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MLB, MLBPA Discussing Reinstating Extra Innings Ghost Runner Rule

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MARCH 17: The extra inning ghost runner is “trending back toward reality for the 2022 season” reports MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). Heyman adds that MLB has yet to make a call on reinstating the rule, but is listening to team managers who want to “avoid testing arms”, and thus would be in favor of the rule’s reinstatement, after a truncated spring camp.

MARCH 14: The extra innings ghost runner might be sticking around in Major League Baseball, report Jayson Stark and Matt Gelb of The Athletic.  Players, who “heavily support” this new feature from the last two seasons, tell the reporters they expect it to be enacted this week with the announcement of health and safety protocols.

Though the automatic runner on second base in extra innings was originally put in place as a COVID response, ultimately the players like it because it has mostly killed the marathon extra innings game.

Stark and Gelb note that the apparition may not necessarily appear in the 10th inning, but instead could surface in the 11th or 12th.  With the National League adopting the designated hitter this year, baseball traditionalists are doing plenty of grumbling this week.

MLB Requiring Coaches To Be Up To Date On COVID-19 Vaccinations In Spring Training

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Major League Baseball is requiring all coaches to be up to date on their COVID-19 vaccinations in order to access restricted areas and to have in-person contact with players in Spring Training, reports Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic. Any staff member who hasn’t yet been fully vaccinated must at least receive one dose of the Pfizer/Moderna two-dose vaccines and have their second appointment scheduled. Those who are not fully vaccinated or elect not to get a booster shot once they become eligible would forfeit their field access unless granted an exemption by their team.

As Rosenthal notes, this isn’t unprecedented. MLB required this for non-playing personnel to participate in the postseason last September. He adds that MLB has not yet decided whether this policy will carry over into the regular season.

One coach, who said they are fully vaccinated, nevertheless expressed frustration about the mandate when speaking with Rosenthal. “There are some that are not happy about the mandated booster. They feel if the players don’t have to, why us?,” the coach said. “I’m not anti-vax. I just don’t like people saying if you don’t do this, you’re fired … MLB put this on us right after the lockout. Calculated. They could’ve told us months ago.”

Players are not required to be vaccinated. That would need to be collectively bargained with the MLB Players Association. However, unvaccinated players will probably be unable to cross the Canadian border to partake in games held at the Rogers Centre. They will not be paid nor will they accrue service time for games missed on account of vaccination status.

NFL Free Agency Is Underway

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Although free agency deals cannot officially be signed until Wednesday, agreements are coming at a frenetic pace. The NFL’s legal tampering period, which allows free agents to negotiate with other teams, began Monday morning. Head on over to Pro Football Rumors (@pfrumors on Twitter) to keep up with all the action!

Future Hall of Famers like Von Miller and Bobby Wagner headline a free agent crop that includes numerous Pro Bowlers, and after the NFL salary cap spiked by more than $25MM, budding young standouts will cash in as well. With teams needing to move under the $208.2MM cap by Wednesday, big names like Jarvis Landry and Za’Darius Smith are being sent to the market. The trade block continues to produce blockbusters, too.

Yes, Tom Brady is back. The Buccaneers and Broncos, who now have Russell Wilson headlining their roster, will be busy aiming to fortify their teams around Canton-bound quarterbacks. The Steelers appear to have pegged Ben Roethlisberger’s successor, agreeing to terms with Mitchell Trubisky. The Deshaun Watson market has accelerated to the point the Texans could land a historic trade haul soon.

Check out Pro Football Rumors for the latest updates from the start of unofficial NFL free agency. Follow the action on Facebook and Twitter.

Three Teams Interested In Albert Pujols

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Future Hall-of-Famer Albert Pujols is looking to continue his career, and MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (via Twitter) reports that three teams have shown some interest in signing the 42-year-old.

As Pujols prepares for what would be his 22nd Major League season, the slugger showed last year that he still has something to offer a roster.  After being released by the Angels in May and then signed by the Dodgers, Pujols finished the 2021 campaign with a scorching .294/.336/.603 slash line against left-handed pitching (in 146 plate appearances).  The Dodgers largely limited Pujols to platoon and pinch-hitting duties, and he responded with some of his most productive numbers in some time.

Feinsand notes that Pujols’ market has been expanded by the official installation of the universal DH, as now National League teams have a greater need for extra hitting pop.  The flexibility of the designated hitter slot allows for less concern from NL teams about how Pujols would physically manage getting regular playing time as a first baseman.

Beyond the on-field help Pujols can still provide, teams could also be intrigued by his reputation as a clubhouse leader, and any potential ticket sales that could be drummed up by Pujols’ march up the all-time leaderboards.  Pujols’ 679 career home runs puts him 17 homers behind Alex Rodriguez for fourth on the all-time list, and over a full 162-game season, it certainly seems possible that Pujols can become the fourth player to ever reach the 700-homer plateau (Pujols had 17 home runs over 296 PA with the Angels and Dodgers last year).  Pujols also needs 68 RBI to pass Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time RBI list.

Report: Unvaccinated Players Won’t Be Compensated For Games Missed In Toronto

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Last November, the Canadian government announced that professional athletes who had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 would not be permitted to enter the country to participate in games hosted there. That’s obviously of some import to Major League Baseball, which has one Canadian-based team.

Unvaccinated players won’t be able to travel to Toronto, and they obviously won’t be able to participate in any games at the Rogers Centre. They’ll apparently not be compensated for those missed contests. Duke Castiglione of WCVB reports (on Twitter) that the league and Players Association agreed in today’s CBA that players won’t receive either salary or service time for any games missed on account of vaccination status.

