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MLBTR Podcast: Kyle Tucker To The Cubs, And Trades For Devin Williams And Jeffrey Springs

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

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Orioles Sign Tomoyuki Sugano

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The Orioles signed longtime NPB star Tomoyuki Sugano to a one-year contract on Monday evening. Sugano, a client of VC Sports Group, is reportedly guaranteed $13MM. Baltimore had an opening on the 40-man roster, so no additional move was necessary.

Sugano makes the jump to Major League Baseball for the first time in what’ll be his age-35 season. He’s one of Japan’s most accomplished pitchers. The 6’1″ right-hander spent 12 years with the Yomiuri Giants in his home country. He posted a 2.43 earned run average in more than 1800 innings at the NPB level.

Major league scouts have followed Sugano for some time. He first appeared on many fans’ radars when the Yomiuri Giants made him available via the posting system during the 2020-21 offseason. Sugano was coming off a 1.97 ERA showing in his age-30 season. While he certainly attracted attention from big league clubs, he didn’t find a deal that compelled him to leave Japan. Instead, Sugano returned to the Giants on a four-year deal that paid him $40MM.

That contract allowed Sugano to opt out after each season, potentially clearing a path for him to make the move to MLB. He was evidently happy with his longtime club and decided not to take any of the early outs. Once the four-year term concluded, his camp made clear he intended to sign with an MLB team this offseason. Sugano had surpassed the nine years of NPB service time necessary to qualify for international free agency. Yomiuri will not receive any compensation for his departure, nor will the deal cost the Orioles anything other than the player’s salary.

Despite his age, Sugano is coming off one of his strongest seasons. He turned in a 1.67 ERA across 156 2/3 innings spanning 24 starts. It’s the second-lowest ERA of his career and earned him the NPB’s Central League MVP award for the third time. That’s not to say he’s still at his absolute peak form, however. Sugano only threw 77 2/3 innings during the 2023 season, reportedly on account of an elbow injury. His swing-and-miss rates have also dropped significantly compared to earlier years. Sugano struck out 18.3% of batters faced this year — well off the 24-26% range he’d posted in his late 20s.

Sugano’s NPB strikeout rate was about four percentage points lower than the 22% MLB average for starting pitchers. Many NPB hitters adopt a more contact-oriented approach than is common in the big leagues, so perhaps he’ll miss a few more bats in the majors. Sugano doesn’t have the same upside he would’ve brought a few seasons ago, though. Baseball America’s scouting report notes that his fastball velocity has dipped into the 92-93 MPH range after sitting somewhere between 94-96 MPH earlier in his career.

While the pure stuff has dropped as he’s aged and battled injury, Sugano has thrived thanks to his feel for pitching. That’s most evident in his excellent command. Sugano only walked 16 hitters all season, a microscopic 2.6% rate that’s lower than what any MLB starter managed this year (minimum 100 innings). That should rise slightly as he faces more patient hitters, but it’s fair to project Sugano for plus or better command.

Baseball America writes that Sugano indeed profiles as a control-oriented fourth or fifth starter. The outlet credits him with a five-pitch mix headlined by an above-average slider and splitter. Fans are encouraged to read BA’s full column, which also includes updated scouting reports on other prominent NPB and KBO players who are available to MLB teams (i.e. Roki Sasaki, Shinnosuke Ogasawara, Hyeseong Kim and Koyo Aoyagi).

The contract aligns with MLBTR’s prediction of one year and $12MM. It values Sugano as a capable back-end starter. Alex Cobb signed for $15MM with the Tigers last week. Late-career innings eaters Lance Lynn ($11MM) and Kyle Gibson ($13MM) got similar one-year deals with the Cardinals last offseason.

Sugano is a needed rotation upgrade for GM Mike Elias and his front office. The O’s should continue searching for higher-upside arms in the coming weeks. Sugano slots behind Zach Eflin and Grayson Rodriguez in the projected rotation. Dean Kremer, Trevor Rogers, Albert Suarez and youngsters Cade Povich and Chayce McDermott are options for the final two spots. The rotation remains Baltimore’s biggest question mark.

