Baseball will welcome its next commissioner early next year in the person of Rob Manfred. The new man in charge will likely have a crowded plate of issues to deal with when he takes office, and even though he appears to be cut from the same cloth as Bud Selig it is probably reasonable to assume there will be some changes.
Minor league players are not well paid. Some of them did receive large signing bonuses when they were drafted, but they tend to be the exceptions. The rest of them, the lawsuit alleges, make less than minimum wage. They do receive benefits other than their salary that should be part of the discussion (training resources, for example), but even when those are priced into the compensation it is hard to escape the sense that minor league players should probably be better paid. They don’t all need to be millionaires, but a salary that starts at $1,100 a month for half the year seems low.
It would be nice to see the new commissioner take the lead on this issue and work with the MLBPA and representatives of both the minor league players and the minor league team owners to find a resolution that works for everyone and ensures that minor league players are not left behind to this degree. Since being a professional athlete requires a year round training and conditioning commitment, one good place to start might simply be continuing to pay minor leaguers all year and not just during the season.
[Iowa] Kris Bryant hit his 18th home run for Iowa and 40th of the year. Even better, he hit it with Iowa trailing by a run in the bottom of the twelve and a man on base for the game winner. If you haven’t watched it yet, you should go watch it.
[Iowa] Mike Olt hit his 7th home run. He also doubled and finished 2 for 5.
[Daytona] Jacob Hannemann doubled in both ends of the doubleheader, raising his Daytona OPS to .710.
[Daytona] Ben Carhart finished 2 for 3 with a double in the first game of the double header. Billy McKinney also doubled in that contest.
[Daytona] With two more walks in the first game, Rock Shoulders has extended his walking streaking to 7 games. He has earned 13 free passes in that span.
[Kane County] Duane Underwood allowed just 3 hits over 5 scoreless innings while striking out 4. He also walked 4.
[Kane County] Shawon Dunston tripled (his 7th) and walked.
[Kane County] Chesny Young doubled and finished 2 for 3.
[Boise] Jeremy Null struck out 2 and allowed a run on 3 hits over 3 innings for the Hawks. Trey Lang tacked on 4 innings of one run ball, and Daniel Lewis finished things off.
[Boise] Third baseman Jesse Hodges finished 4 for 4 with a run scored.
[Boise] Rashad Crawford walked twice and hit his first Boise homer of the season.
[Arizona] Catcher Tyler Pearson hit his first homer of the season.
Brett Jacksonhas been traded to Arizona for right handed reliever Blake Cooper. Jackson has been a bit of a punchline among many Cubs’ fans ever since he struggled in his first taste of the majors, but I think in a bench role for the right team he still offers some value. He does pretty much everything well except make contact, but that is a big enough of an exception to effectively eliminate him from the Cubs plans. He can be a fun player to watch, though, and I hope he does well for the Diamondbacks and carves out a niche for himself on their bench one day.
Blake Cooper is an interesting pitcher. He has pitched purely as a reliever at Double A and Triple A this year, and between those two stops he has posted the gaudy GO/AO of 2.28 (2.62 in Triple A). That is the mark a guy who is really, really good at getting grounders. That is where the good news ends, though. His strikeout rate is ok (7.50 K/9 for Triple A) but not great. His walk rate was good in Double A (2.65 BB/9), but ballooned in Triple A (6.38 BB/9). I have not been able to watch too much video of his stuff in action yet, but for now I would not consider him a candidate for the Top 40 prospects list. I would, however, consider him a fringe candidate for a major league middle relief job if he can bring that walk rate back down to his Double A levels.
Hey, we're just having some early-season fun. So allow me to present the 'Mike Tauchman Is Clearly Better Than' list. As of this moment, Mike Tauchman has ... ... a higher wRC+ (151) than Pete Alonso, Fernando Tatis Jr., and...
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On Wednesday at 9:30 PM ET, the New Orleans Pelicans play the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 2 of the opening round of the NBA playoffs, and CJ McCollum's 3-pointer prop for this clash requires four trifectas.CJ McCollum's Three-Pointer Prop...
At 9:30 PM ET on Wednesday, in Game 2 of the opening round of the NBA playoffs, it'll be the New Orleans Pelicans against the Oklahoma City Thunder -- with Brandon Ingram needing to connect only once from beyond the...
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander needs to make two 3-pointers to beat his prop when the Oklahoma City Thunder meet the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday at 9:30 PM ET, in Game 2 of the opening round of the NBA playoffs.Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's Three-Pointer...
Name a player hotter than Kevin Alcántara right now. Go ahead, I'll wait. (He's already raking again today. Literally as I type this.) More on Alcántara's big day and the Smokies home run parade last night in today's Cubs Farm...
Just three starts into his San Francisco Giants career, Blake Snell is heading to the injured list with a left-adductor strain. Oof. You hate to even say it — and who really knows if this was related — but early...
Hey, we're just having some early-season fun. So allow me to present the 'Mike Tauchman Is Clearly Better Than' list. As of this moment, Mike Tauchman has ... ... a higher wRC+ (151) than Pete Alonso, Fernando Tatis Jr., and...
The San Diego Padres (13-13) are favorites (-158) on the moneyline when they take on the Colorado Rockies (6-18) Wednesday at 8:40 PM ET, live on SDPA.Matt Waldron takes the mound for San Diego while Dakota Hudson is Colorado's starter...
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NEWSLETTER
Baseball will welcome its next commissioner early next year in the person of Rob Manfred. The new man in charge will likely have a crowded plate of issues to deal with when he takes office, and even though he appears to be cut from the same cloth as Bud Selig it is probably reasonable to assume there will be some changes.
