Mack’s Apples – Jamie Callahan, Yoenes Cespedes, Two Aces, Baseball Is Beautiful, Minor League Wages

Good morning.

John Sickles on –

       

    13) Jamie Callahan, RHP, Grade C+: Age 23, second round pick by the Boston Red Sox in 2012 from high school in South Carolina; traded to Mets in Addison Reed deal; posted 2.94 ERA in 66/17 K/BB in 52 innings between Double-A and Triple-A; also put up 5/1 K/BB in seven major league innings; nice fastball at 92-96, has made good progress with his slider and overall command, looks ready for a full major league trial; ETA 2018; QUESTION MARK: grading relievers is problematic.  minor league ball

These 20 players will shape NL East race -

8. Yoenis Cespedes, New York Mets - The guy who was once so young and exciting and perfect that a couple of beautiful nerds named their baseball-loving site after him is now 32 and battling an endless series of nagging injuries. Today it's his wrist, and though the Mets think he'll be back in time for Opening Day, you wonder, again, which Cespedes you're going to get in 2018. His rate numbers (.292/.352/.540) were there as always last year, but 81 games won't cut it for an offense that needs him more than ever. Back page warning: If the injuries compile, the tabloids will not forget that he's owed nearly $90 million over the next three seasons.

Two aces - better than one: Best SP duos

        

   Here's a ranking of the top 10 starting duos in MLB:

1. Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom, Mets: 9

Limited to seven starts last season due to a torn right lat muscle, Syndergaard has a 1.38 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 13 Grapefruit League innings. The 25-year-old right-hander lit up the radar gun in his spring debut, throwing 11 of 22 pitches against the Astros on Feb. 26 that were clocked at 100 mph or higher. He then struck out seven straight Nationals in his third spring start, March 8. His projected WAR in 2018 is 5.5, third-best among MLB pitchers.

DeGrom is projected to produce a 4.8 WAR in 2018. Following another strong campaign in 2017 (31 starts, 3.53 ERA, 10.7 K/9 innings), the 29-year-old right-hander dealt with back stiffness early this spring. He made his Grapefruit League debut last Sunday, giving up two runs but striking out four Astros over 2 2/3 innings, with his fastball hitting 96 mph. He followed that up with 5 scoreless innings and eight strikeouts vs. the Orioles on Saturday.

Baseball is beautiful.  Don't wreck it. –

          

It's funny, but it also hits at an important point: Starting a runner on second is in many ways an equally awkward implementation to the sport of baseball. In an analysis of the new rule and how it will officially be registered, Emma Baccellieri points out for Deadspin that it doesn't even fit "into baseball's most fundamental structures — the rulebook, the scorecard."

This new rule is an assault on everything that makes baseball baseball. And remember, dead time is the affliction, not extra innings.

Spending bill could quash Minor League Baseball players’ wage claims –

          

      

        A massive government spending bill that Congress is expected to consider this week could include a provision exempting Minor League Baseball players from federal labor laws, according to three congressional officials familiar with the talks.

The exemption would represent the culmination of more than two years of lobbying by Major League Baseball, which has sought to preempt a spate of lawsuits that have been filed by minor leaguers alleging they have been illegally underpaid.

The league has long claimed exemptions for seasonal employees and apprenticeships, allowing its clubs to pay players as little as $1,100 a month, well under the pay that would be dictated under federal minimum wage and overtime standards. But with those exemptions under legal challenge, Major League Baseball has paid lobbyists hundreds of thousands of dollars to write a specific exemption into the law.  (update... President Trump has signed the budget and Congress has passed this legislation)