NM State Aggies vs Dallas Baptist Patriots Baseball 3-30-25

I woke up nursing a headache and still hadn’t gotten over last night's game.  I hate these 11:00am games.  At least the weather was wonderful.  It was warm and sunny with a light breeze.  There was kind of a light crowd too, at 431.  There was a Little League team present dressed in sharp-looking Cubs uniforms.  For that matter, the DBU Patriots were wearing gold uniforms.  They were a cross between camo's and the Padres' home uniforms, but without the stripes.  Pretty cool.  

 

I talked to Trey Reese after I got to my seat.  (His wife, daughter, and a couple of Volleyball girls were with him.)  I'd heard a couple of guys talking last night about Steve Solorazano.  They didn't think his injury last night was too bad.  Trey confirmed that.  We also noticed he'd been hit twice in the game while batting.  You wonder if that might have also contributed to the injury.

 

Cooper Reese was doing okay.  I noted that he'd only thrown 3 strikes in his outing, but he wasn't missing on the balls by much.  Trey said that they had a called for an offspeed for Cooper's first pitch, which Trey didn't think was the right call, given that he came in with a 3-1 count.  After that walk, Cooper never got settled. 

 

Fan Michael was talking to broadcaster Adam Young nearby and we finally got Adam and Trey to meet.  Adam has mentioned Trey a couple of times on the air.  I'm still hoping Adam will invite Trey on the air for some color commentary.  Adam mentioned that his co-host this weekend and former Aggie pitcher, Marcel Renteria, said he couldn’t imagine being a freshman, like Cooper, and being brought in the kind of pressure situation he came into. 

 

 

I didn't have trouble with the scorecards today, except that I didn't get the lineups filled in until about the fourth inning.  I need to stop having conversations while the PA is announcing the lineups.  Chris Daniels started for the Aggies.  He was also the DH.  Two-way players are cool, but losing Steve was like losing two players.  It’s a risk.  Trey said this game was going to be a “Johnny Wholestaff” game, indicating they might need everybody.  Cooper was told he might get in, which Trey thought would be a good thing.

 

Daniels gave up a double to start.  The next batter nearly scored him, but Joey Craig in right field made an awesome leaping catch at the wall.  This would set the standard for defense today.  Daniels finished out the inning with a pair of strikeouts.

 

Brandon Forrester started the bottom of the first with a double as well.  Aiden Lombardi promptly drove him in with a single.  I was about to say that Mitch Namie was due after an 0-fer performance yesterday, but he jacked out a 2-run homer before I could.  Tommy Mcluskey and Boston Vest also singled and Tommy came home on a wild pitch.  The Aggies were up 4-0 and we wondered if this was going to be another wild one.

 

Craig topped himself with the first batter of the second.  He went over the wall for a catch of a foul ball.  I couldn't see it where I was sitting, but Michael got up and watched the play.  Daniels finished the rest of the inning without drama.  The Aggies only had a single in the bottom.

 

I started listening to Aggie Softball, which was on the radio.  They were up 1-0 in the third.  An even bigger distraction came in at the same time.  A very cute redhead brought in a beautiful, fluffy German Sheppard and they sat down in the first row on the aisle.  I was in love.  I should specify with whom, but I assume they'd be a package deal.  She was having a good time with the dog, smiling and talking to him and petting him and feeding him.  This was one happy dog and owner.  (Since she stayed to the end, I assume this was a player girlfriend.  The dog might even be his, too.) 

 

Cade Shumard came in to pitch for the Aggies in the top of the third.  I’ve seen a couple of shaky appearances from Cade this season, but he’s one of two lefties on the staff, so the team needs him to pitch well.  He started off with a walk that was driven in by a double, but that was all of the damage.  We’ll take it.  4-1 Aggies.  In the bottom, DBU starter, Ryan Borberg, was now in a groove and struck out two in a scoreless inning.

