2025 Major League Baseball

[Jmass]

How's your team looking this year? What player/players are you excited about? Which team do you dislike? I'm a long time Cardinals follower. Unsure what this year will hold from them. A 4-2 start looks pretty good. Bats have been lively. Hope to heck the young outfielders can stay healthy and be productive. Cards are in Boston (I think we have a Sox fan or two) to open Fenway tomorrow. Sox seem to own St. Louis so I'm hoping the Cards can take one of three this weekend. As far as dislikes, I know the Cubs are the Cardinals' rivals but I just can't work up any dislike for them. I'll take the usual - big spending Dodgers and Yankees.

[MRP]

I've been a Sox fan since I was 3 (circa '72). Sox look good on paper this year, but we'll have to see how it plays out. The kid Kristian Campbell looks like the real deal in the first week, we'll have to see how he handles things when teams make adjustments on him. As a Sox fan, I hate the Yankees with a burning passion. I respect the ability of some of the players, but despise the organization as a whole.

Not a fan of the Dodgers per se, but I am still a fan of Mookie Betts from his days with the Sox, and Ohtani is just fun to watch.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around "torpedo bats" as well.

-M

[TrekStar]

YIKES!!! Fan of the Atlanta Braves, 0-7 to start the season, not good since there in a tough division with the Phillies and Mets. Maybe some home cooking this weekend will turn things around?

I have family in Arizona, so I follow the D-Backs, and my next store neighbor is the aunt of the team executive vice president Mike Hazen, who used to work back here for the Redsox.

The Dodgers pretty much bought the World Series last year, and starting this season 8-0 they will most likely be there again with that ridiculous payroll, so I’m hoping maybe the Padres or D-Backs can give them a run for the money so to speak.

I would like to know what the average cost is for Dodgers tickets?

[Jmass]

MRP - as a coincidence, I listened to a good part of the Sox Orioles game today on the MLB app while I was out running errands. You are right about Campbell. I listened to the Sox broadcast and the announcers were raving about the kid. He had a good day too. As far as the torpedo bats are concerned, they mentioned that Bregman (spelling?) tried one and went back to his old bat today. He had a good day as well if I remember correctly. I enjoyed the Red Sox broadcast.

TrekStar - I feel for you brother. I grew up watching Skip Carey and Ernie Johnson on WTBS. Still have an affection for the team. My friend and I do yearly baseball trips to see the Cardinals play in other ballparks each year. This year we're headed to Atlanta and I'm pretty stoked. Not Fulton County Stadium but it will still be cool!

I feel like all teams should be allowed to just take a forfeit when they play the Dodgers. Not only do they win but it's a soul-crushing win. I watched last night as the Braves jumped out to a 5-0 lead only to watch it disappear late in the game. Gotta be hard on folks. Instead of playing the opposition just takes the three games off and relaxes somewhere. Dodgers can go count their money for three days.

[MRP]

MRP - as a coincidence, I listened to a good part of the Sox Orioles game today on the MLB app while I was out running errands. You are right about Campbell. I listened to the Sox broadcast and the announcers were raving about the kid. He had a good day too. As far as the torpedo bats are concerned, they mentioned that Bregman (spelling?) tried one and went back to his old bat today. He had a good day as well if I remember correctly. I enjoyed the Red Sox broadcast.

TrekStar - I feel for you brother. I grew up watching Skip Carey and Ernie Johnson on WTBS. Still have an affection for the team. My friend and I do yearly baseball trips to see the Cardinals play in other ballparks each year. This year we're headed to Atlanta and I'm pretty stoked. Not Fulton County Stadium but it will still be cool!

I feel like all teams should be allowed to just take a forfeit when they play the Dodgers. Not only do they win but it's a soul-crushing win. I watched last night as the Braves jumped out to a 5-0 lead only to watch it disappear late in the game. Gotta be hard on folks. Instead of playing the opposition just takes the three games off and relaxes somewhere. Dodgers can go count their money for three days.

Yeah it was a good day for the Sox today. Their offense has been sluggish but heated up today. Hopefully they can keep the momentum going into their first homestand of the year.

