MLB 2026 News & Discussion

[Ron Madden]

Royals doubled down on Jonathan India and the pressure is on

Jonathan India appeared to be a big addition for the Kansas City Royals not too long ago.

The trade of Brady Singer to the Cincinnati Reds to acquire India was supposed to bolster Kansas City's batting order.

Instead, India struggled mightily.

There was a question of whether India would be non-tendered, but the Royals decided to bring him back after a down year. India hit .233 with a .346 slugging percentage in 2025 across 136 games played. He hit just nine homers and didn't steal a single base.

But despite that, the Royals signed India to an $8 million contract for the 2026 MLB season to see if he can get back to a better place

"The second base job is his to lose, but it’s still a prove-it year for India, not just to put his first season with the Royals behind him, but also because he’ll be a free agent at season’s end.

https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ro...184201300.html

[Kingspoint]

Pablo López Diagnosed With UCL Tear

Two small market/cheap (however you wish to describe them, they are in the same boat financially) clubs have an opportunity to help each other. We've dealt with the Twins before, so there's history there. They have an abundance (I counted 4) of CF players with good OPS/SLG numbers in the upper tiers of the organization. There's a foundation here where they could help each other.

What better way to compete against the asset-rich clubs than to pool the resources of clubs like the Twins and REDS where they could help balance each others' organization, especially in times of need, rather than having one of the clubs settle for what's left on the open market or letting one of the asset-rich clubs swoop in to make themselves even stronger?

[Kingspoint]

A FA pitcher makes sense for the Twins. At this point they should NOT be trading assets for a marginally better pitcher than what they can get from Littell et al.

I mean, I'd love to see the Reds pounce on them, but I doubt it happens.

I don't ever want a G.M. with a mindset of "pouncing". That's what the Bengals have been for 35 years, and why nobody wants to deal with them. They think the only good deal is one where your team wins and the other team loses. It's one reason I like Krall. He's not trying to fleece the other guy and this offers more opportunity to improve the REDS, while having more G.M.'s (except those like the White Sox) willing to negotiate with him. A great trade is one where both sides improve their club. This keeps negotiations open for future needs and opportunities.

There's definitely an opportunity here for Krall and I'm sure he sees it. I just don't know what he views as organizational needs at the moment. I give Krall an "A" for this off-season already. An opportunity to move Friedl to LF sooner and leave Marte in RF is a need Krall has already mentioned exists. MIN could use Singer more than Littel.

[NebraskaRed]

https://www.denverpost.com/2026/02/1...o220srbkw2tv2o

Bryant has played only 170 games with Colorado since signing a franchise-record seven-year, $182 million free-agent contract before the 2022 season. He’s hit .244 with 17 homers and 61 RBIs. He has three years left on the deal, and the Rockies still owe him $81 million.

The one-time National League MVP and hero of the Cubs’ 2016 World Series championship has been diagnosed with lumbar degenerative disc disease. The condition involves the wear and tear of the spine in his lower back and has required multiple treatments, including an ablation procedure, to manage the pain. He's tried pilates and hours of physical therapy, but nothing has worked.

I feel for the guy. That's a lot of pain to deal with.

[NebraskaRed]

There's also some corruption charges against him for misuse of union funds. I suspect that's about to become front and center for him.

Also this

Jeff Passan
@JeffPassan

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark resigned after an internal investigation revealed he had an inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law, who had been hired by the union in 2023, sources tell me and @DVNJr
.

[TRF]

I don't ever want a G.M. with a mindset of "pouncing". That's what the Bengals have been for 35 years, and why nobody wants to deal with them. They think the only good deal is one where your team wins and the other team loses. It's one reason I like Krall. He's not trying to fleece the other guy and this offers more opportunity to improve the REDS, while having more G.M.'s (except those like the White Sox) willing to negotiate with him. A great trade is one where both sides improve their club. This keeps negotiations open for future needs and opportunities.

There's definitely an opportunity here for Krall and I'm sure he sees it. I just don't know what he views as organizational needs at the moment. I give Krall an "A" for this off-season already. An opportunity to move Friedl to LF sooner and leave Marte in RF is a need Krall has already mentioned exists. MIN could use Singer more than Littel.

It's semantics, but if say the Dodgers/Yankees/Red Sox/Cubs were in a sudden position of need, and the Reds could deal from strength?


Pillage them.

[WrongVerb]

Also this

Man, Tony Clark seemed like a good guy when he was a player. Regardless, he's either become, or always been, a real turd.

[Boston Red]

Either he doesn't have the bandwidth to fight anymore (which if not this is a good thing) or he's in the Epstein files (which is a bad thing)

Closer to Epstein files, apparently

[Kingspoint]

It's semantics, but if say the Dodgers/Yankees/Red Sox/Cubs were in a sudden position of need, and the Reds could deal from strength?


Pillage them.

Always look to improve the organization. There's far too little time spent by most organizations in this area.

[Ron Madden]

Also this

Reds players react to union boss' resignation with crucial labor talks looming

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb...d=BingNewsVerp

[GAC]

Royals doubled down on Jonathan India and the pressure is on
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ro...184201300.html

The Reds aren't the only team that wastes money (imo).

[Sea Ray]

This looks like a wiffleball...

https://x.com/PitchingNinja/status/2...5Es1_&ref_url=

[NebraskaRed]

First spring training game of the year is tomorrow at 1 pm eastern time. Yankees and Orioles.

And away we go...

[Ron Madden]

The Brewers and manager Pat Murphy have agreed to a new deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. It’s a three-year contract with a club option for 2029. Murphy was previously going into the final season of a three-year deal he signed ahead of the 2024 campaign. This deal reworks the final year of his previous pact, adds two more guaranteed seasons and the option.

Murphy’s deal comes with $8.95MM in new money, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/...extension.html

[NebraskaRed]

Turned on the Cubs/White Sox game just in time to see Austin Hays homer on the first pitch he sees