DKnobler DKnobler

Per @efrainruizp, Carlos Guillen to sign minor-league deal with Mariners with spring invite.

 

Selig hasn't yet figured out how to make the extra wild card schedule work.

multiple sources continue to tell ESPN.com that it's not yet safe to say that adding two wild-card teams for 2012 is "pretty definite," as Selig suggested to USA Today this week.

 

Here are the major complications:

 

• The regular season is scheduled to end on a Wednesday (Oct. 3), and the World Series will start exactly 21 days later, on Oct. 24. It isn't feasible at this point to change either of those dates.

 

• The Division Series are now tentatively scheduled to begin Saturday, Oct. 6. So the schedule-makers have to figure out a way to jam two one-game wild-card showdowns, plus potential tiebreaker games and/or rainout makeup games, into the two days in between.

 

Keep in mind that it's now far more likely that there would need to be at least one tiebreaker game under this system. Because the difference between finishing first and being a wild-card team will now be so great, the two sides have agreed that it isn't fair to break those ties any way other than on the field.

 

• Sources say there have been extensive discussions about eliminating a travel day during the Division Series to create more room for the wild-card round. But in return, the union has told management it would want concessions on start times for games that would be played on back-to-back days in different time zones.

 

That could mean, for instance, that the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox wouldn't be able to play in prime time on the East Coast two games in a row -- a possibility that would likely result in strenuous objections from management and baseball's TV partners.

 

• Start times for the final day of the regular season also could be affected. If it's decided that one or both wild-card games would be scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 4 (the day after the season ends), the union would prefer to have Wednesday games involving the affected teams moved to the afternoon, sources said.

 

At this point, it hasn't been decided whether the two wild-card games would be played on the same day or whether one league would tentatively play Thursday and the other would play Friday.

 

• However, moving a number of night games to Wednesday afternoon on the final day of the regular season would make it more difficult to duplicate the excitement of the last day of the 2011 season -- yet one more potential obstacle to scheduling one or both wild-card showdowns for Thursday.

 

• Another option is to allow for last-minute flexibility in scheduling days and times for all of these games, to help deal with travel and other challenges that can't be anticipated in advance. But that creates complications for fans and broadcast partners that all concerned would like to avoid.

 

Many of these concerns would disappear in 2013, because the regular-season schedule would be constructed to account for the addition of the new wild-card round. But because the 2012 schedule already had been announced before talks about this postseason began, there are no easy solutions to these issues if Selig is "adamant," as one source described him, about expanding the postseason field for this year.

Two wildcards is one of the dumber ideas in modern baseball history. I pray it doesn't happen.

Two wildcards is one of the dumber ideas in modern baseball history. I pray it doesn't happen.

 

+10000000000

Two wildcards is one of the dumber ideas in modern baseball history. I pray it doesn't happen.

 

Too late for that, since it's already going to happen for sure in 2013.

 

Over the long run, it's not going to matter. The second wildcard is going to have a better record than the worse division winner many times, and this new format will put a huge premium on winning your division. Two teams from the same division in the mid-to-high 90's wins can't just coast in September knowing they have one of the four playoff spots either way.

 

There are things about it that I don't like. It sets up a lot of unfairness when it comes to seeding, but I think overall it's going to work in the favor of MLB. It's 33% of the teams that have a chance, and will the loser of the Wildcard Game actually be considered a playoff team? Not really. It's win your division, and a few days later, it's the same format we have now anyway.

 

I do wish they would hold off until 2013, when it's a flat 5 of 15 in each league.

 

 

JonHeymanCBS Jon Heyman

Micah owings has $1M deal with padres, pending physical

 

JonHeymanCBS Jon Heyman

Micah owings has $1M deal with padres, pending physical

 

There goes his value in that park.

There goes his value in that park.

How many pitchers can you say that about?

How many pitchers can you say that about?

 

Pretty sure he meant his hitting prowess.

Pretty sure he meant his hitting prowess.

I get that. How many pitchers can you say go to Petco and they lose their value/

Ken_Rosenthal Ken Rosenthal

Sources: #Nationals' target is E. Jackson, not Oswalt. Move hinges on whether they can trade Lannan. #MLB

 

JonHeymanCBS Jon Heyman

edwin jackson deal is obvs pending physical. since thats what he was in wash for. $ is not known. #nats

 

edwin jackson in agreement with #nationals on deal. (he was seen in airport for physical)

 

JonHeymanCBS Jon Heyman

jackson is a 1 year deal, believed to be in $8-to-12M range. #nats

 

I would not be surprised to see Washington get in or real close to the playoffs this year.

Edited February 2, 201214 yr by MEANS

Good deal for the Nats. He can fit in behind Stras, Zim, & Gio. If they do compete, he is a solid vet, if he doesn't you can always trade him at the deadline. With a one-year deal, he won't hamper any future plans.

So, Jackson eventually ended up with the Nats and Dunn ended up with the White Sox after all.

So, Jackson eventually ended up with the Nats and Dunn ended up with the White Sox after all.

 

Ha. Nice catch. Funny how that works.

1 less pitcher for Jays/Red Sox to compete over.

 

Come on, offer up a nice package for Gavin!

Why/how did Jackson have to settle for that deal. Great deal for Nats terrible for Jackson.

 

Are other teams, except the Tigers, tiring on the Boras stuff?

Why/how did Jackson have to settle for that deal. Great deal for Nats terrible for Jackson.

 

Are other teams, except the Tigers, tiring on the Boras stuff?

 

It is typical Borass. Either he wants to get the big long term deal, or a one year deal to try again next year. It sounds like Jackson had multi-year offers, but I am guessing either the dollars or the years weren't big enough.

So, Jackson eventually ended up with the Nats and Dunn ended up with the White Sox after all.

 

This post... is a win.

So, Jackson eventually ended up with the Nats and Dunn ended up with the White Sox after all.

Except Wash got the Sox #1 pick too.

Except Wash got the Sox #1 pick too.

 

Alex Meyer, who I might be interviewing in a couple weeks. Hmm....maybe I should ask him about that.

Ken_Rosenthal Ken Rosenthal

Source: #Dodgers agree with Coffey on one-year, $1.3 million deal with club option, pending physical. #MLB

 

JonHeymanCBS Jon Heyman

Todd coffey agrees w/ dodgers

 

Yankee GM Brian Cashman's wife files for divorce, day after charges were filed against a woman for trying to extort him over an extramarital affair.