Category: That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: How Soto improves Mets World Series chances; Phils to take a chance on Romano; plus more news

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New York Mets outfielder Juan Soto in the sunset will he improve the Mets chances to get into the World Series for 2025? (photo from Stable Diffusion Online)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The New York Mets odds to make the 2025 World Series went from +1200 to +750 after acquiring Juan Soto on Sunday night. What is your take away on the Mets chances to make the World Series with Soto in the line up and does the Yankees chances diminish now that Soto has left the Bronx?

#2 The Philadelphia Phillies have come to a one year agreement with Jordan Romano. Romano pitched in the 2024 for the Toronto Blue Jays but was suffered injuries and missed some relief duties and later had to have arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow. Romano had four strong seasons pitching before 2024 and was one of the best relief pitchers in baseball with a 2.29 ERA in 200 2/3 innings, 251 strike outs. Romano is taking a physical if he passes he’ll be relieving for the Phillies in 2025.

#3 Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki was posted to Major League teams and will be able to sign as a free agent on Tue Dec 10 to Thu Jan 23. Chiba Lotte Marines waited for the deadline until they were able to post Sasaki to a Major League team.

#4 Former Pittsburgh Pirate Dave Parker and former Chicago White Sox Dick Allen were elected to the Cooperstown Hall of Fame. Parker was the 1978 National League MVP and Allen was the 1972 American League MVP. Parker hit .290, 339 home runs, 1493 RBIs from 1973-1991. Allen who passed away in 2020 hit .292, 351 home runs, 1119 RBIs.

#5 Their jumping ship in San Francisco for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Outfielder Michael Comforto has signed a one year $17 million contract with the Dodgers. Comforto hit .238, 35 home runs, and 124 RBIs in 255 at bats and played left and right field for the Giants. Comforto is second ex Giant to leave for the Dodgers along with pitcher Blake Snell.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Soto breaks the bank signs an MLB record 15 year $765 million deal with Mets

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Juan Soto models his New York Mets uniform as he joins the Mets on a 15 year, $765 million contract he signed on Sun Dec 8, 2024 (photo by SNY)

Soto breaks the bank

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

On Sunday, December 8, 2024, Juan Soto, a free agent, signed a 15-year deal with the New York Mets for $765 Million. Soto, born in the Dominican Republic, now has the most significant contract in professional American sports, more than the previous holder of that distinction, Japanese two-way star LA Dodgers Shohei Ohtani, who recently won the NL Most Valuable Player for the third time.

Juan Soto beat Ohtani by $65 million. To put Juan Soto’s contract/salary in perspective, the Dominican Republic, where Juan Soto was born 26 years ago, on an island of 11 million people. The average salary in this Caribbean nation is $7,272 per year or about $606 per month.

However, if you think the Dominican Republic is the poorest island in the Caribbean, you are mistaken. Cuba, which is the largest island in the Caribbean, according to all available data, the average salary of a Cuban citizen is around $30 to $40 US dollars per month or roughly 4,000 Cuban Pesos per year.

The reason is straightforward: Cuba’s government is a communist system where the communist leaders set the wages, they put the prices, and they distribute the wealth. This was not the case for Cuba until 1960 when the island was one of the most prosperous and advanced countries in the Caribbean and all of Latin America.

Unsurprisingly, the Mets, not the Yankees, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Giants, or any other baseball team, signed Mr.Soto. It was the New York Mets, whose owner, Steven A. Cohen, is considered one of, if not the wealthiest, MLB owners, with an estimated net worth of $16 to 20 billion.

The news of Soto signing this incredible contract hit the Dominican Republic like a thunderbolt, and all the media reported it as Breaking News with great pride and admiration. One colleague from the Dominican Republic told me “Nos sentimos muy orgullosos de ser el pais con el pelotero con el salario más grande en la historia” Trans: “We feel very proud to be the country with the baseball player with the largest contract in history”

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com weekly

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Orlando Cepeda Day in Puerto Rico  (Exclusive to Sports Radio Service)

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Orlando Cepeda Day in Puerto Rico on Fri Dec 6, 2024 was an opportunity for the people of Puerto Rico to pay tribute to the former St Louis Cardinal and San Francisco Giant who passed away on Jun 28, 2024 (photo image by Multinacional de Seguros)

Orlando Cepeda Day in Puerto Rico  (Exclusive to Sports Radio Service)

Amaury Pi-González

December 6, 2025 —Orlando Cepeda Day

Hiram Bithorn Stadium San Juan, Puerto Rico

Orlando’s family and friends, and thousands of fans will gather to honor one of the greatest players to ever play in the Major Leagues. Orlando “Peruchín”Cepeda

Orlando Cepeda   “Success is not given to you, it is earned, you have to work very hard to achieve it”.

