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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.

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!

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.”

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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MLB lockout got you down?  The NBA trade deadline is less than seven hours away, and our sister site Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors on Twitter) has all the latest news and rumors for each of the league’s 30 teams!

We’ve already seen several major trades in the past week, with CJ McCollum headed to the Pelicans in a seven-player trade, and the Kings shocking the basketball world by sending rising star Tyrese Haliburton to the Pacers for two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis as part of a six-player swap.

Amid a nine-game losing streak, former MVP James Harden has reportedly grown increasingly frustrated with the Nets – will he be traded for disgruntled Sixers star Ben Simmons? Could a trade between the defending champion Bucks and the Celtics be brewing? Will the Pacers and Kings continue to reshape their rosters? The struggling Lakers are feeling urgency to make moves — will they be able to pull something off before 2:00pm CT?

For the latest updates on those stories and more, check out Hoops Rumors today! Last season saw a total of 24 in-season trades, including 16 on deadline day alone, and this season could be just as action-packed! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @HoopsRumors.

Major League Baseball has informed the Baseball Writers Association of America that it is planning to reopen pre-game and post-game clubhouse access to credentialed media, reports Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Notably, that course of action still remains subject to approval by the MLB Players Association.

MLB hasn’t afforded clubhouse access to credentialed media in either of the past two seasons on account of COVID-19 concerns. Clubhouse access was suspended in March 2020, with reporters generally limited to conducting interviews via phone or video chat that year. Fully-vaccinated members of the BBWAA were permitted to again meet with players and coaches on the field midway through the 2021 season, but they were not allowed entrance into the clubhouse. Tom Haudricourt tweets that clubhouse access in 2022 and beyond, if approved by the union, is likely to again encompass vaccination and masking requirements.

If the MLBPA signs off, 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 clubhouse access afforded reporters, which he opined has a trickle-down benefit for fans consuming their stories.

Tired of the MLB lockout?  The NBA trade deadline is less than 48 hours away, and our sister site Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors on Twitter) has all the latest news and rumors for each of the league’s 30 teams!

We’ve already seen two major trades today, with CJ McCollum reportedly heading to the Pelicans in a seven-player trade, and the Kings shocking the basketball world by sending rising star Tyrese Haliburton to the Pacers for two-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis in a six-player swap.

Amid an eight-game losing streak, former MVP James Harden has reportedly grown increasingly frustrated with the Nets – will he be traded for disgruntled Sixers star Ben Simmons? Could a trade between the defending champion Bucks and the Celtics be brewing? Will the Pacers continue to reshape their roster by dealing the league’s leader in blocked shots per game, Myles Turner? Will the Lakers be able to make moves to assist aging superstar LeBron James?

For the latest updates on those stories and more, check out Hoops Rumors today! Last season saw a total of 24 in-season trades, including 16 on deadline day alone, and this season could be just as action-packed! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter – @HoopsRumors.

Earlier this week, the Frontier League announced an alteration to its extra-innings format. The 15-team Frontier League is an independent circuit designated as an official partner league of Major League Baseball.

Beginning next season, the Frontier League will implement a system to ensure that marathon games don’t go into effect. The first extra inning — the tenth in regular contests, the eighth on days with scheduled seven-inning doubleheaders — will proceed according to International Tiebreaker Rules. The ITB rule involves placing a runner on second base to start the inning, as MLB has done over the past two years. The Frontier League’s rule change comes if the game remains tied after that frame, as the 11th inning (or 9th in doubleheaders) will proceed in the “Sudden Death” format.

Before the start of the inning, the manager of the home team will decide whether to play offense or defense. The offensive team will begin the inning with a free runner — the previous batter in the lineup — on first base. Picking up wherever they’re scheduled to hit in the lineup, the offensive team has three outs to score the runner. If the runner scores, the offensive team wins. If they don’t score, the defensive team wins.

In recent seasons, MLB has asked its partner leagues to experiment with rules changes it could try in the future. That isn’t the case here, though, and there’s no indication MLB is considering implementing this rule down the road. According to the Frontier League, the idea was first proposed by one of its former managers and deliberated upon by various league skippers and administrators.

As J.J. Cooper of Baseball America writes, independent leagues face outsized challenges in managing pitcher workloads compared to those facing MLB teams. Independent teams have stricter roster limits and face the possibility of losing players to affiliated ball. Without a farm system to call upon in the event of a marathon game that taxes a pitching staff, independent leagues have tried creative ways to limit length of extra-inning contests.

Last season, the Frontier League and Pioneer League broke ties with a Home Run Derby swing-off. For the Frontier League, at least, that didn’t sit well with managers. “As fan friendly as that was, it just didn’t feel right. The whole thing was decided by how good your (batting practice) thrower is,” Evansville Otters manager Andy McCauley told Cooper. “You got eight pitches. If you didn’t have a guy throwing strikes, you were in trouble. … At least now, there is some baseball strategy still involved other than just eight swings of the bat.“