Mega Thread MLB season 2024

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Imagine facing a bloke throwing 105 mph.



I watched my son's senior team win their way into a grand final a couple of weekends ago, and the closer for the team, who measures about 6'5" and could have played pro baseball (his brother was in the Braves organisation for a while but never made it to the majors and will be pitching for Canberra this year in the ABL) was pitching. He was probably "only" throwing 85mph, but he uses a sidearm delivery that makes it really difficult for the hitters to track the ball.

But to see blokes throw it regularly at 100+ mph, like Joyce, Mason Miller and Aroldis Chapman, is insane. Plus we're likely to see Roki Sasaki move to the States next off-season, to join Skenes as a starting pitcher who can hit 100mph on their fastball.

The look on Edman's face as he's walking back to the dugout is priceless.
 

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The San Francisco Giants announce that they are in agreement with third baseman Matt Chapman on a six year extension.



According to Jeff Passan, the contract is worth $151 million over six years, and it will keep Chapman from opting out at the end of the season.



According to Passan, the deal kicks in from the start of next season, and runs through to the end of 2030, when Chapman will be 38 years old. It includes no deferred money and a no-trade clause. It is in addition to the $20 million that Chapman is being paid in 2024.

 
From chocolates to boiled lollies. The last starting pitcher to hurl a perfect game, RHP Domingo German, has been designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates overnight. The Pirates needed the roster spot after they elevated waiver claim LHP Joey Wentz to their active roster.

German was with the Yankees when he threw his perfect game last year against Oakland, but finished the season on the restricted list while receiving treatment for alcohol abuse, after a reported confrontation in the Yankees clubhouse with coaches and fellow players. German was released by the Yankees and signed a minor league deal with the Pirates in the off-season. He opted out of that deal in July but agreed a new minor league contract with the Pirates to stay in Pittsburgh. He spent most of the season at Triple-A, but he was selected to the major league roster in August, making seven appearances for Pittsburgh (including two starts) with a 7.84 ERA, a 18% strikeout rate and a 13% walk rate. He started against the Cubs yesterday but allowed six earned runs in three innings.

German will be placed on waivers in the next few days and it is unlikely that another club would take a chance on German. He has sufficient service time to reject an outright assignment to the minor league, so he will likely become a free agent in the next few days.



 
The surging Padres recently designated OF Jose Azocar for assignment when OF Fernando Tatis Jr was healthy enough to come off the 60-day IL, and the Mets announced that they have claimed Azocar off waivers, optioning him to Triple-A. The Mets opened a 40-man roster spot by putting RHP Sean Reid-Foley onto the 60-day IL. Azocar has hit .243/.287/.322 in 397 career plate appearances (in 214 games). Azocar is a speed and defence specialist, having 1000 innings of experience in the outfield, with a career +2 DRS and a +8 OOA.
 
That's little league stuff ffs.

Apparently they're 5-45 in their last 50 games. Even accidentally they should be able to win more than 5 out of 50.

I was at Culture King yesterday and this guy had a lady on a ladder getting a specific cap for him.

The lady was like, I am not sure we have any. She had a look through the various teams of this design. She was like, you are in luck I found it, it's the last one.

Sure enough the team was the White Sox. Yes, back in the day the White Sox was one of the teams with street cred because of their logo.

I was in my head like 'dude you clearly don't watch baseball if you are going to be wearing a White Sox cap lol
 

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The off-season is still a little while away but speculation is starting to grow about the future of OF Juan Soto, who is a free agent at the end of this season and is enjoying a monster season with the Yankees.

According to ESPN's Jorge Castillo, Soto's original team, the Washington Nationals, would "love a reunion" with Soto, though it is not clear whether the ownership would increase their offer to Soto after he turned down a 15 year, $440 million extension in 2022 before being traded to the Padres. Since the 15-year extension would have bought out Soto's final two years of arbitration, Soto would win if he receives a contract in excess of $386 million, and it is highly unlikely that he would settle for something less than that, given his season in the Bronx.

