For more than a year now, the news has been abuzz with the meteorite known as the Prognosteroid, discovered in Asia and found to have been inscribed with near-microscopic alien writing that scientists & astrologists were convinced was a message sent to us from an advanced civilization far off in the galaxy. The top linguists all over the globe spent months analyzing and translating the cryptic writing, concluding just this week that the writing was not in fact an alien code, but a game-by-game prediction of how the WBH season will end in 2026, written in plain English. Apparently none of the linguists had ever seen a box score before.

Anyhow, now that the mystery is solved, just as spring training ends, we can now take a look at what the Prognosteroid says will be the results of all seven league battles in this year’s season. Are they an unassailable documentation of the future that has already been seen by our deep-space benefactors? Perhaps a primitive attempt at intergalactic sports blogging? Or cruder still a manipulation of Earth sports betting markets by an alien bookie?

Around the WBH has the scoop on the Prognosteroid’s predictions and submits them for your approval, after the jump.

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While fun & sometimes entertaining to watch, skiing does not count as a sport because the Swiss are good at it.

The NBA is a short-season yawner. College football is over and the NFL is full of boring crybabies. There might be hockey on or something, but on one of those channels you’re too lazy to flip past 100 infomercials on your satellite receiver. What is a sports fan to do? Fear not…this week Around the WBH concludes the two-part series of the top 10 stories in the World Baseball Hierarchy that rocked our socks in the 2025 season. That ought to tide you over, no?

Last week, we spent a good portion of time in the USA and Japan leagues looking at the big stories near the top of the hierarchy, but without a doubt the real drama this year was happening in Cuba and in some of the tier 3 leagues like Canada and South Korea. The long-awaited advancement of Chihuahua and Santurce, the roaring back to life of the La Habana Los Leones, and a class-A donnybrook for the Cuban LAD championship. Aaah, the memories. It’s going to be a long winter…

Jump with me, and let’s stroll back through stories #6 through #10.

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Two things I've had to learn the hard way: you can't operate zonkies or riding lawn mowers while under the influence of Cuervo Gold.

Due to an unexpected hiatus, Around the WBH went dark for a while and unfortunately missed the playoffs entirely – but thankfully all is well again and AtWBH is back in the saddle. Special thanks to all the incredibly helpful people at the U.S embassy in Mexico, and Juan “El Salvator” Dominguez, Tijuana’s most trusted DUI defense attorney.

So…what did we miss? Looks like in a nutshell, what we missed was the dramatic end to an incredible season. This week AtWBH looks back at the ten most newsmaking developments in the WBH for the 2025 season, with a look ahead to 2026′s Hot Stove league. Numbers 1 through 5 are available for your reading pleasure, after what the Mexicans call el jumpo.

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WBH Factoid: In 2008, a poorly conceived cross promotion between the WBH and the producers of Let's Make A Deal resulted in the Deadwood Aces and Eights trading utility infielder Ernesto Estevez for a donkey wearing a wig.

Sixty-six games into the books, fifty-four more to go until championship time, and that perennially exciting trade deadline looms ever nearer. Already the triggers have been pulled on several big names – Nobuharu Matsuyama and Jae-chun Yu to name a couple – which might be an indicator of a super-active trade deadline period this year.

Of course, half the fun is speculating who will be buying and who will be selling, and what better way to start that conversation than taking a look at who’s contending. Here’s the story so far:

• San Lorenzo’s grip on 1st is slowly eroding; Azua however is sixteen games ahead
• Erie back in contention in Japan’s LAD; practically EVERYONE is in contention in the LOD
• Toa Baja and Maracaibo shrug off Wuhan in Cuba, while Santiago de Cuba still holds the LOD
• Tokyo beginning to break out in the hapless Dominican LOD
• Jeonju three games out of upsetting Santurce; Rizao and Cheju just four games behind Quebec
• Cancun is now 11 games ahead in VEN’s LAD; Chihuahua still has to worry about Mexico City, only 5 games behind
• Seoul and Brooklyn surge ahead to challenge Hamilton at the top spot in the Canada LAD; Xi’an slowly pulling away from Hong Kong.

All that and whatever’s behind curtain #2 after the jump

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Week 8 is in the books, and we’re almost to the halfway point in the season. Time enough for this year’s contenders to emerge, the pretenders to start planning for 2026, and the screw-you-I’m-winning-this-years to begin their sudden improbable lurches toward the top spot. As usual, Around the WBH is here to divide them all up into their respective bins for your analytical enjoyment.

