The 2020 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread.

[mr. leisure]

Who batted over .700 his senior year in HS.

Drafted in 90 or 91

Manny Ramirez

[Cross]

Could it be the great Derek Jeter or Arod?

[ApricotSinner32]

Who knows who really knows...

[Cross]

Tired of waiting around for mlb, this sucks. Greedy owners, not blaming players at all.

[BigSpoon]

Scott Boras telling his clients to not 'bail out' the MLB owners. I don't have my hopes up for any MLB in 2020.

[EmpireMaker]

The MLBPA’s counter-proposal to the league’s economic plan is expected to be sent this week and, according to multiple reports, it will wholly reject the sliding scale mechanism offered Tuesday by ownership. Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic report that the players will not budge on prorated salaries and will instead counter with a longer season — likely in the range of 100 games. Ken Davidoff and Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggest that the proposal will include more than 100 games, with Sherman tweeting separately that the union could seek to play as many as 110 games. Doing so would seemingly require pushing regular-season play into October.
It’s not clear at this point what compromises will be offered by the Players Association. Sherman and Davidoff indicate that “many” members of the union appear open to deferring salaries beyond 2020, though, which could help ownership to avoid an upfront hit. Rosenthal and Drellich detail some other potential compromises that have been “loosely” discussed.
League owners have contended that losses without fans in attendance could be so great that it’s not worth playing games if players are paid at prorated levels. A presentation was made to the MLBPA at one point in an effort to illustrate those claims, but the players’ side has remained skeptical. ESPN’s Jeff Passan writes that the union recently submitted another request for documentation providing transparency into local and national television revenue, sponsorship revenue and projections from teams. The union also did so back in March.
Clearly, the league has not accommodated that request. Max Scherzer, one of eight players constituting the MLBPA executive subcommittee, tweeted a firm aversion to even “engag[ing] with MLB in any further compensation reductions” and adding that “MLB’s economic strategy would completely change if all documentation were to become public information.”
While both sides are surely motivated to eventually resume play, both have put forth offers that will obviously be rejected by the other party. The players “essentially pledged to ignore the league’s proposal and instead offer one of their own,” Passan writes, illustrating the extent of the MLBPA’s dissatisfaction with the sliding scale. And if the league contends that prorated salaries without fans would require operating at a loss on a per-game basis, owners are likely to be equally dismissive of an expanded schedule without further salary reduction.
So, is there a middle ground to be reached at all?
The players feel that the league’s proposal effectively asks them to take an average 38 percent pay cut on top of the prorated salaries to which they’ve already agreed, as FiveThirtyEight’s Travis Sawchik recently outlined (Twitter thread). The hit would’ve been larger for baseball’s best-paid players, of course; the game’s highest-paid players would earn in the $$6-7MM range prior to postseason bonuses. League-minimum and pre-arbitration players would’ve taken a lesser hit but still received only about 46 percent of their full-season salary (92 percent of their prorated salary).
Sawchik suggests a 19 percent cut from prorated salaries would be a middle ground, so it’s perhaps no surprise that The Athletic report contains speculation about players taking an 81-game prorated salary but still playing 100 total games. That arrangement would amount to players taking a 19 percent hit on top of their prorated agreement.
The strong language from Scherzer last night casts some doubt upon whether the players will genuinely consider additional cuts, especially if the union plans to truly hold firm on its request to see additional documentation from ownership. As things currently stand, it’s hard to believe the league will consider the reported union counter any more than the union considered the owners’ sliding scale. Significant ground needs to be covered before an agreement is reached.

[Chi_archie]

Scott Boras telling his clients to not 'bail out' the MLB owners. I don't have my hopes up for any MLB in 2020.

this is not good

[stevenash]

On this date May 28, 2013 exactly 1 year ago, Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals (and still of the Washington Nationals) blasted three home runs against the Baltimore Orioles driving in four.

