Latest On Rays’ Stadium Situation
Back in 2019, Major League Baseball authorized the Tampa Bay Rays to pursue a plan that would involve splitting their home games between Florida and Montreal. However, just a few weeks ago, the league pulled the rug out from under those attempts. That leaves the club in a ticking clock scenario, as their lease at Tropicana Field runs through 2027, giving them until that time to figure out a different path forward.
One option that has at least been discussed is building a stadium on the land currently occupied by the Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg, per a report from Colleen Wright of the Tampa Bay Times. The airport is located right on the bay, just a short drive from Tropicana Field.
As noted by Wright, the mayor of St. Petersburg, Ken Welch, recently addressed the situation on Twitter. “St. Pete is back in the game!,” he tweeted. “I was excited to meet yesterday with the Rays and County leadership. Together with our City Council and community partners, we have re-engaged with urgency to keep baseball in the Sunshine City.” The mayor sent a memo to city council members saying that he wants to study the airport site for “current and potential future community impact.” Wright also quotes Pinellas County Commission Chairperson Charlie Justice on the matter, who says, “The bottom line is, it’s good after every decade or 20 years to look and say, ‘OK, what’s happening. This is 100 acres of valuable land.'” Justice adds, “Does it make sense to keep doing it? Does it need to be changed? We are open to that opportunity.” The plan is somewhat complicated by the fact that the airport is also considering expanding, as detailed by Wright.
However, despite that acknowledgement that the airport site was considered, Justice and Pinellas County Administrator Barry Burton told Wright that there was more focus on other options, such as redeveloping the Tropicana Field or Al Lang Stadium locations. The latter site has previously hosted a ballpark, serving as the spring training venue for various teams over the years, including the Rays, back in the Devil Rays days. However, in 2011, it was turned into a soccer field and is the current home of the Tampa Bay Rowdies of of the USL Championship.
It seems that all options are still in the preliminary discussions stage, which makes sense given that the sister-city plan only died fairly recently. Decisions will have to be made in the near future though, given the limited amount of time remaining on the team’s lease at Tropicana. In a recent poll of MLBTR readers, more than two thirds of voters expect the team to eventually leave the Tampa/St. Pete area.
Latest On Rangers’ Post-Lockout Plans
The Rangers were one of the busiest teams in the spending spree that led up to the lockout in early December, giving out over half a billion dollars to Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jon Gray and Kole Calhoun. However, there are still areas of the roster that could be upgraded, if there’s still money left to do so.
Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News takes a look at some paths the club could take after the lockout, emphasizing that the main priority is starting pitching, with the unresolved Clayton Kershaw situation being a key pivot point for the Rangers. Most of the top free agent starters were snapped up before the lockout, leaving Kershaw and Carlos Rodon as the only front-end options remaining. Although both of those hurlers have questions about their health after dealing with injuries in 2021, they should garner plenty of interest after the lockout due to the dearth of similar options. The Rangers may be uniquely positioned to take advantage of the Kershaw situation, however, given that he is a Dallas native and may prefer to stay near his home as much as possible. Furthermore, Kershaw has a connection to Rangers manager Chris Woodward, who was with the Dodgers as third base coach from 2016 through 2018. Woodward admitted in November that the club has had discussions with Kershaw.
Despite dealing with injuries in 2021, Kershaw threw 121 2/3 innings with a 3.55 ERA, 29.5% strikeout rate and 4.3% walk rate. Although he’ll turn 34 in March, he’s still an elite pitcher when healthy and would provide a huge boost for the Rangers. Gray currently occupies the top spot in the rotation, followed by a pile of wild cards and question marks. Dane Dunning, Taylor Hearn, A.J. Alexy, Spencer Howard, Kolby Allard, Glenn Otto, Yerry Rodriguez, Brock Burke and Cole Winn are among the options to fill out the remaining spots, but most of them have little or no MLB experience at this point. They also all have minor league options, meaning there’s plenty of room to make external additions and bump everyone else down a peg. If the club isn’t able to nab Kershaw or Rodon, they could pivot to players such as Yusei Kikuchi, Tyler Anderson, Matt Harvey, Johnny Cueto, Michael Pineda, Zack Greinke, and many others.
