The Best And Worst Things Of The 2020 Baseball Season
ALSO: DID THE BRAVES PULL A ROCK BY NON-TENDERING ADAM DUVALL?
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know ...
New Mets owner Steve Cohen, who spent $480,000 to buy the ball that Mookie Wilson hit through Bill Buckner’s legs in 1986, plans to put it on display in the new Mets Museum at CitiField . . .
Braves pitcher Pascual Perez missed a start in 1982 after getting lost on the beltways surrounding Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, thus earning himself the nickname “Perimeter” Perez . . .
Dennis Martinez won more games than any other pitcher who never won 20 in a season . . .
Dan Quisenberry was called “the Australian” not because of his heritage but because his submarine windup came from Down Under.
Leading Off
Three best and worst things of the ‘20 season
By Brad Curnow
To say the very least, the 2020 MLB season was strange. The COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into the spokes of what seemed to be a season that would unite the baseball world against a common enemy in the Houston Astros. But it wasn’t meant to be.
Though it didn’t feel as disjointed and broken as the NBA or NHL seasons were, a 60-game sprint was an odd way to take in baseball. Nevertheless, I felt like there were still some great parts of the season that should be celebrated. Let’s take a look at the three best things to come from the 2020 MLB season. But before we do that, we might well start negatively with the three worst things from the MLB season.
The Worst of 2020
1. No Astros players punished
Shortly after the 2019 World Series wrapped up, The Athletic published an article where Oakland A’s pitcher Mike Fiers outed the 2017 Houston Astros as (to put it lightly) sign-stealing cheaters. The baseball world was incensed. Players were speaking out against the Astros and calling for punishments that hadn’t been levied outside of steroids and gambling. It was a truly unique experience. After some of the dust settled, GM Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch were suspended by MLB in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement. Owner Jim Crane then fired both of them. However, no players were punished. Not a single suspension was handed down. To make matters worse, MLB players decided to police themselves (as they do) but the league defended the Astros. LA Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly was suspended eight games (equivalent to 21.6 games in a full season) after throwing near Astros third baseman Alex Bregman and shortstop Carlos Correa. There was a brief congregation on the field where players exchanged words, but no punches were thrown. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was suspended one game and Astros manager Dusty Baker was fined for allowing players to break COVID-19 distancing rules. No Astros players were fined or suspended.
2. Indefinite play stoppage
When COVID-19 shut down baseball, I made the analogy on the Baseball Together podcast that it felt like the Thanos’ snap from Avengers: Endgame. It wasn’t just baseball that was affected. The entire sports world shut down and stood completely still with an extreme uncertainty of the future. While there was talk of ideas that suggested when play would resume, nothing was certain. It was clear that MLB didn’t know what was happening, so fans were completely in the dark as to when baseball would be expected back. Furthermore, thousands of fans had already purchased tickets to games for the 2020 season and refunds were being withheld due to the uncertainty of even being allowed to attend games. As the stoppage progressed with no sign of a start, it felt like the baseball world was slipping into a dystopian wasteland.
3. Negotiations between MLB and MLBPA
In 1650, English theologian and historian Thomas Fuller was credited with saying, “The darkest hour is just before the dawn.” And boy, did things get dark. After having negotiated fully pro-rated salaries for players, MLB owners pulled back, saying that not allowing fans into stadiums would be catastrophic financially and it wasn’t feasible. Naturally, the players pushed back. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred was stuck in the middle, trying to convey the owners’ message while making somewhat of an effort to talk down the Players Association, but fans were left confused by all of it. One day it seemed as though there would be a season, then the next day there was no sign of any start. It was a disaster.
The Best of 2020
1. The Nats didn’t make the playoffs
Let me preface this with a disclaimer: I have absolutely nothing against the Washington Nationals. Simply put, I get sick of champions quickly. I was happy for the Nationals and their fans the moment they won the 2019 World Series, but within 20 minutes I was ready for the next team to step up and take them down. Parity is important in sports and baseball has it in spades as evidenced by not producing back-to-back champions since the 1999 and 2000 seasons. Yes, the 2020 World Series was a showdown of the top seeds in each league, but one team hadn’t won a title since 1988 and the other has never claimed a title. So, congratulations to the 2020 L.A. Dodgers and their fans, but next year I want to see somebody else ... again.
