The 2022 Major League Baseball Player Chatter, News and Fantasy Thread

[PaperTrail07]

Up Next @ 9pm: Greed VS Greed: How MLB Killed their own sport Entitled Clowns on Both Sides.....Both just RAKING it in and fighting over percentages smh....

[JMobile]

Freeman not looking to resign with the Braves?

[EmpireMaker]

Lance McCullers Jr. saw his 2021 season end in the American League Division Series. He left his Game 4 start after four innings with forearm tightness, and while he and the Astros initially left open the possibility he could return later in the postseason, he wasn’t included on Houston’s rosters for either the ALCS or World Series.
McCullers was later diagnosed with a flexor strain, and it seems the injury was more serious than the club let on at the time. Speaking with Maanav Gupta of Maanav’s Sports Talk (YouTube link) this week, McCullers stated the issue “was much worse than we were putting off. … I had a pretty good strain in my flexor tendon in my forearm. It was off the bone quite a bit.”
The 28-year-old told reporters in early December he was “about a month” from beginning a throwing program. He has indeed begun to throw, but McCullers implied this week he’s not yet started to work off a mound. McCullers told Gupta he’s “behind” where he expected to be at this point in his rehab process and admitted he “(doesn’t) know if (he’ll) be ready Opening Day.” The season is currently slated to begin on March 31, which would give McCullers around five weeks to progress to game readiness from his current state.
Of course, whether the season will start on time is in question. MLB has suggested a new collective bargaining agreement would need to be in place by next Monday if the regular campaign is to be without any delay. Even as the league and Players Association have begun to meet more frequently, progress toward a mutually agreeable midpoint has been almost nonexistent. A delay to the season would afford McCullers and other injured players more time to rehab without missing game action, although it’d also prolong the ongoing ban on communication between union members and team staff.
That includes a prohibition on club medical personnel speaking with players on 40-man rosters, a provision MLB mandated when first instituting the lockout on December 2. Various people on the players’ side have expressed displeasure with that decision over the past few months, arguing that the league hadn’t been legally compelled to implement the communications ban. McCullers joined that chorus, saying the lockout has proved detrimental to his rehab.
“The lockout has made it tough because the people I would usually rely on for the rehab, I haven’t been able to speak to or communicate with,” the right-hander told Gupta. “It’s been a little bit difficult, I’m not going to lie. The rehab has been a little choppy. I was hoping to be a little bit further along than I am right now, but we have the unfortunate circumstance of being locked out. … It’s frustrating for me, because ultimately I’m the one who suffers and the fans are the ones who suffer while we argue away.”
Astros personnel are no doubt anxious to be allowed to touch base with McCullers, who is a key piece of the organization’s future. Houston inked him to a five-year, $85MM contract extension last spring that’ll go into effect this season. That was something of a bold bet by the organization, as a November 2018 Tommy John surgery and the pandemic had conspired to limit him to 55 regular season innings over the prior two seasons.
McCullers looked on his way to a bounceback before the flexor injury arose during the playoffs. He worked a career-high 162 1/3 frames across 28 starts in the regular season, posting a 3.16 ERA/4.02 SIERA. As he had throughout his career, McCullers generated an enviable combination of whiffs and ground balls. He fanned 27% of batters faced while inducing grounders on upwards of 56% of balls in play. No other pitcher with 100+ innings reached both those heights, helping McCullers overcome an elevated 11.1% walk rate to find plenty of success.
While the Astros are hopeful he’ll replicate that form in 2022, they are arguably as well-positioned as any team around the league to withstand a possible delayed start to the year from one of their top arms. Houston already brought back Justin Verlander this winter, and the club has a handful of promising younger options (José Urquidy, Framber Valdez, Luis Garcia and Cristian Javier) capable of shouldering key rotation roles. Whether McCullers is able to join them in the season-opening mix may depend on how long the lockout continues to drag on.

[jrgum3]

Welp baseball is now threatening to shorten the season. This really sucks and is going to piss off a lot of people if people actually still care that baseball would be so stupid to risk losing regular season games because of this stupid lockout. In most people's minds the season is too long to begin with so they'll probably not even notice baseball being gone but I wouldn't know what to do with myself once March Madness is over and the MLB is nowhere to be found.

[jrgum3]

Freeman not looking to resign with the Braves?

That's the rumor I'm hearing as well. I like Freddie and hope he doesn't leave Atlanta because I like it when a player sticks with the same team for their entire career but that may not be the case with Freeman.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Up Next @ 9pm: Greed VS Greed: How MLB Killed their own sport Entitled Clowns on Both Sides.....Both just RAKING it in and fighting over percentages smh....

