Former major league pitcher Phillippe Aumont has retired from baseball and will take up farming in the meantime. He last pitched in the majors in 2015.
Former pitcher Phillippe Aumont told Stu Mills of CBC Radio’s Ottawa Morning that he has retired from Major League Baseball and has taken up farming.
Aumont, 31, signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays in December and pitched three innings for the club in spring training before the league shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic. The right-hander was a top-100 prospect from 2008-10 and was included in the blockbuster trade that brought pitcher Cliff Lee to the Mariners from the Phillies in December 2009.
Aumont reached the majors in 2012 with the Phillies but he wasn’t able to find sustained success. Over parts of four seasons, Aumont allowed 33 earned runs in 43 2/3 innings, striking out 42 batters and walking 34.
After being outrighted by the Phillies during the 2015 season, Aumont — born in Gatineau, Canada — became a free agent and signed with the Blue Jays. He would later join the White Sox and Tigers while also having a couple of stints in the Canadian-American Association. Unfortunately, he never made it back to the majors, though he appeared to have a decent shot to do so this year before the pandemic put the season on hold.
The Ontario government says the necessity of frequent travel between the U.S. and Canada is the complicating factor holding up approval for Major League Baseball to play in Toronto amid the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading →
The Colorado Rockies have signed OF/DH Matt Kemp to a minor league contract.
The move to sign Kemp was likely motivated, at least in part, by Ian Desmond opting out of playing this season. Kemp, in turn, became a free agent after the Marlins decided against including him in their 60-man player pool. Which reminds me that the Marlins had signed him to begin with. My God, have I forgotten about every offseason transaction. He signed that deal in December, which may as well have been a million years ago. Guess we’ve all been distracted.
Kemp, 35, batted just .200/.210/.283 with one home run in 62 plate appearances with the Reds last season and missed time with a broken rib after signing a minor league deal with the Mets. He’d likely have no job at all if not for the DH being adopted for the NL this season, but now he gets another, possibly last chance to continue his big league career.
We’ve spent an awful lot of time talking about how the players will deal with pandemic baseball, but the umpires are affected too. They travel more than the players do, after all. They don’t have a home park. They, also, (a) get people up in their face during arguments; and (b) have to yell and project their voices, which is itself a risky thing to do in the time of COVID-19.
Last night Jesse Rogers of ESPN reported on some of the changes in routine the umps will have to deal with in 2020. Starting with spring training, where groups of three umps each will be embedded with big league camps, will watch bullpen sessions and batting practice and stuff as a means of easing themselves back into game shape, just like the players are.
During the season things will change a good deal too. In normal times umps travel to a new city after every series and are rotated across the league so they are not seeing one team more than others, which could create creeping, unconscious biases or grudges in one direction or another. Now, to limit travel, an umpire crew may stay in a certain city across an entire homestand, for example. And in two-team cities they may just go across town to the other park as opposed to getting on a plane and heading to Cleveland or wherever.
Masks are an issue too. Rogers reports that they will be encouraged for umps but not required. Which seems to be heat/weather driven. The MLB/MLBPA guidelines have already specified that arguments between players and umps should be minimized or eliminated, but human nature may overtake that at times putting players and umps face-to-face in argument. Even if they avoid that, though, I’m wondering how much spit flies from a mask-free ump standing behind a catcher and a batter in the normal course of a game. When you’re bellowing out “strike!” and “out!” scores of times a game, you have to imagine it’s a non-trivial amount.
Just another complicating factor in what will already be a complicated season.
MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert is reporting that Diamondbacks pitcher Mike Leake will opt out of the 2020 season. He is, at the present moment, the only MLB player to have opted out of the season, but it is highly unlikely he will be the only one.
Per Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Leake’s agent Dan Horwits said, “During this global pandemic, Mike and his family had many discussions about playing this season. They took countless factors into consideration, many of which are personal to him and his family. After thorough consideration, he has chosen to opt out of playing in 2020. This was not an easy decision for Mike. He wishes the best of luck and health for his Diamondback teammates this season and he’s looking forward to 2021.”
