2026 MLB Thread

[CTWarrior]

Just got to Coors Field for the first time (Rockies lost 12-8 to AZ). Nice ballpark.

My list of ballparks I've yet to visit now includes only the newest ones:

Yankees
Mets
Rangers
Braves
Nationals
Marlins

Nice, I'm down to
Rockies
D-backs
Rangers
Astros

I'm retiring in the spring and plan to celebrate by knocking off the last four on a single trip.

Though I look at it as teams I've seen play at home.  I haven't seen the current parks in
Minnesota and Miami.

I'm not going to worry about those two unless I have another reason to go to those cities, which is unlikely.  They'll be two expansion teams to worry about soon enough, I expect.

[MU82]

If the overwhelming betting favorites live up to the billing this year, the Dodgers will have won 4 of the last 7 WS titles and will go into next season as the far and away favorites to win their 5th in 8 years.

If. We'll see!

Does only the champion determine "competitive balance"?

If so, there was no competitive balance from 1996-2000. And yet somehow MLB not only survived but thrived (and in a balanced way) for the next 20 years despite no salary cap.

[CTWarrior]

You already have teams sitting a week. Sitting a week and a half would be problematic. Furthermore you can already run into bad weather toward the end of the playoffs in northern cities. No need to extend that further.

Ideally you would end the season right around Labor Day, but that's never going to happen either.

This is the thing, if you're going to put 40% of the teams in the playoffs, a 162 game season is too much.  I would prefer they cut out the wild card round and go 4 teams per league, but that will never happen.  Just like with the NCAA tournament when they expand to whatever they'll expand to, I'll watch the early rounds even though I would rather they weren't there.

[CTWarrior]

All-time season by Miz. Probably one of the 5 greatest ever. Compares favorably to Pedro back about 25 years ago.

Um...no.
May compare to Pedro, but not favorably.

Pedro 1999 213.1 IP, 243 ERA+, 313 Ks, .932 WHIP, 9.8 WAR
Pedro 2000 217.0 IP, 292 ERA+, 284 Ks, .737 WHIP, 11.7 WAR
Miz   2026 174.2 IP, 232 ERA+, 252 Ks, .802 WHIP, 6.5 WAR

Pedro had 5 other seasons with higher WAR than Miz this season.

Miz's season is not one of the top 5 (or probably 50) all time because modern guys just don't pitch enough innings to be as valuable as the old guys.  Pedro was basically Miz +5% and got 5 more outs per start.

Even this year:

Miz   2026 174.2 IP, 232 ERA+, 252 Ks, .802 WHIP, 6.5 WAR       
Schlittler 2026 193.2 IP, 215 ERA+, 239 Ks, .919 WHIP, 7.0 WAR

Miz better rate stats, but Schlittler's 19 extra innings close the gap.

But Miz is a helluva pitcher and he may have even better seasons in his future.

[JWags85]

Took my 4 year old son to Tropicana Field yesterday for the Cubs/Red Sox reschedule for his first baseball game.  Very much got into the fact that he could just yell/chant "Go Cubs" whenever he wanted to.  The fact that once out of every 4-5 times he yelled he got confused/over-excited and yelled "GO BEARSSSS" was also a standout event for everyone in our section, even the Sox fans.

I actually hadn't been to a Rays game for a few years.  While it is still a dump and as poorly designed a ballpark as you will ever see, the new roof they put on after Hurricane Milton trashed the original is a significant improvement.  The field/interior of the stadium is much brighter/lighter than it was before.

[CTWarrior]

Took my 4 year old son to Tropicana Field yesterday for the Cubs/Red Sox reschedule for his first baseball game.  Very much got into the fact that he could just yell/chant "Go Cubs" whenever he wanted to.  The fact that once out of every 4-5 times he yelled he got confused/over-excited and yelled "GO BEARSSSS" was also a standout event for everyone in our section, even the Sox fans.

I actually hadn't been to a Rays game for a few years.  While it is still a dump and as poorly designed a ballpark as you will ever see, the new roof they put on after Hurricane Milton trashed the original is a significant improvement.  The field/interior of the stadium is much brighter/lighter than it was before.

Nice story Wags.  The rings on the roof are still there, aren't they?  I thought I saw earlier in the year Bogaerts hit what looked like a home run turn into a foul pop out to 3B when it hit one of those rings.

[MU82]

My cousin lives within walking distance of the Trop and loves that he can just decide an hour before first pitch if he feels like going to that day's game. There are always plenty of cheap tickets available, and he can sit wherever he wants. They even let you bring in your own food.

He's probably one of the very few who is sad that the team is gonna move to Tampa.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I've been to the Trop twice for games.  I had fun both times.  My younger daughter who tangentially follows baseball likes the Rays.  The second time we went we sat next to the rays tank per my kids request and they think it was the coolest thing at a baseball game.  They still joke that one of the rays purposefully splashed my wife twice during the game. 

[TallTitan34]

If the overwhelming betting favorites live up to the billing this year, the Dodgers will have won 4 of the last 7 WS titles and will go into next season as the far and away favorites to win their 5th in 8 years.

If?  What do you mean "if"?  I was told it's a done deal!

I do think the Dodgers win it all, but the Brewers can absolutely beat them.

[Uncle Rico]

If?  What do you mean "if"?  I was told it's a done deal!

I do think the Dodgers win it all, but the Brewers can absolutely beat them.

Dodgers played better baseball in September than they had been heading into the month.  They could very well be the Yankees of 2000 who won 87 games but still won the WS.  Struggled with Oakland in round 1 but coasted the rest of the playoffs.

I don't mind sports dynasties and think having a super alpha to knock off is interesting and fun.  And it's been a long part of baseball history.

[WhiteTrash]

If?  What do you mean "if"?  I was told it's a done deal!

I do think the Dodgers win it all, but the Brewers can absolutely beat them.

As a WS fan, I know the Sox have no chance, but I already grade the season as a 10 out of 10. So put me in the Brewer's bandwagon. I'd love to see it. 

[Shaka Shart]

The BABIP stat is bogus in this case. Yes the Brewers obviously have a better defense,  but BABIP will always be higher for a pitcher that gives up harder contact. Nobody could square up up against Miz - he gave up only 24 extra base hits all year.


Not to mention he obliterated the record for lowest BA allowed ever.

The lowest BA allowed is a bogus stat on this case.

The league batting average of .244 used to represent a genuinely concerning batting average. Now in the current era of high strikeouts its significance is altered.

Anyway, aside from calling a stat I don't like bogus.

My personal belief is that his statistical outliers are significantly benefitting from the era of hitting and his significantly lower workload. If you place more value on quality and average based stats he pencils out to a top 5 modern era performance. And I can see where someone can land on that line of thinking. I just tend to believe that in a sport that is notoriously dependent on your players seasonal longevity, volume of work should absolutely play a significant role in the calculus. And that puts him within top 20, but not top 5 to me.

Some people prefer I sell less items but at a higher margin. Others prefer I sell more volume at the loss of some pricing favorability. 🙏