BREAKING: Two-time reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal won his arbitration case and will make $32 million this year, sources tell ESPN. Skubal’s bet to go for the largest salary ever in the arbitration system paid off, as he’ll make $13M more than Tigers argued.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 5, 2026

Tigers were idiots making that offer. Think they win if they did $22-23M

That's crazy. I was way off here.

Farmer1906 said:

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That's crazy. I was way off here.

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As usual

texasaggie2015 said:

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Farmer1906 said:

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That's crazy. I was way off here.

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As usual

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Pretty much.

Most MLB postseason home runs allowed since 2020:

1. Framber Valdez, 14
2. Lance Mccullers Jr., 13
3. Jose Urquidy, 11
4. Max Scherzer, 11
5. Yu Darvish, 10 pic.twitter.com/YfmACXMCYn

— AP (@TalksToPeople) February 5, 2026

EastCoastAgNc said:

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Most MLB postseason home runs allowed since 2020:

1. Framber Valdez, 14
2. Lance Mccullers Jr., 13
3. Jose Urquidy, 11
4. Max Scherzer, 11
5. Yu Darvish, 10 pic.twitter.com/YfmACXMCYn

— AP (@TalksToPeople) February 5, 2026

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HR/9 since 2020 (min 10 IP)
1. Tony Gonsolin (LAD) - 3.68
2. Luis Gil (NYY) - 3.38
3. Ryan Yarbough (TBR) - 3.07
4. Spencer Strider (ATL) - 3.00
5. Ryan Brasier (2 TMS) - 2.93
--HOU only--
6. Lance McCullers Jr (HOU) - 2.88
7. Jose Urquidy (HOU) - 2.72
14. Hector Neris (HOU) - 2.40
37. Zack Greinke (HOU) - 1.71
44. Luis Garcia (HOU) - 1.54
50. Framber Valdez (HOU) - 1.48
52. Cristian Javier (HOU) - 1.44
54. Justin Verlander (HOU) - 1.41
74. Hunter Brown (HOU) - 1.10
93. Kendall Graveman (HOU) - 0.82
121. Bryan Abreu (HOU) - 0.43
125. Ryan Pressly (HOU) - 0.26 Keke Hernandez got him in game 1 of the 21 ALCS vs Boston.

If you up the min to 80 IP, then Framber is #1. But he's also the only pitcher with 80 IP since 2020.

And all of Lance's game in one game

And while I am looking at it...

Astros IP since the start of the run in 2015
1. Verlander - 127.2 IP, 3.74 ERA, 3.47 xERA
2. Valdez - 85.0 IP, 4.34 ERA, 4.31 xERA
3. McCullers - 72.2 IP, 3.47 ERA, 4.59 xERA
4. Keuchel - 51.2 IP, 3.31 ERA, 4.29 xERA
5. Cole - 49.2 IP, 2.17 ERA. 2.86 xERA
6. Urquidy - 46.1 IP, 4.08 ERA, 4.90 xERA
7. Greinke - 46.0 IP, 4.30 RA, 5.77 xERA
8. Pressly - 45.1 IP, 2.78 ERA, 2.69 xERA
9. Javier - 43.2 IP, 2.68 ERA, 2.90 xERA
10. Morton - 25.2 IP, 4.91 ERA, 3.53 xERA

Players who didn't give up a single earned run
Tony Sipp - 6.1 IP
Ronel Blanco - 2.0 IP
Pat Neshek - 1.0 IP
Bryan King - 0.2 IP
Caleb Frguson - 0.1 IP

Highest K/9
1. Josh Feilds - 21.60 (1.2 IP)
2. Pat Neshek - 18.00 (1.0)
2. Ronel Blanco - 18.00 (2.0)
4. Andre Scrubb - 15.75 (4.0)
5. Bryan Abreu - 14.54 (21.2). He also has a 39.3% K% (holy *****)

Who is the best Astros postseason player?

I think C4 might have a nice little argument

• #1 in Win Probability Added
• #3 in RE24
• #1 in Clutch
• #4 in PA
• #4 in Hits
• #4 in HR
• #3 in OPS (min 100 PA)

Altuve is knocking on the door of the best postseason player ever in a lot of counting metrics. Jeter beats him in things like hits because Jeter played twice the number of postseason games.

Of course the argument for Jose and his counting stats is also "he's played in a lot of postseason games".

Astros say RHP J.P. France cleared waivers today and was outrighted to Triple-A Sugar Land.

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 5, 2026

Mathguy64 said:

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Altuve is knocking on the door of the best postseason player ever in a lot of counting metrics. Jeter beats him in things like hits because Jeter played twice the number of postseason games.

Of course the argument for Jose and his counting stats is also "he's played in a lot of postseason games".

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That is fair, but Jose has had a bunch of stinker series to go with some massive ones. Yall remember when he got the yips? When he was rocking a sub .300 OPS in 2022 before the WS? He won in 2022 despite him, not because of him.

He absolutely owns some of the best postseason moments. 2019 Walkoff. 2023 HR that should have saved that series. 2017 3 HR day vs sale. Big game in game 5 vs the Dodgers. How many players in history can say they have 10 3-hit games in the postseason?

jja79 said:

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My all time favorite Astro.

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Great name too!

Hub `93 said:

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Sky was the limit for that guy. That beaning was a gut punch.

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Its crazy to think of what could have been coming off a monster 1983 season. I won't say HOF but had that kind of talent.

This is some huge news from @DavidPurdum: Prosecutors are alleging the scope of Emmanuel Clase’s scheme in which he intentionally threw pitches for balls is far greater than originally thought. Forty-eight games is a staggering number. Story free at ESPN: https://t.co/yJBgAVa9U2 https://t.co/YnuTJT4olK

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 6, 2026

Sounds like a great AI use! Sorry, just hopped over from f16 again.

Sources: Red Sox have signed veteran infielder Brendan Rodgers to a minor league contract.

— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) February 6, 2026

The Sox are….interesting. Their SP looks really deep. They have some interesting bats. However, they have little power and a bad infield defense. Normally when you're bad defensively it's because you have a bunch of slow mashers waddling around. Somehow they managed to be slappy without the "defensive specialist" that typically goes along with it.

MaxPower said:

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The Sox are….interesting. Their SP looks really deep. They have some interesting bats. However, they have little power and a bad infield defense. Normally when you're bad defensively it's because you have a bunch of slow mashers waddling around. Somehow they managed to be slappy without the "defensive specialist" that typically goes along with it.

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And they have a bunch of pitchers with high groundball rates.

Mayer looks to be solid, and Hamilton does too as long as he's at 2B and not SS. Story is bad. Campbell is, too. Romy has versatility but isn't good. Contrares has turned into a plus defensive 1B, but that's the least important INF position.

Their OF defense should be very strong between Rafaela, Abreu, Anthony, and Duran.

Walker would upgrade their defense!

agproducer said:

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Walker would upgrade their defense!

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But would it?

Wabs said:

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agproducer said:

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Walker would upgrade their defense!

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But would it?

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Defense is one of the few things he's still decent at.

Wabs said:

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agproducer said:

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Walker would upgrade their defense!

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But would it?

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Shhhhhh! We need Walker gone!