Patrick Mahomes’ ties to baseball are well known, as the NFL superstar is the son of longtime big league reliever Pat Mahomes. However, the future Chiefs quarterback was himself a standout high school baseball player, and was even a 37th-round pick for the Tigers in the 2014 draft. As Tigers scout Tim Grieve told 12Up’s Mark Powell in an interview in 2020, there was no doubt Mahomes was going to play college football at Texas Tech, but the Tigers figured “let’s be that team that started to build the relationship so that if he wants to play baseball 2-4 years down the road, we’ve got our foot in the door.”
Mahomes would likely have been picked in the third or fourth round of the MLB draft if he hadn’t been committed to football, and his father initially felt baseball might be his son’s sport. “He was going to get drafted as an outfielder, and I have no doubt he would’ve made it and been successful,” the elder Mahomes told USA Today’s Bob Nightengale this week. “He loved baseball. But when he went out for football, and saw all of the nuances and things you had to learn to be a quarterback, I think it really intrigued him to see what he could do.” Speaking to Patrick Mahomes’ overall athletic ability, his godfather LaTroy Hawkins thought basketball would end up being his sport of choice.
Now that Mahomes has led the Chiefs to another Super Bowl title, the sports world can turn its attention to the start of Spring Training this week. Since every season is baseball season here at MLBTR, here are some notes from around the American League…
- “There are indications” that Mariners utilityman Sam Haggerty had to undergo surgery to fix a grade 2 adductor strain suffered at the end of last season, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times writes. The team hasn’t officially confirmed Haggerty’s status, and GM Jerry Dipoto that Haggerty is “a little behind” in his offseason work. However, Dipoto also noted that Haggerty has started full baseball activity and has “been hitting for quite some time. So he’s in a good place.” In his fourth MLB season, Haggerty got an extended look in a utility role with Seattle last season and delivered, hitting .256/.335/.403 (good for a 114 wRC+) over 201 plate appearances while playing in the field at second base and all three outfield spots. Haggerty looks to continue to play a key role on the Mariners’ bench this season, especially since fellow utilityman Dylan Moore might be a little more impacted during camp while recovering from core surgery.
- Stephen Vogt weighed two other “serious baseball job offers” before becoming the Mariners’ new bullpen and quality control coach in January. As Vogt told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Brodie Brazil, “the Mariners were the best situation, the best offer, and being close to home — we did the best we could to make it not be a factor in our decision making. The cherry on top is that I get to be with my family more in a season than I ever have.” 2022 was the last of Vogt’s 10 Major League seasons, and given that he has long been considered a future managerial candidate, it isn’t surprising that several teams were interested in being the first stop in Vogt’s post-playing career.
- After a pretty quiet winter on the transactional front, the Rays are now viewing their slower offseason as an opportunity for their core players to enjoy some relatively rare stability, given how Tampa so often shuffles up its roster. “Generally, we’re always trying to build that next year’s team to be as strong as we possibly can,” general manager Peter Bendix told Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. “And this year, that led to us having this continuity and banking on some of this continuity, allowing our young players to grow and develop together and see if we can kind of gain from the experience that they’ve had up until this point.” The Rays did part ways with several players in trades, free agency, or non-tenders, yet most of those holes were filled internally. As Topkin notes, Zach Eflin (signed to a three-year, $40MM contract) and Rule 5 Draft selection Kevin Kelly are the only new players on Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster. Of course, there is still plenty of time in the offseason for the Rays to make some more additions, plus one of the team’s many non-roster invitees could win a job in Spring Training.
Well, we know for damn sure that one of the offers for Vogt didn’t come that low life owner in Oakland named John Fisher. That would make too much sense.
It’s gonna be great when the A’s move and we don’t have to listen to their current fanbase cry anymore.
Doubt you’ll ever hear Oakland in any major sports franchise name. There’s little political support and little fan support. They had the lowest MLB attendance at 9,973 average. Buh bye Oakland!
