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10 MLB Teams Whose Business Initiatives Face Coronavirus Hurdles

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Like most every person or business, all thirty MLB teams face tough questions during the time of COVID-19. Some are relatively similar for all ballclubs, but there are obviously quite a few unique issues — some more pressing than others.

Dealing with the implications of this pandemic is probably toughest for organizations that are in the midst of executing or planning major business initiatives. We’ll run down some of those here.

Angels: The team has been cooking up potentially massive plans to develop the area around Angel Stadium. Fortunately, nothing is really in process at the moment, but it stands to reason that the project could end up being reduced in scope and/or delayed.

Athletics: Oof. The A’s have done a ton of work to put a highly ambitious stadium plan in motion. Massive uncertainty of this type can’t help. It isn’t clear just yet how the effort will be impacted, but it seems reasonable to believe the organization is pondering some tough decisions.

Braves: Luckily for the Atlanta-area organization, the team’s new park and most of the surrounding development is already fully operational. But with the added earning capacity from retail operations in a ballpark village comes greater exposure to turmoil.

Cubs: Like the Braves, the Cubs have already done most of the work at and around their park, but were counting on big revenue to pay back what’s owed (and then some). Plus, the Cubbies have a new TV network to bring up to speed.

Diamondbacks: Vegas?! Vancouver?! Probably not, but the Snakes do want to find a new home somewhere in Arizona. That effort is sure to be dented. Plus, the team’s recent initiative to host non-baseball events at Chase Field will now go on hiatus.

Marlins: The new ownership group has had some good vibes going and hoped to convert some of the positivity into a healthy new TV deal. That critical negotiation will now take place in a brutal economic environment.

Mets: So … this is probably not an optimal moment to be selling your sports franchise. The Wilpon family is pressing ahead with an effort to strike a new deal after their prior one broke down (at the worst possible time).

Orioles: That bitter television rights fee dispute that just won’t stop … it’s not going to be easier to find a resolution with less cash coming through the door. It was already setting up to be a rough stretch for the Baltimore org, with past TV money due to the Nationals and more bills to come, even while going through brutally lean years on the playing field.

Rangers: The new park is now built. While taxpayers footed much of the bill, the club still has to pay back a $600MM loan. Suffice to say the Rangers (and municipal authorities) anticipated game day revenues of more than $0 in year one when they planned out the loan repayment method.

Rays: The club’s preferred Ybor City option flamed out and it is currently engaged in a somewhat confusing effort to split time between the Tampa Bay area and Montreal. Existing hurdles to that arrangement seem only to be taller in the age of the coronavirus.

Others: We may be missing some, but it seems most other organizations are engaged more in usual-course sorts of business initiatives rather than franchise-altering efforts. For instance, the Nats have an interest in that TV deal as well. The Red Sox have been working to redevelop areas around Fenway Park. The Blue Jays are dabbling in future plans. And the Dodgers have a new TV rights deal, though that came to fruition after the pandemic hit and may not be impacted any more than any other existing carriage arrangements.

Latest On MLB Teams’ Cost-Cutting Efforts

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There’s a spreading optimism — or, at least, a spread of reporting about optimism — regarding the return of baseball in 2020. But the pandemic shutdown has already stung MLB teams and the near-term revenue prospects remain poor, even if a television-only campaign is launched.

Unsurprisingly, even as teams prepare to refund fans for games that won’t be played as expected, we’re seeing enhanced efforts on the part of MLB organizations to cut costs. As Pirates GM Ben Cherington put it (via Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), “revenues aren’t coming in” but “cash is still going out.”

The notoriously tight-fisted Bucs have enacted austerity policies. But sources tell Mackey that the team isn’t among those in the roughest shape financially around the game. The Pirates have stopped 401(k) contributions and suspended fellowship/internship programs while top-level leaders take reductions in pay. Cherington says “the full expectation is that [401(k)] contribution will go back into effect as soon as possible,” and emphasized that the hope was to “find some savings without too much impact on people and their everyday lives.”

None of these sorts of measures are pleasant, but Pirates employees seem to be in better stead than those of the Rays. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports that the low-budget Tampa Bay outfit has become the first MLB organization “to implement aggressive expense cutting moves” — in particular, furloughing some full-time employees and cutting the pay of others that earn above a certain threshold.

