Click here to read a transcript of Tuesday’s chat with MLBTR’s Steve Adams.
Archives for September 2021
Giants Outright Reyes Moronta
The Giants announced Tuesday that right-hander Reyes Moronta has cleared outright waivers and been assigned to Triple-A Sacramento. He’s no longer on the 40-man roster.
It’s a bit of a surprising move on a number of levels. San Francisco didn’t formally designate Moronta for assignment, so there was no public indication prior to this announcement that he’d been placed on waivers and made available to the other 29 teams. Beyond that, Moronta once looked like a future high-leverage option for the Giants, though he’s seen several miles drop off his fastball since returning from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder late in the 2019 season.
From 2017-19, Moronta pitched 128 1/3 innings out of the Giants’ bullpen, working to a 2.66 ERA with a strong 29.8 percent strikeout rate. His 13.6 percent walk rate was well north of the league average and a clear area for potential improvement, but Moronta’s average fastball velocity of 97.1 mph and that lofty strikeout rate were obvious sources of intrigue for what he could become with better command of his pitches. President of baseball ops Farhan Zaidi even suggested last season during Moronta’s recovery that he had closer potential.
That surgery indeed wiped out all of Moronta’s 2020 season, and he missed a good portion of the current campaign rehab with a flexor strain. He didn’t require surgery this time around, but Moronta was only activated from the 60-day injured list late last month. He hasn’t pitched particularly well since coming off the IL, either, working to a 7.98 ERA with more walks (18) than strikeouts (13) through 14 2/3 frames of Triple-A ball.
The decision to remove Moronta from the 40-man roster could very well spell the end of his time with the organization. Players with more than three years of MLB service who are outrighted off the 40-man roster during the season can become free agents at the end of the year. It’s technically possible that the Giants could add Moronta back to the 40-man between now and that point, but if that were in the plans, they probably wouldn’t have placed him on waivers in the first place.
In 132 1/3 innings at the big league level, Moronta has a 2.65 ERA and 3.44 FIP with a 29.5 percent strikeout rate and a 13.3 percent walk rate.
Braves Claim Chadwick Tromp
The Braves have claimed catcher Chadwick Tromp off waivers from the Giants and assigned him to Triple-A Gwinnett, per a team announcement. San Francisco had designated Tromp for assignment over the weekend.
Tromp, 26, has appeared in 33 games for the Giants over the past two seasons and posted a .215/.220/.418 batting line with five homers and a double in 82 plate appearances. That represents the entirety of his Major League experience to date. Tromp has also spent parts of four season in Triple-A, where he’s a .253/.316/.414 hitter.
Tromp has drawn solid framing marks both in Triple-A and his limited MLB time, and he’s thrown out one third of attempted base thieves in his professional career. He has two more minor league option years remaining beyond the current campaign, so he could potentially be a flexible depth option in Atlanta for the foreseeable future.
Of course, the Braves already have a good bit of catching depth within their system. Atlanta recently extended veteran Travis d’Arnaud on a two-year, $16MM contract that guarantees him $8MM in 2022 and 2023. The Braves also have a pair of well-regarded catching prospects in Shea Langeliers and William Contreras — the latter of whom has already made his MLB debut.
Speculatively, Tromp could give them an option early in the 2022 season if the Braves want both Contreras and Langeliers to be getting everyday at-bats in the minor leagues. That’s a long ways off, however, and he’d first need to survive the offseason on Atlanta’s 40-man roster, which is no sure thing.
Orioles Claim Joey Krehbiel, Designate Manny Barreda
The Orioles have claimed right-hander Joey Krehbiel off waivers from the Rays and designated right-hander Manny Barreda, per a club announcement. The O’s also announced that righty Dusten Knight, who was designated for assignment over the weekend, has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Norfolk.
Krehbiel, 28, pitched a scoreless inning during his lone appearance with the Rays this season, whiffing a pair and issuing a walk. He’s spent the rest of the 2021 season with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A affiliate, logging a 4.19 ERA with a sizable 29.5 percent strikeout rate and a tiny 5.1 percent walk rate through 43 innings. It’s the fourth season that Krehbiel has logged some time in Triple-A, and he’s fanned 26.1 percent of the opponents he’s faced at that level in his career. Krehbiel has just four big league innings under his belt, but he’s yet to allow a run in that time.
