2026 MLB Season
- Thread starter Snow Plow
- Start date
NolanCromwell
Guru
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It's unfortunate that Tucker agreed to a deal in the liberal hell hole of LA. Having grown up a Dodgers fan, they have morphed into a horribly woke organization. Despite this they do have some of my favorite players and a very good manager. The Dodgers are well positioned for a 3 peat in 2026.
Leonardfan
Hall of Famer
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Agreed. Honestly all sports are pretty much broken. I do think baseball was the sport that really opened the floodgates for all the absurd contracts.
It seems that all major sports are primarily funded by giant TV rights deals. Because the average person can’t afford to do anything but sit on their couch and watch TV.
knightedsoldier5000
Mentor
The Mets wasted little time in changing gears after missing out on the offseason’s top free agent. They’ve reportedly agreed to a massive three-year, $126MM contract with free agent infielder Bo Bichette.
knightedsoldier5000
Mentor
Cubs will be a very white friendly team:
Cubs Sign Alex Bregman
By AJ Eustace and Tim Dierkes | January 14, 2026 at 11:03am CDT
The Cubs have made their third-largest signing in franchise history official, announcing Wednesday that they’ve signed third baseman Alex Bregman to a five-year contract that’ll reportedly guarantee him $175MM.
Cubs Sign Alex Bregman
By AJ Eustace and Tim Dierkes | January 14, 2026 at 11:03am CDT
The Cubs have made their third-largest signing in franchise history official, announcing Wednesday that they’ve signed third baseman Alex Bregman to a five-year contract that’ll reportedly guarantee him $175MM.
white is right
Hall of Famer
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I can name a few watershed moment in North American sports salary history and as you stated baseball led the way because until maybe the late 80's it was still the number 1 sport in North America.
There was a race to 1 million a year in baseball after Marvin Miller won the rights in court for free agency. After this the top salary of the star players exploded to around a million with a year or two and this was in late 70's money so picture about 4 million in today's money.
A-Rod's contract with the salary bump and the term length did another salary bump to North American sports and now multibillionaires owning teams and spending like the salaries are tax write off(they probably are).
How could anybody justify the back end of the any of star players contracts when they will be 4th outfielder types making insane money for their skill level.
PS I remember when owners weren't corporations or being worth hundreds of millions dollars let alone billions, there were some real flim flam artists that owned NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB teams. The main reason why owners ran from city to city and black mailed various cities was because they were too broke to fund stadiums for themselves.
The Davis clan are among the last of those relics. I don't know how long Dumb and Dumber will own the team but if the sh(* hits the fan in Vegas expect the Raiduhs to hit the road begging and scamming another city.
knightedsoldier5000
Mentor
Cubs projected 2026 roster (Nearly all white!):
1B Michael Busch (White)
2B Nico Hoerner (White)
SS (Dansby Swanson) (White)
3B (Alex Bregman) (White)
C (Carson Kelly) (White)
OF (Ian Happ) (White)
OF Seiya Suzuki (Japanese)
OF Pete Crow Armstrong (White)
DH Moises Ballesteros (hispanic)
Utility/3B/DH/2B - Matt Shaw (White)
SP Matt Boyd (white)
SP Edward Cabrera (not white)
SP Cade Horton (white)
SP Shota Imanaga (Japanese)
SP Jameson Tallon (white)
SP Justin Steele (white) - not sure when returning from injury
Leonardfan
Hall of Famer
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Crazy that pitchers and catchers will be reporting in a month or so. Time flies. I have said this for the past few years but I'd like to cover more baseball on the site. I love early spring baseball especially. Something about those first few weeks for me.
I've skipped out on fantasy baseball the past couple of seasons. Plan to jump back into it this year so I'll go through and get some lists together of players to watch.
@knightedsoldier5000 does an excellent job covering MLB throughout the season. MLB has also gotten increasingly White.
I've skipped out on fantasy baseball the past couple of seasons. Plan to jump back into it this year so I'll go through and get some lists together of players to watch.
@knightedsoldier5000 does an excellent job covering MLB throughout the season. MLB has also gotten increasingly White.
Leonardfan
Hall of Famer
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Spring training games begin today.
knightedsoldier5000
Mentor
Cardinals projected 2026 roster:
1B Alec Burleson (White)
2B JJ Wetherholt (White, but has some asian admixture. Possibly a grandparent.)
SS Masyn Winn (Black)
3B Nolan Gorman (White)
C Pedro Pagés, Yohel Pozo (Hispanic)
OF Nathan Church (White)
OF Victor Scott (Black)
OF Jordan Walker (Black)
DH Ivan Herrera (hispanic)
Utility/3B/DH/2B/LF - Thomas Saggeese (White)
Utility - Ramón Urías (Hispanic)
Utility - José Fermín (Hispanic)
SP Matthew Liberatore(white)
SP Dustin May (white)
SP Andre Pallante (white)
SP Michael McGreevy (white)
SP Kyle Leahy (white)
Wetherholt is a potential superstar. Jordan Walker is on his last legs. A once 'cant' miss prospect who was given hugely favorable hype - probably because he's black - and he hasn't produced at all in MLB. Gorman is also in a make or break year. He just hasn't produced. Sageese could take over 3B if Gorman fails. Sageese has never really been given a chance but Gorman has been given several years of mostly failure. Church is interesting. Elite speed and arm, high contact white 25 year old rookie OFer who has received no hype whatsoever. Will have to see if he can stick.
Nathan Church:
Offense: Uses a hands-driven, inside-out swing to generate high contact rates, though he has below-average power and tends to produce singles/doubles rather than home runs. He is adept at spraying line drives and using his speed to pressure defenses.
