Category: Baseball

The national baseball media has been trying to trade Tarik Skubal from the minute the Detroit Tigers were eliminated from the ALDS by the Seattle Mariners last October. That’s not a surprise, because it’s a good storyline, and one that media in major markets loves to push as the big spending teams pluck talent from smaller markets. The whole concept of a Skubal trade has been a huge maker of hay since the beginning of the offseason, and it’s certainly an interesting topic. Now that it’s finally becoming a more relevant one, it’s worth keeping in mind that the Tigers already placed their bets this season, and don’t seem at all keen on dealing the back-to-back AL Cy Young winner in the first place.

There certainly were plenty of reasons to think a trade made sense over the offseason, and there are plenty of reasons to think a trade makes sense now. The Tigers front office passed on considering a trade last offseason, and it’s hard to believe they will easily change their minds unless they really struggle coming out of the All-Star break. Remember the bet Scott Harris and Jeff Greenberg already placed on this season by keeping Skubal in the first place.

Since taking over the Tigers, the biggest trade the Scott Harris-led Tigers have made was dealing a rental in Jack Flaherty. In terms of volume of trades, they rank toward the bottom of the league in the Harris era, waiver claims excluded. This front office doesn’t pursue many trades. They aren’t out there aggressively trying to upgrade their roster with trades during the offseason, and so far they haven’t been very good at making deadlines trades either. And other than trading Jack Flaherty at the 2024 deadline, the trades they have made, whether buying or selling, have been small in scale and consequence. These things are related. A potential Skubal trade exists on a higher level of importance and scrutiny than anything they’ve done through four offseason and three trade deadlines.

We certainly thought that a major package of prospects including a major league ready starter was a possibility worth exploring back in the offseason. Yet there was no point writing about it, because the Tigers had no real interest in exploring the possibility. Neither party showed any interest in an extension offer either. Months later, with the Tigers creeping back into the postseason chase after a catastrophic month of May, there still appears to be no real interest in trading their ace. At least nationally, few seem to be taking this part of the equation seriously. The Tigers have to trade him even if they might get a wild card spot, right? Right?

Not so fast.

The Tigers have had some reason and plenty of opportunity to at least explore the possibility of a Skubal trade for a long while now, and they’ve shown zero interest in doing so. The projected return on a Skubal trade has diminished with each step. Would they fiually change their minds now when they’re 3.5 games out of a postseason berth in mid-July? Was the decision to hold onto him this year and try and go for it contingent on a specific marker in the minds of the Tigers’ decision makers? Or would they have to really stagger out of the gate after the All-Star break to even consider listening to offers?

We don’t have the answer, but their history says they’re not real comfortable in this position. Since taking over the Tigers at the end of the 2022 season, the Harris front office has been in three big spots nationally. They’ve had two notably valuable players to trade at the deadline in Eduardo Rodriguez in 2023 and Jack Flaherty in 2024. The third was the Skubal arbitration hearing over the winter, which was one of the biggest stories nationally for a while. When this front office has had the spotlight on them in a negotiation, things haven’t gone very well.

So, it’s time to sharpen up old Occam’s Razor here. Scott Harris and Jeff Greenberg believed that keeping Skubal gave them a legit shot at reaching the World Series this year, and that taking that shot was worth more than dealing him for two really good prospects and thinking beyond 2026. Reaching the World Series is the only goal worthy of holding onto him in his walk year. And so it’s a straight line from there to the realization that they wont’t trade their ace unless they’re convinced that they won’t make the postseason. They’ve already placed a pretty big bet on making it to the party and shooting their shot in October. They probably don’t care how they get into the tournament to face a pretty mediocre looking American League postseason field. Only that they have a chance.

The Tigers hold a 22-14 record going back to June 1. They are 6.5 games behind first place Chicago for the top spot in the AL Central. They are 3.5 games outside of a wild card berth. They’ve made a really nice run to get back on the fringes of the conversation. There are 66 games left in the season. The Tigers certainly aren’t in good position here, but they’re still close enough as of this writing to believe they can at least draw a wild card slot. Their odds will be on a seesaw unless they go on a post All-Star break run or collapse which would make the decision easy.

FanGraphs currently has the Tigers postseason odds at 27.7 percent. For an analytic organization, what do the playoff odds have to be for the Tigers’ brass to decide that they have to start thinking long term and open up trade talks on their ace? The next 16 games could certainly sway those odds significantly, but it would be very interesting to hear the front office put a number on it. That’s not happening publicly, of course.

We’ve seen the Tigers and Guardians both make massive runs to the postseason in the final weeks of each of the last two seasons. We’ve also seen the Twins in 2024 and the Tigers in 2025 fall apart in September. There’s really no predicting the outcome. A handful of top teams will probably continue to play great, and a lot of really bad teams will continue to be bad and sell off over the next two and a half weeks. For everyone else it’s a crapshoot.

One would think the Tigers have to win something like 9-10 of their next 16 and gain more ground in the wild card chase to hold onto their potential trade chips, but this front office does things their own way. So, just remember who we’re dealing with here. The Tigers could play the next 16 games, find themselves still 3.5 games back in the wild card hunt, and I still couldn’t say with any certainty that they’re going to make a deal for Skubal.

Personally, I think the idea of trading Skubal fills them with dread. If they make a deal, punting on the 2026 season in most fans’ eyes, and don’t land at least one really good player, it will be a major failure. Of course, if they keep him and miss the playoffs, that would be equally disastrous. So, while we can scheme all sorts of Skubal trade ideas that would make the Tigers better in 2027 and beyond, without fully giving up on the 2026 season, I assume that things would have to go pretty poorly over the next 16 games to get them into a selling posture. Right now, I think they’re planning to keep him, as they did this offseason when he had more value and potentially could have commanded two blue chip prospects.

