Tag: 2024 MLB Postseason

Juan Soto Free Agency: Where will the Yankees star sign for 2025?

Which team is going to pay Soto potentially around $500 million? Here are some options.

One of the biggest stars in baseball is New York Yankees slugger Juan Soto, and he is set to become a free agent at the end of the 2024 MLB postseason.

The 26-year-old outfielder has played one season with the Yankees after the franchise acquired him last offseason. He played a crucial role in helping his team win the American League pennant but could become one of the biggest names available this winter.

Already a four-time MLB All-Star and a former World Series champion, the former Nationals and Padres standout will draw significant interest from front offices around the league. But where could he sign for a deal that’s potentially worth around $500 million over the next decade or so?

Outside of some of the potential sleepers (e.g. Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox) who could make some surprising magic happen, here are some of his most interesting options:

New York Yankees

The most obvious fit for Soto is to remain with his current employer and sign a long-term deal with the Yankees. He has had some postseason heroics with the organization and would keep them relevant contenders in a lineup already filled with talented player such as Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Jazz Chisholm.

New York Mets

Should he decide to leave the Yankees, another option is to remain in New York but sign with the crosstown rivals. The Mets are considered the “biggest threat” to steal Soto away from the Bronx and have him play in Queens next season instead, which would be a massive win for team owner Steve Cohen. But the big question is if the team would do this and also re-sign Pete Alonso as well.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Shocking as it sounds considering how deep their roster already looks, the Dodgers are another team that could have serious interest in Soto. This is a team willing to spend whatever it takes to make themselves a dominant force on the baseball field and they could continue that relevancy with a big splash like this one.

Washington Nationals

Another possible option for Soto is the Nationals, where he began his career and won a World Series in 2019. According to an ESPN report, Washington would reportedly “love a reunion” with Soto and perhaps the interest is even mutual. Stranger things have happened, though it could get expensive!

SOTO IN WASHINGTON: He might be happy with the Yankees, but the Nationals should bring him home

San Francisco Giants

Before he landed with the Yankees, the San Francisco Giants were one of the teams that tried to trade for Soto. There are already whispers that new Giants executive Buster Posey could try to make a move for the former NL batting champion in his first offseason leading the franchise.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies were one of the best teams in the regular season but failed to reach their expectations during the postseason. He would offer a potential remedy for Philadelphia and could have provide another strong bat in a lineup that already features Bryce Harper, who shares an agent with Soto. Their front office is expected to “strongly pursue” him when the season ends.

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David Ortiz can’t stop tormenting Derek Jeter and A-Rod over the Yankees’ World Series failures

Ortiz is TOO funny on FOX’s MLB pregame show.

FOX’s MLB panel includes host Kevin Burkhardt with former baseball legends Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter as well as David Ortiz.

Rodriguez and Jeter were famously teammates on the New York Yankees from 2004 until 2013, winning a World Series together in 2009. Ortiz, on the other hand, played for New York’s biggest rival on the Boston Red Sox.

He is a three-time World Series champion who famously helped pull off one of the biggest upsets in sports history when Boston miraculously came back from a 3-0 deficit in the 2004 ALCS.

Ortiz hilariously continues to be a thorn in the side of Rodriguez and Jeter on FOX’s broadcast. Just watch his reaction to when the Yankees lost Game 3 of the 2024 MLB World Series against the Dodgers on Monday:

This is not the first time fans have seen this hilarious energy from Ortiz, though.

Earlier in the series, after Ice Cube performed before a Dodgers victory in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium, Ortiz declared it was a “good day” because the Yankees lost.

Ortiz recently said he has tremendous “respect” for the Yankees and their fanbase.

But his ability to poke fun at Rodriguez and Jeter for their former team coming up short so far in the series is legitimately very funny to watch.

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Fat Joe performed before the World Series at Yankee Stadium and fans weren’t feeling it at all

This was a bad sign of what was to come for the Yankees.

The Dodgers had Ice Cube perform before a World Series game and the Yankees countered with a performance from Fat Joe.

It was a nice thought from whoever booked the “Lean Back” rapper as he is from The Bronx and has enjoyed a successful music career. Sadly, however, it did not exactly go well for him at Yankee Stadium.

While wearing Timberland boots on the pitcher’s mound before Game 3, he sang “All The Way Up” and didn’t exactly get the warmest reaction. Despite calling himself the ghost of Babe Ruth and trying to hype the crowd, it was clear that the energy wasn’t really there.

After the game, David Ortiz said that it felt like a “funeral already” when the artist played his hit song.

This was probably a very cool moment for Fat Joe, who also performed during halftime of a WNBA Finals game between the Liberty and Lynx earlier this month.

But it didn’t quite resonate with those who were watching him.