The Rangers are known to be interested in Seiya Suzuki and Grant suggests that the club touch base with him after the lockout. They currently project to have an outfield of two Calhouns, Kole and Willie, along with Adolis Garcia and depth options such as Leody Taveras, Nick Solak and Eli White. Taveras and White both have options and could spend some time in the minors if another outfielder is added into the mix. Solak also has options but could be best suited as a utility option off the bench, given his ability to play the infield as well. How Suzuzi will fare against MLB pitching can’t be known for sure, but given his success in Japan, he seems likely to be able to contribute as an everyday player. He hit at least 25 home runs in each of the past six seasons and his 2021 line was .317/.433/.639, with 38 homers and nine stolen bases.
Grant also throws out the idea of calling Oakland and trying to acquire Matt Olson, who is expected to be traded after the lockout. Nathaniel Lowe is currently the club’s first baseman and had a fine season in 2021, hitting .264/.357/.415, wRC+ of 115 and 1.6 fWAR. However, Olson would be a clear upgrade, as evidence by his 2021 line of .271/.371/.540, wRC+ of 146 and 5.0 fWAR. But it may be difficult for the Rangers to win the Olson sweepstakes, given that they are division rivals with the A’s. Oakland may not want to send him to a team that they will have to play so regularly, and Texas may also be loath to watch a package of highly-touted prospects flourish in Oakland for years to come.
Much like the rotation, the bullpen could also be bolstered by a veteran presence. The club’s current mix of relievers is entirely composed of hurlers with less than three years’ service time, such as Joe Barlow, Spencer Patton, Brett Martin and others. Jose Leclerc has more than five years on his résumé, but he underwent Tommy John surgery last spring and figures to miss at least part of the season. Grant suggests that the club reunite with former Rangers Jake Diekman and Ian Kennedy, though those are just two of dozen of potential bullpen options on the market. Kenley Jansen, Collin McHugh, Ryan Tepera are among the dozens of others who could be considered.
There’s also the matter of Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who was one of the team’s bright spots in 2021 but has now been squeezed by new additions. In 158 games last year, he hit .271/.312/.357, which was only good enough for a wRC+ of 85, but was still worth 2.3 fWAR thanks to his baserunning and defensive contributions. Now that Seager and Semien are plugged in at shortstop and second base, Kiner-Falefa seems likely to start the season as the regular third baseman but could be bumped into a super utility role once prospect Josh Jung is deemed ready to join the big league club. Grant suggests that the club could preemptively try to take advantage of this infield surplus by shopping Kiner-Falefa to the teams who need a shortstop but aren’t planning on spending big on the position, such as the Yankees. Whether the club has another big move left up their sleeve or not, they’ve already done enough to have a more interesting season than last year. If they have more chips to push into the center of the table, they still have lots of options for exactly how they do it.
Latest On Mariners’ Infield Pursuits
It’s already been a fairly active offseason for the Mariners, who before the league-implemented lockout by signing reigning Cy Young winner Robbie Ray to a five-year contract and acquiring second baseman/left fielder Adam Frazier in a trade with the Padres. Whenever the transaction freeze lifts, the M’s are expected to resume that aggressive approach as they look to capitalize on a top-ranked farm system and take the next step from last year’s 90-win showing to their first playoff berth in two decades.
The checklist, in some ways, looks similar to early in the offseason. Even with Ray on board, Seattle is likely to add some veteran innings to the back of the rotation. The big right-handed bat sought by president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto has not yet been acquired. As such, it’s hardly a surprise that the M’s have been linked extensively to all three of Kris Bryant, Trevor Story and Seiya Suzuki in recent weeks.
Perhaps more interesting is the idea that the Mariners could potentially add two of those names to the fold. Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times suggests that it’s at least possible for Seattle to add both Bryant and Story, adding not to “underestimate the possibility” that Frazier could be traded before ever playing a game for the Mariners.
That’s a new and yet-unexplored topic by and large, so it’s worth taking a bit of time to unpack — after establishing a few points up front. For starters, it’s certainly possible that even if Seattle were to pull off an unlikely stunner and sign both Bryant and Story, Frazier could still be deployed as a multi-position super utility player. That’d cut into the available playing time for switch-hitting Abraham Toro, but Toro could conceivably rotate between multiple infield positions (third base, second base and perhaps even first base) and designated hitter himself. He also has minor league options remaining.
