FanGraphs Weekly Mailbag: January 10, 2026

Thrilling information, everybody! In nearly a month’s time, pitchers and catchers shall be reporting to their respective spring coaching websites, with the rhythms of the sport starting as soon as once more. And with the beginning of mitts popping and best-shape-of-my-life boasting, the hopes and fears of baseball to return shall be renewed.

Till then, we’ve got loads of issues to present us Licensed Baseball Sickos our repair. 4 of the highest 5 and 6 of the highest 10 gamers on Ben Clemens’ Prime 50 Free Brokers rankings stay unsigned, together with a trio of former Astros teammates in Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman, and Framber Valdez. Additionally coming quickly: the outcomes of the 2026 Baseball Corridor of Fame election, which shall be introduced on January 20. As at all times, Jay Jaffe has been masking the poll prime to backside together with his indispensable collection of participant profiles.

We’ll speak slightly little bit of Corridor of Fame in the present day, however by means of the lens of the most effective pitchers who by no means acquired a Corridor of Fame vote. Additionally on this mailbag, Michael Baumann digs into Chandler Simpson, Davy Andrews appears at whether or not inducing popups is a ability for pitchers, and Dan Szymborski explains which varieties of gamers have the widest variance of their ZiPS projections. Earlier than we proceed, although, I’d prefer to remind you that this mailbag is unique to FanGraphs Members. Should you aren’t but a Member and want to preserve studying, you’ll be able to join a Membership right here. It’s one of the simplest ways to each expertise the positioning and help our employees, and it comes with a bunch of different nice advantages. Additionally, when you’d prefer to ask a query for an upcoming mailbag, ship me an e mail at mailbag@fangraphs.com.