2026 MLB Thread

[cheebs09]

Skubal to the Dodgers....

[GB Warrior]

Great sport we have here

[MU82]

@JeffPassan
BREAKING: The Chicago White Sox are acquiring right-hander Luis Castillo in a trade with the Seattle Mariners for reliever Seranthony Dominguez, outfielder Nolan Jones and catching prospect Boston Smith, sources tell ESPN.

Castillo has been a real good guy and leader for the Mariners, and a good pitcher until this season. I was glad for the M's to shed his salary, but I hope he does well for the Sox.

Dominguez will not be asked to be a bullpen star for the M's, just one of several arms to get the game to Munoz ... if the M's can actually get late leads.

[MuggsyB]

Skubal to the Dodgers....

Absolutely terrible. 

[Pakuni]

Absolutely terrible. 

Why?

[GB Warrior]

Hope he beats the Cubs and then gives Dr ElAttrache his business

[MuggsyB]

Why?

I don't like it.  The talent discrepancy on the Dodgers is absurd. 

[TallTitan34]

https://x.com/talkinbaseball_/status/2083759318524973180?s=46

[MUBurrow]

That's a weak ass return. Not saying the Brewers definitely should have offered more, but it's hard to complain when they or any other decent system could have.

[wadesworld]

Hope everyone who was telling me to get my house and bet 6 figures on the Dodgers to win the World Series got their same bets in before the deal changed their odds!

Oh here's another bet for anyone who wants to take it. Dodgers to win the 2027 World Series!

[wadesworld]

The Dodgers have the hitters ranked Nos. 2, 7, 15, 25, 30 and 33 by wins above average, per Baseball Reference.

Their rotation, also by ERA+, has Nos. 2, 4, 5, 7 and 24.

But the 52-59 Blue Jays are only 3.5 games out of the Playoffs so competitive balance is not an issue for the MLB at all.

[Uncle Rico]

The conspiracy theorist I like to think I don't have in me wonders if the Tigers locked in on the Dodgers barring some can't pass on offer from another club for reasons.

But, yes, other clubs could have beaten that offer but the Brewers weren't moving Made or Henderson for a rental.  Dodgers system is as good and they can replace prospects by spending on free agents.

I'd caution people saying they're a lock, I've seen a lot of these prohibitive favorites not win in my life.  But, betting the house isn't a bad bet, either.

[The Sultan]

Yeah I am more annoyed than anything. The Dodgers' deal could have been matched without touching their top guys. I had a feeling the Brewers would talk but not actually do anything when all is said and done.

[Pakuni]

The Dodgers have the hitters ranked Nos. 2, 7, 15, 25, 30 and 33 by wins above average, per Baseball Reference.

Their rotation, also by ERA+, has Nos. 2, 4, 5, 7 and 24.

But the 52-59 Blue Jays are only 3.5 games out of the Playoffs so competitive balance is not an issue for the MLB at all.

Not finding those exact numbers, but assuming with the hitters you're talking about Shohei, Pages, Muncy, Freeman, Betts and Rushing (their top 6 by fWAR).

Shohei and Freeman obviously were big-money FA acquisitions.
But ...
Pages was a guy they signed for $300K out of Cuba.
Muncy they signed to a minor league contract after the As cut him.
Betts (like Skubal) is a guy they acquired leveraging their ability to develop young players, something certain Midwestern teams are afraid to do.
Rushing was a second-round pick.

Can you link the ERA+ leaders list you're looking at?
According to this, there isn't a single Dodger in the top 10.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/earned_run_avg_plus_top_ten.shtml

But, among the Dodgers ERA+ SP leaders this year are an 11th round pick (Wrobelski), a guy they acquired this offseason for a player to be named later (Lauer) and a sixth-round pick (Sheehan).

[Pakuni]

The conspiracy theorist I like to think I don't have in me wonders if the Tigers locked in on the Dodgers barring some can't pass on offer from another club for reasons.

But, yes, other clubs could have beaten that offer but the Brewers weren't moving Made or Henderson for a rental.  Dodgers system is as good and they can replace prospects by spending on free agents.

I'd caution people saying they're a lock, I've seen a lot of these prohibitive favorites not win in my life.  But, betting the house isn't a bad bet, either.

