Around Baseball 2020

[Spanky__99]

Doubleheaders galore + guaranteed full season of service time = inevitable Nate Pearson call-up?

 

Most likely, we're going to see him at some point, regardless. imo

[Brownie19]

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN's Scott Van Pelt that the investigation involving the Red Sox is complete.

 

In a televised interview with Van Pelt, Manfred went over a plethora of issues, and the conversation finished with the allegations of sign-stealing by the Red Sox. Manfred told the ESPN anchor that the investigation is finished, and that there just hasn't been time for the commissioner to file a written report. He did, however, say that there will be something from the MLB office before the start of the regular season.

 

As to when he expects the 2020 season to begin, Manfred mentioned that he was "optimistic" that things could get ramped up again by the middle of May but was non-committal on any firm date. He also said that they will "probably not" be able to play a full 162-game campaign and noted that they will need to be "creative" with the scheduling in both the regular season and postseason while not dismissing the possibility of playing seven-inning doubleheaders.

[Dick_Pole]

The less games that are played in 2020, the greater the chance that the Jays luck themselves into the playoffs. It's not such a bad situation. All Toronto teams win if the NBA and NHL regular seasons are cut and head directly into the playoffs.

[BlueRocky]

 

[glory]

The less games that are played in 2020, the greater the chance that the Jays luck themselves into the playoffs. It's not such a bad situation. All Toronto teams win if the NBA and NHL regular seasons are cut and head directly into the playoffs.

 

That's a good point. There's probably going to be one team that no one expected to compete that overachieves due to the condensed schedule and flukes their way in since they won't have the longer season to fall back down to earth. The Jays have a lot of upper minors pitching depth so the extra double headers in the schedule might be easier for them to navigate through than other teams. Ryu will throw fewer innings so hopefully stay healthy to the end. Grichuk only exists from July onwards, so he might actually be useful by the time the season starts.

 

I hate this whole thing but if the Jays find a way into the post season because of it, then I'll accept it.

[BlueRocky]

[Boxcar]

stuff

 

Boy would that ever suck ass for the Dodgers lol

[BlueRocky]

Edited March 27, 2020 by BlueRocky

[Stangstag]

“Latest MLB proposal includes draft in 2020, likely later than current June dates, sources tell The Athletic. Also includes service time for players if season is canceled; players would get same service for ‘20 they earned in ‘19. Parties earlier had discussed tabling that issue.“

 

“The most important thing for the players: In the doomsday scenario of no 2020 season, they will get full service time, meaning Mookie Betts, Trevor Bauer, Marcus Stroman, J.T. Realmuto and others will be free agents in November regardless of whether games are played.”

 

Holy f*** that’s bad if true.

[glory]

Man, imagine trading for one year of Betts only to never see him play on your team. That would suck for the Dodgers.

[Spanky__99]

Man, imagine trading for one year of Betts only to never see him play on your team. That would suck for the Dodgers.

 

They'd atleast get a 1st and a comp.

 

Just health sux man!

[Bobthe4th]

Man, imagine trading for one year of Betts only to never see him play on your team. That would suck for the Dodgers.

 

Would screw us on Giles being unable to be traded too.

[Boxcar]

tweets

 

I'm not sure I understand why limiting the draft to 5 rounds is even necessary

[The Cats Ass]

They'd atleast get a 1st and a comp.

 

Just health sux man!

 

How do they get a 1st?

 

I believe they'd only get a comp pick after the 4th round.

[BlueRocky]

I'm not sure I understand why limiting the draft to 5 rounds is even necessary

 

MLB has the right to extend it at their discretion, some guys are arguing it should be at 10 rounds minimum. They’re apparently going to finalize and vote on it.

 

Teams and scouts have enough data to do a regular draft, it’s not going to be perfect and inevitably some guys will be missed, but this is a purely financial decision. In this scenario, guys not taken in the five rounds can be signed as free agents for up to $20,000. They could also use this chance to get the ball rolling on reducing the minor leagues.

 

 

Many prep prospects will have no choice but to goto college and wait another 2-3 years to get drafted. Most of them won’t sign and give up college for 20K.

 

College seniors will have little leverage and basically sign for peanuts (more than most years). There will also be folks that just give up on baseball after college, guys that typically get a chance at the later rounds.

 

MLB also has the ability to postpone the July 2 IFA signing to January, and cut the 2021 draft to only 20 rounds. The ripple effect is huge.

