2020 Phillies Spring Training News, Notes & Discussion

[LoneStarPhan]

A question that comes to my mind is whether those players optioned to the minors prior to roster freezing will not get service time for the lost time this year while those not so optioned will get service time for the same period of not playing. Nick Williams comes to mind but it seems like all teams had a rush of options just prior to the agreement between MLB and the players' association.

[andyb]

They already laid out the service time questions. If there is no season everyone gets the time they had last year (which sucks for young players and is great for the older veterans, but is really all they could do).

If there is a partial season the simplest answer is that service time would be pro-rated. In an 81 game season if you had 50 days on the roster you would get 100 days of service time. This really has nothing to do with the options as it really depends on time on the major league roster DURING the actual season. Nothing taking place now counts, except I think for the partial salaries players are getting (the $170 million) as an advance in for the next 2 months.

[bigegypt0417]

Delay in MLB season gives J.T. Realmuto something to think about

[zambonir]

As the article says, could go either way. No season or shortened season makes free agency more attractive for him. But free agency itself might not be that attractive.

The Phillies may not have any reason to blow him away with a stay-off-the-market offer either, since no one will really know what the market's gonna be.

Here's a what-if that's too big to really ponder, but still fun: if there's an 81-game season that starts on August 1, is there a trade deadline? And how many low-$ teams will just hold fire sales regardless of the timing/standings (assuming there's not a total freeze)?

[LoneStarPhan]

I don't know how financially sound the 30 MLB teams are but certainly they are all going to take a tremendous hit. They lose money every game not played and I don't see how they can avoid refunds on tickets (including season tickets) for games not played. Even a partial season would, I expect, result in games with greatly reduced or even restricted attendance, which means less than normally projected game day revenues. I would not be surprised to see reduced revenues for a 2021 season as well. Will clubs enter a the 2020-2021 off season and free agency looking to enter into costly long term contracts? I would expect that most if not all clubs would be very cautious taking on new, costly, long term contracts. The next free agent off season may well be a very bad one for the free agents.

[zambonir]

Indeed. No way to know this yet, but if the Phillies simply QO'ed JT, would he take it? And if he didn't, would the Phillies still have an edge on signing him simply because they wouldn't lose a pick?

[BaseballCat]

You knew this was coming. Sigh...

Seranthony Dominguez Considering Tommy John Recommendation

[zambonir]

Seems less worrisome now, unfortunately.

[LoneStarPhan]

For SD and any other baseball players with similar problems, common sense seems to say get the surgery done ASAP and start the recovery process. Sadly, the recovery, while often successful, takes time. Surgery done in April might give the player a chance of coming back during the 2021 season, assuming there is a 2021 season.

[zambonir]

Well, as we've discussed elsewhere it's not so clear these guys should be having the surgery at all. But in SD's case, he is in the DR, so it's unlikely he would be able to return to the US any time soon to get the proper level of surgical care (never mind whether such surgeries should be performed here at the moment). He does not intend to decide until the season resumes, as there is still a scenario where he doesn't have to have it (and he doesn't really have a choice).

If he makes the wrong call and he doesn't pitch again until 2022, that's tougher on him than it is for the Phillies. His arm, his career.

[Florida_Sunshine]

I think these types of elective surgeries are on hold for now.

[DurhamBull]

Here's an article in the Guardian that talks about the low salaries of minor leaguers. The claim that some of them skip breakfast to save $ is interesting. It's hard to imagine that the club that's training them to be top athletes benefits from having them hungry. Seems like an extra $10 for breakfast would make a big difference.

Also, the photo at the top is of an unnamed minor league park, but I recognized it right away because it happens to be Durham.

For the love of the game: Life as a minor leaguer on $8,000 a year

[zambonir]

Middleton believes there will be baseball

Sources: Phillies owners commit to pay employees through May

"I am neither an epidemiologist nor a public policy maker, but I do know our industry, and it is my sincere belief that baseball will be played this year," Middleton wrote in the letter, which was obtained by NBC Sports Philadelphia. "I may be proven incorrect, but that is how I am thinking and operating right now. As long as we believe we will play a meaningful number of games in 2020, then I believe we can avoid the most painful forms of budget reduction."

[Lawman]

Putting this here b/c not really sure where else to put it. Interesting read about the Chris Short/Rob Gardner 15 inning game in which each SP pitched 15 innings. Only for the game to end in a tie and be called due to darkness.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/youve-probably-never-heard-the-story-of-the-best-pitching-performance-in-mets-history-184309965.html

[DurhamBull]

That’s a great story, thanks for sharing it.

[BostonRoss]

Rob Gardner was on the Yankees twice. Once the Yankees traded him for Felipe Alou, the next time they traded him for Matty.

Gardner and Short both pitched until 1973. They were teammates on the Brewers that year.

[BaseballCat]

Chalk up one more Boras client in the Phillies deck.

Alec Bohm Hires Boras Corporation

[zambonir]

I'm long past viewing Boras as a bogeyman but I wonder about the pluses and minuses are of having so many players with the same agent. The plus is familiarity and a good working relationship that makes his other clients more likely to come here if I want them. I guess the minus is if you run out of money... like, it's a long ways away, but we we likely couldn't pay full Boras rates for Harper, Hoskins and Bohm at the same time (especially if Realmuto and Nola are still also making big $ by then).

I guess the real minus is when you're someone like Nick Williams, and one of your agent's other clients takes your job.

[BostonRoss]

I'm going to guess that Boras's clients as a group average less value per salary dollar than the clients of other agents (limiting the discussion to those who have reached free agency, or perhaps arbitration eligibility).

[zambonir]

I doubt it: Boras credited with $2.4 billion in total contracts, Casey Close is next with barely more than half that ($1.3 billion). And Lozano, who was often ID'ed as Boras's top rival during the Harper/Manny sweepstakes, is only at $800 million (much of which is three players: Manny, Pujols and Votto). Most other agents have more clients and work for bigger companies than Boras does, so they may do better for their smaller-name guys.

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