Leake, 32, is in the final guaranteed year of his contract. Both sides can agree on a mutual option worth $18 million for the 2021 season, otherwise Leake will be bought out for $5 million. In 2019, between the Mariners and D-Backs, the right-hander posted a 4.29 ERA with 127 strikeouts and 27 walks across 197 innings of work.
Leake’s absence will likely mean that Alex Young and Merrill Kelly will duke it out for the fifth spot in the D-Backs’ rotation.
On Friday, Nationals 1B Ryan Zimmerman wrote for the Associated Press that he was “still deciding whether to play” this season amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. Unless the player opting out is considered “high risk,” he will forfeit both pay and service time in doing so.
Last year, Nationals reliever Daniel Hudsonreceived criticism when he left his team during the NLCS for the birth of his child. There will, no doubt, be critics of players who choose to sit out the season because of COVID-19. It will be completely undeserved, just as Hudson’s criticism was undeserved. Players should receive full support from their teams, from their peers, from the media, and from fans for sitting out the season for any reason.
Their bags are packed and the Toronto Blue Jays are set to fly north.
Sources told the Toronto Sun that government clearance for the Major League Baseball team to return to Canada is expected early in the week. With that in mind, the team is making arrangements to transport staff and players to the Rogers Centre around midweek. Some were training in the Dunedin, FL. area, others at various spots around North America.
The team expects to play all 30 of its 2020 home games at Rogers Centre against its regular American League East opponents, as well as those from the National League East. Major League Baseball has restructured its divisions to make travel easier in this most unusual shortened season.
There will be no fans in the stands at any of the games at Rogers Centre, per previous comments from team president Mark Shapiro.
Various Blue Jays players and staffers recently tested positive for COVID-19, which is an obvious concern. Shapiro has acknowledged that they expect more positives. Having said that, the team is confident that it can be safe and that its players will follow safety protocols above and beyond what is recommended in MLB’s 100-page return to play manual.
“Any time you do comprehensive tests, the numbers go up,” Shapiro said on a Friday conference call with Jays beat reporters. “We are testing every single person at intake. That’s going to be part of the transition process into creating the closed environment as much as possible around our players,” he said.
“I think it will be very important for it to be a collaborative effort that will take a partnership between us and the players. There are many things within our control that enable us to stay healthy. The players are going to be constantly educated on that and provided protection wherever possible.”
The team is not yet confirming any of the details of the return to Canada, but general manager Ross Atkins is expected to comment later in the week.
The Blue Jays organization, Shapiro in particular, had been lobbying all levels of Canadian government for six weeks now. The other 29 American-based MLB teams are planning to play their home games in their normal parks, but there currently is a non-essential travel ban between Canada and the U.S. to navigate.
“There is more comfort coming to Toronto and conducting training camp here under the conditions and circumstances here,” Shapiro had said on Friday.
Shapiro spoke then of “creating “a modified quarantine for our players and if we move to a regular-season scenario for visiting players. “That would be in addition to the MLB protocol,” Shapiro said.
He had said the Blue Jays weren’t seeking “extreme special treatment” from Canadian governments and health authorities and that the team is “understanding and deferential to public health and safety” concerns.
Shapiro had also thanked on Friday Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Toronto mayor John Tory for their openness during discussions.
“Their guidance and support has been very strong throughout the entire time I’ve been talking,” Shapiro had said. “It’s been encouraging.”
Toronto revealed most of its 60-man player pool for the return to play later Sunday. Top prospect Nate Pearson was on the list, as expected, along with several of the club’s other most glittery youngsters and there is room for recent No. 5 overall draft pick Austin Martin should he be signed.
Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty ImagesIn a poll conducted by ESPN, 77 percent of baseball fans said they support MLB’s plan to hold a 60-game season, which will begin July 23 or 24.According to ESPN, 73 percent of sports fans polled were in favor of the plan.After lengthy negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA, Commissioner Rob…
In a poll conducted by ESPN, 77 percent of baseball fans said they support MLB‘s plan to hold a 60-game season, which will begin July 23 or 24.
According to ESPN, 73 percent of sports fans polled were in favor of the plan.
