Tag: MLB

Baseball fans mourn death of Rickey Henderson, MLB’s Man of Steal

Rickey Henderson was 65.

Rickey Henderson died on Friday at age 65, leaving a towering legacy on and off the field as one of Major League Baseball’s most iconic players. Henderson had been in the hospital battling pneumonia, according to the Bay Area News Group.

At the conclusion of an astonishing 24-year career, Henderson led MLB in stolen bases (1,406), stolen bases in a single season (130), runs scored (2,295), leadoff home runs (81) and unintentional walks (2,129). A 10-time All-Star, Henderson won the 1990 American League MVP and was a two-time World Series champion with the 1989 Oakland A’s and 1993 Toronto Blue Jays.

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot in 2009 with 94.8 percent of the vote.

In addition to his four stints with Oakland, Henderson played for the Yankees, Mariners, Padres, Angels, Mets, Red Sox and Dodgers. He returned to the dugout in 2007 as an assistant coach for the Mets.

Tributes from heartbroken fans poured in across social media as news of Henderson’s death became public.

 

 

Sammy Sosa welcomed back by Cubs as slugger apologizes for past ‘mistakes’

Sammy Sosa hasn’t been back to Wrigley Field since 2007.

Sammy Sosa hasn’t been back to Wrigley Field since his iconic 13-year career on the North Side ended with a trade to the Baltimore Orioles in 2007. That streak seems like it’s about to end in 2025.

On Thursday, Sosa took the first step towards rebuilding a relationship with the franchise he’s most closely associated with, releasing an apology for his actions during the height of the era of performance enhancing drugs — albeit one short on specifics — that seems to have satisfied Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts enough to finally invite him back.

The Cubs released a statement shortly after, thanking Sosa for his comments and inviting him to the team’s annual Cubs Convention this winter.

Sosa and the Cubs haven’t had any legitimate relationship since 2007. He was not part of the team’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2014, nor the World Series celebrations in 2016. Despite remaining a fan favorite on the North Side, Ricketts was steadfast in his belief Sosa could not be welcomed back until he came clean about any performance-enhancing drug use and apologized.

Asked by a fan at Cubs Convention 2018 when Sosa would return to Wrigley, Ricketts spelled out his position pretty clearly, per the Chicago Sun-Times:

“I really believe all the players from that era who were in that kind of steroid era … I think we owe them a lot of understanding,” Ricketts said. “We have to put ourselves in their shoes and be very, very sympathetic to everything, all the decisions they had to make, and certainly as it turned out after testing had begun in 2002, a large number of players test positive. Players of that era owe us a little bit of honesty, too. I feel like the only way to turn this page is just to put everything on the table. That’s the way I feel.”

If this all seems a bit trite, it’s because it is. We’ll likely never know the final tally of who was or wasn’t using PEDs from the 1980s to the early aughts, and it’s not like there’s been much derision from Cubs fans over the years regarding Sosa’s alleged use. We’re not talking about the Hall of Fame or any accolades here, either. Merely an opportunity for Cubs fans to show Sosa just how much he meant to them — something fans have been begging for years to do. Your mileage may vary on the scandal at this point with all this *gestures at the world* going on, but it never made much sense to punish one player and a generation of fans who came to love the game because of him.

Still, Ricketts — who was still years away from purchasing the Cubs when Sosa left — arbitrarily decided on the conditions of Sosa’s return. While noted alleged dopers like Mark McGuire served as hitting coach for multiple MLB clubs and Alex Rodriguez serves as an analyst for national broadcasts on Fox, Sosa was effectively banished from baseball entirely until Thursday.

It appears those conditions have been met. The right fielder who hit 545 home runs for the Cubs and battled McGuire in the epic 1998 chase to break Roger Maris’ single season home run record will be back at Wrigley Field sooner than later.

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Aggies alumnus Braden Montgomery is ‘feeling great again’ after trade to Chicago White Sox

“I went down to Fort Myers, Florida to work with the Red Sox staff. They got me back on my feet. I’m moving around, feeling great again.”

Former Texas A&M baseball player Braden Montgomery has had a whirlwind of a year.

In 2024, Montgomery transferred from Stanford to the Aggies, quickly asserted himself as a top 10 MLB prospect and broke his right ankle during the College World Series. The injury caused Montgomery to drop to the 12th overall pick, where he was selected by the Boston Red Sox.

Montgomery was asked about his recovery on Hot Stove with Matt Vasgersian and Harold Reynolds last week on MLB Network.

