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The Opener: Cubs, WBC, Offseason In Review

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Today is the trade deadline in the NHL! If you’re a hockey fan who enjoys MLBTR’s content, be sure to check out the folks on our sister site, Pro Hockey Rumors, as well as their Twitter account to get up-to-the-minute coverage of today’s deadline deals. While a flurry of moves is surely happening in the NHL, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:

1. Are the Cubs on the verge of acquiring a reliever?

In yesterday’s Opener, we discussed how the left-handed relief market had seemingly gone dormant following the signings of Andrew Chafin and Matt Moore in the run-up to Spring Training. It’s possible that state of affairs is about to change, however, as president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer acknowledged yesterday that the Cubs could add a lefty to pair with Brandon Hughes in their bullpen. The top three relief options on the market at this point are Zack Britton, Brad Hand, and Will Smith, though the Cubs also appear to have some interest in lefty Mike Minor, who’s worked as a starter for the past several seasons.

2. WBC teams begin reporting and working out:

Teams in Pool A and Pool B for the upcoming World Baseball Classic are set to report and begin team workouts over the weekend. The teams in Pool A are Chinese Taipei, Cuba, Panama, Italy, and the Netherlands while the teams in Pool B are China, Korea, Australia, Japan, and the Czech Republic. Kenley Jansen (Netherlands), Xander Bogaerts (Netherlands), Luis Robert (Cuba), Yoan Moncada (Cuba), Vinnie Pasquantino (Italy), Shohei Ohtani (Japan), Yu Darvish (Japan), Lars Nootbaar (Japan), Tommy Edman (Korea), Ha-Seong Kim (Korea) and free agents Jurickson Profar, Andrelton Simmons and Didi Gregorius (all Netherlands) are among the many notable big leaguers who will be participating for the aforementioned clubs. You can check out full rosters at the WBC’s web site.

3. Offseason in Review series continues:

MLBTR’s “Offseason In Review” series is set to continue today as Steve Adams takes a look back at how the offseason went for the Texas Rangers. That entry will run this morning, and Steve will be hosting a Rangers-focused live chat with readers this at 11am CT. You can submit a question in advance if you’re so inclined, and that same link will take you to the chat to participate live or read the transcript after it ends. Our OiR series has already covered the Pirates, Athletics, Tigers, Diamondbacks, and Angels this spring.

Follow NHL Trade Deadline Coverage At Pro Hockey Rumors

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The 2023 NHL Trade Deadline is approaching today at 2 p.m. CT, and Pro Hockey Rumors is your go-to source for all the latest news and rumors.

Pro Hockey Rumors will provide extensive coverage of all the trades and rumors leading up to the deadline, as always. While a lot of big names have been moved in recent days — including big fish like Jakob Chychrun, Patrick Kane, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Ryan O’Reilly — there is a multitude of intriguing options available left on the market. James van Riemsdyk and Brock Boeser are there for teams looking to add on the wing, and former 65-point scorer John Klingberg is on the block for teams looking to add an offensive boost to their defense.

Some teams are still embroiled in tight playoff races, with Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Florida, Ottawa, Washington, Detroit, and the New York Islanders all stuck battling for the final two spots in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. In the West, the Calgary Flames are still looking to crack the top eight after a busy offseason.

Stay up to date with our comprehensive coverage, including expert analysis and insights into all the deals. Don’t miss a single trade or rumor – follow Pro Hockey Rumors for all your trade deadline news. You can visit prohockeyrumors.com, or follow @prohockeyrumors on Twitter!

Padres Likely To Explore Extension Talks With Josh Hader, Juan Soto This Spring

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The Padres achieved their top priority of the spring over the weekend, agreeing to an 11-year, $350MM deal with Manny Machado to keep him from retesting the free agent market next offseason. That came on the heels of a summer deal for Joe Musgrove and a recent extension with Yu Darvish.