After lengthy negotiations between MLB and the MLBPA, Commissioner Rob Manfred set the schedule for the 2020 season Tuesday. The players agreed to report to camps by Wednesday and play what would be the shortest season in history.
The season was supposed to start March 26, but things were put on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic. While a season is going to happen, there is some belief MLB and the MLBPA erred in not returning sooner to play more games and get more eyes on the sport.
In the ESPN poll, which involved 1,003 sports fans, 58 percent agreed that the “slow return was a ‘missed opportunity.’” But 64 percent of those polled said that will not impact their viewing habits.
Players are scheduled to report to camps next week, meaning they will have about three weeks to prepare for the season. The camps will almost exclusively be held in the teams’ home cities since spring training facilities in Florida and Arizona were shut down last week amid a number of COVID-19 cases in baseball.
While playing just 60 of the usual 162 games isn’t ideal, many baseball fans are excited to watch the sport they love in any capacity.
As part of the shortened season, teams will play only their divisional opponents and interleague games against the corresponding division, meaning American League East teams will play AL East and National League East opponents, and so on.
There will also be a universal designated hitter, which could be included in the new collective bargaining agreement when the current one expires after the 2021 season.
One thing that won’t change is the playoff format, as five teams from each league will qualify.
The 2020 season will mark the first shortened season since 1995, when teams played 144 games after the start of the campaign was delayed by a players’ strike that began in August 1994.
Like all major leaguers, Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman has been waiting to see what would happen with baseball because of the coronavirus pandemic
If it means the opportunity to play games on familiar turf — and out of the disaster that is Florida — Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said his team is willing to go above and beyond the strictest of safety guidelines to make it happen. Read More
If it means the opportunity to play games on familiar turf — and out of the disaster that is Florida — Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said his team is willing to go above and beyond the strictest of safety guidelines to make it happen.
Now comes the challenge of convincing layers of health and government officials in Canada that blockades should be removed for a team that has had an undisclosed number of players and staff record positive tests for the COVID-19 virus this week in Florida.
Despite having to ready 60 players and a coaching staff for a training camp due to begin in less than a week, the Jays are still a team with no fixed address. While the other 29 Major League Baseball teams prepare to go back to work at their home stadiums, the Jays first need to get government and health clearance to set up shop here.
Either that or roll the pandemic dice and get to work in Dunedin, Fla., now that Shapiro said the club has ruled out all other options.
“There is more comfort coming to Toronto and conducting training camp here under the conditions and circumstances here,” Shapiro said on a Friday conference call with baseball reporters. “But if we have to do it in Florida, we will do so with diligence and detail and do our best to keep players out of harm’s way.”
As the Florida numbers have spiked alarmingly over the past week, Shapiro and the Jays have stepped up lobbying efforts with health officials from the federal, provincial and municipal levels.
Shapiro certainly isn’t about to disclose the details of those talks — or even the prospects of success — but did say that the Jays are willing to go above and beyond the exhaustive 100-plus page safety protocol manual issued by MLB.
That would include creating “a modified quarantine for our players and if we move to a regular-season scenario for visiting players,” Shapiro said. “That would be in addition to the MLB protocol.”
While safety is paramount, time is also of the essence for the Jays. Players have been told to be ready to ship north, but not to go so far as make actual travel plans until the team can make an actual decision. The mess puts the Jays in a situation unlike any other team and at a possible competitive disadvantage.
“A deadline does not exist formally,” Shapiro said. “We have to deal with the reality that we have logistical issues that we have 60 players and staff to transport. If we delay a decision too long, there are implications in our readiness and competitiveness. We are working on an accelerated time frame and we need to make a decision very soon.”
Shapiro said the team isn’t seeking “extreme special treatment” from Canadian governments and health authorities and that the team is “understanding and deferential to public health and safety” concerns.
That said, he acknowledged that Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Toronto mayor John Tory have been open to discussing the Rogers Centre option.
“Their guidance and support has been very strong throughout the entire time I’ve been talking,” Shapiro said. “It’s been encouraging.”
So where does that leave the Jays as the scheduled return to work is measured in days and plans to relocate can be counted in hours? On a Zoom call with general manager Ross Atkins on Thursday, players were apprised of the alternatives and told to “hang tight.”