“I’m doing great! I went down there to Fort Myers, Florida to work with the Red Sox staff. They were awesome. They got me back on my feet,” Montgomery said. “I’m moving around, feeling great again. Back up to sprinting, hitting and everything. Ready for the game plan.”

Last Wednesday, he was traded to the Chicago White Sox as part of a package for All-Star pitcher Garrett Crochet. Montgomery was dealt to the south side alongside Kyle Teel, Chase Meidroth and Wikelman González.

Contact/Follow us @AggiesWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Texas A&M news, notes and opinions. Follow Shaun on Twitter: @Shaun_Holkko.

White Sox trade pitcher Garrett Crochet

Chicago trades former Vol baseball pitcher Garrett Crochet.

Former Tennessee baseball pitcher Garrett Crochet was traded on Wednesday.

The White Sox traded Crochet to Boston for catcher Kyle Teel (No. 25 overall prospect), outfielder Braden Montgomery (No. 54 overall), infielder Chase Meidroth (Boston’s No. 11 prospect) and Wikelman Gonzalez (Boston’s No. 14 prospect).

The former Vol (6-12) recorded 209 strikeouts and a 3.58 ERA in 2024 for Chicago.

Crochet was selected by the White Sox in the 2020 Major League Baseball draft (No. 11 overall).

He played for the Vols from 2018-20, appearing in 36 games. Crochet (10-9) recorded 149 strikeouts during his career at Tennessee.

The former Vol went to Tennessee from Ocean Springs High School in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

Crochet was selected by Milwaukee in the 34th round of the 2017 MLB draft. He signed with the Vols over Texas and Tulane.

Garrett Crochet trade grades: Who won the White Sox and Red Sox deal?

The Boston Red Sox won the Garrett Crochet Sweepstakes, but who won the trade?

The heat is all the way up on the hot stove at the 2024 MLB Winter Meetings.

Following Juan Soto’s gargantuan 15-year, $765 million deal with the New York Mets and Max Fried’s eight-year, $218 million contract with the New York Yankees, the Chicago White Sox and Boston Red Sox have struck an agreement to send Garrett Crochet, arguably the most coveted pitcher on the trade market, from the Windy City to Beantown.

If this sounds a bit familiar, you’re not mistaken. On December 6, 2016, the Red Sox acquired Chris Sale from the White Sox for Yoán Moncada, Michael Kopech, Luis Alexander Basabe and Víctor Díaz.

The deal worked out better for Boston than Chicago. The Red Sox won the World Series in 2018 with a rotation led by Sale. The White Sox only saw meaningful contributions from Kopech and Moncada in the bigs. However Moncada’s contract option was declined for 2025 after playing just 12 games last season. Kopech was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers at last summer’s deadline and wound up winning a World Series.

Which means the Red Sox unequivocally won the Sale trade. Who won the Crochet trade? Let’s take a look:

The trade, per reports

Red Sox get:  Starting Pitcher Garrett Crochet

White Sox get: Catcher Kyle Teel, Outfielder Braden Montgomery, Infielder Chase Meidroth and RHP Wikelman Gonzalez

Red Sox Grade

Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Let’s start with the obvious: After missing out on Soto, Fried and Willy Adames, the Red Sox were under immense pressure to make a big splash this offseason and were running out of opportunities to do so.

That’s motivation enough to go out and overspend on Crochet, who in his age 25 season — and his first as a starter — was a revelation for Chicago. The lefty twirled 146 innings with an ERA of 3.58 and a WHIP of 1.068 to pair with 209 strikeouts, 33 walks and a 2.69 FIP.

But perhaps the most enticing part of Crochet is the fact he is still arbitration eligible for two more seasons before he can become an unrestricted free agent in 2027. That not only gives Boston a frontline starter for two seasons, but allows it to negotiate an extension. It wouldn’t be surprising to see a new deal for Crochet sooner than later, and a White Sox team coming off an all-time MLB-worst 121 losses certainly had no use for that type of financial flexibility beyond Crochet’s trade value.

This will all boil down to whether or not the Red Sox are capable of finishing off their rebuild in the next few years. Boston hasn’t made the postseason since 2021. It finished third in the American League East in 2024 after consecutive fifth-place finishes. The Yankees and Baltimore Orioles’ rosters remain years ahead of Boston’s. The Red Sox, however, did have a stockpile of elite prospects and rather than attempt to finish out a rebuild before spending, the front office decided to speed things up by shipping out some of their best young players for an elite starter.

It’s a risky gamble if Boston is unable to fill out the rest of it’s team with similar talent, but one the Red Sox backed themselves into. Years of middling results have left the team (and fans) restless. This deal has potential to either speed things up or drastically backfire depending on what Boston does next.

