Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker to compete in 2025 MLB Home Run Derby
Brent Rooker had mentioned he'd be open to competing in the 2025 MLB Home Run Derby for some time, and on Thursday, the Athletics star's wish came true.
The 30-year-old enters Thursday's game against the Atlanta Braves with 19 home runs this year and is on pace to have 30-plus home runs for the third consecutive season – he'd be just the third A's batter, along with Khris Davis (2016-18) and Jason Giambi (1999-2001), to accomplish the feat since 1999.
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The 2024 Silver Slugger Award winner is having himself quite a week after also being named to his second All-Star Game on Sunday as an American League reserve. Along with the 19 long balls, the designated hitter also has a .270 batting average and 50 RBI this season.
Rooker will be the first player to represent the Green and Gold in the Home Run Derby since Matt Olson competed in 2021 and he'll look to be the first Athletics batter to win the event since Yoenis Cespedes won back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014. Cespedes and Mark McGwire are the only A's players to win the event.
The other competitors already announced for the event include Cal Raleigh, James Wood, Byron Buxton, Oneil Cruz, Junior Caminero and Ronald Acuña Jr.
It won't be much of an All-Star 'break' for Rooker, but it'll definitely be one to remember for the A's slugger.
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Forbes
7 minutes ago
- Forbes
The Miami Marlins Need To Be Buyers And Sellers Simultaneously
Miami Marlins' Agustin Ramirez, left, celebrates in the dugout with Eury Perez, right, after hitting ... More a two-run home run during the first inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins, Thursday, July 3, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) Most MLB teams fall into one of two categories at the trade deadline—the good teams are buyers and the bad teams are sellers. For the Miami Marlins, the line is blurred. They aren't contenders this year, but their up-and-coming young talent could put them in that category in the near future. The Marlins are 48-53 this year, sitting in third place in the National League East. They're six games out of the final playoff spot and would need to leapfrog five teams to get there, so a big push down the stretch isn't likely. However, they've been red hot lately, winning 23 of their last 35 since June 13, so it's not impossible either. The average age of their hitters is 26.0, which is the youngest in MLB. Their pitchers have an average age of 27.5, which is the third-youngest. This is a club that appears to be on the verge of making noise as soon as next season, and the moves they make this week could be focused on propping open their window. Marlins Hitters Miami made a few trades at last year's deadline that netted them a pair of building blocks for their lineup. They dealt Trevor Rogers to the Baltimore Orioles for Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby, and they shipped Jazz Chisholm Jr. to the New York Yankees for Agustín Ramírez and two minor leaguers. While Rogers has pitched well for Baltimore this year after a disastrous second half last season, Stowers has blossomed into one of the best hitters in baseball. He made his first All-Star appearance this season, and he's hitting .295/.373/.566 with 22 home runs and a 156 OPS+, indicating his offense has been 56% above the league average. His 3.0 WAR (Baseball-Reference version) leads all Marlins players. Ramírez made his MLB debut earlier this season, and while he doesn't have Chisholm's track record of success, he's under club control for a lot longer. He can also absolutely smoke the ball, posting consistently excellent exit velocity metrics with a manageable 19.3% strikeout rate, and his average swing speed of 74.9 mph is in the 89th percentile. He's rough around the edges as a catcher, but his power bat will work at designated hitter if necessary. A handful of their existing players in their mid-20s look like everyday contributors too. Middle infielders Xavier Edwards and Otto Lopez combine roughly average offense with exceptional defense. Liam Hicks is hitting .276/.367/.403 as a catcher and first baseman, and right fielder Jesús Sánchez has an .817 OPS against right-handed pitching. The Marlins picked seventh overall in the MLB draft this year, and they selected Oregon State infielder Aiva Arquette, making him the first collegiate hitter chosen. He's an athletic 6-foot-5 shortstop with power, who could fill an obvious hole for the club by moving to third base. That underscores their need for hitting, as well as the fact that they expect to compete in the near future. Miami's lineup is still incomplete. They could use another impact bat or two, especially at the corner infield spots, but they have several key players already in place. Marlins Pitchers Starting