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Chat with MLBTR's Steve Adams 6/23/20
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rocky roads
3:40
how many players on the roster now
Steve Adams
3:40
All indication have been 30-man active rosters and 20-man taxi squads for the past couple months.
Human Rain Delay
3:41
I could see Mookie signing a 1 yr 30 mill
Steve Adams
3:41
Why would he sign for a $3MM raise over what he got in arbitration? Revenue losses or not, that's way shy of what Betts would/should command on a one-year deal.
Players
3:42
They have been acting awfully strangely for people who want to play.  They've blocked play at every opportunity.
Steve Adams
3:44
The distrust players harbor for ownership stems from decades of shady tactics from owners that has created a culture where players constantly fear manipulation and ulterior motives.

I'm not going to say they didn't bungle things with the March agreement -- how do you not get "with or without fans" in explicit writing? -- but the owners also worked hard to make it appear as though they were proposing all kinds of things to the players when in reality they just kept making a very, very similar offer dressed up in different outfits.
3:46
That creates the perception that the players don't want to play, which is precisely what the league wanted -- shift the blame there.

Again, to be clear, some of the blame does lie with them. The nebulous language in the March agreement is still inexplicable to me, and I think the whole "Where and when" thing required a very detailed understanding of how negotiations to that point had gone that most onlookers didn't have -- because who in their right mind would want to follow this if they didn't have to?

That, to me, was something of a misstep because it armed the league to call them disingenuous and left a bitter taste in some (many?) fans' mouths when an agreement didn't come shortly thereafter.
Jorge78
3:46
I keep hearing about this "players can file a grievance."  If they did and won, what would they get?  Or is that question unanswerable?
Steve Adams
3:48
They could file a grievance seeking financial reparations or any other number of items they've butted heads with the league over in recent years (service time changes, etc.). But it's going to be an arduous, lengthy process and it's not one that's going to make anyone look any more endearing. The optics of this all are just terrible.
Minor Leagues
3:48
Boy, are we getting screwed!
Steve Adams
3:48
Yup
But that's nothing new
stewienation
3:49
What did the players win by not accepting MLB offer and having the Commish start the season?
Steve Adams
3:49
Right to file a grievance saying MLB didn't make its best effort to play as many games possible (as stated in the March agreement) and the ability to dangle expanded postseason play in talks this winter and/or in CBA talks leading up to Dec. 2021.
A Fan Or Something
3:51
About 20 states are still seeing increased daily corona cases do you think the league will still be playing come October or will they have to shut it down?
Steve Adams
3:52
Depends on how well the league is able to avoid large-scale outbreaks and keep everyone healthy. I'm not a health expert or epidemiologist -- I'm no more qualified to make projections regarding covid trends than any other average person. Sorry -- but not going to pretend to be able to make any sort of insightful prediction on that front.
Ben
3:53
With larger rosters, do you expect more pitching changes during games?
Steve Adams
3:54
Early on that seems particularly likely. A lot of SPs won't be stretched out, and even if they are, there'll be extra depth to limit trips through the order for everyone but the very top-tier SPs
Side Benefit
3:55
One good thing about watching old games: your team almost always wins.
Steve Adams
3:56
Ha -- I've been watching KBO some but not much in the way of classic games. Makes me all the more ready for actual games if they're able to resume.
Leon Trotsky
3:56
Labor Strike 2021?
Steve Adams
3:56
I was probably more pessimistic on that front than most people even prior to this ugliness.
(Meaning I was bracing for a stoppage more than most, to be clear)
service time
3:58
How does this count towards service time --- we're past the usual super-two cutoff.  Does a rookie's clock start ticking if they only play 60 games?
Steve Adams
3:58
Service time will be prorated, so if 172 days in a 186-day season is a year upi
Whoops
4:01
You're looking at 61 days for a full year in 2020. Fractional bits of service time will make calculating future totals more complicated due to that prorated nature.

All "Super Two" means is that a player with 2 to 3 years of service time is in the top 22 percent of that year's class in total service. It's never about a set number of days.

At any rate, yes, rookies' clocks will begin ticking when called up. If a rookie is on the roster he'll get his service.
Dusty stocatto
4:01
Watch any cpbl at all? Small league but the games are very entertaining
Steve Adams
4:02
I watched a bit early on when Eleven Sports was live-streaming some games, yeah! I don't really get the idea that you need to know all the players to enjoy watching baseball.
I had fun with those and some KBO games despite not knowing most of who was out there. It's still baseball.
4:03
The whole "quadruple-A" or "Triple-A talent" argument makes no sense to me either. You'll only watch the very very best players in the world? You wouldn't go to a NCAA game or indie league game or minor league game? Baseball's baseball. I enjoy being exposed to other leagues, personally.
Cyclones Fan
4:04
So it's not official yet, but is it safe to assume there will be no minor league baseball this year? Guessing teams will just have an "extended spring training" to keep their taxi squad fresh?
Steve Adams
4:05
Seems likely, yeah. Baseball America reported the possibility of a greatly expanded Arizona Fall League that begins not long after a potential MLB season starts -- plus a possible Florida Fall League, too. That'd give the game's very top prospects some extra reps, which is nice but still not a perfect fix of course.
Giants
4:06
In a 60 game season looks like maybe we can sneak in no?
Steve Adams
4:08
I mean I guess any team "could" sneak in -- it's 60 games -- but I am not bullish on the Giants. It's an old team with huge offensive question marks, a rotation that's as reliant on rebound candidates as it is declining mid-30s veterans, and a bullpen with no more than three relievers who I'd be particularly excited about.

I just think they're in really rough shape as constructed.
Lefty
4:08
Does agreement set a mid-season trading deadline?
Steve Adams
4:09
No determination on that yet to my knowledge.
Trades could be tough, logistically, given the health and travel restrictions that'll be in place.
Wrek
4:09
For the 60 games season , does that mean teams with go by their remaining schedules from when the season starts?
Steve Adams
4:10
Play only teams in the division and teams in the corresponding geographic division in the opposite league
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