2. We had a World Series
The 2020 MLB season was a bumpy ride. The Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals each had their own clubhouse COVID-19 outbreaks that affected nearly two-thirds of MLB. With games that were moved from city to city, pushed back by weeks, and days upon days of seven-inning doubleheaders, it felt like the plug would be pulled any day. Instead, Manfred put the onus on the players and said they would press forward. And press forward they did. The outbreaks got under control, playoff teams entered their bubbles, and it all nearly went off without a hitch. MLB crowned a 2020 champion, even if there will be an asterisk in the record books that says, “Shortened Season: COVID-19 Pandemic.”
3. Seattle Mariners center-fielder Kyle Lewis
This is my homer pick. As a lifelong Mariners fan, I’ve seen a lot of bad baseball in Seattle. However, I've also seen a lot of great baseball. Particularly in center field. While Lewis made his MLB debut late in 2019, he was slated to make the Opening Day roster regardless of what 2020 brought. This anticipated prospect proved to be everything Mariners fans had hoped for with his 11 homers, .801 OPS, and stellar defense, which led to a unanimous American League Rookie of the Year award.
Brad Curnow has had a passion for baseball since he could first walk up to a batting tee as a toddler. He learned how to throw a two-seam fastball before he could write his own name and is a life-long Seattle Mariners fan. You can catch him each week on the Baseball Together podcast. He’s at curnowbrad@gmail.com.
Cleaning Up
Atlanta Makes a Rare Mistake In Non-Tendering Adam Duvall
By Dan Schlossberg
Alex Anthopoulos doesn’t make many mistakes. At 44, the president of baseball operations for the Atlanta Braves has added Josh Donaldson, Marcell Ozuna, Will Smith, and Charlie Morton in recent off-seasons and always acquired the right trade deadline pieces to keep his club on a playoffs path –- three straight and counting.
But his decision to deny Adam Duvall a contract may come back to bite him on the butt. And soon.
Duvall, acquired from the Cincinnati Reds in 2018, came into his own last year with 16 homers, including a pair of three-homer games within an eight-day span. He also played a darn good left field, fit well in a clubhouse that treasured chemistry, and insisted on playing during a pandemic even while battling diabetes.
His oblique injury during his first plate appearance in the opener of the NL Championship Series might have been the main reason the Braves failed to win their first pennant since 1999 –- even though they still took the dynamic Dodgers a full seven games before losing a one-run decision in Game 7.
Non-tendering Duvall, a 31-year-old right-handed slugger, is unfair, unwarranted, and completely illogical. Yes, he was on target for a $4.7 million salary in arbitration. But he’ll now get more –- most likely from one of Atlanta’s four rivals in the highly-competitive National League East.
The New York Mets and Washington Nationals both crave right-handed power, which Duvall supplies in spades, while the Philadelphia Phillies play in a bandbox built to match his swing.
There are several other surprise aspects to Duvall’s release. Tops among them is that seven other Braves considered more likely to be non-tendered were kept instead. That includes the wayward relief pitcher Luke Jackson, who was so bad during the shortened 2020 season that he was left off the Braves roster in three separate postseason series. Grant Dayton got a contract too – mainly because he throws left-handed.
Cutting Duvall leaves gaping holes in the Atlanta offense as well as its outfield. With Ozuna also likely to leave, the Braves could be without their two best right-handed sluggers. And Freddie Freeman, the lefty-hitting Most Valuable Player of the National League, could be without the lineup protection that allowed him to accumulate MVP numbers in 2020.
And what of left field? Ozuna, mostly used as a DH last summer, would be a liability there and Austin Riley, normally the third baseman, isn’t much better. Nor do the Braves know if rookie Drew Waters, a switch-hitter cut from the Chipper Jones mold, is ready yet.
