Non-Phillies 2023 Major League Season Discussion

[bkox]

Reds Rookie Elly De La Cruz hits for the cycle in his 15th MLB game.

1st Reds cycle since Eric Davis in 1989!

[zambonir]

Kind of the opposite of the Phillies though I wouldn't say Hoffman, Vasquez and of course, Covey, are better than younger optionable players. Or that most teams actually have three "big spot" relievers you can truly count on, especially once the injuries start.

This is the consequence of general manager Billy Eppler’s preference for optionality over quality for the last few arms in the New York bullpen: A team with a $341 million payroll has only three trustworthy relievers in big spots.

Mets' brutal loss to Phillies is a new low as the questions mount up high

[bkox]

Mets owner:

I will be doing a press conference tomorrow before the game. You will get it from me straight.

— Steven Cohen ( @StevenACohen2 ) June 27, 2023

[Philsmania]

Mets owner:

I will be doing a press conference tomorrow before the game. You will get it from me straight.

— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2

) June 27, 2023

As much as Middleton coined the "stupid money" term, it looks like Cohen is the one who really spends it. He's paying $37 million combined to McCann and Escobar to play somewhere else, Marte is either having an off-season or has hit the mid-thirties wall and is signed for two more years and Verlander may be on the wrong side of the over/under the hill. And that's before we get to Lindor whom the Mets may be paying for as long as they pay Bobby Bonilla.

[zambonir]

I'll watch that press conference

[el-pietro]

I went to the London series over the weekend. It was really well organised and they did a great job converting a football field into a baseball one, I was really worried about the foul territory but they brought in temporary seats. The biggest issue was how shallow centre field was but it didnt really seem to have much of an effect.
The one takeaway was that the tickets were very pricy and there were clearly a lot of empty pockets in the outfield. They announced crowds of about 55k each day, and given it holds 60k normally that seems reasonable.
The crowd was a mixture of traveling Cardinals/Cubs fans, local baseball fans and people who just turned up for the event.

Highlight of the weekend for me was when they brought Utley, Howard and Rollins out on stage at a fan event on Friday to talk about the games this weekend and the series next year. Rollins even spotted me in the crowd which was really cool.
Really looking forward to next year now.

[andyb]

I went the first time. Agree about the field but they did the best they can with a soccer-shaped stadium.

Thinking about next year but a little too far away for me workwise to figure out if I can make it.

[zambonir]

How do ticket sales generally work? Was there a presale for anyone in the UK (are they partnered with a soccer team?) or season ticketholders of the US teams?

[el-pietro]

I think some tickets went to season ticket holders, and then MLB Europe had a sign up for pre sale tickets. I'm sure the Phillies will also share ticket links to anyone they have detailsfor

Its played at West Hams stadium (built for the 2012 Olympics), I'm not sure if they sold tickets to their fans. I did see a few West Ham jerseys over the weekend so maybe?

[BaseballCat]

While it is a long shot that we could go, I signed up for emails concerning the 2024 London Series. I think when I looked up info on the 2023 game, the tickets went on sale in Nov 2022. There were also sites promoting packages for the 2024 games - not sure if they were legit.

[andyb]

I just did Stubhub when I got them. Figured I was spending $1000+ for the airfare and AirBnB so by that point ticket prices did not matter.

Hidden benefit was the start of Wimbledon this week. Waited in the queue for grounds tickets which were like $25 when I did it and you can get everywhere except the best 2 courts. Definitely worth doing for something different.

[zambonir]

ah man I would love to finally go to Wimbledon. I was in the country once when it was happening but didn't go.

Yeah I think there is probably a presale if you sign up for MLB's list, just a question of how many tickets are left/gettable by then.

[BaseballCat]

How early do you get the stubhub tickets? Just curious. I agree it will be pricey, but could be a fun experience

[andyb]

Only about a month before the game. The whole trip was done with only a month's notice. A friend talked me into it. We added some horse racing too to give us another summer sport to look at.

[bkox]

Yankees right-hander Domingo Germán has thrown the 24th perfect game in MLB history, shutting down the Oakland A’s in an 11-0 drubbing. Germán needed only 99 pitches and struck out nine. In his last start a week ago, Germán allowed 10 runs to Seattle. Baseball is a weird sport.

— Jeff Passan ( @JeffPassan ) June 29, 2023

[zambonir]

Well, it does seem like they have a ways to go.

Are 8 enough? Braves set franchise record for All-Star Game selections

[bkox]

Mike Trout out with a broken hamate bone. Expected out 6-8 weeks

[Philsmania]

Mike Trout out with a broken hamate bone. Expected out 6-8 weeks

He's the Angels' second best player.

[tom81]

He's the Angels' second best player.

And maybe the second best player in MLB

[zambonir]

If Ohtani leaves you gotta think Trout won't be far behind in the big picture.