Even after that series of transactions, the Friars have a handful of key players slated to hit the open market within the next two years. Last summer’s marquee deadline acquisitions — Josh Hader and Juan Soto — are both deep into their arbitration seasons. Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes that San Diego is likely to soon be in contact with both players’ camps to discuss possible extension frameworks. Dennis Lin of the Athletic similarly wrote this week the Friars were likely to take a run at extension talks with Soto.

There hasn’t been as much speculation regarding possible Hader negotiations. It’s not a surprise that president of baseball operations A.J. Preller and his front office plan to at least check in with the four-time All-Star, though. Hader is one season away from the open market and joins Blake Snell as the top impending free agents on the San Diego roster.

29 next month, Hader has a chance of securing a record-setting deal for a reliever. He owns a sterling 2.71 ERA with an eye-popping 43.2% strikeout rate over parts of six big league campaigns. No pitcher (minimum 200 innings) has punched out hitters at a higher rate since Hader came into the league. He’s three percentage points clear of second-place finisher Edwin Díaz. Hader also leads the league in SIERA (2.13) and swinging strike percentage (19.2%) over that stretch.

Díaz is second in both those categories as well. The Mets’ closer became the first reliever in league history to top the hundred million dollar mark this offseason, returning to Queens on a five-year, $102MM pact days before free agency opened. Díaz signed that deal in advance of his age-29 campaign and coming off one of the most dominant seasons by a closer in recent memory. He fanned more than half his opponents en route to a 1.31 ERA in 62 innings.

Hader, on the other hand, is coming off arguably the worst season of his career. He allowed more than five earned runs per nine, including a disappointing 7.31 mark in 19 appearances after the Padres acquired him from Milwaukee. Hader was a bit homer-prone early in the season with the Brewers. While he got that under control in San Diego, his walk rate jumped a few percentage points towards year’s end.

Despite that wobbly conclusion, Hader still enters extension negotiations with strong leverage. He’ll play the upcoming season on a hefty $14.1MM contract after avoiding arbitration. The lanky southpaw remains one of the sport’s highest-upside relief weapons. Even in his relative down year, Hader finished sixth among relievers who threw 50+ innings with a 37% strikeout rate. He placed 18th in swinging strike rate and averaged a personal-high 97.4 MPH on his sinker.

Hader’s youth and career résumé still position him as the favorite for the largest contract among relievers in next winter’s class. Díaz’s deal serves as a reference for the kind of money Hader could land if he had a vintage platform season. The New York righty had some ups and downs in the years leading up to 2022 — including a 5.59 ERA in 2019 and a fine but not overwhelming 3.45 mark in ’21 — before reaching new heights last season.

Considering his hefty arbitration salaries and proximity to free agency, Hader isn’t under pressure to sign for below-market rates this spring. He told Heyman he’d “definitely” be open to extension talks but didn’t offer any indication he’d take a hometown discount. “It’s a great place to be, but at the end of the day, business is business,” Hader said.

Locking up Soto would be an even more challenging endeavor, of course. The three-time Silver Slugger is playing this season on a $23MM arbitration contract. He’s likely to approach or top $30MM for his final arbitration season in 2024 and is trending towards free agency over the 2024-25 offseason. Soto would hit the market before his age-26 campaign and is generally expected to command the largest guarantee in league history (although the intervening potential free agency of Shohei Ohtani could first set a new high-water mark).

Soto has already declined an offer for what would’ve been the largest deal in MLB history. The Nationals reportedly offered a 15-year, $440MM pact last summer. Soto passed, leading Washington to pivot to trade discussions that’d eventually culminate in one of the biggest deadline deals ever. Soto’s performance in San Diego after the trade — .238/.388/.390 with more walks than strikeouts through 228 plate appearances — was disappointing by his massive standards but still markedly above average.

It stands to reason the Padres would at least have to beat the $440MM the Nats were prepared to offer in order to convince Soto to bypass a trip to the open market. How high he and his representatives are aiming isn’t clear, though Soto told Heyman his camp is “open to talking” with San Diego brass. However, he also added that “every player wants to get a try at free agency and a chance to decide where they want to go and where is best for their family.”

