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Cubs Recall Porter Hodge For MLB Debut

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The Cubs on Friday recalled right-hander Porter Hodge from Triple-A Iowa and placed fellow righty Colten Brewer on the 15-day injured list due to tightness in his lower back, tweets Meaghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. Hodge will give the Cubs a fresh arm in the bullpen, and if he gets into a game, it’ll be his big league debut.

Hodge, 23, was the team’s 13th-round pick back in 2019. He entered the season ranked 19th among Cubs prospects at Baseball America and 24th at both FanGraphs and MLB.com. His season thus far has been a mixed bag. Hodge fired four shutout innings in Double-A, yielding only one hit and one walk with eight punchouts before being promoted to Triple-A Iowa. Since moving up to Des Moines, he’s struggled to a 6.55 ERA (eight earned runs in 11 innings) while surrendering a dozen hits and issuing a whopping 11 walks. He’s still fanned nearly one in three opponents, but he’s also walked more than one in five of them.

Command has long been an issue for Hodge. He’s walked 12.9% of his opponents dating back to the 2022 season. Scouting reports on the big 6’4″, 230-pound righty tout both his heater and his slider as potential plus offerings, but the effectiveness of both could be undercut by shaky command of each. There’s potential for the right-hander to play a long-term role in the Chicago bullpen, but he’ll likely need to trim a few points of his walk rate to reach his ceiling as a high-leverage reliever.

Brewer, 31, was a minor league signee whom the Cubs called to the big leagues last month. He’s pitched 11 2/3 innings for manager Craig Counsell and turned in a 3.09 ERA with a 12-to-4 K/BB ratio and a strong 48.4% ground-ball rate. The team has not yet provided a timetable for Brewer’s potential return to the roster.

Mets’ Nate Lavender Undergoes Internal Brace Procedure

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Mets left-handed relief prospect Nate Lavender underwent a “variation of Tommy John surgery” with an internal brace added to his elbow ligament and will miss the remainder of the 2024 season, president of baseball operations David Stearns announced yesterday (X link via Tim Britton of The Athletic).

It’s a tough blow for the Mets and for Lavender, who had a strong chance to make his big league debut this season. The 24-year-old southpaw was the Mets’ 14th-round pick in 2021 but has elevated his stock and pitched quite well in the upper minors.

Last year, Lavender breezed through a brief seven-game look in Double-A — his only career action at that level — allowing just two earned runs while posting a 19-to-3 K/BB ratio in 10 1/3 frames. He quickly moved up to Triple-A Syracuse, where he tossed 44 innings of 3.27 ERA ball with a huge 35.1% strikeout rate, albeit against a 12% walk rate. He opened the ’24 campaign with another seven frames and only three runs allowed in Syracuse, although this year’s 20.6% walk rate in that small sample raised some red flags in the run-up to his placement on the injured list.

In writing up the Mets’ nearly MLB-ready prospects, FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen credited Lavender with one of the most deceptive deliveries in all of Minor League Baseball. Longenhagen added that even though Lavender doesn’t throw particularly hard (91 mph average fastball), his heater is so difficult for hitters to track that it alone gives him the potential to be a big league reliever, despite less-impressive secondary offerings and below-average command.

Lavender doesn’t turn 25 until January, so he still has plenty of prime years ahead of him. If he can get back to his 2023-24 form, he’ll again be a candidate to make his big league debut at some point next summer. Lavender isn’t on the Mets’ 40-man roster but would be Rule 5-eligible this coming offseason.

Padres Release Matt Festa

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The Padres released right-hander Matt Festa, who’d been pitching with their Triple-A affiliate in El Paso, per the MiLB.com transaction log.

Festa, 31, has appeared in parts of four seasons with the Mariners. He inked a minor league deal with San Diego over the winter. The former seventh-round pick sports a career 4.32 ERA and 3.93 SIERA with a strong 25.3% strikeout rate against a less-encouraging 10.9% walk rate. Festa’s time with the M’s was split between the 2018-19 seasons and the 2022-23 seasons. He had an elbow injury in 2020 that eventually required Tommy John surgery, completely erasing his 2020 season and limiting him to 25 2/3 minor league frames late in the ’21 campaign.

