Royals Sign Asa Lacy & Rest Of Draft Class
7:09pm: Lacy signed for $6.67MM, Jim Callis of MLB.com tweets.
2:13pm: The Royals announced Tuesday that they’ve officially signed left-hander Asa Lacy. The former Texas A&M ace was the No. 4 overall pick in this year’s draft after compiling a career 2.07 ERA with 13.3 K/9 and 4.0 BB/9 in 152 total innings of college ball (21 starts, 21 relief appearances). He’s the highest pick to come to terms so far, and while his bonus figure wasn’t announced by the club, the No. 4 slot comes with a $6.664MM value.
The Kansas City organization didn’t stop there. It also added shortstop Nick Loftin on a $3MM bonus, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports on Twitter. That’s a far sight higher than the $2,257,300 allocation that came with the competitive balance round A selection with which he was chosen. Loftin decided to go pro rather than returning for another year at Baylor.
Righty Ben Hernandez, an Illinois high-schooler chosen in the second round, agreed to a $1.45MM bonus. (Via Callis; Twitter links.) That freed up nearly $400K to help cover the amount due to Loftin. The Royals also saved a bit on third-rounder Tyler Gentry, an outfielder out of the University of Alabama, who inked for $750K ($818,200 slot value). The Royals also agreed to as-yet-unreported bonuses with Christian Chamberlain, LHP, Oregon State (4th round) and Will Klein, RHP, Eastern Illinois (5th round).
The Royals also announced seven undrafted player signings, rounding out a widely heralded incoming class of amateur talent:
- Saul Garza, C/1B, Louisiana State
- John McMillon, RHP, Texas Tech
- A.J. Block, LHP, Washington State
- Tucker Bradley, OF, Georgia
- Matt Schmidt, INF, Michigan
- Kale Emshoff, C, Arkansas-Little Rock
- Chase Wallace, RHP, Tennessee
While there’s plenty of promise from multiple new prospects, Lacy remains the crown jewel. He was the consensus top pitcher available, which made it rather surprising to see him fall to the Royals at the fourth selection. Virtually all draft pundits graded him as one of the three best prospects up for grabs in 2020.
The Royals will be especially excited with Lacy because of the team’s long-stated intention to engineer a quick rebuild. Having gone heavy on advanced college pitching prospects in recent drafts, with promising early returns, the K.C. club can now look forward to another fast-rising youngster. Lacy possesses and commands an impressive four-pitch arsenal and has already proven himself against top college competition.
2020 Trade Deadline Will Be Aug. 31; Latest On Other Rules Changes
6:48pm: There’s expected to be a COVID-19 injured list for players “who test positive, have confirmed exposure or are exhibiting symptoms,” Jeff Passan of ESPN tweets. That list would not be limited to a specific number of days.
6:40pm: Jayson Stark of The Athletic passes along more information (Twitter links: 1, 2, 3, 4):
- The league’s transactions freeze will end Friday at noon ET, though it’s still debating whether to let teams sign players to minor league contracts.
- Teams must submit their 60-player pool by 3 ET on Sunday, and they’ll be able to take three taxi squad players on the road, though one has to be a catcher. All 60 of those players will be invited to spring training, but clubs will have the option of sending 20 to alternate sites.
- Players have to be added to the big league roster by Sept. 15 to be eligible for the postseason.
- Even though teams won’t have to invite all players on their 40-man rosters to spring training, they’ll still have to be paid.
- MLB has been talking with Nashville about keeping two teams of unsigned players there as an emergency pool. Those players would make $400 per week, and teams would have to pay a fee to Nashville to sign any of them.
3:42pm: If there is a 2020 Major League Baseball season, everybody who follows the game knows it’s going to be unusual for myriad reasons. The regular season’s only going to last 60 games, for one, and that’s assuming the COVID-19 pandemic won’t stand in the way. There will also be quite a few changes to the rules, as Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com relays (Twitter links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7):
- MLB plans to implement 30-man rosters, up from 26, to start the season. However, the 30-man total will shrink to 28 on the 15th day of the season. It will go down to 26 on Day 29 and stay there for good.
- The trade deadline is normally July 31, but expectations are that it will move to Aug. 31 this year.
