Uncategorized News & Rumors

At a certain point last year, it seemed that the comment section of every post MLBTR wrote involving domestic violence, politics, or COVID-19 devolved into a trainwreck of insults and arguments.  Rather than use our employees’ time to moderate the comment section, I decided to close comments entirely on these topics.  I didn’t start MLBTR with the goal of hosting or moderating arguments on these topics, but they are inextricably linked with baseball.  Judging from the emails I received last week and the comments left on unrelated posts, many MLBTR readers would like a space in our commenting section to discuss MLB’s decision to move the All-Star Game out of Georgia.

I think one potential improvement we can make is to introduce a mute button, giving you the power to mute all the comments and threads by a particular person.  I’ve talked to our developers, and this is a feature we can create.  We will probably have it ready by the end of the month.

MLB Trade Rumors wouldn’t exist without you, and if the majority of our reader base wants open commenting on sensitive topics, it’s something I have to consider.  I’m not sure yet whether it is a majority, but it’s time to find out.  Before any decisions are made, I’d like to gather poll data to see specifically what MLBTR readers want.  Please take a few minutes and fill out this survey.  Click here to view the survey results.

MLBTR has been tracking information on multiyear contract extensions dating back to the early days of the website.  Our tracker allows you to filter by service time, position, team, and much more.  Click here to check out the MLBTR extension tracker.

NFL free agency is in full swing! Whether you’re a hardcore football fan or a casual Sunday watcher, you’re going to want to follow every rumbling and signing with Pro Football Rumors (@pfrumors on Twitter).

The Patriots have dominated the “legal tampering” period so far, shelling out major dollars for ex-Ravens edge rusher Matt Judon, former Chargers tight end Hunter Henry, and many more stars. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers kept the band together with fresh deals for tight end Rob Gronkowski and outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett. How? Some very clever accounting by the defending champs, plus a little help from core players like Tom Brady.

Here’s the kicker — NFL free agency hasn’t even officially started yet! Most of the league’s high-impact players are still on the board, so what’re you waiting for? Follow Pro Football Rumors on Twitter today — @pfrumors.

In all likelihood, Ross Stripling will take Nate Pearson‘s spot in the rotation to open the season, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Pearson is working his way back from a groin strain, but it doesn’t look as if he’ll be ready by opening day. The 6’6″, 250 pound flame-throwing righty has dealt with a number of nagging injuries in his young career, which may force the Jays to be particularly judicious with his timetable. He missed most of September and the last week of August in 2020 dealing with elbow soreness. In a mostly veteran rotation, however, the 25-year-old Pearson represents the Jays’ best chance at exceeding expectations in the rotation.

For Stripling’s part, the 31-year-old maxed out at 21 starts and 122 innings during his 4 1/2 year tenure with the Dodgers. He struggled to a 5.84 ERA/6.15 FIP in 49 1/3 innings split between the Dodgers and Blue Jays in 2020. The culprit of the decline could be his hook. The whiff rate on Stripling’s curveball cratered to 7.4 percent last year, down from 33.3 percent in 2019. Stripling leaned more heavily on his heater, a pitch that got lit up for 11 home runs and a .737 expected slugging percentage against. Before last season, however, he was a reliable swing man in Los Angeles, pitching to a 3.51 ERA/3.60 FIP across 387 innings from 2016-19.

George Springer is also dealing with some soreness. Toronto’s new centerfielder is day-to-day with left abdominal tightness, tweets Nicholson-Smith. This doesn’t appear to be anything to be overly concerned about, however. He sat out today’s game and could be back as soon as tomorrow. The 31-year-old dealt with a number of injuries during his Houston tenure, though he rarely missed significant time. Since joining the Astros two weeks into 2014 and missing a chunk of his rookie campaign with a quad strain, Springer averaged 133 games per season from 2015-19. He played in 51 games during the shortened 2020 season.

Alex Reyes is officially out of the running for a rotation spot in St. Louis, per MLB.com’s Zachary Silver (via Twitter) and others. Reyes will head to the bullpen. With a healthy year, the Cardinals still hope that Reyes will pitch out of the rotation in 2022. For now, he’ll be limited to 100 innings, per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). He’s likely to factor into the end-of-game mix for St. Louis. He made one start versus 14 appearances out of the pen last year, finishing with a 3.20 ERA/3.24 FIP across 19 2/3 innings.

