Rob Manfred holds off on postponing spring training; MLB proposal coming Saturday

Rob Manfred (Arturo Pardavila III)

Because Rob Manfred has a tenuous relationship with the truth and lacks the charisma that makes some lies charming, there usually isn’t a whole lot of good that comes out of him talking to the media.

Sure enough, his conference today included ideas laughable (owners get a poorer return on their teams than they would on the stock market) and wrong (the competitive-balance tax penalties are the same, when in fact the league has proposed harsher terms).

However, if you can set aside the specifics — and he wishes you would — I’m taking the overall story as a step forward toward ending the lockout, mostly for two reasons:

No. 1: He said he saw missing games as “a disastrous outcome for this industry,” and while that could be posturing, Manfred is the one responsible for the work stoppage in the first place. The owners could end the lockout at any point to restore the schedule, so they put themselves on the hook for a late start to the season. It doesn’t seem like Manfred is intending to outline the possible colossal mistake his side is willing to make. Rather, it reads to me like the start of back-patting for when a deal gets done.

No. 2: The league did voice two things it’s willing to give the players, and while MLB has been fine with universal DH for years, the elimination of draft pick compensation for free agent represents gained ground for the MLBPA.

There are probably strings attached, and I’m guessing we’ll be hearing about equal steps forward and backward when the league finally responds with its counterproposal to the union on Saturday, especially if Manfred’s incorrect characterization of the CBT penalties is reflective of their larger approach. Still, if Manfred thinks the season could start on time with four weeks of spring training, and if it could commence with MLB players within days of a deal being reached, then he’s painted a timetable where negotiations about have two weeks to completely unfold before his worst-case scenario becomes realized. Meanwhile, Manfred also confirmed that minor-league players won’t be used in MLB spring training games, so teams would be the ones to lose revenue first if spring training games began to melt off the calendar.

As for the items the league says it’s willing to grant, both would benefit the White Sox. Their roster is overloaded with corner players at various price points, so the market for Yermín Mercedes, Eloy Jiménez and everybody in between expands considerably. (I just like to mention trading Jiménez.)

Meanwhile, Michael Conforto, Nick Castellanos and Trevor Story would have no strings attached in whatever deals they reach. That naturally raises the price of each of those players, but if the White Sox were hesitant to remove opportunities to improve a league-worst farm system while filling holes on the 26-man roster, those particular concerns would be eliminated.


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itaita

Happy the DH will be universal. With the way the schedule is now the whole uniqueness of it has long since passed and while i get why some people might’ve liked it the way baseball has become so specialized over the last decade made it look goofy.

Also forgot to mention the addition of the draft lottery.

Willardmarshall

KBO, not so fast there with Yermin!

Trooper Galactus

While I sort of understand the desire to keep an element of strategy in the game, it’s just detracting from the game with the way it has evolved. Like, that element of strategy just isn’t worth watching a guy with a .400 OPS getting two or three plate appearances a game.

ParisSox

plus you can argue that the strategy really isn’t strategy because all managers know the double switch, for example. maybe there is strategy in how you build and deploy your roster, but a pitcher bunting with a man on first? easy there Einstein.

GrinnellSteve

I just had a thought about a rule change for DH’s: Give teams the option of starting the game with someone batting for the pitcher (a DH) or just batting 8 players. If you have a good batter you want to get in the lineup, you make him the DH. If you prefer to get your best hitters to the plate more often, forgo that 9th position. Whatever you start with, you’re stuck with for the entire game.

Trooper Galactus

I don’t like the idea of being able to just bat 8 players. Part of the challenge of roster construction is minimizing dead spots in your lineup. If you’ve failed to assemble nine credible major league hitters, tough shit, you still gotta play the bad ones at the bottom of the lineup.

joewho112

I think I found Jerry Reinsdorf’s burner account.

GrinnellSteve

I got to thinking about this after reading Joe Sheehan’s latest newsletter. It talked about feeling among purists that 9 players is sacred. A DH adds an unholy 10th. Well, a pitcher is one of those 9 players, but his function is to pitch. Let the other 8 guys hit. You’re still playing with just 9.

If you have 36 plate appearances in a game, right now everyone gets 4. With 8 hitters, your top 4 in the order get a 5th PA. Would you rather have Sheets go to the plate 4 times or have Anderson, Robert, Abreu, and Grandal all get an extra at-bat? That calculation might change from night to night.

I’m not advocating for this, but it would have the potential to add more offense to the game.

ParisSox

Hey Jim, i’m logged in but still seeing ads. and as far as I know my Patreon checks haven’t bounced. What gives?