The major leagues may be locked out, but minor league camp is underway.
Even though the major leagues are locked out, minor league camp is fully underway. There’s plenty going on the minor-league side, so let’s look at what’s going on so far. Adam McCalvy has a bunch of notes from the camp.
- First round picks Garrett Mitchell and Sal Frelick met up at camp. Garrett Mitchell is looking to recover from a rough 2021 that started with a random illness.
- Antoine Kelly is back after recovery from thorasic outlet surgery.
- Mark Mathias is in the minor-league camp as one of the veterans not on the 40-man roster. He spoke about his 2021 season where he could just watch as he recovered from injury.
- If you are in Arizona and want to check out camp, some of the work outs will be open to the public beginning on March 13.
- Adam McCalvy also has a collection of pictures from camp on his account.
Looking back to the lockout:
- Buster Olney of ESPN looks at the big questions around the lockout and how negotiations can get on track.
- In the players’ most recent offer to the owners, they did drop their pre-arbitration bonus pool by $5 million, but remained firm on the luxury tax thresholds.
- The owners may be willing to budge on the competitive balance tax, but only if the union budges on other demands.
- Both the MLB and MLBPA are creating funds to help workers impacted by the lockout. MLBPA announced a $1 million fund, while MLB hasn’t announced their fund yet.