The Padres project for the third-highest luxury tax payroll in the majors this season, with Roster Resource forecasting them just under $275MM at present. Long-term deals for Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr., Xander Bogaerts, Musgrove, Darvish and Robert Suarez already have upwards of $130MM on the books through 2027. Tatis, Bogaerts and Machado alone will count for nearly $100MM annually between 2028-33. That’s plenty of future money tied up, though it also reinforces how willing owner Peter Seidler and the front office have been to commit to star talent.

Seiya Suzuki Likely To Open Season On Injured List

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Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki is “highly likely” to start the year on the injured list, writes Patrick Mooney of the Athletic. That has seemed a strong possibility in recent days after an MRI revealed a strain of his left oblique.

The team didn’t provide many specifics on Suzuki’s injury. They declined to narrow down the grade of the strain or a timetable this week, only announcing it as a “moderate strain” on Tuesday. President of baseball operations Jed Hoyer stopped short of ruling Suzuki out for the start of the season today but suggested an IL stint was on the table.

“We’re not going to put any firm timetables on it, but there are general expectations of what a ‘moderate’ oblique injury is,” Hoyer said (via Mooney). “That certainly puts Opening Day in strong jeopardy. We just want to make sure we get him completely healthy. When that is, I’m not sure. But when he does come back, he’s going to be ready to go and we’re not going to be concerned about it.”

Signed to a five-year, $85MM deal last offseason, Suzuki made a solid first impression against MLB pitching. He hit .262/.336/.433 with 14 home runs in 111 games, though a sprain of his left ring finger cost him a month of his rookie year. Suzuki walked at a solid 9.4% clip and made hard contact on an above-average 40.3% of his batted balls. His 24.7% strikeout rate was a couple points north of the league average but his contact rate on a per-pitch basis was strong.

It was an altogether encouraging first look, with Suzuki showing the foundation of solid or better contact skills, plate discipline and power. His year featured some peaks and valleys — most notably when he followed up a torrid first month with a dismal showing in May — but his overall offensive production checked in 16 percentage points above league average as measured by wRC+. Paired with his .315/.414/.570 showing over nine seasons at Japan’s top level, Suzuki entered 2023 as a potential middle-of-the-lineup presence.

That’ll likely be put on hold by the oblique issue. There still isn’t much clarity about when the Cubs expect him to return, though it’s not uncommon for oblique strains to sideline players for upwards of four to six weeks. If he does start off on the shelf, it appears right field will fall to Trey Mancini in the early going. Signed to a two-year free agent guarantee this offseason, the longtime Oriole is coming off a .239/.319/.391 showing with 18 homers in 587 plate appearances.

Mancini popped 35 homers back in 2019 but that season increasingly looks like an outlier in comparison to the rest of his career. He typically produces slightly above-average offensive marks, blending solid but not standout bat-to-ball tendencies and power. Mancini has a little under 2500 career innings of corner outfield work at the major league level. Public defensive metrics have generally panned his work in both left and right field, little surprise for a player who played mostly first base in college and in the minor leagues.

While a first base/designated hitter role better suits Mancini, he’s at least capable of holding down a corner outfield spot temporarily. Playing him in right field in the short term would leave a few more first base and DH at-bats for the likes of Christopher Morel, Patrick Wisdom and Edwin Ríos. The Cubs are planning to play Eric Hosmer at first base regularly against right-handed pitching but could turn to Wisdom there against southpaws.

Morel can also factor into the right field mix, as could the likes of Nelson Velazquez and non-roster invitee Mike Tauchman. Should Mancini be pressed into regular right field duty, that’d perhaps open a clearer path for first base prospect Matt Mervis — fresh off a monster season across three minor league levels — to earn his first big league call early in the year.