The Rays are covering health insurance for furloughed staff and the hope remains to bring many jobs back online. But the move reflects the stark realities of the sport in the era of COVID-19. Per Topkin, the top organizational leadership advised employees of concern that the revenue drag could continue for years to come.

Like the Rays, the Athletics have been scrimping and saving while working through difficult new-ballpark negotiations and planning. With those efforts now confronted by an entirely new sort of hurdle, and the near-term revenue outlook plummeting, the Oakland club is considering cuts of its own, according to Ken Rosenthal and Alex Coffey of The Athletic (subscription link). The A’s may actually be contemplating something rather more aggressive than what the Rays just enacted. The Athletic reports that the Oakland org is “discussing extensive layoffs” and could ultimately carry a “significantly smaller staff on both the business and baseball sides.”

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle also examines the A’s situation. Employees say they have no idea what to expect and the team hasn’t responded to requests for comment. It remains to be seen how the situation will be handled, but with every other team in the league having already charted a path, the silence is ominous. Slusser doesn’t offer a definitive prediction, but does warn: “don’t be surprised” if major cuts occur.

These three teams may be pressed into action sooner than some peers, but the issues aren’t limited to lower-budget organizations. As Mackey writes in the above-linked post, and as we have covered in recent weeks, several other clubs have also pursued cost-reduction strategies that impact employees. And The Athletic reports that multiple teams around the league have had some level of internal discussion of major changes to their operations. At the moment, every team in baseball aside from the A’s and Rays has promised to retain full-time employees through the end of May. Hopefully, there’ll be sufficient clarity and optimism in the outlook at that point to avoid broader cuts.

How The Rays Traded A Top-100 Prospect For A 29-Year-Old Rookie And Came Away Winners

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Nick Anderson is not exactly a household name – and he may never be. For most of last season, Anderson was a 28-year-old rookie non-closer pitching for the Marlins (he turned 29 in July). That’s not a recipe for superstardom.

After a deadline deal brought him to Tampa Bay, Anderson did get a moment in the spotlight, striking out four of the five batters he faced in the Rays’ Wild Card Game win over the A’s. That was nothing new for Anderson, who spent most of the season racking up strikeouts at an alarming rate.

Between Tampa and Miami, Anderson appeared in 68 games in 2019, totaling 65 innings with a good-but-not-great 3.32 ERA. The peripherals speak to a much more dominant campaign for the former independent leaguer. His 2.35 FIP suggests a potential high-leverage bullpen arm, while the 2.1 fWAR he racked up confirms it: he tied for 5th overall in the majors among relievers. That puts him on the same plane with firemen/closers like Taylor Rogers, Brandon Workman, Felipe Vazquez and Aroldis Chapman. Make no mistake: Nick Anderson is an elite bullpen piece.

Credit the Marlins for picking up Anderson and turning him into a top-100 prospect in Jesus Sanchez. Sanchez may have lost some luster as a prospect, but he still landed at #96 on Fangraphs’ top-100 list. Yes, he was #47 on their updated list after starting the year at #54 in 2019, but he’s still just 22-years-old and posted a promising line of .246/.338/.446 in the homer-happy PCL after the trade. As a 21-year-old, he was more than 5 years younger than the average player in the PCL.

For their part, the Marlins acquired Anderson for Brian Schales after the Twins signed Anderson from the independent league. The 6’5″ Anderson put up good numbers in the Twins’ system from 2015 to 2017, but he started to pop in 2018, striking out 13.2 hitters per nine innings in Triple-A. At the time, the deal was most notable for bumping Derek Dietrich from the Marlins’ roster.

But Anderson became a different animal entirely during his breakout in 2019. His 15.23 K/9 ranked fourth among relievers in the majors, behind only strikeout artists Edwin Diaz, Matt Barnes and Josh Hader. After joining the Rays, Anderson went into overdrive, striking out a ridiculous 17.3 batters per nine innings. Including his Marlins work, the Minnesota native finished in the bottom 9th percentile in hard hit percentage and bottom 12th percentile in exit velocity.

In adding Anderson from the Marlins, the Rays got a guy who has a legitimate chance to be one of the most dominant relievers in all of baseball, and they have him at the league minimum for another two seasons. This is a guy the Rays can afford, which makes the deal all the more important from their perspective. There’s a reason they could include Ryne Stanek in the deal, a guy who throws 100+ mph and had a 3.40 ERA at the time. There’s a reason they could deal Emilio Pagan to the Padres after he broke out with a 2.3 bWAR season of his own in 2019. That reason is Nick Anderson.