GRADE: B-

White Sox Grade

Jul 13, 2024; Arlington, TX, USA; American League Future catcher Kyle Teel (10) hits a double during the fifth inning against the American League Future team during the Major league All-Star Futures game at Globe Life Field. (Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports)

Trading Crochet this offseason was a given. He simply holds too much value on a franchise that has no use for it. After the White Sox held out on trading him at the deadline, the Winter Meetings was the next most-likely timeframe for a deal to get done.

Chicago won’t go from 121 losses to a respectable opponent in one offseason without spending like it never has before. Instead, the White Sox are looking at another years-long rebuild with a finish line too far away to even make out at this point.

After trading Sale to Boston in 2016 — signaling the tear down of that White Sox core — it took another four years before Chicago reached the postseason, and even then it took a third-place AL Central finish after the pandemic-shortened 60-game season to get there.

We can probably ballpark just how long the White Sox believe this rebuild will take given the prospects the Red Sox are sending back for Crochet. Here are the estimated time of arrivals in the Major Leagues for all the players coming back to Chicago, per MLB Pipeline:

  • No. 4 Prospect: Kyle Teel (ETA 2025)
  • No. 5 Prospect: Braden Montgomery (ETA 2027)
  • No. 11 Prospect: Chase Meidroth (ETA 2025)
  • No. 14 Prospect: Wikelman Gonzalez (ETA 2025)

Keep in mind, the youngest of these prospects are 22 years old. They will still need time to develop in the big leagues, which is something Chicago hasn’t done all too well recently. The team also has no incentive to rush any of these prospects through the farm system given how bad the major league team is. There is no incentive to start the clock on their MLB service time yet.

Which means we’re in for another round of the White Sox selling its fans on a future that may never materialize, but that’s also nothing new for this organization (or Sox fans).

Without knowing what else the Sox were offered from other teams, it’s hard to fully judge the return. What we do know is that the White Sox got a ton of high-end talent.

Much like with the Sale trade, getting a big return was never going to be a problem. Now the hard part begins.

GRADE: B+

Major League Baseball’s terrible Golden At-Bat idea might not actually be so bad

We can make this fun, people.

We know how things go with Major League Baseball when it comes to rule changes. Usually, they’re terrible ideas.

The league might occasionally come up with a good one! The pitch clock is a perfect example of this. Not only did it speed the game up, but one could argue that it made it better and more entertaining.

That’s a rarity, though. Usually, suggested rule changes don’t fly in baseball. And, when they do, they’re pretty meh. Sometimes, they’re just flat-out bad.

We might have a flat-out bad one on the table this year. Rob Manfred says there’s some “buzz” building around the league to add a “Golden At-Bat” rule, according to reporting from The Athletic’s Jayson Stark.

How would it work? Here’s more from Stark:

“What if a team could choose one at-bat in every game to send its best hitter to the plate even if it wasn’t that guy’s turn to hit? That’s the Golden At-Bat concept in a nutshell.”

Basically, you’d be able to put your best batter at the plate in the game’s most crucial moments. How, specifically, would that happen? We’re not sure yet because this isn’t a thing yet. Think of this as pinch-hitting but with your best bat.

Let’s face it: That sounds pretty silly. People won’t like this. It’s toying with the baseball gods. You don’t toy with the baseball gods.

BUT WAIT.

Before you decide that this is trash, just hear me out. I think we can make this work.

This rule is gimmicky and gimmicky doesn’t typically work for baseball. But what if — WHAT IF! — we leaned in on the gimmick? If you’re going to do this, you might as well make it fun.

It’s called the Golden At-Bat, right? So make the batter use a golden bat. Literally.

Ok. Well, maybe not literally. A golden bat would be pretty heavy. Which, honestly, might send baseballs to the moon. That’d be pretty great, but it would also be hard to swing. And they’d be pretty expensive, too. So maybe let’s paint the bat gold instead? Yeah, that’s it.

Teams should also have to put the bat in a glass case that they keep in the dugout. It has to be one of those “BREAK GLASS FOR EMERGENCY” cases and the teams have to break it every time they want to use it.

When they break it, an alarm should go off to inform the stadium that the Golden At-Bat is about to happen. It should be like one of those wrestling cameos. I know Bob Costas is retiring, but can you imagine him screaming “BY GOLLY, IT’S THE GOLDEN AT-BAT ALARM! FOLKS, THAT’S AARON JUDGE’S MUSIC!”

Just imagine it! It’s great! Suddenly, this is a fantastic idea.

