Good morning, I guess. We can all spend the day complaining about the new comment system or we can spend the day complaining about the collective bargaining talks. Either way, it’s going to be a bitter Friday.
- On the CBA talks, Ben Clemens has a look at what the economic impact of the reported proposals in this week’s talks.
- Anthony Franco writes about what a MLB draft lottery might look like.
- Evan Drellich examines the issues surrounding salary expanding arbitration in the CBA talks and how a “bonus pool” seems to be the eventual solution, (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Russell A. Carleton writes that basing salaries on a Wins Above Replacement stat is a bad idea and MLB and the Players Association really need to think about how it would work. (Free Baseball Prospectus reg. required.)
- If you’re confused by some of the lingo surrounding the CBA talks, Maddie Lee explains them. I’m assuming most of you know all this, but maybe you’ve got a spouse, child or friend who’s confused.
- If you remember, MLB cut off 43 minor league teams from affiliated baseball before last season. Andy McCullough speaks to the teams that got cut about their experience and how they’re doing as an independent or amateur league. (The Athletic sub. req.) It hasn’t been easy, but some teams are doing just as well on their own.
- MLB will not require minor league players to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
- Evan Drellich also reports on the talks to implement the new housing policy for minor league players and how advocates for the minor leaguers have concerns about how the policy will be implemented. (The Athletic sub. req., but there’s a free version of the story with fewer details from Joon Lee.)
- The staff of The Athletic debate the issues surrounding expanded playoffs. (The Athletic . . well, you know.)
- OK, fine, let’s talk about the Hall of Fame. Jay Jaffe breaks down the vote for the 2022 Hall of Fame, with details on each candidate. Even the two who got zero votes.
- Jayson Stark has five things we’ve learned from the 2022 Hall of Fame vote. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Clinton Yates argues that Barry Bonds’ exclusion from Cooperstown only demonstrates the Hall’s irrelevance.
- Ben Lindbergh looks at how unusual the career of Curt Schilling was, apart from his controversial behavior in retirement.
- David Schoenfield predicts who will get voted into Cooperstown over the next three years. (ESPN+ sub. req.)
- Emma Baccellieri looks at the issue voters will face next year when Carlos Beltrán is on the ballot. It’s the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, in case you haven’t figured it out.
- A roundtable discussion of where the Rays and Athletics will be playing in the near future.
- The Guardians won’t be going anywhere as they’ve signed a lease extension for Progressive Field until 2036.
- The Rangers have signed right-handed pitcher Nick Tropeano to a minor-league deal.
- Scott Thompson examines what a contract extension for Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge might look like. And how much it will cost.
- In their continuing effort to ignore all current players, mlb.com’s Bryan Hoch looks back at the 1996 Yankees.
- And finally, the mlb dot com writers debate what the best kids’ baseball movie is. Maybe I’m old, but when I was a kid, I wasn’t allowed to watch The Bad News Bears, which is one of the candidates here.
Let’s all have a good day today in spite of everything. End the lockout, owners.