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- The Athletic ranked the 18 non-playoff teams in terms of who is best set up to compete in 2025. The Cubs come in at number seven, behind the Mariners, Diamondbacks, Rangers, Red Sox, Reds, and Twins. I think you’re picking nits if you try to bump the Cubs up a couple spots, though that’s exactly what I would do. The Reds have a lot of young talent and more coming, but there’s just no way they are better set up, on paper, for 2025 than the Cubs. The latter has just as much young talent, also features a recently-hired star manager, has more financial flexibility going into the offseason, and was the clearly better team in 2024.
- I do think the other noted teams do generally project well for 2025, though a stray thing I’ve wanted to point out about the Diamondbacks for a while. So, we know the Diamondbacks, who missed the playoffs on a tiebreaker but won 89 games, were propelled largely by one of the best offenses in baseball this year. But I kept coming back to a question of … how? Like, I knew that Corbin Carroll had a relatively down year, and Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. were kinda meh. So how did the Diamondbacks offset that to be such a great offense? And is it repeatable in 2025?
- Well, the answer to the first question is that they got outrageously strong performances from a number of unlikely sources, and or monster performances from guys who haven’t always been at quite that level. Joc Pederson and Ketel Marte each posted a whopping 151 wRC+, and although each has had big seasons in the past, those sure had the look of outliers (at ages 30 and 32). Then you had Randal Grichuk – yes, Randal Grichuk – posting a 139 wRC+, the best season of his career (at age 32/33). Josh Bell, a castaway from multiple teams, put up huge numbers over a half-season with the Diamondbacks (at age 32). Pavin Smith, who had four times had a shot in the big leagues and not been able to be close to average, suddenly this year was an absolute monster in a half-season (at age 28). So, you look at all that, considering the players, performances, and ages, and it just makes you wonder how much of it is actually repeatable. Are the Diamondbacks actually a sneaky flop contender? I probably wouldn’t go that far, especially since gains by Carroll, Moreno, and Gurriel could offset other steps back. Notably, though, Pederson, Grichuk, Bell, and Christian Walker are all impending free agents.
- That is all to say, while I wouldn’t bet on the Diamondbacks being bad next year, I do think I’d take the Cubs as likely to have more wins …
- Luis Tiant, who pitched in 19 seasons in the ’60s, ’70s, and 80’s and was a beloved member of the broader baseball community, has passed away at the age of 83.
- This was the capper on the Padres’ scoring last night, and it was a fun bit of loud:
- You just never know what you might see on the ole internet (language warning):
- Given that he shared it with some humor, I am going to assume that the hot coffee didn’t do any serious damage to Justin Steele’s parts. And thus, we all get to chuckle and enjoy.
- Because of what happened last time, Mookie Betts thought Jurickson Profar had done it to him again, and started to trot off the field: