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MLB Reconsidering “Bubble” Approach To 2020 Season

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As if there weren’t enough moving parts already, Major League Baseball is now re-thinking its fundamental approach to putting on the coronavirus-altered 2020 campaign, Jared Diamond and Ben Cohen of the Wall Street Journal reports.

MLB had previously contemplated naming a host city that would house all of the season’s games. There were various permutations of the concept, some involving multiple cities. At base, the idea was to limit travel and keep players (and other key personnel) from interacting with the broader world.

While the league had moved on from such an approach, it now seems the creation of a “bubble” is back on the table. The worrisome rise in cases in several states has surely had an impact. Today’s news regarding the spread of COVID-19 at some organization’s facilities may well have influenced the thinking as well. Indeed, Diamond says eleven players on 40-man rosters have tested positive for infection over the past two weeks.

It’s rather discouraging to see this possibility back on the table at this juncture. Even as MLB and the MLB Players Association seek to bridge their final disagreements on the economics of the season, the basic logistics of safely holding a campaign seemingly remain in doubt.

Rays Sign Comp A Selection Alika Williams

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The Rays have announced a deal with their second-highest draft choice, Arizona State shortstop Alika Williams. He’ll earn a $1.85MM bonus, per Robert Murray (via Twitter).

Williams was taken 37th overall, with the Rays’ competitive balance round A selection. That pick came with a $2.00MM pool allocation, meaning the organization has kept a bit of extra draft capital to apply to other chosen players — in particular, first rounder Nick Bitsko, whom the Rays will try to lure away from a commitment to U.Va.

Most draft observers expected Williams to be taken in this range. Baseball America had the loftiest grade on him, placing him 31st among this year’s draft-eligible prospects.

Williams is viewed as a quality glove man at one of the game’s premium defensive positions. While he’s not necessarily expected to become an explosive offensive performer, Williams looks to have a strong hit tool with at least some remaining potential to build into some power.

Blue Jays Sign 2nd & 3rd-Round Picks

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The Blue Jays have made some important strides in sealing up their draft class. As Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link) and Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter link) report, the Toronto organization has agreed to terms on slightly over-slot bonuses with its second and third-round choices.

Both of the newest Jays are right-handed college hurlers. The former, CJ Van Eyk of Florida State, gets a $1.8MM bonus. The latter, Jacksonville’s Trent Palmer, went for $850K.

While the Blue Jays had to go a bit over the respective pick allocations to get these deals done, it seems fair to assume the club won’t have any trouble finding the extra availability. The club saved quite a bit with its fifth and final selection, Zach Britton, and still has some of that available to use as needed to structure deals with top choice Austin Martin and fourth rounder Nick Frasso.

Van Eyk was viewed by most major pundits as a top-fifty overall prospect. Keith Law of The Athletic was especially bullish, ranking him 23rd among all draft-eligible players. While it sounds as if there are still some things to iron out, the FSU standout is said to possess three promising pitches and a real chance at carving out a career in a MLB rotation.

It so happens that Law was also the chief proponent of Palmer. All other major rankings graded him in the 100+ range, but Law placed him 76th. The enthusiasm is dampened by Palmer’s lack of a projectable frame and occasionally wavering command. Even if he ends up in a relief role, it sounds as if Palmer will warrant a long look as a starter on the Jays’ farm.

Luke Weaver Hires Boras Corporation

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Diamondbacks righty Luke Weaver has hired the Boras Corporation to represent him, per Robert Murray (via Twitter). This agency relationship is now reflected in MLBTR’s Agency Database.

Weaver, 26, is slated to reach arbitration eligibility in advance of the 2021 season. His earning power will depend upon not only what he’s able to accomplish on the field in a truncated 2020 campaign, but how the arbitration system ultimately adapts to a short season and uncertain economic situation.

Last year, Weaver’s first in Arizona, was both a rousing success and yet another reminder of the fragility of pitchers. He worked to a 2.94 ERA with 9.7 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 in a dozen outings, but health issues put him on the injured list for the rest of the campaign.

Fortunately, Weaver’s elbow and forearm maladies responded well to rest and treatment. He was able to get back to the mound very late in the season. Though he wasn’t at full speed in spring camp, Weaver had made two outings when the coronavirus halted things.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see what Weaver is able to do when the 2020 campaign finally gets underway. He could certainly be an appealing extension target for the D-Backs, though his new reps are better known for taking players to free agency than negotiating extensions.

