2025 MLB Thread

[chasfh]

32 minutes ago, lordstanley said:

Good news for fans in Windsor, Sarnia and Chatham. Unfortunately for me in Vancouver, my time shift affiliate for CBS, NBC and ABC are all Detroit's, but Fox is Rochester, NY.

From the Department of It Figures. 

[casimir]

8 hours ago, chasfh said:

We won’t have a regular season thread for almost three weeks, so I’m posting this here:

 https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2025/03/09/detroit-tigers-red-wings-to-air-15-games-on-local-tv-in-2025-full-schedule/82065628007/

Ten Tigers games running on channel 2.1, which is full circle for me, since when I first became a fan in 1969, the Tigers aired on channel 2, called by George Kell and Larry Osterman. 

It does make some business sense to move games to, or at least simulcast some games on, broadcast TV as well. If they place the local team behind a paywall such that no one can ever see them unless they pony up the bucks upfront, then how can they spur interest and create new fans for the game? Except through the gambling, of course, which has been Baseball’s growth strategy for a few years now, and the new people that brings in aren’t really fans of the game.

The White Sox will have all their games on broadcast TV here in Big Shoulders, too. Their new Chicago Sports Channel home simulcasts completely on channel 62.2, mainly because they don’t have clearance on Comcast as of yet. Make fun on the White Sox all you like—and we do like—but that won’t hurt their visibility. I wish the Cubs would follow suit with a few games back on GN, too. I would bet most teams will in the next few years.

They’ve got to bring back the growling, bat eating, winning Tiger and the sullen, ice bag wearing, beaten (but ready to get back after it tomorrow) Tiger.

[1776]

The quiet talk is getting loud.

As he considers walking away from a stadium deal in St. Petersburg, Fla., Tampa Bay Rays owner Stu Sternberg is being pressured to sell his team by commissioner Rob Manfred and some other owners, people briefed on the ownership-level conversations who were not authorized to speak publicly told The Athletic.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6189456/2025/03/09/commissioner-owners-pressure-rays-sale-mlb/

[chasfh]

That’s something that an antitrust exemption allows: force a proprietor to divest himself of his property. 

[IdahoBert]

https://apnews.com/article/rays-steinbrenner-field-makeover-a843685deca2a9023e3fcb4a02c83217

The Rays get 120 hours to make the Yankees' spring stadium their own. Here's how they'll do it

[chasfh]

If you want to add Steinbrenner to your list of venues in which you’ve seen big league games, you should probably go next month.

[davidsb623]

Gage Workman makes the Cubs Opening Day roster (or five man travel squad) and is headed to Japan.  Has had an impressive spring.

Edited March 11 by davidsb623

[chasfh]

Gage Tater Workman.

True story.

[gehringer_2]

On 3/11/2025 at 4:07 PM, davidsb623 said:

Gage Workman makes the Cubs Opening Day roster (or five man travel squad) and is headed to Japan.  Has had an impressive spring.

1.200 OPS in 33 AB. I wasn't that surprised they let a guy go that was still in AA and was going to be 25. I was surprised they hadn't moved him AAA last season - I guess they weren't seeing something they wanted despite the apparent turnaround with the bat.

[chasfh]

Irrespective of whether it applies with Workman and the Tigers, it is a reminder that sometimes even a good player does not mesh with a good organization's good system.

[1776]

The Rays ownership has announced they are dropping the plans to build a new ballpark in St. Pete. This is not a surprise if you’ve followed this saga over the last several months.
It has been publicly acknowledged that there is a group that is interested in buying the team. 

[chasfh]

If another ownership group can buy the Rays and manage to convince the other owners to let them move to Nashville, that might open the door a crack for Montreal. That would still be a huge long shot, but that would be better than the no shot they have now.

[gehringer_2]

12 minutes ago, chasfh said:

If another ownership group can buy the Rays and manage to convince the other owners to let them move to Nashville, that might open the door a crack for Montreal. That would still be a huge long shot, but that would be better than the no shot they have now.

