***Official*** MLB 2025 Thread

[Dan Druff]

Five games in MLB history went to extras in World Series Game 7. Four have been since 1991. Winner listed first.

1924 Senators/Giants
1991 Twins/Braves
1997 Marlins/Indians
2016 Cubs/Indians
2025 Dodgers/Blue Jays

The last two were won by the road team.

BCR deserves for the Injuns to win next year in the same fashion.

That Cubs win was the sports highlight of my life and can never be topped. Ive never remotely felt that level of stress from a game before.

Sucks for the Blue Jays but at least they've won before.

What a fucking postseason, feels like baseball is back.

Dodgers benefited from this season playing out the way it did.

They only won 93 games, and in fact had to play in the Wildcard round. They almost lost the World Series, and were saved by a 36-year-old utility player and a crazy catch by a second-year player.

When the CBA talks take place, the Dodgers can say, "Hey, no salary cap necessary. Sure we won in 2025, but we didn't dominate. We only won 93! It was the closest World Series of all time, and we were saved by cheap players at the end!"

Had the Dodgers ripped through the Blue Jays and won in 4 or 5, there would be a much stronger case for a cap. Had the Dodgers won 115 games, there would be a much stronger case for the cap, even if they had a close postseason before ultimately winning.

I'm guessing there won't be a cap in 2027, but probably new rules somewhat restricting salary deferrals, since the Dodgers have done it to such an extreme.

Dodgers probably don't get Munetaka Murakami for 2026, despite the team having become Tokyo East. They would have to part with Muncy, whom I believe they'd like to see finish his career in a Dodger uniform -- at least as long as he's viable. They have a cheap-ish $10m option on him. Murakami has a high ceiling but there's a lot of valid concern that he won't adjust well to MLB pitching, and could struggle to make contact.

[David USF]

That Cubs win was the sports highlight of my life and can never be topped. Ive never remotely felt that level of stress from a game before.

Sucks for the Blue Jays but at least they've won before.

What a fucking postseason, feels like baseball is back.

Dodgers benefited from this season playing out the way it did.

They only won 93 games, and in fact had to play in the Wildcard round. They almost lost the World Series, and were saved by a 36-year-old utility player and a crazy catch by a second-year player.

When the CBA talks take place, the Dodgers can say, "Hey, no salary cap necessary. Sure we won in 2025, but we didn't dominate. We only won 93! It was the closest World Series of all time, and we were saved by cheap players at the end!"

Had the Dodgers ripped through the Blue Jays and won in 4 or 5, there would be a much stronger case for a cap. Had the Dodgers won 115 games, there would be a much stronger case for the cap, even if they had a close postseason before ultimately winning.

I'm guessing there won't be a cap in 2027, but probably new rules somewhat restricting salary deferrals, since the Dodgers have done it to such an extreme.

Dodgers probably don't get Munetaka Murakami for 2026, despite the team having become Tokyo East. They would have to part with Muncy, whom I believe they'd like to see finish his career in a Dodger uniform -- at least as long as he's viable. They have a cheap-ish $10m option on him. Murakami has a high ceiling but there's a lot of valid concern that he won't adjust well to MLB pitching, and could struggle to make contact.

That's assuming there will be a 2027 season. The CBA expires in December 2026. As of now, both sides are miles apart on an agreement.

[gut]

That Cubs win was the sports highlight of my life and can never be topped. Ive never remotely felt that level of stress from a game before.

Sucks for the Blue Jays but at least they've won before.

What a fucking postseason, feels like baseball is back.

Dodgers benefited from this season playing out the way it did.

They only won 93 games, and in fact had to play in the Wildcard round. They almost lost the World Series, and were saved by a 36-year-old utility player and a crazy catch by a second-year player.

When the CBA talks take place, the Dodgers can say, "Hey, no salary cap necessary. Sure we won in 2025, but we didn't dominate. We only won 93! It was the closest World Series of all time, and we were saved by cheap players at the end!"

Had the Dodgers ripped through the Blue Jays and won in 4 or 5, there would be a much stronger case for a cap. Had the Dodgers won 115 games, there would be a much stronger case for the cap, even if they had a close postseason before ultimately winning.

