2025 MLB Thread

[Déjà Bru]

It's time for this season's official MLB thread. I will start it off with this momentous news!

MLB Jersey Fixes CONFIRMED for 2025!

Mostly, that is. There is some hedging near the end of that video, and here:

A year after uniform fiasco, players arrive at Spring Training with issues mostly ironed out.

To be fixed:

• mismatched tops and bottoms of road uniforms
• prominent sweat stains and see-through effect
• only three or four standard pants lengths
• printed instead of embroidered patches
• smaller player names on jerseys
• in general, the cheap feel of the fabric

The manufacturer Fanatics took the heat for last year's uniform debacle, but it turns out they were doing only what Nike told them to do. Nike refused to take direct responsibility, however.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

It's time for this season's official MLB thread. I will start it off with this momentous news!

MLB Jersey Fixes CONFIRMED for 2025!

Mostly, that is. There is some hedging near the end of that video, and here:

A year after uniform fiasco, players arrive at Spring Training with issues mostly ironed out.

To be fixed:

• mismatched tops and bottoms of road uniforms
• prominent sweat stains and see-through effect
• only three or four standard pants lengths
• printed instead of embroidered patches
• smaller player names on jerseys
• in general, the cheap feel of the fabric

The manufacturer Fanatics took the heat for last year's uniform debacle, but it turns out they were doing only what Nike told them to do. Nike refused to take direct responsibility, however.

I'm sure this is small potatoes to some, but I'm glad they listened and are fixing the issues. Good Lord, you are Major League Baseball have some pride.

Yeah, Nike? No surprise there.

[Amazin69]

Glad to see the names are back up to snuff. I've always said the names are unnecessary and teams should get rid of them (what are announcers and scoreboard displays for? This isn't football with 22 guys milling around; baseball is essentially a sequence of individual acts)…but if you're going to have them, no reason for them to be in 10-point fonts because Nike wants a bigger swoosh.

Wasn't terribly troubled by the sweat-stains, tbh. Always glad to know they're working out there.

[Déjà Bru]

The guy in the video said the original uniform deal beginning in 2020 was supposed to be with Under Armour. The logo on the jersey was supposed to be this:



But they backed out and Nike "swooshed" in. (See what I did there?) All they did at first was to make sure their logo was on the existing uniforms. The manufacturing process was the same through 2023.

It took a few years, but then Nike got the idea to redesign the uniforms. Let me tell you: Sight unseen, I know it had nothing to do with improved athleticism and comfort. The uniforms would be cheaper to make and, if anything, there would be more room for logos and less for player names and numbers.

All about the money, of course. They sent the specs to Fanatics who faithfully fulfilled the contract. Nike did not count on the blowback from players and fans and still has not acknowledged their mistake or apologized for it.

That video guy also made another point. There apparently was no quality testing involving the players or even MLB. Nike just showed up, saying, "Here, we did this. Enjoy!"

[low]

Aside from losing WAR, as is custom in Milwaukee every offseason, the Brewers will still win the division and finish 10 games ahead of the Cubs. Unfortunately, this will precede another early playoff exit thanks to the Dodgers or the Braves. At least Woodruff is back, finally. Cy Young incoming.

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by low

Aside from losing WAR, as is custom in Milwaukee every offseason, the Brewers will still win the division and finish 10 games ahead of the Cubs. Unfortunately, this will precede another early playoff exit thanks to the Dodgers or the Braves. At least Woodruff is back, finally. Cy Young incoming.

Your team will be showing class by wearing a patch to honor Bob Uecker this season. And it looks to be an embroidered patch, not a screen print job (see above post)!

[Westheim]

Originally Posted by low

Aside from losing WAR, as is custom in Milwaukee every offseason, the Brewers will still win the division and finish 10 games ahead of the Cubs. Unfortunately, this will precede another early playoff exit thanks to the Dodgers or the Braves.

...or Big Pete.

[Déjà Bru]

Trouble in Beantown. The Red Sox signed Alex Bregman for three years and $120 million to play third base for them. A cause for celebration, eh?

But wait, they already have a third baseman, Rafael Devers. No problem; they will make Rafael a full-time DH.

