MLB 2025 Season

If the reports are true I will really miss Sandoval as a Giants fan but I'm also relieved if he ends up in Boston. His numbers have been declining and I do not think he will age well at all. His weight issues are a very real problem and now that he has the contract he will slip some. He seems to be a dedicated player don't get me wrong but he has an issue being able to keep the weight off. It will flair up again at some point. Boston can at least throw him into the DH spot later but he would be an average DH at best right now much less later. Ramirez sucks defensively and is a much better hitter. They may need that DH spot for him when they realize its really hard to win a WS without very good defense. There is a reason besides the injury Morse didn't play outfield for the Giants in the WS. You can only bury them in LF for so long. But at least for the next two seasons Sandoval will make us miss him I'm sure. I think the Giants burned that bridge with the 4 year 40 million offer in spring training. They low balled him to show him their displeasure with his weight issues and it cost them a player they wanted to keep.

Now the game is who actually signs first. Who gets the second round pick between the Dodgers and Giants and who gets the third. The Giants also just became big time players for Tomas or the available bats in a trade. I have zero doubt Sabean is about to do his normal magic and pull off something big. He now has money to spend and we have a lot of good pitching in the minors. None are top 50 type prospects but they are very deep and have some emerging guys.

Until today, I had never heard of Kyle Seager.

Last-12-Exit said:

jervin007 said:

Report that the Red Sox will soon be finalizing a 5 year $90 million dollar deal with Hanley Ramirez. Hoping this works out well for the sox. Ramirez seems like a head case at time, and has been often injured, but no denying his ability to hit. Actually signed for less money/years than I thought.

Will be interested to see how this factors into Sandovals decision. Rumor is that Ramirez might shift to the OF if that is the case. Will also be curious to see how Xander is impacted by this. I would like to see the sox keep him at SS. Hanley would be more suited for 3B or LF.

Espn is saying that Yoenis is now trade bait for a top pitcher. Why not keep him in the OF with Hanley?

They do have a packed outfield at this point, but I would imagine that will change. I guess it can't be a bad thing to have options though. I just don't want to see them trade Mookie Betts, he is a fun player to watch

Keith Law on espn was not bullish on the Sandoval deal. He does speak kindly to start but then writes this (its an insider article so here is a snipet in case you dont have it)

"The problem with this contract is its size, particularly in dollars, which reflects a rather positive forecast for Sandoval's performance going forward -- that he'll stay at third base, not lose any defense and outperform a realistic/median projection for his offense, especially his power. In other words, the Red Sox are paying him like he's going to hit about 20 bombs a year without losing anything else, and while I think that's possible, I don't think it's likely. This seems like a contract that won't kill the Red Sox, but won't live up to expectations.".

Szymbroski is not very fond of the signing either (another insider article):

"Sandoval's frequently less-than-stellar conditioning is probably overrated as a reason to worry about the trade. If anything, my biggest concern would be his approach at home plate rather than the dinner plate. Sandoval excels essentially by successfully hitting a lot of terrible pitches. Over the 13 seasons for which the data exists, Sandoval has been the MLB hitter most likely to swing at a bad pitch, swinging at 45.7 percent of out-of-zone pitches, ahead of Humberto Quintero (43.0 percent), Salvador Perez (41.5 percent), Delmon Young (41.2 percent) and Chris Johnson (41.0 percent). Sandoval has been very successful at this approach -- he'd probably be in Triple-A right now if he weren't -- but what happens when he loses even a teensy bit of his amazing bat speed? He's a better bad-ball hitter than Josh Hamilton or Vladimir Guerrero, two other players known for being see-ball, hit-ball players with crazy bat speed, but it's hard to forget how quickly both players dropped off when they lost some of it."

This is sour grapes in a way as a Giants fan but after finally seeing all the bad deals for Zito, Rowand and others get off the books I'm not wanting to go back to having 40 to 50 million of dead money on the books for players you are stuck with because of their contracts. Lincecum has 1 bad year left and we are free of those type of deals, as long as Cain can get his shit together.

LOL. That is hardly the picture of a standard professional athlete, is it? Jesus, he looks like everyone's fat uncle.
Of course he also is Mr Clutch in the playoffs and just signed a $95,000,000 contract so I can go and suck it, can't I? I can take my fit non-athlete self over to the dick store.

Good for you "Turkey Sub" you got a massive payday.

I have no love for the Red Sox so I hope he is a weak signing but certainly dont blame him for bolting after 3 rings in SF.

He's not a Giant type of player. Poor defense and base running. The D-Bags with no pitching and he and Trumbo manning the corner outfield spots should be quite the adventure the next few seasons.

I read a couple of days ago they were interested but not much on them. ESPN reports any and everything whether true or not yet they miss so much.

I really dont get teams when they start acting desperate. Phoenix is one of the worst baseball markets with TB. I know, I have lived here the last 10 years. The stadium is near empty every game. They average less than 20,000 for a game when they are decent, 15,000 when they suck. They already stated that payroll will be right at 100 mil which they are now right at when you add in Tomas. Hitters are not their issue, pitching is. 4 seasons ago I was actually scared of them because their farm system was loaded with top end potential for pitching. Thanks to Towers (love ya buddy!) they are left with Archie Bradly who could be a legit #1 and not much else. 70 million is a huge contract but very risky since no one knows how he will translate. Some think his swing is too short and all that power wont matter as he will be a horrible hitter. His defense is well below avrage and he is not a good athlete over all. All he has is power. For the D-bags to commit 70 million on non pitching is a pure desperate move for a new GM trying to prove himself. They don't have the flexibility to absorb bad deals and sooner or later one of these cuban kids is going to be a huge bust. Law of averages.

i_lov_it said:

Here's to the CUBS or the YANKEES winning the World Series next year.

say what?