellence, workload, and overall value place him firmly in the Hall of Fame discussion - even if he doesn’t fit the traditional “overpowering ace” mold.

Fair. More of an accumulator rather than a dominator. I understand that argument. 

But if they vote him in with admitted substance use, while blackballing guys like Bonds, bye bye credibility. I'm already teetering on the edge of it with Ortiz being voted in on the first ballot 

[Terminator]

19 hours ago, glory said:

5/175 after signing essentially 1/40 last winter after the opt out. Boras master class. 

Even with the deferrals factored in, Bregman got his money. Bo is going to get a huge deal after this.

[Terminator]

It's also hilarious to see this all unfold for the Sox.

• Extend Devers
• Bring in Bregman for a year, trade Devers in the 2nd year of his extension
• Narrowly lose the FA bidding war for Bregman to the Cubs (aka the Red Sox of the NL)
• Now have a giant hole in their infield and the middle of the lineup

[Stangstag]

8 hours ago, jaysblue said:

Statistically, Andy Pettitte has a strong Hall of Fame case, highlighted by a career 68.2 WAR. In another thread, we were discussing several pitchers who deserve to make the Hall with significantly less WAR, which only strengthens his argument. He also brought rare longevity and durability - two traits I personally value highly. Pettitte debuted at 23 and remained an effective MLB pitcher until age 41, consistently taking the ball year after year.

Are his numbers eye-popping? Not quite, especially when stacked against truly dominant arms like Randy Johnson or Pedro Martínez. Pettitte wasn’t a strikeout machine, and his lower K rate doesn’t jump off the page. He also benefited from pitching for Yankees teams that dominated the late ’90s and early 2000s, which undoubtedly inflated his win totals. And, of course, his admitted HGH use complicates the conversation.

That said, his sustained excellence, workload, and overall value place him firmly in the Hall of Fame discussion - even if he doesn’t fit the traditional “overpowering ace” mold.

You completely ignored the HGH/PED point, which is most relevant in this discussion 

[Spanky__99]

15 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

You completely ignored the HGH/PED point, which is most relevant in this discussion 

lol... right??? Dude admitted it under oath, he'll never get in the Hall.