2025 MLB Thread

[kq76]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Robo umps coming to the all star game

Yay! I'm so happy. I can't wait to see it in a full game. I've seen clips of it in the minor leagues, but that's it.

I do wish teams got more challenges and maybe that the decision came from the manager instead of the player, but I understand they want to keep the game going as fast as possible. That's just not nearly as much a priority for me and if a call is terrible then I'd like to see it get overturned regardless of what happened before.

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

First, "Like almost any rule change, there were mixed reviews from players about using ABS but nearly all parties agree on one point: They prefer a challenge system as opposed to the technology calling every pitch." I wonder why.

I can see it. I don't want umpires not to continue playing a part in calling balls and strikes. I just want the most egregious calls, and the worst umpires, to go away.

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Second, "As was the case in spring training, once a review is initiated, an animated replay of the pitch will be shown on the scoreboard and the home plate umpire will either uphold the call or overturn it. ABS uses Hawk-Eye system technology which tracks the pitch trajectory and location in relation to the strike zone, providing an instant assessment which can be relayed to the home plate umpire." My bold. Is this accurate? I mean, the home plate umpire will be judging his own performance. How is that going to work?

I'm pretty sure the program tells him the call. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure about that.

My biggest issue with the system is it is using a completely different strike zone than what umpires use / will use. Maybe they'll change it so that they do end up using the strike zone, but it seems bonkers to me that they'd even consider umpires using the old one and then players will argue based on a completely different one. I explained it previously here.

[Déjà Bru]

I am posting this in my new "pan-sports" mode, not as a Yankees fan.

Yankees designate DJ LeMahieu for assignment: Veteran infielder cut with almost $22M left on contract

Incredible, when you stop to think about it. Eating 22 millions of dollars comes so easy, doesn't it? To some teams, at least.

LeMahieu wasn't doing that poorly, but he has been injured a lot lately. This may be a "gentlemen's agreement" to allow him to earn more cash and have more playing time elsewhere, rather than riding the bench.

But $22 million, eh? It's like $22 to you and me. I still would have a problem parting with $22 for nothing.

[Cobra Mgr]

How do these umps keep themselves employed?

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

How do these umps keep themselves employed?

This cannot continue. As I said previously, it's embarrassing to MLB, not just the umpires.

Think of it this way: You are bending down, peering over the back of somebody else, and trying to determine whether a 98 MPH pitch just hit the corner of an imaginary box (which only seems real, but it's not really there). Not all that easy, is it?

Let automation call balls and strikes. I don't care what the players say, the challenge system is for the birds. And I don't mean the Orioles, Cardinals, and Blue Jays. (Did I miss any other bird teams?)

[Westheim]

Jacob Misiorowski being named an All Star after 5 career games and Juan Soto not making it even after injury replacements is an even bigger disgrace to baseball than anything Rob Numbfred has ever done to the game himself. - Discuss.

[Déjà Bru]

Clearly a case of "What have you done (for us) lately?" Soto has had a solid season so far but for him, not spectacular.

So does a player deserve all-star status on the basis of current production and popularity? Or previous?

Willie Mays was a lock for All-Star, year after year until the end of his career. Yet his last 5 or 6 seasons were mediocre at best. Was this right?

My personal preference, if I needed to choose between the two, would be for Misiorowski who is the more exciting player right now.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Westheim

Jacob Misiorowski being named an All Star after 5 career games and Juan Soto not making it even after injury replacements is an even bigger disgrace to baseball than anything Rob Numbfred has ever done to the game himself. - Discuss.

Appalling. On a smaller scale, he is probably going to get the Caitlyn Clark treatment from the league. Vets hate it when rooks get their flowers before they become rooted in the pros. It does nothing but put a bull's eye on him whenever he takes the mound. MLB did him no favor.

[kq76]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Clearly a case of "What have you done (for us) lately?" Soto has had a solid season so far but for him, not spectacular.

So does a player deserve all-star status on the basis of current production and popularity? Or previous?

Willie Mays was a lock for All-Star, year after year until the end of his career. Yet his last 5 or 6 seasons were mediocre at best. Was this right?

My personal preference, if I needed to choose between the two, would be for Misiorowski who is the more exciting player right now.

I'm definitely on the side of include the young guy who is having a great year rather than the player who was great, but is no longer, or at least isn't having a great year this year. Besides, that's what the "legend" picks are for. Trout and Kershaw are them this year. I'd be fine if we didn't have them at all, but I'm glad we do and I think 2 is enough.

EDIT: My issue with Jacob is, is 5 games really enough? Probably not, but what's the cut-off? Maybe what we should is the opposite of legend picks. Maybe people would take less issue with his selection if he was labelled an "up-and-comer pick"?

