Around Baseball 2026

[mphenhef]

13 hours ago, Spanky__99 said:

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

Even Beltran makes you wonder as he looks likely to get voted in this year despite being a central figure in the Astro's sign stealing scandal.

[Brownie19]

4 hours ago, mphenhef said:

Even Beltran makes you wonder as he looks likely to get voted in this year despite being a central figure in the Astro's sign stealing scandal.

IMO - the cheating scandal shouldn't hold anyone back from the HOF.  I think people still booing Astros and ex. Astros is unnecessary.

 

[mphenhef]

24 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

IMO - the cheating scandal shouldn't hold anyone back from the HOF.  I think people still booing Astros and ex. Astros unnecessary.

 

See for me, I think that was far worse than anyone taking steroids in the 90s.  I'll still cheer Springer and wouldn't boo the Astros for it but that Astros World Series is majorly questionable to me.  The only saving grace is the fact they barely penalized anyone tells me it was far more prevalent in the game than just the astros.

[Brownie19]

53 minutes ago, mphenhef said:

See for me, I think that was far worse than anyone taking steroids in the 90s.  I'll still cheer Springer and wouldn't boo the Astros for it but that Astros World Series is majorly questionable to me.  The only saving grace is the fact they barely penalized anyone tells me it was far more prevalent in the game than just the astros.

Bingo.  I don't hold a significant grudge against the PED users who were doing it before all the new rules and suspensions were put in place either.

Teams were using AI to help decode signs so players could steal them better - it was so rampant we had to allow the ear pieces to curb it.

[John_Havok]

Early Jan to early feb - the single most boring stretch of the offseason... every year. 

[Spanky__99]

25 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Early Jan to early feb - the single most boring stretch of the offseason... every year. 

Lots of FA's left.

[Terminator]

On 1/10/2026 at 8:49 PM, R.O. said:

 

If Tucker signs elsewhere and the Bo sweepstakes comes down to either us or the Red Sox I think you'd have to like our chances given how the Red Sox have been operating the past few years

[Terminator]

1 hour ago, Brownie19 said:

IMO - the cheating scandal shouldn't hold anyone back from the HOF.  I think people still booing Astros and ex. Astros unnecessary.

 

The greatest irony of them all is Dodgers fans booing Springer when Mookie Betts is on their team

[Spanky__99]

1 hour ago, Terminator said:

The greatest irony of them all is Dodgers fans booing Springer when Mookie Betts is on their team

[Terminator]

4 minutes ago, Spanky__99 said:

They hate Springer because the Astros beat the Dodgers in the WS and they all think it shouldn't count.

Betts was on the Red Sox team that won the WS against the Dodgers and he admitted that the team cheated and their video coordinator was also suspended for a whole season. But no one talks about that one, they only want to boo former Astros.

[Spanky__99]

20 minutes ago, Terminator said:

They hate Springer because the Astros beat the Dodgers in the WS and they all think it shouldn't count.

Betts was on the Red Sox team that won the WS against the Dodgers and he admitted that the team cheated and their video coordinator was also suspended for a whole season. But no one talks about that one, they only want to boo former Astros.

Oh... I don't recall that. Oh sheeeit...

Mookie Betts acknowledged that the Boston Red Sox were involved in an illegal sign-stealing scheme during their 2018 regular season, and the team's video replay coordinator, J.T. Watkins, was suspended for the entire 2020 season by Major League Baseball (MLB) for his role. 

 

Key Details

• Mookie Betts' Comments: In a 2023 interview, Betts, who was the AL MVP with the 2018 Red Sox and later joined the Los Angeles Dodgers, confirmed he was aware of the scheme, stating "Everybody was". However, he emphasized that the team's success was largely due to immense talent and that the scheme was used infrequently and not during the World Series.
• The Scheme: The Red Sox's illegal activity involved using the in-game video replay room to decode opponents' signs and relay the information to the dugout, primarily when a runner was on second base. This was considered less pervasive and impactful than the Houston Astros' real-time trash-can-banging scheme.
• MLB Investigation and Punishments: MLB investigated the matter and determined that Watkins was the central figure in the Red Sox's sign-stealing. As a result, he was the only member of the Red Sox organization to be suspended. The Red Sox were also stripped of a second-round draft pick and fined, but no players were punished.
• Alex Cora's Role: Red Sox manager Alex Cora was also suspended through the 2020 postseason, but this was for his role as the bench coach in the more extensive 2017 Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, not the Red Sox's 2018 scheme. 

[Bob_Gratton]

Why no sign Bellinger instead of Tucker? Just make same offer to Belinger that for Tucker. Yankees are out for Bellinger, and Boras seem to want make business with the Jays. I think that will be between Mets and Jays for Bellinger and Tucker. Dodgers probably wait trading for Skubal

[Spanky__99]

🤡😅

[G-Snarls]

 

 

 

[G-Snarls]

Love it 

f*** the Red Sox 

[Pendleton]

1 hour ago, G-Snarls said:

 

 

 

 

[G-Snarls]

 

 

[Stangstag]

9 hours ago, Terminator said:

They hate Springer because the Astros beat the Dodgers in the WS and they all think it shouldn't count.