 

Hazen Wright was our third Aggie pitcher for the fourth.  He was helped out with some more great defense.  Boston snatched a hot liner just off the turf at third.  He was part of an inning-ending double play with Lombardi and Bryce Campbell that was downright acrobatic in execution.  The Aggie went 1-2-3 in the bottom again.

    

Aggie Softball was now up 3-0 in the fifth.  Baseball was also in the fifth.  Tommy began the top with tremendous dive catch in center for the Aggies.  Hazen hit the next batter and walked the next.  He was relieved by Jaden Davis and a double play ended the frame.  The third base ump got hit by a Patriot warm up toss before play, but without any harm.  The Aggies had a hit batter in the bottom, but still couldn’t get a rally going.

 

Connor Wylde, the Aggies’ other lefty, started the sixth.  He came in shooting peas and struck out the side.  In the bottom, Borberg had two strikeouts, but let two on with a single and a walk and had a wild pitch.  He was relieved and looking strikeout ended the inning.  Aggie Softball won their game, 3-0.  Faith Aragon pitched another shutout.  

      

I somehow ended up in a conversation between Michael and Trey’s wife, Robin, about the band, U2.  I’m not expert and they were, but I’d listened to their music.  Trey noted the pretty dog lounging in the aisle, “The dog thinks he owns the place.”  I answered, “I’m okay with that.”  Wylde got two easy outs to start the seventh.  A well-placed infield single and a walk threatened, but Boston dove on a grounder and still managed to throw out the runner at second. 

 

The Aggies generated some offense off a new DBU reliever, Mason Swinney, in the bottom.  Forrester singled.  Lombardi moved him over.  Swinney made a great play on that grounder and got a strikeout, but was relieved.  The new pitcher hit the next two Aggie batters, including Craig on the head, but no damage.  Unfortunately, there was no damage in the inning either, as the Aggies loaded the bases without scoring.  This was starting to uncomfortably remind me of yesterday’s game.

      

Wylde struck out the first batter of the eighth looking, but walked the next batter.  Adam Berghult came in to pinch hit and made the most of it.  He sliced a 2-run homer to right center that just cleared the wall.  Even if it hadn’t, it would have been a gapper anyway.  Wylde got another strikeout.  Finally, there was a tough grounder to third.  Boston made a wild throw on it, but Bryce caught it and tagged the runner going by.  4-3 Aggies.  DBU went through two pitchers in the bottom of the eighth.  The Aggies got two runners on with a single and an intentional walk, but still couldn’t score. 

 

We go to the ninth and Wylde was still pitching.  He struck out the first batter and walked the next.  Bryce made a great play at first on a grounder going down the line.  He stepped on first for the second out and then to threw to second for the DP, but the ump ruled, “Safe.”  Forrester was hopping mad and the crowd was infuriated.  The next batter cranked one to deep centerfield.  Tommy made a great leaping catch and crashed into the wall for the final out.  Game over, man!  Game over.  Aggies win 4-3.  Whew!  That was a great game.    

 

 

The teams lined up and shook hands afterward.  I’m always glad to see that.  It doesn’t always happen in baseball.  I saw a cute little wiener dog wearing a baseball hat on the way out.  At my car, I called dad and asked about bringing a pizza and watching the NCAA Basketball Tournament games that were on (which aren’t worth talking about). 

 

It was a Pizza Hut stuffed crust pizza that I had a coupon for.  I thought it was great.  Dad apparently doesn’t like stuffed crust pizza.  I’ll note that for the future.  When I started looking up the box score of the game, I suddenly realized that this was a great win for the Aggies.  DBU is ranked #17 in the nation.  I saw they had a good record, but this was surprising.  I did not see their pitching at its best this weekend.  Even while pretty effective today, they kept hitting batters and making wild pitches.  The Patriot hitting is excellent.  Without some tremendous plays on defense by the Aggies, they probably would have busted out again. 