The fact that Skubal isn’t having a Tarik Skubal level season is probably less of a factor than people might think. Prospective teams interested in his services are all about October. They aren’t concerned with his numbers before and after returning from the surgery. They’re concerned with his recent trendline and how they think he’ll pitch down the stretch and in the postseason. And with teams with excellent farm systems like the Dodgers, Rays, and even potentially the Brewers at least curious on the price, there is going to be competition and a ton of interest. Let no one tell you otherwise. At the same time, with 12 teams in the postseason, and few teams particularly in the American League really separating from the pack, the situation is still really murky and may require the next two weeks to really force teams’ hands in making deadline decisions.

Skubal was hit up for more home runs than usual in June, but he was basically speed running spring training again to get back into the groove of the regular season over his first couple of starts back. He’s now allowed four earned runs in his last three starts, while punching out 23 hitters in 16 innings of work, with three walks allowed. The only real criticism we can offer is that even in his last couple of outings, his command hasn’t been quite as sharp as peak Skubal, which has made it a bit harder to put hitters away as quickly and efficiently and led to a few more hittable pitches for hitters in swing counts.

All the underlying metrics say he’s healthy. His fourseam fastball is averaging 96.7 mph, which is nearly a tick less than in 2025, but on par for his 2023-2024 campaigns. The injury is arguably as much a feature as it is a bug, because taking six weeks off to rehab the elbow after having a bone chip removed makes him more likely to be fully fresh down the stretch and in October, rather than starting to run out of gas at the end of a full regular season campaign. This isn’t the kind of injury that raises any particular long-term red flags either. For all the same reasons, the Tigers have reason to believe that keeping Tarik Skubal gives them a particularly important weapon in trying to actually win something this season. The Tigers certainly shouldn’t be discounting him, and have to hold out for a full price package.

So let’s hope that’s the play here. If there’s a silver lining, it’s that the Tigers, unlike most teams, can credibly say they aren’t that motivated to trade him. There’s a weird kind of leverage available for a team that is notably trade averse. What would seem like a tactic from most teams might actually be true in the Tigers’ case, allowing them to hold out for a package that disregards the injury and underperformance in the first half. The attitude being, if you’re not going to give us what we want, we might as well play it out and say at season’s end, hey we believed in our team and we expected to make a run. There’s still the backup plan of holding onto Skubal, extending the qualifying offer, and collecting a compensation pick.

We also have the fun factor of a new CBA negotation and a potential work stoppage that could affect the 2027 season. Some teams may not feel comfortable enough at this deadline to make a big move, but others may look at this as a last chance before the ruleset and salary structure of the game is changed again. Talk about a Pandora’s Box of possible changes teams will have to, in some way, account for as the deadline approaches.

The Harris-Greenberg front office does love prospects, so if you’re really begging for a trade, you can perhaps take heart from the possibilities before them. Could the Tigers land Mike Sirota from the Dodgers, or Luis Peña from the Brewers along with some upper level pitching talent? Questions like these should at least intrigue this front office. At the same time, this is a rental, and while they need to do way better than they did with Jack Flaherty, it’s harder to know how many teams are really feeling all-in about making an aggressive win-now trade with so many other clubs still in the mix.

Of course, what this front office is really about, is trying to draft and develop well, augmenting the major league club with generally low cost, short term commitments. The specter of collecting a PPI pick for Kevin McGonigle’s Rookie of the Year campaign, getting compensation picks for Skubal and potentially for Casey Mize as well, in a year in which the Tigers are scheduled to have a a CBA pick after the regular first round (new CBA pending, of course), would have this front office drooling over the 2027 draft. That thought might be enough to keep Skubal and take a crack at winning this year despite the odds, or at very least to be very stubborn about holding out for a haul in order to trade him.

With the All-Star break ending, and the trade deadline looming, it’s certainly time to talk trades. It’s just well worth establishing the context that most of this Skubal trade talk doesn’t always acknowledge. The Tigers have at no point uttered a single word of interest in a Skubal trade. Whether they should trade Skubal or not is a separate question. Unless you believe that the Tigers are going to get their bullpen sorted without outside additions, it’s hard to like their chances. At the same time, they are right within striking distance of their targets now and perhaps everything simply comes down to how they perform over the next two weeks.

The Tigers have passed on opportunities to trade Skubal already when he had more value and it made pretty good sense to do so. They placed their bets in the offseason, signed Framber Valdez, and decided to try and make a push with this group in 2026. It hasn’t gone very well, but the trendline is certainly headed in the right direction. Unless circumstances really force their hand by August 3, their interest in trading Tarik Skubal is likely lower than the baseball world believes. They’re going to hold out as long as possible, and we’ll see if anyone changes their mind with a really great offer. That’s not the worst position to be in coming out of the All-Star break after the debacle that was the month of May, but the decisions made between now and the trade deadline are crucial ones to get right after the deadline failures and collapse of 2025. This front office’s legacy may be defined by the decisions they make in the next few weeks.

The Mets’ bullpen churn has kicked into high gear as we head into the All-Star break, as evidenced by how many new names are on the meter this week. There are even more names (we hardly knew thee, Dan Hammer) who were shadow Mets who never got into a game and therefore don’t appear on the meter. The Mets’ pitching struggles continue, as the bullpen (with the exception of double fireball awardee Luke Weaver) has hit a rough patch. As for the rotation, Nolan McLean and Christian Scott have been its most consistent members of late, but Zach Thornton had his best start yet as a Met and may have earned himself more innings in the second half, especially if the Mets deal one or more of their pitchers at the deadline.

