MLB Further Delays Opening Day In Accordance With CDC Recommendations
Following last night’s recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Major League Baseball has issued a new statement confirming that Opening Day will be delayed considerably later than the original April 9 date:
Today Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. conducted a conference call with the 30 Clubs of Major League Baseball. Following last night’s newly updated recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) restricting events of more than 50 people for the next eight weeks, the opening of the 2020 regular season will be pushed back in accordance with that guidance.
MLB will keep fans updated on decisions regarding plans for the 2020 schedule in the days and weeks ahead. The Clubs remain committed to playing as many games as possible when the season begins. We will continue to monitor ongoing events and undertake the precautions and best practices recommended by public health experts, and urge all baseball fans to follow suit. MLB extends its best wishes to all the individuals and communities who have been impacted by the coronavirus.
Eight weeks from the CDC’s new guidelines last night will push things back until May 10, although there’s no indication that that’s a firm target date. Players will surely need a second installment of Spring Training to ramp back up for game readiness, and the restrictions on the size of gatherings could (and likely will) apply to exhibition contests as well. Even that May 10 date could be optimistic insofar as resuming exhibition play; USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweeted earlier today that multiple general managers are bracing for a delay that could extend into July.
As for the “playing as many games as possible when the season begins,” that remains a challenge in its own right. Manfred said on the aforementioned conference call that owners are still hoping to play a full schedule, although characterizing that as “difficult to envision” would be putting things mildly. Even a Memorial Day start time feels somewhat optimistic at present, and that would push the standard six-month season calendar back into December. Some stadiums, of course, are domed or have retractable roofs, which could aid in playing games late in the year when weather conditions are a concern, but there are myriad logistical challenges that would go along with playing games in neutral settings as necessary late in the year.
Some have suggested vastly increasing the number of doubleheaders played throughout the season, but one can imagine substantial pushback from the MLBPA on that front. The season already has very few off-days (relative to the number of games played), and increasing workload in an effort to reduce the overall length of schedule represents a heightened injury risk.
As has been the case since the the initial two-week delay was announced last week, the unknowns overwhelmingly outweigh the certainties. There’s no immediate means of accurately forecasting the rate at which the coronoavirus will spread — at least not in such a long-term scope. The league and union will surely take the downtime to discuss matters such as scheduling, player salaries, service time, postponing the draft and All-Star Game, pushing back the trade deadline and countless other situations necessitated by the unprecedented slate of delays. As for when Opening Day will actually take place, there’s just no clear way of accurately projecting that at this time.
Manfred: “We Are Not Going To Start On April 9”
12:55pm: The non-roster invitees who are covered by the union’s weekly allowance are those who are Article XX(B) free agents and finished the 2019 season on a Major League roster or injured list, MLBTR has learned. That effectively covers players with six-plus years of MLB service who closed out last season on a roster and settled for minor league deals this winter.
12:05pm: Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch tweets that Manfred confirmed the obvious during the conference call, plainly stating: “We are not going to start on April 9.”
Unsurprisingly, Goold notes that owners are still hoping to enjoy the revenue of a full season, although it’s not at all clear how they believe that to be possible. That seems like more of a pipe dream, given the increasingly broad slate of governmental regulations and restrictions being put into place the curb the spread of the pandemic. Beyond that, the logistical and meteorological challenges that would arise with a season beginning as late as June or July range from formidable to insurmountable.
Digression aside, Goold adds that Manfred has not formally closed training camps but has sought to limit informal workouts. The commissioner wouldn’t speculate as to when the season could actually begin.
11:53am: Developments have been quick to materialize since Major League Baseball halted Spring Training camps due to the Coronavirus pandemic. More major news could be on the horizon, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that commissioner Rob Manfred is conducting a conference call today wherein he plans to advise all clubs to shut down their spring facilities entirely. Nightengale adds that multiple GMs believe the shutdown could now extend into the month of July, although there’s no formal word on anything beyond the current (very conservative) April 9 date that was announced last Thursday.
Additionally, the MLBPA sent a memo to agents this morning covering a number of issues that have grown into points of concern in the wake of the shutdown (all Twitter links via The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal). Among the pressing issues for veteran players who are in camp on non-roster deals was one of what happens to their mid-spring opt-out dates. A player with a March 19 opt-out date, for instance, is left in an uncomfortable limbo.