FWIW -I was talking to a buddy whose been in Tampa for long time and works in the NHL/NFL/MLB sports scene there (sports med). He thinks with the St Pete deal finally dead they are just going across the bay where they should have been to begin with. I had forgotten that they built the Trop without any commitment from a team and it sat pretty much empty waiting. My guy said a team in St Pete never made sense in the local geography/market but since St Pete had built the park, they got the nod despite the locals knowing it couldn't be a long term success.

Sort of what we've all heard but interesting to hear it first hand from a local connected to the business.

Edited March 15 by gehringer_2

[Tiger337]

13 minutes ago, chasfh said:

If another ownership group can buy the Rays and manage to convince the other owners to let them move to Nashville, that might open the door a crack for Montreal. That would still be a huge long shot, but that would be better than the no shot they have now.

Montreal is always a good idea.  

[chasfh]

11 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

FWIW -I was talking to a buddy whose been in Tampa for long time and works in the NHL/NFL/MLB sports scene there (sports med). He thinks with the St Pete deal finally dead they are just going across the bay where they should have been to begin with. I had forgotten that they built the Trop without any commitment from a team and it sat pretty much empty waiting. My guy said a team in St Pete never made sense in the local geography/market but since St Pete had built the park, they got the nod despite the locals knowing it couldn't be a long term success.

Sort of what we've all heard but interesting to hear it first hand from a local connected to the business.

That’s gonna be an interesting discussion because Tampa has got leverage now, since Baseball definitely does not want the team to leave. And the Tampa pol was quoted in the article saying he wanted a deal that was favorable to the taxpayers. Seems to me at first blush that the Rays’ only chance to soak the taxpayer is embed themselves inside Tampa or Hillsborough government and grease the right people.

[casimir]

15 hours ago, chasfh said:

If another ownership group can buy the Rays and manage to convince the other owners to let them move to Nashville, that might open the door a crack for Montreal. That would still be a huge long shot, but that would be better than the no shot they have now.

I can’t remember where or who mentioned it, but it sounds like Manfred wants one expansion team in the east and one expansion team in the west.  If Tampa were to relocate to Nashville, that would eliminate a hurdle for Montreal.  Does Charlotte still have a chance at an MLB team?  It doesn’t seem like there’s as much push for them as there had been in the past, but maybe that’s more of Nashville leapfrogging them than falling out of consideration altogether?

As much as I’d like to see an Expos rebirth, I just don’t think it’s likely.  And it’s possible certain circumstances elsewhere in the “real” world are going to kill any opportunity that there might have been.

Portland and Buffalo used to have the on deck feeling, but it seems like that fervor has dissipated.

[Tigermojo]

MLB, Topps & Fanatics team up for gold MLB logo patch

[Tiger337]

31 minutes ago, Tigermojo said:

MLB, Topps & Fanatics team up for gold MLB logo patch

I usually hate stuff like that, but this is not bad.  

[Tigermojo]

3 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I usually hate stuff like that, but this is not bad.  

I think it's a small patch and everyone has the MLB patch just not gold.

[chasfh]

2 hours ago, casimir said:

I can’t remember where or who mentioned it, but it sounds like Manfred wants one expansion team in the east and one expansion team in the west.  If Tampa were to relocate to Nashville, that would eliminate a hurdle for Montreal.  Does Charlotte still have a chance at an MLB team?  It doesn’t seem like there’s as much push for them as there had been in the past, but maybe that’s more of Nashville leapfrogging them than falling out of consideration altogether?

As much as I’d like to see an Expos rebirth, I just don’t think it’s likely.  And it’s possible certain circumstances elsewhere in the “real” world are going to kill any opportunity that there might have been.

Portland and Buffalo used to have the on deck feeling, but it seems like that fervor has dissipated.

