Right before the start of Spring Training, Nashville owner Dave Cocci informed me the budget was rising $20 million. Which is awesome! But also… WHERE WAS THIS EARLIER??!!
The free agent pool is pretty thin right now but I did put that cash to some use with 2 acquisitions. The first was signing
CF Michael A. Taylor a 1 year $5 million “show me what ya got” deal. Taylor is one of the best defensive outfielders in the game but lacks much at the plate these days. He was solid off the bench last year for Philadelphia and he provides us some flexibility in the outfield. Maybe he will start the season hot and I can flip him for some prospects but worse case scenario he gives us a gold glove caliber outfielder. Never a bad thing.
The other pickup was
Eugene Suarez who has been consistently solid his whole career. Specifically he provides some power from the right side of the plate having hit 85 home runs over the last 2 seasons. He’s also a solid defender at 3rd. Again, the hope is he can have a solid start to 2025 and we can move him for young talent.
As for spring training, the biggest news was the injury to
RF Josh Naylor. The 27 year old was considered our most proven player on the roster so this is a pretty big blow. His injury history was a concern for us during the expansion draft but we decided to take the risk in hopes he’d stay healthy enough to be moved at the trade deadline. Instead, he will spend 60 days on the DL rehabbing a strained hamstring…
There wasn’t much to be excited about on the field. Unsurprisingly, we finished with the worst record in spring ball at 8-21. Unfortunately, Vegas went 16-14 leading to some mumblings both from the fans and the media about the kind of team we are assembling thus far but we will see what plays out during 162 games. I don’t think their roster is all that much better than ours. Though they were aggressive in inviting proven MLB players to spring training and quite a few caught on.
2B Dylan Moore,
LF Andrew Benintendi, and
SS Addison Russell are all expected to start after earning a spot during spring training for the Vipers.
Probably the top performer in spring training for us was a similar story in
LF Willie Calhoun. During the spring he slashed .312/.450/.562 while leading the team in OPS. He along with Taylor give us some proven MLB experience in the lineup which took a hit with Naylor’s injury. Rule 5 draft pick
3B Willy Vazquez was also a standout hitting 3 HRs while putting up an OPS of .912. I am very excited about his future. Not saying he’s a future All-Star but I think he can be a good building block for this franchise.
MLB Updates
- 12/19/24 - It’s gonna be weird seeing J.D. Martinez in another uniform but at least he’ll still be in red. The longtime Red Sock signed a 2 year $34 million deal today with the Cardinals
- 12/20/24 - The Padres are looking to bolster their rotation as they move to a new division this fall. Today, they came to an agreement with SP Joe Ross for $67 million over 5 years.
- 12/20/24 - News kept breaking today as the Phillies landed one of the premier international free agents in CF Jung-hoo Lee. Lee agreed to a contract worth $88 million over 4 years. He posted a WAR over 6 the last 3 seasons in the KBO
- 12/21/24 - After 2 excellent years with the Brewers, SP Mike Clevinger is headed to a new NL Central team after he and the Cubs came to an agreement of $84 million over 5 years.
- 12/25/24 - Chicago stays aggressive adding landing former Mets star 1B Pete Alonso. The Cubs are hoping to make some noise in the smaller NL Central this fall.
- 1/06/25 - Big move for the Tigers who land SS Nick Ahmed thanks to a $77 million deal over 4 years.
- 1/15/25 - Inauspicious start for the Vegas Vipers as their 12th round pick from the expansion draft 1B Taylor Jones fell down some stairs and fractured his wrist. He’s expected to miss at least 2 months
- 1/18/25 - More bizarre news as Guardians ace Shane Bieber will be suspended 5 games after spending too much time on his nightclub business….
- 1/21/25 - Craig Kimbrel is returning home. The 36 year old closer signed a 2 year $16.8 million deal with the Atlanta Braves. He returns to the franchise he made his ML debut with back in 2010.
- 1/24/25 - Rough news for the Giants as star 3B Xander Bogaerts suffered a major setback in his recovery over a ruptured MCL. It’s looking like another 6-7 months before he can return to action. Brutal blow
- 3/2/25 - Fans in Minnesota are excited as the Twins and 2B Jorge Polanco agreed to a 5 year extension worth $20 million. The 31 year old has spent every season with the Twins since being called up in 2014.
- 3/6/25 - 1B Jose Abreu ain’t the same player he was a few years ago but he can still provide some pop in the middle of the lineup or at least that’s what the Pirates are hoping as they signed the 38 year old to a 1 year $4.2 million contract
- 3/8/25 - One of the Braves top relievers is out for pretty much the whole year due to bone chips in his elbow (ouch). Royber Salinas has been one of the standouts in the Braves farm system past few seasons and is coming off an impressive 6-0, 2.85 ERA campaign in 2024