Barreda, 33 next month, recently had his contract selected and made his big league debut. He allowed four runs in 2 2/3 innings over the life of three appearances prior to today’s DFA — a brief debut for a player who has grinded through parts of 11 minor league seasons as well as five full seasons pitching in Mexico. He’s posted a 3.89 ERA in 39 1/3 innings between the Double-A and Triple-A affiliates for the O’s, and he carries a career 3.45 ERA in just over 500 minor league innings.
Like Barreda, Knight was another 30-something rookie who made his big league debut in 2021. He’s notched an even 3.00 ERA in 36 Triple-A frames this season but was tagged for 10 runs (nine earned) in 8 2/3 frames during his own brief look at the MLB level. He’ll remain with the Orioles organization for the remainder of the year, at least, but he’ll be a minor league free agent at season’s end.
Previewing The 2021-22 Free Agent Class: First Basemen
We’ve reached the point of the season where roughly half the league is closing the book on 2021 postseason hopes and beginning to look toward the future. With that in mind, it’s time to take a look at this year’s upcoming free-agent class in some more depth. MLBTR’s Darragh McDonald kicked things off over the weekend by previewing the upcoming class of catchers, and we’ll move onto first base today.
Before diving in, it’s worth briefly highlighting a few notable free agents who could technically be considered options at first base but will likely line up elsewhere. Kris Bryant has 212 innings at the position, including 92 this year. Eduardo Escobar had never played there prior to being acquired by the Brewers, but Milwaukee has given him 80 innings at first. The Red Sox have given Kyle Schwarber 35 frames at first base since acquiring him. Mark Canha played 537 innings there for the A’s back in 2015 but has just 203 innings there since — and only 11 in 2020-21.
It wouldn’t be an outright shock to see any of the bunch signed with the idea of a more permanent move to first base, but for the purposes of this series, they’ll all be discussed at greater length in future position previews.
Everyday Options
Freddie Freeman (32 years old next season): The obvious top name on the market, most onlookers expected that Freeman, the reigning NL MVP, would have signed an extension with the Braves by now. A return to Atlanta still seems the most probable outcome, even though it’s taken longer than anticipated. That said, Freeman is on the cusp of at least entertaining interest from the game’s other 29 clubs. Freeman got out to slow start in 2021 (especially by his lofty standards), batting .195/.326/.407 through his first 31 games. In 116 games since that time, he’s mashed at a .327/.407/.536 rate with 23 home runs, 20 doubles and three triples. By measure of wRC+, Freeman has been at least 32 percent better than the average big league hitter each season dating back to 2013. He just wrapped up an eight-year, $135MM contract, and despite the fact that he’ll play next year at 32 years of age, he has a chance to approach or even exceed that guarantee on a shorter deal this time around. Freeman is a no-doubt qualifying offer recipient, barring an extension between now and the point at which QOs are due.
Anthony Rizzo (32): Rizzo’s bat has dropped off since his 2014-19 peak, though he’s been more productive in 2021 than he was in a career-worst 2020 season. He’s walking at a solid but still-diminished 9.6 percent clip and is still a tough strikeout at 15 percent — albeit not as tough as he once was. Rizzo has seen 13.4 percent of his fly-balls go for home runs this year — his lowest mark since 2013. Overall, he’s batting .249/.345/.439 — good for a 112 wRC+ (or 12 percent better than league-average production). Rizzo reportedly rejected a five-year, $70MM extension offer from the Cubs back in Spring Training and is now poised to reach the open market for the first time in his career. He’s ineligible to receive a qualifying offer after being traded from the Cubs to the Yankees midseason.
Brandon Belt (34): Belt’s bat looked to be on the decline from 2018-19, but he’s been better than ever from 2020-21. Over his past 142 games/531 plate appearances, Belt is raking at a .276/.384/.580 clip with 35 long balls, 26 doubles and three triples. He’s sporting a career-worst 28.4 percent strikeout rate in 2021, but he’s also connected on a career-high 26 home runs while maintaining a characteristically strong 12.9 percent walk rate. Belt entered the 2020 season with a career 88.1 mph average exit velocity and 9.8 percent barrel rate, per Statcast. In 2020-21, those numbers jumped to 89.7 mph and 16.8 percent, respectively. He’s a qualifying offer candidate himself, although not a slam-dunk to the extent of Freeman.