Sugano is the third highest-paid player on the roster, narrowly trailing Eflin ($18MM) and newly signed outfielder Tyler O’Neill ($16.5MM). Their player payroll is up to $134MM, as calculated by RosterResource. It’s not clear how far they’re willing to push spending in the first offseason under the David Rubenstein ownership group.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the salary. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Giants Interested In Tomoyuki Sugano

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The Giants are one of the teams considering longtime NPB ace Tomoyuki Sugano, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi writes (via X).  The 35-year-old is a full free agent and is expected to sign with a Major League club this winter on the heels of 12 outstanding seasons with the baseball world’s other Giants franchise, the 22-time Japan Series champion Yomiuri Giants.

Signing Sugano would be an intriguing move for the San Francisco version of the Giants in Buster Posey’s first offseason as the club’s president of baseball operations.  Logan Webb, Robbie Ray, and Kyle Harrison are assured of rotation jobs, Jordan Hicks will be in the mix if the Giants want to use him as a starter again, and a variety of less-experienced younger arms (i.e. Landen Roupp, Hayden Birdsong, Mason Black, Keaton Winn, and top prospect Carson Whisenhunt) are also vying for rotation.

While Sugano would obviously be a rookie in terms of MLB experience, he does bring more overall seasoning than most of San Francisco’s in-house rotation candidates.  If the Giants chose to accommodate Sugano by adopting a six-man rotation to emulate the Japanese standard of pitchers starting once per week, such an arrangement might also help manage the innings of the younger pitchers, though Webb or Ray might prefer a more traditional five-man schedule.

Due mostly to his age, MLBTR projected Sugano for a one-year, $12MM contract this winter, though a two-year pact certainly seems feasible.  Such a relatively inexpensive deal might be of particular interest to a Giants team that is reportedly planning to reduce spending after going over the luxury tax threshold in 2024.

RosterResource projects San Francisco’s 2025 payroll at just under $155MM at the moment, with a tax number of $182.28MM.  That leaves the Giants still with plenty of spending flexibility before they reach last year’s Opening Day payroll of roughly $208MM, as well as the $241MM luxury tax threshold.  Since the Giants have been linked to such hitters as Willy Adames, Ha-Seong Kim, and even Juan Soto this offseason, it could be that Posey is planning to make a bigger splash to address the club’s greater need of hitting, and then spend more modestly on pitching help.

This isn’t the first time that the Giants have been linked to Sugano, as they were one of several Major League clubs interested in his services when the Yomiuri Giants posted him during the 2020-21 offseason.  Sugano didn’t end up finding an acceptable contract and ended up re-signing with the Yomiuri Giants on a four-year, $40MM deal that included three opt-out clauses.  Sugano chose not to trigger any of those opt-outs and instead finished out the contract’s full four-year term.

Sugano has been one of Japan’s best pitchers of the last decade, posting a 2.43 ERA over 12 seasons and 1857 innings.  While not a big strikeout pitcher, he has exceptional control, with only a 4.68% walk rate over his entire NPB career.  Sugano’s long list of career plaudits includes two Central League MVP Awards, two Sawamura Awards as NPB’s top pitcher, and eight All-Star nods.  Even in his age-34 season, Sugano still excelled in 2024, with a 1.67 ERA over 156 2/3 innings.

Angels Among Teams With Interest In Tomoyuki Sugano

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After 12 excellent seasons in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano is expected to sign with a major league team. Sugano is a true free agent and thus does not need to be posted. He’s eligible to sign a major league deal with any club for any amount, with no release fee heading to his former club — the Yomiuri Giants. The Angels are among the big league teams with interest in the 35-year-old righty, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports on the MLB Network (video link; Sugano talk beginning around the 2:55 mark).

