***Official*** MLB 2025 Thread

Brewers plus money ML 14 games deep into a winning streak. I get it. Normally I lay off this game. It looks advantage Reds on paper, but I would never insult the gods and do anything but mash Brewers ML until this run ends. This stretch has been glorious.

I had the Padres that first game. I liked the bullpen game with their bullpen. Pitched fine. Machado and Xander just so impatient at the plate. Made Kershaw look like a wizard. When he’s on he doesn’t give you much to hit. You have to work him. They were swinging at shit. There is something lacking on that Padres team. They don’t work pitchers. Just play bad baseball at times. They are going to waste that bullpen despite having a formidable lineup on paper. They should be better than they are.

BCR. Whatever shall we do with you?

The narrative was - being like 10 games up on anyone else in the NL and playing a double header tomorrow vs arch rival Cubs …. this game was a guiltless game to punt and reset

of course I write this post game

For those fascinated with the double NY collapse, here's an ESPN article about it:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...n-odds-concern



The Yankees did win today, and the Mets are up 3-0 early on the Mariners.

Dodgers continue to be difficult on the Padres, sweeping them and taking back a 2 game lead, after briefly losing first place for one day.

Rob Manfred, the worst MLB commissioner in history, wants to add two teams and completely realign all of the divisions geographically, thus ruining the NL and AL forever.

Manfred's other "greatest hits" include the awful runner on 2nd in extras, the elimination of pitchers hitting in the NL, and the idiotic move of the 2021 All Star Game from Atlanta to Denver, supposedly to "fight racism". (Never mind that Denver is very white, and Atlanta has a large black population!)

Here's an article describing it: https://www.foxnews.com/sports/mlbs-...ans-torch-idea


Manfred's logic is that long travel days cause wear on MLB clubs, and baseball could eliminate this by creating a "Western Conference" and "Eastern Conference" format like the NBA.

Jim Bowden predicted two years ago that this would eventually happen.

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He predicted in an article in The Athletic that MLB could move to an Eastern and Western Conference format "consisting of four geographically-aligned divisions apiece. Four teams per division, 16 teams per conference."

The Eastern Conference would consist of the East Division (Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies), North Division (Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays), Mid-Atlantic Division (Baltimore Orioles, expansion team, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals) and Southeast Division (Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, expansion and Tampa Bay Rays).

The Western Conference would consist of the Midwest Division (Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins), Southwest Division (Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers), Pacific Coast Division (Colorado Rockies, Athletics, Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants), and West Division (Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres).

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Fans hate this idea, as it would completely destroy the NL/AL tradition, as well as a lot of the divisional rivalries that have developed over the years.

Shrug. Label 1 the AL and the other NL. Teams move and change constantly. Two current teams are essentially homeless! I don't care.

I think 4x4 division setup is more egregious. Below .500 teams make the playoffs that way in the NFL, you know in baseball with that it wouldn't be long for a 77-85 division winner.

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Originally Posted by gut

Shrug. Label 1 the AL and the other NL. Teams move and change constantly. Two current teams are essentially homeless! I don't care.

I think 4x4 division setup is more egregious. Below .500 teams make the playoffs that way in the NFL, you know in baseball with that it wouldn't be long for a 77-85 division winner.

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Both ideas suck.

Nobody cares if the Brewers or Astros switch leagues, or if the A's jump from Oakland to somewhere else.

But to fuck up the Dodgers/Giants rivalry by putting them in separate divisions, or complicate the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry by dropping the Phillies into the mix, or having the World Series often take place between two former NL or two former AL teams, it's just going to ruin a lot of the game's tradition too quickly.

The best modifications to MLB are ones which react to other changes. For example, banning the shift was necessary, because there wasn't originally a shift, and the shift changed the game. The 3-batter minimum rule was also a good one, as analytics were causing a million late pitching changes, which slowed the game down and made it brutal to watch at the end.

The pitch clock? Jury is still out. It's nice to see much less dead time in our modern short-attention-span world, but if it's causing more pitching injuries, that might be a big problem.

The only realignment I think might be beneficial would involve the A's. If they really do come to Vegas, they'll be much more successful if they're in the same league and division as the three teams within driving distance -- the Dodgers, Padres, and Diamondbacks. Swapping the A's into the NL West with the Rockies to the AL West would not only help the struggling A's, but also give the Rockies a fresh start away from the big-spending Dodgers and Padres, who presumably will dominate for a long time.

2x8 division setup, skew the schedule again heavily towards interdivision. Say 50% vs division, 30% other league division, 20% vs other league.

Who knows where the 2 expansion teams will be, but hypothetically you have a "west division" with: Dodgers, Angels, Giants, Padres, dbacks, mariners, rockies, athletics.

It would be like going back in time a bit, despite "change"

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Originally Posted by gut

2x8 division setup, skew the schedule again heavily towards interdivision. Say 50% vs division, 30% other league division, 20% vs other league.

Who knows where the 2 expansion teams will be, but hypothetically you have a "west division" with: Dodgers, Angels, Giants, Padres, dbacks, mariners, rockies, athletics.

It would be like going back in time a bit, despite "change"

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If they did this, it would be great to have two division winners and two wildcards, but no change they'd do it, because MLB wants playoff drama to involve the most teams possible.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

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Originally Posted by gut

2x8 division setup, skew the schedule again heavily towards interdivision. Say 50% vs division, 30% other league division, 20% vs other league.

