Monthly Archives: March 2022

Mar 25

Pitchers, catchers, infielders, outfielders — everybody’s reported!

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Calamity! The Dodgers are near the bottom of the Cactus League standings! They’re 1-3 with 3 ties!

Kershaw reflects on his past history and potential overuse which may have contributed to his recent injuries.

“I don’t have any regrets of what I did, whether it be the short rest or the bullpens or the different things like that,” Kershaw said. “At the end of the day, for the team to count on you and want you to go out there and do it, that’s a huge honor. They paid me a lot of money too.

“Looking back on it, the only thing I’d say is I wish I’d pitched better.”

He’s not entirely convinced his earlier workload contributed much to his more recent injury record.

“You just don’t know with pitchers,” he said. “You look at Adam Wainwright, we kind of thought, he had Tommy John [surgery], he had the Achilles thing and last year he threw the most innings in baseball, or close to it. (Wainwright’s 206 1/3 innings were third-most in the majors.)

“And then there are some guys that are so big and so strong and throw so hard and they haven’t pitched a full season in a while.”

Mar 10

Agreement reached!

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Today the owners voted 30 – 0 to approve the deal the players’ union agreed to earlier in the day. The players’ representatives weren’t unanimous; their vote was 26 – 12. According to CBS Sports, “The union voted to approve a new proposal by a 26-12 margin (a simple majority, or 20 votes, was all that was required for the new agreement to pass, but it’s notable that the eight members of the executive subcommittee all voted no).”

From MLB.com:

The deal came to fruition a day after MLB postponed Opening Day until April 14 in the absence of a new agreement and announced that each team’s first four series were removed from the schedule. However, as part of this agreement, a full 162-game schedule will be played, and the four series that were previously removed from the calendar will be rescheduled. The new five-year CBA includes increased minimum salaries, a new pre-arbitration bonus pool to reward the top young players in the game, a raise in competitive balance tax thresholds, the introduction of a universal designated hitter, the widest-ranging Draft lottery in pro sports, a system to prevent alleged service-time manipulation and limits on the number of times a player can be optioned in a season to address concerns regarding “roster churn.”

The deal also includes an expanded 12-team postseason format, bringing playoff baseball to two additional markets each year.

As part of the agreement, a Joint Competition Committee will be formed comprised of four active players, six members appointed by MLB and one umpire. Beginning in 2023, the committee will be tasked with adopting changes to playing rules such as a pitch clock, base size, defensive positioning and automatic ball/strike zone.

Notable:
The minimum salary jumps from $570,500 to $700,000, the largest single-year increase in history.

The Competitive Balance Tax jumps to $230M from $210M

A new Pre-Arbitration Bonus Pool of $50M will be created from revenue earned from sources like national television rights sales. It will be distributed to the top 100 players based on awards and statistical performance). Examples: “Under this system, NL Cy Young Award winner Corbin Burnes would have seen his salary jump from $608,000 to $4.2 million last season, while Rookie of the Year winners Randy Arozarena and Jonathan India would have seen their respective salaries more than triple in 2021.

An International Draft will be instituted. “International Draft would be 20 rounds (600-plus selections), increasing the total compensation earned by amateurs by more than $20 million annually.”

Other rules changes:
Contracts for arbitration-eligible players will be guaranteed.

Top prospects who finish 1st or 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting will receive a full year of service.

Clubs promoting top prospects to Opening Day rosters will be eligible to receive Draft picks if the player finishes in the Top 3 in the Rookie of the Year voting or Top 5 in MVP/Cy Young voting.

Expanded postseason: 12 teams, with the top two division winners receiving a bye.

Universal designated hitter.

Players may only be optioned five times per season.

Mar 04

Players fund ushers, concessionaires, parking lot attendants during lockout

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In a sign of good sense and good public relations, the players recognize that the owners’ lockout harms others beside themselves and do something about it.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Players launching $1 million fund for workers affected by MLB owners’ lockout

NEW YORK, March 4—Players are launching a $1 million fund to help support workers affected by the lockout and cancellation of games by Major League Baseball owners.

The fund will be administered by Major League Baseball Players Association and the AFL-CIO and distributed to stadium workers and others who face financial hardship through no fault of their own due to the MLB franchise owners’ lockout.

The lockout was implemented by owners on Dec. 2 after spending months avoiding meaningful bargaining over issues of importance to players, including improving competition, providing fair compensation for younger players and upholding the integrity of MLB’s market-based economic system.

MLB announced on Tuesday that it would postpone the start of the regular season, depriving workers who are depending on baseball games for employment.

“There are a lot of people who make our game great. Many aren’t seen or heard, but they are vital to the entertainment experience of our games,” MLBPA Executive Board leaders Andrew Miller and Max Scherzer said Thursday. “Unfortunately, they will also be among those affected by the owner-imposed lockout and the cancellation of games. Through this fund, we want to let them know that they have our support.”

The MLBPA will work with the AFL-CIO in the weeks ahead to determine the hardest hit communities and align resource distribution to those who need it most.

Staging more than 2,500 Major League Baseball games each year requires thousands of skilled workers — from concession crews, electricians, ushers, security, transportation and janitors to television and radio broadcasting crews and groundskeepers—who serve in their roles with pride and dignity.

“Whether you’re a worker on the baseball field, or a worker behind the scenes, we all deserve respect and dignity on the job,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “The labor movement will do everything in our power to support these and all workers.”

The Players Association has worked closely with the stadium and hospitality workers across the country who are integral to Major League Baseball in recent years, and it recognizes the value they provide to the industry’s success.

“This fund is intended to support workers who are most affected by the MLB-imposed lockout but whose livelihoods have been disregarded by the owners in their efforts to pressure Players into accepting an unfair deal,” MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark said.