2025 MLB Thread

[ELA]

Yeah, I'm not going to kill LA for both developing well, and then spending money.

LA also has like no healthy starters.  Which, when you have god money, you can afford to pay for guys to run into the ground, but one agent earlier this spring said he would never allow one of his clients to sign with LA, unless it was a contract he was good with being his last.  LA can do that.  But in the short term their pitching is kind of a mess.  And also Mookie Betts looks like a shell of his former self.

And then you check the standings, and even on a 5 game losing streak, LA has the best record in the NL, and the 2nd best in the MLB, so you can't really criticize the way they operate, any team would trade places with them in a heartbeat

[OrangeAfroMan]

Once LA had all the dollars to spend, they ransacked Tampa's front office full of smart people winning with no money and ever since, it's division titles and 2 WS championships.

And idk what the hell is wrong with Betts.  Unless it's an injury he's insisting on playing through, the only other thing is the position change.  But playing SS can't take THAT much out of you, can it?

[ELA]

Once LA had all the dollars to spend, they ransacked Tampa's front office full of smart people winning with no money and ever since, it's division titles and 2 WS championships.

And idk what the hell is wrong with Betts.  Unless it's an injury he's insisting on playing through, the only other thing is the position change.  But playing SS can't take THAT much out of you, can it?

Yeah, I don't blame LA one bit.  I kind of hope they inspire more teams.  Detroit had the worst development in the majors.  Everyone touted how much Dombrowski won every trade in the 2006-14 era.  But it wasn't like he was trading mid to low level prospects for studs.  He was trading the Tigers best prospects, they just all turned out to suck.  Andrew Miller reinvented himself as an elite reliever, and Cameron Maybin became a solid utility outfielder, but that was it.  I said that would bite them, and it did.  They had nothing in the barrel to rebuild.

In this era you need to be good up and down the board.  Having unlimited spending helps, but not like in the steroid era where you can just keep buying dudes who are going to be great until they are 40.  Spending mainly allows you to make mistakes.  But you can't just build a team in FA anymore, guys don't have enough good years left.  Phillies are probably the closest to trying it right now, and they've hit on every single signing.  And still never won a WS.  On the flip side, Baltimore had the best collection of prospects, arguably ever.  Their AAA team a few years ago was rated as the best minor league team in terms of future value, ever.  But even though none of those propsects totally flopped, only one was a pitcher, and he's been mid.  And they didn't spend a dime around them.  So they are what they are

[CatsbyAZ]

Once LA had all the dollars to spend, they ransacked Tampa's front office full of smart people…

They are not smart people if they willingly moved from Florida to California.

I kid, I kid! 🤣

[betarhoalphadelta]

I ask considering I know next to nothing about MLB...

But how much of this is due to not having a hard salary cap like the NFL? 

[FearlessF]

HB

hole bunch

[OrangeAfroMan]

I ask considering I know next to nothing about MLB...

But how much of this is due to not having a hard salary cap like the NFL?

Exceeding the cap is very expensive, but there's like a reset button when you don't, so teams above it can sort of take a 1-year break from big spending in FA every 3 years (I think) to avoid the massive penalties.  I may be off, but it's something like that.

[847badgerfan]

F LA

[FearlessF]

[MrNubbz]

Athletics Fireballer Mason Miller Unleashes Fastest Pitch of MLB Season


That 104.1 mph effort, which on first blush reads like a misprint, happened on Thursday night in the Athletics' 5-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Sean Murphy was the unfortunate batter in the box at the time of the pitch, which resulted in strike three swinging.

[FearlessF]

Nolan Ryan's fastest recorded pitch was 100.9 mph, clocked 10 feet in front of home plate in 1974. However, when adjusted for modern measurement techniques (measuring closer to the pitcher's release), it's estimated that his fastest pitch would be around 108.5 mph.

This video discusses whether Nolan Ryan actually threw 108 mph:


https://youtu.be/90nI3yFMbX0

[Cincydawg]

[Cincydawg]

I have wondered what they pay per ball.  They cost a lot more on line of course.  At Fantasy Camp, we start with a bucket of new balls per team, I'd guess 64 per bucket, and use them throughout the week.  They break out new ones for the CG.  By end of the week they are pretty scuffed up usually, which is nice for pitchers.  

[847badgerfan]

Good news.

Rays owner Stuart Sternberg agrees to sell club for $1.7 billion, per report