caulfield12

One can just imagine the White Sox offer in a similar situation....

"The Dodgers will still hold fan fest this offseason, but due to ongoing renovations inside Dodger Stadium, the 2025 DodgerFest will be held in the parking lot on Saturday, February 1. DodgerFest this year will take place in Lots B, D, and P in the Dodger Stadium parking lot, with $20 tickets to the public going on sale on Thursday, January 23. The event runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on February 1, with the parking lot gates opening at 10 a.m. The Dodgers say a portion of the proceeds from tickets will go to relief efforts for the recent Los Angeles fires." https://www.truebluela.com/2025/1/21/24348941/dodgers-fan-fest-dodger-stadium-february-1

Bob Nightengale/USA Today the only one reporting Yates' LAD deal as done, pending a physical. No terms announced as of yet. "Not every team has the financial bandwidth to afford the type of offseason the Dodgers have had, but it when looking at teams like the Minnesota Twins, Miami Marlins, and San Diego Padres— they’ve spent a combined $0 in free agency this offseason— organizations that are looking to upgrade their teams clearly aren’t the ones that are leaving a blemish on the sport." https://www.truebluela.com/2025/1/22/24349242/dodgers-michael-kopech-jack-flaherty-ichiro-suzuki

Maybe the Pirates will throw some more intl bonus pool money the Dodgers' way if they haven't already maxxed out.

"Sabathia has a career WAR of 61.8, and think about some of the starters who are in the same neighborhood: Zack Greinke (72.8), Luis Tiant (65.6), Tommy John (62.1), David Cone (61.6), Andy Pettitte (60.7) and Mark Buehrle (60.0). There should be a whole lot of starting pitchers making speeches on the Cooperstown stage in the years ahead..." source: espn.com Next year, Carlos Beltran, former Sox CFer Andruw Jones, maybe Chase Utley.

One of the best outfield throwing arms since Clemente/Walker/Evans. We only saw 2-3 years of his prime in the US. His job was to get on base and score...steal bases. That's exactly what he did. He was never asked to hit 3rd/4th and drive in runs in the US. Japanese culture dictates you do what will help your team win, period, individual stats be damned. You have to weigh his impact against guys like Carew Boggs Gwynn Henderson and Rose. Magglio was a great hitter there for 3-5 years but at best he was an average fielder and that skill eroded quickly enough in his 30s. Magglio obviously couldn't bunt sacrifice advance runners by always executing the correct play fundamentally. There are legendary stories about Ichiro's real power despite that frame and how he easily could have won a home run derby had the Mariners asked for him do so. He also carried the hopes and dreams for Japanese position players over generations, like Jackie Robinson or Clemente in their times, and weathered the jealousy by keeping his emotions from obviously showing..all were role or utility guys until Ichiro came to the US...he and Hideki Matsui's success paved the way for Ohtani's eventually emergence.

Add Kirby Yates, Kershaw and Kiki Rodriguez. That will bring it to at least $400 million...first payroll that large in history, beating the Cohen/Mets' payroll in 2023.

https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodgers/story/2025-01-21/dodgers-kirby-yates-free-agent-bullpen-reinforcement No deal finalized...will require an extensive physical after TJS in recent past.

Whereas the Royals passing on Grifol lowered his salary...

That's why Toronto wasn't that far off, because of direct flights and global Arctic circle route saving a ton of time. (As long as they stay out of Russian air space.) Too bad Vancouver doesn't have their own team....too close to Seattle.

Go Hawks! Can at least claim him for Hawkeye coaching tree...not sure he's automatic to replace Ferentz because Illinois has the clear resource/recruiting advantage. But coaching 3 different B10 schools would be close to a record...

deBoer has a ton of pressure on him this year with a new QB. We shall see. Texas with Manning will get all the hype, but everything still goes through Bama and UGA recruiting-wise. And maybe A&M due to resources? At any rate, Downs stays at Bama and Jeremiah Smith goes to Miami FSU or Florida...Ohio State doesn't win it all. Also you have the concentration of wealth/alumni networks at all the Big Ten schools compared to the Deep South...which is still Atlanta Charlotte Nashville bounded by Texas to the west. Now that NIL is legalized...teams like Penn State will become increasingly dangerous. Level playing field now...talent might be primarily in the South, but big money on the two Coasts Midwest/Chicago/Rust Belt still. Civil War all over again...essentially.

I think the Sox themselves do a good enough job on their own as an organization depressing us...realistically, the team is not going anywhere without their own home grown, cost-controlled superstar. All the hand-wringing in the world isn't going to change a thing, nor will it be enough to change the narrative five years from now without a new stadium bought and paid for.

