Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- Seven MLB umpires, including CB Bucknor and Laz Díaz, will retire after the 2026 season via buyout offers.
- Bucknor and Díaz consistently ranked among the league's worst umpires, with over half their calls overturned under the new ABS system.
- The retirements may open the door for Jen Pawol to become MLB's first full-time female umpire.
Major League Baseball’s implementation of the automated ball-strike challenge system has been a rousing success, to the point that most fans seemingly barely notice it anymore.
As it turns out, the ABS system has another impending positive headed our way.
USA Today reported that CB Bucknor and Laz Díaz, who annually grade atop the league’s worst umpires list, are among seven officials who plan to accept a buyout and retire after the 2026 season.
Brian O’Nora, Lance Barksdale, Marvin Hudson, Tony Randazzo and Andy Fletcher are also expected to retire. Their departures could pave the way for Jen Pawol to become Major League Baseball’s first full-time female umpire.
As of July 6, none of the seven umpires had publicly addressed their retirement plans. Major League Baseball also had not commented on Bob Nightingale’s report.
CB Bucknor and Laz Díaz’s likely retirements are excellent news for Major League Baseball
Before going any further, let’s genuinely congratulate all seven umpires on their careers. Seriously. They made it this far, and Díaz made history several years ago as the second Latino crew chief in league history.
That said, Bucknor and Díaz spent much of their careers making fools of themselves behind the plate, and ABS only proved what fans had already known for decades.
The advent of social media accounts like Umpire Scorecards and Umpire Auditor regularly highlighted just how poor the two were at calling strikes. Bucknor notably had seven calls challenged during his first regular-season game with the ABS system.
It’s objectively difficult to argue that either will be missed. In theory, you’d hope that umpires would get every call right. Television broadcasts incorporating a strike zone into every plate appearance made it far easier to call out poor calls, whether it was Díaz, Bucknor, Ángel Hernández, or Joe West.
That was never the case. Bucknor had seven of nine calls overturned before taking a foul ball off the mask in April. He has not returned to the field, and it is unclear whether he will work another game this season.
As of July 6, opponents have successfully challenged over 58 percent (49 of 84) of Díaz’s calls. He is tied for No. 63 out of 90 qualified umpires.
Frankly, the only people likely to truly miss the retiring umpires are their fellow umpires — and that’s nothing personal against the seven. But when you continuously make incorrect calls for years and have the league defend you out of obligation, you’re probably not making many friends among players and managers.
Besides, they’re making the right move by leaving now. The longer that those seven worked in the ABS era, the more they’d have been successfully exposed for their inaccuracy.
The next step is Major League Baseball deciding that the ABS system will determine all ball and strike calls. There should be no more arguments citing the “human element” or tradition. Not when it’s clear the technology is there, and it works.
Such a drastic change would make life easier for all parties, and it’d save the umpires further embarrassment — at least, until their next viral argument with an irate manager.
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