June 16th, 2020: Return to Play, Sign-Stealing, Taxi Squad, Undrafted & International Free Agents

I didn't mention this last post because it was a happy fun day after the draft, but last Friday was the 257th day since the end of the 2019 regular season. This is the longest MLB has ever gone between regular season games, breaking the record held by the 1994-95 work stoppage (256 days). The drought is up to 261 days with no end in sight. Sigh. Let's get to today's thoughts as Gerrit Cole throws a bullpen session in Yankee Stadium.

1. Latest on return to play. We've reached the "fine, I'm going to take my ball and go home" portion of the return to play negotiations. Over the weekend the MLBPA finally said enough is enough, and called MLB's bluff. They rejected MLB's latest proposal -- 72 games at 80% prorated pay, or 36% of full season salary -- cut off negotiations, and asked commissioner Rob Manfred to unilaterally schedule the season as the March agreement allows. "Tell us when and where (to report)," union chief Tony Clark said. Two things about that before we move on. First, the MLBPA backed Manfred into a corner. If he schedules 48-54 games (as expected), he'll have to explain why they can't play more. And if he schedules something like 70-ish games, he'll have to explain why he didn't do that in the first place and save us all a giant headache. No win situation. And second, MLB responded to Clark's statement with an amateur hour statement that said the quiet part out loud. Their statement says the March agreement was "premised on the parties' mutual understanding that the players would be paid their full salaries only if play resumed in front of fans." Folks, I am no lawyer, but I'm smart enough to know multi-billion dollar contracts are not "premised on the parties' mutual understanding." Write the terms explicitly in the agreement. MLB didn't -- if they did, I reckon the agreement itself would have been leaked by now seeing how MLB has leaked pretty much everything every step of the way -- and now they're pounding the table and throwing tantrums. Craig Calcaterra and Eugene Freedman, two people with actual legal experience, say that usually happens when one side has no more cards to play. The MLBPA demanded MLB inform them of their plans no later than yesterday. Manfred's response was to say he is "not confident" the season can be played during an ESPN interview. That came five days -- five days! -- after he guaranteed baseball will be played in 2020. "We're going to play baseball in 2020, 100%," he said during a nationally televised interview prior to the draft. I guess Manfred really doesn't want to hand out the "piece of metal" this year, huh? Why the sudden 180? Three possible reasons, though I suspect the first two carry more weight than the third:

1. The MLBPA stopped negotiating.
2. The MLBPA indicated they will file a grievance.
3. COVID-19 cases are on the rise in several states.

MLB sent the MLBPA a letter yesterday saying there will not be a 2020 season unless the union waives its right to a grievance. The grievance would argue MLB did not make its "best efforts to play as many games as possible" as required by the March agreement -- MLB offered to play as many as 82 games at one point, which seems bad for them if they schedule 48-54 games and the grievance is filed -- and although a grievance would not interrupt play and could take years to resolve, it could be extremely costly for MLB, literally and figuratively. Literally in that the league may have to pay billions in damages and back pay, and figuratively in that they may have to open their books during the discovery phase. If not entirely, then at least moreso than they open them now, and once that happens, their "we're poor, actually" racket falls apart. Two things about this. One, when the grievance will argue you didn't play as many games as possible, maybe don't threaten to play zero games unless the other party agrees not to file the grievance? MLB probably should've thought that one through a little more. And two, yesterday's threats are pretty good indication MLB knows it will lose a grievance, or is at least at serious risk of losing a grievance. That tells us they know they've violated the "best efforts" clause. I'm not sure there is a greater sign MLB knows it is in trouble. (Let's not forget that, depending on the contracts, the television networks could also pursue legal action if MLB does not make its best efforts to play.) I don't know whether Manfred misrepresented the March agreement to the owners or what, but his credibility is absolutely shot. Six days ago he guaranteed baseball will be played this year and now he's threatening to cancel the season? Get outta here. The players have not budged on prorated salaries one bit and I don't blame them. As soon as they give up full per-game pay, it's gone forever, and the owners will come back for salary relief every time revenue falls short of projections or attendance dips. Give the owners an inch and they will take a mile. The players are pushing back for the first time in a long time and MLB seems surprised by it, and things have devolved to the point where Manfred is threatening to cancel the season. All those stories about wanting to lift up the nation amid the pandemic have proven to be hogwash. The shutdown was necessitated by COVID-19 and it has morphed into a full blown labor war -- this isn't a strike, it's a lockout because the owners are refusing to pay according to the agreed upon terms -- and you know what the crazy thing is? There might not be any baseball this year because of the pandemic. COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon. MLB and Manfred decimated the league's image over a season that might not even be played. Rough times for this game I love. (The players keep saying "tell us when and where" on social media and that is a power move. Keep putting the pressure on Manfred and reminding people the players are ready to play.)

