Summer Camp

Alec Bohm and Spencer Howard made it. Odubel Herrera didn't. 

That's probably the biggest news after the Phillies announced their 53-player pool for the abbreviated 2020 season late last night. I was a little surprised last year's top draft pick, shortstop Bryson Stott, didn't make the list. You'd think the Phillies would want to keep a close eye on his development. There are still seven spots available, so maybe he'll be added.

Bohm and Howard are the best prospects in the Phillies minor league system. Herrera has been persona non grata ever since his arrest last year on domestic violence charges. It's pretty clear Herrera will never play for the Phillies again.

Anyway, for those who can't read the image, here's who will be in camp, which begins Wednesday at CBP. 

Pitchers

Jose Alvarez
Victor Arano
Jake Arrieta
Conner Brogdon
Garrett Cleavinger
Enyel De Los Santos
Zach Eflin
Edgar Garcia
Deolis Guerra
Spencer Howard
Tommy Hunter
Cole Irvin
Damon Jones
Trevor Kelley
Francisco Liriano
Mauricio Llovera
Reggie McClain
Adam Morgan
Hector Neris
Aaron Nola
Bud Norris
Blake Parker
Nick Pivetta
JoJo Romero
Ramon Rosso
Addison Russ
Connor Seabold
Robert Stock
Ranger Suarez
Vince Velasquez
Zack Wheeler

Catchers

Deivy Grullon
Andrew Knapp
J.T. Realmuto

Infielders

Alec Bohm
Logan Forsythe
Phil Gosselin
Didi Gregorius
Josh Harrison
Rhys Hoskins
Scott Kingery
Jean Segura
Ronald Torreyes
Neil Walker

Outfielders

Jay Bruce
Kyle Garlick
Bryce Harper
Adam Haseley
Mikie Mahtook
Nick Martini
Andrew McCutchen
Roman Quinn
Nick Williams

Team-Building Exercise

With the start of the season just weeks away (pandemic permitting), we should start to think about how the 2020 Phillies roster is going to look.

Teams will have 30 players for the first two weeks of the season, 28 for the next two weeks, and 26 for the rest of the season. 

So here goes:

Catchers (3) - JT Realmuto, Andrew Knapp, Devi Grullon

Infielders (6) - Rhys Hoskins, Jean Segura, Didi Gregorius, Scott Kingery, Alec Bohm, Neil Walker

Outfielders (6) - Bryce Harper, Andrew McCutchen, Adam Haseley, Roman Quinn, Jay Bruce, Nick Williams

Starting pitchers (5) - Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, Zach Eflin, Jake Arrietta, Spencer Howard

Bullpen (10) - Hector Neris, Tommy Hunter, Vince Velasquez, Nick Pivetta, Deolis Guerra, Adam Morgan, Ranger Suarez, Franciso Liriano, Drew Storen, Anthony Swarzak

There will also be a 30-player taxi squad available for replacements in case of injury or COVID-19. Williams and Grullon will probably be with the team for the first two weeks before the roster gets cut to 28. Pivetta and Velasquez are probably both on their last legs as Phillies and could easily be taxied a month into the season. I've had enough of both of them. 

Play Ball

Baseball is coming back. For real.

After months of useless back-and-forth talks, MLB imposed a 60-game season with play beginning in mid to late July. Players will report to their respective ballparks on July 1 for three weeks of training camp. And there's going to be some new things to see. For example:

• The designated hitter is coming to the National League, for at least the next two seasons. So look for the Phillies to use a combination of Jay Bruce, Andrew McCutchen, JT Realmuto, and probably Rhys Hoskins to get some time there.
• There's a new rule for extra innings, and this I absolutely despise. If a game is tied after nine innings, the 10th inning starts with a runner on second. Sacrifice bunt fever! Catch it! The idea is to avoid 15-inning games, but there's a lot to be said for Mitch Williams knocking in the game-winning run at 4:40 a.m.
• All games will be played without fans in the stands. 

Another thing to worry about is a spike in COVID-19 cases. Since social distancing rules were loosened in Floria and Arizona, those two states have seen a considerable increase in the number of infected people. Three MLB teams play in those states. 

I wish I could get more excited about baseball coming back. But I have a feeling the virus is going to win, and there won't be any games at all this season because the players and owners dicked around for three months. 

At least the weather forecast for Opening Day won't be breezy and cold with drizzle and a high of 43.

It's Not Gonna Happen

The offseason from hell continues. When the players finally decided the owners weren't negotiating in good faith, they said, "we're done talking. Tell us when to report and when to play." MLB and the owners said sure, just as long as you don't file a grievance saying we violated the March agreement. Yeah, right.

