The Final WTW for the regular season!
During the offseason we’ve kept you up to date with the goings on of MLB news on a weekly basis, but now that we’re going into the regular season, The Week That Was will be retired until fall, and starting next week you’ll get a daily weekday news update called The Tiger Beat (my elder millennial ladies will extra-appreciate that name, I feel). It will break down daily news about the Tigers, the AL Central, and MLB in general to keep you guys in the loop on everything going on in the baseball world.
It’s almost impossible to believe that the regular season is actually starting this week (but at the same time the offseason has felt incredibly long).
So let’s just dive right into what happened in baseball last week to prep ourselves for the start of the regular season!
Quick Hits
- Shohei Ohtani shares his honest feelings about returning to Japan for the Tokyo Series.
- Explaining the new gold patches on MLB jerseys.
- What is the opposite of the Dodgers? The Marlins, who are $20 million under their minimum spending based on the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
- The Marlins, however, seem to think they’ve found a loophole in the CBA.
- The Marlins aren’t the only team under scrutiny for understanding, as the Pirates are drawing some unwelcomed attention as well.
BREAKING: MLB suspends Julio Urias through the 2025 All-Star break. He’s the first player suspended twice under the MLB policy on domestic violence and sexual assault.
He’ll be reinstated July 17. As of that date, he would be eligible to sign with any MLB team.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) March 21, 2025
- Baseball has always had a hard time promoting its players, so this offseason several players created a content house where they practiced trick plays and recorded podcasts to help promote themselves.
- Ron Washington is banning cell phones from the clubhouse.
- Elly De La Cruz continues to make the wildest plays look easy.
- While Shane McClanahan will start the season on the IL, he did avoid serious injury.
- Spring Training stats that actually matter.
- The Department of Defense removed and then restored a Jackie Robinson article, with some contradictory statements about its removal.
- The Phillies are suing a company they used to help work on their analytics because the company allegedly wanted to sell the information to other NL East teams.
Jose Trevino and Reds agree on extension. Will be 3 years total now for almost $15M plus club option
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) March 20, 2025
- Some notes from the Tokyo Series.
- The Braves and Rangers make last-minute moves to plug up some roster holes.
- The family of Brett Gardner are mourning the unexpected loss of Gardner’s 14-year-old son Miller.
- Long-time Mariner (and voice assistant Alexa’s favorite baseball player) Mitch Haniger has been released by the Mariners.
- An agricultural mural of Shohei Ohtani and his dog Decoy has gone viral.
- This crowd seeking Paul Skenes autographs is wild.
- The sporting goods store that bought Skenes’ one-of-one rookie card for $1.1 million will keep it on display in Pittsburgh.
- Gunnar Henderson will start the season on the IL.
- FanGraphs makes some boom and bust projections for hitters.
- The Guardians have signed pitcher Tanner Bibee to a five-year extension.
- The Angels have acquired Ian Anderson in a trade with the Braves for Jose Suarez.
- The Red Sox third base drama seems to be over for now.
Social Media Highlights
With statcast and ABS and whatnot it means players get measured for real, updates:
Casas 6’5″ → 6’4″
Grissom 6’2″ → 6’3″
Story 6’2″ → 6’1″
Duran 6’2″ → 6’1″
Narvaez 5’11” → 6’0″
Hamilton 5’10” → 5’11”
Bregman 6’0″ → 5’11”
Rafaela 5’9″ → 5’10”
Wong 6’1″ → 5’10”— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats.bsky.social) 2025-03-17T16:17:45.878Z
Tommy John was the Opening Day starter for the Chicago White Sox in 1966 (6 innings, 2 runs allowed).
Tommy John was the Opening Day starter for the New York Yankees in 1989 (7 innings, 2 runs allowed). pic.twitter.com/4Vivp80Ib0
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) March 17, 2025
Introducing Ciudad Reina, the Reds’ very own apartment complex in Goodyear, AZ. This state-of-the-art facility will be home to Reds players and staff year-round ️ pic.twitter.com/GF5lBL2nSF
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) March 18, 2025
wow the dodgers really did go out and sign everyone this off-season
— Adam Sternbergh (@sternbergh.bsky.social) 2025-03-18T22:41:36.177Z
JUST IN: The Astros have revealed their new City Connect uniforms pic.twitter.com/kzS6UM46AF
— MLB (@MLB) March 19, 2025
Jose Altuve: Confirmed as primary left fielder
https://www.rotowire.com/baseball/player/jose-altuve-12118
— RotoWire Baseball (@rotowiremlb.bsky.social) 2025-03-19T12:11:11-07:00
The Yankees will have tiramisu helmets at games this year
Made with espresso mascarpone cream, lady finger cookies, cocoa powder pic.twitter.com/ikvquRbfYZ
— MLB (@MLB) March 20, 2025
THAT NEW CHESAPEAKE OYSTER CATCHERS LOGO MY GOODNESS pic.twitter.com/CgstntAKmc
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) March 21, 2025
The Baysox are donating 10% of the proceeds from their Oyster Catcher’s merch to a cervical cancer charity.
— Heather (@alainnfocail.bsky.social) 2025-03-22T02:57:15.920Z
According to @Moisesdeportes1, Justin Martinez has reached an agreement for a five-year contract extension with the Diamondbacks valued at $18 million. This arrangement includes Arizona buying two years of arbitration #diamondbacks https://t.co/8iZTyLGKTQ
— Mike Rodriguez (@mikedeportes) March 21, 2025
JUST IN: The Nationals have revealed their new City Connect uniforms pic.twitter.com/Xbcv8sLqSx
— MLB (@MLB) March 23, 2025