But wait, nobody consulted with Rafael about this, and now he is refusing to change positions. And, he is just entering year 2 of a 10-year, $300 million contract.

Bregman, to his credit, said he will move wherever the team needs him. The trouble with that is, apparently Bregman is significantly better defensively at 3B than Devers.

It would appear the Red Sox are just going to have to move Bregman to second base and leave Devers at third, given that Devers is refusing to move and Bregman is open to a switch. That certainly makes the team worse, though, and there's also the issue of top prospect Kristian Campbell, who hit .330/.439/.558 between three stops last year, including 19 games in Triple-A. He might not start the season in the majors, but it won't be long.

If Devers would move to DH, the Red Sox could play Bregman at third and use placeholders at second until Campbell is ready. If Bregman is the everyday second baseman, though, there isn't really a spot for Campbell.

Aaaaand, here is all of Bregman's experience at 2B:



Craig Breslow is the Chief Baseball Officer (I think that means "general manager") of the Boston Red Sox. He's getting paid a good amount of money to generally manage things better than this.

"During his MLB career, he was called the 'smartest man in baseball' by reporters at the Minneapolis Star Tribune and The Wall Street Journal." That may be true of baseball, but not necessarily about business and personnel management.

[Cobra Mgr]

It somewhat "amuses" me when a player says they are unwilling to switch positions or move in the batting order. As a manager, my attitude would be play where I told you to play, or sit where I tell you to sit.

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Trouble in Beantown. The Red Sox signed Alex Bregman for three years and $120 million to play third base for them. A cause for celebration, eh?

But wait, they already have a third baseman, Rafael Devers. No problem; they will make Rafael a full-time DH.

But wait, nobody consulted with Rafael about this, and now he is refusing to change positions. And, he is just entering year 2 of a 10-year, $300 million contract.

Bregman, to his credit, said he will move wherever the team needs him. The trouble with that is, apparently Bregman is significantly better defensively at 3B than Devers.

Aaaaand, here is all of Bregman's experience at 2B:

Attachment 1049252

Craig Breslow is the Chief Baseball Officer (I think that means "general manager") of the Boston Red Sox. He's getting paid a good amount of money to generally manage things better than this.

"During his MLB career, he was called the 'smartest man in baseball' by reporters at the Minneapolis Star Tribune and The Wall Street Journal." That may be true of baseball, but not necessarily about business and personnel management.

Moving an over-30 3B to 2B, where he's never played regularly? That sounds like a GREAT idea! Ask Ron Santo and the 1974 White Sox how that worked out.

And if I were the Red Sox manager, I'd be wondering why my GM signed somebody who didn't want to make the position shift. Surely Devers's agents told Breslow he didn't want to be a full-time DH last year.

[GeoWar]

Originally Posted by Amazin69

Moving an over-30 3B to 2B, where he's never played regularly? That sounds like a GREAT idea! Ask Ron Santo and the 1974 White Sox how that worked out.

And if I were the Red Sox manager, I'd be wondering why my GM signed somebody who didn't want to make the position shift. Surely Devers's agents told Breslow he didn't want to be a full-time DH last year.

Think !!!!!
Alex Gordon with Kansas City -- an All-Star at 3B ..... made the move to Leftfield became an All-Star and Gold Glove winner ....

[monkeyman576]

If I were Devers I wouldn't want to move positions for a cheater, either.

[Amazin69]

Originally Posted by GeoWar

Think !!!!!
Alex Gordon with Kansas City -- an All-Star at 3B ..... made the move to Leftfield became an All-Star and Gold Glove winner ....

Left field is the OPPOSITE direction of shifts. It's an easier position to play.

The "Defensive spectrum" defined by Bill James goes like this, from hardest to easiest:

C > SS > 2B > CF > 3B > RF > LF > 1B > DH.

You want to move to right as you age, not to the left.

Also, saying "Alex Gordon" to a METS fan is just being unnecessarily mean. I was at that game, as I've mentioned. 14 innings in the rain.

(Still no idea how that ball went out, to center field, no less. Balls that sounded much harder off of the bat didn't even make it to the track.)

[dsvitak]

Originally Posted by Déjà Bru

Trouble in Beantown. The Red Sox signed Alex Bregman for three years and $120 million to play third base for them. A cause for celebration, eh?