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Yankees’ Carlos Rodón seemingly popped blister at the worst time during his World Series start

Ouch.

Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodón seemingly popped a blister on his hand at the worst time during his World Series Game 2 start.

Rodón did not have a good night. In just over three innings, he gave up six hits and four runs, including three home runs. But there might be an, albeit very painful, explanation for the off night.

In the bottom of the third, cameras caught a glimpse of the New York pitcher seemingly gripping his finger between pitches. But it gets worse. Rodón might have popped a blister — OUCH — on his left hand. Cameras also caught some blood smeared on his gray pants. (See the six-second mark of the clip below.)

Of course, fans had a field day with this discovery. Here’s how people reacted to Rodón’s night:

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Why MLB teams have STRAUSS ads on their helmets during the World Series

Fans are not happy about the look.

While uniform sponsors have long been prominent in international sports, the American sports landscape has gradually seen more and more ads make their way onto the uniforms. In baseball, jersey sleeve sponsors have been in place for a couple seasons.

But MLB waited until the postseason to make quite the league-wide change.

As the NL and AL wild-card series got underway on Tuesday, fans noticed that all the batting helmets had a massive “STRAUSS” ad on both sides. This evidently was a partnership between Major League Baseball and the German workwear brand that was finalized back in September. Yet, unless you were paying attention to MLB press releases, Tuesday was the first time many fans saw the sponsored helmets.

MLB — particularly under Rob Manfred’s leadership — has never been one to turn down a quick buck. We remember the FTX debacle where the scandal-ridden, now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange had its logo on all the umpiring uniforms. So, we shouldn’t be surprised that Manfred would let a brand with minimal awareness in the U.S. be plastered all over helmets in the sport’s biggest games.

According to Sportico, the placement could be worth $15 million in brand exposure.

But it was safe to say that MLB fans were not enthused with the sponsored helmets.

This was how Twitter/X reacted

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Why isn’t Clayton Kershaw pitching for the Dodgers in the World Series?

Clayton Kershaw only pitched 7 games in 2024.

The Dodgers and Yankees are facing off for a big market World Series, but one of the biggest names (Clayton Kershaw) is not available to pitch.

Kershaw has played for the Dodgers since 2008, winning the Cy Young Award three times and even earning National League Most Valuable Player in 2014.

One of the most recognizable names in baseball, he has established Los Angeles as one of the most dominant powerhouses over the past decade. He won the World Series with the organization during the shortened 2020 season but unfortunately, he will not have a chance to help his team this time around.

2020 MLB SEASON: Clayton Kershaw winning a World Series was so easy to root for

Even though it didn’t always go well for Kershaw in the playoffs, his veteran presence will be missed for Los Angeles.

Kershaw, who was an All-Star in each of the previous two seasons before this one, pitched only seven games in 2024. After a shockingly bad appearance in the playoffs last year, he had left shoulder surgery in the offseason.

He has not thrown since August, when he was placed on the injured list with a bone spur in his left big toe. Kershaw was officially ruled out for the whole postseason.

The 36-year-old said that he plans to return next season to make use of his surgery. However, he could become a free agent and may not return to the Dodgers because they have such a crowded starting rotation.

A longtime star, he has record 2,968 strikeouts during his MLB career. He could become one of just 20 pitchers in league history to reach the 3,000 strikeout milestone next season.

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Mets broadcaster Howie Rose had a perfect eulogy for the team after an amazing 2024 season

This was a PERFECT summary of the season.

The miraculous New York Mets season has officially concluded after falling to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS.

It was a tough way to go out for the Mets after coming within two victories of facing the Yankees in a crosstown rivalry rematch of the 2000 MLB World Series. Instead, however, baseball fans will get to see two juggernauts of the sport face off on the biggest stage as Shohei Ohtani takes on Aaron Judge.

For the Mets fans who are feeling sad about coming up short, however, no one better contextualized all of the emotions than legendary radio broadcaster Howie Rose.

HOWIE ROSE: Mets played the Pete Alonso home run radio call on the plane and everyone cheered

Late in the game against the Dodgers, he reflected on the wild ride that led the Mets to where they landed on Sunday night.

Here is how Rose started his monologue:

“If you are emotionally invested in this Mets team and you’re sad right now, it’s certainly understandable. But I promise you that won’t take long to wear off … Because once the immediate disappointment … here wears off, you’ll realize what an incredible ride this team took you for this year. Started out 0-5, showed some signs of life before they fell to eleven games under the .500 mark, and a lot of people had them written off right there.”

The start of this is similar to the call Mets announcer Gary Cohen made on SNY when the team clinched a playoff berth.