Very sad...many fans won't come back if they pull this shit again....

Freeman not looking to resign with the Braves?

I read that the Yankees are going to go hard after him...He seems like a perfect fit to hit at Yankee Stadium.

[stevenash]

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-mlbpa-cba-talks-continue?partnerId=zh-20220224-551679-mlb-1-A&qid=1026&utm_id=zh-20220224-551679-mlb-1-A&bt_ee=x1D65F2Z%2BjzD0GAoWeAwG2h86Hkd0TC57cCSnXKPujp%2BBflWDGI%2BtjO7ZAfjxSP7&bt_ts=1645715950613

[Cross]

Braves would be idiots to let Freeman leave.

[PaperTrail07]

I can tell from the way the REDS are selling opening day tickets, that they feel opening day will not happen....offering all these incentives and extras.....hmmmmm.....then no refunds, just money towards other games WHEN IN REALITY ....all I wanted was to go to opening day lol...

Welp baseball is now threatening to shorten the season. This really sucks and is going to piss off a lot of people if people actually still care that baseball would be so stupid to risk losing regular season games because of this stupid lockout. In most people's minds the season is too long to begin with so they'll probably not even notice baseball being gone but I wouldn't know what to do with myself once March Madness is over and the MLB is nowhere to be found.

[JMobile]

Very sad...many fans won't come back if they pull this shit again....

I read that the Yankees are going to go hard after him...He seems like a perfect fit to hit at Yankee Stadium.

What's the Yankees gonna do with Gallo?

[stevenash]

Freeman not looking to resign with the Braves?

He's the face of that franchise right now for the love of God, and he's been loyal every step of the way.

It's almost criminal if they let him walk.

[jrgum3]

He's the face of that franchise right now for the love of God, and he's been loyal every step of the way.

It's almost criminal if they let him walk.

I agree I think teams should make it a point to sign their franchise players and Freeman has been that guy for Atlanta ever since Chipper retired. It would be stupid if they let him go but it wouldn't be the first time a team let a guy who has been a lifer on their team go in free agency.

[EmpireMaker]

The owners and players held their fourth consecutive day of meetings as the two sides continue to try and work out a new collective bargaining agreement, yet once again, “no substantial progress” came from the session, according to The Athletic’s Evan Drellich (Twitter links). Representatives from the league and the MLB Players Association are scheduled to meet again tomorrow.
As outlined by Drellich and The Washington Post’s Chelsea Janes, the union made two minor concessions based on past proposals. Whereas the MLBPA had sought to give an extra year of service time to 29 players considered to be victims of service time manipulation over the last five years, the union dropped that number to 20 players today.
The other new wrinkle related to the concept of a draft lottery to decide the first several picks of the amateur draft. The league offered a lottery covering the first four picks while the union wanted the lottery to cover the first seven picks, and today’s MLBPA proposal retained that seven-pick concept. However, the union altered its proposal to remove punishment for teams who had consecutive losing seasons. It “had been a league concern that [the] system would punish teams that were just bad and not tanking,” Janes writes.
MLBTR has learned more specifics regarding the union’s proposal for the draft lottery, which would take effect in 2023. All non-playoff teams would be included in the lottery. The odds of landing the first pick would be weighted by inverse order of the previous season’s standings as follows (assuming a 12-team playoff, as the MLBPA has proposed thus far):

• Team 1: 15% (the team with the worst record in baseball)
• Team 2: 15% (the team with the second-worst record in baseball)
• Team 3: 15%
• Team 4: 12.5%
• Team 5: 10%
• Team 6: 8%
• Team 7: 6.5%
• Team 8: 5%
• Team 9: 3.25%
• Team 10: 2.25%
• Team 11: 1.5%
• Team 12: 1.25%
• Team 13: 1.12%
• Team 14: 1%
• Team 15: 0.88%
• Team 16: 0.75%
• Team 17: 0.625%
• Team 18: 0.375%

