The Yankees traded Nestor Cortes for closer Devin Williams in the offseason, and the crafty lefty had a rude homecoming on Saturday. Pitching for the Brewers against his former team, Cortes proceeded to give up three home runs on three pitches. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt, leading off for the first time in his career, started … Continued
Juan Soto’s first game with the New York Mets ended with him striking out on a bad pitch in a 3-1 loss to the Astros. In his second game, on Friday, Soto enjoyed better results. His third inning solo shot off of righty Hunter Brown gave the Mets a 3-0 lead. The no-doubter traveled 390 … Continued
Thursday, March 27 marked Day 1 of Juan Soto’s 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets. The star outfielder’s first day at his new job didn’t go as planned. Not only did the Mets lose to the Astros 3-1, but Soto was the final out when he swung at a Josh Hader slider … Continued
The New York Yankees kicked off their Opening Day series with the Milwaukee Brewers in style. Austin Wells, the first Yankees catcher to bat leadoff on Day, and took two quick balls from righty Freddy Peralta. Cue a predictable 2-0 fastball, and Wells launched it 348 feet at 103.7 mph for a solo home run. … Continued
We’ll establish this very early: The New York Yankees are and should be the American League favorites in 2025. This despite the Bronx Bombers getting thoroughly outclassed by the Dodgers in the World Series, going down in five games. This after losing Juan Soto, a fan favorite and difference maker in 2024, to the crosstown … Continued
There’s no greater mystery in baseball this year than the New York Mets, now in their third year under billionaire owner Steve Cohen. It was an epically aggressive offseason in Queens after the Mets got hot late and took the eventual champion Dodgers to Game 6 of the NLCS. Cohen and team president David Stearns … Continued
This time last season, we thought the Boston Red Sox were bound for a rebuild. Finishing (and overachieving) at exactly 81-81 and missing the playoffs for a third time later, that appeared to be true. Cue the offseason, and Boston proved us wrong again. Former pitcher Craig Breslow is back for his second year as … Continued
The Philadelphia Phillies have put in the work both out on the market and down on the farm to give themselves a wide open window. In a way, the NL East is their oyster. This even though the rival Atlanta Braves are always nipping at their heels, and now the Mets are joining in the … Continued
The movie has been released and we can officially give the Toronto Blue Jays the Baseball Razzie Award for Most Overhyped Team Ever. The screenwriter of this masterpiece, of course, was none other than impending free agent Vladimir Guerrero Jr. It’s been three years since his infamous trailer-movie comment regarding his team’s upside. Toronto had … Continued
The Washington Nationals’ 2024 season went exactly as their 2023 campaign: They finished 71-91 and the only difference was that they finished fourth in the NL East last year instead of last. Things haven’t changed much down in DC, and the 2025 season isn’t looking much better. The division is competitive enough that Washington isn’t … Continued
For the third year in a row, the Baltimore Orioles are a team to watch in the American League East. In 2023, their youth movement arrived a year early and ever-so-slightly overachieved to a Wild Card. The 2024 season marked something of a sophomore slump all around. Star switch-hitting catcher Adley Rutschman, in particular, hit … Continued
What to make of the Atlanta Braves is anyone’s guess. Their lineup is powerful from top to bottom, but key pieces are fragile. They have some exciting young arms in the rotation, but some of those key arms are fragile. Put it all together and what do we get? We get an Atlanta Braves team … Continued
Hey, remember last season when we were bullish on the Miami Marlins and saw some playoff appearances in their future? Boy, talk about being wrong in the wrongest way. Not only did the Marlins not make the playoffs in 2024, but they barely showed up at all. Kim Ng leaving the front office had a … Continued
The 2025 season is going to be a long, hard year for the Tampa Bay Rays. The team’s offseason was Murphy’s Law in motion. Hurricane Milton destroyed Tropicana Field’s roof. The Rays will play home games at the Yankees’ George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, but hot Florida summers mean a second half with an … Continued
You’d never know it, but the Milwaukee Brewers have won the NL Central in three of the last four seasons. It’s not as though everyone’s favorite small-business professional sports franchise does much in the postseason anyway. The Brewers have never advanced past the NLDS in that stretch and haven’t been to an NLCS since 2018. … Continued
The Cincinnati Reds have shown a lot of heart and passion in recent years, but not quite enough to get themselves into regular contender status. It’s sad, sad truth. David Bell brought a fiery toughness to the Reds not seen since the prime years of the Big Red Machine. Despite that, Cincinnati only managed one … Continued
