djoctagone

if rosters do expand to as many as 50 players, it's going to be interesting to see if any transactional rules change when it comes time to pare the roster down to 40 (i.e. are they subject to being claimed if placed on outright waivers). i'm also curious how rule 5 players drafted in 2019 will be handled in 2020. if they spend the entire (albeit abbreviated) season on the active roster, does their club retain their rights in 2021 and beyond?

i think it signals that there won't be any minor league baseball played in 2020. the minor league teams' owners don't benefit greatly from radio or television--their main source of revenue is paid attendance (and the additional revenues from such). if fans aren't allowed to games, how can they justify agreeing to develop players for the major league clubs?

it is reported here that rosters up to 45 - 50 players are expected if baseball resumes in 2020 (based on approximately an 80-game season).

only nine players in franchise history have worn #17. eight of them did it prior to the 1978 season. the only player to wear #17 since 1978 has been jim gantner.

the mlb players association will be paying players with at least one day of major league service who were in big league camp as of 13 march. every non-roster invitee that the brewers returned to minor league camp prior to 13 march had no major league service time. here's what each remaining nri will receive: andres blanco: $50,000 keon broxton: $15,000 jake faria: $7500 tuffy gosewisch: $15,000 justin grimm: $25,000 shelby miller: $50,000 mike morin: $25,000 logan morrison: $50,000 jace peterson: $25,000 aaron wilkerson: $5,000

further details on the deal for minor leaguers. lasts until 31 may, or minor league opening day--whichever happens first.

$400 a week plus medical benefits to be paid by mlb to minor leaguers through at least 31 may. that's the equivalent of $10 an hour for a 40-hour work week.

they're looking at expanding rosters to abbreviate exhibition play--which will be required to ramp pitchers back up to a "normal" pitch count. a lot is dependent on when opening day is specified. and yes, i agree that mlb may have to modify the rules for the 27th (or extra) man for scheduled doubleheaders.

with the potential of an abbreviated season (and a season more aggressively played with as many as two doubleheaders a week), coupled with an uncertainty of how the minor league season will work (which normally ends early september), mlb and the players association have to be considering a modification to these new rules . . . perhaps they go back to the 2019 rules of 10 days instead of 15 days? and/or further reduce the minimum from 10? or perhaps with the cases above they change days to games played by the parent club while the player is on the injured list or on optional assignment (i.e. a major league club plays nine games over a seven day period, so as soon as the tenth game is played, the player can be recalled or activated)? also, with the potential of two double headers a week, what will happen to the extra player rule? in 2019, it was the 26th player rule. for 2020, it was going to be the 27th player rule. if two double headers are scheduled within the same week, will mlb require that the 27th (or extra) player be a different player than the one from the doubleheader just days prior? or, will mlb waive the physical reporting requirement for an optioned player and allow that player to work out with the club as an inactive player until the next scheduled double header? if a double header is scheduled just three days after a double header, it doesn't make sense for the extra player to have to physically report to where ever the assigned minor league club is playing only to have turn around and fly back to the major league club.

there are minimum requirements for minor league salary for split contracts based on the number of years a player has been on a 40-man roster (which usually goes hand-in-hand with remaining options). this article breaks down the daily pay: players with split deals for more than $150,000 in the minor leagues will receive $1,000 a day. for players on a split deal with a minor league salary that's in the $91,800 to $149,999 range, it's $500 per day. those on split deals with a minor league salary under $91,800 will be paid $275 a day.

