After months of articles on “MLB alternatives” and “what-ifs” we finally have some exciting developments:
- Commissioner Rob Manfred guarantees baseball will played this year
- The MLB Draft
While the MLB Draft is nothing to gloss over, we have to start with the words of Commissioner Manfred from last night. Rumors spilling out over the last few days regarding the negotiation process between MLB and the Players Association were uh...not encouraging. Optimism that we would see any games this year plummeted with each passing day until, out of nowhere, in came Commissioner Manfred with the words we’ve all been hoping to hear for months, “I can tell you unequivocally we are gonna play Major League Baseball this year.”
This new information, directly from the Commissioner, was laid out in an interview with ESPN’s Karl Ravech prior to the start of the MLB draft. I put together a series of questions and answers to summarize the situation:
Did Manfred really say he may force the players to play regardless of whether or not they came to an agreement? Is that even allowed?
Yes it is allowed, and it is what Manfred said. He did however indicate a strong desire to get this done with a deal, with a league mandated season being the absolute last resort.
Then we get baseball. All is well at that point, no?
Well, yes that part is great, but still not the way we want it to happen. Everyone involved would much prefer an agreement be made so we don’t end up with a bunch of unhappy players on the field.
Are the sides still negotiating?
Yes! In the interview, Manfred said that MLB will be submitting another proposal to the players shortly that will be “another significant move in the players’ direction in terms of the salary issue that has kept us apart.”
So what’s next?
We wait and see how negotiations continue in the coming days and keep our fingers crossed everyone comes to an agreement. Either way, it looks like we’re getting some baseball, folks.
Revisiting the Rockies’ 2015 draft: Brendan Rodgers, busts and looking for clues | The Athletic ($)
While the rest of the Purple Row team has tackled the 2020 draft, I’ve chosen to turn back the clock and focus on Nick Groke’s analysis of the Rockies 2015 selections. The Rockies were coming off a 66-win season with Jeff Bridich taking his first crack at drafting as a General Manager. That less than stellar season had the Rockies sitting with the third overall pick for the second time in franchise history (Jon Gray in 2013? Yes please.)
After Dansby Swanson (Atlanta Braves) and Alex Bregman (Houston Astros) were taken as picks one and two, the Rockies grabbed the high school stud shortstop, Brendan Rodgers. Sure they had Tulo locked in at the major league level and Trevor Story making his way through the ranks, but the hitting gift that Rodgers had was just too much. While we’re still waiting to see exactly how that pick will pan out, a few other familiar names came from the draft that year, albeit in later rounds. Peter Lambert and Sam Hilliard both had solid performances in the majors in 2019 and look like names we’ll hear about going forward.
Let’s hope the 2020 draft looks even nicer than this one does five years on.
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