So how does he do it? For Anderson, the recipe is fairly simple. He throws a fastball that averages 96 mph with good spin that he locates up in the zone. His “other” pitch is a curveball – but it’s one of the best in the game. By Fangraphs’ pitch values, his curveball was the second most valuable such offering from a reliever in 2019, behind only Workman’s bender. Batters managed an expected batting average of just .134 off Anderson’s curveball while registering a whiff rate of 54.2%. As of right now, Anderson’s hook is one of the deadliest weapons in the sport.

Anderson could also be in line for some positive regression this season, as opponents had a higher-than-average .349 BABIP against him in 2019. A 14.5 % HR/FB rate was also higher than Anderson had yielded at any point in the minors, and if that number comes down, Anderson could be an even more potent asset for the Rays moving forward.

His ceiling is no lower than Liam Hendriks’ amazing 2019, though Hendriks has a bit more versatility in his offspeed stuff. Hendriks, of course, was the most productive reliever in all of baseball last season, so there aren’t a ton of comps out there that make sense for him. Anderson, however, is one that does.

Trading An Ace In 2014 Is Still Paying Dividends For The Rays

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When the Rays traded David Price to the Tigers in a three-team deal back in 2014, the deal was met with a generally negative reaction for the Tampa Bay organization. The Rays weren’t far removed from trading James Shields and Wade Davis in a deal that netted Wil Myers (at the time a top 10 prospect in all of baseball), Jake Odorizzi and Mike Montgomery. Expectations for a return on a Price trade were high in the first place, but landing such a stout package for Shields and Davis was a stunner that might have further bolstered the perception of what Price “should” command.

David Price | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

By the time the trade deadline rolled around in July 2014, the Rays were two games below .500 and eight games out of first place. Price was already earning $14MM and due another raise in what would be his final trip through arbitration the following winter. And Price, true to form at the time, had been outstanding: he’d started 23 games with the Rays and racked up 170 2/3 innings with a 3.11 ERA, 10.0 K/9 and 1.2 BB/9. The Rays’ front office was faced with the choice of moving a year and a half of Price at the deadline or hanging on for a faint postseason hope and likely dealing just one year of him that winter. Then-GM Andrew Friedman surely knew that ownership wouldn’t be keen on committing a nearly $20MM salary to Price in 2015.

Ultimately, Price landed in Detroit in a deal that sent center fielder Austin Jackson from the Tigers to the Mariners as well. The Rays came away from the swap hoping that with the two headliners on their end of the deal, they’d acquired a controllable mid-rotation lefty (Drew Smyly) and a long-term piece in the middle infield (Nick Franklin). Onlookers were skeptical.

“I’m floored that this is all the Rays got for David Price — as are some of the execs I’ve talked to so far — and I can’t imagine that the return this winter would have been any worse,” Keith Law wrote for ESPN when reviewing the trade at the time. While both Smyly and Franklin had the chance to be average regulars, Franklin in particular came with some downside. Franklin didn’t even draw a mention in Dave Cameron’s rundown of the swap at FanGraphs, which praised the Rays for grabbing a ready-made mid-rotation piece in Smyly but painted the move as a win for Detroit. Most reactions to the deal were similar. Cameron noted that the 18-year-old shortstop prospect the Tigers threw in “might have some future value,” and Law called him a “lottery ticket in the scope of the deal.”

Any concerns regarding Franklin’s future proved to have merit. The former No. 27 overall draft pick was touted as a top prospect for years, but he never panned out with the Mariners, the Rays, the Brewers or the Angels. Tampa gave him a decent leash — understandably so, given the nature of his acquisition — but after two and a half years in the organization, Franklin had compiled a lowly .227/.284/.388 slash in the big leagues. His production in Triple-A wasn’t much better outside of a solid run of 57 games in 2015. He was designated for assignment in 2015 and lost on waivers to the Brewers for no return.

