Marty’s musings: the beginning of the end for 2020?

Welcome to ‘Marty’s Musings’, my weekly column of numbers summarizing the happenings in the baseball world. I am your guide for taking an analytic look at the news and notes throughout the game, and highlighting this week’s key pitching matchups.

The MLBPA and players are having a war-of-words, while Minor League players continue to get decimated. We’re probably the furthest away from having an MLB season or tournament as we’ve been this entire offseason.

News & Notes

16 - Teams informed their minor league players that they will continue paying stipends, while at least one, the Oakland Athletics, decided they will suspend all minor league pay starting today, June 1st.

10 - Teams, at least, that cut MiLB players from their clubs last week. In addition to the decimation of the low stipends players were getting during the health crisis, the Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Rays, Nationals, Mets, Brewers, Mariners, Orioles, and Reds all reportedly cut Minor Leaguers last week, according to Jon Heyman and Robert Murray. The estimation is that hundreds of MiLBers were cut, and with a very-abbreviated five-round draft next week, one has to wonder how this may affect future talent pools.

50-75 - Percent pay cuts that the owners presented as a proposal to start the year without any fans in the stands. Reportedly the players at the to-end of the pay-scale would see the most significant cuts, while everyone would take a significant haircut off their ‘guaranteed’ (and prorated) salaries. Nationals’ ace Max Scherzer, one of the game’s highest paid players, and an important voice in the MLBPA publically shotdown the proposal on-sight, setting up a PR battle that is likely to be ugly and long-lasting.

??? - Days until Opening Day.