Take Miles Mikolas out of the equation for the opening day rotation as well, adds Goold (via Twitter). Mikolas has been suffering from shoulder soreness and unable to shake it. He was scheduled to pitch tomorrow, but that’s no longer in the cards, meaning Mikolas won’t be able to get enough work in to be ready by the opener. Mikolas missed 2020 with a flexor tendon strain.

Originally signed to a two-year, $15.5MM deal out of Japan prior to the 2018 season. Mikolas made good on that deal, making 32 starts in each of 2018 and 2019 with a 3.46 ERA/3.76 FIP in 384 2/3 innings, 48.4 percent groundball rate, 18.4 percent strikeout rate and 3.9 percent walk rate. Though Mikolas falls on the lower end of the spectrum in terms of missing bats, he can be considered elite in limiting free passes. After a 200-inning effort in 2018, the Cardinals extended Mikolas for four years, $68MM. Last season was the first of those four seasons. The Cardinals owe Mikolas $17MM each year through 2023. He’ll undergo further testing in the hopes of pinpointing the source of his shoulder soreness.

The Cardinals rotation is already without Dakota Hudson, who had Tommy John surgery at the end of September. With Reyes headed for the bullpen and Mikolas joining Hudson on the shelf, there’s an opening at the back of the Cardinals’ rotation. Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright and Kwang Hyun Kim are the only gold-plated locks, with Carlos Martinez likely to join them. The last spot is an open competition between John Gant, Daniel Ponce de Leon, Johan Oviedo, and Jake Woodford.

The baseball community mourns the sudden passing of ESPN Reporter Pedro Gomez this morning. Gomez unexpectedly passed away at his home yesterday at the age of 58. Teams, players and reporters from all around the game have taken to social media to share their memories of the beloved journalist. MLB and the MLBPA joined the community in expressing their sadness over the loss, while ESPN shared the news of his passing with this tribute.

ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro released a statement, saying, “We are shocked and saddened to learn that our friend and colleague Pedro Gomez has passed away. Pedro was an elite journalist at the highest level and his professional accomplishments are universally recognized. More importantly, Pedro was a kind, dear friend to us all. Our hearts are with Pedro’s family and all who love him at this extraordinarily difficult time.”

Gomez’s lasting impact on the game could not be clearer than in the tremendous outpouring of support over the last few hours. Gomez leaves behind a wife and three children, one of whom is currently a pitcher in the Boston Red Sox organization. Everyone at MLBTR would like to share our condolences with Pedro’s friends and family. He will be missed.

One of my goals for MLBTR for 2021 is to update our agency database and improve its functionality.  Once the database is revamped, it will feature anyone who played in the Majors in the last three seasons as well as Baseball America’s most recent top 100 prospects, and we’ll work hard to keep it up-to-date.  As it stands, our database has a fair number of inaccuracies as well as missing agencies for certain players.  I’ve created a Google spreadsheet here with our current info.  If you work for an agency and have corrections or additions, please drop me a line at mlbtrdatabase@gmail.com.  I also welcome corrections if they come from a recent credible article, which you can link to in the comments of this post.  We appreciate the help.

Major League Baseball is reportedly hoping to delay the 2021 regular season until May, which would set the stage for a second consecutive shortened campaign. However, the MLBPA fully plans on returning to a 162-game schedule next year, Evan Drellich of The Athletic reports.

In a statement issued Tuesday, MLBPA senior director of collective bargaining and legal Bruce Meyer said (via Drellich): “We’ve seen anonymous quotes attributed to club sources casting doubt on the start date and length of the season. To be clear, and as we’ve made clear to the league, players are planning on showing up for spring training on time for a full 162-game season as set forth in the collective bargaining agreement and the league’s previously issued schedule.”

At least a couple of the “anonymous quotes” Meyer referred to came from owners, including one who expects a delayed spring training and perhaps a 130 game-season. Depending on whether there are no fans (or at least fewer fans) in the stands next year, that may benefit the owners. However, it’s not going to fly for the union, as players are already coming off a season in which they lost 102 games and had to accept prorated salaries for the 60 they did play. While the union isn’t necessarily against revising the schedule, per Drellich, that’s only if the league manages to play a full 162 in 2021 or if each player at least earns a whole season’s pay.

The league has not yet proposed a truncated schedule to the players, according to Drellich, who notes that MLB has no right to impose a season length under the collective bargaining agreement. As Drellich points, though, there are other complicating factors, including whether Florida and Arizona municipalities will even allow spring training to begin on time. MLB could also suspend the season because of a national emergency, but that would surely lead to more strife between the league and union. That’s the last thing either side needs with the CBA set to expire in December 2021.