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10 Players Switch Agencies

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Agent Rafa Nieves’ newly-founded Republik Sports agency will represent several players formerly represented by Nieves at Wasserman.  A video published earlier today on Republik’s official Twitter feed reveals the names of 11 players who will continue to be represented by Nieves at this new firm.

We already heard last night that Nationals outfielder Victor Robles (a Nieves client at Wasserman) was joining Republik, and the other ten names cited in the video include a mix of prominent veteran and up-and-coming stars.  The list consists of Indians infielder Jose Ramirez, Reds right-hander Luis Castillo, Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco, Athletics right-hander Frankie Montas, Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez, Rockies righty Antonio Senzatela, Padres outfielder Franchy Cordero, Marlins catcher Francisco Cervelli, and White Sox relievers Alex Colome and Kelvin Herrera.

As we’ve seen in several past cases of representatives changing agencies or starting new agencies, it’s quite common for players to continue using the same agent even after that rep becomes part of another company.  We saw this in 2017 with Nieves himself, as several of the aforementioned players (namely Ramirez, Robles, Herrera, Colome, Cervelli, Polanco, and Montas) all went with Nieves when the agent moved from the Beverly Hills Sports Council to Wasserman.

The 10 changes have all been updated in our Agency Database.  If you see any notable errors or omissions within the database, please let us know via e-mail: mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.

Extension Candidates: AL West

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We don’t really know whether or to what extent extension talks will continue during the coronavirus hiatus. But as I wrote recently, it seems reasonable to think they’ll be explored. Some may already have advanced nearly to completion before the global pandemic intervened.

While we may have to wait to learn who the targets are and see what deals get done, there’s a silver lining: more time for rampant speculation! Okay, we’re not going to speculate here; rather, we’ll tick through some interesting possibilities on paper. Remember, we’ve seen an increasing prevalence of deals with less-experienced players (even some without any MLB service) and with new player types (early-career relievers and utilitymen).

In the present MLB environment, value is king and the old forms are fading. We’ve already checked in on the NL East, NL Central, NL West, and AL East. Here are some possible extension candidates from the AL West …

Angels

It seems the Halos have some level of interest in trying to keep peerless defensive shortstop Andrelton Simmons from reaching the open market. He’d be quite an interesting player to value after a down, injury-filled year. If he can continue producing otherworldly defensive work in 2020 while returning to league-average hitting, he’d be a fascinating player to watch in free agency.

There are a few other guys nearing free agency that could be considered. Tommy La Stella had a breakout in an injury-shortened 2019 season. He’s already 31 and there’ll be questions about sustainability. But perhaps the sides could share the risk and upside with a relatively modest accord. Reliever Hansel Robles and starter Andrew Heaney are both two years from free agency, though there’s no particular reason to rush into a commitment in either case.

Things get quite a bit more interesting when you look at players much further from the open market. Shohei Ohtani put a ton of faith in himself when he came to the majors for a pittance of a bonus. His two-way ability and near-limitless upside on the mound make him a highly intriguing extension candidate, though sorting out a fair value won’t be straightforward. There’s a clear map for a deal for elite outfield prospect Jo Adell, if both sides are interested, as the White Sox have reached successive pre-debut pacts with Eloy Jimenez ($43MM) and Luis Robert ($50MM). Beyond Ohtani and Adell, the Angels could consider much more modest pacts with utilityman David Fletcher and/or reliever Ty Buttrey.

Astros

There’s an abundance of star power to contemplate for a Houston organization in turmoil. Most pressing: outfielder George Springer, who’s entering his final year of arbitration. This is the final window to get a deal done; whether that’s a realistic possibility isn’t known. Not far behind him is shortstop Carlos Correa, who is two years from the open market. His huge ceiling and more modest recent play make this a suboptimal time to work out a deal, unless both sides are in the mood for compromise.

