January 2026

There were 1,518 posts published in January 2026 (this is page 28 of 152).

5 questions before spring training: Where will Framber Valdez sign? Will Brendan Donovan be traded?

It seems impossible, with half the country currently blanketed in snow, but the ceremonial start of the 2026 MLB season is just 15 days away. 

When pitchers and catchers start reporting to spring training on Feb. 10, the focus of the baseball world will shift from offseason mode to preseason mode. And while most of this winter’s major narratives have already been resolved in one way or another, there are assorted dribs and drabs of business yet to be conducted. 

Let’s run through some of the biggest loose ends that still need to be tied up as this eventful MLB offseason winds down.

Carlos Correa getting dealt to Houston at last year’s trade deadline was one of the most shocking in-season transactions in recent memory. The Astros swooped in to reunite with the franchise icon only because their regular third baseman, Isaac Paredes, was set to miss most of the second half due to injury. It was a bold plan that worked out in the short term; Correa performed well for Houston down the stretch, even as the Astros missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

But with Paredes healthy entering 2026, the Astros find themselves with something of a positional jumble. Jeremy Peña is entrenched at shortstop, which pushed Correa to third in the first place. Christian Walker, in Year 1 of a three-year, free-agent deal, started at first base in all but 10 of Houston’s games last season. José Altuve will get the majority of starts at second, with Yordan Alvarez primed to be the every-day DH. That leaves no room for Paredes, who produced at an All-Star level when healthy in 2025.

Walker, given his age (almost 35) and the money left on his deal ($40 million over two years), is the harder piece to trade. Multiple clubs could be interested in Paredes, but the Mexican slugger was Houston’s most consistent hitter for large stretches last season. Perhaps the Astros hold on to both and try to find enough playing time for everyone, but they feel like a good trade partner for our next topic.

Ceddanne Rafaela needs to play center field every day because he might be the best defensive outfielder in the American League. Roman Anthony needs to play right field every day because he’s one of the most talented youngsters in baseball, and Boston just gave him an eight-year, $130 million extension. That effectively leaves the Red Sox with three players (Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida) for two spots (left field, designated hitter).

Yoshida, with a career .762 OPS, no defensive skills and $37.2 million and two years left on his deal, is clearly the least valuable of that trio. It’s hard to imagine another club taking on that contract. Abreu is a stellar defender with a well-above-average bat, but he struggles mightily against left-handed pitching. That’s also true for Duran, who followed an eighth-place MVP finish in 2024 with a relatively underwhelming showing in 2025. He and Abreu are superfluous on Boston’s roster, but chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has yet to find a trade partner for either. A swap with the Astros involving Paredes would make a ton of sense.

(Clockwise from top) Nick Castellanos, Masataka Yoshida, Isaac Paredes and Brendan Donovan could all find themselves on new teams before Opening Day 2026.
(Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports)

St. Louis’ winter teardown is nearly complete. New president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has already shipped away a bevy of high-priced vets in Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras. The 2026 team might take a step back, but it’s a worthwhile price to pay, considering how overdue a rebuild was in St. Louis.

But Donovan presents a slightly different dynamic than the three since-departed cornerstones. The versatile utilityman is still 29 years old, doesn’t hit free agency until after the 2027 season and is on a $5.8 million contract for 2026 that should fit within any contender’s budget. That makes Donovan a much more valuable trade commodity than Arenado, Gray or Contreras, none of whom returned any can’t-miss prospects to St. Louis. 

Which teams would part with that type of prospect capital? Seattle, with a farm system full of interesting, high-level position-player prospects, could upgrade at second or third. The Giants, who have reportedly shown interest in both Donovan and Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner this winter, have a hole at second. The same is true for Boston, who has Romy Gonzalez penciled in at the keystone right now.

The soon-to-be 34-year-old was one of the worst every-day players in MLB last season, posting a subpar .250/.294/.400 batting line to go alongside dreadful defense in right field. Castellanos also butted heads with Phillies leadership, alienating himself within many pockets of the organization. It’s an ugly situation — ugly enough that Philadelphia is widely expected to cut bait on Castellanos at some point this winter.