Secondly, it should be emphasized that there’s no indication in the report that a blockbuster addition of both Bryant and Story is at all likely, nor does Divish suggest that Frazier will be actively shopped by the Mariners. Some would question the logic of acquiring Frazier in the first place if the end result were only for him to be traded just a couple months later. However, in the (very) hypothetical event that scenario plays out, it surely wouldn’t have been the plan at the time of the deal. Any further activity involving Frazier would quite likely stem from the Mariners unexpectedly landing some big-ticket items they originally didn’t anticipate being possible. And, as Divish notes, a Frazier deal would likely only come together if he were to bring back some form of immediate big league help (perhaps pairing him with some minor league talent).
While Frazier’s time with the Padres didn’t go as either player or team hoped, the 2021 season was nevertheless a strong one for the 30-year-old veteran. In 639 trips to the plate, Frazier slashed .305/.368/.411 — good for a 114 wRC+ — adding in five home runs, five triples and career-highs in doubles (36) and steals (10). His 10.8% strikeout rate was also the lowest of his career by a good margin.
That said, Frazier is a free agent after the 2022 season and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn a $7.2MM salary this year. It’s certainly plausible that the Mariners, with a deep outfield mix and the more cost-effective Toro as an option at both second and third base, might not relish the idea of relegating Frazier to a rather pricey bench piece — if they were able to add a pair of bats. Furthermore, a team with a need at second base (e.g. White Sox) or in the outfield (e.g. Guardians) could potentially show interest were Frazier’s trade market to be rekindled. Dipoto has already made clear he has no intention of trading his top prospects this offseason, but some mid-range talents plus a win-now piece like Frazier could theoretically net some needed pitching help from a trade partner.
Again, it’s safest to assume this is all a long shot and that Frazier will end up playing a notable role with the Mariners this coming season. But with no end in sight to the lockout, it’s also hard not to think about some outside-the-box possibilities and what might lie ahead when baseball returns to brighter days. A second Frazier swap or the Mariners shocking the baseball world with a pair of big-name additions might feel like a reach, but with just $87MM in projected 2022 payroll and only $37MM in 2023, the money is there for Dipoto & Co. to at least consider some ambitious possibilities.
Brian Snitker On Managerial Tenure, Freeman, Ozuna
Brian Snitker was at the helm of the Braves’ first World Series title in 26 years, leading the club to a championship in his fourth full season as skipper. A few months after securing the title, the 2018 National Manager of the Year chatted with Jeff Schultz of the Athletic.
The 66-year-old Snitker addressed his personal future, telling Schultz he’s still energized for another season in the wake of the World Series win. Asked how long he planned to continue managing, Snitker said he at least intends to work the remainder of his current contract. Though he was already under contract through 2023, the Braves exercised their 2024 option on his services shortly after the season.
As they prepare for what they hope to be a fifth consecutive division title, the Braves have plenty of roster maneuvering to figure out after the lockout. Hanging over the entire offseason has been the status of Freddie Freeman, who didn’t sign before the transactions freeze. Freeman and the Braves have reportedly haggled over whether his contract should include a sixth guaranteed year. With the possibility looming that he might depart, the Braves have been tied to Matt Olson and Anthony Rizzo as possible alternatives.
How ardently to pursue a Freeman reunion is a decision for ownership and the front office. Snitker, unsurprisingly, tells Schultz he’d prefer to keep the 2020 NL MVP around but pointed to the Braves’ ability to overcome losses of key players (most notably Ronald Acuña Jr. and Mike Soroka) last season. “Do I want Freddie back? Absolutely. Why wouldn’t I,” Snitker asked rhetorically. “But it may not happen. It’s the way business is. But I’m not freaking out about it right now. Last year, we lost Player A, and we kept going. We lost player B, C, D, E, F, and we just kept going. It’s what we do.”
Snitker also addressed the status of corner outfielder Marcell Ozuna, who was arrested in late May on domestic violence charges. Police at the time alleged they saw Ozuna strike his wife Genesis with a cast. A few months after his arrest, Ozuna agreed to partake in a domestic violence intervention program that could see his criminal charges eventually dropped. After spending a few months on the injured list, he was placed on paid administrative leave through the end of the 2021 season. Following the season, MLB announced a retroactive 20-game suspension for violation of the MLB – MLBPA Domestic Violence Policy, making him eligible to return to the field from the outset of 2022.
