With stateside Opening Day less than a week away, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today headed into the weekend:
1. Door not closed on Guerrero deal?
Blue Jays CEO Mark Shapiro made some interesting comments yesterday as he discussed the state of talks between superstar slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the club. Shapiro indicated that he feels “optimism” about the club’s chances of keeping Guerrero in the fold and went on to plainly state he expects to sign their superstar long-term, be it in an extension or free agency. Guerrero and the Jays did not come to terms on an extension before his original deadline. At the time, he noted that while he no longer planned to continue back-and-forth negotiations, he would “not close the door” on listening to a new offer if the Jays presented one.
Guerrero doubled down on that thinking yesterday, repeating that he’s “not going to shut the door” on the Blue Jays, even as he turns his attention to the season. Little time remains to hammer out a deal before the season, but extensions signed after Opening Day are hardly unheard of. Cubs left fielder Ian Happ stands out as a notable recent example of a player who signed an extension after his final season of team control was already underway. The first long-term deals for both Xander Bogaerts (2019) and Stephen Strasburg (2016) with the Red Sox and Nationals, respectively, were also reached after Opening Day with free agency just months away. Could Guerrero become the latest and most prominent example?
2. Veterans to opt out of minor league deals:
A slew of veteran talent will have the opportunity to opt out of their minor league deals and return to free agency this weekend. Article XX(B) free agents have a uniform opt-out opportunity that comes five days before stateside Opening Day, which falls on March 27. That means a number of veterans will be able to opt out tomorrow, and still others who don’t fall under Article XX(B) may have opt out opportunities or upward mobility clauses negotiated into their contracts that trigger at a similar point in the calendar. MLBTR’s Steve Adams took a look yesterday at 36 such veterans, including notable names like Mark Canha, Jose Iglesias, Eloy Jimenez and Carlos Carrasco, who will have the opportunity to opt out of their deals this weekend if not added to their club’s 40-man roster.
3. Rule 5 decisions looming:
Teams that made Rule 5 draft selections are now facing the decision of whether to carry those players on their Opening Day roster or send them back to their previous club. Some of those decisions have already been made, with the White Sox expected to carry right-hander Shane Smith on their roster to open the season while Atlanta sent both picks they made back to the Guardians and Marlins, respectively. The Nationals and Reds have also returned their Rule 5 picks to their previous clubs already, while decisions still loom for the Marlins, Angels, Athletics, Blue Jays, Rays, Twins, Cubs, Padres, and Brewers.
This is just sad with Shapiro. The door is closed. The first step is admitting you have a problem.
Step 1: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol [Vlad’s decision]—that our lives had become unmanageable.”
Step 2: “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.”
Run – I think the odds of re-signing him are better than 50/50.
The Jays have the money, and they certainly realize attracting big name free agents is a tough sell for them.
This is a guy who has been the first and only face of the franchise since Joey Bats left in 2018.
Vlad loves playing there, and he’s hugely popular with the fans.
Don’t be surprised if the Jays pay up. Sure they know it will be an overpay, but the lost revenue from his departure is not worth it.
Respectfully, I’ll believe it when I see it. Every team has billionaire owners, but are they really willing to pay closer to market value? Feels like a pride thing that now involves public figures being mentioned. Will Cohen get involved if NYM doesn’t have the kind of season he can only dream of and realizes Nimmo might not be the best clean-up hitter? More at 11.
Mets. Less than zero chance. Mets are stacked at future DH. Nimmo, Vientos, Soto.
I repeat: less than zero %.
Run – Oh I’ve been saying for a while now, if the Jays don’t keep him I think he’s definitely going to the Mets.
The Dodgers could be bidders too, especially if Freeman has another injury-plagued season. He’s got only two years left on his contract after this season.
@FPG: Have to wonder if the Dodgers would really be in on Vladdy. Ohtani and possibly Freeman and Will Smith are going to need those DH ab’s going forward.
Jeff – I thought the same thing about Soto, but he insists the Dodgers were a finalist for him.
First base is a position you can play into your 40’s, it’s not very challenging. Vlad can do it for at least the next decade.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Ohtani’s pitching career comes to an end in the near future and he gets converted to OF.
Sounds like someone knows something about CR. Shapiro’s Step 4 Inventory list would be interesting.
RunDMC,
The comparison to alcohol addiction is in poor taste.
gbs42: Lighten up! I’m a recovered (recovering) alcoholic myself. I’ve been sober for 14 yrs & 7 months. We all have our vices to deal with. Whether it’s drugs, alcohol, gambling, lust, swearing, etc. Look at how many comments are made that people can (and do) take offense to.