[EastCoaster]

Man, imagine trading for one year of Betts only to never see him play on your team. That would suck for the Dodgers.

 

If MLB decide to cancel the entire 2020 season which is most likely with the epicenter of the pandemic now being the US which just now starting to ramp up to epic proportions in cases and deaths. Players service time will also be rescinded for time lost so he just plays in L A for 2021 season.

[BlueRocky]

[glory]

If MLB decide to cancel the entire 2020 season which is most likely with the epicenter of the pandemic now being the US which just now starting to ramp up to epic proportions in cases and deaths. Players service time will also be rescinded for time lost so he just plays in L A for 2021 season.

 

If there is no season, then players will get service time for 2020 based on the service time they accrued in 2019. So Betts will be a free agent in that scenario without ever playing an inning for the Dodgers. He can be offered arbitration, but that's not exactly a good consolation prize anymore.

[Bobthe4th]

How do they get a 1st?

 

I believe they'd only get a comp pick after the 4th round.

 

Qualifying offer comp (technically between 1st and 2nd round).

[glory]

Manfred wanted to cut the draft and eliminate minor league teams before this, and since Clark/MLBPA care as much about amateur & minor league players as the rest of the world cares about the WNBA (meaning not at all), I'm sure Clark was more than happy to concede the draft rounds in order to get full service time for MLB players. Now there is the built in excuse of the pandemic and lack of revenue, so in that sense it worked perfectly for Manfred. I think the shortened draft will definitely be apart of the new CBA if/when it is agreed to.

 

Don't get me wrong, I do think there are too many rounds in the MLB draft. Cutting it to 20 and spreading more money around to actual prospects rather than journeymen/never-will-be's who are being taken advantage of for the sake of the dream sounds reasonable in theory. Have no idea how they'd execute it (will the draft pool be the same even with the condensed rounds? will minor league players get more money if there are less of them and less affiliates?, etc). Five rounds would be ridiculous though.

[Stangstag]

If MLB decide to cancel the entire 2020 season which is most likely with the epicenter of the pandemic now being the US which just now starting to ramp up to epic proportions in cases and deaths. Players service time will also be rescinded for time lost so he just plays in L A for 2021 season.

 

Dude did you even read the latest news? That’s not at all what’s happening. They’re saying if there’s no season in 2020 players like Betts, Stroman, etc. will still be credited with a year of service time.

[G-Snarls]

New deal reached and will be announced this afternoon

 

Word is all players will get credit for a year of service time no matter how many games get played

[G-Snarls]

So theoretically the Dodgers could get f***ed so hard

 

Players they traded for Betts are gone. They have to pay him something depends how many games. And he's a free agent after the season even if he never plays a single game.

[Boxcar]

MLB has the right to extend it at their discretion, some guys are arguing it should be at 10 rounds minimum. They’re apparently going to finalize and vote on it.

 

Teams and scouts have enough data to do a regular draft, it’s not going to be perfect and inevitably some guys will be missed, but this is a purely financial decision. In this scenario, guys not taken in the five rounds can be signed as free agents for up to $20,000. They could also use this chance to get the ball rolling on reducing the minor leagues.

 

 

Many prep prospects will have no choice but to goto college and wait another 2-3 years to get drafted. Most of them won’t sign and give up college for 20K.

 

College seniors will have little leverage and basically sign for peanuts (more than most years). There will also be folks that just give up on baseball after college, guys that typically get a chance at the later rounds.

 

MLB also has the ability to postpone the July 2 IFA signing to January, and cut the 2021 draft to only 20 rounds. The ripple effect is huge.

 

I just don't really understand what it would accomplish. Like, what's the reason for having 5 rounds? Money? The kids? I don't get it.

[BlueRocky]

I just don't really understand what it would accomplish. Like, what's the reason for having 5 rounds? Money? The kids? I don't get it.

 

The draft is already the cheapest way for teams to acquire talent. Owners want to squeeze money due to the lost revenues of shortened season and delays.

 

The draft basically turns into a free-for-all after the 5th round, where teams can sign guys max up to $20,000 signing bonus. The slot bonus for a 10th round pick in 2019 was $142,200 to $147,900. A 6th round pick slot bonus started at $301,600 in 2019. Many will bite the bullet and take the $20K, others will to back to school and try in 2022-2023 (prep) or 2021 (seniors).

