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40 MLB Players And Staff Test Positive For Coronavirus

By | at June 21, 2020 9:33pm CDT

9:33PM: The camps of at least 10 different teams have been “affected” by coronavirus cases since the end of Spring Training, Heyman tweets.

6:47PM: A total of 40 Major League players and staff members had positive COVID-19 tests in the last week, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports.  This total presumably includes the already-reported cases in recent days — members of the Yankees, Angels, Phillies, and Astros organizations are known to have the virus, while the Blue Jays and Giants also closed their training camps after people connected with the teams displayed COVID symptoms.  As a result of this outbreak, the league ordered all spring training facilities to be closed (and thoroughly cleaned) while new health protocols are determined between the MLB and the players union.

The sheer number of people involved at every level of a big league organization makes it inevitable that more positive results beyond these initial 40 cases will emerge as testing continues in the coming days, weeks, and months.  Even after a more concrete set of health and safety protocols are established, the threat of COVID-19 will hang over whatever baseball we see played in 2020, including the open question as to what will happen if a team-wide outbreak (akin to the Phillies’ current situation) occurs during the season.

As MLB Network’s Jon Heyman puts it, COVID-19 is “the common enemy” that both baseball’s owners and players need to battle first and foremost, even beyond the two sides’ protracted negotiations over how to launch the 2020 season.  The health situation has led to a new “sense of urgency” in talks, Nightengale writes, though the rapidly shrinking calendar is also a factor given the players’ desire to play more than 60 games.

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MLBPA To Vote On MLB’s 60-Game Proposal In Coming Days

By | at June 21, 2020 3:40pm CDT

JUNE 21: While no vote will take place today, Heyman reports that MLB is “willing to make a couple changes” to its 60-game proposal to facilitate an agreement with the players. One such change, as reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan: if a full season isn’t played this year, Manfred offered in a letter to Tony Clark to cancel the expanded playoff format and the universal DH rule in the 2021 season. Such a provision would prevent the deal from leaning too far in the owners’ favor should the COVID-19 pandemic force the cancellation of the 2020 season.

In the same letter to Clark, Manfred suggests that the two sides’ disagreement on the number of games played might be an inflexible issue, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. With teams relocating from the spring locations to their home ballparks, Rosenthal tabs June 29 as the earliest date teams could report to training. And if the season is to end by September 27 (which MLB has insisted upon), that leaves 66 days to play. Thus, the 70 game schedule desired by the players might not be feasible.

JUNE 20, 4:55: The union will hold off several days on voting, which was originally supposed to take place on Sunday, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Instead, players will spend some time review health and safety protocols after teams have shut down their regular spring training sites due to an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Arizona and Florida. Expect an update on the players’ votes at some point in the next week.

JUNE 20, 1:54: According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the MLB Players Association is set to vote this weekend on MLB’s latest proposal for a 2020 season, which consists of a 60-game season with full pro rata pay, as well as expanded playoffs and a universal DH through 2021, among other things. As part of that proposal, the players would also waive their right to seek additional compensation through a grievance.

If the players opt to reject the owners’ proposal, expect to see commissioner Rob Manfred unilaterally mandate a schedule, a last resort that the league has kept in its back pocket throughout negotiations but which brings with it the possibility of a grievance action from the union. That said, Manfred could opt to forego that action and instead choose to cancel the season altogether, though it seems like that isn’t the preference of most owners.

This weekend’s vote will be held by 38 players—one representative from each team, as well as an executive committee of eight players. Those team representatives have no doubt maintained contact with teammates and will have a pulse on their feelings towards the proposal.

Heyman further reports that early rumors suggest that the executive committee may vote nearly unanimously in opposition of the league’s proposal. And while the team reps are harder to gauge, there’s a chance that a majority will also opt to reject the deal. If that’s true, it may be likely that the players will simply let Manfred set the 2020 schedule.

Last we heard, the players countered with a 70-game schedule. And while that offer evidently didn’t lead to an agreement, it seemed like the two sides were finally making some progress on Thursday, with just 10 games separating the parties making it look like a midpoint in the sixties was feasible.