I'm guessing there won't be a cap in 2027, but probably new rules somewhat restricting salary deferrals, since the Dodgers have done it to such an extreme.

Dodgers probably don't get Munetaka Murakami for 2026, despite the team having become Tokyo East. They would have to part with Muncy, whom I believe they'd like to see finish his career in a Dodger uniform -- at least as long as he's viable. They have a cheap-ish $10m option on him. Murakami has a high ceiling but there's a lot of valid concern that he won't adjust well to MLB pitching, and could struggle to make contact.

Druff responding to a sloppy joe post, while referencing things I said.

Guess all of us white Portlanders look the same

[Dan Druff]

Very few Dodgers are hitting free agency.

Kiké Hernández and Miguel Rojas both are, and will probably return. Rojas said 2026 will be his last year. Michael Conforto is a free agent, and obv isn't coming back.

Pitchers Andrew Heaney, Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech will also hit the market. It's possible they bring back Kopech. Yates sucked and wasn't nearly worth the money he was paid. He will probably end up elsewhere. Heaney maybe could come back under a minor league deal, but probably not. He pitched only 2 innings with the Dodgers.

Everyone else is coming BACK, though Max Muncy has a $10m 2026 option which the Dodgers are expected to exercise.

I wonder if they will try to sign more expensive relievers, or if they learned their lesson from 2025?

[gut]

Final installment of LOLRockies for this thread.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/...perations.html


Guy switched sports, somehow stayed employed by the Browns for 10 years, where the most noteworthy thing that they did was make arguably the worst trade ever for Watson.

Maybe the Rockies actually hired Jonah Hill and not the real DePodesta

[Dan Druff]

Final installment of LOLRockies for this thread.

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/...perations.html


Guy switched sports, somehow stayed employed by the Browns for 10 years, where the most noteworthy thing that they did was make arguably the worst trade ever for Watson.

Maybe the Rockies actually hired Jonah Hill and not the real DePodesta

He was awful for the Dodgers in 2004-05, and got fired after the Dodgers finished 20 games under .500 in '05.

Jonah Hill would actually be a better choice.

None of his moves with the team worked out. He also refused to re-sign Adrian Beltre after his monster 2004. Presumably the thinking at the time was that Beltre had an outlier year and may have been on PEDs, but he was also extremely talented and was one of the few foreign players to lie about his age by pretending to be OLDER. Beltre eventually became a HOFer, and that could've been with the Dodgers.

It's not that the he made horrible signings which backfired. Players like Derek Lowe, Odalis Perez, JD Drew, and later-career Jeff Kent were all decent. They just weren't stars you'd build around, and DePodesta believed that his analytics was getting him middle and upper-middle end players who would perform like superstars.

Spolier alert: They didn't, and they also had (expected) injury problems.

Friedman also tried this stupid approach in his early years with the Dodgers, before ownership finally told him to stop pretending he's still in Tampa, and just to sign the bigger names.

[Dan Druff]

Imagine a 2026 Dodgers team with pitching stars Yoshi Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, two-way megastar Shohei Ohtani, and new slugging third baseman Munetaka Murakami.

That became less likely today, as the Dodgers picked up Max Muncy's $10m option (notice I called this earlier). There is nowhere else to put Muncy. He's too old and not agile enough to play 2B anymore, they already have Freeman at 1B, and he can't DH for obvious reasons.

Muncy was born in 1990, btw.

So that locks him at 3B, which is Murakami's position.

Expect Murakami to go to the Mets, Giants, Red Sox, or Yankees.

[Dan Druff]

Oh, and weirdly enough, Justin Dean barely had time to celebrate his World Series championship before getting waived.

Dean, who was on the roster to replace Teoscar Hernandez defensively in the late innings, is best known for his "stuck ball" play in the world series.





Despite Dean's smart decision here which saved a run, the Dodgers bid farewell to him anyway. He's about to turn 29, so he's not likely to further develop. He does have full minor league options and is coming off a .289/.378/.431 showing with 27 steals in AAA, so he might have some value as a contact/speed guy.

And guess who picked him up right away?

The Giants.

[Sanlmar]

[Dan Druff]

Great story.

Yamamoto's success may change a lot of the approach for MLB pitchers, as there may be future attempts to emulate what he does -- and doesn't -- do.

