MLB free agency is the least restricted player market in American sports, no salary cap, no max contracts, deals fully guaranteed, and it’s guarded by one of the most convoluted gates: six full years of service time to reach it, a “qualifying offer” system that attaches draft-pick shackles to top free agents, and compensation rules … Read more
The 2026 MLB Draft runs July 11-12 at the Philadelphia Convention Center, the centerpiece of All-Star week, airing on NBC and Peacock for the first time, with the White Sox holding the No. 1 pick after winning the December lottery, their first top selection since they took Harold Baines in 1977. And if you’re coming … Read more
Justin Verlander announced on July 8, 2026 that this season, his 21st, will be his last, and the sport spent the day doing what it will now do all summer: staring at the numbers. They are staggering. Three Cy Young Awards. An MVP. Three no-hitters, a club only six pitchers in history have ever joined. … Read more
At 6 p.m. ET on July 31, Major League Baseball’s trade market slams shut, completely. Since 2019 there is no August escape hatch, no waiver-trade workaround, no second deadline: the July date is the only one, which is precisely why the final 48 hours have become baseball’s frantic midseason holiday, complete with all-night front-office phone … Read more
Shohei Ohtani is the most collected baseball player on the planet, and his rookie cards sit at the center of the hobby, never more so than this month, with Ohtani fresh off joining the 300 home run club on July 7 as the first Japanese-born player ever to reach the milestone. But “Ohtani rookie card” … Read more
The 2026 MLB All-Star Game is at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia on Tuesday, July 14, the city’s first Midsummer Classic in thirty years, and the anchor of a stacked All-Star week that includes the Home Run Derby, the Futures Game, and, for the first time in the same city and same week, the MLB … Read more
Does the MLB All-Star Game count for anything? The short answer: not anymore, not in the standings, not for playoff position, and, since 2017, not for World Series home-field advantage either. The Midsummer Classic is once again what it was born as in 1933: an exhibition. But the long answer is more interesting, because for … Read more
The MLB All-Star Game has crowned an MVP every year since 1962, and the list doubles as a tour of baseball history’s showcase moments: Willie Mays owning the Midsummer Classic, Bo Jackson’s leadoff missile, Ichiro’s inside-the-park home run, Mariano Rivera standing alone on the mound in his farewell, and, most recently, Kyle Schwarber winning the … Read more
Shohei Ohtani’s fastest pitch in Major League Baseball is 101.7 mph, a four-seam fastball thrown on June 28, 2025 against the Kansas City Royals. The pitch came in just his third start back from his second elbow surgery, which is the part that made jaws drop: most pitchers spend a year after an elbow operation … Read more
Shohei Ohtani’s medical chart may be the most consequential document in baseball. The two-way experiment that produced four MVPs and the sport’s biggest contract has also produced two elbow surgeries, a shoulder operation, a knee procedure, and two full seasons without pitching, and every new twinge sends a shiver through Los Angeles. That includes this … Read more