accinfo

If we get Palmer, Big Ben, and Brian Roberts doing the color for all the games this year I think we are pretty fortunate.

I didn't see it posted but Tom Davis is back with his weekly Wall to Wall Baseball show on MASN. Even though Tom is no longer with the Orioles broadcast team I am glad he continued this show. I enjoy the weekly baseball chat. I know he produces this show with his own sponsors.

When the J & J vaccine comes online at the end of this month the amount of supply should start increasing. I suspect in April or at the latest May most areas will allow anyone who wants the vaccination to get it. I doubt that MLB players would get the vaccine before that but I would expect the minute that happens they will arrange for them to have it the next day.

I understand the reasoning behind service time and all that but if he is hitting the cover off the ball and they feel he is defensively ready then bring him up mid-June or whenever those metrics are met. At some point you need to have reasons to get excited to watch the team. If the catchers that are playing are doing decent then it takes the pressure off of bringing him up. However if they are not and he is ready then bring him up in my opinion.

If this is pro rated versus full pay it does make a big difference. The owners lose the publicity game big time if they try to ram that through. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2021/01/31/mlb-players-union-expected-reject-proposal-delay-start-season/4332399001/

They seem to be offering them full pay for 162 games to play 154. It isn't nothing.

Great song writer, Great song!

You are right the more I thought about it they could be firing one of the Nationals writers as well. If Roch doesn't write for that site it probably goes away. And I believe Steve is probably right behind him the way he covers the minors. I suspect the 15 minute pregame and post game they will use one of the broadcasters to attend the pre and post game press conference and that will be that. Instead of going to the studio where Dempsey was. It looks like they have closed that studio since the virus has been around. Tom Davis does his Touchdown Baltimore show remotely at a sponsor this year.

Agreed. I won't miss Bordick, Johnson or Dempsey. I assume Dempsey's restaurant at Camden Yards will get renamed. I feel bad for Tom Davis. He has said many times he never wanted to retire. Tom is a good guy but I kind of saw that coming as well. In that article is says one of the main writers on the MASN web site is let go as well. That has to be either Roch or Melewski. I am going to assume it is Steve but I am sure Roch is the higher compensated.

Assuming they didn't I agree. I am not so sure he didn't know or wasn't told. He is saying he was made aware this week. I am betting he collected his last checks and then felt he could speak out. If he said something before then he would be at risk of them terminating him early.

He signed a two year contract and it ran out and they didn't wish to sign him to a new one. Hunter is the one going out and telling people he didn't want to leave which is fine. Hunter knew this was coming when they hired all the new people. I have spent some time with Hunter and trust me he knows what he is doing. The survey that came back from Oriole ticket holders finished his fate. I have been fired and have fired a lot of people. When you don't want to be fired but the people firing you want you gone there isn't a lot of gracious ways to do it.

Or maybe his contract ran through the end of January 2021. He got a paycheck through now and they just didn't renew it.

I think Mullins is going to get every chance to play against right handed pitching. See if he can at least hit from the left side of the plate on any long-term basis at the major league level.

It will be interesting to see when fans will be able to return. I suspect some states will allow limited numbers like they have in football. Hopefully after the All-Star game stadiums can be open and close to normal. I am going to get my vaccine as soon as they let me and get back to normal life.

I am guessing if the players show up for work the owners don't have a choice but to pay the players in full for the season. I am sure there was nothing in the CBA that the owners would have the right to cut the number of games in a season because no one is allowed to attend the games.

They may be putting the team in the best position to sell but that doesn't mean the Orioles will ever move. Oakland and Tampa will move before Baltimore because of their lack of new stadiums. The fact they haven't signed a lease may be in indicator they may sell the team. You wouldn't want to sattle a new owner with a lease they weren't happy with.

I think Ticketmaster has already talked about having fans that attend concerts will have to show they have been vaccinated or had a recent negative test to admit fans to a show. I know some people will have a negative reaction to this but I don't have a problem with it. If you don't want to get the vaccine you don't have to go to a crowded event. I will get the vaccine as soon as I can and wear my tag around my neck like my Golden Retriever If it allows me to attend a concert and a baseball game I'll do what I need to.

I agree with this. To bring it back to the original point it is going to take at least until March before you get through the first 3 categories. I hope it is sooner then that but if the owners are going to wait until the players can get vaccinated before they assemble teams for spring training then to me mid-April or May would be the soonest they could start spring training.

One thing is healthly young baseball players shouldn't be able to get vaccinated before everyday normal people have the vaccines available. That seems to me not likely to happen before late March or April at the earliest.

I think cities in the US have perception problems similar to Baltimore. Because of the positive urban renewal of most cities in the years at the end of the 20th century ball parks were built in downtown areas because that had become the in place to go. Many people worked downtown, many young people moved into cities, etc. The pandemic has changed how we work forever with so much more remote working. Fans that spend the most money for sports live outside the cities more and more again. Issues with business located in downtown areas is going to be a very long-term problem for many years to come. Not just for baseball teams.

Chris Davis is going to be on the roster the next two years but I doubt he gets much more of a chance to play or take time from other players. I suspect Brandon Hyde feels no obligation to play him any longer.

Oh we believe you would Tony. We all know Chris Davis is no Tony Pente!!

I agree until there is full or close to full attendance they have little incentive to play games. I agree it seems to be a pretty weak argument that the teams have against their insurance companies. It will be a decent excuse for them not to pay any big free agent contracts. Then the players will charge collusion. These two sides were heading for a very tough labor negotiation before Covid and the one side losing so much revenue isn't going to help these negotiations. We will be lucky to see a full 162 game season in 2023.

Yes they aren't going to play until there are fans in the stands. New York and California teams will be the last places to lift restrictions. I think May is optimistic. I am thinking sometime in June is more realistic.

Yes all of this is true and add in during the last year of his contract there is a strong possibility of a lockout/strike that may again reduce the number of games played. I hope that isn't the case but it sure looks like right now the two sides are very far apart from agreeing to a collective bargaining deal.