The Braves haven’t officially announced their plans for Ozuna, who is under contract through 2024. If Ozuna remains on the active roster, Snitker tells Schultz he’d have no qualms about putting him back into the lineup. “As far as I know right now, he’s going to be there,” Snitker said. “He went through the process, and he’s been cleared to play. That’s all I care about.“
Latest On Blue Jays’ Post-Lockout Plans
The Blue Jays made one of the biggest free agent signings before the start of the lockout, landing Kevin Gausman on a five-year deal. He stepped into the rotation spot vacated when reigning Cy Young award winner Robbie Ray signed with the Mariners. So while the Jays have already made a notable offseason strike, there’s certainly room for more whenever the transactions freeze comes to a close.
Adding an infielder has long been known to be a priority after Marcus Semien headed to the Rangers via free agency. That can take the form of a pickup at either third or second base, thus pushing Cavan Biggio and/or Santiago Espinal to the other position. Along with their desire for infield help, the Jays are likely to prioritize further rotation pickups and adding a high-leverage reliever, writes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.
It’s arguable the Jays only need look for depth pickups in the starting staff. The top four of Gausman, José Berríos, Hyun-jin Ryu and Alek Manoah is among the stronger around the game. Veteran Ross Stripling looks to be the favorite for the #5 starter role at the moment. After beginning his MLB career with four consecutive sub-4.00 ERA seasons, Stripling has seen his production slip over the past two years. Going back to the start of 2020, he owns a 5.14 ERA/5.52 FIP over 150 2/3 innings with a 20.6% strikeout rate that checks in a couple points below the league average. As he has throughout his career, Stripling has continued to pound the strike zone (7.4% walk rate) but he’s been tagged for an untenable 2.2 home runs per nine innings over that stretch.
Stripling’s early-career run of success with the Dodgers probably reflects a loftier ceiling than that of most nominal #5 starters around the game, but another rotation pickup could push him into an overqualified sixth starter/swing role. The Jays also have top prospect Nate Pearson in the fold, although it remains to be seen how many innings they could reasonably expect from the righty in 2022. He was limited to just 45 2/3 frames between Toronto and Triple-A Buffalo by injuries last year. Pearson is still a highly-regarded young arm — he checked in 2nd among Jays farmhands on Baseball America’s recent organizational ranking — but it remains to be seen if the club might prefer to keep tabs on his workload by having him pitch as a multi-inning reliever next season.
That’s particularly true given the middle-of-the-road relief group the Jays are hoping to augment after the lockout. Toronto relievers ranked 16th in MLB last season in ERA (4.08), 13th in strikeout/walk rate differential (14.9 percentage points) and 12th in SIERA (3.92). Jordan Romano broke out as an excellent late-game weapon, and Toronto has already added Yimi García on a two-year free agent deal. Yet there’s still some room for a high-leverage arm among a group that also includes Tim Mayza, Adam Cimber and the talented but oft-injured Julian Merryweather.
Romano took hold of the ninth inning last season, so Toronto needn’t land a proven closer. Still, that shouldn’t automatically take them out of the running for someone like Kenley Jansen, the top remaining free agent reliever. Acquiring a veteran closer — to be clear, Jansen’s just one speculative example — would allow skipper Charlie Montoyo more flexibility to deploy Romano in a situational high-leverage role. Other notable free agent relief arms include Collin McHugh, old friend Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Joe Kelly. Potential late-inning relievers who might be attainable via trade include Lou Trivino, Cole Sulser and David Bednar.
Davidi writes that a left-handed hitting outfielder might also be on the wish list, albeit perhaps not at the priority level of some of the club’s other areas of need. Toronto’s projected regular outfield of Lourdes Gurriel Jr., George Springer and Teoscar Hernández all hit right-handed. So too does fourth outfielder Randal Grichuk. The Jays would surely like to find a taker for the nearly $21MM in guaranteed money remaining on the latter’s deal through 2023. That’ll be easier said than done, but pulling off a Grichuk trade could make the search for additional outfield help more pressing.
The Jays aren’t going to spend on a top-of-the-market outfielder given the strength of their current group. Joc Pederson and Eddie Rosario are likely to be affordable but may prefer to sign with a club offering a clearer path to everyday reps. Corey Dickerson, whom the Jays acquired alongside Cimber from the Marlins last summer, also hit the open market and is likely to be limited to one-year deals.