 

I’ll toss out the Gameballs.  Adam Berghult’s pinch hit home run was DBU’s standout, clutch offensive performance, and I’ll hand it to their whole pitching lineup today.  Ryan Borberg only had one bad inning, but had 7 K’s and the longest outing of anyone today.  For the Aggies, Brandon Forrester went 3 for 4 and Mitch Namie had one hit, but it was a 2-run homer.  Connor Wylde had a gritty 4-inning performance for the win, including 6 strikeouts.  The Aggie fielding defense also gets a Gameball, especially Joey Craig.  His two plays early on may have been pivotal.

            

The wind actually picked up considerably after the game.  This could have been a very different outcome if this had happened earlier.  The bats almost seemed tired after yesterday’s outburst.  It’ll be another unfortunate weekend off from Aggie Sports this week with nothing scheduled, and I’ll be missing the Aggie/Lobo game on Tuesday, but hopefully listening. 

NM State Aggies vs Dallas Baptist Patriots Baseball 3-29-25

 

The Aggies had a productive road trip going 4-1.  They beat conference opponent, Liberty, two of three, wrapped around a couple of non-conference wins.  Cooper Reese pitched three scoreless innings and picked up a win in relief.  (Sitting next his dad, Trey, I have a rooting interest in Cooper’s performance.)  Even better, Steve Solorzano pitched for the first time and had 3 innings of scoreless relief for an extra innings win.

 

I missed out on this one.

 

Friday night, the Aggies returned home to play the Dallas Baptist Patriots.  I’d wanted to go the game for the “Aggies in the MLB” giveaway poster, but didn’t feel like I could get off work.  That was just as well as they lost badly, 14-7, just avoiding a run rule.  Starter Jack Turner had one really bad inning in the fourth and gave up 8 runs. 

 

At the same time, Aggie Softball was playing Sam Houston next door.  (Thanks to whoever made this season’s schedule.)  They won 8-4 behind Desirae Spearman pitching a complete game and hitting a homer.  Three other Aggies homered in the game.  It was windy out.  I wonder if that was driving the ball tonight. 

 

For today’s Saturday game, I couldn’t figure out what to wear.  It was hot in the sun, but with a cold breeze.  Also, this game would finish at night.  The wind was going from breezy to gusting.  There were clouds and it sometimes looked like rain, but then it was clear and sunny.  I left without sunglasses and regretted it.  The wind picked up just as I left for the stadium.

 

 

I did not take this picture of the lovely Volleyball girls

Driving in, I saw a small, intimate tailgate going on out on the moonscape behind the stadium.  Not exactly the most scenic place for a picnic.  Inside, I met up with Fan Michael, Trey, and Ken.  Trey was busy buying bottled water for his wife, daughter, and several members of the Volleyball team.  The girls looked quite lovely wearing pastel sundresses.  There was a decent crowd of 487.  There were several kids and some adults styling in MLB jerseys. 

 

On field, Men’s Basketball Coach Jason Hooten threw out the first pitch.  He looked damn happy to be there.  DBU was wearing some sharp uniforms.  They had red tops with blue lettering.  They also brought a very pretty team photographer.  I was finally formally introduced to our pretty team photographer, Destiny.  She really is a sweetheart.  She’s also engaged.  I think Michael told also told me that the Hot Marketing girl is going out with Mitch Namie on the team.  Well, we’ll let those two go.

 

Michael also mentioned that the Aggies turned a triple play on the road.  I hope there’s a clip of that somewhere.  That was surprising, but not a surprising as a further disclosure.  For last night’s Greek Night, Coach Angier bought all of the students a free beer.  One, given ballpark prices, that must have been enormously expensive.  Two, there isn’t an NCAA regulation prohibiting this?      

 

What a day to capriciously decide to use pen on my scorecards.  I didn’t even get the score right.  Regardless, I do disagree with some of the official scoring.  My troubles started when the PA announced the lineups and I missed a bunch while having a conversation.  It went downhill from there.