Poor Connor McKnight...at any rate, don't bring back Chris "Ranger" Rongey from St Louis, he has a morning show there with a female co-host now, maybe KMOX.

I blame this whole phenomenon on Hideo Nomo and Chan-Ho Park signing with the Dodgers back in the day. The Red Sox and Yankees and even Cards had their moments with Asian players, but it's now a near monopoly on the very best players. Or just blame it on exhaustive scouting coverage/networks.

WestEddy is the new Greg, iconoclastic defender of all things Getz-related. It's going to be a LONG next 2-3 seasons at this rate.

Another Sox flaw...having all the minor league affiliates bunched together in SE to save money and time on travel but far away from team's geographic base. South Bend back in the day was the closest...Midwest League.

What idiot from the Boston Globe screwed up the unanimous selection??? Because Ichiro didn't know who Tom Brady was...? There has to be something questionable like a connection in writer's family history to Pearl Harbor/War in the Pacific. Looks like Jeter was one short and Griffey Jr. three as well. Mo Rivera only unanimous still. Ichiro only got 92.6% for Japanese HoF because he spent only 9 seasons playing there, but c'mon!!!

"Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner voted into Baseball Hall of Fame. Suzuki was one vote shy of becoming the second player to be a unanimous selection." ESPN.com First Japanese player ever elected. http://www.google.com.hk/url?q=https://www.sportico.com/leagues/baseball/2025/ichiro-baseball-hall-fame-election-1234824689/&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwi7-YC0_IeLAxXfG9AFHRJTHewQFnoECA0QAg&usg=AOvVaw0NTTzFwrC7NZoPuQXiNilh ICHIRO’S HALL ELECTION PUNCTUATES PLAYER INFLUX FROM JAPAN

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/43452580/way-too-early-college-football-top-25-ranking-2025 Wildly different takes on LSU/ISU... seven Big Ten, nine SEC

Kikuchi and Iguchi=Sasaki? Nah.....

Topps Skenes patch card worth at least $100k, 11 year old in LA finds it. Pirates offer: "Two season tickets behind home plate for the next 30 years A meet and greet with Skenes Two autographed Skenes jerseys A softball game at PNC Park with coaching from Pirates alumni A private tour of the Pirates’ Spring Training facilities of Pirates City and LECOM Park, plus other unique experiences at their Florida homes Taking batting practice and warming up with the team." https://www.mlb.com/news/paul-skenes-pirates-debut-patch-card-found

"In a story from 2016, they noted he had visited the Hall six times already, and he told Ken Rosenthal last year that “Out of anywhere in the world, besides the places I’ve lived, Cooperstown is the place I’ve visited the most.” He could surely lead this tour on his own, but the magic of baseball - and something the HoF Museum imbues beautifully - is that there is always more to be learned, some new pocket of history to tunnel into." https://www.lookoutlanding.com/2025/1/21/24348427/ichiro-suzuki-cooperstown-elected-to-the-hall-of-fame https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6078291/2025/01/21/ichiro-suzuki-hall-of-fame-archives/ https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/28/sports/baseball/parents-of-ichiro-suzuki-showcase-his-baseball-start-and-career-in-museum.html

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/43414814/mlb-baseball-hall-fame-2025-ichiro-suzuki-stories-mariners-yankees-marlins Cracking up thinking about Buehrle and Crede. Really regret not going to the museum his family still maintain in his hometown...we called from Tokyo and the hotel concierge talked to one of his parents (they maintained very peculiar hours and didn't open every day...like maybe 3-4 days per week). Saw him play in mid 2000s at SafeCo and had an IchiRoll haha. Thought that last story was about Carlos Torres (Sox pitcher)...totally forgot the pitcher Silva from Twins/Ms, ended his career in 2010 with the Cubs. Of course teammates not getting along would be a Sox thing, right? Enjoyed the Griffey aspect too, as he'd just had that 2008 storybook ending to the season with the White Sox.

Iowas listed on the it's too early Top 25 list at #24. Ah, every year the hopes a new QB will make the offense at least passable... 9 Big 10, ten SEC...Illinois at 12 and no Iowa State. UGA #1. ND Top Ten. https://sports.yahoo.com/way-too-early-top-25-for-2025-26-college-football-season-043356775.html https://sports.yahoo.com/as-ohio-state-collects-big-tens-second-straight-national-title-the-sec-is-left-wondering-where-its-dominance-went-065524281.html