GARY COHEN: Mets announcer delivered perfect call after New York stunningly made the playoffs

Rose continued:

“When you’re lying around during the offseason anticipating the next one and you think about what the 2024 Mets were all about, you won’t be able to keep yourself from smiling. Remember the talk over the winter? Transitional year. They’re punting on the season. Well, they’ve kicked all the way to the sixth game of the National League Championship Series.”

The Mets were not expected to have a contending season, trading away staff aces Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer last year.

2023 MLB TRADE DEADLINE: The Mets won by giving up (nearly) everything they could

But instead, they did the unthinkable and went as far as they could.

Here is more from Rose:

“I’ll say this on a personal level: I was 15 years old when they won the 1969 World Series. That’s 55 years ago. So you can do the math yourself. But I’ll just say this about the 2024 New York Mets. This 70 year kid feels 15 all over again. You can watch baseball for a lot of years and never see the run that the Mets went on during this postseason and even the days prior.”

If that didn’t give you full body goosebumps, who knows what could?

But here is an edit of Rose’s words with some music and some mesmerizing highlights of the season behind it.

That should give some added emotion and context that could make you tear up a bit if you are a fan.

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Ken Rosenthal shared a nonsense take about the Dodgers and Mets in the NLCS worthy of criticism

This was SO disappointing.

FOX Sports reporter Ken Rosenthal is one of the most recognizable personalities in baseball media, so this was especially disappointing.

During his broadcast in Game 6 of the NLCS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, the analyst appeared for a segment recapping the series.

The Dodgers won the series, 4-2, and clinched a spot in the World Series against the Yankees. It was a well-earned victory by the Dodgers, despite losing two key games against the Mets. But according to Rosenthal, those wins from New York were merely a part of the master plan from the Dodgers.

Here is more from Rosenthal:

“It took incredible discipline from Roberts not to chase those victories in Game 2 and Game 5. And frankly it was not a great look, effectively conceding postseason games. But should they hold on, the end will justify the means.”

With all due respect to a reporter who has earned the trust of fans around the league after decades covering the sport, that is simply not how this works.

The series went to six games because the Mets won two of them, not because manager Dave Roberts chose “not to chase” victories in Game 2 and Game 5.

Roberts did not intentionally give up any amount of runs early in any of those losses because that is frankly absurd. The Mets scored each of them against a pitching staff that was depleted by injury, which is part of baseball.

The Dodgers did not use their top-tier relievers when already losing, but the damage that was done to get to that point is a credit to the Mets, who had hot bats in those victories.

Los Angeles fairly won the series with a dominant showing, but New York fairly won those two games with no help from Roberts.

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Did Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase really walk out to Wild Thing? Here’s his actual walkout song

It really would be such a cool entrance.

Down 2-0 in their American League Championship Series with the Yankees, the Guardians have their work cut out for them if they hope to rally back in the series. But with potentially three games in Cleveland, Progressive Field is absolutely going to be rocking.

And if the Guardians have their way, superstar closer Emmanuel Clase will have an opportunity to take the field in front of a home crowd … walkout entrance and all. But fans shouldn’t expect a tribute to the movie Major League and Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn in real life.

Back in Game 5 of the Guardians’ ALDS win against the Tigers, TBS built up Clase’s entrance with some absolutely cinematic camera work. The broadcast showed his slow walk down from the bullpen, to the gate and onto the field — all while X’s “Wild Thing” played in the background – perfectly timed with his walk. It seemed electric, and viewers were actually disappointed that TBS cut to commercial. There’s just one thing about that …

That wasn’t what people in the stadium actually heard.

The “Wild Thing” audio was a production decision from the TBS crew rather than something the stadium played. Clase instead stuck with his regular walkout music, which is a mashup of Lil Wayne’s “Fireman” leading into “Di Di Di” by Braulio Fogón.

What we saw (and heard) in the Game 5 broadcast was just some TV magic.

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The Dodgers had the most relatable reaction after spotting a snake in the dugout during NLCS Game 2

Snakes made the playoffs after all!

There aren’t many things that can break up the tension of postseason baseball. You have two teams trying to make the World Series, and the stakes are so high – the pressure is palpable. Yet, a snake in the dugout is one of those things.

As the Dodgers were walking back to the dugout between the fifth inning of Monday’s NLCS Game 2 against the Mets, pitcher Brent Honeywell couldn’t even make it to the dugout step before spotting a snake — like, the tiniest snake.

And still, the Dodgers’ reaction was so relatable. You can see someone react like, “Oh, (expletive!)” And then several players cautiously approached the step to check out the snake from afar.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/v61p5eZVWWM

The best part was that no player was willing to remove the snake themselves. A Dodger Stadium staffer — presumably groundscrew — came in with a towel and scooped up the little snake.

Postseason baseball, everyone! You never know what can happen.

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