The ’Stros have a pair of slugging young left-handed hitters that could conceivably be candidates for aggressive early extensions. Yordan Alvarez burst onto the scene last year, but he has had a balky knee this spring and is mostly viewed as a DH. Meanwhile, Kyle Tucker is a surefire big leaguer with star upside, but he’s rather less established. On the pitching side, the Astros could potentially chase value by holding talks with Jose Urquidy, Josh James, or even Bryan Abreu. It may be early in all of those cases, but this organization did reach a then-unprecedented deal with Jon Singleton.

Athletics

The Oakland org has a bunch of candidates that leap off of the page in just about every service class. After a monster 2019 season, shortstop Marcus Semien is slated to reach free agency at the end of 2020. It would probably take a franchise-record deal to keep him from testing the market. Perhaps there’s more room to work out a palatable price tag with reliever Liam Hendriks, who has emerged as one of the game’s most effective relievers since being designated for assignment and then called back up late in the 2018 season. Outfielder Mark Canha had his own recent breakout; perhaps he’s also a candidate with two years left until free agency.

What the A’s really hoped for was a pair of long-term pacts with corner infielders Matt Chapman and Matt Olson. But both were not wooed by prior efforts and they’re both now within a season of arbitration. There is certainly still a window, but the Oakland organization will really have to open the wallet. Striking major pacts with either or both (not to mention Semien) would mark a big vote of confidence in the team’s plans for a new ballpark.

Further down the line in terms of service class are a host of intriguing candidates. Outfielder Ramon Laureano, catcher Sean Murphy, and prized southpaws Jesus Luzardo and A.J. Puk all carry eyebrow-raising talent. They’re also already controlled for quite some time. But this may be the optimal point for the A’s to achieve big value with a few of those players.

Mariners

Having already inked lefty Marco Gonzales and pre-MLB first baseman Evan White, the M’s have already accounted for their most obvious candidates. And the best of the rest aren’t likely in consideration this winter. Mitch Haniger still needs to get back to full health; top prospects Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez are probably a bit too green for even an aggressive deal.

But there are a few more to consider. Shed Long and J.P. Crawford each had solid showings last year and could make sense at the right price. Perhaps the Mariners could even consider less-experienced outfielders Kyle Lewis and Jake Fraley, though that’d make for a surprise in either case. It’s frankly difficult even to suggest another candidate; reliever Austin Adams could’ve been of some interest but he’s rehabbing a major knee injury.

Rangers

You could make a case for a few guys here. Young slugger Willie Calhoun might be a worthwhile target after a strong 2019 showing, though it took the club some time to find him a spot in the majors and he’s now nursing a broken jaw. Veteran starters Mike Minor and Lance Lynn are nearing free agency, with the former entering his walk year, though the Texas org already took on some pitching risk this winter and may not want to over-extend itself with older hurlers.

Really, the Texas extension situation is all about one man: slugging outfielder/first baseman Joey Gallo. The game’s preeminent three-true-outcomes batter, Gallo is in his first of three arbitration-eligible campaigns, so he has entered the big earning stage of his career but hasn’t yet been paid huge money. He was limited by injury (oblique, hamate) in 2019 but put up monster numbers when available, with 22 long balls and a .253/.389/.598 slash over 297 plate appearances. It’s easy to forget that Gallo is a valuable outfield defender and baserunner, making him one of the higher-ceiling all-around players in the game.

Rookie Radar: AL West

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The delayed start to the 2020 season will obviously have a wide range of massive effects on Major League Baseball. Among them: a totally different promotional timeline for some of the game’s most exciting young players. We will never know how things would’ve unfolded. And we don’t yet even know what the parameters are for an altered season. But there’s no doubting the impact.

Typically, opportunities open as rosters evolve over the course of a grueling, 162-game season. Some top prospects force their way up to the majors; others are called upon because a need arises. In a shorter campaign, there’ll be less attrition … though we may also see relaxed roster rules and changes to allocation of service time that could create opportunities.

