On the eve of the 2026 MLB postseason, we’re thinking about an impending lockout, managerial changes and whether the league is about to waste a regular-season game at a ballpark that hasn’t even been approved for construction yet.
Every party needs a downer, and we’re trying not to fill the role. But Rob Manfred and company don’t make it easy on us.
Here are the latest MLB rumors ahead of the playoffs.
What is it with Major League Baseball and 60 games?
Most of us prefer to leave 2020 in the past, and for good reason. You’ll remember, though, that the league managed to hold a 60-game regular season and expanded playoffs amid the pandemic, which is arguably the greatest feat of Manfred’s time as commissioner — and we’re not being sarcastic, either.
USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported on Sunday that 60 is once again an important number around the league. Evidently, national television contracts would be extended through 2029 if at least 60 games are canceled next year. Granted, that number makes sense because it’s roughly one-third of a 162-game baseball season.
Nightengale added that a “growing number” of executives believe the 2027 season would start around Memorial Day weekend, which runs from May 28-31. That would unsurprisingly be the latest start to an MLB season, not counting the 2020 COVID year.
The Mariners appear likely to fire Dan Wilson
In news that should surprise absolutely no one who has read FanSided’s MLB coverage this season, the Mariners could reportedly dismiss Wilson as soon as Monday, per Nightengale. We can point to their final record or how they failed to take advantage of a historically terrible AL West, but Seattle’s issues are far deeper than one disappointing season.
Again, we just keep thinking about All-Star catcher Cal Raleigh’s conduct, from his World Baseball Classic feud with teammate Randy Arozarena to repeatedly making excuses for his regression. These are grown men, so we’re not placing a significant amount of the blame on Wilson. The question is whether Raleigh will accept he needs to change his mindset and attitude, or simply dismiss this as a year gone wrong.
“It’s going to take a lot of people having some self-reflection, myself included, on the direction of where we’re heading, what we want to be and who we want to be as a team,” Raleigh recently told reporters. “What is our team identity? I don’t feel like there was one this year.”
Talk about a damning indictment on Wilson and Raleigh, who bears the responsibility of leadership as a veteran catcher. All signs point to Mariners lead baseball executive Jerry DiPoto returning for 2027, though.
Forget Salt Lake City — Major League Baseball wants a national park game
And to be clear, we mean national parks as in the places you walk and take photos, not Nationals Park as in where the 2019 World Series champions play.
The Washington Post reported on Saturday night that Major League Baseball has had preliminary discussions with the Trump Administration about hosting a game at a national park. Additionally, sources told The Post that National Park Service deputy director Frank Lands has scouted Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming as a possible candidate for a makeshift baseball park.
If your dog got a treat every time we’ve used the word “park,” then they would never bark or misbehave again.
Objectively, we don’t hate the idea of a game in a national park, though we also don’t understand the appeal. At least the Field of Dreams Game or the Little League Classic carry an emotional significance. For their sake, the league must make the event a standalone game rather than put it against the rest of the 7 p.m. ET slate.
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