Player	Last week	This week
Huascar Brazobán, RHP
Xzavion Curry, RHP	—
Joey Gerber, RHP	—
Sean Manaea, LHP
Nolan McLean, RHP
A.J. Minter, LHP
Tobias Myers, RHP
Freddy Peralta, RHP
Cionel Pérez, LHP
Brooks Raley, LHP
Christian Scott, RHP
Matt Seelinger, RHP	—
Kodai Senga, RHP
Zach Thonton, LHP	—
Austin Warren, RHP
Luke Weaver, RHP
Devin Williams, RHP
Guillo Zuñiga, RHP	—

Poor Zach Thornton. He pitched seven shutout innings against the Red Sox and was in line for his first big league win when Francisco Lindor booted a potential game-ending double play and the Red Sox went on to win. That doesn’t take anything away from Thornton, who yielded just two hits while walking two batters and striking out five. After a rough big league debut, he has now pitched two gems in his next two chances. He’ll probably start a lot more games for the Mets in the second half.

Devin Williams blew the save in the ninth in the final game before the break, costing Thornton the win. It’s true that he was let down by Lindor in the field, but he collapsed totally after the error, issuing two costly walks. Williams’ performance has been uneven of late. He pitched a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation in the Mets’ series finale victory over the Royals, but had two consecutive outings in the Braves series in which he gave up at least one run. In the series finale in Atlanta, after Juan Soto’s clutch homer in the ninth gave the Mets the lead, Williams blew the save in the bottom of the frame, giving up a game-tying two-run homer to Matt Olson. Luckily for Williams and the Mets, they went on to win the game in extras. The day before, Williams found himself pitching in a game he did not expect to be pitching in, as the Mets almost blew a seven-run lead. Williams narrowly managed to protect it, but not without agita.

Williams found himself in that situation because Huascar Brazobán had his worst outing of the season thus far, giving up five runs in just a third of an inning, resulting in the Mets having to use Williams in a game they thought was well in hand. That outing heavily skews Brazobán’s ERA for this two-week span, which is ugly, but he did not give up any earned runs in any of his other three outings this month thus far. That doesn’t mean those outings were necessarily smooth though. In last Tuesday’s absolutely insane 16-12 loss to the Royals, after Austin Warren failed to retire a batter, Brazobán came in and allowed the tying runs to score, but those were charged to Warren. Warren was subsequently placed on the injured list with a forearm strain, which explains his poor outing. Brazobán went on to pitch a scoreless inning in the following frame when given a clean slate to work with, but he did have to navigate out of a jam to do so. He came back out to the mound two days later and pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning ahead of Williams. He also pitched two thirds of an inning in relief of Freddy Peralta in Saturday’s loss to the Red Sox.

Freddy Peralta was sunk by walks on Saturday, issuing five of them in just 4 1/3 innings of work, over which he also struck out six. He only gave up two runs, but that was enough for him to get saddled with the loss, as the Mets were shut out that day. That outing is not really why he got a bad grade though. He got a bad grade because his outing in Toronto on Canada Day was quite bad. In that game, he was knocked around for five runs on seven hits in just four innings of work. “Not good,” Peralta said after that game. “I don’t feel good. But just trying to come back and make the adjustments.” Peralta also started the game in which the Mets eked out an extra-inning victory over the Braves. In that outing, he gave up three runs in 4 2/3 innings, but only one of those three runs was earned. All told though, Peralta—who is supposed to be one of the Mets’ best assets to deal at the deadline—has struggled and his ERA north of 4.5 is one of the worst among qualified NL starters.

Kodai Senga’s struggles continue unabated as well. His first couple of outings of the month of July were rocky. In Atlanta, he gave up a solo homer to Matt Olson—Olson’s second of the game in what ended as a 5-3 loss for the Mets. He followed that up with a nightmarish three innings as the bulk guy against the Royals in last Tuesday’s rollercoaster game. He gave up four runs in three innings of work, putting the Mets in an early hole, which they would eventually climb out of and then some, only to give it all back again…and then some. But there appears to be some hope Senga will have utility as a one-inning reliever. In his most recent outing on Friday night in the series opener against the Red Sox, Senga was deployed for just one inning for the first time this season and he did pitch a scoreless frame with a strikeout. So there is at least some light at the end of the tunnel and a path forward for him to provide value for the Mets in the second half and perhaps carve out a different future for himself.

Cionel Pérez served as the opener for last Tuesday’s wacky game against the Royals and was one of the only pitchers not to be scored upon in a game that ended with double-digit run totals for both teams. Unfortunately the pitcher everyone will remember from that infamous affair is Matt Seelinger, who made his big league debut under very tough circumstances. Due to the ineffectiveness of Senga, Warren, and Brazobán, Seelinger came into a tie game the Mets had once led by a significant margin and got shelled in the seventh to the tune of seven runs and still had to go back out for another inning afterwards. Seelinger was designated for assignment after the game, but remains in the organization after clearing waivers. Cionel Pérez’s month of July so far has consisted of two good outings sandwiched between two poor ones. In Toronto, Pérez gave up four runs of insurance to the Blue Jays in the rubber game, effectively sealing the Mets’ fate. He then bounced back to pitch 1 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Peralta in Atlanta and served effectively as the opener ahead of Senga, but then in the series opener against the Red Sox, Pérez gave up two insurance runs in the ninth, only managing to record the first two outs before needing to be bailed out.