Pirates Have Minimal Post-2020 Payroll Commitments

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2020 salary terms still need to be hammered out. But what about what’s owed to players beyond that point? The near-term economic picture remains questionable at best. That’ll make teams all the more cautious with guaranteed future salaries.

Every organization has some amount of future cash committed to players, all of it done before the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe. There are several different ways to look at salaries; for instance, for purposes of calculating the luxury tax, the average annual value is the touchstone, with up-front bonuses spread over the life of the deal. For this exercise, we’ll focus on actual cash outlays that still have yet to be paid.

We’ll run through every team, with a big assist from the Cot’s Baseball Contracts database. Prior entries can be found here. Next up is the Pirates:

*Includes buyouts on club options over Chris Archer and Gregory Polanco

*Does not include remaining contractual obligations to Felipe Vazquez (on restricted list and facing multiple criminal charges in multiple jurisdictions)

(click to expand/view detail list)

Braves Agree To Terms With First-Rounder Jared Shuster

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The Braves have agreed to a a $2,197,500 bonus with first-round selection Jared Shuster, according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis (Twitter link). The Wake Forest southpaw was selected 25th overall, which came with a $2,740,300 pool allocation.

The Atlanta organization has also locked up its third-round choice, Jesse Franklin, Callis tweets. The Michigan outfielder also came in underslot, with a $497,500 bonus that’s six figures shy of the $599,100 price point.

These savings will likely be put to use on the Braves’ lone remaining unsigned draftee. Fifth-rounder Bryce Elder will presumably absorb most or all of the team’s available bonus resources.

Shuster was a rising prospect when the college season was suspended, with his velocity and command both trending in the right direction. He drew an array of ranking placements from draft pundits. Keith Law of The Athletic (subscription link) ultimately gave him the highest grade, putting him in the 26th spot on the board.

As for Franklin, he didn’t get a chance to put his best foot forward in 2020 owing to an injury. He had some ups and downs over his time in college. The Braves obviously believe in the toolset and will trust that Franklin can find his stride in the professional ranks.

Manfred: “This Needs To Be Over”

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4:34pm: Manfred evidently acknowledges that, as Clark had stated, he invited a new union counterproposal. (Via Jon Heyman of MLB Network, on Twitter.) But Manfred says he advised Clark that seventy games would be an “impossible” figure to fit in without extending play.

The league is continuing to cite concerns with extending play into November — a legitimate concern, to be sure, given the expectations of public health officials that the coronavirus threat could ramp up yet more this fall and winter. Curiously, though, Manfred indicates that doubleheaders are also deemed specifically problematic by MLB’s health advisors. Heyman explains that the concern is with “players spending too much time together,” though it’s not entirely clear why two games in one day would be different than a string of games on separate days.

4:17pm: MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has responded to the public statements of union chief Tony Clark, as Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports (links to Twitter).

“This needs to be over,” said Manfred. That statement refers, presumably, to the all-too-public spat between the league and player’s union regarding the terms by which the 2020 season will occur.

Beyond the obvious harm to the reputations of all involved, the protracted turmoil is running headlong into the realities of the calendar. If there’s any hope of launching a season of the length under discussion — the league proposed sixty, the union seventy — then a deal must be sewn up soon.

Clark insisted in his most recent statement that he did not reach an agreement with Manfred during their recent sit-down. Manfred offered his own take, though he did so in a rather circumspect manner.

Per Manfred: “I don’t know what Tony and I were doing there for several hours going back and forth and making trades if we weren’t reaching an agreement.”

It’s yet another bizarre dispute between bargaining parties that obviously have a strained relationship but no alternative partner. They are still arguing over the interpretation of the last deal they formally agreed to.

In this case, nobody claims that pen went to paper. Manfred himself stated just yesterday that the meetings had resulted in a “framework” that “could form the basis of an agreement.” But the sides evidently now disagree as to whether and to what extent they reached a handshake deal during their in-person talks.

Ultimately, says Manfred, both sides “want to play” and “want to reach an agreement.” In a statement that both contains a rather clear threat and undermines any claim that there’s already a binding deal in place, Manfred concluded: “We’re doing everything necessary to find a way to play, hopefully by agreement.”

Clark Issues New Statement On 2020 Season Negotiations

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MLBPA chief Tony Clark has issued another statement through the union’s official Twitter feed. In it, he makes clear the union’s position regarding the present state of negotiations regarding the attempted launch of a 2020 season.