It wasn't enough as the Nationals still lost the game 9-6.
The other Zimmerman (Jordan) took the loss for the Nats.

Batting	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Details
Denard Span CF	4	1	1	1	0	0	0.271	0.329	0.352	0.68	2B
Roger Bernadina RF	4	1	1	1	0	1	0.149	0.213	0.27	0.483	HR
Ryan Zimmerman 3B	4	3	3	4	0	1	0.298	0.383	0.489	0.872	3·HR
Adam LaRoche 1B	3	0	1	0	1	1	0.244	0.328	0.459	0.788
Ian Desmond SS	3	0	1	0	1	1	0.26	0.295	0.449	0.744
Tyler Moore LF	4	0	0	0	0	2	0.149	0.202	0.276	0.478	GDP
Chad Tracy DH	4	0	0	0	0	0	0.17	0.22	0.234	0.454
Kurt Suzuki C	4	0	0	0	0	1	0.248	0.319	0.355	0.674
Danny Espinosa 2B	4	1	1	0	0	3	0.166	0.197	0.29	0.487

[Otters27]

Manny Ramirez

Yep. Only reason I know I'd from his baseball rookie card.

Just can't remember if he was drafted in 90 or 91

[stevenash]

Yep. Only reason I know I'd from his baseball rookie card.

Just can't remember if he was drafted in 90 or 91

Manny has a few screws loose.

[koz-man]

Minor League Baseball cuts hundreds of players amid pandemic, sources say


Hundreds of minor league baseball players were cut Thursday and hundreds more are expected to lose their jobs as the sport grapples with the near certainty that the minor league season will be canceled, sources told ESPN.

Team officials said a vast majority of the players likely would have been released toward the end of spring training even if baseball hadn't been halted by the coronavirus pandemic, according to sources. But the cuts en masse, which could wind up numbering more than 1,000, nevertheless reverberated around the game, sources said.

Released players expressed fear that their careers would be over, and those whose teams hadn't yet made cuts prepared for a tenuous next few days, sources said.

In recent weeks, owners of minor league teams have begun laying off front-office and game-day workers and citing the cancellation of the season as the reason, according to sources. The minor league baseball season has not officially been canceled, according to a spokesperson, though the suspension of the Professional Baseball Agreement that governs the minor leagues' relationship with Major League Baseball precludes big league organizations from providing players to their minor league affiliates.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said he would inform Minor League Baseball if and when players would be allowed to join affiliated teams. He has yet to do so. Even with no players available, teams acting as if the season is over and one team renting out its stadium on Airbnb, Minor League Baseball president Pat O'Conner has yet to speak publicly and acknowledge the foregone conclusion for 2020, and the fallout from it.

[JMobile]

David Price is gonna give $1k to each minor leaguer in the Dodgers system. What a guy.

[stevenash]

David Price is gonna give $1k to each minor leaguer in the Dodgers system. What a guy.

He was always classy like that.

Did you know he's 150 and 80 lifetime?
That's an impressive won/loss record.

If you have a live left arm and sport a 150 and 80 record you can make over 200 million dollars in your career.

Year	Age	Tm	Salary	SrvTm	Sources	Notes/Other Sources
2007	21	Tampa Bay Devil Rays	$500,000	?
2008	22	Tampa Bay Rays	$650,000	?
2009	23	Tampa Bay Rays	$750,000	?
2010	24	Tampa Bay Rays	$1,834,671	0.164
2011	25	Tampa Bay Rays	$2,084,671	1.164
2012	26	Tampa Bay Rays	$4,350,000	2.164	contracts
2013	27	Tampa Bay Rays	$10,112,500	3.164	contracts
2014	28	Tampa Bay Rays	$14,000,000	4.164	contracts
2015	29	Detroit Tigers	$19,750,000	5.164	contracts
2016	30	Boston Red Sox	$30,000,000	6.164
2017	31	Boston Red Sox	$30,000,000	7.164	contracts
2018	32	Boston Red Sox	$30,000,000	8.164
2019	33	Boston Red Sox	$31,000,000	9.164	contract
2020	34	Los Angeles Dodgers	$32,000,000	10.164		$16M paid by Boston Red Sox
2021	35	Los Angeles Dodgers	$32,000,000		$16M paid by Boston Red Sox
2022	36	Los Angeles Dodgers	$32,000,000		$16M paid by Boston Red Sox
		Earliest Free Agent: 2023
Career to date (may be incomplete)			$207,031,842	Does not include future salaries ($64M)

[jrgum3]

Manny has a few screws loose.