 

With less influx of new players in the minors, they can also reduce the MiLB teams and further squeeze the system. There’s also talks of eventually implementing an international draft instead of IFA, I guess having the MLB draft shortened is a stepping stone? Idk

Edited March 27, 2020 by BlueRocky

[Stangstag]

I just don't really understand what it would accomplish. Like, what's the reason for having 5 rounds? Money? The kids? I don't get it.

 

Manfred’s push to gut the lower level MiLB teams/leagues

[BlueRocky]

https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/new-deal-saves-2020-mlb-draft-but-hurts-incoming-talent/

 

Both MLB and the MLBPA got a lot of what they wanted in a new deal that is expected to be ratified today. The MLBPA received service-time guarantees for MLB players, even if the 2020 season is canceled. The MLB dramatically cut the amount of money it has to spend in 2020 on amateur talent acquisition.

 

That agreement came at a significant cost to MLB draftees, who in many cases will find the door to playing pro baseball closed in 2020 unless they are willing to accept well below-market value signing bonuses. The deal also potentially pushes back the date of the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 international signing periods by six months apiece. MLB has the flexibility to move back the start dates of those signing periods for each of those years to as late as Jan. 15.

Cutting the draft to five rounds would be reducing the draft in one year by 86 percent. Last year there were 167 players taken in the top five rounds. There were 1,217 players drafted overall and 960 players who signed.

 

Potentially even more important, teams will be limited to spending no more than $20,000 to sign any undrafted player. Previously teams could spend up to $125,000 on any late-round pick and undrafted players without reaching into their bonus pool. Such a provision ensures cost-containment for owners at the expense of limiting opportunities for prospective pro players. Of the 960 players who signed last year, 680 signed for more than $20,000.

 

And for the next two years, teams will have no flexibility when it comes to spending on undrafted free agents. In past years, teams could use money left over from their bonus pool allotment to exceed the $125,000 limit for a player who went undrafted. Most famously, the Reds spent $700,000 to sign TJ Friedl, who was undrafted and then impressed scouts while playing for Team USA. The Reds could do so because they had leftover money they were allowed to spend as part of their total bonus pool. For the next two years, the draft spending will be “use it or lose it.” It can only be spent on players who are drafted. Anyone undrafted will be limited to a maximum $20,000 bonus.

Bonus slots will be identical to what they were in 2019 and will remain fixed at that amount in 2021 as well. Previously, they were set to rise by 3 percent.

 

Pretty much summarizes all the tweet news from yesterday.

[The Cats Ass]

Qualifying offer comp (technically between 1st and 2nd round).

 

No, sorry. But I think you're wrong.

 

This is assuming the Dodgers are over the Luxury Tax threshold which from what I can find they're over. Which means a pick after the 4th round. If they get under the threshold they get one between Competitive Balance Round B and the start of the 3rd.

Edited March 27, 2020 by The Cats Ass

[glory]

Manfred's job is to make the owners money, even if it comes at the expense of the sport. Cutting the draft means teams spend less money. Net result owners save money. Every decision he makes is based on dollars, and not on the long term health of the sport. Again I'm not sure how this will impact the game because in one sense it might weed out the s***** amateur prospects and give more money to the actual prospects, which would be a bonus, but how will HS/college athletes react to this? Will they pursue baseball in school knowing their already long shot dream became even more of a long shot (closer to impossible)? How about multi sport athletes, what incentive is there to pursue baseball versus other sports? Guess we will have to see it implemented for a few years to see the impact, but as far as the "why"? Manfred + money. That's the long and short of it.

[The Cats Ass]

The draft is already the cheapest way for teams to acquire talent. Owners want to squeeze money due to the lost revenues of shortened season and delays.

 

The draft basically turns into a free-for-all after the 5th round, where teams can sign guys max up to $20,000 signing bonus. The slot bonus for a 10th round pick in 2019 was $142,200 to $147,900. A 6th round pick slot bonus started at $301,600 in 2019. Many will bite the bullet and take the $20K, others will to back to school and try in 2022-2023 (prep) or 2021 (seniors).

 

With less influx of new players in the minors, they can also reduce the MiLB teams and further squeeze the system. There’s also talks of eventually implementing an international draft instead of IFA, I guess having the MLB draft shortened is a stepping stone? Idk

 

I wonder if they'll start paying the MiLB guys a more livable wage if they cut down on the number of teams.