Tag: Major League Baseball

Morning Briefing: Roki Sasaki Signs One-Year NPB Deal

Good morning, Mets fans! On Friday, it was announced that Roki Sasaki, the 22-year-old Japanese superstar pitcher, agreed to a contract with his current Pacific League team, the Chiba Lotte Marines, for the 2024 season. There have been rumors in the past that Sasaki was interested in being posted for MLB teams as soon as possible, but his current team might be interested in holding on to him...

Morning Briefing: Strawberry’s ‘Heart and Soul Bleeds Blue and Orange’

Good morning, Mets fans! On Wednesday, the New York Mets held a live Zoom call with Mets legends Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden as they announced the dates of their jersey number retirements. Doc’s number will be retired on Sunday, April 14, and Darryl’s number will be raised later in the season on Saturday, June 1.  But aside from setting the date for the festivities, the...

2024 Trade Deadline Set For July 30

Major League Baseball has officially set their 2024 trade deadline date to Tuesday, July 30 at 6 p.m. ET, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Due to the new collective bargaining agreement, the Commissioner’s Office has the power to set the deadline to any date between July 28 and August 3. The league liked having the deadline on a Tuesday, as the 2023 deadline was on Tuesday, August 1,...

Morning Briefing: Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s Contract Includes Two Opt-Outs

Good morning, Mets fans! On Friday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s 12-year contract with the Dodgers includes opt-outs after years six and eight. Rosenthal added that Yamamoto’s contract is backloaded, so he may miss out on more money if he chooses to opt-out. Yamamoto’s contract was historic, as he signed the largest contract for a pitcher in...

Morning Briefing: MLB Proposing Reduction to Pitch Clock Time

Good morning, Mets fans! Major League Baseball continues in its efforts to minimize the time of games after rapid improvement in the area following the adaptation of the pitch clock in the 2023 season. Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that the MLB’s competition committee has proposed reducing the pitch clock from 20 seconds to 18 seconds when runners are on base next season, while keeping the...

MLB and Television: A Mixed Bag in 2023

With the 2023 season in the books, let’s take a look at the evolving situation between Major League Baseball and national and local television. The results from 2023 were mixed, and for several teams, the future is cloudy. World Series Television Audience This year’s World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks drew the fewest viewers of any Fall Classic in...

Morning Briefing: Texas Rangers Win First World Series Championship

Good morning, Mets fans! On Wednesday night, the MLB season officially ended as the Texas Rangers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2023 World Series, four games to one. Winning Game 5 of the series by a score of 5-0, the 2023 Rangers gave the franchise their first-ever World Series trophy since its inception in 1961. Game 5 was the definition of a pitcher’s duel, even though each...

Rob Manfred Will Be MLB Commissioner Through 2029

On Wednesday, Major League Baseball put out a news release announcing that the Major League Clubs have extended commissioner Rob Manfred’s contract for a third term. The extension will continue Manfred’s tenure through July 29, 2029, which would make it 15 years on the job. John Stanton, who is chairman and managing partner of the Seattle Mariners and was selected to chair the...

Morning Briefing: Brett Baty Catches First Pitch From Childhood Friend Garrett Wilson

Good morning, Mets fans! Brett Baty got to catch the first pitch on Wednesday from his childhood friend Garrett Wilson. He described the experience as “surreal” and called Wilson “the best guy in the world.” Wilson is the New York Jets star wide receiver that won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year last season. The Mets followed that up with their second win in a row,...

MLB Sees Surge In Stolen Bases On Opening Day

It seems as though at least one of Major League Baseball’s rule changes is already having the desired impact. We’re a day into the 2023 MLB season and Opening Day 2023 was both a success for the Mets, and for the game of baseball overall. There was action galore and a lot of that action was to be found on the base paths. While the introduction of the pitch clock attracted the most...

Is MLB Facing a “Ball Gate” Scandal?

In 2015, the National Football League had “Deflategate,” when the New England Patriots were accused of supplying under-inflated footballs during home games while they were on offense. The idea was that such balls were easier to throw and catch. Now, Major League Baseball may be on the precipice of its own scandal involving game-used balls, centering on the weight of the baseball....

Though World Series TV Ratings Were Down, Baseball Is Doing Well

As written here on MMO, initial television ratings for the early rounds of the 2022 postseason were encouraging. While the increase in viewership was modest, the higher ratings also skewed a bit more than recent years toward a younger audience. This is something on which Major League Baseball is focusing, with upcoming rule changes designed to quicken the pace of the games and add more on-field...

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