The Official 2025 MLB Regular Season Discussion Thread

[Grim]

Twins are likely favorites to win the AL Central again but I still don't feel confident in their ability to win in the playoffs.

 

[Grim]

Fuck cancer.

 

[Wolverine]

TAMPA, Fla. -- Major league home run champion Luke Voit needs knee surgery to repair a partial meniscus tear, an injury that opened a New York Yankees roster spot for Jay Bruce on Saturday as a first baseman.

Voit will not have any baseball activities for three weeks after the operation on his left knee, manager Aaron Boone said. Voit is expected back in May.

ESPN

At least his injury wasn't a serious one. It's real sad that the Yankees bullpen can never stay healthy all together. Even though I truly despise the Yanks, I do hope they have fewer injuries this coming season, so they can be the competitive team they always were.

 

[Wolverine]

The Washington Nationals will be down five players and a staff member for Opening Day after a player tested positive for COVID-19, general manager Mike Rizzo said Wednesday.

"We are following MLB protocols and CDC protocols and working closely with the league to determine our next steps," Rizzo said. "It will be a lot of balls in the air until then."

The positive result came from a test conducted Monday while the Nationals were still in Florida for spring training. Word of the test result came a little after 1 a.m. Wednesday, after the team had traveled home to Washington, where it is scheduled to host the New York Mets on Thursday night for Opening Day.

The flight home was where there was close contact between the player who tested positive and the four teammates and staff member who are now quarantining. All six individuals will miss Thursday's opener, but their status after that is unclear.

Per MLB's health and safety protocols for 2021, the player who tested positive will be required to isolate for a minimum of 10 days, receive appropriate care and monitoring from the club medical staff, and be cleared by baseball's joint COVID-19 committee and the individual's team physician following a mandatory cardiac evaluation and a determination that the individual no longer presents a risk of infection to others.

Rizzo did not identify any of the six members of the organization who are involved.

"We'll have some roster decisions to make depending on how this all shakes out before Opening Day," Rizzo said. "This is just a small blip on our radar screen. We're going to handle it and take it in stride."

The Nationals -- who had planned to have a workout at their stadium on Wednesday before it was called off because of rain -- did not have a single player test positive during their six weeks of spring training camp in West Palm Beach, Florida. The team has not yet been vaccinated.

Rizzo said he has received one shot of the vaccine and will advise players to get it as soon as they are eligible but will leave the decision up to them.

Thursday's starting pitcher, Max Scherzer, was not on the team flight and traveled separately with his family. He said having dealt with the pandemic last season has the team more prepared for events like what happened Wednesday.

"There's less unknowns," Scherzer told MLB on ESPN Radio. "... 2020 was a good learning experience for all of us in knowing that, 'Hey, once it starts going, you kind of know how this ends.' Now we have that information; it's not, I would say, last year when you started hearing a lot more positive tests going around that you just felt like it was way more widespread. Hopefully this one is contained as well as we can because of all of the protocols we have in place now. You know everything that we do, hopefully we contained it and hopefully it's not a big deal."

Rizzo said the team underwent a new round of COVID-19 tests Wednesday, as was previously scheduled -- a combination of rapid tests and MLB-mandated saliva tests. He noted that there are players available to be brought in from the club's alternate training site in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

"This is the reason you have 60 good players in the organization, to kind of prepare for these type of ... scenarios,'' he said.

 

[Grim]

Jeezus.

 

[Wolverine]

Today officially starts the 2021 Major League Baseball season!!!

 

[Wolverine]

Lindor's getting paid the big bucks:

The New York Mets and shortstop Francisco Lindor have agreed to a 10-year, $341 million deal, a source told ESPN's Jeff Passan on Wednesday.

Lindor's deal will be the third largest based on total value in major league history, trailing only the deals for the Los Angeles Angels' Mike Trout ($426.5 million) and the Los Angeles Dodgers' Mookie Betts ($365 million).

 

[Chris]

Changed the thread title since it's opening day boys

 

[Wolverine]

This is a bummer way to open up the season for the Mets and Nats:

The Washington Nationals' scheduled Opening Day game against the New York Mets on Thursday night has been postponed because of COVID-19 issues, Major League Baseball announced.

MLB said that "out of abundance of caution" the game will also not be played on Friday, the buffer day built into the schedule for Opening Day postponements.

Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo had said Wednesday that his club would be down five players and a staff member for Opening Day after a player tested positive for COVID-19.

There are concerns about at least one more positive COVID-19 test with the Nationals after the positive test Wednesday, sources told ESPN's Jeff Passan.

The next game scheduled between the two teams is Saturday at 4:05 p.m. ET.

Wednesday's positive result came from a test conducted Monday while the Nationals were still in Florida for spring training.

The flight home was where there was close contact between the player who tested positive and the four teammates and staff member who are now quarantining.

Per MLB's health and safety protocols for 2021, the player who tested positive will be required to isolate for a minimum of 10 days, receive appropriate care and monitoring from the club medical staff, and be cleared by baseball's joint COVID-19 committee and the individual's team physician after a mandatory cardiac evaluation and a determination that the individual no longer presents a risk of infection to others.

Rizzo did not identify any of the six members of the organization who are involved.

The Nationals -- who had planned to have a workout at their stadium Wednesday before it was called off because of rain -- did not have a single player test positive during their six weeks of spring training camp in West Palm Beach, Florida. The team has not yet been vaccinated.

Rizzo said he has received one shot of the vaccine and will advise players to get it as soon as they are eligible but will leave the decision up to them.

Rizzo said the team underwent a new round of COVID-19 tests Wednesday, as was previously scheduled -- a combination of rapid tests and MLB-mandated saliva tests. He noted that there are players available to be brought in from the club's alternate training site in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

ESPN

 

[Wolverine]

Dang.

The Braves' comeback was incomplete as HoHo's team, the Phillies, won the game 3-2 in the 10th inning. Panda (Pablo Sandoval) put the Bravos back in the game with a two-run donger. But the bullpen couldn't produce anymore runs after that.

There's 161 games left for the team. I wouldn't sweat the loss too much.

 

[Kairi HoHo]

I got to listen to the Game when I was working but when I'm in work mode especially during us doing Hardwood Floors I don't want no distractions. I did remember hearing it was 2-0 Phils and that was early so I'll need to watch some Highlights on how good a game it was.

 

[Wolverine]

You don't see this everyday lol

 

[Chris]

Rangers allowing 14 runs today

 

[Wolverine]

The 2021 All-Star Game has been moved out of Atlanta over Georgia voting law:

Major League Baseball is moving the 2021 All-Star Game and 2021 draft out of Atlanta in response to a new Georgia voting law that critics say unfairly limits access to the ballot box, especially for people of color.

"Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players Alliance, among others, to listen to their views," MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement. "I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year's All-Star Game and MLB Draft."

The decision follows calls from as the White House to consider moving the midsummer classic out of Atlanta.

In his statement, Manfred said MLB "fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box." Manfred said MLB would continue to celebrate the memory of Hank Aaron, who died in January, during the All-Star festivities.

No new site for the All-Star Game or draft were announced.

ESPN

 

[Chris]

Hmmm, conflicted here bc I agree the laws are dumb and agree the MLB has every right to move the game for whatever reason they believe. I don't like that the White House pressured them first at all though bc likewise the MLB does not HAVE to make a stand here if they don't want to and the White House should have much better things to do than this lol