FanGraphs Baseball

The Ancient of Jays: Scherzer Returns to Toronto

February 26, 2026

You can never have enough starting pitching. Certainly the Toronto Blue Jays can’t. They’ve signed right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer to an incentive-heavy one-year contract with a $3 million base salary.

This is technically his third go-around in Canada; he made 20 starts for the Jays last year (17 in the regular season and three more in the playoffs) before hitting free agency. Scherzer, who is 291 years old, also served as a hussar in the army of the Marquis de Montcalm during the Seven Years’ War. Read the rest of this entry »

More Musings on What Teams Are Paying for a Win in Free Agency

by Ben Clemens

February 26, 2026

Earlier this week, I wrote about the cost of a win in free agency. I loved seeing the discussion of that article online and in the comments section, so I thought I’d set aside some time to consider a few of the questions readers had. Here are my answers to those questions.

What if We Used More Tiers?
If three tiers is good, would four be better? Five? Six? In my initial analysis, I ran all these variations in the background and decided that three was optimal for presentation and clarity. I also determined that the sample sizes would get vanishingly small as we expanded to more and more tiers. But as several readers asked for more granular looks, why not? Here is a four-tier version:

Dollars Per WAR in Free Agency, 2020-2026

WAR Tier	$/WAR	Players
0-1	$7.4M	406
1-2	$8.6M	236
2-3	$10.5M	83
3+	$12.3M	62

And a five-tier version:

Dollars Per WAR in Free Agency, 2020-2026

WAR Tier	$/WAR	Players
0-1	$7.4M	406
1-2	$8.6M	236
2-3	$10.5M	83
3-4	$11.1M	40
4+	$13.2M	22

Read the rest of this entry »

RosterResource Chat – 2/26/26

by Jason Martinez

February 26, 2026

Read the rest of this entry »

Always the Bridesmaid: The Juan Soto Story

by Davy Andrews

February 26, 2026

Juan Soto wants a Most Valuable Player award. Plenty of players give voice to outsized ambitions during spring training, but at this point in Soto’s career, the goal seems downright reasonable. The future Hall of Famer already has a World Series ring, a batting title, a stolen base crown, a Home Run Derby trophy, and bunch of All-Star nods and Silver Sluggers. Seeing as he’s unlikely to get a Gold Glove (barring some sort of trophy swap situation with Francisco Lindor), an MVP certainly seems like the next box to check. But as great as Soto has been since the moment he debuted for the Nationals in 2018, he doesn’t have a well-rounded game, and I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that his weaknesses might keep him from ever winning an MVP. Now that it’s his stated goal, let’s take a closer look at his chances.

Soto is one of the best and most consistent players in the game. According to JAWS, he’s already the 36th-best right fielder of all time, and he’s still three years too young to be the president (in the Dominican Republic; he’s eight years too young in the USA). Since his first full season in 2019, he’s missed an average of just seven games per season and he’s never put up a wRC+ below 143. In any given season, if you had to pick the player most likely to rack up at least 5.0 WAR, Soto would be your guy. But his game is also incomplete. He’s the second coming of Ted Williams, in ways both good and bad. He’s got the other-worldly plate discipline and the power, but he’s also got the putrid outfield defense.

Soto is well aware of his deficiencies. “I feel like everybody tries to do better than what they did before,” he told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. “I would definitely love to be better around the bases and better around the outfield. Even hitting, I try to keep my hitting increased. Thank God I’ve been doing well the past couple seasons. I’ve been putting numbers up there, career highs and stuff like that. So I just want to keep doing the same thing. I try to be better year after year.” Read the rest of this entry »

Jake McCarthy Needs to Lose His Power Stroke

by Michael Baumann

February 26, 2026

When the Colorado Rockies buy low on a former first-round prospect coming off an abysmal season, the null hypothesis is that the player in question is cooked. The Rockies’ front office might not be the laughingstock it was before the hiring of Paul DePodesta… but it could still be, and even if things are going to change for the better there, it’s going to take a minute to find out for sure.

If the Diamondbacks let Jake McCarthy loose in a my-garbage-for-your-trash trade, the smart money is on Colorado not rediscovering the magic that made McCarthy an enticing prospect a few years ago.