Dodgers Notes: Hudson, Reyes, Buehler

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Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson is working his way back after his 2022 season was cut short by an ACL tear in his left knee. The veteran righty had been one of the sport’s most effective bullpen arms to that point, working to a 2.22 ERA with a 30.9% strikeout percentage in 24 1/3 innings. Los Angeles rolled the dice on a return to form last September, signing Hudson to a $6.5MM contract for this year with a matching base salary on a 2024 club option.

That positions Hudson for a potential high-leverage relief role, though he might not ready right out of the gate. Skipper Dave Roberts told reporters this afternoon that Hudson’s availability for Opening Day is in question (relayed by Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times). While he’s seemingly past his ACL rehab, the 13-year veteran was delayed in camp after battling ankle tendinitis over the winter.

It doesn’t seem there’s any cause for serious concern. Roberts indicated that Hudson has progressed to throwing high-intensity bullpen sessions in recent days. The issue may have simply held him up long enough in camp he might not be ready for regular season game action within a month, though there’s no indication he’d face any kind of long-term injured list stint.

A healthy Hudson would be an option for late-inning work as Roberts sorts through his bullpen hierarchy. Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol and Alex Vesia also seem like locks for high-leverage roles. Players like Shelby Miller, Yency Almonte and Jimmy Nelson could pitch their way into key innings.

Hudson and Nelson each lost much or all of last season recovering from injury. The Dodgers have shown a tolerance for injury risk in taking upside plays in their bullpen. Los Angeles also extended Blake Treinen (a move that looks regrettable in light of a subsequent shoulder surgery that’ll cost him most or all of the upcoming season) and recently took a shot on former Cardinals closer Alex Reyes. The Dodgers guaranteed him $1.1MM on an incentive-laden free agent deal, securing a $3MM club option for 2024 in the process.

Reyes is building back from a shoulder procedure of his own. He went under the knife to fix a labrum tear last May and has never been viewed as an Opening Day option. According to MLB.com, Reyes has been throwing regularly off flat ground but is not expected to get onto a mound until the end of this month at the earliest. Bullpen sessions would be the precursor towards a potential minor league rehab assignment. Reyes will surely need multiple weeks between his first mound work and a potential return as he builds strength after nearly 18 months since his last game action. He’s a hopeful midseason reinforcement.

Sticking with the theme of rehabbing L.A. hurlers, Roberts said All-Star starter Walker Buehler made a few throws from 60 feet yesterday (via Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register). It’s the first step of a long build in a throwing program for the righty, who underwent the second Tommy John surgery of his career last August. He’s now a little more than six months removed from that procedure and seems on track in his recovery. The Dodgers haven’t closed the door on Buehler potentially returning in a relief capacity at the tail end of the season, though it’s still far too early in the process to tell if that’ll wind up being possible.

Cubs Have Shown Interest In Mike Minor

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Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer said this afternoon the team was still monitoring the market for left-handed relief. Patrick Mooney of the Athletic adds some specificity to that search, reporting that players like Mike Minor, Will Smith and Brad Hand have all been under consideration. Mooney also adds Zack Britton — whose appeal to the Cubs has previously been reported — as a player the club has checked in on.

Interest in Smith, Hand and Britton is fairly straightforward for a club seeking southpaw help in the later innings. They’re arguably the three top unsigned relievers of either handedness. They’re all former All-Stars with strong career track records and more recent question marks.

Smith had a rocky first half of the season in Atlanta but quietly impressed following a deadline trade to the Astros. Hand allowed fewer than three earned runs per nine innings with the Phillies last season, but that came with strikeout and walk marks that were a few percentage points worse than the respective league averages. Britton has barely pitched over the past season and a half after battling elbow issues that culminated in September 2021 Tommy John surgery.

Smith has only previously been linked to the Tigers this offseason. Evan Petzold of the Free-Press reported Detroit’s interest a couple weeks back but noted that Smith was also drawing attention from clearer-cut contenders. The Cubs are coming off a 74-88 season but were well better than Detroit in 2022 and have had a far more active offseason in an effort for immediate improvement. The only other team that has been publicly tied to Hand are the Twins.

