Let’s check in on a few teams from the game’s Central divisions…
- The Twins signed injured left-hander Rich Hill in December with the expectation he’d miss a large part of the season. That was before the coronavirus pandemic ran amok, though, and now the Twins might get a full season (if there is one) out of Hill. The 40-year-old, who’s still recovering from the primary revision surgery he underwent in November , told Betsy Helfand of the Pioneer Press, “(I’ve) been able to make the most out of the situation so I’m right where I should be as far as rehab progression-wise, so if we do have a season, I should be ready to go when we kick off something of a spring training.” That means the Twins could get an entire season out of a hurler who has been one of the most effective starters in the majors on a per-inning basis since his out-of-nowhere breakout in 2015. Dating back to then, Hill has combined for a 2.91 ERA with 10.67 K/9 and 2.82 BB/9 in 466 1/3 frames as a member of the Red Sox, Athletics and Dodgers.
- Cubs third baseman/outfielder Kris Bryant is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2021 season. In theory, a shortened or canceled 2020 campaign could have a negative effect on his market if he does reach free agency, but agent Scott Boras doesn’t expect it to damage Bryant or any of the other star players who could be available then. “For the players who are the great players — because there’s always only a few great players — I don’t think it’s going to have anywhere near the impact,” Boras told Gordon Wittenmyer of NBC Sports Chicago, “because those great players are somebody you would sign for 10 years, and you can defer the cost. You just backload the contracts. You can do things with long-term contracts; you could wait for better times but still get the player for today.”
- Righty Casey Mize, the No. 1 pick in the 2018 draft, may be the best prospect in the Detroit organization. But with a minor league campaign unlikely to happen, Mize could miss out on further professional seasoning this year. So what’s the solution? Well, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com makes a case that the Tigers should just put him in their rotation this season. Doing so would burn a year of service time, and it’s unlikely Mize would help make the Tigers a playoff-caliber team even in a shortened season, but there’s no denying he is one of the most talented players in the organization. Mize spent the majority of last year in Double-A, where he pitched to a 3.20 ERA with 8.69 K/9 and 2.06 BB/9 in 78 2/3 innings.
- The Reds will start temporarily furloughing employees – less than 25 percent of them – on June 1, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic tweets. Those individuals will continue to receive benefits while laid off, though.
No way Tigers call Mize up…makes no sense to burn a year of service time for a waste of a season
as opposed to him missing an entire year of development?
um, yeah. He’ll just sit on his couch.
Teams will still have activities at the ST facilities such as scrimmages and other things. I wouldn’t be surprised if teams agree to have exhibition type games with the club who shares their complex or a team near by. Minor league players will be playing games, just not ones that show up in any stat book.
It’ll be completely moronic for teams to key top prospects miss a year of development for service time implications that will definitely get changed in the next CBA
but but but… ELECTICITY AND ENERGY AND CLUBHOUSE HARMONY!!!!!!!!
Letting him sit for a year is a far worse outcome, the tigers have money to afford a burned season of a prospect, it’s highly unlikely they are serious contenders while he is in their uniform anyhow, roster is abysmal and they are paying miggy a billion a year to be half of league average for the next 10, Casey mize will be 78 years old by the time that albatross is off the books
Thanks for trying.
Miggy contract is almost 15 % of The possible salary cap (208 Mill $), i don’t see how that could be a albatross in a MLb roster and prospect are cheap too!
Letting him sit for a year is a far worse alternative
Tigers should throw Mize and Manning into the rotation actually.
If they both hit the ground running the Tigers might actually have a better shot at the playoffs than you think.
It’s not likely, but it’s better than them both sitting an entire year. You avoid stalling their progress and you give yourself a shot to strike it lucky if they both come in firing on all cylinders.
Putting Mize/Manning in will detract from their ultimate goal: #1 pick in 2021 draft.
Their off season signings show they are not looking at the #1 pick, but taking a step forward. Cron and Schoop are better than what they had at those positions.
would not want to pick #1 next year with all the uncertainty surrounding the prospects.
Cron and Schoop are one year deals who were likely viewed as a bargain and could turn into possible trade chips at the deadline.