pitching has been a strength of the Marlins for the last several years, even when the overall ballclub wasn't performing well. They may even have the best young pitcher in baseball. Eury Pérez was on a rocket to stardom two years ago. Prior to the 2023 season, he was named one of the top pitching prospects in the game by every scout and prospect-ranking outlet—and he wouldn't even turn 20 until April of that year. He debuted in May and compiled a 3.15 ERA over 19 starts, but ruptured his elbow ligament in the spring of 2024 and underwent Tommy John surgery. He returned to Miami this past June, and was shaky in his first four starts back, as can often happen when coming off of that kind of injury. In his four starts in July, he has allowed just three runs on 11 hits in 23 innings. He has Cy Young-caliber stuff, and appears to have resumed his development where he left off—and he's still just 22 years old. Their best starter all year long has been Edward Cabrera, who has a 3.48 ERA in 17 starts. Even though he has appeared for the Marlins every year since 2021, he has three more seasons of arbitration eligibility remaining. Like Pérez, former Cy Young Award winner Sandy Alcantara also returned to action after missing the entire 2024 campaign due to an elbow injury, but he has struggled mightily. He has a 6.66 ERA in 20 starts and his 77 earned runs allowed are the most in MLB. Still, he allowed just one unearned run over seven innings in his last start, and he's under contract for at least one more season with a club option for 2027. Max Meyer is a former top prospect who looked great early in the season, but is out for the rest of the year with a torn labrum. He had a 2.10 ERA after his April 21 outing in which he struck out 14 batters in six innings, but went downhill thereafter, likely due in some measure to his injury. With a normal recovery, he should be healthy at the beginning of next season. Marlins On The Move Miami should be dealing away players with limited team control remaining and acquiring talent that can help them next year. However, they're short on expendable guys who other clubs would want. The Marlins only have one player with an expiring contract. Cal Quantrill has been a below-average innings eater for them this season, posting a 5.24 ERA over 19 starts and 87 2/3 innings. He's on a reasonable one-year, $3.5 million deal, so a team that's hard-up for cheap starting pitching could take a shot on him. The fact that every other player on the Marlins roster is under club control next year speaks to the youth and future of the organization, but makes this trade deadline complicated. They need to thread the needle of trading away expendable resources while improving next year's club, setting themselves up for success in 2026.
New York Times
37 minutes ago
- New York Times
When he didn't pick Ichiro for Rookie of the Year, a writer became the story
CLEVELAND — In January, when the Baseball Hall of Fame balloting results were released, and Ichiro Suzuki was not a unanimous selection, a longtime Cleveland sportswriter was quick to clarify: It wasn't him this time. Chris Assenheimer of the Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria, Ohio, has been in that lonely position before — as the only voter to snub the prolific Seattle Mariners right fielder more than two decades ago, in the 2001 Rookie of the Year vote. Advertisement Twenty-four years ago, Ichiro captivated Major League Baseball with a sterling rookie season. Now, he's headed to Cooperstown as a near-unanimous selection, left off the ballot of only one anonymous voter out of a pool of 394. Ichiro said in January he wants to 'have a drink' and a 'good chat' with the sole dissenter who prevented him from becoming the second unanimous selection (along with New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera) in the history of the Hall of Fame. Assenheimer would love to take up Ichiro on his offer and reminisce over some Bud Lights about a similar ordeal nearly a quarter-century ago. Bud Geracie, longtime columnist for the San Jose Mercury News, wrote in a November 2001 piece: 'Chris Assenheimer is the guy who didn't vote Ichiro Rookie of the Year, and boy does he look like one.' That dig was scooped up by a wire service and printed in newspapers across the country, including the L.A. Times. 'The joke is,' Assenheimer says now, in his 29th season on the Cleveland baseball beat, 'he was somehow AL MVP but not a unanimous Rookie of the Year.' Ichiro couldn't have scripted a better first year in Major League Baseball. After nine seasons, three MVP awards and seven batting titles in Japan's Pacific League, he joined the Mariners, who paid the Orix Blue Wave about $13 million and guaranteed Ichiro another $14 million. He was the first position player from Japan to sign a big-league contract, and he wasted no time in delivering on it. 