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Beginning in the 2022 season, Major League Baseball will require all 30 teams to provide housing for all minor league players, ESPN.com’s Jeff Passan reports. The owners agreed to the decision via unanimous vote last month, though details of the plan are still being worked out, such as whether the teams will have to directly provide the housing, or if players’ stipends will be increased with more money to be specifically directed towards renting or other accommodations.
Today’s news is both welcome and overdue, considering that the conditions faced by most minor league players has been a subject of controversy in recent years, especially since those conditions worsened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Several reporters (including ESPN’s Joon Lee, Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper, and The Athletic’s Sam Blum) and several past and present minor leaguers have illustrated the meager salaries paid to most players in the minors, which has subsequently forced many of those players into less-than-ideal living situations. This has a snowball effect on a player’s diet, sleep, ability to properly train, and their mental health in general, leaving it difficult for many prospects to even live their lives normally, let alone focus on developing their baseball skills.
Some teams have already taken steps to improve the environments of their minor league players, whether it through increased stipends for food or lodging, improved minor league facilities, or (as the Astros implemented for their prospects this year) fully furnished housing arranged and paid for by the club. The league-wide mandate, however, will put standards in place for all 30 teams to follow.Leave a comment:
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The Braves midseason acquistions showing up large tonight. Joc Jams was an underrated pickup and of course you have Rosario who came through late in the game like he has done so many times when he was in the AL. It will be interesting to see how this series turns out now that the Braves got the first two games.
Last edited by jrgum3; 10-18-21, 01:07 AM.Leave a comment:
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Braves getting very fortunate. Terrible baserunning rewarded tonight.Leave a comment:
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I know everyone hates the Astros because they cheated and this or that but I like them because of Dusty Baker. I always liked him even though I think he's not great as a manager so I wouldn't mind seeing him win it all. Of course if the Red Sox win I won't complain because I like their team.Leave a comment:
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5:06PM: Garcia left the game due to discomfort in his right knee, the Astros announced.
4:34PM: Astros starter Luis Garcia made an early exit from Game 2 of the ALCS, leaving with a possible injury in the second inning. After issuing a four-pitch walk to Kevin Plawecki to begin the frame, Garcia was visited on the mound by the team trainer, and ended up departing after consultation with manager Dusty Baker and pitching coach Brent Strom.
It has already been a nightmarish day for Garcia, who allowed four runs in the first inning thanks to a J.D. Martinez grand slam. Only 14 of Garcia’s 33 pitches were strikes, continuing the control problems that plagued his first postseason start — Garcia allowed three walks and five hits in 2 2/3 innings in Game 3 of the ALDS, a 12-6 Astros loss to the White Sox.
The 24-year-old Garcia entered the playoffs on the heels of a quality rookie season that will surely net him some AL Rookie Of The Year consideration. The right-hander posted a 3.30 ERA/3.91 SIERA and above-average strikeout (26.4%) and walk (7.9%) rates over 155 1/3 innings for Houston this season, starting 28 of his 30 games.
That solid form hasn’t continued into October, however, and now Garcia could be in danger of missing the World Series. If Garcia’s injury requires him to be substituted off Houston’s roster, Garcia would be ineligible to pitch for the next postseason round, should the Astros advance past the Red Sox.
The other major concern for the Astros is that if Garcia is seriously hurt, the team is running short on pitching. Lance McCullers Jr. (flexor pronator muscle strain) is already an omission from the ALCS roster and might not even be an option for the World Series if the Astros make it. Game 1 starter Framber Valdez lasted only 2 2/3 innings, requiring a big effort from Houston’s bullpen to salvage the victory. Jake Odorizzi took over for Garcia in relief, so the veteran’s availability for future games might be in question depending on how long he pitches today.
Jose Urquidy is scheduled to start Game 3 at Fenway Park, and Odorizzi’s usage today likely means that either Cristian Javier or Zack Greinke (who has been used as a reliever this postseason) will be starting Game 4. With the red-hot Boston lineup hitting everything in sight, the Astros pitching staff faces a tall order for the remainder of the ALCS.Leave a comment:
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No Muncy, Bauer, or Kershaw, and Turner is terrible. Maybe Braves have a chance???Leave a comment:
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Big win for the Red Sox and Braves today. They both needed to win today and they came through. I think that if the Braves didn't win today there was a good chance that they'd get swept. Now I think they have a shot at shocking the world and taking this series from the Dodgers.Leave a comment:
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Seems like Red Sox might get this. I feel like Astros will tighten upLeave a comment:
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The Brewers were bumped from the postseason earlier this week, losing their Division Series against the Braves. Milwaukee president of baseball operations David Stearns met with the media (including Will Sammon of the Athletic and Adam McCalvy of MLB.com) this afternoon to review the 2021 campaign and discuss the club’s upcoming offseason.
Keston Hiura will undergo a minor surgery on his right elbow, Stearns said, although there’s no indication the issue could affect his readiness for Spring Training. Milwaukee’s Opening Day first baseman, Hiura struggled all season. He got off to a horrible start, striking out in 32 of his first 89 plate appearances en route to a .152/.247/.266 line through early May. The Brewers optioned Hiura to Triple-A Nashville at that point. Hiura hit well in the minors, but he still couldn’t find much success against big league pitching. In 108 MLB plate appearances from the time of his first demotion on, he continued to slump to a .181/.264/.330 mark.