Yeah he was crazy for sure but man was he ever fun to watch hit. I loved that team he was on when he was with Cleveland too bad they couldn't get it done in the 95 World Series because that team was awesome.

[Otters27]

Yeah he was crazy for sure but man was he ever fun to watch hit. I loved that team he was on when he was with Cleveland too bad they couldn't get it done in the 95 World Series because that team was awesome.

Kenny Loftan and Albert Belle

[ApricotSinner32]

The MLBPA’s counter-proposal to the league’s economic plan is expected to be sent this week and, according to multiple reports, it will wholly reject the sliding scale mechanism offered Tuesday by ownership. Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic report that the players will not budge on prorated salaries and will instead counter with a longer season — likely in the range of 100 games. Ken Davidoff and Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggest that the proposal will include more than 100 games, with Sherman tweeting separately that the union could seek to play as many as 110 games. Doing so would seemingly require pushing regular-season play into October.
It’s not clear at this point what compromises will be offered by the Players Association. Sherman and Davidoff indicate that “many” members of the union appear open to deferring salaries beyond 2020, though, which could help ownership to avoid an upfront hit. Rosenthal and Drellich detail some other potential compromises that have been “loosely” discussed.
League owners have contended that losses without fans in attendance could be so great that it’s not worth playing games if players are paid at prorated levels. A presentation was made to the MLBPA at one point in an effort to illustrate those claims, but the players’ side has remained skeptical. ESPN’s Jeff Passan writes that the union recently submitted another request for documentation providing transparency into local and national television revenue, sponsorship revenue and projections from teams. The union also did so back in March.
Clearly, the league has not accommodated that request. Max Scherzer, one of eight players constituting the MLBPA executive subcommittee, tweeted a firm aversion to even “engag[ing] with MLB in any further compensation reductions” and adding that “MLB’s economic strategy would completely change if all documentation were to become public information.”
While both sides are surely motivated to eventually resume play, both have put forth offers that will obviously be rejected by the other party. The players “essentially pledged to ignore the league’s proposal and instead offer one of their own,” Passan writes, illustrating the extent of the MLBPA’s dissatisfaction with the sliding scale. And if the league contends that prorated salaries without fans would require operating at a loss on a per-game basis, owners are likely to be equally dismissive of an expanded schedule without further salary reduction.
So, is there a middle ground to be reached at all?
The players feel that the league’s proposal effectively asks them to take an average 38 percent pay cut on top of the prorated salaries to which they’ve already agreed, as FiveThirtyEight’s Travis Sawchik recently outlined (Twitter thread). The hit would’ve been larger for baseball’s best-paid players, of course; the game’s highest-paid players would earn in the $$6-7MM range prior to postseason bonuses. League-minimum and pre-arbitration players would’ve taken a lesser hit but still received only about 46 percent of their full-season salary (92 percent of their prorated salary).
Sawchik suggests a 19 percent cut from prorated salaries would be a middle ground, so it’s perhaps no surprise that The Athletic report contains speculation about players taking an 81-game prorated salary but still playing 100 total games. That arrangement would amount to players taking a 19 percent hit on top of their prorated agreement.
The strong language from Scherzer last night casts some doubt upon whether the players will genuinely consider additional cuts, especially if the union plans to truly hold firm on its request to see additional documentation from ownership. As things currently stand, it’s hard to believe the league will consider the reported union counter any more than the union considered the owners’ sliding scale. Significant ground needs to be covered before an agreement is reached.

hm.......................

