Around Baseball 2025

[Brownie19]

23 minutes ago, jaysblue said:

I'm hoping I could make it down to a Pirates game this summer. Really want to see Skenes pitch in person. Heard Pittsburgh is a pretty cool city as well. 

It's well worth the trip IMO.  Cool enough City and an amazing ballpark.

[G-Snarls]

 

 

[Spanky__99]

15 hours ago, G-Snarls said:

 

 

rOiDs!!!

[jaysblue]

9 minutes ago, Spanky99 said:

rOiDs!!!

[Spanky__99]

The Rockies signed Charlie Blackmon to special assistant to the GM. 😅

[Rusty_Savage]

On 1/24/2025 at 5:39 PM, jaysblue said:

I'm hoping I could make it down to a Pirates game this summer. Really want to see Skenes pitch in person. Heard Pittsburgh is a pretty cool city as well. 

I'm taking my son down in April, 2 Pirates games and 1 Penguins game, Buc are playing the Cards and the Pens are playing the Blackhawks, so we get to see 4 terrible teams lol,

[Barrelsandbombs]

 

[L54]

Bregman is gonna end up back in Houston isn’t he 

[G-Snarls]

22 hours ago, L54 said:

Bregman is gonna end up back in Houston isn’t he 

Probably yes 

[Pendleton]

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/01/padres-trade-rumors-michael-king.html 

Michael King's name being mentioned in trade rumors. Final year of arb control and filed at 8.8M for 2025.

[Brownie19]

On 1/26/2025 at 5:11 PM, L54 said:

Bregman is gonna end up back in Houston isn’t he 

That would be my bet at this time.  Altuve has said he'll move to LF so Bregman can play 2nd.

[Brownie19]

15 hours ago, Pendleton said:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/01/padres-trade-rumors-michael-king.html 

Michael King's name being mentioned in trade rumors. Final year of arb control and filed at 8.8M for 2025.

It's going to be interesting to see how some of these converted relivers hold up after large IP jumps.  

[Brownie19]

The Orioles signed Dylan Carlson to a one-year, $975,000 contract Monday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. (1/27/2025)

[Laika]

18 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

The Orioles signed Dylan Carlson to a one-year, $975,000 contract Monday, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. (1/27/2025)

but why?

[Brownie19]

31 minutes ago, Laika said:

but why?

I was going to say he's an OK option as a 4th OFer.  A switch hitter who can play all 3 OF positions and he's still only 27, so there's potential you could still "unlock" something as he has pedigree; however, it looks like his range and defense has rapid declined and he can't play CF anymore, so yes - why?

[Orgfiller]

20 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

I was going to say he's an OK option as a 4th OFer.  A switch hitter who can play all 3 OF positions and he's still only 27, so there's potential you could still "unlock" something as he has pedigree; however, it looks like his range and defense has rapid declined and he can't play CF anymore, so yes - why?

He honestly might be in physical decline as a result of the injuries. His sprint speed and arm strength are trending down, bat speed was in like the 10th percentile even though he didn't qualify. He's also the worst kind of switch hitter, one which is better against lefties than righties. Career 83 wRC+ against RHP.

Age and pedigree are pretty much the only things he has going for him at this point.

[Brownie19]

23 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

He honestly might be in physical decline as a result of the injuries. His sprint speed and arm strength are trending down, bat speed was in like the 10th percentile even though he didn't qualify. He's also the worst kind of switch hitter, one which is better against lefties than righties. Career 83 wRC+ against RHP.

Age and pedigree are pretty much the only things he has going for him at this point.

Perfect - I hope he gets 450 PA's for the O's this year.

[Laika]

Reds - Austin Hays - $5M

Seems cheap! 

[Pendleton]

31 minutes ago, Laika said:

Reds - Austin Hays - $5M

Seems cheap! 

 

[Orgfiller]

1 hour ago, Laika said:

Reds - Austin Hays - $5M

Seems cheap! 

His medicals must be kind of f***ed if that's all he's getting. Or teams just don't think he's all that good, 1 WAR ceiling. I was going to say good depth for the Reds but he might very well be their 3rd best OF lol.

[Terminator]

16 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

His medicals must be kind of f***ed if that's all he's getting. Or teams just don't think he's all that good, 1 WAR ceiling. I was going to say good depth for the Reds but he might very well be their 3rd best OF lol.

That's a great landing spot for him. He's probably a starter for what should be a competitive team and he gets to try and rebuild his value in the best hitter's park this side of Coors Field. Maybe he took a small discount. 

[L54]

4 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

That would be my bet at this time.  Altuve has said he'll move to LF so Bregman can play 2nd.

Lol actually?