But what if the smart money is wrong? Read the rest of this entry »

Jacob deGrom, Cooperstown, and the Abstraction of Greatness

by Dan Szymborski

February 26, 2026

I’m a big believer in the value of WAR as a statistic. Like any summary stat, WAR is notably imperfect, with its nods to pragmatism, compromises made on philosophical grounds, and the necessary inclusion of many components that are just damn difficult to quantify even if we have a basis to think they’re important. Still, like all good models, even if WAR isn’t right, it can be useful. It gives us a broad estimate of a player’s overall contribution to winning baseball games, and almost certainly provides a far better conception of which individual actions lead to wins than generally existed, say, 50 years ago. But when we’re talking about whether a player is a Hall of Famer, a more malleable concept than what wins the most games, is WAR the right measure to look at? When I think about this question, four people instantly come to mind: Jacob deGrom, Miguel Cabrera, Jack Morris, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Since FanGraphs is a website dedicated to baseball, we’ll start by talking about Mozart. Even people who don’t really listen to classical music, and thus couldn’t tell Gustav Mahler from Rick Mahler, would almost certainly count Mozart among the greatest composers of all time. Why? Well, the first part is obvious: because of his body of work as a whole. But what aspects of that work make him great? I’d submit that it’s the quality of his best compositions, rather than the massive volume of work he produced, that pushes him ahead of his peers.

Mozart is a legend because of his greatest works, such as his last three symphonies, his late 1780s/early 1790s run of operas, and the latter half of his piano concertos — and I could go on! But he also wrote a lot of stuff that just isn’t that good. He was a musical prodigy, but almost all of his early work is interesting because he was very young when he wrote it, not because of its own merits. Composers have always had to pay the bills, and Mozart wrote a huge amount of what was more or less intended to be pleasant background music, no more compelling than the peppy ukulele and xylophone music that seemed to be in every Kickstarter video in 2017. If the hundreds of examples of such work were to simply blink out of existence because someone got a hold of the Infinity Gauntlet, it would change nothing about Mozart’s greatness. Those compositions had value to Mozart in that they enabled him to write the good stuff that is worth remembering, but he’s great because of his peak. Read the rest of this entry »

Job Posting: Milwaukee Brewers – Senior Software Engineer (Baseball Systems)

by David Appelman

February 26, 2026

Senior Software Engineer (Baseball Systems)

Overview
The Senior Software Engineer (Baseball Systems) will collaborate with the Systems team to build features for our stakeholders. This position requires strong software development skills and experience, as well as a demonstrated ability for independent thought and the willingness to work within a team framework.

Core duties for this role include, but are not limited to:

Deliver highly dependable, easy to use software while being part of a fast-moving team.
Create and maintain features that deliver information to stakeholders while collaborating with Data Engineering, Tech Operations, and Research & Development.
Propose visualizations or interfaces that communicate the intended information to a broad audience throughout baseball operations.
Work with advanced baseball concepts, particularly statistics relevant to player evaluation techniques

The ideal candidate will have experience across the full web stack. They will have a bachelor’s degree (B. A.) in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field from four-year college or university; and five years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience. Hands-on experience in baseball (team, league, or related organization) strongly preferred. Experience utilizing Large Language Models (LLM).

Our Team
Baseball Systems is the software backbone of Baseball Operations. We provide data and decision-making tools for analysts, coaches, and front office personnel to help win a World Series. Our department consists of a team of data engineers and a team of software engineers who work across all different aspects of Baseball Operations providing support and tools relevant to each group. We work directly with stakeholders in every department of Baseball Operations to ensure every project we work on drives value to the organization and helps us win more games on the field. We help drive technical innovation to find new ways to solve baseball problems.

Our Pitch
You come here to make a difference. We are a purpose-led organization, focused on building an inclusive and engaging culture that fosters excellence, collaboration, and ingenuity. We strive to be a model employer and cultivator of talent, empowering our teams to drive innovation through the inclusion of diverse thoughts, ideas, and perspectives. We operate at the highest standard of excellence, investing in the development of our staff across all levels and embracing differences through a culture of respect and understanding.

We are proud to offer a highly competitive perks and benefits package including:

Exceptional health and dental rates, and fully covered vision package
401(K) match and an additional annual contribution from the Club
Unlimited vacation time
Paid parental leave
Collaborative recognition program and incentives
Leadership development programming
Online educational platform for personal and professional development
Business Resource Groups
Paid time off for volunteering
Inclusive training and leadership development opportunities aligned with Club values
Brewers Home Game tickets, promotional giveaways and other discounts!

For more information about our Crew, other benefits and insight into our Club culture please visit our Careers Page.

To Apply
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Job Posting: Kansas City Royals – Analyst-Research and Development

by David Appelman

February 26, 2026

Analyst-Research and Development

Job Summary:
The Kansas City Royals Baseball Club is seeking a highly motivated and creative analyst to join the Research & Development department. Under the direction of the Director of Research & Development, the analyst will be involved in several stages of the data lifecycle process to meet the needs of the organization. The successful applicant will leverage baseball data to provide a competitive edge and innovative solutions for the Kansas City Royals. Ideally, this role will be location in our Kansas City, MO office.