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Jim”Catfish” Hunter led the Way

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The author Amaury Pi Gonzalez (left) and New York Yankees pitcher Jim Catfish Hunter (right) in 1975 at the Oakland Coliseum (photo from Amaury Pi Gonzalez)

Jim”Catfish” Hunter led the Way

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi Gonzalez

Today, rumors that New York Yankee superstar Juan Soto is getting offers of a $600 million contract continue to swirl around the baseball world. Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, recently said in Los Angeles that they are in the process of selecting which team Soto will sign with.

The favorite teams for Juan Soto are the Dodgers, Mets, Blue Jays, and Red Sox. The first multi-million dollar contract in baseball was signed by pitcher Jim “Catfish” Hunter with the New York Yankees. It was for $3.25 million over five years, plus he received a $1 million bonus, a $150,000 per year salary, and deferred compensation.

This control specialist was one of the players responsible for opening the door to other free agents to follow and one of the first who helped usher the Free Agency as we know it today. Hunter began his career with the Kansas City Athletics in 1968 and pitched until 1975 with the New York Yankees.

He won five World Series championships, three with the Oakland A’s during their 70’s dynasty and two with the New York Yankees. He made Oakland history by hurling the first perfect game in A’s history in 1968, and, the first then since 1922.

Won the American League Cy Young Award with the A’s in 1974. Selected eight times to the All-Star Game.From 1971 to 1975, no pitcher in baseball had his type of control (almost a la Greg Maddux). A’s catcher Ray Fosse told me there was nobody even close to Catfish of all the pitchers he worked with.

His signature season was 1974, when he helped the Oakland A’s win the World Series in five games against the LA Dodgers. That season, he ended with a record of 25-12 with a league-leading 2.49 ERA, started 41 games, and completed 23.

If Juan Soto has already signed that monstrous contract, which would be only second to Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million with the Dodgers, by the time you are reading this, the baseball world could look to Jim “Catfish” Hunter as one of the key players who paved the way for Free Agency. Back then, it was a scandalous $3.25 million contract; today, it is an obscene $600 to $700 million.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Higashioka signs 2 year $13.5 million deal with Rangers; Cubs sign Boyd for two years, $29 million; plus more news

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FILE – Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani, right, collides with San Diego Padres catcher Kyle Higashioka as he scores on a single by Teoscar Hernández during the fourth inning in Game 1 of baseball’s NL Division Series, on Oct. 5, 2024, in Los Angeles. Higashioka Mark J. Terrill – staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Amaury how big is it that the Texas Rangers signed catcher Kyle Higashioka for two years at $13.5 million with a mutual option for the 2027 season. Higashioka played for the San Diego Padres in 2024 hit .220, with 54 hits, 17 home runs and 45 RBIs.

#2 The Chicago Cubs signed pitcher Matthew Boyd. Boyd will join the Cubs starting rotation. This was the Cubs first big deal in the off season. Boyd who came back from Tommy John surgery was 2-2 with a 2.72 ERA last season. Boyd signs with the Cubs for two years at $29 million. Boyd 33, could earn up to $1 million in performance bonuses.

#3 In a letter to the Tampa Bay Rays from Pinellas County (Fla.) the cost to build a new ballpark would run $1.3 billion in a letter from the county. The Rays presidents Brian Auld and Matt Silverman said in a letter to the county that they would not agree to a deal for the new stadium. The Rays said they have spent more than $50 million on the new stadium but the county had suspended work on the entire project. The park was scheduled to be completed by 2028. The Rays are without a ballpark after Hurricane Milton destroyed the roof of the Tropicana and will play their regular season games at George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa Bay.

