Friday Newsletter time: A bevy of lockout leftovers as Texas Rangers prepare for rushed spring training
Players can begin arriving as soon as possible, but all players must report by Sunday.
The guess here is that the assembled media, such that is it, will not beat the first Texas Rangers 40-man player to the Surprise Recreation Campus on Friday.
It is voluntary report day to big-league spring training after the owners and players finally reached a new collective bargaining agreement. Those players who are in the area will be the first ones to show up.
Mandatory report day is Sunday, and minor-league games can begin next week.
The Rangers will open the season April 8 at Toronto, and their home opener is scheduled for April 11 vs. Colorado.
The Rockies and the other 14 National League teams will play with a designated hitter, as the universal DH is part of the new CBA. That’s one under-the-radar component of the CBA.
Here’s another: Starting in 2023, teams will play each team in the majors at least once a season and there will be fewer divisional games. That’s big for the Rangers, who play three teams in the Pacific time zone and will have fewer late-starting road games.
I can’t imagine that was a holdup during the negotiations.
Plenty of things did hold things up, including the international draft, draft-pick compensation and the bonus pool for pre-arbitration players. The competitive balance tax will always be a mountain to climb.
Ultimately, all 30 owners approved the CBA. The players’ vote was 26-12.
Of the 30 teams, 26 approved. Both New York teams, St. Louis and Houston were against it, as were all eight members of the executive committee.
That vote suggests the rank-and-field players, the ones who don’t make $43 million a year like committee member Max Scherzer, didn’t feel as if their best interests were being taken under consideration during the negotiations.
Rangers second baseman Marcus Semien is on that committee, so it will be interesting to see if he says why he didn’t like the deal.
I’m sure he will be asked. Hopefully, he is asked Friday.
Minor-league scrimmages
While 40-man players are moving into the big-league clubhouse, minor-league players will be facing off against their Surprise Recreation Campus counterparts.
The Rangers and Royals will play three games: one in Surprise Stadium featuring advanced prospects, and two on the back fields with lower-level players.
The starter in the stadium game? Cody Bradford, but Jack Leiter is expected to pitch.
All three games are open to the public.
Leiter was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft but didn’t make his professional debut. This will be his first game of any kind since the College World Series in June.
The right-hander has been in Arizona since January to get continue getting ready for the season as well as spending time with his new teammates.
Video of the Day
All the credit for the flood of videos from Arizona this week goes to John Moore, who shot most of them and uploaded them to the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast YouTube channel.
(A reminder for the fifth straight day: Go subscribe to that channel for free. Subscribe to the Rangers Newsletter for $5.99 a month or $60 a year. It is now baseball season, after all.)
The one below is from Thursday, John’s last day at minor-league camp, and it’s by special request from Davis Wendzel’s mother. We’re aim to please here at the Rangers Newsletter, so here is Davis taking live batting practice against right-hander Jason Bahr.
Wendzel is also one of the players in minor-league camp who has impressed the big-league coaches and front office.
Card of the Week
Right-hander Cole Winn returned to minor-league workouts Wednesday after a five-day bout with the flu, and was still feeling the effects of it Thursday as he threw a light bullpen session designed to get his arm moving.
Winn is from the great state of Colorado, so he has that working in his favor with me. He’s also a scratch golfer who is always encouraging me to get out and play, possibly in an attempt to eventually take some money off me on the course.
Winn has also been a guest on the Texas Rangers Baseball Podcast.
That’s a winning trifecta, one worthy of adding him to my son’s card collection.
As such, the Card of the Week is the Cole Winn 2018 Bowman Draft Chrome rookie refractor.
Winn should be in the major leagues this season after finishing last season at Triple A Round Rock and being selected as the Rangers Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
He said that his offseason project was his slider, and it has been better so far in camp. He’ll need all the weapons he can get once he’s in the majors.
Doggy video!
I don’t know why, but this one got rolling. Enjoy. See you Monday.
Thanks guys, we enjoy & appreciate all your content. We subscribe to it all. Great to see & hear all the behind the gates videos & stories. I’m bummed we’re missing Cody Bradford’s start today in Surprise. We will be there soon, baseball is back.