Still, with more time to examine rosters and think about the state of the game, there’s an opportunity to stop and appreciate the young talent on the cusp of the majors. We’ll run through the most interesting prospects pressing for near-term MLB action, starting with the American League West:

Angels

There’s loads of excitement at the top of the farm. The Halos have one of the game’s very best overall prospects in Jo Adell. Perhaps their best chance of catching the Astros lies in Adell taking the league by storm and combining with Mike Trout and (a hopefully resurgent) Justin Upton to form one of the game’s best outfields. Another highly regarded young outfielder, Brandon Marsh, is also close. An elbow injury limited him this spring, but he’ll hopefully rehab through that while the game is on pause.

Otherwise, the Angels will certainly hope they get a significant contribution out of lefty Patrick Sandoval. The 23-year-old took some lumps last year but did put up a 13.5% swinging-strike rate in his first ten MLB outings.

Astros

The division’s dominant force enters the season facing a few questions in the MLB staff. Fortunately, there are a bunch of arms coming. Forrest Whitley still has immense upside despite a brutal 2019 season. He’ll be tasked with getting back on track in the upper minors. Having snuck past Whitley, Jose Urquidy will slot right back into the big league rotation. He’s not known for his high-powered arsenal, but he was highly effective late last year — even including a remarkable performance when pressed into postseason duties (one earned run, 12:2 K/BB in ten innings).

High-octane righty Bryan Abreu also got some playoff action after a strong relief showing late in the season. He could be a force in the pen. Fellow right-handers Christian Javier, Enoli Paredes, and Brandon Bielak are also on the rise.

Another well-regarded player who debuted in 2019 is third baseman Abraham Toro. He smashed minor-league pitching but didn’t thrive in a 25-game run in the majors. Toro had also struggled in Grapefruit League action this spring, but it’d be a surprise if he isn’t called upon at some point in 2020.

Athletics

There’s loads of talent ready to see action in Oakland. Lefties Jesus Luzardo and A.J. Puk recovered from injuries and hit the majors last year. They’ll draw loads of attention, and rightly so, but that’s just the start. Righties Daulton Jefferies and James Kaprielian could also push for their debuts.

There are names to watch on the position player side as well. The A’s have a bevy of youthful backstops who’ll be entrusted with holding down the catching duties. Sean Murphy put himself on everyone’s map last year. He could be joined by Austin Allen, but fellow young receiver Jonah Heim is also a factor. Infielders Sheldon Neuse will factor, though he hasn’t hit much this spring and didn’t impress in his 2019 debut. It remains to be seen how the club will handle the out-of-options Jorge Mateo with strong competition at second base. Outfielder Luis Barrera hasn’t yet debuted but earned a 40-man spot after a solid partial season at Double-A.

Mariners

On the pitching side, lefty Justus Sheffield has been on the map for some time and is in need of extended testing at the game’s highest level. Righty Justin Dunn had some struggles in his brief debut last year but is competing for a MLB job in camp. Recent first-rounder Logan Gilbert ran up to Double-A in his first professional season and now stands as a consensus top-100 prospect.

Several position players are sure to factor in the bigs as well. Recently extended first baseman Evan White is obviously slated for a big role. And the M’s may well go ahead and provide long looks to 24-year-old outfielders Jake Fraley and Kyle Lewis, each of whom cracked the bigs last year. The Seattle org will want to get a sense of their outlook. After all, there’s more talent coming up behind. It never seemed likely we’d see much-hyped outfield prospects Jarred Kelenic and Julio Rodriguez in 2020. With some or all of the minor-league season now gone, it’s even less likely.

Rangers

Most of the best-regarded Texas farmhands are still queuing up further down the system. But there are a few players vying for immediate playing time.

