Around Baseball 2025

[Brownie19]

Pirates are calling up Bubba Chandler...

[John_Havok]

42 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

Pirates are calling up Bubba Chandler...

finally? Dude dominated last year in AA and AAA, clear argument could have been made for him to start the year up with the big club. So now, they get his feet wet for the rest of this season, and have him up with the big club next season to try and get that extra ROY pick. 

Amazing how that incentive was meant to convince teams to bring guys up sooner, but seems to just have them held down longer. 

[Brownie19]

This is what the Athletic is proposing for new divisions after MLB expansion.

 

[hanton]

4 hours ago, Pendleton said:

Many have pointed out that Nate Eaton (the runner on 3B) was in the game as a pinch runner and has 95th percentile sprint speed, but the CF Cowser also happens to have 95th percentile arm strength. Given the situation (trailing in extra innings) I feel like they absolutely should have been sending there, regardless of the bad throw in hindsight.

It's not an exact science

The game situation aside because that's known before the ball is hit, Cowser doesn't set himself correctly and it's why the throw is offline - so that's hard to predict.  

Cowser should have rounded the fly ball and take the throw coming in; instead he kind of just moves to his right like an infielder taking a pop-up so he had no angle to home plate.

So it's probably the correct call

[John_Havok]

30 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

This is what the Athletic is proposing for new divisions after MLB expansion.

 

NL West Teams would literally die from travel. 

The thing with geographic realignment is not to make travel within the division as small as possible, it's to ensure all teams travel at least somewhat kinda close to each other.

Extremely challenging with so many teams in the central and east vs mountain and west. 

[Terminator]

It's all Seattle's fault. Just contract the team rather than jumping through all these expansion and realignment hoops.

[John_Havok]

Felix Bautista getting shoulder surgery - out for the next year, likely not back till 2027. - Torn rotator cuff and torn labrum. 

[BB17]

43 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

NL West Teams would literally die from travel. 

The thing with geographic realignment is not to make travel within the division as small as possible, it's to ensure all teams travel at least somewhat kinda close to each other.

Extremely challenging with so many teams in the central and east vs mountain and west. 

I find the travel component to be overrated honestly. Teams play 3-4 game series so they are travelling less than NHL/NBA teams. With afternoon games on travel days and charter flight an extra 1-2 hours in the air doesn't really mean a whole lot. I would think playing in different time zones would have a worse effect on the body than the actual travel distance.

[John_Havok]

18 minutes ago, BB17 said:

I find the travel component to be overrated honestly. Teams play 3-4 game series so they are travelling less than NHL/NBA teams. With afternoon games on travel days and charter flight an extra 1-2 hours in the air doesn't really mean a whole lot. I would think playing in different time zones would have a worse effect on the body than the actual travel distance.

Both suck. nobody that travels the amount of hours and days these guys do per year would ever say it's no big deal. 

West coast teams travel typically travel about double what the central teams do. It's definitely a factor. how big of a factor it is on play is certainly hard to quantify, because the best teams are still the best teams no matter where they are located, but the personal impact is probably a lot higher. 

[BB17]

1 minute ago, John_Havok said:

Both suck. nobody that travels the amount of hours and days these guys do per year would ever say it's no big deal. 

West coast teams travel typically travel about double what the central teams do. It's definitely a factor. how big of a factor it is on play is certainly hard to quantify, because the best teams are still the best teams no matter where they are located, but the personal impact is probably a lot higher. 

Yeah but I feel there is no need to overhaul all of the divisions based on travel. The Jays probably waste an extra hour each road trip when you factor in they have to go through customs etc.. Every team deals with advantages and disadvantages.

I remember hearing Matt Duchene talk about how when he played in Ottawa for the Senators how they had to get their place de-iced all the time so even though the "travel" was less than when he played for Dallas he felt it was actually worse in Ottawa because of all the dead time waiting around.

[Stangstag]

8 divisions would suck IMO. Just go back to 4 divisions and have the top 2 from each get a bye.

 

[Stangstag]

Or 4 divisions, top 3 get a bye, 4th place has to play a wildcard series.

[Nexii]

yea I also prefer 4 divisions with 8 teams each. 8 wildcards, 4 div winners. Wildcards face each other round 1, then div winners in round 2, etc. 

[John_Havok]

13 minutes ago, Stangstag said:

8 divisions would suck IMO. Just go back to 4 divisions and have the top 2 from each get a bye.

 

I agree. 8 divisions would be silly. 

[G-Snarls]

48 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

I agree. 8 divisions would be silly. 

Yeah in the NFL it almost guarantees a crappy team makes the playoffs most years. 4 teams in a division is just silly. 

[glory]

Manfred's vision is 8 divisions, 4 teams in each division, 14 playoff teams, top seeds in each league get a bye, and everyone else plays in the WC Round. If/when expansion happens, be prepared for that.

[John_Havok]

21 minutes ago, glory said:

Manfred's vision is 8 divisions, 4 teams in each division, 14 playoff teams, top seeds in each league get a bye, and everyone else plays in the WC Round. If/when expansion happens, be prepared for that.

When did Manfred say this?

[glory]

1 minute ago, John_Havok said:

When did Manfred say this?

