Around Baseball 2026

[hanton]

Lauer >> Sasaki; he's getting smacked around again

[John_Havok]

On 7/3/2026 at 3:44 AM, SeranthonySantander said:

The sad thing is there is probly a strapping beef raised all American boy who will never play because this guy took a roster spot.

Yeah for sure. Baseball should be American only sport. 

Asshat.

[SeranthonySantander]

26 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Yeah for sure. Baseball should be American only sport. 

Asshat.

They have leagues over there for them.  A place where its perfectly acceptable to back out of verbal contracts with Canadian teams, gamble on sports, do fraudulent real estate deals in Hawaii, abuse your young catcher... and so on.

[Brownie19]

47 minutes ago, SeranthonySantander said:

They have leagues over there for them.  A place where its perfectly acceptable to back out of verbal contracts with Canadian teams, gamble on sports, do fraudulent real estate deals in Hawaii, abuse your young catcher... and so on.

Right now, humans are the most advanced species to have ever lived on earth.  Statistically, we're all some of the most advanced and dominant creatures in history and yet I remain amazed at how truly stupid we remain as a society.

[Brownie19]

Off The Bat (@offthebatmedia) • Instagram reel

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3,261 likes, 79 comments - offthebatmedia on July 2, 2026: "Is Paul Skenes bad now??? #PaulSkenes...

This is kinda sad.  Hope he figures it out.

[Brownie19]

Little to no discussion on the upcoming draft eh?  I guess because the Jays first pick is at 39?  That's too bad, I love draft talk!

[John_Havok]

4 hours ago, SeranthonySantander said:

They have leagues over there for them.  A place where its perfectly acceptable to back out of verbal contracts with Canadian teams, gamble on sports, do fraudulent real estate deals in Hawaii, abuse your young catcher... and so on.

Yup. I'm 100% convinced thats definitely the motivation for wanting to segregate.

 

[SeranthonySantander]

8 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

Right now, humans are the most advanced species to have ever lived on earth.  Statistically, we're all some of the most advanced and dominant creatures in history and yet I remain amazed at how truly stupid we remain as a society.

I’d say half the people I come across are legitimate idiots 

[Brownie19]

24 minutes ago, SeranthonySantander said:

I’d say half the people I come across are legitimate idiots 

[Brownie19]

What a f*cking dumpster fire the Mets are.  They are the NL version of the Jays.

Bo - 92 wRC+

Robert Jr. - 91 wRC+ and hurt (shocker)

Lindor - 88 wRC+

Vientos - 76 wRC+ (remember when he was going to be the cornerstone of a Vlad trade?)

Baty - 73 wRC+ (bust)

Semien - 71 wRC+ (he's done)

Polanco - 51 wRC+

Peralta - 4.68 ERA

Peterson - 6.09 ERA

Devin Williams - 4.85 ERA

Senga - 8.66 ERA (bust)

 

Just horrendous stuff.

[Brownie19]

Does anyone understand why the Rockies haven't called up Charlie Condon and Zac Veen yet?  Both are tearing up AAA.

[Brownie19]

MLB ⚾ (@mlb) • Instagram photos and videos

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52K likes, 2,555 comments - mlb on June 25, 2026: "The biggest issue baseball fans want solved to strengthen the...

Some updates on the negotiations...some positive and interesting proposals here.

 

[hanton]

I'm starting to pay attention to the Marlins

 

[hanton]

Romano is closing for the Rockies

[hanton]

...and he closes it out vs the Dodgers thanks to his catcher with 3 successful challenges in the 9th

[John_Havok]

15 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

MLB ⚾ (@mlb) • Instagram photos and videos

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52K likes, 2,555 comments - mlb on June 25, 2026: "The biggest issue baseball fans want solved to strengthen the...

Some updates on the negotiations...some positive and interesting proposals here.

 

Eliminating deferrals is a weird ask, but if they are replacing it with something similar to Bird Rights like in the NBA I can see how it might fly.

[hanton]

on him not being selected to the all star game because of the schedule, love this from Zach Wheeler,

 

 

[Brownie19]

Yeah - I think that's stupid.  Name the people you think deserve to be an All-Star.  If they are unavailable to play due to schedule/injury, than they can back out, or just go an enjoy the weekend.

[Terminator]

7 hours ago, John_Havok said:

Eliminating deferrals is a weird ask, but if they are replacing it with something similar to Bird Rights like in the NBA I can see how it might fly.

Probably just a ploy by the owners to get idiot fans who don't understand the deferral system on their side. 

This would be very bad for the Blue Jays and other teams who reside in high tax areas. 

[John_Havok]

6 minutes ago, Terminator said:

Probably just a ploy by the owners to get idiot fans who don't understand the deferral system on their side. 

This would be very bad for the Blue Jays and other teams who reside in high tax areas. 

Which is weird because deferrals were meant to help the smaller markets retain tehir stars, they just never bothered to take advantage.

I think keeping deferrals is fine, just limit the number of deferred contracts per team (say...2?), and then limit the annual % that can be deferred to something reasonable. 