Defense: A plus defender in center field with exceptional speed, range, and a double-plus arm.
Baserunning: A 70-grade runner who is a consistent threat to steal.
Outlook: Debuted in MLB in August 2025, profiling as a high-end organizational depth player or fourth outfielder, similar to a Victor Scott type, but with slightly more contact-oriented upside.
Baseball America
Baseball America
+2
2024-2025 Performance
Played in Double-A Springfield (2024) where he hit .297 with 10 HR and 30 SB.
Performed exceptionally in Triple-A Memphis (2025), slashing .356/.436/.574 before his MLB call-up
I am a fan of black OF Victor Scott. Elite speed. Stole over 90 bases one year in the minors. Could be a vince coleman type player to add some excitement on the bases.
1B Alec Burleson (White)
2B JJ Wetherholt (White, but has some asian admixture. Possibly a grandparent.)
SS Masyn Winn (Black)
3B Nolan Gorman (White)
C Pedro Pagés, Yohel Pozo (Hispanic)
OF Nathan Church (White)
OF Victor Scott (Black)
OF Jordan Walker (Black)
DH Ivan Herrera (hispanic)
Utility/3B/DH/2B/LF - Thomas Saggeese (White)
Utility - Ramón Urías (Hispanic)
Utility - José Fermín (Hispanic)
SP Matthew Liberatore(white)
SP Dustin May (white)
SP Andre Pallante (white)
SP Michael McGreevy (white)
SP Kyle Leahy (white)
Wetherholt is a potential superstar. Jordan Walker is on his last legs. A once 'cant' miss prospect who was given hugely favorable hype - probably because he's black - and he hasn't produced at all in MLB. Gorman is also in a make or break year. He just hasn't produced. Sageese could take over 3B if Gorman fails. Sageese has never really been given a chance but Gorman has been given several years of mostly failure. Church is interesting. Elite speed and arm, high contact white 25 year old rookie OFer who has received no hype whatsoever. Will have to see if he can stick.
Nathan Church:
Offense: Uses a hands-driven, inside-out swing to generate high contact rates, though he has below-average power and tends to produce singles/doubles rather than home runs. He is adept at spraying line drives and using his speed to pressure defenses.
Defense: A plus defender in center field with exceptional speed, range, and a double-plus arm.
Baserunning: A 70-grade runner who is a consistent threat to steal.
Outlook: Debuted in MLB in August 2025, profiling as a high-end organizational depth player or fourth outfielder, similar to a Victor Scott type, but with slightly more contact-oriented upside.
Baseball America
Baseball America
+2
2024-2025 Performance
Played in Double-A Springfield (2024) where he hit .297 with 10 HR and 30 SB.
Performed exceptionally in Triple-A Memphis (2025), slashing .356/.436/.574 before his MLB call-up
I am a fan of black OF Victor Scott. Elite speed. Stole over 90 bases one year in the minors. Could be a vince coleman type player to add some excitement on the bases.
Leonardfan
Hall of Famer
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- 27,394
knightedsoldier5000
Mentor
Last Thursday, Jac Caglianone tried to find the answer through pure experimentation, which is to say that in the top of the fifth inning against the Diamondbacks, the Royals right fielder turned on a Yilber Díaz fastball and ripped it into the right-center gap at 120.2 mph. The missile made Caglianone just the eighth player to gain entry into the 120 MPH Club in the 11-year history of Statcast.
It’s also the hardest-hit ball of spring training, and it’s far from the only fireworks display he’s put on in the past week. With a 116.5-mph double on Saturday and a 115.2-mph homer on Tuesday, Caglianone now owns three of the 10 hardest-hit balls of spring training. More importantly, it’s the 30th-hardest ball ever recorded by Statcast at any level. Thankfully, Statcast is now in every spring training ballpark, or we never would have grasped just how special Caglianone has been this spring.
Caglianone is not exactly a surprising addition to the 120 MPH Club. In his write-ups of Caglianone as a prospect, Eric Longenhagen awarded a 70/80 present/future grade for power, variously describing it as elite, top-of-the-scale, otherworldly, and nutty. He also noted, “His thighs are practically bursting out of his pants.”
Baker’s 109.5-mph home run sounds like a pop gun compared to Caglianone’s explosion.
a 120.2-mph batted ball is worth stopping what you’re doing just so you can take some time to marvel. It only happens a couple times a year.
blogs.fangraphs.com
It’s also the hardest-hit ball of spring training, and it’s far from the only fireworks display he’s put on in the past week. With a 116.5-mph double on Saturday and a 115.2-mph homer on Tuesday, Caglianone now owns three of the 10 hardest-hit balls of spring training. More importantly, it’s the 30th-hardest ball ever recorded by Statcast at any level. Thankfully, Statcast is now in every spring training ballpark, or we never would have grasped just how special Caglianone has been this spring.
Caglianone is not exactly a surprising addition to the 120 MPH Club. In his write-ups of Caglianone as a prospect, Eric Longenhagen awarded a 70/80 present/future grade for power, variously describing it as elite, top-of-the-scale, otherworldly, and nutty. He also noted, “His thighs are practically bursting out of his pants.”
Baker’s 109.5-mph home run sounds like a pop gun compared to Caglianone’s explosion.
a 120.2-mph batted ball is worth stopping what you’re doing just so you can take some time to marvel. It only happens a couple times a year.
Jac Caglianone Joins the 120 Club
After a week, Caglianone owns three of the hardest-hit balls of spring training. Seems good.