 

Ferny Barreda started for the Aggies.  The second batter of the first inning cranked one right into the jetstream and it flew out for an easy home run.  The wind was blowing out to right.  Michael was groaning, “It’s just like yesterday.”  Boston Vest at third made a nice play afterward.  He fell on a liner, but still managed to throw out the runner at first.  1-0 DBU.

 

The Aggies were not taking this lying down today.  They scored 5 in the bottom of the first.  They got some help from some wild pitching from the DBU starter, James Ellwanger, with 2 walks, a hit batter, a wild pitch, and two-base error on a pickoff throw.  5-1 Aggies.

 

I was listening on the radio to the next door Softball game.  (Baseball was on TV this weekend.)  They were already through three innings.  It was 1-0 and Aggie pitcher, Faith Aragon, already had 7 strikeouts.  I think the wind was blowing in over there.  Ferny settled down in the second, though I muffed the scorecard and missed an out.  Ellwanger did not settle down.  He walked two more and had a wild pitch, which brought in a run, before being relieved.  The Patriots made a nifty double play going from first to second and back to first with an impressive stretch by the first baseman.  6-1 Aggies.

 

Aggie Softball started driving some runs in and increased their lead to 6-0.  There were two plays at the plate.  One scored, but the second one was nailed and was the final out.  Back to Baseball in the third, Ferny gave up a couple of runs on a walk and two singles.  A double play got him out of the inning.  6-3 Aggies.  There was another double play in the bottom of the inning.  This was followed by another in the top of the fourth.  Solorzano made a dive stop at first, threw to second, and got the return throw.

 

 

No double plays in the bottom of the fourth.  The Aggies got two on via a walk and a hit batter, but didn’t score.  An absurdly cute fluffy dog strolled by in the inning.  Michael said it was Kade Benevidez’s dog, Maverick.  Over at Softball, Desirae Spearman ended the game with a run rule 2-run homer.  I wonder if she hit it into the wind.  8-0 Aggie victory. 

 

Meanwhile, Baseball wasn’t even close to done.  The Aggies brought in Jaden Davis in the fourth.  He got the first two outs in the fifth, but then a walk, a hit batter, and two errors brought in two runs and chased him from the game.  6-5 Aggies.  More importantly, a flyball out in the inning activated a $1 hot dog promotion.  I saw some kids walk by carrying a bundle.  In the aisle, a guy and his dad, who was in a wheelchair, got their picture taken with the field behind them.  They looked like they were having a good time.

 

The wind was dying down a bit.  It wasn't that bad in the stands, but I had some grit in my mouth and my eyes were itchy.  After a walk and a double, the Aggies scored two in the bottom of the fifth.  Boston singled in a run and Dane Woodcook executed a squeeze play for another.  8-5 Aggies. 

 

The Volleyball girls went to the concessions, but came back disgruntled.  A pretty redhead that must be new to the team complained, “They're out of hot dogs!  I'm disappointed in Aggie Baseball!”  She's got a point, but that $1 dog promotion apparently went over well.  After giving up a solo home run in the top of the sixth along with a walk and a wild pitch, Aggie reliever Dylan Weekly gave way to Saul Soto.  Shortstop Brandon Forrester made a good play on a grounder by getting the lead runner at third.  Dane threw out a runner trying to steal to end the inning.  8-6 Aggies.

 

In the bottom of the sixth, the Aggies had another big inning.  Tommy Meluskey found the jetstream to right and hit out a 3-run homer.  Boston followed that up with a solo homer to left.  That was his first college home run.  I didn't see it, but I think he flipped his bat to the DBU dugout.  I did see the bat get tossed back to the field.  The umps warned both benches afterward.  12-6 Aggies.

 

Saul had a rough top of the seventh, as DBU punched back for 5 runs.  There was a walk, a hit batter, 3 singles, and 2 doubles.  Luke Heefner drove in 3 with a double.  Boston made a good play on a popup.  The ball went foul, but he stuck with it as it blew back fair.  12-11 Aggies.  In the bottom, a single, 2 walks, 2 wild pitches, and fielder's choice RBI gave the Aggies a run, but they left the bases loaded.  13-11 Aggies.