Smyly’s time with the Rays proved more fruitful. He tossed 289 2/3 innings of 3.95 ERA ball and logged some encouraging strikeout numbers. At times, Smyly looked like a potential breakout candidate — I admit to thinking as much of him… just before the Rays traded him to Seattle in the 2016-17 offseason. Smyly indeed went on to star for Team USA in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, but he had Tommy John surgery before that season even began and ultimately missed two seasons due to that injury.

Suddenly, the Rays were left with the lottery ticket shortstop they’d picked up for Price and the two players they’d received from the Mariners for Smyly — that’d be the trio of Willy Adames, Ryan Yarbrough and Mallex Smith (whom they later traded back to Seattle for Mike Zunino and now-23-year-old lefty Michael Plassmeyer, who is still in the system).

Willy Adames | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Adames, now 24, might not be an All-Star talent at shortstop, but some would argue that he still has that potential. He went from a lottery ticket to peaking at the No. 10 overall prospect in the game on Baseball America’s 2017 rankings, and he’s settled in as the Rays’ primary option at short. In 907 plate appearances to date, Adames has hit .263/.328/.414 with 30 home runs (plus a huge ALDS showing in 2019). He played quality defense in 2019 (12 Defensive Runs Saved, 4 Outs Above Average, 2.5 UZR/150) and has provided some value on the bases. The Rays are dreaming of the day when wunderkind Wander Franco overtakes him, but Adames should have value either at a different infield position or as a trade chip when that time comes. He’s controlled through the 2024 season and won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2021 campaign.

The 28-year-old Yarbrough has thrown a near-identical number of innings with the Rays (289) to Smyly’s 289 2/3, and his 4.03 ERA pretty closely mirrors Smyly’s work. But Yarbrough has posted that number at a more hitter-friendly time in the game — his 106 ERA+ and 92 FIP- both top Smyly’s 100 ERA+ and 103 FIP- with Tampa Bay — and has more club control remaining than Smyly did at that point. Last year’s 3.55 FIP, 7.4 K/9, 1.3 BB/9 and 43.8 percent grounder rate seem to suggest that Yarbrough is capable of holding down a spot in the rotation for the next few years.

Ryan Yarbrough | Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

The Rays were reportedly set to move away from relying so heavily on openers, deploying a more traditional staff of Charlie Morton, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Yonny Chirinos and Yarbrough. Like Adames, Yarbrough is controllable through the 2024 season.

Nearly six years after trading the best pitcher in franchise history for what the club hoped would be a mid-rotation lefty and a potential shortstop who might move to another position, the Rays have… a pretty solid 28-year-old lefty and a quality young shortstop who may eventually move to another spot when their top prospect emerges in the Majors.

They took a roundabout path to this point, and the Rays should have done better in their return for Price in the first place. Price was a capital-A Ace with more than a year of team control remaining and was in the midst of a terrific year on the mound. But while the deal looked like a bust early on, the Rays are still left with some lingering pieces of value that could theoretically help carry the club past the 10-year anniversary of the day they moved Price — if they’re not traded before then.

The Rays Need More From Their Starting Catcher

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We just delved into the struggles Mariners outfielder Mallex Smith endured during his first season in Seattle after a trade with Tampa Bay. He and catcher Mike Zunino were the headliners in the five-player deal when it went down in November 2018, but the latter may have been even worse last season.

Zunino, who turned 29 in March, joined the pros as the third overall pick of the Mariners in 2012. Has he lived up to that selection? It depends on the year. Zunino has totaled anywhere from 2.1 to 4.6 fWAR on three occasions since he debuted the year after the Mariners drafted him, but the lows have been rather low. He didn’t produce much in 2015 or last season. In fact, Zunino was among the least valuable hitters in the sport a year ago.

In his first season in Tampa Bay, Zunino limped to a .165/.232/.312 line in 90 games and 289 plate appearances. Out of 320 players who amassed at least 250 trips to the plate, Zunino ranked dead last in wRC+ (45) and eighth from the bottom in strikeout percentage (33.9). Strikeouts are simply part of the package when it comes to Zunino, who has fanned 34.2 percent of the time in his career, but that doesn’t mean he has always been unplayable as a hitter. Sure, with a lifetime slash of .202/.271/.395, Zunino’s not exactly Johnny Bench, but he has already piled up 104 home runs and recorded an 83 wRC+ (the latter figure’s not good, but when combined with his strong defense, it has been enough to make him a regular).