- A runner starting on second base in extra innings would only apply in the regular season, not the playoffs. The batter who made the final out in the previous inning would start extras on second.
- MLB may decide to suspend games that don’t last at least five innings due to weather. In other words, they’ll remain in limbo until the teams are able to finish them at a later date.
- Both pitchers and position players would likely have a 10-day injured list. For players who are seriously hurt, the 60-day IL would be cut to 45 days.
- Three days before the resumption of spring training, teams have to submit lists of 60 players who will be eligible to play for them during the season (40-man rosters plus taxi squads). All players would not show up to spring training at the same time. They’d report on a “staggered” basis, and they’d be at the ballpark at different times.
MLB Announces 2020 Season
9:26pm: The players are indeed expected to respond favorably to the league’s requests regarding reporting timeline and health and safety protocols, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports on Twitter. So long as the final points can be tidied up, it seems the resumption of play will be underway within a week.
7:29pm: The 2020 season is now slated to proceed under the terms of the late March agreement previously reached between MLB and the players’ association. The league has issued an announcement stating that the owners unanimously agreed to launch the campaign after further negotiations with the players failed to result in a new deal.
The campaign will ultimately be established at sixty games in length, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, though the league announcement doesn’t so specify. Rather, the announcement asks that the players inform the league as to the readiness to begin Spring Training (part deux) before assessing schedule length. It seems the season will go for sixty games so long as the players agree to report for preparation by the first of July. Assuming the players do indeed report by that point, Opening Day would be set for the weekend of July 24-26.
The other key element left open in the league’s announcement is agreement upon a health and safety protocol. Recent reporting indicates that the sides were working through a few final issues, with a general expectation that there’d be a deal. Indeed, the union’s own statement indicated as much earlier tonight.
While there’s now a clear path to a 2020 campaign, it’ll leave both sides without some of the key benefits they had sought. The league wished for an expanded postseason, while the players sought more regular season contests. Each side clearly stood to benefit somewhat from those concessions — the players would’ve had a cut of the playoff revenue; the owners would’ve had a longer season to boost long-term branding and earning opportunities — but they still couldn’t bridge the final gap for a fully negotiated new agreement.
This move comes right on the heels of the players’ decision to reject the owners’ final offer for a settlement. The players may well have done better if indeed the campaign comes in at sixty games, as the league’s final proposal provides. But the acrimony on both sides has shown no signs of abating. And the lengthy and public standoff over money — all in the midst of a pandemic and social unrest — has certainly not made the best impression on fans.
The league may have avoided a heftier labor cost in 2020; the players may finally have found some unity. But the game isn’t exactly glimmering at the moment. And the stage is clearly set for a monumental labor standoff with a wildly uncertain free agency and collective bargaining negotiations on the horizon.
Resolving things by reverting back to the late March agreement means that there are some open questions left to be debated. The sides have debated the meaning of the deal — in particular, how it’s to be interpreted in the case of a fan-free season — ever since it was signed. The union has reportedly threatened a grievance even if a season is installed by the commissioner, though the prospects for that course of action are uncertain at the moment.
MLBPA Votes Against MLB Season Restart Proposal
5:17pm: Per an official MLBPA statement: “While we had hoped to reach a revised back to work agreement with the league, the Players remain fully committed to proceeding under our current agreement and getting back on the field for the fans, for the game, and for each other.”
The statement noted that the union expects to reach agreement with the league on “health and safety protocols.” The players say they “await word from the league on the resumption of spring training camps and a proposed 2020 schedule.
5:15pm: It is now Manfred’s turn to act. MLB is expected to issue some kind of statement, at the least, this evening, according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
5:00pm: The Major League Baseball Players Association has voted to reject the latest MLB proposal for the resumption of the 2020 season, per Jesse Rogers and Jeff Passan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). This result was widely anticipated after the league informed the union it would not increase its offer of a sixty-game regular season.
Per the report, the players’ executive board voted 33-5 against the latest MLB plan. That’s not the same as voting against a season altogether. MLB and the MLBPA struck a deal in late March that would govern the campaign if commissioner Rob Manfred decides to announce a resumption of play. It is also still possible the league and union could still return to the bargaining table.
