Baseball is back! Here are three things for baseball fans to keep an eye on as the 2026 season gets underway:
1. Opening Day 2026:
The 2026 season kicks off this evening with a single game set to air on Netflix. The Yankees will head to San Francisco for a game against the Giants that’s set to begin at 5:05pm local time. Right-hander Logan Webb (4th in NL Cy Young voting last year) is poised to face off against southpaw Max Fried (4th in AL Cy Young voting last year). The Yankees didn’t make any real changes to their lineup over the winter, though they’ll be without injured shortstop Anthony Volpe, which will give Jose Caballero the Opening Day nod at shortstop. It’ll be the first Yankees Opening Day for Caballero and third baseman Ryan McMahon, both of whom were acquired at last year’s trade deadline. The Giants, meanwhile, added infielder Luis Arraez and center fielder Harrison Bader in free agency, and Wednesday will be Rafael Devers‘ first Opening Day with San Francisco following last year’s June acquisition.
2. Roster moves aplenty:
All 30 teams, not just the Yankees and Giants, need to get their rosters ready for Opening Day today. That means there will be plenty of roster moves to keep an eye on throughout the day. Veterans who opted out of minor league deals are signing new contracts, players are being selected to 40-man rosters and designated for assignment, injury list decisions are being made, and even a few trades are likely to take place. Keep an eye on MLBTR throughout the day for the latest on all the last-minute roster decisions and transactions around the league.
3. Extension season continues:
Yesterday, the Cubs and center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong finalized a six-year extension that guarantees the All-Star $115MM. That’s only the most recent in a busy spring for extensions, with Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, and Chris Sale among those to have inked new contracts on the player side, while Ross Atkins, Oli Marmol, Pat Murphy, and A.J. Preller have all done so on the personnel side. Extension conversations tend to continue a bit beyond Opening Day, and that’ll likely be true in 2026. Pirates top prospect Konnor Griffin and A’s catcher Shea Langeliers are among the young players whose teams could look to lock them up long-term. Pending free agents like Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner and Mets right-hander Freddy Peralta have been heavily discussed extension candidates but might be less likely to get a deal done with just seven months to go before free agency.
The fake opening day the day before the actual opening day that Manfred started a few years ago is a joke. But he has never cared about tradition.
Fellow Reds fan here. I agree!
It’s all about the bottom line. That’s all it is.
Shadowpartner that’s always been the case.
No, actually it hasn’t. But the idea of tradition has been washed away by greed and avarice.
Half a nice day, AM or PM, you choose.
Why are you saying that money and greed are recent things? Now I’m starting to understand the thought process you used to become a Red Sox fan. Full nice day to you.
Joe yeah it’s always been the case. That really wasn’t what I was saying though but thank you for clarifying my comment for me. Very thoughtful. I have no idea how old you are and I don’t wanna know, but you don’t seem like a 20 something year-old judging by your past comments. The bottom line is accentuated now more than it’s ever been and you can’t really deny that. They’ve thrown everything else out the window any tradition everything gone. It was intentionally done. Now it really is 100% about the bottom line and you can argue with that, but I’ve been around a long time and I can see differences. I’m sure 20 people are gonna come out now and tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about.
Shadowpartner I believe greed has always been there. You can look back through history and find it easily enough. The owners collusion in the 90s to suppress player salaries. The lack of free agency prior to the mid 70s.
I also question the thought of tradtion. Not people wanting it but the league providing it. All the way back to the deadball era. Things like moving the mound back, the DH, etc. The list goes on and on.
Joe Says
“Why are you saying that money and greed are recent things”
==
Its not a “recent thing”. Its a thing thats recently gotten worse.
Highest/Lowest payrolls in MLB (luxury tax):
Dodgers $407M, Mia $73.
The divide has never been this big. And revenues, which the owners care more about, are getting worse as well. And, before you say, ‘Miami is being cheap’, there’s always been cheap team. Its a problem, which has gotten much worse lately, especially with all the big money teams financing down the road, creating even more profits in the near term.
Breslow I’m not saying that it isn’t worse now but its always been there to the extent that was possible.
Also my bad but I shortened whyhayzee to why and that could have created confusion with my post.
