2025 Misc MLB News Thread

[tmwiese55]

1 hour ago, nate82 said:

Braun’s lawyers really didn’t have to do anything in his first case.  MLB didn’t follow the rules that were setup at the time.  The chain of custody for the sample was broken when the tester wasn’t able to transfer the chain of custody of the samples and then placed it in his refrigerator.  Regardless if it was normal SOP for doing this it broke the chain of custody that MLB and MLBPA agreed to.  The samples should have been discarded based on the CBA that was written up and new samples should have been attained.

The second one though Braun wasn’t able to beat.

What I have always found weird is that MLB threw out the others that tested positive but only kept Braun’s results.  His was elevated more in the testing than the others but that still doesn’t make sense that the others were discarded.  I believe it was Pujols and Freese that tested positive and MLB didn’t want to have that hanging over the WS winners and having to explain that.  

Yup, I believe he also admitted to leaving the sample in his car, possibly trunk, while he went to work or did whatever the next day while it was a warm day outside.   

Its reported that several other players also tested positive that day, all so freakishly high that they were thrown out but Braun's was barely under the level to be thrown out so he got put through the ringer. Add in that due to testing procedures that the players would have to be absolute morons to be using that day, players then got tested X amount of times regular season so after they hit the last test were free to do anything. And come postseason they had to get tested once(knowing its coming), possibly twice again, and then would be free to do whatever, so if you hadn't hit your last test yet (I think it was 1) you'd have to be a moron to take anything.   I'd have my money that at that exact moment Braun's test was a fluke caused by mishandling of sample, just like was assumed with all the other fails that day.  It just so happens he was guilty regardless otherwise an innocent person might have had their whole career tainted due to that mishandling. 

Also, things like trunk of car while you're not with it, in a basement while sleeping in another part of the house would constitute chain of custody issues.

[Thurston Fluff]

While none of us know enough about the problems with the Braun testing it was enough of an issue for an arbitrator to rule in his favor. I'm glad he appealed it so they were forced to clear up those issues but also glad he didn't get away with it in the end.

[LouisEly]

Adrian Houser is back in the majors, signing a one-year deal with the White Sox and will get the start tonight.

[Frisbee Slider]

1 hour ago, LouisEly said:

Adrian Houser is back in the majors, signing a one-year deal with the White Sox and will get the start tonight.

After a 5.03 ERA in AAA.

Works a scoreless first inning against Seattle.

[LouisEly]

What a difference a month can make.  On April 19th Hoskins had a .690 OPS. 

Now, .885

[HarryDoyle]

Well this is an odd story. I don't even remember a Darin Ruf on the roster.

Ex-Brewer Ruf sues Reds over career-ending injury at Cincy's park - ESPN

[JosephC]

Warning!  Graphic Footage!

 

[Frisbee Slider]

4 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

Well this is an odd story. I don't even remember a Darin Ruf on the roster.

Ex-Brewer Ruf sues Reds over career-ending injury at Cincy's park - ESPN

Two weeks of appearances from middle of May to start of June 2023.

I think his case has merit.

[Samurai Bucky]

19 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

Well this is an odd story. I don't even remember a Darin Ruf on the roster.

Ex-Brewer Ruf sues Reds over career-ending injury at Cincy's park - ESPN

IIRC, he was doing pretty well (perhaps even raking...).  I was watching when it happened and said, "What the <world> is with that tarp?"

[markedman5]

 

[Frisbee Slider]

33 minutes ago, markedman5 said:

 

Gosh, I’d rather have Ortiz. His OPS+ is somehow higher than Arcia this year.

[Jopal78]

19 hours ago, Frisbee Slider said:

Two weeks of appearances from middle of May to start of June 2023.

I think his case has merit.

Legally it’s an almost sure loser. I don’t understand how he can show the tarp roller on the field constitutes a dangerous condition  AND the Reds had notice (someone else got hurt there, or complained about it being a safety issue) of it being a safety issue. 

Then even if he could prove that, the  tarp roller is certainly, “open and obvious” and the Reds will argue he was equally careless for not using more caution when he approached. 
 

And he returned to play for Nashville that September, so it’s more probably true than not it was because he was an aging mediocre ball player that his career ended, not because of an injury he sustained running into an object on the field from which he returned to play professionally 2 months later. 

Sounds like a shake down to me; litigation is expensive and teams are afraid of any sort of negative publicity.
 

[Frisbee Slider]

43 minutes ago, Jopal78 said:

Then even if he could prove that, the  tarp roller is certainly, “open and obvious” and the Reds will argue he was equally careless for not using more caution when he approached. 

I think the argument was the roller was missing padding, which does seem negligent.

If Ruf got injured diving into the stands, he should have been more cautious. He was in normal foul territory, though.
 

[JosephC]

1 hour ago, Jopal78 said:

Legally it’s an almost sure loser. I don’t understand how he can show the tarp roller on the field constitutes a dangerous condition  AND the Reds had notice (someone else got hurt there, or complained about it being a safety issue) of it being a safety issue. 

Then even if he could prove that, the  tarp roller is certainly, “open and obvious” and the Reds will argue he was equally careless for not using more caution when he approached. 
 

And he returned to play for Nashville that September, so it’s more probably true than not it was because he was an aging mediocre ball player that his career ended, not because of an injury he sustained running into an object on the field from which he returned to play professionally 2 months later. 

Sounds like a shake down to me; litigation is expensive and teams are afraid of any sort of negative publicity.
 

