MLB News (non-Phillies) 2026 Season

zambonir 2026-04-16 15:44:33 UTC #53

Cheer up!

bkox 2026-04-17 16:08:45 UTC #54

A group led by Chelsea Football Club co-owner José E. Feliciano and his wife Kwanza Jones is closing in on a deal to purchase the San Diego Padres for what will be a record-shattering $3.9 billion, multiple people with knowledge of the deal told The Athletic.

Philsmania 2026-04-17 16:17:24 UTC #55

Feliz Navidad, Padre fans. Sorry, couldn't resist!

Philsmania 2026-04-17 16:18:22 UTC #56

Might Mike Trout be back this year?

Human interest angle...if he stays healthy through the All-Star break and continues to perform at this level, an appearance in the ASG in Philadelphia would present a compelling moment in terms of both "welcome back" and "welcome home".

Lucky_Beagle 2026-04-20 12:24:26 UTC #57

Can someone explain exactly what the taxi squad is and how it works in 2026?

Quote from mlbtraderumors:

In addition, left-hander Connor Prielipp will also be joining the Twins for the start of their series with the Mets, as per The Athletic’s Dan Hayes. It isn’t an official call-up yet, as Prielipp is only part of the taxi squad.

Do the Phillies regularly have players "travel" as part of a taxi squad? We never seem to hear about any minor leaguers missing games while being away from their team.
I am assuming the league allows teams to take x number of extra players with them in case a replacement player is needed. I also assume teams don't regularly do it and only do it when they anticipate the need for a roster change due to monitoring an injury, or a planned starting pitcher being recalled.

Lucky_Beagle 2026-04-20 12:27:48 UTC #58

to answer my own question based upon AI on google

For the 2026 MLB season, teams are permitted to carry a taxi squad of up to five players on road trips to serve as immediate replacements, with at least one player required to be a catcher. These players do not accrue major league service time unless activated and offer flexibility for roster adjustments.
Bucs Dugout
Bucs Dugout
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2026 Taxi Squad & Roster Rules Highlights
Squad Size: Teams may carry up to five players from their Triple-A affiliate on road trips.
Catcher Requirement: At least one of the five players must be a catcher, who can act as a bullpen catcher when not playing.
Activation/Service Time: If a taxi squad player is activated, they do not gain MLB service time or pay, except for the daily per diem amount, unless they are formally added to the 26-man roster.
Roster Limits: Active rosters remain at 26 players from Opening Day through August 31, with a maximum of 13 pitchers.
September Expansion: From September 1 through the end of the season, rosters expand to 28 players, with a maximum of 14 pitchers.
Doubleheaders: Teams can add a 27th player for doubleheaders, often drawn from the 40-man roster.
MLB.com
MLB.com
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These rules ensure teams have readily available backups for injuries or illness without needing to make immediate, permanent roster moves.

zambonir 2026-04-20 12:35:10 UTC #59

Yeah it was a COVID-era change (other than the doubleheader and September stuff). The Phillies used it when they went to London (though that may have also been slightly different/specific to London). They may have done so a few other times, often you just don't hear about it. Probably teams don't want to telegraph any unannounced injuries. And in the Phillies case there's rarely a need to have players on hand. We have seen players go from Scranton to Philly to the West Coast in one day if needed, rather than missing multiple AAA game to just be on call.

zambonir 2026-04-21 02:13:36 UTC #60

This brutal Phillies team doesn't even let us have schadenfreude

BostonRoss 2026-04-21 12:37:51 UTC #61

Diaz fits right in with the Dodgers pitchers who pitch only half a season

zambonir 2026-04-22 16:48:52 UTC #62

NY Times

zambonir 2026-04-25 23:12:01 UTC #63

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48594637/sources-red-sox-fire-long-manager-alex-cora

Sox fire Cora and three coaches, including bench coach Varitek

BostonRoss 2026-04-25 23:25:14 UTC #64

After winning a game 17-1!

zambonir 2026-04-25 23:26:23 UTC #65

Five coaches total and Varitek was not bench coach (and has been reassigned). Not my error I don't think (story was updated).

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48594637/sources-red-sox-fire-long-manager-alex-cora

bkox 2026-04-26 17:29:20 UTC #66

Then escorted them away from Camden Yards using a transportation company with the most unfortunate but fitting name for the moment: Coaches4Hire.

Philsmania 2026-04-26 18:47:14 UTC #67

Unusual to see a manager fired on the road.

andyb 2026-04-27 17:08:00 UTC #68

Will put this here since the Phillies do not need a manager at the moment:

Not sure any of the top names have much of a Phillies connection. Baldelli and Hyde seem interesting in the second chance group as younger managers with success who got fired because their teams did not spend money.

zambonir 2026-04-27 17:12:10 UTC #69

If it happens and Dombrowski is in charge, seems like Cora and Ausmus (not even mentioned here) would at least be in the mix.

Fun list of the potential first-time types. Dusty at the bottom of that one.

andyb 2026-04-27 17:21:17 UTC #70

Dusty has done nothing wrong since he was on the hot prospect lists a few years ago. Career guys (like Thomson ironically) sometimes never get a chance and suddenly they are getting older and facing younger hot prospect candidates.

My question with Dusty is whether the clubhouse really needs a new voice from outside the organization.

zambonir 2026-04-27 17:39:09 UTC #71

Was merely noting his presence buried at the end of the middle group in the story. My perception is he's older too but he's not really much older than Morgan Ensberg and George Lombard and Omar Lopez (Daniel Descalzo the youngster on that list).

If he really wants to be a big-league manager, taking over the Phillies as interim is probably the worst thing that could happen for him. What are the odds that history repeats, or that the Philllies don't do a full search regardless? With Thomson after he made the WS they had to request an exemption from the diversity rules, which was fair enough given it would have obviously been a fake process.

andyb 2026-04-27 17:44:57 UTC #72

Omar Lopez is interesting as the guy who got all the egos on the Venezuelan team to play together coupled with a traditional minor league coaching background. I know the diversity interviews are just hoops to jump through, but legitimately Latin American managers are an undertapped resource because they often don't get the top job because of perceived language issues. We don't see lots of European coaches in hockey for this reason too.

Diversity should not be an issue especially since these team is probably not going to tap a pure analytics guy after Klentak/Kepler and that pool is the least diverse pool of candidates.