First and foremost, infielder/outfielder Nick Solak is almost sure to fit … well, somewhere. He has featured in the team’s planning all winter, even if the vision for where and how much he’d play has shifted as the Rangers pursued offseason additions. It’s plausible to imagine Solak appearing at first, second, third, and anywhere in the outfield as needs dictate.

Unless and until there’s an injury, the rotation doesn’t have any space. But lefty Joe Palumbo could be among the first names on call if a need arises, or he could slot into the pen. Righty DeMarcus Evans joined the 40-man after a lights-out 2019 season and seems likely to get a crack at the majors at some point.

A's Camp Battles Still In Flux

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  • The Oakland Athletics have a few positions still up in the air after truncated spring training, per MLB.com’s Martin Gallegos. Second base remains likely in the hands of favorites Franklin Barreto and Tony Kemp. Presumably, Kemp could protect Barreto against tough right-handers while getting his feet wet in the big leagues. Kemp’s value largely comes as a clubhouse presence and versatile offensive contributor, to use the term loosely, as he has struggled at the dish with a .233/.314/.367 career line. Kemp, 28, has yet to produce a slugging percentage over .400 for a full season, and it’s hard to imagine his power playing up in the Coliseum.

Coronavirus Updates: Draft, ASG, Workouts, Scouting

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We now know that the COVID-19 pandemic may delay the start of the Major League Baseball season until at least June or July. As of now, however, the league hasn’t indicated whether it will postpone the June 10-12 draft or the July 14 All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports. Meanwhile, the league and the union have been negotiating on payment for the players during this shutdown. MLB proposed “an initial lump payment” to the players to make up for missed checks early in the season, and then the MLBPA countered that offer, Sherman writes. It’s unclear how much progress the two sides have made in those talks, though. The league plans to turn its attention to payment for minor leaguers and stadium and team personnel once it’s through ironing out how to proceed with players who are on 40-man rosters, per Sherman.

  • Yankees players have been staying in Florida to work out, but manager Aaron Boone admitted Monday that might not be feasible anymore, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com relays. Boone, whose organization had a minor leaguer test positive for coronavirus last week, acknowledged that “it’s getting more and more challenging” to carry out present plans, adding that he’ll likely return to New York in the next couple days. It remains to be seen whether members of the club will follow suit in returning to their homes, but if they do, Boone’s confident they’ll be able to stay in shape by working out on their own.
  • Mariners players have been exiting their facility in Arizona, according to Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times. The M’s are down to 28 players remaining there, and they sent all of their non-roster invitees home.
  • Count former Mets general manager and current Athletics consultant Sandy Alderson among those dumbfounded that independent workouts are still going on at all. He expects them to end in the immediate future. “I would be surprised if anybody is in camp after the next two or three days, because No. 1 it doesn’t make any sense from a baseball standpoint, if the season is not going to start until maybe June 1,” Alderson told Mike Puma of the New York Post. “And secondly it doesn’t make any sense in terms of setting an example for the rest of the population to have a bunch of athletes running around playing catch. That does not constitute social distancing.”
  • MLB has ceased all scouting activity, both foreign and domestic, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets. That’s hardly a surprising development with just about all sports on hiatus at this point. Even in-home and in-person visits have been prohibited, Rosenthal notes.

Offseason In Review: Oakland Athletics

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The Athletics won 97 games and earned a wild-card berth for the second straight year in 2019. They weren’t all that active over the winter, but with the AL West rival Astros engulfed in turmoil, the talented A’s may be in position to take over the division this season.

Major League Signings

Options Exercised

Trades And Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

For the second consecutive year, Oakland managed to weather a slew of injuries in its pitching staff and establish itself as one of the majors’ elite teams. The A’s received little to no contributions from Sean Manaea, A.J. Puk and Jesus Luzardo – three ultra-skilled southpaws who, if healthy, should be prominent parts of their rotation this year. Puk has been battling shoulder issues and didn’t seem likely to be ready for Opening Day as of earlier this week. However, with the coronavirus delaying the start of the season by at least two weeks, it’s possible Puk will be OK by Game 1. Should that be the case, he and the other two aforementioned lefties would probably be in line to join righties Frankie Montas and Mike Fiers in the A’s starting five. On paper, that’s a promising group – albeit one that lost three legit starters in Tanner Roark, Homer Bailey and Brett Anderson during free agency.

