2026 Misc MLB News Thread

[Underachiever]

4 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

Losing streak reaches 12 as Devin Williams falls apart in the ninth. I wonder how he and Freddie are enjoying the Mets experience.

It all depends on perspective. Devin may just be in the wrong sport. His 9.95 ERA would be a world-class score in gymnastics.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

8 hours ago, Frisbee Slider said:

It seems odd to me for Devin to seemingly have a negative experience in New York last season and sign across town in the off season. Even if the money was there from the Mets. 

McLean had perfect game into the 6th, too...

Devin Williams is mentally weak and I wouldn't want him in any role other than pitching the 6th inning sporadically for the Brewers. He is Jeremy Jeffress. He can succeed but only in the most hand-picked of circumstances.

Everyone should have been able to tell that the Brewers success is organizational, not tied to Stearns. It's just comical to think that one single person could be most responsible for running an MLB franchise. It's not physically possible. Way too many moving parts. Not that the NFL is "easy" but baseball has a million layers to it.

[liveforoctober]

 

Whoa.

 

[Playing Catch]

17 hours ago, liveforoctober said:

 

Whoa.

 

I've never understood the league's fascination with Cora.

[Samurai Bucky]

2 hours ago, Playing Catch said:

I've never understood the league's fascination with Cora.

He managed in Boston.  The Peter Gammons "everyone from Boston is awesome" coefficient is still at play.

[AKCheesehead]

On 4/25/2026 at 3:17 PM, liveforoctober said:

 

Whoa.

 

The Boston Massacre 2026 Edition

[SeaBass]

I thought this was a fun/interesting article about Luis Arraez on FanGraphs today.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/luis-arraez-is-good-at-defense-now/

I think Arraez is an interesting player to check in on every once in a while, I had briefly talked about him a bit in a recent game thread, not really much conversation there but it's kind of fun to see an article presented where he's actually being praised for his defense. I don't really know how many of you feel about Arraez as he naturally doesn't come up as a topic often here but I imagine he probably doesn't have a lot of fans on this site.

[sveumrules]

49 minutes ago, SeaBass said:

I thought this was a fun/interesting article about Luis Arraez on FanGraphs today.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/luis-arraez-is-good-at-defense-now/

I think Arraez is an interesting player to check in on every once in a while, I had briefly talked about him a bit in a recent game thread, not really much conversation there but it's kind of fun to see an article presented where he's actually being praised for his defense. I don't really know how many of you feel about Arraez as he naturally doesn't come up as a topic often here but I imagine he probably doesn't have a lot of fans on this site.

Have to wonder if the tepid interest he received in free agency this winter didn't lead to some sort of re-dedication to some of the finer points of his craft. His base running is also at +1.8 in the early going after posting slightly negative marks each of the last six seasons for a combined -5.8 BsR.

[SeaBass]

4 minutes ago, sveumrules said:

Have to wonder if the tepid interest he received in free agency this winter didn't lead to some sort of re-dedication to some of the finer points of his craft. His base running is also at +1.8 in the early going after posting slightly negative marks each of the last six seasons for a combined -5.8 BsR.

Yeah, if he just adds something to his game other than the value of hitting singles and his low K% he becomes a more attractive option, adding several somethings is even better. Having the gift to hit like he hits with nothing behind it is kind of sad in general (other than that he's still making millions of dollars to play a game) so I hope for his sake he can keep it up.

[Underachiever]

Braves can start lining up their rotation for the playoffs. They are up 6.5 games. I just looked, and Detroit went 18-2 in April 1984 and only had a six-game lead. Tampa went 22-6 in 2023 and were up three games.

Does anyone know what the largest division lead after April is?

[Frisbee Slider]

5 hours ago, Underachiever said:

Does anyone know what the largest division lead after April is?

2001 Mariners, nine games 

source

[Vgmastr]

Interesting video of Lucroy talking about the 2016 trade deadline and rejecting the trade to Cleveland.  Suffice it to say, he's not a big fan of how David Stearns handled that.

 

[Brian]

Tonight Seattle Mariners had a pregame ceremony at T-Mobile Park to officially retire Randy Johnson's iconic No. 51. 

Randy Johnson's highest recorded pitch count in a single MLB game was 160, achieved on September 27, 1992, for the Seattle Mariners against the Texas Rangers. In that game, he struck out 18 batters over eight innings. A lot different than now days. 

[adambr2]

https://x.com/CaseyJ_516/status/2050918103668638037/video/1?s=46

[kestrel79]

3 hours ago, adambr2 said:

https://x.com/CaseyJ_516/status/2050918103668638037/video/1?s=46

I wonder how common that is with GMs stuff like this happens. Love hearing this kinda stuff.

[adambr2]

9 minutes ago, kestrel79 said:

I wonder how common that is with GMs stuff like this happens. Love hearing this kinda stuff.

I never understood the contempt for Lucroy over the whole trade deadline debacle in 2016. 

Cleveland was on his no-trade clause list and he had every contractual right to deny a trade there. Sounds like if he would have been approached in a more professional and open manner by Stearns about it, the trade might have happened.

[liveforoctober]

 

I believe this qualifies as newsworthy.

[markedman5]

That’s why as much as fans ***** and moan you need to trade guys like this before their last year of arby.

[Brian]

Tampa Bay Rays on a heater winning 9 of 10 right on the Yankees tail who were projected to finish in last place in the American League East. That has not been the case so far with the Rays being one of the best teams in baseball at 22-12. 

[RWeeksFan23]

On 5/4/2026 at 1:54 PM, liveforoctober said:

 

I believe this qualifies as newsworthy.

following said injury, the betting favorite for AL Cy Young is Cam Schlitter of all people.

[Brian]

Hmmm, Jakob Junis remember him?  Just thinking since we have 6 pitchers injured.  Who the heck did we ever get for him anyway?  I remember we traded him soon after he got hit in the head with a ball during BP.   https://www.mlb.com/player/jakob-junis-596001

[Frisbee Slider]

41 minutes ago, Brian said:

Hmmm, Jakob Junis remember him?  Just thinking since we have 6 pitchers injured.  Who the heck did we ever get for him anyway?  I remember we traded him soon after he got hit in the head with a ball during BP.   https://www.mlb.com/player/jakob-junis-596001

Frankie Montas for Junis and Wiemer

[Brian]

3 minutes ago, Frisbee Slider said:

Frankie Montas for Junis and Wiemer

Another pitcher having Tommy John surgery. 

[adambr2]

1 hour ago, Frisbee Slider said:

Frankie Montas for Junis and Wiemer

That trade didn’t make much sense at the time and looks much worse now.

I can forgive the fact that no one could have seen Wiemer start to figure it out, although let’s be honest, if he was on the roster, he would have been playing a lot for us the last 6 weeks.

Junis was good at the time we traded him and has continued to be nothing but good since.

[Frisbee Slider]

32 minutes ago, adambr2 said:

Junis was good at the time we traded him and has continued to be nothing but good since

Fair points. I believe the thinking was Junis was fragile and required extra rest between bullpen appearances. Montas is a starter with a higher ceiling.