Baseball 2025

[KingsX]

Just two days out from the start of the season  (Opening Day in mid-March … in Japan ?!  No more justifiable than staging PL fixtures in the US.)

 

I suspect my Guards will be about a third place side this year.  I like the Royals in the AL Central, and the Tigers should be ready to make a move.

 

My betting buddy spends spring training studying the clubs before he wagers on win totals.  His play this year is the Brewers over 87-1/2, which baffles me.  But last year he was on the A’s over 56 and the Guardians over 79.  When you cash these type of bets in August, you look like a genius. 

 

I do think the Dodgers are increasingly a problem.  Hoarding. the best players two deep is not healthy for the sport.  Asia loves them, a lot of casual “fans” here too, but the NFL has proved that a more evenly competitive league with engaged local fan bases sustains the most interest in the long run.

 

[Golden Fox]

On 16/03/2025 at 15:58, KingsX said:

 

I do think the Dodgers are increasingly a problem.

Tell me about it... As a Giants' fan, I've seen the Dodgers win the NL West 11 out of the last 12 years - and the other year, the Giants had a miracle year to win 107 games: and then lost to the Dodgers in the first round of the Playoffs anyway. It does grind you down and you have less and less hope each year.

 

So the biggest news for them this off-season being Blake Snell leaving them to sign for more money with the Dodgers is enough to suck out any lingering hope.

 

And then the news broke in the last couple of days of the Giants selling a 10% stake to a private equity firm. Yes, it will fund a few improvements here and there, but the only reason they will have done this is that they think they can monetise the sport even more, which will only lead to more disenfranchisement in an already disenfranchised fanbase.

 

But the big thing this season that you haven't mentioned is the A's being ripped out of the Bay Area by a pr**k of an owner. They have no concrete stadium deal in Vegas, so are playing in a minor league ballpark in Sacramento, which is a joke - and the league has let this happen. (The Giants haven't helped by being gifted the San Jose market by the A's when they were on their knees, and then refusing to let the A's then explore a ballpark there). When I was in the Bay Area, the whole backdrop to baseball was the Giants v A's rivalry, so to see MLB facilitating this so soon after the Raiders' move to Vegas, it just kills a lot of the passion. 

 

I'll follow the results, try and catch an early game if its the "free game of the day" but I can't see myself being as invested in it this year.

[CheeseHead]

Nestor Cortes gives up 3 home runs on his FIRST 3 pitches ever for the Brewers, against the Yanks, the team he was with last season. Thats got to hurt

[Golden Fox]

Only a week in, and the Giants are already stuck in no man's land - 3rd in their division and 2 games off the division lead...

 

....despite only having lost 1 game and having an 83.33 winning %, which is good enough for 3rd best in the MLB. F**K the Dodgers and their 8-0 record.

 

What did cheer me up is that I've seen the Giants play 3 times: twice at Candlestick and once at McCovey Cove. As their "new" ballpark has been opened 25 years, their website had an article yesterday ranking the top 10 moments in its history, and out of over 2,000 games, the best moment was at the 1 game I've been to! (Barry Bonds hitting HR no 756).

[CheeseHead]

On 03/04/2025 at 11:15, Golden Fox said:

Only a week in, and the Giants are already stuck in no man's land - 3rd in their division and 2 games off the division lead...

 

....despite only having lost 1 game and having an 83.33 winning %, which is good enough for 3rd best in the MLB. F**K the Dodgers and their 8-0 record.

 

What did cheer me up is that I've seen the Giants play 3 times: twice at Candlestick and once at McCovey Cove. As their "new" ballpark has been opened 25 years, their website had an article yesterday ranking the top 10 moments in its history, and out of over 2,000 games, the best moment was at the 1 game I've been to! (Barry Bonds hitting HR no 756).

Have you cheered up yet? Giants are ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West!

[Golden Fox]

1 hour ago, CheeseHead said:

Have you cheered up yet? Giants are ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West!

I'm trying to!

But the awful City Connect uniform they unveiled this week was enough to kill any goodwill!

But this weekend's series is in the Bronx, so f we win this series against Judge and the torpedo bats, I might start feeling more positive... 

[CheeseHead]

Bit of a catch up, as we're about half-way in the regular season.

 

My Blue Jays are going pretty well at the moment, sat in a wild card spot and not out of the division race. With Max Scherzer back we now have a proper full 5-man starting rotation, having had to use some bull-pen days previously due to a lack of fit and healthy starters. Yankees unsurprisingly leading, though the red-hot Rays are right on their heels. Red Sox looked like they had turned a corner but seem to have imploded since trading Devers to the Giants.

 

Elsewhere, Tariq Skubal still doing his thing with the Tigers who are looking like the best team in baseball right.

 

In the NL, the Phillies slugging it out with the slumping Mets in the East. And the money-bags Dodgers looking unstoppable in the West, and with Ohtani starting to pitch again.

 

Right now my prediction would be a Rays v Dodgers World Series, with the Rays winning it

[KingsX]

On 30/06/2025 at 08:39, CheeseHead said:

Bit of a catch up, as we're about half-way in the regular season.

 

My Blue Jays are going pretty well at the moment, sat in a wild card spot and not out of the division race. With Max Scherzer back we now have a proper full 5-man starting rotation, having had to use some bull-pen days previously due to a lack of fit and healthy starters. Yankees unsurprisingly leading, though the red-hot Rays are right on their heels. Red Sox looked like they had turned a corner but seem to have imploded since trading Devers to the Giants.

 

Elsewhere, Tariq Skubal still doing his thing with the Tigers who are looking like the best team in baseball right.

 

In the NL, the Phillies slugging it out with the slumping Mets in the East. And the money-bags Dodgers looking unstoppable in the West, and with Ohtani starting to pitch again.