Xzavion Curry—one of the many new names on this meter—came in to record the final out of the ninth inning on Friday night. Curry also appeared in last Wednesday’s 6-2 victory over the Royals and allowed a run in the ninth, but luckily the Mets had broken out for a five-run eighth and he had a large lead to work with.

Joey Gerber was also back in the majors during this 13-game span. Freshly recalled from Triple-A, he appeared in the two losses the Mets took in Toronto, though neither was his fault. In the series opener, he pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning with two strikeouts to keep the Mets within a run and then in the Canada Day series finale, he threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings before Pérez imploded. Things went less well for Gerber on Independence Day when he came into an already lopsided game and gave up three runs before Luis Torrens spared the rest of the bullpen by recording the final out of the laugher. Gerber was then optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse.

Sean Manaea took the loss on July 4th in Atlanta, though he was far from the only culprit. Manaea gave up six runs in five innings of work, but only three of those runs were earned because of the comically bad defense the Mets played, including a miscommunication between Tyrone Taylor and Francisco Lindor that resulted in the ball evading both of them and the bases clearing. Manaea’s other two starts in the past two weeks were much better, though the Mets playing poor defense remained a theme across all three starts. In the series opener in Toronto, George Springer was credited with a triple on his Little League home run because the ball never touched Soto’s glove, but Soto’s miscue absolutely cost Manaea and the Mets a run, even though it goes on the ledger as earned. That was one of two runs Manaea gave up in 5 2/3 innings of work, striking out four and walking two. He took the tough luck loss on a day the Mets only scored one run. After two straight losses, he did finally earn a win against the Royals with a quality start in which he gave up just three runs—only two of them earned (thanks to the stellar Mets defense again)—in seven innings of work. He struck out six and walked only one in that outing.

Nolan McLean went through a rough patch, but has been a lot better lately. He pitched six shutout innings against the Blue Jays in the second game of that series and the only game the Mets won. He struck out seven in the outing and walked only two while scattering five hits. In fact, he gave up exactly five hits in each of his three starts in the past two weeks and all three were quality starts. He earned another win on July 5 in Atlanta in which the Mets hung on to win by the skin of their teeth. He gave up three runs—only two earned—in six innings of work, striking out five batters and walking one. But alas, he fell to .500 again on Friday despite a good outing. He gave up two runs, but neither of them were earned. Over six innings, he struck out seven and walked only two. But the Red Sox pulled away in the late innings.

Luke Weaver continues to be nothing short of spectacular—the lone shining light of stability in a bullpen full of meltdowns, blown saves, and a revolving door of new faces. Weaver pitched a scoreless eighth inning in relief of McLean in Toronto, earning his tenth hold of the season. He then pitched on back-to-back days in Atlanta; he pitched a scoreless eighth inning on July 5 before the Mets took the lead in the ninth, only to nearly give it all back in the bottom of the inning. The next day he earned his first save of the season, working around two walks to hold the Braves to just the one run in the bottom of the tenth (scored by the ghost runner) to seal the victory. He also pitched as scoreless eighth inning in relief of Zack Thornton on Sunday before things went south for Devin Williams. Weaver ends the first half with a 1.85 ERA.

Brooks Raley took the loss on Sunday for giving up one unearned run in the tenth on a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly that scored the ghost runner. It was tough luck for Raley, who did his job, but the Mets were unable to do even the bare minimum in the bottom of the inning to keep the game going, so a loss on his ledger it was. Raley bounced back after a rough patch to end his first half on a high note. Tied for the most appearances of any Mets reliever over this 13-game span with six, Raley didn’t give up an earned run across 5 1/3 total innings of work in those appearances. Raley pitched a scoreless seventh in relief of McLean in Toronto to set the stage for Weaver and Williams. He also appeared in both victories in Atlanta with a scoreless seventh in relief of McLean again last Sunday. The next day after Williams blew the save in the ninth, Raley recorded a key final out to help send the game to extra innings and ultimately earned the win for doing so. Future Mets Sporcle answer Guillo Zuñiga appeared in that game as well, pitching a scoreless eighth inning and being thanked by being designated for assignment the next day. He was outrighted to Triple-A and is still in the organization. Raley earned another win for a scoreless eighth last Wednesday against the Royals, as the Mets went on to have a big inning in the bottom of the frame to take a commanding lead. Finally, Raley appeared in both Saturday and Sunday’s games against the Red Sox, contributing a scoreless innings to each of those ultimately losing efforts.

A.J. Minter, another lefty on an expiring contract and potential trade piece for the Mets, appeared in six games in the final two weeks of the first half as well. He pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings to finish off the Canada Day game in Toronto. He gave up a solo homer to Matt Olson in the series opener in Atlanta, but then rebounded to contribute a scoreless inning to the extra-inning victory in the finale. He pitched the ninth inning of the insane series opener against the Royals and his hitless frame stuck out like a sore thumb amongst a box score otherwise full of crooked numbers. He then appeared in each of the first two games in the Red Sox series and had mixed results. In the series opener, he gave up a two-run homer to Anthony Seigler in the seventh in relief of McLean that ultimately sealed that game. But the next day he pitched a scoreless sixth with two strikeouts despite the Mets being shut out that day.

Christian Scott finished out a solid first half with a so-so start and a good one. In Atlanta, he lasted just four innings, giving up three runs and taking the loss. He struck out an impressive seven batters in that outing, but walked four. He followed that up with five shutout innings against the Royals in which he gave up just three hits, striking out five and walking one.