C.J. Cron (32): Colorado’s minor league deal for Cron paid off nicely, and while the team opted against moving him at the deadline (as was the case with nearly every Rockies trade chip), both sides have expressed interest in extending the relationship. It’s easy to see why the Rox would want to keep Cron around after he’s posted a .267/.366/.520 batting line with 27 long balls — just three off his career-best mark from 2018. As usual, Cron has crushed lefties and been solid against righties. He’s been more productive at Coors Field than on the road, but Cron has always been a better hitter at home and has been productive in the past with several other clubs. Perhaps most encouraging is that after walking at a 5.5 percent clip through his first 673 MLB games, Cron has walked at a 12.1 percent rate in 547 plate appearances dating back to his injury-shortened 2020 season. Cron’s prior OBP woes have contributed to him effectively being non-tendered on a couple of occasions, but his newfound plate discipline should serve him well in free agency. It’d be a surprise for the Rockies to issue a QO, but they march to the beat of their own drum, to say the least.
Utility Players and Platoon Bats
- Asdrubal Cabrera (36): Cabrera has been used exclusively at the infield corners since 2020, with the exception of a single inning at shortstop in Arizona this year, but he played second regularly as recently as 2018-19. The veteran switch-hitter has surprisingly gone hitless in 22 plate appearances since being claimed by the Reds, but he batted .244/.324/.392 in 321 plate appearances with the D-backs earlier this year.
- Todd Frazier (36): Frazier spent some time with the Pirates early in 2021 but went just 3-for-35 before being released. He served as the starting third baseman for Team USA in the Olympics this year. Frazier smacked 21 home runs as recently as 2019 with the Mets and had a huge Spring Training in 2021, but his output during the 2020-21 seasons was well below his career standards.
- Marwin Gonzalez (33): Released by the Red Sox after an ugly .202/.281/.285 showing in 271 plate appearances, Gonzalez has returned to Houston and connected on more homers (three) in 22 plate appearances than he hit during his entire time with Boston (two). He’s batted just .239/.309/.380 in 1507 plate appearances since a career year with the 2017 Astros.
- Jake Lamb (31): Lamb briefly turned back the clock in a late-season stint with the A’s in 2020, hitting .267/.327/.566 with three homers in 49 plate appearances. He’s hitting just .200/.313/.379 in 166 tries this season, however, and hasn’t looked the same since shoulder surgery derailed his career. Lamb hit .248/.345/.498 with 59 homers from 2016-17 with the D-backs, but it’s been a long time now since he was consistently productive.
- Brad Miller (32): Miller has played all four corner positions and second base with the Phillies this year while batting .228/.320/.462 with 19 homers in 344 plate appearances. It’s his third straight year with above-average OPS+ and wRC+ marks. He strikes out too often to hit for a particularly high average, but Miller has power and can play nearly anywhere on the diamond, making him a nice bench piece for any contender.
- Mitch Moreland (36): Moreland has hit for some power but is in the midst of his worst offensive campaign since 2016. He’s batted .225/.286/.415 in Oakland — a large departure from the .265/.342/.551 output he posted through 152 plate appearances in 2020. Moreland has a track record of solid defensive marks at first base, but the A’s have used him primarily as a designated hitter in 2021. Moreland’s longstanding struggles against left-handed pitching have continued in 2021.
- Albert Pujols (42): It feels odd to sandwich a future Hall of Famer in the middle of this list. Pujols has been a better hitter with the Dodgers than he was with the Angels, but his overall output is still only a bit above-average. He’s absolutely tattooing lefties at a .305/.348/.633 clip but has posted an awful .175/.230/.263 slash against right-handed pitching. He’d be helped out substantially if the NL implements the DH, but he looks primarily like a bench bat/part-time DH against southpaws at this point.
- Pablo Sandoval (35): The Panda’s resurgence with the 2019 Giants was a fun story, but he’s batted just .197/.294/.299 in 180 plate appearances between the Giants and Braves since that time. The Indians acquired him as a financial counterbalance in the deadline trade that sent Eddie Rosario to Atlanta, but Cleveland released Sandoval that same day.
- Danny Santana (31): Santana is batting just .181/.252/.345 in 127 plate appearances. He enjoyed big offensive performances as a rookie with the Twins in 2013 and slugged 28 homers for the Rangers in 2019 — but he’s never managed a wRC+ better than 60 in any of his other six big league seasons. It’s been a bizarre career for Santana, who has obvious power and speed, but is a career .255/.296/.413 hitter (85 wRC+).