It’s been a decent start to the season for Festa in El Paso. He’s pitched to a 4.50 earned run average — eight runs in 16 innings — while fanning 21.6% of his opponents with a 9.5% walk rate. He’s typically been a fly-ball pitcher in the past but this year sports an above-average 46% grounder rate. He’s been plagued by a .360 average on balls in play, with fielding-independent metrics pegging him about a run lower than his actual ERA.

Festa has pitched reasonably well, and mid-May is a common time for minor league contracts to include opt-out dates, so it’s possible (if not likely) that such a clause came into play here. The Padres only have three bullpen spots on the roster they can shuffle up, as none of Robert Suarez, Wandy Peralta, Enyel De Los Santos, Yuki Matsui or Rule 5 pick Stephen Kolek can be optioned. That leaves righty Jeremiah Estrada, lefty Adrian Morejon and long reliever Jhony Brito as the only players who could’ve been sent down if the Friars had wanted to select Festa to the big league roster. Each member of that trio has performed fairly well this season, however, and Festa himself is out of minor league options. As such, selecting his contract would’ve only further limited San Diego’s bullpen flexibility.

As a result, Festa will head back to the open market and look to latch on with another club seeking some experienced bullpen depth. He’s not a flamethrower, averaging just 92.6 mph on his heater in his career, but he’s nevertheless managed to miss bats at a high level. His 12.5% career swinging-strike rate checks in north of the league average, and he sat at an even heftier 14.3% in that regard from 2022-23. In parts of five Triple-A seasons (108 2/3 innings), Festa owns a 2.15 ERA, a 27% strikeout rate and a 9.5% walk rate.

The Opener: Twins, Guardians, Heyward, Walker

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As the 2024 regular season continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world this weekend:

1. Series Preview: Twins @ Guardians

A series that could have major implications in this year’s race for the AL Central crown is set to begin this evening, as the Twins are set to visit the Guardians in Cleveland for a three-game set. Tonight’s game will feature Minnesota youngster Simeon Woods Richardson (3.24 ERA) taking on right-hander Triston McKenzie (3.54 ERA). Cleveland has not yet announced who will take the ball tomorrow opposite Bailey Ober (3.77 ERA), but Tanner Bibee (4.34 ERA) will start opposite Chris Paddack (4.89 ERA) during the series finale on Sunday.

Minnesota was widely expected to be the team to beat in the AL Central this season, but the club fell toward the bottom of the standings after a brutal 7-13 start, while the Guardians were white hot out of the gate with a 18-7 start over their first 25 games. Since then, the Twins have heated up, going 17-6 during a stretch that included a 12-game win streak. The Guardians, meanwhile, have started to come back down to Earth with a 9-10 record over their past 19 games. Even so, they still lead the AL Central with a 1.5-game lead over the second-place Royals and a 2.5-game lead over the Twins, who sit in third place. Will this weekend’s series shake up the Central?

2. Heyward nearing return:

Dodgers outfielder Jason Heyward is done rehabbing from the low back issue that’s kept him out of action since late March, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Jack Harris of the L.A. Times) last night. While the veteran wasn’t active for yesterday’s game against the Reds, Roberts indicated that he would be activated from the injured list “soon,” setting up a potential move over the weekend. Heyward impressed with the club in 124 games last year, slashing a respectable .269/.340/.473 in a platoon role.

Heyward’s return raises the question of who the Dodgers will send out to make room for him on the roster. Veteran utilitymen Enrique Hernandez and especially Chris Taylor have struggled badly this season, but neither can be optioned and would thus have to be designated for assignment to move off of the roster. That would be a major decision with Taylor in particular, as he’s under contract for 2025 with a $13MM salary that would essentially become dead money. Another possibility would be to send either James Outman or Andy Pages to the minor leagues, as both youngsters do have options remaining. Of the two, Outman appears to be the more likely candidate given that he has slashed just .147/.250/.266 in 124 trips to the plate this year.

