Mega Thread MLB season 2024

[Dixie Flatline]

List of players likely to be traded before the deadline (in order of most likely to least likely):

• Jack Flaherty, RHP, Detroit Tigers
• Garrett Crochet, LHP, Chicago White Sox
• Carlos Estevez, RHP, Los Angeles Angels
• Tanner Scott, LHP, Miami Marlins
• Jazz Chisholm Jr, OF/2B, Miami Marlins
• Erick Fedde, RHP, Chicago White Sox
• Zack Littell, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays
• Zach Eflin, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays
• Danny Jansen, C, Toronto Blue Jays
• Yusei Kikuchi, LHP, Toronto Blue Jays
• Trevor Richards, RHP, Toronto Blue Jays
• Luis Robert Jr, OF, Chicago White Sox
• Brent Rooker, OF/DH, Oakland Athletics
• Kyle Finnegan, RHP, Washington Nationals
• Hunter Harvey, RHP, Washington Nationals
• Michael Kopech, RHP, Chicago White Sox
• Pete Fairbanks, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays
• Jesse Winker, OF, Washington Nationals
• John Brebbia, RHP, Chicago White Sox
• Randy Arozarena, OF, Tampa Bay Rays
• Lane Thomas, OF, Washington Nationals
• Tommy Pham, OF, Chicago White Sox
• Kevin Pillar, OF, Los Angeles Angels
• Elias Diaz, C, Colorado Rockies
• Jacob Stallings, C, Colorado Rockies
• Cal Quantrill, RHP, Colorado Rockies
• Austin Gomber, LHP, Colorado Rockies
• Trevor Rogers, LHP, Miami Marlins
• Brendan Rodgers, 2B, Colorado Rockies
• Austin Adams, RHP, Oakland Athletics
• Andrew Chafin, LHP, Detroit Tigers
• Luis Garcia, RHP, Los Angeles Angels
• Dylan Floro, RHP, Washington Nationals
• Jalen Beeks, LHP, Colorado Rockies
• Scott Alexander, LHP, Oakland Athletics
• T.J. McFarland, RHP, Oakland Athletics
• Derek Law, RHP, Washington Nationals
• Paul DeJong, SS, Chicago White Sox
• Gio Urshela, INF, Detroit Tigers
• Miguel Andujar, OF, Oakland Athletics
• Josh Bell, 1B, Miami Marlins
• Jason Adams, RHP, Tampa Bay Rays
• Tyler Anderson, LHP, Los Angeles Angels
• Griffin Canning, RHP, Los Angeles Angels
• Mason Miller, RHP, Oakland Athletics
• Lucas Erceg, RHP, Oakland Athletics
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr, 1B, Toronto Blue Jays
• Bo Bichette, SS, Toronto Blue Jays
• Tarik Skubal, LHP, Detroit Tigers

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Travis Bazzana makes history, being the first Australian ever taken first overall (by the Cleveland Guardians). So pleased for him (though there was a part of me hoping he would slip to the fourth pick where the A's could take him).

 

[FreoRicci]

Travis Bazzana makes history, being the first Australian ever taken first overall (by the Cleveland Guardians). So pleased for him (though there was a part of me hoping he would slip to the fourth pick where the A's could take him).

Don’t think Australia even understand how huge this is.
This is bigger than being pick 1 in AFL by 1000 times. But most likely won’t get any coverage on channel 7 etc.

This is massive. A sport that is ferociously supported by Japan, South Korea wirh USA.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

He's also the first primary second baseman to get picked first overall in the MLB.

He played for the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League when he was 15. Usually Australians will just sign as an international free agent with a team (Oakland signed Max Durrington over the weekend as an international free agent from Surfers Paradise Baseball Club) but he wanted to go to college to better himself as a baseball player and he ends up being drafted first overall.

You're absolutely right FreoRicci - the main news channels will have no clue about what this means for this young man. To be fair, Fox News have written a number of articles about him since the buzz started building about him being a possible first round draft pick last year.

 

[largebus]

Because MLB is the least popular of the big American leagues here and draft picks don't see the light of day for another 2 years. The only ones with huge hype around them recently were Harper and Strasburg. Skenes got none of the fanfare he's getting now.
If he comes in next year or 2026 and starts raking and leads Cleveland to their first title in 80 years, however...

 

[smasha]

Congrats to Travis Bazzana.
He said he dreamed of playing Major Leagues at age 4 so he lives and breathes baseball.