The trouble with that preexisting agreement, of course, is that the two parties have held different interpretations of it from the jump. If Manfred simply declares a start date and season schedule, with full game-for-game pay but a shorter schedule over which the players can accrue salary, it’s possible (perhaps all but certain) that the MLBPA will end up filing a grievance action seeking more money from the league. That would also mean a return to the regularly bargained postseason structure and other general rules (such as the DH in the National League) that had been slated for modification.
A-Rod, J. Lo Reportedly Add Billionaire Mike Repole To Mets Bid
Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez have added some more clout to their bid to buy the Mets, bringing billionaire Mike Repole into their group, per ESPN’s Darren Rovell (Twitter link). The 51-year-old Queens native co-founded Glaceau/Energy Brands, the original creator of Vitamin Water, in addition to co-founding the BODYARMOR sports drink company. Repole also owns his own stable which has several notable racehorses.
It’s not the first time that Repole has expressed an interest in purchasing his hometown club, per Josh Kosman and Zach Braziller of the New York Post. He previously expressed interest in 2011 but did not make a formal bid. And while Repole’s roughly $1 billion net worth eclipses the combined worth of Rodriguez and Lopez by most calculations, Kosman and Braziller report that A-Rod and J. Lo are still expected to be the designated control owners of the team.
According to the Post, Repole is one of two investors working with Galatioto Sports Partners — an investment bank that could contribute approximately a quarter billion dollars to the bid. The A-Rod/J. Lo group has also been working with JPMorgan in their efforts to compile a bid, and other investors could yet join the fray. Rovell notes that the bid from Rodriguez and Lopez is “very real.”
The Rodriguez/Lopez group is up against a group headed up by Philadelphia 76ers/New Jersey Devils owners Josh Harris and David Blitzer in their pursuit to buy the Mets. No other suitors are known right now, although other groups could yet emerge. Regardless, it’s become increasingly clear in recent months that Mets ownership, led by the Wilpon family, are amenable to a sale of the team. Back in December, New York billionaire Steve Cohen reportedly agreed to a framework on a gradual sale that would see him increase his stake in the club to 80 percent by 2025. However, that deal fell apart in February, when Cohen officially pulled out of the deal.
Given the economic crash that has been brought about by the ongoing pandemic, it’s all but certain that the Mets would sell well shy of the $2.6 billion figure that was reported back in December. However, the lost revenue to date — and any further projected losses even if a 2020 season commences — could also increase the Wilpons’ urgency to sell a majority stake in the team.
MLB, MLBPA Making Final Negotiation Effort
Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association are making a “last-minute attempt at haggling” in hopes of reaching an agreement on a deal regarding the 2020 season, tweets ESPN’s Buster Olney. It seems the last-ditch effort to find a common ground is the reason that the MLBPA has twice delayed its scheduled meeting to vote on MLB’s 60-game proposal.
If the two sides aren’t able to reach a compromise, commissioner Rob Manfred is expected to implement a season at a length of the league’s choosing. Doing so would ensure the players their prorated salaries for the duration of the 2020 season and would not include the expanded playoffs which the union has offered to ownership. Barring an agreement between the two sides, we’re down to the “last hours” before Manfred implements a season length, per Olney.
Throughout this process, both parties have maintained that they hope to reach a deal rather than have a season set by Manfred under the preexisting March agreement. Players are hopeful of reaching a negotiated agreement because doing so would result in playing more games at their prorated salary levels. Ownership wants a negotiated deal because that’s the only means of achieving the significant playoff expansion (and thus postseason revenue) in 2020-21. The March agreement indicates that players would need to sign off on postseason expansion.
To this point, onlookers are plenty aware that neither side has been willing to come down off its key points. The union is insisting on prorated salary, and the league is staunchly against pushing regular-season play beyond Sept. 27 and — as of last week — opposed to playing any more than 60 games at prorated levels of pay.
The exact points that the two sides are discussing aren’t clear, although Joel Sherman of the New York Post provides a bit of insight (all Twitter links). The league has told the union that it can only offer forgiveness on the standing $170MM advance to players on split contracts (a total of about $33MM that would effectively only be paid to the game’s lowest-paid players) and that no money would be added to the players’ share of the 2020-21 playoff pool. If fewer than 50 games are played, though, the league would strike the agreements on expanded playoffs and a universal DH in 2021.