A two-time winner of the Sawamura Award (Japan’s Cy Young equivalent), Sugano has flirted with the idea of a major league run before. He was posted by the Giants and gauged interest from MLB teams in the 2020-21 offseason but wound up staying put on a four-year, $40MM contract with opt-out clauses after each season (a massive commitment by NPB standards). Beyond the magnitude of that contract, Morosi points out that Sugano had other reasons for feeling committed to his NPB club; Sugano’s uncle, Tatsunori Hara, was in the midst of a 17-year run as the Giants’ manager. He stepped down after the 2023 season, however.

Sugano could perhaps have looked to test free agency last winter, but his 2023 season was cut short by an elbow injury. He began the season on the shelf and wound up pitching only 86 innings with a 3.14 ERA that’s still strong but a ways from his typical standard. There were no such issues in 2024. To the contrary, Sugano enjoyed one of the finest seasons of his career in 2024. The 6’1″ righty fired 156 2/3 frames with an immaculate 1.67 earned run average. His 18.2% strikeout rate doesn’t stand out, but Sugano’s 2.6% walk rate was sensational. He’s always had pinpoint command — Sugano has walked just 3.8% of opponents over the past three seasons and just 4.7% in his career — but a 2.6% mark is on another level even by his own lofty standards.

In many ways, Sugano makes sense as an Angels target in particular. The Halos clearly have a dire need for rotation help, but owner Arte Moreno has typically eschewed long-term deals — or even multi-year deals of any kind — for starting pitchers. The three-year, $39MM contract signed by Tyler Anderson two offseasons ago was the first multi-year deal the Angels had given to a free agent starting pitcher since Joe Blanton in 2012. The Halos haven’t gone beyond three years for a starting pitcher since signing lefty C.J. Wilson for five years and $77.5MM back in December 2011 (MLBTR Contract Tracker link).

Sugano, already 35 years old, isn’t likely to command a long-term arrangement. It’s possible a team could still put forth a multi-year offer, but given his age and lack of experience against big league pitching, a weighty long-term deal would be surprising. That generally meshes with Moreno’s free agent tendencies, and the Angels have sufficient payroll space to put together a compelling offer for Sugano on a one- or two-year arrangement. RosterResource projects a payroll of about $175MM right now. That’s roughly in line with where they ended the 2024 season, but Moreno has already stated this winter that his team’s payroll will increase in 2025.

As things stand, the Angels’ rotation is threadbare. They already signed veteran Kyle Hendricks on a one-year, $2.5MM deal in hopes that the soft-tossing righty could rebound after a disappointing end to his lengthy Cubs tenure. Joining him in the rotation will be the aforementioned Anderson and righty Jose Soriano, at the very least. The other spots are less concrete. Former first-rounder and top prospect Reid Detmers should get another look but spent much of the 2024 season in Triple-A after struggling in the majors. Righty Jack Kochanowicz posted a 3.99 ERA in 11 starts during last year’s MLB debut but did so with a 9.4% strikeout rate that stood as the lowest of the 541 pitchers who tossed at least 20 innings. Top prospect Caden Dana is largely ready for a look but will need to earn a spot in spring training.

The Angels have been among the most active teams in the still nascent stages of the offseason. In addition to signing Hendricks, they’ve acquired Jorge Soler in a trade with the Braves and given out big league contracts to free agents Travis d’Arnaud (two years, $12MM) and Kevin Newman (one year, $2.75MM). None of those register as major acquisitions, necessarily, but they’re indicative that Moreno and GM Perry Minasian are indeed aiming to add to the roster in hopes of beating expectations and emerging as a playoff contender next season, as they indicated last month.

Tomoyuki Sugano Expected To Sign With MLB Team This Offseason

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Longtime Nippon Professional Baseball star Tomoyuki Sugano is planning to sign with an MLB team this offseason, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan. After 12 years in NPB, Sugano more than meets the requirements (nine years of NPB service) to qualify for international free agency, so he will not be subject to the rules of the posting system.