Such clauses are commonplace among veterans; among the dozens of recognizable names with such provisions are: Francisco Liriano, Neil Walker, Wade LeBlanc, Logan Forsythe, Greg Holland, Trevor Rosenthal, Jake Petricka and Anthony Swarzak (among countless others). The dates of those clauses range from March 16 up through Opening Day. The Blue Jays already selected Joe Panik to the 40-man roster to avoid complications.
To that end, the league and union are discussing a transaction freeze that could be implemented in the “very near future” and would run through the reopening of training camps, per Rosenthal. Certainly, there’ll need to be some renegotiation of just where those players’ opt-outs will fall on the calendar of a so-called “second Spring Training” later in the year, but the worry over what to do for the time being would be mitigated. Those players would simply remain the property of the clubs with which they signed this winter, rather than having to decide whether to exercise an opt-out clause at a time when the team can’t be sure of a non-roster player’s chances of making the club (and a time when other clubs may be wary of signing anyone new).
The union is also offering to cover some spring living allowances for players, per Rosenthal, allotting up to $1100 per week to 40-man roster players — and “certain non-roster invitees,” though the nature of the exemption isn’t clear — who choose to return either to their homes or to their team’s home city. Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link), the memo stipulates: “This allowance will remain in effect until April 9th or such a time that the Clubs begin providing similar allowances.”
Sherman further adds (Twitter thread) that the union has informed agents that it is raising complaints with the league regarding teams that have not complied with MLB’s March 14 memo regarding the availability of spring facilities. That memo stipulated that players on a 40-man roster “must be permitted to remain at the Club’s Spring Training site, and are eligible to receive their usual Spring Training allowances.” Today’s union memo indicates that various player testimonies and public reports have made clear this is not happening universally.
Of course, further questions abound. The two sides are still discussing scheduling, player salaries, Major League service time, amateur signings and a host of other topics, per Rosenthal. Matters that pertain to the June draft, incentive-laden contracts and the July 31 trade deadline are surely all being discussed and will be ongoing as both parties seek to navigate their way through an unprecedented series of challenges in today’s game.
Blue Jays Select Joe Panik
The Blue Jays have selected the contract of veteran infielder Joe Panik, as first indicated on the league transactions log at MLB.com. Right-hander Yennsy Diaz was placed on the 60-day injured list in a corresponding roster move. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith tweets that the move is indeed official, adding that Panik had an opt-out clause in his contract, which necessitated the transaction. It’s also likely that with the league instructing teams to send non-40-man players home (if they’re safely able to do so), the Jays wanted to act quickly to ensure that Panik is able to remain with the group.
The 29-year-old Panik was the Giants’ first-round pick back in 2011 and ascended to the role of everyday second baseman in San Francisco by 2014. He held that role late into the 2019 season, but the Giants, amid a rebuild phase and hoping to evaluate a younger wave of long-term pieces, designated Panik for assignment in early August and released him shortly thereafter. He quickly signed on with the Mets and finished out the year in a part-time role there.
This past season marked a second consecutive rough year at the plate for Panik, who slashed a combined .249/.311/.334 in 883 plate appearance from 2018-19. That’s a far cry from the quality .282/.345/.408 (105 OPS+) that Panik posted from 2014-17 — a stretch wherein he made the 2015 All-Star Game and won a Gold Glove in 2016. Injuries have surely played a part in his downturn. Since 2015, a stress fracture in his back, multiple bouts of concussion symptoms, thumb surgery and a groin strain have all sent Panik to the injured list. He avoided the IL in 2019, although the litany of injuries certainly could have had a lingering effect on his play.
Prior to the league’s coronavirus shutdown, though, Panik looked quite comfortable in camp with the Jays. It’s only 10 games and 26 plate appearances, but Panik went 8-for-21 with a pair of homers, a triple and more walks (four) than strikeouts (three). It’s difficult to glean too much from that limited showing, but the Blue Jays were impressed enough to add Panik to the roster, thus locking in a $2.85MM base salary for the veteran infielder.