That way it keeps larger market teams from just deferring half their roster and keeps more top-end free agents in play for all teams, which is something the PA should definitely want.

That said, i'm intrigued as to to how the MLB version of Bird Rights would work. If it exempts a % of contrcat value from the luxury tax? Make the home team the only one able to offer significantly more years and dollars? Some combo of the 2?

Lets face it, being able to offer 1 more year and 20 million more isnt going to keep guys from fleeing Crapsburgh for LA.

 

[Terminator]

3 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Which is weird because deferrals were meant to help the smaller markets retain tehir stars, they just never bothered to take advantage.

I think keeping deferrals is fine, just limit the number of deferred contracts per team (say...2?), and then limit the annual % that can be deferred to something reasonable. 

That way it keeps larger market teams from just deferring half their roster and keeps more top-end free agents in play for all teams, which is something the PA should definitely want.

Deferrals don't matter whatsoever because they have closed off every single loophole through the net present value calculation and by making teams literally set aside that money in escrow accounts. 

It's just a way for players to avoid paying high state taxes which in turn levels the playing field for those teams.

[John_Havok]

Just now, Terminator said:

Deferrals don't matter whatsoever because they have closed off every single loophole through the net present value calculation and by making teams literally set aside that money in escrow accounts. 

It's just a way for players to avoid paying high state taxes which in turn levels the playing field for those teams.

Yes. Which is why limiting the # of deferrals and % of deferral could actually help smaller market teams IF they wanted to continue with deferals. 

Of course the Pirates could never defer 98% of Ohtani's net present contract value or whatever # they came up with, but they could probably defer 50% of it. Just an example. Nutting is such an ******* he will never do anything to keep real superstars.

 

[Terminator]

3 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Yes. Which is why limiting the # of deferrals and % of deferral could actually help smaller market teams IF they wanted to continue with deferals. 

Of course the Pirates could never defer 98% of Ohtani's net present contract value or whatever # they came up with, but they could probably defer 50% of it. Just an example. Nutting is such an ******* he will never do anything to keep real superstars.

 

Nope, deferrals don't matter because they closed all the loopholes. They don't help smaller markets. Don't help bigger markets either.

[G-Snarls]

Justin Verlander To Retire At End Of Season

By Darragh McDonald | at July 8, 2026 1:45pm CDT

 

One of the best careers of this era of baseball is winding down. Justin Verlander announced that he will retire at the end of the current season. Earlier today, Verlander was selected as a “legend pick” for the All-Star game. Verlander issued a statement thanking commissioner Rob Manfred for the honor and revealed the news within that statement.

[hanton]

Boone ejected lol.  and the bench coach

They asked for a video review on Caballero's steal of 2nd but Boone was too late so he came out and after a few words umpy tossed him

[Olerud363.354]

On 7/8/2026 at 12:23 PM, Terminator said:

Nope, deferrals don't matter because they closed all the loopholes. They don't help smaller markets. Don't help bigger markets either.

Yeah...  it's an interesting topic but it does not disadvantage or advantage disproportionately any market based on size.  Instead of 50 million dollars for player X, they are spending 50 million dollars to buy a bond for player x.  The team outputs the exact same amount of money that year, and all teams can do this.  

They do perhaps provide an advantage based on tax rate, it's a way for players to avoid paying California or Canadian taxes, In 10 years, when their "bond" matures they can collect the money in Texas.     

[Orgfiller]

Bobby Witt Jr. with another somewhat under the radar inner circle HOF type of year. Coming into today with 4.7 fWAR, easily leading the AL and only behind PCA and Ohtani for the MLB lead. Added a homerun, already at 30 stolen bases for the season, increased his walk rate and is actually heavily underperforming his xStats.

2020's version of Mike Trout. This might be the year he finally picks up his first MVP after having to coexist with peak Judge the last few.

[G-Snarls]

On 7/7/2026 at 10:54 AM, Brownie19 said:

What a f*cking dumpster fire the Mets are.  They are the NL version of the Jays.

Bo - 92 wRC+

Robert Jr. - 91 wRC+ and hurt (shocker)

Lindor - 88 wRC+

Vientos - 76 wRC+ (remember when he was going to be the cornerstone of a Vlad trade?)

Baty - 73 wRC+ (bust)

Semien - 71 wRC+ (he's done)

Polanco - 51 wRC+

Peralta - 4.68 ERA

Peterson - 6.09 ERA

Devin Williams - 4.85 ERA

Senga - 8.66 ERA (bust)

 

Just horrendous stuff.

With a HIGHER payroll than the Dodgers 

 

[Governator]

26 minutes ago, G-Snarls said:

With a HIGHER payroll than the Dodgers 

 

Pretty sure that's Spotrac's adjusted payroll but it doesn't include deferrals.  Dodgers have a larger payroll by a landslide when it comes to the Luxury Tax calculations I think.

[Stangstag]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterchawaga/2026/07/09/phillies-bryce-harper-sends-thank-you-to-gambling-addict-after-18-million-bets/
 

Is this real life??? Loll