New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is undergoing Tommy John surgery today, and guess what? The Bronx Bombers are going to be just fine. Don’t tell that to the armchair baseball experts on social media. As far as they’re concerned, this is the end of the New York Yankees as we know it and both … Continued
Nothing about the Cleveland Guardians makes sense. Cleveland is a fairly major city, yet the team hasn’t hasn’t ever fielded an Opening Day payroll above $134 million. The Guardians always seem to be in the postseason conversation, yet haven’t fielded Top 10 run-producing lineups since the Juiced Baseball Craze from 2016-2018. They’re great at developing … Continued
Last season, we predicted that the Detroit Tigers’ best chance at the playoffs was slugging their way to a Wild Card, at best. Well, we were half-correct. The Tigers did indeed clinch a Wild Card berth, but not because of their hitting. Detroit’s bats ranked 24th in home runs and batting average, and 21st with … Continued
That the St. Louis Cardinals finished above .500 in 2024 is nothing short of a miracle. Keep in mind, the team is on the cusp of some major changes. John Mozeliak, the Cards’ general manager since 2007, is retiring at season’s end. Former Rays and Red Sox executive Chaim Bloom is waiting in the wings. … Continued
The Kansas City Royals, in their own weird way, might be baseball’s ultimate small market team. Free agency signings are a rarity. Player development and small budgets are king. If that’s enough to clinch a playoff berth in the oh-so-soft-and-Midwestern AL Central, wonderful! Casseroles and keggers for everybody! Royals ownership must have celebrated accordingly last … Continued
The NL Central will be competitive in 2025 and the Chicago Cubs, ten years after breaking their World Series curse, are primed to strike. It was a quietly interesting offseason for the Northsiders. The Cubbies won 83 games and tied for second with the rival St. Louis Cardinals. Their pitching staff ranked 10th in baseball … Continued
My preseason take on the Chicago White Sox last year was worse than my picking Michigan State in my 2016 March Madness Bracket. Every possible positive outcome just didn’t happen. A team that I thought could rally to a low-seeded Wild Card berth…did not. The White Sox didn’t even stumble or trip out of the … Continued
The Minnesota Twins are Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get from them any given season. One year, they’ll be sub-.500 and out of the playoffs by mid-June. Another, they might hold onto first place for dear life before their eventual Division Series exit, usually at the hands of the … Continued
One year after finishing last in the NL Central, the next Pittsburgh Pirates breakthrough may be coming. The Buccos, despite finishing last and 17 games out of first in 2024, still won 76 games. They weren’t a good team, but certainly weren’t awful. They matched their win total from 2023, their highest since 2018. But … Continued
Maybe it’s bad luck, maybe it’s an old seaman’s curse, but one thing’s for sure. The Seattle Mariners just can’t get it done. Such is the franchise’s life story (Jon Bois’ Mariners docuseries on Secret Base covers it perfectly). Not even the most talented and electrifying of prospects can get Seattle over the hump and … Continued
Two years ago, the Texas Rangers rode a red-hot powerful lineup and a talented (but middling) pitching staff all the way to winning the World Series. One year later, the lineup regressed towards the pitching’s level, on the lower tier of the middle. Adolis Garcia and Marcus Semien both hit under .240, and Corey Seager … Continued
Another season upon us, another where we expect the San Diego Padres to make some noise. “Some” being the key word, of course. The Padres, for all their star power, still have to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ literal baseball machine in the NL West. The Arizona Diamondbacks are also starting to come together … Continued
The Arizona Diamondbacks are no longer just another small market team. Two years after overachieving all the way to a World Series, the Snakes are reloaded and ready to go. Corbin Carroll’s shoulder is healthy. The pitching rotation is deep and finally has a true leader. And for all of general manager Mike Hazen’s efforts, … Continued
Well, it took 14 years, but the Los Angeles Angels finally did it: They finished last in the AL West in the Mike Trout Era in 2024, losing 99 games. Not exactly a strong first season without Shohei Ohtani for veteran skipper Ron Washington. The silver lining is that there is only one way out … Continued
Last season, ESNY pegged the San Francisco Giants as a high-upside hitting team that could support suspect pitching. Instead, the hitting experiment largely failed due to injury and ineffectiveness. The pitching behind ace Logan Webb suffered severe growing pains. What should have been a clear vision became a muddled mess. Middling numbers were posted across … Continued
After years and years of trying to figure out the why, we at ESNY may have an answer about the Colorado Rockies. We’ve pored over the data, run every scientific study we could, and came to a shockingly simple conclusion: The Colorado Rockies are a Quadruple-A team. It’s not ideal, but at least they can … Continued