[Orgfiller]

6 minutes ago, L54 said:

Lol actually?

Yeah lol. The assumption is Bregman would obviously play 3B in his return, which puts the newly acquired Paredes in a weird spot as they also signed Christian Walker. So Bregman returns to 3B, Walker 1B, Paredes to 2B I guess?, and Altuve would have to find a new position. LF in Houston is a bit of a joke anyway.

Paredes is a capable fielder still and Walker is obviously elite at 1B so neither are bound for DH any time soon, not to mention Yordan Alvarez exists and should never be taking the field.

https://www.mlb.com/news/jose-altuve-willing-to-move-to-left-field

[Brownie19]

2 hours ago, L54 said:

Lol actually?

Yeah - I saw something on the Top 10 position changes proposed for 2025.  I can't find it, but here are the ones I can remember

Holmes to SP

Bregman to 2nd (if he re-signs with Houston)

Altuve to LF (apparently he's offered that up if it means the Astros can sign Bregman)

Trout to LF

Betts to SS (full-time)

Fitzgerald to 2nd (Adames to SS)

Willson Contreras to 1st 

 

Perhaps the others will come to me (or maybe they won't).

Edited January 28, 2025 by Brownie19
I remembered Contreras...

[L54]

6 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Yeah - I saw something on the Top 10 position changes proposed for 2025.  I can't find it, but here are the ones I can remember

Holmes to SP

Bregman to 2nd (if he re-signs with Houston)

Altuve to LF (apparently he's offered that up if it means the Astros can sign Bregman)

Trout to LF

Betts to SS (full-time)

Fitzgerald to 2nd (Adames to SS)

 

Perhaps the others will come to me (or maybe they won't).

Well that’s interesting. Kinda seems like they should play Bregman out there too to super optimize all these guys 

Bregman - 2B/3B/LF 

Altuve - 2B/LF

Paredes - 3B/2B/1B

 

[Orgfiller]

7 minutes ago, L54 said:

Well that’s interesting. Kinda seems like they should play Bregman out there too to super optimize all these guys 

Bregman - 2B/3B/LF 

Altuve - 2B/LF

Paredes - 3B/2B/1B

 

Bregman is too good a 3B defender to move him. Paredes is okay at 3B and has played 2B before so he's a natural candidate to shift over. Altuve's defense has been tanking at 2B so it makes sense to move him down the defensive spectrum. Assuming everyone is healthy, nobody should ever be playing above Christian Walker at 1B, and Yordan Alvarez should always be the DH.

Versatility is great but so is familiarity with one position. With these guys all being starting calibre I think it's better to just stick them in one position and not pivot unless injury requires it.

[Terminator]

23 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Yeah - I saw something on the Top 10 position changes proposed for 2025.  I can't find it, but here are the ones I can remember

Holmes to SP

Bregman to 2nd (if he re-signs with Houston)

Altuve to LF (apparently he's offered that up if it means the Astros can sign Bregman)

Trout to LF

Betts to SS (full-time)

Fitzgerald to 2nd (Adames to SS)

 

Perhaps the others will come to me (or maybe they won't).

They forgot Vlad to 3B

[Jimcanuck]

39 minutes ago, Orgfiller said:

Bregman is too good a 3B defender to move him. Paredes is okay at 3B and has played 2B before so he's a natural candidate to shift over. Altuve's defense has been tanking at 2B so it makes sense to move him down the defensive spectrum. Assuming everyone is healthy, nobody should ever be playing above Christian Walker at 1B, and Yordan Alvarez should always be the DH.

Versatility is great but so is familiarity with one position. With these guys all being starting calibre I think it's better to just stick them in one position and not pivot unless injury requires it.

Bregman seems a perfect fit for the cheaters

[Brownie19]

oppotaco (@oppotaco) • Instagram reel

WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM

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19K likes, 379 comments - oppotaco on January 17, 2025: "Filthy 😮‍💨😮‍💨 #baseball".

That guy throwing 87 mph knuckleballs signed with Detroit. Good for him. Baseball needs more knuckleballers

[Spanky__99]

7 hours ago, Orgfiller said:

Yeah lol. The assumption is Bregman would obviously play 3B in his return, which puts the newly acquired Paredes in a weird spot as they also signed Christian Walker. So Bregman returns to 3B, Walker 1B, Paredes to 2B I guess?, and Altuve would have to find a new position. LF in Houston is a bit of a joke anyway.

Paredes is a capable fielder still and Walker is obviously elite at 1B so neither are bound for DH any time soon, not to mention Yordan Alvarez exists and should never be taking the field.

https://www.mlb.com/news/jose-altuve-willing-to-move-to-left-field

Mentioned this the other day and was laughed at. 🤷‍♂️