Alright. Who am I kidding? It still isn’t a great idea. But, at the very least, we’d have some fun with it.

Somebody send this article to Rob Manfred.

At best, he kills the idea because these ideas sound so ridiculously dumb that baseball doesn’t even want to have anything remotely close to the concept.

At worst, we make this happen, baby. Either way, we win.

ESPN unveiled its exciting MLB opening day 2025 doubleheader schedule

It’s not too early to start thinking about MLB 2025 opening day games on ESPN!

While the 2024 MLB season literally just ended a couple of weeks ago, 2025’s opening day will be here before you know it.

ESPN announced on Wednesday night its opening-day doubleheader to kick off the 2025 MLB season. Both games are slated for March 27.

First, the Milwaukee Brewers will take on the New York Yankees at Yankees Stadium. Then, the Los Angeles Dodgers will begin their World Series defense by hosting the Detroit Tigers.

That’s a pretty exciting opening-day lineup for ESPN, as seeing the two World Series teams make their 2025 debuts against two feisty 2024 playoff squads should make for some grand entertainment to start the year.

Pitchers and catchers won’t report until this February, but maybe this news will hold your 2025 baseball excitement over until then.

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Paul Skenes announced as finalist for NL Cy Young and Rookie of the Year

Former LSU star Paul Skenes is a finalist for some major awards

Recognition is rolling in for [autotag]Paul Skenes[/autotag] after his stellar rookie campaign. The former LSU star flew through the Pirates minor league system to make his debut in May, less than a year after being drafted.

On Wednesday, the MLB announced Skenes as a finalist for the 2024 National League Cy Young Award and the National League Rookie of the Year award.

Skenes racked up 170 strikeouts and posted a 1.96 ERA in 2024. Those numbers were among the best in the NL.

Expectations were sky-high. Skenes’ arrival was the most anticipated starting pitcher debut since Stephen Strasburg over a decade ago. Skenes didn’t just meet expectations — he blew by them.

Skenes spent just a year at LSU, but led the Tigers to a College World Series championship in 2023.

With only 133 innings, Skenes isn’t considered the favorite for the Cy Young but is nearly a lock for Rookie of the Year.

WHERE SKENES FINISHED AMONG NL PITCHERS

Statistic Ranking Among NL Pitchers (130+ innings)
ERA 1st 1st
FIP 2nd 2nd
K/BB% 1st 1st
Opponent AVG 5th 5th
Ground Ball Rate 5th 5th
Soft Contact Rate 8th 8th

Gerrit Cole opted out of his mega Yankees contract (but here’s why he’s likely staying put)

The Yankees have a $36 million decision to make with their ace

Gerrit Cole may be a Yankee fan today, tomorrow, forever, but that didn’t stop him throwing New York’s front office a curveball on Saturday by opting out of his contract.

According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel, the Yankees’ ace informed the team of his decision to forgo the remaining four years and $144 million on his contract to become a free agent.

However the Yankees don’t have to let him walk away. The team can nullify Cole’s opt out clause by adding an additional one year and $36 million to his contract and lock up the pitcher through 2029 (bringing his remaining term to five years, $180 million).

New York has until Sunday night to invalidate the opt out and, according to Passan, the belief is that he’ll stay put:

The expectation is that the Yankees will add the $36 million to keep Cole at the top of their rotation and ensure that they don’t potentially lose multiple integral players, with star outfielder Juan Soto hitting free agency.

It’s certainly a bit of awkward timing for the 34-year-old righty who signed a Yankees’ franchise record nine-year, $324 million contract in 2019.

While Cole won the American League Cy Young Award in 2023, he only pitched the second half of the season in 2024 while dealing with an elbow injury. In Game 5 of the World Series against the Dodgers on Wednesday, Cole contributed to five unearned runs scored by L.A. after not covering first base during New York’s meltdown in the fifth inning.

If the Yankees decline to meet Cole’s demands, the pitcher will be among the most sought-after players on the open market.

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The Dodgers were late for their own parade because their buses are hilariously stuck in LA traffic

LA traffic doesn’t move for anybody. Not even champions.

They say the traffic in Los Angeles is some of the worst in the world. It can take you hours just to move a few miles.

The Los Angeles Dodgers can officially attest to that.

LA Traffic doesn’t move for anything — not even championship parades. The Dodgers championship parade is supposed to be underway in Los Angeles, but the team’s busses for the festivities are literally stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

If we didn’t have visual evidence of this, it’d be hard to believe. But it’s really happening. The team is about to be late for its own championship parade because LA is always gonna LA.

This is unreal.