I hate to end on a bad note, but I think the Mets broke Tobias Myers, who gets poop emoji’d again. Scott didn’t earn the win for his five shutout innings because Myers blew the tenuous one-run lead in that game in the sixth. But he did come back out for the seventh and worked around a leadoff double to keep the game tied and the Mets would go on to win thanks to a big eighth inning. Myers pitched the final two innings of Saturday’s game against the Red Sox and they doubled their lead against him; Masataka Yoshida hit a two-run homer. It didn’t very much matter since the Mets were shut out that day, but Myers continues to struggle, his role moving forward uncertain. He was optioned back to Triple-A Syracuse after the outing and will begin the second half in the minors.

Major League Baseball announced the 2027 regular season schedules for all 30 teams on Thursday, and the Yankees will get things started at home against a division rival. 

The Yankees will host the Toronto Blue Jays for Opening Day on Thursday, March 25. They'll play their first six games of the season at home, hosting the Athletics for three games after the Blue Jays leave town.

Also of note, the Yankees will play six Subway Series games, traveling to Queens for three games from May 28-30, and hosting the Mets from July 16-18. 

And if things are close in the American League East down the stretch, the Yankees' final nine games are sure to play a role, as they'll play Boston at home for three games, followed by Toronto and Baltimore on the road to close things out. 

Here's the full schedule:

Our full 2027 Game Schedule 🗓️👇 pic.twitter.com/C1Ma6oHnkJ

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 16, 2026

Francisco Lindor’s year hasn’t gone as anyone would’ve expected. Sidelined at the very beginning of spring training and forced to miss the World Baseball Classic as he recovered, Lindor unsurprisingly got off to a slow start when the Mets’ 2026 season got underway. And just as he started heating up at the plate, he suffered a calf injury in a game against the Twins on April 22, the same game that served as Juan Soto’s return from his own calf injury.

While Soto was sidelined for three weeks, Lindor went two months in between major league games. Despite the lengthy absence, the Mets’ rehab plan saw him play in just three games—one with Double-A Binghamton and two with Triple-A Syracuse—before he was reinstated from the injured list. And since then, he’s hit pretty similarly to how he had hit before the calf injury, putting up a 91 wRC+ from Opening Day through April 22 and an 87 wRC+ from his return from the IL up to the All-Star break.

A few months can feel like a very long time, especially when the Mets are having one of their worst seasons of all time, but it’s far too soon to forget how great Lindor has been in his time with the team. And it’s also far too soon to give up on what he can do moving forward.

In his first five seasons with the Mets, Lindor had four of the top 31 seasons by a position player in franchise history by fWAR. His spectacular 7.7 fWAR season in 2024 has only been bested three times in Mets history, as David Wright’s 8.4 fWAR 2007, John Olerud’s 8.1 fWAR 1998, and Carlos Beltrán’s 7.8 fWAR 2006 seasons are the only ones that have been better.

Lindor’s 6.4 fWAR 2022 season ranks 15th in the history of the organization, and his 6.3 fWAR in 2025 ranks 17th. And his 5.5 fWAR 2023 is the one that ranks 31st. Even his relatively unimpressive debut season with the Mets in 2021, which saw him finish the year with 3.9 fWAR, ranks 64th. Only David Wright and José Reyes have matched Lindor with four seasons in those top 31.

If the Mets’ history of position player production isn’t a high enough bar, Lindor has been the sixth-best position player in baseball with 30.4 fWAR since the beginning of the 2021 season, trailing only Aaron Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, José Ramírez, and Bobby Witt Jr. If he’d had an injury-free first half and played roughly the projection systems saw him playing this year—roughly 4.0 to 5.0 wins above replacement depending on your preferred projection system—he’d at least be ahead of Witt and perhaps be even with or ahead of Ramírez and Soto.

Simply put, Lindor has been one of the best players in baseball, and the fact that he’s 32 years old should be considered a sign that he’s not anywhere near the end of his time as a great player. It’s certainly premature to assume that his production has fallen off—or will soon fall off—a cliff.

All of the projection systems at FanGraphs see the rest of Lindor’s 2026 season looking pretty much like his 2025 season did, hitting significantly above league average and adding roughly two wins to his fWAR over the course of about 60 games. The playing time projection seems fair, as the Mets have given him off days since he came off the injured list. And if he were to finish the year with something like 2.5 to 3.0 fWAR in 100 games. That would be a 4.0-to-5.0 win pace over the course of a full season.

To see Lindor live up to those projections wouldn’t be surprising. In each of his five seasons with the Mets, he’s been an outstanding hitter in the second half. The underlying metrics on Statcast page, while lacking in sample size, look similar enough to the past few years.

Will Lindor ever match that 7.7 fWAR season again? Probably not. But there’s nowhere near enough evidence to suggest that he can’t be finish with 4+ wins above replacement over the next few years. And given the readily available options to field a new shortstop within the organization and in the upcoming offseason, here’s hoping the Mets have no intention of trading Lindor.

Note: All of this is subject to change, as the league is undergoing labor talks with the MLBPA. Those talks have already been contentious and are expected to continue through the offseason, with a realistic chance of a lockout to begin the 2027 season.

Major League Baseball today released the regular-season schedule for 2027. After opening 2026 with their earliest Opening Day ever (March 26), the team will beat that mark for the second consecutive season, as they’re set to host the Los Angeles Angels beginning on Thursday, March 25. That will also mark Milwaukee’s second consecutive Opening Day at home.