 

The eighth stared off with Saul changing his belt on the mound.  It didn't help, as he walked the first batter.  Solorzano stepped away from first to take the mound.  Bryce Campbell, the DH, took his place at first.  Solo got a double play, the third for the Aggies and the fifth of the game, and a strikeout.  In the bottom, the Aggies loaded the bases with a walk, a single, and a hit batter, but did not score.  It seemed ominous that the Aggies had left the bases loaded two innings in a row.

 

The top of the ninth had more foreshadowing.  Saul made four pitches to the first batter and walked off the mound.  He was cradling his elbow.  Saul went to the dugout and slammed his glove down. 

 

Cooper Reese came in.  Trey was in a simmering panic.  This wasn't the situation he wanted his son to come in on.  Cooper walked the first batter with his first pitch, who already had a 3-1 count.  He walked the next two before giving up a 2-run double.  The coach came and got him and put in Ian Hoslett.  Cooper had only thrown 3 strikes in his outing.  Unfortunately, Ian didn't do any better.  After 6 walks and 2 doubles, DBU had scored 5 and was now leading, 16-13.  That would be the final, as Mason Peters came in to close and had 3 strikeouts.

 

This one hurt my feelings.  On top of it, this marathon took almost four hours.  I didn't want to cry in front of Mrs. Reese and the Volleyball girls, so I put on a happy face before leaving.  Were it not for that ninth inning, DBU would have handed the Aggies a win with 12 walks and 4 hit batters, but after the ninth, it was even on walks.

 

Oddly for all of the scoring and double plays, I don't have a lot of Gameballs to hand out.  For DBU, Keaton Grady went 5 for 5 with 3 RBI's and a home run!  I'm sure he didn't want this game to end.  Mason Peters' 3-batter ninth was easily the best pitching performance of the night.  For the Aggies, I'm just giving one to Tommy Meluskey.  He was 1 for 5, but that one was a 3-run homer.  Mitch Namie was the only Aggie without a hit today, though he did score twice.

 

I was pretty gassed after this one, but we'll come back for another tomorrow.

MLB Season Preview 2025 Part 2: Team Previews

      

Part 1

I was sort of standoffish on buying my usual season preview magazine, but I finally picked up a Baseball Digest season preview, which was the only one available initially.  I’d only bought it really for a couple of articles.  I read through the team previews first and was left a bit dissatisfied. 

 

Later, an Athlon Baseball Preview appeared.  I wasn’t interested at first, but when I went back to buy another copy of Tim Hagerty’s Tales From the Dugout (I lent my other one out to Ron and haven’t seen him since, I went ahead and got it.  They said in the editorial that they’d been on hiatus for a couple of years.  I’d been buying the Lindy’s one, but that wasn’t available on my newsstand.  I probably picked it up mostly because I noticed dear Sarah Langs contributed an article.  This one was more comprehensive, though I haven’t read the articles in this one either yet.  Like most previews, it’s chocked full of increasingly obscure stats to prove points about players and teams.  “There’s lies, there’s damn lies, and then there’s statistics.”     

 

Though I have purchased two baseball preview magazines, I’m not sure I’m really in the mood to really make predictions.  I have some observations, though.    

 

American League East

Yankees: Even losing out on Juan Soto, the pinstripes seemed to be sitting pretty with the upgrades to their pitching staff, especially Max Fried.  Then Gerrit Cole got injured in Spring Training.  I have some doubts about their hitting.  It feels like their lineup is either past their prime and/or injury prone.  Still, losing Cole could be the incident that causes everyone else to step up their game or causes everyone to try and do too much.  It feels like either another World Series appearance or they miss the playoffs.