The MLBPA is also proposing competitiveness adjustments. Revenue sharing payors that finish in the bottom eight in winning percentage in each of the two previous seasons or in the bottom 12 in each of the three previous seasons would pick no earlier than 10th. Additionally, any team that does not receive revenue sharing that finishes in the bottom 12 in each of the four or more previous seasons would have their pick moved to #18.
Also, beginning with the 2024 draft, any revenue sharing recipient finishing in the bottom eight in each of the three previous seasons would pick no earlier than 10th. Any such club in the bottom eight in each of the four or more previous seasons would have their pick moved to #18.
The union also made a slight modification in its efforts to grant rookies bonus service time based on performance, as Drellich first reported (via Twitter). Under the MLBPA’s proposal, infielders/catchers/DH’s who finish in the top five at their position in their respective leagues in WAR would receive a full year of service, while outfielders, starting pitchers and relievers who finish among their league’s top fifteen in WAR would as well. That’s a slight reduction from the union’s previous ask, which would’ve granted a full year of service for infielders/catchers/DH’s who finished among the top seven and outfielders/pitchers who finished among the top twenty.
The union is still pursuing a full year of service for top five finishers in Rookie of the Year balloting, all-MLB placement and a top three placement in Reliever of the Year voting. MLB has thus far been opposed to the idea of players “earning” service time, instead offering teams additional draft choices for promoting high-performing players at the start of the season.
Bigger-picture CBA topics (such as the luxury tax thresholds, minimum salary increases, salary arbitration eligibility, etc.) still remain up in the air, with today’s talks apparently yielding no movement on any of these issues. As has become a regular feature of these talks, both sides left a negotiating session feeling frustrated. According to Michael Silverman of The Boston Globe, the “players [are] upset with how far apart sides remain,” and “MLB negotiators told union they have run out of ideas and that owners are upset with players.”
February 28 remains Major League Baseball’s stated deadline for reaching a new CBA, or else the league has said it will start canceling games from the regular-season schedule. As Janes notes, “the union doesn’t exactly agree to [February 28] as a deadline,” so it remains to be seen whether any urgency will finally be shown by either side in tomorrow’s session, or in any talks that might be scheduled for the weekend or Monday. Considering the huge differences of opinion that remain between the league and the MLBPA, it is hard to believe that an entire new collective bargaining agreement could even be close to settled by Monday, let alone a fully agreement reached.

[Otters27]

Might have to watch college baseball if no mlb

[stevenash]

Might have to watch college baseball if no mlb

And Korean baseball with their crazy starting pitching rotations.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Braves would be idiots to let Freeman leave.

He's the face of that franchise right now for the love of God, and he's been loyal every step of the way.

It's almost criminal if they let him walk.

Isn't Freeman a free agent? The ball is not in Atlanta's court as far as whether he stays or not, it is his choice.

Suppose the Yankees(or another team) offers an obscene amount of money?

The more I think about it, Freeman seems like a really good fit for the Yankees...short porch in right field, left handed hitter to break up the right handed dominant lineup and he would also add a quality hitter to all the swing and miss guys in their lineup.

[stevenash]

Isn't Freeman a free agent? The ball is not in Atlanta's court as far as whether he stays or not, it is his choice.

Suppose the Yankees(or another team) offers an obscene amount of money?

The more I think about it, Freeman seems like a really good fit for the Yankees...short porch in right field, left handed hitter to break up the right handed dominant lineup and he would also add a quality hitter to all the swing and miss guys in their lineup.

Agreed.
Stick Freeman in a line up with Judge ahead of him and Stanton and Gallo behind him, you'd have to pitch to Freddie, who could put up numbers like a healthy Mattingly did, .300/30/100. Easily.

[Cross]

Yeah, maybe beyond Braves control I suppose.

[JMobile]

Let's go Dodgers for the short season

[EmpireMaker]