@ myaccount
Really? A contender would have to be in a dire situation to find Cron to be an upgrade. What of value would you expect to get back for him or Schoop? Cron was a recent waiver claim, after a good season. What did Baltimore get for Schoop in the same expiring contract situation? What did Detroit get back for a far superior player in JDM? I sincerely doubt they were thinking trade when they signed them.
There is no reason to lose a year of future control for a wasted season. The Tigers have enough starting pitching to get thru this season, and Boyd, Norris, Turnbull, and Fulmer all need their opportunities on clocks that are already running.
There’s no way the Tigers make the playoffs even if they inserted Mize/Manning into the rotation.
Boyd/Mize/Manning would lift the pitching to mediocre at best if the rookies don’t take too many lumps. Zimmermann and Nova and the bullpen will still get lit up.
Also the Tigers offense has only three or maybe four bats that are MLB-material and none are above average.
There are other ways to develop beyond pitching in games. Mize and Manning should use the summer to sharpen their minds and keep their arms intact for when we need them.
The Tigers won’t be in the playoff for another 15 years as long as Avila, and Gardenhire are running the team and as long as Illich owns the team. Look what he has done to the Red Wings. The Tigers have no prospects that will be great players or home run hitters. Illich has done so bad as I predicted this season the Tigers will draw the fewest fans ever. I might even predict that the Red Wings draw their fewest fans ever. You know the only reason the Tigers signed anyone was to trade them at the trade deadline.
It makes a lot of sense to call him up. Missing an entire year of pitching would be much worse than burning a year
So he becomes a free agent one year sooner, just so he could pitch a half of a season. Think about that.
Hey Mark, Mike Ilitch died like 2 or 3 years ago. Also remember how many championships the wings won since the mid 90s, Ilitch owned them then.
ik sure they will do something for these prospects during this year. it will be detrimental if they all miss a full year.
My belief on top minor league talent who are on this long layoff, will need to have some growth & learning in the Minors before they get to MLB…..no need to rush them up for a short season.
Kris Bryant will be on a new team in 2022…..maybe even sooner.
Dodgers, Angels, Phillies, Braves all in play. Little chance he resigns with the Cubs. This divorce was in the making since Theo got that extra year out of him.
Johnny—-please——any knowledgeable fan of Kris Bryant knows he has never spoken ill of the Cubs and has publicly stated he would love to stay with the team.
Yes, very good chance that he will be on a new team in 2022—but it will be solely due to the fact that someone very possibly could and will offer him more money, longer years, better security. It’s called free agency.
If the Cubs provide the best overall offer, he will be in Chicago.
If the Padres or Angels make him the best offer, he will be in Southern California (and yes I chose those for his personal ties and also know that they have third basemen locked in for a long time)
It is on record that Bryant & Boras did not like what the Cubs did in the first season……that is why Bryant filed a complaint on the Cubs and lost in arbitration hearing……when you file a grievance on your team, that is speaking ill will on them …..saying they are cheating you out of money !
I think Theo might had seen that the Cubs had the best out of Bryant in his career and will move on……..he saw it in Jake Arietta.
I thought KB said he didn’t really hold it against them, understood it was business and filed the grievance to make a point/cuz the union wanted him to.
More like… The Cubs knew from the start that he wasn’t gonna sign an extension since his agent is Scott Boras, so they got their extra year of control.
KB can be mad all he wants, it’s the nature of the business… Ask KB and Boras if they want to give the Cubs a discount… Chances are the answer is ‘No’… Because that’s the nature of the business, everybody is trying to gain an edge.
Boras is more pissed off than Bryant. KB is over it. He fought and lost he moved on. He’s stated numerous occasions he wants to stay in Chicago. I think the cubs keep him rizzo and bryant. They have the money for it. Theres no reaeon why they can’t keep all 3. Out of their core Happ and Schwarber unfortunately will leave. Happ doesn’t get enough credit for what he does. 2B, 1B, LF,CF,RF 3B. He can play anywhere. He’s a huge asset to the cubs in 4 years he’s gonna be a big loss
The Padres brought up Fernando Tatis and Chris Paddack at the start of the year last year. Does anyone here think that doing that will buy them extra goodwill when contract time comes around? Yeah, neither do I. They will go to whatever team offers them the most money, just like Bryant will.
@Mike
Few, if any, players say how they can’t wait to get to a different team. The fans would turn on them, and it takes a team out of the bidding. That he says he wants to stay, publicly, means nothing. It’s a baseball cliche.