Shapiro said the team has ruled out Buffalo, home of the team’s triple-A affiliate, as well as sharing Tropicana Field with the Rays. Best case, the Jays get clearance to have both training camp and regular-season home games at the Rogers Centre. Second best — and perhaps the most realistic — is to be forced to begin training camp in Dunedin before shifting north at some point.
The Florida problem is an admitted concern, however.
Though Shapiro would offer no details on the players and staff who tested positive for COVID-19 this week beyond stating they were the result of community spread. The Jays CEO knows more bad news is likely on the way.
“We expect a lot of positives tests,” Shapiro said. “Any time you do comprehensive tests, the numbers go up. We are testing every single person at intake. That’s going to be part of the transition process into creating the closed environment as much as possible around our players.”
As foreboding as that may sound — and certainly a point of discussion regarding the lobby for possible border crossing — Shapiro is confident that the young Jays team will be diligent in staying safe.
“It’s encouraging to hear both our players and our staff express their understanding that their ability to stay healthy is going to be key to their success,” Shapiro said. “No one wants to have to sit out and not play.
“I think it will be very important for it to be a collaborative effort that will take a partnership between us and the players. There are many things within our control that enable us to stay healthy. The players are going to be constantly educated on that and provided protection wherever possible.”
At this point, wherever is most definitely the operative word.
Some people in the Los Angeles Dodgers and Minnesota Twins organizations have tested positive for COVID-19, officials with the teams said Thursday. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said on a video conference call that it’s “a delicate subject” and he declined to identify those with positive tests. “We have had some people in […]
In a lengthy column on the state of relations in Major League Baseball, SNY’s Andy Martino included an interesting piece of information: Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer and Rockies infielder Daniel Murphy constitute a small subsection of the MLB Players Association membership that feels marginalized for having a differing opinion from the majority.
Earlier this week Bauer expressed some “both sides” sentiment on Twitter about the protracted negotiations between MLB ownership and the union. MLB’s 60-game proposal was overwhelmingly shot down by the union. 38 members in total voted.
Bauer wrote, “It’s absolute death for this industry to keep acting as it has been. Both sides. We’re driving the bus straight off a cliff. How is this good for anyone involved?” In a follow-up tweet, Bauer said, “We’re doing irreparable damage to our industry right now over rules that last AT MOST 16 months. WTF kind of sense does that make?” Bauer also added, “I have so much more I want to say about this whole thing but out of respect to my fellow players I’m going to continue holding my tongue. If any of you would like to talk about it please hit me up privately.” Bauer went on to have two very public arguments with Aubrey Huff and Curt Schilling on Twitter.
Bauer has always marched to the beat of his own drum. He was one of the first players to truly welcome analytics with open arms. He has repeatedly said he will never sign a multi-year contract, instead going year-to-year to both maximize his earning potential and to limit the risk taken on by other teams. He has injured himself with drones on multiple occasions. He’s gone after MLB’s antiquated arbitration system. He has also repeatedly gone after some of his mildest critics. That Bauer would step out of line with the union that represents his best interests has always been the modal outcome.
To be clear, the MLBPA is not above criticism and, in fact, has been deserving of criticism for quite some time. It’s not Bauer’s specific criticism that is the issue here, however; it’s that he’s airing his grievances publicly at a time the union is trying to galvanize solidarity within its ranks and will continue to be engaged with the owners in negotiations over the next 17 months leading up to the expiry of the current collective bargaining agreement. In-fighting has been the downfall of many a union. It reduces bargaining power, weakens solidarity, and can be distracting for the representatives as well as the members they represent.
The MLBPA represents over a thousand active players. They will never reach 100 percent agreement among its membership. There will always be conflict and disagreement. However, the union democratically arrived at the conclusion that an overwhelming majority wanted to reject MLB’s deal, which is why 33 of 38 (87%) representatives voted against it. If Bauer still feels strongly about the issue, he can privately discuss it with MLBPA leadership and his peers to try to change their minds. Bauer complaining on social media and leaking details to members of the media is the wrong way to go about the issue. It is self-sabotage.
The view from left field 