7:39 pm: Drellich adds that MLB attempted to tie changes to the draft order to the league’s desired 14-team playoff. Unsurprisingly, the union didn’t view that as a favorable tradeoff. The MLBPA has been amenable to a 12-team postseason, but has thus far been against a 14-team playoff, fearing that a broader field could reduce the incentive for teams to upgrade their rosters via free agency.
7:22 pm: Major League Baseball announced they’ve canceled all Spring Training games through March 7, as Jesse Rogers of ESPN was among those to relay (Twitter link). MLB had previously announced the cancelation of all exhibition contests through March 4.
Today’s news is little more than a formality. It became increasingly apparent as talks between MLB and the Players Association dragged on with little progress throughout the week that a new collective bargaining agreement wouldn’t be in place for games to begin next Saturday. The earliest games will get underway is now Tuesday, March 8 — and that’s contingent on having a new CBA finalized by next Monday, February 28.
Discussions between the league and MLBPA continued for the fifth consecutive day. The meetings lasted until the early evening, and the parties reportedly made progress on one issue — albeit one of comparatively lesser import than some others. Evan Drellich of the Athletic reports (on Twitter) MLB and the union exchanged proposals regarding the lottery to determine the amateur draft order. While the format wasn’t definitively agreed upon, Drellich hears they “made gains” in talks and there’s optimism they’ll find a mutually agreeable solution on that question soon.
The sides have exchanged proposals regarding the draft lottery throughout the week. MLB has offered to determine the top four picks by lottery, while the union has sought to randomize the first seven selections. A lottery would encompass all non-playoff teams from the previous season, with their odds of landing each pick likely weighted by inverse order of the previous year’s standings. Whatever picks are not determined by lottery would then be set by the reverse order of the prior season’s winning percentage, as had been the case for all selections under the last CBA.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports (Twitter link) that the league’s latest proposal remains a four-pick lottery but includes various limits on how many consecutive seasons a team may be eligible for entry. That’s a key goal of the union, which has sought to discourage clubs from embarking on long-term rebuilds by capping how often a team can remain near the top of the draft. The MLBPA has proposed limiting teams’ eligibility for high choices based on both a) in how many consecutive seasons they finish near the bottom of the standings and on b) club market size.
Given the utter dearth of progress towards a midpoint on any issues throughout CBA discussions, that the sides are seemingly closing the gap on the lottery is welcome. That said, it’s worth keeping in mind that the lottery always looked to be one of the easier points for the league and union to find a solution. Issues like playoff expansion (a key goal of the league’s), the competitive balance tax, the bonus pool for pre-arbitration players and the union’s push for broader arbitration eligibility all remain unresolved and seem to be quite a bit more contentious.
Neither side made a formal proposal today on any issue other than the lottery, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. That said, Drellich tweets that the parties have had conversations about all other issues — even the CBT, on which neither side has made a formal offer in recent days. This afternoon, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred appeared at the negotiations for the first time of the week, meeting one-on-one with MLBPA executive director Tony Clark. Goold adds that Manfred’s appearance was unscheduled and came as a surprise to the union, though the commissioner did not speak with any current players. It marked the first known, in-person individual conversation between Manfred and Clark since 2020, as Drellich points out.
There’s obviously still plenty to hammer out, and we’re now only three days from MLB’s imposed February 28 deadline for a deal before the league begins to cancel regular season games. That continues to look like a tall task, although today’s reports come with a hint more optimism about the tenor of conversations than those from earlier in the week. They’ll meet again tomorrow and are expected to sit down every day through the end of the month in hopes of reaching an agreement.

[jrgum3]

And Korean baseball with their crazy starting pitching rotations.

I actually enjoyed watching Korean baseball during the Pandemic shortened MLB season. Betting and watching KBO was one of my guilty pleasures during that time and for the most part the league might more beatable than MLB because there are only 10 teams.

[Otters27]

I actually enjoyed watching Korean baseball during the Pandemic shortened MLB season. Betting and watching KBO was one of my guilty pleasures during that time and for the most part the league might more beatable than MLB because there are only 10 teams.

Ditto. Had to stay up late to watch. But Sat night I think was doable

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Looks like they might be making some headway in the negotiations?

[stevenash]

Looks like they might be making some headway in the negotiations?

Yeah, the guys I twitter with who are at the meetings say they are bargaining with a sense of urgency now.

To which I say, "well you should have been in this mode two months ago, it took the original founders in 1776 less time to frame the constitution"

Think about it.

Something will get done this week, I'll bet that.
Look for a MLB season to start about 4/15

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Yeah, the guys I twitter with who are at the meetings say they are bargaining with a sense of urgency now.

To which I say, "well you should have been in this mode two months ago, it took the original founders in 1776 less time to frame the constitution"

Think about it.

Something will get done this week, I'll bet that.
Look for a MLB season to start about 4/15

Let's hope...

I do like the idea of a lottery for the draft which might help with any potential tanking.

[JMobile]

Looks like they might be making some headway in the negotiations?

I doubt it. But Freeman not going back to Atlanta

[JAKEPEAVY21]

I doubt it. But Freeman not going back to Atlanta

It sounded like they were making some ground but now it seems like they are far apart again.

[JMobile]

It sounded like they were making some ground but now it seems like they are far apart again.

Dodgers can still go after Freeman

[Cross]

Owners just don’t give a shit about season starting on time. Players hardly asking for anything. So ridiculous.

