Monday’s deep dive into Paul Skenes, perhaps the most interesting extension case in baseball, was a sneak peek of Extension Week. Now I’ll start a broader look at potential extension candidates, concentrating today on players whose value is less speculative: impending free agents. These players are, in general, less likely to sign an extension with…
It’s time for another round of the tested, trusted, completely objective, never-been-questioned, all-math, no-bias MLB franchise rankings. First, a change: Rather than span the Wild-Card Era (1995 to present) as we have done previously, the franchise rankings will henceforth cover the past 25 years, a floating time frame that feels right to start this year…
DUNEDIN, Fla. — He’s a solver of problems. Always has been. It’s what makes great pitchers great. It’s what has made Max Scherzer great. But when he visited Starkville this week to talk about robot umps and the fascinating spring training experiment with the ball-strike challenge system (plus lots more), the future Hall of Famer…
With spring training in full swing and Opening Day three weeks away, it’s time for my annual offseason report card that includes a breakdown of every team’s major-league signings and trades. Here are my final offseason grades for all 30 teams, along with each club’s best move, an “under-the-radar” move, a top storyline to watch,…
When I rank prospects every offseason here at The Athletic, I’m considering the players’ eventual peaks and their long-term values, which is why you’ll see prospects who were just drafted or have only played in the complex leagues alongside prospects who’ve already made their major-league debuts. For readers more interested in which prospects might have…
The Toronto Blue Jays’ failure to sign first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a contract extension should come as no surprise. For the past six years, the Jays have committed one misstep after another in trying to build a long-term relationship with their four-time All-Star. Guerrero is set to become a free agent at the…
By Chad Jennings, Aaron Gleeman and Tim Britton The semester was about to end, and too many of our students still hadn’t finished their homework, much less taken their final exam. Giving them grades took a while. But now that spring training is in full swing — and now that Jack Flaherty, Pete Alonso and…
Here in the frozen north country, we feel more February heat from our toaster than from the sun. But that isn’t the kind of heat this column cares about right now. The kind of heat that really matters in baseball these days is the heat being felt by the teams, front offices and managers that…
Pitchers and catchers have officially reported, full-squad workouts are almost here and spring training games start in a week. Although there are still some quality free agents on the market, most of the offseason moves have been made, so it’s time for my first MLB power rankings of the year. Let’s take stock of the…
Welcome to this year’s ranking of the top 100 prospects in baseball. I’ve been compiling and writing such rankings for 18 years now, and those of you who’ve read them before will find the format here similar to those from the recent past. My farm reports covering at least 20 prospects in each team’s system,…