So what happened to Zunino in 2019? For one, he stopped hitting the ball hard. Just three years ago – the best season of his career – Zunino ranked in the top 10 percent of the majors in hard-hit rate, barrel percentage, average exit velocity and expected weighted on-base average on contact, according to Statcast. Zunino posted a useful .355 wOBA/.332 xwOBA that year, but he could only muster .235/.271 in those categories last season. As shown in Statcast’s data, compared to his career year, he’s chasing too many pitches outside of the strike zone and going to the opposite field quite a bit more. Considering Zunino’s only real use at the plate is to hit for power, it’s no surprise those developments have minimized his impact. He totaled just nine home runs last season and logged one of the worst ISOs of his career (.147).

If there’s any good news, it’s that Zunino remains a defensive asset. He threw out 39 percent of would-be base stealers last season (the league-average mark was 27 percent) and ranked 10th out of all backstops in Baseball Prospectus’ Fielding Runs Above Average metric. That was enough for the Rays to stick with Zunino, whom they’ll pay $4.5MM this year. But if Zunino doesn’t take steps forward on offense in 2o2o, it could have a negative effect on the Rays’ playoff chances. While the team did win 96 games and earn a playoff berth last season, it did so with help from a solid offensive showing from fellow catcher Travis d’Arnaud, who picked up more playing time than Zunino but left for Atlanta in free agency.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Quick Hits: Braves, Rays, Cubs, White Sox

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The Braves have pledged to continue paying their employees—both full-time and part-time—through May 31, according to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN. Several teams extended a stipend to employees through March, but the Braves are the first team that will compensate its staff through the end of this month, let alone the end of May. McDaniel would go on to clarify in a later Tweet that gameday employees, whose pay is normally tied to games, will be paid in accordance with the $1MM fund established last month. However, workers whose earnings aren’t attached to games will be paid as usual. It’s encouraging that teams are willing to offer a helpful hand to their staff, and it’s possible that more teams will follow in the Braves’ footsteps. And while there are plenty of problems that still need solving, this kind of decision can go a long way towards relieving the stress that comes with these circumstances.

  • The Rays, meanwhile, have a plan for how they’ll divvy up the $1MM fund established by all 30 MLB teams in March, as explained by Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Some 1,200 Rays gameday staffers will receive a one-time payment to help support them during the delayed season: Team employees (ushers, guest services, etc.) will receive $1,000 and concessions workers, security, and others will receive $500.
  • Similarly, Chicago’s Cubs and White Sox have offered grants of $500 to their part-time ballpark employees as their means of allocating the aforementioned $1MM fund, writes The Athletic’s Jon Greenberg. Importantly, Cubs VP of Communication tells Greenberg that the Cubs’ fund “will go way beyond a million,” but at the same time is uncertain whether there will be a second round of payouts to employees. It’s notable that the referenced $1MM figure was established merely as a baseline, and it’s possible—perhaps even likely—that many teams will go above and beyond that threshold, especially depending on the length of the season delay, which can have a profound impact on the livelihood of the thousands of employees who make MLB games possible.

Rebound Candidate: Blake Snell

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Right off the top, I’ll acknowledge the term ’rebound candidate’ is a bit strong to describe Blake Snell. Even looking only at bottom line results, Snell’s 2019 season was serviceable. He logged a 4.29 ERA in 107 innings over 23 starts; Baseball Reference, which emphasizes run prevention in its WAR calculation, pegged Snell at a decent 1.4 wins above replacement.

There’s no question, though, it marked a step back from his otherworldly 2018 results. That year, he tossed 180.2 innings while allowing fewer than two earned runs per nine. That league-best run prevention translated to 7.1 bWAR. Looking solely at the results, it’d be easy to conclude Snell took a massive step back last season.

Every team now looks beyond a pitcher’s mere run prevention (or win-loss record, where Snell also regressed dramatically). Looking deeper, the southpaw looked a lot like his 2018 self last year. His average fastball velocity dropped about half a mile per hour, but he still sat 95.89 MPH, per Brooks Baseball. No other left-handed starter threw harder. His spin rates across the board remained consistent 2018 to 2019, as did his arm slot. On the whole, Snell was working with the same raw stuff that enabled his 2018 dominance.

