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Pregame Pepper
Did you know ...
During 2016 spring training, lefty relief pitcher Will Smith landed on the Milwaukee disabled list after tearing a ligament in his knee while getting ready to shower. He made the mistake of standing on one leg while trying to take off his spikes and losing his balance . . .
In one virus-shortened year, Dodgers attendance went from 3,974,309 to 0 . . .
Within two days of his $2.4 billion purchase of the Mets, Steve Cohen’s Twitter account gained 22,000 followers.
Leading Off
Tanner Houck Dazzles In First Major League Stint
By Jamie Gatlin
The 2020 season was largely a forgettable campaign for the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox dealt with injuries and finished last in the AL East for the first time since 2015. However, it was not all bad as some prospects, including Tanner Houck and Bobby Dalbec, got their first taste of MLB action. While Dalbec added power to the Red Sox lineup, Houck provided hope to a struggling rotation.
The former first-round pick appeared in three games for Boston but was masterful. In 17 innings of work, Houck struck out 21 batters and only allowed one earned run. During his first MLB stint, Houck also held opponents to a .113 batting average and finished with a 0.53 ERA.
Additionally, Houck only allowed one home run and six hits in that span. The St. Louis native also went six innings in two of his three starts and struck out 10 Braves batters in his final start. Houck was nothing short of spectacular after bouncing between the rotation and bullpen in the minors.
Furthermore, Houck is looking to change a trend within the organization. Over the years, the Red Sox have struggled to produce pitching and relied on free agency and trades. Due to free agency deals such as David Price's contract, the Red Sox found themselves with salary-cap issues. The last pitcher the franchise drafted and developed was Clay Buchholz, who was talented but inconsistent and often injured.
Entering next season, Houck will have to make adjustments as the league adapts to his style. However, that is nothing new for the right-hander, who has had to reinvent himself at times in the minors. Before being promoted this season, Houck replaced his changeup with a splitter and refined his attack against lefties.
Additionally, at the alternate site in Pawtucket this year, Houck elevated his arm slot. The change improved his fastball and slider as Houck has become a more complete pitcher. The change has been beneficial as his strikeout numbers have been on the rise, which was a main focus this summer. Houck is still viewed as a bullpen arm by some but is determined to stick in the rotation.
Entering next season, Houck will have plenty of opportunities to prove himself. The Boston rotation is full of question marks as Eduardo Rodriguez and Chris Sale will be returning from injuries that kept them out for all of 2020. The Red Sox also declined the club option on Martin Perez, leaving an open spot up for grabs.
While spring training is still months away, the former first-round pick has come a long way. In Houck’s first professional season, he had a 6.16 ERA through his first 11 starts. He was able to salvage his season and dominated with a 2.86 ERA down the stretch. The following season Houck was promoted to Double-A but struggled to control his change-up. Those struggles, however, have not been on display so far in his major league career. His ability to adapt and refine his mechanics have contributed to his rise and eased any concerns about his ability to succeed in the majors.
Although the Red Sox rotation struggled mightily last year, Houck provides hope that the future will be different. The Red Sox have other promising arms in the minors such as Bryan Mata, Noah Song, and Jay Groome, but Houck has set himself apart. The right-hander also received comparisons to Chris Sale last year, which isn’t a bad way to start a career.
Jamie Gatlin is a freelance writer covering the NHL and MLB for Prime Time Sports Talk and a former MLB writer for Runners Sports. You can find him on Twitter @JamieGatlin1217 and @TalkPrimeTime. His email is gatlinjamie1@gmail.com
Cleaning Up
Six Star Players Figure To Reject Qualifying Offers
By Dan Schlossberg
The practice of providing players with qualifying offers began after the 2012 season and has risen virtually every year since.
The first qualifying offer price was $13.3, followed by $14.1 million in 2013, $15.3 million in 2014, $15.8 million in 2015, $17.2 million in 2016, and $17.4 million in 2017, $17.9 million in 2018, and $17.8 million in 2019. Now, it is $18.9 million, which could be a lot of money in a market expected to be severely depressed by Covid concerns and related uncertainty about schedule and revenue.
Six top free agents-to-be received this year’s qualifying offers – which would bind them to their clubs for one year if accepted – but are virtually certain to say no before the Nov. 11 deadline. One of them has already done that.