And while a league-mandated schedule won’t bring us closer to the players’ desired number of games—perhaps making it look futile to reject the league’s current proposal—players will want to maintain their ability to file a grievance against the league, something that wouldn’t be possible if they were to accept. Rejecting the league’s offer would also do away with the two-year expanded postseason, as well as other quirks like controversial extra-inning rules.

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Amateur Draft Signings: 6/21/20

By | at June 21, 2020 11:13am CDT

Let’s check in on some details regarding recent amateur draft signees.

  • The Dodgers have agreed to a deal with fourth-round pick Carson Taylor, tweets Jim Callis of MLB.com. The former Virginia Tech catcher will receive a $400K bonus, just shy of the #130 pick’s $434,400 slot value, Callis adds. Taylor, a draft-eligible sophomore, hit .290/.389/.413 with 20 walks against 21 strikeouts as a freshman in the ACC in 2019. He was off to a fantastic start in mostly non-conference play this spring before the college baseball season was cancelled. Baseball America, who named Taylor the #219 draft prospect, lauded the switch-hitter’s plate discipline and power from the left side.
  • Tigers fourth-round pick Gage Workman will come in at $1MM, Callis also reports. That’s well above the #102 pick’s $571,400 slot value. As Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs had previously suggested, that reflects Workman’s ample leverage as a young-for-the-class college junior. The toolsy, switch-hitting infielder played his college ball at Arizona State.
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Aaron Hicks ‘Ready To Play’ If MLB Season Returns

By | at June 21, 2020 9:35am CDT

Yankees center fielder Aaron Hicks would be “ready to play” if the MLB season returns in July, he tells George A. King III of the New York Post. Hicks underwent Tommy John Surgery last October.

It seems Hicks has progressed as hoped throughout rehab. The procedure initially called for an eight to ten month recovery time, and the 30-year-old looks to be coming in at the early end of that timetable. He has been taking batting practice for two months without issue, he tells King, and has progressed to throwing from 160 feet and taking outfield drills.

Myriad challenges (coronavirus upticks in certain states, a messy labor dispute) remain for there to be a season at all, of course. If MLB were to get games off the ground, the Yankees would certainly be thrilled to welcome Hicks back. A flexor strain helped limit Hicks to 255 plate appearances over 59 games last season, the first of the seven year, $70MM extension he signed last February.

Injury-plagued 2019 notwithstanding, Hicks had emerged as one of the league’s better outfielders over the prior two seasons. Between 2017-18, he hit .255/.368/.470 (128 wRC+) over 942 plate appearances with slightly above-average defensive metrics in center.

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National League Draft Signings: Picks & Bonus Info

By | at June 20, 2020 9:09pm CDT

Here is the list of every National League team’s picks over the five rounds (plus the free agent compensation sandwich picks and the two Competitive Balance Rounds) of the 2020 draft.  Slot price information and — if available — the amount of the player’s bonus are listed, as well as each club’s total draft bonus spending pool.  If a player doesn’t sign with the team, the slot price attached to the player’s draft spot is removed from the team’s pool.

Teams are allowed to spend beyond their draft pool limit, though at an increasingly steep penalty.  Exceeding the limit by 10 percent or less of the pool value will cost a team a 75 percent tax on the overage, as well as the forfeiture of a future first-round pick if they exceed the pool by between 5-10 percent.  A 100 percent tax on the overage is levied if a team exceeds its pool by more than 10 percent of the total pool value, with heavier pick penalties — a future first- and second-round pick if a team’s extra spending falls between 10-15 percent of the pool limit, and two future first-round picks if the pool is exceeded by more than 15 percent.  Needless to say, it would be shocking if any team topped the five percent threshold, though going over the pool limit by 0-5 percent isn’t uncommon.

For further reference, here is the rundown of draft signings for American League teams. These lists will be frequently updated as more players sign over the coming weeks, so keep the posts bookmarked for future updates!

