Connect with us

Published

on

MIAMI — Union head Tony Clark claims Major League Baseball’s rule changes would have gone more smoothly during spring training if player thoughts had been incorporated.

Clark added that the changes could have a different effect on the games once the regular season begins and the “lights come on.”

MLB implemented its first pitch clock, limited defensive shifts and pickoff attempts and installed larger bases as part of the biggest alteration in playing rules since the mound was lowered for the 1969 season.

“My hope despite the fact that nearly all of the things that we have seen that would otherwise be characterized as challenges could have been avoided with the input that the players offered when these rules were being constructed,” Clark said Saturday before the United States played Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinals.

“My hope is that moving forward that the league continues to take the input of players to heart, such that each of the adjustments that we’ve seen that have been implemented this year are of benefit in the long run.”

The average time of spring training games has dropped to 2 hours, 36 minutes, from 3:00 last year. The changes have had almost no impact on offense, with runs per game rising to 10.7 from 10.6 and batting average to .260 from .259.

Stolen bases have gone up to 1.8 per game from 1.1.

“Spring training is spring training,” Clark said. “I appreciate everyone focusing on spring training game times have been shortened by `X’ number of minutes. I appreciate everyone’s focus on it. But when the lights come on and these count, count for the managers, count for the organizations, count for the players, we’ll see how all of these moving pieces come together.”

After the Mets’ Max Scherzer timed the pitch clock to throw a quick pitch to Washington’s Riley Adams on March 3, MLB reminded teams that a pitcher must wait until a hitter is reasonably set in the batter’s box to deliver a pitch.

Baseball’s 11-man competition committee, established in the labor agreement last March, adopted the pitch clock and shift limits last September over the opposition of the four players on the panel.

Saying it was responding to player concerns, MLB set the pitch clock at 15 seconds with no runners and 20 seconds with runners, up from 14/19 at Triple-A and 14/18 in the rest of the minors.

MLB also liberalized its planned limit for pickoff attempts, known as disengagements. In the minors, a pitcher had two pickoff attempts per plate appearance and a third would result in a balk unless there was an out. In the majors the limit resets if a runner advances.

MLB umpires also have permission to provide additional time if warranted, such as the catcher making the final out of a half-inning. MLB altered limits on mound visits, which started in 2018, adding an allowed trip in the ninth inning if a team has exhausted its total by the end of the eighth.

This is the fifth edition of the World Baseball Classic, started in 2006, and the first since 2017 following a delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic. There seems to be little support for holding WBCs more frequently.

“Having it happen as perhaps infrequently as we do offers a certain level of excitement around the event akin to what you often see with the Olympics every four years, as well,” Clark said.

He was not concerned that the U.S. team has been given more limits on pitcher use than other nations.

“Each federation and each country against the backdrop of when their season starts and how that federation works have their applicable guidelines for participation for their players,” he said. “Ours may be a little different than some others.”

Clark also said it was feasible to reach an agreement on a collective bargaining agreement for minor leaguers by opening day on March 31.

“A lot of progress has been made,” he said. “We’ll see if we’re able to get it across the finish line before opening day.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Canucks, Boeser agree on new seven-year deal

Published

on

By

Canucks, Boeser agree on new seven-year deal

The Vancouver Canucks have come to terms with forward Brock Boeser on a new seven-year contract, carrying a $7.25 million AAV.

Canucks GM Patrik Allvin announced the deal on Tuesday during the first hour of NHL free agency. Boeser, 28, was an unrestricted free agent on a previously expiring contract.

Drafted by Vancouver 23rd overall in the 2015 NHL draft, Boeser has collected 204 goals and 434 points in 554 games with the Canucks to date. A top-six scoring threat, Boeser has elite playmaking skills and the potential to produce big numbers offensively. He had his best year offensively in 2023-24, producing 40 goals and 73 points in 81 games.

Boeser didn’t hit those marks again last season — settling for 25 goals and 50 points in 75 games — but was still second amongst teammates in output. He also plays a prominent role on Vancouver’s power play and when he can generate opportunities at 5-on-5, he is a true difference-maker up front for the Canucks.

The extension is a happy ending for Vancouver and Boeser. When the regular season ended, Boeser admitted “it’s tough to say” whether he’d be back with the Canucks. Boeser reportedly turned down a previous five-year extension offer with the club and Allvin subsequently looked into deals for him at the March trade deadline, with no takers. Boeser looked — and sounded — poised to explore his options on the open market.

Ultimately, Boeser decided to stay put by committing the best years of his career to the Canucks.

Continue Reading

Sports

Jake Allen agrees to 5-year deal with the Devils

Published

on

By

Jake Allen agrees to 5-year deal with the Devils

Jake Allen, one of the top goaltenders available entering free agency, is not heading to the market after agreeing to a five-year deal with the New Jersey Devils, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.

Allen’s average annual value on the deal is $1.8 million, sources told ESPN. That AAV allows the Devils to run back the same goaltending tandem for next season.

Jacob Markstrom has one year remaining on his contract for $4.125 million. Nico Daws is also under contract for next season, before becoming a restricted free agent next summer.

Several teams were interested in the 34-year-old veteran, whom sources said could have made more money on the open market. However, the deal with the Devils gives Allen long-term security. Allen has played for the Blues, Canadiens and Devils over his 12-year-career. He has started in 436 career games.

Last season, Allen started 29 games for the Devils, going 13-16-1 with a .906 save percentage, 2.66 GAA and four shutouts.

Continue Reading

Sports

Capitals sign Fehervary to 7-year, $42M extension

Published

on

By

Capitals sign Fehervary to 7-year, M extension

Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary signed a seven-year extension through the 2032-33 season that is worth $6 million annually, the team announced Tuesday.

Fehervary, who had one year of team control remaining, will enter the final season of a three-year bridge deal that will see him make $2.675 million before his new contract begins at the start of the 2026-27 season.

He finished the season with five goals and a career-high 25 points while logging 19 minutes. Fehervary also played a crucial role in the Capitals’ penalty kill by finishing with 245 short-handed minutes for a penalty kill that was fifth in the NHL with an 82% success rate.

Securing the 25-year-old Fehervary to a long-term deal means the Capitals now have seven players who have more than three years remaining on their current contracts.

It also means the Capitals front office has one less decision to make ahead of what is expected to be an active offseason in 2026 that will see the club have what PuckPedia projects to be $39.25 million in cap space.

That’s also the same offseason in which captain and NHL all-time leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin‘s contract will come off their books along with that of defenseman John Carlson.

But until then, the Capitals have their entire top-six defensive unit under contract as they seek to improve upon a 2024-25 season that saw them finish atop the Metropolitan Division with 111 points before they lost in the Eastern Conference semifinal to the Carolina Hurricanes in five games.

Continue Reading

Trending