A bench role may be likelier for Panik than a starting role, as Cavan Biggio‘s youth and his .364 on-base percentage in 100 big league games last season will probably get him the nod in that regard. Biggio hit .234/.364/.429 with 16 home runs, 17 doubles, a pair of triples and 14 steals in 430 plate appearances as a rookie, and the Blue Jays will surely want to give him a large role to see if he can solidify himself as the primary second baseman for years to come. But Panik is plenty capable of playing both up-the-middle positions — he was drafted as a shortstop but moved to second base due to Brandon Crawford‘s presence in San Francisco — and could conceivably be asked to be a backup option at third base as well.
As for the 23-year-old Diaz, it’s not yet clear what his actual injury is. The Jays haven’t made a formal announcement of the roster move yet, however, so details will surely emerge when they publicly acknowledge the transaction. Diaz ranks 26th among Jays farmhands at FanGraphs and 29th at MLB.com. He spent the 2019 season with their Double-A club, pitching to a 3.74 ERA with 7.2 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 0.75 HR/9 and a 40 percent ground-ball rate before appearing in a single big league game last September.
Brett Cecil Has “Fairly Significant” Hamstring Strain
Cardinals lefty Brett Cecil suffered a “fairly significant” strain of his right hamstring while covering first base in the Cardinals’ final game before the spring shutdown, manager Mike Shildt told reporters over the weekend (link via Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch). There’s no concrete timeline on his rehab — as is the case with baseball in general — but he’ll require “multiple weeks of treatment to get him back to close to being into baseball activities,” per Shildt.
Shildt did note that Cecil avoided a full tear of the hamstring, although any strain, by definition, involves some partial tearing. He was able to walk off the field under his own power at the time of the injury (video link), although the 33-year-old was in obvious pain and walking with a limp.
Cecil didn’t pitch at all in 2019 after undergoing surgery to alleviate carpal tunnel syndrome in his pitching hand. A year prior, shoulder troubles wiped out roughly six weeks of his season. The lefty actually pitched well upon returning from the injured list in mid-May but tanked in the second half of that season. Cecil pitched 9 2/3 innings after the 2018 All-Star break and surrendered a staggering 16 runs on 17 hits and 10 walks with just seven strikeouts.
Cecil is now 75 percent of the way through a four-year, $30.5MM contract he signed with St. Louis prior to the 2017 campaign, and to date, he’s managed only 100 innings of 4.86 ERA ball with just 7.7 K/9 against 3.7 BB/9. Cecil struck out 31.6 percent of the hitters he faced over his final three seasons with the Blue Jays but has seen that number plummet to 19.6 percent. His fastball, which averaged 92.2 mph in 2016, averaged just 89.8 mph during the aforementioned 2018 season.
Suffice it to say, that’s not really what the Cards hoped when issuing the largest contract to which they’ve ever signed a reliever. Depending on the length of the shutdown with which the league is faced, it’s possible that Cecil could be healthy by the time a “second Spring Training” rolls around. Shildt’s rather vague wording and the broader uncertainty surrounding the timeline to Opening Day make that impossible to ascertain, however.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of Friday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Latest On Extension Talks Between Phillies, J.T. Realmuto
Extension talks between the Phillies and star catcher J.T. Realmuto have been slow to progress. The 28-year-old (29 next week) lost an arbitration hearing against the Phils last month that set his 2020 salary at $10MM, although Realmuto made clear early in the arb process that he wouldn’t harbor any hard feelings regardless of the eventual hearing’s outcome.
If there’s a reason that talks have moved slowly, then, it could simply be the two-time All-Star’s asking price; MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported on the latest edition of the Big Time Baseball podcast that Realmuto’s camp has been seeking to top Buster Posey in terms of overall guarantee, adding that Paul Goldschmidt‘s extension with the Cardinals has been another talking point (audio link, with Realmuto talk beginning around the 44-minute mark).
There’s a fair bit to unpack there. Back in 2013, Posey signed an eight-year, $159MM extension that was tacked onto his existing one-year, $8MM deal with which he’d avoided arbitration. Somewhat notably, that deal was negotiated by CAA’s Jeff Berry, who also represents Realmuto. Last spring, Goldschmidt signed a five-year, $130MM contract extension, coming out to $26MM per year. A six-year deal at Goldschmidt’s annual rate would put Realmuto just shy of Posey’s guarantee. Topping Goldschmidt’s annual rate by any more than $500K over a six-year term would take Realmuto past Posey in terms of overall guarantee.