'You knew Ichiro was going to be a star,' Assenheimer said. With a .350 average, he joined Tony Oliva (1964) as the only rookies since the turn of the 20th century to win a batting title. He set a rookie record with 242 hits, the most by anyone since Bill Terry and Chuck Klein in 1930. Only Ichiro himself has eclipsed that total since, with his MLB-record 262 in 2004. Advertisement He became the second rookie to win MVP (Fred Lynn, 1975) as he fueled Seattle to a record-tying 116 wins under manager Lou Piniella. The Mariners, even after departures in previous years of Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez, reached the ALCS, where they fell to the dynastic Yankees. The Mariners hosted the All-Star Game that July. Ichiro immediately emerged as one of baseball's central attractions. Forget about the Rookie of the Year race. Ichiro planted himself in the conversation about the top players in the sport. 'To me, it was common sense,' Assenheimer said. 'The guy was not a rookie.' Assenheimer stood in the Cleveland Indians' clubhouse one day during the 2001 ALDS — they were the Mariners' opening-round opponent, coincidentally — and discussed his recently submitted Rookie of the Year ballot with a colleague. He had placed Cleveland pitcher CC Sabathia first, Ichiro second and Yankees second baseman Alfonso Soriano third. The other writer shot him a look and said, 'You're going to get some s—.' During the second week of November 2001, Assenheimer traveled to Houston for an anniversary trip with his then-wife, staying with another couple they knew. He took a call from a colleague who wrote for the Associated Press. That reporter quipped it was 'the lowest point' of his journalism career as he informed Assenheimer he was the lone Sabathia backer and asked him for a quote for a story. Later that night, Assenheimer and his wife were lying on the couch, watching a late-night edition of SportsCenter when, as Assenheimer recalls, anchor Stuart Scott announced Ichiro had received every first-place tally but one, thanks to a rogue voter who instead opted for Sabathia. Scott turned to his broadcast partner, Linda Cohn, and asked where she thought that voter resided. Advertisement 'They were calling me a homer and then (Scott) ripped into a diatribe, looking into the camera,' Assenheimer said. 'He's like, 'Chris, get over yourself. Don't tell us what you think the rules should be. Vote how the rules are.'' When they mentioned Assenheimer by name, the couple they were staying with screamed from upstairs. A whirlwind few days of interviews and insults was soon underway. Assenheimer's stance is simple, one he maintains 24 years later: Ichiro was not a rookie. He was an accomplished, award-winning player in a different league on the other side of the globe who had taken his talents to North America. Here's the quote Assenheimer supplied the AP in 2001: 'I just felt that Sabathia better met the criteria of what a rookie is in the truest sense of the word. That's nothing against Ichiro.' Here's how he feels about it after 24 years of reflecting: 'He was a seven-time All-Star (in Japan). They gave him (and his team $27 million) to sign. It was ridiculous.' Here's the thing: Ichiro, who collected a $75,000 bonus for winning, actually agreed with him… to an extent. 'I was a little embarrassed to be called a rookie here in the United States,' he said through an interpreter at the time. 'I was so relieved today when I heard this announcement I won the Rookie of the Year award because I felt this was an award I should have won without any doubt. If I won this award, I had wanted to win unanimously.' The Seattle Post-Intelligencer published the headline, 'Ichiro honored, irked.' It takes a special set of circumstances for someone to feel both of those emotions simultaneously. Assenheimer's one regret is that he didn't omit Ichiro entirely. He placed him second, behind only Sabathia, who went 17-5 with a 4.39 ERA in his age-20 season. 'I'll remember his numbers forever,' Assenheimer said. 'I would've liked his ERA to be a little lower.' Advertisement Assenheimer didn't take the stand he intended to: that Ichiro didn't fit the qualifications of a rookie. Instead, his ballot made it seem like he thought Ichiro was simply the second-best rookie performer. 'I shouldn't have even put him on the ballot,' Assenheimer said. 'But I guess I was thinking, 'OK, well, this is what Major League Baseball is making me do, vote for this guy for Rookie of the Year. I'm still going to not vote him first place.' It had nothing to do with CC.' At the time, Sabathia disagreed with Assenheimer's reasoning. 'The award is for first-year players in the big leagues, and (Ichiro) is definitely deserving of it,' Sabathia said. 