But given the $20 million he’s due this season, Castellanos isn’t at the top of any other team’s must-have list. Maybe president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski will find a club desperate enough to take a chance on the veteran bat, but the Phillies will almost certainly need to cover most, if not all, of Castellanos’ contract in order to move him. If nobody comes calling by the time spring training starts, expect the Phillies to outright release Castellanos and eat the money.

The 32-year-old left-handed starter is the only player in the top 10 of our free-agent rankings who has yet to sign. Valdez, who started 166 games for Houston over the past eight years, drew a torrent of criticism last season when he was alleged to have intentionally thrown a pitch at his catcher’s face during a game in retaliation for a pitch-calling miscommunication. That incident became a huge story, and the consensus around the sport right now is that it’s having an adverse effect on Valdez’s free-agent market.

He’s still going to cost a pretty penny — not many pitchers with a 3.36 career ERA and ample postseason experience hit the open market — but at this point, it seems like Valdez’s contract might come in below what was expected when the winter began. A shorter-term, “prove-it” type of deal with opt-outs could come into play. Keep an eye on the Orioles, Mets, Giants and Tigers, all of whom could certainly use another frontline arm.

5 questions before spring training: Where will Framber Valdez sign? Will Brendan Donovan be traded?

It seems impossible, with half the country currently blanketed in snow, but the ceremonial start of the 2026 MLB season is just 15 days away. 

When pitchers and catchers start reporting to spring training on Feb. 10, the focus of the baseball world will shift from offseason mode to preseason mode. And while most of this winter’s major narratives have already been resolved in one way or another, there are assorted dribs and drabs of business yet to be conducted. 

Let’s run through some of the biggest loose ends that still need to be tied up as this eventful MLB offseason winds down.

Carlos Correa getting dealt to Houston at last year’s trade deadline was one of the most shocking in-season transactions in recent memory. The Astros swooped in to reunite with the franchise icon only because their regular third baseman, Isaac Paredes, was set to miss most of the second half due to injury. It was a bold plan that worked out in the short term; Correa performed well for Houston down the stretch, even as the Astros missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

But with Paredes healthy entering 2026, the Astros find themselves with something of a positional jumble. Jeremy Peña is entrenched at shortstop, which pushed Correa to third in the first place. Christian Walker, in Year 1 of a three-year, free-agent deal, started at first base in all but 10 of Houston’s games last season. José Altuve will get the majority of starts at second, with Yordan Alvarez primed to be the every-day DH. That leaves no room for Paredes, who produced at an All-Star level when healthy in 2025.

Walker, given his age (almost 35) and the money left on his deal ($40 million over two years), is the harder piece to trade. Multiple clubs could be interested in Paredes, but the Mexican slugger was Houston’s most consistent hitter for large stretches last season. Perhaps the Astros hold on to both and try to find enough playing time for everyone, but they feel like a good trade partner for our next topic.

Ceddanne Rafaela needs to play center field every day because he might be the best defensive outfielder in the American League. Roman Anthony needs to play right field every day because he’s one of the most talented youngsters in baseball, and Boston just gave him an eight-year, $130 million extension. That effectively leaves the Red Sox with three players (Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida) for two spots (left field, designated hitter).

Yoshida, with a career .762 OPS, no defensive skills and $37.2 million and two years left on his deal, is clearly the least valuable of that trio. It’s hard to imagine another club taking on that contract. Abreu is a stellar defender with a well-above-average bat, but he struggles mightily against left-handed pitching. That’s also true for Duran, who followed an eighth-place MVP finish in 2024 with a relatively underwhelming showing in 2025. He and Abreu are superfluous on Boston’s roster, but chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has yet to find a trade partner for either. A swap with the Astros involving Paredes would make a ton of sense.