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by kq76

EDIT: My issue with Jacob is, is 5 games really enough? Probably not, but what's the cut-off?

Last year, Paul Skenes had made 11 starts for a 1.90 ERA. He was some 28 innings short of qualifying for the ERA title, with 89 strikeouts in 66.1 innings. There was no outrage about his nomination that I recall.

Misiorowski has an ERA almost a full run higher and is 69 innings short of qualifying for the ERA title. Five games, 33 strikeouts in 25.2 innings. The ideal All Star for a generation that can only take in anything if it's pre-chewed down to a 60-second clip for them.

I wonder how many kids have come up and posted similar numbers, especially the 2.81 ERA, and two years later were all but forgotten as flashes in the pan.

[Bluenoser]

How do you cement your place in the AS Game? Hit for the cycle.

Byron Buxton does it on Byron Buxton bobblehead day no less. How sweet is that?

https://www.mlb.com/news/byron-buxton-hits-for-cycle

[Déjà Bru]

This poor guy is bound to get dumped on right and left. "What about [insert name]?"

Phillies upset by Jacob Misiorowski's selection to All-Star Game over Cristopher Sánchez: 'What a joke'

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Clearly a case of "What have you done (for us) lately?" Soto has had a solid season so far but for him, not spectacular.

Soto isn't competing with himself; he's competing with the rest of the National League.

Soto won Player of the Month for June. So he's one of THREE. How do over a dozen other batters get a spot that he doesn't??

On the other hand, Brett Baty has a .690 OPS this year, but that's significantly above his career .633. I presume you're not campaigning to send Baty to Atlanta because he's having a good year "for him", right?

Soto is hitting ,401/.509/.910 with a 162 OPS+. The OPS+ is better than he had in either 2022 or 2023, both of which were All-Star years.

It's true that his stats are slightly below last year's…but remember, he's playing in a real ballpark this season, not the Bronx Bandbox. So yeah, the 38 HRs he projects to hit will be fewer than he hit last year when he could aim at The Short Porch that Ruth Built. But 38 would still be better than every other season of Mr 765's career.

Ridiculous.

[Déjà Bru]

There is this aspect:

MLB Reportedly Asked 'About a Dozen Pitchers' to Play All-Star Game Before Misiorowski

Major League Baseball shocked plenty of observers when it named Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski to the All-Star Game despite his inexperience with just five career starts, but he reportedly was not the first choice as a replacement pick.

"MLB officials actually reached out to about a dozen pitchers looking for a replacement for the All-Star Game until Misiorowski agreed on Friday," USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported Sunday.

Notably, Nightengale noted that "MLB is concerned by the rash of players who have bailed out of the All-Star Game this year. The most common reason by the players who have opted out of playing the game is 'is rest and recuperation.'"

I have the impression that they were in need of a pitcher, so this was not a case of Misiorowski vs. Soto.

[LD84]

By this point, a lot of players have small vacations planned and do not want to travel to the AS game.

I wonder how many said 'no'.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by LD84

By this point, a lot of players have small vacations planned and do not want to travel to the AS game.

I wonder how many said 'no'.

I've been saying for years All star games have outlived their usefulness. They should all be cancelled.

[Cobra Mgr]

Rays owner Sternberg selling Rays for $1.7B

Had to be done if the Rays were to stay in Tampa. And really, good riddance as far as I'm concerned.

[Cobra Mgr]

I think if a genie were grant me any wish I'd want in sports, it would be to be a baseball player so I could tell Fox/ESPN "screw you" when they ask to talk to me while I'm playing.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Rays owner Sternberg selling Rays for $1.7B

Had to be done if the Rays were to stay in Tampa. And really, good riddance as far as I'm concerned.

This should be interesting. Will things turn around down there? After all the discussions that we have had, I still don't know why a professional baseball team in southern Florida cannot do well.

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

I think if a genie were grant me any wish I'd want in sports, it would be to be a baseball player so I could tell Fox/ESPN "screw you" when they ask to talk to me while I'm playing.

According to this, there is this:

Baseball's collective bargaining agreement calls for a player to receive a $10,000 stipend for wearing a two-way microphone for at least one inning of a regular-season game. The amount rises to $15,000 in the postseason.

[kq76]

That tribute to Hank Aaron was the coolest tribute I've ever seen. Good job whoever worked on it!

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

According to this, there is this:

Is Francisco Lindor doing it for the money? He makes north of $190k every time he ties his shoes for a game.

"They want to take care of their families...!" - Man, their families are well taken care off unto the tenth generation, when we'll have Captain Picard zooming from solar system to solar system and post-scarcity will have rendered their bombastic mountain of money meaningless...

At the same time I can't remember when they would ever have molested a guy making the minimum. Y'know, guys who would actually bend down to pick up a loose $10k on the street.