As the 2023 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. A’s stadium deal on the horizon?
Yesterday, it was reported that the Athletics have reached a tentative agreement with Nevada legislators regarding the financials for a stadium in Las Vegas. Though the deal has not been made official, it’s possible that process could begin quickly. Mick Akers and Steve Sebelius of the Las Vegas Review Journal note that the A’s stadium bill still needs to be formally presented to the state’s legislature, a move which could happen as soon as today. If passed by the legislature and signed into law by Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, the stadium project will still have to be approved by a handful of other parties, but the most significant hurdle in the A’s relocation effort will have been cleared.
2. Morel’s hot streak:
Cubs youngster Christopher Morel is off to a torrid start in 2023. After tearing up Triple-A to the tune of a .330/.425/.730 slash line across 29 games to open the season, Morel was promoted to Chicago and has seen his production reach new heights while playing second base and all three outfield spots. In twelve major league games so far this season, Morel boasts a slash line of .367/.404/.980 that’s good for an unbelievable 265 wRC+. His nine home runs leave him tied for 32nd in the majors with sluggers like Freddie Freeman, Paul Goldschmidt, and Juan Soto despite having played less than a quarter of the games that the aforementioned trio have.
Perhaps most impressively, Morel is now on a five-game streak with at least one home run after launching a solo homer off Mets right-hander Stephen Nogosek last night. Should Morel hit another long ball, he’ll become just the 34th player in major league history with a home run streak of six games or longer. Morel and the Cubs take on the Mets tonight at 6:40pm CT.
3. Brewers’ rotation:
The Brewers have an entire rotation’s worth of arms on the injured list, with each of Brandon Woodruff, Wade Miley, Eric Lauer, Aaron Ashby and Jason Alexander sidelined at the moment. The slate of injuries prompted Milwaukee to bring in veteran righty Julio Teheran, who reportedly agreed to a big league deal with the Brewers yesterday after opting out of a minor league pact with the Padres a day prior. The Brewers have yet to announce the move, though with Thursday’s starter currently listed as TBD, they’ll likely do so in the near future (assuming that start is earmarked for Teheran). Milwaukee has an open 40-man spot but will still need to make a corresponding 26-man roster move to add Teheran.
With so many arms on the injured list, it’s fair to wonder whether the Brewers might look for further ways to bolster that rotation depth. Prior to the agreement with Teheran, general manager Matt Arnold told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy that the Brewers had also considered prospect Robert Gasser for his debut, making him a name to keep an eye on in the event of further injuries.
Milwaukee is only 1/3 of the way to what Detroit dealt with last year. They put three rotations on the IL. Hope they don’t follow suit.
Not good for the Brew Crew…
And despite Morel’s streak, the Cubs are still only 3-7 over their past 10 games. Cubs m.o. over the past month is to score all their runs in the first game the series and then get blown out in the second game, then Ross decides Barnhart, Madrigal and Mastabouni all need to be in the line up together when Steele takes the mound.
Move the A’s the Mexico. Then we can have a Coors Field in the AL as well. Would it be called Estadio Campo de Coors?
Think of how many more runs the Cubs would have scored if they had started the season with Christopher Morel on the roster instead of Nick Madrigal. Nice job, Jed.
You’re assuming that Morel would be going thru the same hot streak rather than catching fire at AAA and bringing it to ML, which is a bad assumption. Guy looks like a man possessed. Considering he’s been just about their only offensive source since being called up, maybe Jed should have gone the same route with a few more, perhaps?
No, I’m assuming that Morel would simply have had an OPS higher than Madrigal’s .587. Considering Morel’s .741 OPS from last season, that’s not an unrealistic assumption.
Morel was pretty much unplayable the last two months of the season last year. He also had a pretty rough spring which is why he was sent to AAA to start the year.
You can use hindsight to say what could have been but you cannot use it to slight Hoyer considering the larger sample size he was basing his decisions on.
Why does baseball reference have morel weighing 145? That can’t be true right?
Everything I can find says he’s 145… which doesn’t seem right, I mean he’s not a big guy, but I don’t think he’s only 145
As I understand it, players weights rarely get updated over the years from their original reported weight.
Trru paleobros. Morel has obviously filled out over the last few years. My best guess is that he’s more like 180, solid lbs.
Not sure if I will even follow baseball anymore. How badly MLB and Manfred has treated the fans in Oakland why spend money on their product. There is 2 local owners who want to keep the A’s in Oakland but Manfred is pushing Vegas. No relocation fee? Seriously shows MLB doesn’t care about us fans but themselves.
You will still follow baseball despite Manfred and any other money grubber who comes next. The A’s relocation debacle has been happening since the Bud Selig days over 20 years ago, and yet, you are all still here.
First time I have not been watching baseball everyday like I used to. Also drop out of a fantasy league after over 30 years. When you watch a owner destroy a team for profit and MLB telling fans they don’t matter why should i support them?
I get your frustration and not watching baseball everyday like you used to. But why would that cause you to dump a fantasy league you have been part of for 30 years?
Tired of how baseball is no longer a game but a business. I just lost the love of baseball the last few years on how owners only worries about their profits.
Would you say that Morel’s offensive production is…mushrooming?
Ejections. Autocorrect sucks
Milwaukee should consider bringing up Gasser. His BBs are a concern (5.9/ walks per 9IP), but he’s striking out over 11 batters per 9 innings in AAA. Let’s see what the kid has to offer at the next level.
The comment sections of A’s posts have been filled with clowns saying Vegas would never get a MLB team. I guess they were wrong.
Vegas is like the last guy at the bar. He gets the ugliest girl ever but feels like he won something.
I don’t care about Vegas and I think they should tell the A’s to kick rocks. I just don’t let my emotions color what I think was going to happen.
Im glad you responded to me because you’ve been the loudest mouth about Vegas not getting a team. How’s your crow taste?
If you don’t care but come here bragging about Vegas getting a team just shows you are a a immature troll. You should be concerned about n how MLB treated Oakland and let a owner destroy a baseball team for profit. Unlike you I care about MLB instead of just watching baseball being destroyed by billionaires.
Why are you whining to me. Fischer is a horrible owner, manfred is a horrible commissioner. I’m just not like you where I let my emotions affect what I think is likely to happen. I’m not bragging about Vegas getting the A’s. I’m rubbing it in how wrong you were. The best part about it is everyone with a brain knew Vegas would get a team, either relocation or expansion. I guess you didn’t see that coming, despite many here telling you it would happen.
Vegas is not even the best spot for MLB. It will be a big flop. Only reason A’s is going to Vegas is Fisher wants to build a monument to himself and Vegas billionaires are giving him the money. Free land and free money. Fisher doesn’t care about baseball and watch how some Vegas billionaire buys the team from Fisher as soon as the stadium is up. Fisher is a terrible businessman and just inherited his money. The A’s are on course for the worse record ever. Something I said at the beginning of the season that they could be the worse team ever. At this point i could careless they leave because by the time they could be a good team most here will probably be gone.
Milwaukee should try to grab Eduardo Rodriguez from the Tigers before they start sinking down the standings. Garrett Mitchell going the other way would be nice, even if he is injured. Pitching prices will only get higher as we get closer to the deadline!