-M

[Jmass]

Bosox were horrible hosts to the Cardinals pounding them mercilessly then sending their corpse to Pittsburgh for further humiliation lol!

[drquest]

Bosox were horrible hosts to the Cardinals pounding them mercilessly then sending their corpse to Pittsburgh for further humiliation lol!

Well at least the Cardinals beat the Pirates today, lol

[Jmass]

Well at least the Cardinals beat the Pirates today, lol

That was a big win for the Birds. Paul Skenes is a great young pitcher.

[MRP]

And now for something completely different, the Red Sox and Giants completed an unexpected blockbuster trade well before the deadline as the Sox ship disgruntled superstar slugger Rafael Devers for pitching depth and prospects. To say the trade stunned the baseball world would be an understatement, as it occurred just after The Sox completed a 3-game sweep of the Yankees with a game where Devers had just homered for his 500th career extra base hit.

-M

[Jmass]

And now for something completely different, the Red Sox and Giants completed an unexpected blockbuster trade well before the deadline as the Sox ship disgruntled superstar slugger Rafael Devers for pitching depth and prospects. To say the trade stunned the baseball world would be an understatement, as it occurred just after The Sox completed a 3-game sweep of the Yankees with a game where Devers had just homered for his 500th career extra base hit.

-M

That trade has me a bit puzzled. Please tell me the Sox received someone better than ex-Cardinal Jordan Hicks out of the deal.

[MRP]

That trade has me a bit puzzled. Please tell me the Sox received someone better than ex-Cardinal Jordan Hicks out of the deal.

There had been ongoing issues between Devers and the team, and Devers wasn't willing to do certain things to help the team and the team felt with him making $31 million a year, he should be more of a team player, so it was more about being a messy divorce and wanting Devers and his huge salary and bad attitude gone. I don't blame Devers, the way the team went about asking him to become the DH an then switch positions again was bad, but his reactions were bad as well and it was becoming unsalvageable. I don't think they wanted him around setting a bad example to the young kids like Anthony & Mayer they have coming up.

They got Hicks, Harrison who was a top rated prospect before last season. Tibbs, who was a 1st round pick last draft, and another minor prospect, nowhere near enough in terms of talent, but the Giants did take all of Devers salary (which was too long and too much and will be an albatross to a team in the second half of its term). With that salary, they weren't going to get as much back in terms of talent. I still don't think they got enough, but from what I understand none of the other small handful of teams that contacted them were willing to take on much of Devers' contract, let alone the whole thing like the Giants were.

I don't like the return they got or the timing of the deal, but I'm not the biggest Devers fan and I thought the contract was a mistake the minute they announced it-it was a desperation move to placate angry fans when they were outbid on other free agents and lost some of their own key free agents to higher bidders and the fan base was complaining ownership was cheap and wouldn't spend, so they gave a boatload of money and years to Devers to placate them, a deal that I thought was ill-conceived, 5 years too long, and without any thought of how it would affect roster construction moving forward in their efforts to build a sustainable contender, so I am not sad to see him and his contract go, I jut don't like the timing of it now and think the return could have been better.

-M

[TrekStar]

Alex Bergman who the Redsox got from Houston at the beginning of the season was a better 3rd baseman.
Devers did not want to go to 1st base, which tells me he’s not a team player and wants to cooperate and help the team, of course there’s maybe more to that story then we the fans know.

I was though confused why the Redsox didn’t send him back to 3rd base after the injury to Alex Bergman? so again there’s more to this story then we know.

I’m guessing after Devers settles in with San Francisco, more of this soap opera saga will be revealed. Oh and how ironic is it that the Redsox play San Francisco this upcoming weekend.

[MRP]

Alex Bergman who the Redsox got from Houston at the beginning of the season was a better 3rd baseman.
Devers did not want to go to 1st base, which tells me he’s not a team player and wants to cooperate and help the team, of course there’s maybe more to that story then we the fans know.

