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Mark P

8:48

They need Stowers back as soon as possible, but so far, so good for Miami. The Marlins already topped expectations by so much in 2025 that they're tough to evaluate this year --- for all we know, maybe they can make another jump to be legit contenders for a playoff spot

LA4LIFE

8:49

Overreaction or valid: Andy Pages pushes a .290 AVG and 30 home runs by the end of the season, earning himself an extension by the end of the year

Mark P

8:51

Fabian Ardaya wrote last week that the Dodger hadn't yet had any extension talks with Pages, which isn't that surprising since he's already controlled through 2030.

LA has so many promising outfielders in the pipeline that it's possible they won't extend Pages simply because the team wants to see how things play out with all the prospects. The Dodgers also have the money to sign Pages to a long-term deal at a later date during his arb years --- it may cost them more cash down the road, but that's no concern for this franchise

Mr InBetween

8:52

I try to be good hard-worker-man, but refrigemater so messy, so so messy.

Mark P

8:52

A screen name referencing an awesome TV show and a comment referencing NewsRadio.

10/10, no notes

Brewer Fan

8:54

Based on your answer, do you agree with me that Harrison has more upside than Durbin? Add how Harriosn has played and that feels like a steal right now. (Again, granted it's early)

Mark P

8:56

In terms of pure upside, yeah, Harrison was preferable. That's not to undermine Durbin's solid rookie year, or to discount the possibility that Harrison might have only unlocked something with the Brewers specifically given their pitching development magic. (And, as you noted, it's early enough that this answer could totally change if Harrison is rocked in his next outing.)

8:57

The Cooper Pratt extension also lends more info to the Durbin trade. If the Brewers were obviously so high on Pratt that they saw him as a long-term piece, it explains why they were willing to move Durbin already

8:58

My scabbed together pitching staff is looking good! Maybe I should of got a bat lol

Mark P

9:00

The rotation's issue was health, not a lack of talent. If Sale/Lopez/Holmes can stay off the IL, they should deliver quality results. Atlanta's backup pitchers (Elder and Perez) have also performed well, so there's some hope the Braves may be able to ride out these pitching injuries

Halo CF

9:00

Not again Mark what do xrays show?

Mark P

9:00

Royals announced x-rays were negative. Trout may end up on the IL as a precaution, but it looks like the worst was avoided

9:01

does travis bazzana (currently hitting .200 in triple A) get buried among the other high profile 1st round picks of 2024 who are already making waves in mlb (konnor griffin, nick kurtz, jj wetherholt) or do you still think there is hope that cleveland doesnt regret their first overall choice?

Mark P

9:03

Keep in mind that the 2024 draft was less than two years ago. Teams are becoming more aggressive in promoting their top prospects (particularly those who are coming from college ball) to the big leagues, but just a few years, it would've been unheard of to even think about the Guardians promoting Bazzana to the majors this fast.

9:05

His slow start over like five games also ignores the solid numbers Bazzana posted in the larger sample of 120 PA of Triple-A ball in 2025.

Far too early to say the Guards make a mistake based on the lack of track record for any of these guys, really. For all we know, maybe Kurtz has a sophomore slump in store for 2026

Vin

9:05

Masters picks?

Mark P

9:06

Hard to pick against Scottie Scheffler

Kurtz

9:06

True or false: I am a league average bat if you take me out of Sacramento and its park effects. Put me in T-Mobile or Petco and I don't think I'd be near as good.

Mark P

9:07

Kurtz is surely helped by playing at SHP, but he also had a .967 OPS in away games in 2025. The guy can hit anywhere.

Reds Nation

9:11

Do the Reds have a closer problem with Pagan? He averaged 1 HR every 5 innings last year which is unacceptable for a closer in my opinion. Your thoughts?

Mark P

9:13

Pagan's struggles in keeping the ball in the park have been the story of his career, though the rest of his arsenal is good enough that he has been able to avoid damage some seasons (like in 2025).

It's always going to be a highwire act to some extent if Pagan is your closer. But, the Reds felt solid enough in his 2025 performance to sign him to another contract and roll the dice again. Time will tell if that was the right call, or if they'll explore a closer change at some point this year

Rob

9:15

What is going on with the San Diego team sale

Mark P

9:15

As of the most recent reports, four groups are bidding, and something could develop before April is over

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/03/padres-notes-sale-gores-payroll...

9:17

I haven't heard back from the Padres about my offer of $100 and a signed photo for the team. Starting to think I'm out of the running, but I may be willing to up my bid to $110 bucks

Guest

9:17

Umm, Mark. The Guardians won their division last year. The Tigers were the wildcard. In fact, the Guards have won their division last AL Central 3 of the last 4 seasons. They’re not hunting a wildcard playoff spot.

Mark P

9:18

This is a very fair point to make. While I think Detroit wins the division this year, one can't rule out Cleveland from topping the ALC again.

Ludwig’s Pop Fly

9:19

After 1+ week, what concerns you most about Atlanta’s offense?

Mark P

9:21

Acuna, Harris, and Riley are off to cold starts. Small sample size, sure, though in the case of Harris/Riley case, there's extra concern given how their numbers have been on the slide for a couple of years now.

By and large, however, the Braves' offense is looking good even with some prominent names in early slumps

White Sox Rookie

9:22

Is the White Sox rookie first baseman eligible to win rookie of the year? Should MLB make a special category for international rookies?

Mark P

9:24

Murakami is indeed eligible. Creating a whole new award seems like a reach, but ruling such players from NPB, the KBO, etc. ineligible also doesn't exactly fair --- they're rookies in MLB, after all.

It's an interesting debate point, and the other wrinkle is how the ROY voting impacts Prospect Promotion Incentive players.

Angels Fan

9:26

Besides the obvious answer of Arte... Why haven't the Angels extended Neto? At this point, would a 7/160 even be enough?

Mark P

9:27

If you're Neto, would you necessarily want to sign a long-term extension with the Angels? An extension secures your financial future, but with $4.15MM in salary this year, three more arb years coming as a Super Two player, and $3.35MM already banked from your draft signing bonus, maybe Neto is willing to just bet on himself until free agency

Robbie Baseball

9:28

I know it’s only 9 games into the season, but I’m worried about the Blue Jays - especially based on the teams they’ve played so far. They were something like 2 for 20 this weekend with runners in scoring position. What can they do to turn things around?

Mark P

9:31

It's not great when a slow start coincides with my worries about a team --- i.e. that the Jays had no lefty bullpen depth, and they were relying a lot of hitters replicating their 2025 breakouts.

When you have mulitple players who are completely ice cold (Barger, Varsho, Springer, Kirk), it's hard to score runs or string any kind of rally together. Not pressing the panic button after nine games or anything, but losing four in a row during this allegedly soft part of the schedule isn't good.

James

9:32

Do you see the Braves making any significant trades at the deadline?

Mark P

9:33

Anthopoulos is never one to sit out a deadline. Any exact needs are tough to forecast right now, since so much will depend on how many of Atlanta's starters are healthy by that point. But, bullpen reinforcement is always a need, or an extra outfielder.

Guest

9:34

Is Cole Young legit?

Mark P

9:34

Highly regarded prospect, former first rounder...nobody should be surprised if Young has a breakout year

Andrew McCutchen

9:35

What do you think about the Pirates not re-signing me now? I'm off to a hot start and Ozuna is completely washed up with no bat speed at all.

Mark P

9:36

It was handled in a very awkward manner, but I don't hate the Pirates' decision to move on from McCutchen as a pure baseball move. What didn't make sense was then spending $12MM on Ozuna to clog up the DH spot.

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