Morning Mound Visit: MLB and MLBPA to meet again Tuesday

Evan Drellich | The Athletic $: MLBPA presented their counter-offer to the owners on Monday and while the meeting was heated, there was progress. The players withdrew their proposal to have players reach free agency if they reach a certain age with enough service time. The players are apparently prioritizing the luxury tax threshold, draft order, and pay for younger players with less service time. On Tuesday, the league plans to present a counter-proposal.

Justin Choi | FanGraphs: Conventional wisdom says not to throw your fastball over the middle of the plate, but that wisdom was generated at a time when a 92-mph heater would turn heads. Is it possible that in this era of ever-increasing velocity, pitchers can just throw their fastball over the heart of the plate?

Craig Goldstein | Baseball Prospectus $: After Tampa Bay’s sister city plan was killed, Stu Sternberg said that partial seasons were the wave of the future. It’s easy to laugh at him and his obviously terrible idea, but it’s hard to say he’s wrong. Making things a lot worse for a little bit of profit is just Good Business, so eventually, someone’s going to do it.