I was though confused why the Redsox didn’t send him back to 3rd base after the injury to Alex Bergman? so again there’s more to this story then we know.

I’m guessing after Devers settles in with San Francisco, more of this soap opera saga will be revealed. Oh and how ironic is it that the Redsox play San Francisco this upcoming weekend.

They didn't send him to 3B when Bregman got hurt because he basically said you told me I was a bad fielder and needed to DH after promising me when I signed the contract that I was going to be your 3B for the length of the deal, so now I am a DH and I won't use a glove when Casas got hurt and they asked if he would play 1B and doubled down on that when Bregman got hurt. I think the team wanted to but the player outright refused to do it. Devers, for his part felt the team lied to him when he signed the contract and again wen he asked the team what their interest in Bregman was during the off-season and they told him not to worry, it was just rumors, and no matter what they did, he was their 3B,but they would keep him in the loop. They didn't, they signed Bregman a week into spring training and then told Devers h was no longer the 3B. And he felt betrayed by the team and that the front office had lied to his face. So there's plenty of blame to go around on both sides, making it an untenable situation.

John Henry made a trip to visit the team on the road in Kansas City in early May specifically to meet with Devers after all the kerfuffle happened when they asked him to play 1B when Casas got hurt, and all that was said was that the meeting was candid. It appears that the candidness was Devers saying screw you guys, you wanted me at DH and now I am only a DH and the ownerships reaction was we paid you $31 million a year to be the face of the team and to be a team player and you're not living up to that, and I think that pretty much sealed the deal about Devers future with the team. Six weeks later, he's gone to a team that was willing to take his huge contract because they've had their own issues attracting players (especially power hitters) to come to them in free agency and this was a way to take the choice out of the sluggers' hand. The irony is, the Giants already have a gold glove 3B they just signed to an extension, so Devers is going to have to be a 1B or DH there too.

-M

[Dan2Dan]

In 1984, my family moved from a suburb of Washington, D.C. (i.e. Gaithersburg, MD) to the San Diego area. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Orioles were great and were local sporting institutions. Then my family moved to San Diego, and suddenly, the Padres, who had been the worst franchise in American pro sports, were contenders. There's never been another feeling here in SD like that again. 1998 was close. But never again.

[TrekStar]

They didn't send him to 3B when Bregman got hurt because he basically said you told me I was a bad fielder and needed to DH after promising me when I signed the contract that I was going to be your 3B for the length of the deal, so now I am a DH and I won't use a glove when Casas got hurt and they asked if he would play 1B and doubled down on that when Bregman got hurt. I think the team wanted to but the player outright refused to do it. Devers, for his part felt the team lied to him when he signed the contract and again wen he asked the team what their interest in Bregman was during the off-season and they told him not to worry, it was just rumors, and no matter what they did, he was their 3B,but they would keep him in the loop. They didn't, they signed Bregman a week into spring training and then told Devers h was no longer the 3B. And he felt betrayed by the team and that the front office had lied to his face. So there's plenty of blame to go around on both sides, making it an untenable situation.

John Henry made a trip to visit the team on the road in Kansas City in early May specifically to meet with Devers after all the kerfuffle happened when they asked him to play 1B when Casas got hurt, and all that was said was that the meeting was candid. It appears that the candidness was Devers saying screw you guys, you wanted me at DH and now I am only a DH and the ownerships reaction was we paid you $31 million a year to be the face of the team and to be a team player and you're not living up to that, and I think that pretty much sealed the deal about Devers future with the team. Six weeks later, he's gone to a team that was willing to take his huge contract because they've had their own issues attracting players (especially power hitters) to come to them in free agency and this was a way to take the choice out of the sluggers' hand. The irony is, the Giants already have a gold glove 3B they just signed to an extension, so Devers is going to have to be a 1B or DH there too.

-M

I agree with you on this, BOTH sides are guilty, but it also has an effect on the other players on the team. The Giants were willing to pick up his salary so problem solved as far as the Redsox are concerned, they might actually start playing better now. It will be interesting to see what happens this weekend when the Redsox visit San Francisco.