Top News:
Jeff Todd / MLB Trade Rumors:
MLB Announces Minor-League Financial Support — Major League Baseball has announced a plan to continue financial support and medical benefits to all minor-league baseball players. Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reported that a deal was pending (Twitter links), while Baseball America's JJ Cooper …
Discussion:
Lone Star Ball, MLB Baseball News …, South Side Sox, McCovey Chronicles, Gaslamp Ball, Halos Heaven and True Blue LA
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Evan Grant / Dallas Morning News:
Shin-Soo Choo donates $1,000 to each Rangers minor league player — Donation of at least $190,000 will help players with expenses during coronavirus shutdown. — Shin-Soo Choo has often talked with reverence about wanting to help the next generation of players the way veterans did for him in his early years.
Discussion:
MLB Trade Rumors, Sports Illustrated and MLB Baseball News …
Joel Sherman / New York Post:
MLB season likely to start without fans in quest for most games — Two items are becoming more and more probable if there is going to be a major league season this year: — 1. It is going to begin without crowds. — 2. It is going to begin without a standard minor league feeder system.
Discussion:
Forbes, MLB Daily Dish and Phillies Nation
Jeff Todd / MLB Trade Rumors:
2020 Season Increasingly Likely To Begin Without Crowds — What began as a backup plan has increasingly turned into an apparent inevitability as the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow. If MLB is able to get a 2020 season off the ground at all, it's likely to be played initially in empty stadiums …
The Boston Globe:
Dr. James Andrews suspends Tommy John surgeries at his offices — With questions being raised as to whether athletes should have orthopedic operations such as Tommy John surgery at a time when the coronavirus pandemic is ongoing, the best-known practitioner of the procedure has stopped performing …
Discussion:
Sports Illustrated, Twinkie Town, Purple Row, New York Post, New York Daily News, MLB Trade Rumors and ProFootballTalk
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Scott Lauber / The Philadelphia Inquirer:
Phillies' Seranthony Dominguez facing decision after doctors recommend Tommy John surgery — No matter how long it takes for the 2020 baseball season to begin, it might be much longer before Seranthony Dominguez pitches again. — It has been suggested to Dominguez that he undergo …
Discussion:
NBCSports.com, Phillies Nation, The Good Phight, Lookout Landing and MLB Trade Rumors
Emma Baccellieri / Sports Illustrated:
Is It Wrong for Baseball Players to Get Tommy John Surgery? — Pro athletes are already under fire for preferential treatment during the coronavirus crisis—and medical ethicists say this is another example. — On March 13, a recommendation came from the American College of Surgeons …
Discussion:
Deadspin, New York Post, ESPN, New York Daily News, Boston Herald, San Francisco Chronicle and Amazin' Avenue
Jeff Todd / MLB Trade Rumors:
Chris Sale Undergoes Tommy John Surgery — 4:42pm: The surgery was performed today in Los Angeles by Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the Red Sox announced. — 4:23pm: We've known for some time that Red Sox lefty Chris Sale was destined for Tommy John surgery. But the timing of the procedure …
Discussion:
Sports Illustrated and MLB Baseball News …
Walmart Inc.:
Additional Steps We're Taking for the Health and Safety of Our Associates — As our company and country continue to deal with the spread of COVID-19, we remain focused on the health and safety of our associates. — We continue to follow and communicate the CDC's recommended guidance …
Discussion:
New York Post and WFLA-TV
Chandler Rome / Houston Chronicle:
A.J. Reed's retirement underscores Astros' tepid 2014 draft class — Drawing scant attention with the announcement, A.J. Reed retired on March 4 — about one week into spring training games — when concern about the coronavirus grew around the country. — Reed told a Terre Haute, Ind., television station of his situation.
Discussion:
MLB Trade Rumors and Lone Star Ball
Bradford William Davis / New York Daily News:
New study says 2019 playoff balls were de-juiced, but MLB still has no answers — Baseball has enough problems to deal with. For one thing, it's nearly April and there's no baseball. Still, a problem found does not resolve a problem left for later, and there is at least one major unresolved issue …
Discussion:
Lookout Landing
Marly Rivera / ESPN:
MLB managers on how they're helping team, family deal with pandemic — Dealing with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic is not only changing the fabric of Major League Baseball, but it's also redefining the role of major league managers. This global public health crisis has led to a shift …
Discussion:
ESPN Press Room U.S., New York Post, Halos Heaven and AZ Snake Pit
Associated Press:
As MLB ponders post-virus season, players worry about health — MLB, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers — As Major League Baseball and the players' union contemplate various ways to create a schedule for whenever the coronavirus pandemic subsides …
Discussion:
baseballmusings.com
Anthony Franco / MLB Trade Rumors:
Transaction Retrospection: Jose Quintana/Eloy Jimenez Trade — Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of Eloy Jiménez's MLB debut. With that in mind, it's an interesting time to look back at the blockbuster crosstown deal that brought the 23-year-old slugger to the South Side.
Discussion:
South Side Sox and MLB Baseball News …