Braves ($4,127,800 draft pool)

Brewers ($6,078,300 draft pool)

Cardinals ($7,901,100 draft pool)

Cubs ($6,721,600 draft pool)

Diamondbacks ($7,184,900 draft pool)

Dodgers ($5,928,400 draft pool)

Giants ($9,231,800 draft pool)

Marlins ($12,016,900 draft pool)

Mets ($7,174,700 draft pool)

Nationals ($6,647,700 draft pool)

Padres ($10,674,000 draft pool)

  • Robert Hassell III, 1st round, 8th overall. Slot value: $5,176,900
  • Justin Lange, Competitive Balance Round A, 34th overall. Slot value: $2,148,100
  • Owen Caissie, 2-45. Slot value: $1,650,200
  • Cole Wilcox, 3-80. Slot value: $767.8K
  • Levi Thomas, 4-109. Slot value: $533K (Signed for $80K)
  • Jagger Haynes, 5-139. Slot value: $398K (Signed for $300K)

Phillies ($5,444,200 draft pool)

Pirates ($11,154,500 draft pool)

Reds ($8,552,100 draft pool)

Rockies ($10,339,700 draft pool)

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American League Draft Signings: Picks & Bonus Info

By | at June 20, 2020 7:40pm CDT

Here is the list of every American League team’s picks over the five rounds (plus the free agent compensation sandwich picks and the two Competitive Balance Rounds) of the 2020 draft.  Slot price information and — if available — the amount of the player’s bonus are listed, as well as each club’s total draft bonus spending pool.  If a player doesn’t sign with the team, the slot price attached to the player’s draft spot is removed from the team’s pool.

Teams are allowed to spend beyond their draft pool limit, though at an increasingly steep penalty.  Exceeding the limit by 10 percent or less of the pool value will cost a team a 75 percent tax on the overage, as well as the forfeiture of a future first-round pick if they exceed the pool by between 5-10 percent.  A 100 percent tax on the overage is levied if a team exceeds its pool by more than 10 percent of the total pool value, with heavier pick penalties — a future first- and second-round pick if a team’s extra spending falls between 10-15 percent of the pool limit, and two future first-round picks if the pool is exceeded by more than 15 percent.  Needless to say, it would be shocking if any team topped the five percent threshold, though going over the pool limit by 0-5 percent isn’t uncommon.

For further reference, here is the rundown of draft signings for National League teams. These lists will be frequently updated as more players sign over the coming weeks, so keep the posts bookmarked for future updates!

Angels ($6,397,100 draft pool)

Athletics ($5,241,500 draft pool)

Astros ($2,202,600 draft pool)

Blue Jays ($9,716,500 draft pool)

Indians ($7,662,800 draft pool)

Mariners ($10,265,500 draft pool)

Orioles ($13,894,300 draft pool)

Rangers ($7,083,900 draft pool)

Rays ($7,474,600 draft pool)

Red Sox ($5,129,900 draft pool)

Royals ($12,521,300 draft pool)

Tigers ($13,325,700 draft pool)

Twins ($4,528,600 draft pool)

White Sox ($7,764,800 draft pool)

Yankees ($3.52MM draft pool)

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Manny Banuelos Signs With CPBL’s Fubon Guardians

By | at June 20, 2020 6:04pm CDT

Left-hander Manny Banuelos has signed a deal with the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League, according to several reports out of Mexico (hat tip to the CPBL Stats website).  Banuelos had most recently been a member of the Mariners organization, before Seattle released him from his minor league contract at the start of June.

2019 marked Banuelos’ return to the majors, after he hadn’t pitched in the Show since tossing 26 1/3 innings as a rookie for Atlanta in 2015.  Those interim years saw Banuelos bounce from the Braves to the Angels to the Dodgers before being dealt to the White Sox in November 2018.  Banuelos tossed 50 2/3 innings for Chicago last season, starting eight of 16 appearances and posting a 6.93 ERA, 1.33 K/BB rate, and 7.8 K/9.