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Tired of waiting around for mlb, this sucks. Greedy owners, not blaming players at all.

Why should the players get 100% of salary if owners are taking it in the shorts and no fans at the games? Looks like these greedy players might forgo the season. Many fans will move on from baseball if they do not play due to money.

[koz-man]

Today in Baseball History
May 30th

After ending a streak of five straight losses to the Yankees, Red Sox ace Pedro Martinez makes light of the Curse of the Bambino by suggesting someone should wake up the Babe so he could drill him with a pitch.

Boston will not beat the Bronx Bombers again during their final seven meetings of the season.

[Stallion]

So there will be a season, how much did the players give up??

[EmpireMaker]

Three weeks ago, it appeared Alex Rodriguez no longer had any hope of purchasing the Mets. However, it now looks as if he and famous fiancee Jennifer Lopez have re-entered the picture. According to Thornton McEnery of the New York Post, Rodriguez, Lopez and some of JPMorgan Chase’s “very senior bankers” are working on putting together a bid to buy the franchise from current owners Fred Wilpon and Jeff Wilpon.
This is clearly a serious attempt from Rodriguez and Lopez, who McEnery hears are putting in “hundreds of millions” of their own dollars to land the Mets. It’s unclear exactly who else would be part of a Rodriguez-Lopez ownership group – Wayne Rothbaum was said to be in the mix earlier, but it doesn’t seem that’s the case anymore – though they have been talking with New England Patriots owners Bob Kraft and Jonathan Kraft. The Krafts don’t want to buy a baseball team, yet they’re “very intrigued” with the plans Rodriguez and Lopez have to breathe new life into Citi Field and its surrounding areas, McEnery details in his piece.
Regardless of whether the Krafts do accompany Rodriguez and Lopez, a source told McEnery that “the money is there,” that “a bid is coming,” and odds are the Mets will go for less than $2 billion if they do change hands. Furthermore, while the Wilpons have been reluctant to give up any part of the SNY television network in a sale, it seems they’re more open to it now. The Wilpons would still want to keep some portion of SNY in giving up the Mets, however, McEnery reports.
The coronavirus shutdown could continue to lead to major financial losses for the Wilpons, who may reportedly lose up to $150MM even during a half-season. That could increase their urgency to sell the team, and it now looks possible that Rodriguez and Lopez will swoop in if the Wilpons do step away.

[EmpireMaker]

