MLB Bullets Threatens To Lock The Gates

I thought you’d like that picture of Manfred. By the way, Olympic Stadium is no better for soccer than it was for baseball. Gobble, gobble.

• Ken Rosenthal broke the big news yesterday when he reported that the owners would “consider” locking the players out if no new collective bargaining agreement was reached before the previous one runs out on December 1. The main issue seems to be the owners’ insistence on an international draft.
• Grant Brisbee gives his take on this and reflects the general sentiment that Rosenthal’s reports was mostly “saber-rattling” by the owners. Mostly. But there’s always a chance otherwise.
• Ben Badler thinks that an international draft is a bad idea (for one, it would further encourage tanking) and suggests some changes to the international bonus pools that would help small-market teams more than a draft would.
• One thing that has been discussed in the current CBA talks has been expanding rosters to 26 players. Tom Verducci thinks this is a terrible idea as it would simply encourage teams to carry another reliever and allow even more mid-inning pitching changes that slow down the game.
• Michael Baumann has some suggestions for who teams could carry as a 26th player without resorting to adding another middle reliever.
• Ted Berg has seven suggestions for improving the game other than adding another player. I’m not sure I agree with these except for the last one: all food at ballgames should definitely be served in novelty helmets.
• This might be a story you might want to skip. I’d like to skip it. MLB would like to skip it. The Texas Rangers would certainly like to skip it. But Jeff Passan has the details of the sexual assault at the Rangers’ Dominican academy. Click on the link if you want the details, but it was a hazing incident and involved some top prospects, including the brother of Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor. (Also named Rougned Odor, by the way.) Bottom line is that if these allegations are proven (and there’s video, so . . ), none of these players should ever play a game in organized ball again.
• More ugly news. Federal prosecutors claimed that agent Bart Hernandez worked with a violent smuggler, who has since been murdered, in order to bring baseball players over from Cuba.
• The Twins made a signing, agreeing to a three-year, $24.5 million deal with catcher Jason Castro.
• Aaron Gleeman says the deal only makes sense in that the Twins are paying for one of the best pitch-framers in the game.
• Grant Brisbee looks at possible home for free agent hitter Edwin Encarnacion and whether it will be worth it to give him the deal he wants.
• Jonathan Bernhardt explains why Carlos Beltran is attracting so much attention in the free agent market this winter.
• R.J. Anderson compares the three big free agent closers, Kenley Jansen, Aroldis Chapman and Mark Melancon.
• Jon Paul Morosi argues that now is the time for the Pirates to trade Andrew McCutchen. He’s also got something on the trade market for Ryan Braun.
• Dave Cameron looks at the dilemma the Pirates face in “selling low” on McCutchen.
• The Rangers are interested in McCutchen. They are also interested in Encarnacion and White Sox pitcher Chris Sale. Just make sure which Rougned Odor you’re offered, Buccos.
• Jeremy Dorn argues that the Dodgers should risk sending several of their top prospects to the South Side for Sale.
• Jack Magruder writes that the Giants need to add a bat in left field as much as they need a closer this winter.
• Mike Axisa looks at what the Astros have accomplished so far this winter and what they have yet to do.
• Ken Rosenthal reports that the Yankees are well-positioned to make some big moves this winter. But will they? Also, more on the Astros winter and is Wil Myers the next Anthony Rizzo? (Maybe they should have just kept the first Anthony Rizzo.)
• But Andrew Marchand adds that Masahiro Tanaka’s opt-out clause after next season is giving the Yankees a major headache in planning for the future.
• David Schoenfield says that teams are considering putting more relievers in a multi-inning role like Andrew Miller, but no one has committed to it quite yet.
• Ken Rosenthal wonders how much more America would appreciate Mike Trout if he played for a different team.
• The Orioles named Roger McDowell their new pitching coach. We’ll see if he spits on anyone in Baltimore.
• The Hall of Fame announced the 34 players on the 2017 ballot. Fans of Merkin Valdez are outraged by his absence.
• Cliff Corcoran breaks down the ballot and predicts who has a chance to get in and who will fall off the ballot.
• David Schoenfield also breaks down the ballot and declares it the greatest HoF ballot in Montreal Expos history.
• Craig Calcaterra notes that David Ortiz will be treated much better by the Hall of Fame voters than other suspected PED-users, mostly because he was nice to the media. As I’ve said before, there’s exactly the same amount of evidence that Ortiz used PEDs as Sammy Sosa. One is excused. One isn’t.
• The Padres announced their new uniforms in 2017 to nearly-universal disdain. Still no brown. Hey, at least they aren’t putting brown dots all around the bottom of the pants leg. If the Diamondbacks unveiled their “bloody sock” uniforms last year, I don’t want to know what they’d call those. Still though, the Padres need to go back to brown to establish their identity. Or just an identity.
• And finally, Vin Scully finished off his retirement/victory tour by heading to the White House to get the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Oh, and he just happened to have his picture taken with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and Bruce Springsteen.

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster. Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Bleed Cubbie Blue.