What is the story about?
Good
morning.
- Let’s start with the interesting stuff before we get to the tedious stuff. The Yankees scored 13 runs in the third inning in yesterday’s win in West Sacramento. That was the most by a Yankee team since 1920. Also, in the other eight innings, the Yankees managed just one baserunner, a walk, and that runner was erased in a double play. So outside of the third inning, A’s pitchers faced the minimum. But oh that third inning.
- Teddy Ricketson notes that five different teams had walk-off wins on Friday night.
- Meanwhile, the collective bargains talks unofficially commenced when both the owners and the union exchanged proposals. Jeff Passan breaks down what each side is proposing and what it means.
- Ben Clemens also gets into the details of both proposals. Both writers argue that nothing close to either proposal will be adopted.
- Andy Kostka and Kyle Williams asks Orioles and Nationals players what they think about the CBA talks.
- Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper is concerned that a work stoppage will harm the progress baseball has made over the past couple seasons.
- Writing for MLB dot com, Travis Sawchik makes the owners’ case that MLB has a competitive balance problem.
- Ken Rosenthal offers his take on the talks, agreeing that the final negotiations will look nothing like either proposal. But he also makes the case that around two-thirds of baseball’s competitive balance issues have nothing to do with revenue and payrolls. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Bob Nightengale speaks with owners and team executives who say that the much-discussed expansion doesn’t make any financial sense.
- Let’s get back to the games. Will Leitch has seven storylines for June.
- One player that each team hopes will get things going in the right direction in June.
- Two month progress reports for every AL team and every NL team from the CBS baseball crew.
- Thomas Harrington wonders if the NL Cy Young Award race is the most-loaded field of all time?
- Jayson Stark writes that the NL Cy Young race is “ridiculous” and notes how well some of the candidates pitched in May. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Another look at the loaded NL Cy Young race.
- White Sox phenomenal rookie third baseman Munetaka Murakami will miss four-to-six weeks with a hamstring strain.
- Jon Greenberg wonders if the White Sox can hang in the playoff race without Murakami.
- Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz exited Sunday’s game with hamstring tightness. That’s never a good sign.
- Blue Jays outfielder Jesús Sánchez left Sunday’s game after getting hit in the wrist with a ball thrown from the stands. X-rays were negative, however.
- Jake Mailhot looks at the big turnaround season that Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz.
- And Bob Nightengale reports that the Nationals are very happy no other team wanted to trade for C.J. Abrams over the winter.
- Tyler Kepner looks at Brewers prospect Cooper Pratt, their $50 million shortstop of the future. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Julian McWilliams profiles draft prospect Brody Brumila, who is 6’9” and throws 101 miles per hour. Gotta tell you, the track record of high school pitchers who throw 100 is pretty bad, which McWilliams acknowledges.
- Mike Axisa has a mock first-round draft.
- Jayson Stark has the weird and wild from baseball over the past month. (The Athletic sub. req.)
- Giants third base coach Hector Borg has been re-assigned after a series of base running mistakes by the Giants.
- Mike Petriello notes that Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh is among the all-time leaders in career batting average on balls in play. In fact, he only trails Ty Cobb in that category.
- Adam McCalvy checks in with the artist who is painting a big mural of broadcaster Bob Uecker in downtown Milwaukee.
- Sweeny Murti looks back on the 20th anniversary of Hall-of-Fame Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina yelling at manager Joe Torre to “No, stay there!” when Torre moved to take him out of a game in the ninth inning. Mussina stayed in to record the final complete game of his career.
- And finally, Alyssa Roenigk introduces us to Maceo Harrison, a coach but more importantly the choreographer for the Savannah Bananas who designs and teaches the players all those dance move. It ain’t easy teaching a bunch of baseball players to dance, in case you were wondering, but Harrison is a patient teacher.