Responsibilities and Duties:

Perform advanced statistical analysis on baseball data to aid in the organization’s decision making
Collaborate with other analysts and Baseball Operations personnel to provide support at all levels of the organization
Design and create reports, charts, tables, graphics, and other tools to deliver information to coaches, scouts, and players
Work to create, advance, and or maintain machine learning models
Provide data driven insights on player rankings, player development plans, and player acquisitions as needed

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience building predictive models to generate actionable insights from large data sets
Understanding of player and ball tracking data (Hawkeye, Trackman, Statcast, etc.)
Record of published baseball research and/or portfolio of technical projects in any domain
Familiarity with the landscape of Major League Baseball and its teams, players, and affiliates
Post-graduate degree in computer science, mathematics, statistics, or related quantitative field

Education and Experience Required:

4-year degree or equivalent experience in computer science, mathematics, statistics, or related quantitative field
Ability to manipulate and analyze large data sets to extract significant insights • High proficiency with R and/or Python (SQL and HTML are a plus)
Interpersonal and communication skills to seamlessly interact with front office, analysts, coaches, scouts, players, and other Baseball Operations personnel
Ability to work evening, weekend, and holiday hours during the baseball season

Physical Requirements:

Ability to lift items weighing as much as 15 pounds
Must be able to work in a seated position for majority of workday
Must be able to be productive utilizing a computer keyboard and telephone
Must be able to be productive in a work environment where the noise level can be high at times
Must be comfortable walking to navigate the facility to access the office, concourse, etc.
Must be able to work extended hours and/or weekends as required by deadlines and event scheduling

The physical demands described here are representative of those that may be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

This role is a Full-Time, Exempt opportunity that is eligible for Company Benefits, 401K, and PTO. This role is expected to have a standard 40-hour work week.

We also afford equal employment opportunities to qualified individuals with a disability. For this reason, the Kansas City Royals will make reasonable accommodations for the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified individual with a disability who is an applicant consistent with its legal obligations to do so, including reasonable accommodations applicable local, state and / or federal law. As part of its commitment to make reasonable accommodations, the Club also wishes to participate in a timely, good faith, interactive process with a disabled applicant to determine effective reasonable accommodations, if any, which can be made in response to a request for accommodations. Applicants are invited to identify reasonable accommodations that can be made to assist them to perform the essential functions of the position they seek. Any applicant who requires an accommodation in order to perform the essential functions please inquire with Human Resources by email at humanresources@royals.com.

We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

To Apply
To apply, please follow this link.

The content in this posting was created and provided solely by the Kansas City Royals.

Fitting Jarren Duran Into the Red Sox Outfield Puzzle

by Jay Jaffe

February 25, 2026

Jarren Duran enjoyed a breakout season in 2024, making the AL All-Star team, receiving down-ballot support in the MVP voting, and leading the league in several key categories while ranking fifth with 6.8 WAR. Though he remained an above-average player last year, his season didn’t go quite so well, and as the 2026 campaign dawns, his role is among the many questions the Red Sox face this spring.

At a time when the Red Sox are trying to figure out their primary infield alignment — Will newly acquired Caleb Durbin play second or third? Will Marcelo Mayer man the other spot from the start, or begin the year in the minors after an injury-shortened rookie season? — they’re also sorting through their outfield options. The situation is more or less the same as it’s been since last June, when Roman Anthony, the no. 2 prospect on our preseason Top 100 Prospects list, was called up to squeeze into an outfield capably manned by Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Wilyer Abreu, with platoon assistance for the last of those from Rob Refsnyder. The trade deadline came and went without either Abreu or Duran being moved despite numerous rumors, and injuries to Abreu, Refsnyder and then Anthony (who suffered a season-ending oblique strain in early September) simplified manager Alex Cora’s juggling, though not for the betterment of the team. Boston won 89 games and claimed a Wild Card spot, but without Anthony and enough healthy starting pitchers, the Red Sox were bounced out of the first round by the Yankees.

Refsnyder departed for the Mariners in free agency, but the other four outfielders are back and healthy. The Red Sox also have an expensive platoon designated hitter, Masataka Yoshida, further crowding the picture, and last year’s Opening Day second baseman Kristian Campbell — who entered the 2025 season seventh on our Top 100 and inked an eight-year, $60 million extension just a week into his big league career — is working out in center field, as well. Having too many good players isn’t a bad problem to have, but it can become one when questions about playing time, contract statuses, and trade rumors get relentless. Read the rest of this entry »

Effectively Wild Episode 2444: To Challenge, or Not to Challenge?

by Ben Lindbergh

February 25, 2026

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about a player with legs like a centaur, a knuckleballer’s sore subject, Arte Moreno’s thoughts on whether winning matters to fans, a response from the barback who gave free drinks to a fellow listener, and a new perspective on Tony Clark’s reportedly inappropriate relationship with his sister-in-law. Then (45:17) they talk to Maxfield Lane and Owen Riley of Oyster Analytics about the challenge system’s tactical considerations and when it does and doesn’t make sense to second-guess the ump (and also, some slightly scary mascots).