(Clockwise from top) Nick Castellanos, Masataka Yoshida, Isaac Paredes and Brendan Donovan could all find themselves on new teams before Opening Day 2026.
(Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports)

St. Louis’ winter teardown is nearly complete. New president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom has already shipped away a bevy of high-priced vets in Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras. The 2026 team might take a step back, but it’s a worthwhile price to pay, considering how overdue a rebuild was in St. Louis.

But Donovan presents a slightly different dynamic than the three since-departed cornerstones. The versatile utilityman is still 29 years old, doesn’t hit free agency until after the 2027 season and is on a $5.8 million contract for 2026 that should fit within any contender’s budget. That makes Donovan a much more valuable trade commodity than Arenado, Gray or Contreras, none of whom returned any can’t-miss prospects to St. Louis. 

Which teams would part with that type of prospect capital? Seattle, with a farm system full of interesting, high-level position-player prospects, could upgrade at second or third. The Giants, who have reportedly shown interest in both Donovan and Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner this winter, have a hole at second. The same is true for Boston, who has Romy Gonzalez penciled in at the keystone right now.

The soon-to-be 34-year-old was one of the worst every-day players in MLB last season, posting a subpar .250/.294/.400 batting line to go alongside dreadful defense in right field. Castellanos also butted heads with Phillies leadership, alienating himself within many pockets of the organization. It’s an ugly situation — ugly enough that Philadelphia is widely expected to cut bait on Castellanos at some point this winter.

But given the $20 million he’s due this season, Castellanos isn’t at the top of any other team’s must-have list. Maybe president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski will find a club desperate enough to take a chance on the veteran bat, but the Phillies will almost certainly need to cover most, if not all, of Castellanos’ contract in order to move him. If nobody comes calling by the time spring training starts, expect the Phillies to outright release Castellanos and eat the money.

The 32-year-old left-handed starter is the only player in the top 10 of our free-agent rankings who has yet to sign. Valdez, who started 166 games for Houston over the past eight years, drew a torrent of criticism last season when he was alleged to have intentionally thrown a pitch at his catcher’s face during a game in retaliation for a pitch-calling miscommunication. That incident became a huge story, and the consensus around the sport right now is that it’s having an adverse effect on Valdez’s free-agent market.

He’s still going to cost a pretty penny — not many pitchers with a 3.36 career ERA and ample postseason experience hit the open market — but at this point, it seems like Valdez’s contract might come in below what was expected when the winter began. A shorter-term, “prove-it” type of deal with opt-outs could come into play. Keep an eye on the Orioles, Mets, Giants and Tigers, all of whom could certainly use another frontline arm.

NBA trade deadline: What will the Grizzlies do with Ja Morant? Will the Clippers be buyers?

Happy Trade Season to all who celebrate!

In anticipation of the upcoming Feb. 5 deadline, a number of you sent in questions from all over the country concerning pressing trade items around the league. As always, we appreciate the responses. Let’s dig in. 

There doesn’t seem to be a Ja Morant suitor that’s willing to meet Memphis’ “young talent and draft asset” asking price. If no one improves their current offer, will the Grizz still move Ja before the deadline? — @CarlosLop32

We’ve seen both sides of the trade coin in recent years: a disgruntled player subtly or not-so-subtly making his desires to play elsewhere known, and an organization quietly or not-so-quietly making a player available. 

What we haven’t seen lately is what the Memphis Grizzlies did two weeks ago: a tight-lipped organization changing course seemingly in the middle of the night, leaving their young star out to dry. The subsequent timing of Morant-related events — the awkward press conference in Berlin, stellar showing in London and unfortunate left elbow injury back home in Memphis — only add to the strangeness of the whole ordeal. 

There’s an old saying that goes: Once the genie is out of the bottle, you can’t put it back in. Trade talks are always fluid and perception can change instantly, but I don’t think Memphis can reverse the damage it did to Morant and his psyche by putting him on the block in the manner in which it did. Regardless of whether or not the Grizzlies anticipated a slew of teams to drum up interest, or for Morant to accept a different role within the team structure, there’s no doubt the organization knew exactly what it was doing. 