MLB does not have a vaccination mandate for players. It did, however, take steps to encourage vaccination last season, loosening health and safety protocols for teams with at least an 85% vaccination rate of Tier 1 personnel (a group that includes players, coaches, training staff, etc.). 24 of the league’s 30 clubs eventually hit that 85% threshold last year.

Manfred: Reporters Will Have Clubhouse Access In 2022

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At today’s press conference announcing the end of the lockout, Commissioner Rob Manfred stated that reporters would have access to major league clubhouses in 2022 (relayed by Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat). Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post noted last month that MLB had expressed its support for the return of clubhouse access but that had been subject to approval from the MLB Players Association.

Apparently, the union is on-board with the development. For the past two seasons, reporters haven’t had clubhouse access on account of the COVID-19 health and safety protocols. As with the pandemic inspired on-field rules changes, the ban on media personnel in clubhouses will be dropped this year as concerns about the virus’ impact on the sport have lessened.

The return of clubhouse access figures to be a welcome development for reporters. Expanding individual access to players and avoiding possible technological difficulties associated with speaking over video chat are among the potential benefits for reporters speaking with players and staff for stories. Shortly after MLB first suspended clubhouse access, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic wrote about the advantages he felt it afforded reporters, which he opined has a trickle-down benefit for fans consuming their stories.

Report: KBO’s SSG Landers Request Status Check On Kwang Hyun Kim

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The SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization have formally requested a status check  on free-agent lefty Kwang Hyun Kim, tweets South Korean reporter Daniel Kim.

Teams from the Korea Baseball Organization and Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball must formally submit requests for status checks to negotiate with Major League free agents, just as MLB teams must tender status checks on a KBO or NPB free agent if they plan to pursue contract negotiations. At this point, there’s little to indicate that serious negotiations have taken place, but the fact that there’s interest is of note. Kim spent parts of 12 seasons pitching with the Landers — then named the SK Wyverns — from 2007-19 before signing a two-year, $8MM contract with the Cardinals in advance of the 2020 season.

As detailed here recently, Kim stands out as a perhaps unheralded but nevertheless intriguing post-lockout option for big league teams in need of rotation help — if he remains unsigned by that point. Kim dealt with some relatively minor injury issues this past season but has been a solid option both in the St. Louis rotation and bullpen, pitching to a 2.97 ERA with a 17.2% strikeout rate, an 8.4% walk rate and a 48.1% ground-ball rate in 145 2/3 Major League innings.

The extent to which Kim is seriously contemplating a return to South Korea at this juncture isn’t clear. He’s been dead set on continuing his MLB run since the 2021 season ended, but it’d be somewhat understandable if the ongoing lockout and lack of progress in talks at least has him mulling the possibility of returning home. He’s certainly had an odd MLB tenure, as his debut came during the shortened 2020 season (and the strict Covid-19 protocols that were in place throughout that summer) and was followed by a 2021 campaign that still began with limited fan attendance and had plenty of protocols throughout the season.

From a purely financial standpoint, it’d be most prudent to grind out the remainder of the lockout. Major League teams will offer considerably larger sums than their KBO counterparts; players on the very top end of the KBO pay scale generally earn $2MM to $2.5MM annually. Back in December, outfielder Sung-bum Na signed a six-year deal worth roughly $12.6MM total, which marked the largest deal in KBO history. Based on the fact that Kim earned $4MM annually with the Cardinals before he’d had any success in the Majors, he ought to be able to command a decidedly larger sum this time around if he’s willing to wait things out.

It’s certainly possible that Kim could settle for a one-year deal in a familiar setting with his old teammates, then aim for a return effort next winter. However, he’d be 34 years old at that point, and he’d run the risk of an injury or downturn in performance against KBO lineups — either of which could considerably weigh down his earning power.

Sign Up For The Free MLBTR Newsletter

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The MLB hot stove is on pause right now during the lockout, but once it ends the floodgates will open.  As we hope for progress this week, why not check out the free MLB Trade Rumors newsletter?  The newsletter is written by Cliff Corcoran, who has an extensive resume contributing to Sports Illustrated, The Athletic, Baseball Prospectus, and other outlets.  Cliff will take you through the highlights of the previous day, boiling down MLBTR’s posts into the essential stories.

This free newsletter comes out Monday through Friday in the morning.  To subscribe, simply click this link!

Emails For Trade Rumors Front Office Subscribers

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Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers receive exclusive content via email every week.  It’s possible that some people accidentally unsubscribed from our emails, and that’s the purpose of this brief post.  If you’re a paid subscriber and you’re not receiving our emails but you want to, please reach out to us through MLBTR’s contact form.  The most recent email to subscribers came this morning, titled, “Live MLB chat with Anthony Franco: TODAY at 2pm central.”

Check Out Our New MLB Agency Database

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We recently gave our MLB agency database a reboot.  Check it out here!  This is a basic, mobile-friendly database where you can search for an MLB player’s agency, and also see all of the players listed under a given agency.  Even though we stopped covering every agency change in posts on MLBTR, we do intend to keep this database as up-to-date as possible.

Recently, we updated the players listed in the database to include anyone who played in the Majors from 2019-21.  That means we have some gaps in our information.  I know many agents read this site, and we’d appreciate it if you check out who we have listed for your agency and contact us with any updates.  You can reach out through our contact form or just contact me, Tim Dierkes, directly.  Below I’ve listed 613 players for whom we’re seeking their agency.

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