With Spring Training now underway for all 30 teams, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world headed into the weekend:
1. Full-squad workouts begin:
With pitchers and catchers all around the league having already reported to camp, the Cubs are set to kick off the first full-squad workout of the year today as the club’s position players report to camp. That’s followed by the first full-squad workout of the spring for the Dodgers this weekend. While the report date for position players isn’t attached to a notable roster change like the return of the 60-day injured list, it still gives fans a first chance to get a glimpse of the hitters their club added during the offseason. In Chicago’s case, the highlight is star outfielder Kyle Tucker. L.A. doesn’t have a new star hitter on that level, but Hyeseong Kim and Michael Conforto are both notable offseason additions.
2. Lowe arbitration hearing:
The final arbitration hearing of the winter is set to begin today, with new Nationals first baseman Nathaniel Lowe requesting an $11.1MM salary while the Nats counter with $10.3MM. A decision figures to be announced over the weekend, and that decision will serve as a tiebreaker between teams and players for this cycle of arbitration after an even 4-4 split between the sides across the first eight decisions. Pirates right-handers Johan Oviedo and Dennis Santana, Cardinals utility man Brendan Donovan, and Yankees righty Mark Leiter Jr. all lost their cases against their clubs, while Angels infielder Luis Rengifo, Angels outfielder Mickey Moniak, Cardinals outfielder Lars Nootbaar, and Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante all emerged victorious from their own hearings.
3. Veterans accepting minor league deals?
With camp underway for all 30 clubs, some veterans still lingering in free agency have begun to accept minor league deals in order to get into camp with a club and get to work. Slugger Joey Gallo signed a non-roster deal with the White Sox yesterday, while veteran reliever Luis Garcia reportedly signed a minor league pact with the Dodgers. Those veterans, as Article XX(B) free agents under the current collective bargaining agreements, will have uniform opt-out opportunities headed into Opening Day and throughout the first half of the season. That makes it a bit easier for players in their situation to find big league playing time even after accepting a minor league deal. It’s likely we’ll see some of the other lingering free agents on the market begin to follow suit in the coming days, though there are still a handful of players who’ll surely command major league contracts as well (e.g. David Robertson, Kyle Gibson, Andrew Heaney). You can check out an up-to-date list of the remaining unsigned free agents here.
If Joey Gallo can’t find playing time with the White Sox, he likely won’t find it anywhere else.
LordD99: Once Gallo sees what kind of team he’s on I’m sure he’ll play his hardest so he can get the hell out of there at the summer deadline.
It will be interesting to see if Tito gets another major league outfielder or reliever to play with, as they have another pitcher out for the year (Williamson) they will put on the 60 day IL.
Low – mid level guys paying the Piper for the exorbitant salaries of Superstar and top guys.
Feast or Famine.
So many good ballplayers out there, unemployed.
JD Martinez.
So many ?
Your list is pretty short, and aged.
There are a bunch of old and injured guys at home without contracts on Feb 14 every year and it’s very sad. But most of them get something and then either play or retire. There’s nothing like what you wrote going on here. Plenty of money out there for players, and rarely much money out there for guys like Gallo who haven’t performed in years. Relax.
There are several first base types out there: Turner, Rizzo, Canha, etc. We’ll see if they get signed or end up like Brandon Belt last year, teamless.
Really looking forward to this season. The Seattle Mariners are legitimate World Series contenders.
Kind of surprised very little hearings happened this offseason. Seems super fishy to me. Mlbpa might wanna look at this but it’s purely speculation.