Female umpire moves closer to big leagues with spring debut today
If Big Blue trades up for QB, deal could look a lot like one that brought Darnold to Gang
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Jen Pawol will take a big step toward breaking the gender barrier for Major League Baseball umpires on Saturday when she becomes the first woman to work a big league spring training game in 17 years.
The 47-year-old from New Jersey will work the bases during Houston’s exhibition against Washington in West Palm Beach, Florida. She is among 24 minor league umpires assigned full-time as fill-ins at big league spring training.
Last year, 21 of the 26 umps assigned full spring training schedules were picked for the in-season call-up list.
Ria Cortesio was the previous woman to umpire spring training games in 2007. She spent nine years in the minor leagues, including the last five in the Double-A Southern League, then was released after the 2007 season.
Pawol started in the Gulf Coast League in 2016, moved up to the New York/Penn League in 2017, then was promoted to the Midwest League after the first two weeks of the 2018 season. She worked the South Atlantic League in 2019, the High-A Midwest League in 2021, the Double-A Eastern League and the Triple-A International and Pacific Coast Leagues last year.
“As a hitter, a longtime athlete, it was a big deal to hit over .300,” the former college softball player at Hofstra said this month. “But as an umpire, we have to hit 1.000 every night, and the challenge of that is absolutely riveting.”
MLB’s move comes 27 years after the gender barrier for game officials was broken in the NBA, nine years after it ended the NFL and two years after the men’s soccer World Cup employed a female referee.
The rumor mill continues to rage that the Giants and other quarterback-needy teams might be aggressive and trade up in this year’s NFL Draft. The Giants (pick No. 6), Atlanta Falcons (No. 8), Minnesota Vikings (No. 11), Denver Broncos (No. 12) and Las Vegas Raiders (No. 13) are all teams to watch — even with the Chicago Bears (No. 1), Washington Commanders (No. 2) and New England Patriots (No. 3) needing QBs, too.
NFL.com’s lead draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah stoked the fire again on Thursday.
He said “there doesn’t seem to be as much excitement” in the league about the 2025 quarterback draft class, and that reality could “spur some action for these teams to either take one where they are and maybe even be aggressive and go up and get one.”
The Giants included. “You could get up to [pick] three with the ammunition that they have and get that done. I would not rule that out,” Jeremiah said, discussing a hypothetical Patriots-Giants trade. “I know you have one more year of
Daniel Jones before they could kind of get out of that contract, but I think that would be something that would be very much in play.”
Here are some recent examples of trades up to draft quarterbacks to give an idea of what the Giants’ cost might be in that move. Note that three of these four recent trades happened in March of their respective year, at least a month out from the draft.
MARCH 2018:
JETS TRADE UP TO NO. 3 FOR SAM DARNOLD
This is the most direct comparison. The Jets traded up from pick No. 6 to No. 3 with the Colts to draft Darnold out of USC. It cost them three second-round picks on top of the first-round swap: Nos. 37 and 49 overall that year, and No. 34 in 2019. The Giants have two second-rounders this year (Nos. 39 and 47), so they could theoretically package those picks and their 2025 second-rounder in a similar move.
They would keep their 2025 first-rounder in this swap, but they’d also be losing three premium picks to help their barren roster at other positions. The Jets’ picks in that trade, for example, turned into Colts guard Quenton Nelson (six-time Pro Bowler, three-time All-Pro), Colts tackle Braden Smith (80 career starts), Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert (307 catches, 3,589 yards, 22 TDs) and now-Ravens corner Rock Ya-Sin (39 starts, 66 games). It really just depends on whether the quarterback turns out to be a star or not.
MARCH 2021:
49ERS TRADE UP TO NO. 3 FOR TREY LANCE
San Francisco moved all the way up from pick No. 12 to No. 3 with the Dolphins to take Lance out of North Dakota State. It cost them a ton: two future first-round picks and a third, on top of the first-round exchange. They gave Miami their 2022 first (No. 29 overall), their 2023 first (No. 29 overall) and their 2022 third (No. 102) overall. Kyle Shanahan’s team managed to survive this disastrous trade by finding Brock Purdy in the seventh round the following year.
The 49ers also kept winning, so at least the picks they traded ended up in the back of those future first rounds. Still, the No. 12 pick they traded did become Dallas Cowboys pass rusher Micah Parsons (three-time Pro Bowler, two-time All-Pro). New England Patriots guard Cole Strange (27 starts), New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Bryan Bresee (17 games) and Dolphins linebacker Channing Tindall (33 games) were the others.
MARCH 2023:
PANTHERS TRADE UP TO NO. 1 FOR BRYCE YOUNG
The Carolina Panthers charged up from No. 9 to No. 1 with the Chicago Bears to select Young out of Alabama. This was a wildly
expensive trade that helped get a lot of people fired. On top of the pick swap, the Panthers traded their 2024 first-round pick, which is now the No. 1 overall selection this April; top receiver D.J. Moore, a 2023 second-round pick and a 2025 second.
Losing Moore was devastating, but it was not as bad as seeing No. 2 overall pick C.J. Stroud flourish in Houston while Young floundered in Charlotte. And certainly not as bad as surrendering the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. Last year’s No. 9 pick also became Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Jalen Carter (16 games), and the second-rounder became Jaguars tight end Brenton Strange (16 games, four starts).
APRIL 2023:
TEXANS TRADE UP TO NO. 3 FOR WILL ANDERSON (REALLY STROUD)
Houston had picks No. 2 and 12 in last year’s NFL Draft. They wanted Stroud and pass rusher Will Anderson but knew they wouldn’t get both if they stayed put. So they picked Stroud at No. 2 and traded from No. 12 to No. 3 with the Arizona Cardinals to get Anderson, as well. Although the deal was technically made for Anderson, it happened because the team coveted a QB.
On top of the pick swap, the Texans gave up a 2023 second-round pick, this year’s first (No. 27 overall) and a 2024 third. The No. 12 pick became Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs (Pro Bowl). The second-rounder became Titans QB Will Levis (nine starts). Houston also got a 2023 fourth-round pick in the deal, and that became Eagles corner Kelee Ringo (17 games, four starts).
Did the Texans need to trade up for Anderson? Maybe not. But they hit on Stroud. Their aggressiveness was due to their conviction on him. And the QB is all that matters.