Sugano, soon to be 35, is an eight-time NPB All-Star, two-time Central League MVP, and two-time winner of the Eiji Sawamura Award, given out annually to the best starting pitcher in NPB. After collecting his second MVP trophy in 2020, he was posted for MLB clubs and drew interest from several teams, including the Giants, Mets, Red Sox, Padres, Blue Jays, and Rangers. However, he did not sign before the deadline, choosing instead to re-up with the Yomiuri Giants on a four-year, $40MM deal. His contract gave him the option to opt out after every season to pursue international opportunities, and following the first year of the deal, he he had enough NPB service time that he would not have been restricted by the posting system. Nevertheless, he decided to stay with the Giants throughout the length of the contract.

One reason Sugano may have decided not to pursue international free agency after the 2021, ’22, or ’23 seasons was his declining performance. He was outstanding in 2020, pitching to a 1.97 ERA with a 24.6% strikeout rate over 137.1 innings. However, he had ERAs of 3.19, 3.12, and 3.36 the following three years. His strikeout rates slowly declined, while his home run rates shot up. Moreover, injuries limited him to just 77.2 IP in 2023. His performance from 2021-23 wasn’t poor by any means, but it’s understandable why he chose not to sacrifice his guaranteed salary.

The 2024 season marked a return to dominance for the Sugano. Over 156.2 IP, he went 15-3 with a 1.67 ERA. His 18.3% strikeout rate was lower than it was at his peak – he struck out 24.2% of batters from 2016-20 – but he is finding success in new ways as an older pitcher. His 2.6% walk rate in 2024 was a career-best. His 6.94 strikeout-to-walk ratio was his best since 2016. In addition, he gave up only six home runs to the 608 batters he faced, 0.99% home run rate. That’s the lowest home run rate of his career, and significantly lower than his 2.91% home run rate from 2021-23. As a cherry on top, Sugano also threw three complete games this past season. He hadn’t thrown a single complete game since 2021.

Now that the four-year contract he signed during the 2020-21 offseason is up, Sugano has little reason not to give an MLB career another try. According to reporter Francys Romero, the veteran has hired VC Sports Group to represent him in free agency. The starting pitching market will feature plenty of big names this offseason, including Corbin Burnes, Yusei Kikuchi, Max Fried, Jack Flaherty, and likely Blake Snell, who has a player option for 2025. Considering his age, Sugano won’t be looking for a long-term contract, so he could represent an interesting alternative for a team that wants to add a potential top-flight starting pitcher on a shorter deal.

Tomoyuki Sugano Declines Opt-Out, Remains With Yomiuri Giants

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Right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano has decided to pass on the international opt-out clause in his contract, and will remain with the Yomiuri Giants for at least one more season.  Sugano told Yahoo Japan and other media outlets that his goal was to help the Giants win a championship in 2022.

Sugano was one of the more intriguing names of last winter’s free agent market, after the Giants posted the righty.  The Blue Jays and Padres each made formal contract offers to Sugano and at least four other teams (the Rangers, Mets, Red Sox, and San Francisco Giants) also had some level of interest.  However, a deal couldn’t be reached before the end of the 30-day posting window, with Sugano feeling that he was limited by both that short timeframe and the slow-moving nature of the first pandemic-influenced offseason.

The Yomiuri team ended up re-signing Sugano to a new four-year deal worth $40MM, though Sugano was given the opportunity to opt out after every year of that contract to pursue another shot at signing with a Major League team.  Sugano would’ve been a full-fledged free agent, no longer constrained by the MLB/NPB posting system, and he was already old enough and with the prerequisite experience to not be subject to the international signing pools.

Long one of the best pitchers in Japanese baseball, Sugano is coming off a down year by his high standards, an injury-shortened season that limited him to 115 2/3 innings.  He was still quite effective when he did pitch, posting a 3.16 ERA, 22.25% strikeout rate, and a 5.61% walk rate to help the Giants reach the Central League Climax Series, where they fell to the eventual Japan Series champion Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

Sugano turned 32 in October, and has now been set back by injuries in two of the last three seasons, even though his overall numbers have still been strong.  These factors alone might not have stopped Sugano in a normal offseason, but with the lockout now putting everything on hold, it isn’t surprising that Sugano chose to remain in a familiar environment.  If he felt things were too rushed within the limits of a 30-day posting window, Sugano certainly wouldn’t have liked the rush that will come following the end of the transactions freeze, when over 200 other free agents will also be battling for contracts before Opening Day.