MCGA.
@whyhayzee
Canada has never been great. They’ve always lived under the guidance of a superpower. They were under control by Great Britain for most of their existence and after that Canada hitched a ride on the coattail of America. Canada needs a major power to hook up with to exist.
Ok hoser.
Canada has always been great. They invented poutine, have great coastal cities like Victoria, and have some of the friendliest people I’ve met in any country.
Old York: At one time Great Britain owned 3/4 of the entire world. Since then they’ve given quite a lot of it back, including Canada, Hong Kong and several smaller nations.
1700’s joke I read.
Q: Why doesn’t the Sun set on the British Empire?
A: Because even God knows not trust the British, or they’ll rob you blind.
my – Definitely friendly people there!
Canada gave us Shania Twain, Rush, Pam Anderson, Joey Votto, Sarah Chalke, ice hockey, Dorothy Stratten, Tricia Helfer, Fergie Jenkins, Elisha Cuthbert, Alanis Morissette etc.
It’s a great country, eh.
Fever: Don’t forget HOFer Larry Walker.
Avenger – Thanks! If I listed everyone/everything, it would go on forever.
I’ve spent a lot of time in Canada, it’s a great country.
All those things being presented are people, places and things. It has nothing to do with being a controlling force in the geopolitical scene. Canada has been the sidekick for the U.S. and a colony of the British Empire. If Canada wants to be taken serious on the world stage, they need to pull up their big boy pants and start supporting themselves.
Canada is better than great, they’re awesome. They gave us Rush, Bob and Doug McKenzie and Labatts.
Yes, Neil Young, Tommy Chong, Dan Aykroyd, Mike Myers, etc. Though, I think we should work on giving back Justin Bieber.
The US is open to a Justin Bieber for Kanye West swap…
Make Canada Go American?
Yeesh, Blue Jays whiff on FA after FA over the part few years. It would be pretty embarrassing if they can’t even keep a homegrown stud from leaving.
“Pretty embarrassing Homegrown stud”..Sometimes the best deals are the ones you walk away from. I think anyone who pays an overweight, inconsistent, limited defense 1bman half a BILLION DOLLARS is the one who should be “embarrassed”.
When I think of Vlad, the first image that comes to mind is the one of Prince Fielder diving back to the base and being tagged out still a good 3 feet from the base. That was “embarrassing”.
mlb fan: Soto is also not known for his defense. Without looking up useless analytics, is Soto a better offensive player than Vlad? I know Soto is more consistent year after year.
“Is Soto a better offensive player”….Soto is EASILY 3x the hitter Vlad Jr is. The main difference between “good” and “great” is the consistency that Vlad has never shown.
Vlad Sr. was one of the best outfielders I ever saw, whereas the son is an above average, overweight hitter who lacks year to year consistency.
That lack of consistency and his ULTRA risky body type should make any smart baseball executive run for cover at the ask of half a BILLION dollars for an overweight 1b/DH.
The fat Fielder/ Vlad thing is lazy
Fielder was 5’11” and 275. He was cut down by a severe neck injury that ended his career. Not because he was fat. His contract was insured by the way.
Vlad is 6′ 245 lbs. By the end of this year he will have put up the same WAR as Prince did in his full career.
Paying Vlad to play at a high level at age 36-40 is a poor bet for sure, but you are likely to get almost as decade out of him before that. The way contracts are going, $35M will be nothing in a decade. .
Narrative in progress. The neck injury preceded the inevitable drop off the cliff.
I’d say his 162-games played/season, 100 RBI, and .300 average years in Detroit made up for 1″embarrassing” play.
Serious question….in regards to Rule 5…can the team currently with the player trade an additional asset (player or cash) to the original team that he was drafted from, and would this remove the “rule 5” tag and allow them to move the player from and to the minors?
Example..(just an example)….can the Cubs trade Keegan Thompson and cash to the Tigers for Gage Workman even though they Cubs already have him, lifting the Rule 5 tag and allowing them to send him to AAA?
You could but to what end? He’s out of options or he wouldn’t be a rule 5 guy in the 1st place. You’d have to put him on waivers to send him down same as Thompson.
Rule 5 has nothing to do with options.
I think the answer to the question is yes. If its not, they could just return him and just trade for him
I think what you would have to do is send Workman back to the Tigers and then offer the deal – once the player is sent back to his original org, that team is free to option him back down.