I don't think Montreal's likely, either, but I think I'd be a little surprised if the owners let a new owner move a team to Nashville that they would put an expansion franchise right back in Tampa given the stadium situation, which I might assume would not be any better.

I used to believe Charlotte didn't have much of a chance because of how spread out the metro is, which might affect attendance at 81 games, but now that the vast majority of money made by teams comes outside of attendance, a sub-30,000-seat house might be a possibility for them. Now I'm wondering whether Charlotte is not going to get a franchise just because they are less than a four-hour drive from Atlanta, which is what Nashville also is. Maybe they would put a team in Durham? Believe it or not they are now a top-25 DMA, and they're six hours from Atlanta, which might help their case.

And then there's Orlando. The up side is that they are, I **** you not, a #15 DMA, just one spot behind Detroit, and growing. The down side is, it's Orlando. 

No, in all seriousness, Orlando might end up being the next best solution for Baseball if Tampa were to flee.

 

[1776]

Barry Larkin is leading a group of investors interested in moving the Rays franchise to Orlando. 
 

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2025/03/14/group-trying-to-bring-mlb-to-orlando-ready-to-pounce-after-rays-new-stadium-deal-falls-through/

[Tenacious D]

 

[chasfh]

16 hours ago, 1776 said:

Barry Larkin is leading a group of investors interested in moving the Rays franchise to Orlando. 
 

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2025/03/14/group-trying-to-bring-mlb-to-orlando-ready-to-pounce-after-rays-new-stadium-deal-falls-through/

I did not see this article before my post. I only saw it was a #15 market, which surprised me—I thought they were more like a 20. But I can see how yet another tourist Mecca could have an inside track for a franchise, and they might actually get a better local fan base there, because I don’t think they draw as many retirees from up north in Orlando as they do in the two big league towns in that state.

[Toddwert]

On 3/9/2025 at 9:12 AM, chasfh said:

We won’t have a regular season thread for almost three weeks, so I’m posting this here:

 https://www.freep.com/story/sports/mlb/tigers/2025/03/09/detroit-tigers-red-wings-to-air-15-games-on-local-tv-in-2025-full-schedule/82065628007/

Ten Tigers games running on channel 2.1, which is full circle for me, since when I first became a fan in 1969, the Tigers aired on channel 2, called by George Kell and Larry Osterman. 

It does make some business sense to move games to, or at least simulcast some games on, broadcast TV as well. If they place the local team behind a paywall such that no one can ever see them unless they pony up the bucks upfront, then how can they spur interest and create new fans for the game? Except through the gambling, of course, which has been Baseball’s growth strategy for a few years now, and the new people that brings in aren’t really fans of the game.

The White Sox will have all their games on broadcast TV here in Big Shoulders, too. Their new Chicago Sports Channel home simulcasts completely on channel 62.2, mainly because they don’t have clearance on Comcast as of yet. Make fun on the White Sox all you like—and we do like—but that won’t hurt their visibility. I wish the Cubs would follow suit with a few games back on GN, too. I would bet most teams will in the next few years.

Hot take... I liked George Kell more then Ernie  when i think of Tigers baseball   i hear George Kell and Al Kaline 

Edited March 16 by Toddwert

[gehringer_2]

25 minutes ago, chasfh said:

I did not see this article before my post. I only saw it was a #15 market, which surprised me—I thought they were more like a 20. But I can see how yet another tourist Mecca could have an inside track for a franchise, and they might actually get a better local fan base there, because I don’t think they draw as many retirees from up north in Orlando as they do in the two big league towns in that state.

Tampa regional population is somewhat bigger ~ 3.1 vs 2.7 million - then again, traffic in Tampa is so terrible I don't know what proportion would actually have practical travel times no matter where they put it. But this thinking is probably all obsolete. What they care about now are how many 7 figure corp boxes they can sell and the TV rev.  I doubt  the prole fans in the folding seats move any needles for team economics anymore.

Edited March 16 by gehringer_2