Of course, Realmuto is at a different point in his career than either Posey or Goldschmidt was upon inking those respective deals. Posey was a relatively fresh-faced 26-year-old who was fresh off a National League batting title and MVP the prior year in 2012. He’d only just reached arbitration as a Super Two player, and the extension bought out his remaining three years of arb in addition to at least five free-agent years (plus an option for a sixth). Goldschmidt was, like Realmuto, on the cusp of free agency last spring when he signed his contract. However, he was headed into his age-31 season, while Realmuto will play the upcoming campaign at 29.
Realmuto is both closer to free agency than Posey was and younger than Goldschmidt was, so there’s some parallels there. Likening him to Goldschmidt is difficult, though, given that they play different positions and possess different skill sets. Realmuto derives a good bit of value from his elite defense behind the plate, and while he’s an above-average hitter, he’s never been close to the hitter that Goldschmidt has been in his peak seasons. From 2012-18, Goldschmidt posted a combined 146 wRC+ and OPS+. Realmuto, conversely, has a career-high of 126 in both metrics and has only reached that level once (2018).
Over the past four seasons, Realmuto has batted a combined .283/.335/.464 (114 OPS+, 113 wRC+). He also ranks among the game’s premier backstops in terms of pitch-framing, caught-stealing rate and blocking pitches in the dirt. In that time, Realmuto has been worth 15.1 rWAR and 17.1 fWAR.
Historically speaking, it’s tough to find an apt comparison for Realmuto. Russell Martin (five years, $82.5MM) and Brian McCann (five years, $80MM) signed similar contracts in free agency, but both are more than a half-decade old. It’s also arguable that Realmuto is better than both were when they signed. Certainly, he’s younger than Martin was when he signed in advance of his age-32 season. But Realmuto is also decidedly older than either Posey or Joe Mauer was when signing the two largest deals ever inked by a catcher. (Mauer received an eight-year, $184MM contract from the Twins in 2010.) Realmuto seems to lie somewhere between the Martin/McCann and Mauer/Posey levels.
As MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes observed in the first installment of our 2020-21 Free Agent Power Rankings, Realmuto could very well become the first catcher to sign a $100MM+ deal in free agency if he’s unable to agree to terms on a deal. Whether he gets to that point will depend on whether he and the Phillies can find a middle ground and hammer out a new deal that’ll extend beyond his final season of club control.
Philadelphia’s comfort level in negotiations isn’t known, but a lack of progress would seem to indicate that the two sides aren’t that close at the moment. The Phils could certainly fit even a Goldschmidt-level annual value into the books long-term, though. They’re at $204MM in luxury obligations for the 2020 season but will see that number plummet to just under $119MM in 2021, when the luxury tax threshold rises to $210MM. An extension for Realmuto would largely be offset by the departure of Jake Arrieta, whose three-year, $75MM contract expires at season’s end.
Offseason In Review: Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates traded their best player (again) and appeared more intent on cutting payroll than giving the appearance of trying.
Guaranteed Contracts
- Jarrod Dyson, OF: One year, $2MM
- Guillermo Heredia: One year, $1MM
- Luke Maile, C: One year, $900K
- JT Riddle, SS/OF: One year, $850K
- Total Spend: $4.75MM
Option Decisions
- Exercised $11.5MM club option over OF Starling Marte
- Exercised $9MM club option over RHP Chris Archer
Trades and Claims
- Traded OF Starling Marte to the Diamondbacks in exchange for minor league SS Liover Peguero and minor league RHP Brennan Malone
- Traded RHP Dario Agrazal to the Tigers in exchange for cash
- Traded RHP Parker Markel to the Angels in exchange for cash
- Claimed LHP Sam Howard off waivers from Rockies
Notable Minor League Signings
- Derek Holland, Robbie Erlin, John Ryan Murphy, Andrew Susac, Charlie Tilson, Socrates Brito, Tom Koehler (since retired), Jake Elmore, Hector Noesi, Phillip Evans
Notable Losses
- Starling Marte, Melky Cabrera, Elias Diaz (non-tendered), Francisco Liriano, Dario Agrazal, Parker Markel, Steven Baron, Corban Joseph
The Pirates offseason kicked off in bizarre fashion, with former manager Clint Hurdle telling The Athletic’s Stephen J. Nesbitt that he’d received assurances that he’d be retained into 2020 — only to be fired days later. General manager Neal Huntington headed up the search for a new skipper … until owner Bob Nutting canned Huntington nearly a month into that effort. A month after the regular season ended, the Pirates had no manager or general manager and weren’t close to making a hire for either vacancy. They were represented by interim GM Kevan Graves at the annual General Managers Meetings and, shortly after that event’s conclusion, hired former Red Sox GM Ben Cherington to replace Huntington. Another 10 days later, Pittsburgh hired Twins bench coach Derek Shelton as their new manager.
