[ESPN] MLB suspends spring training, delays Opening Day at least two weeks

Ya got me....I just tuned in....only to see it was 2019..... ...Friday can't get here soon enough.

At least I tuned in just in time to see the house rocking with La Pina's HR.

 

Ive seen game 5 at least 50 times

 

I did enjoy watching Greinke pitch in that game 7...

 

Is tonight’s game going to be televised? ATT still shows in it’s showing game 5 of Astros Yankees from last year

 

Only on MLBTV & radio tonight; live on MLB Network tomorrow

 

Still not enough....

Also tonights game can be seen on bilasports.

 

http://bilasport.net/game/kansas-city-royals-vs-houston-astros-1.html

 

1 in already.

 

Maybe Bregman will just go straight into August/Sept mode.

 

Spoiler

With two days remaining until start of the 2020 regular season, Major League Baseball and the Players Association have yet to finalize the regulations covering electronic sign-stealing, in-game video usage and related discipline. Discussions are ongoing.

Some set of rules has to be made clear to players and teams by the start of play Thursday, a source said. Both sides are obviously motivated to wrap up the agreement by then, but it’s technically possible that the rules could be updated in-season if something is left unsettled out of the gate.

One major element, however, is already squared away. One of the COVID-19 precautions in the league’s operations manual states that players, coaches and anyone MLB considers “Tier 1” staff cannot access team video replay rooms.

Impermissible electronic sign-stealing grew in recent years with the introduction of video-replay challenges. Every team developed a video room, and some teams used the technology in those rooms to crack other teams’ signs.

The sides were making progress on the rules in the spring prior to the U.S. arrival of the pandemic, which redirected everyone’s attention, including the officials involved in this negotiation. In February, the league and the union publicly sniped over the disciplinary question — MLB publicly challenged the union to take a stand as to whether players should in fact face discipline — but by March, it appeared clear both sides felt players who steal signs electronically in the future should be subject to penalties.

What was unclear then, and remains so now, is the look of in-game video access for players. Some hitters swear by the ability to review an at-bat during the same game, with the help of a camera that might be installed along the backstop, for example. The parties discussed editing solutions to provide players video of their swings but without a view of the catcher’s signs.

The player side is likely fighting for as much video access as possible, arguing that training tools should not be removed unduly. Meanwhile, if MLB had unilateral authority, it might have moved to shut off most or all clubhouse access for players during games. For this year, the operating procedures also say teams “should take measures to limit, to the maximum extent possible, the amount of time that Tier 1 and Tier 2 Individuals spend in the clubhouse or other indoor areas.” That is a stipulation put in place because of COVID-19, however.

MLB expanded its rules regarding electronic sign-stealing significantly after the 2017 season and again after the 2018 season, but commissioner Rob Manfred has acknowledged wishing he acted sooner.

The players could argue that the rules in place for 2019 largely fixed the problem, noting that to this point, no one has been publicly disciplined for a 2019 violation. However, recent history shows that no one being caught does not necessarily mean that violations did not occur. Plus, modern technology allows the imagination to run wild with possible ways for team to violate the rules. MLB also has a public-relations incentive to make its rules as tight as possible for 2020 after an offseason when it punished both the Astros and Red Sox.

In a presentation to media members on Monday, Chris Marinak, MLB’s executive vice president for strategy, technology and innovation said that video viewing in the clubhouse this year is prohibited due to health and safety concerns. Indeed, MLB’s operating procedures dictate that use of any communal video terminals are prohibited, and use of other electronic devices during a game have long been prohibited (although it is fair to wonder what would actually stop a player from going into the clubhouse to look at his cell phone, for example).

For this year, MLB has a partnership with Apple that will provide iPads to players and staff which can have scouting reports and video uploaded. But as of now, players will not be able to view their at-bats from that same game, hence the current negotiations.

Nothing indicates that the discussion between the league and the union today looks much different than it did back in March. But some team personnel are concerned that empty ball parks in 2020 could make one method of relaying signs easier: people in the stands and throughout the park theoretically should be easier to spot. A team employee could casually do something in a batter’s line of sight inside the stadium to signal a pitch is coming. Of course, such a technique could also be employed with stadiums at full capacity, but it’s harder to pick up a single person in a packed park.

Major League Baseball moved offices late last year, and that relocation also included a move as well an update for its Replay Operations Center. For this season, the ROC underwent its first major technology refresh since 2014, when expanded replay was introduced. The new technology, which includes the ability to have more camera angles and high-rate feeds, could allow for faster decision making.

No predetermined disciplinary schedule — ie, a first offense gets a set number of games — is in the works, because every situation could vary so widely based on a violator’s role and the egregiousness of the act. But over time, any discipline handed out would become precedent for a given situation.

 

Thanks for the kind words. I'm sure Astros baseball will be on in the background, as it has throughout pretty much every summer of my life.

 

I like you my friend. Hope all is well.

 

Jeez how dumb is Soto; tested positive and didn’t wear a mask

 

21 year olds are dumb

 

In the two Astros games vs KC, I didnt see any of our players wearing masks either. Only the coaches, and some of them seemed to be uncomfortable wearing them given they were constantly pulling them up, pulling them down, exposing their nose, letting it slip completely, and so on.

Not just 21 year olds.

 

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/07/mlb-playoffs-expanded-postseaon-16-teams-2020.html

Just hours before the first pitch of the 2020 season, Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have reached an agreement on an expanded postseason field. ESPN’s Marly Rivera reports that the union has agreed to the proposal, which now needs only to be ratified by the owners. Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests that will indeed happen and USA Today’s Bob Nightengale tweets that there’ll be 16 teams as well as a best-of-three first round series (rather than a sudden-death Wild Card setting). The agreement covers only the 2020 season, per both Rivera and Sherman.

The postseason expansion comes with a $50MM player pool for the players, Nightengale further reports.

ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that the top two teams in each division will qualify for the postseason under this format. The seventh and eighth teams in each league will be chosen based on the best overall records of the remaining teams. The Athletic’s Jayson Stark adds that all three first-round games of a series would be played at the higher seed’s home park, thus eliminating the need for a travel day.

 

Oh ffs it was a joke. A subtle jab at the "can you believe he's still 21".

 

Reports out now that the Nats tested him three times today and all were negative

He still needs tests to be negative tomorrow and Saturday to be cleared, but they are thinking it might have been a false positive

 

The tests are not done in New York are they?