2022 MLB Non-Phillies News/Notes

[zambonir]

Only barely aware that it's Opening Day since no Phillies! Was thinking there might only be one game or something, but there's a bunch (as well two already postponed).

[bkox]

#MNTwins acquire RHP Chris Paddack and RHP Emilio Pagán from the Padres in exchange for Taylor Rogers and Brent Rooker pic.twitter.com/p9KrnPrpyH

— Minnesota Twins ( @Twins ) April 7, 2022

Padres getting $6.6M in trade from Twins, essentially paying Taylor Rogers down to minimum salary, source tells @TheAthletic .

— Ken Rosenthal ( @Ken_Rosenthal ) April 7, 2022

[andyb]

Pretty cold and rainy here on the east coast, so they postponed a couple of the games where Friday was an off day (the traditional opening day sellout hedge that teams allow for in April).

[zambonir]

Yeah, Yankees, though the other one is in Minnesota. Will Mets and Nats get rain?

[andyb]

37 and rain in Minnesota today. 41 and sunny tomorrow is better I guess. Always thought they should have done a retractable roof in MN.

Nats moved their start time back 3 hours (4 to 7) because the rain is supposed to end here in the afternoon.

[bkox]

BREAKING: Ke’Bryan Hayes and the Pittsburgh Pirates are in agreement on a eight-year, $70 million contract extension that includes a club option for a ninth season, according to sources familiar with the situation.

— Robert Murray ( @ByRobertMurray ) April 7, 2022

Hayes’ $70 million guarantee is the largest contract in Pirates history and the largest guarantee ever signed by a player with at least 1 and less than 2 years of service time. Hayes is represented by Scott Lonergan of The Ballengee Group.

— Robert Murray ( @ByRobertMurray ) April 7, 2022

[andyb]

Buying out 3 years of free agency? Seems like a bargain for Pittsburgh.

[bkox]

yup and hes already 25 so he will be 34 when this deal is done.. meaning hes lost any chance of a huge FA payday.

[bkeich]

Probably genius by Pirates, but you can never tell. We did the same type thing with Singleton and Kingery and they were both disasters (unless Kingery improves). This is an even more extreme version of what we did, hope it works out.

[bkox]

The Astros did the deal with Singleton.

[Philsmania]

At the same time, we've seen seemingly smart at the time long term contracts to guys like Jonathan Singleton and Scott Kingery fizzle, so there is an element of risk as well. We'll see how this Hayes deal works out for the Pirates.

If Hayes does work out and the Pirates remain adrift despite that, he will make a very nice trade chip for them (unless there is a strict NTC).

[andyb]

The Astros did the deal with Singleton.

They get so much criticism for this but it was only $10 million dollars (and he was on their major league roster for parts of 2 years so really only $9 million wasted).

The Singleton contract was a good risk for Houston that could have saved them lots of money. It just did not work out. The Kingery and Herrera contracts were good risks for the Phillies too. Herrera actually did work out even though it seems like it did not. We got about 5 WAR after he signed the deal. Kingery probably won't work out, but if he did recover and have a good year next year it might actually be a wash for the Phillies.

[bkeich]

You are right BK. My memory has been failing me a lot lately, honestly kinda concerning.

[bkox]

I was having a lot of issues like that until I eliminated most carbs from my diet. Brain fog was heavy before that

[zambonir]

Acuna says Freeman not missed, 'lots of clashes'

Apparently dates back to his rookie year when Freeman and other vets tried to tell him how to dress/act, and enforce the Braves' conservative rules on player appearance (not the only team which has those obviously).

[andyb]

$35,000 minimum proposed here for minor leaguers. That might cost each organization another $5 million or so beyond what they pay now. Seems like a small expenditure to me, though naturally MLB would want to cut the minors even further if they had to pay this.

Three-year study proposes $35,000 minimum salary for all minor-league players

[bkeich]

$35,000 minimum proposed here for minor leaguers. That might cost each organization another $5 million or so beyond what they pay now. Seems like a small expenditure to me, though naturally MLB would want to cut the minors even further if they had to pay this.

theathletic.com

Three-year study proposes $35,000 minimum salary for all minor-league players

An executive player summary released to The Athletic details an unprecedented look into minor-league working conditions.

Honestly, what it might do is simply cut the signing bonuses down. That wouldnt be enough I suspect, but it might be how to make that cost more reasonable. I couldnt read the article as it is behind a paywall, but I wonder if the $35K also accounts for the money players get for living expenses, etc. I realize that has gone way, way down over the years, but I think they do still get meal and laundry money? Is it just on the road? I am not really sure how this is handled now and if the article's pay includes that.

That said, it seems like a reasonable amount of pay to me. I dont know what they get now, I assume they get some pay but probably not anywhere near that much.

[allentown]

Well, one huge difference from today, apart from this being a HUGE increase in pay, especially at the lower minor-league level, is that this looks like an annual salary. Minor league salaries now are only for a little less than half a year. Will minor leaguers play, be in camp, doing supervised workouts and skills development close to year around under this proposal? That would improve the quality of baseball play.

[zambonir]

35K is basically the 12-month version of what a AAA player makes now (half as much, for six months work). Still doesn't seem like enough, especially when you consider the number of hours they actually work (if it was a 40-hour, $15/hr job you'd make around $30K but they would probably be working more like 70).

Obviously players who have earned draft money would be fine, ditto players on the 40, but if you really want to make it possible for kids from Latin America to have reasonable living/work conditions, and for 23-25 year-olds to truly not need off-season jobs, and expect them to work for the team year-round, it's not enough.

[allentown]

At AAA and AA it probably is not quite enough, but generally, I think it is. In the lower minors, these are kids being taught and practicing their trade. They are not earning profits for their MLB employers, they are a cost. The college draftees have earned basically squat while playing in college, most have only fractional scholarships and are paying part of their college costs out of pocket. I would bet that the majority of under-22 American workers are earning less than $35K a year at jobs in which they are generating profit for their employers. I don't see why this would be such a strain for LA players. $35K is a huge income in the parts of LA from which most players come. I doubt many in trade apprenticeship programs are making $35 K/year. With year-around development, there would not be off-season jobs and players would either be ready for MLB or know they don't have a baseball future at a younger age. I think the population of 24+ players not on the 40-man would decline. Baseball is unique in operating such a large apprenticeship program. No other sport does this. In a way, it's exploitative, even though most of these kids are following a dream, since a lot of minor leaguers have effectively zero shot at becoming MLB players. Better a system which speeds the development and weeding out processes and lets minor leaguers either graduate to MLB or get on with their real lives sooner.