#4 Should the Tampa Bay Rays move out of Tampa Bay since the county and the owners can’t come to an agreement and where could they move to Nashville, Montreal, Charlotte, San Antonio, Vancouver or Mexico City?

#5 This coming Thu Dec 5th is the big Las Vegas Stadium Authority meeting regarding the financing for the A’s share of the construction costs for the ballpark at the Tropicana. The A’s said they would present four documents that would outline how the financing would proceed. Dec 5th is the drop dead date to come up with the financing for the Vegas A’s park as the A’s took one year to try and get their financing together. A’s owner John Fisher was reportedly getting financing together from his family to pay the $1.5 billion joined with the State of Nevada’s in put from SB1 at $380 million. Can the A’s make it happen on Thursday?

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcasts Tuesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary: Gambling is Baseball’s Mortal Sin

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Former Cincinnati Red Pete Rose seen here playing against the Atlanta Braves Aug 2, 1978 at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta. Rose who died this year 2024 has a lifetime ban from Major League Baseball for gambling on baseball. (AP file photo)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

It was in September 1919 that several Chicago White Sox players agreed to receive a $100,000 payment from Arnold Rothstein to underachieve during that year’s World Series. This allowed professional gamblers of that time to make tremendous profits by favoring the underdog Cincinnati Reds.

Movies have depicted this moment in baseball; one of the most famous American movies was Godfather II, where actor Lee Strasberg played Hyman Roth, the fictional character for Arnold Rothstein, but that was just a scene in that movie, unlike the 1988 film Eight Men Out, where the whole film deals with baseball’s biggest scandal.

When Major League Baseball banned Pete Rose in 1989, that story became the most famous in baseball history, as far as gambling, especially for those of us who have seen Mister Charlie Hustle play the game. Ironically, the Cincinnati Reds, the team Rose managed, was involved in the scandal, the same franchise as in the 1919 World Series and one of the oldest franchises in the game.

Going back to 1919, during the “Black Sox Scandal,” the owner of the Chicago team was considered a cheapskate and was involved in bribes with players and all kinds of corruption regarding salaries and money issues.

In today’s game, players and managers gambling on games is very unlikely, and one main reason was 1953. That year, the Major League Baseball Players Association was established, and the MLBPA became a labor union with Marvin Miller as the executive director. Unlike the days of Mr.Comiskey, when the owners controlled the game and players; today it’s a ‘players’ game.

In 2024 the minimum salary for a Major League Baseball player (rookie) is $740,000, increasing to $760,000 next season and $780,000 in 2026.

In 1976, Free agency in Major League Baseball became a reality, and today, baseball players are among the wealthiest athletes in the world.

Before the 2024 season, Japanese mega-star Shohei Ohtani signed a 10-year $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and today, Juan Soto of the New York Yankees could soon sign a contract just as rich as Ohtani’s or maybe “just” $100 million short of that.

Note: On June 4, 2024, Shohei’s Ohtani interpreter pleaded guilty to two counts related to the transfer of nearly $17 million from the Dodgers star to cover Mizuhara’s gambling debts. Shohei Ohtani is considered a victim in this case,

Note: 2012 Draft Kings, the company was initially launched, competing principally with the New York-based FanDuel. In May 2018, amid the widening legalization of sports betting in the United States, DraftKings expanded into online and retail sportsbooks to leverage its brand awareness and customer base. Many fans love participating as gamblers, and Major League Baseball even promotes it. Hypocrisy? of course, but in the end, everybody loves money.

Gambling is an addiction, just like drugs and alcohol, and they all could leadto serious consequences. The American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) defines gambling disorder as a behavioral addiction: A persistent pattern of gambling that causes significant distress or impairment A behavior that leads to problems for the individual, families, and society A behavior that involves an increasing tolerance, requiring more gambling to feel satisfied A behavior that can cause withdrawal and irritability when someone tries to quit.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary podcasts Tuesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary–In 2025 Ohtani will Not visit Sacramento

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Los Angeles Dodgers Dodgers two way star Shohei Ohtani nor the Los Angeles Dodgers will not be appearing at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento against the Sacramento A’s during the 2025 season (USA Today file photo)

In 2025 Ohtani will Not visit Sacramento

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Baseball’s biggest star and Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player, Shohei Ohtani, will not visit the A’s in Sacramento in 2025. The three-time MVP and World Champion is on pace to return to the mound and pitch next season.

