As the new year begins, eyes will start to look towards the middle of February and the start of Spring Training for Major League Baseball. There has been plenty of chatter as to whether the spring and ultimately the regular season, might get delayed. However, for now at least, the league and the players are progressing as if Spring Training and the regular season will start on time according to The Athletic’s Evan Drellich.
The league’s statement to Drellich states that they will be in consultation with public health authorities and the Players Association as we get closer to players actually reporting. The players are preparing for everything to start on time while there is rumblings that ownership would rather push things back to May which would allow more time for COVID-19 vaccines to be distributed to the public, which in turn would increase the number of fans who can attend games. That is something the players would like want as well, but the sticking point would be any discussion over trimming salaries for a shortened season.
While we are all still waiting for the offseason to crank back up again, we are going to start to hear plenty about labor issues as well. The format for the 2021 season will no doubt be a major part of that discussion as well.
Braves News
The roll out for our 2021 preseason Top 30 prospects list for the Atlanta Braves began rolling out Sunday with four players that just missed the cut. The remainder of the list will roll out over the coming week so be sure to check in daily.
MLB News
The Yankees may still be the frontrunner to sign DJ LeMahieu but the Dodgers continue to linger as a possible landing spot. The Blue Jays, Mets and Astros are other teams that have been linked to LeMahieu.
ESPN’s Buster Olney discusses why the Rockies might want to consider trading Trevor Story now.
The Miami Marlins have an agreement with veteran catcher Sandy Leon on a minor league deal that also includes an invite to big league Spring Training.
The Red Sox were among the teams chasing Ha-Seong Kim before he agreed to a four-year, $28 million deal with the Padres. Part of the decision process reportedly was that he preferred the weather of a west coast team rather than playing in Boston.