Next season’s All-Star break comes the week of July 11, with the Midsummer Classic on Tuesday, July 13 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Some other notable quirks of the schedule:

• Milwaukee’s first homestand features the Angels (March 25, 27-28) and Braves (March 29-31)
• The first road trip of the season takes the Brewers to visit the White Sox (April 1, 3-4) and Blue Jays (April 5-7)
• The interleague home/road splits are as follows:
  • Home: Angels (March 25, 27-28), Royals (June 14-16), Twins (July 16-18), Tigers (July 19-21), A’s (August 16-18), Astros (August 20-22), Red Sox (September 14-16), and Orioles (September 17-19)
  • Road: White Sox (April 1, 3-4), Blue Jays (April 5-7), Yankees (April 19-21), Rays (June 18-20), Guardians (July 9-11), Mariners (July 27-29), Twins (September 10-12), and Rangers (September 24-26)
• Similar to 2026, the team’s longest road trip comes in the stretch leading into the All-Star break, as they’ll visit the Reds, Nationals, and Guardians for 10 games in 10 days from July 2-11
• The Brewers’ longest homestand is immediately after the All-Star break, a 10-game stretch against the Twins, Tigers, and Marlins from July 16-25
• A pair of marquee matchups in Milwaukee lie on Memorial Day and Labor Day, as they’ll host the Dodgers on May 31 and the Cubs on September 6

Our official 2027 Schedule just dropped 👇 pic.twitter.com/eNrg0y2vEi

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) July 16, 2026

In case you’re missing seeing the Atlanta Braves in baseball action during the current All-Star break, not only do you have the rest of the second half to look forward to (and hopefully the Postseason as well), you now have the 2027 season to (hopefully, as well) look forward to as MLB has released the 2027 regular season schedule for all 30 clubs.

Assuming none of these games get wiped out and the season actually starts on time, the Braves are currently scheduled to spend opening day in sunny Southern California as they’ll be taking on the Dodgers on Thursday, March 25, 2027. There will be an off day on Friday and then they’ll finish up the three-game series over the following weekend.

Presenting your 2027 Atlanta Braves schedule! ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/bAFqyMfimS

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 16, 2026

After getting done with three games in Milwaukee, the Braves will finally return home and play their home opener on Friday, April 2 against the Houston Astros. I’d say that weather-wise, April should be fine for the Braves as they don’t have to travel to any of the cities that are usually susceptible to cold weather during April, with the only real risk being a trip to Washington to face the Nationals starting on April 13. Other than that, Milwaukee is likely going to be indoors-exclusive and they’ll be traveling to Miami, Tampa Bay and St. Louis during April so fortunately, the Braves likely won’t have to worry about dodging any snow flurries in another town.

Naturally, I always skim through the schedule and try to find the West Coast trips and I can already tell that they’ll probably be challenging based on both duration in one instance and timing in another instance. From June 7 through June 16, the Braves will travel to Colorado, Sacramento and then Phoenix to face the Rockies, A’s and Diamondbacks on a three-city trip out West. The next West Coast swing will be the final road trip of the season from September 14 through September 19, which is when the Braves will have to find a way to survive a trip to the nightmare factory known as Petco Park and Oracle Park as they’ll be visiting the Padres and Giants.

pic.twitter.com/ZoTf7Hf6Rm

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 16, 2026

Outside of that, it’s just your typical baseball schedule. Everybody’s going to play everybody at least once, the Braves will play every National League club at least twice and they’ll get very familiar with their NL East rivals over the course of the season. Ending the season with a six-game homestand against the Nationals and Marlins should certainly be fascinating as well if those teams continue to get better.

So, looking at the schedule, which matchups are you already looking forward to? Are there any that you’re already dreading? Are you just hoping that we’ll be seeing baseball at any point next year considering what awaits the baseball world in the offseason? Let us know what you think!

The Mets' full schedule for the 2027 MLB season is out, featuring an earlier than usual Opening Day.

New York will open the season on March 25 against the Marlins in Miami, followed by a three-game series against the Nationals in Washington.

The home opener for the Mets will be on April 2 against the Giants. 

New York will finish the season at home, with a six-game homestand against the Pirates and Cubs from Sept. 21 to 26. 

Other schedule highlights include:

• The Subway Series against the Yankees from May 28-30 at Citi Field and July 16-18 at Yankee Stadium
• Home interleague series against the Angels, Rangers, Blue Jays, Rays, White Sox, Mariners, and Guardians
• Road interleague series against the Tigers, Athletics, Twins, Orioles, Royals, Red Sox, and Astros
• A four-game series against the Dodgers at Citi Field from July 9-11

Check out the full schedule below:

Mark your calendars! The 2027 schedule is here 🗓️ pic.twitter.com/aRLpXAvdco

— New York Mets (@Mets) July 16, 2026

Once again, Major League Baseball has scheduled the Cubs to play multiple games in the Frigid Confines of Wrigley Field — six home games before the end of March.

While there was one crazy warm day (77 at game time) during that span, the other five games had an average game-time temp of 46, which is… too cold for baseball, in my view.

Then the Cubs travel to California for their next six games. I’ll never understand the reasoning behind this, especially two years in a row.

Other than that, this is a pretty good schedule, with only one long road trip. That will be in June to Colorado, San Diego and San Francisco, and in San Diego the Cubs will face the Padres in a scheduled split doubleheader. The longest homestand will be in September, 10 games against the Reds, Orioles and Mets.

Let’s just hope these games are played as scheduled.

Here’s the complete Cubs 2027 regular season schedule. Home games in boldface. Game times will be added here when they’re available.

