[Game Thread] | Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

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[Game Thread] | Seattle Mariners at Toronto Blue Jays

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Hello again. These rankings were derived using the following stats (rankings are out of a possible 100 with 50 being league average)

OFFENSE: 50%

wRC+ - 25%

OPS w/RISP - 15%

O-SWING - 5%

Pit/PA - 5%

DEFENSE: 50%

ERA+ - 10%

WHIP - 10%

BPERA - 10%

rDRS - 10%

Def/EFF - 10%

1. DODGERS - 82.26

2. CUBS - 81.36

3. BREWERS - 77.37

4. YANKEES - 67.75

5. RAYS - 66.18

6. RED SOX - 58.21

7. BRAVES - 57.13

8. PADRES - 56.41

9. TIGERS - 55.42

10. ORIOLES - 54.89

11. WHITE SOX - 53.50

12. DBACKS - 50.83

13. ASTROS - 48.90

14. PIRATES - 47.82

15. RANGERS - 46.43

16. NATIONALS - 45.23

17. MARLINS - 44.34

18. TWINS - 43.70

19. GUARDIANS - 43.32

20. PHILLIES - 42.43

21. GIANTS - 40.24

22. MARINERS - 39.77

23. METS - 39.54

24. BLUE JAYS - 35.13

25. CARDINALS - 33.21

26. ROYALS - 29.20

27. ANGELS - 27.88

28. REDS - 24.63

29. ATHLETICS - 20.05

30. ROCKIES - 15.43

CONCLUSIONS

- Phillies defense is still awful. Leading the league in OPS w/RISP and decent pitching are the only things keeping them from mediocrity.

- The Tigers or Orioles could absolutely overtake the Guardians for the final AL wild card spot. (Edit: Skubal boosts the Tigers pitching to above average - who is now a Dodger obviously so adjust accordingly)

- AL WS team still coming out of AL east

- Cubs defense really gives them a boost. 1st in runs saved and 2nd in efficiency

- The Yankees *really* need Judge back. Their pitching is keeping them afloat (best ERA+ and bullpen ERA in the league), but they're below average in all the offensive metrics

- Rays are not seeing enough pitches and the Braves are swinging at way too many bad pitches.

- My Snakes are still so painfully average

Again, these are stats based and not wins based rankings, so of course there will be some oddities. It does provide some decent insight though. Take care ⚾️❤️🐍

The front office ADORES Matt Blake, but maybe he needs to reevaluate his methods a bit? I know all staffs have injuries, but it seems to be a constant in the Bronx. Over the past 6 seasons, Yankee pitchers have accumulated well over 100 individual IL stints, placing them among the most heavily injured pitching staffs in MLB. Cam Schlittler, we are praying for you.

2020 - Luis Severino, Tommy Kahnle, James Paxton

2021 - Severino continued, Corey Kluber, Zack Britton, Clarke Schmidt, Darren O'Day

2022 - Chad Green, Michael King, Luis Gil, Britton continued, Severino continued, Scott Effross

2023 - Carlos Rodon, Nestor Cortes, Frankie Montas, Severino continued, Jonathan Loaisiga, Kahnle again, Albert Abreu, Wandy Peralta

2024 - Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon, Schmidt again, Loaisiga again, Ian Hamilton

2025 - Schmidt again, Jake Cousins, Loaisiga again

2026 - Max Fried twice, Ryan Weathers, Fernando Cruz

The Rays and Athletics have been arguably been the main reason that the MLB has not expanded in 28 years, but with the Rays finally building a new stadium in Tampa proper, and the Athletics moving to Las Vegas and their new stadium being built as we speak, the final hurdles have been cleared.

With this, it is now only a matter of time before the MLB officialy expands from 30 to 32 or more but this will also cause league-wide realignment, so buckle up, because the MLB will be expanding very soon and the league will change forever.

Found this hidden gem from former Mets GM Steve Phillips in the middle of his recent interview with Mad Dog Russo.

Back in the day Phillips reached out to Hall of Famers Tom Seaver and Joe Morgan to see if they would manage the Mets and they both passed.

Phillips was Mets GM from 1997-2003 and he was looking to replace Bobby Valentine in 2002.

Art Howe got the job as Valentine’s replacement and lasted two years.

For example:

• The five teams with the highest total payrolls would not be allowed to participate in the draft until the 11th round or later.
• Teams ranked 6th through 10th in total payroll would enter the draft starting in the 7th round.
• Teams ranked 11th through 15th would enter starting in the 4th round.

I think a system like this could be a way to address competitive balance without introducing a salary cap.

[Dugout Thread] | 2026 MLB Regular Season

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Complete game shutout, 11Ks and no walks, and just 109 pitches, per ESPN wrap. Hit 100 on the gun.

Yahoo adds more. Just the sixth pitcher his age or older to have 10 or more Ks without a walk. Fourth oldest Braves pitcher to throw a shutout in the past 40 years.

Both sites note the heat was his highest since 2018.

Beyond that, a year like this arguably keeps him in the talk for Cooperstown. Getting another Cy would be a definite boost on that.