Who knows where the 2 expansion teams will be, but hypothetically you have a "west division" with: Dodgers, Angels, Giants, Padres, dbacks, mariners, rockies, athletics.

It would be like going back in time a bit, despite "change"

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If they did this, it would be great to have two division winners and two wildcards, but no change they'd do it, because MLB wants playoff drama to involve the most teams possible.

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Division winners get byes, 4 wild cards.

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Originally Posted by gut

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

If they did this, it would be great to have two division winners and two wildcards, but no change they'd do it, because MLB wants playoff drama to involve the most teams possible.

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Division winners get byes, 4 wild cards.

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:gay

The reason the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry (to use the best known example) exists is that for the vast majority of the rivalry’s history it was do or die to finish first in the AL East. Second place was for golf. Games were life and death.

Presently both the Yankees and Red Sox are in the wildcard so we talk about the Patriots quarterback situation instead. Padres and Dodgers get in regardless of how they finish. What just occurred last weekend between Padres and Dodgers was a fraction of a true old school rivalry. It’s gayness in city connect jerseys. Does Druff really have a feel for a rivalry? I have to think about that.

The idea of playing 154 games and expanding the playoffs is anathema to my already diminished enjoyment of the sport. The regular season is presently meaningless and will become even more so. Everyone should not get a trophy. EoT.

One positive is the idea of dividing the teams by time zone. If the Red Sox are playing the Angels in Los Angeles no one can or cares to watch. In the old days Boston fans never saw National League teams until the World Series or the All Star game. The time zone division will reintroduce the rarity of certain teams and players. That’s a plus.

Atlanta Braves
1991–2005: 14 consecutive division titles. One World Series win

Tomorrow is ‘95 Braves World Series Replica Ring Night


30 years from now Ben will be sure to get that 2024 Dodgers World Series Replica Ring. He will fondly remember the last time they won and how happy you were, Druff. He will travel from Newton, MA just to be there.

The parallel between the Guggenheim Dodgers and the Time Warner Braves is amazing

I'm considering doing something crazy and driving to SD for a Padres/Dodgers game this weekend. Talk me out of it.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

I'm considering doing something crazy and driving to SD for a Padres/Dodgers game this weekend. Talk me out of it.

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I’m spamming your site while I’m handicapping tomorrows games

Dodgers Snell 1.08 era -122 vs Padres Poo Darvish 5.97 era

Doyers players rested today. Yes, leaving the Denver altitude is traditionally a fade the next game. Poo is ass vs lefty batters. Ohtani is playing.

Yes, Dodgers are 14-16 and playing sub .500 ball. We are getting a discount

Dodgers are 13-8 under Friday night lights in 2025

This closes Dodgers -142 tomorrow so you’re getting CLV if we bet tonight. That really is the only goal in handicapping. CLV.

The under 8 is the right play but even I can’t bring myself to do it. Denver recency. Maybe I play an alternate under 9 and find a dummy leg like Nolan McClean walks 2+ to reduce the juice

It’ll be fun.

badguy23 (RIP) would be proud of your love of CLV.

But what is your opinion of a 175-mile drive down to SD for one of these games? Each way, that is. I floated it by Ben and he's for it.

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Originally Posted by Dan Druff

badguy23 (RIP) would be proud of your love of CLV.

But what is your opinion of a 175-mile drive down to SD for one of these games? Each way, that is. I floated it by Ben and he's for it.

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He promises to put down the phone you’ll agree to drive. I don’t know what 175 California miles means in time though. Could be 3 hours could be 10.

His withdrawal symptoms should make for a memory. He might talk to you

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Originally Posted by Sanlmar

Atlanta Braves
1991–2005: 14 consecutive division titles. One World Series win

Tomorrow is ‘95 Braves World Series Replica Ring Night


30 years from now Ben will be sure to get that 2024 Dodgers World Series Replica Ring. He will fondly remember the last time they won and how happy you were, Druff. He will travel from Newton, MA just to be there.

The parallel between the Guggenheim Dodgers and the Time Warner Braves is amazing

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As a Braves fan it’s even more painful when you consider both how dominant their starting pitching was, and how fewer teams made the playoffs back then.

But San, why you bringing up old shit? More riffing on playoff Kershaw please.

At least the Braves will miss the postseason, so losing Riley isn’t a big deal.

I wonder why Michael Harris always takes 3-4 months to get going.

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Originally Posted by Sheesfaced

But San, why you bringing up old shit? More riffing on playoff Kershaw please.

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Kershaw is the Dodgers best starting pitcher. I’m no comedian but I think you just let that sit with the audience and remain deadpan on stage.

That’s regular season, of course.

We are testing out new Shohei Ohtani material in some of the smaller clubs. It just might be too offensive.

I was wrong about Dodgers love tonight. Never materialized. Interesting. Poo Darvish? Really? Snell under 5.5 strikeouts was +122 and is now -115. You know I joined that crowd.

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Originally Posted by Sanlmar

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Originally Posted by Sheesfaced

But San, why you bringing up old shit? More riffing on playoff Kershaw please.

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Kershaw is the Dodgers best starting pitcher. I’m no comedian but I think you just let that sit with the audience and remain deadpan on stage.

That’s regular season, of course.

We are testing out new Shohei Ohtani material in some of the smaller clubs. It just might be too offensive.

I was wrong about Dodgers love tonight. Never materialized. Interesting. Poo Darvish? Really? Snell under 5.5 strikeouts was +122 and is now -115. You know I joined that crowd.

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now under 4.5 +105