MLB 2025

[Sold My Soul]

A new year.....

Another title won by cash...errrr... Dodgers

[Sold My Soul]

HOF Voting Results

With 394 ballots submitted, candidates needed 296 votes to be elected. Full BBWAA ballot results are below:

Ichiro Suzuki: 393 votes, 99.7% (1st year on the ballot)
CC Sabathia: 342 votes, 86.8% (1st)
Billy Wagner: 325 votes, 82.5% (10th)
Carlos Beltrán: 277 votes, 70.3% (3rd)
Andruw Jones: 261 votes, 66.2% (8th)
Chase Utley: 157 votes, 39.8% (2nd)
Alex Rodriguez: 146 votes, 37.1% (4th)
Manny Ramirez: 135 votes, 34.3% (9th)
Andy Pettitte: 110 votes, 27.9% (7th)
Félix Hernández: 81 votes, 20.6% (1st)
Bobby Abreu: 77 votes, 19.5% (6th)
Jimmy Rollins: 71 votes, 18% (4th)
Omar Vizquel: 70 votes, 17.8% (8th)
Dustin Pedroia: 47 votes, 11.9% (1st)
Mark Buehrle: 45 votes, 11.4% (5th)
Francisco Rodriguez: 40 votes, 10.2% (3rd)
David Wright: 32 votes, 8.1% (2nd)
Torii Hunter: 20 votes, 5.1% (5th)

(Players receiving less than 5% will drop off future ballots)

Ian Kinsler: 10 votes, 2.5% (1st)
Russell Martin: 9 votes, 2.3% (1st)
Brian McCann: 7 votes, 1.8% (1st)
Troy Tulowitzki: 4 votes, 1% (1st)
Curtis Granderson: 3 votes, 0.8% (1st)
Adam Jones: 3 votes, 0.8% (1st)
Carlos González: 2 votes, 0.5% (1st)
Hanley Ramirez: 0 votes (1st)
Fernando Rodney: 0 votes (1st)
Ben Zobrist: 0 votes (1st)

[Sold My Soul]

Good lord......Dodgers may have not only the best starting rotation, but a bully that will also be hard to hit....

Jan. 21: Yates, Dodgers in talks (reports)

The Dodgers apparently aren't done making moves just yet. After recently adding Roki Sasaki and reaching a deal with reliever Tanner Scott (per a source), the club is "looking very likely" to bring in two-time All-Star reliever Kirby Yates, per MLB Network insider Jon Heyman. A potential agreement was first reported by USA Today's Bob Nightengale.

Yates would be joining newcomer Scott and Blake Treinen in Los Angeles' revamped bullpen. The Dodgers have also added starters Sasaki and Blake Snell, infielder Hyeseong Kim and outfielders Teoscar Hernández and Michael Conforto this offseason.

Though their pursuit of Yates is a bit of a surprise given their other moves in the past week, it's hard to imagine the Dodgers making any other major moves before Spring Training outside of potentially re-signing free agent Clayton Kershaw.

[Atlasffa]

Inquiring minds want to know... who didn't vote for Ichiro????

https://x.com/MLB/status/1882163828726919203

https://x.com/MLBNetwork/status/1882162319075189074

[chucker]

I haven't watched baseball for years. I trended away after the Canseco/McGwire steriod years and never went back. So I don't really know what the game is like right now but I know I don't want to devote more time to sports.

But Jeevo had a comment in a football thread and I thought I'd respond here because I found it interesting. He said something to the tune of analytics ruining baseball. What did he mean by that? Do others agree? I would have thought analytics would make baseball more interesting to me because that's the kind of thing I liked about baseball.

[Rabid Raider]

Dodgers owe 1.3 billion in differed money. I assume it must be in escrow to protect the players. Some day the Bob B jokes will come from LA.

[Sold My Soul]

Ultra-Rare Paul Skenes rookie card found by 11-year-old collector

A young collector made a once-in-a-lifetime baseball card find, and it could leave him sitting pretty in the near future.

According to the Associated Press (via ESPN) an 11-year-old baseball card collector found a one-of-one Paul Skenes rookie card that has been highly sought after for months now. Trading card company Topps announced that the card had been found.

The card is autographed and contains a piece of Skenes' game-worn jersey, and gained notoriety last season when the Pittsburgh Pirates announced a hefty bounty for finding the card.

In return for the card, the Pirates are offering a package of two season tickets directly behind home plate for the next 30 years, a softball game for 30 people complete with coaching from the Pirates' staff at PNC Park, and a Spring Training experience that includes the chance to take batting practice and warm up with the team, a meet-up with Skenes, autographed jerseys, and other experiences.

But the package doesn't stop there; Skenes' girlfriend, LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne, has offered the chance to watch a game with her in her personal suite during one of Skenes' starts next season.

While that haul is tempting, it's not the only potential offer on the table. The kid could also decide to sell the card, which figures to drive a pretty sizable price tag, since it's the only one of its kind in existence.