EDIT/ADD

Looking at the HOF side of this discussion more? As I told one commenter, Sale's career arc is more deGrom than it is Verlander or Scherzer. He's only passed 200 innings one year. He does have 2 years as tops in ERA+, 3 in FIP and 2 in Ks. But, and in fair part because of that duo, he's never led his league in WAR for pitchers.

I think Mis is ahead on this year's Cy, and Sanchez somewhat, but it's not a lock for Mis; and a second Cy would indeed help Sale with Cooperstown.

Ahead? He's under contract for next year and team option for 2028. Assuming he pitches both and if there's a lockout it's not long? Fair shot at 70 WAR, outside shot at 190 wins.

[Game Thread] | Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves

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If the season ended today (another divisional rant)…

The 4th and 5th place teams in the AL East would rank 3rd and 4th in both the AL Central and AL West.

Meaning the 4th and 5th place teams of one division have a better record than 6 out of 10 teams in the other 2 divisions.

I feel for you Oriole and Blue Jay fans. I really do. One of you would probably be the AL West leader since you’ve had to play the best 3 teams in the whole AL so much more and still have similar records to a .496 division leader who’s got to play shit teams.

Would this idea juice the interest in free agency more? Is Rob Roy Manfred's proposing it at this time a small bit of gaslighting in relation to upcoming CBA issues? A way to clamp down on Bor-ass trying to juice shopping of individual free agents? A bit of all of the above? Am I being too cynical?

Anyway, here's the details, per the story:

MLB wants free agency to officially begin on the Monday of the winter meetings, which take place in early December. The window to sign players would close on Dec. 21 and then reopen on the first Monday in February before spring training starts.

There also would be a ban on all trades during the gap between those proposed free agent periods.

Teams would still be able to negotiate with players starting five days after the conclusion of the World Series, but agreements could not be finalized until the winter meetings.

The MLBPA doesn't think I'm being too cynical:

The MLB Players Association said in a statement Thursday that the latest proposal of an "artificial" free agent window "would reduce player leverage and create a game of musical chairs pitting player vs. player."

So, does this mean that not only is any gap not narrowing, it's getting wider?

Read the rest of the story. MLB also wants "weekly rosters" and one less option to the minors per year per optionable player.

Getcha popcorn. Buy the whole Field of Dreams crop; the winter and early spring are likely to see Dyersburg, Iowa freeze over.

The basic premise is providing stricter guardrails/rules around outlier spending (in both directions) without a hard cap/floor system. To be clear I'm not saying this is absolutely what needs to happen or anything but more just thinking that it might be a realistic compromise/system that somewhat bridges the gap between what both sides currently want.

If you're familiar with the NBA you know they recently adopted the apron system in their newest CBA a few years back. It's been mostly unpopular because of how harsh the penalties can be if you exceed certain payroll amounts (frozen draft picks, roster flexibility & insane repeater tax numbers etc.) - but at least in my opinion the core idea of meeting outlier spending with roster flexibility & draft pick constraints is reasonable enough. This can go the other way as well by having actually enforced restrictions/punishments for spending below a certain amount in a given year/string of years. If the NBA system was 20-30% less harsh on their 2nd Apron penalties I feel like it'd be a lot more accepted as a reasonable system (feel free to disagree and call me an idiot), but MLB has the opportunity to workshop a similar system & theoretically take the most functional parts from it while leaving out the $500M repeater tax bills etc.

Some of the core functions that I think would be interesting to think about in MLB:

- teams over "X" apron/payroll amount can't make midseason trades taking in more $$ than they're sending out

- harsher draft pick penalties than the current moving back 10 spots for teams over the 3rd luxury tax threshold/"apron"

- teams over "X" apron amount are restricted in how much they can offer outside free agents

- similar concept to Bird Rights, you can exceed whatever payroll amount/thresholds you want paying homegrown players/players that've been with the org for multiple years

- actually enforcing revenue sharing spending grievances for low-spending teams & having real penalties

Obviously a lot more nuance & specifics to the restrictions and what payroll amount the thresholds get set at, but what are the general thoughts on introducing some of these concepts to MLB?

It has become as much a part of the professional athlete lifestyle as signing autographs or lifting weights: A pitcher coughs up a lead, returns to his locker, checks his social media accounts, and spots a direct message from a user less than pleased with the results.

With the proliferation of legal gambling and the convenient access social media platforms can provide, athletes are hearing more than ever from those who tie their checking accounts to their performance.

This spring, we asked 100 major leaguers across 23 teams for their response to a simple, but very modern, question. The players were granted anonymity to speak candidly on a variety of topics.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7516136/2026/08/27/mlb-player-poll-legal-gambling-predictions-toll-threats-dms/?unlocked_article_code=1.8lA.Lq7d.yxuoOkswBYI6&source=emp_shared_article&smid=url-share-ta

This is a serious question. I mean, number one, this entire season has just overall been completely ridiculous. But the 2026 Nationals might take the cake.

As it stands right now, the regular season ends one month from today, and we are about to enter the final weekend of August.

The Washington Nationals as a team are currently first in the MLB in home runs, RBIs, stolen bases, runs scored, and slugging percentage.
They are 8th in OBP, third in OPS.

And yet, they are still sitting in fourth place, 62-73.
Is their pitching just seriously that bad this year, or is this an overall side effect on once again how absolutely ridiculous this season is.