Quick Hits: TV Contracts, Sugano, Orioles, Pruitt

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Major League Baseball is bracing for a reduction in rights fees in negotiations with ESPN on a new television contract, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (subscription required). Current discussions surround a seven-year deal that would see ESPN pay approximately $550MM per season in exchange for the right to continue to broadcast Sunday Night Baseball, the Home Run Derby, and a to-be-determined number of postseason games. As Rosenthal notes, this will be a rather significant reduction from the parties’ last rights contract, which covered eight years at $700MM per season. That’s a disappointing turn for MLB, which had picked up considerable increases in rights fees (relative to previous contracts) from both Turner and FOX in recent years.

More from around the baseball world…

  • In an interview with the Kyodo News and other media outlets, Tomoyuki Sugano and agent Joel Wolfe discussed Sugano’s talks with Major League teams. Wolfe said six clubs made offers, but with just two minutes remaining before the expiration of Sugano’s 30-day posting period, the right-hander decided to remain in Japan and accept a four-year, $40MM pact from the Yomiuri Giants. “There were a lot of discussions, but none were able to convince me 100 percent,” Sugano said. “I can’t say I have no regrets about not going. I have a fire inside me and the best thing is to move forward with high expectations for myself.” Sugano believes he “needed just a little more time” to land a deal with a North American team, but felt he was hampered by both the 30-day window and the slow pace of the overall free agent market.
  • The Orioles are looking to add to their rotation, with MASNsports.com’s Roch Kubatko reporting that the team has “Major League offers on the table to multiple starters.” There was a general assumption that Baltimore might stick to just minor league contracts as it continues its rebuild process, yet offering guaranteed deals indicates that the O’s are planning to shop at a slightly higher tier, though these MLB offers are likely still relatively inexpensive. The Orioles’ current list of rotation candidates is short on big league experience, apart from veteran Alex Cobb and (with just over two years of service time) ace John Means.
  • Astros right-hander Austin Pruitt underwent elbow surgery in September and was cleared to begin throwing this week, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports (subscription required). Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to immediately begin that process after subsequently testing positive for COVID-19, although Pruitt said he is suffering only minor symptoms. Pruitt is not expected to be ready to return by Opening Day but he does figure to contribute to Houston’s pitching staff at some point in 2021, Kaplan writes. After being acquired from the Rays last winter, injuries have prevented Pruitt from making his official debut in a Houston uniform.

Free Agency Notes: McHugh, Tigers, Sugano, Red Sox

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Free agent right-hander Collin McHugh will throw in front of interested teams on January 16, reports Jake Kaplan of the Athletic (Twitter link). The 33-year-old opted out of the 2020 season after failing to recuperate as hoped from a December 2019 elbow surgery. However, McHugh is again drawing interest from teams after recovering from that procedure, Kaplan notes. The former Astro had plenty of success from 2015-18, working in both a starting and relief role.

Some more notes on the open market:

  • The Tigers are hoping to sign another free agent pitcher, general manager Al Avila told reporters (including Evan Woodbery of MLive). Detroit already added former Marlins right-hander José Ureña on a one-year deal this offseason. Ureña joins fellow rebound hopefuls Matt Boyd and Michael Fulmer in a rotation mix that also includes Spencer Turnbull and a handful of very highly-regarded pitching prospects. That wouldn’t make the rotation a seeming area of need for the Tigers on paper. However, with a projected significant increase between 2020 and 2021 in the number of innings teams will need, the Tigers are looking to stockpile pitching depth. Avila noted the organization is considering adopting a six-man rotation at points next season to help shoulder heightened workloads.
  • Star NPB pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano made the decision to return to the Yomiuri Giants yesterday, agreeing on a four-year, $40MM contract (with three opt-outs). Obviously, no major league team put forth an offer big enough to woo Sugano to MLB. At least a pair of clubs did put a formal proposal on the table, though. The Padres and Blue Jays each offered Sugano a contract before the right-hander made the decision to stay in his home country, reports Jon Heyman of MLB Network (Twitter link).
  • While the Red Sox were among the teams that liked Sugano, they are “uninterested” in offering any pitcher a four-year deal this winter, writes Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. They are, however, willing to offer two-year or three-year terms to certain hurlers. As Speier writes, that dovetails nicely with the team’s ongoing Jake Odorizzi pursuit. Arguably the second-best free agent starter remaining on the market, Odorizzi is expected to land a three-year deal in the $36MM — $42MM range.