Dickerson hit .282/.329/.450 in 140 plate appearances with the Jays down the stretch. That’s in line with his general production over the past two seasons — high batting averages but a low walk rate and decent but unspectacular power production. His overall offensive output has checked in right around league average, by measure of wRC+, but he was a reliably productive bat for most of the early part of his career. Dickerson, who spoke glowingly of his time in Toronto as part of a wider-ranging interview with Davidi, indicated he’s heading into 2022 with a goal of rediscovering some of the extra-base impact he’d made during his time with the Rockies, Rays, Pirates and Phillies between 2013-19.
It’s not clear whether the Jays will reengage with Dickerson whenever club personnel is allowed to speak with free agents. Whatever course of action team president Mark Shapiro, general manager Ross Atkins and the rest of the front office choose, it seems they should have a fair amount of financial flexibility to address the various holes on the roster. Coming off a 91-win season that nevertheless was a touch short of the playoffs, there’s little reason not to be aggressive.
AL Central Notes: Buxton, Delmonico, Baddoo
Chatting with SportsGrid’s Craig Mish earlier this week, Byron Buxton spoke about his decision to re-sign a seven-year extension with the Twins rather than play out the 2022 season and enter the free-agent market next winter. Reports dating back to July have indicated that the Twins and Buxton both hoped to work something out, and the 28-year-old tells Mish that “loyalty was a big thing for my family and me” when it came to contract talks. Buxton expressed appreciation for the Twins sticking with him and wanting to build around him despite a litany of injuries. He added that since being selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 draft, his goals have been to reach the Majors, play for a long time, and to spend his career with one team.
There’s no guarantee that last part will come to fruition, but in addition to a $100MM guarantee, Buxton’s contract came with a full no-trade clause. He can also boost his annual salary considerably with incentives tied to plate appearances and MVP voting. There’s a good bit of risk involved in the deal, given Buxton’s injury history, but as his .277/.321/.575 line and 42 home runs through his past 684 plate appearances show, Buxton is one of the game’s best in terms of raw talent. A hip flexor strain and then a broken hand sustained on a hit-by-pitch limited him to 254 plate appearances in 2021, but Buxton turned in a mammoth .306/.358/.647 slash with 19 home runs in that time.
More from the division…
- Former White Sox outfielder Nicky Delmonico returned to the organization as a minor league hitting coach earlier this week. He told reporters that he hopes this will be just the first step in a lengthy career on the other side of the game (link via Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times). Delmonico, 29, said he would “love to manage” one day and has long felt that would be his calling in his post-playing days. Delmonico might’ve continued his playing career were it not for some recent injury troubles, but he revealed in that media session that he’d have required shoulder surgery and a lengthy rehab process to continue on the field (Twitter link via James Fegan of The Athletic). Fegan notes that Delmonico spent the 2021 instructional league with the White Sox’ club there, learning under the organization’s hitting coordinator, Andy Barkett.
- Akil Baddoo is coming off one of the more successful showings by a Rule 5 draftee in recent years. Selected by the Tigers despite having never appeared above High-A during his time in the Twins system, the left-handed hitter made an immediate splash by hitting four home runs over his first eight MLB games. The sailing obviously didn’t remain quite so smooth, but Baddoo generally impressed over the course of the year. Not only did he stick on the active roster all year, he started more than half of Detroit’s games and posted slightly above-average offensive numbers (.259/.330/.436, 108 wRC+) across 461 plate appearances. Cody Stavenhagen of the Athletic looks back on Baddoo’s season as part of a wide-ranging feature on the 23-year-old outfielder. Baddoo discusses his personal background and ascent to the majors, his offseason routine, and some goals for the 2022 season — including improving against same-handed pitching and strengthening a throwing arm that he says had still felt residual effects from a May 2019 Tommy John surgery. Tigers fans, in particular, will want to give Stavenhagen’s piece a full read.
MLBPA Rejects MLB’s Request For Federal Mediation
4:07 pm: Next steps remain unclear. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that there’s no set date for negotiations, but it’s possible discussions resume next week. Key league personnel will be in Orlando from Tuesday through Thursday for a scheduled quarterly owners meeting. Union representatives are expected to be available if a date for the next set of sessions is finalized. Commissioner Rob Manfred has a press conference scheduled for Thursday, and Nightengale writes he’s likely to formally announce a delayed start to Spring Training at that point.