Here’s a look at this week’s notable stories:

• Azua is already printing playoff shirts, while San Lorenzo holds a slim lead on the USA LOD competition
• Erie makes an eerie free-fall to the bottom of the Japan LAD
• Wuhan steps on the gas and makes the Cuba LAD a three-team scrum
• Three teams separate first and last place in the Dominican LOD. Sounds exciting, but it’s not
• Unlike Quebec, Santurce can’t quite drive a stake in the heart of their Korean LAD rivals
• Cancun overtakes Chihuahua as the team to watch in Venezuela
• Hong Kong still the second best team in Canada, still 4 games behind Xi’an in the LOD.

All this, plus we answer mail we didn’t even receive, after the jump.

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RECALL NOTICE – SANCHO SAVOURY’S JALAPENO POTATO CRISPS (TM)

Regrettably, this week’s Around the WBH starts off with a court-ordered notice of recall of all 144 million bags of Sancho Savoury’s Jalapeno Potato Crisps. Apparently the chips were not approved for sale in the U.S. or any other industrialized nation, due in large part to significant amounts of mercury, chromium, lead, human growth hormone, Olestra and crystal methamphetamine. The authorities recommend you contact your local HAZMAT authorities for instructions on proper disposal of any uneaten potato chips.

Sadly, this also sinks our sponsorship deal with Sancho Savoury’s Jalapeno Potato Crisps. But on the bright side – there’s exciting baseball going on in the WBH leagues. This week’s highlights:

• Azua back on top the USA – with a vengeance!
• Bani & Erie jockeying for top billing in the LAD, while Tocumen roars past once-perfect Toluca
• Toa Baja & Santiago de Cuba still the teams to beat, but looking more beatable
• Is that really Bonao that’s just two games out of 1st in the Dominican LOD?
•  Around the WBH’s secret, never-before-revealed pick to win the South Korean league is dangerously close to 1st place…dare we reveal them now? Yes, we do.
• Cancun still finding VEN to their liking; Chihuahua still destroying all competition.
• Hamilton jumps ahead in Canada; Hong Kong struggling to stay in striking distance with the Kylin.

All that, and chelation to remove blood toxins and heavy metals from overconsumption of tainted potato chips, after the jump.

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They're Not Savory...Unless They're Sancho Savory! (tm)

A hearty welcome to all WBH fans to another exciting season of world baseball! We’ve got 12 in the books already and brand new exciting stories emerging in all seven of the big leagues this year. And with the exciting new year comes an exciting new sponsor for Around the WBH: Sancho Savoury’s Jalapeno Potato Crisps! The injured Baracoa second baseman is busying himself in his DL time putting his face on some of the most delicious and spicy potato chips this reporter has tasted in a long while.

So go out and buy a bag! You’ll be somewhat glad you did. And so will Around the WBH, who with the sponsorship money has already been able to move offices from the back room milk crate next to the Ethernet jack at Regency Liquors to the bathroom of an abandoned Linens ‘n Things just down the street.

Click ye below for the answers to this week’s burning questions:

• Has the USA picked up where they left off last year?
• Toluca’s 10-2 record: for real, or for show?
• Should Santiago de Cuba and Toa Baja start selling playoff tickets?
• Will anything other than Moca be able to stop Moca?
• Who in Korea is for real vs. having a temporarily good record because of Rizao’s 2-10 start?
• Is this Venezuela’s Ano de Chihuahua?
• Will Xi’an’s return to Canada steal Hong Kong’s birthright to the Canadian LOD?
• Does anything complement a sandwich better than Sancho Savoury’s Jalapeno Potato Crisps?

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The Moca Machine spring training camp, nicknamed "The Gearbox," two days before players are scheduled to report.

Baseball time is fast approaching. They’re lining the fields now at the spring training camp fields. Soon there’ll be all sorts of new stuff to talk about:  rookie readiness, team-crippling injuries, who looks like they hit the ‘roids in the offseason. Before all that comes to a head, it’s time to walk through the batters and starting pitchers who’ll be on the 2024 Awards Ballot.

Words, numbers, after jump.

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1. RF Simon Vermette, Monterrey Alacranes, 6 yr, $122.3m

Monterrey says hello to the Japan League by signing a guy that will consume 1/4 of their entire payroll budget until 2031. And what do the Alacranes get for their money? A player with a career .887 OPS in Canada who broke .900 once in five seasons of being a starter (and that was in 2021). A player with a consistently excellent OBP but the speed of a zeppelin driving against the wind, which contributes to his consistent negative double-digit ZR in RF.