'There's not an argument about that at all.' Assenheimer's choice had his phone ringing for days. He conducted interviews with Cleveland newspapers, USA Today and local and national radio shows. He called in to the nationally syndicated Mike & Mike, and listeners bestowed upon him the 'Just Shut Up' award. A Seattle morning radio show skewered him during an interview. Geracie wasn't the only one to use Assenheimer's surname as low-hanging fruit to make light of the situation. Phil Mushnick of the New York Post devoted an entire column to it, though Mushnick actually sided with Assenheimer's explanation. Mushnick wrote: 'Through a translator, (Ichiro) said, 'I was a little embarrassed to be called a rookie here in the United States.' Hey, Ich, how would you like to be called Assenheimer?' When Assenheimer received a call from a Japanese newspaper reporter, he feared he was public enemy No. 1. Quite the contrary, she told him. The consensus thought in Japan, she said, was that it was disrespectful to deem Ichiro a rookie, given his accolades. Even with nearly a decade of feats in the Pacific League, Ichiro still amassed 3,089 hits in MLB. That's how he landed a spot in the Hall of Fame, alongside, of all people, Sabathia. The two will be inducted, with reliever Billy Wagner and, posthumously, sluggers Dick Allen and Dave Parker, on Sunday in Cooperstown. It wasn't me again, Ichiro. — Chris AssenheimerC-T (@CAwesomeheimer) January 22, 2025 Last summer, Sabathia was inducted into the Cleveland Guardians Hall of Fame. It was pointed out to Sabathia that his lone Rookie of the Year supporter was in the room, so Assenheimer, in a tongue-in-cheek manner, asked Sabathia if he felt like he got robbed. Sabathia, perhaps changing his original tune, said 'Definitely. Ichiro was not a rookie.' Advertisement Ichiro and Sabathia were both elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, with Ichiro's lone holdout voter opting to keep their identity a secret. Assenheimer didn't have that option in 2001, but he had no qualms about taking ownership of his ballot. This time, Assenheimer could vote for both Ichiro and Sabathia. 'The whole thing just seemed silly to me,' Assenheimer said. 'I guess I could have just fallen in line like everybody else did. People were trying to say, 'You just want to be known.' That never crossed my mind. But it was fun to be out there.' (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic; Photos: Houston Astros / Getty Images, Otto Greule / ALLSPORT, David Maxwell / AFP via Getty Images)
New York Times
37 minutes ago
- New York Times
Aaron Judge is the world's best hitter. He's just as valuable to Yankees as a hitting coach
NEW YORK — The room is small, with several rows of long white desks and roller chairs, and a large projection screen in the back. It's steps away from the home clubhouse at Yankee Stadium, a ballpark where nearly every wall serves as a screaming billboard for the club's storied past — yet the space feels sparse, like a classroom at a community college. Advertisement Fitting, since it's where Aaron Judge, the son of high school teachers, does some of his best work off the field. While Judge may be the best hitter in baseball, his teammates say his behind-the-scenes presence in daily hitters meetings — from the information he offers to the atmosphere he cultivates — is a key differentiator for the New York Yankees, owners of the third-best offense in MLB in terms of runs scored. It's one thing to watch Judge. But to get a look inside his brain? 'It's cool to see what his process is, what he thinks about when he's hitting,' catcher J.C. Escarra said. 'More often than not,' catcher and first baseman Ben Rice said, 'he's got something to say.' Judge, always wary of self-congratulation, downplayed his contributions. 'I want everybody collaborating,' he said. 'Everybody just talking.' But even hitting coach James Rowson, who runs the meetings, called Judge's contributions 'invaluable.' 'He brings so much to the table,' Rowson said. Lately, it hasn't been pretty for the Yankees, who have gone 14-21 over their past 35 games while falling four games back in the American League East as of Thursday. But to get out of it, they're going to need to come together, and often for the Yankees that begins in their hitters meetings. For a typical night game, the Yankees' hitters meetings begin 3 1/2 hours before first pitch. The room is strategically located at the heart of the team's work area. It's directly across from the entrance to the clubhouse and just steps away from the batting cages and nutrition area, which features a tall cooler filled with sports drinks and shelves with MLB-approved supplements. Judge always sits somewhere in the middle. His teammates pile in around him, some holding iPads packed with statistics and videos, others gripping paper plates filled with the gourmet pregame spread. Rowson provides the opening remarks, and his assistants Pat Roessler and Casey Dykes offer analysis along the way. Sometimes manager Aaron Boone and other coaches attend. Advertisement Judge observes with laser focus, teammates say. Despite leading the league in so many major offensive categories, including batting average (.345) and OPS (1.170), he knows he has to be as prepared as anybody around him, especially as he continues to grow into his Yankees captaincy, now in its third season. 