2. Sign-stealing scandal. It was only a matter of time until the Yankees got caught up in the sign-stealing stuff -- haven't I been saying that? I've been saying that since this all started -- and it finally happened over the weekend. Evan Drellich (subs. req'd) reports Judge Jed Rakoff ruled MLB's letter to Brian Cashman regarding the 2017 Apple Watch investigation should be unsealed. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed against the Astros and Red Sox by fantasy sports players who claim the sign-stealing scandals cost them winnings. Long story short, they say the letter shows commissioner Rob Manfred was complicit and tried to cover the sign-stealing up. The letter is standard protocol -- the commissioner sends the relevant general managers a letter detailing the findings of an investigation before making them public, and the Yankees were involved in the Apple Watch scandal because they reported it to MLB -- and the judge wants a minimally redacted version (redacted only to "protect the identity of the individuals mentioned") unsealed. MLB and the Yankees filed an appeal -- the redacted letter was originally due yesterday -- and the Yankees argue they are a third party in the lawsuit and entitled to confidentiality. Also, MLB claims unsealing the letter would hurt their ability to conduct investigations in the future, which is probably true seeing how their only way to get people to talk is to promise confidentiality and immunity, but that isn't the court's problem. "There is no justification for public disclosure of the letter. The plaintiff has no case anymore, and the court held that what MLB wrote in confidence was irrelevant to the court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s case. Under established law, this supports the Yankees’ right to confidentiality required by the Commissioner of Baseball," Yankees lawyer Jonathan Schiller told Drellich. When the Apple Watch punishment was announced, the Yankees were fined for improper use of a dugout phone in 2015 and 2016. Andy Martino reports the infraction was then-pitching coach Larry Rothschild calling the video room to see whether certain pitches were a ball or a strike. Harmless, if true, but against the rules nonetheless. Ken Davidoff has more on the investigation:

In 2015 and 2016, some Yankees players stationed themselves in their replay room in an attempt to steal opponents’ signs, then relayed that information to runners on second base so they could try to tell the hitter what was coming. 