Here you have a guy who is one of the smallest pitchers in MLB, yet he dominated this year in both the regular and postseason. He also crushed it in Japan, hence the huge contract he was offered.

Rather than trying to compensate for his size by trying to lift weights, he does the opposite. He doesn't touch the weights, and doesn't work on arm strength. Instead he throw javelins and works on core strength. And somehow it works.

Imagine being able to come right out of the bullpen and do what he did after pitching 6 innings the day before.

He also has a great attitude. He's the opposite of the selfish stat-chasing player. Everything he does is in pursuit of the team's success. That's why he wanted to (and was going to) pitch in the 19th inning, two days after throwing a CG. That's even why he cleaned trash in the bullpen after that game. You couldn't find a more team-oriented guy.

I do wonder how long he will last. Durability was the big reason other teams stayed away from him. Can a pitcher that small really last for 12 more years -- or even 2/3 of that time? He's completed two, but it's hard to picture he will be effective into the mid-2030s. Doesn't really matter. The Dodgers already got their money's worth.

[Dan Druff]

Cody Bellinger, a free agent, has just visited both LA and Toronto.

[Dan Druff]

Well, I got fucked on the 35-1 Horton bet.

Didn't bother to hedge because I bet $35 to win $1225.

Had I gotten down the $1000 I wanted on it, I would've hedged Baldwin, who was the only other possibility.

https://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/breakin...010254942.html


Baldwin had a decent finish which pushed him over the top. At one point Horton was around -200 while Baldwin was slumping and also losing playing time.

Baldwin got 21/30 first place votes.


Horton honestly deserved it. He was unhittable in the second half.

[simpdog]

The Brewers' Pat Murphy and the Guardians' Stephen Vogt are the first skippers to win the award in their first two seasons on the job. They're also the first repeat tandem in MLB history.

Did the voters forget it was 2025 not 2024?

How does Vogt win over Schneider? Was it because he lost two pitchers to the betting scandal + came from 15 games out to make the playoffs?

Schneider
-won the AL regular season
-went from 74 wins to 94 wins
-huge surprise for team to do well
-made many good decisions all year long with regards to lineups, pinch hitters, relief pitching

[Dan Druff]

The Padres are looking for investors, or perhaps to sell the team.

Seidler Family to Explore Strategic Options For the San Diego Padres

The Seidler family today announced that it has decided to initiate a formal process to explore strategic options for the San Diego Padres, including a potential sale of the franchise. The decision follows months of careful consideration and consultation with trusted advisors.

The family has decided to begin a process of evaluating our future with the Padres, including a potential sale of the franchise,” chairman John Seidler said in the statement. “We will undertake this process with integrity and professionalism in a way that honors Peter’s legacy and love for the Padres and lays the foundation for the franchise’s long-term success. During the process and as we prepare for the 2026 season, the Padres will continue to focus on its players, employees, fans, and community while putting every resource into winning a World Series championship. We remain fully committed to this team, its fans, and the San Diego community.

The club has engaged BDT & MSD Partners, a trusted advisor to families and founder-led businesses, to guide this process. The firm will oversee the process to ensure that it is conducted in a disciplined and professional manner.

The Seidler family and the Padres do not intend to comment further until the process has concluded.

Owner Peter Seidler died in November 2023. He was only 63, but had ongoing health problems, including type 1 diabetes and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

Peter's widow, Sheel Seidler, sued two of Peter's brothers in Texas court, claiming that the two brothers had shut her and their three sons out of control of the team since Peter's death.

Another brother, John Seidler, was granted control of the team in February 2025.



The Padres have spent heavily to keep up with the Dodgers. While the team has achieved a winning record and made the postseason 4 times since 2020, they have made the NLCS only once, in 2022, and lost. The team has never won a World Series, and has won the NL only twice -- in 1984 and 1998.

They are currently sitting on some big contracts.

Among them are Xander Bogaerts ($25.45m through 2033), Manny Machado (25.1m in 2026, 39.1m every year after until 2033), and Fernando Tatis Jr (20.7m in 2026, 25.7m in 2027-29, and 36.7m from 2030-34).

There is some talk that they might trade Tatis -- the only one of the three with positive value on his contract -- in order to offload some of the upcoming salary.