Did you see this?
Our weekly recap of some of the best and most interesting things I saw over the last 7 days
In their annual poll, The Athletic surveyed major league players on several interesting topics. Among them:
Where they think Shohei Ohtani will sign if he hits free agency.
Who the first player is they would want to sign.
What city is best for potential MLB expansion.
Whether or not the new rules are good for the game.
MLB.com’s Will Leitch lists a Marlin among his 10 players most deserving to be first-time All-Stars.
Dan Szymborski of Fangraphs asks if Luis Arraez could really hit .400.
Angels Triple-A outfielder Jo Adell (I’m not sure if we’re allowed to refer to him as a prospect anymore) slammed a 514-foot home run for Triple-A Salt Lake. It’s the longest homer measured by Statcast in the major league or minor leagues since Statcast was introduced in 2015.
The home run is called by Salt Lake Bees voice Steve Klauke. Little-known fact: I broadcast the 1996 Triple-A All-Star Game in Salt Lake City with Steve.
In the latest edition of his aptly named “Talks Hitting” series on Fangraphs, David Laurila talks hitting with Giancarlo Stanton.
The Athletic took a look at how the Diamondbacks, Orioles and Reds are finding success by taking advantage of the new rules Major League Baseball implemented in 2023.
ICYMI
Over the last week on VIEW FROM THE BLEACHERS…
The 2022 Marlins have the current club beaten in a lot of statistical categories, but not in terms of wins and losses. We looked at why that may be.
Luis Arraez’s barrage of 5-hit games led off a look around the majors.
We looked at Rickwood Field, America’s oldest ballpark, which will host a regular season major league game in 2024.
With the Cubs and Cardinals playing in London this weekend, here’s a piece I wrote about growing the game globally, when the Padres and Giants were preparing to play a series in Mexico City in April.
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You mentioned Adell, and the Locked on Angels brother tandem said his defense is so suspect that he should be considered a DH. Figuring an Ohtani re-signing might block him, I asked about packaging him (a potential Soler replacement) and their catching prospect, Edgar Quero (Stallings). The Angels fans wanted Alcantara(!) and Marlins fans thought the Angels would take a couple of prospects back in kind. Just amazing that ranges and rationales from fan bases - that won't evet change.
I enjoy this every Sunday Geff.