March 25, 27-28: vs. Guardians
March 29-30-31: vs. Cardinals
April 2-3-4: at Angels
April 5-6-7: at Athletics
April 9-10-11: vs. Rangers
April 13-14-15: vs. Phillies
April 16-17-18: at Dodgers
April 20-21-22: at Diamondbacks
April 23-24-25: vs. Pirates
April 26-27-28: vs. Brewers
April 30-May 1-2: at Yankees
May 3-4-5-6: at Pirates
May 7-8-9: vs. Mariners
May 11-12-13: vs. Marlins
May 14-15-16: at Astros
May 17-18-19-20: at Brewers
May 21-22-23: vs. Nationals
May 25-26-27: vs. Royals
May 28-29-30: at Cardinals
May 31, June 1-2: at Marlins
June 3-4-5-6: vs. Dodgers
June 7-8-9: at Reds
June 11-12-13: vs. Rockies
June 14-15-16: vs. Reds
June 18-19-20: at Rockies
June 21-22: at Padres (June 22: split doubleheader)
June 24-25-26-27: at Giants
June 28-29-30: vs. Padres
July 1-2-3-4: vs. Cardinals
July 6-7-8: at Braves
July 9-10-11: at Tigers
July 12-15: All-Star break, ASG at Wrigley Field July 13
July 16-17-18: vs. White Sox
July 19-20-21: vs. Pirates
July 23-24-25: at Twins
July 26-27-28: at Nationals
July 30-31-Aug.1: vs. Red Sox
Aug. 2-3-4: vs. Giants
Aug. 6-7-8: at White Sox
Aug. 9-10-11: at Cardinals
Aug. 13-14-15: vs. Rays
Aug. 16-17-18: vs. Diamondbacks
Aug. 20-21-22: at Blue Jays
Aug. 23-24-25: at Pirates
Aug. 27-28-29: vs. Braves
Aug. 30-31, Sept. 1: vs. Brewers
Sept. 3-4-5: at Reds
Sept. 6-7-8: at Brewers
Sept. 9-10-11-12: vs. Reds
Sept. 14-15-16: vs. Orioles
Sept. 17-18-19: vs. Mets
Sept. 21-22-23: at Phillies
Sept. 24-25-26: at Mets

If you’d prefer a calendar-style schedule, here you go! Home games are in blue. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

The Royals will begin the 2027 season earlier than they ever have before — provided there isn’t a work stoppage.

MLB revealed the 2027 schedules today, with the Royals opening at home on March 25 against the Minnesota Twins. This is the earliest in the calendar year the Royals have ever played a regular season game, with the 2026 season beginning on March 26. The Royals open the season with the Twins and White Sox coming to the K before going on the road to St. Louis to play the Cardinals, followed by a quick West Coast trip to play the Angels. The Royals open the season at home for the tenth time in 13 years, and it is the seventh time they have opened up against the Twins.

Among the National League teams that will visit Kansas City this year are the Pirates (April 9-11), Reds (May 3-5), Nationals (May 18-20), Braves (May 21-23), Mets (June 7-9), Cardinals (July 16-18), Rockies (August 3-5), and Dodgers (September 3-5). The All-Star Game will be held on July 13 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

Your first look at our 2027 schedule!

Season ticket memberships are available; visit https://t.co/i3yTX8G00J for more information! pic.twitter.com/fJ7jrl7Bi4

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 16, 2026

Game times and promotions will be announced at a later date.

Looming over the schedule is the prospect of a work stoppage. The Collective Bargaining Agreement expires at the conclusion of the 2026 season, and owners and players have already had contentious negotiations. Owners are reportedly resolute on imposing a salary cap, a non-starter for the union.

Baseball continues to use its balanced schedule where each team plays every other team in baseball. The Royals will play:

• 52 games vs. American League Central teams (13 games across 4 series vs. all 4 opponents)
• 62 league games vs. American League East and West teams (6-7 games vs. each opponent)
• 48 Interleague games (6 games vs. St. Louis and 3 games vs. all other NL teams)

Opening Day set for March 25 vs. rival Texas Rangers

The Houston Astros will open the 2027 regular season on Thursday, March 25 with an Opening Day matchup against their American League West and in-state rival Texas Rangers in the annual Silver Boot Series. The 2027 season will be the 66th for the Astros franchise, which played its first season in 1962 as the Colt .45s before changing the name to the Astros in 1965.

March 25 marks the earliest traditional Opening Day in Major League history, excluding special season-openers and international openers. Previously, the earliest traditional Opening Day for MLB had been earlier this season on March 26.

This will be the third time in franchise history that the Astros will open the season against the Rangers and the second time at home. The Astros are 2-0 against the Rangers on Opening Day, defeating their in-state rival 4-1 in Arlington in 2018 and 8-2 in Houston in 2013.

The opening homestand will be a six-game stand, featuring a three-game series vs. the Rangers (March 25-27) and a three-game series vs. the Boston Red Sox (March 29-31). The Astros first road trip of the season is a six-gamer, which will take the club to Atlanta (April 2-4) and Boston (April 5-7).

The 2027 season is the fifth year with the schedule format of playing every other Major League club in a single season. The Astros will host 22 different teams at Daikin Park in 2027, which includes eight National League clubs and all 14 other American League clubs.

VS. THE AMERICAN LEAGUE

As in recent years, once again, the Astros will play their AL West opponents (Angels, Athletics, Mariners, Rangers) 13 times in 2027. Additionally, they will once again play one home and one road series vs. all of the other AL clubs.