They probably could have done it for Sprout, Lara and a #15-20 prospect. But yeah, Skubal almost certainly would be a rental.

[HutchwasClutch]

Remember who the guy was that was considered the big return for Cleveland in the CC to the Brewers deal? Matt LaPorta, first round pick out of college just a year earlier.  He was a complete bust.  Without CC, the 26 year playoff drought would have been extended. 

The Brewers just refuse to put all their chips in anymore to end a 44 year and counting WS drought.  And then they allowed the prize of the deadline to go to the team that dominated them last year in the LCS.  Double bad news- we don't get Skubal and the Dodgers do. 

I'm not saying at all they should have traded Made. I certainly wouldn't have traded him away. But they have the organizational depth to easily have topped this pathetic return Detroit got back with a package of other guys.  The pitchers in the deal are a 27 year old two years removed from blowing out his elbow and a guy that owns an 0-10 and almost 5 era in the minors. 

We'll see what happens over the next 32 hours, but as said by Fluffy, feels like just talk again.  But we can all look back at this period in later years and say yeah, the Dodgers may have won everything, but we had the best farm system in baseball.  Please send us our trophy for that. 

[Uncle Rico]

They probably could have done it for Sprout, Lara and a #15-20 prospect. But yeah, Skubal almost certainly would be a rental.

Yup.  It'll probably be a Peralta or Ray they get.  A bullpen arm or two would be nice.

Not holding out hope for a bat.  Just don't think there is one out there worth much

[MuggsyB]

Yeah I am more annoyed than anything. The Dodgers' deal could have been matched without touching their top guys. I had a feeling the Brewers would talk but not actually do anything when all is said and done.

Very disappointing. 

[MuggsyB]

Mason Miller would help the Brewers. 

[tower912]

Torkelson, Carpenter, Vierling, and McKinstry combining to hit .211 through 1100 ABs, along with a bullpen with more blown leads than saves is no Bueno.  I am sure Harris would rather be buying.  The haul is uninspiring.

[MuggsyB]

It seems to me the Brewers could have put together a deal significantly better than LA, and kept pretty much all of their top prospects.  This looks like a big whiff to me, regardless if Skubal was a rental.  You put out Misiorowski and Skubal and your chances increase 50 fold to do some damage in the playoffs. 

[GB Warrior]

Unconfirmed, but there are reports out there the Tigers demanded Logan Henderson be included. If that's true, that's worth more than the entire Dodgers offer, and the Brewers were right to say no.

Hard not to wear the tinfoil hat that this is the outcome the owners wanted. To say nothing of the fact that Skubal has not exactly persevered in circumstances that don't benefit him.

[MuggsyB]

Excuse my ignorance but how good are these Brewers prospects and can they all be signed for multiple seasons like Chourio? I know Made is supposed to be ultra elite.  That shortstop that's playing now has impressed me.  Tremendous arm. 

[Billy Hoyle]

Torkelson, Carpenter, Vierling, and McKinstry combining to hit .211 through 1100 ABs, along with a bullpen with more blown leads than saves is no Bueno.  I am sure Harris would rather be buying.  The haul is uninspiring.

Uninspiring is an understatement.

https://x.com/i/status/2083910988651249858

[wadesworld]

Unconfirmed, but there are reports out there the Tigers demanded Logan Henderson be included. If that's true, that's worth more than the entire Dodgers offer, and the Brewers were right to say no.

Hard not to wear the tinfoil hat that this is the outcome the owners wanted. To say nothing of the fact that Skubal has not exactly persevered in circumstances that don't benefit him.

Yup. McCalve Tweeted he asked around on what a comparable package from the Brewers would've been and it was Henderson, Pena, and either Letson or Knoth.

I'm fine with the Brewers not trading for Skubal. He was going to be a Dodger in 3 months anyway, and all it would've done was given the Brewers a chance to bunt a runner around the bases once a game and hope Miz and Skubal can pitch complete game shutouts to beat them.

The reality is the Brewers would've needed Skubal plus 3 bats to add to the lineup to beat the Dodgers in a best of 7. That obviously wasn't going to happen.

Skubal was 3-3 in the Playoffs with the Tigers.