Oakland didn’t augment its starting staff during the offseason (maybe it didn’t need to), but it did spend on its bullpen. The club kept a couple of its 2019 relievers in lefty Jake Diekman and righty Yusmeiro Petit, who will cost a combined $13MM this season, and claimed southpaw T.J. McFarland from the Diamondbacks.

Diekman wasn’t especially productive after he joined the A’s in a late-July trade, walking 16 hitters and yielding 11 earned runs in 20 1/3 innings with the club. But the A’s are banking on the hard thrower’s high-strikeout, high-groundball ways paying dividends over a full campaign. He and McFarland, who struggled mightily to prevent runs in four of the past five seasons, are the top lefties in a bullpen that said goodbye to Ryan Buchter over the winter. McFarland’s like Diekman in that he induces plenty of grounders. Conversely, he’s not much for velocity or strikeouts. And McFarland has typically experienced difficulty versus right-handed hitters, which isn’t going to fly in a league that’s now imposing a three-batter minimum rule.

The acquisition of McFarland isn’t the only change the A’s bullpen underwent in recent months. The team cut ties with righty Blake Treinen, formerly a lights-out closer who trudged through a dreadful 2019. For the most part, the A’s bullpen was a strength then, but Treinen’s unexpected drop-off certainly didn’t help matters. Based on his numbers from last season, Treinen won’t be missed. Moreover, the Treinen-less A’s still look fairly set from the right side with the durable and effective Petit, closer Liam Hendriks (who was just about untouchable last season), Joakim Soria and J.B. Wendelken comprising their go-to late-game options, and they’ll hope Lou Trivino can return to his 2018 ways after falling flat as a sophomore.

Meanwhile, the A’s position player cast went largely unchanged in the past few months. Their most notable move was to trade second baseman Jurickson Profar to the Padres in a deal for Austin Allen, who will back up the touted Sean Murphy at catcher. The Athletics had high hopes for Profar when they acquired him from the division-rival Rangers entering 2019, but his lone year in an A’s uniform was a failure.

The A’s could have replaced Profar with any number of affordable, well-known options via the open market (Starlin Castro, Brian Dozier, Cesar Hernandez, Wilmer Flores and Brock Holt are some who come to mind). They even had interest in a reunion with old friend and current Met Jed Lowrie, though it’s probably fortunate for the A’s that didn’t happen, considering Lowrie’s lofty salary and ongoing injury troubles. In the end, Oakland came away with Tony Kemp in a minor trade with the Cubs. It remains to be seen, though, whether Kemp will even crack the roster. He doesn’t possess much of a track record, has no minor league options and, before MLB’s spring training shutdown, was competing with three younger second basemen in Jorge Mateo, Franklin Barreto and Rule 5 pickup Vimael Machin. There’s no sending any of those three to the minors, either (at least, not without risking losing them), and they likely have higher upside than Kemp. However, the A’s could platoon the lefty-hitting Kemp or Machin with one of the other two.

Second base aside, there weren’t many A’s positions ripe for upgrade over the winter. Their hitters did, after all, rank fifth in the majors in fWAR, fifth in wRC+ and eighth in runs last season. Most of that unit’s back, including their three best players in third baseman Matt Chapman, shortstop Marcus Semien and first baseman Matt Olson. There has been talk of extensions for all three over the past couple years, but nothing has materialized to this point. Barring a change in the coming months, it could be the last season in Oakland for Semien, a free agent-to-be who – if he comes close to replicating his jaw-dropping 7.6-fWAR effort from 2019 – will be one of the most coveted players on the open market next winter.