'The homework he does is incredible,' Rowson said. 'He comes to a hitters meeting already informed, but he also comes to get more. He knows what he's trying to do, and then he wanted to hear other guys and what their plans may be. There's a lot of communication.' He also knows when to lend a hand and when to step back. 'Sometimes, it's, 'Let me speak up,'' Goldschmidt said of Judge. 'Sometimes, it's, 'Let me just boost the morale of the team or the confidence.'' Long gone are the days when players would stroll into the clubhouses a few hours before the game, take batting practice on the field and consider themselves ready for first pitch. Most teams lay out schedules that include multiple pregame meetings, and the Yankees are no different. Every series, Yankees relievers go over the other team's hitters together. Every day, the starting pitcher meets with the catchers and coaches to plan for that game's start. The hitters hold a meeting to discuss the entire upcoming series before it starts, and then they have another meeting before every game. The hitters meetings typically start on a light note. Moments before it begins, a music video plays on the projector, and the volume is cranked up. Before a recent weekday game, it was 'Shake Ya Tailfeather' by Murphy Lee. 'It keeps guys loose,' Rowson said. 'Get them to easygoing. Part of coming out here every day and going through the grind is having fun. You've got to want to show up every day.' How deep Rowson dives into the opponent depends on what he feels the Yankees need to know. He'll litter his presentations with heat maps, pitch percentages and video clips, but he'll mix in questions designed to get the hitters talking to each other. Advertisement 'A good hitters meeting is not just all the analytical numbers (Rowson) has,' second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. said, 'but hearing from guys who faced (the pitcher) and just speaking on what they see, how the ball moves, the way that guy has attacked guys in the past.' When the meeting finishes, they're free to continue their pregame preparation, which usually includes on-field batting practice approximately 2 1/2 hours before the game. 'Everyone is going to need something different,' Goldschmidt said. 'I may not want or need what Judgey wants or what maybe other guys want.' 'They construct their own plans,' Rowson said. 'Every human takes in information differently. It's about learning what you need. Nobody can take in everything.' For Judge, it's 'just a good opportunity for us to share little things.' He also leans on experience. Entering Friday, Judge had faced 1,013 pitchers over his 10-year career, according to Baseball Reference. He had gotten at least one hit against 567 of them. 'Pretty much anyone we face,' Rice said, 'he's faced before or he's seen someone similar at the minimum. He's usually got something to offer up. It's never anything crazy. He does a good job simplifying, saying something that everyone can digest.' Goldschmidt, who ranks fourth among active players in career hits, said it's 'crazy' to think that Judge can be as good as he is and still actively want to help those around him all the time. 'It's so hard to perform individually, especially at his expectation level,' Goldschmidt said. 'To be able to do it individually, and still be able to impact others around you is another layer that makes it even tougher. He does a really good job of that.' Judge said he gets as much out of the meetings as he gives. He said he likes to lean on Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger — longtime National Leaguers — in particular when the Yankees face NL opponents. Sometimes young players have faced rookie pitchers in the minor leagues, and what they share can change a fellow hitter's at-bat, too. Advertisement Judge also wants to know his teammates' plans at the plate so he can watch their at-bats in real time and provide feedback if he notices something unusual with a swing, or if that hitter strays from his approach. 'Maybe they'll help me recognize a slider a little sooner,' Judge said. 'It goes a long way. Even for me, talking to Goldschmidt, I've seen guys in our division 15 or 20 times. I can throw him a tidbit, tell him that I'm trying to eliminate a certain pitch and focus on these two (pitches), or to focus on a certain zone.' And sometimes, talking to Judge leaves teammates smiling and shaking their heads. Of course, it might be easy for Judge to take certain information and immediately use it on the field. But for mere mortals? 'It's pretty funny,' Escarra said. 'He's so talented. I can be thinking the same things and getting different results. But it's cool being in the same room and talking hitting with him.' (Illustration: Demetrius Robinson / The Athletic. Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)