- Travis Shaw (32): Shaw’s Milwaukee reunion didn’t work out too well, has posted just a .191/.279/.337 line there before being cut loose. His second reunion, a return to the Red Sox, has been excellent. It’s only 40 plate appearances, but Shaw has hit .257/.333/.600 with three round-trippers. He hasn’t had an above-average full season since 2018, but this late surge with the Sox ought to intrigue a few clubs.
- Yoshi Tsutsugo (30): Shaw’s late rebound might be impressive, but it’s got nothing on Tsutsugo. The former NPB star has erupted with a .306/.394/.682 showing in 99 plate appearances since joining the Pirates. It doesn’t undo the disappointing production he delivered with the Rays and Dodgers from 2020-21, but it’s certainly intriguing given that he was one of Japan’s top power hitters not long ago. If you’re looking for a low-cost upside play at first or in the outfield corners, Tsutsugo is an interesting option.
- Ryan Zimmerman (37): Mr. National is still hitting for power, with 14 dingers in 258 plate appearances, but his .244/.283/.475 slash pales in comparison to his peak. If he comes back for a 17th big league season, one would imagine it’d only be to return to the Nats.
Players with 2022 Options
Yuli Gurriel (38): I’ll be the first to admit that I scratched my head when the Astros jumped the market to extend Gurriel just as the postseason was about to begin in 2020. That one-year extension, which contains a club option for 2022, couldn’t have gone any better. Last year’s disappointing .232/.274/.384 slash is a distant memory, and with Gurriel turning in a huge .317/.383/.463 showing in 2021, next year’s $8MM option is a no-brainer to be picked up.
Wilmer Flores (30): Flores is hitting .259/.321/.470 in 617 plate appearances since signing with the Giants. He can play first, second and third base competently, and he mashes left-handed pitching. A $3.5MM club option should be an easy “yes” for the Giants.
Matt Carpenter (36): Carpenter’s option is every bit as easy a call as the other two in this section — albeit for the opposite reason. His $18.5MM club option comes with a $2MM buyout, and the Cards are sure to take the buyout after the former MVP candidate has batted just .180/.314/.299 over the past two seasons. Carpenter recently said he hopes to continue playing, but it might be time for a fresh start elsewhere for the lifelong Cardinal.
Jurickson Profar (29): The Padres’ three-year, $21MM deal for Profar was fairly surprising even before the revelation that the contract came with a pair of opt-out clauses. Profar has batted just .235/.335/.336 in 381 plate appearances this year, making it quite difficult to see him turning down a guaranteed two years and $14MM from the Friars. That’s especially true given that he could always pocket next year’s $6.5MM salary and opt out post-2022 if he has a big season.
Padres Outright Nick Ramirez
Sept. 21: The Padres’ Triple-A affiliate, the El Paso Chihuahuas, announced that Ramirez has been assigned outright to their roster after going unclaimed on waivers.
Sept. 17: The Padres announced they’ve designated reliever Nick Ramirez for assignment. The move creates a 40-man roster spot for Vince Velasquez, who has been selected to the big league club to start this evening’s game against the Cardinals. San Diego signed Velasquez to a minor league deal on Wednesday and announced at the time that he’d be added to the major league roster to make a start this weekend.
Ramirez signed a minor league deal with San Diego over the winter and was selected to the majors in mid-April. He’s been up-and-down over the course of the season, making thirteen MLB appearances and getting into 30 games with Triple-A El Paso. Often called upon to work multiple innings out of the bullpen, Ramirez has tallied 20 1/3 frames of 5.75 ERA ball at the big league level this year. He hasn’t missed many bats, striking out just 15.4% of opponents with a below-average 9.4% swinging strike rate. But Ramirez has avoided walks and induced ground-balls at a slightly above-average clip.
In the minors, Ramirez has had more success generating whiffs. He’s fanned an average 24.1% of batters faced with El Paso, although his ERA has been inflated by some poor sequencing and batted ball fortune. Opposing hitters have a .339 batting average on balls in play against Ramirez in the minors, and just over a third of the baserunners he’s allowed have come around to score, resulting in a similarly disappointing 5.23 ERA in Triple-A.