The MLBPA’s counter-proposal to the league’s economic plan is expected to be sent this week and, according to multiple reports, it will wholly reject the sliding scale mechanism offered Tuesday by ownership. Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic report that the players will not budge on prorated salaries and will instead counter with a longer season — likely in the range of 100 games. Ken Davidoff and Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggest that the proposal will include more than 100 games, with Sherman tweeting separately that the union could seek to play as many as 110 games. Doing so would seemingly require pushing regular-season play into October.
It’s not clear at this point what compromises will be offered by the Players Association. Sherman and Davidoff indicate that “many” members of the union appear open to deferring salaries beyond 2020, though, which could help ownership to avoid an upfront hit. Rosenthal and Drellich detail some other potential compromises that have been “loosely” discussed.
League owners have contended that losses without fans in attendance could be so great that it’s not worth playing games if players are paid at prorated levels. A presentation was made to the MLBPA at one point in an effort to illustrate those claims, but the players’ side has remained skeptical. ESPN’s Jeff Passan writes that the union recently submitted another request for documentation providing transparency into local and national television revenue, sponsorship revenue and projections from teams. The union also did so back in March.
Clearly, the league has not accommodated that request. Max Scherzer, one of eight players constituting the MLBPA executive subcommittee, tweeted a firm aversion to even “engag[ing] with MLB in any further compensation reductions” and adding that “MLB’s economic strategy would completely change if all documentation were to become public information.”
While both sides are surely motivated to eventually resume play, both have put forth offers that will obviously be rejected by the other party. The players “essentially pledged to ignore the league’s proposal and instead offer one of their own,” Passan writes, illustrating the extent of the MLBPA’s dissatisfaction with the sliding scale. And if the league contends that prorated salaries without fans would require operating at a loss on a per-game basis, owners are likely to be equally dismissive of an expanded schedule without further salary reduction.
So, is there a middle ground to be reached at all?
The players feel that the league’s proposal effectively asks them to take an average 38 percent pay cut on top of the prorated salaries to which they’ve already agreed, as FiveThirtyEight’s Travis Sawchik recently outlined (Twitter thread). The hit would’ve been larger for baseball’s best-paid players, of course; the game’s highest-paid players would earn in the $$6-7MM range prior to postseason bonuses. League-minimum and pre-arbitration players would’ve taken a lesser hit but still received only about 46 percent of their full-season salary (92 percent of their prorated salary).
Sawchik suggests a 19 percent cut from prorated salaries would be a middle ground, so it’s perhaps no surprise that The Athletic report contains speculation about players taking an 81-game prorated salary but still playing 100 total games. That arrangement would amount to players taking a 19 percent hit on top of their prorated agreement.
The strong language from Scherzer last night casts some doubt upon whether the players will genuinely consider additional cuts, especially if the union plans to truly hold firm on its request to see additional documentation from ownership. As things currently stand, it’s hard to believe the league will consider the reported union counter any more than the union considered the owners’ sliding scale. Significant ground needs to be covered before an agreement is reached.

[BigSpoon]

Why should the players get 100% of salary if owners are taking it in the shorts and no fans at the games? Looks like these greedy players might forgo the season. Many fans will move on from baseball if they do not play due to money.

The fans have come back, even after seasons were cancelled. 1994 MLB and 2004 NHL seasons.

[Chi_archie]

The fans have come back, even after seasons were cancelled. 1994 MLB and 2004 NHL seasons.

True

More options now though

[stevenash]

Kenny Loftan and Albert Belle

Albert Belle had a few screws loose too.

[JMobile]

So there will be a season, how much did the players give up??

Dunno. But minor leaguers are not getting paid .

[jrgum3]

The fans have come back, even after seasons were cancelled. 1994 MLB and 2004 NHL seasons.

If there is no season this time I think it will take a lot for people to come back to baseball as opposed to last time there was a cancellation of the season and World Series.

[EmpireMaker]

Yesterday brought a slew of news regarding minor league ballplayers. Players like T.J. Rivera, Carlos Asuaje and Juremi Profar were returned to the free-agent pool after rounds of cuts from their minor league teams. There was also a smattering of good news, including a report of David Price giving $1K to each minor leaguer on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster.
Today brings a new round of news about how teams are deciding to treat their minor league players during this trying time. While these cuts seem gaudy, it’s important to note that most teams waited on their spring training cuts, actually extending the pay for many of the players now being cut loose. Every year a round of these cuts occur, and it’s not solely an effect of the coronavirus shutdown. That said, Baseball America’s JJ Cooper is compiling a running list of the number of players released by each organization and comparing those numbers to their releases in 2019 and 2018. As news continues to filter out little by little about each organization’s cuts, let’s try to round up some of that info here…
National League