 

Orioles: Fans keep puzzling over the team’s new ownership not spending more given that they’ve already assembled a really good team.  I wonder if the owners found out that the team doesn’t make that much money regardless of how good the team is (which the previous owner knew).  Baltimore isn’t that big a market and they’re sort of sharing it with Washington.  Still, they’re getting back good pitching this year with Felix Bautista and Kyle Bradish coming off of injury.  Management may not feel the need to spend big right now.  They should have enough prospects to make a trade for whatever they need at the deadline.

 

Red Sox: They made some big moves by getting Garrett Crochet, Walker Buehler, and Alex Bregman (that move occurred late after both previews had come out).  It feels like they’re still putting the pieces together for a contender.  They’re not ready to go crazy with the checkbook yet.

 

It doesn’t matter what the Rays do, they’re playing at the Yankees’ Spring Training field.  The Blue Jays are stilling trying to sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a huge contract.  I wonder if he has incriminating pictures of team ownership, because otherwise, there was no reason for it.  You’d just make him harder to trade, which is inventible in a couple of seasons.

 

American League Central

Indians: This is THE freaking sore spot for me with baseball.  Perhaps Trump can make an Executive Order to force the Indians and Redskins to change their names back.  It feels like this team overachieved last season and then lost pieces in the meantime.  There’s enough individual talent to make them competitive, but I’m not convinced the team as a whole is good enough for the playoffs. 

 

Tigers:  I’m all in!  This is their year!  Probably not.  I’ve just about fallen off the limb I keep going out on for these guys.  They didn’t do anything to improve the team in the offseason.  It’s unlikely AJ Hinch can pull off that pitching and lineup chaos that got them into the playoffs for a full season.  I am rooting for them to surprise everyone again.

 

Royals: I have to applaud ownership for doing a good job assembling this great team on a small market budget.  They’re playing for a new stadium, so they’ve got lots of motivation.  Given that the funding issue has already been shot down, I’m not sure what the new plan is.  These guys should be good this season anyway. 

 

The White Sox also want a new stadium.  Well, good luck with that on your way to losing another hundred games this season.  The Twins are in the middle of being sold.  That’s going to affect the team in a negative way, regardless of talent.        

 

American League West

Rangers: I’m a believer.  This time for real.  With Jacob deGrom back from injury, along with several hurt position players back, this should be a refreshed team.  They even picked up a couple of sluggers.  Unfortunately, they lost a couple of starters in Spring Training.  They might not have enough, unless Chris Young, president of baseball operations, can work some more magic.  They’ve at least gotten their broadcasting settled by creating their own company, which hampered their spending last season.

 

Astros: They lost Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman without replacing them.  They’re likely just a couple of injuries to key players away from being a .500 team.  Still, with the competition in this division, they could win it.  They’ve also renamed their stadium with a new sponsor, Daikin.  Every time you think stadium names can’t get any worse.        

 

The A’s are sharing a Triple-A park.  (I hesitate to imagine the scheduling.)  Oddly, they boosted payroll (because MLB forced them to) and have a decent team.  Meanwhile, the Angels, who have spent wildly and badly, cannot compete, even when they got the right players.  As much as fans and media want other teams to have new ownership, the Angels should be at the top of that list.  The Mariners are returning the same team that didn’t make the playoffs last year.  Expect the same result.        

 

National League East

Braves: I have a feeling this team has lost too much pitching to compete this year.  They’re getting good injured players back during the season, but I suspect management is writing this year off and will regroup next year.

 

Mets: Having the richest owner in the MLB, who is a big baseball fan, this is another club committed to driving up the cost of free agency.  He “won” the Juan Soto sweepstakes with a contract that could have paid for most of a stadium for a couple of homeless teams.  They also brought back Pete Alonso.  It’s a good-looking lineup.  They don’t have the starting pitching, though.  You can safely write them off for this season, but I’m sure they’ll be buying pitching in the offseason.

 

Phillies: I’m rooting for Bryce Harper to win a World Series.  It’ll make the Phanatic so happy.  They didn’t do much over the offseason because they finally hit a point of financial restraint, but didn’t lose much either and are returning a very good team.  Father Time will ultimately defeat this team in the near future and they know it.  Look for an injection of fresh young talent at the trade deadline.  