Unlike that trio, Minor hasn’t had any recent work out of the bullpen. He pitched exclusively in relief for the 2017 Royals after two seasons lost to shoulder problems. Since then, the veteran left-hander has pitched essentially entirely as a starter. He has started all but one of 119 appearances in the last five years. Minor had quite a bit of success in that capacity with the Rangers between 2018-19. Things have gone downhill in the trio of seasons since then.

Minor has allowed more than five earned runs per nine innings in each of the past three campaigns. Between 2020-21, he at least stayed mostly healthy and served as a source of back-of-the-rotation innings. That wasn’t the case in 2022, however. Minor was limited to 98 frames over 19 starts during his lone season as a member of the Reds. He posted a 6.06 ERA with a career-worst 16.7% strikeout percentage while allowing an untenable 2.2 home runs per nine.

It’s possible Minor’s struggles are attributable, at least in part, to injury. The 35-year-old began the season on the injured list with a shoulder concern and didn’t make his season debut until early June. He finished the year back on the IL thanks to renewed shoulder issues. The former All-Star hinted at potential retirement last fall but has apparently decided to give things another go. He recently held a showcase for interested teams.

Minor could appeal to teams seeking to stockpile their rotation depth, though the Cubs are presumably eyeing him as a potential relief option. Chicago has Marcus Stroman, Jameson Taillon, Justin Steele and Drew Smyly penciled into their top four rotation spots. Hayden Wesneski, Adrian Sampson and Javier Assad headline the group competing for the final rotation job to open the year. Kyle Hendricks, who’d surely get a starting job once healthy, is reportedly looking towards May for a potential rehab stint after his 2022 campaign was cut short by a capsule tear in his shoulder.

The Cubs have been linked to a number of lefty relief options throughout the offseason. Brandon Hughes is the only southpaw assured of a season-opening bullpen job. There’s room for a second pitcher, though the club has slow-played that area despite an otherwise aggressive offseason that has brought in Taillon, Dansby Swanson, Cody Bellinger, Trey Mancini, Tucker Barnhart and a handful of right-handed ’pen arms.

There might not be much room left in the budget. Roster Resource projects the Cubs’ luxury tax number around $225MM, $8MM shy of this year’s base threshold. Mooney writes the organization presently views that tax marker “as a soft salary cap,” limiting the amount of flexibility for Hoyer and his front office. It seems unlikely any of the remaining relievers would secure an $8MM guarantee at this point in the offseason — Minor, in particular, might be limited to non-roster offers — but most teams prefer to leave a bit of payroll space for in-season acquisitions.

Whether ownership would approve a bump above the luxury tax if the team is competing for a playoff spot in-season remains to be seen. Owner Tom Ricketts spoke vaguely about the tax in January, saying there “will be times I’m sure in the near future where we’ll go over. But we’ll always keep in mind that there’s a balance there you have to always look to manage” (link via Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune). The Cubs last paid the luxury tax in 2020.

Latest On Red Sox’s Catching Situation

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The Red Sox could soon be faced with a choice to make behind the plate. Boston catcher Connor Wong suffered a left hamstring strain in today’s Spring Training action, manager Alex Cora informed reporters (including Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe). The severity of the injury and a possible recovery timetable won’t be known until Wong undergoes further testing tomorrow, though Cora said the issue “doesn’t look great right now.”

If Wong requires a layoff that lingers into the regular season, Boston will have no choice but to make a roster move at the position by Opening Day. He and Reese McGuire are the only two backstops on the Sox’s 40-man roster. Obviously, the club isn’t going into a season with only one catcher. If Wong’s injury necessitates a season-opening injured list stint, they’ll have to select another player’s contract or acquire someone from outside the organization.