Mark Teixeira detailed that in February. The Yankees would try to decode the other team's signs using the television broadcast, then the runner at second would relay the signs to the hitter at the plate, if applicable. (Carlos Beltran was identified as a ringleader in Houston's sign-stealing scheme and he was part of those 2015-16 Yankees teams, so that part fits.) Teixeira says the Yankees did not do this in real time like the Astros and Red Sox. They'd watch the video, try to decode the signs, then relay them later in the game when the opportunity presented itself. That was commonplace throughout baseball -- it was also wrong and against the rules to use video like that, but commonplace -- before pitchers and catchers smartened up and started changing signs (much) more frequently. MLB even acknowledged as much. “After the 2017 season, we learned that a number of Clubs believed utilizing video monitors in the clubhouse and video room to decipher signs so they could later be relayed to a runner on second base was not a violation of MLB rules as long as the information was not communicated electronically to the dugout. As a result, we clarified the rules going forward to expressly prohibit such conduct," the league wrote in a statement after Teixeira's comments. It wasn't until the Astros and Red Sox got caught using illegal electronics and relaying signs in real time that things really got out of hand, and if the Yankees did something similar, it would have been incredibly stupid to report the Red Sox for the Apple Watches in 2017. I suppose getting away with it could've emboldened the Yankees to say everything they said about the Astros this spring, but this was all under wraps in 2017, and pointing out another team's cheating when you're doing the same thing is just dumb. That's why no one makes a stink when a pitcher is using pine tar (because every team has pitchers who use pine tar). The Yankees say unsealing the letter will cause "significant reputational injury," which makes it sound like they have something to hide, and maybe they do, but it is a valid legal argument. They don't believe they should be dragged into a lawsuit that does not involve them. At this point though, the damage has been done. Astros players, who have the self-awareness of a ficus, mocked the Yankees over the weekend, and the report is all Yankees-hating fans needed to hear. The details are irrelevant. They saw "Yankees" and "sign-stealing" and that was that. The letter remaining sealed would only add fuel to the fire, and, even if the letter is unsealed and shows the Yankees did nothing wrong, it won't matter. People have already decided the Yankees are guilty. It is what it is. I hoped the letter would be unsealed yesterday so we could wrap this all up today, but that didn't happen, and Drellich says this could drag out to August. Groan. If the redacted letter details only what Teixeira said, that the Yankees stole signs the same way pretty much every team did at the time, then whatever. Not really a big deal. If it details some greater malfeasance, then a) I will reconcile my feelings then, and b) wow will Manfred look horrible. Even more than he does now. The Yankees would look bad too, no doubt, but the commissioner covering something like that up would be disastrous. Manfred would have to resign. No other option at that point. The league's credibility is already in the tank and a cover-up could not be swept under the rug. MLB didn't update the sign-stealing rules until 2018 and the Yankees were already punished for whatever happened in 2015-16, so I don't think we have to worry about them losing draft picks or anything. Not unless Manfred really did cover something up and there are new revelations, which I guess is possible. The Yankees are already guilty in the court of public opinion. Nothing anyone can do about that, but who cares? If it wasn't this, people would have just found another reason to hate the Yankees. For now, it seems like the Yankees did what every other team was doing at the time, only there's possibly a paper trail.

3. Taxi squad site. Finally, we have some details on the taxi squad and how it would all work, assuming baseball is played this year. J.J. Cooper (subs. req'd) reports MLB has instructed teams to find a taxi squad site within 100 miles of their home ballpark. They want players a short drive away and to limit commercial air travel during the pandemic. Here's more on the taxi squad:

It is expected that those (taxi squad) workouts will not be full games. Without an opposing team to play, there likely will not be enough players for taxi squads to play full split-squad games.

Instead, the taxi squad will likely play simulated games where pitchers and hitters get much-needed live innings and at-bats to stay in game shape and be ready to be added to the MLB roster. Normally in sim games, pitchers sit down and get back up between “innings” to simulate the up-and-down of a normal game. Taxi squads are not expected to travel with the MLB team.

Taxi squad workouts are expected to be closed to the public, Cooper says. Short Season Staten Island and Double-A Trenton are both within 100 miles of the Bronx, but Google tells me Triple-A Scranton is roughly 130 miles away, so they're out. Cooper notes some teams may have to use a minor league ballpark affiliated with another organization or maybe even an independent league site, though it seems the Yankees will be able to avoid that. Staten Island would be the ideal setup. It's much closer to the Bronx than Trenton -- too be fair, it could take you just as long to go from Staten Island to the Bronx as Trenton to the Bronx depending on traffic -- and the stadiums are comparable. Richmond County Bank Ballpark in Staten Island is relatively new with nice clubhouses and good training facilities. Normally a Double-A park versus a short season A-ball ballpark would be no contest. Not in this case though. They're comparable (every park in the farm system is outfitted with Trackman, so that's a non-issue). I suppose there's something to be said for Trenton being more centrally located and closer to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, where the Yankees would play games under the regional schedule. That's overthinking it though. The Yankees will play more games in New York (the Bronx and Queens) than all other cities combined, so prioritize travel within New York. Make that as easy as possible. Ultimately, the Trenton vs. Staten Island decision may be made for the Yankees. It might be easier to house players in one city than the other, or perhaps COVID-19 forces them away from one location. And, to be honest, both sites are fine. Trenton vs. Staten Island is more about convenience than a competitive advantage. At least now we have an idea how the taxi squad will work. Those players will not travel with the MLB team and they won't work out with the active roster. The taxi squad will be on its own -- this gives minor league instructors something to do, which I'm sure they'll welcome -- and in what amounts to indefinite Spring Training, with simulated games and whatnot. Allowing the taxi squads to play games against each other would be good for player development and game readiness -- they could be really informal six-inning games with no stats recorded -- though it may not be safe during the pandemic, and some teams may not be able to travel to play other taxi squads given their location. Oh well.