Just below the Marlins, hmmm…
Didn’t realize LaTroy was Mahomes’ godfather. Over 30 years of relief pitching between Pat Sr. and Hawkins.
Glad that joke of a sport football is over
Football is thriving while baseball is dying, but….OK.
Football, what’s a football?
Learned last night was invented in canada.
It was cool that they played a football game during the Rihanna Bowl last night.
Women can you describe a woman? If none of you can you should be playing cricket.
I was joking about Cricket if anyone here is a fan. If not any fans in here. Cricket is a dumb sport. Guys pitching like a crazy man and looking like a hockey goalie. Then running back and forth a bunch of times. Not sure why the third worlds sports is a hit on TV. Dang it there I joke again and I apologize. Not sure if I will ever get what is correct societal comments. When they can change on a whim.
For instance did a Karen turn into a Nancy or was Karen always a Karen? That got me intrigued because I have sisters with those 2 names. Likewise can a man give birth and if so where does the baby come from? There is no uterus there is there? Things get so confusing sometimes. You have to watch pronouns and I have been out of school so long I forgot all that crap. Time to drag my knuckles back to my cave and let it all flow over me and Pray “Sweet baby Jesus come and get me “
For whatever reason people think baseball is dying and I don’t see why you would think that. Salaries and payrolls are increasing every year, tv deals becoming larger and larger. There’s more money in baseball than ever but somehow it’s dying
It’s only happening in the large markets. It’s dying in small markets that can’t compete with them. Would you be invested if you know your team didn’t have a chance for the postseason?
Young people are interested in the NFL and NBA. They’re not playing baseball. They’re not interested. The average age of the baseball fan is now over 50.
Maybe look at the whole picture instead of your little part of it.
Demographics.
Look ’em up.
Sports programming is a bubble economy right now and the Boomers are still here.
Once that changes, the only thing that will keep baseball (barely) alive is that there is no other viable summer sports programming. If the NBA ever shifted their schedule….MLB goes the way of horse racing or boxing and becomes an afterthought on the sports scene.
Because some focus narrowly on the actual attendance. With the nearly universal ability to watch every game on TV, attendance has become the second option. Check out the attendance in the 60s. You’d be shocked. The Red Sox in their “Impossible Dream” year led the AL in attendance with less than 1,800,000.
They’d never change their schedule because they are far behind the MLB. The nba is a joke. Baseball isn’t dying at all.
As someone who has watched baseball, football, and basketball, the fan experience is going downhill significantly in football and basketball. Baseball, however, still has far less expensive tickets, more games, better officiating despite the immense difficulty of the job, and is filled with a lot more better guys. You’d be hard pressed to find a time where you can go around and meet half of an nba or nfl team, but mlb teams host events all the time like these. Additionally, the mlb all star game is a class act like always, whereas the nfl probowl is the worst sporting event nationally televised since- oh shoot I forgot, yesterday’s super bowl. Some of the players in the nba and nfl are such wusses it is embarrassing to watch, and we had the worst year of celebrations the nfl has ever seen.
This might not sit well with those who think baseball is dying, keep in mind that baseball is still the national past time. It is and has always been, a reflection of society. It is the only major game without a clock (until 2023) and you can just relax and enjoy the game. unlike bb, where teams play 5 or so games a week, fb is only once a week. It’s an event. That’s why the strike failed. People were willing to cough up money to see the scabs play. Some people plan their whole week around fb (poor souls). Attendance, TV revenue, etc. doesn’t matter. They play fb and bk all over the world. But, with few exceptions, baseball is our game. Nothing is going to change that. As for attendance, my team, the White Sox, are on the south side of Chicago. I live on the north side. Even though the south side is a dangerous are, Sox park is in a better part of town. Still you have to go through some bad neighborhoods to get there, so I watch the games on TV. Don’t count us out of number of supporters just because we can’t all make it to games.