The New York Yankees finally got the memo and changed a longstanding policy: Players may now have “well-groomed beards” following a team-wide facial hair ban since 1976. Team owner Hal Steinbrenner announced the decision via a statement: Statement from Yankees Managing General Partner Hal Steinbrenner on the alteration of Yankees facial hair policy: pic.twitter.com/UdEuAg3gZy — … Continued
It’s finally here: the A’s season nobody thought would come. You see, the 2025 season marks the first of an expected three years the A’s will play in Sacramento ahead of a move to Las Vegas. A cruel reality indeed when a last-place team built on upside leaves its longtime home before the next crop … Continued
The New York Yankees have extended manager Aaron Boone through the 2027 season, the team announced Thursday. The New York Yankees today announced that they have signed Manager Aaron Boone to a two-year contract extension through the 2027 season. pic.twitter.com/t9u7fWfzVz — New York Yankees (@Yankees) February 20, 2025 Boone’s contract was set to expire after … Continued
For the first time since the start of this Houston Astros “dynasty,” if you will, the AL West is wide open. Not that it was a particularly competitive division to begin with, after all. Houston only won the AL West last year because the Seattle Mariners coughed up first place in August, and that’s all … Continued
Can anyone stop the Los Angeles Dodgers? No, that’s a serious question. Ever since capping Shohei Ohtani’s first LA season (and third MVP year) with winning the World Series, the Dodgers have been all gas and no brakes. Their team is already stacked, with three MVPs in the top third of the lineup alone. Nope, … Continued
Justin Turner is returning for his age-40 season and will sign a one-year deal with the Chicago Cubs, per several sources. The deal is for $6 million and Turner can also earn up to an extra $2.5 million in incentives. Turner spent 2024 with the Blue Jays and Mariners, batting .259 with a 117 wRC+ … Continued
We saw Juan Soto execute the biggest and greatest heel turn in New York sports history when he spurned Aaron Judge and the Yankees for the crosstown rival Mets and owner Steve Cohen’s deep wallets. Now, it’s time for the road to the main event. A quick recap: In free agency, the Yankees offered Soto … Continued
“Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings,” muses Little Zuzu at the end of the timeless Christmas classic It’s A Wonderful Life. Baseball has a similar addage: Whenever Giancarlo Stanton is injured, the season has officially begun. The 2025 MLB campaign came extra early with Stanton’s latest bump in the road. Per MLB.com’s … Continued
The 2025 Major League Baseball season is knocking on the door, a new season with new beginnings. Players will debut, retire, get moved, and go through the usual roller coaster of the 162-game season. And, like every season, this isn’t just another year at the office for some players. For far too many, every season … Continued
The Kansas City Royals have extended left-handed pitcher Cole Ragans, proving that last year’s Wild Card run was no fluke. Per ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Ragans has signed a three-year deal worth $13.25 million. Better yet for KC, the deal only covers his first two arbitration years. They’ll have another opportunity to extend him down the … Continued
Another key MLB free agent is finally off the board now that former Astros third baseman Alex Bregman has signed with the Boston Red Sox. The deal, initially reported by Jon Heyman at the NY Post, is pretty straightforward: three years, $120 million. There are two opt-outs and some deferred money. Pretty par for the … Continued
Closer and likely future Hall of Famer Kenley Jansen is returning for a 16th season, this time with the Los Angeles Angels. Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the NY Post reported Jansen will sign a one-year, $10 million deal with the Halos. Kenley Jansen has agreed to a 1 yr, $10M deal with the … Continued
One long, almost interminable offseason later, Pete Alonso’s free agency has come to an end. The All-Star first baseman is returning to the New York Mets on a two-year, $54 million deal as reported by several sources. Pete Alonso’s deal with the New York Mets, which is pending physical, is for two years and includes … Continued
The Toronto Blue Jays have signed future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer to a one-year, $15 million contract, per Jon Heyman at the New York Post. Scherzer deal: $15.5M https://t.co/N3yHIdAcbB — Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 30, 2025 Scherzer turned 40 last July and spent 2024 with the Texas Rangers. He posted a respectable 3.95 ERA, … Continued
Let’s have a chat about the Houston Astros, former National League Central punchline/also-rans turned American League West dynasty. Cheating scandal aside, the team has proven itself over the past decade. Two World Series titles (albeit one tainted) and excellent player development have, slowly but surely, made the infamous trash can a distant memory. There is … Continued
The results are in and your 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame class is here! It’s a modest class of three this year: former lefty ace CC Sabathia, Japanese hitting machine Ichiro Suzuki, and former All-Star closer Billy Wagner. Sabathia and Suzuki were both inducted in their first year’s on the ballot. Wagner, contrastingly, was in … Continued