4. Undrafted free agents. The undrafted free agent signing period opened Sunday and the Yankees have already inked four players. Baseball America's tracker has over 70 undrafted free agent signings across the league as of this writing. I assume everyone who's signed was a priority guy with some prospect status. Teams aren't signing organizational depth players right now. J.J. Cooper says MLB warned teams not to offer undrafted free agents "exorbitant" scholarships to skirt the $20,000 bonus maximum -- the standard new player contract includes tuition for however many semesters the player needs to finish his degree -- and boy, that's really dumb! The money is either paid directly to the school or to the player only after he provides receipts. It's not like teams give players an envelope of cash as scholarship money and send them on their way. Anyway, here are the four undrafted free agents the Yankees have signed, none of whom ranked among Baseball America's top 500 draft prospects.

RHP Carson Coleman, Kentucky

The Rays selected Coleman in the 33rd round last year and obviously he did not sign. His career numbers at Kentucky aren't great (4.19 ERA in 53.2 innings), but he was lights out prior to the shutdown this spring (5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 13 K), and he's been very good in limited action in the Cape Cod League too. Conor Foley got his hands on a scouting report: "Great kid ... Offspeed stuff is still a work in progress. Fastball will be 92-94 projected in the bullpen as a setup guy.” Brian Sadowski adds Coleman has "good slider traits," which I guess means spin rate and all that. Here's video (not much out there, sorry). It's not often you see 92-94 mph from an arm slot that low. A veteran college reliever with good stuff and a funky delivery will chew up hitters in the low minors, assuming the low minors still exist in the future. We might not learn much about Coleman until he gets to Double-A.

RHP Ocean Gabonia, Everett College

Ocean Gabonia? Ocean Gabonia. Good name. Gabonia is a junior college freshman and that makes him an atypical undrafted free agent. He allowed seven runs (four earned) with 23 strikeouts and seven walks in 15 innings prior to the shutdown. His college player page also lists him as a shortstop, though he didn't see any action in the field or at the plate. Gabonia throws both two and four-seam fastballs -- "The one that tails into people is my two-seam fastball. I’ve been working on that a lot. Ever since I threw it, it’s never gone straight," he told Paul Honda in May -- as well as a curveball, slider, and changeup. Here's video. Dan Jurik had Gambonia at 87-88 mph in February, which is obviously well-below-average velocity. Seeing how he's just a year out of high school, I'm guessing this is a "we like the secondary pitches and think we can help him get stronger and throw harder" signing.

RHP Trevor Holloway, Central Florida

Technically, Holloway is not a college senior. He's a redshirt junior who was limited to six starts by a biceps injury last season. Holloway spent his freshman year at High Point, his sophomore year at Chipola College, and the last two years at UCF. He has a 1.64 ERA with 66 strikeouts and 21 walks in 49.1 career innings with Knights, all as a starter. Here's video. Similar to Coleman, it's a low-90s fastball and a low-80s slider from a low arm slot (Holloway threw slider after slider after slider in that video). Not sure the Yankees will continue to trot Holloway out there as a starter, but the fact they signed two similar low arm slot slider guys is probably a sign they're scouting the arm action and believe they can make them better with a few tweaks. At $20,000 a pop, it's basically zero risk, especially since they didn't even have to use a draft pick.