The Nationals are putting together a solid core of young players, focused on shortstop CJ Abrams (whom the Nationals acquired from the Padres as part of the return for Soto), outfielder James Wood (also acquired from the Padres in exchange for Soto), LHP Mackenzie Gore (another part of the trade for Soto from the Padres), OF Jacob Young and OF Dylan Crews. The Nationals are also due to free up some money off their books, with the only players guaranteed money after the current season being RHP Stephen Strasburg (who is retired but counts towards the budget until 2026) and catcher Keibert Ruiz, who signed a $50 million extension that runs to the end of 2030 and has an AAV of $6.25 million.

Given his season to date, it's likely that Soto will command the largest contract ever signed by a position player, and likely to be the largest contract in MLB history in terms of net present value. Ohtani's 10-year, $700 million contract with the Dodgers is the current benchmark, but due to the deferrals agreed to by Ohtani, the contract's net present value is not close to the total sum payable under the contract (the Players' Association set the NPV at $437.5 million on the $700 million).

Soto's agent is Scott Boras, who publicly criticised the Ohtani deal, suggesting that Soto will not be likely to accept a deal with significant deferred money on behalf of his client.

Soto is a four-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger winner (likely to add a fifth at the end of this season), a World Series Champion (with the Nationals in 2019) and a Home Run Derby champion (in 2022). He has a career .285/.421/.533 hitter and is batting .289/.418/.580 in 2024 with the Yankees, having hit 39 homeruns and a higher walk rate (18% of plate appearances) than strikeout rate (16.2%). Soto ranks in the 94th percentile or better among all MLB players in terms of average exit velocity, hard-hit rate, barrel rate, bat speed, chase rate, expected batting average, expected slugging percentage, expected wOBA and walk rate.

He also averages 155 games per season from 2021-2023 and will likely match or exceed that in 2024. While he hasn't been known for his defence previously, Soto has enjoyed his best defensive grades of his career in 2024, with 97th percentile arm strength, albeit with below average speed for an outfielder.

 
Current Red Sox LHP James Paxton (who previously pitched for the Dodgers this year, as well as the Mariners and Yankees in previous seasons) has announced that he plans to retire at the end of the season after 11 years in the majors. The Red Sox are fighting for a spot in the postseason but their recent run of form has put them behind the eight-ball in the chase for a wild card spot out of the AL. It's unlikely that Paxton will again play for the Red Sox after he was put on the 60-day IL in mid-August after he tore a calf muscle. He is not eligible to return to the active roster until the middle of October, meaning that he will be out of action until the ALCS.

 
It seems like OF Andrew McCutchen will stick for another year in Pittsburgh with both sides publicly interested in a new contract for 2025. McCutchen has hit .241/.338/.432 in 470 plate appearances, including 20 homeruns, although with an increased strikeout and a lesser walk rate than in previous seasons. His performance at the plate has him at wRC+ of 114, which is good enough for second on the team behind Bryan Reynolds among those Pirates with 300+ plate appearances.

The Pirates are almost entirely using McCutchen as their everyday DH, with McCutchen only having two starts in the outfield. He is fifth in the MLB in plate appearances as a DH, behind Shohei Ohtani, Marcell Ozuna, Kyle Schwarber and Brent Rooker, each of whom have hit at least 30 homeruns so far this season.

Assuming that the deal will be done, it's likely to be for one season, but McCutchen will likekly be looking for a payrise on the $5 million he is being paid in 2024, given his production.



 
Rangers shortstop Corey Seager has finished his season early, with the former Dodger set to undergo surgery to repair a sports hernia. He's expected to complete the procedure tomorrow after being examined by doctors in Arizona earlier this week. It is the second sports hernia surgery that Seager will have undergone, having previously had one on the opposite of his abdomen in January 2024, which cost him all of Spring Training. Seager hit .278 with 30 homeruns and 74 RBIs in 123 games in 2024.

 
Kyle Hendricks starts:

6 IP, 1 ER

4.1 IP, 2 ER

5 IP, 2 ER

1.2 IP, 6 ER

4.2 IP, 3 ER

5 IP, 1 ER

6 IP, 2 ER

5 IP, 3 ER

5 IP, 6 ER

5 IP, 3 ER

7 IP, 0 ER

Also Kyle Hendricks:



Dude is so humble. He’s struggled in some starts this year but as you can see, been fantastic in a lot of starts.
 

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Mega Thread MLB season 2024

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