Ramirez appeared in the majors with the Tigers between 2019-20, logging 79 2/3 frames of relief during his rookie campaign. All told, the 32-year-old owns a 4.55 ERA in 110 2/3 innings at the highest level. The Friars will place Ramirez on waivers over the coming days. He’d have the right to elect free agency should he pass through unclaimed by virtue of the fact that he’s previously been outrighted in his career. Even if he were to accept an outright assignment, he’d qualify for minor league free agency at the end of the season if he’s not added back to the 40-man roster before then.
Indians Select Anthony Gose
The Indians are selecting the contract of outfielder-turned-pitcher Anthony Gose, as first reported by Indians Prospective (on Twitter). The left-hander will be appearing in the Majors for the first time since 2016 — and for the first time ever as a pitcher.
Gose, now 31 years old, was a two-way star in high school and a second-round draft choice by the Phillies back in 2008. He focused solely on developing as an outfielder, and by the 2011-12 offseason, Gose ranked as a consensus top 100 prospect in all of baseball. He played the 2011 season as a 20-year-old in Double-A (about four years younger than the league-average age) and slashed .253/.349/.415 with 16 home runs, 20 doubles, seven triples and 70 stolen bases — the second 70-steal season of his young professional career.
In 2010, the Phillies traded Gose to the Astros alongside J.A. Happ and Jonathan Villar in the trade that brought Roy Oswalt to Philadelphia. Houston immediately flipped Gose to the Blue Jays for corner-infield prospect Brett Wallace, who’d been a first-round pick in 2008 and was a highly regarded prospect himself at the time.
Gose made his big league debut with the Jays as a 21-year-old in 2012 but never really found his footing in Toronto. He spent three seasons as an oft-optioned member of the Jays’ outfield but managed just a .234/.301/.332 output in that time. The Blue Jays and Tigers swapped Gose for second baseman Devon Travis in the 2014-15 offseason, and Gose only found marginally more success in Detroit. He batted .254/.321/.367 in his first season as a Tiger but played just 30 games in his second season (2016).
Those struggles at the plate carried over into Triple-A, and beginning in 2017, the Tigers gave Gose the opportunity to work off the mound all the way down in Class-A Advanced. The transition wasn’t particularly smooth, as one might expect. Gose appeared in 11 games, allowing nine runs in 10 2/3 innings. He fanned 14 of the 45 hitters he faced (31.1 percent), but the Tigers removed him from their 40-man roster and he opted for free agency at season’s end.
Gose signed a minor league pact with the Rangers in the 2017-18 offseason and was selected by the Astros in the Rule 5 Draft just days later. He didn’t make it out of Spring Training with the ’Stros before being returned to the Rangers. Gose made it to Double-A as a pitcher in the Rangers’ system and clearly intrigued the Indians’ baseball ops department enough to sign him as a minor league free agent the following offseason.
Gose has hung on with Cleveland ever since, but he hasn’t gotten a call to the big leagues until today. The lefty pitched for Team USA in the Olympics earlier this summer, and he’s had a generally solid season on the mound. Walks have been an issue since he made the move to the mound, and that’s true to an extent this season as well. Gose has worked to a 3.55 ERA with a hefty 34 percent strikeout rate but a bloated 19.4 percent walk rate.
However, most of those command issues came early in the season. Since returning from the Olympic team, Gose has yielded just one run in 14 frames. He’s walked six of the 52 batters he’s faced in that time (11.5 percent) and fanned a whopping 22 of them (42.3 percent). Given that recent run of dominance, it’s hardly a surprise that Cleveland is both rewarding Gose’s tenacity and also taking the opportunity to get a late look at him in the big leagues.
While Gose has appeared in parts of five big league seasons in the past, he has yet to even amass three years of Major League service time. As such, Cleveland would be able to control him all the way through the 2025 season — if he is indeed able to stick as a pitcher. Gose, by all accounts, has built his heater up to sit in the upper-90s and at times reach triple digits. Opponents are hitting just .172/.333/.328 against him so far in 2021 — including a .086/.192/.154 batting line since he returned from the Olympics.
It’s a frankly remarkable journey for Gose, who has been with four organizations in five years since attempting to reinvent himself as a pitcher. He’s pitched for clubs in the Puerto Rican Winter League and Dominican Winter League along the way after restarting his career as a 26-year-old in Class-A Advanced. He’ll now reap the benefits of that half-decade odyssey as he returns to the Major Leagues for what, in many ways, will be a second big league debut.