 

Right now my prediction would be a Rays v Dodgers World Series, with the Rays winning it

 

Rays making the playoffs in a 10,000 seat minor league stadium would be an interesting trip.  Given that MLB requires 7,500 seats per World Series game for media, sponsors and officials, there would hardly be a fan in the place if they got that far.

[Golden Fox]

On 30/06/2025 at 13:39, CheeseHead said:

Red Sox looked like they had turned a corner but seem to have imploded since trading Devers to the Giants.

My Giants have imploded since the trade as well. 1 win in 6 games last week vs Marlins and White Sox, and followed that up with a loss to Arizona yesterday, so refusing to look at the standings as don't need to know how far back of the Dodgers we are now!

[CheeseHead]

48 minutes ago, KingsX said:

 

Rays making the playoffs in a 10,000 seat minor league stadium would be an interesting trip.  Given that MLB requires 7,500 seats per World Series game for media, sponsors and officials, there would hardly be a fan in the place if they got that far.

Interesting! Don't like that stadium, Jays were annoyingly swept there earlier, and I thought at the time that they just couldn't get used to the minor league surroundings, in the heat as well.

 

Maybe the Rays could use the Marlins stadium for the WS..

[CheeseHead]

Canada Day. And the Blue Jays wearing red thump the Yankees. On a Max Fried day as well. George Springer 2HR, 7 RBIs including a grand slam in the 7th. Now only 1 game back of the Yanks. Beautiful!

[CheeseHead]

Blue Jays sweep the Yankees in 4 games, and now sit atop the AL East for the first time since Sep 2016. Long way to go but a great time to be a Blue Jays fan. One of the most enjoyable and satisfying series sweeps I have ever witnessed

[Foxdiamond]

1 hour ago, CheeseHead said:

Blue Jays sweep the Yankees in 4 games, and now sit atop the AL East for the first time since Sep 2016. Long way to go but a great time to be a Blue Jays fan. One of the most enjoyable and satisfying series sweeps I have ever witnessed

I don't know the first thing about baseball but would be good to see a Canadian team to win whole thing

[Jattdogg]

20 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

I don't know the first thing about baseball but would be good to see a Canadian team to win whole thing

I still remember my jays winning the world series back to back in 92-93. Was a great time to be alive. It's been too long but anything can happen. Hope we find a way to make the playoffs first and go from there.

 

[CheeseHead]

2 hours ago, Jattdogg said:

I still remember my jays winning the world series back to back in 92-93. Was a great time to be alive. It's been too long but anything can happen. Hope we find a way to make the playoffs first and go from there.

 

Yep, Joe Carter et al over 30 years ago already! Can't believe it. I haven't been this hopeful about the Jays since the 2015-2016 teams of Bautista and Donaldson that made it to the ALCS. They don't seem to be the most naturally talented but there is a fantastic togetherness about them. The bottom order are really performing to help out the big boys. Starting pitching is the concern going forward as we've been pretty thin at times, but maybe Scherzer can keep that thumb injury at bay and we can also get someone in before the deadline.

[Jattdogg]

5 hours ago, CheeseHead said:

Yep, Joe Carter et al over 30 years ago already! Can't believe it. I haven't been this hopeful about the Jays since the 2015-2016 teams of Bautista and Donaldson that made it to the ALCS. They don't seem to be the most naturally talented but there is a fantastic togetherness about them. The bottom order are really performing to help out the big boys. Starting pitching is the concern going forward as we've been pretty thin at times, but maybe Scherzer can keep that thumb injury at bay and we can also get someone in before the deadline.

Agreed, exciting time ahead. Miss that bat flip though! Lol

[CheeseHead]

1 hour ago, Jattdogg said:

Agreed, exciting time ahead. Miss that bat flip though! Lol

That bat flip and that inning will live long in the memory!

[CheeseHead]

Jays take another series off the Yankees. Now tied for the best record in the AL. 2nd best record in MLB. 4 game lead atop the AL East. Trade deadline next week. Push the boat out and we can win this thing!

[CheeseHead]

Blue Jays with currently THE best record in MLB. Leading the majors in numerous team stats - batting average, hits, OBP and fewest hitting strikeouts. Along with the Brewers, the surprise story of the season so far. 

[spacemunky]

2 hours ago, CheeseHead said:

Blue Jays with currently THE best record in MLB. Leading the majors in numerous team stats - batting average, hits, OBP and fewest hitting strikeouts. Along with the Brewers, the surprise story of the season so far. 

Great to see them doing so well this season.

 

Have to admit, I don't watch them much these days. Haven't really followed them since my dad passed away 14 years ago. He'd always have the games on when I came over to visit.

 

Hopefully they can keep it up and bandwagon fans like myself will show some support!

[Fear Of The Fox]

I'm tempted to start a second franchise as the Blue Jays in The Show 25. 

[KingsX]

Well, Blue Jays fans, you just got a rental of our last Cy Young winner for a decent AA pitching prospect.

 

IF he can come all the way back from his Tommy John surgery by October, you won the deal.

[CheeseHead]

6 hours ago, KingsX said:

Well, Blue Jays fans, you just got a rental of our last Cy Young winner for a decent AA pitching prospect.

 

IF he can come all the way back from his Tommy John surgery by October, you won the deal.

If healthy he'll be the starter in the Jays first play off game 🙂

[Jordan]

LCFC need to hire Twins GM Jeremy Zoll as a consultant to help them clean up their wage bill

[CheeseHead]

6 hours ago, Jordan said:

LCFC need to hire Twins GM Jeremy Zoll as a consultant to help them clean up their wage bill

Conversely, Chelsea looking to hire AJ Preller