I’d be honest tho, I’d just take the chance on keeping my R5 guy and hoping that whomever I send down to keep him passes through without an issue. I’m not fully knowledgeable on the Cubs’ 40 man situation, but I’d be willing to bet the guy you’d risk losing at the end of ST would be less valuable than Keegan Thompson.
Cubs 40 man sucks or they wouldn’t have to release Thompson. They have tons of guys they can’t send down and would have to release when they need replacements. Which is why through careful planning Hoyer has boxed the Cubs into a big hole to start the season. They better hope they don’t have to play a bunch of extra inning games and rainout make ups early. Or later for that matter. Or it’s gonna get ugly.
Two steps. 1. Return the player. 2. Make the trade.
Two steps. 1. Return the player. 2. Detroit decides they don’t want to trade him because they need help at 3B also. 3. Failure for Hoyer again. 4. Just keep him. Or 4 steps.
Thank you all for the help trying to get some clarity.
And….my sincerest apology….it was not meant to be a tee up for UncleMike for a 12 post lesson to let him explain to Jed how to build a bullpen (have mercy, keegan got dfa) in the likely event that they get a handful of make up doubleheader in the dome in AZ and in San Diego and LA these first few weeks.
I really just wanted to know if there is a baseball legal to keep Workman without having to have him on the 26 man major league roster all season.
Cubby—that’s actually funny (and true).
I’m pretty certain that the Cubs can “trade” for him and then he will able to be moved up and down and get three major league option seasons until he has five years in the majors. Perhaps one the writers knows and can confirm or correct this thought.
Workman has to be given the opportunity to be placed on waivers to the other 29 clubs first – i.e. still remaining on a 26 man if claimed. If he clears, then a trade can be worked out.
I think before Workman can be re-acquired by the Tigers that he has to go through waivers. That way, if he is claimed, he will still have his Rule 5 eligibility and remain on a major league roster. If all the other teams pass on him, then this is when a transaction with the Tigers can be made. Then the choices are: Workman being stashed on the Toledo Mud Hens for $50,000, letting the Cubs keep him in Iowa, or working out a trade.
The Cubs decision is simple enough. Workman has done way more than enough to warrant his spot. It should be a simple decision but then we have a simpleton making the decisions.
Workman is in for sure. If Hoerner doesn’t go on the IL, Brujan will be DFA’d.
The Cubs have been shifty about Hoerner, as they usually are about injured players.
I think we’ll find out about Nico in the next few days. There are a few games left to see whether he can throw or not.
And they’ll have to DFA Tyson Miller when they select Brad Keller, too.
Unclemike: I believe Workman was on the Japan roster so it looks like he’s set.
That was a 31 man squad. It has to be reset to 26 and there is Nico to consider too.
Even if Workman proves to be even moderately better than Wisdom with the bat, He’s proven to me that he is 5 times better than him with his glove and can play just about any position except C. It shouldn’t even be a remote thought to send him back. But with you know who running the Cubs……..Stay tuned.
In other words, big overpay coming Vlad, Jr.’s way.
“Big overpay”..Vlad’s negotiating team got an agreement from Toronto management to be paid by the pound.
Thusly, a “big overpay” is possibly coming his way. The stock price of cheeseburgers, McDonald’s and Philly steaks has completely SURGED on this news.
Where’s the LAME button?
It’s called Mute. I need it, in order to survive the sheer stupidity of the Incels who populate the comments section.
While true, I mute virtually no one. It’s good to keep track of the stupidity level currently infecting the planet. Unfortunately, technology developments over the past 200 years have drastically limited natural selection’s effectiveness.
“Infecting the planet”…The sheer hatred, vitriol and animus for humanity I hear from the leftys is quite disturbing. You seem like some very unhappy people.
Oh the irony. That’s rich considering your original comment. Unless you were joking…so in that case, your material needs some work.
Jays- They used to have a down finger button. But wokeness prevailed and it hurt peoples feelings so they had to remove it in favor of mute. So people wouldn’t know. LOL
It’s true. I hate dumb people because it’s something most chose to be. Education exists and for most on this page, it was available for free, at least up until a certain point. But on the contrary, I’m quite happy. Especially when I don’t have to deal with stupidity.
Teamspirit: Awfully big of him to want to “settle” for a mere $500M.
I’ll also double down from yesterday’s comment about it and say, make Cohen and Stearns cry, Shapiro. Lock this mothrafudger up and win back some prestige for your club.
I think Vladdy stays and Toronto works out an extension. I think Atkins and Shapiro get it done, with or without defferals.
I just think it’ll better for baseball overall for the Jays to keep their star.
Athletics Rule 5 pick (Murdock) has already made the team.