That leaves manager Brian Snitker with an outfield of Ronald Acuna Jr., Cristian Pache, and a giant question-mark – even if aging Nick Markakis signs another inexpensive one-year deal. Ender Inciarte, who owns three Gold Gloves, isn’t expected back although he remains on the roster.
To be sure, there are plenty of outfielders in a free-agent market that numbers more than 200 names. But all teams, including the Braves, took an enormous financial hit from games played without fans and don’t know whether the situation will be any better in 2021.
Duvall could still return, especially if the Braves find a left-handed platoon partner in the Joc Pederson mold, or the team could go after Kyle Schwarber, non-tendered by the Cubs, or Eddie Rosario, most recently with Minnesota.
Anthopoulos, for his part, has other priorities. He needs to rebuild a bullpen that lost Mark Melancon, Shane Greene, and Darren O’Day. He also needs to sign Freeman, the Face of the Franchise, to an extension that will keep him with the team well past the next presidential election. And he has to find a catcher to replace Tyler Flowers, a free agent, as understudy to Travis d’Arnaud.
But the biggest off-season objectives for the Braves will be to rebuild the power that enabled a pitching-challenged club to batter their way through the season. Even when they scored an NL-record 29 runs in a game, for example, they gave up nine.
Complicating everything is the indecision of Major League Baseball regarding continuation of the designated hitter in the National League. Tried for the first time in 2020, the DH worked out well – especially for the Braves after Ozuna led the league in home runs and runs batted in.
But owners are now using it as a bargaining chip -– hoping to trade approval of the universal DH for continued expanded playoffs or some such thing.
In the meantime, more than a dozen one-dimensional sluggers, from Ozuna to Nelson Cruz and Edwin Encarnacion, sit and wait to determine whether their market is 15 teams or 30.
Adam Duvall, a solid two-way player, shouldn’t have to see and wait too long to find a team, as he’ll have a myriad of suitors.
Other baseball musings to warm the heart on a windswept winter day:
Congratulations to Atlanta’s Brian Snitker, named 2020 Major League Manager of the Year by Baseball America . . .
The Dodgers not only beefed up their bullpen by trading for former Brewers closer Corey Knebel but are now the only major-league team with two Coreys . . .
The five players most likely to be traded are Francisco Lindor (Indians), Blake Snell (Rays), Kris Bryant (Cubs), Nolan Arenado (Rockies), and Sonny Gray (Reds) . . .
Since the 30 MLB clubs lost a combined $3 billion in 2020, how preposterous was the claim of the Philadelphia Phillies that they alone lost $2 billion?
HERE’S THE PITCH Weekend Editor Dan Schlossberg of Fair Lawn, NJ is a national baseball writer for forbes.com, columnist for Sports Collectors Digest, contributor to Latino Sports, and author of 38 baseball books. His e.mail is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
The first right-handed pitcher to throw a no-hitter for the Yankees since Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series was Dwight Gooden in 1996 . . .
Joe DiMaggio had more home runs than strikeouts in seven different seasons . . .
Lindy McDaniel was the last Yankees pitcher to hit a home run . . .
Rollie Fingers and Bruce Sutter each blew 14 saves in a season but made the Hall of Fame anyway.
Reader Reacts
I really enjoyed Dan Schlossberg’s HTP piece on Lindy McDaniel. I grew up in New Jersey as a Yankees (and Phillies) fan. Reading your mention of Lindy McDaniel's seven perfect innings in 1968 sent me to baseball-reference.com, where I confirmed I attended that game. It was the second game of a twi-night doubleheader against the
Tigers and it lasted 19 innings before being called for curfew. I was 14 and went to the doubleheader with my parents after we had spent the day in New York. It lasted until at least 1 a.m. My father eventually went out and slept in the car while Mom and I hung in there to the bitter end and noticed some fans sleeping in the stands. It was August of Mickey Mantle's last season and I'm guessing that was the last time I saw him in person. He pinch-hit for Gene Michael and got a single after going hitless in the first game.
Thanks for bringing back that memory.
KEVIN BRAUN
Stone Mountain, Ga.
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Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Brian Harl [bchrom831@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.
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