The Athletics will only play the Dodgers one time in 2025, at Dodger Stadium on May 13,14 and 15, and that is the only opportunity that an Athletics fan will have to see their team vs. Ohtani.

However, the Dodgers and Giants will play six (6) games next season, three at Dodger Stadium on June 13,14,15 and three more in San Francisco’s Oracle Park on July 11,12,13. If you are “into Ohtani stuff” and live in Northern California, you could visit San Francisco to watch the spectacle and do not need to spend the money and time to visit LA at a Stadium where it is not easy to find a ticket for a game, at Dodger Stadium where their home attendance is average 50,000 per game.

The world’s #1 baseball star is usually followed by a cadre of reporters wherever the Dodgers travel, from international and domestic writers, newspapers, and social media to radio and television. During the Major League season, it doesn’t matter if the Dodgers are at home or on the road; Japan is fascinated with ‘everything Ohtani,’ and in 2025, there will be even much more coverage of the superstar as he is scheduled to be a part of his team’s starting rotation.

The much-anticipated return to the mound of this baseball mega-star should be one of the biggest stories next season. Ohtani had his first Tommy John surgery in 2018 and a second Tommy John surgery in 2023.

Note: This is the way the 2025 schedule is set for the Athletics and the Dodgers; it is not like Ohtani said, “I do not want to visit Sacramento” サクラメントには行きたくない

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Former Brave Rico Carty dead at 85; Orioles to move in fences for 25 season; plus more news

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The Atlanta Braves honored Rico Carty with a tribute and photo. Carty played in the big leagues from 1963-1979 (image from the Atlanta Braves)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 Former Atlanta Braves great Rico Carty has passed away at the age of 85. Carty played in the majors in 1963 the year he broke in with the Milwaukee Braves before retiring in 1979 with the Toronto Blue Jays. In 1970 Carty led the National League in hitting with a .366. The Dominican paper Listin Diario said Carty’s friend informed the paper of Carty’s death at 85 years old.

#2 Camden Yards and the Baltimore Orioles have announced that they have moved in the fences 20 feet in for the 2025 season. In 2022 the Orioles moved the fences back something that made the pitching staff appreciate. Prior to the 2022 season the hitters loved to tee off at Camden and in 2025 they can love that opportunity again.

#3 The San Francisco Giants have signed outfielder Mike Yastrzemski to a one year deal for the 2025 season at $9.25 million. The Giants also tendered contracts for first baseman LeMonte Wade, closer Camilo Doval, and releiver Tyler Rogers. How important is it for the Giants to secure those players.

#4 Sacramento A’s manager Mark Kotsay said that free agent and former Los Angeles Dodger Walker Buehler declined to sign with the A’s citing that he didn’t not want to play in Sacramento a triple A minor league park. After playing in the number 2 TV market in baseball Buehler wanted to stay clear of Sacramento which he considers a minor league park.

#5 Also MLB players have indicated that they do not like the idea of playing in Sacramento because of it’s small space, that Sacramento is just a temporary home for the A’s, the clubhouses for the A’s and visiting teams are being built as a two story facility, there is no tunnel from the dugouts to the clubhouse for the players like other big league parks. The only consolation the players got out of going to Sacramento they will play on natural turf as opposed to artificial turf.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Ichiro Suzuki First Japanese Inducted into Cooperstown

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Amaury Pi-González throws First Pitch in Seattle during Ichiro years. (Photo from the author)

Ichiro Suzuki First Japanese Inducted into Cooperstown

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

The inevitable just happened. The 2025 Baseball Writers Association of America Hall of Fame ballot was released, and their #1 name for this round is Japanese star Ichiro Suzuki, who had a close two-decade Hall of Fame career in the Major Leagues. Also, C.C. Sabathia, a great pitcher and a local guy from Vallejo, is on the HOF ballot, as is closer Billy Wagner, who ended with 422 games saved, the most in MLB history by a left-handed pitcher. John Franco had 424.

During the years I broadcasted home games for the Seattle Mariners and San Francisco Giants (concurrently), I witnessed the greatness of Ichiro Suzuki, especially during that memorable 2004 season when he ended the season with 262 hits, breaking the all-time Major League single hits record previously held by George Sisler who in 1920 with St Louis Brown had a 257 hit season.