You can reword it however you want. But, when the richest team has $422M committed for 2027, and the median team only has $81M committed for 2027, there’s a serious problem. Thats means a very few team are locking up all the best talent for the future, creating an even greater disparity in revenue down the road.
fangraphs.com/roster-resource/breakdowns/payroll
Its broken and needs to be fixed. I think your bias as a Yankee fan may be fogging the reality of the situation.
Agree Breslow. One minor correction – the Dodgers will have at least $150M in taxes added to their actual payroll, meaning they will exceed $550M all-in.
That figure would surely be unsustainable without their ability to guarantee $1.2B in deferred payments. No other team can match the market advantage that allows them to guarantee that type of money. It’s all legal and within the rules, but it will almost certainly be something that is addressed and fixed in the next CBA.
Breslow I think you’re reading something into my comments that I haven’t said. I readily admitted there’s a problem thats gotten worse but greed has been around since the existence of things and money.
Joe, You can shorten it to Y. Tradition. Topol sang about it. Getting paid for what you do is not greed. Baseball makes plenty of money. That’s fine. Does it need more? Maybe? The Reds play the first game. Tradition. They’re playing a team from the other league? Really? Is that necessary? Let’s play in Japan! Let’s play in London! Heck, let’s play a game on an aircraft carrier with a wrestling match between each at bat and half naked women dancing on the basepaths while country musicians play in the outfield and magicians make 150 mph fastballs disappear. Why not?
Joe says: “I havent said”
Maybe I was, I thought when you were discussing the greed part, that because it was always a problem, that it doesnt need to be fixed. So, we’re on the same page then. The league is broken and needs a salary cap or smarter salary threshold. Good talk.
The divide in competition has been even bigger in the past. When the Yankees had their dynasty from 1923 to 1964, there was way less competitive balance, especially in the AL. Teams like the Washington Senators and St.Louis Browns were terrible almost every year. And in a league with only 8 teams! And the A’s were terrible too whenever Connie Mack decided to tank. But of course a lot of folks watching today don’t even know about this and would consider it ancient history.
Joe, I totally agree that greed has always been there. It’s human nature. They say the more you get the more you want and that’s absolutely true always has been. I just think it’s more exemplified now than it’s ever been. The game has been constantly tinkered with over the past 25 to 30 years especially and that’s all in the name of greed. I just think it’s a little more obvious today than it’s been but that’s just my thought. I do understand what you’re saying about it’s always being there. Things have been done forever in the name of more money in baseball is really no different.
I agree, the Yankees and Giants don’t play tomorrow when every one else does! Ha, What’s that all about? Off day to travel?
Most northern teams with no roofs on their stadiums have an off day after opening day in case the original game gets postponed due to weather. I’m guessing San Francisco just gets one since they’re opening the season a day before everybody else.
Didn’t know that. When I look at Seattle games this week there’s no off day after opening day for them.
They have a dome. weather is not a factor.
Seattle has a retractable roof that can roll in from right field
At least we don’t have to deal with a 2-game series in Tokyo being played a week before the real Opening Day. That was absurd last season.
Honestly I think it’s cool to have an opening matchup to focus on as a kickoff to the season. I know the World Cup does this and I dig it.
Looking forward to seeing how Netflix does tonight.
Go Yanks!
No chat?
A lot of folks chatting here. 😁
This is so much better the official chat that almost no one gets their questions through on.
I love chatting about baseball here. However there’s just some times where I need to ask those baseball experts (I hope I didn’t offend anyone when I didn’t call them an expert)
Extend Cam Smith!
It’s opening day and that Reds fan already gets up in the morning to complain lol
He’s not really wrong though.
What’s worse is you basically need 5-6 services now to watch all of the national games.
Opening Night and other special events on Netflix only.
Sunday Night Baseball and the *entire Wild Card round* on Peacock.
Friday Night Baseball on Apple TV+.
You need a live tv bundle for regular and playoff games on ESPN, FOX/FS1.
Oh, and if you’re like me and living out of your team’s local market, you need to have MLB.TV or your team’s RSN.
Bottom Line: MLB in 2026 is objectively a fragmented mess.
What about Fubo?
Astros: Fubo is next! Probably followed by a transition to Al-Jazeera (now beIN).
As my mother used to say, you can read about it in the paper tomorrow.
Netflix put together a pretty decent pregame co-host combo with Bonds, Pujols, Rizzo and Sabathia….