The owners are trying to wring every single dollar out of the players before agreeing to let the games begin. Baseball has seen record revenues over the last seven years. Just as they were crying poor over the weekend, word leaked out MLB and TBS had agreed to a $2 BILLION TV contract. That works out to more than $66 million per team. PER TEAM.

Every business suffers a down year. And just because you own a team doesn't mean you're guaranteed to make money. It's an investment like every other investment. If you don't want to take the risk, sell the damn team. The average MLB franchise is worth $1.78 billion. And the poorest owner has a net worth of $400 million; most are billionaires. 

The owners only care about themselves and their Scrooge McDuck size piles of cash. They don't give a rat's ass about the game, the fans, the team employees, or the players. MLB had a chance to give quarantined Americans something to watch. They could be getting ready for the season right now with a July 4 return. Nope. The owners won't have it. 

I'm glad the players have stood firm. They're not asking for their full year's salary. They've offered to play for prorated pay, based on the number of games they play. Their solidarity is admirable. The owners, however, look like greedy motherfuckers. 

I don't think there's going to be baseball this year. And that makes me incredibly sad and pissed off. 

A Welcome Distraction

While the players and owners are arguing about who is going to make how much, I figured we all needed a baseball distraction. Well, I found one. Even if it involves the Red Sox.

I've been watching Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) games on ESPN just about every morning. And today, Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez have a very special guest during the sixth inning—Red Sox organist Josh Kantor. There's nothing like organ music to get you in a baseball state of mind.

Kantor does a Facebook Live performance every day at 3 p.m. called the Seventh Inning Stretch. You can watch it at https://www.facebook.com/pg/7thinningstretch2020/posts/?ref=page_internal and you can follow him on Twitter at @jtkantor.

We're Back! Kind Of

No, not baseball. My internet and electricity are back as of this morning. Both went bye-bye after Wednesday's derecho, which severely messed up my neighborhood.

But anyway. There's Phillies news to report. Remember Seranthony Dominguez? Hard-throwing righty who did wonderful things in the bullpen until his arm blowed up in the first part of last season? Instead of getting Tommy John surgery, he decided to rest it instead of cut it.

So flash forward a year, and guess what? Dominguez is going to have the surgery soon. Which means he'll have lost a minimum of two years of his career. The typical recovery time is 12 to 18 months, which means, maybe the end of the 2021 season, if there is one.

Because the owners and players can't agree on who will get how much to start the 2020 season. There were hopes they'd starting playing by the Fourth of July. As Yogi used to say, it's getting late early.

And because I wake up insanely early for no good reason, I've been watching Korean baseball on ESPN. There are no fans in the stands and Boog Sciambi is doing the play-by-play from his house. And there are some familiar faces in those games, including former Phillie Aaron Altherr. He kinda stunk as a Phillie. And he kinda stinks in Korea, too.

Still No Baseball

It's June 1 and it's hard to believe the Phillies are undefeated this season. But then again, they haven't won a game either. The world has gone to hell and there's still no baseball.

More than 100,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus and more than 30 million people are out of work. There are riots in dozens of cities and the nation seems more divided than ever. It seems trivial to be worried about baseball, but hey, this is a baseball blog. So blog we shall.

The players and owners have traded proposals back and forth and from what's been reported, it seems the sides are really far apart. Back in March, the players agreed to have their salaries pro-rated based on the number of games played. Which seems perfectly reasonable. The owners, seeking to squeeze every dollar possible out of the agreement, changed their minds and decided the lowest-paid players would receive the greatest percentage of their salaries, while stars like Bryce Harper would receive something like 30 percent of what they were supposed to earn.

I'm firmly behind the players here. They're the ones taking all the risk. They're the ones who will be in close quarters with teammates with the spectre of a deadly contagious virus on their minds. The owners and multimillionaires and billionaires. They invested in baseball. But as everyone knows, just because you invest in something, there's no guarantee of making a profit.

John Fisher, owner of the Oakland Athletics and a man with a net worth of more than $2 billion, has decided to stop paying minor league players and furlough scouts and front office staff to save a couple of million dollars. Arte Moreno, owner of the Angels, the same guy who thought it was a good idea to sign Albert Pujols to a deal that keeps Pujols in California into his early 40s, has also let scouts go. You have to wonder how these guys got so rich when they makes such dumb decisions.

The owners need to realize that some revenue is better than no revenue. No fans will be in attendance and they'll be losing out on ticket and concession money. I'm sure they can find some way to make some extra cash while games are being played. But this country really could use a distraction right now. Sure, watching Korean baseball on ESPN2 is fun, but I didn't like watching Darrin Ruf when he was a Phillie. As I'm writing this, MLB Network showing Game 6 of the 2009 World Series. I won't watch it. I need new baseball. Just make a deal and play ball.