Admittedly, retaining his stuff from the year prior doesn’t automatically mean he was as effective. But on a micro level, Snell looked every bit as dominant. His 2019 strikeout rate (33.3%) was up nearly two percentage points from the year before (31.6%). His walk rate (9.1%) in each year was identical. Most importantly, Snell’s 17.7% swinging strike rate ranked #1 among all MLB starters (minimum 60 innings). The names just behind him are a who’s who of the game’s top arms: Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, Luis Castillo, Jacob deGrom.

Nor was this a case of a pitcher with dominant strike zone metrics who got bombed when hitters did make contact. Snell’s 88 MPH average exit velocity and 32% hard contact rate allowed were league average, generally the same level of contact quality he surrendered in 2018. Snell’s opponents’ BABIP rose over .100 points between 2018-19, but there’s nothing to suggest he got any more hittable. (He did surrender a few more line drives last season, but large changes in line drive rate don’t tend to stick year to year). It just seems that more batted balls dropped in; if even a league average amount of those batted balls find gloves moving forward, he should again be one of the league’s toughest pitchers to score against.

If a 2020 season is ultimately played, Snell looks more than capable of contending for another Cy Young. He had a precautionary cortisone shot in his throwing elbow in February, but at last check he was feeling ’fine.’ Assuming the layoff allows him to reemerge at full health, Snell looks on track to reclaim his spot as one of the league’s best pitchers.

GM Trade History: Rays’ Erik Neander

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The small market Rays have long been proactive on the trade market. That’s been the club’s preferred method of fielding competitive rosters while maintaining one of the league’s lowest payrolls. That can sometimes require moves unpopular with the fan base, although like any team, the Rays have had their fair share of wins (and a few losses).

Since the Rays promoted Erik Neander to GM in 2016, the front office has been active as ever on the trade market. We’ll look back at the GM’s trade history (excluding the most minor swaps) over that time, with a full breakdown of each at the included links. With two of Neander’s former top lieutenants now running AL rivals (Chaim Bloom in Boston and James Click in Houston), it’ll be fascinating to see how the club proceeds once they’re again able to make transactions.

2016-2017 Offseason

2017 Season

2017-2018 Offseason

2018 Season

2018-2019 Offseason

2019 Season

2019-2020 Offseason

 

How would you grade Neander’s wheeling and dealing as the Rays’ baseball ops head? (Link to poll for mobile app users)

 

Interested in how other GMs hold up under this exercise? We’ve covered Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen, recently fired Astros president Jeff Luhnow, Brewers president of baseball ops David Stearns, Angels GM Billy Eppler, Rockies GM Jeff Bridich, Tigers GM Al Avila, Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos, Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins, Mariners’ GM Jerry Dipoto, Phillies’ GM Matt Klentak, and Dodgers’ GM Andrew Friedman as well.

Latest News & Notes On Coronavirus & Baseball

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We’re all pining for the return of baseball. It’d be nice to watch, especially in these trying times. More than anything, though, the start of play would mean that we’ve achieved some amount of control over the spread of the coronavirus — and, perhaps, that there’d be an end in sight to the suffering it has wrought. In the meantime, we join all those around the world in honoring the brave health care professionals, first responders, logistical employees, and others who are doing everything they can to sustain us.

  • The unfolding tragedy is particularly acute in New York, the present American epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis. Baseball is an afterthought. Any hope of playing it will depend upon addressing the broader public health need, as Yankees reliever Zack Britton acknowledges (via MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM, on Twitter). “At the end of the day,” he says of talk regarding the scheduling of the 2020 season, “it doesn’t matter until the virus gets under control and cities and people are able just to go back to everyday life, let alone being able to go and watch baseball or us play baseball.” Getting to a point where the spread is manageable seems an obvious prerequisite for sports, even if played without fans. But the league and union are rightly thinking ahead and trying to plan to move back online as soon as possible. Britton says the sides have already begun considering potential neutral sites to stage games, potentially providing alternative venues that could be utilized as needed. The unnamed locations would have the sorts of playing, lodging, and other facilities required to make play possible.
  • We’ve seen many MLB players pitch in financially and otherwise. They’re also quite understandably thinking of the needs of their families. Veteran Yankees starter Masahiro Tanaka has headed back to his native Japan with his wife and child while waiting for baseball to resume, Brendan Kuty of NJ.com reports. Tanaka says he felt in “danger” in Florida, where the virus is a growing threat. He also chose against returning to the home he maintains in New York. (There is at least a touch of baseball-specific news on the Yankees’ pitching staff, as we covered here yesterday.)
  • Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak has revealed that one employee of the team has tested positive for COVID-19, as Mark Saxon of The Athletic tweets. The unnamed employee was not on hand at the club’s spring facility during camp; rather, he or she was stationed in St. Louis. MLBTR extends its best wishes for a quick and full recovery. Fortunately, that seems to be just what occurred for legendary former Cardinals and Angels outfielder Jim Edmonds. As Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register writes, Edmonds ended up in the hospital for pneumonia and ultimately tested positive for COVID-19. But he’s thankfully already on the mend.
  • It’s always worth highlighting the good acts that take place in times of crisis. As Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes, the Rays have initiated some assistance to local charity Feeding Tampa Bay, promising $100K and another $150K in matching funds to help spur a food drive. The Feeding Tampa Bay executive director calls it a “tremendous gift.” Meanwhile Rockies first baseman Daniel Murphy is the latest veteran player to make a sizable financial commitment. He’s giving $100K to a “family assistance fund” to assist minor-leaguers who support children or other family members. More on that initiative here.