Betts was on the Red Sox team that won the WS against the Dodgers and he admitted that the team cheated and their video coordinator was also suspended for a whole season. But no one talks about that one, they only want to boo former Astros.

And Alex Cora was a central figure in both. Coincidence??

Its beyond me how he hasn’t been permanently banned from the sport 

[G-Snarls]

X and Facebook are a veritable treasure trove of Red Sox anger and resentment right now. 

It's glorious. 

You aquire Bregman without discussing it with your franchise 3B, he has a fit and you trade him 2 years into his 10 year contract. Then, you fail to keep Bregman around afterwards anyway because of terrible front office negotiating tactics. 

Fans are PISSED 

[L54]

10 minutes ago, G-Snarls said:

X and Facebook are a veritable treasure trove of Red Sox anger and resentment right now. 

It's glorious. 

You aquire Bregman without discussing it with your franchise 3B, he has a fit and you trade him 2 years into his 10 year contract. Then, you fail to keep Bregman around afterwards anyway because of terrible front office negotiating tactics. 

Fans are PISSED 

They might have got him for what they offered if they were willing to give him a full no trade. It’s honestly crazy they just wouldn’t commit to a 5 year contract. It’s not at the Mookie Betts level of embarrassment but it’s not far off 

Where is Grant? Surprised we haven’t heard from him 

[Laika]

5 hours ago, L54 said:

They might have got him for what they offered if they were willing to give him a full no trade. It’s honestly crazy they just wouldn’t commit to a 5 year contract. It’s not at the Mookie Betts level of embarrassment but it’s not far off 

Where is Grant? Surprised we haven’t heard from him 

Grant could not handle the emotions of the playoffs 

I'm not sure he even made it to the World Series, he might have deleted his account after one of the Bryce Miller games 

[glory]

The Yankees have apparently offered 5/155, which Bellinger/Boras turned down as they want 7 years. No issues with Belly going back to the Yankees for that type of money.

[BTS]

3 hours ago, Laika said:

Grant could not handle the emotions of the playoffs 

I'm not sure he even made it to the World Series, he might have deleted his account after one of the Bryce Miller games 

Perma ban during the playoffs for PMing people telling them to end themselves 

[Laika]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2026-zips-projections-toronto-blue-jays/

Jays 2026 ZiPS

Vlad's #2 comp is Pujols
Kirk's #1 comp is Yadi
Okamoto's #1 comp is Kyle Seager 

Szymborski thinks the bats are fine and the Jays would benefit from a SP more than Tucker or Bo.

Most interesting projection is probably just the bullpen and those comments:

Quote

Despite the middle-of-the-pack results last year, ZiPS is actually rather enamored with Toronto’s relief corps. While it doesn’t see the team as having a Jhoan Duran or Mason Miller at the top of the ‘pen, with the exception of Yimi García, the computer projects every pitcher with 30 relief innings on our depth chart to have an ERA under 4.00 as a reliever. That even holds true if you stretch things out further, to Chase Lee and Lazaro Estrada. The soft-tossing Tyler Rogers was the big bullpen addition, practically a unicorn in that he’s an exceedingly unusual submariner who doesn’t have significant platoon splits. I don’t think the Jays really need to do much else here, and their deep store of talent might even justify them trading a reliever or two if one of the contenders with bullpen issues fails to shore things up over the next two months.

 

 

[Laika]

31 minutes ago, glory said:

The Yankees have apparently offered 5/155, which Bellinger/Boras turned down as they want 7 years. No issues with Belly going back to the Yankees for that type of money.

He's sorta nuts to not take that offer at this point. 

Seems like every team believes they are only bidding against themselves at this point, for their choice remaining free agent. Boston got burned by that idea but it still may be true for Bellinger-NYY. 

[Laika]

👀

[Laika]

Kirk gonna have a 40+ WAR career all for Toronto isn't he 

[JaysFan99]

17 minutes ago, Laika said:

He's sorta nuts to not take that offer at this point. 

Seems like every team believes they are only bidding against themselves at this point, for their choice remaining free agent. Boston got burned by that idea but it still may be true for Bellinger-NYY. 

I'm curious about this...is it normal for agents to lie and say they got a higher offer elsewhere to make a team bid against themselves?

[mphenhef]

18 minutes ago, Laika said:

👀

It will be truly interesting to see how much the introduction of ABS reduces the framing WAR.  But by all accounts, Kriky can also game the ABS system and in theory there should be a WAR component to how well you make use of ABS too.

[mphenhef]

9 minutes ago, JaysFan99 said:

I'm curious about this...is it normal for agents to lie and say they got a higher offer elsewhere to make a team bid against themselves?

There's nothing to stop this from happening but if they call your bluff you may screw your client and be in a bad spot.  I actually know someone who went to their current employer and told them they had a higher offer they were resigning for but wanted to give them a chance to match.  The employer accepted their resignation and told them to take the better offer, which wasn't real!