RHP Jarod Lessar, BYU

Another senior like Coleman, Lessar had a 4.43 ERA with 59 walks and 22 strikeouts in 65 career innings at BYU after starting his college career at a junior college. Lessar told Jay Drew he received the maximum $20,000 bonus, and the Yankees sent him a personalized recruiting video:

The Yankees sent him a “personalized” presentation of what it would be like to join their organization, complete with a mock photo of Lessar playing in Yankee Stadium. They contacted him (three hours after the signing period opened).

“They definitely made me feel wanted,” he said.

Pretty cool. Unfortunately, I can't find any video of Lessar, nor can I found a scouting report beyond Drew reporting BYU recruited Lessar out of his junior college after seeing some 92 mph fastballs. Given the mediocre numbers, it's safe to assume the Yankees have a plan for Lessar. Maybe a new pitch or a mechanical change, etc. They see some potential. No team is signing roster filler types now, when there are no minor league rosters to fill.

(Oregon State righty Kevin Abel, a personal favorite, announced he will return to school next year rather than sign as an undrafted free agent. Abel was marvelous as a freshman in 2018 -- 2.88 ERA with 108 strikeouts in 81.1 innings -- and dominant in the College World Series clincher, but he blew out his elbow last spring and needed Tommy John surgery. He never made it back to the mound this season because of the shutdown. I was hoping the Yankees would somehow convince him to sign, but I'm not surprised he's going back to school. Abel could come out as a first rounder next year with a healthy spring. Alas. Get ready for me to profile him as a potential draft target in about 10 months.)

5. Remembering a random Yankee: Dean Anna. By request, our next random Yankee is a player who played way fewer games in pinstripes than I would have guessed. We've already covered Juan Acevedo, Erick Almonte, Oscar Azocar, Colter Bean, Billy Butler, Cesar Cabral, Brandon Claussen, Colin Curtis, Robert Eenhoorn, Kevin Elster, Sal Fasano, Greg Golson, Nick Green, Aaron Guiel, Eric Hinske, Rick Honeycutt, Brandon Knight, Matt Luke, Melky Mesa, Blake Parker, Chris Parmelee, Edwar Ramirez, Mark Reynolds, Zelous Wheeler, DeWayne Wise, and Kerry Wood. A 26th round pick by the Padres in 2008, Anna remained in San Diego's farm system until Nov. 2013. He hit .331/.410/.482 with nearly as many walks (61) as strikeouts (65) in 132 Triple-A games during his breakout 2013 season. The Yankees had a revolving door infield in 2013 and the Padres didn't have room on their 40-man roster for Anna, so the two teams got together for a minor trade: Anna for minor league righty Ben Paullus, who's been out of baseball since 2016. San Diego got something for a player they were likely to lose in the Rule 5 Draft, and the Yankees acquired Anna without having to jump through the Rule 5 Draft roster hoops. They put him on their 40-man roster immediately. Anna did not have a great Spring Training (.262/.367/.286) but he made the 2014 Opening Day roster anyway because Brendan Ryan went down with a back injury in late March. Jedd Gyorko, Anna's former minor league teammate with the Padres, broke the news on Twitter. Anna started at shortstop and made his big league debut in the fourth game of the season, and that night he slapped a single the other way for his first career hit. Here's the video. He started five of the next nine games and socked his first (and only) career home run on April 10th. Here's the video. Anna had two memorable moments with the Yankees and they came on back-to-back days. First, on April 19th, Anna made a pitching appearance. He allowed two runs on three hits in an inning at the end of a blowout loss to the Rays. Here's the video. The next day the Yankees and Rays played 12 innings. Derek Jeter led off the 11th inning with a single, Ichiro Suzuki pinch-ran, then Anna took over at short. With runners on the corners and two outs in the top of the 12th, Tampa intentionally walked Jacoby Ellsbury to load the bases to get the left-on-left matchup with Anna, a rookie with about five minutes of service time. The at-bat was marvelous: called strike, ball, foul, ball, foul, foul, ball, check swing ball four to force in the go-ahead run. Here's the video. By win probability added, it is tied for the third biggest walk by a Yankee in the last 60 years. No joke. The top Yankees walks since 1960:

1. Bernie Williams vs. Norm Charlton (May 2nd, 1994): +0.36 WPA (walk-off walk)
2. Hector Lopez vs. John Wyatt (Sept. 20th, 1963): +0.36 WPA (walk-off walk)
3. Dean Anna vs. C.J. Riefenhauser (April 20th, 2014): +0.32 WPA
4. Russell Martin vs. Alex Torres (July 18th, 2011): +0.32 WPA
5. Bernie Williams vs. John Parrish (Sept. 23rd, 2001): +0.32 WPA

Wild. Anna, Martin, and the second Williams walk all drove in the go-ahead run with two outs in the ninth inning or later, so the same situation, hence the same win probability. Anyway, the Yankees added another two runs that inning after Anna's walk and they went on to win the game. He appeared in just one more game as a Yankee, taking over at shortstop late in a blowout win two days later. The Yankees called up Shane Greene to replace Michael Pineda during his pine tar suspension and Anna was sent to Triple-A Scranton to clear a roster spot on April 24th. He was lost on waivers to the Pirates on July 5th, after he was designated for assignment to clear 40-man roster space for Zelous Wheeler. Anna went 3-for-22 (.136) in 12 games (plus the one pitching appearance) with the Yankees. He signed with the Cardinals as a free agent in Nov. 2014 and made it back to the big leagues for one game in April 2015, going 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter. It was Anna's final MLB appearance. He spent the rest of 2015 and all of 2016 in Triple-A with the Cardinals, 2017 in Triple-A with the Royals, and 2018 in Triple-A with the Phillies. Anna announced his retirement last February. These days he's teaching and coaching baseball outside Chicago.

6. Rapid fire thoughts. Kiley McDaniel reports righty Beck Way, the Yankees' fourth round pick last week, is "believed to have a seven-figure price tag." The Yankees almost certainly can't afford that with their $3.7M maximum bonus pool -- Way's pick is slotted for $438,700 -- but I seriously doubt they're just winging it. It's far more likely they pinned Way's number down before the draft and know they can make it work. One of three things is happening. Either Way came down from his seven-figure asking price, the Yankees are signing first rounder Austin Wells and/or third rounder Trevor Hauver below-slot to afford Way, or McDaniel's report is wrong. It happens. I have no idea how the Yankees will distribute that $3.7M but I expect them to sign all three draft picks. The signing deadline is Aug. 1st ... As expected, MLB has officially pushed the start of the 2020-21 international signing period back from July 2nd to Jan. 15th, according to J.J. Cooper. MLB had the right to do that under the March agreement. This allows them to delay bonus payments and it also paves the way for an international draft that neatly covers one single calendar year. I expect an international draft to be part of the next Collective Bargaining Agreement. Ben Badler reports the Yankees have a $4,232,700 bonus pool for the upcoming signing period after forfeiting $1M to sign Gerrit Cole. They're expected to sign Dominican shortstop Hans Montero and Venezuelan catcher Jesus Galiz, among others ... According to Andrew Marchand, MLB has agreed to a new multi-billion dollar broadcasting deal with Turner Sports. The deal begins in 2022 and Turner will pay close to $500M annually to continue broadcasting mostly postseason games, up from $350M a year with the current deal. The contract has been in the works for a while -- MLB is currently negotiating a new broadcasting deal with ESPN too -- but wow was the timing of that report bad for the league. Four days earlier Cardinals owner Bill DeWitt claimed owning a baseball team "isn't very profitable," and MLB has been crying poor during the shutdown in an effort to get the MLBPA to agree to additional salary reductions. Then this big new television deal gets reported and everyone looks silly. Too funny. MLB was probably hoping to keep this under wraps another few weeks ... And finally, Lindsey Adler reports the Yankees will continue paying their employees full salary and benefits, but they will revise department budgets to "alleviate the significant financial hardship the organization is facing." I don't doubt the team is losing money and a lot of it during the shutdown, but my goodness, absolutely no one wants to hear the NEW YORK YANKEES talk about "significant financial hardship" right now. Ready the room, guys. 

(Send your questions for Friday's mailbag to RABmailbag at gmail dot com.)