By the time the Pirates had both their GM and manager in place, the likes of Yasmani Grandal, Travis d’Arnaud, Chris Martin, Will Smith and Kyle Gibson had each already signed as free agents. The Brewers had traded Chase Anderson to the Blue Jays and orchestrated an interesting four-player swap with the Padres. But getting a late start to the offseason ultimately didn’t impact the Bucs much, because as the winter wore on, it became clear that the team wasn’t planning on making any notable additions.
Rather, the largest move the Pirates made this winter was shipping their best player, Starling Marte, to the Diamondbacks in a trade that trimmed payroll and added some high-upside but very young talent to the farm ranks. Liover Peguero and Brennan Malone didn’t shoot to the top of the club’s prospect rankings but are both ranked inside the Pirates’ top 10 farmhands by FanGraphs, Baseball America, MLB.com and The Athletic.
Some fans felt that the Pirates didn’t get enough in return, but the market for Marte was a bit quieter than anticipated. The Phillies never appeared to get seriously involved — perhaps due to sitting narrowly south of the luxury tax threshold. The Indians had interest but were clearly more interested in cutting payroll than adding MLB talent themselves. The Padres were tied to Marte but more focused on Mookie Betts. Ultimately, the Bucs got a pair of quality prospects that wouldn’t have been guaranteed had they held Marte in hopes of extracting a greater return this summer.
Immediately after trading Marte, Cherington made clear that he hoped to bring in a serviceable replacement (of course, at a lower cost than Marte’s $11.5MM salary). The market for center fielders was thin to begin the winter and largely picked over by that point, but Pittsburgh wound up adding a trio of center-field-capable options at minimal costs. Jarrod Dyson ($2MM), Guillermo Heredia ($1MM) and JT Riddle ($850K) were all signed to one-year, Major League deals. Heredia projects as the club’s fourth outfielder and can be controlled via arbitration through the 2022 season if the organization sees fit. Riddle should be a backup infielder/outfielder and is controllable through 2023.
Dyson is a straight one-year pickup — a blistering runner with high-end glovework and, frankly, a pretty tidy bargain for the Pirates at a $2MM price point. He’s a nice value addition, but it’s worth noting that in going with Dyson, the Bucs apparently deemed even Kevin Pillar‘s $4.25MM price tag with the Red Sox to be too expensive. It’s not as if Pillar spurned the Pirates to sign with a surefire contender, so either the front office believes Dyson to be a better asset — a defensible take but not a decisive fact by any means — or ownership simply didn’t want to spend the extra dollars to bring in the younger Pillar.
Luke Maile is the only other player who inked a big league deal with the Bucs this winter, although he still has minor league options remaining and, as such, inked a split contract. He’s the presumptive backup to 30-year-old Jacob Stallings, who’ll be getting his first opportunity as a starting catcher in 2020. Light-hitting framing savant John Ryan Murphy was brought in on a minor league deal as a depth piece, but the catching corps in Pittsburgh is a collectively underwhelming unit, to put things mildly.
It’s a different story around the infield, for the most part. Josh Bell will look to shake off a second-half slump and build on a generally strong 2019 campaign, while Adam Frazier has settled in as a quality, underrated second baseman. Kevin Newman showed off plenty of upside in a strong rookie effort last year, and the Bucs have reportedly initiated talks on an extension with one of the game’s top third base prospects (and top overall prospects): Ke’Bryan Hayes. If Hayes agrees to a deal, he’d likely open the year in the Majors … whenever, exactly, Opening Day actually happens. In the outfield, sophomore Bryan Reynolds and longtime Bucco Gregory Polanco will flank the newly signed Dyson.
