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2021 All-Star Game

MLB Announces All-Star Replacements

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10:38PM: Manny Machado has been named to the NL team as a replacement for Ronald Acuna Jr., as the Braves star will miss the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL.

5:03PM: Molina has decided against playing in the All-Star Game, telling MLB.com’s Katie Woo and other reporters that he will use the break to rest his foot.  Molina spent 11 days on the injured list due to a tendon strain in his right foot earlier this season.  Omar Narvaez will take Molina’s spot on the NL team, as announced by the Brewers.

11:12AM: Major League Baseball announced the All-Star replacements today. Since the initial rosters came out on July 4th, 10 players have proven unable to participate for one reason or another. The following players have been added to the rosters for the upcoming All-Star game:

American League

The players above are taking the place of four Astros who are now listed as unable to participate: Jose Altuve, Michael Brantley, Carlos Correa and Ryan Pressly, who will stay home to be with his wife as they await the birth of a child.

National League

The players above are taking the place of Mookie Betts of the Dodgers, Jacob deGrom of the Mets, Yu Darvish of the San Diego Padres and Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants. They also account for Brandon Woodruff and Kevin Gausman, All-Stars who will be unavailable for the game because they are starting games on Sunday.

Anderson, Merrifield and Molina were elected via the Player Ballot. While Molina takes Buster Posey’s place on the roster, J.T. Realmuto will take his spot in the starting lineup.

Home Run Derby Field Finalized

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The eight-man field is set for the 2021 Home Run Derby. Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani, Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, Rockies shortstop Trevor Story, Orioles first baseman Trey Mancini, Royals catcher Salvador Pérez, Athletics first baseman Matt Olson, Nationals outfielder Juan Soto and Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo will compete in the event.

Ohtani has been perhaps baseball’s biggest story in 2021. The two-way star has a league-best thirty-one home runs and looks like the early favorite to win the AL MVP award. Alonso, who won the most recent Derby in 2019, will be looking to defend his title. The right-handed slugger has popped fifteen homers this year. Story figures to be the fan favorite with All-Star festivities taking place in Denver. The 28-year-old has hit 11 longballs this season. It’ll be an emotional sight to see Mancini on such a big stage. He missed all of last season battling colon cancer but made it back this year and has popped fifteen homers.

Pérez has been the game’s most powerful catcher. He leads all backstops with twenty homers and he’ll get the starting nod behind the plate for the American League in the All-Star game. Olson has also hit twenty dingers this year and will represent the playoff-contending A’s in the All-Star game. Gallo, who’ll join Ohtani, Pérez and Olson on the AL All-Star team, has been on an absolute tear over the last month, bringing his season total in homers up to twenty-three. Soto only has ten home runs this season, but he’s been one of the game’s best hitters since reaching the majors as a 19-year-old in 2018.

The Home Run derby will take place at Denver’s Coors Field on Monday, July 12.

MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reported Gallo’s inclusion.

MLB Announces All-Star Rosters

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With the starters in this year’s All-Star Game already revealed, the remainder of the American League and National League rosters were revealed this evening.  Some adjustments are guaranteed to take place, of course, since some players won’t be participating due to injury or other reasons.  The Midsummer Classic will take place on July 13 at Coors Field in Denver.

American League

National League

MLB Announces All-Star Starters

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Major League Baseball announced the starting lineups for the 2021 All-Star Game this evening. The starting lineups are determined by fan vote. This year’s All-Star Game will take place in Coors Field on Tuesday, July 13. The starting pitchers and reserves will be announced at a later date.

National League

American League

*On the 60-day injured list

AL East Notes: Mancini, Kirk, Anderson, McKay, Kluber

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In a bit of good news for Orioles’ fans, Trey Mancini will participate in this year’s Home Run Derby, per The Athletic’s Dan Connolly (via Twitter). Mancini should provide some feel-good coverage for the 2021 All-Star festivities. Having missed last season while being treated for stage 3 colon cancer, Mancini has returned to lead the Orioles with a .260/.337/.466 triple-slash line with 14 home runs and 52 runs batted in, good for a 121 wRC+. Let’s check in with the other clubs in the AL East…