• The Giants cut 20 players from their minor league system on Thursday, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
• The Diamondbacks have been the most egregious offenders in this department with 62 players released, as noted by Cooper, while MLB Network’s Jon Heyman had the number of Dback releases at 64.
• It’s not clear if we have the entire list of minor league players released by the Rockies, but The Athletic’s Nick Groke has a list of 15 players with confirmed releases. Groke notes that the Rockies refused comment or confirmation.
• Cooper also listed the 30 players released by the Braves this week. He notes 31 released last year at this time and 24 the year before.
• The Mets released 39 players, including right-hander Nick Rumbelow, formerly of the Yankees and Mariners. The Mets, of course, are weighing options in terms of selling the franchise after reporting losses of up to $150MM even if an 82-game season eventually gets underway.
• The Phillies released T.J. Rivera, but a comprehensive list of players released by the Phillies isn’t yet known.
• Jim Goulart of Brewerfan.net tweets a list of 30 minor leaguers released by the Brewers thus far, though the list may be incomplete. Goulart compiled the list from milb.com. Veteran Andres Blanco was among those released.
• The Cubs’ total list of releases reached 28 by the end of the day yesterday, with Brock Stewart and Asuaje two of the better-known names.
• The Reds, Nationals, and Cardinals are said to have released payers, but the number of players released isn’t clear at this time. Big picture, the Reds have committed to paying their remaining minor leaguers through the end of the minor league season in early September.
• The Pirates have yet to release any minor league players, according to Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic, though he adds that the club is still deliberating on roster moves so such a decision can’t be ruled out. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has committed to paying players through at least June.

American League

• The Rays released “20 or so” players, as per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
• The Mariners released more than 50 minor leaguers.
• The Astros released 17 players, all listed here in a tweet from Baseball America’s JJ Cooper. Cooper recalls the Astros number of player cuts from past years, comparing this year’s 18 released players in March through May to 10 players released in 2019 and 24 in 2018.
• The Orioles cuts came out early, with 37 players listed.
• The White Sox let go of 25 players, including Josue Guerrero.
• The Red Sox released 22 players, with Nick Lovullo and Profar two players with some name recognition who are among those released.
• The Twins and Royals are bringing the best bit of news, as neither organization has made cuts to their minor leaguer systems. Given the number of releases league-wide, it’s a notable decision from these clubs.
• The Athletics, meanwhile, have informed their minor leaguers that their pay will be suspended as of May 31.
• The Blue Jays have released 29 minor league players, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. On the bright side, retained players will be paid through the end of June.

On the plus side, teams like the Marlins, Padres, and Mariners will pay their minor leaguers through the end of the season, though releases are still considered a normal course of business. Many clubs have committed to paying their minor leaguers either through the end of June or the end of August.
The Athletic’s Alec Lewis shed some light on the Royals’ mindset, providing a quote from Royals GM Dayton Moore (via Twitter). Among other insights, Moore said, “…we felt it was really, really important not to release one minor league player during this time, a time we needed to stand behind them.”

[Chi_archie]

Yesterday brought a slew of news regarding minor league ballplayers. Players like T.J. Rivera, Carlos Asuaje and Juremi Profar were returned to the free-agent pool after rounds of cuts from their minor league teams. There was also a smattering of good news, including a report of David Price giving $1K to each minor leaguer on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster.
Today brings a new round of news about how teams are deciding to treat their minor league players during this trying time. While these cuts seem gaudy, it’s important to note that most teams waited on their spring training cuts, actually extending the pay for many of the players now being cut loose. Every year a round of these cuts occur, and it’s not solely an effect of the coronavirus shutdown. That said, Baseball America’s JJ Cooper is compiling a running list of the number of players released by each organization and comparing those numbers to their releases in 2019 and 2018. As news continues to filter out little by little about each organization’s cuts, let’s try to round up some of that info here…
National League