Interviewing Ichiro was one of the most extraordinary things I have experienced. Allen Turner was Ichiro’s first interpreter in 2001; later, others came to do the same job, home and road. Every time I interviewed Ichiro I had to pose the question in English, and the interpreter then would relay it to Ichiro in Japanese; next, the interpreter would tell me what Ichiro said(of course, translated to English), and then OK, the finished part I told the audience in Spanish for Mariners Spanish radio, what the great Ichiro just told me.

Ichiro was a distinctive, timid person who worked as hard as anybody. He stored his bats inside a particular case, like the bat(s) were Stradivarius violins. Down on the field, my broadcast partner, the late Julio Cruz, Mariner’s Dream Team Second baseman, Julio and I would stand behind the batting cage a couple of hours or so before the games at Safeco Field (the original name of the tremendous retractable stadium in downtown Seattle Ichiro would hit home runs at will, and when he took a break in between swings inside the cage, he would do some gymnastic moves. It was truly a feat to see a guy listed at 5’11, who looked like 5’7 and around 165 pounds, hit the ball as hard and many times as deep.

Ichiro Suzuki played from 2001 to 2019, a total of 19 years. It began with the Mariners in 2001 and retired with the Mariners in 2019; in between, also playing for the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins. A solid Hall of Fame career. It ended with a .311 batting average, 3,089 hits, 509 stolen bases, 117 homeruns, and 780 runs batted in.

His first name was Ichiro, and that was enough. Only one other Mariners Hall of Fame player had that distinction: Ken Griffey Jr. “Junior was enough, “and everybody knew, just like Ichiro, who it was. For me, the best lead-off hitters of all time that I have known, interviewed, and covered are Rickey Henderson and Ichiro Suzuki. One is in the Hall of Fame, and the other one soon will be joining Rickey.

QUOTE: Ichiro appeared in 10 All-Star Games. I once asked him about playing in the All-Star Game and if he could tell me something about playing during those fun games. He surprised me with one word in Spanish; he told me it was “peligroso” translation=dangerous. You asked, why dangerous? Well, in one of his 10 All-Star Game appearances, the network that carried the game got his permission to insert a small microphone in his uniform so he could say something while he was on the field during the game. He did it reluctantly; he didn’t feel comfortable doing that. In the end (like I mentioned before), he was timid, reserved, and, in many ways a mysterious player.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast: Rays repair damage $56 million to fix the Trop; West Sacramento would like to keep the A’s

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The roof of the Tropicana Field is damaged the morning after Hurricane Milton hit the region, Oct. 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)

On That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcast:

#1 The Tampa Bay Rays are now being mentioned for relocation from Tampa Bay after having Tropicana Field destroyed by Hurricane Milton on October 9th. The damages for repair is estimated at $56 million and the Rays will play their 2025 season in the spring training home of the New York Yankees George M Steinbrenner Field in Tampa.

#2 The move to Steinbrenner Field for the Rays puts them as the second big league club not to play in a Major League facility for the 2025 season as the A’s of Sacramento will be playing their home games in minor league park Sutter Health Park in 2025.

#3 The Rays are at a tough crossroads here as Tampa Bay Mayor Ken Welch wants to go ahead and repair the Trop but with the Rays getting a new stadium in 2029 they might end up playing their regular season games at George Steinbrenner Field until their new stadium is ready?

#4 The construction cost for the A’s Las Vegas ballpark at $1.5 billion is still yet to be seen. A’s owner John Fisher’s spokesperson Sandy Dean said recently at the Las Vegas Stadium Authority meeting headed by Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce CEO Steven Hill that the Fisher Family will be putting up the $1.5 billion to cover their share of the construction costs. The bill to help supplement SB1 is due Dec 5th.

#5 Meanwhile until things are sorted out in Las Vegas, West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero has said that West Sacramento can build a 40-50 thousand seat ballpark for the A’s by the Sacramento River Bridge. The A’s are focused on playing in Las Vegas after the 2027 season.

Join Amaury Pi Gonzalez for That’s Amaury News and Commentary podcasts Tuesdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com