The reality, circling back to your question, is that neither the Grizzlies nor Morant hold any amount of leverage right now. Most teams with the assets Memphis desires — young players and draft picks — are in a holding pattern surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo and his uncertain future in Milwaukee.

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With that being the case, it’s highly unlikely general manager Zach Kleiman will fetch a haul for Morant similar to what he got for Desmond Bane. It’s hard to reach Morant’s $39.4 million salary without cobbling a slew of rookie-scale contracts or older players on negative money. Now, if Memphis is amenable to a salary dump, I could see a path to him being moved in the next 10 days. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the Grizzlies open Door No. 2: reevaluate Morant after the deadline, assess his health after the All-Star break and then ultimately decide to shut him down for the remainder of the season, clearing the runway for a clean offseason break. 

Do you believe the Clippers will make any type of “big” move at the deadline (i.e. Michael Porter Jr.) or target smaller pieces that keep their 2026/2027 cap space plans intact (i.e. Collin Sexton)? — @APH00PS

It’s almost unfathomable to believe that, at one point, the Clippers had lost 19 out of 22 games spanning from early November to mid-December. During that same time span, future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul was sent home, putting the Clippers at the center of league-wide discussions over organizational instability and the potential fallout — rival teams hovering over their assortment of ill-fitting talent. John Collins and Ivica Zubac were the two most common names floated on the market at the time. 

Since that low point, Los Angeles has gone 15-3 with the league’s fourth-best point differential, second-best offense and seventh-based defense, according to Cleaning the Glass. At 21-24, the Clippers sit comfortably in 10th in the West, good for the play-in tournament and, more importantly, in a prime spot to potentially be aggressive before the deadline. 

In conversations around the league, even at the outset of the Clippers’ turnaround, they were thought to be buyers. Whether you want to chalk that up to stubbornness or having both Kawhi Leonard and James Harden on the roster, it’s clear that Los Angeles isn’t quite ready to pivot toward a rebuild just yet. Porter Jr., as you suggested, makes sense from a financial timeline standpoint. Both Leonard and Harden’s contracts are up in the summer of 2027, similarly to Porter, who is making $78 million over the next two seasons. A combination of Collins ($26.5 million), Brook Lopez ($8.8 million) and Nic Batum ($5.6 million) works under the current CBA, provided Brooklyn adds filler to satisfy roster guidelines.

Spotrac

A win-now move like acquiring Porter, a high-end, three-level scorer who has parlayed high usage into a productive, efficient Nets stint is more appealing than, say, adding Sexton. The Clippers have both Leonard and Harden playing at high levels right now. Go for it. 

With Steven Adams probably out for a while, do you think Houston trades for a center? — @sengoonnn

The Rockets have won four out of their last five games following a three-game skid, enough of a turn in fortunes to suggest the Rockets are good as is. But since Jan. 1, the team is just 7-6 with the 21st-ranked offense in the league, according to Cleaning the Glass, and has seen drops in its offensive rebounding rate in the week since Adams suffered a Grade 3 left ankle sprain. The Rockets are an average half-court team in terms of points per possession, but now corral 31.5% of their own misses, 11th-best in the NBA. 

Typically, a drop from first to just outside the top 10 in any offensive category wouldn’t be a death knell, and it’s not the end of the world for Houston. But when combined with some of the Rockets’ other offensive traits — sluggish pace, low 3-point volume, high turnover rate and their propensity to take shots late in the shot clock — the removal of their biggest strength becomes a bigger issue. 

Reserve big Clint Capela’s number has been called recently and the veteran center has responded positively with 16 rebounds (including six offensive rebounds) in his last two stints. But with Adams expected to miss a decent chunk of the season, Rockets officials are still weighing whether or not to add another big to the roster — whether via a trade prior to the Feb. 5 deadline or the ensuing buyout market afterward. 