An internal promotion would be the more straightforward move. The Red Sox have a trio of non-roster catchers who were recently on a club’s 40-man. Veteran Jorge Alfaro signed a minor league pact with a Spring Training invitation in January after being non-tendered by the Padres at season’s end. Caleb Hamilton and one-time top prospect Ronaldo Hernández each occupied spots on the Boston 40-man at recent points but were outrighted off the roster this winter. Both players remain in the organization and are in camp after going unclaimed on waivers.

Alfaro would appear the likeliest of that trio to land a season-opening job. He’s by far the most experienced at the MLB level, having appeared in parts of seven campaigns. Alfaro was a regular backstop for a few years in Miami and has flashed intriguing power upside and arm strength throughout his professional career. That’s been undercut by huge strikeout totals and inconsistent marks as a receiver, leading him to need to reclaim a 40-man spot for the first time since the 2014-15 offseason. The 29-year-old owns a .256/.305/.396 line with 47 home runs but a lofty 34.1% strikeout rate in 478 career MLB games.

In addition to his greater experience than either Hamilton or Hernández, Alfaro would have more flexibility to explore opportunities elsewhere if the Sox don’t promote him this spring. Chris Cotillo of MassLive reports that Alfaro’s minor league deal contains an “upward mobility” clause that’d go into effect on March 25.

The Red Sox have until then to add him to their 40-man roster to supersede that clause. If they decline to do so, Alfaro would have to be made available to the league’s 29 other teams to determine whether any would devote him an immediate MLB spot. Should another team offer him a big league job, the Sox would have a 72-hour window to “match” that by promoting him themselves or allow him to leave the organization. If no other team is willing to offer Alfaro a big league job, he’d remain with the Red Sox as a non-roster player into the season. He’d have opportunities to opt out of his deal on June 1 and July 1 to test free agency if he’s still not in the majors.

Alfaro has over five years of major league service time. That gives him the right to refuse any optional assignment to the minor leagues. That essentially means that if he secures a 40-man roster spot, he’d have to stick in the majors or be designated for assignment.

Hamilton and Hernández don’t have any contractual leverage to force a call-up. Both players will start the year at Triple-A Worcester if they’re not added to the 40-man. Hamilton made a brief MLB debut with the Twins last season after hitting .233/.367/.442 over 62 games for their top affiliate in St. Paul. The 25-year-old Hernández has still yet to play in the majors and has seen his former prospect shine wear as he’s gotten to the upper minors. He’s coming off a .261/.297/.451 showing with 17 longballs in 105 games for the WooSox.

Gilberto Celestino Out 6-8 Weeks Following Thumb Surgery

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Twins announced today that outfielder Gilberto Celestino has ruptured the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb, as relayed by Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com. Celestino underwent surgery and is looking at a recovery period of six to eight weeks.

Celestino, 24, got his first extended taste of the majors last year, getting into 122 games for the Twins. He wasn’t able to contribute much on the offensive side of things, as he hit just a pair of home runs in 347 plate appearances. He did walk at a healthy 9.2% rate but his .238/.313/.302 batting line amounted to an 82 wRC+, indicating he was 18% below the league average hitter.

He is considered a strong defender and the metrics seemed to back that up last year. He played all three outfield spots but more in center than the corners. His work up the middle led to two Defensive Runs Saved, three Outs Above Average and a 0.3 mark from Ultimate Zone Rating. That kind of competent center field defense held value for a club that has the frequently-injured Byron Buxton as its primary option at the position.

However, the Twins pushed Celestino down the depth chart this offseason by acquiring Michael A. Taylor. One of the best defensive outfielders in the game, he figures to be Buxton’s primary backup in center. The club also has a pile of corner outfield options, including Joey Gallo, Max Kepler, Alex Kirilloff, Nick Gordon, Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner.

Given all of those options, Celestino was a long shot to make the club’s Opening Day roster. But considering the way a mountain of injuries sunk the team in 2022, any blow to the club’s depth is at least mildly concerning.

