Morning Mound Visit: sabermetrics news - 3/5/20

FanGraphs | Dan Szymborski: The Cleveland Indians are at a point where they need to commit to a path with Francisco Lindor. They can go the route of the Brewers, a team of similar valuation that extended Christian Yelich for $200 million, or they can go the route of the Red Sox and ship him off and start yet another rebuild. Either way, this is a team that can’t afford to sit in the middle as their chances of a title dwindle with each year.

Baseball Prospectus | Stephanie Springer ($): Coronavirus is spreading rapidly over the world, and it’s fair to say that baseball will in some way be affected. Clubhouses need to undertake more aggressive cleaning/hygiene measures, and in states with wider outbreaks, it’s in question as to whether Opening Day will even have attendees given concerns over spreads in large groups.

The Athletic | Andy McCullough ($): With the cheating scandal desperate for a long-term solution, Rob Manfred is exploring banning or severely limiting in-game video. While some old-timers like, say, Albert Pujols remember that time and don’t particularly care, younger players have grown accustomed to analyzing their mechanics in real-time. This will certainly be a push-and-pull with the union to find an equitable solution.