Tomoyuki Sugano Agrees To Four-Year, $40MM Deal With Yomiuri Giants

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8:03pm: Sugano has re-signed with Yomiuri on a four-year, $40MM contract, per Rosenthal. The deal includes three opt-out chances, so Sugano will have future opportunities to become a major leaguer.

4:05pm: Nippon Professional Baseball right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano did not reach an agreement with a major league team before his 5 p.m. ET posting deadline Thursday, Jeff Passan of ESPN reports. That means Sugano will remain in Japan in 2021, though he will be eligible to come to MLB as a free agent next winter.

NPB’s Yomiuri Giants posted the 31-year-old Sugano for major league clubs a month ago, and with the likes of Kevin Gausman and Marcus Stroman off the free-agent board, Sugano looked like one of the most appealing starters available on the open market. As a result, several teams – including the Padres, Giants, Mets, Blue Jays, Rangers and Red Sox – vied for Sugano in recent weeks. The Padres were even in negotiations with Sugano on Thursday, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. In the end, though, neither they nor any other big league club could pry him from his homeland.

Sugano will remain a member of the Yomiuri Giants, with whom he has dominated since making his pro debut in 2013. Sugano owns a stellar 2.34 ERA over 1,362 innings with the Giants, and he has won two MVPs and a pair of Pitcher of the Year awards in Japan. He’ll make around $8MM with the Giants in 2021, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic relays. With another excellent season, though, Sugano could wind up in a major league uniform before the 2022 campaign.

Quick Hits: Sugano’s Deadline, Free Agent Market, Training Facilities

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The posting period for Tomoyuki Sugano ends today at 5pm ET. He’s reportedly seeking more than the four-year, $56MM deal that Yusei Kikuchi signed to join the Mariners, writes Chris Cotillo of Masslive.com. That’s a hefty sum, and with a four-year contract in-hand to return to the Yomiuri Giants – a deal that includes three opt-outs – it begins to feel less likely that the Japanese legend will find the deal he desires. Still, he’s an absolute star in Japan and could be the best free agent starter not named Trevor Bauer. The Red Sox are still interested, as are the Blue Jays. The Mets are out. [UPDATE: “A return to Japan still appears most likely outcome” for Sugano, according to Ken Rosenthal and Dennis Lin of The Athletic]

While we wait for Sugano’s decision, let’s check in on some other league news…

  • It was an omen of the winter to come when the Cleveland Indians waived their closer Brad Hand. When he went unclaimed, panic reached new heights. If Hand at $10MM went unclaimed by all 30 teams, free agent spending figured to be at an all-time low. Interest appears to be picking up on Hand, but on the whole, the market remains cold. Perhaps to an unprecedented degree, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Agents fear GMs are being intentionally obtuse about their payrolls in order to delay signings and inspire an ecosystem of desperation among players. The lack of face-to-face meetings might also be making the frigid environment easier to teams to maintain, suggests Nightengale. Elsewhere…
  • Upon hearing that some teams were planning on opening up their facilities to allow players to come train, MLB sent a memo to all thirty clubs setting clear guidelines for the opening of training facilities, per Nightengale. The only players who will be allowed in their team facilities prior to spring training, Nightengale writes, are those who live near the facilities, those with specific health needs, and those approved in the CBA to attend club mini-camps. Violations will be subject to severe punishment. Of course, what that means is all relative. MLB is trying to get ahead of any potential outbreaks in January or February that would complicate initial protocols.
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