Jan. 25, 2021
Although the start of spring training may be delayed, the Chicago Cubs have sent emails to season-ticket holders at Sloan Park in Mesa that the club is shifting to limited, socially distanced pod-style seating for their games. (File photo by Kevin Hurley/Cronkite News)
PHOENIX – The Cactus League has asked Major League Baseball (MLB) to delay the start of spring training in Arizona due to high COVID-19 infection rates in Maricopa County. The request came in a letter addressed to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.
“In view of the current state of the pandemic in Maricopa County – with one of the nation’s highest infection rates – we believe it is wise to delay the start of spring training to allow for the COVID-19 situation to improve here,” the letter sent on Friday said.
• To my mind, the whole Cactus League thing was pretty clearly an effort by MLB (or at least urged/supported by MLB) to get the players to the table to negotiate pushing back the season, which could shorten the season (and save them money) and/or get more fans to attend a greater chunk of the games (which would net them more money). I don’t have a problem with the teams (or the players) want to get more cash after last year, but I will say I don’t like this dance about health and safety, as though that’s really the issue. After last year, I think we can pretty clearly conclude that health and safety is not the primary motivator of season changes at this point.
January 21st, 2021
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MIAMI When Marlins left-hander Braxton Garrett broke the news of his callup over the phone to his family, the excitement was palpable. But when it came time to take the mound for his Major League debut on Sept. 13, a different feeling sank in. Top prospect Sixto Sánchez had just pitched a seven-inning shutout in the opener of a doubleheader during a pivotal 15-game homestand. That made it a little bit more nerve-racking knowing I had to follow that up, Garrett quipped last week.
Turns out Garrett had nothing to worry about. He limited the Phillies to an Alec Bohm solo homer in five frames, with six strikeouts and two walks, in an 8-1 victory at Marlins Park. Garrett even went viral because of his reaction to third baseman Brian Anderson s defensive gem.
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Eugene Freedman serves as counsel to the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, and also writes about baseball labor relations in his spare time. On January 19th, Eugene was kind enough to chat via phone with me and answer my collective bargaining questions. If you’re interested in baseball’s labor talks, I recommend following Eugene on Twitter.
Tim Dierkes: Can you explain your background a little bit?
Eugene Freedman: Sure. So I work for a national labor union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. I work in the office of the president and handle a lot of different things, including collective bargaining for the union. I’ve been involved over the course of my career in approximately nine term contract negotiations and not all of them with the air traffic controllers. When I was in law school, back in, I guess it was the fall of 98, I clerked at the National Labor Relations Board full-time. So I have some