3. Walker under evaluation:

Phillies right-hander Taijuan Walker left last night’s game against the Mets in the fourth inning after taking a comebacker off his foot. As noted by Matt Gelb of The Athletic, the Phillies announced Walker’s injury as a left foot bruise. Gelb added that Walker had managed to avoid a broken toe but the club was unsure if the veteran would make his next start. The right-hander is expected to be evaluated further today to determine next steps. In the event that Walker does require some time off due to the injury, the Phillies are fortunate to have an excellent solution to that problem in the form of right-hander Spencer Turnbull. Turnbull started the season as a member of the club’s rotation while Walker was on the injured list and dominated in the role, with an excellent 1.67 ERA and 3.21 FIP in 32 1/3 innings of work across six starts.

Hal Steinbrenner Comments On Possible Juan Soto Extension

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Yankees chairman Hal Steinbrenner appeared on the Yankees News & Views podcast today and host Jack Curry of the YES Network asked him about the possibility of extending superstar outfielder Juan Soto. The YES Network shared a video clip on X.

“I think we’d like to see him here for the rest of his career,” Steinbrenner said. “I don’t think there’s any doubt of that.” He goes on to say that Scott Boras, Soto’s agent, doesn’t normally do extensions midseason. Steinbrenner says he generally prefers to avoid talks during the season as well so that they don’t become a distraction, but that Soto is a special case.

That’s due to Soto’s obvious talents but also since he’s only been a Yankee for a few months, having been acquired from the Padres in December with just one season left to go before he’s slated to reach free agency. Steinbrenner said he wanted to give Soto some time to get to know the organization before getting into talks about long-term plans. “I wouldn’t be shocked if there was a conversation or two had, possibly during the course of the season.”

In the latter half of the clip shared above, Curry relays that he contacted Boras about what Steinbrenner said. Boras said he is always willing to talk to Steinbrenner but that Soto is focused on winning.

Soto himself was asked about the comments after this afternoon’s game and echoed what Boras said, with the YES Network sharing a clip on X of those as well. “My door is always open,” Soto said. “Whenever he wants to start talking with Scott and all his people, they’re always open. They’re always open to hear whatever he has. And for me, I just focus on the game right now.”

The topic of Soto’s future free agency, or an extension to prevent that free agency from happening, has been a topic of conversation for quite a long time. That’s on account of how he debuted at such an unusually young age and also due to him finding immediate success that he has maintained or improved. Soto debuted with the Nationals in 2018 when he was only 19 years old. He hit 22 home runs in 116 games while drawing walks in 16% his plate appearances. His .292/.406/.517 batting line translated to a 146 wRC+.

He’s never provided much in terms of speed or defense, but his combination of power and plate discipline is exceptional and has remained quite consistent. He currently has 169 home runs in his career and an 18.7% walk rate, while striking out just 16.9% of the time. He has slashed .286/.420/.525 overall and has a 155 wRC+, which includes a .310/.408/.530 line and 170 wRC+ as a Yankee this year.

Those skills and his age put him on course for a massive contract. Most free agents reach free agency for the first time in the vicinity of their 30th birthday but Soto is still just 25. He’ll turn 26 on October 25, just before he’s slated to hit the open market.

The fact that Steinbrenner is interested in an extension is somewhat notable since the club doesn’t do them very often. MLBTR’s Contract Tracker shows that they have done just three in the past decade, which were for Luis Severino, Aaron Hicks and Aroldis Chapman. Those deals didn’t go especially well for the most part and the club may not be thrilled at doing more extensions in general, but Soto is clearly in a different stratosphere than those players. That Steinbrenner is willing to make an exception here is unsurprising, but actually getting it done won’t be cheap.

Back in 2022, the Nationals reportedly offered Soto $440MM over 15 years. When he rejected that overture, they decided to trade him instead, which is how he came to be a Padre. While that may be a massive sum to leave on the table, he’s already earned himself a decent chunk of that. Since turning down that deal, he made $23MM last year and is making $31MM this year, his final two arbitration seasons. That means any contract higher than $386MM will prove that he made a wise financial decision in turning it down.

