Thursday marked the first time the Players Union and the MLB owners discussed anything about the lockout, although it looks like there is still quite a bit of leg work to do.
It was the first meeting since the lockout began on December 1, and it appears as if neither side made any progress. We’ll have to wait and see when negotiations will open back up.
The Super Bowl is already next month, and for baseball fans, that always meant that pitchers and catchers reporting was around the corner. That now seems to loom large, as the two sides would have to get a deal done relatively quickly for players to report on time.
As of now, all we can do is wait and hope for a solution soon.
For now, all we Dodger fans can do is speculate how the team might fill out the roster once the transaction freeze is lifted.
The Dodgers have made a few minor league moves, most recently signing pitcher Yefry Ramirez, who spent most of last season in Triple-A with the Oklahoma City Dodgers. He appeared in one game in the big leagues last year and pitched two scoreless innings. He posted a 5.02 ERA at his time in OKC.
Once all this lockout stuff is resolved, the Dodgers are also expected to go after Japanese outfielder Seiya Suzuki.
Suzuki reportedly has met through Zoom, with the Dodgers and about 10-12 other teams. The outfielder is 27 years old and hit 38 home runs along with 88 RBI last season. It is expected he gets a contract of around $60 million for five years.
Once we are out of this lockout, it will be interesting to see how soon the Dodgers make a move, as there’s been a lot of speculation regarding signings and trades.
The Athletic has put out surveys for every team, including the Dodgers, regarding team satisfaction and fans sending hypothetical trades.
For all the craziness that the first weeks of the offseason brought, there surely is quite a dry spell now, all we can do is wait, and as we can not wait for baseball to return.
Well, they’ve taken the first step and MLB has put an offer on the table. We all knew it wouldn’t have much that the players would like or accept but they have to start somewhere. Next, the players will come back with their official response and then there will be a round where each side insults the other’s supposed compromises.
Eventually they’ll reach an agreement and both sides will think they gave up too much. As usual, the only people who actually get short changed will be the fans.
Thanks Jeff. Now I understand the process. We can all take a holiday until 2 days before spring training.
Let’s hope it’s still Spring Training and not Summer Training.
I’m assuming there will be at least a couple weeks from the settlement date until ST starts and those will be heaven for fans who like to see player transactions. They’ll be coming so hot and heavy it will make our heads spin.
From what I’ve read this thing could go on through Spring Training. It has the potential to go even further.
I may be an exception but I’m tired of this crap. We’ve lived through a few of these and the last one should have been the last one. Fans were pissed. I was one that, on the blog I was posting on at the time, suggested fans boycott Opening Day and send a message to these people that we are the ones who pay for all of this and our union is stronger than yours. My efforts fell on deaf ears.
Is it safe to assume that during the lockout the owners are still eith each other about potential trades? If they are, why isn’t there the usual rumor mill from reporters?
I’ve read a few different things about how much contact is allowed during the lockout. One story I read said it was OK for GM’s to discuss trades with each other but no contact could be made with players or their agents. Another story said trades couldn’t be discussed, period.
Does anyone else here know which of those two is correct?
Of course they are discussing trades, just not leaking to reporters. Thus no rumors. They will all be playing catch up with free agents. I imagine they will want to get ahead of the trade market. Will beverg interesting once this gets settled. By the way if spring training gets cut in half I’d be the happiest guy in the world. Not necessary at all.