[EmpireMaker]

In the latest step of Tyler Glasnow’s recovery from Tommy John surgery, the Rays right-hander has started throwing, agent Joel Wolfe told Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. Glasnow underwent his surgery in early August, so while it’s very up in the air as to whether or not he’ll be able to make it back to action before the 2022 season is out, he is setting an in-season return as his goal. Beyond just his health, the other question concerning Glasnow is whether or not he’d be returning to the mound in a Rays uniform — projected for a $5.8MM salary this year, Glasnow has been widely speculated as a trade candidate for a Tampa club that is forever looking to manage its payroll.
Some other tidbits from around the American League…

• “Position addition” is the name for the Astros’ process of experimenting with its most athletic prospects at various other positions, The Houston Chronicle’s Chandler Rome writes. Naturally, the more versatile a player is, the better his chances at reaching the majors in some kind of role. “It always depends on what the major league roster is going to look like in the future, but I think it just raises a lot of those guys’ floors,” Astros field coordinator Jason Bell said. “I think our guys have been fairly open to it…and I think a lot of times they think it’s fun.” Of the 23 position players in Houston’s minicamp, 12 are designated as part of an “infielder/outfielder” defensive grouping, working at positions both in the grass and on the dirt.
• Tigers prospect Ryan Kreidler may know a few things about position changes, as the longtime shortstop saw Javier Baez suddenly emerge as a roadblock after Baez landed in the Motor City on a six-year, $140MM deal. While Baez can opt out of that contract after the 2023 season, Kreidler will likely be focusing on other positions in the interim — he has played a handful of games at third base and second base during his two minor league seasons. “I will do whatever the Tigers want me to do, whether it’s shortstop, shortstop and third base, or utility,” Kreidler told Chris McCosky of The Detroit News. “Whatever they deem me capable of doing I will do it to the best of my ability and just keep trucking…I think shortstops have the ability to play all over the field, that’s why continuing to take reps at shortstop is good for me.” After a strong performance at the plate in 2021, Kreidler drew the attention of prospect evaluators and other teams, and now looks like yet another promising young Detroit player on the cusp of the big leagues. Jonathan Schoop and Jeimer Candelario have second and third base spoken for, and are both also controlled through 2023, so a utility role might indeed be Kreidler’s best path to the Tigers’ active roster.
• Elbow problems limited Matt Canterino to 23 innings in 2021, and between that abbreviated season and the canceled 2020 minor league campaign, the Twins prospect has tossed only 48 professional innings since being selected in the second round of the 2019 draft. Canterino came to Minnesota’s minicamp on a clean bill of health, he told Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and he is now focused on staying on the field. “I can’t really worry too much about a shutdown period, like how my workload’s going to be managed, but I can do the things that I think are going to help me stay healthy in the long run,” Canterino said. The righty has looked tremendous when he has been able to pitch, posting a 1.13 ERA and a whopping 42.94% strikeout rate over his 48 innings (topping out at the high-A level).v

[jrgum3]

Yeah, the guys I twitter with who are at the meetings say they are bargaining with a sense of urgency now.

To which I say, "well you should have been in this mode two months ago, it took the original founders in 1776 less time to frame the constitution"

Think about it.

Something will get done this week, I'll bet that.
Look for a MLB season to start about 4/15

If we start in April I'll take that but it's looking like a late start is inevitable. It's a joke that these guys let it come to this but hopefully they start moving in the right direction and we don't lose too much of the season.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Owners just don’t give a shit about season starting on time. Players hardly asking for anything. So ridiculous.

It's interesting how you always side with the little guy. It takes two to tango, amigo...

[stevenash]

It's interesting how you always side with the little guy. It takes two to tango, amigo...

Rosenthal just smacked down Manfred in his regular column in The Athletic.
Serious bitch slapping.

I have to cut and paste some excerpts in a bit.
That feud is as real as it gets, I'm loving it.

[JAKEPEAVY21]

Rosenthal just smacked down Manfred in his regular column in The Athletic.
Serious bitch slapping.

I have to cut and paste some excerpts in a bit.
That feud is as real as it gets, I'm loving it.

I was feeling a bit confident a couple of days ago after some positive news but it sounds like things went badly yesterday and the MLBPA almost walked out. This does not sound promising, nasher...

[stevenash]

Rosenthal stopped *just* short of calling Manfred the worst commissioner ever in pro sports.


The players and their union (I don't like using the word *hate*) let's say really despise Manfred.

Here's the last two paragraphs of Rosenthal's column today.

JP, trust me on this, buy yourself a subscription to The Athletic, it covers it all, including intelligent sports betting writing.
It's worth 10x the subscription. Trust me here. It's beyond smart.



He called the lockout “defensive” when it was nothing of the sort. He said the strategy was intended to “jumpstart” negotiations, then waited 43 days to make an offer. He claimed the owners could make more in the stock market than with the resales of their clubs. He portrayed himself as a master negotiator, practically a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, while his negotiations were going nowhere.


Manfred can’t deal with this union? He breathed life into this union. Yes, his job is difficult, more difficult than many of us know. But it’s his responsibility to lead the owners, and by extension the sport. Give him credit for this much: He said missing games would be a disastrous outcome for the industry. On that point, he’s about to be proven right.