Last month, Boras revealed that the late Peter Seidler tried to get a deal done to keep Soto in San Diego. However, Seidler’s deteriorating health got in the way of the talks and he passed away in November. The next month, Soto was traded to the Yankees as the Padres’ financial situation forced them to make budget cuts.

Keeping Soto away from the open market is obviously going to be a challenge. Yankees’ general manager Brian Cashman admitted as much in February. “The odds are this is a one-year situation,” he said. “I don’t see too many things stopping him from reaching free agency.”

There has been all kinds of speculation about what kind of number it would take to get Soto’s signature on a contract. The round number of $500MM is often thrown around as a speculative ballpark figure, but that’s really just a guess.

Since Soto is now just a few months away from the open market, there’s little incentive for him to accept anything except free agency prices. The largest contract in MLB history is Shohei Ohtani’s recent ten-year, $700MM pact with the Dodgers. The heavy deferrals on the deal make the net present value closer to the $435-465MM range, though that adjusted figure still makes it the largest ever, both in terms of total guarantee and average annual value.

Soto obviously doesn’t have the two-way abilities of Ohtani nor the same international marketing power, but Ohtani is now 29 and about to turn 30, meaning Soto will be marketing three to four extra prime years compared to Shohei. That youth is clearly valuable to teams, as was recently seen with the Yoshinobu Yamamoto free agency. Going into his age-25 season, he drew widespread interest despite having no major league experience. He eventually shattered expectations when he signed for $325MM over 12 years, plus a posting fee of over $50MM.

The Yankees have long been one of the biggest spenders in baseball, but they have a decent amount of money on the books already. Between Aaron Judge, Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton and Carlos Rodón, they have four players making $25MM or more through 2027 or longer. The Marlins are paying down a bit of Stanton’s deal but the Yankees already have almost $150MM committed to books three years down the line, per Roster Resource.

For a generational talent like Soto, they likely wouldn’t care much about adding another huge contract to the pile. Still, Boras might want to wait a few more months to see what teams like the Mets, Dodgers, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Phillies or others have to offer. Getting them to the table would increase the chances of a bidding war driving up prices and the Yanks might have to put down a huge number to stop that from happening.

Latest On A’s Stadium Process

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The A’s relocation plan took a couple steps forward this week. On Monday, the Nevada Supreme Court upheld a November 2023 lower court ruling that stopped a petition to put public funding for the stadium up for a vote this year (link via Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times).

A Nevada teachers union had sought a referendum during this November’s elections on the $380MM earmarked by the county and state for construction of the Vegas stadium. (Voters in Kansas City rejected a public funding measure for the Royals and Chiefs in a referendum process in April.) The court agreed with arguments by a coalition which included the A’s that the language of the proposed petition was misleading and did not abide by state law. That takes the possibility of a 2024 referendum off the table.

A political action committee backed by the union filed a separate lawsuit in an attempt to challenge the funding in February, arguing that the law didn’t meet the procedural requirements of the state constitution. The A’s were not named as a defendant — the suit was against the state and its governor, Joe Lombardo — but the team filed a motion last month attempting to intervene in the proceedings. There’s no current indication that suit poses a serious threat to the relocation plan.

On the heels of their legal victory, the A’s presented their non-relocation agreement to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority on Thursday afternoon (link via Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal). That’s one of a handful of documents which the Stadium Authority needs to approve before construction on the facility will officially begin. The Authority has already signed off on a community benefits agreement. They’re now evaluating the lease and non-relocation agreements.

The final, most important, of the group is the development agreement detailing how the A’s plan to meet their commitments (projected north of $1.1 billion) for construction costs. Shaikin reported last month the A’s are seeking $500MM in private funding, potentially offering minority ownership shares of the franchise to incentivize investment. Akers writes that the team plans to submit the development agreement for review at some point this summer.

Giants, Jerar Encarnación Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Giants and Jerar Encarnación are in agreement on a minor league deal, reports Mike Rodriguez on X. The outfielder had been with Guerreros de Oaxaca in the Mexican League, who also posted on X about the deal with the Giants. It’s not yet official as Encarnación is still waiting on his work visa and needs to take his physical, per Rodriguez.

