MLB Thread 109: Happy Opening Day!

[andrew8798]

CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports that Major League Baseball is expected to make a decision regarding Josh Hamilton's situation prior to Opening Day.

[andrew8798]

Major League Baseball will be keeping a close eye on Alex Rodriguez this season.

The New York Yankees third baseman/designated hitter will be subject to increased testing under the joint policy on performance-enhancing drugs following his year-long suspension, commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters Thursday.

The Joint Drug Agreement (JDA) shared by MLB and its players' association states any player is subject to six unannounced urine tests and three unannounced blood tests for the 12-month period following a drug violation.

The protocol for players who haven't previously been disciplined for drug violations is not as harsh: players are subject to urine and blood testing upon arrival at spring training and then are eligible for random testing during the season and offseason. Only 350 urine tests and 140 blood tests can be administered across a pool of 1,200 players on 40-man rosters, however. That means a high percentage of players will avoid testing of any kind following spring training.

Manfred is optimistic Rodriguez won't be a repeat offender moving forward.

"Alex served a very long suspension. Once he served that time, baseball ought to welcome him back - and I think we've done a good job," Manfred said. "The institution as a whole; teams, central baseball, everybody. He's played well. Good for him."

Rodriguez is hitting .286 with two home runs and three RBIs in 28 spring at-bats entering play Thursday.

[andrew8798]

Kris Bryant continued his assault on Cactus League pitching Saturday, finishing 4-for-5 with three runs scored in a win over the Rockies.

The third baseman now has 17 hits in 37 at-bats (.459) during spring. He's not expected to open the season at the major league level, though, and is still ticketed for Triple-A Iowa.

A mistake by the Cubs I believe

[bigalbass86 AKA Smokin Vokoun]

Mar 28, 2015 19:38:31 GMT -5 andrew8798 said:

Kris Bryant continued his assault on Cactus League pitching Saturday, finishing 4-for-5 with three runs scored in a win over the Rockies.

The third baseman now has 17 hits in 37 at-bats (.459) during spring. He's not expected to open the season at the major league level, though, and is still ticketed for Triple-A Iowa.

A mistake by the Cubs I believe

He is only going to be there for two weeks. Its pretty much for service time reasons.

[andrew8798]

Mariners prospect Victor Sanchez died Saturday as the result of a boat accident.

[RKTaker]

wow way too young r.i.p.

[Deleted]

Mar 28, 2015 19:48:07 GMT -5 bigalbass86 AKA Smokin Vokoun said:

Mar 28, 2015 19:38:31 GMT -5 andrew8798 said:

Kris Bryant continued his assault on Cactus League pitching Saturday, finishing 4-for-5 with three runs scored in a win over the Rockies.

The third baseman now has 17 hits in 37 at-bats (.459) during spring. He's not expected to open the season at the major league level, though, and is still ticketed for Triple-A Iowa.

A mistake by the Cubs I believe

He is only going to be there for two weeks. Its pretty much for service time reasons.

If he's called up after a certain date (I forget exactly when, I should know this as they talk about it enough in Chicago media), then he has to wait an extra year to be eligible for arbitration talks.

Myself, I'm thinking, "Well, if the kid is any good, you could always sign him to an early long-term deal...like what the Sox did with Chris Sale."

Then I remember Kris is a Scott Boras guy. Never mind.

[andrew8798]

A little reminder for those that joined the draft on espn. It's tomorrow at 7 pm eastern

[Deleted]

White Sox reliever Jake Petricka out indefinitely after experiencing soreness following a morning throwing session.

Crap.

[bluemeii]

Mar 29, 2015 23:08:02 GMT -5 andrew8798 said:

A little reminder for those that joined the draft on espn. It's tomorrow at 7 pm eastern

Ugh, just found out I have to head back to Jersey asap. Just set up my autodraft (so hopefully my team don't suck too bad) but you guys have fun tonight.

[Deleted]

Mets made two trades today to get left handed relief help. Alex Torres goes to NY for relief prospect Cory Mazzoni and a PTBNL. They also just traded CF Matt den dekker to the Nats for Loogy Jerry Blevins.

[andrew8798]

Nationals signed OF Reed Johnson to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training.

[Fundertaker]

I really hope this is the kind of pitching we'll see from Taijuan Walker this season. The kid is a beast.

[Steveweiser]

Cubs fans and the MLBPA are very pissed at the Bryant situation, but personally, what's two weeks when you get him for an extra year on the back-end? Some will claim it will backfire if the Cubs miss the postseason by a couple of games, but if they're around .500 by the time he's called up (I'd guess around April 20th or so), that shouldn't really be cited.

[andrew8798]

In a not total shock Wilbon took the Cubs side

[BRV]

Mar 30, 2015 17:48:45 GMT -5 Steveweiser said:

Cubs fans and the MLBPA are very pissed at the Bryant situation, but personally, what's two weeks when you get him for an extra year on the back-end? Some will claim it will backfire if the Cubs miss the postseason by a couple of games, but if they're around .500 by the time he's called up (I'd guess around April 20th or so), that shouldn't really be cited.

Outside of Kris Bryant's agent, who obviously wants his client to reach free agency a year earlier, I can't understand why anyone would be even remotely upset about this.

It's 12 days of Bryant's rookie year versus a full season of Bryant in his prime. You send him to Iowa, then 12 days after Opening Day, you call him up and insert him into your everyday lineup. If my math is right (and it rarely is, so bear with me) Bryant will be eligible to get called up on April 19. That's 11 games. If the Cubs determine that 11 games in April 2015 is worth more than 162 games for the duration of the 2021 season, then they're being foolish.

[RI Richmark]

If you're in the fan fantasy league the draft started 10 minutes ago

[HMARK Center]

I know it's Spring Training and this doesn't mean much of anything, but the Mets have the best run differential among all teams right now and oh my God I just want the season start nooooooow.

In all seriousness, the lineup looks great, the rotation is solid, and the bench and minor leagues have depth. A bad Spring Training is usually much more indicative of regular season results than a good one, but having watched a lot of their games, they just look locked in and ready to go. Only concern right now is health and some effectiveness issues from the bullpen, but again, they've got enough young depth in the minors to bring up new guys if anybody falters.

[andrew8798]

Dodgers signed RHP Freddy Garcia to a minor league contract.

Roberto Hernandez has been named the Astros' No. 5 starter.

[Deleted]

Is anyone else just not hyped for baseball to start?

I love baseball but I'm just not feeling it this year, and I think that's because as a Yankees fan I know my childhood ended last year when Jeter retired. The last great baseball dynasty started when I was 5 and ended when I was 13, but they still had 3/4s of the core 4. But now they're all gone and I'm left with a Yankees team that doesn't seem like a Yankees team I grew up to love.

I don't know I might be a minority here. And hopefully when the season starts I'll be more excited for it.