Whatever the specifics, it doesn’t appear that length of schedule is among the points of negotiation at this juncture. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that the two sides are trying to work out an agreement on a 60-game season and that failing a negotiated agreement, Manfred will implement a season of 54 to 60 games.
Notably, ESPN’s Ben Cafardo tweets that Manfred is expected to speak on television soon. That certainly suggests that a resolution could finally be nigh — whether it’s Manfred announcing a deal with the union or simply announcing that he has implemented a season length under the March agreement.
We still don’t have a sense for how the league plans to address additional COVID-19 outbreaks within the sport, which we saw last week when 40 players and staff members tested positive (including eight in one organization). If a season length is at long last settled upon today — one way or another — the two sides they can pivot their full attention to that critical component of return-to-play talks.
MLBPA To Vote On MLB’s 60-Game Proposal In Coming Days
JUNE 21: While no vote will take place today, Heyman reports that MLB is “willing to make a couple changes” to its 60-game proposal to facilitate an agreement with the players. One such change, as reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan: if a full season isn’t played this year, Manfred offered in a letter to Tony Clark to cancel the expanded playoff format and the universal DH rule in the 2021 season. Such a provision would prevent the deal from leaning too far in the owners’ favor should the COVID-19 pandemic force the cancellation of the 2020 season.
In the same letter to Clark, Manfred suggests that the two sides’ disagreement on the number of games played might be an inflexible issue, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. With teams relocating from the spring locations to their home ballparks, Rosenthal tabs June 29 as the earliest date teams could report to training. And if the season is to end by September 27 (which MLB has insisted upon), that leaves 66 days to play. Thus, the 70 game schedule desired by the players might not be feasible.
JUNE 20, 4:55: The union will hold off several days on voting, which was originally supposed to take place on Sunday, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Instead, players will spend some time review health and safety protocols after teams have shut down their regular spring training sites due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Arizona and Florida. Expect an update on the players’ votes at some point in the next week.
JUNE 20, 1:54: According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the MLB Players Association is set to vote this weekend on MLB’s latest proposal for a 2020 season, which consists of a 60-game season with full pro rata pay, as well as expanded playoffs and a universal DH through 2021, among other things. As part of that proposal, the players would also waive their right to seek additional compensation through a grievance.
If the players opt to reject the owners’ proposal, expect to see commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally mandate a schedule, a last resort that the league has kept in its back pocket throughout negotiations but which brings with it the possibility of a grievance action from the union. That said, Manfred could opt to forego that action and instead choose to cancel the season altogether, though it seems like that isn’t the preference of most owners.
This weekend’s vote will be held by 38 players—one representative from each team, as well as an executive committee of eight players. Those team representatives have no doubt maintained contact with teammates and will have a pulse on their feelings towards the proposal.
Heyman further reports that early rumors suggest that the executive committee may vote nearly unanimously in opposition of the league’s proposal. And while the team reps are harder to gauge, there’s a chance that a majority will also opt to reject the deal. If that’s true, it may be likely that the players will simply let Manfred set the 2020 schedule.
Last we heard, the players countered with a 70-game schedule. And while that offer evidently didn’t lead to an agreement, it seemed like the two sides were finally making some progress on Thursday, with just 10 games separating the parties making it look like a midpoint in the sixties was feasible.
And while a league-mandated schedule won’t bring us closer to the players’ desired number of games—perhaps making it look futile to reject the league’s current proposal—players will want to maintain their ability to file a grievance against the league, something that wouldn’t be possible if they were to accept. Rejecting the league’s offer would also do away with the two-year expanded postseason, as well as other quirks like controversial extra-inning rules.
Korea’s Kiwoom Heroes To Sign Addison Russell
In a surprise move, longtime Cubs infielder Addison Russell has found a landing spot in Korea’s top league. He’s joining the Kiwoom Heroes on a $530K contract, per Jeeho Yoo of Yonhap News (via Twitter).
Once a top prospect and promising young big leaguer, Russell is best known now for off-field malfeasance. Russell was suspended under the league’s domestic violence policy after his ex-wife detailed serious allegations of abuse.