Will be following the Guardians closely from now on.

 

[smasha]

How'd the Phillies not make the world series last season?

Would be favs atm,absolutely towelled up the Dodgers.

 

[revo333]

Would be favs atm,absolutely towelled up the Dodgers.

Yep, Don't see the Dodgers getting close this season.

Although TAB currently has them favourite for the World Series.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Would be favs atm,absolutely towelled up the Dodgers.

And then the Athletics took two from three against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park and put 18 runs on the Phillies in the last game before the All-Star break.

Joking aside, the Phillies do look pretty good to get to the World Series, but there's still a lot of baseball to be played between now and the end of the regular season (we're literally at the half-way mark) and a lot of things can change between now and the end of the season. Let's not forget that the 2023 World Series was contested between two wild card teams who just happened to get hot at the right time.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The MLB has announced that RHP Corbin Burnes will start the All-Star game for the American League side, while RHP Paul Skenes has been announced as starting the All-Star game for the National League side. Burnes is a free agent at the end of the season.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Colorado Rockies have announced that they have claimed LHP Antoine Kelly off waivers from the Texas Rangers, who had previously designated Kelly for assignment. To create a roster spot on the 40-man roster, the Rockies designated LHP Josh Rogers for assignment. Kelly was selected by the Brewers in the second round of the 2019 draft and was traded to the Rangers in 2022 in exchange for RHP Matt Bush. Kelly pitched in the 2022 Futures Game and posted strong numbers in Double-A and Triple-A with the Rangers' affiliates in 2023. However, Kelly suffered a forearm injury in 2024 and when he returned to pitching, was ineffective at Triple-A, giving up 17 earned runs in 16 1/3 innings pitched at that level. He also walked batters at an astronomical 22.9% rate and hit two batters.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The New York Mets announced that LHP Joey Lucchesi went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Syracuse. He was designated for assignment last week when the Mets traded for RHP Phil Maton from the Rays. Lucchesi has sufficient service time to reject the assignment if he chooses, but insufficient service time to keep his salary if he does so, meaning that he'll likely report to Syracuse and retain the remainder of his $1.65 million salary.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The first day of the MLB draft was yesterday. For posterity, the first round went like this:

Pick no.	Team	Player	Position	College/HS
1	Cleveland Guardians	Travis Bazzana	2B	Oregon State University
2	Cincinnati Reds	Chase Burns	RHP	Wake Forest
3	Colorado Rockies	Charlie Condon	OF/3B	Georgia
4	Oakland Athletics	Nick Kurtz	1B	Wake Forest
5	Chicago White Sox	Hagen Smith	LHP	Arkansas
6	Kansas City Royals	Jac Caglianone	1B/LHP	Florida
7	St Louis Cardinals	JJ Wetherholt	2B/SS	West Virginia
8	Los Angeles Angels	Christian Moore	2B	Tennessee
9	Pittsburgh Pirates	Konnor Griffin	SS/OF	Jackson Prep High School
10	Washington Nationals	Seaver King	SS/3B/OF	Wake Forest
11	Detroit Tigers	Bryce Rainer	SS	Harvard-Westlake High School
12	Boston Red Sox	Braden Montgomery	OF	Texas A&M
13	San Francisco Giants	James Tibbs III	OF	Florida State
14	Chicago Cubs	Cam Smith	3B	Florida State
15	Seattle Mariners	Jurrangelo Cijntje	LHP/RHP	Mississippi State
16	Miami Marlins	PJ Morlando	OF	Summerville High School
17	Milwauke Brewers	Braylon Payne	OF	Elkins High School
18	Tampa Bay Rays	Theo Gillen	OF	Westlake High School
19	New York Mets	Carson Benge	OF	Oklahoma State
20	Toronto Blue Jays	Trey Yesavage	RHP	East Carolina
21	Minnesota Twins	Kaelen Culpepper	SS	Kansas State
22	Baltimore Orioles	Vance Honeycutt	OF	North Carolina
23	Los Angeles Dodgers	Kellon Lindsey	SS	Hardee High School
24	Atlanta Braves	Cam Caminiti	LHP	Saguero High School
25	San Diego Padres	Kash Mayfield	LHP	Elk City High School
26	New York Yankees	Ben Hess	RHP	Alabama
27	Philadelphia Phillies	Dante Nori	OF	Northville High School
28	Houston Astros	Walker Janek	C	Sam Houston State
29	Arizona Diamondbacks	Slade Caldwell	OF	Valley View High School
30	Texas Rangers	Malcolm Moore	C	Stanford

