MLB Intel

 2022 MLB Season Predictions: With opening day one week away, rosters being set and bets being placed, it's time to consider where the 2022 MLB season will round out. AL East: 1. Boston Red Sox 2. Toronto Blue Jays 3. Tampa Bay Rays 4. New York Yankees 5. Baltimore Orioles The top two teams will spend the season absolutely hunting one another, first place will not be held on by one team for very long periods. The Red Sox will begin the season without their ace, Chris Sale, but have added Trevor Story at 2B. Toronto made serious moves last season to get better and get better fast as well as off season moves that included the acquisition of Matt Chapman from Oakland. Tampa Bay figures to be thorn in their sides but won't be able to compete. AL Central: 1. Chicago White Sox 2. Minnesota Twins 3. Detroit Tigers 4. Cleveland Guardians 5. Kansas City Royals Chicago captured the division very early last year, in fact they captured their division before anybody else in MLB, however, it...

  Agreement in place! MLB lockout is over! MLB and the MLBPA finally sat down and came to terms with each other and agreed to end the MLB lockout and get players back to the field and give a start date of April 7th.  With the end of the lockout came a flurry of moves now enabled to be done with the new CBA in place. A quick rundown of a few of whom is going where: - Trevor Story signs with the Boston Red Sox - Carlos Correa signs with the Minnesota Twins - Kris Bryant signs with the Colorado Rockies - Jorge Soler sings with the Miami Marlins - Kenley Jansen signs with the Atlanta Braves - Freddie Freeman signs with the Los Angeles Dodgers - Seiya Suzuki signs with the Chicago Cubs - Kyle Schwarber signs with the Philadelphia Phillies - Anthony Rizzo signs with the New York Yankees There are still some uncertain factors to settle in MLB CBA, such as the "ghost runner" on second but the two sides have finally agreed to terms to make the season happen. There will reportedly be n...

 One Step Forward, Two Steps Back At one point we thought the MLBPA, and owners could actually come to an agreement and get baseball started on time. That is, and has been, shunned as a possibility. On Wednesday, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced that a total of four series of the MLB season would be cancelled, and April 14th is now the tentative start date. Fans are hurting, I am hurting, we are all begging for this to end.  It was reported early on in this lockout that MLB owners "don't care" about April baseball because that is their lowest point of attendance in the season and when they make the fewest amount of dollars in the entirety of the season. Owners are willing to holdout into early May in order to get their demands met. Players are holding strong but, luckily, both sides have found some, albeit few, common areas and agreements. The progress made in CBA talks was players going from their request of $288 million for the competitive balance tax down to $232...

 SEASON OFFICIALLY DELAYED                                       The MLB and MLBPA have both failed to come to an agreement before their self-imposed February 28th deadline and as a result us fans will now suffer an extended period of time without America's pastime to help us as we defrost ourselves from winter's bite. According to multiple MLB sources, there is no timetable anymore for the two sides to work out a deal to open the season and end the lockout. The number of games that will be missed are still not known. The widely accepted belief is that this is the fault of the MLB and their owners as they are unwilling to agree to many things that the MLBPA wants such as more pay and better attention on minor leaguers. MLB players across the league, including the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim's Mike Trout, say this is for the next generation and all signs point to that being the case. Man...

February 28th Deadline Set By MLB for Season to Start on Time With Spring Training already have been set to have begun over a week ago and negotiations still on going, the owners have now set a hard deadline of Monday, February 28th or risk a shortened regular season. That leaves just under five days to get thing sorted out. Negotiations to this point have gone no where as the most recent round of negotiations enter its fifth day. Major League Baseball has told owners and the Players Association that "[they have]  set a Monday deadline for a deal to be completed in order for Opening Day to take place on March 31 as scheduled. The league has said that once games are canceled -- which will happen unless a deal can be struck by Monday’s deadline -- they will not be rescheduled".  Latest discussions have included draft lottery, pre-arbitration bonus pool, and competitive balance tax. So far the there have only been minor tweaks to proposals from both sides and progress has been s...

  The day has come! ... And gone. Today is February 15, 2022. It is the day that pitchers and catchers report for MLB but due to the ongoing labor dispute, pitchers and catchers have not and will not report today. I don’t know about everybody else out there, but for me when I see that pitchers and catchers have reported, suddenly it isn’t so cold here in New England. It feels warmer, the sun shines brighter, the snow isn’t relevant, it’s almost an afterthought because there is baseball stuff happening. But this morning’s bitter temperature, or lack thereof (it was 0 degrees when I left my house), felt even more cold. Today feels even more empty. There is no pitcher throwing to a catcher, there are no stars arriving early and telling the media they want to get a head start to be at their best for the season. No. There’s nothing but a bitter cold wind and complete disarm from MLB. To worsen matters, the MLB allegedly wants to stop paying minor league players for their service time du...

 DELAYED!   Photo from: https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/mlb-stops-testing-athletes-for-steroids-amid-lockout-ap-sources-say According to sources within MLB, commissioner Rob Manfred is expected to announce the delay in spring training due to the ongoing labor dispute. This coming off the recent news that Manfred will hold a press conference on Thursday, 2/10. MLB owners and players have been in a lockout since early December of 2021 and as the lockout rages on into its second month, there seems to be no end in sight. Last week, MLB requested that a federal mediator join in the dispute to try and help settle the lockout, however the MLBPA rejected the use of a federal mediator meaning that no mediator will be brought in.  As the lockout continues, players have begun to voice their own frustrations. Boston Red Sox left-handed pitcher, James Paxton threw his hat in the ring with a statement on twitter saying, "A significant part of Collective Bargaining is... actually barg...