It’s important to note Houston’s brass is merely pondering the idea right now. I’m sure Rockets fans are currently doing internal calculus concerning the more pressing need: center or guard depth. Because the Rockets are somewhat restricted financially, the most likely routes will come from inexpensive avenues. Last week, Amazon Prime’s Chris Haynes reported interest in Pelicans scrappy guard Jose Alvarado — which Yahoo Sports can confirm. But the Rockets aren’t huddling up with Alvarado’s name at the top of their wishlist. The 27-year-old guard represents what Houston would do, all things being considered: a low-risk, low-cost addition. You could theoretically throw in names like De’Anthony Melton, Cole Anthony and Seth Curry. Ditto with bigs like Day’Ron Sharpe, Kevon Looney (Houston had interest in him last summer prior to signing Capela) and Isaiah Jackson. Again, these are mental exercises. Looking at you, aggregators. 

What are the Heat doing at the deadline? Is it just Giannis or bust? — @KursheedAl31828

I wouldn’t say Miami is strictly operating from a Giannis-or-bust standpoint. Outside of the Morant/Miami connection reported here two weeks ago, the Heat are thought to be seeking smaller-scale deals that would further fortify their asset war chest, positioning them for Antetokounmpo or a similar-scale superstar if and when they become available. 

The Heat currently have seven future first-round picks and two future second-round picks under their control. Miami is in an interesting spot, sitting at 25-22, half a game out of sixth and two games from fifth in the East. Perhaps, given the absence of Tyler Herro (out since mid-January with a chest injury), the Heat would be more open to a Morant deal assuming it wouldn’t cut into their aforementioned Giannis dreams — and assuming Morant could return in a few weeks to give them a post-All-Star push. 

In any case, I’m most interested to see what ends up happening with Terry Rozier’s contract. As a $26 million expiring deal, there should be avenues to move on from the veteran guard, but his alleged involvement in a gambling scandal likely has complicated matters.

Ten Brands Scammers Are Most Likely to Impersonate

Impersonation scams are everywhere: bad actors are constantly trying to convince you that they represent organizations like LinkedIn, PayPal, your bank, the FBI, the FTC, and the IRS as they look to steal your money and information. When it comes to phishing schemes, which typically try to trick you into handing over sensitive data or account credentials via malicious links, tech brands are (perhaps not surprisingly) among the most commonly spoofed.

A recent report from Check Point Research found that Microsoft was imitated in nearly a quarter of all branded phishing attempts in Q4 of last year—nearly double the next most-impersonated company.

According to researchers, tech companies and social networks are consistently among the most popular brands for impersonators running phishing scams, with the following share in the final quarter of last year:

  1. Microsoft: 22%

  2. Google: 13%

  3. Amazon: 9%

  4. Apple: 8%

  5. Facebook (Meta): 3%

  6. PayPal: 2%

  7. Adobe: 2%

  8. Booking: 2%

  9. DHL: 1%

  10. LinkedIn: 1%

While you should always be on guard for common phishing tactics, it’s wise to be especially wary of unsolicited communication from any of the companies listed—especially if that communication is related to account security and/or urges you to click a link. We’ve covered at least one campaign involving nearly every brand here, all of which are known and largely trusted among users, making them prime targets for these types of scams. Check Point notes that stolen Microsoft and Google credentials are particularly valuable because they’re widely used in day-to-day workflows.

Common phishing tactics

Broadly speaking, a phishing scam starts with an email, text, or social media message that appears to be from a legitimate source. It likely asks you to update or verify personal information—often related to a payment or account security—with a link to what appears to be the company’s website or login page. Of course, this link leads instead to a spoofed version of that site designed to harvest your credentials, credit card number, bank details, or other personal data, which scammers can then use for identity theft, account takeover, or purchase fraud.

Note that while the above methods are among the most common, phishing can also happen via phone call, voicemail, and malicious browser pop-ups.