But wait, they already have a third baseman, Rafael Devers. No problem; they will make Rafael a full-time DH.

But wait, nobody consulted with Rafael about this, and now he is refusing to change positions. And, he is just entering year 2 of a 10-year, $300 million contract.

Bregman, to his credit, said he will move wherever the team needs him. The trouble with that is, apparently Bregman is significantly better defensively at 3B than Devers.

Aaaaand, here is all of Bregman's experience at 2B:

Attachment 1049252

Craig Breslow is the Chief Baseball Officer (I think that means "general manager") of the Boston Red Sox. He's getting paid a good amount of money to generally manage things better than this.

"During his MLB career, he was called the 'smartest man in baseball' by reporters at the Minneapolis Star Tribune and The Wall Street Journal." That may be true of baseball, but not necessarily about business and personnel management.

Coincidentally, I saw a youtube video earlier today about Devers' fielding.

It's bad. Real bad. Like worst position player in MLB bad. Like leading the league in errors EVERY year for the last seven.

Like a fielding percentage of .889 in 2020 (57 games, but still).

[Déjà Bru]

Originally Posted by dsvitak

Coincidentally, I saw a youtube video earlier today about Devers' fielding.

It's bad. Real bad. Like worst position player in MLB bad. Like leading the league in errors EVERY year for the last seven.

Like a fielding percentage of .889 in 2020 (57 games, but still).

And you can't just tell a guy who's in year 2 of a $300 million contract to play here or sit there.

In that article, it says "Devers referenced promises [i.e., he would be the third baseman longterm] that were made when Chaim Bloom was running the Red Sox, but Bloom has since been fired." The organization made that promise through Bloom, whether he is still here or not. They are bound to honor it.

Again, the dumb aspects of this fiasco are blindly grabbing Bregman without a valid plan for where to play him, and not consulting the guy whom they just showered money upon who is directly affected by this.

[Déjà Bru]

Robot umps are here: What MLB players need to know to navigate ABS this spring

I forgot about this and now I am confused about it. I thought that the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) would be calling balls and strikes, period. There would still be a home plate umpire for other purposes but he would not be making balls and strikes calls.

Reading the article, however, I see that it's a challenge system?

The upcoming spring experiment will employ the “challenge” system, in which human umpires will still make the vast majority of calls themselves. Each team will start a game with two challenges it can issue to an umpire, who will then rely on the automated ball-strike system to review the pitch. A team keeps its challenge if it is successful.

This sounds ridiculous. I can see the two challenges being used up in the first inning of every game.

This article also posits that the strike zone is going to change. That is, it's going to be rigidly enforced as the rectangle that it's supposed to be. "That strike zone called by human umpires in the big leagues may be a rectangle in theory — but it’s more like an oval in real life. That’s because many pitches up and in, or up and away, are not called strikes by human umps, even though they’re technically in the zone."



The author makes a few other points but none as strong as these two.

[Cobra Mgr]

ESPN to stop showing MLB games after this season.

[Cobra Mgr]

I don't get why batting helmets aren't mandatory for pitchers.

[Hrycaj]

Let me catch up here. Boston is a mess. If it was OOTP Devers moves to DH and I ignore his angry emails. In real life that is much harder to do. Now you have Casas chiming trying to play GM. Maybe he was tired of hearing his name in trade talks all winter? I don’t know if Cora or Breslow will be able fix what could be a very dark cloud that hangs over the Red Sox locker room. Or someone gets injured, because someone always gets injured and it works itself out.

As for the ABS system, this is how it has been used (aside from having 3 challenges instead of 2) in the minor leagues. Personally I can’t wait for it to be implemented next season. I cringe every time I hear an ump talk about their on personal strike zone. Buddy, it’s not about you, call the zone as it should be called. Of course in the minor leagues the challenge procedure in the minors is quicker than I what I saw yesterday. MLB seems to want to create some artificial drama by having the umpire turn and face the crowd for some reason. It was still pretty quick but it could be quicker.

As for the uniform fiasco last year MLB should have had an opt out clause for it taking the contract away from Nike for all, the heat the league took. Of course that will never happen!

Really glad baseball is back!

[Cobra Mgr]

Yanks allow beards.

About time.