  

The Marlins aren’t even worth mentioning.  Apart from Sandy Alcantara, I don’t think I recognize anyone else on their roster.  The Nationals will be competitive in the future.  They’ve got the young talent.  (Too bad they play in the same division as the Phillies, so don’t expect any trades.)  As soon as this team starts showing potential, ownership should start picking up free agents and making deals.      

 

National League Central

This whole division is completely up for grabs.  Whoever wins it will be a nice warm up for a better team in the playoffs.  The Brewers won it last season.  I don’t know how.  (It was good pitching.)  Maybe they can do it this season for our dearly departed, Bob Uecker.  They’ve at least sorted out their stadium issues by extending their lease and fixing their roof.  The Cubs are theoretically a better team, but let’s see it.  The Reds have Elly de la Cruz and the Pirates have Paul Skenes, Oneil Cruz, and the ageless Andrew McCutchen, if you want to see exciting superstar players.  Unthinkably, the Cardinals will not be a factor.  They have a fanbase on par with the Yankees that only sees the playoffs and won’t tolerate a loser.      

 

National League West

Dodgers: You know it’s bad when the baseball media continually says that, “This team isn’t invincible.  It’s not a given that they’ll win it all.”  Yeah, with what they have and what they’ve acquired and their massive revenue (including Japanese TV broadcasts), it’s basically already over, but they gotta get fans of the other teams to watch their games.  If this team has problems, don’t worry, Dodger ownership will just buy the Twins or the Rays or A’s and make a few “shrewd” trades involving minor leaguers for star players.  Honestly, if these guys lose, it’s a billion-dollar choke.  No pressure.

 

Padres: This really sucks.  Losing their previous owner hasn’t closed the team’s checkbook, but after some family ownership squabbling, financial restraint has crept into the picture, as they are way over-spending relative to their market.  Simply, nobody’s outspending the Dodgers anyway.  The team has some contracts that will not age well, but right now, they’ve got a really good team and a fanbase that fills the park every night.  Their window is going to close and slam shut in the near future, so I hope that ownership will properly support the team if they’re competitive. 

 

Diamondbacks: This team wanted a new stadium, but appears to be close to a deal to just renovate their current one.  (They’ve also fixed their retractable roof issues for this season.)  Their broadcasting has been taken over by MLB and cost them revenue, but their owner is committed to paying whatever for a winning team on a smaller scale than the Big 3.  This is a young, hungry team that got way better with the addition of Corbin Burnes to their rotation.  I doubt either the D-Backs or Padres can win the West over the Dodgers, but I like their chances of reaching the playoffs and maybe beating the Dodgers in a short series.          

 

The Rockies may have hit a point of absolute hopelessness.  They’ve actually got good players, though no stars (yet).  Even if the team got much better, their division is stacked.  As for the Giants, Bruce Bochy was asked about Buster Posey becoming their GM.  He cleared his throat and was surprised about this move, because he thought Buster would become a manager, but was sure he’ll do a great job.  My thoughts exactly.  For now, they’re carrying some big contracts, but do not have a good team surrounding them. 

 

Predictions

Again, I don’t have any predictions for this season other than the Dodgers walking all over everybody.  (Also, this post is running long.)  Well, unexpected things can happen the playoffs.  There are several other teams that I think can contend if they make it in and get hot, such as the Rangers, the Phillies, the Diamondbacks, the Padres, the Yankees, and the Orioles.  If you want a real dark horse, I think the Royals are your pick.  Whatever happens, hopefully we’ll get a fun season with some surprises.     

