by Andrew Lang
by Andrew Lang
The Arizona Fall League (AFL) experience is unique. You get to see advanced prospects teamed up from MLB minor league affiliates from five different MLB teams of eight players each that each team will send. All of that adds up to a total of 40 players per AFL team. They utilize six of the Arizona stadiums from the Cactus League Spring Training sites in Scottsdale, Surprise, Glendale, Salt River, Peoria and Mesa.
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The Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays will be facing each other in the 2025 World Series to begin on Friday. The only pro baseball to watch in the USA for the remainder of the week is in the Arizona Fall League. Yes, the World Series begins in Toronto, Ontario in Canada and doesn’t come stateside until Monday.
While Eduard Bazardo and his manager Dan Wilson are the reality of failing at the highest level as their Mariners fell last night, these minor leaguers are all here in the Arizona Fall League for their chance just to make an MLB debut and stay. As they say, getting to ‘the show’ is hard, staying is harder. Every position player in the AFL wants that George Springer moment; the relievers want that Jeff Hoffman save, and they all want that champagne celebration.
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Just six days ago we had an article about going unconventional and hiring a college head coach as the next manager of the Washington Nationals. Specifically named in the article were Jay Johnson of LSU and Tony Vitello of Tennessee.
News was breaking last night that the San Francisco Giants were going in that exact direction with their PoBO, Buster Posey, hiring Vitello as their next manager.
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Do you think Abner Doubleday ever would have imagined that corporate titans in the biggest cities would be running teams like S&P 500 companies? Compiling teams in different sports where revenues are in the billions annually?
There was a time when professional players worked offseason jobs to have enough money to feed their families. Nowadays there are players making over $1 million a week, $4 million a month, $24 million a year. Not an outlier of one or two players, but they number in the dozens now.
And guess what, this is all within the rules. The Dodgers aren’t ruining baseball. The rules that allow it are at the center of the debate. Los Angeles had more money spent on their starting rotation than the team they just swept in the NLCS, the Milwaukee Brewers, had spent on their entire team payroll.
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All good news this week coming our way in the form of Washington Nationals news. From the Arizona Fall League, to Jacksonville, Florida, and to 1500 South Capitol St. SE, we have news on Seaver King, Jake Bennett, Jacob Young, and Devin Pearson.
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While the Washington Nationals might not figure into an NL East title next year, the teams that sought to compete for supremacy through spending over the ‘tax cap’ didn’t even make it to the baseball’s Final Four this year, despite spending in the Top-4. Yes, the Mets never made the postseason, and the Phillies exited quickly in their first round.
And this offseason will put the Phillies in a tough spot as they will be losing several key pieces as it looks like as free agency is about to shake up their team. The same will happen to the Mets, and to a lesser extent with the Braves, Nats, and Marlins.
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Underdog stories in baseball remind us why the sport holds such a strong place in people’s hearts. They show how teams can defy expectations and turn entire seasons around. These moments prove that anything is possible and offer fans something special to believe in.
Fans carry these memories for years, recalling the cheers, the comebacks, and the stunning results. Wins like these become more than just scores. They grow into legendary stories passed down from one generation to the next.
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Andrew L.: I liked the idea before of promoting Matt LeCroy. I also listened to Paul Toboni in a recent radio interview about hiring a manager and giving him a second chance . For some reason, I think he was talking about David Ross, but who knows. I could see LeCroy or another minor league coach.
DonH: My first choice is still Mark DeRosa. His analysis of players on MLB Central is spot-on. The manager bug has bitten him. The issue as I see it is when he wants to make the jump.
Steve: My 1st choice was the first guy off the board (Skip Schumaker). Second choice would be to find a great minor league manager who excels in moving players up a gear to steal Toboni’s words. Then marry that coach up with a tactician with MLB managerial experience.
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"Opening Day should be a National holiday"
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