Another day without sports, another day without much activity, but at least for most of us another day spent with our families at home at night. The same can’t be said for a group of foreign born minor league players who are essentially stranded. Camp is closed, can’t fly home, it is bleak.
He’ll be in more comfortable digs than the minor league guys, I’d imagine, but Hyun-Jin Ryu is staying in Florida, unable to return home.
Words are powerful things. Once the words “national emergency” are spoken by the federal government, MLB has the ability to suspend pay to all players. This is a clause in every major league contract and the US declared a national emergency this week.
Not quite the struggle countless working families and small business owners are facing, but the pinch is hitting everyone in the wallet.
A potentially huge story we will cover closely as it develops is the chaos this shutdown will create with the draft. MLB is faced with a no win, no easy way out scenario. Stay tuned for more detailed analysis from the team at CtPG.
On the positive side, if/when MLB ramps back up several players currently on the mend could be back to game speed. Most notably, Shohei Ohtani could pitch from Day One of the 2020 season.
Miles Mikolas is throwing again.
Chris Sale is also throwing again but could face surgery if he feels discomfort.
And when/if that season gets going, what does having fewer games mean to playoff odds? Very fun read and it bodes well for the Angels. I could take the numbers a step further and say fewer games and a healthy Ohtani from the start could limit the exposure of some of our depth pieces.
Finally, the new ballpark in Arlington received its finishing touches and will be ready for Opening Day, whenever that is.
Just saw where Chris Sale is going in for Tommy John. Sucks to be the Red Sox right now. Raise your hand if you couldn’t be happier!!!
I’d love to raise my hand, but I’m afraid if I did, I blow out my elbow and need Tommy John surgery.
Now THAT is the spirit right there.
Wish I could water my lawn with the tears of Boston fans. Tom Brady will waste away in TB, getting caught by Father Time and playing with a coach that doesn’t cheat. The Sox are a dumpster fire.
While most of the world sucks, at least Boston’s sporting misery is something we can enjoy.
We’ll always have this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH7-KBqgTpg
It makes good sense for any pitcher who needs it (Andrew!) to get it done now. This season is either going to be lost or heavily asterisked due to the shortness of it. So get it done and come back in 2021.
I thought that elective surgery was supposed to be delayed during the COVID-19 thing.
For the poors, yes
What I would really love to see is major league owners and players coming together and agreeing to take the contractual money and spread it out to stadium workers, local restaurant staff and other families who are going to be really hurting for a while. Most of these families were barely making ends meet. This is a complete disaster for them and the billionaire owners and millionaire players could make a huge difference with just the money that is not being paid due to the National Disaster declaration.
I’ll be interviewing Angels reliever Michael Kohn tomorrow. Any questions you want me to ask, let me know.
I Kohn’t believe you got an interview with him! It’ InKohnceivable!
You keep on using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.
I Kohn’t believe our good fortune in his returning to the team, thus allowing us to revive one of our more fruitful memes.
Why should MLB players be paid for not playing? Why should the owners have to bear the full burden of the lack of ticket revenue? Okay, the still have their TV contracts and some merchandise sales, but those should be used to keep paying the less fortunate employees, like the people that run the stadium and take care of the field and don’t have millions of dollars sitting in a bank. At most, pay the MLB players the league minimum.
It figures, pretty much the only punishment the Astros received was loss of draft picks, and now they are going to lose those in a draft that is a complete roll of the dice because nobody has had a chance to scout.
I’m not saying they should get paid. What I found interesting is as the National Emergency clause in the contracts. While it makes sense, I did not know about it.
It’s the minors guys who are really hurt. Most don’t get paid during camps are are really hurting about now and looking for that first pay check since September.
I didn’t think you were advocating for them to be paid, and I agree the National Emergency clause in the contracts is interesting. I also feel bad for the Minor League players, but this clause doesn’t impact them anyway.
Minor league players in the heavily affected areas would be wise to go apply for one of the thousands of temporary grocery store jobs available.
Guys on a 25 man roster from last year should be OK financially. The minor league guys need stipends. They are serious victims of a peonage system. Stadium workers need a break too, full time and part time.
March 15th came and went.
Who won the Big Fly Gear?
I’ll do the drawing today and announce it tomorrow.
Sorry, life has been a bit hectic lately
Just a thought for those whose statistics skills are a lot better than mine. Thinking last night about Mike’s march up the Career WAR standings list. Is there a way to adjust Babe Ruth’s numbers to reflect the training and nutritional advantages players have today? I don’t think it can be quantified, but if the Babe had stuck to hookers and not mass quantities of hot dogs, how would his career arc have affected? He’s already at like 182 or so on Baseball Reference, so this would just pad his lead.
You could also ask
What would his numbers look like if it wasn’t against the rules to be black?
Which, to be honest, I think is a more reasonable question.
Ruth’s era was incredibly weak. The best college teams were Ivy League and the players went on to higher paying, more respectable jobs. Being an athlete back then wasn’t nearly as glamorous or lucrative as it is now, outside of a handful of known names.
Add in no segregation and a thorough lack of minor league development and I wonder if Ruth’s average competitor would crack AA nowadays.
Yeah, I totally agree that there were so many players that could have mopped up the floor with most of the major league rosters. I’m thinking about self-inflicted damage here.
Good question. I doubt there’s a way to quantify that. Mickey Mantle would be another great name for that exercise, though.
And also thinking about career WAR and how Ted Williams lost 3 years to military service and the possibility that Mike might lose 2020.
Also mountain man’s point is well taken.
Yes, Ted Williams is a fascinating case.
Found out today that Ted Williams was Astronaut John Glenn’s wingman flying F9F Panther fighters in Korea. Been an airplane maniac since I was 2 or 3, but never seen that one before. Cool. Eyesight and reflexes, fighter sine qua nons!