Prospect Faceoff: Franco v. Lux

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Yesterday’s prospect faceoff post featured two fairly similar youngsters: upper-level left-handed hurlers MacKenzie Gore and Jesus Luzardo. Today, we’ll examine another duo with a lot of commonalities … but they won’t be quite so closely situated.

Glance up at the top ten list of most prospect rankings and you’ll see two middle infielders: Wander Franco of the Rays and Gavin Lux of the Dodgers. MLB.com and Fangraphs rank them 1-2. They share many attributes beyond position and lofty prospect standing. But these two players also present completely different propositions.

Franco is more or less universally considered the game’s very best prospect. But he also just turned 19 on March 1st and hasn’t yet played above the High-A level. In his two A-ball stops last year, the switch-hitter carried a collective .327/.398/.487 batting line with nine long balls over 495 plate appearances. He swiped 18 bags but was also gunned down 14 times.

This is not a complete product. There are some questions as to whether Franco will stick at shortstop, though he has thus far proven capable. More importantly, perhaps, is the fact that his power is still more a projection than a present skill. But the scouts see the potential in his actions at the plate. And Franco seems quite likely to maximize whatever raw power he ends up with given his exceptional plate discipline and contact ability. Franco recorded 56 walks against just 35 strikeouts last year while driving the ball around the yard. Though he hardly carries a big frame, Franco is said to carry immense wrist strength and bat speed. And his command of the zone will make him awfully tough to pitch to.

Do you feel like you need some precedent to believe a player can convert plate discipline and less-than-imposing physical stature? How about Lux? He didn’t put a single ball over the fence in 253 rookie ball plate appearances, then managed only seven dingers in 501 trips to the dish at the Class A level. But last year, Lux produced 26 long balls in his 523 upper-minors plate appearances.

Lux never quite matched Franco’s ludicrous K/BB numbers. But he’s not easy to retire on strikes, knows how to draw a walk, and features a blend of power and average. Last year’s minor-league slash line: .347/.421/.607. That’ll play, particularly for a guy known as a quality baserunner and fielder. What of the notorious PCL offensive inflation? Lux exploded with a 188 wRC+ in Triple-A, so the numbers stand out even against a high mean. While Lux may end up playing second base with the powerhouse Dodgers, he’s generally considered capable of holding down shortstop in the majors.

And here’s the thing about Lux: he has already reached and shown he can hang at the game’s highest level. He didn’t exactly take the league by storm when he arrived late in 2019. But Lux produced a .240/.305/.400 slash in 82 plate appearances. And he was trusted with a postseason roster spot. It remains to be seen whether Lux will be a perennial All-Star or something less, but when it comes to getting value from a guy, he’s about as sure a thing as a prospect can be.

In this case, there’s probably not much question that Franco has the loftier ceiling. And we have seen players shoot up from the lower minors into the majors rather quickly, so he may not be far off from a debut if he terrorizes the upper minors as expected. But there’s inherently much more risk in such a player than in Lux, who’s ready to slot in as a MLB regular as soon as this season finally gets underway. Particularly if you’re somewhat risk-averse and/or need immediate contributions in the majors, perhaps Lux is actually the better bet.

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