It would be pretty hard to convince me that this injury was career ending after he was playing again later in the year.  Reports are that it was a non-displaced patella fracture and a laceration.  Generally those are not career ending.  He was a -1.7 bWAR player the year before this happened and was a -0.2 bWAR player the year this happened and next year would have been his age 37 season.  He showed that he could no longer play the outfield in 2022 which left him as a 1B/DH that has a slash line of .206/.310/.332/.642 over his last two seasons of MLB at-bats.  Oh, and by the way, he really was only a 1B/DH option against left-handed pitching because he never hit right handed pitching that well (.215/.299/.362/.661 career against RHP).

This has all the makings of him suing the Reds for X million dollars.  Then his lawyer and the Reds lawyers get together and his lawyer almost immediately agrees to a settlement that's about 20% of X.  Then the lawyer takes a pretty big chunk out of that X.  

[markedman5]

Hiura back on a major league roster………well sort of…..

 

[AKCheesehead]

On 4/30/2025 at 10:22 AM, AKCheesehead said:

With their 4-25 record and -78 run differential,  I wonder how many games the Rockies can manage to lose this season.  Holy crap they are terrible.

One month later, the Rockies have gotten "hot" going 5-23 over their next 28 games, for a 9-48 record and a -177 run differential. For those wondering, the worst run differential since 1900 was turned in by the 1932 Red Sox at -349.  So Colorado's over halfway to making history after only playing 57 games.  The worst modern era record is still very much in play, too.  

[sveumrules]

Good on Hiura turning his season around and getting the Colorado call.

I had been checking his numbers earlier in the season and it was ugly...

thru 0415 (61 PA)
104/295/104 (16 wRC+)
18.0 BB% | 39.3 K%

Started to turn the corner for a few weeks, but still nothing impressive...

0416 to 0506 (60 PA)
245/333/396 (77 wRC+)
10.0 BB% | 30.0 K%

& now has just exploded over the last few weeks...

0507 to 0530 (79 PA)
338/430/779 (183 wRC+)
8.9 BB% | 19.0 K%

[HarryDoyle]

1 hour ago, AKCheesehead said:

One month later, the Rockies have gotten "hot" going 5-23 over their next 28 games, for a 9-48 record and a -177 run differential. For those wondering, the worst run differential since 1900 was turned in by the 1932 Red Sox at -349.  So Colorado's over halfway to making history after only playing 57 games.  The worst modern era record is still very much in play, too.  

How is it even possible to be that bad? If only Rachel Phelps had this type of team in Cleveland back in 1989.

[Thurston Fluff]

1 hour ago, HarryDoyle said:

How is it even possible to be that bad? If only Rachel Phelps had this type of team in Cleveland back in 1989.

It's still early. I firmly believe they have a two game winning streak in them before the season ends.

[MadThinker88]

3 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

How is it even possible to be that bad? If only Rachel Phelps had this type of team in Cleveland back in 1989.

The 1899 Cleveland Spiders of the National League are starting to take notice.  Feel free to research the Spiders but here is a short synopsis: 20-134 over 154 game season. Club finished the season playing home games in the "away" parks as they couldn't draw anyone to come watch the poor play.

As for the "why" the poor play, the owners also got involved in the St. Louis Cardinals ownership.  Spiders were strip-mined of any talent in favor of the Cardinals.  Club folded after the year and then an AL club got placed in the city (eventually called Indians then Guardians).

[adambr2]

The sudden downfall of Kest-daddy before his career even really began was always one of the biggest mysteries to me.

I don’t think people fully remember how good his bat was for us in 2019. A .938 OPS as a middle infielder? For a rookie? Phenomenal. Granted his glove was always very suspect, but it was never really in question that he would hit. Until he didn’t. Things got bad, and then they got worse.

So what the heck happened to him? It’s not like he was just some fluke prospect, he was a highly regarded first round talent. And even though it wasn’t long sustained success, it was 350 plate appearances. So it’s not like it was just some flukey stretch. 

So MLB pitchers just figured out the book on him after 350 plate appearances and he couldn’t adjust? That’s it?

[MoreTrife]

1 hour ago, adambr2 said:

The sudden downfall of Kest-daddy before his career even really began was always one of the biggest mysteries to me.

I don’t think people fully remember how good his bat was for us in 2019. A .938 OPS as a middle infielder? For a rookie? Phenomenal. Granted his glove was always very suspect, but it was never really in question that he would hit. Until he didn’t. Things got bad, and then they got worse.

So what the heck happened to him? It’s not like he was just some fluke prospect, he was a highly regarded first round talent. And even though it wasn’t long sustained success, it was 350 plate appearances. So it’s not like it was just some flukey stretch. 

So MLB pitchers just figured out the book on him after 350 plate appearances and he couldn’t adjust? That’s it?

He even inspired "The man can hit" from someone. McCalvey maybe.

[nate82]

4 hours ago, adambr2 said:

So MLB pitchers just figured out the book on him after 350 plate appearances and he couldn’t adjust? That’s it?

Yes that is it.  The top third of the strike zone became Keston’s kryptonite.  Not just fastballs but anything in the upper part of the strike zone he has problems hitting.  It is all due to his upper cut swing.  Perfect for pitches low but absolutely horrible on anything high in the strike zone.  Once pitchers figured out that hole in his swing he just never adjusted to it.  He tried one off season to level out his swing more but it never stuck and he was back to the massive upper cut swing.

[RWeeksFan23]

Funny too that right after he was drafted, and he was in the booth with BA and Rock, they were talking about Hiura's game, and Hiura casually stated in the booth "hitting is the easy part", which BA always loved talking about after the fact. 

Turns out it didn't end up being so easy!

[Underachiever]

18 hours ago, Thurston Fluff said:

It's still early. I firmly believe they have a two game winning streak in them before the season ends.

Even the 1988 Orioles had 11 wins on May 31 after starting 0-21. They were 11-39. Rockies only have 9 wins as we begin June.