The Cubs still gave Russell another shot, keeping him through arbitration in 2019 and bringing him back to the majors after the suspension was served. But Russell was not able to take advantage of the second chance, as he continued to produce middling offensive numbers.
All told, since the start of the 2017 season, Russell carries only a .243/.310/.379 batting line. While he’s a quality defensive performer, that wasn’t enough output to merit another trip through arbitration this past offseason.
Though the Cubs had already absorbed the public relations hit of retaining Russell, other organizations declined to bring him aboard this past winter. He was waiting for an opportunity even while Spring Training neared completion.
The lack of a big league deal may ultimately have helped Russell secure his next chance. Unlike most players of his ability levels, the 26-year-old was not under contract when the Heroes went looking for another foreign player. Russell will have a chance to get his career back on track in the KBO, which is playing at full tile (albeit still sans fans) while MLB tries to get its own season underway.
MLB Will Not Make Counter-Proposal On 2020 Season
6:36pm: An MLBPA announcement confirms the news. Per the release, the league informed the union that it will not schedule a season of over sixty games.
6:30pm: MLB has informed the MLB Players Association that it will not make a new proposal to the union in an effort to resolve the sides’ disagreement over the financial structure of the 2020 season, per Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic (via Twitter).
Just what that means for the potential resumption of play remains to be seen. One might think that commissioner Rob Manfred will simply declare a season length at full pro rata pay — the option that the league has long held in its back pocket, but which brings with it the potential for an open-ended grievance action.
Last we had heard, the league preferred not to take this step. Whether there may be an alternative means of resolving the matter is not immediately clear. Per the report, the league will consider its options over the weekend, which is perhaps yet another indication that the league believes it is well served by allowing time to trickle away.
This latest development comes on the heels of today’s run of worrisome indications that the coronavirus has already made inroads into MLB facilities even before the league has undertaken a resumption effort in earnest. Those reports reflect truly concerning developments. They also play into the hands of the owners that have evidently decided to take a hard line on the 2020 season.
It seemed just days ago that we were finally headed toward resolution on an attempted restart of the MLB campaign. Now, there’s as much uncertainty as ever — greater, perhaps, given the urgent need to launch a season in the immediate future if one is to take place at all.
Blue Jays Shut Down Spring Facility
The Blue Jays have shut down their Spring Training facility in Dunedin, Fla. after a player displayed symptoms of COVID-19, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports (Twitter thread). There’s no positive test yet, but Passan notes that the player in question is on Toronto’s 40-man roster and had recently spent time with players in the Phillies’ system. The Jays’ Dunedin complex is just six miles from the Phillies’ spring facility in Clearwater, where eight people — five players and three staffers — have tested positive for the coronavirus over the past three days. Another 32 tests of Phillies players and personnel are still pending results.
Scott Mitchell of TSN tweets that about 20 players have been working out at the Jays’ spring facility, including about 10 players who are on the 40-man roster. Passan adds, however, that multiple players have yet to even be tested at all — despite GM Ross Atkins telling him the team has been “overly precautious with testing.” Should reopening the Dunedin facilities untenable, that’d create problems for the Jays even if a 2020 season can come together. As Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith points out, Dunedin has been a fallback option in the event that government regulations prevent the Jays from hosting games at Toronto’s Rogers Centre.
The Blue Jays’ Dunedin closure adds to a growing list of concerns as professional sports teams have sought to begin play after months of shutdowns. Beyond the positive tests in Clearwater and the symptoms in Dunedin, it’s also important to note that the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning have shut down their facilities after three players and a pair of staff members tested positive for COVID-19. The NFL’s 49ers also had a player test positive in Nashville, Tenn. earlier today, per NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo. A member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ coaching staff has also tested positive.
Taken together, it’s all a sobering reminder that the largest roadblock to return to regular-season play in any sport is not (and has not been) finances or length of season but the ongoing pandemic. Even if the players in question make full recoveries — which obviously is not a given — they still have families to consider, more at-risk members of the coaching and training staffs surrounding them, umpires, team personnel, etc. Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported this morning that positive infections have already spread to multiple members of the infected members of the Phillies organization. Similar instances of spreading are likely to occur — particularly with positive cases on the rise not only in Florida but also in Arizona, Texas and California, among other states.