Enjoy your summer day.
My points stand.
“…keep in mind that baseball is still the national past time.”
Passed time.
There is no metric in which baseball is more popular than football in the United States of America in the 21st century.
It’s dying in my heart because they keep tinkering with the game to make it more appealing to a different demographic. Every rule change is a paper cut and they do add up.
Baseball isn’t dying but it’s not thriving either. MLB needs to, for one, revamp their approach to TV. The blackout policy is a flipping joke. How does a fan living in a non MLB area, say Montana, for instance, not being able to see an Angels/Rays game from Tampa help with either team’s home attendance? Manfred is a joke too. If you’re not in LA, NY, or Chicago MLB doesn’t care about you.
Baseball most certainly cares. Last week the Commissioner said that baseball is prepared to take over local TV rights for 14 ballclubs should Bally Sports declare bankruptcy. Those clubs include St. Louis, Atlanta, and the Los Angeles Angels.
Incidentally, Montana isn’t “a non MLB area” but is in the Seattle Mariners’ TV territory.
I merely meant that it is remote, and not in either team’s “market”. As far as the MLB being concerned, you can say that all day, every day. I need a little more convincing.
Respectfully,
But only if you sign up for thier game package on tv or streaming. Root sports
Baseball is more popular than football globally.
I’m not a NFL fan considering how the Lions are practice for the rest of the league.
I watch one game, Super Bowl, and I suspect it’s fixed. I don’t care who won but I was with a MO crowd. The game was close then the refs decided it was their turn and they ruined the entire game. Reminded me of when the fix was in for the 1997 Marlins. Umps ruined the whole season.
Everything is fixed in the NFL. And not just by the referees. The players and coaches are acting out a script. Players miss tackles on purpose and fall down all the time to get the desired outcome. Let’s hope baseball never gets this bad. You already have to wonder when certain teams are getting different baseballs to hit.
Just watch the series between Braves and Marlins in 1997. Baseball can be fixed.. Its acceptable to get one call wrong but Eric Gregg and the entire crew were over the top.
Only in the 90s could a pitcher be as terrible as Mahomes and have a decade long career.
Yes, because absolutely nothing questionable was being done by the hitters to make it more difficult to be an effective pitcher.
Fool.
What was being done by the hitters that wasn’t being done just as much by the pitchers?
Mahomes is an amazing quarterback and is so fun to watch, almost playing the position more like a point guard.
That said, he’s even better when the defense plays like he’s their nephew on their 8th birthday in the backyard.
Did the Eagles even try to pressure him? Terrible scheme.
Found another distraught Eagles fan
Penguins.
But, hey, you got the state and the species right.
Good job, Champ.
Haha! Meant in good fun. Cheers
Gotta love this take that could only come from Murica — ” the sports world can turn its attention to the start of Spring Training this week”.
Champions League resumes Tuesday, Arsenal vs. Manchester City (1 vs. 2) on Wednesday, the Daytona 500 on Sunday, and the NBA All-Stars for all of the coming weekend.
It’s a baseball web site. How dense are you?
This ain’t 1973, 1963, or 1953. It’s the 21st century.
It’s still a baseball site.
Glad to see Tampa finally stop “shuffling the deck” and extending some players they would have normally traded. It feels like Tampa management finally likes the team they have constructed and they could very well win the AL East this season if they stay healthy.
I don’t think there is any indication TB is changing their approach just because they’re focused on letting the young guys develop for a season. That doesn’t mean they won’t be competitive. I fully expect them to challenge the Yankees for second behind the division winning Orioles.
With Sale, Paxton and Kluber all winning 20 games, no one will catch the Red Sox.
Wake up, wake up.
Oh, it must have been a dream.
Let’s go Orioles! I would love that.
Will be fun to see that team start to take the next step this season.
Lol Paxton win 20 games! When has he ever been healthy enough to get close to winning 20 game. Nice dream though.