Encarnación, 26, came up as a prospect in the Marlins’ system and spent some time in the big leagues with them. He was outrighted off their roster in July of last year and was able to elect free agency at the end of the season.

He has shown big power throughout his career but also a troubling tendency to strike out. In his 81 major league plate appearances in 2022, he hit three home runs but was also punched out in 39.5% of them. He spent all of last year in Triple-A, getting into 122 games at that level. He hit 26 homers there but also struck out 38.8% of the time.

With Oaxaca this year, he stepped to the plate 107 times and amazingly launched 19 home runs. That helped him produce an absurd batting line of .366/.439/.989. His 24.3% strikeout rate wasn’t as bad as his most recent stint in affiliated ball, though it’s hard to quantify the quality of pitching he’s been facing in Mexico.

It’s understandable why the Giants are willing to give him a shot and see if he can bring that strong performance with him to their system. They currently have seven position players on the injured list, including four outfielders in Jung Hoo Lee, Jorge Soler, Austin Slater and Michael Conforto. While Blake Sabol can play some outfield, he’s tied to the catcher position now with Patrick Bailey and Tom Murphy both on the IL. Wade Meckler is on the 40-man roster but dealing with a wrist injury in the minor leagues.

Mike Yastrzemski is the most established member of the outfield that’s currently healthy. The other two spots have mostly been filled by Heliot Ramos and Luis Matos lately, with each of those two fairly lacking in experience. Tyler Fitzgerald, who is also light on inexperience, is moving around to play both the outfield and the infield.

With all of those moving parts, the Giants will bring Encarnación to Triple-A Sacramento and see how he fares. If he keeps crushing the ball like he has been with the Guerreros, it’s not hard to see him earning some big league at-bats, whether he can tamp down the strikeouts or not.

Emmet Sheehan Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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The Dodgers announced that right-hander Emmet Sheehan underwent surgery on the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow yesterday. They didn’t announced whether it was full Tommy John surgery or the internal brace alternative, but a source tells Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic that it was TJS, which Ardaya relayed on X.

Sheehan, 24, was slated to compete for a rotation spot coming into this year. But in early March, he experienced some shoulder discomfort and general soreness, which led manager Dave Roberts to relay that Sheehan would be starting the season on the injured list. Though it was a shoulder injury that initially was the problem, when he was placed on the IL, his injury was described as forearm inflammation. He was transferred to the 60-day IL in late March when the club selected Nabil Crismatt to the roster.

In mid-April, he began throwing to live hitters but Roberts said that his arm “hasn’t been responding” the way team staff had hoped. The club hasn’t provided any details about Sheehan to the public in about a month but it seems that a determination was made behind the scenes that he would require surgery.

It’s obviously an unfortunate blow for both Sheehan and the team. The righty made his major league debut last year age the age of 23. He tossed 60 1/3 innings for the Dodgers over 11 starts and two relief appearances. He allowed 4.92 earned runs per nine innings in that time, striking out 25.8% of batters faced while issuing walks at a 10.5% clip. He had been even better in the minors, with a 2.43 ERA in 2023 and a 2.91 mark the year prior. Given those strong minor league numbers and his youth, it would have been fair to think a step forward in the major leagues was forthcoming in 2024.

Instead, it will now go down as a lost season for Sheehan. If there’s one silver lining for him, it’s that he’ll stay on the 60-day injured list all season, collecting major league pay and service time. He will miss a portion of 2025 as well, depending on the eventual progression of his rehab.

For the Dodgers, this will further add to the number of days missed by pitchers on their staff this year. Sheehan is one of 11 Dodgers pitchers currently on the injured list, joined by Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Kyle Hurt, Bobby Miller, Ryan Brasier, Connor Brogdon, Brusdar Graterol, Joe Kelly and Evan Phillips.