INTERLEAGUE PLAY

The Astros will host eight different NL clubs at Daikin Park in 2027. They are: Nationals, Cubs, Reds, Giants, Padres, Rockies, Mets, Phillies. On the flip side, next season’s schedule will feature visits to eight different NL cities: Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks.

The Astros 2027 home schedule features exciting weekend series against the Cleveland Guardians (April 9-11), New York Yankees (April 23-25), Washington Nationals (May 7-9), Chicago Cubs (May 14-16), Seattle Mariners (June 25-27), San Francisco Giants (July 9-11), San Diego Padres (July 30-Aug.1) and Philadelphia Phillies (Sept. 17 -19), among others.

The Astros will also host weekday games against the Boston Red Sox (April 29-31), Toronto Blue Jays (April 13-15), Tampa Bay Rays (May 17-19), Seattle Mariners (May 31-June 3), Chicago White Sox (June 14-16), Detroit Tigers (Sept. July 26-29), New York Mets (Aug. 17-19) and Texas Rangers (Aug. 31-Sept. 2), among others.

HOLIDAY GAMES

The Astros will host holiday matchups next season on Mother’s Day (May 9 vs. WSH), Father’s Day (June 20 vs. KC) and Memorial Day (May 31 vs. SEA). The team will play on the road on the Fourth of July (July 4 at NYY) and on Labor Day (Sept. 6 at STL).

When we didn’t see Brad Keller pitch in tight spots this past weekend, there were some questions raised. He had returned from the rehab assignment he was on, yet didn’t pitch at all. Why?

Now we know.

Phillies reliever Brad Keller has a torn UCL and is expected to miss the rest of the season. If he undergoes surgery on his right elbow, it would keep him out a significant portion, if not all, of 2027 as well. Keller signed a two-year, $22 million deal over the winter.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 16, 2026

This is a tough blow for a Phillies team that already had a questionable bullpen as it stood. Losing Keller, even if he wasn’t the dominant force he was in 2025, is still significant as it shifts pitchers into roles they aren’t quite suited for.

It also makes the need to trade for multiple relievers, not just one, all that more magnified.

We’ll have more as this news continues to show its layers.

So it turns out Robert Hassell III will not be staying in the Nationals organization after all. Earlier this month, Hassell was DFA’d, but he cleared waivers and remained in the Nats system. However, he got shipped off to the Pirates for either cash or a player to be named later this afternoon.

The Nationals have traded outfielder Robert Hassell III to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later.

— Nationals Communications (@NationalsComms) July 16, 2026

The truth of the matter is that there was not a ton of room for Hassell in the organization, even in AAA. He had been passed by the likes of Andrew Pinckney and Christian Franklin, not to mention the young outfielders in the big leagues. After showing signs of life last season, he came crashing down to earth in AAA this year, with an OPS below .600. 

Hassell was famously part of the Juan Soto trade package, and was even seen as one of the highest floor pieces at the time. He was a top 10 pick in the 2020 draft, before raking in the lower minors with the Padres. However, he never really got going in the Nats system, struggling with injuries and inconsistencies. Honestly, the hit tool was not as good as advertised either.

The highly touted Hassell really struggled in 2023 and 2024, where he was working through lingering hamate issues. His hit tool which was seen as a massive strength became average, which was a huge blow to his profile. We walked through this more when we talked about Hassell after he got DFA’d.

The Nats DFA’d Robert Hassell. He has a lot of pedigree but it just never really happened for him in the Nats organization https://t.co/ZkVktAQsMo

— federalbaseball (@federalbaseball) July 5, 2026

He is an example of how risky prospects can be. Even the so-called safe prospects can really bottom out as we see here. Hopefully Hassell can reinvigorate his career in Pittsburgh though. He was a guy that Nats fans were really rooting for.

Around this time last year, it really felt like Hassell was starting to figure things out. He hit over .300 last year in AAA, and made his MLB debut in 2025. His results in MLB were mixed at best, but he did have some fun moments. Hassell had a monster game against the Mariners that made fans dream again.

ROBERT HASSELL WITH HIS FIRST CAREER HOME RUN!!! pic.twitter.com/OIYuTdoteW

— optimistic nats fan (@optimistic5518) May 29, 2025

However, it was just not meant to be for Hassell in the Nats organization. From day one, he just seemed to lose all the momentum he had when he was in the Padres system. There are a number of things you could attribute that to from injuries to shaky player development or a loss of confidence. At the end of the day, things just did not work out for him here.

When you are dealing with young players, you cannot hit on all of them. That Soto trade is a good example of the range of outcomes. While Hassell was a miss, James Wood and CJ Abrams became stars which makes up for it. 

Overall, it is a shame that things did not work out for Hassell, but the writing has been on the wall for a little while now. Hopefully he can take advantage of his opportunity in Pittsburgh. Moving on was the best course of action for all parties here.

As the Mets start their second half of the season on Thursday night against the Philadelphia Phillies, they'll have veteran Marcus Semien back on the active roster.

The club announced that Semien has been activated off of the IL, with infielder Zack Short being designated for assignment in a corresponding move. 

Semien was placed on the 10-day IL on June 25 with a right hip flexor, an injury he had been playing through before it became too much to endure. Semien committed a pair of errors in the Mets' loss to the Cubs on June 24, signaling that something wasn't right. 

It's been a disappointing first season in Queens for the veteran, who is slashing just .214/.271/.341 with nine home runs and 29 RBI in 80 games. He's also committed six errors, which was more than he had in all of 2025 (two errors in 127 games).

Short, another veteran, appeared in just six games for the Mets, hitting .071 in 16 plate appearances.