At this point, the Brew Crew can’t enter 2022 counting on Hiura to assume an everyday role. Still, he’s a former top ten pick who’s not all that far removed from a huge .303/.368/.570 showing as a rookie in 2019. Milwaukee surely doesn’t want to give up on Hiura entirely, and Stearns floated the idea of getting him some work in the outfield next season. Hiura has only played first and second base as a pro (aside from one 3 1/3 inning stint in left field this year), but it’d be a bit easier for manager Craig Counsell to work him into the lineup if the 25-year-old proves capable of covering the grass on a regular basis.
Christian Yelich won’t have any issue getting everyday reps, but he’ll also be looking to recapture his 2019 level of performance. The former MVP’s numbers have hovered right around league average (.234/.360/.392) over the past couple seasons. It’s an alarming drop-off, surely not what Stearns and the front office had in mind when they inked Yelich to an extension over the 2019-20 offseason that paid him $188.5MM in new money.
Between Yelich’s prior accolades and the organization’s enormous financial commitment to him, it’s no surprise that Stearns says getting the 29-year-old back on track is a key focus this winter. Yelich’s strikeout, walk and hard contact rates are still all solid or better, but his power output has disappeared as his ground-ball percentage has spiked from 43.2% in 2019 to 54.8% this past season. Stearns candidly admitted the organization hasn’t yet diagnosed a root cause of Yelich’s downturn in performance, but he expressed optimism in the potential for a turnaround and noted that Yelich wasn’t being hampered by any health problems.
Stearns’ own status with the franchise has been something of a talking point in recent weeks. The Mets are reportedly interested in speaking with the Manhattan native as part of their search for a new president of baseball operations. Stearns landing in Flushing has never seemed especially likely, though, primarily because he’s under contract with the Brewers through the end of next season. Thus, Milwaukee owner Mark Attanasio would need to grant the Mets permission to interview Stearns. Attanasio hasn’t definitely said whether he’d do so, although he rather coyly responded to the rumors last month (via Sports Illustrated) when he opined that Stearns is “a great executive. … He’s also under contract with us.”
For his part, Stearns mostly deflected attention away from his future, although he didn’t sound like someone anxious to leave Milwaukee. “I think I’ll shy away from any media or external speculation other than to say I’m happy here; my family is happy here. And we’ve got work to do here,” Stearns told reporters today when asked about the chances he makes the jump to the Big Apple.Leave a comment:
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Congrats man the Dodgers are a tough out that's for sure. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the NLCS as I think Atlanta gives you guys some problems but this should be a series where runs are scored unlike the Giants/Dodgers series where runs were at a premium.Leave a comment:
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Well it's the Braves and LA
Looks like I'm going to have to shoot myself.Leave a comment:
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Absolutely terrible ending to a great series between baseball's two best teams. Just ruined a great series for it to end on an awful call like that. The Giants couldn't score though and ultimately that's why they didn't come out on top in this series. I can take solace in the fact the Giants won about 40-50 more games than they were expected to and won the division but losing to the Dodgers in the playoffs is always going to be something that will be a bitter pill to swallow. I think I'm rooting for a Braves vs Astros World Series just because I like Dusty Baker even though he isn't the greatest manager and I don't want to see the Dodgers win another championship or even get to the World Series again.Leave a comment:
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The Red Sox will go with Chris Sale and Nathan Eovaldi in the first two games of the ALCS against the Astros, but it’s anyone’s guess as to who might be available for game three.
The uncertainty stems not from an uneven rotation, but from an uncertain group of relievers. Manager Alex Cora’s other available starters – Eduardo Rodriguez, Tanner Houck, and Nick Pivetta – will be available out in the bullpen for the start of the series, writes MLB.com’s Daniel Kramer. That’s a strategy that worked for Cora in the ALDS. Pivetta proved crucial out of the pen against the Rays, a performance redolent of Eovaldi’s own in the 2018 World Series. Houck tossed seven innings of relief in the series as well, yielding just a pair of runs.
Whereas the Red Sox were able to patchwork their bullpen for a four-game series win against the Rays, they will likely need an even more dynamic approach to survive a seven-game tilt against the Astros’ potent offense. There is definite potential for this series to turn into a slugfest, not only because these two clubs boast the first and fifth ranked offenses in the game by runs scored in the regular season, but because the Astros are likely to be without Lance McCullers Jr. Results of the MRI on his sore forearm have yet to be revealed.
McCullers may not be viewed nationally as an ace, he’s been nothing short of stellar in the postseason. He owns a 2.83 ERA in 57 1/3 career postseason innings.
And while McCullers can boast the distinction of having started a game seven of the World Series back in 2017 (a win), he could be replaced by another righty who’s held that honor. Zack Greinke started game seven of the World Series in 2019 for Houston (a loss), and though he’s not likely to put up a full starter’s load, he could be used as an opener in McCullers’ stead, writes The Athletic’s Jack Kaplan. Jose Urquidy, Cristian Javier, and Jake Odorizzi are also candidates to pick up bulk innings if McCullers is unavailable.
What we do know is that Framber Valdez will take on Sale in game one, while Luis Garcia will go head-to-head with Eovaldi in game two, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. The Red Sox have the experience edge, but Valdez is no stranger to postseason success. Garcia, meanwhile, has at least gotten his feet wet in the playoffs: he had a scoreless two-inning outing in 2020 and 2 2/3 innings as the starter in game three versus the White Sox.Leave a comment:
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