Turning to the pitching staff, the Pirates have had their fair share of misfortune recently. Jameson Taillon had Tommy John surgery last summer, and righty Chad Kuhl is still working back from his own Tommy John procedure at the end of the 2018 season. Lefty Steven Brault has been slowed by shoulder woes this spring. Closer Felipe Vazquez, of course, is out of the picture entirely after being arrested on a series of abhorrent statutory sexual assault charges.
The Pirates did little to bolster their waning pitching depth this winter, however, bringing Derek Holland, Robbie Erlin and Hector Noesi aboard on minor league deals but eschewing any big league additions. Holland appears the likely fifth starter behind Chris Archer, Joe Musgrove, Trevor Williams and Mitch Keller.
Perhaps even more glaringly, Pittsburgh opted not to add a single reliever to the big league staff — with the possible exception of claiming lefty Sam Howard from the Rockies. Keone Kela should close down games in 2020, but he’s the only reliever with any real track record in the Pirates’ relief corps. There’s enough flotsam on the 40-man roster that the Pirates could’ve added some veteran arms or at least speculated on the waiver wire. Instead, they’ll rely on the same group of relievers that ranked 23rd in the Majors in ERA, 22nd in FIP and 20th in xFIP as a collective bunch in 2019 — and that was with Vazquez dominating for the first several months.
Not including Vazquez’s salary — he’ll be on the restricted list — the Pirates are set to open the season with under $54MM in payroll on the books. It’s an astonishingly low number in today’s game — one so small that no one should be surprised to see yet another grievance brought forth against the organization by the MLBPA. The collective bargaining agreement has rules in place about the manner in which a team must allocate its revenue-sharing funds, and it’s easy to understand why the union has questions about the Pirates’ claims that their use of said resources is compliant.
Cherington declined to use the word “rebuild” this offseason, instead claiming that the Pirates are merely “building.” Semantics aside, the Pirates’ roster is extraordinarily porous, and the front office effectively did nothing to stop the ship from taking on water. Pittsburgh didn’t even select a player in December’s Rule 5 Draft. If the Pirates weren’t even going to feign an attempt at improving, it’s surprising that they didn’t aggressively shop the likes of Kela, Bell, Frazier, Musgrove and basically anyone else who’s controlled for three or fewer seasons.
2020 Season Outlook
If the manner in which owner Bob Nutting bumbled through the first month of the offseason — allowing a GM to conduct a hunt for a manager before firing that GM and starting over a month into the process — didn’t illustrate the organization’s lack of a plan, the end result of their winter should spell it out. This roster isn’t any better than the one that lost 93 games in 2019. It’s very arguably worse. And yet the Pirates only made one future-oriented trade, did next to nothing to add short-term free agents who could emerge as trade chips, sat out the Rule 5 Draft and engaged in virtually no activity on the waiver wire.
Players like Reynolds, Newman and Hayes at least give fans some exciting young talent to watch, but this is a weak roster that the club barely tried to improve. It’ll be an upset if the Pirates don’t finish in last place, and fans can expect to see some combination of Archer, Mugrove, Kela, Frazier and Bell circulating the rumor mill this summer.
Cherington deserves some benefit of the doubt, given a track record of quality player development in Boston and Toronto. Perhaps the plan was to use 2020 as a year of pure evaluation for what was already in house, but it sure seems like the Pirates passed on countless opportunities to pursue upside deals, further stock the farm or at least give the fans some reason to care. It’s going to be a long year in Pittsburgh.
How would you grade the Pirates’ offseason? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors mobile app users)
How would you grade the Pirates' offseason?
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F 53% (2,264)
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D 31% (1,320)
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C 11% (484)
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B 3% (119)
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A 2% (82)
Total votes: 4,269
Major League Baseball Expected To Suspend Spring Training
12:30pm: Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that an announcement that MLB is “suspending operations” is expected in the near future. Joel Sherman of the New York Post adds that the conference call between MLB owners and commissioner Rob Manfred will take place in an hour.
12:15pm: Passan tweets that in the wake of a conference call between all 30 MLB ownership groups, the owners are expecting not only the suspension of Spring Training games but also a delay to the start of the regular season.
