Jeter, Ng staying focused with a lockout looming
They know it’s looming. Dec. 1, 11:59 p.m.
If MLB and the MLB Players’ Association don’t agree to a new collective bargaining agreement by this time, a lockout is all but guaranteed.
But that point isn’t here yet.
Until then, Derek Jeter said, the Marlins’ front office is “operating as business as usual” this offseason.
“We don’t think about that when making our decisions,” Jeter added.
That means putting out feelers to free agents. Talking with teams about potential trades. Figuring out how to maximize the use of their 40-man roster.
“Get better,” Jeter said. “That’s it.”
And everyone inside the organization knows the Marlins need to improve.
They went 67-95 last season, the sixth-worst record in the league.
Their offense ranked in the bottom five in nearly every key statistical category.
They know they need to add established hitters to their roster and have said they will be willing to spend to make that happen.
The market so far, though, has been slowmoving. The uncertainty of what will happen after Dec. 1 is certainly playing a role there.
All signs are pointing to MLB having its first work stoppage since the 1994 strike that resulted in the canceled World Series.
The situations are slightly different now.
The current collective bargaining agreement’s expiration comes twoand-a-half months before spring training for the 2022 season is tentatively set to begin, giving both sides time to finalize a deal without missing games.
With that said, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters in Chicago last week after MLB’s owners meetings that “an offseason lockout that moves the process forward is different than a labor dispute that costs games.”
“We understand, I understand, that time is becoming an issue,” Manfred added. “That’s a challenge. We’ve had challenges with respect to making labor agreements before, and we got a pretty good track record of overcoming those challenges. I can tell you from the clubs’ perspective, we’re committed to continuing to offer proposals and suggestions in an effort to get to an agreement before December
1.”
This sets up two routes for free agents to take. They can try to sign before Dec. 1 to ensure they have a deal in place, or they can bide their time, see what happens and be part of what could eventually be a frenzy to get deals in place ahead of the season.
But even with the added unknowns, Marlins general manager Kim Ng said the potential of a lockout hasn’t changed the front office’s plans. They’ve “laid a lot of groundwork,” she said. The rest is up to the market.
“I would say there’s always some urgency to getting things done,” Ng said. “That doesn’t mean that that’s the way it actually goes. And I think any time you can try and solidify early, that’s always helpful in terms of determining next steps or helping to figure out next steps. I would say similarly with other markets, or other years, you’re gonna have guys that are willing to move quicker, and then there are some that are not as willing and they want to make sure that they get the entire landscape, talk to as many clubs as they can as many times as they can.”
One position group has moved quickly: Starting pitching. A handful of the top available pitchers have signed: Noah Syndergaard (one-year, $21 million with Angels), Justin Verlander (oneyear, $25 million with player option for 2023 with Astros), Eduardo Rodriguez (5 years, $77 million with Tigers) and Andrew Heaney (oneyear, $8.5 million with Dodgers).
The Marlins, however, are not in the market for starting pitching. That’s their main area of strength — and one they might trade from to upgrade at other positions (it might be the only way to beef up their catcher depth, for example, considering the ideal free agent options are limited).
For now, they have until 11:59 p.m. on Dec. 1 to make moves before most likely going into a holding pattern.
“I’m an optimist by nature,” Jeter said, “so I’m hopeful that things get worked out, but no one really knows.”
THIS AND THAT
Jeter said the loss of the 2020 minor-league season “didn’t help anyone” in terms of the development of position player prospects. “Baseball is a sport you play every day for a reason,” Jeter said, “so when you take off an entire year, you can go to an alternate site all you want, but you’re still not playing games . ... Once they get back into the swing of a regular offseason into spring training, I expect them to be better.”
Ng said promoting Al Pedrique from Triple A manager to third-base coach and Edwar Gonzalez from minor-league hitting coordinator to assistant hitting coach on the big league staff “tells you what a great job our player development people have done in terms of acquiring talent on the player side but also a lot of the staff side.”
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