MLB '24 Regular Season Thread

Nothing says deliciousness like an Aramark flag on your food

 

Dodgers-Cubs play opener in Japan in mid-March.

 

They're shipping the Dodgers overseas in back to back years? I mean there's one obvious reason but I'm kind of surprised the union is down with that.

 

Phillies just sent an email push announcing the 2025 schedule. I don't think there's a single sport that hates its fans as much as Major League Baseball. Phillies home opener is on March 31st against Colorado and then they bring in...the Dodgers? Why on earth are you sending a warm weather team to the northeast at the beginning of April instead of the other way around?

 

Portland would be even better. What a rivalry the Portland Yannigans could have with the Mariners.

 

I’m not used to being forced to pay a lot of money to goto Guardians games. So planning out our attendance the rest of the year is a shock when every weekend series is selling out. You can get into a White Sox game in Chicago for $1, though…

 

Ranger brass gotta be pissed. Opening Day is always a sellout, whether it's the Red Sox or the Marlins. They lose a mid-season sellout gate by burning one of their Red Sox dates on their home opener.

 

Interesting:

 

Wouldn’t it be more fair to compare the first three to five rounds? That percentage is mostly low-round draft picks. If you hit in the first three rounds, you’re doing well.​

 

Teams know from the start that at least 2/3 of their draftees have no shot of a meaningful MLB career. But you have to have enough guys to field teams so the guys who will make it have someone to play against (everybody knows this).

By eliminating short A, MLB simply reduced its costs by about 1/5 with probably no noticeable dropoff in the number of players who will make the show. They just ended the dream of marginal prospects who would be released in a year or two.

Good teams make their bones in rounds 4-20 (IMHO). Everyone in the top 3 rounds is pretty much interchangeable; the pool is probably 115 players all 30 teams agree have a great chance to make it. After that, it's projection and player development.

 

See

I'm gonna guess the players get extra compensation (not counted for luxury-tax purposes) for going over there. I don't know that, but I doubt the union agreed because it was persuaded that marketing of Ohtani benefits every player, etc.