Sam Dykstra

The pitcher who was let out of jail, threw a complete game, then went back to jail By 1931, the Marin County court system was sick of dealing with Tony Freitas. Sure, the young pitcher for the Pacific Coast League's Sacramento Senators was becoming a star. He went 19-6 with a 3.24 E...

Tony Freitas is an MiLB pitching legend. His 342 career Ws are fourth best ever. He struck out Babe Ruth, he went 17 innings against Dizzy Dean.

Oh, and there's that time he got let out of jail, pitched a complete game, and then went back to jail again.
www.mlb.com/news/tony-fr...

MADDUX MADSEN SIBLING NAMES AND BASEBALL PLAYERS NAMED AFTER MICK - MICKEY MANTLE MCGWIRE - MARK MCGWIRE MAYS - WILLIE MAYS MURPHY - DALE MURPHY MACEE JOE - JOE DIMAGGIO MADDUX NAMED AFTER GREG MADDUX

oh my god the list of Boise St QB Maddux Madsen's sibling names, they're all named after baseball players

Save for future use

The Cardinals have claimed Zak Kent off waivers from the Guardians.

The right-handed reliever averaged 2,800+ rpm on both his curveball and slider in Triple-A and the Majors last season. Pretty even splits too. But well-below-average extension and just OK fastball velo (93.1 avg at AAA).

The Pirates have claimed Marco Luciano off waivers from the Giants, Pittsburgh just announced.

A fresh start for the former Top 100 prospect.

Friend of the pod/program/show for past guests

My FanGraphs Walk-Off data, showing July as my busiest month and July 31 as my busiest day

why, what happened? @fangraphs.com

NEW: Top 100 Draft prospects for '26 It might only be December, but there’s a serious case of Draft fever ranging. The root cause is the release of MLB Pipeline’s new 2026 Top 100 Draft Prospects list. The fans are definitely aflame, tho...

The 2026 Top 100 Draft Prospects list is out, courtesy of @jonathanmayomlb.bsky.social and @jimcallis.bsky.social.

Jonathan gets you primed on the class ahead of next week's Draft Lottery:

Johan Oviedo is listed at 6-foot-6, 275 pounds. The Red Sox acquired him last night, after Tolle's comments in Tim's story below.

RJ Petit (6-8, 300) is Rule 5-eligible, as is Tyler Stuart (6-9, 250). If the Sox take either next Wednesday, they're officially all-in on mound moose.

Christmas tree by the New York Stock Exchange

Christmas tree under the Washington Square arch with the Empire State Building behind

Christmas tree at Rockefeller Plaza

Got in a good walk before work. Saw three trees.

Good morning.

Luna laying on a couch

Luna cuddled up within a bunch of blankets

Luna sitting on the foot of a bed, looking outside

Luna taking a nap next to a painting of Luna that her mom created

Due to some very sad circumstances, this lovely pup Luna is now in need of a home. If you're in the Atlanta area and you're looking to bring a dog into your world, Luna would be a fantastic addition to your family. If not, please just share this for a signal boost. lifelineanimal.org/pet-details/...

Top 100 Baseball Prospects The Official Site of Major League Baseball

Jhostynxon Garcia was going to be buried on the Red Sox OF depth chart, even if they moved Duran or Abreu. We’ll see what else the Pirates do this offseason, but he’ll have a much better shot at an Opening Day spot in Pittsburgh. www.mlb.com/milb/prospec...

Dale Murphy deserves to be in. Jeff Kent should be in. I'd probably personally vote for Bonds and Clemens and give a long look at Mattingly in an open ballot.

It's a tough system when the 16 committee members only get three votes. But I'd get Valenzuela on there first and figure the other two out.

I know he falls short in terms of longevity and career totals, but I keep coming back to this thought about this year's Hall of Fame Contemporary Era ballot:

Fernando Valenzuela's story -- between his early dominance and the cultural impact of Fernandomania -- is worthy of a plaque in Cooperstown.

Certainly possible, and I bet there'd be joy in plucking a decent prospect *away* from the Cubs. Personally, I'd like to see his stuff with the MLB ball at Triple-A before taking him, but there's SP upside there and that's what STL should be targeting, given the injuries to Roby/Hjerpe/Hence.

Huh! Alright, let me check on that. Sorry for the issue and confusion.

Strange! Appreciate the heads up. Works for me on laptop and mobile. Give it another try? If it's still not working, I'll ask around about it, but for now, not seeing a 404.

Happy to report WAKE UP DEAD MAN is a baseball movie.

Spotify Wrapped says my listening age is 72

Big stretches this morning.

The #BlueJays' already excellent rotation grows even deeper. The Ponce addition is some 2027 business done early, too. As it stands:

Dylan Cease
Kevin Gausman (FA after '26)
Trey Yesavage
Shane Bieber (FA after '26)
Cody Ponce
José Berríos (opt-out after '26)

With Competitive Balance rounds set, here's how the 2026 Draft order looks The top of the 2026 Draft won’t be set until the MLB Draft Lottery plays out on Dec. 9. But the overall Draft order is beginning to take shape, now that the Competitive Balance rounds are set. Since 2...

The Competitive Balance round picks have been assigned, so here's a look from Joe Trezza at the current standing of the MLB Draft order before next Tuesday's lottery: www.mlb.com/news/mlb-dra...

Well done, New York Film Critics Circle!

Carson Lund was our guest on Episode 493 of The Show Before the Show to chat about Eephus, a terrific baseball movie: www.mlb.com/milb/fans/po...

Relatedly, here's a picture of my nephew and me from Soldiers Field in Douglas, Mass where the movie was shot:

A good day to write about a Williams and the Mets

Corey Ray was the fifth overall pick in the 2016 Draft, taken out of Louisville by the Brewers. He appeared in one MLB game with Milwaukee on April 24, 2021 and didn't play for an affiliated team again after the 2022 season. He managed the ACL Cubs in each of the last two years.

After Semien trade, how does Jett Williams factor into Mets plans? The Mets and Rangers swapping of outfielder Brandon Nimmo and second baseman Marcus Semien may have been a one-for-one trade (with some cash going to Texas, too), but it set up a series of dominoes on...

Jett Williams' outfield glove should go to the top of his Spring Training packing list for 2026.

More on how the No. 3 Mets prospect was affected by the addition of Marcus Semien: www.mlb.com/milb/news/ho...

Bob Chesney's five career head coaching assignments:

Salve Regina
Assumption
Holy Cross
James Madison
UCLA

He was coaching Division II as recently as 2017. The guy knows how to level up.

Jacob Misiorowski averaged 7.6 feet of extension, ranking in the 100th percentile among MLB pitchers.

Hopefully this fact catches on.

Feel like I'm losing my mind here. Hey Ole Miss, you'd better let your more powerful rival's head coach do whatever he wants in your building every day until the portal opens