One of MLB's proposals during the last round of CBA talks was that exact playoff format (14 playoff teams, top seeds get a bye, 12 playoff teams in the WC round), which the players declined. The 8 divisions talk was a few years ago, I recall him bringing up the NFL as the model he wanted. Quick Google search found this quote from last year:

"I’d say two things about expansion conceptually. We think we are a growth business, and there are markets around the U.S. that want baseball. That’s our principle motivation. There are also advantages in going from 30 to 32 in terms of schedule and format,” Manfred said on the Questions For Cancer Research podcast. “It would create an opportunity to realign (divisions) – fours work a lot better in schedules than fives.”

Of course the players will have to agree with all of this for it to pass, but I think that's the model Manfred is aiming for. 

[hanton]

between yesterday and today I've seen 3 players named Seymour

I already knew about Ian Seymour on the Rays but was watching the SD/SF game yesterday and Carson Seymour is pitching, Seymour #2.  I'm watching the NYY/TB game right now and the Rays have another Seymour, Bob Seymour playing 1B.

Schlittler is looking good

[Grant77]

6 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

This is what the Athletic is proposing for new divisions after MLB expansion.

 

The Blue Jays not being in a division called the AL North would be hilarious.

[hanton]

Bednar BS

[Brownie19]

5 hours ago, John_Havok said:

Felix Bautista getting shoulder surgery - out for the next year, likely not back till 2027. - Torn rotator cuff and torn labrum. 

That's brutal (yet good for the Jays and F the O's).  You don't see many torn rotator cuffs anymore.  I remember that was huge/common back 20+ years ago.  I remember growing up worrying about tearing my rotator cuff more than getting TJS.

[Brownie19]

6 hours ago, John_Havok said:

NL West Teams would literally die from travel. 

The thing with geographic realignment is not to make travel within the division as small as possible, it's to ensure all teams travel at least somewhat kinda close to each other.

Extremely challenging with so many teams in the central and east vs mountain and west. 

I've never thought about it that way before (I haven't thought about realignment much though 😁).  I guess that probably makes sense.  Make it even all teams/players.

I suspect the travel does suck, but you don't hear about players avoiding certain teams because they don't want the extra travel.  So it can't be a major factor.

[John_Havok]

4 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

I've never thought about it that way before (I haven't thought about realignment much though 😁).  I guess that probably makes sense.  Make it even all teams/players.

I suspect the travel does suck, but you don't hear about players avoiding certain teams because they don't want the extra travel.  So it can't be a major factor.

Its certainly a factor for guys who want to play close to home.

Its probably more of a preference than a real deterrent. Like, if two teams are offering similar deals, similar chances to win... ease of travel would be a factor i think.

[Brownie19]

18 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Its certainly a factor for guys who want to play close to home.

Its probably more of a preference than a real deterrent. Like, if two teams are offering similar deals, similar chances to win... ease of travel would be a factor i think.

I don't think playing close to home has anything to do with in-season travel does it?  Players don't "go to their offseason home" often during the season anyway do they?

I'm just not sure I've ever heard of someone say they chose to play for Cincinnati instead of Seattle because there's less travel and that was a key consideration.  Nor have I heard someone who's left Seattle say they won't miss all the extra travel.  But I could be wrong. 

[Brownie19]

I'll ask this again.  Did the Brewers fix Andrew Vaughan?  This guy has been incredible for them.  171 wRC+ and 1.7 WAR in 34 games (142 PA's).

Can you filter the savant page by dates to see the difference since joining the Brew Crew?

[hanton]

Absolutely wild game in "Tampa", 

Bednar blown save gives up 2 runs

Fairbanks gives it all back in the top of 10 including a good 5 minute battle trying to pick off Caballero at 1st with a video review on a pick off and a balk that was reversed (I think Fairbanks gotta way with one, he was on the mound with the ball but hadn't engaged the rubber).  They finally get him trying to steal 2nd then Caballero goes nuts and start giving it to the field ump - Cash saves him or he would have been ejected.

Bottom 10 Rays score 1 and get the tying run at 2nd but Devin Williams closes it out.

Seems Cole won't be an option this season. 

[hanton]

5 minutes ago, Brownie19 said:

I'll ask this again.  Did the Brewers fix Andrew Vaughan?  This guy has been incredible for them.  171 wRC+ and 1.7 WAR in 34 games (142 PA's).

Can you filter the savant page by dates to see the difference since joining the Brew Crew?

should be able to...

[hanton]

Monthly splits works since the TDL was July 31st

Andrew Vaughan

[Brownie19]

10 hours ago, hanton said:

Monthly splits works since the TDL was July 31st

Andrew Vaughan

I'm looking for exit velo, barrel %, chase rate, etc., etc. to see if there's been a tangible change in his batted ball profile - something to tell me this might be sustainable.

I just checked and his savant page looks really red already (even including his time in Chicago).  I'd love to hear what adjustments the Brewers made if any, or what prompted these improvements.  It's a really cool story.  He was felt to be a can't miss bat and it looks like this change of scenery may have saved his career.  If so, what a find by the Brewers - he's exactly the type of power bat they needed.