Monthly Archive 2025年3月8日

Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong and rapper Too $hort are attempting to keep baseball alive in the Bay Area. The music icons are joining the ownership group of the Oakland Ballers, a new independent team attempting to keep baseball alive in the city.

The Oakland Ballers will be playing in the Pioneer League beginning in 2025.

“This is all about bringing families to a ball game,” Armstrong told The Hollywood Reporter. “After the A’s left, the town was heartbroken. The Ballers are going to bring good vibes back to Oakland and the broader East Bay.”

Armstrong even shared a photo on his Instagram account of an Oakland B’s symbol spray-painted over an Oakland A’s logo at the Rogers Center, home of the Toronto Blue Jays.

Which could be the next MLB team to get a new stadium? After Athletics, Rays, who’s ready to move?
Matt Snyder
Which could be the next MLB team to get a new stadium? After Athletics, Rays, who’s ready to move?
The Ballers will be playing in a newly built stadium in Raimondi Park, which the team is hoping will draw fans who have expressed their displeasure in the MLB’s Oakland Athletics leaving town. The venue will hold 4,000 fans and is located just a few minutes from the Oakland Coliseum.

The team was founded by television producer Bryan Carmel along with his childhood friend and entrepreneur Paul Freedman. Carmel and Freedman are offering fans an opportunity to join a $1.2 million financing round in 2024. An estimated 2,200 people joined, and a similar startup process is expected at some point this year.

“This isn’t a case of celebrities coming in to save the day,” Carmel said. “It’s a local team, and Billie Joe and Too $hort are just some better-known locals.”

The Pioneer League is viewed as a partner league of the MLB, but no franchise is affiliated with major league teams. However, several Ballers players have signed with MLB teams in the past.

Major League Baseball does not have a salary cap, but there’s a luxury tax (or competitive balance tax or CBT) with multiple penalty thresholds in an effort to discourage excessive spending. The final payroll figures and their corresponding luxury tax hits from the 2024 season have been released by the commissioner’s office (via Associated Press).

The total payroll figures are for the 40-man rosters and include buyouts of unexercised options, bonuses, cash considerations sent in trades and any other player compensation. As a reminder, the luxury tax hit for a player salary is the average annual value of his contract. As an example, if a player has a three-year, $30 million deal but is paid $5 million in the first year, $10 million in the second year and $15 million in the third year, the hit is still just $10 million all three years.

The Mets lead the list for the third straight year at just over $333 million, up from their own 2023 record of $319.5 million. Behind them are the Yankees ($310 million), World Series champion Dodgers ($271 million) and Phillies ($249 million). The biggest jump in payroll goes to the Diamondbacks, who raised their figures by $48 million between 2023 and 2024. The Padres, on the other hand, slashed payroll by $85 million.

The Oakland Athletics clocked in at No. 30 with a payroll of just over $66 million, less than Mets owner Steve Cohen will pay in luxury tax.

Spring training is a few weeks in and the 2025 Major League Baseball season begins in just under two weeks with the Cubs and Dodgers facing off for a two-game series in Tokyo. There is still a little player movement, though, so let’s do a quick rumor roundup.

Iglesias signs with Padres
Free-agent infielder Jose Iglesias has signed a minor-league deal with the Padres, reports the New York Post.

Iglesias didn’t appear in the majors in 2023, playing 28 games with Triple-A El Paso in the Padres system. He went to the Mets on a minor-league deal last season and had his career year at age 34 in only 85 games. He hit .337/.381/.448 (137 OPS+) with a career-high 3.1 WAR.

Though it’s unlikely he keeps up that sort of pace, the Padres are looking to catch the same sort of lightning in a bottle the Mets did with him. Their starting infield is set with Luis Arraez, Jake Cronenworth, Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado, but any injury could open up a spot for Iglesias.

Royals, Mets talking Marte deal
The Royals recently “made a push” for Mets outfielder Starling Marte via trade, but it didn’t come to fruition. Yet? The New York Post reports that the two sides have “not totally extinguished the possibility” of a deal coming together.

Marte, a two-time All-Star, is entering his age-36 season. In 94 games and 370 plate appearances last season, he hit .269/.327/.388 (104 OPS+) with seven homers, 16 stolen bases and 0.7 WAR. He swings the bat right-handed and slashed .310./384/.460 against lefties last season, so not only could he be a productive full-time player, but he looks like a nice platoon option.

As things stand, the Mets are likely to platoon him with lefty Jesse Winker in the DH spot.

The Royals’ outfield right now looks like some sort of mix of Hunter Renfroe, MJ Melendez, Kyle Isbel, Dairon Blanco and Nelson Velázquez. Isbel and Melendez both hit left-handed. Surely there would be an opening for regular starts for Marte, should a deal eventually happen.

García dodges major injury
Rangers outfielder Adolis García appears to have dodged a bullet in spring training. He underwent an MRI after suffering an oblique injury Tuesday. Manager Bruce Bochy told reporters Wednesday the oblique strain is “pretty mild” and he’s expected to be ready by Opening Day (via MLB.com).

García, 32, was an All-Star and finished 14th in MVP voting in 2023 before a breakout postseason, only to have it end prematurely due to injury in the World Series. He took a huge step back in 2024, hitting .224/.284/.400 with 0.3 WAR. Those of us bullish on the Rangers’ chances to return to the playoffs this season are counting on a bounce-back for García.