How to protect against branded phishing attacks

As we mentioned, just because you generally trust a company doesn’t mean you should blindly trust all communication from it. If you receive a message that is unprompted, sounds urgent, and is unrelated to any recent action on your part (such as a login attempt or bill payment), do not engage with it. Don’t click any links, open any attachments, or respond directly. Look out for typos and other errors, including the original sender—though as scammers have found ways to appear verified, this isn’t always an obvious red flag.

If you’re unsure about the contents of the message, go directly to the website or app and log in to see any legitimate alerts. A password manager offers an extra layer of security here, as it’ll protect you from entering credentials on a spoofed page.

Finally, enable a strong, phishing-resistant form of multi-factor authentication everywhere you can, and especially for high-use and high-value accounts like Microsoft and Google. If your credentials are compromised, threat actors won’t have that additional factor to utilize them.

Public Skate: Bruins vs. Rangers

Welcome to Monday Night Hockey, folks!

How much snow did you get? Hopefully it’s all cleaned up by now.

Anyways, the Bruins and Rangers will renew acquaintances tonight at Madison Square Garden, with the B’s looking continue a nice recent run of results and the Rangers simply looking for a glimmer of brightness in a very disappointing season.

Bruins! Rangers! Original Six!

Discuss.

Braves bring back José Suarez

Not even two weeks ago, the Braves ended up seeing lefty pitcher José Suarez get claimed off waivers by the Orioles after Atlanta had designated him for assignment. As fate would have it, Suarez’s time with the Orioles ended up being extremely short after the Orioles decided to DFA him last week after they claimed Weston Wilson off waivers from the Phillies.

It’s apparent now that the Braves were hoping for Suarez to clear waivers after they DFA’d him because now he’s back with the Braves after they claimed him off waivers from the Orioles. The team announced the news first, themselves.

George Soriano got DFA’d as a result. Soriano’s time with the Braves was just as short-lived as Suarez’s time with the Orioles was — Soriano was DFA’d by Baltimore on January 9 while Suarez was claimed by the Orioles on January 15. Now, Suarez is back with the Braves and Soriano is right back in the weird waters that are winter waivers.

At this point now, the big question is whether or not the Braves will try to DFA Suarez again in order to try to get him into their minor league system via that path. He’s out of options so if that’s what they want to do with him then that’s the only way. I think they’d be successful this time around but also wouldn’t be just so goofy if the Orioles picked him up again? Now granted, we’re talking about people’s lives being uprooted at the drop of a dime so I’m rooting for the Braves to get him in their farm system if they choose to DFA him again. If not, then we’ve just got another wacky baseball tale concerning two fringe players.

Suarez made seven big league appearances and pitched 19.1 innings for the Braves last season, where he produced an ERA of 1.86 and a FIP of 3.70 while also putting up solid numbers for Atlanta’s Triple-A affiliate during the 2025 season as well.

Cam Caminiti makes Keith Law’s Top 100 Prospects List

Keith Law has released his updated Top 100 Prospects List on The Athletic, in an article found here. The only Atlanta Braves farmhand to make the list was Cam Caminiti, coming in at No. 35. This means prospects such as JR Ritchie, Didier Fuentes, and Owen Murphy came up shy of cracking the Top 100 for Law.

In the writeup Caminiti, who will be in his age-19 season in 2026, is said to have “continued to show premium stuff in his pro debut while throwing strikes and limiting hard contact in Low A.” It went on to talk about how he “sits 92-95 already from a low three-quarters slot with a plus changeup that hitters whiffed on half the time they swung at it.” As for his breaking ball, it is “now more of a sweeper, missing some bats in the zone but not generating a lot of chase: it grades out as a 55 or 60 on paper, and I’ve had scouts come in anywhere from average to plus, but right now it plays more average with hitters.”

Law adds notes about how his “low slot helps the sweeper play up against lefties, and he comes slightly across his body due to where he lands on the mound, which helps everything look better against lefties.” Then mentioned his splits, where lefties hit just .184/.283/.207 versus the .251/.328/.371 against right-handers. Law then mentioned his athleticism and former two-way background and said “getting him a little more online to the plate would improve his results against righties while also letting that athleticism show more in the delivery and the command.”