2:25pm: Major League Baseball has offered the following response to the MLBPA’s statement:
“Our goal is to have players on the field and fans in the ballparks for Spring Training and Opening Day. With camps scheduled to open in less than two weeks, it is time to get immediate assistance from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to help us work through our differences and break the deadlock. It is clear the most productive path forward would be the involvement of an impartial third party to help bridge gaps and facilitate an agreement. It is hard to understand why a party that wants to make an agreement would reject mediation from the federal agency specifically tasked with resolving these disputes, including many successes in professional sports. MLB remains committed to offering solutions at the table and reaching a fair agreement for both sides.”
While the league maintains it is committed to “offering solutions at the table,” it has yet to respond to the proposal issued by the MLBPA on Tuesday or provide a timeline as to when such an offer might be put forth.
12:45pm: One day after Major League Baseball declined to issue a counteroffer to the MLBPA’s latest proposal in collective bargaining talks and instead requested federal mediation, the MLBPA issued a statement rejecting that request. It reads as follows:
“Two months after implementing their lockout, and just two days after committing to Players that a counterproposal would be made, the owners refused to make a counter, and instead requested mediation.
After consultation with our Executive Board, and taking into account a variety of factors, we have declined this request.
The clearest path to a fair and timely agreement is to get back to the table. Players stand ready to negotiate.”
It’s a wholly unsurprising outcome, given the manner in which meetings between the two sides have played out thus far. Major League Baseball’s suggestion for a federal mediator was always eyebrow-raising, given their lack of any kind of new proposal. There’s nothing to mediate, after all, when one side declines to even bring an offer to the table. As Sheryl Ring points out (Twitter thread), mediation of this nature is generally a measure taken when both sides have submitted a good-faith proposal to resolve a dispute, and a third party then helps foster progress toward a resolution.
The MLBPA submitted its most recent proposal on Feb. 1, wherein they offered only a marginal drop from a proposed $105MM pre-arbitration bonus pool to $100MM but also agreed to a league-proposed framework regarding changes to service time for young players. Specifically, MLB suggested awarding compensatory draft picks to teams that rostered young prospects who went on to finish well in Awards voting. That, in theory, would give teams some incentive to carry top prospects on their Opening Day roster rather than hold them in the minors for three weeks to secure an additional year of club control, as is so often the case. The union, in addition to its extremely modest drop in the pre-arbitration bonus pool, reportedly made some yet-unspecified tweaks to the league’s latest service-time proposal.
While details remain unclear, it’s evident that the league was nonplused by whatever ostensible were put forth by the players. A counter-offer was said to be in the works, but MLB instead shifted the onus back to players in a different and unexpected manner when it made its mediation request.
The end result is another several days with no progress, little to no actual negotiation, and a narrower window to conclude matters before the season begins. It’s already a foregone conclusion that Spring Training won’t be starting on time, and a best-case scenario now appears to be a truncated version of spring camps that still leaves enough time for players to ramp up for the regular season. There’s no guarantee that’ll happen, however, and the longer the interminable deadlock in negotiations lingers, the likelier it becomes that the regular season will be impacted.
As things stand, it’s not at all clear when talks will resume. Several players — James Paxton, Zack Britton and Whit Merrifield among them — have taken to social media to express some frustration with the lack of an MLB counterproposal (all Twitter links). They’ve joined up in offering a unified message that “a significant part of collective bargaining is… actually bargaining” — a message that other players are continuing to echo in greater number.
Now that the mediation request has been denied, one would assume a league counteroffer to be the next logical step, though MLB has yet to offer a rebuttal to the union’s latest statement.
MLBTR Chat Transcript
Click here to read a transcript of Friday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Brewers Hire Rickie Weeks, Pedro Alvarez For Player Development Roles
The Brewers announced Friday that they’ve hired former big leaguers Rickie Weeks and Pedro Alvarez as new members of their player development staff. Both are being titled assistants to the player development staff, and Alvarez will also be an assistant to the baseball operations team.
Weeks, of course, was a longtime fan favorite with the Brewers, who selected him with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2003 draft. He somewhat remarkably made his big league debut later that same season, though he appeared in just seven games. Weeks didn’t return to the Majors in 2004, but by 2005 he’d emerged as Milwaukee’s primary second baseman.
