2025/26 MLB Hot Stove League

[JSngry]

Lots of new managerial hires already. None are marquee names. Interesting!

[GA Russell]

 

[ghost of miles]

Curious to see where Kyle Tucker lands and hoping it’s not Toronto or L.A. Free-agent market buzz and rumors are often of dubious credibility, but media consensus as of today is ranking the Blue Jays as the leading contender to land him. 

[Dan Gould]

Been hoping Jomboy would do some older video breakdowns. this is an instant classic

3:47 had me laughing.

and Joe West was an a-hole his entire career.

[JSngry]

That was awesome.

[Dan Gould]

I really need for the Yankees to miss out on Tucker and then see the Mets snap up Bellinger.  I'd even take the Evil Dodgers throwing insane money at Tucker until he says "yes" over dealing with Tucker, still in his prime for at least 5 years, in the Yankee lineup.

 

[JSngry]

Not yet seeing the Dodgers as Evil, currently just Annoying As Fuck, and WELL on the way to Evil.

Wishing Adolis Garcia some kind of Renaissance in Philly, maybe in a way that gets the Phillies past the Dodgers. That would be as glorious as it is unlikely 

[ghost of miles]

Murakami signs two-year deal with White Sox

Not a bad move for Murakami, given the concerns about how he’ll measure up to MLB pitching. If he produces, he’ll be back on the market at age 27 and will have a better chance of landing a long-term deal. Me, I’m still hoping the Yankees land Tatsuya Imai, who at least reportedly *doesn’t* want to play for the Dodgers, aka Evil Empire West. (Not that they need him.) And I’m agnostic about resigning Cody Bellinger. He had an excellent season in 2025, but his inconsistent track record and his age (turning 31 in July) make me wary of giving him an expensive long-term deal. 

[Dan Gould]

I cannot understand letting Rob Refsnyder leave.  Do they really prefer a fourth outfielder with more balanced stats?  Refsnyder ranks with the very best hitters in the game over the past three years against southpaws and there are certainly some tough lefties in the division and league. A weapon like that ought not to be cast aside, and while his salary doubled, the increase is a rounding error in the context of the entire payroll.

 

Dumb.

[Dan Gould]

A hearty F*CK YOU to Alex Bregman.

Also,

A hearty WELCOME TO WRIGLEY, Alex Bregman!  Now go out and help the Cubs win a World Series. My mom probably doesn't have a lot of time left to see one more.

[JSngry]

Mixes emotions much? 🧲

[Dan Gould]

More like, one the one hand and on the other.

[sonnymax]

I don’t like those trades either, but I’ll save the profanity for someone who truly deserves it 🎺

Say Dan, what do you have there, and why do you have it on one hand and then the other?

[JSngry]

A bird in one hand and bird shit in the other?

Birds are sneaky that way...

[sonnymax]

Yessum 

[Dan Gould]

Much as I hate the Dodgers and their limitless supply of dollars, Tucker to them leaves a nice domino to fall:

Bidding war for Bellinger leaves Yankees out of the running or in a major over pay especially on the years.

I would have liked to see the Sox go after Bichette but after Toronto's efforts to get Tucker to sign I have little doubt the Jays will bring him back now.

 

The Sox probably have no more signings left but they do have pitching and outfield depth to swing a deal for a 3B or a 2B.

But Tucker neither in NY or Toronto is a big deal for all the teams in the AL East.

[Dan Gould]

Oh Damn - Bichette to the Mets. If that means the Mets aren't in on Bellinger then the Yankees could end up getting the guy they wanted to retain. Not the outcome I want.

[ghost of miles]

I repeat: Dodgers are the new Evil Empire. Yankees were never in on Tucker, but I share Dan's relief that he won't be playing for Toronto this year. 

 

[ghost of miles]

From The Athletic. Today's Dodgers make the George Steinbrenner-era Yankees seem like penny-pinchers:

"Nobody spends money quite like the Dodgers. Their latest luxury spend: outfielder Kyle Tucker, who signed a four-year, $240 million deal, with opt-outs after Years 2 and 3. 

With deferrals ($30 million over the final three years), his “luxury tax” salary for 2026 is $57.1 million. At roughly $90 million over the highest luxury tax bracket threshold, L.A. will be paying a 110 percent tax on Tucker’s contract. I did the math … That’s $119.91 million out of pocket just in 2026.

According to FanGraphs’ projected 2026 payrolls, that’s more than 11 teams will pay their entire roster. L.A. will also forfeit four of its top six draft picks. It seems it's stopped worrying about any coming “cliff.”

Since November 2023, per Spotrac, there have been 29 nine-digit contracts/extensions in baseball — about one per team. Tucker is the Dodgers’ sixth after Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell and the Tyler Glasnow and Will Smith extensions. Sixteen teams have not handed out any such contract over that time.

The Dodgers currently have eight players projected to make more than $20 million per year in 2026. That’s (obviously) the most, with the Yankees, Mets and Phillies at six each. Eight teams (Pirates, Cardinals, Reds, Nationals, Marlins, White Sox, Twins, Rays) have zero such players. Five teams (Rockies, A’s, Mariners, Guardians, Orioles) have one."

Of course the Dodgers have the right, under current rules, to spend like this if they're willing to pay the luxury taxes cited above. And I'm no fan of a salary cap--that's not about reducing fiscal inequality among teams (fiscal inequality as a general value, last time I checked, is something tycoon owners have no problem with at all), it's about controlling player salaries.  And yes, the Dodgers have done other things to create their present prowess in addition to exorbitant spending. But if you want to hate a team that goes out and buys any player it wants, hard to beat L.A. in that category these days. 

[Dan Gould]

I'd need to see an apples to apples comparison of Steinbrenner era Yankee payrolls vs the other teams in the league at the time.

Otherwise its just a facile point of reference.

Did the article even mention LA's local rights deal?  All of this was foretold when they signed it at the height of the "buy up every sporting event broadcast/cable right NOW!" era.

[JSngry]

So are the Yankees now broke, or what?