  • Alejandro Kirk has joined the Blue Jays’ Triple-A club in Trenton with the possibility of returning from the injured list as early as July 1, per Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Kirk must first prove himself ready in Triple-A. After making the team out of spring training, Kirk has been out since May 2nd with a flexor strain. The Jays have also been without starter Danny Jansen for almost three weeks now. Riley Adams, who has three options remaining, will head back to Trenton whenever Kirk is ready.
  • Nick Anderson threw his second bullpen session for the Rays, and he appears on track for an August return. per Adam Berry of MLB.com (via Twitter). Anderson’s value as a bullpen ace is well-known after last year’s breakout campaign — 0.55 ERA in 16 1/3 regular-season innings. The Rays leaned hard on Anderson to get them to the World Series: he appeared in both games of the Wild Card sweep of the Blue Jays, two of the five games in their ALDS win over the Yankees, and three more apiece in the ALCS and World Series.
  • Brendan McKay is in line for a 30-pitch bullpen soon, Berry also notes, and if that goes well, he’ll start to build his strength up to a starter’s workload. McKay last appeared in competitive action in 2019, when he threw 49 innings at the big-league level with a 5.14 ERA/4.03 FIP.
  • The Yankees don’t expect to get Corey Kluber back until August at the earliest, but it could be as late as September, per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (via Twitter). Kluber gave the Yankees exactly what they’d hoped in his ten starts: 3.04 ERA/3.77 FIP in 53 1/3 innings. Unfortunately, he also realized their fears when he suffered a shoulder strain that will ultimately knock him out for more than half the year.

 

Rob Manfred On CBA, Vaccinations, All-Star Game

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With Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement set to expire Dec. 1, the league and the MLBPA held their first set of talks on a new deal last week. The two sides still have several months to work out an agreement, but considering how contentious their relationship has been over the past few years, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a work stoppage for the first time since the 1994-95 strike. However, commissioner Rob Manfred is optimistic it won’t come to that.

Speaking at a SporticoLive event this week, Manfred said the owners are “committed to the process” of preventing a stoppage, according to Barry M. Bloom of Sportico. Manfred then noted that he has worked in labor relations for most of his career and added: “The varying nature of labor relations is kind of ups and downs. You’re going to have various times of conflict when you don’t see eye to eye. The trick is getting past those areas of conflict and finding a way to make an agreement and find common ground.”

On the other hand, the union’s executive director, Tony Clark, admitted to Bloom that a work stoppage is “a possibility,” saying MLB could “shut the door and lock us out.”

Although a work stoppage may cause severe damage to the sport, there are several roadblocks that could prevent the league and its players from finding common ground by the time December arrives. Playoff expansion, the universal designated hitter, individual teams’ payrolls, revenue distribution and players’ service time are sure to be some of the main items on the table during negotiations. If the parties can’t settle their differences on those issues and other matters of importance, MLB could experience a shutdown in seven months.

While the league has plenty on its plate with the CBA soon to expire, it’s also trying to navigate through a global pandemic and a divided political climate. On the subject of COVID-19, Manfred said 70 percent of players, on-field staff and support personnel have been fully or partially vaccinated, the Associated Press reports. Once MLB hits the 85 percent threshold, it will loosen its restrictions.

Earlier this month, the Manfred-led league moved this summer’s All-Star Game and amateur draft from Atlanta to Colorado, which many inferred as a rejection of Georgia’s SB 202 voting law. However, Manfred stated that the league made the decision to help its players avoid political controversy.

“We were injected into a very politicized situation. I think we did the right thing,” Manfred said (via the AP). “We thought our players were going to be in an extraordinarily difficult situation given how politically charged it was. And we think that the decision we made will actually be player protective.”

This year’s All-Star and draft festivities will take place from July 11-13.

MLB Moves All-Star Game Out Of Atlanta; Colorado To Host

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APRIL 5, 9:00pm: Colorado will indeed host the game, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

8:26pm: Coors Field in Colorado is expected to host this year’s All-Star Game, Buster Olney of ESPN tweets.

APRIL 2, 2:55pm: The Braves issued their own statement on the matter:

“The Atlanta Braves are deeply disappointed by the decision of Major League Baseball to move its’ 2021 All-Star Game.

“This was neither our decision, nor our recommendation and we are saddened that the fans will not be able to see this event in our city. The Braves organization will continue to stress the importance of equal voting opportunities and we had hoped our city could use this event as a platform to enhance the discussion. Our City has always been known as a uniter in divided times and we will miss the opportunity to address issues that are important to our community.

Unfortunately, businesses, employees and fans in Georgia are the victims of this decision. We will continue to support the community legacy projects which have been planned and are in process.”

1:58pm: Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred announced Friday that the league will relocate the All-Star Game and 2021 Amateur Draft, which had been set to take place in Atlanta, Ga.

“Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players Alliance, among others, to listen to their views,” Manfred said in a statement announcing the decision.

“I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year’s All-Star Game and MLB Draft.  Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.  In 2020, MLB became the first professional sports league to join the non-partisan Civic Alliance to help build a future in which everyone participates in shaping the United States.  We proudly used our platform to encourage baseball fans and communities throughout our country to perform their civic duty and actively participate in the voting process.  Fair access to voting continues to have our game’s unwavering support.

“We will continue with our plans to celebrate the memory of Hank Aaron during this season’s All-Star festivities.  In addition, MLB’s planned investments to support local communities in Atlanta as part of our All-Star Legacy Projects will move forward.  We are finalizing a new host city and details about these events will be announced shortly.”

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