Still, that’s not to say Vermette won’t be an excellent addition to the Alacranes lineup. As you may recall, Monterrey ended 2024 watching LF Kuemon Kato plow headfirst into a wall, followed by a hospital bed and an unemployment line. Vermette is a way better bat than Kato ever was, and this is a team that only really had two impact bats in the lineup: 1B Delmar Bergano and 2B Kei Takahashi. Adding Vermette, in addition to the continued maturity of prospects Francisco Gonzalez and Francisco Ceron, really ought to make this lineup look pretty fearsome in Japan.

2. SP Jose Sontay, Pacora Jaguars, 5 yr., $88.4m

A lifelong Jaguar, 26-year-old Sontay in his first year of FA eligibility played the “greener pastures” game. And won. Big. Many teams bid on him, but none so desperately as Pacora, who hit Sontay with a lucrative $17.6m/yr deal to buy his loyalty back.

Sontay’s return is of course super-important to the Jaguars. Failure to keep Sontay would have left Rafael Recimos in the rotation as the only starter that’s a sure bet based on last year’s performances. Assuming “Bubbles” Gallardo can pitch again in Japan like he did in 2023 when he went 11-3, Pacora’s rotation looks like it might be the sharpest in the LAD.

3. Takeji Mikami, Vancouver Ventures, 5 yr, $22.75m

Much has already been written about the sudden descent to mediocrity of the Reptile, shortly after Azua ponied up a 3-year, $66m extension in 2022. After hitting .235 last season in mostly a bench role, Azua ate the last $22 million of his contract just to be rid of him.

Without a doubt, the Reptile that left Azua in an armored car full of money is not the superstar that won six championship rings for the best team in WBH history. But starting anew at age 30, does he have enough to be a vital part of someone else’s organization?

In a word, yes. Vancouver rightly figured Mikami still has a lot to offer. First of all, he’s a plus defender at all three outfield positions, and he still kills a ball when he’s lucky enough to make contact with one. This makes him a decent gamble as a #5 hitter in a lineup directly behind Manny Jurasin and Brad Southorn. As a replacement for the light-hitting Ted Kleeman, who played the bulk of starts in LF last year, Mikami makes a lot of sense and adds another likely 20 HRs to the Ventures lineup. All for a relatively cheap price tag – less than $5m per season. Possibly not a great deal if Mikami hasn’t hit rock bottom yet, but expect Mikami to make a difference in the Ventures lineup this year.

4. Jesse Shriver, Tijuana Grasshoppers, 5 yrs., $85.9m

Shriver walked from Toronto at the end of 2024, tired of being in the shadow of SP Sancho Tevada, and quite possibly ready to leave the sinking ship that is the Toronto Sting. Shriver pitched his way on the Starter of the Year ballot the last time he was in Venezuela League (13-5, 2.18 ERA) and this was probably not lost on Tijuana when they decided the chances of him repeating that would help them finally get out of the bottom of the VEN league.

Ironically, Shriver escapes Tevada’s shadow, but most likely slots right into the shadow of Maciero Hermioso, who was one of the best starters in the WBH last year. Hermioso, Shriver and Vinny Trujilo might just be enough to turn around the fortunes of a pitching staff that blew a 4.58 on the CrappyERAalyzer last year.

5. Erin Evenson, Azua Tortugas, 3 yr, $21.7m

Only a select few players can boast that they’ve played for both of the most legendary teams in the WBH. Add Evenson to that list. A rookie with San Lorenzo in 2019, Evenson has spent the last few years in Colon, putting up inconsistent numbers for a historically inconsistent team. The flashes of brilliance that occasionally shine through are worth putting him on the mound, and brilliance is what Azua is looking for, after suffering their worst pitching year in the history of their organization (3.99 team ERA). The presence of Evenson and other free agent Guo-qiang Long pushes the disappointing Juan Bustamante and the rotating cast of clowns that the Tortugas tried out in slot number five, which really ought to be enough to bolster this starting squad, even with the increasing decline of Christian Lewis. On the other hand, Evenson is just a couple years removed from a terrible year in Japan that saw him going 3-14, 5.41 ERA in 24 starts. If that Evenson shows up, things won’t look good for Azua’s 2025 resurrection miracle.

No one has yet told the Thunder Bay Banjo Dude that the Avengers didn't make the playoffs again this year.

Unlike a Foggy Mountain Breakdown, which is a free style bluegrass interlude involving one or more banjos, a 2024 Playoff Breakdown is Around the WBH’s analysis of your 14 championship teams, in our annual effort to predict who’ll be taking home trophies this year…and perhaps most importantly, to bring our prediction success rate up above .500 for the first time in AtWBH history.

Click below the jump, and happy picking!

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