11:22am: As sports entities throughout the world take action to minimize the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Major League Baseball appears poised to cease play of Spring Training games. MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets that officials with Grapefruit League clubs in Florida are expecting games to be suspended, and ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that executives throughout Major League Baseball expect that Spring Training play in both the Grapefruit League and Cactus League will be suspended as soon as today. A conference call between commissioner Rob Manfred and all 30 MLB owners will be conducted shortly, Passan adds.
Suspending play of spring contests is a logical first step for the league. The games don’t count for anything, and teams can continue to ramp up players for the season in simulated settings — although it’s not yet clear just when the season for which they’ll be prepping will begin. Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that the majority of team executives to whom he has spoken are expecting a delay in the start of the season, although there’s yet to be any word from Major League Baseball itself on that front.
Beyond the likely suspension of MLB exhibition play, it’s worth noting that the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, the Association of Tennis Professionals and the PGA Tour have all announced measures to curb the spread of the virus since last night. The NBA suspended its season indefinitely last night, and both MLS (30 days) and ATP (six weeks) followed with suspensions of play this morning. The NHL has canceled practice throughout the league and is readying a statement of its own.
Meanwhile, the PGA just minutes ago announced that the Players Championship will be played without fans in attendance. That’s the same approach the NCAA has taken with regard to its annual March Madness tournament. Meanwhile, individual college conferences throughout the league — the SEC, the Big 10, the Big 12 and the ACC among them — have taken to canceling their annual conference tournaments. Overseas, the Korea Baseball Organization and Nippon Professional Baseball have both delayed the starts of their respective seasons.
Actions beyond the immediate suspension of spring contests remain unclear, but quelling the spread of the COVID-19 virus has become paramount. The potential for asymptomatic carriers spreading the virus to higher-risk individuals is a real threat — both to the health of those at-risk individuals and to the functionality of hospitals and medical facilities. Italy’s hospitals have become overwhelmed as the spread of the virus has reached critical levels, complicating medical care for patients of the coronavirus and other illnesses alike. Certainly, it’s in everyone’s best interest to avoid similar levels of saturation in other countries.
While the postponement or even cancellation of sporting events, concerts and other mass gatherings is surely a frustrating development for fans — and one that will raise questions of fan reimbursement, player compensation and myriad other issues within individual sports — those realities will be characterized as a necessary byproduct in the effort to combat what the World Health Organization has characterized as a global pandemic.
NBA, MLS, ATP Suspend Seasons; NHL Preparing Update On Season Status
March 12: Major League Soccer is also suspending its season until further notice, Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated reports (via Twitter). The Association of Tennis Professionals has also announced a six-week suspension of the men’s professional tour.
Meanwhile, the NHL has canceled practice for teams and is readying a statement on the status of the current season. Gavin Lee will be tracking all of the coverage as pertains to the National Hockey League over at ProHockeyRumors.com.
March 11: In a stunning announcement that is sure to put pressure on other sports leagues, the NBA has suspended its season indefinitely after a Utah Jazz player — reported by The Athletic’s Shams Charania to be center Rudy Gobert — has tested positive for the coronavirus. The NHL has also issued a statement which indicates that it is “continuing to consult with medical experts” and “evaluating the options.” A more detailed update can be expected tomorrow, per the announcement.
[Related: HoopsRumors’ coverage of the suspended NBA season]
Earlier today, MLBTR’s Jeff Todd examined the potential ways in which the coronavirus — which the World Health Organization declared a pandemic this afternoon — could impact the upcoming Major League Baseball season. The day has become increasingly surreal in the hours since that writing. Multiple Major League teams — the Athletics, Mariners and Giants — have issued statements indicating that they’ll explore alternatives to playing scheduled exhibition and regular-season games at their home stadiums. And the NCAA made the even more eye-opening announcement that this year’s March Madness tournament will be played in front of empty stadiums, with only “limited family” and “essential staff” permitted to be in attendance.
It’s not yet clear precisely how Major League Baseball will act, but it’s increasingly evident that the season won’t be played out in conventional fashion. Some have suggested relocating regular-season games to facilities that aren’t in major areas of risk, although that clearly presents its own problems; hosting regular-season games at neutral locales would only seem to encourage fans from higher-risk regions to travel to said neutral locations (thus increasing the risk of spreading the virus).