Clark characterizes his recent meeting with commissioner Rob Manfred as follows:

“In my discussions with Rob in Arizona we explored a potential pro rata framework, but I made clear repeatedly in that meeting and after it that there were a number of significant issues with what he proposed, in particular the number of games. It is unequivocally false to suggest that any tentative agreement or other agreement was reached in that meeting.”

The union did make clear yesterday, as reports emerged about a potential breakthrough, that it had not reached any formal agreement or even basic understanding. Today’s statement makes clear that the union believed the number of games for the 2020 season was a specific point of ongoing disagreement.

As for recent indications that ownership was upset that the union had issued a counterproposal, Clark says it isn’t just his side’s decision. Clark claims:

“In fact, in conversations within the last 24 hours, Rob invited a counterproposal for more games that he would take back to the owners. We submitted that counterproposal today.”

This public back and forth is obviously rather tiresome to follow. But the sides are obviously jockeying not only for immediate bargaining leverage, but also for potential position in the event that talks collapse and the dispute ends up in some kind of legal proceeding.

League & Union Reportedly Making Progress On Deal For 2020 Season

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10:09pm: The players would have $33MM of the $170MM advance they received from their March agreement with the owners forgiven, per Heyman. Teams, meanwhile, would be able to sell advertisements on uniforms in 2020 and ’21 in order to increase their revenues, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

6:16pm: The proposal adds the designated hitter position to the NL in 2020 and ’21, Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets.

2:14pm: The postseason would expand to sixteen teams, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter).

With multiple reporters floating the concept, it sounds as if the expectation is for the union to press for some modest increase in the number of games beyond the sixty proposed. The MLBPA has made clear it hasn’t yet agreed to anything.

2:07pm: The proposal is indeed for sixty games with full pro rata pay, Buster Olney of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. The season would begin on July 19th.

2:00pm: The proposal is for at least sixty games, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette tweets.

1:34pm: MLB has sent the union a new formal proposal, per Evan Drellich of The Athletic (via Twitter). At the moment, the sides haven’t yet reached an agreement in principle, let alone a full and binding accord. But it certainly seems as if there’s momentum towards a common goal of getting back to work.

Per Heyman (Twitter link), several major pillars of the potential agreement are moving in place, at least conceptually: The players will receive pro-rated pay, the league will get an expanded postseason, and players will waive any potential grievance to seek additional compensation.

1:25pm: In a major potential breakthrough, in-person league and union negotiations appear to be bearing fruit. The sides are “closing in” on a deal to resume play in 2020, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).

If you’ve followed even some of the long-running saga over the pandemic-interrupted season, this comes as quite welcome news. While the vitriol had ramped up in recent weeks, it seems the sides pulled back from the brink of a potentially disastrous season cancellation.

You’ll be forgiven for wondering whether all the posturing truly should’ve been necessary, particularly given that it occurred against a backdrop of much more important events. But there’s still time for MLB and the MLB Players Association to put much of the pain in the background if they can come together and stage a compelling 2020 campaign.

Just over three months have passed since Spring Training went on ice as COVID-19 swept into the United States. The sides reached agreement not long thereafter on a preliminary agreement to resume play. But they were soon arguing over whether that deal’s pay provisions — pro rata, game for game salary for players — applied even if teams were not able to collect a gate.

Manfred: “Jointly Developed Framework” On 2020 Season Agreement

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MLB commissioner Rob Manfred has issued a statement regarding recent developments in negotiations between the league and player’s union. He says that he and union chief Tony Clark worked out “a jointly developed framework that we agreed could form the basis of an agreement.”

Manfred’s tone is certainly a bit different from that of the MLBPA, which recently issued a short statement making clear there’s no deal yet. That could represent an indication that the league wishes to seize some positive momentum while the players prefer to avoid a perception of a fait accompli. Or, perhaps, both sides will henceforth take a more optimistic tone and begin working in earnest towards a resumption of play.

It’s all still reading tea leaves at this point, though it surely sounds as if real progress has been made. If nothing else, it would be an even greater embarrassment for all involved if negotiations ultimately break down.

Manfred says he summarized his broad agreement with Clark and sent it in writing to the players’ side today. There’s no indication that the sides see eye to eye on all the key details, but it appears the players will get pro rata pay for the regular season while the owners will get an expanded, 16-team postseason.

[RELATED: Creative Playoff Expansion Can Get A Deal Done]

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