We might only be one month into the 2025 MLB season, but it feels as if there has been a season’s worth of action already.
From a slew of players signing extensions, to Aaron Judge putting up ridiculous numbers, to the New York Mets and San Francisco Giants holding the best records in baseball, there has been no shortage of action thus far.
With that in mind, there are tons of MLB rumors to comb through, especially coming from Bob Nightengale’s weekly column for USA Today.
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MLB Rumors: Scary Mets should only get scarier as the season progresses
The best team in baseball record-wise right now is the New York Mets, who enter Sunday’s action with a 19-8 record, including a remarkable 12-1 at home.
The Mets entered the season with lofty expectations coming off an NLCS berth and adding Juan Soto, but they’re exceeding those expectations with this hot start.
What’s particularly scary about this hot start is that it feels as if the Mets aren’t even close to reaching their full potential yet, as Nightengale noted.
“The scariest part of the New York Mets’ torrid start for the rest of the NL East is that they are doing this without starters Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas, and still have the lowest ERA in baseball.”
Nightengale is spot-on. The Mets’ 2.36 staff ERA entering Sunday’s action leads the majors by a wide margin. Their 2.28 starting pitcher ERA also leads the majors by a wide margin.
The next-closest team, the Detroit Tigers, has a 3.01 starting pitcher ERA. They’ve done this despite being without their ace, Sean Manaea, and without one of their free agent additions, Frankie Montas.
While the Mets’ rotation being this good probably isn’t sustainable, it’s abundantly clear that it’s far better than anyone expected.
Clay Holmes certainly looks more and more like a starter whenever he takes the mound. Tylor Megill looks like he might finally be taking a step.
Kodai Senga has pitched like the star he was in 2023.
Adding Manaea and Montas to this mix which also has David Peterson and a resurgent Griffin Canning should make things even better on the pitching-front.
What Nightengale didn’t even point out is that the Mets are winning these games while getting little production from Juan Soto, Brandon Nimmo, and Mark Vientos. When those hitters wake up, this offense, which already has a red-hot Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, has the ability to explode.
MLB Rumors: Craig Kimbrel might not be solution Braves fans hope he’ll be
For the first five years of what could very well be a Hall of Fame career, Craig Kimbrel was the most dominant closer in baseball while pitching for the Atlanta Braves.
He won the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2011 and led the league in saves from 2011 through 2014 while posting a sparkling 1.51 ERA in that span.
Kimbrel is far from the same guy over a decade later, but that hasn’t stopped Braves fans from being optimistic about his ability to help a bullpen that could definitely use another arm.
Kimbrel signed a minor league deal with Atlanta shortly before the regular season began to provide much-needed depth.
So far, Kimbrel has looked dominant in the minor leagues, throwing 5.1 hitless innings in five appearances, two of which came for AAA Gwinnett.
He has seven strikeouts in those innings and has issued just one free pass. Those base statistics would suggest he’s more than ready to help the Braves in some capacity, but Nightengale revealed why the Braves might not be eager to call him up.
“Atlanta is in no hurry to call up veteran closer Craig Kimbrel, whose fastball has been clocked at only 91-92 mph in his first two outings at Triple-A.”
Kimbrel has gotten results, but his fastball velocity is noticeably down.
He isn’t the fireballer he once was, but last season, Kimbrel’s four-seamer averaged 93.9 mph according to Baseball Savant, and he struggled to the point where he was DFA’d by the Baltimore Orioles. He’s lost a couple of ticks even from that.
Sure, he has gotten results, but he’s done that in Double-A and Triple-A. Are we sure that this 36-year-old who struggled last season with more velocity will be able to succeed in the majors? Velocity isn’t everything, but for a swing-and-miss pitcher like Kimbrel, it certainly matters.
The fact that it continues to trend downward is concerning, and shows why he’s still in the minor leagues.
MLB Rumors: Cardinals in position to hold massive Ryan Helsley bidding war
After last season, John Mozeliak made it abundantly clear that the St. Louis Cardinals were entering a retool, and sure enough, they’re just 12-15 as of this writing.
Assuming the Cardinals continue to struggle, a sell-off in some capacity at the trade deadline should be expected.
Nolan Arenado would be the first name that comes to mind in terms of trade candidates, but his no-trade clause makes it far from likely that he’s moved, as Cardinals fans learned over the offseason.
Ryan Helsley, their star closer in the midst of his final season under club control, would seemingly be another. Sure enough, Nightengale reports that teams are already keeping an eye on Helsley.
“The Philadelphia Phillies, among other teams, already are keeping a close eye on Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley, who will likely be dealt by the trade deadline… The Arizona Diamondbacks, with lefty reliever A.J. Puk sidelined for the foreseeable future, also have interest in Helsley.”
Nightengale notes that the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks, in particular, have interest in Helsley, and those teams make a whole lot of sense. The Phillies’ bullpen is one of the worst in the majors right now, and as Nightengale pointed out, A.J. Puk is set to miss a good amount of time with elbow inflammation.
If Helsley is indeed available by July’s deadline, the Cardinals should receive a haul in return. Helsley, when healthy, is one of the best relievers in the game.
Hopefully, if the Cardinals do trade him, John Mozeliak gets appropriate value back.