Some of those injuries were known coming into the year, as a few of those guys underwent significant surgeries last year. Still, it’s remarkable that the club hasn’t been hurt too much by all that talent that’s not currently on the roster. The Dodgers are 29-16 right now and have a 7.5-game lead in the National League West. Their pitching staff has a collective ERA of 3.16, which is third in the league, behind only the Red Sox and Yankees.

The starting staff currently consists of Tyler Glasnow, James Paxton, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Walker Buehler and Gavin Stone, though the club is also doing occasional bullpen games to give each pitcher five days off between outings. That’s led to guys like Ryan Yarbrough, Elieser Hernández and Michael Grove picking up bulk work here and there.

Sheehan’s surgery means he won’t be able to return later in the year for extra depth, so the Dodgers will be hoping some of the other ten guys on the injured list are able to make it back to the club before the injury bug bites them again.

Rimas Sports Agency Files Lawsuit Against MLBPA Over Recent Sanctions

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The Rimas Sports Agency has filed a federal lawsuit against the MLB Players Association in United States District Court in Puerto Rico, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The lawsuit is related to recent sanctions that the union placed on the agency.

It was reported in April of 2023 that the sports management agency had been launched by three individuals affiliated with the Rimas Entertainment music label. Those three were Rimas Entertainment CEO Noah Assad, his client Bad Bunny and Rimas executive Jonathan Miranda.

Almost exactly one year later, in April of 2024, it was reported by various outlets that the agency was facing sanctions from the MLBPA for violating agency regulations. Multiple other agencies filed complaints against Rimas, alleging that the firm had been offering gifts such as new cars or large sums of cash to players as an inducement to switch their representation. Additionally, individuals who were not yet certified as agents represented themselves as such and acted in that capacity.

[Related: When Agents Get Played]

Per the reporting from last month, it was expected that those individuals were not going to be certified as a result of the complaints while William Arroyo had his certification revoked. Back in April, Brittany Ghiroli of The Athletic reported that Michael Velasquez and Arroyo were believed to be the only two certified agents with Rimas.

According to Passan’s report from today, Rimas initially took their complaints to an arbiter, who turned them down. This 27-page complaint seeks a temporary restraining order and injunction against the penalties imposed by the union. The suit charges that the MLBPA “exceeded the scope of its statutory authority under the National Labor Relations Act.”

According to the suit, Velasquez was threatened with decertification and quit the company. With Velasquez quitting and Arroyo having his certification revoked, that apparently left Rimas with no one with the right to represent players. Per the lawsuit, entertainment attorneys Oswaldo Rossi, John Baldivia and Jimmy Barnes were seeking certification but were told by an MLBPA lawyer that “certifications will be conditioned on your agreement not to work for or with Rimas Sports, represent Rimas Sports clients.” The suit describes this as an “unprecedented condition imposed on them (that) is not part of the MLBPA Regulations” and says that “the intended effect of the MLBPA’s actions was precisely to eliminate the Rimas Companies from participating altogether in the sports agency market for MLB and MiLB players.”

It also accuses the MLBPA of “blanketly prohibiting any MLBPA certified agents from affiliating with Rimas Sports and Rimas Entertainment in any capacity.” They say this will prevent Rimas Entertainment, the non-sports part, from “contracting with clients who may wish to secure branding, sponsorship or endorsement deals” and that “these restrictions extend well beyond the scope of the MLBPA’s authority to regulate its agents.” Topps, the card company, evidently told Rimas that they were unable to discuss sponsorship deals relating to their clients.

Prior to the sanctions, Rimas was able to attract some recognizable big league names to its roster, including Francisco Alvarez, Ezequiel Tovar, Wilmer Flores and his brother Wilmer Flores. The most notable contract Rimas completed in the year after their forming was the seven-year, $63.5MM extension for Tovar. The lawsuit lists the inability to continue negotiating an extension for Alvarez among the harms done to the company by the MLBPA, as well as losing the opportunity to sign Ronald Acuña Jr.

