MLBits: Fighting About Finances Already, Rough Free Agent Class, Rotation Rankings, More

Feb 27, 2023

Some of the latest from around Major League Baseball …

Just one year into the new CBA, some owners are already complaining about financial imbalances, and the Players Association believes it’s already about to be confronted by another request for a salary cap:

MLBPA executive director Tony Clark, during a conversation about MLB's new Economic Reform Committee, said he believes MLB's goal is to have a salary cap.

Clark: “We’re never going to agree to a cap. Let me start there. We don’t have a cap. We’re not going to agree to a cap.”— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 25, 2023

MLBPA's Tony Clark says spending should be 'celebrated not questioned' and no, there will never be a salary cap. https://t.co/dt8FrU4QUa— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) February 27, 2023

I know it’s still more than three years away that these financial conversations will once again take center stage in the run-up to the CBA’s expiration, but the fact that they’re ALREADY getting into it through the media … woof:

Bob Nutting complains that new CBA didn't benefit Pirates as team prepares for another bottom-five payroll https://t.co/cNAlPr38dy
— CBS Sports MLB (@CBSSportsMLB) February 25, 2023

At least Clark said that there has been positive progress on a minor league CBA, and even if it isn’t complete by Opening Day, it doesn’t seem like there will any kind of interruption in play. The biggest sticking point at the moment sounds like MLB wanting to retain the ability to further reduce the minor league size (either teams or players).

With Manny Machado now off the free agent market for after this season, the early look at the possibly available bats is rougghhhhh, even though the pitchers are better:

On the other hand, the pitching class is absurd. In addition to Ohtani, Aaron Nola, Julio Urias, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Blake Snell, Lucas Giolito, Jack Flaherty, Luis Severino and Sonny Gray all will be available. And in relief, Josh Hader is a possible $100 million guy.— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) February 26, 2023

Max Scherzer talks about how the pitchers have the gamesmanship power when it comes to the pitch clock, because the hitter has just one timeout per plate appearance. So if Scherzer wants to vary his timing wildly, including standing ready to pitch at EXACTLY eight seconds remaining when the batter has to be at attention, he wants to play around with that stuff.

The Blue Jays land James Click, the bizarrely-ousted World Championship-winning former GM of the Astros:

#BlueJays just announced that they’ve hired James Click, former GM of the Astros, as Vice President, Baseball Strategy.
— Kaitlyn McGrath (@kaitlyncmcgrath) February 27, 2023

Matt Snyder power-ranked the league’s rotations, going with the Mets on top, which is fair, and the Yankees at number two, which is at least arguable. For me the Astros would have to be top three (they’re five), and the Brewers (who are three) would also be top five. The Padres at four seems like a stretch to me, given that their FOURTH starter (Michael Wacha) is a guy in whom the market seemed to have very little confidence as a sure-fire option. It’s a good rotation, with Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, and Blake Snell at the front. But top four? I’m not even sure it’s THAT much better than the Cubs’ rotation overall, and the Cubs don’t even show up in the 16 named teams. And that ain’t me being all that high on the Cubs’ rotation, whose depth I think could have them around average. I guess I’m just way down on the Padres’ rotation. Lovvvve that lineup, though.

Do you remember Ben Joyce, the former Tennessee Volunteer who once touched 105.5 mph with his fastball? He is now a pitching prospect in the Angels’ system, and could reach the big leagues as soon as this year. Anyway, this was his first pitch yesterday in a spring training game, and I absolutely would’ve crapped my pants:

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1629968346820083715

Otherwise, Joyce, a third round pick who dominated at Double-A right out of the draft, had the look of a big league reliever:

https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1629970341299724290

Good gravy. This kind of leap is not just offseason velocity work, it’s someone(s) figuring out that there was a mechanical issue that was impeding velocity:

Sean Manaea said he was 93-96 mph in his two innings today. He was 88-90 at the start of last spring. Said he can feel a difference after working out at Driveline in the offseason.— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) February 26, 2023

Ah. Ok. Mmhmm:

Aroldis Chapman did not pitch today after “a minor accident at home” caused him to get little sleep, manager Matt Quatraro said. The #Royals didn’t want to rush him today. He was at the facility this morning and will be back on the mound in a few days.— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) February 26, 2023

Aroldis Chapman slipped and fell at his house on Saturday night, cracked a tooth and split his lip open, requiring stitches. It’s still pretty swollen but he’ll try to play catch today, throw a bullpen tomorrow and get into a game soon. He says he’s feeling OK now. #Royals— Anne Rogers (@anne__rogers) February 27, 2023

Joey Votto is the best:

This is @JoeyVotto's world and we’re just living in it. pic.twitter.com/tOxXCaJoBn
— Cut4 (@Cut4) February 27, 2023

written by

Brett Taylor

Brett Taylor is the Lead Cubs Writer at Bleacher Nation, and you can find him on Twitter at @BleacherNation and on LinkedIn here. Brett is also the founder of Bleacher Nation, which opened up shop in 2008 as an independent blog about the Chicago Cubs. Later growing to incorporate coverage of other Chicago sports, Bleacher Nation is now one of the largest regional sports blogs on the web.

MLBits: Fighting About Finances Already, Rough Free Agent Class, Rotation Rankings, More

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