MLB Season Preview 2025 Part 1: The State of the Game

I had fully meant to do a Hot Stove post last year.  Between a heavy workload and a flurry of trades and signings, I couldn’t keep up.  I just made a couple of notes and didn’t bother trying to reconstruct everything afterward.  On some level, I was sort of disgusted by the amount of money getting thrown around and by the richest teams in the league trying to become “super teams.”  This profligate spending does not guarantee a World Series victory, but it does guarantee a league of “have” and “have-nots” when it comes to signing free agents by driving up player salaries.

 

These were the only notes I made over the winter:

Blade Snell signed with the Dodgers, who threw a no hitter last season.  The Dodgers currently have $1B in deferred money contracts.

12-8-24 The night right before the Winter Meetings, Juan Soto signed for the largest contract in professional sports with the Mets.  $760M over 15 years, no deferred money and escalators for the contract to go over $800M.  The race to a billion dollar contract continues.

12-10-24 Yankees make Max Fried the highest paid lefty pitcher in history. 

 

Seriously though, I’m wondering if in five years, a baseball player will get a contract worth more than a new stadium.  (We’ll get to the stadium issues later.) 

 

Last year, the MLB and the sports media finally got what they wanted: a Yankees/Dodgers World Series.  In return, they got the second-highest rated World Series in the last ten years.  That’s all.  MLB is sure that if the series had gone a full seven games, it would have been an all-timer.  (It wouldn’t have.)    

 

The TV packages for regular season baseball have become a nightmare for the teams and the fans.  Some teams have scattered their product over several cable and online services, which fans do not want to pay for and patched-together deals are costing the teams lots of revenue.  The Regional Sports Networks have gone bankrupt.  ESPN will cease to show baseball after this season after a dispute with the league.  Granted, the network wouldn’t talk about or promote baseball, but did a decent job of presenting the games themselves.  MLB would like to put all of the games, that aren’t playing on a national network, on MLB.TV or sell the package another streaming service, but teams like the Yankees and Dodgers have very lucrative TV contracts and aren’t interested.  Selling a package without them would have limited success. 

 

The Dodgers financed a huge renovation to Dodger Stadium themselves.  Meanwhile, the A’s and the Rays aren’t playing in big-league facilities this season and their future homes are in serious doubt.  League expansion keeps getting put on hold waiting for these two teams to get settled one way or the other.  This process has taken long enough that other teams are becoming dissatisfied with their stadiums or need major repairs to them.  Some of these teams are looking for new cities, further mudding the waters of expansion.

 

I bring all this together by saying what a mistake it has been catering to the Yankees and Dodgers (more or less specifically) nationally and not promoting the league as a whole.  The sports media, which doesn’t really want to talk about baseball, is thrilled to only have to talk about two teams in the two biggest media markets.  (And just two players: Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge.)  MLB recognizes that these are the two most popular teams in the league and that it must promote them.  This has all set up a scenario where it only matters what the Yankees and Dodgers do during the season and the postseason only matters if it’s those two teams playing each other.  All the rest is only for hardcore fans of other teams.

 

This has real business consequences.  You’re down to maybe three teams in the league who are willing spend whatever to win (Dodgers, Yankees, and Mets).  You’ve got a few more that have overspent and have had to rein it in and a few big market teams that are clearly restraining themselves.  They can’t keep up and there aren’t any Moneyball-esqe efficiencies to exploit at this point for lower level teams.  Injuries to star players might be the only leveler to make smaller market teams competitive.  

 

27 teams likely want a salary cap and would accept a salary floor (or they’ll sell the team to someone who will accept a floor).  The Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, the sports media, and the Players Union think everyone else should just spend more to compete.  MLB, which is the owners, wants the cap, but practically, they also want the Dodgers and Yankees to always be World Series contenders.   

 

That the big-market teams make more money from their teams than small-market teams is a given, but without a cap on team spending, the high-revenue teams will always be at an advantage and will set the market for free agents.  You’re even giving the lower-revenue teams an excuse for not spending, because they can’t compete monetarily in their markets.  They just sit back and collect the Competitive Balance Tax proceeds from the rich teams.  Is the MLB selling competition or the Dodgers and the Yankees? 

 

Part 2