Already today, the Alameda County Department of Public Health has announced its recommendation that events or gatherings of 1,000-plus people be canceled or postponed — thus prompting the Athletics’ statement. Washington state governor Jay Inslee announced a ban on gatherings of more than 250 people in three counties, including King County, where the Mariners’ T-Mobile Park is located.
As governmental bodies continue to take action and as other major sporting leagues take or consider drastic actions in an effort to curb the spreading of the virus, pressure will surely mount on Major League Baseball and commissioner Rob Manfred to pursue similar measures. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported earlier tonight that a league-wide conference call had been scheduled for Friday, but that was prior to the NBA’s announcement and the statement from the NHL. Given the action from two in-season major sports, it seems likelier that Manfred’s office and the MLBPA will address the public sooner than later.
Cardinals, Yadier Molina Discussing Extension
The Cardinals are working to extend the contract of longtime catcher Yadier Molina for at least one more year and “probably” two more seasons, reports The Athletic’s Mark Saxon (subscription required).
Molina, 37, has been the Cardinals’ primary catcher since 2005 and, over the course of his career, has shouldered the largest workload of any backstop in the game. His durability is the stuff of legend, as evidenced by 15 straight seasons of at least 107 games caught and an average of 126.4 games caught per season during that remarkable stretch. From 2009-13, Molina caught at least 131 games per year. As recently as 2016, he started a ridiculous 142 games behind the plate.
Currently in the final season of a three-year, $60MM extension that pays him an even $20MM per year, it’s unlikely that Molina would command such a lofty salary under the terms of a new contract. The 2019 season, after all, was among the least-productive years he’s put together since breaking out as a big league regular (despite a league-wide uptick in offensive output). In 452 plate appearances, he hit .270/.312/.399. Molina’s low strikeout rate and excellent bat-to-ball skills have long helped him post quality batting averages, but last year’s 5.1 percent walk rate was the lowest of his career. His power dipped noticeably from its 2017-18 levels as well. Molina’s once-elite caught-stealing rate and framing numbers have also tailed off over the past couple of seasons, checking in closer to league average.
Molina, of course, is still a plenty useful backstop — one whose all-around value to the organization would surely be labeled as invaluable by the Cardinals themselves. Hammering out a specific price point could be difficult, though. Molina’s annual salary was already a high-water mark for catchers, and there’s no recent precedent for a catcher inking an extension at this point in his career. Then again, there’s no real precedent for a catcher with Molina’s track record in today’s game at all (as alluded to previously). By the time most catchers reach their age-38 seasons — Molina will turn 38 in July — most have either been downgraded to backup status or have simply retired.
The level at which Molina deems an offer to be suitable, then, is anyone’s guess. His career path in some ways mirrors that of longtime teammate Adam Wainwright, who looked to be running on fumes at the end of the 2018 season. Wainwright agreed to a one-year deal with a minimal $2MM base salary in 2019 and maxed out his incentives package with a bounceback 2019 effort that he parlayed into a $5MM deal for the 2020 season — but that comparison only goes so far. The two play vastly different positions, Molina is talking extension as opposed to a free-agent deal, and he’s still been healthy and reasonably productive on the field.
Saxon reported late last month that Molina would be willing to accept a reduced role in the second season of a new deal (2022), but it seems for the time being he’s still focused on functioning as a workhorse behind the plate. If that’s the case, it’s hard to imagine him settling for anything like the Wainwright deal. Free-agent catcher Robinson Chirinos, who shares an agent (Melvin Roman) with Molina, just signed a one-year deal with a $6.5MM guarantee for his age-36 season in Texas, but he doesn’t have Molina’s track record and isn’t ingrained into the very fabric of Rangers history in the same was as Molina, who has reached icon status in St. Louis.
The Cardinals have $101MM on the 2020 books and $115MM worth of luxury-tax obligations, so it’s certainly not a matter of whether they can fit a new Molina deal into the budget. Rather, the question becomes how the two sides account for a potentially waning level of production for Molina while still respecting the level of value he’s provided over the past decade and a half as he carved out a likely road to the Hall of Fame.