Fortunately for Oakland, it’s not in immediate danger of losing Chapman or Olson, standouts who still have another season of pre-arbitration eligibility. They and Semien are supported by some strong complements in outfielders Ramon Laureano and Mark Canha. Designated hitter Khris Davis also deserves mention; that is, if he can revisit his usual form after an injury-marred 2019. But one of the A’s three outfield spots does look somewhat iffy. While Stephen Piscotty was terrific two years ago, he fought multiple health problems and didn’t perform well last season. He’s now battling another injury – an intercostal strain – though perhaps he’ll have enough time to recover by Opening Day if the game’s coronavirus-caused moratorium lasts long enough. If not, the A’s may turn to the switch-hitting Robbie Grossman, who’s adept at getting on base but doesn’t offer that much else. Of course, if Piscotty’s problem is serious enough, there’s a case Oakland should look to the No. 1 free agent left – outfielder Yasiel Puig – though that seems improbable.

2020 Outlook

Clearly, it was not an exciting offseason for the low-budget Athletics, whose Opening Day payroll should check in south of the $100MM mark yet again. Despite the team’s lack of spending power, though, executive vice president Billy Beane and general manager David Forst have once again built a roster that looks as if it will contend. That appears all the more likely with the Astros – the back-to-back-to-back AL West champions – besieged by a sign-stealing scandal, a regime change, the loss of Gerrit Cole and an injury to Justin Verlander. Even with all of that adversity, the Astros still look talented enough to continue their reign in the division, but the A’s should at least nip at their heels and push for a third playoff berth in a row.

How would you grade the A’s offseason? (Link to poll for Trade Rumors app users)

Latest On MLB, Coronavirus

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11:10am: Teams throughout the league have been sending scouts home this morning, and Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets that “just about every team, if not every team” has taken this step. Meanwhile, in an unlocked article that is not behind the web site’s paywall, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal runs through several potential pandemic-related issues and courses of action for the league.

As for any actual action from the league, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that the league is likely to provide some clarity today. At this point, it feels inevitable that the league will make a statement on the status of Spring Training games and the regular season in the very near future.

1:55am: The coronavirus outbreak led the National Basketball Association to suspend its season on Wednesday. It’s unclear how Major League Baseball will react before its regular season is scheduled to begin March 26, but it’s becoming increasingly likely that the pandemic will have a sizable effect on its plans.

It’s possible, for instance, that some of the league’s teams will start 2020 by playing regular-season games outside of their normal home venues. That already seems to be the case for the Mariners, who are “likely” to host their season-opening series in the Phoenix area instead of in Seattle, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.com. But they may not be the only club in that situation. The state of California has recommended limiting public gatherings to 250 people for the rest of March, which means the Dodgers, Padres and Athletics could either play their initial series elsewhere or have those sets postponed, Passan tweets. All three of those teams are scheduled to play at home until early April.

For now, MLB executives aren’t slated to discuss how they’ll proceed until a Friday conference call, per Passan. However, with the NBA shutting itself down and the National Hockey League possibly poised to make a similar announcement on Thursday, perhaps MLB will reach a decision on how it will move forward sooner than expected. The hope is that the league will come up with a plan “within days,” three high-level team officials told Passan.

Coronavirus Response Will Require MLB Schedule Changes

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1:30pm: The Athletics and Giants have issued statements regarding the coronavirus. An exhibition game between the two that was scheduled to take place at Oracle Park on March 24 has been canceled, the Giants announced. The two clubs are looking into alternate settings.

Meanwhile, the A’s, who are scheduled to open the season at home with a four-game series against the Twins, announced that they will “adhere to any government directives and work with Major League Baseball on all alternative arrangements.” It seems overwhelmingly likely that the series will be played in a different setting than expected — be it a new location or an empty stadium.