No matter what the owner decides to do with the card, there's no denying that it's the kind of find that collectors dream about, and one that will make him the envy of his friends, and other collectors for years.

[Sold My Soul]

[quote=chucker post_id=1270033]I haven't watched baseball for years. I trended away after the Canseco/McGwire steriod years and never went back. So I don't really know what the game is like right now but I know I don't want to devote more time to sports.

But Jeevo had a comment in a football thread and I thought I'd respond here because I found it interesting. He said something to the tune of analytics ruining baseball. What did he mean by that? Do others agree? I would have thought analytics would make baseball more interesting to me because that's the kind of thing I liked about baseball.[/quote]Have you ever watched Moneyball?

Analytics can be found in everything these days. Go to the grocery store and you've just become part of the analytics.

Analytics is the systematic computational analysis of data or statistics. It is used for the discovery, interpretation, and communication of meaningful patterns in data, which also falls under and directly relates to the umbrella term, data science. Analytics also entails applying data patterns toward effective decision-making.

Analytics is used in the NFL. Not sure what Jeevo meant, and I won't try and get in his head.

I too walked away from baseball during the drug fueled years and only came back a few years ago. The changes the made are truly game changers. Baseball will never be king again because they still don't have a hard cap, and the teams with the deepest pockets will always be on top. See the Dodgers. They have taken over the mantel of Best Team Money Can Buy

[Atlasffa]

[quote=chucker post_id=1270033]I haven't watched baseball for years. I trended away after the Canseco/McGwire steriod years and never went back. So I don't really know what the game is like right now but I know I don't want to devote more time to sports.

But Jeevo had a comment in a football thread and I thought I'd respond here because I found it interesting. He said something to the tune of analytics ruining baseball. What did he mean by that? Do others agree? I would have thought analytics would make baseball more interesting to me because that's the kind of thing I liked about baseball.[/quote]I don't know much about the analytics of baseball. What I do know is that my grandson and I have a ton of fun at T-Mobil watching Big Dumper throw to second and hit home runs; cheering for JRod when he protects the no-fly zone; oohing and ahhing over amazing performances by Kirby, Gilbert, Castillo, Munoz, and many more. But it doesn't stop with the play on the field. They also have hot dogs from heaven floating down from above, special musical performances, drone shows, fireworks, good food (some with bargain prices) and whatever special thing they're doing for that game. Win or lose, a good time is had by all.

I will add, the pitch clock has made the game better for spectators.

[Xramfan]

I am naive but when athletes stopped just being local heroes and became Hollywood or Broadway entertainment icons......it changed everything. Im just old enough to remember when many professional athletes needed off season jobs.

Oh well, cant stop progress and change

Go Dodgers

As a lifelong Dodger fan, I admit the WS wins with Tommy Lasorda felt 10x sweeter than last years win

[Corleone]

[quote=Xramfan post_id=1270323]I am naive but when athletes stopped just being local heroes and became Hollywood or Broadway entertainment icons......it changed everything. Im just old enough to remember when many professional athletes needed off season jobs.

Oh well, cant stop progress and change

Go Dodgers

As a lifelong Dodger fan, I admit the WS wins with Tommy Lasorda felt 10x sweeter than last years win[/quote]Well personally, the first ever walk off Grand Slam in World Series history, hit by a guy who went to the same HS as me, hits fuckin hard!

[Sold My Soul]

[quote=Corleone post_id=1271357]Well personally, the first ever walk off Grand Slam in World Series history, hit by a guy who went to the same HS as me, hits fuckin hard![/quote]Dude, you gotta use that line next time you get stopped by the popo
.....

Officer, do you know who I went to high school with??????

Please, Live stream it.

[Sold My Soul]

Dodgers’ luxury-tax payroll for 2025 currently stands at $382.6 million

[Attyla]

[quote=chucker post_id=1270033]I haven't watched baseball for years. I trended away after the Canseco/McGwire steriod years and never went back. So I don't really know what the game is like right now but I know I don't want to devote more time to sports.

But Jeevo had a comment in a football thread and I thought I'd respond here because I found it interesting. He said something to the tune of analytics ruining baseball. What did he mean by that? Do others agree? I would have thought analytics would make baseball more interesting to me because that's the kind of thing I liked about baseball.[/quote]problem is, the analytics got squashed by a league where there is no hard cap and no minimum floor. Case in point, the Marlins have a payroll of 30M (that averages a bit over 1M per player) and the dodgers at this time have a payroll of 300M (a bit over 10M per player) and the top end feasts while the low end play punching bag. It was really due to the Yanks to begin with but teams now just go out and buy championships and to hell with the analytics.

Fixing baseball at this point would be a miracle. You would need to add in a hard cap but you would also need bottom feeders to at least make an attempt at having the money to get to a minimum like the NFL. And the foreign posting rules are stupid as hell as well.

[chucker]

So the conclusion is that Jeevo said something but nobody has any idea what the f[raiders_icon]ck he's talking about? Just another idiot Canadian.