They are starting pitchers Trevor Bauer (Reds), Marcus Stroman (Mets), and Kevin Gausman (Giants) plus catcher J.T. Realmuto (Phillies), infielder DJ LeMahieu (Yankees), and outfielder George Springer (Astros). Not surprisingly, Bauer was first in line to say no.
Out of 90 extended qualifying offers extended over the last nine years, only eight have been accepted: Neil Walker (Mets), Jeremy Hellickson (Phillies), Hyun-Jin Ryu (Dodgers), and Jose Abreu (White Sox), Jake Odorizzi (Twins), Brett Anderson (Dodgers), Colby Rasmus (Astros), and Matt Wieters (Orioles).
Some 181 players are free agents, with the size of the market expected to vault well beyond 200 after the early-December deadline for teams to tender contracts or submit to arbitration – a process universally loathed by management. In a financially-depressed climate, expect lots of big name players to be non-tendered.
In fact, the salary dumping should be so big that the free-agent market could be expanded to more than 300 players. With supply exceeding demad, it will drive down salaries even more.
Already, the Cleveland Indians put star southpaw closer Brad Hand on irrevocable waivers in a bid to avoid paying him a $1 million buyout. Any of the other 29 clubs could have claimed the valuable reliever but nobody wanted to inherit his $10 million contract. A year ago, such a figure would have looked reasonable. Now, it doesn’t.
In the days before qualifying offers, players could accept or reject offers of salary arbitration from their clubs. If they accepted, they were considered signed for the next season.
Just before Christmas in 2003, Greg Maddux stunned the Atlanta Braves by accepting an arbitration offer the team thought he would reject. The club had already lost Tom Glavine to the Mets as a free agent but a free agent of their own – Paul Byrd – and acquired Russ Ortiz and Mike Hampton in separate trades. They planned to retain rotation members Kevin Millwood and Jason Marquis. But then Maddux decided to stay, sending the Braves over-budget and expanding the rotation to six.
"I think it's been well-publicized that we're working under certain parameters for next season,'' assistant general manager Frank Wren said at the time. "That means we will have some starting pitching to deal with.''
Millwood, who was eligible for arbitration, was soon shipped to Philadelphia for catcher Johnny Estrada, an unknown minor-leaguer who developed into an All-Star through a sheer stroke of luck.
Advised by their agents, players are again realizing that it’s sometimes best to put greed aside and wait a year to see what the market will bear.
The Boston Red Sox, for example, were hoping designated hitter J.D. Martinez would use his opt-out clause to depart, relieving a heavy burden on their payroll. But he declined, so the team must pay him $38.75 million over the next two years unless it can trade him. Martinez can opt out next winter too, saving the team $19,375,000 for 2022, but can also retain his status as a baseball albatross.
The New York Yankees know what that’s like: oft-injured Gioncarlo Stanton, a DH limited to 18 of the 60 games on the 2020 schedule, thought testing the market would not be wise even after a solid playoffs performance. So he’ll get $218 million over the next seven seasons.
Teams that sign players with qualifying offers attached must forfeit a draft pick in return. Otherwise, there is no compensation for teams losing free agents and no penalties for teams signing them.
But this signing season, clouded by the continuing pandemic, is virtually certain to be the slowest since the start of free agency in 1976.
As a writer, I would gladly accept the next qualifying offer I receive from an editor or publisher.
HERE’S THE PITCH Weekend Editor Dan Schlossberg has covered baseball for forbes.com, The Associated Press, Latino Sports, and Sports Collectors Digest since starting his career in 1969. His e.mail is ballauthor@gmail.com.
Timeless Trivia
The first known box score was published in The New York Morning News on Oct. 22, 1845 a month after the first set of rules were written by Alexander Cartwright...
When Ian Anderson (Braves) faced Dustin May (Dodgers) in NLCS Game 7 in 2020, it was the first time two rookies started Game 7 in any post-season series...
Rays rookie Randy Arozarena had a record 10 HR and 29 hits in the 2020 postseason...
Nick Markakis holds a record he doesn’t want: he has played in 2,154 games without reaching the World Series...
2020 WS Game 1 had a record low TV audience of 9,195,000 on Fox, said Nielsen Media Research...
Royals manager Mike Matheny was ejected from a game on his birthday...
Marcell Ozuna’s five 4-RBI games for the Braves led MLB in 2020. The current free agent also led the NL in home runs and runs batted in.