Good morning, baseball fans. Here’s what’s been going on around baseball the last 24 hours.
Latest MLB News:
According to Jim Allen of the Kyodo News on Twitter, Nippon Professional Baseball is tentatively set to post Shohei Ohtani on Dec. 2, which would give teams until Dec. 23 to strike a deal with the highly coveted 23-year-old.
This comes on the heels of a tenative agreement reached between Nippon Professional Baseball, Major League Baseball and the Players’ Association on a posting system to cover this offseason as well as a three-year deal going forward, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
* * * * * * * *
Major League Baseball has instituted a lifetime ban on former Atlanta Braves general manager John Coppolella, according to commissioner Rob Manfred in a statement.
From the statement:
As a result of the 2015-16 circumvention, the Braves were able to sign nine high-value players during the 2016-17 signing period who would have been unavailable to them had the Club accurately accounted for its signings during the 2015-16 signing period.
These players were Juan Contreras, Yefri del Rosario, Abrahan Gutierrez, Kevin Maitan, Juan Carlos Negret, Yenci Peña, Yunior Severino, Livan Soto and Guillermo Zuniga.
In addition, the Braves entered into additional ’package’ agreements in 2016 and 2017 in which they signed Brandol Mezquita, Angel Rojas and Antonio Sucre for reduced amounts, and provided additional money to those players’ agents by signing other players affiliated with their agents to contracts with inflated bonuses.
In order to remedy these violations, I am releasing these players from their contracts with the Braves and declaring them free agents eligible to sign with any other Club.
It may take the Braves 3-5 years to fully recover from this.
* * * * * * * *
The Los Angeles Angels have hired former player and Detroit Tigers manager Brad Ausmus as a special assistant to general manager Billy Eppler, according to Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.
Ausmus was at the helm for the Tigers from 2014 through this past season. He has also said he wants to take a year off from the rigors of being a big league manager, as indicative of his new position.
Other MLB News:
According to Jon Heyman of Fan Rag, the Toronto Blue Jays are weighing a pursuit of outfielder J.D. Martinez. However, Toronto may not engage in a bidding war for his talents if the price tag becomes too high.
Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post says there is no guarantee Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo will be at the helm for the long term. Him and the team have yet to work out a new deal. “I’ll allow [ownership] to talk to me if they choose to,” Rizzo said.
Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge underwent arthroscopic shoulder surgery for “loose-body removal and cartilage clean-up,” according to a team announcement.
The Minnesota Twins have reportedly explored a trade for Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Gerrit Cole, according to Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Berardino adds the Twins have also bounced around the idea of pursuing starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi.