i haven't seen the actual deal (i believe it's 19 pages long), but from what i've read in various online reports, i am making these presumptions: transactions are frozen at this point (effective later today) until mlb and the players association mutually agree upon a date to allow for transactions--including removing a player from the 40-man roster. $170 million has been allocated to be paid as a bonus to players on the 40-man roster. all players with at least one minor league option remaining sign a split contract--there's a pro-rated amount paid while on the major league roster or major league injured list, and there's a lesser amount paid while on optional assignment in the minor leagues. players on the 40-man roster for the first time will be paid $275 per day, others $500, others $1000, and in the highest tier — those with a guaranteed major league contract — get the remainder of the $170 million. while i have yet to see reports defining the class of player $500 and for $1000, i am presuming it is based on the number of minor league options remaining entering 2020 camp (all i've seen thus far is that it's based on the amounts set in split contracts--those with higher split contracts get the $1000. players with only one minor league option remaining get higher minor league salaries as part of their major league split contract). presumably, players who entered camp with two minor league options remaining get $500 a day, and players who entered camp with just one minor league option remaining get $1000 a day. however, given that the highest tier of players is defined as a guaranteed major league contract, it's possible that the $1000 a day players may also include arbitration-eligible players who are not on a guaranteed contract until the start of the season. also, for players with split contracts, it may not be based completely on number of minor league options remaining. pure speculation here: a player who has logged significant amount of major league service time and just one burned option may be getting $1000 a day instead of $500 a day. it's also possible that the $500 is for players who have burned one or two options, and the $1000 is for players out of options but who signed a split contract for their minor league salary in case they are outrighted. bottom line--this $170 million is only for players on the 40-man roster--which is why i'm sure the players pushed for a freeze on clubs removing players from the 40-man until a mutually agreed upon date.

i haven't seen the actual deal (i believe it's 19 pages long), but from what i've read in various online reports, i am making these presumptions: transactions are frozen at this point (effective later today) until mlb and the players association mutually agree upon a date to allow for transactions--including removing a player from the 40-man roster. $170 million has been allocated to be paid as a bonus to players on the 40-man roster. all players with at least one minor league option remaining sign a split contract--there's a pro-rated amount paid while on the major league roster or major league injured list, and there's a lesser amount paid while on optional assignment in the minor leagues. players on the 40-man roster for the first time will be paid $275 per day, others $500, others $1000, and in the highest tier — those with a guaranteed major league contract — get the remainder of the $170 million. while i have yet to see reports defining the class of player $500 and for $1000, i am presuming it is based on the number of minor league options remaining entering 2020 camp (all i've seen thus far is that it's based on the amounts set in split contracts--those with higher split contracts get the $1000. players with only one minor league option remaining get higher minor league salaries as part of their major league split contract). presumably, players who entered camp with two minor league options remaining get $500 a day, and players who entered camp with just one minor league option remaining get $1000 a day. however, given that the highest tier of players is defined as a guaranteed major league contract, it's possible that the $1000 a day players may also include arbitration-eligible players who are not on a guaranteed contract until the start of the season. also, for players with split contracts, it may not be based completely on number of minor league options remaining. pure speculation here: a player who has logged significant amount of major league service time and just one burned option may be getting $1000 a day instead of $500 a day. it's also possible that the $500 is for players who have burned one or two options, and the $1000 is for players out of options but who signed a split contract for their minor league salary in case they are outrighted. bottom line--this $170 million is only for players on the 40-man roster--which is why i'm sure the players pushed for a freeze on clubs removing players from the 40-man until a mutually agreed upon date.

if and when opening day happens, it's been reported that rosters will be expanded to 29 to start the season. here are the players on the 40-man roster who have not been placed on optional assignment or designated for assignment. it is unclear if/how the requisite stay for the 11 players already optioned will be handled with this new agreement. barring the addition of any non-roster invitees (or potential recall of an optioned player), this is what the opening day roster could look like with 29 players: 1. brett anderson 2. ray black 3. corbin burnes 4. alex claudio 5. josh hader 6. adrian houser 7. corey knebel (had yet to appear in a major league game due to injury) 8. eric lauer 9. josh lindblom 10. freddy peralta 11. david phelps 12. brent suter 13. devin williams 14. brandon woodruff 1. orlando arcia 2. ryan braun 3. lorenzo cain 4. ben gamel 5. avisail garcia 6. jedd gyorko 7. keston hiura 8. brock holt 9. omar narvarez 10. manny pina 11. justin smoak 12. eric sogard 13. tyrone taylor (had yet to appear in a major league game due to injury) 14. luis urias (had yet to appear in a major league game due to injury) 15. christian yelich