• The Giants cut 20 players from their minor league system on Thursday, per Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle.
• The Diamondbacks have been the most egregious offenders in this department with 62 players released, as noted by Cooper, while MLB Network’s Jon Heyman had the number of Dback releases at 64.
• It’s not clear if we have the entire list of minor league players released by the Rockies, but The Athletic’s Nick Groke has a list of 15 players with confirmed releases. Groke notes that the Rockies refused comment or confirmation.
• Cooper also listed the 30 players released by the Braves this week. He notes 31 released last year at this time and 24 the year before.
• The Mets released 39 players, including right-hander Nick Rumbelow, formerly of the Yankees and Mariners. The Mets, of course, are weighing options in terms of selling the franchise after reporting losses of up to $150MM even if an 82-game season eventually gets underway.
• The Phillies released T.J. Rivera, but a comprehensive list of players released by the Phillies isn’t yet known.
• Jim Goulart of Brewerfan.net tweets a list of 30 minor leaguers released by the Brewers thus far, though the list may be incomplete. Goulart compiled the list from milb.com. Veteran Andres Blanco was among those released.
• The Cubs’ total list of releases reached 28 by the end of the day yesterday, with Brock Stewart and Asuaje two of the better-known names.
• The Reds, Nationals, and Cardinals are said to have released payers, but the number of players released isn’t clear at this time. Big picture, the Reds have committed to paying their remaining minor leaguers through the end of the minor league season in early September.
• The Pirates have yet to release any minor league players, according to Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic, though he adds that the club is still deliberating on roster moves so such a decision can’t be ruled out. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh has committed to paying players through at least June.

American League

• The Rays released “20 or so” players, as per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times.
• The Mariners released more than 50 minor leaguers.
• The Astros released 17 players, all listed here in a tweet from Baseball America’s JJ Cooper. Cooper recalls the Astros number of player cuts from past years, comparing this year’s 18 released players in March through May to 10 players released in 2019 and 24 in 2018.
• The Orioles cuts came out early, with 37 players listed.
• The White Sox let go of 25 players, including Josue Guerrero.
• The Red Sox released 22 players, with Nick Lovullo and Profar two players with some name recognition who are among those released.
• The Twins and Royals are bringing the best bit of news, as neither organization has made cuts to their minor leaguer systems. Given the number of releases league-wide, it’s a notable decision from these clubs.
• The Athletics, meanwhile, have informed their minor leaguers that their pay will be suspended as of May 31.
• The Blue Jays have released 29 minor league players, according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. On the bright side, retained players will be paid through the end of June.

On the plus side, teams like the Marlins, Padres, and Mariners will pay their minor leaguers through the end of the season, though releases are still considered a normal course of business. Many clubs have committed to paying their minor leaguers either through the end of June or the end of August.
The Athletic’s Alec Lewis shed some light on the Royals’ mindset, providing a quote from Royals GM Dayton Moore (via Twitter). Among other insights, Moore said, “…we felt it was really, really important not to release one minor league player during this time, a time we needed to stand behind them.”

wow the cheap Pirates holding out hope

[JAKEPEAVY21]

The fans have come back, even after seasons were cancelled. 1994 MLB and 2004 NHL seasons.

I guess that is what they are banking on...I won't spend a dime on anything MLB if they CHOOSE not to play.

[Otters27]

If there is no season this time I think it will take a lot for people to come back to baseball as opposed to last time there was a cancellation of the season and World Series.

All sports will take lots of time for people to come back

[Stallion]

All sports will take lots of time for people to come back

Agreed,
It's not like 1994 for MLB and 2004 for NHL, we are in a pandemic; Social distancing will be around for a while.

[stevenash]

On this day May 31, 2008 exactly 12 years ago today, the aforementioned Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox homered off of Chad Bradford of the Baltimore Orioles to become the 24th player ever to hit 500 MLB career home runs.

Also on this day May 31, 2008 the Chicago Cubs won their game to become 36 and 21.
This the first time in 100 years the Cubs have the best record in MLB entering June 1.
(Chew on that one)

[BigSpoon]

When live sports are back people will still watch and gamble.

[stevenash]

When live sports are back people will still watch and gamble.

Of course they will.
If ESPN televised two flys people will wager on which fly lands on the wall first.

”if it moves you can bet on it”
Mo the Bartender
-The Simpsons

[Cross]

Peavy defending those greedy owners again. Players not asking for 100% of salaries, just something fair. David Price shouldn’t be paying out of his pocket to pay minor leaguers when owners have billions.