Glad Valentine’s Day, everybody, and welcome to the primary mailbag of spring coaching. It’s becoming that this annual day of affection coincides with the return of baseball, as a result of all of us are head over heels in love with this sport. Should you weren’t, you wouldn’t be spending a part of your Saturday studying a Members-only mailbag on an internet site devoted solely to protecting our sport. Actually, baseball is the sport of affection. Our fandom begins as passionate affair, after which like several lasting relationship, it requires every day dedication, rising stronger over time. It rewards endurance, onerous work, and discovering pleasure in each the mundane and the extraordinary. It isn’t at all times simple, nevertheless it’s at all times price it. How are you going to not be romantic about baseball?
Talking of affection, no one I do know loves faculty baseball like Michael Baumann. With Friday marking the beginning of the faculty season, he previewed the motion to return in two items. First, he ran by the seven faculty groups you must know in 2026, after which went deep on what he dubbed, “The Ridiculous Firewagon Offenses of School Baseball.” The opening of spring camps additionally means it’s Prospect Week right here at FanGraphs. Should you missed any of our protection, you could find Eric Longenhagen’s audit of our 2019 High 100 record, David Laurila’s interviews with Cardinals assistant GM Rob Cerfolio and Padres assistant director of participant improvement Mike Daly about their respective farm techniques, Brendan Gawlowski’s reflections on what he realized from his worst scouting report throughout his time as a Pirates professional scout, and Eric’s up to date 2026 draft rankings. Early subsequent week, we’ll have our High 100 Prospects record, in addition to these from each ZiPS and OOPSY, together with fantasy rankings and loads of different prospect protection. So be sure you come again to the positioning to test all of it out.
That’s the final you’ll examine love and Prospect Week on this week’s mailbag. As a substitute, we’ll be answering your questions on the price of 1.0 WAR, the legality of a canine enjoying first base, the variety of balls gamers hit of their careers, and whether or not a full group of free brokers may beat the Rockies. Earlier than we do, although, I’d prefer to remind you that this mailbag is unique to FanGraphs Members. Should you aren’t but a Member and want to hold studying, you possibly can join a Membership right here. It’s one of the simplest ways to each expertise the positioning and assist our workers, and it comes with a bunch of different nice advantages. Additionally, in the event you’d prefer to ask a query for an upcoming mailbag, ship me an electronic mail at mailbag@fangraphs.com.