Quote from WindsorUK on July 3, 2025, 4:16 am

https://www.mlb.com/news/clayton-kershaw-joins-3000-strikeout-club

Whilst he might be the worst pitcher in post season history, he's had a pretty stellar run over many, many summers!

Congrats to a future HoF'er.

 

Quote from fenn68 on July 7, 2025, 3:17 pm

Just for thought

Mike Rizzo engineered the Juan Soto deal with A J Preller ... cleared a lot of payroll and landed STARS in Wood, Abrams, Gore ... and still to come Susana and maybe Hassell ... considered a great deal by Rizzo ... is now fired by WASH. WASH continues to struggle and is way out of any contention ... with those stars.

Meanwhile A J Preller remains the GM of the Padres and has the team in a playoff race (after a couple of very successful seasons) despite a trade that he in some circles was vilified for making.

Guess always look at the big picture (and winning) not any specific action (good or bad).

Quote from Jeremy Hill on July 12, 2025, 10:13 am

I'm starting to wonder if the league should consider making some changes to the All-Star break moving forward. It seems like almost all the starting pitchers who are scheduled to go on Saturday or Sunday opt not to participate. Maybe they could push the game back to Wednesday and add another off day on Friday in future years. For transparency's sake I think they should also release the names of every replacement they invite even if their invitation is declined. Name them as All-Stars and just keep moving down the list until the roster is filled. I suspect they don't want to highlight how many guys actually turn down the offer, but I think it would help temper some of the anger from fans and players regarding "snubs". There's really no reason a guy like Jacob Misiorowski should be named an All-Star after 5 starts while guys like Ranger Suarez, Cristopher Sanchez, and Pivetta don't get the honor because they can't commit to pitching in the game. When you consider that some of these guys have incentives related to making an All-Star team it's even more egregious. There has to be a solution that allows more starters to participate.

Quote from fenn68 on July 12, 2025, 10:32 am

Seems as though the All-Star game and the desire (by the players and the organizations) of not having SP participate is getting further apart. Not sure of a solution.

Clearly the fans want their guy in and playing but few consider the effort the way the players do ... especially ones in the playoff races. May seem like little but the current thinking is that having a full week off from baseball at home is better for the player / team in the quest for the more important playoff slot. For both participating in the playoff and maybe World Series is just more important. That is less an issue for position players and apparently RP. Don't think the extra day helps change their minds.

Personally lost interest in the All-Star game (and the selections). First when uncontrolled inter-league play and TV exposed all players nationally and playing each other. Then the whole fans voting scenarios just did not appear as rewarding the "All-Star" for the year but just fan favorites. Then top that with the opt-outs for all the reasons they can think of.

Time has passed when the players see playing in the game as an honor, it appears.

I could live with the game just being dropped ... just give everyone off mid-season for a week. Don't see moving it to post-season will motivate any more players to participate.

Quote from fenn68 on July 21, 2025, 12:22 pm

Rich Hill is headed back to the majors for a 21st season. The Royals plan to select Hill’s contract from Triple-A Omaha,

Hill was old and over the hill a couple of years ago when the Padres took a shot ... guess this will end all of KC's playoff hopes.

Quote from ultratvfan on July 21, 2025, 12:55 pm

Quote from fenn68 on July 21, 2025, 12:22 pm

Rich Hill is headed back to the majors for a 21st season. The Royals plan to select Hill’s contract from Triple-A Omaha,

Hill was old and over the hill a couple of years ago when the Padres took a shot ... guess this will end all of KC's playoff hopes.

When will teams' front office and management learn when a player is old and no good anymore?  If they are willing to sign players like Rich Hill, why not sign you, fenn68? You would probably be better than Hill.

Quote from fenn68 on July 21, 2025, 1:37 pm

Quote from ultratvfan on July 21, 2025, 12:55 pm

Quote from fenn68 on July 21, 2025, 12:22 pm

Rich Hill is headed back to the majors for a 21st season. The Royals plan to select Hill’s contract from Triple-A Omaha,

Hill was old and over the hill a couple of years ago when the Padres took a shot ... guess this will end all of KC's playoff hopes.

When will teams' front office and management learn when a player is old and no good anymore?  If they are willing to sign players like Rich Hill, why not sign you, fenn68? You would probably be better than Hill.

I surely could get hit as hard ...

Quote from fenn68 on July 26, 2025, 11:06 am

Ray's have put Ha-Seong Kim on the 10 day IL ... lower back injury.

It took him a long time to return from the shoulder injury from last season and had only been back for 10 games ... so turning into a bad investment by TB as a team with not a lot of payroll space but in contention that would like to add now. Kim is getting $13MM this season and has a player option at $16MM for next season.

I liked Kim ... so sad for him.

Quote from Jeremy Hill on August 2, 2025, 10:32 am

Just saw the Yankees/Marlins highlights. It would be pretty hard for a group of deadline acquisitions to make a worse first impression. Bednar, Bird and Doval combined to get 7 outs while allowing 7 earned runs and Caballero let a ball roll under his glove leading to 2 more runs with Doval on the mound as they got walked off by the Marlins.

Old friend Jakob Marsee had a nice debut for The Marlins going 1-2 with a 2B and 3 BBs.

The Pirates/Rockies game was pretty crazy too.