Once Celestino is healed, he will likely require a rehab assignment to get into game shape. Depending on how the club feels about his prognosis, it’s possible that he could be placed on the 60-day injured list in the coming weeks. Players are eligible to be moved to the 60-day IL now but the clock doesn’t start counting down until Opening Day, which is March 30. If the club doesn’t expect Celestino back to game readiness by the end of May, they could use his roster spot on a waiver claim, a signing or for adding a non-roster invitee.

For Celestino, he still has one option year remaining. Even once he is healthy, it’s possible he’ll stick in the minors, depending on what else is happening with the big league club. That could make this a make-or-break year for him, which makes this setback an unfortunate development for him on a personal level.

MLB Adds Three Former RSN Executives To Local Media Department

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Major League Baseball announced this week that it has hired a trio of executives with experience at Bally Sports and AT&T SportsNet to its newly created Local Media department. Doug Johnson has been named senior vice president and executive producer of the department. Greg Pennell joins MLB as their new senior vice president of local media. Kendall Burgess has been named the department’s vice president of technical operations.

“These new hires are an important step in our preparation to address the changing landscape of MLB game distribution in light of the increasing challenges and pressure facing regional sports networks,” MLB chief revenue officer Noah Garden said in a statement within the league’s press release. “The decades of experience and expertise in game production and operations that Doug, Greg, and Kendall bring to Major League Baseball reinforces our commitment to deliver the highest quality game telecasts to our fans.”

Previously, Johnson has spent 16 years at AT&T SportsNet, managing remote and studio productions in addition to overseeing day-to-day and long-term planning of 250-plus annual events. He’ll oversee all games locally produced by MLB. Pennell comes to MLB from Bally, where he oversaw day-to-day financial operations. He’ll handle production operations of all local MLB telecasts, per the league’s release. Burgess, too, was previously with Bally, where she held the same title and provided direction for Bally’s 19 RSNs as they produced more than 4,500 annual sporting events.

All three of the new hires will report to department head Billy Chambers, a former FOX Sports exec whom MLB hired one month ago to lead the fledgling department. The very creation of MLB’s new local media department is reflective of the turmoil currently being felt throughout the RSN industry — a model that appears to be rapidly dying in a content market dominated by streaming services.

Whether things escalate to that point is dependent on the increasingly grim outlook of the two major corporations behind the RSN model. Diamond Sports Group — the corporation that owns the Bally Sports RSNs which broadcast the Angels, Braves, Brewers, Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Guardians, Marlins, Padres, Rangers, Rays, Reds, Royals, Tigers  and Twins — has fewer than 30 days to pay off debts or default on those commitments after recently forgoing more than $140MM of payment to creditors.

There’s similar uncertainty regarding AT&T SportsNet, which is owned by Warner Bros Discovery. Last week, WBD announced its intent to withdraw from the RSN model, leaving the broadcast situation uncertain for the Astros, Rockies and Pirates. Per Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand, WBD gave those teams a March 31 deadline to reacquire broadcasting rights before those RSNs file for chapter 7 liquidation. MLB’s Opening Day, of course, is set for March 30.

The Mariners also broadcast games via an AT&T SportsNet affiliate, but as Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times wrote last week, they’re not affected by WBD’s withdrawal from the RSN business due to the fact that the team owns the majority stake in the ROOT Sports Northwest network. Network president Patrick Crumb told Baker that as far as the Mariners are concerned, it’s a “steady state” and “business as usual” for them.

Commissioner Rob Manfred has already gone on the record to state that MLB has the capacity to and is prepared to take over in-market broadcasting, should it ultimately be deemed necessary. The creation of a local media department and the hiring of three seasoned, high-ranking RSN executives meshes with Manfred’s comments about the league’s preparedness to overtake broadcasting responsibilities, if (or when) necessary. Exact permutations of how that might look are surely still being discussed. Rangers owner Ray Davis chatted with Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News about that very topic yesterday, expressing obvious concern in the short-term while simultaneously voicing optimism that the looming paradigm shift could lead to a larger number of providers broadcasting games and the eventual elimination of a lot of the blackout issues that have been chief among fans’ complaints for years.

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