ChiSox59

Has it been clarified how exactly service time is going to work in 2020? I know that the 60 game season is considered a full year of service time. However - take Madrigal for example. He needed to spend~3 weeks in the minors for the Sox to get that extra year of control with a full 162 game season. How long would he need to stay now that its 60 games? Is it pro-rated on a 60/162 (37% basis), so basically he'd only need to spent like 10 days in the minors in that case? This is also very important for Kopech. He needed to be optioned and be in the minors until ~mid June for the Sox to get a year of service back. So now they'd have to get extra cute with him to recoup a year. I doubt we see them do that. To be clear, and I was one of the biggest proponents of getting that extra year for Madrigal, and the year back on Kopech, but I would just start them both on the MLB roster at this point. But I am curious how this is going work. This will obviously affect other guys that may spent a portion but not all of the season in the big leagues (Collins, Burdi, Mercedes, Mendick, etc.). Obviously its also a bit of a dagger to the org for the pre-arb guys and non-extended guys like Cease, Giolito, and Lopez who are extremely likely to spend the whole year in the bigs, but the club will lose a full year of service. But I guess every team has that problem, and Sox may be less affected than most since they've extended a lot of their young elite talent. I did read that those on the taxi-squads will NOT accrue MLB service time, if anyone is wondering about that.

Thanks - missed that. Edit - though, upon further review, neither of the other 2 guys appear to be anything worth mentioning. Obviously it was always going to be tough to convince an interesting high schooler to sign, and tough when you're competing with 29 other clubs all offering the same thing for the older guys, but it would have been nice to get a few interesting guys in the org.

So let me get this straight - the only two UDFA the Sox signed are Madrigal's brother and Bossard's kid, neither of which are prospects? Yikes.

It will indeed be interesting, and definitely depends on roster size. I would expect the following: No sight of Vaughn. Already too many guys in the 1B/DH/bad catcher or corner OF mold to fit another dude in for a limited number of games. Then there is also blowing a full year of service time. HIGHLY doubt we see him. I think Kopech starts in the rotation from the get-go. Should get in 8-10 starts, depending on how they handle the rotation. Sucks for Rodon, but I think he's one of the easier guys to throw in the pen. Can't role out seven starters for 60 games - can you? Maybe he slides back into the rotation if needed due to injuries or ineffectiveness. Madrigal at 2B from opening day. Punts a year of service, obviously, but no time for games now. I think the Sox will monitor Crochet, but I'd be surprised to see him throw a major league pitch in 2020. Burdi will be in the bullpen mix. If there is essentially a taxi squad, I think he'll be on it. If not, depends on injuries. I'd say we most likely see him pitch at least a little in the bigs. Mendick will be on the roster and get limited time with Madrigal entrenched at 2B. Encarrnacion will be the primary DH and play most days.

The answer to that is a pretty obvious no, IMO. Already ton me of dudes for 1B and DH at bats.

They’ll both be on the roster.

Honest question tho - why didn’t anyone else do this? And how did the Sox know he’s fall to 37? It’s not like Kelly can reject being drafted by someone else.

Thanks - yeah I read the article. I guess I just figured if the arm was that great, someone would have taken him yesterday and tried to figure the financials outs. Here's to hoping to falls 11 more spots. Looks like a great kid to have in the system. Built like a horse.

Why has he dropped so far? Based on that article, he was an option for the Sox at 11.

How many rounds do we get today? Sounds like Sox likely to take a pitcher - that accurate?

I don't see how any of the guys you listed besides Trout and Cole would make any sense to sit out. I know your argument is going to be why risk injury for reduced pay if you're an impending FA like Betts or Springer. But sitting out isn't going to do them favors either. The other dudes make no sense.

Yeah, I mean the bolded is absolute worst case scenario - as noted. Trout is perhaps a guy that would make sense to sit out. But he's signed long term and makes more money that he'll ever need, so he's not a great example. He can afford to walk away from $8-15M, or whatever it ends up being if the parties can come to an agreement. But the vast majority of players are not in that position. I don't know the accuracy, but Kevin Pillar tweeted yesterday that 65% of the MLB players make $1M or less, which sounds about right. Plenty of the guys that make between $1M-$5M annually are of course making a ton of money, but most of them probably live a lifestyle expecting those kinds of pay checks (mortgages, cars, etc.). I think the VAST majority of players are going to come back, even if they're making something like 30-50 cents on the dollar. I think its far more likely that the league and players association can't come to an agreement at all than anything more than ~5% of players just sitting out and forfeiting their pro-rated salaries. I hope its something we get to find out, because a full season of no baseball would suck.

Yeah, I mean I get the umpire and coaching staff angle for sure. They're also replaceable, especially considering milb is unlikely to be playing games in 2020. But generally speaking, professional athletes are about at the lowest risk of anyone. I am sure they are concerned for their families, but they can always stay away from their families for a couple months if needed. I just don't think that many guys are going to punt millions of dollars to sit at home. You only have some many years where you can make big bucks playing a game, and wasting a year because you're scared to get a virus that is incredibly unlikely to kill you seems like a stretch. Not to mention the affect it could have on your market moving forward. Like I said, if MLB games resume, I am sure we'll see a few players opt to sit out. I think its pretty unlikely it is large number.

But like - why would players opt out if games went on? They likely get paid nothing in that scenario, hurt their future marketability, and are only a year older in a game that your best years are numbered. I could see some older players towards the end of their careers that have made a ton of money just deciding to sit out, but I'd be very surprised if "a lot of players" went this route.

They've already agreed to pro-rated salaries. Ie: contract says you make $20M, season is now 81 games instead of 162, get 50%. They don't want further reduction.

Big yikes if true. I could see that being the case if they're getting paid as they have to this point, but if they payments stop, not sure how they can in good faith tell minor leaguers they can't file for unemployment.

But if whatever minor league affiliate (or frankly any entity, however it is structured) is their employer, and they stop paying them, what stops that guy from filing for unemployment?

I don’t mean this in a bad way, but aren’t these guys better off on unemployment than making $400 a week? Federal subsidy alone is $600/week.

Had to look. Nailed it. insert office gif. and obviously meant taxi squad not tad squad.

I mean, if he’s bad you cut him. If he’s good, he makes the 30/35/40 man roster. However big the roster is, it’s going to go deep whether that is daily rosters, or a tad squad or what. But this will be a different deal than we’re used to. Lots of guys who wouldn’t otherwise be playing in the bigs are going to get shots. the comment was mostly in jest tho. How old is Alexei? If I had to take a stab without looking - listed at 38, but probably in his early 40s.

Progress. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/05/mlb-economic-proposal-sliding-scale-mlbpa.html

I'd give him milb deal. Why not.

That's great news, hope he's got good info.

Nothing really. Just don’t think this is going to clear up enough anytime soon for all parties to agree on a structure that actually has a chance of being completed successfully. Hope I’m wrong. Just think things are gonna get ugly as states open back up and we’re basically gonna be right back where we were in mid March.

Feeling less optimistic on this than I was a few days ago.