@styme—and I said if the Cubs make the best offer when he becomes a free agent, he’s staying in Chicago. My reply was to someone who said this “divorce” has been in the making for six plus years. That’s all a fallacy.
And to your point, yes–few players say how they can’t wait to get to another team—-in this case, few players are Kris Bryant—there are not a handful of players with the class he has. I totally agree with your cliché.
Please though, just watch him the next time he hits a home run, or gets hit by a pitch, or hits a routine ground ball to short. There aren’t a handful of players that respect and play the game the way he does.
If the Cubs offer him $240/8 and the Rangers (just randomly picking a team) are next best at $210/8, he’s not going to Texas. And if the Rangers are the team at $240/8 and the Cubs are $210/8, he’s not staying in Chicago.
People want to make Kris Bryant to be someone who was wronged (proven in court not to be). The impetus behind the arbitration case was on behalf of the player’s union, not Kris Bryant on a personal level.
I am not expecting the Cubs to have the highest offer. They have spent their budget and need pitching more. As to how he plays, I made no comment on that.
The tax threshold resets next year. They have over 200mil to play with. At the least.
I don’t think Bryant is a $30 million player. Two of his last 3 season all he has driven in is 73 and 77 runs even the year he was MVP he only drove in 102. Yes he does draw walks but walks don’t make a $30 million player and as a 3rd baseman he had a -8 in defensive runs saved last year. He would be better off sticking with the Cubs.
He was also hit in the head with a 97nph fastball. And last year a shoulder injury. How about you get hit in the head with that pitch, not go down and still put up good numbers.
Well that’s a silly thing to say. If CHC offers him the most money he’s not going to say “Well you guys messed with my service time 7 years ago so I’m going to sign with someone else for less money!”
And I doubt he would have taken a discount even if CHC hadn’t held him down.
PLAY BALL!
Lets get this season going…….any player who wants to sit home ……please do……many others who will take your place on the roster……but no pay….and no service time !
I understand the service time dilemma on Casey Mize. And, I understand service time may be modified in the new CBA. But, Justin Verlander spent only a portion of one season in the minors (2005). He made it to AA Erie, the was part of the September callups that year. He didn’t return to the minors until he did a rehab assignment in 2015, which was the only time he ever pitched in AAA.
Players like Verlander come around once in a blue moon. Mize in his senior year at Auburn had a 3.30 ERA and with Erie had a 3.20 where he didn’t pitch that well at the end of the season. All Avila talks about is prospects. How many prospect have come to the league and been a bust, it took Verlander until his second year to get a win. Meanwhile when I mention Verlander Franklin Perez rots and so does Jake Rodgers (Mr Strike out)
Get Real! Mize will not be in the Tigers rotation until 2021 or more likely 2022.
when a very good group of Tigers minor league talent will be promoted to the majors to open a new contention window.
It would be collossally stupid to burn Mize’s service years, especially in a half season when the Tigers are planning on Mize to Front their rotation for at least the next 6-8 years of contention.
Boras is obviously looking for a 10 year deal for Bryant. Good luck.
They should have top almost ready prospects count less against their service time than they actually play. And active MLB rosters should be set at 32 and have 28/29 active every day. So you can have a couple extra arms, a 3rd catcher, and an extra INF and OF available on any given game day. This way guys can rest more. This whole wacky and crazy schedule and everything will make players more susceptible to injury. They could just do 30-32 on the roster and play several doubleheaders.
Bill Purcells once said that you build your team based upon your division. The Reds did that this off-season. Now, if MLB does in fact go to three divisions with ten teams based on geography, much of that planning will go out the window.
It’s a pity because my upset pick to win the NL Central was the Reds. Starting pitching and the bullpen are a strength. Offensively, the have a solid MLB player at all eight positions.
And please, no Tucker Barnhart digs. The guy is the best defensive catcher in all of baseball. Put that asset in the pot and all Tucker has to do is hit .260 with 10 HR and 50 RBIs to be a genuine contributor on a winning team. That’s a stat line he’s more than capable of producing.
Contreras is 100x better than Barnhart on defense and its not close. Barnhart would barely be in the top 10.
“Doing so would burn a year of service time”
Which is exactly why that is a dumb idea.