From 2005-14, Weeks was the go-to option at second base for the Brew Crew, hitting a combined .249/.347/.425 with 148 home runs and 126 stolen bases along the way. He made the 2011 All-Star team, enjoyed three seasons of 20-plus home runs and also swiped 15 or more bags in five different seasons. Following his days in Milwaukee, Weeks had brief stints in Seattle, Arizona and Tampa Bay, but he hasn’t played at the MLB level since 2017. In all, Weeks batted .246/.344/.420 with 161 home runs and 132 steals through 5112 plate appearances spread across parts of 14 MLB seasons.
Five years after Weeks was the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, Alvarez found his name called in that exact same spot — albeit by the division-rival Pirates. Like Weeks, he was quick to the Majors, spending less than two years in the minors before debuting with the Bucs as a 23-year-old in 2010.
Known for his light-tower power, Alvarez looked to be one of the NL’s burgeoning young sluggers early in his career. Though strikeouts continually worked to suppress his batting average, Alvarez swatted 30 home runs in 2012 and followed that up with an NL-best 36 home runs in 2013 — his lone All-Star season. The vast majority of Alvarez’s playing career was spent in Pittsburgh, but he did spend parts of the 2016-18 seasons — his final three in the Majors — as a member of the Orioles. In parts of nine big league seasons, Alvarez hit .236/.310/.447 with 162 home runs.
MLB Will Not Counter MLBPA’s Latest Offer, Requests Federal Mediator To Help Resolve Lockout
9:51PM: The Players Association is likely to turn down the league’s request for a mediator, according to Drellich (via Twitter).
4:10PM: The league will not be making a counter to the MLBPA’s most recent offer, The Athletic’s Evan Drellich reports (via Twitter). The union made their offer on Tuesday and MLB was expected to make a response, though this will now apparently not be the case. Between this lack of a counter-offer, no new meetings scheduled between the two sides, and now the league’s request for a federal mediator, it is unclear when the next set of negotiations may take place.
3:29PM: Major League Baseball has asked the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for assistance in ending the lockout, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter link). As per the league’s request, a federal mediator would step in to help resolve the many outstanding issues between the owners and players in negotiating the next collective bargaining agreement. The MLBPA would also have to sign off on a mediator’s involvement, and it isn’t yet clear whether the union has consented to this third-party consultation.
It isn’t uncommon for the FMCS to become involved in sports-related work stoppages, as federal mediators all played roles in the NFL’s 2011 lockout, the NBA’s 2011 lockout, and the 2012-13 NHL lockout. In addition, Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times noted that former FMCS director William Usery was appointed by President Bill Clinton to try and help baseball’s owners and players come to an agreement that would end the 1994-95 players’ strike.
Results were mixed, as FMCS involvement didn’t do much in the NFL’s case, nor did Usery’s involvement help bring the 1994-95 strike any closer to an end. It is worth underscoring that a federal mediator is there only to help facilitate talks between the two sides, and cannot force either party to accept a deal.
With this in mind, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the lockout is any closer to a resolution. In the absolute best-case scenario that a mediator’s involvement would suddenly jumpstart talks, it would likely be some time before a new CBA is finalized — Jeff Jones of The Belleville News-Democrat observes that the aforementioned NBA and NHL lockouts needed roughly five more weeks of talks to reach a resolution. If Spring Training didn’t begin until mid-March, some regular-season games would need to be canceled.
A quick end to the lockout seems quite remote, however, given the large divides that have already become apparent in earlier talks between MLBPA and the players’ union. If anything, requesting a mediator at this relatively early stage of negotiations is unusual, and it could be a tactic by the league to put some public pressure on the union. (Labor lawyer Eugene Freedman raised this point as part of a multi-Tweet thread about today’s news.) According to USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, a player with direct knowledge of the labor talks referred to the mediation request as “a publicity stunt” from the league.
While the lockout has only been going on for a little over two months, there is certainly a ticking-clock element to negotiations, given that Spring Training camps were scheduled to open within two weeks’ time, and Opening Day is scheduled for March 31. If the “publicity stunt” sentiment is shared by the union members at large and the MLBPA doesn’t agree to FMCS mediation, it would represent yet another setback in talks (or lack thereof) between the two sides.