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Chicago Cubs have reportedly expressed an interest in acquiring catcher Danny Jansen from the Blue Jays, but it is not clear how advanced any discussions between the two front offices have been to date. The Blue Jays are all but certain to miss the playoffs this season, so it would make sense to see the Blue Jays become sellers by the trade deadline. Jansen got off to a hot start to the season, hitting .287/.371/.535 through the end of May with a 15.5% strikeout rate and a 12.1% walk rate. He has cooled off as the weather has warmed up, hitting just .141/.253/.218 in 26 games since the start of June. Across the season, he is slightly above league average when measured by wRC+.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Kansas City Royals have strengthened their bullpen by acquiring RHP Hunter Harvey from the Washington Nationals. The Royals gave up third baseman Cayden Wallace and the Royals' Competitive Balance Round A pick (39th overall) to the Nationals in exchange for Harvey. The Royals designated RHP Nick Anderson for assignment to create a roster spot for Harvey. The Nationals subsequently selected Caleb Lomavita, a catcher from the University of California with the pick acquired from the Royals.

 

[smasha]

And then the Athletics took two from three against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park and put 18 runs on the Phillies in the last game before the All-Star break.

Joking aside, the Phillies do look pretty good to get to the World Series, but there's still a lot of baseball to be played between now and the end of the regular season (we're literally at the half-way mark) and a lot of things can change between now and the end of the season. Let's not forget that the 2023 World Series was contested between two wild card teams who just happened to get hot at the right time.

Yes,still a long way to go.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

After being released by the Washington Nationals last week, free agent infielder Nick Senzel has reportedly agreed to a deal with the Chicago White Sox. It is not yet known whether it is a major league contract or whether a minor league deal (in which case he would go to Charlotte).

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Atlanta Braves recently announced that utility player Brian Anderson had been outrighted to Triple-A Gwinnett. It appears that Anderson has rejected the assignment and has elected free agency.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Spoiler

Shohei Ohtani just murdered a baseball in Arlington. National League up 3-0 in the top of the third.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Minnesota Twins have acquired infielder Rylan Bannon from the New York Mets. The cost of acquiring Bannon has not yet been confirmed, but it is likely that it was for cash considerations, given that Bannon was not on the Mets' 40-man roster. Bannon has experience in the majors with the Orioles, Braves and Astros, but is a career 2 for 20 hitter with a walk and eight strikeouts from 21 plate appearances between the three clubs.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

San Francisco Giants catcher Logan Porter has exercised an opt-out clause in his minor league contract with the Giants, who now have 48 hours to add him to their 40-man roster or trade him to another team that will do so. If neither outcome occurs, then Porter becomes a free agent. Porter made his MLB debut with the Royals in 2023 but played in 11 games and had 38 plate appearances, hitting .194/.323/.324 with the Royals. He became a free agent at the end of 2023, and re-signed with the Royals in the off-season. However, Kansas City traded him to the Giants for cash earlier in the season.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The Cincinnati Reds have signed RHP Patrick Weigel to a minor league contract, and was assigned to Double-A Chattanooga, pitching a perfect inning with a strikeout in his debut on Sunday. Weigel has MLB experience in 2020-2021, but it amounts to only 4 2/3 innings, with four earned runs on six hits and seven walks with nine strikeouts. A draft pick of the Braves, he was traded by Atlanta to the Brewers in 2021 in exchange for shortstop Orlando Arcia. The Brewers released Weigel at the end of 2021 and he signed minor league contracts with the Mariners and the Kansas City Monarchs in the independent American Association. The Reds signed Weigel from Mexican League's Saraperos de Saltillo.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

The San Francisco Giants signed LHP Clayton Andrews to a minor league contract, and have sent him to their Arizona complex to start with, though he will likely go to Triple-A Sacramento in due course. Andrews has five MLB appearances of experience, with the majority of them occurring in 2023 with the Brewers, plus a single appearance with the Yankees in 2024.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Spoiler

American League tie up the game 3-3 in the bottom of the third.

 

[Dixie Flatline]

Spoiler

Jarren Duran hits a two run bomb off the Reds' Hunter Greene to give the American League a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.