if and when opening day happens, it's been reported that rosters will be expanded to 29 to start the season. here are the players on the 40-man roster who have not been placed on optional assignment or designated for assignment. it is unclear if/how the requisite stay for the 11 players already optioned will be handled with this new agreement. barring the addition of any non-roster invitees (or potential recall of an optioned player), this is what the opening day roster could look like with 29 players: 1. brett anderson 2. ray black 3. corbin burnes 4. alex claudio 5. josh hader 6. adrian houser 7. corey knebel (had yet to appear in a major league game due to injury) 8. eric lauer 9. josh lindblom 10. freddy peralta 11. david phelps 12. brent suter 13. devin williams 14. brandon woodruff 1. orlando arcia 2. ryan braun 3. lorenzo cain 4. ben gamel 5. avisail garcia 6. jedd gyorko 7. keston hiura 8. brock holt 9. omar narvarez 10. manny pina 11. justin smoak 12. eric sogard 13. tyrone taylor (had yet to appear in a major league game due to injury) 14. luis urias (had yet to appear in a major league game due to injury) 15. christian yelich

i missed these optional assignment transactions on 18 march: david freitas (could burn his final option this year) ryon healy (could burn his first of three options this year) mark mathias (could burn his first of three options this year) ronny rodriguez (could burn his second of three options this year) these moves, plus the ones mentioned above, leave 29 players on the active major league roster. it's been reported that the season could start with expanded rosters of 29 players.

i missed these optional assignment transactions on 18 march: david freitas (could burn his final option this year) ryon healy (could burn his first of three options this year) mark mathias (could burn his first of three options this year) ronny rodriguez (could burn his second of three options this year) these moves, plus the ones mentioned above, leave 29 players on the active major league roster. it's been reported that the season could start with expanded rosters of 29 players.

a number of players listed below were optioned yesterday. it's unclear at this point how roster construction, requisite stay for optional assignment and major league service time will be affected with the pending deal between mlb and the players association nearing ratification. under the rules in place before spring training was suspended, a player would burn his option if he spent more than 20 days on optional assignment in the season, and said optional assignment was required to last a minimum of 10 days for a position player and a minimum of 15 days for a pitcher (unless replacing an injured player). j.p. feyereisen (could burn his first of three options this year) jacob nottingham (could burn his final option this year) angel perdomo (could burn his first of three options this year) booby wahl (could burn his second of three options this year) eric yardley (could burn his first of three options this year) these moves leave 33 players on the active major league roster.

a number of players listed below were optioned yesterday. it's unclear at this point how roster construction, requisite stay for optional assignment and major league service time will be affected with the pending deal between mlb and the players association nearing ratification. under the rules in place before spring training was suspended, a player would burn his option if he spent more than 20 days on optional assignment in the season, and said optional assignment was required to last a minimum of 10 days for a position player and a minimum of 15 days for a pitcher (unless replacing an injured player). j.p. feyereisen (could burn his first of three options this year) jacob nottingham (could burn his final option this year) angel perdomo (could burn his first of three options this year) booby wahl (could burn his second of three options this year) eric yardley (could burn his first of three options this year) these moves leave 33 players on the active major league roster.

if it was cash, there's a strong likelihood it will be used as toilet paper.

oh, how i miss the two-fisted slobber.

income for most minor league players is now assured through at least 9 april. it's speculated that said income isn't significant, however . . .

this article (continually updated) reveals which clubs are continuing their per diem/stipend/allowance payments for minor leaguers.

it's still too early to tell, but one may have to be prepared to significantly or completely lose the powerful symbolism of the miller branding as 2020 was set to be the final year as miller park. the use of the name itself could help with community healing after the recent tragedy at the brewery.

The last sentence is so odd I'm not even sure what to say. By that logic catastrophe is impossible because everyone dies. 3to just became 4to. and i am saddened by the reminder that someday, russell branyan will die.

it's also unclear how clubs will act on having to pay a $100,000 retention bonus to non-roster invitees who are not assured a spot on the opening day roster--whom otherwise could opt out of their contract with the club if not retained.