Spring training opens with turmoil
The Boston Red Sox plan to print 5,000 copies of their media guide during the last week of February. Their opening-day roster could include several players who won’t make the deadline.
Perhaps 100 free agents still seek contracts as the start of spring training workouts on Feb. 14 draws near, a group that includes J.D. Martinez, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish.
In a historically slow market, players and management are feuding publicly about riches and rules, and teams seemingly are seeking bargains like shoppers awaiting a closeout.
“Some guys feel like they’re worth a little more than maybe what they’re being offered,” All-Star outfielder Andrew McCutchen said ahead of his first spring
Eduardo Nunez is one several players waiting to be picked up by a team for the upcoming season.
training since Pittsburgh traded him to San Francisco. “It’s just all about being fair.”
As soon as the Houston Astros won their first World Series title last November, attention turned toward 2018 and the start of stretching in Scottsdale, catching in Clearwater and bunting in Bradenton. But there will be two camps in Bradenton — in addition to the Pirates, based there for the 50th consecutive year, the Major League Baseball Players Association is setting up a free-agent workout facility at the nearby IMG Academy while players wait for the market to thaw.
Job-seekers include pitchers Alex Cobb and Lance Lynn; reliever Greg Holland; infielder File, Winslow Townson / AP
Eduardo Nunez; outfielders Carlos Gomez and Carlos Gonzalez; and catcher Jonathan Lucroy.
“There are always going to be some big names available at the beginning of spring training, but there’s an exorbitant number this year,” New York Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said.
With Cincinnati, Detroit, Miami, Oakland, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay in the early stage of rebuild mode, and Atlanta, the Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia starting to emerge, it appears about one-third of the 30 teams have little chance for this year’s 10 playoff berths. For their fans, hope and faith are longer-term emotions going into opening day on March 29.