MLB Announces Partnership With Roku For Sunday Broadcasts

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May 16: MLB will get $30MM from Roku over three years for this deal, per Evan Drellich of The Athletic. That will be $8MM in the first year, $10MM in the second and $12MM in the third. That’s well below what Peacock had been paying previously but right in line with what Peacock was trying to negotiate down to. He also notes that Roku has 120 million subscribers, according to the announcement from the company and the league. A report from Tony Maglio of IndieWire in March listed Peacock’s subscriber tally as 31 million.

May 13: MLB announced that it has officially reached a deal with Roku to broadcast Sunday games. The first game of the new multi-year deal will be this Sunday May 19.

The league previously had a deal with Peacock to broadcast early Sunday games. It was reported back in April that the Peacock partnership was likely ending. Peacock evidently was willing to continue the arrangement at a lower price point than the $30MM they had been paying annually. Later reporting indicated they wanted to renegotiate the deal to around $10MM. However, MLB was close to lining up another pact with a different platform. Shortly thereafter, further reporting indicated that Roku was likely to be the new platform.

Now that the Roku deal is official, the details show it will be slightly different than the Peacock arrangement. Previously, the “Sunday Leadoff” games on Peacock all started shortly after 11:30am or just after noon Eastern, with the other games starting at least 90 minutes later to give Peacock a window of exclusivity. That will be the case with some of the contests on Roku this year, but not all. Here is the full slate, with all times ET:

  • May 19, Red Sox @ Cardinals, 1:05pm
  • May 26, Blue Jays @ Tigers, 11:35am
  • June 2, Twins @ Astros, 1:05pm
  • June 9, Giants @ Rangers, 1:05pm
  • June 16, Cardinals @ Cubs, 1:05pm
  • June 23, Diamondbacks @ Phillies, 11:35am
  • June 30, Pirates @ Braves, 11:35am
  • July 7, Diamondbacks @ Padres, 4:10pm
  • July 14, Yankees @ Orioles, 11:35am
  • July 21, Brewers @ Twins, 1:05pm
  • July 28, Reds @ Rays, 11:35am
  • August 4, Giants @ Reds, 12:05pm
  • August 11, Angels @ Nationals, 11:35am
  • August 18, Marlins @ Mets, 12:05pm
  • August 25, Nationals @ Braves, 12:05pm
  • September 1, Dodgers @ Diamondbacks, 4:10pm
  • September 8, Rays @ Orioles, 12:05pm
  • September 15, Reds @ Twins, 1:05pm

Another change from the Peacock arrangement is that the games will be free, with no subscription required. There are no blackouts for Roku or MLB.TV users. The full details of how to access the games are provided by Brian Murphy of MLB.com.

Since there’s less of a focus on exclusivity and the accessibility is greater than under the Peacock, it seems that Roku and MLB are more focused on building the brand and fan interest, a sentiment that is present in statement from both parties.

“As television programming, live sports, and the leagues have fragmented across networks, apps, and multiple packages, Roku—home to all of them—plays an increasingly crucial role for viewers and advertisers,” said Charlie Collier, President, Roku Media, quoted in the MLB press release. “With this deal, Roku delivers free, live, weekly Sunday baseball and 24/7 baseball curation, destinations, and channels across our platform. The lead-in to all of television is now the lead-off for Sunday baseball as well. It’s a terrific partnership.”

“With free games available to anyone, MLB games on Roku will be widely accessible to fans,” said Noah Garden, MLB Deputy Commissioner, Business and Media, also from the statement. “Since Roku serves as an entertainment gateway for millions, this partnership offers a valuable new promotional and distribution platform for MLB games and content.”

Additionally, the broadcast teams will be “market-focused,” according to the announcement. The full slate of broadcasters wasn’t announced, but Chip Caray, Will Middlebrooks and Alexa Datt are listed for the first game between Boston and St. Louis. Since Caray and Datt cover the Cards and Middlebrooks the Red Sox, perhaps each game will feature a mix of broadcasters from both teams, though that’s speculation.

In addition to the live games, there will be an MLB Zone which “will include a more robust MLB FAST channel, with premium sports content around the clock including up-to-date highlights, MLB Game of the Week replays, Minor League Baseball game replays, and other baseball content.”

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