I am with you Scoop. Totally tired of the BS those two entities force the fans to put up with. International signing period begins today. Dodgers lock up the #7 rated player. They also are on the brink of signing a left handed hitting shortstop. In other news, the Atlantic league canned the 61.6 inch length from the mound to the plate. Seems it had little effect. Also canned was the robo ump. They did keep the larger bases. The runner on second rule to start the 10th inning has also gone the way of the dodo,
Baseball America is keeping track of the international signings today. Here’s the Dodger list (which at this point is longer than anyone else’s):
Samuel Muñoz, OF, Dominican Republic
Accimia Morales, RHP, Venezuela
Raynerd Ortega, SS, Venezuela
Daniel Arrias, OF, Venezuela
Jose Gonzalez, OF, Venezuela
Yorfran Medina, OF, Venezuela
Josue De Paula, OF, Dominican Republic
Mairo Martinus, SS, Curacao
Domingo Geronimo, RHP, Dominican Republic
Jeral Perez, SS, Dominican Republic
Javier Peña, C, Dominican Republic
SS Nathanael Castillo, SS, Dominican Republic
Yuliangel de la Cruz, RHP, Dominican Republic
Luciano Romero, RHP, Venezuela
Victor Rodrigues, C, Venezuela
Peter Bonilla Hernandez, LHP, Spain
Cristian Rueda RHP, Venezuela
Darwin Rodríguez RHP, Venezuela
Eiver Espinoza RHP, Venezuela
Johan Palacios RHP, Venezuela
Jonas Uzcategui LHP, Venezuela
Julio Mendez LHP, Venezuela
Rafael Brito RHP, Venezuela
Santiago Suarez RHP, Venezuela
Nicolas Uriepero RHP, Venezuela
Greyber Altamirano INF, Venezuela
Byron Chourio OF, Venezuela
Deivis Mosquera OF, Venezuela
Eduardo Guerrero, SS, Venezuela
Also, not on this list is a Russian born player (Cuban parents).
If you look carefully, you’ll see that 20 of the 29 players listed here are from Venezuela (home of Diego Cartaya, Brusdar Graterol and Keibert Ruiz). We know a good thing when we see it.
Turns out that yesterday’s list from BA was apparently incorrect and only 14 of the signees were from Venezuela.
Eric Stephen has a new list today and it breaks down as follows:
Venezuela – 14
DR – 7
Columbia – 2
Aruba, Curacao, Spain, Russia, Nicaragua, Panama, Mexico – 1 each
Position breakdown as follows:
RHP – 13
LHP – 2
SS – 8
OF – 3
C – 3
INF – 1
Since yesterday’s info was wrong, I do not vouch for today’s either. I’m probably the only one who even cares, but frankly I got tired of watching the Tampa-Philly game and I was looking for something sports-oriented to take up some time.
OF 3? 1 INF?
Well, let’s take a look at this.
30 players, half are pitchers. That seems about right although the right-left ratio is very skewed.
I thought we were short some outfielders also, but you know how it goes these days. Lots of shortstops wind up in centerfield and we signed 8 shortstops. Also, with 8 shortstops a bunch of them could wind up at second or third eventually. So maybe we’re just short on first baseman?
The list says 7 outfielders.
I’m looking at a BA list that reads differently
Samuel Muñoz, 3B/OF, Dominican Republic
Accimias Morales, RHP, Venezuela
Raynerd Ortega, SS, Venezuela
Daniel Arrias, OF, Venezuela
Yorfran Medina, OF, Venezuela
Josue De Paula, OF, Dominican Republic
Mairo Martinus, SS, Curacao
Domingo Geronimo, RHP, Dominican Republic
Jeral Perez, SS, Dominican Republic
Javier Peña, C, Dominican Republic
Natanael Castillo, SS, Dominican Republic
Yuliangel de la Cruz, RHP, Dominican Republic
Luciano Romero, RHP, Venezuela
Victor Rodrigues, C, Venezuela
Peter Bonilla Hernandez, LHP, Spain
Alexander Albertus, SS, Aruba
Eduardo Guerrero, SS, Venezuela
Edgar Aviles, RHP, Mexico
Emrike Sevilya, RHP, Russia
Yoryi Simarra, RHP, Colombia
Oswaldo Osorio, SS, Venezuela
Roiger Mujica, RHP, Venezuela
Sean Liñan, RHP, Colombia
Edgar Leon, RHP, Venezuela
Jholbran Herder, RHP, Venezuela
Yhonaider Gudiño, SS, Venezuela
Miguel Dominguez, C, Panama
Steven Castillo, RHP, Nicaragua
Ilmerson Colon, LHP, Venezuela
Nicolas Cruz, RHP, Venezuela
Oh well. Hardly matters. Maybe 3-4 of those guys will get a sniff.
Every list I see says something different. And that doesn’t even count the one that said we signed 2 linebackers and a safety.