12:25pm: As the coronavirus continues to sweep across the globe, it is increasingly apparent that staging Major League Baseball games in the manner anticipated will simply not occur. Already today we have seen several major developments in the response to the deadly disease.

This story is far bigger than sports. But sports have an essential role to play, both in forestalling transmissions that can occur in large gatherings and in signaling the need for community-level precautions.

Today, the World Health Organization formally designated the coronavirus a pandemic. WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that nations “can turn the tide,” but warned not only of “the alarming levels of spread and severity” but also “the alarming levels of inaction” around the globe.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infections Diseases, addressed the matter in relation to basketball. The Ivy League has canceled its conference tournament but others remain on schedule along with the NCAA tourney. And while the NBA has begun preparing for disruption, it hasn’t yet acted.

Fauci says the outbreak is “going to get worse” and left no doubt he sees a need to curtail large-scale gatherings, at minimum in areas in which community spread has been detected. “We would recommend that there not be large crowds,” he said. “If that means not having any people in the audience when the NBA plays, so be it.”

American municipalities are increasingly acting upon the evident need to slow the spread of the coronavirus to limit the strain on health systems to the extent possible. Some of those decisions could directly force MLB to change its plans. To this point the league has instituted various minor changes to regular Spring Training rules — media accessibility, fan interaction, non-essential personnel being kept from traveling or appearing in the clubhouse — but has not limited Spring Training contests or changed its schedule for the upcoming regular season.

The league has indicated an awareness of the gravity of the situation and acknowledged the “fluidity” inherent to it. As the dangers become all the more evident, one might hope that the urgency of the matter will lead the league to taking a proactive, leadership position.

With Seattle serving as one epicenter of the outbreak in the United States, it is now all but certain that the Mariners won’t play there as planned to begin the season. The team now expects its first two home series to be prohibited by decree of the governor, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports on Twitter.

It’s quite likely this is the tip of the iceberg, in Seattle and elsewhere. We’ve seen concepts floated of moving games scheduled for Seattle to Arizona, but that’s premised on the highly questionable premise that it’ll be safe to stage such massive gatherings anywhere within the next several weeks.

Other municipalities are also moving in a similar direction, with more sure to follow as evidence of the virus’s spread increases. San Francisco has banned gatherings of over one thousand people for at least the next two weeks, Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets. Washington, DC has recommended cancellations of gatherings of one thousand or more people. That was the same guidance issued yesterday by San Francisco; the city boosted it to an outright prohibition after the NBA’s Warriors held a home game.

Whatever the annoyances or disappointments, they’re designed to avoid the awful situations we’ve already seen unfold in China, Italy, and other places. Experts have explained the critical importance of “social distancing” measures to prevent the rapid spread of the disease, which is far more deadly and damaging when overburdened health systems struggle to provide adequate treatment.

Athletics Renew Matt Olson's 2020 Contract

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  • The Athletics have renewed first baseman Matt Olson on a $603,500 salary, per Jon Heyman of MLB Network. Oakland was interested in extending Olson as of last season, but there haven’t been any rumblings about his long-term future since June. If nothing changes by next winter, the big-hitting Olson will head to arbitration for the first of three possible trips.

A.J. Puk Expects To Resume Throwing Tuesday

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  • Athletics hurler A.J. Puk has been down with a mild shoulder strain for a week, but the left-hander said Monday that he expects to resume throwing Tuesday (Twitter links via Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle). While Puk’s still hopeful that he’ll be set to go for the beginning of the regular season, he added that he doesn’t “want to rush anything. It’s a long season and I’d rather be feeling healthy down the stretch.” The promising Puk, 24, hasn’t experienced a healthy big league season yet. He missed 2018 because of Tommy John surgery and then combined for fewer than 40 professional innings last year as he worked his way back. However, he did toss 11 1/3 quality frames from the A’s bullpen late in the season. If Puk’s health holds up in 2020, he could emerge as a key member of Oakland’s rotation.

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