MLB News (non-Phillies) 2026 Season

zambonir 2026-05-25 23:12:15 UTC #103

It can happen to anyone

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/48875255/cubs-ninth-straight-loss-matches-2017-dodgers-dubious-mark

bkox 2026-05-26 02:05:50 UTC #104

I guess the first question is. Will he be allowed back in the USA. If the USA denies him entry, then MLBs decision doesnt matter

bkox 2026-05-26 03:41:11 UTC #105

I see this and think... how soon will his ligament tear. 57 100+ mph pitches in a game.

Philsmania 2026-05-26 11:11:31 UTC #106

Too bad we had to play the Cubs during their hot streak when they were basically on a 20-3 run. Outside of that stretch, the Cubs are 9-22 (.290) this season.

Philsmania 2026-05-26 11:14:26 UTC #107

That and would he just be too toxic for anybody to sign. Trevor Bauer never found work again though he has other baggage as well (allegedly as bad in the clubhouse as he is away from it).

andyb 2026-05-26 12:24:31 UTC #108

Franco signed an 11-year deal so this is more about whether MLB will let him back. Imagine there are more than a few major leaguers who have slept with an underage girl. It is not right, but this is nowhere near the same type of offense as Bauer.

This might depend on whether Tampa wants him back and whether their owner is a Republican. In a baseball sense Tampa is mostly playing Taylor Wells at SS. Good defensively but a 585 OPS on offense. Tampa has the best record in the AL and adding Franco for the second half would really enhance their World Series odds.

Guessing MLB will suspend him for the rest of the year anyway because they don't want the issue to come back midseason and Tampa probably won't push it, but there have been players who did worse things that were welcomed back.

zambonir 2026-05-26 14:15:41 UTC #109

Rays could probably get him a pardon, even! But yeah, once MLB reinstates him he is probably no less eligible for his work visa. I could see him getting more than just the rest of this season too, even with the time served.

Or the team might be hoping to get out of the contract, but he's still just 25 years old and can play, he's a lot better than Bauer. I'm not sure I agree the offense is less bad despite the lack of violence - it's rape, she, was 14, and those are other major leaguers are guilty of it too.

But it's a very weird and creepy story. Actual sex trafficking really, by her own mother.

BostonRoss 2026-05-26 15:24:37 UTC #110

Personally, I wouldn’t want him on my team. Maybe there are extenuating circumstances that might show him in a better light, but I can’t imagine what they would be.

He hasn’t played in over two years. It’s unclear how much help he would be, especially this year.

zambonir 2026-05-26 15:59:46 UTC #111

Yeah there's not really any contextual things (like, it he'd been 19 and she was 16 rather than 22/14) to mitigate it. Perhaps if it was Game of Thrones. He sort of got blackmailed, which is probably when he should have broken it off and faced the music, but he'd be in pretty much the same bind (or maybe worse since the court saw him as a victim now. Gotta think he's getting celeb kid gloves there for sure).

Philsmania 2026-05-26 17:18:54 UTC #112

This thought also came up in the context of Pete Rose and his HOF chances with the former players on (whatever permutation of) the Veterans Committee likely to have more trouble with his betting on baseball than his sleeping with underage girl away from home because, well, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

andyb 2026-05-26 17:50:27 UTC #113

I just come at this from more of the legal perspective thinking that people deserve second chances in society after committing crimes. Can they legally take away his $180 million contract? Probably a gray area with settlement very possible. Was Franco well-liked in the clubhouse outside of this incident? Bauer was not and that is probably a factor on him not being allowed back. But legally Bauer should probably be given a chance.

Baseball can be very selective and often prejudicial in how they implement these punishments. I am a little uncomfortable for instance in the substance abuse penalties being administered largely against Latin American players where the culture and language and education often all contribute to gullible players breaking the rules. I just think that if the legal system allows Franco to go back into the workforce then MLB should take that into consideration. Franco will need to apologize and say all the right things and have a thick skin and work ethic to come back, but should he be denied that opportunity?

dicemen99 2026-05-26 17:59:24 UTC #114

Nick’s interview with a gift link so hopefully you can read it.

Just a guy that could never read the room. Self-awareness at a minus 11, even when you factor in the average MLB player’s narcissism.

zambonir 2026-05-26 20:01:03 UTC #115

He's still kind of a jerk but he says what he feels like saying, versus the Bull Durham media training. I'm sensing a subtle difference in his complaint, it has gone from, "I'm so great and they should have been playing me" too "I'm a veteran and I at least deserve more respect in the way I'm told they aren't going to play me." Probably some teammates would agree with the latter, but a lot of managers believe in treating everyone the same, quite reasonably.

And of course that article also leaves out the beer.

allentown 2026-05-26 21:40:57 UTC #116

He started this himself over the manager actually daring to make a late-inning defensive substitution for him. He knows full well why the manager reacted as he did. He also should have known how badly he was playing last season and that past Phillies OFs who hit far better than he did last season were frequently sat for a late-inning defensive position. Perhaps as a non-Phillies guy he was unaware of a lost playoff game when the manager forgot to make the normal defensive substitution. I think at the time of his complaint, he was firmly ensconced in negative WAR territory yet had been allowed to play more innings than any other OF, probably more than any other player. San Diego's approach has been to play him far less and he has responded with a rotten-ripe -0.9 rWAR. He was done at the time Thomson subbed for him and his OPS+ of 56 more than confirms that he should just keep his mouth shut. What a complete jerk.

zambonir 2026-05-27 13:23:41 UTC #117

Several other immigration attorneys with similiar quotes. Only one says it's possible but "very unlikely."

“There’s no way the Department of State will give this man a visa,” said immigration attorney Amy Maldonado, whose clients include several MLB teams. “… The only way he’d ever have gotten a visa again is if he’d been found innocent, and it was compelling evidence.

“The fact that he’s guilty of sexual abuse of a minor, he’s done. He’s never getting into the U.S.”

Maldonado added that her perspective has nothing to do with the current presidential administration’s hardline immigration policies, stating that “any other administration would not approve this visa.”

bkox 2026-05-27 18:22:37 UTC #118

first bat dog injury Ive ever heard of

bkox 2026-05-29 20:07:49 UTC #119

The Washington Nationals have let go of a community relations executive, sources told The Athletic on Friday, three days after a conservative group posted a hidden camera conversation in which the employee discussed internal deliberations about everything from an alleged social media ban on a Catholic pitcher to relationships with defense contractors and the organization’s efforts to placate President Trump.

andyb 2026-05-29 20:56:27 UTC #120

It is a shame that dishonest organization (Project Veritas) survives. It is kind of natural for a team to match its social media to its players strengths and weaknesses. The Phillies are probably not sending Bryce Harper out to promote vaccinations.

zambonir 2026-06-04 15:04:29 UTC #121

Gift link

Philsmania 2026-06-04 16:22:25 UTC #122

As I've said elsewhere, if only we didn't play them when they were blistering hot (20-3) streak at that point.