Once a very highly touted prospect coming up in the Yankees’ farm system, Banuelos’ career has been stalled by injuries (particularly a Tommy John surgery that kept him from pitching in 2013) and a lack of consistency at Triple-A, let alone during his brief Major League career.  Still only 29 years old, Banuelos will now head to the New Taipei City-based Guardians to try and carve out a niche for himself in the CPBL.  Chin-lung Hu, Henry Sosa, and Fu-Te Ni are other former big leaguers also playing on Fubon’s roster.

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Four Members Of Yankees Organization Test Positive For COVID-19

By | at June 20, 2020 4:41pm CDT

Four people in the Yankees organization have tested positive for the coronavirus, reports George A. King III of the New York Post. Training in Tampa, the Yankees are the latest team based in Florida to have reported positive tests, along with the Phillies (Clearwater) and the Blue Jays (Dunedin).

After administering tests on Friday, further results are pending and the number of cases in the organization could very well climb in the coming days. Needless to say, Yankees facilities in Tampa have been closed and private workouts held at George M. Steinbrenner Field have been suspended.

According to King III, at least three of the people who have contracted are staff members, two of whom work at Steinbrenner Field while the other two “have ties to the nearby minor league complex.” In March, two players in the Yankees minor league system tested positive for the virus shortly after Spring Training was put on hold.

Earlier today, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that any potential continuation of spring training for the Yankees and Mets will take place in their home ballparks in New York rather than their typical stations in Florida. While New York has seen a lower infection rate than other states, Florida is in the midst of a substantial increase in cases.

It’s worth mentioning that the Mets have had one player test positive for the virus in recent months—as reported by Andy Martino of SNY—though that player was away from the team’s spring training facility in Port St. Lucie, so as of today there is no requirement for further testing of those at the camp. Nonetheless, they will transition their workouts back to their home ballpark, and quite soon: Cuomo stated that the organization will move forward with a “soft training camp reopening” next week.

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Quick Hits: Spring Training Sites, James Loney, Alex Cora

By | at June 20, 2020 12:10pm CDT

Given the spike of coronavirus cases in Florida and Arizona, the Mets and Yankees are both planning on moving their spring facilities to New York for the time being, per MLB Network Insider Jon Heyman. Any potential 2020 season is likely to be heavily dependent upon regional play, so it makes a certain amount of sense for both New York franchises to get settled into their home state (especially considering the rash of breakouts that caused all 30 teams to shut down their training facilities for the time being). The Mets and Yankees might not be the only clubs making this move, as USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that all MLB clubs will be moving their spring training to their home cities. Nightengale does add the caveat that the Blue Jays may stay in Florida for the time being, and there were as many as five teams on Friday with thoughts of staying in Florida (Twitter links).

Let’s check in on other news from around the game…

  • Former Dodgers first baseman James Loney has been hired by the GEM Agency in an advisory role, tweets Robert Murray. GEM launched in October 2019 based out of Dallas, Texas. They rep current big leaguers Justin Turner, Tommy Pham, and Roberto Osuna – which are all tracked in MLBTR’s Agency Database. Loney played 11 seasons in the big leagues, with his most productive years coming with the Dodgers from 2006 to 2012. He was eventually traded to the Boston Red Sox in the Dodgers’ monster deal for Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto. Loney would play just half a season in Boston before going on to post a pair of productive years with the Rays. He finished his playing career in 2016 as a 32-year-old with the New York Mets. For his career, the southpaw first baseman put up a line of .284/.336/.410 with 108 home runs in 5,487 plate appearances.
  • Alex Cora will be eligible to return to Major League Baseball in 2021, and the former Red Sox skipper would love to return to the managing ranks, Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe writes. How soon there will be interest in Cora as a manager remains to be seen given his role in the investigations into both the Astros and Red Sox sign-stealing allegations. Still, he has a tremendous track record in his short time as the Red Sox manager. Like many of us, Cora remains in wait-and-see mode for the time being. Said Cora, “If this was a regular time and they were playing games, I would say yes [to managing in 2021]. I would love to be back in 2021 in some capacity. I love managing at the big league level.  But right now, I’m still kind of like putting my game plan together. It’s not where I want it to be. But obviously with everything that’s going on, with my daughter going into her senior year of high school, we as a family have to see what we want to do.”
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