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Mark P
7:00
Hey there everyone, welcome to tonight's chat!  Fire away with all of your baseball-related (and some random nonsense-related, just for variety) questions
Brooks
7:01
If players conratcs are guranteed, wont they get the money they're owed eventually?
Mark P
7:04
The salaries already being surrendered in these months with no games will not be recouped, apart from the $170MM already arranged to be divided up to every player on an MLB roster at the time of the shutdown.  

So that money has already been written off.  One of the suggested compromises between players and owners in regards to future salary for any 2020 games is that players get a portion of their remaining guaranteed monies deferred into the future.
Dan
7:05
Could the stadiums opening back up for players be a sign that we’re inching closer to a season, or is it all just for a place to have their workouts just incase?
Mark P
7:06
I think it's very much wait and see, as the teams who are opening their parks are doing so on a very limited basis.  But, in the big picture, it's at least a small step in the direction of baseball being played.
Expos fan
7:06
When is TradeRumors getting back to the expansion draft?
Mark P
7:07
We'll be running out mock expansion draft sometime in June.  In the meantime, you can vote on which players each team should protect from such a hypothetical draft in our ongoing series of team-centric posts: https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020-mock-expansion-draft
Michael
7:08
Do you see in the future more players asking for their salary in a signing bonus vs annual salary in case something like this happens again so they get more of their $$
Mark P
7:09
Potentially, though by that same logic, owners may be more hesitant to give out large signing bonuses.

I think ultimately, signing bonuses might end up (as usual) being largely negotiated in regards to how much available payroll a team has at any given time.
Lefty
7:09
Did Giants have to pay Cozart full 2020 salary when they released him before spring training or do they only have to pay partial?
Mark P
7:09
The Giants are indeed on the hook for that entire salary
Rob
7:10
Do you think that Toronto could be a darkhorse for Betts
Mark P
7:11
Potentially.  The Jays don't have much salary on the books in the coming years, and we've already seen with the Ryu signing that they're willing to make the big splash.  That said, who knows what the team's financial decision-making could look like in a post-COVID world.
Lefty
7:12
cozart will make more $. By being released then he would have playing then?
Mark P
7:12
Exactly
John
7:12
Will minor league baseball have a chance to play this season?
Mark P
7:13
According to several reports, many people within the game are expecting the minor league season to be canceled, with an official announcement coming when (or if) the 2020 Major League season is figured out.
Poll?
7:14
Who had the better career, Prince fielder or Ryan Howard?
Mark P
7:14
Who had the better career?
Ryan Howard (53.7% | 240 votes)
 
Prince Fielder (46.3% | 207 votes)
 
Total Votes: 447
Paul
7:14
Will Paxton resign or will he go in the market
Mark P
7:17
Paxton will be 32 in November, so this might be his best shot at an expensive, multi-year contract.  That said, he might also be a guy who gets squeezed by the most unusual free agent market ever --- if he has anything less than a strong performance during whatever exists of a 2020 season, I can see teams focusing more on his age and injury history.
This could open the door for the Yankees to re-sign him, or perhaps Paxton might even accept a qualifying offer.
Michael
7:18
If there is no revenue at the games with no fans in attendance. No tickets being sold, no parking, nothing being spent by fans At games  where does the $$ come from to pay the players this year?
Mark P
7:18
Broadcast contracts.  And, the owners are all billionaires.
matt
7:19
which mascot could you take in a fight?
Mark P
7:20
I have a longstanding grudge against Youppi, after he put me in a headlock and rubbed my bald head for luck during an Expos rally 20 years ago.  I guess since the franchise moved, karma already paid Youppi back in a harsh manner.  But if Youppi and i ever cross paths again, vengeance will be mine.

*shakes fist angrily*
SouthJerseySteve
7:21
If rostersvare going to be 30, how big is the "taxi squad" going to be?
Mark P
7:22
The rumor is a 20-person taxi squad.  How this squad will actually operate is still unknown, such as how often will teams shuffle their rosters, or how the 20 players will remain in proper game shape while waiting to get the call
ShaneOnFire
7:22
What fringe team could you see sneaking into the playoffs in a shortened season?
Mark P
7:23
Literally anyone.  A sample size of 81 or 82 games isn't really all that long --- any team can get hot for long enough to reach a postseason (especially an expanded postseason).
7:24
Like, if you told me that the Tigers and Orioles would end up playing in the first round of this year's playoffs, that wouldn't be the craziest thing I've heard this year.  (2020 has definitely raised on the bar on "crazy things happening.")
Pujols
7:24
Will Albert reach 700?
Mark P
7:25
656 homers now, his contract is up after 2021, and he'll have lost at least half of those two years.  I doubt he'll get there, unless Pujols signs somewhere else for 2022.
Eman
7:26
Given that many of them have major league careers of seven seasons or less, at an average of a few million a year, the players are the big losers without games this year. No?
Mark P
7:27
You're not wrong.  Who knows how many careers will be disrupted from this one semi-lost season.
Dave
7:27
There's been a lot of talk of finances for 2020, but what about next year?  There will probably be crowd restrictions next year.  The owners will have to pay the players for a full year and will get crushed.
Mark P
7:28
I think the owners and players are trying to get 2020 figured out first before worrying about 2021 but you're right, it would be ideal if they got at least a framework of a plan in place now so we don't go through more of the same posturing through the media in seven months' time.
Yadi
7:29
Do I sign extension, retire, or test free agency???
Mark P
7:29
Ultimately, I think he'll end up signing an extension with St. Louis.  Probably might have happened already in a non-pandemic world.
Guest
7:30
Hey, Mark. Legally Blonde 1 or 2?
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