Rockies Outright Bernardo Flores Jr.
The Rockies announced that left-hander Bernardo Flores Jr. has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Albuquerque. He doesn’t have the requisite service time to reject an outright assignment, so he’ll remain in the organization.
Flores was originally drafted by the White Sox, with whom he spent the first few years of his career. The southpaw made his big league debut with Chicago last season, tossing two innings. He’s bounced between a couple organizations this year, landing with the Cardinals via waiver claim in April and moving to the Rockies a couple months later. He made one big league appearance with St. Louis but has yet to suit up in the majors with Colorado.
Instead, Flores has spent almost his entire tenure in the organization on the minor league injured list. He landed on the IL immediately after being claimed off waivers and just made it back with Albuquerque for the first time last week. The 26-year-old will look to work his way back onto the 40-man roster now that he’s returned to health. Flores has very little Triple-A experience, but he’s posted a quality 3.04 ERA over 156 2/3 career innings in Double-A.
Pirates Release John Nogowski, Ka’ai Tom
The Pirates have released first baseman John Nogowski and outfielder Ka’ai Tom, relays Mike Persak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). Both players had been with Triple-A Indianapolis after being outrighted last month. Each of Nogowski and Tom would have qualified for minor league free agency this offseason if not reselected to the 40-man roster before the end of the year. The Pittsburgh front office evidently determined neither player was in line for a promotion, so they’ve elected to cut both loose a few weeks early.
Pittsburgh acquired Nogowski from the division-rival Cardinals for cash considerations in early July. He tallied 143 plate appearances with Pittsburgh but scuffled after a hot start, ultimately posting just a .233/.301/.310 line. After being outrighted to Indianapolis, Nogowski hit an impressive .259/.406/.352 with thirteen walks and only ten strikeouts in 69 plate appearances. The right-handed hitter has shown that strong on-base ability throughout much of his minor league career, and he owns a .269/.388/.423 slash over 680 career trips to the dish at Triple-A.
Tom has spent the bulk of his career in the Indians’ organization. The A’s selected him in the Rule 5 draft last winter but bumped him from the big league roster after just nine games. The Pirates claimed Tom off waivers and gave him a bit more run, but the 27-year-old only managed a .152/.308/.261 showing in 117 plate appearances with the Bucs. Pittsburgh designated him for assignment and passed him through waivers.
Rule 5 draftees have to be kept on the MLB roster (or injured list) for the entirety of their rookie season or offered back to their original organization. The Pirates offered Tom back to Cleveland once he cleared waivers, but the Indians declined to bring him back into the system. He instead reported to Indianapolis but continued to struggle, hitting .190/.299/.310 in 67 plate appearances before being released.
MLB To Require Vaccinations For Players To Participate In Arizona Fall League
Major League Baseball is requiring players to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to participate in the Arizona Fall League, reports Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic. It marks the first instance of an MLB vaccination mandate directly affecting players.
Last week, Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic reported that MLB was mandating vaccinations among non-playing team personnel in order for those individuals to be granted access to the field during postseason play. That requirement did not apply to players, as any sort of vaccine mandate for MLB players would need to be agreed upon with the Players Association. MLB can and has attempted to encourage vaccinations among big leaguers by loosening health and safety protocols for teams that fully vaccinate 85% of Tier 1 personnel.
The Arizona Fall League is an annual prospect showcase that takes place after the conclusion of the standard minor league season. It is operated by MLB. Teams send a contingent of players at various minor league levels to the AFL in order to log extra playing time. The caliber of player assigned to the league is also highly variable, but it’s not uncommon to see at least a few of the league’s most promising prospects participate.
It’s possible a few players on MLB 40-man rosters will be tabbed for Fall League action. Those players are members of the MLBPA, but Piecoro notes that the Fall League is generally treated as a minor league, making a MLB vaccination mandate for players permissible. That naturally raises the question whether MLB could consider a vaccination mandate for all affiliated minor leagues next season even if the MLBPA doesn’t agree to a mandate at the big league level. There’s no indication that’s presently the league’s intent, but one executive opined to Piecoro the AFL vaccine mandate might wind up being a precursor to similar measures for minor leaguers during next year’s Spring Training.