Law finishes off mentioning that Caminiti “passed the biggest test for high school pitchers surviving the first year of pro ball without injury, and if that continues he’ll be one of the top lefties in the minors by next spring.”

‘MLB The Show 26’ announces it will ‘not have a new cover athlete’ for this year’s version of the game

The “MLB The Show” cover reveal is always a highly anticipated offseason announcement. Fans of the video game are always eager to see which up-and-coming, exciting star or legendary player will grace its cover. 

With the 2026 MLB season closer than you might think, “MLB The Show 26” announced Monday that the game will not feature a “new cover athlete” this year. 

That announcement was made in a short statement, which read: 

“To our MLB The Show community:

“First off, we at San Diego Studios want to thank you, the MLB The Show Community, for your continued support and feedback.

“We know that you are all just as excited as we are for the release of MLB The Show 26, so we wanted to let everyone know that this year we have decided that we will not have a new cover athlete.

“Please stay tuned to all of our social channels for more information to come.”

That statement drew plenty of questions. With no “new cover athlete” this year, what or who will grace the cover this time around? The MLB logo? A generic baseball? Rob Manfred? As San Diego Studios teased, fans will have to keep an eye on “MLB The Show” social media channels for more information. 

That last statement, combined with the word “new” appearing in the release, should inject a healthy amount of skepticism in Monday’s announcement. With the Super Bowl coming up, brands can’t be trusted. Celebrity chef Guy Fieri went viral recently for showing off a “new look” just prior to the Super Bowl. Are you really going to buy that?

Even if this isn’t a huge misdirect by “MLB The Show,” the presence of the word “new” is carrying a lot of weight. It’s possible a returning cover athlete will appear on the cover for a second time. Or it’s possible the game will go with some sort of montage featuring multiple former cover athletes. There’s enough ambiguity here to suspect the people over at “MLB The Show 26” have something up their sleeves. 

If the game decides to bring a former cover athlete back in 2026, here are the options it has to choose from.

  • MLB 06: The Show: David Ortiz

  • MLB 07: The Show: David Wright

  • MLB 08: The Show: Ryan Howard

  • MLB 09: The Show: Dustin Pedroia

  • MLB 10: The Show: Joe Mauer

  • MLB 11: The Show: Joe Mauer

  • MLB 12: The Show: Adrián Gonzalez

  • MLB 13: The Show: Andrew McCutchen

  • MLB 14: The Show: Miguel Cabrera

  • MLB 15: The Show: Yasiel Puig

  • MLB The Show 16: Josh Donaldson

  • MLB The Show 17: Ken Griffey Jr. 

  • MLB The Show 18: Aaron Judge

  • MLB The Show 19: Bryce Harper

  • MLB The Show 20: Javier Báez

  • MLB The Show 21: Fernando Tatis Jr. 

  • MLB The Show 22: Shohei Ohtani

  • MLB The Show 23: Jazz Chisholm Jr.

  • MLB The Show 24: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 

  • MLB The Show 25: Paul Skenes, Elly De La Cruz and Gunnar Henderson

There are a lot of options there. If a returning cover athlete (or athletes) comes back, Ohtani or Guerrero could make sense after reaching the World Series. Judge could get the call after winning another MVP. Skenes could get a standalone cover after winning his first Cy Young award. 

Alternatively, a combination of a few of those players could grace the cover. Maybe “MLB The Show” plays into the World Series matchup and features both Ohtani and Guerrero. Madden did that with “Madden 10,” which featured Troy Polamalu and Larry Fitzgerald after the two players met in the Super Bowl. Madden also did it in “Madden 22,” when Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady graced the cover together.

“MLB The Show 26” has plenty of time to make an announcement regarding its cover. While “MLB The Show 26” doesn’t have an official release date yet, the new edition of the franchise usually comes out in mid-March. 

“MLB The Show 25” had a March 18 release date. “MLB The Show 24” came out March 19. “MLB The Show 26” will likely have a similar release date this year.